Chapter 70

Once a person's bottom line is loosened, it seems it will keep moving.

When Song Yufeng returned to the hotel that night, the moment he finished washing up and lay on the bed, he suddenly remembered that his initial psychological bottom line seemed to be 22%. Then, he found himself completely unable to sleep.

How was his psychological bottom line broken step by step?

Did the three of them, Yu Xing and the others, really not conspire in advance?

Is this fair to him?

Song Yufeng thought about his defection from NetEase and the recording blackmail he had suffered earlier, and suddenly a sense of injustice arose in his heart. Could they really manipulate him like this?

I might not lack the potential to become an excellent entrepreneur!

Can I really not pull people together to start this project myself?

Song Yufeng turned over, and the thought vanished along with the movement.

Forget it, he had already tried. Registering a company, setting up a website, recruiting talent... these were all such a hassle. Since he had already tried, why persist?

With this thought, his mood suddenly lightened a lot, and he reflected on himself.

Is my bottom line necessarily correct? Do I really have the ability to start a business?

And, with the sale of Gui Ai Wang imminent, do they really lack my 120,000?

Looking at it from another angle, by just putting up 120,000, he would be joining a seasoned startup team, successfully obtaining shares, getting to stand in the spotlight, and continuing to maintain his integrity...

Is it unreasonable? It is reasonable.

Besides money, all I can bring to the table is a backbone of steel.

Song Yufeng changed his posture, looked up at the ceiling, and in the dead of night, he had to face his true self once again.

Is my backbone really that hard?

He closed his eyes and made peace with himself.

Heh heh, President Yu said it well: if there's a problem, look for the cause in yourself first. Once you start looking, you find so many causes, ha.

September 24th, the weather was clear and the breeze was gentle.

Song Yufeng got up early for a cup of black coffee, hurriedly washed up, went to the hotel restaurant to eat, and then met up with President Yu, who had already been waiting for a while.

Yu Xing was smoking by the side of the road and gestured to Song Yufeng: "Want one?"

Song Yufeng shook his head and glanced at the security checkpoint: "Are they letting people in now?"

"Not yet. It was a bit late yesterday, and a bit early today." Yu Xing smiled, "It's fine. We don't have to go in later; we can just act as temporary student volunteers and look everyone over one by one. That's about the same."

Song Yufeng said sincerely: "President Yu, I feel like your brain always turns very fast, and you are especially good at utilizing your identity as a university student."

Yu Xing replied nonchalantly: "For people like us, it's both proactive and reactive. We can only use what we have. Otherwise, what do you suggest we do?"

If he had money and connections, he would also want to pull out his phone and solve the problem instantly. The problem was that he didn't, and since he wanted to get things done, he had to calculate what he had on hand and what he could borrow.

Song Yufeng waited for President Yu to finish his cigarette and asked: "President Yu, were you guys really not planning this yesterday?"

Yu Xing shook his head: "Really not."

He answered this way, expecting Song Yufeng to continue asking, but to his surprise, the man quieted down.

Yu Xing glanced at Song Yufeng and smiled: "Brother Feng, your mindset adjusted well and quickly."

"I thought about it this way: if I go out and do it myself, not only will I be laboring and toiling, but I'll also have to face your competition." Song Yufeng said quite proudly, then added, "If I wasn't quick, if I hadn't agreed yesterday, I'd be afraid our relationship would be in danger."

Those two supporters of President Yu had already spoken to that extent—either agree or leave. It was possible that it was instigated or hinted at by President Yu behind the scenes.

Yu Xing smiled slightly: "You think too poorly of people."

Song Yufeng shook his head: "Forget it, give me one."

Yu Xing handed him a cigarette, helped him light it, and lit one for himself as well. After taking two puffs, he said leisurely: "But thinking too poorly of people isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Hearing this, Song Yufeng couldn't immediately figure out if this counted as an admission or a denial.

But after he finished the cigarette, he suddenly felt that the underlying tone of President Yu's words was that it didn't matter if he thought he was bad or not; he didn't care about the process, as long as the result was fine.

"Come on, wear your badge backward and help out with this conference." Yu Xing looked at the guests and audience members appearing one after another and reminded him.

