Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 429 Chen Xiu: Rational in Important Matters, Cunning in Minor Matters
"Have you figured it out?"

"what?"

Chen Xiu turned to look at Su Xiao behind the desk, puzzled as to why she would ask such a question.

The rustling sound of documents filled the air as Su Xiao slowly rose to her feet, supporting herself on the table.

As she walked past the screen that Chen Xiu had used as a shield, the first thing that caught her eye was a suit with padded shoulders, which accentuated her slender figure and created a strong contrast with the high-set shirt.

Her slender, almond-shaped eyes, paired with square glasses, added a touch of intellect to her cool and elegant demeanor.

Chen Xiu watched her walk over, then gently patted the seat next to her, indicating that she should sit down.

Su Xiao brought with her a citrus scent, making the sofa creak, and her straight-leg trousers were folded up together.

"After leaving the meeting room, you sat here without moving, deep in thought. Have you figured it out yet?"

It depends on what you're asking.

Chen Xiu moved a little closer to Su Xiao, but not to an intimate distance; the two were simply having a serious conversation.

Su Xiao glanced at him, her eyes scanning from left to right, her cherry lips slightly parted.

"I guess you're thinking about financing, whether Zhang Yiming's demands are reasonable, what the bottom line is for Tencent, and how to maximize our profits within that bottom line."

"Bingo! You guessed most of it right."

While clapping her hands, Chen Xiu leaned closer to Su Xiao's side and continued, "There's still a little bit left. Do you want to keep guessing?"

"What difference does it make whether we continue or not?"

Su Xiao's lips curled into a sly smile, wanting to see how Chen Xiu would respond.

Chen Xiu raised an eyebrow and asked with curiosity, "You want a prize?"

"Well, can't you?"

"Not really, it's just that this feeling is a bit novel."

"Then let me tell you in another way, and you'll see if it's new or not."

With nothing else to do, and seeing that Su Xiao had finished her work, Chen Xiu was naturally happy to chat with her.

"Sure! Tell me about it."

"Ahem, Sister Xiaoxiao, if I solve this problem, what reward will you give me?"

Su Xiao deliberately imitated Chen Xiu's tone and expression, her slightly narrowed eyes full of cunning.

As she finished speaking, she spread her palms up and tilted her head back with a slight upturn of her lips, instantly exuding a youthful charm.

Upon seeing this scene, long-dormant ancient memories suddenly surfaced in Chen Xiu's mind, flashing back to his childhood homework experiences.

A blush suddenly welled up in Chen Xiu's face, and she coughed twice before laughing, "Um, isn't that something I said in my third year of junior high? How do you still remember it?"

Don't you remember it yourself?

"Hehe... Let's talk about the prize money instead."

"Come on, tell me."

Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa, looking very confident.

Chen Xiu glanced at her suspiciously, pondered for a moment, and then came up with a prize that both of them could accept and that she would want.

"If you guess the rest correctly, I'll come to your house for New Year's Eve dinner; if you don't guess correctly, you can come to my house..."

Next year during the Spring Festival, Meng Ziyi will return to his own home to celebrate the New Year, as he is available on his schedule.

"Clap!"

Su Xiao snapped her fingers, pointed her round, protruding chin at Chen Xiu, and said, "Remember to prepare gifts for my dad, my mom, and my brother—not one less."

"You talk as if you're guaranteed to win."

"Thinking about penguins is business, and given your personality, you'll always put that first. I saw you sitting here for about half an hour, and your expression relaxed, which means you've found the answer."

Seeing Chen Xiu's frequent sidelong glances, Su Xiao said with certainty, "In the remaining ten minutes or so, you'll be smiling from time to time, probably thinking about how to mess with Cheng Wei, right?"

"Ahem, how can you call this a scheme? Cheng Wei himself lacks foresight, yet he still wanted to invest in TikTok. I don't know what he was thinking, but then he figured it out."

"so?"

"Yes, yes, that's right."

Chen Xiu readily admitted it, and she and Su Xiao looked up at each other, their eyes sparkling, and then they both laughed.

“Hahahaha!”*2
After laughing for a while, Su Xiao rested her elbows on the back of the sofa, touched her cheek with the back of her fingers, and turned to look at Chen Xiu.

"Judging from what we just discussed in the meeting, it's not hard to guess what's going on. You're just playing along with me?"

"Isn't it fun?"

"Heh, I can only guess your general idea, but I can't guess how exactly you're going to do it."

"If you could guess that clearly, why would I even bother playing with yarn!"

Chen Xiu muttered a complaint and then imitated Su Xiao, sitting sideways and propping her face up with her hand.

"Hmm~, Yiming suggested that Tencent should stop preparing for its video account in exchange for strategic cooperation and investment from TikTok. I think that's unrealistic. If Tencent doesn't get into short videos, other companies will."

“Weishi is barely alive right now, and Video Accounts won’t be much better. Instead of making such a pointless request, we should ask for something more practical: let Tencent’s traffic empower Douyin.”

"for example?"

"This Spring Festival, we spent 10 billion yuan on red envelopes, which added 3000 million daily active users on New Year's Eve. If Tencent could open up WeChat to us, and we could launch a Douyin Spring Festival red envelope campaign, how much fresh traffic do you think we could attract?" "This is even more difficult than getting them to give up WeChat Channels! WeChat, even within Tencent, is a private territory that no one can touch. Pony Ma and Zhang Xiaolong probably wouldn't agree to it."

