Returning to his senior year of high school, he went all in and made billions by buying at the botto

There are ten days left until the college entrance examination.

The air inside the teaching building of Jiangcheng County No. 1 Middle School felt more tense than usual.

The countdown to the college entrance examination in the upper right corner of the blackboard was redrawn by the student on duty with red chalk.

10.

This number is like a nail, nailed to the eyes of every senior high school student.

Some people are starting to have insomnia.

Some people have started frequently flipping through their error notebooks.

Some students were taking a nap on their desks during break, reciting formulas as they did so.

Some people checked their admission ticket, ID card, 2B pencil, and eraser over and over again, as if as long as these things were correct, their fate would proceed step by step toward a certain outcome.

Chen Mo returned to the classroom, a rare occurrence for him.

He held a newly distributed mock exam paper for the science subjects in his hand, his expression calm.

Su Qingyan sat next to him, glancing at him several times out of the corner of her eye.

Finally, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you going to stay here until the college entrance exam?"

Chen Mo paused for a moment.

"Do your best before the college entrance exam."

Su Qingyan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"As much as possible?"

Chen Mo looked at her and smiled.

"This time, I really will try my best."

Su Qingyan clearly didn't believe it.

However, she didn't press him further, but instead pushed a challenging math problem covered in markings in front of him.

"Let's explain this problem first."

Chen Mo shrugged, just about to start explaining the problem, when his phone vibrated slightly in his pocket.

Chen Mo glanced down at it.

It was a message from Zhang Nan.

It's just a short sentence.

Mr. Chen, Douyin's data has exploded again.

……

Changhu High-tech Zone.

Douyin Group Headquarters.

Less than half a month after completing its Series A funding round, the entire office building has already undergone a complete transformation.

In the past, although this place was busy, it still had the rough and chaotic feel of a startup.

Things are different now; every department is like a tightly wound spring.

Young people carrying laptops can be seen walking briskly through the corridors.

The meeting room was filled with data.

Daily active users, retention, creator growth...

Every number is climbing.

The growth curve of Douyin after its launch can no longer be described as merely impressive.

Its growth has exceeded everyone's expectations.

Zhang Nan stood in front of the large screen, her eyes bloodshot.

She hasn't had a full night's sleep for three days in a row.

However, she was in a state of near-hysteria.

"3.2 million new users were added yesterday."

"Daily active users have exceeded 16 million."

"The next-day retention rate remains above 52%."

"The average daily usage time per user continues to rise, and is now approaching forty minutes."

"Video uploads have increased by 170 percent compared to the same period last week."

The meeting room was so quiet that the only sound was the clatter of keyboards.

Several algorithm engineers who had just been transferred from ByteDance looked at each other, their eyes somewhat glazed over.

Zhang Nan picked up her water glass and took a sip; her voice was a little hoarse.

"The biggest problem now is not growth, but that we can't keep up with the growth."

She looked at Chen Liping.

"The server is about to break down."

"There aren't enough review teams either."

"Content operations need to be expanded."

"We've already received numerous inquiries from brands and emerging MCN teams on the business side."

"If prices continue to rise at the current rate, the existing office and technology infrastructure will only last for a month at most."

Chen Liping sat on the other side of the conference table, holding a report on the use of funds.

He has lost a lot of weight recently.

When he was working at Yunfan Software, his biggest worries were how to get projects, how to pay salaries, and how to keep the company afloat.

Now the worries have completely changed.

The $200 million Series A funding round is about to be fully received.

Douyin is burning through money every day.

Servers, bandwidth, copyrights, recruitment, office space—everywhere is asking for money.

I used to worry when I didn't have money.

He's now spending too much money too quickly, which is making him even more worried.

After Zhang Nan finished speaking, everyone in the conference room looked at him.

Chen Liping took a deep breath.

In the past, he would have subconsciously tried to save money, renting whenever possible, making do with what he could, and delaying spending money whenever possible.

But Chen Mo's previous words had been weighing on his mind.

