Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Chapter 179 Judgment

"You got a phone call so soon?" Han Fei asked. He and Zhang Ruiyi were sitting in the third row of the Shanghai Normal University Concert Hall. Soft New Age music flowed from the speakers. Spotlights from the ceiling cast beams of light that swept across the audience, which he thought was probably to create an atmosphere of anticipation for the performance on stage later.

"Absolutely," Zhang Ruiyi said. "You were having a blast on stage, and the publisher's phones were practically ringing off the hook with reporters. I was just about to leave after you called me when the office phone started ringing. Mei-jie answered two calls; they were asking if the oral history project President Han mentioned at the Normal University was real, and whether Qingniao was going to collaborate with the Education Commission. Mei-jie, following our previous instructions, got them to leave their contact information so we could reply together later."

"Only two?"

"Of course not. I overheard all the subsequent phone calls and had Sister Mei respond on the spot. For example, Wen Wei Po asked if you had publicly criticized NetEase, and Yang Zheng jokingly asked President Han if he had deliberately gone to challenge them." There was also a substitute reporter from Southern Weekly who said you refused his interview but then went on stage and gave a long speech, asking if he could do a follow-up interview.

A few people in front seemed to have mixed up their seats, but the situation was quickly resolved, and the human wall took their seats. Han Fei looked towards the stage, where the silhouettes of the crowd were clearly visible against the backdrop of the cascading white light.

"How did Yang Zheng find out?"

"He said he had a colleague at the scene who recorded what you said and sent it to him. Your empathy is also part of education," and the phrase "The mute waited for someone for twenty years to build a bridge" have now spread among cultural journalists. Some praised your quick thinking, while others said you used NetEase's platform to promote yourself, which was unethical."

"How did you expect Mei-jie to reply to them?"

"Follow the reply in Article 9 of the third edition of the 'Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Manual': do not deny the facts, nor actively spread them. Just say that President Han attended a friend's school event in a private capacity today, and his speech on stage was an impromptu response, not an official statement from Qingniao."

The "Oral History of Hometown" project is currently only a preliminary concept. Qingniao will provide official notifications through formal channels should there be any substantial progress.

Han Fei nodded slowly: "Yes, that's a good thing. At least it's better than no one paying attention. Some people praise us, and some people criticize us, which means that what we did touched a nerve with some people. Those who criticize us are simply saying that I used Wangyi's platform to set up a stage for myself. Chen Zhengyuan handed me the microphone himself, and I couldn't just pretend to be mute on stage. This kind of unfair criticism won't hurt me."

Zhang Ruiyi smiled sweetly: "This trip wasn't a waste, was it?"

"That's right," Han Fei said. "Director Li's side is an unexpected bonus. Of course, there are still risks. Although the Education Commission has expressed its support, the official plan hasn't been released yet. With the media hyping it up so much, if the final implementation is slow or something goes wrong, the public backlash will be huge. So we need to quickly develop a mature framework that can get the Education Commission's approval, the media to reprint it, and schools to implement it."

"What about Chen Zhengyuan? He suffered a loss today. Do you think he'll harbor some ill intentions when he gets back?"

Han Fei chuckled. "He didn't just suffer a loss; he dug his own grave. He wanted to embarrass me on stage, but I ended up using his platform to curry favor with the Education Commission. I think anyone in that situation would never let it go."

"He wouldn't publicly criticize you in the media, would he? That would be embarrassing for him."

"Uh... I can't say for sure."

"Hard to say?"

Han Fei rubbed his chin, lost in thought: "Hmm, I feel like something's not quite right."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, he could have easily not mentioned me at today's event. This is the launch meeting for the industry-university cooperation between Wangyi and Shida University, and I was just someone a friend dragged here to sit in. If he hadn't mentioned me, no one would have noticed me in the audience. But he insisted on mentioning me and even brought me on stage, which makes him seem... very abnormal."

"Wasn't that just to embarrass you?"

"They want to embarrass me," Han Fei said. "But this matter involves both benefits and risks, and the risks may even outweigh the benefits."

If I don't handle it well, then he does win the argument, embarrassing me in public and damaging Qingniao's image. But at the same time, he won't get a good reputation either; the vice president of Wangyi publicly using such a low-level method to suppress a competitor is detrimental to Wangyi's image. But if I do handle it, like I did now, then he becomes a complete clown. Therefore, I always feel that his behavior doesn't resemble that of a vice president of a large company, but rather...

Zhang Ruiyi stared wide-eyed at Han Fei: "Like what?"

"gambler."

At this moment, everyone fell silent as if they had received an invisible signal.

