Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 607 What truly constitutes acting like a big shot?

"We chose Los Angeles because we wanted to avoid the dry, tech-driven culture of Silicon Valley and embrace Los Angeles' creative, artistic, and entertainment industries, focusing on building a truly fun social platform."

On the morning of October 6, 2013, Chen Nuo visited Snapchat's headquarters located on Venice Beach in Los Angeles.

Evan Spiegel, accompanied by several other executives of similar age, greeted him warmly at the gate. After meeting, they walked together into the villa.

Meanwhile, a young man of Asian appearance was giving a clear and articulate introduction.

“Our company currently has 34 people, mostly engineers and product designers. The core team is from Stanford, and we have about 350 million daily active users, mainly high school and college students in the United States.”

“350 million,” Chen Nuozan said. “That’s a huge number.”

The young man smiled politely at him and then said, "Our current user base is, of course, far, far behind Facebook's. But our growth rate is astonishing, almost doubling every month. More importantly, user engagement is extremely high. Our statistics show that over 1.5 million of our users open Snapchat an average of more than 20 times a day."

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "More than 20 times! Really?"

Evan Spiegel chuckled. "That's right, everyone who hears this number is surprised because it turns out that young people are more interested in sharing moments than showing off their lives. Okay, we're here, Chen, welcome to our company. Please come in."

At this moment, they arrived at the door of the small villa, but the door was not opened; it was ajar.

Everyone, including Evan Spiegel, stopped and stepped aside, gesturing for Chen Nuo to go first.

Chen Nuo looked around, smiled, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Then, several loud "bangs" were heard.

Inside the door, a row of young employees dressed in flashy clothes stood around, holding confetti cannons. They set them off the moment he pushed the door open, sending colorful confetti exploding in the air.

Some people dressed up as clowns, some painted their faces white and dressed up as vampires, some wore green tracksuits with the number 456 written on them, some wore suits and held a spinning top, and some wore takeout T-shirts and jeans that read "Venice Beach Pizza Co.", almost exactly the same outfit that Cassian wore most of the time in "DROP".

Then the group shouted in unison, "Welcome to Snapchat!"

Chen Nuo laughed out loud, waving his hand and saying, "Thank you, thank you."

Evan Spiegel came up from behind, rubbing his hands together and smiling, "Ever since we knew you were coming, we decided to hold this little welcome ceremony for you. We hope you like it."

"I really like it," Chen Nuo said with a smile. "Thank you very much."

At this moment, a red-haired girl in her twenties, wearing thick glasses, walked up with a bouquet of flowers, looking somewhat excited.

Chen Nuo quickly accepted the flowers.

Evan Spiegel smiled and introduced, "This is Lisa, she's a big fan of yours, and this welcoming ceremony was her idea."

“Really? Thank you so much, Lisa.”

Chen Nuo smiled and gave her a gentle hug.

After they parted, Lisa seemed a little agitated, her face flushed, and her eyes glistening with tears. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

At this moment, Kenny Chen, the black-haired Chinese youth who had previously introduced the company to Chen Nuo, put his arm around her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Lisa's expression relaxed a little, and she said, "Chen, I've been watching your movies since college. Twilight accompanied me throughout my college years, and I really like the character Edward. Back then, I always thought it would be great to meet you. Today, my wish has finally come true, and I'm really happy."

“It’s my pleasure, thank you for enjoying my movie.” Chen Nuo smiled and said, “Now it seems you’ve found your Edward, haven’t you?”

Lisa glanced at Kenny Chen and said with a smile, "Yes."

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "That's good. Kenny, treat Lisa well, or I won't let you off the hook."

Kenny Chen nodded and said, "I will."

Evan Spiegel chuckled and said, “They met at our company and have been dating for two years now. I’m not against office romances. On the contrary, I think they’re great; they can strengthen our company’s cohesion.”

Chen Nuo gave a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Evan, it seems you really do understand human nature better than those people in Silicon Valley."

Evan Spiegel laughed out loud.

Next, Chen Nuo took a group photo with Snapchat employees and signed his name on their visitor registration form before being ushered into the conference room.

