Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 356 Using a large horse to force a small horse to submit

Pony stared blankly at the phone screen, a thought popping into his mind: Why did Chen Xiu go and try his hand at the gaming industry?

Could it be that he copied Douyin entirely from Weishi, and Chen Xiu came to make games and steal Tencent's business?
No way, he can't be that naive, can he?
Pony looked at Chen Xiu on the screen with suspicion, wanting to ask him for an explanation. Ma Yun in the live stream was also very interested in this topic.

"Mr. Chen, are you trying to make games?"

Ma Yun asked this question, just as penguins are racking their brains to get into e-commerce, Ali is also very interested in the social and gaming sectors of the internet.

However, both companies have their own competitive advantages, and many attempts to enter each other's industries have ultimately failed.

Ma Yun found it particularly interesting that Chen Xiu went to work in the gaming industry, because this move hit the very core business that Tencent values ​​most.

He could already imagine how grim Pony Ma's expression would be upon hearing the news.

Pony Ma, who was watching the live stream, indeed had a furrowed brow and a somber expression.

Having already posted on his WeChat Moments, Chen Xiu guessed that Pony Ma was observing from the shadows. Naturally, he wouldn't confront Tencent head-on as Ma Yun had hoped.

"It's not that I'm trying to develop games. Douyin doesn't currently have any business in the gaming field. It's just that a mythological film project of Datang Pictures has a game extension, which is a PC single-player game."

"Oh, that's how it is."

Ma Yun's tone was calm and profound, and he did not show any disappointment.

On the other hand, Pony Ma looked much more relaxed.

To be honest, for a moment just now he was worried about Chen Xiu's foray into the mobile game industry. After all, the other party's ability to invest across industries was too strong; whatever they did, they succeeded...

As a Chaoshan native, Pony Ma feels that there are some things that one has to believe.

Fortunately, Chen Xiu didn't make mobile games, but instead made PC single-player games.

That doesn't matter. Tencent's PC single-player game business is only a small part, and Pony Ma isn't worried about how Chen Xiu will handle the big events.

"Will Douyin or Datang Pictures try to make mobile games in the future?"

Ma Yun stirred things up again in the live stream, and Pony Ma got nervous again.

Chen Xiu's reply was also ambiguous: "It depends on the situation. Nobody can predict what will happen in the future!"

Ma Yun nodded expressionlessly, then glanced at the camera, giving the impression that she had broken through the third wall and was looking directly at him.

He stared at the camera for two seconds, then turned to Chen Xiu and said, "Mr. Chen, actually, I often browse Douyin (TikTok) too..."

"Thank you, I also shop on Taobao frequently."

Chen Xiu responded jokingly, but what she was really thinking was: What other trap are you trying to set? Do you really want to escalate the conflict between me and the penguin?
"I often browse Douyin (TikTok) and share interesting videos with my friends, but for some reason last month, I suddenly couldn't share them anymore!"

Ma Yun still has some sense of propriety; at least he didn't shout out WeChat's name during the live stream.

Chen Xiu paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "Mr. Ma, you can ask your friends to open Douyin accounts so they can share it."

"That's what I'm saying."

Ma Yun smiled smugly, as if she had finally grasped the key point of this live broadcast.

"With so many users on Douyin now, and our friends and family all using it, have you ever considered adding a chat function to Douyin?"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xiu in the live stream and Pony Ma watching the live stream were both stunned.

Pony Ma was thinking: "Playing games and chatting all at once, are they trying to start a fight with me?"

Chen Xiu thought to himself: Ma Yun, you old bastard, you really are here to cause trouble!

The thought flashed through her mind, and before she could even catch her breath, Chen Xiu quickly began to clarify things in the live stream.

"Impossible! There's already a chat app called Xiaolvpao, and I'm used to using it. Douyin's chat function is actually like Taobao's Aliwangwang, used to communicate with customer service."

"Isn't Douyin unable to use Little Green Bubble now?"

Ma Yun has an exceptional learning ability and instantly understood the meaning behind the little green bubble.

Chen Xiu defended the penguin, saying, "This is a system upgrade; there's no such thing as it being unusable."

"I see."

Ma Yun nodded reluctantly, already knowing that Chen Xiu didn't want to break ties with Penguin yet. The computer single-player game she mentioned earlier might just be an experiment, and didn't mean that the conflict between the two sides would escalate.

Pony Ma breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the possibility of a reconciliation between the two sides in Chen Xiu's strong defense of Penguin.

Then, Pony thought to himself: Since Weishi can't be helped, why not just give up?

The rest of the live stream consisted mainly of Chen Xiu and Ma Yun chatting. After watching for a few minutes, Pony Ma left the live stream and sent a message to Liu Chiping downstairs.

"Martin, come to my office for a moment, I need to talk to you about something."

About 15 minutes after the message was sent, there was a light knock on the office door, and then Pony Ma pressed the open button.

Liu Chiping maintained his usual smile and remained calm in the face of Pony's sudden summons.

"Pony, what's wrong?"

