Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Top-floor office of Sohu Network Building in Zhongguancun, Beijing.

Zhang Chaoyang stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, clutching an internal briefing in his hand, the edges of the paper crumpled from his grip.

The headline on the briefing was eye-catching: "Sina's Nasdaq Listing Assessment, April 13th".

The company issued four million shares, raising $68 million. On its first day of trading, the stock opened at $21, reached a high of $21.44, and closed at $19.50, a 14.7% increase from the offering price. Its total market capitalization approached $700 million.

Zhang Chaoyang tossed the briefing he had been reading for the past two months onto his large desk and rubbed his temples.

The bell for Sohu's IPO in the US is about to ring.

To tear off an overvalued company from the mouths of Wall Street's financial vampires, the old tricks of portal websites simply won't work.

The capital market needs to hear new stories, the more exciting the better.

Currently, the most suitable medium for storytelling is social networks, which are currently at the forefront of the trend.

This is also why he insisted on spending 20 million US dollars to acquire ChinaRen. When he first met Chen Yizhou, ChinaRen was already known as the world's largest Chinese community.

Half an hour later, Sohu held a high-level internal mergers and acquisitions meeting.

The atmosphere was tense, and the projector fan hummed loudly.

On the large screen, a recent data report from ChinaRen, just sent back by the due diligence team, is displayed.

A previously stable daily active user curve suddenly plummeted like a 90-degree plunge to the bottom in the last thirty days.

"Mr. Zhang, this acquisition is extremely risky. We can't sign this document." The head of the due diligence team pointed to the large screen. "Look at these data. This isn't just a leaky, dilapidated ship; it's like the Titanic hitting an iceberg and sinking straight down."

Zhang Chaoyang sat in the main seat, his face gloomy. "Chen Yizhou explained to me that this is a normal fluctuation in users, and they are currently migrating servers."

"Server migration could wipe out 40% of our core users?" The senior operations executive suddenly stood up, his voice urgent. "Mr. Zhang, the due diligence team has a clear answer. All the users lost from ChinaRen have gone to a place called HaiNei.com."

Wu Tao, the VP of Operations, flipped through the report in his hand, becoming increasingly angry as he spoke. "They not only ran away, but they didn't even look back. HaiNei.com recently launched a web game called Happy Farm. Even one of my department managers set his alarm for 2 a.m. last night just to steal a virtual cabbage from someone else's farm online. ChinaRen's forum and alumni directory are now practically silent, except for some old users and product team members posting random stuff."

A muffled coughing sounded in the conference room, clearly indicating that many executives had secretly created accounts to farm in the game.

"Twenty million US dollars, Mr. Zhang," the CFO replied with a bitter face. "That's over 170 million RMB. To spend so much money to buy an empty shell that a few college students can easily crush, once this investment is disclosed, Wall Street's senior analysts will cut our valuation to the bone. This isn't just not a good story, it's a disaster."

Zhang Chaoyang interlaced his fingers, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

He was well aware that ChinaRen was in a precarious situation, but he was even more aware that Sohu's IPO was imminent and the die was cast.

Without adding social media to its portfolio, Sohu's debut on Nasdaq will appear crippled and extremely weak.

"Hainei.com," Zhang Chaoyang muttered the name repeatedly. "How could a startup that hasn't been established for long possibly push a ruthless guy like Chen Yizhou to this point?"

"It's more than just coercion," Wu Tao sneered. "A few days ago, Chen Yizhou skipped a meeting and rushed to Hailong Building with four lawyers. Apparently, he wanted to use the money we hadn't transferred yet to acquire HaiNei.com. In the end, he was kicked out along with the contract."

Zhang Chaoyang suddenly looked up. "Chen Yizhou went to HaiNei.com?"

"Yes, and I heard that the 18-year-old boss of HaiNei.com made a statement." Wu Tao swallowed, his expression somewhat strange. "He said he would only offer three million RMB to buy the remaining servers of ChinaRen as scrap metal."

The meeting room fell into a deathly silence.

