Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 246: Concurrent Online Users Exceed One Million

"They're all here!"

Chen Xiu nodded to Ma Yun and changed the subject, saying, "Let's not talk about these things anymore, let's talk about cooperation instead."

"The cooperation has already been finalized, there's nothing to talk about. I'm just curious why these 21 employees were willing to follow you to Douyin. At that time, you seemed to have said that even if they didn't want to follow, they could still get a severance package of 100 million yuan, right?"

Ma Yun adopted a look that suggested he was enjoying the spectacle.

Feeling that the topic had gone astray, Chen Xiu glanced at him helplessly.

"Mr. Ma, you clearly know a lot about this."

"The process was clear, and I was curious about all the details."

At this moment, Ma Yun has practically become the mouthpiece for everyone in the live stream.

Watching the excitement is an interest ingrained in the Chinese people.

The preceding long dialogue between Ma Yun and Chen Xiu has already revealed 90% of the story behind Chen Xiu's departure from Didi.

The remaining 10% refers to what happened after the 21 employees joined Douyin.

If it were a fairy tale, it could end with "everyone lived a wonderful life together," but reality doesn't work that way. Everyone wants to know what happened to Chen Xiu and the 21 people.

Chen Xiu leaned back on the sofa, let out a long sigh, and a look of reminiscence appeared on her face.

"If you ask me why they were willing to join Douyin, whose future is uncertain, and why they were willing to continue to believe in me, I don't know either. Only the parties involved can explain it clearly."

Can we connect live?

Ma Yun added fuel to the fire by asking a question, and now that the topic had come to this point, he didn't want it to end abruptly.

This very issue caused the comment section to erupt in excitement.

Seeing the surge in online users, Su Xiao's eyes lit up with excitement. She glanced at Chen Xiu and changed her reply to Su Yu from "Go now" to "Take it easy."

Chen Xiu, who had become the real focus of the live broadcast room, simply shook her head with a smile in response to everyone's expectations.

Sure enough, the live broadcasts and such made it seem too much like a TV show...

"No need to connect online. They're all at work today and are currently monitoring the data in the live stream. If Mr. Ma really wants to know, he can just invite two representatives over."

"Hiss~~" *N
Gasps of surprise rose and fell across the scene.

Nine celebrities, including He Jiong, stared wide-eyed at Chen Xiu and Ma Yun, just like the netizens watching the spectacle in the comment section.

They all wanted to witness how Chen Xiu and her 21 employees would end up together.

However, at this crucial moment, Ma Yun, who was the "troublemaker," hesitated and looked hesitant.

"Hmm, wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

Damn it, you started all this trouble, and now you realize it's a problem?!
This sentence came to everyone's mind.

The netizens waiting in the live stream also began to display their extraordinary linguistic skills because of Ma Yun's provocation.

"If you're worried about trouble, you shouldn't have asked in the first place!"

"Even though you're Jack Ma, you can't interrupt me from enjoying my gossip."

"I'd already taken my pants off..."

"..."

Ma Yun's slight hesitation made Chen Xiupin sense something was amiss.

Having spoken with him several times, he had a certain understanding of this man's style of doing things, and such hesitation should not have appeared in Ma Yun.

Thinking of this, Chen Xiu couldn't help but turn her head and glance at Ma Yun out of the corner of her eye, and sure enough, she also caught a sly look in the old fox's eyes.

Wow, behind every successful entrepreneur is a social media influencer who's good at creating buzz and generating buzz!
"It won't be a hassle. They work outside and will only take two minutes to get in. Would you like to meet them, Mr. Ma?"

"Isn't it inappropriate to disturb their work?"

"will not."

"Really not?"

Looking at Ma Yun's insincere expression, Chen Xiu thought to herself: This old guy's acting skills are really good.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Ma. I'll go and invite someone in right away."

Having built up the atmosphere to this point, Chen Xiu, feeling that the performance would be over the top if she continued, simply chose to take the initiative.

As a result, Ma Yun's passion for acting actually kicked in.

"Oh no! They're working, and you're going to call them like that..."

"Dong dong!"

Two abrupt knocks on the door interrupted Ma Yun's "scene".

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, the door to the live-streaming room slowly opened, and a young man with slightly dark circles under his eyes walked in.

Facing so many eyes in the room, Su Yu showed no stage fright: "Hello everyone, I'm the product development manager for Douyin. While I was looking at the data backstage, I heard Mr. Ma expressing curiosity about us, so we all came over together. Mr. Ma, Mr. Chen, may we come in?"

"Okay."*2
Both of them, being the drama queens, knew they couldn't keep up the act.

As Su Yu entered first, a large group of people followed in.

Twenty-two people instantly filled the originally spacious live-streaming room.

After these people came in, they completely ignored the beauties Yang Mi, Liu Qianqian, and Reba, and all their attention was focused on Chen Xiu, who got up from the sofa.

They didn't need to say anything; this action alone conveyed a great deal.

Looking at the group of people with shining eyes, a hint of bewilderment flashed in Ma Yun's eyes.

