Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 304 Let's start with cross-border e-commerce
Inside the private room, the large round table in the center had been put away.

The large area that suddenly appeared made the previously somewhat crowded private room feel spacious.

The people who were originally sitting around the large round table are now lined up on both sides, one looking at the white porcelain cylinder placed at the door, and the other looking at Chen Xiu, who is sitting in the center of the private room and using chopsticks to aim at the cylinder.

This seemingly ordinary scene, however, captivated the attention of a group of tycoons whose combined net worth exceeds 4500 billion.

However, the one who was directly involved became a little impatient after waiting a while longer.

"Mr. Chen, are you going to vote or not?"

Zhu Xiaohu pouted and urged Chen Xiu with a dissatisfied expression.

The group of people nearby, who were also getting drunk, echoed his urging.

"Mr. Chen, just cast a simple bet. It's normal to lose."

"Yeah! It's only three times in total, so what if we have to drink?"

"I see... huh?"

Before the third person could finish speaking, Chen Xiu had already rubbed the chopsticks, feeling their top-heavy and bottom-light structure. He then pinched the top third of the chopsticks and tossed them aside.

The black chopsticks flew across the private room with a whoosh, then landed on the cylindrical container with a clinking sound. They then spun clockwise with a series of clinking sounds, making it clear and impressive to watch!

The crowd of onlookers on both sides burst into cheers, followed by rustling applause that filled the private room.

Chen Xiu, who had already picked up her second chopstick, sat upright in her seat and looked up at Zhu Xiaohu: "President Zhu, shall we drink one cup at a time, or shall we settle the bill all at once after all three rounds?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, stared at Zhu Xiaohu, and began to provoke him again.

Everyone present was a prominent figure, and their words in public were certainly significant.

They rarely encounter such interesting scenes as tonight, and at this moment they are even less allowed to let Zhu Xiao lie or cheat.

Zhu Xiaohu listened to the people around him with a pale face, thinking: Damn it, I don't believe you can make every shot. At worst, I'll have two drinks and you have one. I'll take you down with me even if I die!
"Mr. Chen, since we've set a bet, I certainly won't renege. Counting each hand is too troublesome. Just bet all three times, and we'll settle the score at the end!"

"readily!"

Before anyone could react, Chen Xiu had already thrown the second chopstick from his hand, and it landed in the cylinder and spun around in the same manner.

"Sigh~~"

Gasps of astonishment rose and fell as everyone stared wide-eyed at the chopsticks that had slowly fallen silent inside the cylinder.

Chen Xiu's movements looked so smooth and effortless.

It gives people a strange feeling that they could do it too!

Everyone exchanged glances, and Pony Ma even rubbed his fingers together, as if they were all eager to try.

Having already lost his second bowl of wine, Zhu Xiaohu became somewhat exasperated: "President Chen, do you often play this game? Are you trying to trick me today?"

"So what?"

Chen Xiu leaned back, deliberately provoking, "If President Zhu thinks three bowls of wine are too strong, we can stop here."

"Don't even mention three bowls of wine, I can drink five or ten bowls, but I won't stand for it if you try to trick me with your own strengths!"

Zhu Xiao may seem foolish, but he's actually quite clear-headed.

Knowing full well that he had already lost two bowls of wine, he insisted that Chen Xiu had tricked him, thus proving that he hadn't lost face despite losing the battle.

Hearing him say this, the people around him also began to think that Chen Xiu must often play pitch-pot in private, otherwise how could he throw it so easily and effortlessly.

While practicing public displays of skill in private isn't a big deal, using such tactics to harass a drunkard seems rather despicable...

"Clap!"

Chen Xiu clapped twice, interrupting the discussion, and stood up to scare Zhu Xiao: "President Zhu, if I were deliberately trying to trick you, would the prize be just three bowls of wine?"

"You're right that I practiced in private, but I practice archery. This is my first time playing pitch-pot. Do you want to continue for the third round?"

By frankly admitting the problem and confronting it head-on, Zhu Xiaohu's previous efforts were essentially rendered meaningless.

Everyone then thought: practicing in private is Chen Xiu's skill, and it would only make you, Old Zhu, seem petty and narrow-minded.

Seeing the wind shift again, Zhu Xiaohu knew he had nowhere to retreat: "Keep going! I've already had two bowls, what's a third?"

"happy!"

He threw it again as soon as he finished speaking. Compared to sitting down, the height and accuracy of the third throw were different, but just like the first two, it flew out of Chen Xiu's hand and landed steadily in the cylinder.

After the game of pitch-pot ended, three bowls of wine that had been prepared in advance were placed on the chairs.

Zhu Xiaohu was not one to be a sore loser. He got up, glanced at Chen Xiu, walked to the chair, picked up a bowl of wine, and gulped it down. He did so quickly, and his flushed cheeks began to deepen.

After he drank the second bowl, his cheeks turned purple.

Just as Zhu Xiaohu picked up the third bowl of wine and brought it to his lips, Chen Xiu suddenly stopped him.

"Mr. Zhu, please wait a moment."

"how?"

Zhu Xiaohu's voice was somewhat drawn out, and his eyes were even more unfocused, but when he saw Chen Xiu's actions, his eyes instantly cleared up.

Chen Xiu poured wine into an empty bowl, then walked up to Zhu Xiaohu, lowered his bowl, and touched it to Zhu's bowl.

