Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Chapter 137 Chicken Leg with Thigh

On the same Wednesday morning, the air pressure at the Sohu building was so low it was hard to breathe, and the investment community was in an uproar.

In a private room at a high-end club in Beijing's Guomao area, Wang Jingbo of IDG and Liu Xin of Morningside Capital sat facing each other.

Besides the 5Q campus network retention data report, there were two cups of pre-Qingming Longjing tea on the table. The tea had gone cold, and neither of them was in the mood to drink it.

Liu Xin slammed a newly printed investigation report on the table, pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, and let out a cold laugh.

"Front-end down, refresh and revive, Buddha's light and loyal dog. Mr. Wang, you're so knowledgeable, translate this for me, what the hell genius came up with this business model?"

Wang Jingbo leaned back on the sofa, rubbing her temples, her face a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"That white-edged guard dog they painted in their vegetable garden. Now everyone in Zhongguancun knows that Sohu spent 20 million US dollars just to raise a dog with a halo. Chen Yizhou has really humiliated us investors this time. After doing this, how can our two companies still have a place in the investment circle?"

"Face is a small matter. Take a look at this." Liu Xin pulled out another A4 sheet of paper from her briefcase and handed it to Wang Jingbo, tapping it heavily twice with her finger. "This is what I found out from several telecom bureaus that cooperate with Qihang Technology. Qihang Technology's daily recharge volume yesterday exceeded three million. Their model is pure profit, based solely on the amount settled."

Wang Jingbo suddenly sat up straight, staring at the numbers on the paper, unable to look away for a long time.

"Three million a day?" Wang Jingbo's voice changed. "How many internet companies have we invested in, all small ones? Do we even have as much daily revenue as one of them? Has Bai Yuhang turned on a money-printing machine?"

Liu Xin leaned back in her chair, her eyes filled with ruthlessness.

"The business model is airtight, the product iteration speed is frighteningly fast, wave after wave, relentlessly beating people down, hitting their weak points every time. Features include online farming, group chat, video chat, virtual avatars, monthly memberships, and email."

In the parking space battle, a series of coordinated attacks left Chen Yizhou's 5Q Campus Network utterly defenseless. I think Zhang Chaoyang completely misjudged the situation this time. He spent twenty million US dollars to buy a useless plagiarist, and then hastily spent another two million US dollars helping him, all of which went down the drain. In my opinion, Sohu fundamentally lacks the DNA for social networking.

"The social networking dream has turned into a joke. How are we going to explain the roadshow on Wall Street?" Wang Jingbo sighed. "The roadshow for the US listing is about to start next week. Are we going to show foreigners this dismal conversion rate and the bills that are burning through cash like water? The pricing of the stock issuance is not optimistic."

Without wasting any words, Liu Xin picked up the phone on the table, dialed Zhang Chaoyang's number, and put it on speakerphone.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, and Zhang Chaoyang's tired and hoarse voice came through the line.

"Mr. Liu, it's so early."

"Mr. Zhang, with things turned out like this, I can't sleep a wink." Liu Xin's tone was unfriendly as she went straight to the point, "Your social empire is quite unique, huh? So, are you planning to take a Buddhist dog to ring the Nasdaq bell?"

There was a two-second silence on the phone, then Zhang Chaoyang's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"Mr. Liu, this is just a temporary technical glitch, and Chen Yizhou is already working on fixing it."

"Remedy? What remedy?" Wang Jingbo moved closer to the phone, interrupting Zhang Chaoyang. "Mr. Zhang, I got the operational data yesterday. Mr. Wang and I are discussing it now. We've poured over ten million RMB into it, and the daily active users have plummeted to below four digits, with a retention rate of less than two percent. All the college students who received the bonuses probably went to HaiNei.com to recharge and spend their money. Sohu is now the biggest spendthrift in Zhongguancun!"

"Chen Yizhou made a solemn pledge to me."

"His pledges are worth less than toilet paper!" Liu Xin retorted bluntly. "President Zhang, let's be frank. Sohu's IPO is imminent, and this 5Q Campus Network is a complete mess. If you can't handle Chen Yizhou properly, we investors will have to consider whether we should continue supporting this IPO."

"Liu Xin, are you threatening me?" Zhang Chaoyang raised his voice.

"I'm reminding you to cut your losses," Liu Xin said coldly, then hung up the phone.

A deathly silence returned to the private room. Wang Jingbo stared at her black-screened phone and shook her head.

