I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 810 "Is Douyin also getting into e-commerce? Is it going to go head-to-head with Taobao and JD.com?"

Poverty alleviation?

The group exchanged glances, surprised that Fang Qingye would bring this up.

Their usual thought process revolves around user growth, daily and monthly active users, algorithm optimization, and business model iteration—issues that concern the very survival of the internet world.

As for poverty alleviation, this seems to be an area that the government work report emphasizes, or a social responsibility that large state-owned enterprises need to assume. It is far removed from these internet companies that are fighting on the front lines of the digital wave.

The meeting room had been filled with a unique atmosphere of sophisticated algorithms and data flow, but now this term, with its strong local flavor and policy connotations, seemed out of place.

But Chief Financial Officer Wang Yu quickly changed his mind and said, "Traditional financial donations are the most direct way. We can donate a sum of money directly, or be more precise and donate a batch of teaching equipment, computers, or improve rural medical facilities that they urgently need. This will not only have a quick effect, but also make it easier to evaluate and publicize."

Everyone nodded.

This is the simplest and most direct method.

"The government is now advocating for poverty alleviation that focuses on creating self-sufficiency rather than simply providing aid," Fang Qingye said with a smile. "Can anyone think of any other methods?"

“We could also consider organizing employee volunteers to go there for exchanges, or giving preference to local talent in recruitment and providing skills training. That would also help generate our own talent pool,” Chief Human Resources Officer Chen Wen replied immediately.

Zhang Yimin, who had been silent until now, spoke up, "Actually, from our platform's perspective, we might be able to give Tianhan City's cultural and tourism resources and local specialties some preferential traffic. For example, we could open special pages like 'Exploring Tianhan' and 'Charming Tianhan' on Douyin for centralized promotion and exposure, and use our algorithm to accurately push content to help them increase their popularity and influence, thereby attracting tourists and consumers."

Everyone chimed in with their suggestions, which mostly focused on conventional approaches such as donations, traffic support, and brand promotion.

Fang Qingye nodded.

This can be considered a conventional method of poverty alleviation, but how come you've overlooked the fact that we have a gold mine or rather, our strength?

Just as the discussion was calming down, Fang Qingye gently tapped the table with her knuckles, drawing everyone's attention.

"Do you think we could... use Douyin (TikTok) to help farmers in Tianhan sell their agricultural products through live streaming?"

Everyone was stunned when Fang Qingye suddenly said that.

"Live-streaming e-commerce?!"

Chief Financial Officer Wang Yu repeated it subconsciously, his brows furrowed, as if confirming that he had not misheard.

"Since Taobao and JD.com have already started experimenting with 'live-streaming e-commerce,' why can't Douyin, with its strongest video capabilities and massive user base, do the same?!" Fang Qingye retorted.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Live-streaming e-commerce was a concept proposed by Taobao last year (2016), and JD.com is now also starting to try it, but JD.com is an e-commerce platform itself.

ByteDance's Toutiao platform, needless to say, doesn't have this feature. But Douyin is just a content display platform; how could it possibly support live-streaming e-commerce?!

This is such a crossover!
“I know everyone has doubts, so this Tianhan poverty alleviation project is our testing ground. I want to conduct a real live-streaming sales event for agricultural products in the fields.”

CEO Zhang Yimin quickly recovered from his shock. He looked at Fang Qingye and said in a serious tone, "Chairman Fang, your idea is extremely forward-thinking and disruptive. If it can really work, it may open a completely new door for us."

“But technically…” Zhang Yimin emphasized.

"First of all, Douyin's live streaming function is still in the polishing and optimization stage, and its stability needs further verification. To support 'sales,' it means that we must, in a very short period of time, connect everything from product display, real-time user interaction, and click-to-buy to the most crucial transaction loop—the 'shopping cart' and payment system. This is equivalent to building a miniature e-commerce engine from scratch within a few days, one that can be embedded within the Douyin app and withstand a certain amount of concurrent user access. The technical difficulties, system compatibility issues, and security risks involved are all tough challenges."

