Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 332: Taking care of everything every day
Early in the morning, the spring sun shone brightly.

Song Ci was on the phone with Liu Shishi, feeling somewhat surprised: "Why the sudden official announcement?"

He went to bed early last night and only discovered this morning that his wife had made an epic public announcement, crashing Weibo. He thought to himself that his wife's public announcement this time was indeed quite dignified.

Liu Shishi's voice, thick with a nasal tone, came through the phone: "Isn't it because someone is being dishonest, having a great time catching up with old acquaintances?"

Song Ci immediately understood; so his wife was jealous. No wonder she made the official announcement so hastily. He quickly and gently comforted her:
“You’re being a bit too sensitive about Sisi. We only talked about work. We’re not even on WeChat, and we’re unlikely to see each other again.”

"Sisi! You're calling me so affectionately!" Liu Shishi drew out the sounds. "Hmph, she even wants to add me on WeChat! If I don't make a public announcement and assert my ownership, who knows if some people will try to steal her away from me."

"That's all in the past; they've already started a new life."

Liu Shishi paused, then sighed softly and sadly: "Perhaps that's how it seems on the surface, but who knows what she's really thinking?"

On life's journey, one should not encounter too many dazzling people in one's youth, otherwise one's shadow will linger for the rest of one's life.

Song Ci paused for a moment: "Don't overthink it."

Knowing when to stop, Liu Shishi asked tactfully, "Darling, what are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to the company later. Dong-ge is coming over to talk to me about something."

"Don't overwork yourself this weekend. Take it easy and rest more." Liu Shishi said to her husband with concern, her voice sweet. "I'm going back to Beiping for the international fashion week in a couple of days. I miss you."

"Yes, I miss you too." Song Ci nodded gently. "Should I handle the Xu sisters' matter?"

"No need!" Liu Shishi said decisively. "Although I, Liu Shishi, am low-key, it doesn't mean I don't have a temper!" Now that she has officially announced her status as the wife of the richest man, she is confident that she can handle this matter.

"Shen Teng is a really funny guy, no wonder he's a comedian who's been on the Spring Festival Gala."

"Old Hu and Mimi are always incredibly awkward whenever they meet."

"My Liu Xuemei middle-aged woman look is absolutely hideous!"

Listening to his wife share anecdotes from the film set, Song Ci finished her breakfast without realizing it. Before hanging up the phone, the two chatted for a few more minutes before reluctantly saying goodbye.

Even though it was the weekend, there were still quite a few people coming to the company to work overtime. Big internet companies never lack hardworking employees.

"Good morning, Chairman Song!"

Good morning, Chairman.

Song Ci stood in front of the elevator, dressed in a suit and tie, smiling and nodding in response to the employees' greetings, exuding a gentle aura unlike her usual self.

Several female employees nearby whispered among themselves:

"Judging from Chairman Song's expression today, he seems to be in a good mood."

"Big shots don't show their emotions, who knows what the boss really thinks about Liu Shishi's official announcement."

Do you think Liu Shishi is favored by the Song family?

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, we've got billions in hand. If we have another child, we can probably get a lot more of the inheritance."

"Yes, billions in assets, we couldn't earn that even in hundreds of years."

"So, it's better to marry well than to work hard; marrying a good man changes your destiny. Liu Shishi... Ah!"

The female employee who was talking about this and that felt a hand on her shoulder. She immediately turned around and saw that it was Song Xueying, the chairman's secretary.

"Secretary Song!" the group exclaimed in unison, hurriedly greeting him.

Song Xueying's face was frosty as she admonished, "Don't discuss Chairman Song's private matters in the company, especially matters involving his wife."

"Understood." The girls nodded repeatedly, trembling with fear.

After scolding the talkative employee, Song Xueying quickly went to the boss's side, gave a wink to the people around her, and wanted to report something.

The executives who were originally surrounding the boss tactfully stepped back, making room for him.

"Chairman Song, Mr. Liu from JD.com will arrive at the company around 10 o'clock. Mr. Yu from TT Video Network knows you are coming to the company and specifically asked if it is convenient for you, as he would like to report to you on his work."

The elevator doors slowly opened, and Song Ci stepped into the elevator while instructing, "Have Yu Xin come over at three o'clock this afternoon."

"Please greet Mr. Liu in a moment and escort him to the VIP room. Also, have Liu Yan come to see me immediately; I need to see the data analysis report from last night's Weibo outage."

At 10:00 AM sharp, Liu Xiangdong's hearty laughter echoed from the Tengda VIP room: "President Song, I thought you and your sister-in-law would keep it a secret forever!"

"Actually, I don't care. I let her handle these little things."

After a few casual words, Song Ci changed the subject and got to the point: "Brother Dong, last year Alibaba held a Double 11 shopping festival and launched online promotions on its platform. The results were very good."

