Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 376 Hongmen Banquet

That sounds pretty good.

Providing both users and payment monetization channels, while only taking a 30% profit, is something to be incredibly happy about.

He now has a huge user base but struggles to monetize it.

While phone bill payment is barely feasible, the phenomenon of arbitrary charges is extremely common and has been widely criticized.

At the very least, some goods cannot be paid for using phone credit, because this involves refund issues, and phone credit cannot be refunded.

For example, Dangdang.com still requires remittance slips. Although users have accepted this payment method, it still takes 20 days to process the transaction.

Often, by the time buyers receive the goods, they've forgotten what they bought.

"Is there any loophole in your cryptocurrency? Like, is it possible to cheat users out of cryptocurrency?" Zhang Chaoyang asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

If there's a problem with virtual currency being used fraudulently, then their websites and platforms become free purchases.

Cheng Yi said, "That's why we need everyone to open ports to our operating system. As long as transactions are conducted within our operating system, even if there is a problem with virtual currency being fraudulently obtained, Momo Group will cover all the losses. You don't need to worry about any losses at all."

Cheng Yi said, "Our Momo Group has an annual revenue of over 5 billion yuan and a net profit of over 2 billion yuan. We should be able to afford the losses, right?"

If Cheng Yi hadn't mentioned it, these people wouldn't have realized the size of Momo Group. But once Cheng Yi announced the revenue figures, everyone was surprised to find that Momo Group's revenue was actually one-tenth of Lianxiang Group's.

As expected of an industrial group, it's truly enviable.

Even internet companies with tens of millions of users struggle to achieve annual revenue exceeding 100 million.

As expected, real industry is the future; their internet is just a bubble.

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "You are all pioneers in the Internet industry, and you are surrounded by experts and generals. You can also come and find ways to earn Momo coins. As long as you can earn Momo coins, our Momo Group will not only not call the police, but will also accept them all."

confidence!

This is absolute confidence!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a thing.

Zhang Chaoyang asked in confusion, "Is your system a hierarchical structure?"

Everyone was even more surprised to see Cheng Yi nod.

While this hierarchical structure enables modularization and provides isolation mechanisms, it is extremely complex and outdated—an architecture from decades ago.

Looking at the whole world, it seems that only Apple uses this architecture.

Another drawback of this architecture is that it is too closed, making it difficult to create a good ecosystem.

To implement such a system, they would need at least three to five programmers to continuously modify it for a month.

Without absolute self-interest as a driving force, they certainly wouldn't be willing.

But now, they're kind of happy.

That's a market of tens of millions of college students; it would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.

College students are definitely the main consumers in today's internet market. They are good at trying new things and are willing to learn about anything.

Zhang Chaoyang said, "Although you have set up computer labs in the university, it doesn't mean you can develop such a large campus market."

"Yes, the campus market isn't easy to penetrate."

"You need a lot of money for promotion."

"If your promotion is unsuccessful, will you further reduce our revenue share?"

Many people have raised questions.

They are experts at hyping up concepts, so at first glance, they felt that Cheng Yi was also hyping up concepts.

Maybe Cheng Yi just set up a small shop with a few computers in each university and then used the name of university students across the country to swindle money.

This is very likely to happen.

Cheng Yi smiled and said, "We can guarantee that the 30% profit margin will not change. This can be clearly written into the contract. As for promotion, Shengda Group has already agreed to sponsor it. We have organized a national college student beauty pageant to promote our campus network."

"Sponsored by Shengda Group?" Everyone's faces lit up with joy.

From this perspective, this matter seems quite plausible.

Now that Shengda Group is involved, there's no need to worry about funding.

The only remaining concern is the actual number of computers, which affects their monetization speed.

At this point, eBay Chairman Shao Yibo asked, "How many computers have you set up in the university? We want real data, because if we want to access your system, it will take a lot of manpower and resources to modify the software architecture."

Cheng Yi smiled and said, "We currently have 265000 computers. We will increase our investment to reach 500000 computers in the future."

"500000 units?" Everyone present held their breath.

Even if a computer costs 3,000 yuan, that's still 15 billion yuan.

Investing 15 billion yuan in the university market, Momo Group is really going all out.

Everyone's worries vanished, and the subsequent communication became much more pleasant.

The more than 30 internet giants present came from different fields. For example, eBay operates a peer-to-peer (C2C) model, which mostly uses a local offline transaction model. This transaction model makes it difficult for them to make money; they can only create impressive data.

