Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 41 Vacation
Song Ci looked annoyed. Why didn't his parents tell him they were going on a trip? If he hadn't come home tonight, he would still be in the dark. "Why didn't you take me with you on your trip?"

"We finally got you into university, and your dad and I were enjoying a rare holiday together. Now that you're almost an adult, how can you come along like this!"

Liu Xiaoxian's voice came from the bathroom.

"Besides, when you go on trips with Shishi in the future, will you take me and your dad with you?"

"Mom, what are you saying?!"

Song Ci was a bit upset. She and Shi Ye, the main characters, hadn't even officially started dating yet, and everyone was acting like they already knew everything. Wasn't that making her lose face?

Liu Xiaoxian came out of the bathroom, looking at her son with a half-smile, "Yuandan, you are a piece of my flesh, don't I know you well?"

Stop worrying about it. Liu Shishi is your destined nemesis. Since the girl likes you too, just have a sweet romance with her and get married when you're old enough. Your father and I want to have a grandchild soon.

A few days ago, Liu Xiaoxian and Liu Shishi's mother happened to meet in the neighborhood.

Children are all debts. The two mothers had a good talk about their children. As a result, Liu's mother told her that Shishi liked her own precious son.

Liu Xiaoxian was originally worried that although Liu Shishi and her son were childhood sweethearts, they did not have romantic feelings for each other.

Now it's all right. It turns out that Shishi also likes Song Dynasty poetry. However, her silly son probably hasn't realized his true feelings for Shishi yet and is still hesitating.

Song Zhang nodded in agreement, saying, "Your mother is right. Shishi may be a bit slow-witted, but she's a good girl. Most importantly, you two are very compatible, and she'll definitely be a virtuous wife and loving mother after marriage."

Song Ci was a little unconvinced, as if the poet had him cornered. "Why can't I find another girl as my girlfriend? Believe me or not, I'll find a talented girl from Peking University as my girlfriend someday!"

Song Zhang and Liu Xiaoxian exchanged a glance and laughed in unison, "We don't believe it."

Liu Xiaoxian earnestly advised her son, "On New Year's Day, whenever Shishi cried, she would stare straight at you. No matter if it was your fault or not, you would always be the one to give in first. You couldn't refuse her."

Now that she likes you, if she cries and begs to confess her feelings to you, can you refuse?
Besides, you've nurtured this little cabbage for seventeen years; if another piglet were to take it, would you be willing to let it go?

Song Ci recalled how Shi Ye had begged him for comfort and a hug that night, and he realized he really couldn't bear to refuse her. Luckily, Shi Ye didn't press him further.

Song Ci was torn. Since she couldn't refuse, should she just give in to the poet's wishes as soon as possible? But that would be too embarrassing, considering she had just rejected the poet!
But then I thought, dating Shi Ye wouldn't be so bad. Childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree, a passionate and intense romance would be quite romantic.

If we eventually get married, maybe we can even write a novel called "My Wife is a Big Star"!
Song Ci's thoughts were in turmoil. One moment she wanted to refuse Liu Shishi, the next she was thinking about married life. Her mind was a mess, and she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander.

Seeing his son standing there in a daze, Song Zhang suggested, "You've got money for New Year's Day, and holidays are rare. Why don't you invite Shishi on a trip, go out and have some fun, and deepen your relationship?"

Song Ci shook her head, annoyed and said, "Mom and Dad, stop talking! It's so annoying!"

On National Day, the 55th anniversary of the founding of our great motherland, the streets and alleys of Beiping were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, filled with joy and laughter, and the whole nation was jubilant.

Poetry Master was performing at school, and his parents were traveling. After visiting his grandparents early in the morning, Song Ci had nothing to do, so he decided to go to Tengda Technology. The Beiping Modern Center Building is where Tengda Technology is registered.

When Song Ci arrived at the company, the employees were all working overtime. The National Day holiday was a time when hot news was constantly breaking, and Toutiao.com's business was very heavy during this period, with employees' workload even greater than usual.

For startups like Tengda Technology, it's indeed difficult to guarantee employees' normal leave in order to achieve rapid business growth. They can only make up for it by compensating employees with time off in lieu or by giving them more bonuses later.

More than a month has passed since Song Ci came to the company for a meeting in August, and Tengda Technology's various organizational structures have been perfected.

Thanks to its advanced management model and innovative and efficient operating mechanism, Toutiao has recently gained a significant advantage in its competition with Sohu, Sina, and NetEase, and the entire company is thriving.

In the CEO's office, Song Ci, Zhang Yong, Yang Junfeng, and Huang Sheng were chatting over tea.

"Toutiao's advertising revenue and SP business are growing rapidly every week, and we expect to turn a profit by the end of the year," Zhang Yong said to Song Ci with great enthusiasm and high spirits.

He couldn't help but be excited. Toutiao.com adopted an open operating model, which attracted a large number of traditional media to join the website to publish news. The number of website visitors and page views were exploding every day.

At the current rate of user growth, it is expected that by the end of the year, Toutiao.com will officially become the fourth largest portal website in China.

It rivals Sohu, NetEase, and Sina, and given its current growth momentum, it is poised to become the number one portal website in China.

"In just one month, did the other three websites take no steps to improve their operations and just watch helplessly as their companies were overtaken by Toutiao?"

Song Ci was somewhat puzzled. The development of the internet industry was changing rapidly, and the slow response of the three major portals was truly beyond his expectations.

Zhang Yong said confidently with a smile, "NetEase is currently focused on games, investing all its funds in online games. Sohu is busy developing Sohu Video and can't spare any attention for us."

As for Sina, they are willing to learn from us and want to create their own special program to compete with Toutiao.com, but their management is too inefficient and there has been no progress so far.

Moreover, Sina is about to undergo a major upheaval, so they'll have even less energy to deal with us.

Before anyone else could ask, Zhang Yong gave a mysterious answer: "Mr. Chen from Shanda Games intends to acquire Sina and will be taking action soon."

Upon hearing Zhang Yong's words, Song Ci recalled that Shanda's Chen Tianqiao had indeed recently begun preparing to acquire Sina, and to this end, he had registered four offshore companies to quietly acquire Sina's shares.

By February of next year, Chen Tianqiao had successfully acquired 19.5% of Sina's shares, becoming Sina's largest shareholder and officially launching the takeover bid for Sina.

Thinking of this, Song Ci said regretfully, "It's a pity I don't have much cash on hand, otherwise I could buy some Sina stocks and make a quick profit."

However, if you guys have any spare cash, you could buy some Sina shares now and sell them at a higher price when Chen Tianqiao's takeover battle begins.

Yang Junfeng and Huang Sheng were extremely shocked by this sudden news. "President Song, do you think Mr. Chen can successfully acquire Sina? If the acquisition is successful, Sina, backed by Shanda Games, will definitely be a major enemy of Toutiao.com."

(End of this chapter)