Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 432 Don't Underestimate the Spirit of Internet Entrepreneurs
"For the volume purchase package, you can first confirm your share for the first quarter..."

Chen Xiu looked up at Cheng Wei, thinking that if Didi could reach a cooperation agreement with TikTok, the advertising fee worth hundreds of millions could also add to the revenue of the financial report in the first quarter of next year.

Cheng Wei nodded silently, offering no comment.

Before coming, he had already learned about the development of TikTok. It was because he knew the average daily usage time of users that he thought of cooperating with Chen Xiu. Although the cooperation could not be completed, advertising could still continue.

The promotion costs for internet software have always been transparent, and Didi has a need to expand into overseas markets, so there's nothing to hesitate about.

After explaining the situation and reaching a preliminary cooperation agreement, Chen Xiu said, "I will discuss the specific details of the cooperation with Zhou Shouzi, and he will contact you soon."

"OK, no problem!"

Cheng Wei smiled and nodded, feeling that he had settled a cooperation deal today, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Seeing that the conversation was over, Chen Xiu's eye twitched imperceptibly, and as she shifted her posture, she glanced at the direction of the door out of the corner of her eye.

A group of people were waiting outside...

If Cheng Wei is allowed to leave like this, the cooperation will inevitably be affected. We still need to lay the groundwork with him in advance.

"Ahem, Wei Ge, can I ask you something?"

"Well, you said."

Cheng Wei's face showed the relief of a successful collaboration; the worries he had before coming here had long been forgotten.

Chen Xiu did not speak immediately, but paused for a while to create an atmosphere.

Seeing his serious expression, Cheng Wei had a bad feeling. His heart, which had just been at ease, was now hanging in suspense again.

"Why did you gather Lao Hou and the others together and then fire them all?"

Here it comes, the soul-searching question has finally arrived!
God knows how long I've been waiting for this day!
With the exhilarating feeling of finally ending years of inner turmoil, Cheng Wei began to seriously consider his wording.

He took a sip of the remaining coffee, coughed twice, and said, "This approach was suggested to me by someone else, but I made the decision, so it's not wrong for you to ask me."

"As you know, Didi and Kuaidi had just merged, and Lu Chuanwei and I were co-CEOs. When two tigers fight, one of them is bound to get hurt."

"If he goes to cooperate with you, and with Tencent's help, I'll definitely be the one who leaves! To prevent this from happening, I have to recruit a batch of new people. To make these people work for me, I have to offer them something to satisfy their appetites."

"The 22 people you laid off that day were all people you personally recruited. They were also promoted faster than ordinary employees. By firing them all, the positions will be vacant."

"As you know, not long after you left, Lü Chuanwei cashed out his shares and then resigned."

Cheng Wei pursed his lips and looked at Chen Xiu with a determined expression.

If he had to choose again, given the circumstances and situation at the time, he would still do the same thing, without a doubt!

However, he also wanted to know something else...

"If I hadn't fired these people, would you still have founded Douyin?"

"This kind of discussion is meaningless."

Chen Xiu avoided the question, her eyes appearing somewhat gloomy.

Cheng Wei stared at him for a long time, then suddenly laughed and raised his hand, saying, "You can't!"

"Don't talk like you know me so well."

“We’ve known each other for seven years and worked together for two and a half years. You’re not the kind of person who’s deep in thought, so how could you not understand me at all?”

"Then guess why I asked you this question."

Chen Xiu raised an eyebrow and smiled, joking with Cheng Wei in a very open and natural way.

The discord between the two had long been diluted by time. He had stabbed Cheng Wei in the back so many times, and the reckoning was finally over.

Furthermore, Douyin's achievements have now surpassed Didi's, making it the highest-valued unicorn company in China. The tolerance of the strong is always greater than that of the weak.

The fact that Cheng Wei dared to come and ask Chen Xiu for advice a few months ago shows that he was aware of this as well.

Now, being asked this suddenly, he was also puzzled.

As his thoughts raced, Cheng Wei realized that he hadn't run into a single familiar face on his way to Douyin, which was rather strange.

Thinking of this, his expression suddenly froze, and he looked up at Chen Xiu: "Are they waiting for me outside?"

"Ah."

Chen Xiu nodded silently.

"Hiss~~, are Su Xiao and Su Yu here too?"

"Sister Xiaoxiao isn't that bored; Xiaoyu is definitely here."

"hehe."

Cheng Wei smiled in agreement, then his expression suddenly turned serious as he leaned closer and scrutinized Chen Xiu meticulously.

His strange behavior startled Chen Xiu, who involuntarily leaned back.

"What are you doing? Trying to get hurt?"

"How could that be? Even five of me might not be able to beat you."

Cheng Wei was very self-aware, but he continued to scrutinize him.

His scrutiny was aimless, or rather, it was more like he was searching for some kind of answer.

Chen Xiu was stared at for a good two or three minutes before Cheng Wei finally stopped: "Sigh~, you still look the same as when you first started your business, no change at all."

"I'm only 25 years old, what changes could I possibly expect?"

"I wasn't talking about your face!"

