Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 353 Negotiations with Ma Yun
Hangzhou, Ali Baba, Peach Blossom Island Office.

Before coming in, Chen Xiu thought that given Ma Yun's pretentious personality, the office decoration style should lean towards a high-end direction.

As it turns out, this is indeed the case.

Guided by her secretary, Chen Xiu entered the room and was greeted by the view of the Ali Park through the slanted floor-to-ceiling windows.

The entire office is a huge rectangular box with a gray carpet and raw concrete columns. The most eye-catching piece of furniture is a horse!

That's right, it's a horse... Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be a figurine, a 1:1 replica of a real horse.

"Haha! Mr. Chen, you seem quite interested in my little ornaments!"

The familiar voice immediately drew Chen Xiu's attention from the ornaments to the other end of the office.

Wearing a suit, Ma Yun walked over with a beaming smile.

"Mr. Ma."

The secretary nodded to Ma Yun, and then, at his signal, left the office.

Once the office door was closed, Ma Yun came to Chen Xiu's side: "What a rare guest! Is this your first time in my office?"

"I've never been here before."

"Then let me introduce it to you."

After saying that, Ma Yun walked over to the ornamental horse and tapped its body with his knuckles. The two taps sounded very solid, and Chen Xiu felt that it was made of wood.

"This wooden horse was added in the second year after I moved into this office, symbolizing immediate success!"

"That's really effective!"

Chen Xiu walked over and examined the wooden horse for a while, then suddenly said, "Mr. Ma is so successful now, this horse's effectiveness must be limited. How about I borrow it for two years?"

"..."

Ma Yun's smile vanished as she thought: Who comes to borrow a horse the moment they see him? You're being far too impolite...

"Ahem, come here, let me introduce this bookshelf to you."

Ma Yun pulled Chen Xiu aside, away from his ornamental horse.

Chen Xiu just chuckled, showing no embarrassment.

When he came over to look at the bookshelves, he also noticed the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones on the side, as well as a half-length portrait of Ma Yun next to the pillar...

"Mr. Chen, this bookshelf is full of photos of me with friends from all walks of life, and it also shows the path I've taken over the years!"

Ma Yun stood with his hands behind his back in front of the bookshelf, his face showing a nonchalant expression, as if to say that these things were not worth mentioning at all.

Chen Xiu glanced at the group photos on the bookshelf, and wow, the most eye-catching one was actually a photo with that person...

After reading the above, Chen Xiu noticed the emotion in Ma Yun's eyes: "Mr. Ma, are you planning to retire?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Ma Yun's face. After hesitating for a moment, she directly admitted it.

"I do have that idea. Ali Baba's development has entered a stable period, and I need to focus my attention elsewhere."

After saying that, Ma Yun walked towards the reception area where the floor-to-ceiling windows met on both sides: "Come on, let's sit down and talk."

Chen Xiu followed as instructed and sat down in the reception area, her seat facing away from the floor-to-ceiling window.

Ma Yun sat facing the floor-to-ceiling window, skillfully handling the tea set while casually saying, "I've said so much, but I haven't had a chance to ask yet, Mr. Chen, what brings you here today? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"There is indeed one thing."

"Oh, what's going on?"

A clear smile appeared in Ma Yun's eyes, and she even stopped making tea.

He had read the news and was aware of the counterfeit goods scandal on Douyin Live, so he naturally assumed that Chen Xiu's sudden visit was for this very reason.

However, unexpectedly, the matter that Chen Xiu asked about was completely different from the Douyin live-streaming counterfeit goods scandal.

"Mr. Ma, I would like to ask you for your views on the market prospects of overseas e-commerce."

"Overseas e-commerce?"

Ma Yun paused for a moment, then her lips curled down in surprise.

"To be more precise, it's cross-border e-commerce, which involves selling domestic goods overseas and earning the profit margin."

"Well, that incident just happened recently! The cross-border e-commerce industry has also been affected to some extent, and its future is uncertain."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiu seemed somewhat noncommittal: "Foreign trade and cross-border e-commerce are not the same thing. In the past two years, the growth of Ali's SuPaTong business has been quite considerable."

"It's alright! During last year's Double Eleven event, Supaitong's total order volume was close to 50 million, which is about 5000% higher than in 16."

"However, your internal promotion of SuperPass is still limited to advertising on platforms like Google and Facebook."

"Everyone does it this way..."

As she finished speaking, Ma Yun suddenly stopped, raised her eyes, and gave Chen Xiu a deep look.

He silently brewed the tea and then placed a cup of light green tea in front of Chen Xiu.

"Mr. Chen, did you come here today to promote TikTok to me?"

“I think it would be more accurate to describe it as a collaborative discussion between cross-platform platforms!” Chen Xiu took a sip of tea, already guessing that Ma Yun had figured out the purpose of her trip.

