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

The next morning.

Shengyinyuan Building 3.

As dawn broke, the soft sound of chopping vegetables could be heard from the kitchen.

Su Qingyan tied her long hair behind her head, put on a dark apron, and ladled the cooked millet porridge into three white porcelain bowls.

Last night, the three of them went back to their respective rooms without any awkwardness.

But Su Qingyan didn't sleep well that night; she was tossing and turning in pain.

It wasn't until she woke up in the morning and saw the study light still on, and heard Chen Mo talking quietly to the overseas team, that her anxiety slowly subsided.

Chen Mo didn't rest for long.

All she could do was make sure he had a hot meal before he went back to work.

Fried eggs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, millet porridge, and a few freshly steamed shrimp dumplings were quickly placed on the table.

Lin Wan came downstairs and saw Su Qingyan busy in the kitchen. She paused for a moment.

"So early?"

"I need to get to Financial Street before nine o'clock."

Su Qingyan untied her apron.

"The porridge is ready, Sister Wan, eat it while it's hot."

Aren't you coming along?

"I ate a little in the kitchen."

Su Qingyan looked at Chen Mo, who had just come out of the study.

"Don't drink coffee on an empty stomach today."

"understood."

"If there's a meeting at noon, remember to ask Wei Shan to prepare lunch for you."

"it is good."

Su Qingyan checked her handbag and employee ID one last time, then put on her coat and left.

The living room returned to tranquility.

Lin Wan pulled out a dining chair and sat down, picking up a white porcelain spoon to scoop a mouthful of warm millet porridge and putting it in her mouth.

The cooking time was perfect, and the temperature was just right for eating.

She looked up at Chen Mo.

"Boss Chen is truly blessed with good fortune. Even studying at Tsinghua University, he has top-scoring students personally cooking for him."

Chen Mo sensed the sarcasm in the words.

"Maybe I'm just too charming."

Lin Wan's ears felt slightly hot. Remembering how she and Li Xiuyun were learning to cook, she casually picked up a shrimp dumpling.

"Qingyan is not me. Boss Chen, have you figured out how to win her over?"

Lin Wan put down her spoon, her expression becoming more serious: "This girl is intelligent and perceptive, and she can't tolerate the slightest imperfection. She's not as simple as you think."

"Moreover, young girls yearn for love."

Chen Mo's casual expression gradually faded: "What did you say to her last night?"

"She didn't say anything, but I sensed she needed an answer."

"What's the answer?"

"only."

Chen Mo fell into deep thought: "I won't lie to her."

Lin Wan rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "If she asks, will you tell the truth? How many women do you have?"

Chen Mo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Lin Wan continued, "What if she can't accept it?"

"I hadn't thought about it."

Lin Wan said calmly, "You can hope she stays, but you can't make the choice for her."

"We can't wait until she's gotten too deeply involved before letting her find out the truth from someone else."

Chen Mo nodded slowly: "I will find an opportunity to explain things to her."

Lin Wan picked up her chopsticks again, her voice softening slightly: "A girl like Qingyan, the gentler she is on ordinary days, the more decisive she will be when she truly decides to leave."

Chen Mo paused slightly.

Seeing his expression, Lin Wan smiled again.

"Now you know how to worry?"

Chen Mo shook his head: "It's not that I'm worried, it's that I'm afraid she'll get hurt."

Lin Wan sighed softly: "But if you want to keep everyone here, you're destined to not be able to keep anyone from getting hurt."

Just then, Wei Shan walked in from outside.

"President Chen, Chen Liping and Zhang Nan have arrived."

"ByteDance's car is also outside."

Chen Mo glanced at the time, and the two quickly finished their breakfast and walked out of Shengyin Courtyard together.

……

Nine o'clock in the morning.

ByteDance's office area.

Douyin's extraordinary shareholders' meeting was officially convened.

Chen Liping, Zhang Nan, and the head of overseas business sat on the left side of the conference table.

Zhang Ming and ByteDance's management team sat on the right.

Representatives from Xingchen Technology, Chen Liping himself, ByteDance, Tencent, Series A funding round investors, and two overseas growth funds were all present.

Those unable to travel to Kyoto joined the meeting via encrypted lines.

Representatives from three law firms, auditing firms, and data security consultants were present.

After the meeting began, Zhang Nan first reported on the latest situation in Southeast Asia.

"The Vietnamese side received an explanation this afternoon."

"Both Thai operators have received preliminary reports from third-party data auditing agencies."

"Indonesia has not yet issued an official ban, but the boycott sentiment continues to spread, with daily active users dropping by 11% yesterday."

"As of 7 a.m., the number of Google customers who have suspended advertising has increased to nine."

She switched to the next page.

"The technical team has completed the first round of self-inspection."

"Several data path diagrams that are most widely circulated online are obviously fake, and the server addresses marked do not match the actual situation."