Cheng Wei pursed his lips, pointed at Chen Xiu, and said seriously, "I'm talking about you! You're decisive, intelligent, courageous, responsible, sincere, and have people working for you. You're a remarkable person!"

"Too high!" Chen Xiu brushed his hand away, picked up the coffee on the coffee table, and took a small sip.

Where is it high?

"The rating is too high!"

"This is just my personal opinion, I don't need anyone else's approval. I think it's not too high, that's fine."

"Have you thought of a plan for what to do later?"

With a loud bang, Cheng Wei suddenly stood up, staring intently at Chen Xiu.

Chen Xiu sat calmly on the sofa, looking at him without the slightest surprise on her face.

"Ah."

Cheng Wei chuckled and shook his head, saying, "When I received your call the night before last, I had already considered that I would run into those old buddies when I came to Douyin."

“I was a little worried that it might be awkward to see them again, but after talking to you, I don’t care about that at all.”

"Since I chose to fire them back then, I was prepared for them to come back and slap me in the face after they've achieved success! I may not have as much responsibility as you, but I am still the founder of Didi. Don't underestimate the spirit of internet entrepreneurs!"

Chen Xiu silently finished her coffee, put the cup back on the coffee table, slowly stood up, and patted Cheng Wei's arm.

"This coffee table is made of rosewood, which is very hard. Doesn't it hurt your hands?"

"Damn! It's definitely going to hurt! But the atmosphere's right, I have to bear it!"

Cheng Wei, his face contorted in a grimace, reached out with his left hand to pinch his already red right hand, thinking to himself: If I had known, I wouldn't have pretended...

……

The office door opened, and Chen Xiu and Cheng Wei walked side by side into the open-plan office area.

Just as the two were halfway there, a voice that they had expected suddenly came over.

"Mr. Cheng, please wait a moment."

Cheng Wei's "Cheng" has a nasal ending, so the person who called out could emphasize the pronunciation to avoid the two people mistaking him for Chen Xiu.

Upon hearing the shout, Chen Xiu and Cheng Wei stopped in their tracks and exchanged a glance.

One made a sarcastic remark, the other expressed helplessness, and then they each turned to face the twenty or so people who emerged from the corners.

Leading the group was Su Yu, Chen Xiu's soon-to-be brother-in-law, whose dark circles were gradually fading.

He brought the person over, and after Chen Xiu glanced at him, he stood there silently without saying a word. The others also seemed very quiet.

If Chen Xiu takes Cheng Wei out like this, then today's matter will be over.

But he didn't do that. Instead, he took the initiative to step back, shielding Cheng Wei in front of him, and gave the others a wink that it was time to start.

Upon receiving the signal, everyone became eager to try.

Cheng Wei also seemed very proactive: "Ahem, who wants to start first?"

"I come!"

A middle-aged man with thick glasses, a receding hairline, and a Jinyang accent in his Mandarin stepped forward.

He walked out, nodded to Chen Xiu first, and then said to Cheng Wei, "President Cheng, my name is Hou Jin. I used to be an architect at Didi, and now I am the technical director at Douyin."

"I remember you..."

Cheng Wei smiled, his lips moving, unsure of what to say, and finally he could only subconsciously raise his hand.

"Shake hands."

"it is good!"

"His~~"

The act of slamming the table and pouring the cup earlier has now come back to haunt Cheng Wei.

Seeing the pained expression on his former boss's face, Lao Hou withdrew his hand with a wronged look on his face, thinking: Even though I have a strong hand, you can't use a handshake to extort money from me!
Seeing this, commentator Chen Xiu stepped forward to explain: "President Cheng was testing the renovation in his office just now, and his hand is a little swollen from clapping. When you shake hands later, please remember to use less force."

What does it mean to use as little force as possible?
Shouldn't it be that I'm already injured, so a handshake is enough?
Cheng Wei stared at Chen Xiu, wanting to ask if it was intentional or accidental, but before he could speak, the second person to shake hands had already taken their place.

"Hello, Mr. Cheng. My name is Zhang Shaobin. I previously worked as a test engineer and backend developer at Didi, and now I am the test director at Douyin!"

"I think I remember you too..."

Let's shake hands!

"Uh... hiss~~"

The twenty-odd people who wanted to shake hands started lining up. They had already made their bold statements to Chen Xiu's face, so Cheng Wei had no choice but to bite the bullet and shake hands with each of them.

I just don't know if those people who left Didi did it on purpose or by accident.

In short, Cheng Wei's expression became increasingly interesting as he shook hands with Cheng Wei, eventually turning pale and then flushed.

"finished?"

Before the sound even appeared, Chen Xiu could smell that familiar perfume scent.

He turned to look at Su Xiao, who had suddenly appeared, and nodded, saying, "Yes, it'll be over soon."

"Then you take charge of maintaining order and telling them to get back to work. I won't be the bad guy."

Su Xiao glanced at Chen Xiu with a smile, then turned and went back to her office.

Seeing Cheng Wei's furrowed brows, Chen Xiu thought: Securing this deal with Didi will ease TikTok's profit pressure in the first quarter of next year, and the IPO pricing will also be stabilized.

(End of this chapter)