Chapter 32: 031 Borrowing a Brand

NetEase is a threat.

But perhaps also an opportunity.

Is NetEase a big company?

Of course it is.

But when it comes to dating services, is it still one?

Of course not.

After finishing the call with reporter Song Yufeng, Yu Xing didn’t panic; he only looked into the situation after completing his daily tasks.

He vaguely remembered NetEase had dabbled in dating before, but nothing like Jiayuan, Baihe, or Zhenai in terms of market presence.

In other words, NetEase never made it work.

As it turned out, NetEase had entered and prioritized this space even earlier than Yu Xing imagined—it launched its “NetEase Local Dating Channel” in 2006, and now operates three independent dating services: “Local Dating,” “V Dating Center,” and “Very Singles.”

As for why there are three…

Yu Xing guessed it was internal competition, like a gu mode.

But judging by current performance, the gu never matured.

Big companies aren’t omnipotent; NetEase grew through portals and games, but that doesn’t mean it can succeed in dating services—and as for its threat to Guiai.com…

Yu Xing pondered over dinner, then walked by the lake for a long time, ultimately concluding this seemed more like an opportunity.

At 10:30 p.m., Yu Xing called Zhong Zhiling, pulled him out of his dorm, and informed him of the potential innovation threat from NetEase.

“What??”

“How can they do this??”

“Damn!! What are they trying to do??”

“This is bullying!!”

Zhong Zhiling jumped three feet in the air, never expecting a news interview would uncover such a massive threat.

“Feng Ge himself said no big company is good,” Yu Xing said calmly. “You get used to it. If they don’t bully you, you don’t give them money. If they do bully you, you might end up giving them money anyway.”

Zhong Zhiling’s face flushed red—his company had just begun to show promise, and now it faced a giant!

What kind of company is NetEase?

It’s a veteran internet company!

Its market value is two or three billion!

Thinking of this, Zhong Zhiling felt dizzy—damn, what does a company this size even mean?

Just like he’d repeatedly told interns this week, “Do you know what ten million means?”—he himself had no grasp of ten million, let alone the scale of a company like NetEase.

Zhong Zhiling stood frozen for a long time, two words rising in his mind.

We’re screwed!

If a company like NetEase enters competition, what chance does Guiai.com have?

He sat down heavily on the grass, the first memory that surfaced was sitting alone, lonely, and cold in jail…

After a long while, Zhong Zhiling suddenly realized—his senior didn’t seem worried.

It was a morning call, yet his senior had worked normally all day, and just now spoke without a hint of panic.

“Senior, what do we do?” Zhong Zhiling looked up at his senior standing beside him.

Yu Xing calmly analyzed the situation, pointing out NetEase’s own failures in dating services, peeling back the glittering halo of the giant.

Zhong Zhiling shifted from despair to hope, asking urgently: “So there’s no problem? NetEase—NetEase like that—can’t win?”

“NetEase failing in dating doesn’t mean it can’t succeed in our niche,” Yu Xing considered. “I briefly checked NetEase’s three dating sites—they all target society or corporate employees. If they don’t mind our small portion of meat and directly target college students, Jiayuan, Baihe, and Zhenai will be fine—but we…”

Yu Xing shrugged. He didn’t know what NetEase was thinking, so he considered all possibilities.

Zhong Zhiling stared at his senior and asked: “What will happen to us?”

Yu Xing walked two steps to the lakeside, paused, then said: “Even if NetEase directly enters the college student market, I still think we have a chance.”

Zhong Zhiling perked up: “Senior, how?”

Yu Xing turned around and said: “When you first heard about NetEase, you had a reaction. Do it again.”

Zhong Zhiling was confused—what reaction?

“That one,” Yu Xing pointed. “That furious, indignant reaction.”

Zhong Zhiling tentatively repeated: “What? How can they do this? Damn, what are they trying to do? This is bullying!”

Yu Xing nodded vigorously: “Yes, yes, exactly that.”

Zhong Zhiling: “...”

“Is reputation important? Look at Tencent—it’s doing all sorts of things that anger many industries, yet it still makes money.” Yu Xing continued. “But who are we primarily facing? College students.”

He smiled: “At this moment, reputation matters again.”

A highly empathetic group.

A group that understands reason well.

Yu Xing had mentioned earlier that college students best understand college students—similar experiences in love and heartbreak can move each other, laying the foundation for brand culture and marketing.

Similarly, Guiai.com’s timeline is clear, and NetEase’s reporting timeline will be obvious too. If NetEase later enters the college market, this joint innovation will be unmistakable.

Someone long immersed in the real world, having seen countless injustices and realities, might become numb.

But Guiai.com’s founding team are college students too.

Zhong Zhiling’s reaction was the most direct and authentic.

So Guiai.com’s righteous outrage, its defiant stand against the dragon, is precisely the response most aligned with a startup team’s nature—and most likely to earn empathy from college students.

Yu Xing explained slowly, leaving Zhong Zhiling stunned.

“Schoolyard Network is a good thing. If NetEase dares to innovate alongside us, we have a chance to spark this story. Once the fame grows, the hype builds, traffic surges, the cake expands—and naturally, our slice grows larger.” Yu Xing shook his head slightly. “We’ll naturally get more.”

After digesting this for a while, Zhong Zhiling sincerely said: “Senior… you’ve cut straight to the heart of it…”

“It’s tied to our customer base—it’s natural to think this way,” Yu Xing remained calm. “And we have another advantage.”

Zhong Zhiling held his breath, listening intently.

Yu Xing said with quiet pride: “We don’t make money.”

Zhong Zhiling: “?”

Hmm… not making money…

“As long as this blows up, our company’s details will be easily exposed—but each order is only 299 yuan, and the maximum we give employees is 200 yuan, plus team bonuses.” Yu Xing smiled faintly. “This company only covers basic operating costs.”

This is Guiai.com’s current expansion strategy—and its ultimate strategic guide for selling the company.

Guiai.com doesn’t aim to profit; it only wants to scale up so it can be sold.

Yu Xing looked at his junior and smiled: “A company pretending to be a social survey firm—we can leak some dirt first, stir up anger and suspicion, then let someone dig deeper and say, ‘Wow, this company is actually so ethical.’ What will our customer base think?”

Super ethical!

Because they really give most of the money to employees!

Deeply empathetic!

A super-ethical grassroots company, finally gets a big company to report on it—only to be met with joint innovation, then somehow smeared for no reason…

Zhong Zhiling imagined the possible scenario, and suddenly felt goosebumps rise on his skin.

He spoke with difficulty: “Then… will NetEase come?”

“Who knows,” Yu Xing gazed at the lake, speaking softly. “I hope they do. If they do, we’ll borrow their brand.”