"But the overseas version does use contact matching, device identification code, geolocation, and behavioral preferences."

"The user authorization terms comply with current local regulations, but the wording is not clear enough."

A murmur of discussion broke out in the conference room.

A representative from an overseas fund asked, "Could this be resolved by restricting some permissions?"

"It can reduce the current stress."

Zhang Nan answered.

"It cannot solve the long-term problem."

"Every time Douyin enters a new country, it needs to confront issues such as data storage, cross-border transmission, minors, and content censorship."

Zhang Ming took over the conversation.

"The existing overseas version is directly operated by Douyin Group."

"The algorithm is licensed from ByteDance, the GG system and engineering staff are distributed across two entities, and the data team is located in Changhu."

"It took us nearly twelve hours to retrieve the complete access records when we were questioned in three different locations."

"If we enter ten or twenty countries at the same time in the future, the current organizational structure simply cannot handle it."

Everyone's attention gradually turned to Chen Mo.

After suspending the signing of the merger agreement last night, he did not immediately announce a new plan.

All that was asked was for lawyers and financial advisors to work overnight to sort out the boundaries of overseas assets.

Chen Mo gestured to the staff to open a world map.

The countries that Douyin has officially entered—Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia—are marked in dark.

Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are in the testing phase.

Further out on the map, Europe and North America remain largely blank.

Southeast Asia is very important.

Chen Mo spoke up.

"Fifty million registered users and twenty million daily active users prove that Douyin's recommendation model can transcend language and culture."

"But this is only the first stop."

"If Douyin's goal is simply to become the most popular Chinese app in Southeast Asia, we can disable a few permissions, issue an apology statement, and then slowly communicate with the regulatory authorities of the three countries."

"If we want to enter Europe, North America, and the world, this problem will inevitably reappear sooner or later."

He looked at the overseas shareholders around the table.

Europe is tightening data protection rules.

"The United States will not allow a foreign platform with hundreds of millions of domestic users to keep its data, algorithms, and control entirely overseas in the long term."

"Religion, minors, copyright, news dissemination, and national security—each of these could become a reason for the next ban."

"Douyin needs a corporate structure that truly serves the global market."

A representative from a Series A funding firm had already grasped his meaning.

"Is Mr. Chen planning to split up the overseas business?"

"right."

Chen Mo picked up the remote control.

The world map has been replaced by a new architecture diagram.

The top layer is a Cayman holding company.

Below are links to the Singapore Asia-Pacific Headquarters, the European Preparatory Center, and the local operating entities in various countries.

"We will integrate Douyin's overseas users, brand, local business contracts, overseas employees, and product team into an independent company."

"Cayman companies serve as global financing and shareholding platforms."

"Establish an overseas headquarters in Singapore."

"Whenever we enter a major market, we establish a local company and build data nodes in accordance with local laws."

"User data should be stored locally or within the region of origin, and a complete record must be left for cross-border calls."

"International companies establish independent data security committees and bring in local compliance personnel and external experts."

"Douyin Group is responsible for providing the initial product, basic recommendation framework, and engineering support."

"International companies acquire exclusive overseas usage rights through long-term agreements and gradually build their own algorithm, review, and data teams."

The meeting room fell silent.

This plan is not just an emergency rectification.

Once the overseas version becomes independent, it will have its own shareholders, board of directors, financing system, and development path.

A ByteDance shareholder representative was the first to raise questions.

"All overseas business currently belongs to Douyin Group."

"What will Douyin's shareholders get after the split?"

"Douyin can only hold a maximum of 40% of the shares in the international company; otherwise, there would be no point in splitting it up."

Chen Mo answered.

The first version of the equity structure appears on the screen.

Douyin Group holds 40% of the shares.

Genesis Capital subscribed for 20%.

The remaining 40 percent will be open to long-term capital from Europe, the United States, and foreign countries.

"Douyin Group contributed its existing overseas business, brand usage rights, local teams, and contracts."

"All new and external capital subscriptions were made in cash."

"The specific valuation was jointly confirmed by three independent institutions."

"No existing assets will be transferred at a low price."

The representative continued, "Why can't it exceed 40%?"

Chen Mo continued to explain, "Overseas regulators will not accept a company that has only changed its place of registration but still makes all decisions from within China."

"It's enough for Douyin to retain the largest single economic interest and continue to share in the growth of the international version."

"Operations and governance are handled by platforms that are better suited to the global market."

"Who will control this platform?"

"Creation".

Discussions broke out again in the meeting room.

This isn't the first time people have heard of Chuangsheng; most people in the venture capital circle know that both Chuangsheng and Xingchen are actually controlled by Chen Mo.

The creation and control platform seems to be shifting power from one side to the other, and it inevitably creates a related arrangement.

One independent director asked directly, "Does having Chuangsheng as the controlling shareholder mean they won't be subject to overseas regulation?"