Perhaps to further showcase the dynamism of Snapchat as a startup, he was arranged to observe this week's Snapchat meeting.

Chen Nuo originally thought it was just a formality, but he didn't expect the meeting to be so intense.

The man with the same last name, Kenny Chen, has "Chief Technology Officer (CTO)" on his business card. According to Evan Spiegel, this Stanford graduate is not only proficient in image algorithms and core backend architecture, but also leads Snapchat's AR research and development, serving as the company's technological hub.

However, this incredibly talented tech guy was criticized and questioned by the person in charge of user growth because of the recent increase in user complaints against Snapchat. This usually mild-mannered young man was so angry that he turned red in the face.

He retorted loudly, "I know our camera module doesn't perform well on Android, but my entire team and I work on it every day, and we've done our best. However, this is a problem with the underlying code..."

"cough."

Evan Spiegel coughed, interrupting, "Kenny."

Kenny Chen glanced at Chen Nuo, his voice immediately lowering as he said, "What I mean is, I need more substantial support, more manpower. Unlike now, it's like fixing a plane with duct tape, patching it up as it flies."

“No problem, Kenny,” Evan Spiegel said. “We’ll be closing another round of funding soon, and then we’ll quickly assemble an even stronger team to fully support you.”

The meeting was short, lasting less than half an hour. Everyone else left, leaving only Chen Nuo's group of three and Evan Spiegel in the meeting room.

Then, the short-haired young man became serious and looked at Chen Nuo, saying:

“Chen, I believe that by now you should be able to see that Snapchat was never born to be acquired. We are building a completely new, more authentic, and more millennial-friendly way of communicating. I know what your purpose is, but I'm sorry, we have made our decision. Please tell Mark Zuckerberg that we have formally rejected his $30 billion offer. $30 billion to buy a revolutionary platform that will change the future of social media is an insult to our vision.”

Chen Nuo frowned and said, "Evan, I think you've misunderstood. I'm here not with Mark at all; I'm just here on my own behalf. In fact, I'm very interested in your company's third round of financing, I..."

But he didn't finish speaking.

"List."

Evan Spiegel interrupted him abruptly, saying with a half-smile, "No offense intended, but I believe everyone in Silicon Valley and the tech world knows about your relationship with Mark. If I remember correctly, you were Mark Zuckerberg's best man at his wedding, weren't you?"

Chen Nuo was stunned.

Seeing his expression, Evan laughed even harder. "Chen, actually, the moment I saw you, I knew why you wanted to contact me. It was too obvious. Honestly, besides Mark Zuckerberg, the most iconic figure on Facebook, suddenly approached me without warning. How could I not guess your purpose? Mark Zuckerberg wants you to persuade me to accept Facebook's acquisition, right?"
Actually, the reason I invited you to our company was so you could see for yourself what that bastard Zuckerberg really missed out on. I believe he'll regret it someday. Of course, I'm very grateful that you came; many of our colleagues are your fans. For example, Lisa really did stay up all night preparing for this welcome ceremony…”

Upon hearing this, Chen Nuo truly understood what Peter Thiel had said earlier. Sure enough, Evan Spiegel was just a self-righteous idiot!

Just as he was about to explain, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang without warning.

He gestured for Evan Spiegel to wait a moment, then looked at the caller ID with some surprise. After answering the phone, his expression changed immediately after only a couple of sentences.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go back to China immediately."

After hanging up the phone, he sat in his chair and stared blankly for a while.

Gulnazar and Allison gathered around.

"Boss, what's the matter?" Gulnazar asked.

Chen Nuo shook his head, stood up, and said to Evan Spiegel, "That's all for today. Evan, I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. I'll pass on your message to Mark."

"Okay, Chen. Goodbye."

After leaving Snapchat's villa, Chen Nuo's face darkened completely. As soon as he got into the car, he said, "Nazha, call the flight crew right now and have them make arrangements. I need to go back to China immediately. Alison, you need to find a house as soon as possible and bring the child and Gao over."

"Understood," Allison agreed, looking at him as if hoping for an explanation.