"Drinking alone is too boring. How about I have a bowl with you?" "Hmm..."

Zhu Xiaohu looked at Chen Xiu thoughtfully. He knew that this young man was taking revenge for his past contempt.

However, the other party did not completely lose face and chose to pull back at the last moment.

This action, which demonstrated both temper and magnanimity, left Zhu Xiaohu with nothing but a deep sigh of admiration after careful consideration.

"Alright! I'll toast Mr. Chen with this glass of wine."

"I also salute General Manager Zhu."

Chen Xiu looked at Zhu Xiaohu and downed the entire bowl of baijiu in one gulp.

Those watching the spectacle felt that Chen Xiuzhen was dashing and extraordinary, and they admired his ability to be lenient when possible.

After Chen Xiu put down her empty bowl, Zhu Xiaohu, not to be outdone, also downed a whole bowl of baijiu in one gulp.

After finishing their drinks, the two looked at each other, their eyes met, and they burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Mr. Zhu, you have quite the capacity for alcohol!"

"You've got a good capacity for alcohol too. Can these three bowls match that bottle you drank back then?"

Chen Xiu's smile remained unchanged as she leaned closer and whispered quickly, "Perfectly perfect!"

Zhu Xiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed even louder.

Seeing this, the onlookers also joined in, some laughing, some drinking, and many even picked up chopsticks to try their hand at pitch-pot. But once they got their hands on it, they realized that just because Chen Xiu played it so easily and smoothly didn't mean they could do it too.

Everyone missed every ten shots, hitting the rim with only one.

The dinner party eventually turned into a group of bigwigs lining up to pick up chopsticks, then running back to play pitch-pot. If they missed, they'd go back to pick them up, and incidentally shorten the pitch-pot distance...

The Internet Conference ended the following day, and Chen Xiu and Zhang Yiming returned to Beijing that same day. They then rushed back to Douyin Company to meet with Su Xiao.

Inside the meeting room, Su Xiao looked at the two people who had traveled a long way back, and finally fixed her gaze on Chen Xiu.

"what's the situation?"

"We're going to get into e-commerce."

"So fast? Didn't you say at the beginning of the month that it would be two years later, and we'd let nature take its course?"

"We can start with TikTok, an overseas cross-border e-commerce platform."

In her two sentences, Chen Xiu succinctly summarized the matters she had discussed with Zhang Yiming in a small meeting last night and this morning.

Su Xiao understood the result, but still didn't understand the details: "What exactly are you planning to do?"

Chen Xiu and Zhang Yiming exchanged a glance, and after politely declining, Zhang Yiming stood up to give the explanation.

"At this Internet Conference, we witnessed many new trends in the industry, such as AI big data models and 5G..."

"Just get to the important points."

Chen Xiu interrupted, genuinely feeling that Zhang Yiming's preamble was far too long.

Zhang Yiming nodded and said, "In the past two years, our domestic e-commerce market has been following the trend of consumption upgrading, and the sales of various big brands and 3C products have gradually increased."

"Currently, in the domestic e-commerce market, Ali alone accounts for more than 5%, and JD.com accounts for more than 3%, with the two companies combined accounting for more than 85%, forming a duopoly."

"Other e-commerce platforms such as Vipshop, Suning, and Gome have a combined market share of less than 10%. The most outstanding platform is Pinduoduo, which was founded in 15. By leveraging WeChat and Douyin shopping carts to drive traffic, it has achieved a market share of 3%, ranking fourth after Vipshop. It focuses on third- and fourth-tier cities and has the fastest growth."

After explaining the market distribution, Zhang Yiming took out his phone and projected the screen onto the wall.

The displayed content shows the market consumption situation in Southeast Asia in recent years, as well as e-commerce export data.

"Due to the upgrading of domestic consumption and the resulting spillover of tourism consumption, coupled with the relocation of some industries, e-commerce in Southeast Asia is currently showing a booming trend."

"TikTok's overseas users are mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia and Europe and the United States. I suggest that we try to invest in some cross-border e-commerce platforms and then use TikTok to drive traffic to them, thereby achieving a win-win situation of strategic cooperation."

Su Xiao hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Chen Xiu and Zhang Yiming.

"I'll have the marketing department conduct a survey tomorrow to see which platforms are more suitable for investment, and whether Douyin's future development strategy needs to be changed."

When the topic of Douyin came up, Zhang Yiming quietly returned to his seat, and Chen Xiu took over to perform.

"Douyin is currently sticking to the strategy of attracting traffic and private domain traffic, and is not participating in e-commerce competition. The Dou+ function has been launched for a month, but the response has been very lukewarm. I plan to launch another marketing campaign soon."

"What kind of marketing?"

The question was asked by Zhang Yiming. The marketing content did not exist in the small meeting between the two, so he did not know what Chen Xiu was up to.

Chen Xiu explained, "On my way back, I received a message from the film company and came up with a marketing plan. It's not perfect yet, though. I'll tell you about it in the next day or two."

"Ok."

Zhang Yiming nodded slightly, and Su Xiao glanced at Chen Xiu thoughtfully.

By the time the meeting ended, the company was closing time.

Zhang Yiming had to rush back to ByteDance to continue working overtime, while Chen Xiu stayed at Douyin Company to accompany Su Xiao until she finished her overtime work before going home together.

(End of this chapter)