When asked about Alibaba Group, JD.com's most formidable rival, Liu Xiangdong's expression hardened: "I know that although the number of participating merchants and the promotional efforts were only average, the results were excellent, and the event's sales far exceeded expectations."

"Brother Dong, is JD.com interested in organizing one as well? Tengda is willing to cooperate and work with JD.com to create our own shopping festival."

Liu Xiangdong's eyes lit up, and he was very tempted, but he quickly calmed down. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Even if he and Song Ci had a good relationship, business is business, and even brothers should keep clear accounts.

"How will this cooperation work, and what does JD.com need to contribute?"

"Both JD.com and Alibaba lack traffic, but Tenda does not." Song Ci confidently explained his plan.

"All of Tenda's products can drive traffic to JD.com, including mobile splash screens. But there's a condition: JD.com needs to prioritize Alipay and WeChat Pay as the primary payment methods for the entire platform."

Liu Xiangdong quickly weighed the options in his mind. Song Ci had already revealed his hand; it was simply a matter of using JD.com to promote Tenda's online payment system.

"It seems I have no other choice." After a moment's thought, Liu Xiangdong gave a wry smile.

In the current third-party payment field, Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's YiPay dominate the PC market, while WeChat Pay reigns supreme on the mobile platform.

JD.com doesn't even have a payment license yet, so it can't support its online payment business in the short term. Partnering with Tenda seems to be the only option.

"JD.com can put WeChat Pay in the first checkout line, but it can't force customers to use WeChat Pay."

Song Ci smiled confidently: "Don't worry about that, Dong Ge. Tengda will allocate 1 million yuan to subsidize customers who use WeChat Pay."

"A subsidy of 1 million! What a generous gesture!" Liu Xiangdong's pupils suddenly contracted, shocked by Song Ci's boldness. The figure made him catch his breath.

At the same time, he felt envious. If JD.com were as financially powerful as Tenda, he would never have given up the lucrative online payment market. Unfortunately, he lacked the resources. JD.com's focus on logistics development had already strained the entire group's finances, leaving it with no extra energy to compete with Alibaba and Tenda in the online payment field.

However, on second thought, Tenda's willingness to provide a subsidy of 1 million yuan is a good thing for JD.com. Regardless of the settlement method used, Tenda is still a JD.com customer.

"When would you like to start, Mr. Song?"

"June is the best time to renovate before summer."

"If it's a deal, then let's set it for mid-June." Liu Xiangdong calculated that two months would be enough time for JD.com to make preparations.

With Tenda's involvement, we can contact more merchants and organize a grand online shopping promotion.

The two hit it off immediately, and Song Ci decided right away: "Let's settle on this, and let the people below handle the specifics."

After seeing Liu Xiangdong off, Song Ci quickly ate lunch and returned to her office. Zhang Yong arrived with his team to report on their work.

"Mr. Song, I'm sorry to disturb your lunch break."

Song Ci waved his hand, the head of a multinational corporation, who was extremely busy with affairs of state: "You can sit down and talk."

He knew that Zhang Yong was flying to Shenzhen the next day to attend the 2011 IT Leaders Summit, and there were some things he needed to finalize with him before he left.

He turned his gaze to the middle-aged man beside Zhang Yong and asked gently, "Mr. Shen, how are you settling in since joining Tengda?"

"I'm used to it, and I really like the vibrant and thriving atmosphere of Tengda," Shen Boyang, the former founder of Nuomi.com and current president of Today's Choice, quickly responded.

"After the group acquired Nuomi.com at the beginning of the year, and after more than a month of adjustment, General Manager Shen has basically mastered the group's work."

With the second quarter approaching, we need to expedite the group-buying business of Today's Choice, so I've come to consult with Chairman Song." Zhang Yong took over the conversation, explained Shen Boyang's situation, and stated the purpose of today's visit.

As long as the general direction is correct, Song Ci should, in principle, let her subordinates take the lead: "What are your thoughts on group buying, Mr. Shen?"

Shen Boyang had planned ahead. He took out two documents and respectfully handed them to Song Ci and Zhang Yong: "Chairman Song, President Zhang, after I joined the group, I started to work on the integration of Nuomi.com and the group's Today's Choice. The integration is now complete."

After briefly reporting on the key tasks completed earlier, and seeing that the two senior figures did not intend to speak, Shen Boyang continued:
"In the online group-buying sector, after the fierce competition among thousands of group-buying sites, Meituan has almost captured half of the market, especially in the catering sector, where it holds a dominant position."

Therefore, I decided to avoid direct confrontation, integrate group resources, leverage the market advantages of the Southern Cinema Circuit, and focus on the group-buying market for movie tickets. This also allows us to promote the group's WeChat Pay service, achieving two goals at once.