Song Yufeng hurriedly followed President Yu's lead, flipping his identity from guest to volunteer.

The time was still early and few people had arrived, so there was no need to maintain order yet. The two stood not far from the security checkpoint, keeping smiles on their faces for the audience and guests, which was no different from the behavior of normal volunteers.

Even other volunteers came over to greet them.

"Here so early?"

Hearing the greeting, Song Yufeng felt a tightness in his chest, worried about a slip-up.

"Yeah, nothing else to do anyway." Yu Xing responded naturally, "Hey, I saw several famous people yesterday. Did you see them?"

Song Yufeng saw the two of them chatting enthusiastically and suddenly thought of the words of those two supporters from yesterday. Could this add another 0.001% to the shares...

Soon, the time when order actually needed to be maintained arrived.

Yu Xing was diligent in his duties, maintaining order seriously and responsibly, while not forgetting to scrutinize everyone who passed by him.

However, before the three buyers could be found, Ma Zong from Alibaba walked through this entrance surrounded by a crowd.

"Hi, Ma Zong, at 4:30 this afternoon, come listen to my speech at the Internet Community Forum." Yu Xing greeted him and gave the invitation at a rapid pace.

Ma Yun smiled with some surprise, not quite understanding what this volunteer meant, but he didn't make any other moves and continued walking forward.

The people beside him looked at the reckless volunteer with frowns, astonishment, or disgust.

Yu Xing smiled, nodded at their stares, and continued to maintain order.

A moment later, Song Yufeng leaned over and said: "President Yu, let's go in too. They might have gone through the other side."

"No rush." Yu Xing shook his head, "Anyway, we made contact last night, so there's no need to be too anxious today."

They had made contact last night, but the replies they received were all uncertain. He didn't know if he would be able to see them in the afternoon, so if he could consolidate things in the morning, that would be even better.

However, his luck in the morning was perhaps a bit poor.

As Yu Xing thought this, he acted as a volunteer for a while longer and intended to enter the venue, when he suddenly spotted a slightly chubby man who looked familiar.

Compared to Gong Haiyan of Century Jiayuan and Li Song of Zhenai, Duan Muyan, the co-founder of Baihe, was the most familiar face because he later participated in a workplace program called "Only You," making him somewhat famous.

"Hi, President Mu, good morning." Yu Xing greeted him.

Duan Muyan had seen this volunteer looking at him from afar, and upon hearing the greeting, he asked curiously: "Do you know me?"

Yu Xing flipped his badge over, showed the front, and extended his right hand: "President Mu, I called you last night. I am Yu Xing from Gui Ai Wang."

Duan Muyan looked at the badge in surprise, saw the text as expected, and shook his hand with a smile: "President Yu, why are you here?"

"I thought it hadn't started inside yet and it was still a bit noisy, so I was acting as a volunteer outside." Seeing one of his target figures, Yu Xing followed him into the venue, saying as they walked, "I'm a student at Jin Ling Medical University. This is the first time Jin Ling has held a conference like this, so I'm contributing a modest effort."

Duan Muyan nodded slightly; it was reasonable and convincing.

He said casually: "President Yu is also giving a speech this afternoon. That's very impressive."

"I've only been in business for three months. Honestly, I really don't want to go up there. I'm still trying to figure out how to run my own company, and if I go up there and say the wrong thing, what should I do?" Yu Xing was somewhat hesitant, but also had the eagerness of a university student, "However, this conference is being held in Jin Ling, and my alma mater is here, so I was 'tapped' to do it. I have no choice but to muster the courage to try."

Duan Muyan felt it was very reasonable. A conference in Jin Ling, having a local university student entrepreneur go on stage—that was normal.

Song Yufeng, who was following along, heard the conversation and had one feeling: it connected! Holy crap, he actually managed to connect the conversation!

Not only did it connect, but he even threw in a "tapped"!

Who has the status to "tap" someone?

At the very least, there must be some small connection or background!

The three of them walked into the venue, and the noise rushed toward them.

"President Mu, 4:30 this afternoon." Before parting, Yu Xing took the initiative to extend his hand again, emphasizing the time in his invitation, "Internet Community Development Forum, you must come and help me keep an eye on things!"

