Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 185: Zhongyuan Yidianhui is a shareholder? A stone stirs up a thousand waves
But some things cannot be declined.

Cao Sheng just replied to Wang Jing, saying that he is too busy to attend.

The next morning, he received a call from Zhu William himself. Over the phone, Zhu William appealed to his emotions and reason, and persuaded him for a long time.

In short, it means one thing: Brother! Give your brother some face.

Cao Sheng, who once thought he had long since gotten over the stage of being too shy to say no to others, now finds that he can't even say no.

A big boss called him personally and did some ideological work on him, almost asking him for a favor. How could he still have the nerve to refuse?
I can only agree.

In fact, he was really too lazy to go.

It's not just because he was not eligible for the award this time, he actually has no interest in winning the award.

This was mainly because he felt that the online literature awards of this period were meaningless, Qidian.com had not yet been established, and most of the authors who could be considered great writers in his memory had not yet entered the industry.

In his opinion, online writing awards at this time were held too early.

If he was invited to the annual authors' conference during the heyday of Qidian, he would definitely be interested in going.

Under the banyan tree?
For the works published under the Banyan Tree, the only way to make money is through publishing; even paid reading has not yet been started.

For an author who cannot support himself through subscriptions, it is a bit far-fetched to call him an online writer.

However, since Under the Banyan Tree insisted on holding this award and the boss called him personally to invite him to attend, he might as well accompany them!

He didn't take the award seriously.

However, after Under the Banyan Tree posted an announcement on its website homepage that the first online literature award would be held on New Year's Day.

Many authors were excited.

Especially when everyone saw the content of the announcement, not only many authors were excited, but many readers also couldn't remain calm.

Because there is such a sentence in this announcement: "The winning works will be voted by readers of the whole site. From now on, a voting button will be added to all works on this site. Each registered user will have three votes, which can be cast for all three works or for different works.

In addition, the works of our shareholder Zhongyuan Yidianhui can be voted, but his works will not be included in this award. Zhongyuan Yidianhui will serve as the award presenter for this grand prize and present the award to the champion work. "

As expected by Under the Banyan Tree, as soon as this announcement was made, the comment section below was quickly flooded with comments.

"What? Zhongyuan Yidianhui is a shareholder? When did he become a shareholder?"

"When Rongshuxia was building the website, Zhongyuan Yidianhui hadn't started writing novels yet, right? So, he became a shareholder later?"

"Shit! So I'm writing books under Zhongyuan Yidianhui?"

"Ah Hui is hiding it too well! I told you his background is not as simple as the news reports, right? Look! Look! He must be a rich second-generation! Maybe he is the largest shareholder of this website!"

"I'm so stupid! Really! I used to naively think that Zhongyuan Yidianhui was just like us, writing novels. It turns out that he is a capitalist!"

"I was wondering why that guy has been serializing his works here! So this is what's going on!"

"No wonder none of our novel data are as good as his! Tsk tsk, so this is the truth! No wonder!"

"I have begun to doubt whether "The Days of Living with a Flight Attendant", "I Want to Become an Immortal" and "God's Tomb" were written by him personally. Could it be that someone else wrote them for him? Otherwise, how could he write these three books when he hasn't even graduated from college?"

……

The book review section for Cao Sheng’s three books soon saw a lot of posts related to this announcement.

"Ah Hui! When did you become a shareholder? Come out and tell us about it! Just to satisfy our curiosity, okay?"

"Mr. Author, you're already a shareholder, but you still write novels for us every day? Are you really hiring someone to write for you?"

"Damn! If it weren't for this announcement, I wouldn't have known that the author is actually a shareholder. How scary!"

"Author! Come out and explain! Are you really a shareholder?"

"Awesome! He is worthy of being my idol. He became a shareholder of the website by writing novels. Awesome!"

"Ah Hui, how many secrets have you hidden? If the website hadn't released the announcement this time, who would have known that you are already a shareholder here?"

……

Book fans and netizens were talking about it.

Other industry websites were quick to take note of the announcement.

Hongxiu convened an emergency meeting for this purpose.

At the meeting, the boss asked everyone what they thought about this matter?
Someone said: "If their men's fiction website can hold this kind of award, our women's website can do it too! Shall we hold one too, boss?"

Someone said: "Boss! If you have enough funds, you can indeed hold one! However, the expenses of holding an award are probably not small! Our website is not profitable yet, can you afford it?"

Someone else said: "It would be great if Zhongyuan Yidianhui was on our website! With his fame and influence, I think even if we only give out some soap and laundry detergent to the winning works, these authors will probably come to receive the awards! Because as far as I know, many authors read his books!"