Upon hearing Zhang Yimin's words, everyone turned their attention to Li Mo, the technical lead who had been sitting silently in the corner.

The attitude of this genius engineer, hailed as the company's "technical anchor," will directly determine whether this crazy idea becomes a reality or remains merely a brainstorming session.

Li Mo didn't answer immediately. He habitually tossed his long hair across his forehead, his eyes behind his glasses narrowed slightly, and he fell into a long silence. The conference room was completely silent, with only the faint sound of the air conditioner running. His brain was working at lightning speed, evaluating every technical module, every line of code, and every possible technical "shortcut."

The silence lasted a full minute, but it felt like an eternity.

Finally, Li Mo raised his head, meeting Fang Qingye's scrutinizing gaze. He didn't launch into a grand speech, but simply nodded forcefully and uttered two clear words:
"can."

A hint of approval flashed in Fang Qingye's eyes, and she immediately spoke.

“Okay!” he decided decisively. “It’s settled then. Rubo,” he turned to Chief Operating Officer Liang Rubo.

"Find a suitable person and immediately coordinate the formation of a capable team to accompany me to Tianhan. Select the personnel from the marketing, product, and operations departments, and choose the most capable ones. Develop an action plan to ensure that this live-streaming e-commerce pilot project can be successfully implemented. I will send you the schedule of our inspection trip later."

Liang Rubo immediately understood: "Understood, Chairman Fang. I will personally assemble the team. I will come up with the personnel and contingency plans tonight to ensure that this trip to Tianhan will not only complete the poverty alleviation inspection, but also fire the first shot of our live-streaming e-commerce."

"Alright, that's all for today's meeting." Fang Qingye stood up. "Everyone, get back to your work."

Today was so busy. First, there was the signing of a contract, and then two important meetings in a row. I'm feeling a bit dizzy.

Go back and have some tea and rest. Tomorrow we need to head to Tianhan City in Qin Province.

After the meeting, Fang Qingye didn't stay at the company any longer and returned to the hotel with Yue Kai.

I first brewed myself a cup of Da Hong Pao tea that I had brought with me, and then sat on the sofa and happily drank it.

Around 5 p.m., Fang Qingye called Yue Kai, who lived across the hall, to come over and discuss dinner.

"Didn't General Manager Zhang and the others want to host a banquet for you?" Yue Kai asked.

"Never mind, they're busy right now and will probably have to work overtime tonight. I'll send them a text message to politely decline, and we'll eat by ourselves," Fang Qingye said.

"How about we cook a few dishes at the hotel?" Yue Kai asked again.

"We're tired of this. How about we go out for hot pot? In this weather, nothing beats a hot pot of mutton." Fang Qingye shared her idea.

"Okay, I'll order right away."

Yue Kai found a time-honored restaurant called "Liu Ji Copper and Porcelain Pot" on the Eleme app. It wasn't far from the hotel and he could walk there directly.

The two had just put on their coats and left the hotel when Fang Qingye's phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Chen Ziqing from the South China Morning Post calling.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Qingye dialed the number, and Chen Ziqing's Hong Kong-accented Mandarin immediately rang out: "Chairman Fang, do you have time? I'd like to schedule a time for an exclusive interview with you."

"Forget about the interview," Fang Qingye chuckled and politely declined. "We just interviewed her this morning."

"Can we chat like friends? I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

Ah?
Perseverance?
Fang Qingye thought for a moment and replied, "I'll treat you. I'm planning to go eat mutton hot pot, do you want to come?"

"Okay. I love hot pot the most. Where do you want to go?" Chen Ziqing's cheerful voice came through the microphone.

"Liu's Copper and Porcelain Pots," it's near the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Zhongguancun. I'll send you the location on WeChat.

"OK, I'll be there right away."

(End of this chapter)