They burned through two hundred million dollars within six months.

If the product isn't selling, it means you haven't found the right way to grow.

Chen Liping remained silent for a few seconds before closing the financial report.

"Buy a house."

The meeting room fell silent, and Zhang Nan paused for a moment.

"Buy a property?"

"right."

Chen Liping raised his head.

"This building is no longer sufficient."

"Continuing to rent, expanding floor by floor, negotiating room by room, is too slow."

"Isn't there a newly built office building in the provincial capital's CBD that's been vacant for a while?"

The finance manager's expression changed slightly.

"Mr. Chen, are you referring to Building B of Changhu International Center?"

"right."

"That building isn't cheap, and if you buy the whole thing, it'll cost at least..."

"How much?"

The finance manager swallowed hard.

"Including subsequent renovations, server room upgrades, and initial data center construction, it may cost close to 200 million yuan."

The meeting room was eerily quiet.

Two hundred million RMB—six months ago, Yunfan Software would have had to meticulously calculate even two million RMB in cash flow.

But now, Chen Liping remained silent for only a few seconds.

He used to think that phrase, "a stroke of the pen," was something far removed from his own life, but now he knows that he must make that stroke.

"purchase."

Chen Liping said.

"Let the legal and finance departments go over to talk today."

"It's not just about buying office buildings."

"Douyin wants its own headquarters, its own data center, and its own content moderation base."

"Take down Building B first."

"If that's not enough, we'll talk about the building next door."

Zhang Nan looked at him, her eyes flickering slightly.

Chen Liping continued, "Server procurement will be launched simultaneously."

"Buy what you can get domestically first. Don't stop cloud services either; connect with multiple providers simultaneously."

"The review team has expanded to 500 people. We will continue to recruit for all core positions in operations, marketing, content, and business development."

He paused for a moment.

Money is not a problem.

When he said those words, Chen Liping himself was momentarily dazed.

He actually managed to say those five words in the conference room one day.

Zhang Nan was also momentarily dazed, thinking that Chen Mo had appeared.

Does this mean that all members of the Chen family share the same nature of spending money recklessly?

Then she took out her notebook and said...

"Understood. I'll redo the expansion plan tonight."

The eyes of the group of young employees in the conference room lit up.

Buying buildings, building data centers, and expanding the team.

This means that Douyin is no longer a startup project residing in an office building in the High-tech Zone.

It needs to truly become a company.

An internet company with its own headquarters, its own infrastructure, and its own ambitions.

……

Douyin moved very quickly.

So fast that many people hadn't even realized it, the acquisition negotiations for Building B of Changhu International Center had already entered the substantive stage.

At the same time, Douyin's data and financing news could no longer be suppressed.

Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, Matrix Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, and others entered the market simultaneously.

The post-investment valuation is two billion US dollars.

Raised $200 million.

It reached tens of millions of daily active users in less than a month after its launch.

These messages spread like wildfire from the venture capital world to the internet world.

Those who truly understand traffic entry points were the first to get restless.

Penguin Headquarters in Shenzhen.

In a small conference room, several heads of the strategic investment department and social product line were looking at Douyin's data report.

On the big screen, several videos that have recently gone viral on Douyin are playing.

A 15-second twin hand gesture dance.

Imitation of school dormitories.

Singing on the street.

Funny transition.

There are also videos of several ordinary students laughing in front of the camera.

The content is simple, even a bit rough.

The number of views is frighteningly high.

"Its relationship chain is very weak."

"One of the product managers said, frowning."

"But the problem is, it can keep users engaged without relying on personal relationships."

"This is different from the social distribution we are used to."

The head of strategic investment next to him was flipping through documents.

"Star Technology holds 54% of the shares."

"31.5% of bytes."

"The remaining amount from the founding team and Series A funding."

"Zhang Ming only received a little over 30%?"

Someone whispered, "It's said that Douyin's product direction initially came from Chen Mo of Xingchen Technology."

Someone in the conference room scoffed.

"Does a local company from a western province really understand short videos?"

