What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 387 Encirclement and Suppression
The data from iResearch Consulting is slightly distorted.

It believes that both of Silicon Carbon's software programs have surpassed the 5000 million user mark, but the latest hot topic is still at least a month away from growth.

However, even with such a rough assessment, Zhang Chaoyang felt that Carbon Silicon Data Company had considerable potential for development.

Sohu News originally had content authorization for Silicon Carbon Data, but it was later revoked due to increasing competition. However, Sohu was unaware of the user base of the latest trending topic and only vaguely felt that something was amiss.

Looking at the data now, this is seriously wrong!

Because of this injustice, the previous decision to cancel the cooperation was absolutely right!

"Mr. Zhang, what's this all about? You're asking to buy my company right off the bat. What's going on here?" Yu Xing responded to Zhang Chaoyang's interest.

Zhang Chaoyang asked, "Aren't you building cars? If you sell your mobile internet projects to make money, you'll be more financially secure building cars. Once your cars are finished, I'll help you promote them."

“Building cars won’t interfere with my work. My main job is to invest and raise funds. The rest is done by my subordinates,” Yu Xing said with a smile. “Also, you big shots all like to solve problems directly with money. Your methods are similar. Jack Ma from Alibaba also wanted to buy cars, and he asked me to pack up my baggage and start building cars.”

Zhang Chaoyang asked in surprise, "Didn't you two have a falling out?"

Yu Xing replied, "It was precisely because I refused to sell that we broke up. Carbon Silicon Data Company is run by an independent team. They are very confident and unwilling to sell the company, so I followed their wishes."

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Chaoyang said, "Your software is using our news and information; you can't do it like this."

Yu Xing responded with another matter: "Mr. Zhang, if that's the case, then I also need to report this issue to you. My senior executives have reported that your news app developers are still using anti-flashing channels to reverse-flash our software. Isn't that a bit unethical?"

The so-called "reverse flashing" means that the flashing company first pre-installs software A, and then the machine is flashed again by a second company using software B to overwrite the original software.

Yu Xing had just learned about this situation from Zhong Zhiling's feedback from the front lines in Beijing. Apparently, the anti-fraud rate is over 30%, which is quite high.

As news apps, Latest Hot Topics and Sohu News are direct competitors, and both are vying for a share of the pre-installation market, making clashes and anti-fraud efforts inevitable.

Currently, it seems that the Sohu team is more experienced, as their anti-fraud measures have been in place for some time.

In other words, Silicon Carbon Data increased its budget for the pre-installation channel, upgrading from a small customer to a large customer, which is why it was able to learn about more targeted actions.

Of course, Yu Xing had mentioned the exclusive agreement with Sohu News before he knew about this, but that's another matter.

Zhang Chaoyang was a little confused: "Reverse brushing what?"

"You don't know?" Yu Xing sensed from the tone that the other person didn't seem to be faking it, and praised, "That's the team from Sohu that's in charge of promotion. They're very experienced. Mr. Zhang, could you ask them if they'd be willing to come to Carbon Silicon Data Company?"

After frowning for a few seconds, Zhang Chaoyang asked, "Don't change the subject. Today I'm asking you, are you selling silicon carbon data?"

Yu Xing gave the same reply as Ma Chuan: "Not for sale."

Zhang Chaoyang asked, "Aren't you going to quote a price?"

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Mr. Zhang, do you have money? Sohu's stock price is just so-so."

Sohu's market value is $15 billion. Not to mention giants like Tencent and Baidu with hundreds of billions of dollars, it has now fallen behind NetEase with $55 billion and Sina with $30 billion, and it was once known as one of the "Three Musketeers of Portals" along with these two.

He genuinely didn't understand why Zhang Chaoyang would come up with the idea of ​​acquiring Carbon Silicon Data Company.

Zhang Chaoyang immediately replied, "Of course."

Yu Xing said with a smile, "The silicon carbon data is not for sale. If you have money, would you like to come to Lingang to take a look? My car project here still needs money."

Zhang Chaoyang: "?"

There was a moment of silence on the phone.

Zhang Chaoyang said, "Okay, I'll go take a look next week."

Yu Xing: "?"

He asked casually, half-jokingly, never expecting the other party to agree.

There was another brief silence on the phone.

Yu Xing, feeling a little uneasy, welcomed him, saying, "Okay, Mr. Zhang, I'll be waiting for you in Lingang. Um, um... Silicon Carbon Group welcomes you."

Zhang Chaoyang ended the call.

Yu Xing put down his phone and stood there for a moment before telling Liu Wanying, who was watching a movie on the living room sofa.

Upon hearing this, Liu Wanying asked in bewilderment, "Isn't Carbon Silicon Data competing with Sohu News? Why would Zhang Chaoyang come here? He called to discuss an acquisition, what's his thinking?"

Yu Xing shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I don't know, he's probably crazy."

Mr. Zhang's thinking cannot be judged by common sense.

