Chapter 68: 066 The Reveal

The founder of Guai Ai Network and the prospective co-founder of Baixiaosheng found their seats.

Their seats weren’t truly in the very last row, but they were indeed very far back.

Before the conference began, Yu Xing stood beside his seat and noticed that the figures of the big shots were quickly obscured by layers of people; by the time the opening ceremony started, even though everyone was seated, he couldn’t identify who was sitting in front.

This was because the number of attendees at this conference was simply too large.

According to Song Yufeng, this year’s China Internet Conference had over 3,000 delegates from more than ten countries and regions, over 50,000 exhibition visitors, and more than a hundred media outlets providing full coverage.

The conference theme was “Integration Promotes Development, Penetration Creates Value,” and over three days it would include the 2008 China Internet Executive Annual Meeting, the 2008 Internet International Summit, the 2008 Digital Media Interactive Marketing Summit Forum, and the 1998–2008 China E-Commerce Decade Hundred Person Fengyun Meeting.

Tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., Yu Xing would take the stage at the 2008 Online Community Development Forum.

Yu Xing had previously asked Song Yufeng: “Why am I assigned to this breakout session? I haven’t even worked on online communities.”

Guai Ai Network had a website, but it was just a simple introductory page—not even close to an online community.

“Yu Zong, with your build, just getting up there is already a win—what’s there to complain about?” Song Yufeng said helplessly. “I’d love to put you in a better slot. If I had the power, I’d have you deliver the opening speech and join the summit forum. I’ve done my best as a brother!”

Now that Yu Xing was here and saw the sea of heads… Brother Feng had truly tried his best.

But beyond curiosity and longing for the big shots, the more pressing matter was the sale of Guai Ai Network.

It was said that senior executives from Zhen Ai Network, Century Love, and Baihe Network were all attending this conference, but since he didn’t know them and the crowd was overwhelming, finding and communicating with them was extremely difficult.

Yu Xing watched as the opening remarks were delivered by a leader from the State Council Information Office, and figured he could only try to find people during the lunch break, seizing this rare opportunity to meet potential buyers.

If he couldn’t make contact today, the price for Guai Ai Network would be at most 1.3 million yuan—the same as Baihe Network’s valuation.

After the State Council Information Office leader finished, the stage was taken by the chairman of the industry association, followed by local leaders from Jin Ling—thus concluding the opening remarks.

Just as Yu Xing thought the session was over, the speaker changed to a vice-leader from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, delivering the conference’s keynote report.

He sighed: “When will this end?”

“Hungry?” Song Yufeng, however, seemed quite amused. “Once he finishes, it’ll be time for lunch.”

Yu Xing rolled his eyes: “I’m anxious to find where the bosses of Zhen Ai Network are—I at least need to say hello. If we could have lunch together, that’d be even better.”

Song Yufeng leaned forward slightly, peering ahead, and assessed: “It’s definitely tough—oh, their napes don’t have names written on them.”

He thought for a moment and said: “When it ends, I’ll search from the left aisle, you from the right.”

Yu Xing grunted: “I’ve already sent text messages to all three contacts, letting them know I’m here and asking them to pass along their numbers—but none have replied.”

Perhaps they were busy, or perhaps they disliked this kind of bypass communication—none of the three executives in his contact list had responded.

“We might still find them later,” Song Yufeng said optimistically.

Yu Xing continued listening patiently to the leader’s report, but it turned out this wasn’t the last speaker—another local official took the stage to discuss the upcoming Internet enterprise software development and supply-demand matchmaking meeting hosted by Jin Ling, as well as the promotion of Jin Ling’s HX District CBD commercial zone.

This final speech before lunch, to Yu Xing’s ears, boiled down to two key words: outsourcing and real estate.

When the host finally announced the end of the morning session, he and Song Yufeng followed their plan, one going left and the other right, pushing against the tide of people to search for the bosses of the three online dating brands.

But the venue was packed, and everyone was moving in opposite directions.

“Hey, glasses! My glasses!” As Song Yufeng squeezed through, a guest’s arm brushed his glasses off his face, and he was instantly pushed backward by the crowd. “Hey, wait! Stop! Stop!”

The people around Song Yufeng wanted to stop, but those behind him refused to halt.

By the time he found his glasses again, the lenses were shattered into pieces—but Song Yufeng still pressed on, trying to spot the bosses of the three dating brands through the blur.

“What happened?”

After a long while, a dejected Song Yufeng heard Yu Xing’s voice and explained the sudden mishap.