A man in uniform walked onto the stage and gave a few opening remarks, at which point everyone stood up. They followed suit, standing and clapping with smiles. After a while, the man on stage announced the official start of the welcome concert, and everyone applauded enthusiastically before sitting down.

"What's going on with Wangyi?" Zhang Ruiyi asked. "Wang Yu invited you to a salon a few days ago, acting so humble. And today Chen Zhengyuan pulled this stunt. Do you think they're fighting amongst themselves?"

"That's possible," Han Fei said. "Perhaps NetEase doesn't have a unified strategy at all. Wang Yu is Wang Yu, Chen Zhengyuan is Chen Zhengyuan, and they each do their own thing. It's perfectly normal for departments in large companies not to communicate or coordinate with each other."

"So, is this a good thing or a bad thing for us?"

"It seems like a good thing. If they can't form a united front, our pressure will be less. But the problem is, we don't know who represents NetEase's true intentions. If Ding Lei suddenly makes a decision one day to fully support a certain faction, all our current judgments may be wrong."

Zhang Ruiyi looked at Han Fei: "So when you said something was wrong, were you referring to this? Because we don't have enough information to make a judgment?"

Han Fei nodded slowly: "Perhaps."

The curtain rises.

As the curtain fell, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

The participating teachers came out in different formations to take their bows and then left the stage, until all the rehearsed formations had been used, before simply standing on the stage to receive applause. Finally, all the teachers, leaders, and new students went on stage for a group photo.

Zhang Ruiyi leaned her head on Han Fei's shoulder and took out a tissue to wipe away her tears.

"I can't stand listening to your second movement, the part where the strings start. It's like someone is slowly telling you something from a long time ago," Zhang Ruiyi said. She and Wen Shuyan walked through the campus towards the gate, with Han Fei following behind.

Wen Shuyan chuckled softly: "At the beginning of the second movement just now, I actually entered a little too early, didn't you notice? I almost led the principal off."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruiyi said. "Anyway, I'm not a professional. I just know that it sounds good, that's enough for me."

"I couldn't tell either." Han Fei put his hands in his suit jacket pockets and touched his cigarette case and lighter. "I was so focused on watching your facial expressions while you were playing the piano. There was a part where your brows furrowed so tightly that I thought the keys were going to catch fire."

Wen Shuyan and Zhang Ruiyi turned around at the same time and burst into laughter.

"That's a piece by Rachmaninoff that's not meant to be played comfortably. You'd be frowning even after practicing it for a month," Wen Shuyan said.

"Me? I can't even read all the musical notes. When I was little, a teacher taught me to play 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,' and said my fingers looked like crabs fighting."

The two laughed even louder.

"Don't let Shuyan's sense of humor get twisted," Zhang Ruiyi said with a laugh. "Seriously, Shuyan, tomorrow's the weekend, can't you take a couple of days off? The new semester has only just started, isn't it much easier not having to rehearse?"

Wen Shuyan smiled and said, "I can rest on the weekend, but I still have to rewrite the lesson plans and rearrange the schedule for the basic music theory course for freshmen. It's not much easier than rehearsals. In addition, this semester the department asked me to teach a small class of elective courses, all of whom are students with zero music theory knowledge."

"Oh? The new semester has just started and it's already this busy? Does that mean you'll have even less time to rest?"

"It's alright," Wen Shuyan said. "Things will get better after September. It's just that my internship is almost over, and I need to prepare the materials and assessments for my official employment in advance. The number of positions in the college is limited, and this year there are also several senior teachers who have been rehired and have extended their retirement, so the competition is fiercer than in previous years."

"With your exceptional professional skills, and the fact that the dean personally selected you to speak on stage, you should have no problem getting a permanent position, right?"

Wen Shuyan shook her head: "Speaking has nothing to do with the assessment. Besides... sometimes ability and performance are not necessarily the deciding factors."

97

Ding Lei sighed, gazing out the window, his heart fluttering. He often felt this way. The rain had stopped, but the pale gray sky still hung heavily over the high-rise apartment buildings of Zhujiang New Town in Tianhe District. He saw a dog slowly running across the deep green grass, glistening in the morning light. He had heard a friend say that autumn in Guangzhou only brings two kinds of wind: hot air from air conditioner units and cold air from shopping mall entrances.

He turned his head and looked at the headline on page four of the Southern Weekly newspaper on the table: "Industry-University Cooperation Launch Meeting Turns into 'Impromptu Debate'—Wangyi Vice President and Qingniao President Heatedly Debate 'Literature and Education'." The newspaper also published a clear photo, in which a young man who was clearly Han Fei stood on the podium with a composed posture, while Chen Zhengyuan stood to the side with a stiff expression.