Duan Muyan shook his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll definitely be there this afternoon. President Yu, good luck!"

He turned and walked toward his assigned seating area.

Song Yufeng watched the figure of the Baihe co-founder walk away before speaking: "He'll definitely come now!"

Yu Xing nodded and smiled: "I invited him in person, and he agreed. Of course he'll come."

"You didn't just invite him in person, the way you speak is layer upon layer..." Song Yufeng pondered the previous interaction and said sincerely, "President Yu—no, Brother Xing, you have to teach me!"

Watching the finalization of this invitation, he felt that Yu Xing had managed to hook the man without appearing deliberate in the slightest, completing a small goal.

"What layer upon layer." Yu Xing shook his head, "You, and Zhiling, you're just prone to being too mechanical."

Song Yufeng really couldn't help but ask with anticipation: "What if we hadn't waited for the buyers outside this time? What would we have done?"

Yu Xing looked at Song Yufeng: "Brother Feng, I'm not a god. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. What else could we do? We would have just had to use a text message to invite them one last time."

Song Yufeng understood: when luck comes, you have to seize it!

Immediately, another thought surfaced: should he also tightly seize this opportunity to buy into the company?

Before the two sat down, they tried to look around and find the other two sellers, but whether they hadn't come or had gone to a different venue, they still couldn't be seen.

"Let's leave it at that. Send those two a text message at 3:00 this afternoon." Yu Xing said after sitting down, "The company's price will be decided in these next two days."

Song Yufeng nodded. Whether the company's price could be negotiated would likely depend in part on the afternoon speech. An acquisition of one or two million for companies like Zhenai certainly couldn't be called large, but calling it small would also be an expenditure. The cross-level contact at the conference platform was the best moment.

Song Yufeng spent the morning listening to the big shots on stage while pondering the role he would play in this project.

Near noon, he asked Yu Xing: "President Yu, about this Bai Xiaosheng of ours, how do you think I should exert my value?"

Yu Xing was silently thinking about his afternoon speech. Hearing this question, he turned his head to look at the man beside him and said sternly: "Brother Feng, don't have too much pressure. I have only one requirement for you: be iron-willed."

Song Yufeng smiled: "A hard backbone wasn't enough, now we need an iron one?"

"Life is like a play. Since you are the last hard backbone of NetEase." Yu Xing said seriously, "In the future, you can aim for goals like 'The Hardest Bai Xiaosheng' or 'Iron-Willed Song Yufeng.' I'm not joking with you; you can earn money while standing tall."

Song Yufeng savored President Yu's attitude.

Yu Xing added one final sentence: "By the same token, if you can't stand tall, then don't bother earning this money."

Song Yufeng turned the thought over in his mind and nodded to show his attitude.

By 4:00 in the afternoon, near the time to go on stage, many audience members had already satisfied their curiosity or seen enough excitement, and the less-than-ideal sub-venue seemed much quieter.

"Hey, why haven't they come yet?" Song Yufeng walked around, checked the situation nearby, and then bent over from the aisle to sit beside President Yu.

"You need to have a calm spirit." Yu Xing had just said this when he spotted the man he had met in the morning, "Look, he's here. Make room for President Mu."

Song Yufeng hurriedly moved over two seats.

Someone was speaking on stage. Duan Muyan, who had entered at this time, also bent over slightly to look for a seat from the aisle and soon noticed the founder of Gui Ai Wang, Yu Xing, who was waving at him.

Before sitting down, Duan Muyan scanned the venue and didn't see any big-name figures, let alone Ma Yun, Ma Huateng, and others from the phone calls yesterday.

But he had guessed the general situation as soon as he heard the phone call yesterday, so he wasn't too disappointed at this moment. In these kinds of things, you never know.

Facing a university student and a junior in the industry, Duan Muyan didn't put on airs in this kind of setting; he just smiled and chatted in a low voice about some small experiences in the online matchmaking industry.

Song Yufeng saw the two chatting enthusiastically, but what he was thinking about was the first hot news topic the "Know-it-all" website wanted to develop. Hmm, since this person from Baihe was giving them so much face, he would mention it less when the time came.

