What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 244 Gunsmoke
Yu Xing felt obvious changes from investors.

One phone call is not obvious, two calls are just small talk, but three or four calls are different.

But unlike the previous time when he was unable to produce a product, Yu Xing was more anxious at that time. WeChat, which is now in internal testing, has already polished its outline before being launched on the market. Not to mention the host and the guest are in a different position, there is really no need to be so anxious.

What's more, WeChat Company only took US$500 million in financing from Hongyun, and secretly included the surprise short selling of Huaxia Forest, so it still had US$350 million in reserve funds.

Therefore, Yu Xing and investors' previous ideas are consistent - we always have to look at the market performance.

Adjustments will be made after the market performance is revealed. This is not only responsible to investors, but also to the company, and even more so to the options held by employees.

Liu Wanying raised some doubts about this statement.

"Don't you have the slightest intention of rejecting them because of their previous attitude?"

Yu Xing’s answer was: “If you think it’s available, then it’s available. If you think it’s not available, then it’s not available. Similarly, if they think it’s available, then it’s available. If they think it’s not available, then it’s not available. There are many projects and money in the world. It’s a two-way choice.”

Liu Wanying felt that she had already got the answer, so she smiled knowingly and didn't mention the matter again.

However, Liu Jiankai couldn't help but run to Bai Xiaosheng.

Facing Vice President Liu's smiling question, Yu Xing helplessly asked back: "What reason? What reason do you want to hear? When you rejected me, I didn't ask for the reason."

Liu Jiankai heard some emotions and advised: "Mr. Yu, don't act on impulse. We are all for the development of the project."

"I'm not acting on impulse. I just feel like you investors are like springs." Yu Xing stretched out his right hand and waved it in the air from left to right, and then from right to left. "I understand you, and you understand me too."

Liu Jiankai frowned slightly. You are strong, but it is weak like a spring...

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Mr. Xiong called me and I had the same attitude. Let's talk about it later." Yu Xing expressed his attitude.

Liu Jiankai was surprised and asked, "Boss Xiong called you too?"

Yu Xing nodded and said, "I was also quite surprised. Both Mr. Zhang and Mr. Xiong called me. Have you communicated with each other? It's fine if we're just one family, but why do you all suddenly have different considerations?"

Liu Jiankai was silent for a while and talked about the competition between Sina Weibo and Penguin Weibo, which is a very eye-catching competition nowadays.

Yu Xing suddenly realized and asked in surprise: "Are you guys that sensitive? How many users does Sina Weibo have now?"

He did not follow the development of Sina Weibo, but he knew the outcome of this competition.

"Sina Weibo released data in April, saying that its user base had exceeded 4 million." Liu Jiankai is very familiar with the data. He paused and said, "According to the data we learned from a third-party agency, the user base of Sina Weibo this month is between 1000 million and 1800 million."

Yu Xing exclaimed: "This is quite a remarkable growth."

The official data for April was only 4 million. In just two months, the number has increased by 1000-800 million, which can be said to be a huge surge.

Liu Jiankai nodded and said, "Yes, this growth is really too strong! Moreover, this is not just a matter of user scale, but also a matter of active users and strong platform content. Penguin has created an icon and synchronized speech, not to mention that the user scale has not caught up, and its content output rooted in the 'inbreeding' of QQ users itself is much inferior."

The content posted by QQ users in QQ Space is synchronized to Penguin Weibo. The data may look good, but the quality is completely different.

Yu Xing asked curiously, "Just based on these, you want to test the prospects of the WeChat project?"

"It's not just that. Your efforts in the past four months are admirable. I am impressed by the vitality of WeChat." Liu Jiankai said sincerely, "If it were other venture capital firms, they would not understand the amazing results that Mr. Yu has achieved during this period. It would be difficult for them to have the determination to invest and maintain support just based on the competition with Weibo."

Yu Xing sensed Vice President Liu's lobbying and said with a half-smile: "According to what you said, apart from you three, I can't find any other funds willing to take the risk?"

"Mr. Yu, we did have disagreements in the past regarding the incubation of this project. There is a saying in the stock market that goes "buy when there is disagreement". In fact, this is buying when there is disagreement turning into agreement. Now is the time for us to move from disagreement to agreement." Liu Jiankai advised earnestly, "Instead of wasting energy on funds, you might as well focus on the early verification of the WeChat product. Besides, everyone's money is money. Money will not change its own value because of likes or dislikes."