Chen Nuo didn't want to say anything, but Gulnazar asked with a worried look, "Boss, what's wrong? What happened? You're scaring me."

Chen Nuo then said with a dark face, "Liu Yifei has been admitted to the hospital..."

……

……

Over the phone, Liu Xiaoli, completely distraught, cried as she spoke, saying that Chen Nuo only knew that Liu Yifei had overdosed on medication and had been taken to the hospital.

On the plane, I learned from Qi Yuntian via satellite phone that after the stomach lavage, there were no major problems.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

When he landed in the capital, he received another call from Qi Yuntian, who said that Qi Yuntian had woken up and that he and Li Jing were at the hospital with him, and that he should just take his time. But how could he possibly take his time?

He didn't close his eyes for more than ten hours on the way. He got into the car that Huanxin Company came to pick him up and arrived at the hospital at 10 p.m. Beijing time.

Qi Yuntian was waiting for him downstairs at the hospital. When they met, Chen Nuo didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to asking about the situation.

While listening to Qi Yuntian speak, they went inside and took the elevator upstairs.

The hospital where Liu Yifei is currently working is right next to her home. It's just a Grade III Class B hospital, and there aren't many people there, so her arrival didn't attract anyone's attention.

"She's asleep now."

"The incident happened last night, but luckily Aunt Liu went to look for her and discovered it early."

"I called 120 immediately."

"I don't think anyone in the media has heard the news. But I've already asked people to keep an eye out. I've also informed the doctors and nurses."

"I think there won't be any problems from the outside world right now. The key is her."

"The doctor said it might not be that she wanted to commit suicide. It's possible that she was just confused when she took the medication and experienced dissociative symptoms."

"Yes, it's definitely a pretty serious case of depression."

"Aunt Liu is with her; she's emotionally distraught right now. Li Jing is also there."

"The decision regarding subsequent treatment, whether to transfer to another hospital or what, and where to continue treatment, will likely be up to you."

At this moment, the elevator had reached the fifth floor, which was Liu Yifei's floor.

Chen Nuo was about to walk forward, but then stopped and asked, "Why?"

Qi Yuntian said, "Hmm, it should be 'Liu Rushi'. Aunt Liu said she's been watching the news about this movie at home these past few days. She couldn't attend the promotions because of health reasons, but she's still quite interested."

Chen Nuo knew about the fact that the movie, which had been completed more than a year ago, was finally being released during this National Day holiday. He frowned and asked, "So what happened? What went wrong with this movie?"

Qi Yuntian gave a wry smile: "The situation is not very optimistic; it has not met expectations."

"In which aspect?" Chen Nuo pressed.

"Various aspects."

Qi Yuntian sighed, "During the seven-day National Day holiday, the total box office was less than 300 million yuan. On Weibo and Douban, there are quite a few criticisms about her acting skills. Also... a few days ago, a recording was leaked. I don't know who in her crew secretly recorded it, but it was some investors in the film saying that she was acting like a diva. This matter was trending on social media a few days ago, and the pressure from public opinion online is enormous, with all sorts of opinions being said."

"The investors say she's being arrogant?"

"Yes. You know, the investors in their movie are from the local area... So I guess it's because she got too into character this time. She didn't like to talk to people on set, seemed a bit aloof, and didn't socialize or be polite with them. So some people gossiped about her privately, and unexpectedly, someone recorded it and posted it online. As a result, some people on Weibo, just to get attention, didn't even bother to find out the truth."

"Understood." Chen Nuo nodded, and without lingering any longer, continued walking forward.

Upon arriving at the ward, sure enough, Liu Xiaoli was sitting by the bedside, accompanied by her agent, Li Jing.

Liu Xiaoli's eyes were swollen and red, clearly from crying for a long time. Liu Yifei lay on the bed with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep under the influence of medication. Her face was a little pale, and she looked several sizes thinner than when he last saw her during his trip back to China. Being thinner makes one look younger, and this sight reminded him of when he was filming The Return of the Condor Heroes, seeing his aunt when she was sixteen or seventeen.

