Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 396 Douyin is preparing to officially enter the e-commerce arena.
Wang Huiwen pondered for a moment, clearing his mind, and was about to ask Chen Xiu again.

However, a cynical voice came before he could speak.

"Brother Xiu, are you busy?"

"Hmm? You've made your new friends?"

Chen Xiu turned to look at Wang Sicong walking over, thinking: His timing was perfect, otherwise I would still have to deal with Wang Huiwen...

As one of Meituan's shareholders and also invited to participate in the bell-ringing ceremony, Wang Sicong naturally knew Wang Huiwen.

"Mr. Wang, why aren't you greeting the others?"

"I need to talk to Mr. Chen about something."

"We've talked enough. I was just thinking that now that the bell-ringing ceremony is over, it's about time we went back."

"Hey! That's what I was thinking too, Brother Xiu, let's go together."

Chen Xiu and Wang Sicong's perfectly coordinated back-and-forth effectively shut down Wang Huiwen's follow-up.

Just as he was about to say something, Chen Xiu suddenly waved in another direction.

"Mr. Ma, it's been a long time!"

"Ahem, long time no see."

Upon hearing this, Wang Sicong and Wang Huiwen turned around and looked in the direction Chen Xiu was looking.

Pony, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and square glasses, walked straight towards them and stopped about two meters away.

Pony Ma's gaze swept over the others, stopping at Chen Xiu, and he said, "Want to chat for a bit?"

"Okay!"

Chen Xiu smiled and nodded, accepting Pony Ma's private chat invitation.

Out of politeness, Pony Ma nodded to Wang Huiwen and then walked away.

Chen Xiu glanced at Wang Sicong, wondering where he had offended Pony Ma to be so ignored.

After leaving the question unanswered, he apologized to Wang Huiwen and followed Pony Ma to the other side of the banquet hall.

After they left, Wang Sicong and Wang Huiwen, who were left behind, stared at each other for a long time, unable to exchange a single word.

In the end, it was Wang Sicong who took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Ahem, Mr. Wang, what are Meituan's goals for the next stage? Once the stock price stabilizes, how high can it go? If I want to cash out, when would be a good time?"

"Um, Mr. Wang, I have something to attend to. You can go ahead with your work."

Wang Huiwen left after saying that.

Watching Wang Huiwen walk away, Wang Sicong's lips curled into a sly smile. Clearly, he was deliberately using questions to discourage the other party.

……

Chen Xiu followed Pony to a secluded corner where no one would disturb them. Along the way, no one came to bother them.

Seeing this scene, Chen Xiu became even more certain that Pony Ma had something important to discuss.

Pony Ma stopped and turned around. His old-fashioned style meant that his first words were still closely related to today's topic.

"Meituan went public, and your investment was successful again."

"Tencent is Meituan's second-largest shareholder, so our success is interconnected."

"We've invested billions of dollars in Meituan, and you've only invested a little over ten million, right?"

"Not that many, just a few million, in US dollars, of course."

Chen Xiu's explanation made Pony's smile freeze, and he suddenly felt like he was paying Pony to carry him on a sedan chair.

Pony Ma pursed his lips and got to the point: "What are your thoughts on Meituan's performance today?"

"It's very stable! There was no break in serve, Wang Xin must be satisfied."

"The company is still operating at a loss. Its market value is all based on future expectations. Ali wants to use Ele.me to challenge Meituan Waimai. The ride-hailing and bike-sharing businesses are still losing money. Wang Xin is also uncertain about the future."

"Meituan must have discussed this internally, right?"

Chen Xiu looked somewhat bewildered, wondering why Pony Ma would talk about the future of Meituan, since he wasn't involved in management.

Pony Ma was silent for a moment, then suddenly said meaningfully, "Didn't you come up with the 10 billion yuan subsidy plan for Pinduoduo? I thought you also had some knowledge of Meituan's model."

"The idea of ​​a 10 billion yuan subsidy wasn't mine."

Chen Xiu retorted dismissively, saying, "That's something I came up with during a conversation I had with Huang Zheng while we were eating and drinking."

"..."

The sudden change in topic left Pony Ma staring blankly at Chen Xiu, her prepared remarks suddenly rendered useless.

Chen Xiu took the initiative and asked, "When Huang Zheng was in New York, he held meetings with his subordinates overnight to discuss the 10 billion yuan subsidy plan. Has there been any result yet?"

"...At the board meeting this month, he proposed using billions of yuan in subsidies to participate in this year's Double Eleven shopping festival and hoped that WeChat could provide a traffic entry point."

"That's great! This way, Pinduoduo's GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) will increase again this year, and the reputation of its 10 billion yuan subsidy program will be fully established."

"That's what I was thinking too. Then I thought that if only WeChat were to drive traffic to Pinduoduo, the effect would probably be less than satisfactory, so I wanted Douyin to join in as well."

At this point, Pony Ma's gaze towards Chen Xiu became expectant.