"Mr. Liu, Mr. Liu, I think you are the most diligent person in Capital Today." Yu Xing said with a smile, "Look at you running back and forth again and again, you are really a lackey of Capital Today."

Liu Jiankai is not angry: "I am willing to take a closer look at the situation. I am afraid that a good project will not get the right funding because of my narrow vision. That would be a pity for both parties."

"That's it, Mr. Liu. I'm very grateful that you are willing to pay so much attention to us, but I also know that everyone is still skeptical. According to what you said, the consistency of the transfer is not consistent enough. As long as the market has data performance, I believe we can have a more consistent assessment." Yu Xing stretched out his right hand and suggested, "Do you want to go to the fourth floor to take a look?"

Liu Jiankai looked at Mr. Yu's expression and felt that if he didn't invest the money this time, there would probably be more trouble than good.

He could only add with sincerity: "Okay, if WeChat needs any help or lacks any resources, please tell me on WeChat. Putting aside the relationship with Capital Today, I personally would also like to see Penguin encounter severe challenges."

Yu Xing smiled slightly and took Vice President Liu downstairs to visit WeChat Company.

There was actually no difference in the environment for this observation, but in Liu Jiankai's eyes, the discussions among these employees seemed to become shining.

"Is Mr. Xu okay?" Yu Xing asked when he was sending Liu Jiankai downstairs.

"It's pretty good, and I'm full of praise for WeChat," Liu Jiankai replied.

Yu Xing laughed and said, "I thought she would scold me again if I rejected her on the phone."

Liu Jiankai shook his head and said, "Not really. Mr. Xu is very graceful."

Yu Xing laughed out loud.

Liu Jiankai controlled himself from laughing, otherwise it would seem that he agreed with the other person's expression.

Standing downstairs, he thought of another thing: "Oh yeah, I heard that Sina Weibo and big bloggers are doing exclusive contracts. Mr. Yu, have you received a contract as well?"

“Yes,” Yu Xing replied. “I even asked about it specifically because I have a Bai Xiaosheng here. As a result, Sina said that it’s only exclusive to Weibo-like platforms. They were also very straightforward and said that it’s mainly aimed at Penguin.”

Liu Jiankai nodded slightly, and felt more and more that Sina Weibo had a good competitive prospect.

Before he left, he exchanged a few last words of greeting: "Mr. Yu must be very busy recently, and please take care of your health."

"It's not bad, but I've been eating too much meat and fish, so I feel like I need to exercise more." Yu Xing said honestly, "I haven't been very busy lately."

He recently attended several weddings of former clients, and then posted the relevant updates on Renren.com, demonstrating that he is serious about this conscientious entrepreneurship and that the word-of-mouth feedback is also very good.

Liu Jiankai gave his own understanding: "The calm before the storm! Mr. Yu, come on!"

Yu Xing didn't even give such a boost of encouragement within WeChat. He just gave a polite smile when he heard the words.

The storm is indeed approaching. However, it is not the storm of WeChat competing with Penguin, but the storm of Penguin competing with 360.

Last month, Penguin launched "QQ Computer Manager" with similar functions to 360 Security Guard, which was protested by Zhou Hongyi on Weibo at the time.

On June 6, Yu Xing, who had been paying close attention to this matter, received a report from his secretary that the "QQ Doctor" included with QQ on his computer was automatically upgraded to "QQ Computer Manager", and no prompt information was received during the installation process.

Obviously, this move by QQ will greatly increase the installation volume and market share of the new version of security software in computers.

After receiving the report, Yu Xing did not disclose it immediately. Instead, he asked his employees about the situation, searched for similar information on the Bai Xiaosheng Forum, and then posted a post on Weibo to complain about the situation.

As a result, the complaints of this million-dollar celebrity once again appeared on the hot search list.

Yu Xing was really confused this time. He once suspected that Sina Weibo had a mechanism to filter competitor information and would push this kind of information.

Then, he remembered the gentleman's agreement with Li Song of Zhenai.com and sent him a message on WeChat: "I complained about Penguin's computer manager. How could this become a hot topic?"

Li Song replied: "I probably didn't notice it, I just went online when I saw you were active."

Yu Xing was speechless: "Can you make a more makeshift team?"

Li Song apologized: "After all, I am not a professional. The first time is new, the second time is familiar."

But no matter what, such a hot topic did attract many users with similar situations to complain, and also prompted 360's boss Zhou Hongyi to speak out again, condemning the unfair competition of QQ Computer Manager's silent installation.

