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

The next morning, Chen Mo headed to the provincial capital airport.

He booked a first-class ticket for a direct flight to Kyoto and entered the VIP lounge.

Chen Mo, dressed in a sharp black trench coat, was holding a cup of coffee and quietly leaning against the leather sofa in the lounge.

Lin Wan had already arranged all his luggage check-in and boarding procedures. Since the connection between Xingchen Technology and Deer Technology was entering a critical period, she had to stay in the local area to oversee things.

"Mr. Chen, first-class passengers to Kyoto have already started priority boarding." Lin Wan walked up to him and reluctantly straightened the collar of his trench coat.

"I'm leaving the family and the company to you." Chen Mo gave her a deep look, then turned around and boarded a flight to Kyoto.

The flight attendant very gently led Chen Mo to seat 1A in first class.

Shortly after Chen Mo sat down, a middle-aged man in his early thirties, wearing black-rimmed glasses and an extremely plain, even faded, gray hoodie, walked into seat 1B.

The man was holding a printed document about "Mobile Internet Algorithm Distribution" in his hand, his brow furrowed, and he was constantly writing and drawing on it with a pen.

Chen Mo only glanced at it casually, but when he saw the other person's face clearly, his heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Ming.

The founder of ByteDance, a future global technology giant with a trillion-dollar valuation.

In 2014, Zhang Ming's company had just completed a $1 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Although it had money on its books and a valuation of $5 million, Toutiao's revenue was just approaching the threshold of 3000 million RMB per month. In the internet world dominated by giants, it was still a small, shaky company.

"At present, ByteDance has not fully rolled out its long-form and short-form video lines, and there is not even a trace of Huoshan and Douyin yet."

Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, a burning glint in his eyes.

Although it's too late to rush in and become an angel round shareholder now, as giants like Sequoia Capital and Sina have already taken control of the board, if a seed can be planted in their hearts at this time, Chen Mo and his Taichu Capital will definitely be able to take a core piece of this lucrative business when ByteDance truly transforms into a trillion-dollar monster in the future!

The plane roared into the sky.

While the flight attendant was serving drinks, Chen Mo glanced casually at the documents in Zhang Ming's hand and remarked:

"The personalized algorithm model that Mr. Zhang has is indeed logically sound. But in 2014, relying solely on image and text algorithm distribution to compete head-on with Tencent's news app and Sina's NetEase will only have a year left to benefit from its advantages."

Zhang Ming, who was deep in thought about future strategies, suddenly looked up when he heard such a young voice beside him.

When Zhang Ming saw that the speaker was an extremely young boy, he was taken aback for a moment, then pushed up his glasses and asked with curiosity, "Oh? Young man, you also have research on algorithmic distribution? I'd like to hear more about it."

Chen Mo shifted to a more comfortable position:

"I wouldn't call it research, but I'm just quite sensitive to human greed. Mr. Zhang, the 4G era has been fully rolled out. Text and images, which require mental effort to read, will soon be completely replaced by short videos that are more visually impactful."

Chen Mo's words instantly resonated in Zhang Ming's mind; the two surprisingly shared the same viewpoint.

Zhang Ming abandoned his previous casualness and unconsciously leaned towards Chen Mo, his eyes, hidden behind black-rimmed glasses, shining with a somewhat frightening intensity.

"What's your name, young man? Do you know me?" Zhang Ming took a deep breath, his tone filled with surprise but also with urgency.

In the internet industry in 2014, Alibaba was busy embracing wireless, Tencent secured its first ticket to the mobile internet platform with WeChat, and although Toutiao carved out a niche in the text and image field with machine recommendations, it was still regarded as a copycat by major traditional portal websites.

As for short videos, although Kuaishou and Meipai existed in the market at that time, most people only regarded them as novel entertainment tools, and no one elevated them to a strategic level of replacing text and images.

"Chen Mo, the 'Mo' in 'silent and unassuming'."

Chen Mo met Zhang Ming's scrutinizing gaze with composure. "As for getting to know Mr. Zhang, it's not difficult. The news in the middle of the year that Sequoia Capital led a $100 million Series C funding round made quite a stir in the venture capital world. I've seen Mr. Zhang's presentation slides in Silicon Valley; the personalized algorithm logic is very forward-thinking. However, as I just said, the upper limit for text and images is too low."

Zhang Ming fell into deep thought.

Two minutes later, he looked up at Chen Mo with a solemn expression:

"Brother Chen, to be honest, our team has indeed been evaluating the short video business recently. But I've always had a concern—text has information density, while most short videos nowadays are meaningless parodies and snippets of daily life, with extremely fragmented information. What makes you think that this shallow medium can completely replace text and images?"

Upon hearing the question from this future godfather of the internet, Chen Mo felt a mischievous urge.

He was all too aware of Zhang Ming's limitations at this stage.

Zhang Ming, who comes from a science and engineering background, was still using information density and rational value to measure Internet products at this time.