Su Xiao pulled her elbow back, turned around, and faced Chen Xiu with a serious expression, keeping her head turned.

She almost burst out laughing during our face-to-face conversation...

Chen Xiu frowned, adjusted her posture, and continued, "I don't plan to keep them open indefinitely. We only need them to cooperate during the Spring Festival. Douyin has basically taken control of the youth market. If we want to compete with Kuaishou for the lower-tier market, WeChat will be a good breakthrough."

Su Xiao nodded in agreement, but then thought that Tencent might not be able to agree to this request.

However, when it comes to negotiations, it depends on how the parties involved talk.

Glancing at Chen Xiu out of the corner of her eye, she still reminded her, "The pre-IPO needs to be finalized within this month. Zhou Shouzi's side is basically fine. If you want to negotiate with Tencent, you must have a result before the end of next week."

"Next week, I'll host a private cocktail party and invite Tencent, Shunwei Capital, and Sequoia Capital, who previously invested in the company, to chat and see if any of these existing shareholders want to exit. I'll also take this opportunity to warm up for the pre-IPO."

"Then, I will talk to Tencent about cooperation. If they are not willing to open up WeChat cooperation, I will ask Zhou Shouzi to find another investor in the remaining half month."

Chen Xiu always likes to leave himself an escape route, and this time was no exception.

Hearing that he had already planned the time, Su Xiao shifted her attention elsewhere: "How do you plan to deal with Cheng Wei?"

"Hehe, we have to save him some face."

Why can't I believe it?
Su Xiao turned her head and glanced at Chen Xiu sideways: "Could you make that any more untrue?"

"Hehe, I plan to invite him to the company in person tomorrow or the day after."

"Will he come?"

“Definitely. He knew perfectly well that we couldn’t let Didi become a strategic partner of TikTok, but he still called Zhou Shouzi, which means he had ulterior motives… Ha, Cheng Wei is probably sitting in his office right now staring at his phone, waiting for me to call him.”

Su Xiao pursed her lips, feigning suspicion, but inwardly she agreed with his guess, her eyes subtly twitching upwards.

"Are you planning to have Lao Hou and Lao Zhang (the original team that left Didi to found Douyin) come and see Cheng Wei?"

"Those who have been promoted are now mostly scattered to other branches across the country. It's too boring to hold a special gathering for this kind of thing."

Chen Xiu shook her head and refused the idea, but then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"However, I can post it on my WeChat Moments afterwards so that they can all see it."

"laugh!"

Su Xiao covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her orchid-like fingers resting on her lips, perfectly concealing the meaningful meaning at the corners of her mouth.

"Xiao Xiu".

"Ok?"

"It seems like your personality hasn't changed since you started your business."

What kind of personality does he/she have?

Chen Xiu looked at Su Xiao curiously, wanting to know how she was perceived by Su Xiao.

Turning around and getting closer, Su Xiao's clear black and white eyes reflected Chen Xiu's image, and she said seriously, "You are rational in important matters, but cunning in trivial matters."

"...The second half of the sentence is inaccurate."

"No, no, no, it's quite accurate...mua~"

Physical noise reduction, like lips and teeth working together.

……

When Chen Xiu left Su Xiao's office, the sun was already close to setting.

Just as he reached out through the car window to play with the orange-yellow sunset, Wei Feng, who was calculating his time to get off work, also called to report.

"Yes, a tribute film, that's a good answer. Whether it's about fame or fortune, it's clearly beneficial to the company."

"Boss, do you think it's better to let Rao Xiaozhi or Chen Sicheng take charge?"

Datang Pictures has invested in the personal studios of Chen Sicheng, Rao Xiaozhi, Lu Yang, and Guo Fan, establishing long-term and stable cooperative relationships.

Guo Fan is not well-known, and Lu Yang is currently filming "A Writer's Odyssey." Their directing achievements are not yet comparable to those of Chen Sicheng and Rao Xiaozhi.

So Wei Feng was actually asking Chen Xiu whether to choose Chen Sicheng or Rao Xiaozhi.

Chen Xiu analyzed the multiple-choice question as if talking to herself.

"Rao Xiaozhi has had two blockbuster films in a row, and he's gotten a bit arrogant. If we give him more of these kinds of resources, he'll probably start to get cocky."

"Indeed, he's gotten a bit arrogant lately."

“That’s normal. Success comes too fast and that’s how it is. But don’t tell Chen Sicheng directly that you’ve chosen him to shoot the tribute film. First, let them know that the company has recommended a director and you will have to choose one of them.”

"Make them feel a sense of crisis!"

Chen Xiu chuckled and didn't delve any further into the topic.

"I'm leaving this to you. At the premiere of 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' next week, talk to Chen Sicheng and tell him that he will invest in 'Detective Chinatown 1900,' which will start filming next year. This is what I promised him before, so that he can focus on his work."

"Got it, boss. You've been so busy lately, will you still be able to attend the year-end party at the end of the month?"

"No matter how busy you are, you can still squeeze out half a day. I'm entrusting you with the premiere of 'Sheep Without a Shepherd'. We can't let others outdo us."

"understand!"

(End of this chapter)