Restart life

Chapter 345, Page 0342: [Don't be too CNN-like]

Wang Shuo seemed to realize that it was a bit impolite and absurd, so he took the initiative to explain: "I know there is a bestselling author named Chen Guiliang, and I also know there is a Peking University student who runs a company named Chen Guiliang. But I always thought they were two people with the same name."

Chen Guiliang: “…”

Dou Wentao asked curiously, "How exactly did you spend this year? I remember around the same time last year, you were on a show talking with Han Han, and you were in much better shape then than you are now."

Wang Shuo smiled and said, "I just stay at home like a pig, only seeing a few old friends occasionally, and writing novels and screenplays. Actually, I often go online, but I don't pay much attention to trending news."

“Let me introduce him in more detail,” Dou Wentao said. “Like Han Han, he won first prize in the New Concept Writing Competition. As soon as he entered university, he started a company with his writing fees and published the best-selling book ‘Those Things About the Ming Dynasty.’ He now owns two companies. One of them went public last November, and his shares were worth $11 billion at the time. The other company is also very profitable, with monthly revenue of more than 10 million yuan. Not long ago, he announced that he would be making smartphones.”

"Damn, that's pretty awesome!" Wang Shuo exclaimed sincerely.

After saying that, he added, "I remember now. When Li Ao came to the mainland, Phoenix TV invited me to do a program, and the host mentioned you at the time. He said that you pointed out the flaws in Li Ao's speech and almost embarrassed him."

Chen Guiliang said, "I'm just telling the truth. Overall, I agree with the content of Li Ao's speech."

Wang Shuo shook his head and said, "Li Ao is no good. His academic achievements are too poor, and his vision is very narrow. He is far from being a so-called master. I couldn't finish reading more than ten pages of Li Ao's book 'Fayuan Temple,' which was nominated for the Nobel Prize. It's just pure fabrication. But he is better than Jin Yong. Jin Yong's stale writing is more disgusting."

Dou Wentao grinned at the camera: "These are the guests' personal opinions and do not represent the position of this program. Please, fans of the two masters, don't cause me trouble. I'm too skinny to handle this."

"Boring!" Wang Shuo said disdainfully.

Dou Wentao said, "Let's not talk about that. I heard you also started a Sina blog?"

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "It's open now. Xu Jinglei dragged me there. But I don't want to write anything because Sina doesn't pay for articles. Writing articles without getting paid—isn't that exploiting authors? Sina Blog is bound to go bankrupt sooner or later!"

Dou Wentao asked Chen Guiliang, "Does HaiNei.com pay for articles?"

Chen Guiliang said, "It depends. Take Li Ao as an example. He first got his real name verified, then we opened a column for him, and the payment was calculated based on the article's click rate and word count. There are quite a few columns like this, all of which are celebrities from various industries whom we actively invite. However, there is a major prerequisite: articles in columns that have been paid must be handled by HaiNei.com when they are compiled and published, as HaiNei.com takes a cut. For articles in columns that haven't been paid, the authors can choose freely when they are published."

Wang Shuo said, "That's alright. The editor-in-chief at Sina is named Chen Hong, right?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Chen Tong."

"Same idea, the 'Tong' in 'red' (meaning bright red), might as well change his name to Chen Hong (meaning 'Chen Red')," Wang Shuo began his tirade. "This bastard came to invite me personally, and even brought Xu Jinglei along. Damn it, Sina Blog gets so many hits, and you don't pay the authors a single penny. It's so unethical! You're a foreign company, you're unfair, you bully your customers because you're a big company, everyone writes for free on your site, how much money have you made..."

He cursed Sina Blog for over a minute straight.

Where did this resentment come from?
After saying that, he asked Chen Guiliang, "Don't you think so?"

Chen Guiliang stated very objectively, "Although Sina Blog has not released its financial reports, they are definitely losing money."

"Not paying royalties and losing money?" Wang Shuo asked in surprise.

Chen Guiliang nodded and said, "All blog websites, including our SNS website, are losing money; it's just a matter of how much they're losing."

Wang Shuo sneered: "I don't believe it. Would capitalists do something that loses money?"

Chen Guiliang explained, "That's how the Web 2.0 model works: everything is free, you use free services to capture market share, and you rely on IPO financing or venture capital to maintain operations. Everyone is still figuring out the profit model. As for making money, you'll figure it out after you've killed the competitors."

"Your website is losing money too?" Wang Shuo asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "We used to lose a lot of money, but things have been getting better in the last six months, and we're almost at break-even. As for Sina Blog, we estimate that we lose tens of millions of yuan a year."

Wang Shuo took out a cigarette, puffed on it, and then casually tossed one to Chen Guiliang and one to Dou Wentao: "Damn it, I don't understand how you guys do business. Where have you all gone to lose money?"

Chen Guiliang said, "The main costs are in three areas: hardware and infrastructure investment, human resources and operating costs, and technology development investment. Bandwidth costs alone account for more than 20% of the total expenditure. HaiNei.com has more functions, so the proportion of bandwidth costs is also higher. Video websites like Tudou.com burn through the most bandwidth costs."

Chen Guiliang asked with a smile, "There are 5000 million registered users on HaiNei.com now. Ignoring server costs and just considering bandwidth, guess how much it costs per month?"