At the same time, Zhou Hongyi also announced his communication with Penguin Boss Ma Huateng, condemning the other party for not keeping his promise.

He said that Ma Huateng promised not to put 360 to death, but now this silent installation relying on the huge traffic of QQ has hit the vital point of 360 company!
Sina Weibo is quite lively.

However, as before, Penguin did not make any public response and continued to maintain its giant-like silence.

It implemented its competitive strategy silently but resolutely, and finally pushed 360 company into a corner.

As a platform for sensitive workplace paparazzi, the Bai Xiaosheng Forum had some inconspicuous revelations, saying that a team at 360 company was in seclusion considering competitive strategies.

As for what countermeasures are, this is too confidential to be known.

However, Yu Xing knew that it must be the secret weapon that allowed Penguin to make a difficult decision between the two options.

"I feel like 360 ​​is going to be in trouble this time." Liu Wanying expressed her thoughts on the competition in the security software field on WeChat.

"Looking at Zhou Hongyi's past experiences, I can already smell the smoke of gunpowder," Yu Xing replied.

Regardless of the facts, Liu Wanying immediately praised: "What a nice nose, you are worthy of being a commercial sheepdog."

"Just wait and see, there will definitely be a lot of excitement." Yu Xing also talked about the company's launch when discussing this matter. "Our marketing department has already taken action. This week, we will carry out publicity in the campus ecosystem. The banner we put up is not to benchmark QQ, but to benchmark Fetion. It will be a free SMS software that is better than Fetion."

Comparing with QQ may easily attract unnecessary attention, so it is much better to use Fetion as a reference.

"Is there any growth now?" Liu Wanying asked.

Yu Xing replied: "We haven't taken any action yet. The initial movement won't be big. We need to give gradual feedback and optimization to the growing user base."

Although WeChat's technical team has done an excellent job and impressed the three investment institutions, the time is still insufficient and the related service support needs to be debugged step by step.

At the same time, based on the same reason, WeChat’s promotion to enter the campus ecosystem is only in Beijing, Lin’an and East China.

Liu Wanying had a feeling that with the necessity of real work, the timing of shorting Penguin might be delayed, and this would require corresponding adjustments to the funds.

However, before she could start making adjustments, a report from Computer World specifically named the issue and made everyone excited.

On June 6, Computer World published a cover headline article titled "Damn it" about the giant company's imitation, bloodbath, killing, attack, and covetousness...

Among them, it quoted the remarks of several company founders who had direct competition with Penguin, and also mentioned the remarks of a vice president of a well-known investment institution, describing it as "looking at each other in the eyes and cursing in secret."

Yu Xing was very sure that the content of this report must be different from the original one, because it also mentioned his discussion on the TV show, and the question "Do penguins have ideals now?"

Of course, the overall style has not changed, it is a strong and almost brutal attack.

As someone who was interviewed before and had psychological expectations, how can I say...

Yu Xing knew the influence of this report and could only say...it was quite an honor.

What’s even more honorable is that Computer World registered an account on the Bai Xiaosheng Forum and simultaneously posted this report online, which instantly became the most popular topic of the day on the forum.

The number of online users on the Bai Xiaosheng Forum thus directly broke through the historical high...

Portal websites such as Sohu and NetEase reprinted the content without hesitation, and the comments on Weibo and Baixiaosheng were exported and sold domestically. Many tourist accounts also went through real-name and work authentication.

The officials, the company, and the spectators, it was a rare spectacle!

Just three hours later, Yu Xing received a call from Ye Huayu, vice president of Penguin, who politely asked Bai Xiaosheng to withdraw his paper.

"What?" Yu Xing knew that a small website like his would definitely not be taken seriously by the giants, and the other party might not know his style. He was too lazy to talk nonsense and said, "It can't be done. Don't go through the process. Just send the letter directly."

Ye Huayu was startled when he heard this: "Boss Yu, what do you mean?"

"It means it can't be done." Yu Xing expressed his attitude again, "It can't be done, it can't be withdrawn, it can't be handled."

After a moment of silence, the person on the phone said, "Mr. Yu, Penguin is a family..."

Yu Xing interrupted directly: "Why? Can you create a competing website for Bai Xiaosheng? Come on, you guys definitely don't mind creating another one anyway, come on!"

There was only three seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before the fruitless call ended.

It's not without results. We applied pressure, but without giving any face, there was... rebound.

(End of this chapter)