Sure enough, Ma Yun's next question was: "If there is a possibility of cooperation between TikTok and SuperPaiTong, what other requirements would you have?"

"Cooperation is about aligning interests; there are no other requirements."

"You came all this way just to discuss cooperation?"

"Ali's position in the domestic e-commerce field is unshakable, but its performance in overseas markets is somewhat unsatisfactory. TikTok has developed quite well in the last two years. When the Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen last year, didn't Mr. Ma also mention the possibility of overseas e-commerce cooperation to me?"

Chen Xiu's irrelevant answer deepened Ma Yun's suspicions.

He took a sip of tea, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to get straight to the point.

"Mr. Chen, it would be great if you were willing to let TikTok cooperate with SuperPaiTong. However, I heard that a recent live-streaming sales event by a Taobao merchant on Douyin had some negative impact. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I do have ideas about this."

Chen Xiu put down her teacup, but instead of expecting Ma Yun to do anything, she took stock of her own proposed solutions.

"When I arrived, the first solution I thought of was to have Douyin drag Taobao into the mess, and we could split the blame so that neither of us would be the sucker. However, when we were halfway there, I rejected that idea."

"why?"

"This is too intense! Doing business isn't about fighting and killing, so there's no need for us to hold some blame-sharing meeting. Douyin does have problems in this incident, and we still need to actively rectify them."

Ma Yun looked at Chen Xiu with a strange expression, a mixture of surprise and admiration for his honesty.

Before Ma Yunxin could dwell on his feelings for too long, Chen Xiu continued, "Later, when the car reached downtown Hangzhou, I had another thought: we could ask Mr. Ma to step in and eliminate the negative impact on Douyin through cooperation."

"Hmm, that's a great idea! Why didn't you use it earlier?"

Seeing Ma Yun's curious expression, Chen Xiu picked up her teacup and offered it to him.

"Mr. Ma, if I ask you to do something in a cooperative manner, would you be a little unhappy?"

"It definitely will..."

"So I won't use this method either."

Chen Xiu took a big gulp of tea, then walked halfway around outside, holding the teacup in her hand.

"When I got to this office, I thought I should just give up! Douyin's problems need to be rectified. Even if there are negative opinions circulating online, it should be my responsibility to speak out and clarify. I won't trouble Mr. Ma."

"You originally wanted me to go with you to speak out and clarify things?"

"I want to now."

Why not make a request?

Ma Yun's words already conveyed the meaning of "OK".

Chen Xiu looked at him for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.

"I don't really like asking for favors. If Mr. Ma is willing, we can do a live PK on Douyin tomorrow to clarify the impact of this counterfeit goods incident. We can also issue a joint statement to boycott counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms!"

"Whether you do it or not, I will do it! The reason I came here today was indeed to ask Mr. Ma for help, but now I think I can do it myself. Let this trip to Hangzhou be my way of expressing my sincerity to cooperate with Mr. Ma."

Upon hearing this, Ma Yun, as if remembering something, quickly turned to look at Chen Xiu.

Are you getting ready to leave?

"Yes, I came from Hengdian today. The crew is still filming, and as the male lead, I can't leave for too long. I have to rush back later."

"It takes more than three hours to get here from Hengdian, and about seven hours round trip. Are you really just here to discuss cooperation?"

"Mr. Ma, as a senior, is it not right for me to do this?"

Chen Xiu smiled and stared intently at Ma Yun.

As he said, if Douyin were to blame Taobao, it would only damage the relationship and not solve the problem; if they were to ask for help through cooperation, it would be somewhat coercive, and people at Ma Yun's level hate being coerced, so it would easily backfire.

On the contrary, this last method, which shows sincerity while demonstrating an attitude of not seeking anything in return, is more likely to achieve the goal.

Of course, this method is not suitable for everyone.

If anyone else tried this on Ma Yun, he probably wouldn't even bother with it. But when Chen Xiu used it, the effect was completely different.

Because TikTok can indeed help Supatong, the basis for cooperation is established, and Chen Xiu's live stream to clarify things for Douyin did have an effect.

If Ma Yun could connect with him for a live broadcast to clarify, it would only be icing on the cake and make the effect even better.

Therefore, the best way to ask others for help is to be outstanding yourself. After all, most people are happy to add to someone's success, but those who offer help in times of need are always rare.

Seeing Ma Yun's slightly furrowed brows, Chen Xiu wanted to say something more to increase the likelihood of him joining the live stream.

However, upon further reflection, he felt that he had already said enough today, and saying anything more would only be superfluous and increase suspicion.

Thinking of this, Chen Xiu slowly got up, supporting herself on the chair, and stretched her hand out to Ma Yun.

"Mr. Ma, I need to head back now. I hope I'll have the chance to treat you to dinner next time."

"Okay, there will definitely be that opportunity."

Ma Yun stood up and shook Chen Xiu's hand, his expression deep and unfathomable.

(End of this chapter)