Pony Ma remained silent, simply telling him to sit on the sofa, and then launched into a bombshell.

Do you think there's any need for Weishi to continue?

"..."

Liu Chiping's smile faltered, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes as he looked at Pony Ma.

"We launched a 30 billion yuan subsidy plan and then had WeChat block Douyin's activities. It's only been less than a month, and now you're calling it off? Isn't that a bit too hasty?" This is a embellished version. The literal translation is: We chose to confront Douyin head-on only a month ago, and now we're already kneeling down? Does Tencent have no shame?

Pony Ma pursed his lips, thinking: Of course I understand what you mean, but Ma Yun has already gone to the live stream to poach people. If Chen Xiu suddenly has a change of heart and votes for Ahri, then it will be a loss.

"Martin, did you watch Douyin again today?"

"You mean Chen Xiu's live stream?"

"Yes, you saw it?"

"I saw what he posted on his WeChat Moments, and then I went to check it out..."

Liu Chiping suddenly stopped, looking at Pony Ma with a knowing look in his eyes: "Are you worried that Chen Xiu might cooperate with Ali?"

“Ma Yun also thinks highly of him.”

"However, judging from her behavior in the live broadcast just now, Chen Xiu's attitude towards us is still very friendly."

"Hmm... How did Thirty's (Sun Zhonghuai's) talk with him go last time?"

"Thirty's feedback was that Chen Xiu, after carefully considering our request, refused with great hesitation. I think his report contained embellishments."

"That's it."

Chen Xiu could not accept Tencent's demand to exclusively invest in Douyin. If that were the case, even if they gave up Weishi, everything would just be back to square one, and the only thing that would be lost would be the 30 billion yuan in creator subsidies.

Pony Ma fell silent, his slightly furrowed brows indicating that he too found this ending difficult to accept.

"Martin, do you think Weishi has a chance to surpass Douyin?"

"No."

This decisive rejection was completely different from Liu Chiping's usual style, making Pony Ma's gaze towards him become strange.

"Why are you so sure?"

“We have been directing traffic to Weishi for almost three weeks now, and the feedback data is very good. However, due to content issues, user retention has been declining. Even though the variety show ‘Produce 101’ launched by Tencent Video this month can bring a wave of traffic, Weishi still cannot retain it.”

Liu Chiping glanced at the tea set on the coffee table with a gloomy expression, then reached out and picked up the teapot, pouring it into the tea strainer.

"Weishi is like this tea strainer; no matter how much water we pour into it, it won't stay."

"..."

Watching the water trickle down from the teapot, Pony felt a dilemma for the first time.

It is now known that Weishi is not working out. No matter how much traffic is diverted from other apps, it cannot save this weakling. Furthermore, Douyin is unwilling to accept Tencent's investment.

Pony felt like all his efforts had been for nothing...

"Weak ribs."

Liu Chiping suddenly uttered two words, looked at Pony Ma, and continued, "Chicken rib, chicken rib, tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away."

Are you trying to persuade me to give up?

"Even if we have to give up, it can't be now. We have to hold on for at least another month or two, otherwise the company's stock price will also be affected."

Upon hearing this, Pony Ma's eyes instantly cleared up.

While burning through 30 billion is somewhat wasteful, constantly changing policies will undoubtedly cause more damage to the company.

Tencent's market value is now approaching HK$4 trillion, and HK$30 billion is less than a fraction of that. Even if it's just for appearances, they can't afford to launch Weishi with such fanfare only to have it flop in less than a month.

"You're right! Even if it's confirmed to be a failure, we still have to follow the procedures."

"Also, do we need to adjust our attitude towards Douyin?"

Liu Chiping looked up at Pony Ma and reminded him again that Chen Xiu had already rejected Penguin's request.

Pony Ma pondered for a moment and said, "Find an opportunity to talk to Chen Xiu and tell him that after careful consideration, we don't require a targeted investment in Douyin, but Tencent needs to lead the next round of financing."

"When is the right time to negotiate?"

"Let's talk about it next month. We just talked to Thirty, so we can't appear too eager."

"clear."

After finishing their discussion, Liu Chiping got up and left the office.

After the door closed, Pony sighed and took a glass from the refrigerator to drink...

……

Hengdian, the hotel where the crew of "The Xuanwu Gate Incident" was staying.

After the live stream ended, Chen Xiu was thanking Ma Yun: "Mr. Ma, thank you again for coming all this way!"

"No need for thanks. This live stream was also to help Taobao improve its reputation and image, but..."

Ma Yun smiled and whispered, "Does President Chen agree to what I just said about Ali Pictures and Datang Pictures collaborating?"

"Of course! I already answered that during the live stream."

Chen Xiu affirmed that Ali Pictures has a complete upstream and downstream industry chain, and Datang Pictures will only produce more and more movies in the future. There will always be cooperation between the two parties, so it's better to make an agreement as soon as possible.

Hearing this answer, Ma Yun left the live broadcast room satisfied, at least this time it wasn't a complete waste of time.

(End of this chapter)