Zhang Chaoyang rested his elbows on the head of the large conference table, remaining silent for a long time.

Buying junk for three million RMB is not only a slap in the face to Chen Yizhou, but also a slap in the face to Sohu.

Everyone in the conference room stared at Zhang Chaoyang without saying a word.

The CFO, gritting his teeth, broke the deadlock.

"Mr. Zhang, should we still transfer this 20 million yuan to ChinaRen's corporate account as planned tomorrow?"

Zhang Chaoyang didn't respond immediately. He stared at the glaringly sharp drop on the big screen, tapping his fingers on the table, and hesitated to give an answer.

After a long while, he took out a document with a kraft paper cover from under his notebook and slammed it onto the large conference table.

"Do you think I don't know what a mess ChinaRen is right now?" Zhang Chaoyang propped his elbows on the conference table, rubbed his hands in front of him, and glanced at the executives present.

Vice President Wu Tao, who was nearby, picked up the document, opened it, and was stunned.

"Qihang Technology's due diligence report? Mr. Zhang, you already had someone check the domestic and international networks?"

"I checked two months ago." Zhang Chaoyang rubbed his temples. "That was right when they announced they had 10 million users. I felt then that Chen Yizhou's BBS forum approach would eventually be crushed by this strong relationship-based social model."

The operations executive looked puzzled.

"Since you figured it out so early, why don't we just talk to Qihang Technology directly? Twenty million US dollars, thrown at a few first-year college dropouts, wouldn't they be ecstatic?"

Zhang Chaoyang sneered and looked at the operations executives.

"Going crazy with joy? Go try smashing one yourself."

He extended two fingers and tapped them forcefully twice on the table.

"Last month, I personally arranged a meeting and invited Zhang Lei from China Entrepreneurship Network out for tea. I got straight to the point and offered to invest $25 million to fully acquire Qihang Technology. Alternatively, I could lead their next round of funding and take absolute control."

A collective gasp filled the conference room.

Twenty-five million US dollars—that's five million more than the offer given to ChinaRen. For a few college students who haven't even graduated yet, it's like a windfall.

"And the result?" the CFO couldn't help but ask.

"Zhang Lei, that idiot, left without even finishing his tea." Zhang Chaoyang chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Before he left, he told me exactly what he said: 'Brother Zhang, don't waste your energy. Bai Yuhang and his buddies have about two million US dollars in cash sitting in their accounts that they can't spend. He doesn't lack money at all, and he's not obedient either.'"

"Disobedient? An eighteen-year-old student, does he think he can turn the world upside down?" The vice president frowned. "Mr. Zhang, Zhang Lei is just being possessive. There are no disobedient entrepreneurs in the capital market; it's just that the money hasn't been paid enough."

"The payment wasn't made up?" Zhang Chaoyang pushed another briefing on the table. "Take a look at this before you talk. This is internal data that the due diligence team just obtained last night."

The vice president took the briefing, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when they fell on a line of bold numbers.

"This...this is real?" Wu Tao's voice cracked. "A web-based farming game, launched for only three days, and its daily phone recharge revenue exceeded one million RMB?"

The entire conference room erupted in chaos.

The executives looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

While Sohu was still struggling to write RSS news, attract investment, and sell merchant slots, a few college students were already directly taking cash from netizens' pockets.

"A cash flow of one million RMB a day." Zhang Chaoyang stood up and walked to the French windows. "Do you still think that twenty-five million US dollars can stun him? He's a money-printing machine. Chen Yizhou was still stupid enough to try and buy him with fifteen million US dollars. No wonder he was treated like a junk collector."

The CFO swallowed hard, his face filled with disbelief.

"Mr. Zhang, what should we do now? This money from ChinaRen..."

Zhang Chaoyang looked out the window at the endless stream of car lights in Zhongguancun, his expression becoming extremely complex.

An 18-year-old youth has single-handedly overturned the table of the domestic Internet, even pushing Sohu's listing plan into a dead end.