"Zhang Chaoyang has really suffered a major setback this time."

Liu Xin picked up the cooled tea and drank it all in one gulp, a shrewd glint in her eyes.

"I don't care whether Sohu lives or dies; all I care about is making money. Mr. Wang, would you be interested in coming with me to the Hailong Building? I really want to see just how many heads this young man named Bai Yuhang has."

The temporary office area for 5Q Campus Network is located on the second floor of the Sohu Network Building.

Wang Xiaochuan's workstation was empty, and so did the dozen or so Tsinghua part-time students he brought with him.

The remaining dozen or so seasoned veterans were gathered together, figuring out how to install the Minesweeper game into a hidden folder on their computers and then set up a shortcut key like the boss's key to switch between their slacking-off and work desktops with a single click.

Chen Yizhou walked out of his private office, his eyes bloodshot and his tie loosely undone.

"Stop!" Chen Yizhou slammed a stack of newly printed proposals onto Lao Zhao's desk.

Old Zhao's hand trembled, and he almost spilled the goji berry water.

"Mr. Chen, please calm down. We really can't get the white edges off this Buddha-light dog clean," Old Zhao said with a bitter face.

"Stop being stingy! Take that lousy vegetable patch off the homepage!" Chen Yizhou gritted his teeth. "If we can't compete with Qihang technically, we won't. Let's go back to offline methods and use what we do best: on-the-ground promotion!"

Old Zhao was stunned: "Ground promotion? And they're giving out five-yuan red envelopes? Mr. Chen, HaiNei.com is really hoping we'll give them money."

"Give them a damn paycheck!" Chen Yizhou pointed at the proposal on the table. "Let's have a beauty pageant! A 5Q Campus Beauty Contest! We'll put up banners at major universities in Beijing, get female students across the country to register in our community, find pretty girls to upload their photos to our forum's recommendation page, and let the boys vote. To vote, you have to register with your real name!"

Old Zhao flipped through the plan, his eyes lighting up: "This is a great idea; college students love this kind of thing. But what kind of freebies are offered upon registration?"

"Give us physical gifts! Absolutely no cash!" Chen Yizhou slammed his hands on the table, like a gambler who had lost all his chips. "Have our ground promotion team contact the cafeterias of major universities and the snack shops nearby. Register an account, and with the receipt, they can get a fried chicken leg on the spot! I refuse to believe that hormones combined with real meat can't build a genuine social network!"

Two light slaps came from outside the door.

Wu Tao strolled in, carrying a briefcase, picked up the proposal on the table, glanced at it, and burst out laughing.

"Mr. Chen, this is truly brilliant, absolutely brilliant." Wu Tao put the proposal back on the table, looking at him with a smile. "Just a couple of days ago, Sohu released a dog with a halo of Buddha, and today you've come up with a free fried chicken leg for registering. Your social media empire, as long as it avoids gambling and drugs, has completely established itself in the agricultural products, catering, and service industries. I wonder if Wall Street investors, who are used to steak, can swallow your fried chicken."

Chen Yizhou's face turned ashen: "Wu Tao, stop spouting nonsense. What do college students lack most? Money and novelty! As long as we bring people in, the forum's daily active users will go up. Will you approve this ground promotion budget or not?"

Wu Tao pulled over a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

"Approved, of course approved. Professor Zhang said that with the Wall Street roadshow imminent, we must unconditionally support any attempt by President Chen." Wu Tao took out a pen from his pocket, quickly signed the proposal, and handed it back. "However, President Chen, let me offer a word of advice. In this sweltering heat, fried chicken legs can easily spoil. You'd better keep a close eye on the suppliers, lest the college students get sick and our Sohu legal department has to run to the hospital to clean up your mess."

Chen Yizhou snatched the proposal away, too lazy to pay him any attention.

"Old Zhao! Contact the printing factory immediately to print the posters! Tomorrow afternoon, I want the aroma of fried chicken legs wafting from the entrances of every university cafeteria in Beijing!"

Old Zhao picked up his goji berry cup, took a sip, and smacked his lips: "Alright, Mr. Chen. Sending chicken legs is a much better job than sending fox plush toys. I'll get on it right away."

Wu Tao stood up, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and looked at Chen Yizhou's busy back with a mocking smile.

Ten million US dollars worth of ammunition was ultimately reduced to handing out fried chicken legs at university gates.

Sohu's social networking dream has finally come to an end.