"President Yu, I asked around about your Gui Ai Wang, and there is indeed talk of an acquisition going on." Duan Muyan chatted and turned the topic to what Yu Xing was currently doing, "What are your own thoughts?"

Yu Xing hesitated and replied: "President Mu, to be honest, I'm also hesitating. I have very little entrepreneurial experience. I feel this niche track can be developed, but..."

"Do you want to keep doing it, or do you want to sell it for a higher price?" Duan Muyan was blunt at this point, "They said that the 1.3 million we at Baihe offered you is already very high."

Yu Xing nodded and answered honestly: "Yes, Baihe is currently offering the highest price."

Duan Muyan was a bit surprised. This "highest offer" information was quite critical, and he had obtained it so easily.

He couldn't help but smile: "President Yu, you speak very frankly. Since that's the case, I'll also frankly state my view: if I were the one negotiating this, I think I could only buy your project for 1 million."

Song Yufeng's thoughts swirled instantly: mention it, you have to mention it! You must mention it fiercely!

"I feel it would be very difficult for me to give up a career that can be developed for just 1 million." Yu Xing expressed his attitude.

Seeing this stance, Duan Muyan continued: "When you called me yesterday, I asked the person in charge of this matter. They gave the same thought, but they refuted my opinion, saying that this matter is not as easy to do as one might imagine."

Song Yufeng understood: first suppress it, then make up for it—this was already the start of haggling!

"Hmm, I heard that not only Baihe, but Zhenai and others have also tried." Yu Xing didn't hesitate to share his understanding, "Facts have proven that campuses have their own ecology. It's not that this boundary can't be broken, but it requires more effort."

All three buyers had money. Although their existing teams weren't very suitable for conquering campuses, they could build suitable teams.

However, the new business had only been around for three months and was still in a period that could be observed and verified. Everyone didn't need to be in a rush to push it forward rapidly.

Duan Muyan nodded in appreciation: "Not bad, that is indeed the case. I also feel that you are able to realize where the competition lies. It's impossible to say that this business can make money and yet no one has been able to compete with you—that would be too much wishful thinking."

Yu Xing nodded silently.

Duan Muyan observed the university student's reaction, pondered for a moment, and said: "President Yu, let me say two sincere words. My viewpoint was corrected by my colleagues. I now think that acquiring you is a good decision, but by the same token, it is also a good decision for you."

"Why do I say that?"

"If you are willing to come to Baihe, I will give you an acquisition price of 1.5 million right now."

Seeing Yu Xing about to speak, he gestured for him to listen until he finished.

"But I don't really want to talk to you about price, nor do I want to haggle back and forth. I think what's more important for you and for us is what happens after the acquisition. You come to Baihe, and you continue to do this business you're familiar with."

"Baihe is going to go public in the future. You come in now and build up a piece of the business, and you'll be holding shares of the future IPO. That value is far, far greater than the 100,000 or 200,000 we're haggling over now."

Yu Xing pondered in silence, appearing tempted.

Duan Muyan added more fuel to the fire: "President Yu, back then I came out of Tsinghua, went to the University of Massachusetts in the US for my PhD, then went to Microsoft Research Asia, went to WebEx, and then started a business. It wasn't until 2005 that I co-founded Baihe with my alumni."

He sighed slowly: "Over these years, one of my life experiences is that one must attach importance to the practice of long-term value."

The earnest life experience from an industry senior from a prestigious school, plus an offer 200,000 higher than the previous highest price.

Song Yufeng put himself in his shoes and was almost swayed. Holy crap, these people all have a trick up their sleeves!

Clapping erupted in the venue; the speech on stage had ended.

Yu Xing's expression changed: "It's my turn. Thank you for the life experience, President Mu."

Following the host's introduction, Yu Xing rose from his seat, walked along the aisle, and went up to the stage.

This year's Internet Conference had set up plenary sessions, featured venues, corporate sessions, and other different sections. This one was a featured venue, but there weren't many guests or audience members below.

Yu Xing stood on the stage, his field of vision very broad. After a glance, he was a bit disappointed.

Only Duan Muyan from Baihe was present; Gong Haiyan from Century Jiayuan and Li Song from Zhenai hadn't come, and those big-name leaders went without saying—perhaps they were still attending higher-level meetings.