“It’s fine—if we didn’t find them, we didn’t find them. I didn’t see them either. Let’s ask the organizers for contact info after the afternoon session,” Yu Xing patted Song Yufeng, who was effectively blind. “Come on, let’s get temporary glasses first.”

Song Yufeng, hearing Yu Xing’s tone wasn’t disappointed, said: “Yu Zong, your mindset is calm.”

“This is just the beginning,” Yu Xing smiled. “Besides, just now, as I walked that way, I ran into Ma Zong from Alibaba.”

Song Yufeng perked up: “Did you pitch Guai Ai Network to him?”

“I called out to him, smiled at him, and he smiled back,” Yu Xing said. “The environment made any real conversation impossible—he wouldn’t talk to me anyway.”

Song Yufeng nodded: “Hmm, Yu Zong, you’ve still had contact with a giant’s leader. If I were writing a report, I could write a piece about your mutual greetings.”

Yu Xing couldn’t help laughing, then said after a few seconds: “But when I saw Ma Zong, I remembered something important.”

Song Yufeng leaned in: “What?”

Yu Xing smiled: “I won’t tell you.”

Song Yufeng sighed helplessly: “Yu Zong, we’re on the same boat—don’t tease me like this!”

Yu Xing shook his head: “That’s on a different boat. Hurry up—get your glasses fixed and come back quickly. We arrived too late this morning; otherwise, we could’ve looked for people earlier.”

As for that important thing…

Seeing Ma Zhuan in person today had truly sparked a flash of insight.

Yu Xing instantly recalled Alibaba’s current special situation: Alipay’s control had not yet been separated from Alibaba.

This issue had caused a huge uproar, first revealed in Yahoo’s Q1 2011 financial report, which publicly admitted that Alipay’s ownership had been transferred from Alibaba—though the move had been completed as early as August 2010.

The news caused both Yahoo’s and Alibaba’s stock prices to plummet, especially Yahoo, which was already in decline and suffered a heavier blow.

If this news were to be broken first by “Baixiaosheng”…

Yu Xing kept thinking about this piece of information, unlikely to be affected by the butterfly effect—if “Baixiaosheng” exposed it, Song Yufeng wouldn’t end up in jail, since it was factual.

Beyond stock price effects, it might trigger unpredictable ripples within Alibaba.

In 2005, Yahoo invested one billion U.S. dollars in Alibaba, signing an agreement that would increase its voting rights to 39% by October 2010, reducing Ma Zhuan and management’s voting rights to 31.7%, while also adding one more seat to Yahoo’s board, matching the number held by Ma Zhuan’s team.

And there was another critical clause: “Ma Zhuan cannot be fired”—which would also expire.

If “Baixiaosheng” chose an ill-timed moment to expose this… would it trigger a chain reaction?

Yu Xing’s mind raced—Yahoo’s tensions with Alibaba had been deep. Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang, who had rejected Microsoft’s acquisition offer, had been replaced; he was an old friend of Alibaba’s, but his successor didn’t recognize Alibaba’s achievements. In fact, that CEO had publicly criticized Ma Yun in front of a group of Alibaba executives.

What was her name again? Hadn’t she been CEO of some other company before?

“Hey, hey, Yu Zong! Yu Zong!” Song Yufeng called twice and shook Yu Xing’s arm. “The light’s green! Even without glasses, I can see it’s green!”

Yu Xing snapped back: “Oh, right, let’s go.”

Song Yufeng sensed Yu Xing was distracted and teased: “He just smiled at you—how long are you going to savor that?”

Yu Xing took a deep breath, looked at the legal representative of Baixiaosheng, and said seriously: “Feng Ge, you have the potential to become the strongest stirrer of shit in this industry.”

Song Yufeng laughed heartily: “What’s the strongest?”

Yu Xing couldn’t imagine how strong it could get, but his emotions had calmed. He mused: “There are so many people here—we don’t need to rush to find Zhen Ai Network. Let me see if I recognize anyone else.”

Song Yufeng frowned: “Recognize? What do you mean?”

Yu Xing patted Song Yufeng’s shoulder: “Finding them will bring good things.”

Even without glasses, Song Yufeng could make out a strange expression on Yu Zong’s face.

“This shop will do—get temporary glasses,” Yu Xing said, spotting an eyewear store. “I’ve realized now: this trip isn’t just about dealing with dating brands—we need to expand our network, find something more valuable.”

As Song Yufeng stepped into the eyewear shop, he muttered: “Yu Zong, I think you’re… too excited.”

Probably because he was thrilled by the industry’s grandeur.

Though Yu Zong was capable, he was still young.

“You get your glasses here—I’ll step outside and call Zhong Zhiling. They should be arriving in Jin Ling today,” Yu Xing said, not explaining his thoughts, turning to call the company’s No. 3.