"500 million?" Dou Wentao gave a figure. Wang Shuo, with a cigarette in his mouth, said, "Just tell me."

Chen Guiliang said, "Last month it was over 9 million. I estimate it will reach 10 million this month. These costs are all paid to operators such as China Telecom and China Netcom. If Mr. Wang is willing to write blog articles, he can come to our HaiNei.com and be charged based on a combination of clicks and word count."

Wang Shuo asked curiously, "Sina Blog is losing so much money, how come your website is almost breaking even?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Sina Blog is not commercialized enough and lacks many functions. Our HaiNei.com attracts people not only with blog articles, but more importantly with its social functions. Ms. Chen Xiaoxu, the actress who played Lin Daiyu, has a lot of fun on HaiNei.com. She doesn't write any serious articles, and she doesn't ask for payment. She just shares some daily trivialities and chats with netizens."

Wang Shuo smoked without saying a word.

Chen Guiliang continued, "If you come to HaiNei.com, a bunch of netizens will follow you, and those netizens will all be your fans. You don't need to write serious articles, just write a sentence to vent your frustrations. Of course, it's best not to make personal attacks, but it's okay to criticize people based on the facts. Right now, a bunch of people are criticizing me, and as long as it's not a personal attack or spreading rumors, I'll let them criticize me."

"Okay, I'll try it another day," Wang Shuo replied casually.

Why did Wang Shuo criticize Sina Blog?
I'm on a mission!
This guy joined "Xianhuacun Blog" and takes every opportunity to criticize Sina Blog to attract attention.

"Flower Village" is a niche community created by director Chen's ex-wife, positioned as a cultural salon for an elite circle. In reality, it's just a self-contained community, with fewer than 50 users.

Because it was so virtually unknown, Chen Guiliang had never even heard of the website. He genuinely believed that Wang Shuo hated Sina Blog and even took the opportunity to send him an invitation.

Wang Shuo was at a loss for words.

Dou Wentao immediately stepped in to smooth things over, showing a picture and saying, "This photo has been going viral recently. It shows a little girl riding on her father's shoulders, holding up a sign that says 'Don't be like CNN.' 'Don't be too CNN' has even become a popular internet phrase. Are you two aware of this?"

Wang Shuo shook his head: "I'm not sure."

Chen Guiliang said, "The article that led to the dismissal of the deputy editor-in-chief of Southern Metropolis Weekly, seemingly speaking in favor of CCTV, was actually an attempt to support CNN. I have already made it very clear in my previous article that freedom of speech is not without limits. If you report inappropriately, you should bear the corresponding responsibility."

"You've offended CNN and Southern Metropolis Daily. Will that affect ByteDance's stock price?" Dou Wentao asked curiously.

Chen Guiliang said, "The stock price has no impact. CNN has limited funding and has been sending out a lot of paid trolls lately, so it doesn't have the financial resources or energy to smear me in the US right now. They're just a bunch of dogs kept by foreign forces in China!"

Dou Wentao smiled and said to Wang Shuo, "See? The aggression is showing."

Facing the camera, Chen Guiliang said, "China hosting the Olympics is a momentous event that unites people's hearts. Even if HaiNei.com and XiaoNei.com are forced to withdraw from Hong Kong, as a Chinese person, I will fight you mad dogs to the end! And Southern Media Group and KDnet, your underwear has been almost completely exposed by netizens, yet you still have the nerve to keep jumping around there. My personal account on HaiNei.com has almost been turned into a cesspool by you. Spewing filth there all day long!"

After saying that, Chen Guiliang turned to Dou Wentao and asked, "Do you dare to broadcast this? If this segment is cut, I will never participate in any Phoenix TV program again! I'm giving Phoenix TV face by not saying some things today."

The director reminded Dou Wentao to stop the topic.

Dou Wentao smiled and said, "That's not up to me."

Phoenix TV has been heavily infiltrated by foreign forces, but the programs recorded in Beijing are not so biased.

Even within the same program, there are differences, such as "Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing." The content recorded in Beijing and Hong Kong differs significantly, with the Hong Kong recording being much more skewed!
Dou Wentao is the kind of person who can talk to anyone, whether they're a pro or a con. He can chat happily with dissidents and discuss extremely popular topics with leftists.

Everything is for the sake of ratings.

He deliberately used the image of "Don't be too CNN" to add a sensational element to the show.

Chen Guiliang said, "I reiterate my point about press freedom. Chang Ping, the former deputy editor-in-chief of Southern Metropolis Weekly, is just spouting nonsense. His views are 100% neoliberal. Talking about rights but not obligations—there's no such thing as a free lunch. Allowing your news media to self-censor and publish is already giving you enough freedom. You're pretending not to know about the post-publication review system, aren't you? If you want to advocate for CNN, just say so. Why are you using CCTV as a shield…"

Chen Guiliang unleashed a barrage of attacks, silencing Wang Shuo completely.

I've never seen a business owner dare to openly criticize CNN and the Southern Media Group. Aren't they afraid it will affect their own company?

Dou Wentao sat next to him, smiling the whole time. He knew this episode was going to be interesting.

(End of this chapter)