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Chapter 389, page 0379: [Using Dialectical Materialism in Business]

Dumplings in this age group especially love drinking inspirational chicken soup.

The acknowledgments list for his book "Hit a Big Watermelon" reveals that it includes many self-proclaimed gurus who sell feel-good platitudes.

But put yourself in his shoes: a young man quit his job and stayed home for several years, during which time his father fell ill and passed away, leaving him to rely solely on his mother's pension. Without some inspirational advice, how could he possibly persevere?
"Hello, is Mr. Chen here?" Dumpling asked the receptionist somewhat awkwardly.

Ding Beili countered, "Do you have an appointment?"

Dumpling said, "I sent an email to Mr. Chen's email address, but I haven't received a reply yet."

Ding Beili took out a registration book: "Fill out a form first, clearly stating your personal information and contact details, as well as the reason and purpose for contacting General Manager Chen. I will submit it for you."

"Oh." Dumpling quickly bent down to fill in the information.

After he finished writing, Ding Beili put the register away.

Dumpling asked, "Weren't you supposed to hand it in for me?"

Ding Beili was a little impatient, but she still patiently said, "I will submit them all every day. There is someone who will collect this information. Go back and wait."

"Thank you." Dumpling then took the elevator to ByteDance.

The same situation was repeated on ByteDance's front end.

Dumpling was a little disappointed. He thought he would be able to meet people as soon as he arrived, but he had to wait for news again. He also didn't receive a reply to the email he sent to Chen Guiliang.

After leaving the office building, Dumpling wandered aimlessly through the streets.

He suddenly didn't know what to do.

With nothing to do, Jiaozi stood at a roadside newsstand reading a newspaper. To save money, he didn't buy one; he just stood there and read it for free.

The China Youth Daily gave Chen Guiliang a full-page interview with the headline: "Chen Guiliang's Secret to Success: Seeing Through Phenomena to Understand the Essence and Running a Business with Materialist Dialectics."

This article is packed with inspirational quotes.

Dumpling was deeply moved after reading it, and almost burped from drinking the chicken soup.

No wonder they were able to build such a large company; they had already grasped the essence of things and knew from the beginning that Web 2.0 was an inevitable trend.

It's not just dumplings; the internet is buzzing about it right now.

Chen Guiliang has many die-hard fans who immediately shared those interviews.

"I think he just got lucky and happened to bet on online games and social networking sites. Then he gave a 'Monday morning quarterback' analysis, putting on a layer of dialectical materialism. He's just pretending to be an industry godfather."

"LS, you're just jealous. Chen Guiliang used his royalties to start two companies, one for online games and the other for social networking sites, and both industries have seen explosive growth this year. You're telling me he bet everything right? You try guessing once and for all!"

"They make it sound so nice, but aren't they just copying Facebook? None of the internet companies in China understand innovation; they're all just copying their American counterparts. Look, this year Chen Guiliang is copying Apple and Google again. His investment in smartphones is copying Apple, and his investment in cloud computing is copying Google and IBM."

"Are Americans your father? Many of Facebook's features were launched later than those of HaiNei.com and XiaoNei. It's not certain who copied whom."

"Haha, I used Facebook when I was studying abroad. To be honest, the user experience is really not as good as Haiwainet. If it came to China, it would have been crushed by Haiwainet long ago."

"Just wondering, what exactly is cloud computing? The news about it seems unreliable to me. And all this talk about artificial intelligence sounds like science fiction."

"Don't listen to Chen Guiliang's nonsense. He's just telling stories. Cloud computing isn't that mysterious. And that smart home system he's talking about, the US already has that."

"Come on, tell me, who in the US has such a smart home system? The so-called smart homes these days are just a set of fixed programs plus remote control. How can that be the same as the smart home Chen Guiliang described?"

"I don't believe it anyway, it's an exaggeration."

"..."

The discussion online was very heated, and some people even bragged about it to their friends after reading the newspaper.

Chen Guiliang has achieved his publicity goal.

If you simply explain the purpose of cloud computing honestly, it's impossible to achieve this effect.

There was even a question on Zhihu: Can the artificial intelligence predicted by Chen Guiliang really be realized through cloud computing in ten years?

Several leading computer experts wrote lengthy articles of several thousand words to analyze the issue.

The conclusion is that it's very difficult to achieve. Even if it were possible, it wouldn't be something that could be done in ten years; Chen Guiliang is mostly just bragging.

Amidst the discussions and skepticism, many undergraduate graduates, as well as master's and doctoral students, began to pay attention to Chen Guiliang's cloud computing project in Chengdu. They planned to give it a try after graduation!

Sichuan University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, in particular, are very close to Chen Guiliang's cloud computing center. Not only are students from both universities paying attention, but even professors are actively inquiring about the situation and asking if there are any opportunities to collaborate on this project.

With both buzz and funding secured, talent will naturally be attracted.

……

"Mr. Chen, you've been quietly developing such a large project in Chengdu, why don't you even set up a research and development center in Yuzhang? Chengdu gets the lion's share, we can just have the scraps." Wang Kai, who had been transferred to Jiangxi Province, called. Chen Guiliang could only patiently explain, "Mr. Wang, I'm really sorry. Chengdu High-tech Zone already has a high-tech industrial cluster, and all the supporting facilities are very convenient, which is why I chose to locate here in Chengdu. If there are any projects in the future, I will definitely give priority to your area."

