Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 613 Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents.

His voice was hoarse with excitement, and his eyes were filled with shock, anger, and deep disappointment.

Cheng Yi looked at him, his expression still calm, and said, "Mr. Ma, please calm down..."

"I can't stay calm!" Ma Huateng slammed his fist on the table and roared, "If you really decide to do this, I'll report it to the board of directors immediately! I'll report it to Chairman Du! Let the group's board of directors make the judgment!"

After saying that, he didn't give Cheng Yi any chance to explain, got up, slammed the door, and left.

A loud bang shook the entire conference room, sending a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

There was deathly silence in the conference room.

Everyone was stunned by Ma Huateng's sudden and intense reaction.

How could the usually refined Mr. Ma suddenly become so hysterical?
Kong Feng stared at the slammed door, then at Cheng Yi's calm face, speechless for a long time.

Judging from Ma Huateng's reaction, he has been under a lot of pressure lately.

Zhu Jun and Ding Sanshi exchanged glances, their expressions complex. Although they were inclined to wait and see, they never expected Cheng Yi to directly suggest defecting to the enemy.

That phrase, "If you can't beat them, join them," is incredibly powerful.

Wang Yan looked ashen-faced, feeling that the company was about to fall apart internally before it was even defeated by Microsoft.

Cheng Yi twitched his finger slightly, and Li Weiwei immediately nodded in understanding and quickly left the conference room.

The loud bang of Ma Huateng slamming the door still echoed in the corridor. He walked very fast, his chest heaving violently with anger, almost charging towards the elevator.

"Mr. Ma! Mr. Ma, please wait!" Li Weiwei's high heels clicked on the ground, making a rapid and clear sound. She jogged after him, her voice maintaining a professional calmness, yet carrying a hint of urgency.

Ma Huateng paused for a moment.

Li Weiwei is Cheng Yi's favorite and wields considerable influence within the group. Although he is angry with Cheng Yi, he knows that it has nothing to do with Li Weiwei.

His face remained ashen, and he said in a stiff tone, "Assistant Li, you don't need to say anything more. I must report the contents of today's meeting to the board of directors of Momo Group truthfully."

Li Weiwei quickly stepped aside to block him, bowed slightly, and said in a sincere and gentle tone, "President Ma, please calm down. President Cheng is definitely not what you think. You have been cooperating with him for so long, when has he ever made a decision that truly harms the interests of an ally? What he said just now must have had its deeper meaning and comprehensive consideration. If you leave like this, wouldn't you be denying him and yourself a chance to explain?"

The phrase "don't give yourself a chance" struck a chord with Ma Huateng.

Yes, he stormed out in a fit of anger. If Cheng Yi were so narrow-minded, then Penguin would probably have changed hands.

She observed Ma Huateng's changing expression and, seeing his uncertain look, continued to gently persuade him, "There are too many people in the conference room, and some things might not be convenient to discuss in detail. President Cheng asked me to invite you to his office for a short while. He will come over as soon as he finishes dealing with things there and will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation. Even if, even if you still insist on your own opinion after hearing this, it's not too late to report to the board of directors, is it?"

Li Weiwei's words were all reasonable, and her attitude was neither humble nor arrogant. She gave Ma Huateng a way out while also pointing out the stakes involved.

Ma Huateng took a few deep breaths, his rage subsided slightly, and his rationality gradually returned.

He also realized that his reaction just now was too intense and indeed lacked manners.

More importantly, he also wanted to know what Cheng Yi was really up to with those absurd remarks.

"Okay." He finally nodded in a hoarse, low voice.

After Li Weiwei led Ma Huateng away, the atmosphere in the conference room remained tense.

Cheng Yi acted as if nothing had happened, his gaze calmly sweeping across the faces of every shareholder present.

Kong Feng hesitated, Zhu Jun and Ding Sanshi's eyes flickered, while Wang Yan almost lost all his spirit.

"Everyone," Cheng Yi spoke, breaking the suffocating silence. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable decisiveness. He said, "I understand Mr. Ma's feelings, but in the business world, you can't always act on impulse. Microsoft's open strategy is clearly aimed at using money to smash open the market, forcibly changing user habits, and going head-to-head with them, burning money on subsidies. We can't compete with them. If we get dragged into this quagmire, we'll never be able to get out."