Upon hearing this, Song Ci's eyes flashed with approval. There are many talented people in the world, and Shen Boyang's ideas coincided with his.

With the chairman's approval, Shen Boyang became even more confident: "In the next step, I will focus my energy on offline operations and, in accordance with the group's plan, prioritize the development of the O2O food delivery business, because it will be difficult for us to beat Meituan in pure online group buying."

"The idea is sound. The group provides subsidies to partners who promote WeChat Pay, and I won't favor one over the other."

Whether it's group-buying movie tickets or food delivery, as long as users pay with WeChat Pay, the group will provide subsidies equally.

After concluding our in-depth discussion with Zhang Yong and Shen Boyang about the food delivery business, it was already 3 p.m. before we knew it.

Before Song Ci could even pause for a moment, Wang Jing arrived with Yu Xin.

"Sister Jing, what brings you here? Please sit down!" Xueying helped Sister Jing to the sofa. Song Ci immediately stood up when she saw Wang Jing arrive.

"President Song, it's alright, I'm not that delicate." Wang Jing smiled broadly, radiating a maternal glow.

"You're pregnant now, you need to rest more, why are you coming to the company on the weekend!"

Wang Jing subconsciously touched her belly, her face beaming with happiness: "The doctor said that moderate movement is better for the fetus. Yu Xin is coming over, and there are some things I'm in charge of in the early stages, so I need to report to you in person."

"Yu Xin, please sit down too." Song Ci pointed to the sofa in the reception area, and then instructed her secretary, "Jing Jie is pregnant, so she shouldn't drink tea or coffee. Xueying, go and pour Jing Jie a glass of milk."

Wang Jing smiled broadly: "Chairman Song is so thoughtful, Shishi is so lucky."

Song Xueying quickly brought over tea and milk.

Song Ci nestled into the comfortable leather sofa, her fingers lightly tapping the armrest: "To make a long story short, I have something to do at five o'clock."

Yu Xin sat up straight, a look of delight on his face: "Chairman Song, the variety show strategy of TT Video Network has been extremely effective."

Yesterday, the first episode of our variety show "The Voice of China," which we co-produced with Donghai TV, premiered on satellite TV and achieved outstanding ratings, with the number of views on the platform also reaching a new high.

This is a detailed data report; please take a look.

Wang Jing also chimed in, "Although some things overshadowed the popularity of 'The Voice of China' last night, the premiere's results were surprisingly good."

Song Ci took the materials, but showed no intention of looking at them: "Get to the point."

Yu Xin quickly continued, "Chairman Song, due to the outstanding performance of 'The Voice of China,' Hunan TV also wants to collaborate with us to develop one or two variety shows."

Wang Jing added: "President Song, when Tengda Culture first started out, in addition to CCTV, it mainly cooperated with two satellite TV stations, Beiping and Donghai. The TV series it produced were basically sold to these three stations."

Since the huge success of "Palace," Hunan TV has already established a foundation for cooperation with Tengda, so they want to strike while the iron is hot and develop one or two variety shows, both to test the waters and to solidify the partnership.

"Hunan TV is the No.1 provincial satellite TV station. Since they have extended an olive branch, TT Video should just follow through on the terms."

"We're planning to collaborate on a self-guided travel reality show, and I'd like to invite your wife to participate as a guest," Yu Xin reported cautiously, while secretly observing the chairman's facial expression.

When Song Ci asked his subordinates to invite his wife to a variety show, he remained noncommittal, saying, "You can discuss this with her yourselves."

Yu Xin breathed a sigh of relief. If the chairman didn't object, the matter was half settled, and he was confident he could persuade Liu Shishi.

"Is there anything else?" Song Ci was getting a little impatient. After all that talking, it was all trivial stuff that could be explained in an email.

"Chairman Song, I propose that the group acquire 56.com and merge it with TT Video." Yu Xin's face was extremely serious. At the same time, he took out a document and said cautiously, "This is a research analysis. Please review it."

Song Ci reached out and took it, then carefully flipped through it: "56.com has broadcasting rights for some TVB dramas from Hong Kong!"

"Yes, 56.com is headquartered in Guangzhou, and its management has extensive connections in Hong Kong. Through these connections, they have acquired some of TVB's film and television copyrights."

Acquiring 56.com would greatly supplement TT Video's content ecosystem.

As the pages turned, Yu Xin dared not disturb Song Ci, answering each question the chairman asked truthfully.

“A budget of 5 million!” Song Ci closed the report and pondered for a moment. “I want to meet with Zhou Juan, the founder of 56.com. As for whether to acquire it, let me talk to her first and then we can discuss it.”

Yu Xin quickly agreed: "Okay, President Song, I'll discuss it with Zhou Juan and arrange for her to come to Beijing to see you."

(End of this chapter)