Back then, Ahri's eighteen Arhats would look at him with the same eyes, but now everything has changed. "Why are you all here?"

Chen Xiu walked over to the group of old brothers, patted Su Yu on the shoulder, and immediately understood the answer from the way Su Yu glanced at the next room.

"Xiu...Mr. Chen, we'd like to answer Mr. Ma's question personally, is that alright?"

Old Hou, the man from Jinyang who was recruited by Chen Xiu into Didi and then followed him to Douyin, and whose daughter is now two years old, took the initiative to step forward.

His words were not theatrical, but entirely genuine.

After Chen Xiu nodded, Lao Hou stepped forward and said to the somewhat dazed Ma Yun, "We are willing to come with President Chen simply because we trust him!"

"What to believe?"

“Everyone of us has now received Douyin employee stock options. Mr. Chen can describe each of our situations in detail. I have even received red envelopes and gifts from him for my daughter. We believe in these concrete things.”

"..."

Even with his extensive experience, Ma Yun was speechless at the sight of Lao Hou's heartfelt words.

"Hey, that's an exaggeration."

Chen Xiu waved his hand and said in a relaxed tone, "The stock options that each of you received are because of your contributions to the company, and have nothing to do with me. Take this bullet screen feature, for example. Wasn't it you, Lao Hou, who led the team, worked overtime, and lived in the company for months to develop this feature?"

"The bullet comment feature, that was your idea, and you made us implement it..."

Old Hou was speaking loudly, but before he could finish, Chen Xiu raised her hand to interrupt him.

"We still have important business to discuss today, so let's not let it interfere with our work. How about I treat you all to lunch later?"

"well."

Old Hou readily agreed, and everyone else followed suit.

Chen Xiu looked up to meet Su Yu's gaze, her back to the camera, and whispered, "Remember to invite Sister Xiaoxiao when we eat."

"I won't call you, you call me yourself."

After saying that, Su Yu led her people out again.

Person number 22 came and went in a flash, seemingly leaving nothing behind, yet also seemingly leaving behind a great deal.

Yang Mi stared blankly at Chen Xiu walking back, then turned to glare at him, thinking: You little girl, you eat so well?! And I can only meet a jerk like Liu Kaiwei?

Dilraba was completely unaware of Yang Mi's thoughts.

The scenes she had just witnessed, and the complete display of Chen Xiu's character and conduct, all stirred her heart and made her limbs weak...

The gazes of the others were also filled with a mixture of surprise, admiration, and praise.

Chen Xiu, who had become the absolute focus of attention, ignored it all. He returned to his seat, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at Ma Yun.

"Mr. Ma, I'm sorry, I can't have lunch with you."

"Oh, it's okay. We're already so familiar with each other, one more meal won't make a difference."

Ma Yun waved his hand dejectedly, pondering that his own cup-pouring skills seemed far inferior to Chen Xiu's...

After this long, theatrical live performance, viewers were given a great deal of sensory and emotional stimulation.

In the final scene, when Chen Xiu shook hands with Ma Yun and announced the launch of Douyin's shopping cart feature that allows direct access to Taobao stores, everyone felt a sense of loss as the excitement abruptly ended.

"Okay, that concludes today's live stream. Thank you for watching, goodbye!"

He Jiong, the host who had little presence after Ma Yun and Chen Xiu appeared, delivered his closing remarks at the end of the live broadcast.

Once the cameras were turned off and the screens placed on site went dark, the live broadcast officially came to an end.

Chen Xiu had been keeping an eye on the real-time number of online users on the screen since the beginning, but stopped paying attention when the number surpassed 100 million.

Chen Xiu slowly rose from the sofa, glanced at Ma Yun, and then looked around at everyone present.

"Thank you all for your support of today's live stream."

"No, Mr. Chen, you're too kind."
The celebrities exchanged pleasantries, but Ma Yun nodded without any hesitation.

"I've helped you so much today, so please don't refuse if I ever need your help in the future."

"Mr. Ma, isn't this a mutually beneficial partnership? When we announced the collaboration just now, I'm sure many netizens had already tried using the shopping cart feature."

"That being said, Douyin is the one that will directly benefit..."

"Mr. Ma, let's talk about this outside."

Chen Xiu interrupted Ma Yun's output and then pulled him out of the live broadcast room.

Seeing their posture, the celebrities who had hoped to take the opportunity to chat with Chen Xiu all showed a hint of disappointment.

He Jiong and Yang Mi's expressions didn't change much. They already knew Chen Xiu and believed they would have more opportunities to work together in the future.

Reba, on the other hand, got up and walked straight to the door.

Seeing her sudden action, Yang Mi asked with a strange expression, "Are you hot? Where are you going?"

"Didn't the live stream end? I don't have any other work to do today!"

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Going home! Is that alright?"

Dilraba turned her head to look at Yang Mi with her profile view, her eyes shimmering with tears, her attitude full of pride.

Yang Mi shook her head silently, watching Reba leave, and could only sigh in her heart that the little girl was really lucky...

(End of this chapter)