This made many people in the conference room laugh.

Someone smiled and said, "You're dreaming! Go out and ask! Which website doesn't want Zhongyuan Yidianhui to be serialized on their website? The question is who can invite him? He is a shareholder of the website!"

Someone else followed up: "What do you mean many authors read his books? You should say that among those who write novels now, how many of them don't read his books? Most authors are reading his books to learn!"...

Compared to the discussions in Hongxiu's conference room.

The boss of Dolami, who is wealthy and powerful, is even more domineering.

In the original time and space, at the end of 1999, this website spent 400 million to acquire 20 of the top 16 personal book websites in one go.

At this moment, they have recently been acquiring those personal bookstores and have already bought several of them.

After seeing this announcement, the boss of the company thought for a moment and called his secretary.

"Can you help me contact this website and ask them if they are selling it? If so, how much would it cost?"

The secretary was surprised.

"Boss! Our recent acquisition plan does not include Under the Banyan Tree! Under the Banyan Tree is now the largest literary website in the industry and has the highest valuation. If we buy it, our previous budget will definitely not be enough!"

The boss nodded and smiled, "When I was making the acquisition plan, I didn't know that the author Zhongyuan Yidianhui was actually a shareholder of this website. At that time, I was thinking of acquiring more personal book sites. When our overall strength exceeds that of Under the Banyan Tree, we can invite Zhongyuan Yidianhui to serialize here. I believe that good birds choose good trees to inhabit, and he will definitely come.

I didn't expect him to be a shareholder. There's no hope of inviting him, but our financing plan needs him as a signboard! There's a big difference between having him and not having him. The best online novel writer is not under our company. It's difficult to convince investors to finance us!
Therefore, as long as this website is willing to sell, we will buy it at all costs! As long as we can get it, no matter how much we pay, we can earn double in the future financing! Do you understand?"

It's rare for him to explain in such detail, how could the secretary not understand?
She nodded, "I see! I'll contact them right away, I hope they're willing to sell!"

1999.
The Internet bubble has not burst yet.

It is easy for many Internet companies to raise funds.

Many investors are optimistic about the future of the domestic Internet and are willing to place multiple bets just to bet successfully on one or two of them.

As long as you make one or two correct bets, you can take the lead in the development of the domestic Internet. This is very important for investors who are not short of money.

Many domestic Internet companies were founded during this period.

For example, Baidu was founded in 2000.

Tencent was founded in 1998.

Alibaba, founded in 1999.

Mouyi, founded in 1997.

and many more.

Many novel websites were also founded during this period.

During this period, many visionary people believed that the domestic Internet would be a hot spot, and whoever could seize the initiative would have amazing returns in the future. Hot money also poured into this industry, and it was much easier for Internet companies to raise funds during this period than in other industries.

only……

Although many people foresaw the future of the Internet, they did not foresee that the Internet bubble would soon burst.

In the original time and space, this Dolami company quickly disappeared when the Internet bubble burst.

But this does not affect its current wealth.

What does it mean to spend 400 million to acquire a group of personal bookstores in this era?
You should know that the reason why the original time and space starting point launched the paid reading system was actually a gamble that it was forced to take. Because before the decision to launch paid reading, the seemingly prosperous starting point was almost unable to sustain, and the founder of the website had already started selling houses to maintain the operation of the website.

Could the starting point at that time be worth 400 million?

By 2004, Qidian's paid reading service had been successfully implemented, and Shanda acquired Qidian for only US$200 million, or approximately RMB 1500 million.

But at that price, Qidian had already successfully explored a profit model, and at that time, Qidian had already become the leading website in the industry.

It is conceivable that before Qidian successfully launched paid reading, its valuation was much lower.

And now it is 1999.

As soon as Dolami entered the market, he spent 400 million to acquire a personal bookstore, which shows how wealthy he is.

but……

Boss Zhu under the banyan tree is no ordinary person.

He also owns a sizeable advertising company.

So, when Dolami called and wanted to use his money to buy his website, Boss Zhu changed his gentle and polite attitude when he was on the phone with Cao Sheng. After listening to the other party's intention, he was silent for a few seconds and suddenly said one word: "Get lost!!"

Then he hung up the phone.

Boss Dorami's beautiful secretary seemed to be petrified on the spot. The smile on her face froze and she didn't move at all.

His eyes were full of surprise.

She couldn't believe that she had spoken politely about the acquisition, but the other party's CEO had such a bad temper?
No manners at all!

(End of this chapter)