Chen Zhengyuan, what exactly are you doing?

He tried to think, but his mind kept racing, unable to find a foothold. He had always felt that Chen Zhengyuan seemed to be planning to go all out and focus on the business, proving himself with performance. Chen Zhengyuan should know very well what he should do, but he did not expect things to turn out this way, so unimaginably simple, yet incredibly complex.

Before NetEase and Qingniao had officially begun their full-scale war, Chen Zhengyuan, as the vice president of a branch company, actually took the initiative to name, provoke, and attempt to humiliate the president of a publishing house that was already in the eye of the storm at a public school-enterprise cooperation launch meeting. This was commercially meaningless and politically extremely foolish.

Ding Lei reviewed the reports again. The core of the media coverage wasn't "Wangyi sponsored education," but rather "Wangyi's vice president and Qingniao's president debated at the Normal University," and "Qingniao's president used the opportunity to propose a plan to the Education Commission." Wangyi had become a background figure, even a villain. Their lavish launch event had its limelight stolen by the competitor, and their brand image damaged. Chen Zhengyuan had embarrassed Wangyi in front of the Education Commission and the media.

He previously characterized Chen Zhengyuan as having a "judgment system stuck in 2001," but now it seems Chen Zhengyuan doesn't even understand the basic principle of "what to do in what situation." If a senior executive loses control to the point of doing something so counterproductive in public, it indicates he has already...

He is no longer suitable to lead troops into battle.

A three-month pledge? Hmph, he can't even wait three days. Chen Zhengyuan isn't trying to catch up; he's trying to prove himself by destroying his opponent. This is completely misguided.

Ding Lei glanced at his watch; it was nine in the morning. He grabbed the receiver from the table and dialed Wang Yu's number.

"Mr. Ding?"

"Did you see this morning's newspaper?"

"I saw it," Wang Yu said. "I'm organizing it now."

Are you in Shanghai?

"Yes, I just arrived yesterday afternoon. The salon will make a final confirmation on Monday morning, so I'll go check out the venue today."

"Perfect timing," Ding Lei said, taking a breath. "Since you're in Shanghai, you can take the opportunity to find out about the launch meeting. You don't need to do anything special, but just keep an eye on things."

"I understand. I was also planning to talk to Han Fei about this after the salon on Monday and see how he would react."

Ding Lei paused for a moment before speaking again: "Do you think Han Fei's oral history proposal was hastily put together yesterday, or was it prepared in advance?"

"Wait a moment."

Ding Lei heard the sound of papers turning over on the other end of the phone, and then Wang Yu spoke again: "I think he had this idea before, or at least had a framework. Because Qingniao has a submission channel specifically for collecting stories from ordinary people. I think he just applied that logic to the education scenario yesterday. But not everyone can speak so completely and so perfectly in line with the Education Commission's tastes."

"So Chen Zhengyuan was giving him a way out."

"Judging from the results, that's one way to put it."

Ding Lei closed his eyes: "What's your opinion on the impact of this on NetEase?"

"It's two-tiered," Wang Yu stated clearly. "At the brand level, the public won't distinguish between President Chen's personal actions and NetEase's strategy; they'll only see NetEase's vice president publicly suppressing competitors. If the Education Commission truly supports Han Fei, it will create the impression within the system that Qingniao is a company that gets things done."

Ding Lei remained silent, while Wang Yu continued speaking.

"From a competitive standpoint, if Han Fei truly succeeds in making oral history a success, Qingniao will no longer be just a publishing house; it will become a content ecosystem with official backing. No matter how strong our SP (service provider) business is, we won't be able to penetrate the school system."

Ding Lei pondered for a moment.

"The salon will proceed as scheduled," he said. "Keep in touch with Han Fei. Chen Zhengyuan lost face on stage; you'll redeem him from behind the scenes."

Keep a humble stance: no explanations, no arguments, no confrontations, otherwise people will think we at NetEase are fighting amongst ourselves. You just need to show people that NetEase also has people who understand the rules and respect their peers. The public doesn't remember apologies, but they do remember attitudes.

"it is good."

"After you finish the salon on Monday, don't rush back to Guangzhou. First, complete the full public opinion assessment in Shanghai and send it to my email."

9

"Okay." Wang Yu paused, "What about President Chen..."

"I have nothing more to say to him," Ding Lei said. "He chose those three months himself. Let him go through those three months on his own, and the result will tell him the answer."