No one responded.

Because the data is there.

Regardless of whether the other party understands it or not, Douyin has already made its way out.

The head of strategic investment closed the document.

"Let's make contact first. Investment, cooperation, traffic exchange, and even the possibility of acquisition are all open to discussion."

"In addition, pay special attention to two people."

"Zhang Nan and Chen Liping."

"Zhang Nan is the product manager, and Chen Liping is the representative of the Star System within Douyin."

He paused.

"Dig if you can."

……

Hangzhou.

Ali Park.

Another meeting took place at almost the same time.

While penguins focus more on social relationship chains, Ali focuses on something else entirely.

Content e-commerce, young users, and traffic entry points.

"Short videos will definitely drive sales in the future."

An executive looked at several beauty, fashion, and street style videos on Douyin with a confident tone.

"Right now it's just content entertainment, but once the transaction chain is connected, the efficiency will be terrifying."

"The problem is, Douyin isn't short of money right now."

"Then let's cooperate first."

Someone said.

"We have payment, Google, e-commerce, and brand resources."

"Send someone to make contact first."

"If Star Technology is willing to negotiate, Ali can participate in the next round."

"What if they don't want to talk?"

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

The man in the main seat smiled.

"If you don't want to talk, you can start by becoming friends."

"While we're at it, let's see if anyone's willing to move to another location."

……

For the next few days, the front desk of Douyin Group was almost never quiet.

Emails kept coming in.

The phone kept ringing.

These came from investment institutions, internet companies, mobile phone manufacturers, and local government investment promotion departments.

Several young directors from TV stations even wanted to meet with Zhang Nan to discuss collaborations on variety shows.

Douyin is like a piece of fatty meat that has just surfaced.

Everyone could smell it.

Chen Liping's private phone began to ring frequently.

At first, it was just an old friend calling to congratulate me.

Later, the smell of the phone gradually changed.

"Mr. Chen, would you like to come to Shenzhen sometime? Our boss really admires Douyin."

"Mr. Chen, have you considered transferring some of your existing shares?"

"We can take it at a 30% premium to the valuation of two billion US dollars."

"If you are willing to cooperate long-term, we can also help you set up a personal family office."

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, you have a technical background, and Douyin, which is of a certain scale, will definitely need to be handed over to a more professional platform in the future."

"There's nothing shameful about cashing out some of your money now."

"Tens of millions of dollars, enough for you and your family to live comfortably for several lifetimes."

When Chen Liping first heard "tens of millions of US dollars," his fingers froze for a moment.

He is not Chen Mo.

He has no memory of being reborn.

It has also not experienced the baptism of the Swiss franc, crude oil, stock index futures and global capital markets.

Tens of millions of dollars.

That's several hundred million RMB.

A few months ago, he wouldn't have dared to even think about it.

But the person on the other end of the phone spoke of it casually.

It was as if this was just a regular quote.

10 PM.

The lights in Douyin's office were on full display.

Chen Liping stood at the end of the corridor, and after hanging up yet another phone call, he remained motionless for a long time.

The view outside the glass window is of the night view of Changhu City.

He suddenly remembered how, when Yunfan Software was on the verge of collapse, he had humbled himself and drunk with clients to save a few hundred thousand yuan in cash flow.

At that time, his biggest wish was for the company to survive.

Employees can be paid wages.

Brother and sister-in-law don't need to worry about him.

But now, someone is willing to spend hundreds of millions of RMB to buy his shares.

They even said that as long as he was willing to cooperate, they could help him become a "real internet startup star".

Chen Liping was not unmoved.

People are not stones.

Especially someone like him who has experienced poverty, hardship, and perseverance, knows the value of money even more.

But that fluctuation only lasted for a very short time.

He quickly recalled what Chen Mo had said when he handed over five percent of the shares to him.

Shares are not only a source of income, but also a responsibility.

You must guard it for me.

Chen Liping slowly exhaled and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Hold on."

He said something in a low voice.

It's like reminding myself.