Liu Wanying leaned back on the sofa and said with a smile, "Research institutions are good at stirring things up. A single report can bring an acquisition to the forefront for you CEOs."

That's definitely based on her experience.

Yu Xing frowned and remained silent, his mind racing with thoughts.

Seeing this, Liu Wanying sat up and asked in surprise, "Can it still have a significant negative impact?"

Yu Xing thought for a while before saying, "After Ma Chuan promoted the term 'super app' so much, it now looks quite jarring when applied to Carbon Silicon Data. Sohu News has already cut off content authorization, and maybe other companies will be interested as well."

Aside from that, this "eye-catching" aspect is likely to bring about different changes.

Since its inception, Carbon Silicon Data has maintained a rather pragmatic approach to development. The information aggregation aspect is not highly valued by the industry, and many similar projects in the past have proven to have limited prospects.

However, when the actual numbers are presented, they are still quite shocking.

And, not to be modest, Yu Xing felt that his reputation for "operations" would also be superimposed on Carbon Silicon Data Company, which might eventually lead companies like Tencent to re-examine their own projects.

For example, Weishi, a short video platform.

After Douyin became a hit, Tencent has been trying to catch up with Weishi, but Weishi was actually launched as early as 2013. However, after a while, it felt that there was no future in it and disbanded it. Douyin was launched in 2016.

If silicon carbon data gets involved, will Tencent, which is still suffering from competition from Alibaba, start to pay more attention to short videos?

Yu Xing wanted to persuade the penguin to let go of its hatred, but he also felt that the other side would be blinded by hatred and would insist on fighting him to the death whenever there was a chance to compete.

After all, I do sometimes attract a lot of hatred from geese.

Moreover, Tencent is currently embroiled in a fierce battle with Alibaba, and if it believes that the short video sector has enormous potential, it will likely invest a considerable amount.

All of these factors must be considered.

After much deliberation, Yu Xing decided that he still needed to find a way to engage in strategic deception and prevent the evolving penguin from stumbling upon the right direction. He considered the possible scenarios and couldn't help but sigh, "The burden of reputation, indeed."

Liu Wanying took a beat to snap out of the movie, glanced at Yu Xing's expression, and asked, "What mischief are you up to now?"

“I was just thinking about those heavyweight competitors, it’s not easy.” Yu Xing shook his head. “You research institutions are really wicked.”

Liu Wanying corrected, "We research institutions are really wicked."

Then she laughed and said, "You're a heavyweight competitor. NetEase and Sina will have to step in quickly to compete when they see your growth, right?"

Yu Xing did not explain, which is also a problem.

In fact, just one day after Zhang Chaoyang called directly, Sina also called.

Both discussions revolved around acquisitions, and both received the "not for sale" response. However, Sina opted for cooperation as a second choice, requesting a renegotiation of the significance of Sina's content licensing.

Yu Xing understood what he meant and confirmed, "So, if we don't reach an equity cooperation agreement, Sina won't grant us content licenses anymore, right?"

“Mr. Yu, why do you interpret it that way? It sounds like a threat to you, but I think it’s a win-win situation,” Sina CEO Cao Guowei laughed. “Otherwise, with your latest hot topics developing so quickly, wouldn’t we be raising a tiger to cause trouble?”

Yu Xing asked, "Does that include Sina Weibo?"

Cao Guowei immediately replied, "Of course."

Yu Xing discussed, "The problem is that Sohu also approached me for cooperation. If we cooperate with Sina in the same way, Sohu will cut off our authorization. NetEase might have similar thoughts."

Cao Guowei said, “Sina is different. We are both a portal website and the most active social media in China. This is a true win-win situation. Mr. Yu, I think we should have no objection to the prospects of Weibo. You yourself have a great influence on it.”

This time, Yu Xing did not immediately refuse, but gave a vague attitude: "President Cao, I will consider it. Carbon Silicon Data Company is indeed a team doing it, and I need to consult their opinions."

Cao Guowei has no problem with it.

On October 5th, Ding Lei of NetEase finally called.

Ding Lei is a man who can become the richest man in China at the age of 32, and then inexplicably get into pig farming.

His phone call this time really showed the magnanimity of the former richest man: "Mr. Yu, I found out that the valuation of Silicon Carbon Data Company in the last round was more than 7 million US dollars. If you are willing to sell, NetEase is willing to give 10 billion US dollars in cash and stock. I believe that your Silicon Carbon Group will not be troubled by funding in automobile research and development."

When Yu Xing heard about the car financing again, he smiled slightly and finally asked the question he hadn't asked before: "Mr. Ding, to be honest, Sina and Sohu had already called to discuss acquisitions before you. I'm very curious, why do you all want to buy Carbon Silicon Data Company?"

Ding Lei countered, "Isn't your silicon carbon data project intended for sale?"