Since that was the case, he had done his best.

Yu Xing took a breath and gave his opening statement.

"Hello everyone, I am Yu Xing, a graduate student who founded Gui Ai Wang."

"Gui Ai Wang is a company dedicated to growing together with young couples, and before starting this business, I was a first-year graduate student in pathology."

The topic of his speech today was "The Future of the Internet in the Eyes of a University Student." He had originally thought about using it as a precursor to covet the giants, but now he could only chat like this.

Hmm, chatting for Duan Muyan to hear was also fine.

"Many people are very puzzled about me coming out of school to start a business. I've studied medicine for so many years, so why did I suddenly make such a decision?"

Yu Xing wasn't nervous at all, speaking eloquently.

However, he suddenly spotted two people walking in from the side of the venue—it was Gong Haiyan and Li Song.

Yu Xing, in a flash of thought, slightly changed his words: "But just now, my company, which has only been in business for three months, has already received an acquisition offer of 1.5 million from President Mu of Baihe. I believe this has perfectly responded to many people's puzzlement and skepticism."

A first-year pathology graduate student, in business for only three months, received an offer of 1.5 million.

Combining this information could make the audience below slightly interested.

As for Gong Haiyan and Li Song, who had just entered the venue to find seats, they heard the information about their competitor and looked at each other in unison.

Duan Muyan didn't expect the university student to talk like this on stage. He didn't notice the competitors sitting down behind him, just nodded to the stage to acknowledge that this matter was true.

"But I haven't decided whether to sell or not." Yu Xing revealed a smile at this moment, "Because our company has the hope of sprinting toward 10 million in revenue in the coming year."

Gong Haiyan, who was just about to sit down, said to Li Song: "President Li, shall we sit further forward?"

Li Song nodded in agreement: "Sure, let's go to where President Mu is."

Duan Muyan continued listening for two sentences before feeling that someone had sat beside him. He turned his head and saw that the two bosses of his competitors had arrived.

He greeted them and looked at the university student on stage again, and his heart understood: he had just mentioned him on the spot—was he still trying to raise the price?

This President Yu hadn't taken a single bit of life experience to heart...

Duan Muyan turned the thought over, considering the current situation. Since he had discussed it with his colleagues and felt that this business indeed had a certain potential, he would try his best to help his subordinates make progress.

"Gui Ai Wang, founded three months ago, has achieved some results. This is inseparable from the vigorous development of the Internet. In particular, a portion of our orders comes from online communities, from the most special university online community currently on the Internet: Xiaonei."

"This has caused me to have many thoughts about the Internet industry and its future development."

Yu Xing was just about to continue following his script when his peripheral vision suddenly spotted a group of people passing by. It was none other than Ma Yun from Alibaba, but they had no intention of entering this venue, just walking forward while chatting and laughing.

The university student entrepreneur on stage had his thoughts racing, his right hand unconsciously gripping the microphone tight. The next second, a sentence blurted out.

"At the same time, as a young shop owner on Taobao and Taobao Shangcheng, I also have some thoughts on the future of Internet e-commerce."

Yu Xing paced two steps on the stage and saw that the group of people passing by had stopped. Ma Yun, in the middle, turned his head while chatting and laughing, pointed at this venue, and then was surrounded as they walked over.

Without a doubt, the entry of the giant's leader caused a small commotion at the scene, even though they all sat in the back rows.

Gong Haiyan, Duan Muyan, and Li Song, sitting in the front row, felt the commotion, looked back, and saw that Ma Zong from Alibaba had just sat down.

At this moment, they all remembered the phone invitation from last night in unison. No way, was it for real?

Did this Yu Xing really call Ma Zong? And Ma Zong really took the time to come??

Song Yufeng, sitting to the side, saw Ma Zong's entry and the surprise of the three buyers. Looking back at President Yu on stage, he estimated that it was that sentence about "Taobao and Taobao Shangcheng" that had attracted the big shot's attention.

He remembered what President Yu said in the morning: "Sometimes you need a bit of luck."

Song Yufeng let out a long breath. You need luck! But you need even more to be able to seize that luck!

(End of chapter)