He paused briefly to give everyone time to process the information before continuing, "My decision remains unchanged. Starting today, Sina, Sohu, NetEase Portal, and Huanyu Vision TV Shopping Channel will accept MSN advertising, charged at the highest market rate. We want to help Microsoft spread this good news more widely, so that more gamers know about the great news of Microsoft spending money."

His words were like a final verdict, setting the initial strategic direction for Mochao Technology to deal with this crisis.

"Meeting adjourned." Cheng Yi didn't give anyone time to argue or ask questions, and directly announced the end of the meeting.

The shareholders got up and left with varying expressions, and no one said anything more, but the tension and doubt in the air did not dissipate.

Zhu Jun and Ding Sanshi exchanged a glance, their eyes sparkling with joy.

Kong Feng sighed, patted the dejected Wang Yan on the shoulder, and walked out as well.

Cheng Yi finally fixed his gaze on Wang Yan: "President Wang, come to my office."

Wang Yan raised his head, his eyes filled with confusion and despair, and nodded mechanically.

Wang Yan followed behind him with his head down, and they returned to the president's office of Momo Group together.

In the office, Ma Huateng was sitting on the sofa by the window, with his back to the door, looking at the city view outside.

Hearing the door open, he shifted slightly, only managing to catch a glimpse of Cheng Yi and Wang Yan entering out of the corner of his eye.

His face remained gloomy, and he didn't even get up when Cheng Yi arrived. He maintained a stiff sitting posture, expressing his strong dissatisfaction and protest in this silent way.

Cheng Yi's office is very soundproof. Once the heavy solid wood door is closed, it completely isolates the noise from the outside world and the lingering smoke from the conference room.

Sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, but it couldn't dispel the stagnant and tense atmosphere inside.

Ma Huateng remained slumped in the sofa like a statue, his face turned to the side as he gazed out the window, leaving Cheng Yi and Wang Yan with only a tense profile. Wang Yan, on the other hand, sat stiffly on another single sofa, his hands resting on his knees, his fingertips white from the pressure, his head bowed, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Cheng Yi seemed oblivious to the almost suffocatingly low pressure.

He walked calmly to the redwood tea tray, skillfully boiled water, warmed the cups, and took out the tea.

The teapot and teacup collided, producing a crisp, light sound that became the only noise in the room.

Li Weiwei waited patiently beside her, without saying a word.

The water boiled, and wisps of white steam rose into the air.

Cheng Yi focused intently on rinsing and brewing the tea, his movements fluid and graceful, conveying a slow and calming feeling.

Soon, two cups of clear, bright Biluochun tea were placed on the coffee tables in front of Ma Huateng and Wang Yan respectively.

"Come on, let's cool down and clear our eyes." Cheng Yi's voice was calm, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. He also picked up a cup for himself.

Ma Huateng finally moved. He turned his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at Cheng Yi, his tone still tinged with anger, and said, "President Cheng, tea is unnecessary. What I want to know now is, what exactly is the meaning behind your brilliant decision to help our opponent with publicity? If I don't get a reasonable explanation, the group's board of directors will receive my report first thing tomorrow morning!"

Wang Yan also looked up with some concern, his eyes filled with the same confusion.

Cheng Yi blew on the steam from his teacup, took a small sip, and then slowly looked up at Ma Huateng. Instead of answering, he asked, "Mr. Ma, Mr. Wang, do you think that Microsoft spent 20 billion US dollars to buy game cards and give them to players, where did that money ultimately go?"

Ma Huateng paused for a moment, then frowned and said, "Of course it's the users! Otherwise, how can we attract them?"

“That’s superficial.” Cheng Yi shook his head slightly, his fingers tracing the warm rim of the cup. “Points are redeemed for game cards. Who issues game cards? It’s NetEase, The9, Perfect World, Origin, Shanda Games, and our Momo Games! Microsoft just acted as a huge purchaser and distribution platform for game cards. The vast majority of this huge sum ultimately ended up in the pockets of the game companies in our camp.”

He paused, noticing the slight change in their expressions, and continued, "What does this mean? It means that Microsoft is using US dollars not only to seize market share, but also to win people's hearts. Believe it or not, Zhu Jun and Ding Sanshi may not say it, but they are probably already singing Microsoft's praises in their hearts, because Microsoft is their biggest customer and is helping them boost their revenue and achieve their performance targets."