"That's settled then." Wang Kai then turned to chat with Chen Guiliang.

In fact, Wang Kai also knew that the Yuzhang branch of Peking University Science Park had a poor foundation, and it was almost impossible for companies from other places to put their projects there.

He called Chen Guiliang purely to offer some encouragement and try his luck, just in case a project actually came knocking on his door someday?

It doesn't need to be anything too big; a small project will suffice.

As long as he has projects, he will have achievements, which will make it easier for him to be promoted back to headquarters in the future.

He's already working on small local projects, but they're all copycat projects, and frankly, it's very difficult to make them successful. The funding, talent, environment, and timing are all terrible.

After talking with Wang Kai, Bian Jingsong called again.

Bian Jingsong asked directly, "Are you just making empty promises or are you serious about investing 10 billion yuan over five years?"

“Really,” Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Jingsong laughed and said, "The real estate developers in Chengdu all think you're just making empty promises, so no one dares to acquire land and build a residential community."

Actually, everyone knows that this area will definitely develop in the future.

However, ordinary real estate developers are short of funds and cannot wait too long; they must build houses quickly and recoup their investment as soon as possible. If a place takes five or six years to become popular, it will be too late for real estate developers.

Only someone like Li Huanggua, with his strong financial resources, dares to acquire land and leave it idle for more than ten years while waiting for its value to appreciate.

Chen Guiliang said, "Uncle Bian, you only need to remember one thing: everything I said during the Q&A session with reporters was the truth."

"Is it all the truth?" Bian Jinsong asked in surprise.

Chen Guiliang said, "Yes, including those that sound like science fiction. I won't use all the land I acquire to build server rooms. The areas near the small forest and the Fu River will be planned as administrative districts, R&D districts, and leisure districts. You can acquire land and build buildings in those areas. Riverside areas are especially popular, as river-view properties are very popular. Areas near the small forest are also good, as the government will develop them into parks."

Bian Jingsong also felt that those science fiction stories were unreliable, but he also felt that Chen Guiliang was a reliable person.

Bian Jingsong didn't hesitate for long before saying, "I'll take over the riverside land and build a house there!"

Chen Guiliang said, "It's a great choice. Once my cloud computing center is built and achieves some success, related companies will move to the land further south and north. The houses you build along the river will target a large number of high-tech talents."

“I understand what you mean,” Bian Jingsong said. “I will develop the riverside community into a high-end residential area. I will also acquire another plot of land to develop a regular community, targeting entry-level employees of major companies. For the next few years, I will not undertake any other projects, but will focus solely on the real estate development in your area.”

Chen Guiliang said, "It's still safe to acquire land next year, but don't delay until the year after. I estimate that after next year, the cloud concept will become a hot investment area, and a lot of related companies will move here. At that time, I don't know how many real estate developers will be eyeing the land around the cloud computing center."

Bian Jingsong laughed and said, "If your prediction is accurate, it's like handing the meat to me."

"How is your company's payment collection going?" Chen Guiliang asked casually.

Bian Jinsong said, "Not bad. Luckily, I've been cautious with my investments these past few years, and my debt ratio has never been high. Now, there are only three neighborhoods of houses left unsold. Everyone is lowering prices to promote sales, so I'll follow suit. Damn it, this month, Chengdu put up six plots of land for auction, and three of them failed to sell. Now everyone is scared to death, and if they're not careful, their cash flow will dry up. I estimate that two or three of my former real estate developer friends will be driven into bankruptcy."

Before the 08 financial crisis, there were a large number of unknown small and medium-sized real estate developers across the country.

This economic crisis will lead to a reshuffling of the real estate industry. Many small developers will go bankrupt, and industry resources and market share will become increasingly concentrated.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Guiliang browsed the information.

Huang, who was newly crowned China's richest man on the Hurun Rich List, was arrested before he could even settle into his position.

He was arrested on charges of manipulating stock prices.

This case will take a long time to process, with a formal verdict not expected until two years later. The charges include illegal business operations, insider trading, leaking insider information, and corporate bribery. The sentence is 14 years imprisonment, confiscation of 2 million yuan in assets, and a fine of 6 million yuan.

Recent news, besides Lao Huang's arrest, also includes personnel changes at the top of the Southern Media Group.

Chen Guiliang pretended not to see it and made no comment, as if he hadn't engaged in any verbal battles with the Southern Clique in the first half of the year.

"Mr. Chen, a short animated film has become very popular online these past few days. The director of this short film has been sending you an email every day for the past two weeks," Assistant Liu Taihong reported.

Chen Guiliang now has several email addresses, each with different functions.

His secretaries and assistants also increased to six—three each for Byte and Youke, each in charge of different tasks.

Chen Guiliang opened the video website and laughed when he saw the title of the short video.

"Hit a Big Watermelon," a very famous song!
The animated short film is of such high quality that it's hard to believe it was created by a young man who spent his days at home, hand-making it since 2004.

You need at least a team.

Chen Guiliang said, "Contact him."

(End of this chapter)