Restart life

Chapter 272 0269 [Sohu Also Gets Involved] (Bonus Chapter for the Alliance Leader, I Can't Run Any Longer)

Li Yanhong didn't leave immediately; he needed to use the restroom.

However, he took a long time to defecate, and it wasn't until several minutes after Chen Guiliang's speech ended that Li Yanhong slowly returned to the main forum.

"Mr. Li, would you be willing to grant us an exclusive interview?"

"Mr. Li, what are your thoughts on Mr. Chen Guiliang's speech?"

"Mr. Li, Chen Guiliang pointed out several errors in your speech. Do you have any rebuttals?"

"Mr. Li, what do you have to say about the Baidu search ranking issue that Chen Guiliang mentioned?"

"..."

After the main forum ended, Li Yanhong was immediately surrounded by reporters.

"Excuse me, I don't accept interviews. Please make way." Li Yanhong walked straight out, and his entourage helped him push through the crowd.

Even without the Chen Guiliang incident, Li Yanhong would not have given an interview today.

Because every single media outlet those reporters worked for had collectively reported and condemned Baidu two months ago because of the layoffs.

Whenever Robin Li gives an interview, reporters inevitably bring up the issue of Baidu's layoffs again.

Now that Chen Guiliang has unexpectedly stepped forward, reporters have even overlooked the layoffs, because an even bigger, fresher scoop has been presented to them.

As Li Yanhong stepped out from the crowd, photographers rushed to capture his back view.

You can still report on it even if you don't give an interview.

The title could be: Chen Guiliang's rebuttal is well-founded, leaving Li Yanhong speechless.

After Li Yanhong left, reporters swarmed to Chen Guiliang's side.

Chen Guiliang was surrounded by internet upstarts. When the reporters came to join in the fun, they started a more friendly exchange.

"Hello Mr. Chen, I'm a reporter from Sohu Technology Channel." Two months ago, during the layoffs scandal, Sohu was a major force criticizing Baidu. How could they possibly miss this opportunity?
Chen Guiliang smiled and nodded: "Hello."

"Mr. Chen, why do you think Mr. Li's speech contained so many common-sense errors?" a Sohu reporter asked.

Chen Guiliang displayed remarkable composure and magnanimity: "Actually, I can understand Mr. Li. He said he didn't sleep well last night because he was preparing for the speech. If a person doesn't get enough sleep, their mind isn't very sharp, and it's perfectly normal to talk nonsense. I suggested that he make sure he gets enough sleep before attending the next event, so as not to give people the impression that he's not good at thinking."

"Hahaha!"

The reporters and internet upstarts around him all burst into laughter at that remark.

That's really mean; it's an insult without using any vulgar language.

A reporter from *Internet Weekly* asked, "Mr. Chen said that in the Baidu search results for 'Three Kingdoms Kill,' the official website of Three Kingdoms Kill appears after the advertisements. Do you think this phenomenon is reasonable?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I don't want to comment on the business strategies of other companies. But I suggest that Baidu should screen ads when accepting them. If scammers pay enough for advertising, should they still rank at the top of the search results? Ordinary scammers just cheat people out of money, but those who sell fake medicine will kill for money! My Renren and HaiNei websites resolutely refuse to accept drug ads, even if it means earning less money. People should have a bottom line, and so should businesses."

A reporter from China Computer News asked, "Mr. Li said that the Web 2.0 model is not profitable enough. Does Mr. Chen agree with this view?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I admit that the current profitability is insufficient, and I also admit that the investment is somewhat overheated. But why is the investment overheated? Are venture capital firms all fools? It's because there is potential that it's overheated! I've only ever seen people fighting for food, not for excrement. As for insufficient profitability, weren't the profit models of those Web 1.0 websites sufficient? They still made money through online games and wireless value-added services."

"Just because there's not enough profit at the moment, does that mean there's no future and we should give up? That's not rational, that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Even a fool can see that Web 2.0 is the trend of internet development, and it's impossible to go back to the 1.0 era."

"Mr. Li's pessimistic view of Web 2.0 reminds me of the strange things coachmen said when cars first appeared. They found all sorts of flaws in cars and mocked those who rode or drove them as fools. It was obvious who the fools were. Perhaps some of them weren't fools, but they pretended to be!"

"To put it simply, Baidu Tieba is one of the most successful Web 2.0 products today. Baidu has created such a successful Web 2.0 product; it should be managing it diligently, not criticizing it!"

"I wonder how the product president and product manager of Baidu Tieba will react to Mr. Li's speech today. We are ready to fight to the death, why does Your Majesty surrender?"

This remark drew laughter from the entire audience.

Facing numerous cameras, Chen Guiliang said in a very sincere tone: "To all the middle and senior managers at Baidu, if you are ever unhappy at Baidu, I welcome you to join ByteDance and Game Science at any time."

This made the reporters laugh even harder, taking Chen Guiliang's words as an attempt to disgust Li Yanhong.

Baidu is now an internet behemoth, and its layoffs this year alone exceed half of ByteDance's total workforce.

Will those senior executives from Baidu jump ship to ByteDance and Game Science?
That's a complete joke.