Upon hearing the sound of the ward door being pushed open, Liu Xiaoli turned around and immediately stood up.

Besides the family members, there was a young nurse in the room, changing the IV drip at the bedside. As she finished changing the dressing and turned around, she suddenly saw Chen Nuo's face and let out a soft "Ah!"

Startled by the noise, Liu Yifei, who had been sleeping, immediately opened her eyes.

A moment later, everyone left, leaving only him and Liu Yifei in the ward.

He chuckled and said, "You really don't tell me anything, do you?"

Liu Yifei turned her head away and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"You really should apologize. I told you last time to call me if anything happened. And what happened?"

Liu Yifei didn't say anything, but two lines of tears streamed down her face again.

Chen Nuo pretended not to see it and continued, "Do you know that what you think is an insurmountable obstacle might be as simple as a wisp of sand that someone else could blow away?"

"Just like how you feel upset when you see those rumors on Weibo..."

As Chen Nuo spoke, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

After a couple of rings, the other end answered.

A very attentive and gentle voice said, "Mr. Chen, good evening. What made you decide to call me?"

Chen Nuo spoke earnestly, word by word: "President Cao, are you in charge of Weibo now? Should I call Jack Ma right now? Or have you forgotten about me, a minor shareholder, now that I've been away for six months?"

The voice on the other end suddenly became a little off-key, stammering, "This, Mr. Chen, what do you mean by that? I don't quite understand."

"What don't you understand? Liu Yifei is my girlfriend, do you know that, Mr. Cao..."

The call lasted about a minute before ending.

Liu Yifei had turned her face back to him at some point and was staring at him blankly.

Chen Nuo said, "Starting tomorrow, you'll no longer see those people or their nonsense on Weibo, and you won't see them again in the future. Also..."

He dialed another number.

A short while later, the call was answered again.

This time, the voice was more attentive and friendly.

"Wow, Brother Chen, you finally remembered me! You're back in China? Tell me where, and I'll come find you right away."

"Yes, you're back, Mr. Xu. But I'm a bit busy here, let's reschedule. I have a favor to ask you. Among the movies currently showing at your Hengdian cinemas, there's one called 'Liu Rushi,' could you please 'reset' it for me..."

Chairman Xu Yong'an was clearly easier to talk to than Sina's CEO Cao. He agreed immediately without even asking why, and Chen Nuo hung up the phone before saying more than a few words.

Liu Yifei said in a slightly weak voice, "Chen Nuo, what are you doing?"

Chen Nuo ignored her, flipped through his phone book again, and dialed a number.

This time his tone softened a bit, after all, the other person was someone who had suffered a stroke, and it wouldn't be good if something went wrong.

"Chairman Han..."

This time, he spoke for more than a minute.

It wasn't for any other reason. The discussion about the film distribution arrangements at China Film Group lasted less than ten seconds. The soon-to-retire Chairman Han didn't even ask why such a lousy film, which had only grossed 3 million yuan during the entire National Day holiday, was being reduced to zero screenings. He didn't hesitate for a second. The remaining minute was spent with Chairman Han knowing he was back in Beijing and inviting him to dinner. He didn't want to provoke the other party, so he had to politely decline.

He wasn't finished yet, so he called Qi Yuntian in as well.
"Do you have that guy surnamed Wang's phone number? Go tell him to call his Wanda Cinema... If he dares to say a word against it, just tell him that at the next LOL tournament, I'll personally come and beat him to a pulp, and his house will never sell well again! Just say I said it myself!"

"Chen Nuo!"

Liu Yifei called out again, and whether it was out of joy or anger, her voice finally sounded a bit more energetic this time.

"Okay." Qi Yuntian agreed, glanced at Liu Yifei, and went out.

Chen Nuo turned her head and looked at Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei's face showed a mixture of tears and laughter. After a moment of staring at each other, the woman asked, "Chen Nuo, what are you doing?"

Chen Nuo said calmly, "I'm showing those idiots what it really means to act like a big shot."

Ps:

Sisi, whom we haven't seen in a long time, has finally appeared.

Sisi asked her brothers for monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)