For companies like Xinlang Sohu, their main revenue streams are currently advertising and subscription services, such as ringback tones.

If Renren Technology can really solve their payment problem, then they will have so many things to do. Their articles can be subscribed to, and their chat rooms can have VIP seats added. The speed at which they can make money is unimaginable.

Seeing that everyone was interested, Cheng Yi smiled and said, "If you are interested, I will arrange for someone to send you a computer with our Momo system installed. You can then adapt the software according to the system on this computer."

"It's actually quite simple. As long as we adjust it according to the architecture of the Apple system, it should be compatible with your system," Zhang Chaoyang said.

“Yes, how come we didn’t think of that? We seem to have done an architecture program for the Apple system before, but the certification from Apple didn’t pass.”

"Let's give it a try when we get back."

Everyone was overjoyed to have discovered the shortcut.

It's always best to save effort; otherwise, adding compatibility to a completely new system is a huge waste of time and energy.

"By the way, we're holding a national college student beauty pageant next month. If you have time, you're all welcome to come and give us your guidance, and also stop by our company for a chat and a cup of tea," Cheng Yi extended another invitation.

"No problem, we should be able to get the program compatible with your system by next month."

"I'm sorry to bother you."

"President Cheng, if you can really provide us with payment channels, then you'll be our bread and butter." The flattery immediately rang out again.

These internet upstarts are incredibly skilled at flattery and deception.

After all, these guys are men who can get their hands on Knife Music just by using a string of empty code.

"Mr. Cheng, it's already past 11 o'clock. You should hurry up and go to the banquet. Mr. Yang is a very detail-oriented person." Shao Yibo from eBay said with a smile, "We are still counting on you to help us make a profit. If you make Mr. Yang unhappy, that would be bad."

Although Shao Yibo said it in a joking tone, everyone knew that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Yang Yuanqing is a person who pays great attention to details and etiquette.

He held a high position for a long time, managing 15000 full-time employees and more than 84000 temporary employees. In ancient times, he would have been a general leading an army of 100,000.

He naturally has his pride and his own rules.

Cheng Yi had never interacted with Yang Yuanqing in his previous life, but he had watched many of Yang Yuanqing's videos.

In particular, the conversation between Yang Yuanqing and Elon Musk, the future richest man, revealed Yang Yuanqing's personality perfectly.

It was a kind of condescending arrogance, which stemmed from Lianxiang Group's vast industrial chain and its supreme position in the world's IT industry.

In terms of user numbers, Lianxiang Group truly stands above all other companies.

Just like comparing Momo Group and Lianxiang Group, how many users does Momo Group have? How many users does Lianxiang Group have?
Such a comparison clearly shows who is better.

Cheng Yi glanced at the time; it was 11:27. Chen Tianqiao and the others should already be seated.

This trap set by Chen Tianqiao was the first confrontation between him and Chen Tianqiao.

Cheng Yi exchanged a few more pleasantries with everyone before casually stepping into the elevator.

"The younger generation truly surpasses the older generation." Looking at the closed elevator entrance leading upwards, Zhang Chaoyang couldn't help but sigh.

Upon arriving at the top floor of the Jin Mao Tower, Cheng Yi was slightly taken aback by the luxurious scene before him as soon as he stepped out of the elevator.

Since his rebirth, this was the first time he had felt that buildings could have such a strong visual impact.

This was in 2002.

The Cloud Walk at the top of the Jin Mao Tower is simply not a product of 2002.

The floor-to-ceiling windows, completely transparent and ultra-white, give those who enter this "Walking in the Clouds" hall the feeling of walking on the top of Zhonghai.

Standing here, you can take in the entire city of Zhonghai.

Compared to this place, even the Oriental Pearl Tower is nothing.

It can be said that the Jin Mao Tower represents the pinnacle of global architecture in this era. Even in 2024, there will be very few buildings that can rival the Jin Mao Tower.

Led by the waiter, Cheng Yi quickly arrived at the Qingyun Hall.

The Qingyun Hall is the most luxurious room in the Yunzhong Manbu Hall, symbolizing a meteoric rise to success.

The Qingyun Hall is very large, with a table that can seat 20 people, but only six people are sitting there at the moment.

They are Yang Yuanqing, Chen Tianqiao, Xing Min, Sun Hao, Bao Yueqiao, and Luo Shenyi.