"If we jump out now and forcibly stop them, or even call on everyone to boycott MSN and cut off this source of income..." Cheng Yi's voice turned cold as he said, "Mr. Ma, guess what Zhu Jun and Ding Sanshi will choose? Will they follow us and starve, sticking to the so-called social ecosystem, or will they secretly or even openly side with Microsoft? Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. How strong can the alliance's friendship be in the face of real money?"

Ma Huateng's brows furrowed tightly, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

He was an extremely intelligent man. He had just been blinded by anger, but now, after Cheng Yi pointed it out, he immediately realized this terrible possibility.

If the internal faction splits as a result, that would be a true catastrophe.

A cold sweat broke out on his back, and his momentum involuntarily weakened, but he still insisted, "But...but if this continues, our QQ and UTalk will be finished! Once user habits are formed..."

“That’s my second point,” Cheng Yi interrupted him, saying, “Let’s take a closer look at Microsoft’s calculations. They advertise that you can get over 200 yuan for free every month, right? But do you think that’s possible?”

When Cheng Yi suggested calculating it carefully, Li Weiwei immediately took the calculator from her desk.

Cheng Yi took the calculator and said while calculating, "A new user can indeed get 90 points on the first day, that's right. But starting from the second day, if he wants to get the full 60 points every day, he needs to stay online for 120 minutes every day without fail, which is two hours. And that doesn't even include the time spent logging in."

"There are also consecutive sign-in rewards: 7 days, 15 days, 30 days. You can't miss a single day. If you miss a day, you have to start all over again."

"Mr. Ma, Mr. Wang, you are both veterans in the internet industry. Tell me, how many ordinary students or office workers can consistently dedicate at least two hours a day, doing nothing but running a voice chat application? And they have to clock in every single day like they're clocking in for work?"

Cheng Yi said with a hint of sarcasm, "There are indeed 'wool party' members, but the vast majority of ordinary users are lazy. They may be enthusiastic for the first few days, but they will soon get bored. They may forget to log in today, have something to do tomorrow, or find it troublesome the day after tomorrow... In the end, only one in ten can persist and get the vast majority of the rewards. Microsoft has already carefully calculated this. Although their investment seems huge, the actual effective cost is far less terrifying than advertised."

Ma Huateng and Wang Yan were both stunned, subconsciously calculating in their minds.

Indeed, it is extremely difficult to keep users online and checking in at such a high intensity.

Microsoft exploited the gap between human greed and laziness, designing a trap that seemed wonderful but was extremely difficult to fully realize.

“You mean…” Ma Huateng’s eyes began to change, his previous anger replaced by a deep thought.

“What I mean is,” Cheng Yi said firmly, “Microsoft’s strategy relies heavily on the terrifying appeal of massive subsidies. They are betting that they can use money to overwhelm the market and create an irreversible habit once users’ inertia has been triggered.”

“Then we definitely can’t help them promote it!” Wang Yan couldn’t help but interject. “We should let users discover this trap gradually…”

"Impossible. Even with a subsidy of only 10 yuan, users would still flock to it." Cheng Yi shook his head and said, "Even if they discover it, it's just due to their own laziness. The subsidies from Microsoft are real. You could say that Microsoft's 20 billion US dollars could last for three to five months. By then, QQ's social network will have been riddled with holes, and MSN will have formed a social ecosystem. Therefore, we must accelerate this consumption process."

“We can create some software to help gamers run multiple instances of the game,” Ma Huateng said immediately.

“Our opponent is Microsoft,” Cheng Yi said slowly. “They are not a small company. They have plenty of ways to deal with this kind of sandbox operation of multiple instances. Moreover, their ultimate goal is definitely real-name registration.”

Ma Huateng fell silent.

Yes, their rival is Microsoft.

It brings together the world's top technical personnel.

Cheng Yi smiled slowly and said, "However, Microsoft overlooked a very fatal thing."

"What?" Ma Huateng and Wang Yan immediately looked at Cheng Yi.

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "If this were the European or American market, we would only be waiting to die, but this is China, where we have more than a billion people."

Wang Yan was still a little confused, but Ma Huateng understood Cheng Yi's meaning, and his eyes lit up immediately.

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "We will use our strongest channel advantages to help Microsoft attract a massive number of users as quickly as possible, and spread MSN to every town and city in the shortest time, so that all those lovely old men and women can join in the fun of this nationwide carnival."

(End of this chapter)