"Mr. Zhang, you've made a logical fallacy. You're trying to understand the basic needs of hundreds of millions of ordinary netizens from the perspective of an elite intellectual."

Chen Mo's tone was calm, yet every word was piercing:

"After a long day at work, most people don't turn on their phones to acquire knowledge or seek information density. They simply need to be satisfied, to experience pleasure with minimal cost and instant feedback. Text requires the brain to decode and think; short videos only require the retina to receive it. With the support of algorithmic recommendations, as long as you keep feeding them what they want to watch, their thumbs will unconsciously swipe on the screen for hours, like a gambler pressing a slot machine button."

Zhang Ming's fingers suddenly twitched.

"The gambler is pressing the slot machine button..."

He repeated the sentence in a low voice.

That analogy is so accurate!

"Moreover, the commercial value of short videos will far exceed your imagination." Chen Mo continued to bolster the argument, launching into a commercial myth that has been proven countless times in later generations: "Text can only carry hard-sell ads and simple e-commerce links. But what can short videos carry? A visually impactful 15-second video can instantly trigger impulsive purchases from users. In the future, short videos will be the biggest traffic portal, evolving into a closed-loop industrial chain that spans entertainment, social interaction, and even directly disrupts Taobao e-commerce."

"Clatter".

Zhang Ming's pen fell completely onto the small table.

If Chen Mo's previous theories on short videos were still based on product logic, then his current ideas of "disrupting Taobao" and "closing the loop of live-streaming e-commerce" have completely shattered Zhang Ming's original business views!

In 2014, the e-commerce world belonged to Jack Ma. Who would dare to arrogantly talk about overthrowing Taobao on a plane?

But then, this young man in the black trench coat was talking at length in a casual tone.

"Brother Chen... how old are you this year?" Zhang Ming's throat was a little dry as he stared at Chen Mo.

"I'm a senior in high school, and I'm not even eighteen yet."

Chen Mo answered casually.

Zhang Ming stared in disbelief, speechless for a full half minute.

An 18-year-old high school student, sitting in first class on a flight from Jiangcheng to Kyoto, uses a vision ahead of his time to vividly present his core strategy for the future of the group.

"Genius... This is absolutely monstrous strategic vision."

Zhang Ming took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the overwhelming shock within him, grabbed Chen Mo's arm, and spoke in an extremely sincere tone:

"Brother Chen, no, Mr. Chen! The theory you just presented has shown me a golden path. Name your price! Two million a year, plus 0.5% of my founding stock options in Toutiao! If you agree, you'll become my company's Vice President of Strategy, and you'll be in full charge of the entire video division!"

In 2014, a 0.5% stake in Toutiao might not seem like much, but for a company now valued at $5 million, it was worth over two million dollars.

Not to mention the terrifyingly astronomical figure that this equity stake will balloon to when Toutiao grows into a behemoth worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

However, Chen Mo simply smiled faintly.

"Mr. Zhang, annual salary and working for someone else are meaningless to me now. I'm going to Kyoto this time to finalize the launch of my first private equity fund, with an initial size of... two billion."

Chen Mo picked up his slightly cooled coffee, took a sip, and looked at Zhang Ming, who was speechless after being hit with the number two billion, before stating his conditions:

"However, I can take the time to write you a plan for the underlying product architecture of short videos and live-streaming e-commerce for the future. My requirement is simple—when Toutiao launches its Series D funding round or future global financing, my Taichu Capital must secure an exclusive entry spot. I want investment rights, not stock options."

The plane began its slow descent, and the flight attendant's gentle voice rang out in the cabin.

Looking at the young man in front of him who was only eighteen years old but exuded the aura of top-tier capital, Zhang Ming's eyes gradually changed from shock to awe.

"Okay! It's a deal!"

Zhang Ming nodded emphatically, pulled a personal business card from his pocket, and solemnly handed it to Chen Mo with both hands: "Mr. Chen, today's insightful words are worth more than ten years of study. I await your product plan. For the future Series D funding round, I will personally endorse and recommend Taichu Capital!"

Chen Mo nodded slightly, took out a business card holder with the texture of Xuan paper from the inside pocket of his trench coat, and handed it over.

The business card was expedited by the workshop that Lin Wan had just had made a couple of days ago. On the pure black background, there were only the words "Chen Mo, Chairman of Taichu Capital" in gold foil, along with a string of private phone numbers.

The two took out their phones and added each other on WeChat.

Looking at the weighty business card in his hand, Zhang Ming felt a surge of emotions.

He thought to himself that he must use all his connections to thoroughly investigate this Primordial Capital when he got back.

An 18-year-old youth is able to issue a private equity fund of 2 billion yuan and even has such keen insight into the future internet landscape and product ecosystem.

Who exactly is this person? I've been in the venture capital circle for so many years, why have I never heard of Chen Mo's name in the circles of those top wealthy families and conglomerates?

The sense of oppression brought by the unknown even made this future godfather of the Internet feel a chill down his spine when he got off the plane.

……