Chen Tianqiao sat in the host's seat, and Luo Shengyi sat in the co-host's seat.

Some cold dishes had already been served on the table. When Cheng Yi entered, Chen Tianqiao was talking to Yang Yuanqing about the future development plan of Shengda Group.

Upon seeing Cheng Yi walk in, Chen Tianqiao's eyes lit up with joy, but he didn't show it too much. He smiled and said, "President Cheng, you're late. You'll have to drink three cups of wine as punishment later."

Cheng Yi didn't respond to Chen Tianqiao's words, but instead gave an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry, sorry, something came up and I was held up for a while."

Luo Shengyi said with great dissatisfaction, "President Cheng, this banquet is a dinner party to entertain President Yang. Your deliberate lateness is very disrespectful to President Yang."

There were many things that Chen Tianqiao couldn't say, so Luo Shenyi had to do them for him.

Luo Shengyi's words clearly hit Cheng Yi right in the face.

Cheng Yi asked in confusion, "Didn't Chairman Chen say this was a welcome dinner for me?"

Luo Shengyi's expression froze instantly. He stared wide-eyed at Cheng Yi, completely at a loss for words.

This kid really dares to say things.

Yang Yuanqing adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and said, "It's alright, it's just a simple meal, there's no need for so many formalities."

Although Yang Yuanqing said that, his expression was not very good.

Cheng Yi casually sat down next to Bao Yueqiao, picked up a cup of tea, stood up and said with a smile, "I'm really sorry, Chairman Chen originally said he would invite me the day after tomorrow, but suddenly changed it to noon, which really caught me off guard. I'm a little unaccustomed to the environment since I just arrived in Zhonghai City. I took cephalosporin this morning, so I can't drink alcohol. I'll use tea instead and toast everyone first."

After Cheng Yi finished speaking, he drank the slightly cool tea in one gulp.

Yang Yuanqing looked at Cheng Yi and said, "Your name is Cheng Yi, right?"

"Yes, Cheng Yi." Cheng Yi sat down on his own, nodded, and looked back.

Yang Yuanqing said, "I heard from Chairman Chen that many decisions at Momo Group have been made by you?"

"I'm just offering some advice; the one who truly makes the decision is our Chairman Du," Cheng Yi said with a frank smile.

Yang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of coldness in them, and asked, "President Cheng, Handong Province used to be the most important market for our Lianxiang Group. Ever since your Momo Internet Cafe rose to prominence, the sales performance of Lianxiang Computers in Handong Province has been declining all the way. Now, in the domestic market, the Handong Province market can't even get into the top five. Can you give me an explanation?"

Cheng Yi knew without a doubt that Chen Tianqiao must have talked a lot with Yang Yuanqing about Momo Group; otherwise, Yang Yuanqing wouldn't have come up to question him so readily.

Cheng Yi sighed and said, "President Yang, you've misunderstood us."

"Misunderstanding?" Yang Yuanqing frowned and stared directly at Cheng Yi.

Cheng Yi said, "I think you should also know that our Momo Group also has a computer company. Because our Momo Internet Cafe uses a self-developed operating system, the computers in our Momo Internet Cafe can only use our own computer products. When our internet cafe is promoting its business, we also take your group's computer sales into account, which is why we have the guaranteed joint operation model."

“Most of these internet cafes with guaranteed minimum operating costs use computers from your Lianxiang Group,” Cheng Yi said. “Our group almost went bankrupt due to the burden of debt in order to implement this guaranteed minimum operating cost model.”

Yang Yuanqing had also heard about how Momo Group almost went bankrupt.

Hearing Cheng Yi say this, his brows relaxed a little, and he said, "But you have affected our sales in Handong Province, which is an undeniable fact. Also, your requirement that Lianyun Internet Cafes use Pentium 3 computers has greatly reduced our computer profit margin."

“Indeed, I admit that,” Cheng Yi said with a smile. “But you can’t just look at that aspect; you need to look more at the sacrifices we’ve made.”

Cheng Yi looked at Yang Yuanqing and smiled, "You are representatives of national computer brands, so out of respect for you, our group has already banned the sale of our Honor computers. If we opened the door to selling our Honor computers, which cost more than a thousand yuan each, what do you think the consequences would be?"

Cheng Yi said bluntly, "I'm not exaggerating. As long as we open up sales to the public, every ordinary household in the entire Handong Province will be equipped with our Honor computers."

(End of this chapter)