But who could have predicted that starting this December, Baidu's CTO, CFO, COO, and other senior executives would leave the company one after another in the next two to three years?

Not a single one was left!
When the reporter later interviewed Robin Li, he asked him why all of Baidu's senior executives had left.

Li Yanhong did not answer directly, only saying, "That year was the most difficult year for me, especially around the Spring Festival of 2008... I was in the most pain. I reflected on it for a while, thinking that I had done something wrong..."

Regardless of Jack Ma's character, he made a very valid point: there are only two reasons why employees voluntarily leave: insufficient pay or feeling wronged. Baidu's executives certainly aren't short of money, so why did they all leave within just two or three years?

Chen Guiliang spent more than ten minutes with the reporters until all the reporters went to interview other entrepreneurs, and then he went to find a place to have coffee with those internet upstarts.

Just as I stepped out of the venue, someone suddenly approached me.

Sohu CEO Zhang Chaoyang is here!

Starting this year, Sohu's CEO has taken over external affairs, and he attends all kinds of events, including today's Internet Conference.

Zhang Chaoyang himself has gone into the entertainment industry and is currently rumored to be having an affair with Zhang Ziyi.

Zhang Chaoyang didn't attend the Internet Conference today, so his sudden appearance must mean something attracted him here.

What attracted him here?
The answer is already obvious.

"Haha, Xiao Chen, interested in having a drink?" Zhang Chaoyang greeted Chen Guiliang.

Seeing this, Chen Guiliang couldn't help but think: Do you have such a deep grudge against Li Yanhong? I confronted Li Yanhong two hours ago, and you're already joining in the fun. Even Zhou Hongwei and Lei Jun didn't fight this quickly back then.

The public opinion war between Sohu and Baidu lasted from mid-July to early September, only finally subsiding more than two weeks ago. During this period, they exposed each other's dirty laundry, resorting to all sorts of extreme measures.

Chen Guiliang said, "A Sina reporter is going to do an exclusive interview with me later. I agreed to it this morning."

Zhang Chaoyang laughed and said, "It's alright, I'll wait for you. I watched your speech live on Sohu. It was so well done that I drove for more than an hour to get back."

The internet upstarts standing nearby couldn't help but laugh when they heard Zhang Chaoyang's words.

It's truly a tale of grudges and feuds.

It's estimated that Sohu News will extensively report on today's speech tomorrow, mercilessly mocking Baidu.

"Where are you going?" Zhang Chaoyang asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "We made an appointment to go next door for coffee."

Zhang Chaoyang said, "Let's go together. I enjoy interacting with young people. If I don't spend more time with them, I'll get old. That won't do; I won't be able to sleep the night before the speech."

"Hahaha!"

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this, thinking, "Another yin-yang master has arrived."

After everyone ordered coffee, someone asked Zhang Chaoyang why Sohu and Baidu were fighting each other.

Zhang Chaoyang smiled but remained silent.

There aren't really that many personal grudges.

It was Zhang Chaoyang who had a mental health problem, which he later admitted in an interview.

He had known Robin Li for a long time and never considered him a formidable rival. However, after Baidu went public in the last two years, he was far surpassed by Robin Li.

Zhang Chaoyang felt resentful, jealous, confused, and even helpless. The more he looked at Li Yanhong, the more annoyed he became!
Just then, Sohu was developing its search business, and Baidu was Sogou Search's biggest rival. So, taking advantage of Baidu's layoffs, Sohu orchestrated a media frenzy to attack Baidu.

However, the public opinion battle between the two sides, with each side revealing dirt on the other, gradually evolved into a real personal feud.

One day, Zhang Chaoyang recovered his composure and even apologized to Li Yanhong privately. But from then on, the two never interacted again.

This was precisely when Zhang Chaoyang disliked Li Yanhong the most. It was also when his mental health issues were at their worst, which is why he handed over all public events to the CEO.

He went into the entertainment industry, probably to escape business troubles; the praise from celebrities makes him feel good.

Watching Zhang Chaoyang confidently talk to the internet upstarts, bragging about how awesome he used to be, and even saying that he knew all the current internet giants back then but they were nothing special... Chen Guiliang felt that this guy was probably doomed.

This is not something a top portal website CEO should say; it's too petty and carries the sour tone of a loser.

However, the internet upstarts present were delighted to befriend Zhang Chaoyang and went to great lengths to praise him.

Zhang Chaoyang became somewhat arrogant after being praised, and even planned to mentor some of them.

As they finished drinking coffee, Zhang Chaoyang said to Chen Guiliang, "Wait and see what Sohu News has to say tomorrow. I hope Sohu can do an exclusive interview with you for the follow-up reports."

"I am honored to accept this exclusive interview with Sohu." Chen Guiliang was happy to have someone promote him, and he had no interest in what problems Zhang Chaoyang had.

As it turns out, Sohu's media offensive was particularly aggressive.

Less than a month later, the public opinion war between Sohu and Baidu reignited, and this time, internet upstart Chen Guiliang was also involved.

Chen Guiliang's speech provided Sohu with ample firepower to attack Baidu!
(End of this chapter)