You are, after all, a shareholder of Pinduoduo, and Pinduoduo and Douyin have a long-standing partnership. It's only right that you give them a little traffic boost, isn't it?
"I can't join." Chen Xiu's smile remained unchanged, and her answer was very straightforward.

Pony Ma frowned, then quickly relaxed: "Why?"

"Because Douyin also plans to enter the e-commerce market this year, it doesn't even have enough traffic for its own use, so how can it drive traffic to Pinduoduo?"

"Is Douyin going to get into e-commerce too?!"

The news came so suddenly and unexpectedly that even the usually calm Pony Ma raised her voice slightly.

Fortunately, he calmed down quickly.

After quickly glancing around, Pony approached Chen Xiu and whispered, "I'll get a private room so we can talk privately."

"It's just a matter of a few words, no need to make such a fuss."

Chen Xiu waved her hand in refusal, saying that this place was fine.

Pony Ma stared at him for a long time, then said helplessly, "Alright! So what's the deal with Douyin joining e-commerce? I've never heard you guys mention it before, why did you suddenly want to join?"

"It's not that we didn't mention it, but rather that we brought it up slowly, gradually, and rhythmically..."

"Don't say things like that! I'm asking you, does Douyin have any shops? Does it have any sources of goods? How do you handle quality control and logistics?"

"What you're talking about are issues that merchants need to address. We just need to optimize the platform and make good use of the traffic."

Chen Xiu never intended to hide anything, or rather, there was no need to hide anything, because all the preparations were completed in full view of everyone.

Pony looked at Chen Xiu with hesitation and asked, "How did you do it?"

"Do you remember when Douyin collaborated with Walmart to try online retail through live streaming?"

"It was the time you were a livestreamer selling products."

"Yes! After that, many livestreamers started livestreaming e-commerce. There was also a major counterfeit goods incident, and I even did a livestream with Teacher Ma Yun to clarify things..."

"I know this too."

"Okay, in short, after these few months of channel integration and improved review, the live-streaming e-commerce model is now very mature. The rest is to invite brands to join Douyin Mall, but that doesn't really matter, because the top streamers can communicate with the brands themselves."

Chen Xiu looked at Pony Ma with confidence and smugness, but ultimately gave him face and didn't expose his true intentions.

Pony, with his keen eye for detail, could tell from Chen Xiu's expression that he hadn't said everything he wanted to say.

Thinking of this, Pony Ma frowned slightly, her mind racing as she connected all the development logic of Douyin this year.

At the beginning of this year, Tencent unilaterally blocked Douyin's links from spreading in WeChat Moments, and then launched a new version of Weishi, initiating a 30 billion yuan content creation subsidy, in an attempt to bring down Douyin.

As a result, Chen Xiu's response was to first use live streaming to accelerate Douyin's commercialization and monetization, and then to bring in Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo to further improve Douyin's live streaming e-commerce.

In this way, the pressure from Tencent forced Douyin to accelerate its commercial e-commerce model...

Pony Ma curled her lips and glanced at Chen Xiu, thinking: I put in so much effort, and in the end, it only benefited Douyin?

You're deliberately not explaining things clearly, so I have to figure it out myself, right?
Why does his smile seem a bit cheeky?

Receiving a look from Pony, Chen Xiu considered that the relationship between the two had just eased up a bit, so she didn't want to provoke them further and smoothly changed the subject.

"Mr. Ma, even without Douyin's traffic, WeChat's own massive user base is enough to make Pinduoduo shine in this year's shopping festival."

"That's for sure..."

Pony Ma stared at Chen Xiu with a cautious expression, then suddenly asked, "Doino doesn't want to do chat in the future, does it?"

"That's impossible! If chatting were that easy, would we even be in the business? Unless you fire Allen Zhang and have him work for Douyin..."

"Impossible, the board of directors wouldn't approve it."

Chen Xiu spread his hands and dispelled Pony Ma's suspicions with just one sentence.

However, Pony Ma seemed to have guessed more possibilities from the information he had just received.

"Once Douyin Mall is gradually improved, will you add e-commerce functionality to TikTok?"

"That's a matter for the future; we haven't reached that stage yet."

Chen Xiu's lack of denial is tantamount to admission.

This result eased Pony Ma's expression somewhat. Tencent participated in two rounds of financing for TikTok, and although the share was small, it was still considered one of their own.

Will TikTok conduct another round of financing next year?

"If so, we will definitely notify the penguins in a timely manner."

Seeing Pony Ma's relaxed facial muscles, Chen Xiu appropriately ended the business topic and moved on to the question he had just raised.

"Mr. Ma, do you have any opinions about Wang Sicong?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Weren't you just deliberately ignoring him?

"It doesn't matter what he does, Wang Jianlin will take care of him. But if some of the rumors about him affect me, of course I need to respond."

After saying that, Pony glanced in the direction of Wang Xin, then said goodbye to Chen Xiu and walked away.

Chen Xiu nodded silently, thinking to herself: When exactly did Wang Sicong offend Pony Ma?

(End of this chapter)