He also mentioned, incidentally, that the website project was now officially on the agenda.

Oh, and the company’s legal representative.

“Uh, so it’s Song Yufeng as legal rep? He, uh, that…” Zhong Zhiling was both surprised and familiar with the situation. “He, that…”

Hearing Zhong Zhiling struggle to speak, Yu Xing asked: “What? What about him?”

After a long pause, Zhong Zhiling blurted: “Master leads you through the door, but sentencing depends on the individual.”

Yu Xing didn’t get angry—he laughed instead. “Alright, I shouldn’t have pulled you in.”

“Just a joke, just a joke,” Zhong Zhiling hurried to say. “Xing Ge, is this website really necessary? Didn’t you say you wanted to build an e-commerce tool, a price-comparison site?”

Yu Xing grunted: “Yeah. We’ll see how much Guai Ai Network sells for. Baixiaosheng’s funding should be sufficient for a while—Ying Jie also believes in its future and is willing to invest 500,000 yuan. So, Zhiling, think about your next steps.”

Zhong Zhiling smiled: “So I’m choosing which website to be sentenced on?”

Yu Xing offered a third path seriously: “You can return to school and continue your graduate studies—you’re on leave, not expelled.”

Zhong Zhiling froze.

After a long silence, he spoke in a lower voice: “No matter how much Guai Ai Network sells, the price won’t cover my losses.”

Zhong Zhiling held 8.6% of the company. To fully cover his financial shortfall, Guai Ai Network would need to sell for at least five million yuan—but under current conditions, no matter how much it was overvalued, it wouldn’t reach that level.

Yu Xing said calmly: “You and Xiao Ying hold a combined 15%. When the company sells, be honest with each other—you get your share, she gets hers—but you both have the chance to jointly build your future.”

He continued: “Even if Xiao Ying doesn’t want to pool her cash, if you can cover part of the deficit, your future burden as a doctor will be much lighter. So my suggestion is: seriously consider your future.”

Zhong Zhiling listened, his emotions surging.

Yes—he had a chance to return to that quiet life.

To become a doctor again.

Ordinary, busy, content.

He could recover part of his lost money; after all he’d been through in three months, what was there to be unsatisfied with?

After a long while, Zhong Zhiling spoke into the still-connected phone: “Alright, Xing Ge, I’ll think about it carefully.”

He slipped his phone into his pocket and stood still, waiting for his girlfriend to emerge from the supermarket.

“Zhiling, did you call Brother Xing?” Lu Haiying, backpack on, handed her boyfriend a juice, then noticed his expression. “What’s wrong?”

Zhong Zhiling took a deep breath: “Xiao Ying, what do you think about me continuing my graduate studies?”

“Not good,” Lu Haiying said without hesitation. “I don’t think continuing your studies is a good choice, especially now.”

Zhong Zhiling struggled to say: “I think being a doctor is good—regular life, clear future. Now, following Xing Ge, following Xing Ge…”

“What’s wrong with following Brother Xing?” Lu Haiying tilted her head. “Has Brother Xing treated you badly? Personally, I think working with a sincere brother on a business is great. If you ask me, my advice is: don’t go back to school.”

Zhong Zhiling sighed, sensitive to the phrase “sincere in dealings,” and finally summoned the courage to speak: “Do you really think Xing Ge is sincere? He just says it—do you treat those words as gospel? Why do you think he built Guai Ai Network? And why are you leaving your graduate studies to follow him?”

Lu Haiying looked at her boyfriend and replied with perfect ease: “You’re talking about your 430,000 investment loss.”

Zhong Zhiling nodded and sighed: “Yeah, so you know how he… ah!”

He stared at his girlfriend, eyes wide with shock: “What did you say?”

“Four hundred thirty thousand,” Lu Haiying confirmed the number, then added with precise recall, “That was before starting the company. Afterward, there was another 15,000 borrowed from relatives and 20,000 in government startup support loans—totaling 465,000.”

Zhong Zhiling: “…”

Looking at his eerily calm girlfriend, he felt his mind spin.

Lu Haiying looked at her boyfriend and asked again: “Yu Xing already told me everything. Now, do you still think he’s dishonest?”

Zhong Zhiling’s voice scraped out from his throat: “Uh… uh… uh…”

Lu Haiying sighed: “No matter what you think, I believe Yu Xing did nothing wrong.”

Listening to his girlfriend’s voice and remembering his senior’s promise, a cry—unnameable in emotion—slipped through his teeth: “Yu Xing! Yu Xing!!”

(End of Chapter)