Seeing that Yu Xing did not answer, he said directly, "I don't know what they think, but Alibaba's acquisition of WeChat was very successful. The software matrix under Carbon Silicon Data Company seems to be very good. Both software with 5000 million users have good potential. WiFi Master Key looks like it can still achieve rapid development in the next two years. With domestic operators' data charges not decreasing, WiFi Master Key's application scenarios are very imaginative."

Ding Lei then joked, "Moreover, I've heard that Mr. Yu's after-sales service is also very good. With Alibaba and WeChat setting such a high bar, we might as well follow suit."

WeChat's Lunar New Year Lucky Cards are still a much-discussed operational practice in the industry.

Yu Xing laughed and said, "It seems I have a good reputation now. However, Mr. Ding, Carbon Silicon Data Company is not for sale. Although the price is good, it can't sway me."

NetEase's price has increased by 36% compared to its recent financing round, which is indeed very generous.

Upon hearing such a firm reply, Ding Lei did not press the matter, but his tone softened slightly: "Then forget it, thank you for disturbing President Yu."

"Mr. Ding, Mr. Ding," Yu Xing called out to Ding Lei, who was about to hang up, and invited him, "would you be interested in coming to our Carbon Silicon Group in Lingang? We don't sell the carbon silicon data, but our Carbon Silicon Group is willing to accept financing."

Ding Lei smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, I don't know much about cars, nor am I interested in building them. However, since you put it that way, I'd like to ask you why you switched from the internet to the car manufacturing project. If you had focused all your energy on the carbon silicon data company, I believe it would have developed even better than it is now."

“Carbon Silicon Data Company is already doing quite well,” Yu Xingxian said, then added, “President Ding, others may not understand me, but don’t you understand?”

Ding Lei laughed and said, "How should I understand you?"

Yu Xing asked, "Is my car manufacturing any more bizarre than your pig farming?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Lei laughed heartily and said repeatedly, "That makes sense, that makes sense, but my pigs are doing very well now."

After a moment's thought, Yu Xing took the initiative and said, "Then I'll go to Anji in a couple of days to see if it's really that good."

Ding Lei was somewhat surprised: "You knew my factory was in Anji?"

"Mr. Ding, you are an outstanding entrepreneur in Zhejiang Province. We're from the same province. I saw the news about you becoming the richest man when I was a freshman in college. I never thought I would have any dealings with you when I was studying medicine. I really intend to buy your pork and see what it tastes like." Yu Xing said earnestly.

As fellow Zhejiang businessmen and a junior colleague, Ding Lei was quite pleased to hear such support for pork. He set a time to take Yu Xing to see the good pigs in the Anji factory.

Two days later, Yu Xing indeed led a group to Anji to see the pigs and praised them highly. He placed an order on the spot for 500 million yuan worth of pork to supply the canteen of Lingang Carbon Silicon Group.

However, despite the deliciousness of pork, Silicon Carbon Data Company still cannot sell it.

The National Day holiday began with Carbon Silicon Data Company holding two software programs that had the potential to become super apps, while the holiday ended with a series of hot news reports about the termination of cooperation with Sina, NetEase, Sohu, and Sina Weibo.

The former refers to the heated discussion sparked by Yu Xing's operational reputation, while the latter refers to the problems existing in information aggregation projects.

Despite the aggregation, the upstream content seems to have more control.

On October 15, another piece of news related to Carbon Silicon Data Company was revealed: Chutian Metropolis Daily filed a lawsuit against Carbon Silicon Data, on the grounds that its latest hot topics content infringed on copyright.

In just half a month, the carbon silicon data company, which had just been praised by iResearch Consulting, was first interrupted by the content provider and then sued for infringement by traditional media, and it seems to be facing a multi-faceted attack.

This dramatic turn of events has taken the industry by surprise.

However, what was even more surprising was the news that came out in the latter part of the month.

It is said that Sohu CEO Zhang Chaoyang and NetEase CEO Ding Lei each invested $1000 million in Silicon Carbon Group.

One minute they're praising Yu Xing's carbon and silicon data, the next they're actually investing money in his car manufacturing project. The news that comes out in just half a month is truly puzzling.

Not only outsiders, but even those within Sohu and NetEase were puzzled. Zhang Chaoyang and Ding Lei were both approached by senior executives to discuss the investment.

After thinking about the question for a while, Zhang Chaoyang said, "I think his PPT presentation was very good, and the factory was also very well built, so I submitted the application."

Sohu executives had only one thought upon hearing this response: the boss really needs to be dealt with.

Ding Lei recalled his visit to Lingang in the middle of the month, where Yu Xing and his team gave him a lengthy introduction, covering everything from policies and R&D to the future and the current situation, from the company to the supply chain...

Finally, the young man pointed to the Lingang factory with great enthusiasm and asked, "Mr. Ding, how does my car manufacturing compare to your pig farming?"

Ding Lei did not answer Yu Xing, but decided to invest. He felt that Yu Xing was very serious about making cars, far exceeding his expectations.

But he answered his own executives' questions directly: "I think the cars Yu Xing makes will be just as good as the pigs I raise."

(End of this chapter)