Chapter 1292: Good Guy (4k)

The aroma of tea lingers in the CEO office of Yike 23.

Zhang Chaoyang drank half a cup of tea and looked at the vigorously written "Heng Lung Hero" on the wall for a while. After a long time, he said his first words when he entered the office.

"Is it okay for you to hang this up?"

Fang Zhuo looked back and said with a smile: "Although Henglong is no longer here, Henglong is always in my heart. Those are my lost years."

This calligraphy was brought with it after the headquarters moved from Hang Lung Tower to Lujiazui.

Zhang Chaoyang shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about the front, I'm talking about the two words behind."

Fang Zhuo deservedly said: "Apart from me, who do you know in the industry who is better than me and more worthy of this title?"

Zhang Chaoyang was stunned for a moment, and really thought about it carefully. It seemed that the comparison was good, but in fact it was worse than the comparison. When asked...

He looked at Mr. Fang's calmness and said, "Mr. Fang, how does your brain work? If you are so smart, why should you let Qi He be your mouthpiece?"

"There is no evidence and you are going to convict me based on suspicion, right?" Fang Zhuo asked back.

"There was a meeting in your company. It was your general who urged Sogou to cut its business, and it was you who dragged me to the conference room. What do you think I should think?" Zhang Chaoyang laid out what he saw.

"Then you didn't say it face to face in the conference room just now, but now you're in my office?" Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Zhang Chaoyang was silent for a moment: "What Qi He said is also true, and 'I know' is also true."

"Qi He is in charge of YMS. He is the senior vice president. He has his own ideas. Now I focus more on the final result." Fang Zhuo said, "I'm not like you. Just say Yes or No on Sohu and everything will be settled." Once it’s decided, no one will be given a reason.”

Zhang Chaoyang walked a few steps and said dissatisfied: "You are changing the topic. Fortunately, I am feeling much better now."

Fang Zhuo took a sip of tea and smiled: "Congratulations, the swordsman is back."

Zhang Chaoyang was stunned for a moment when he heard this nickname. "Swordsman" must have been more than ten years ago. At that time, the "Three Musketeers of the Internet" included himself, Ding Lei, and Wang Zhidong.

It was hard for him not to sigh with emotion: "The Three Musketeers of the Internet, Wang Zhidong has long been submerged in the times, Ding Lei is raising pigs, I stay in Shanghai and don't care about worldly affairs, life is like a dream..."

"Aren't you much better now? And when you ask about world affairs, you deny the decision of the CEO of Sogou. You are so majestic." Fang Zhuo joked.

Zhang Chaoyang ignored the ridicule and thanked him: "I have to thank you and Zhou Xin for this time."

Fang Zhuo replied: "Just thank Zhou Xin. I didn't even know you were still in Shanghai until I came to see you for nothing."

Zhang Chaoyang: "..."

He felt that his condition was about to relapse.

After a while, Zhang Chaoyang walked to the floor-to-ceiling window: "Okay, thank you Zhou Xin, he is such a good person."

"What's a good idea?" Fang Zhuo asked casually.

"He is very focused on what he does, he is contented, his family is very happy, his daughter is very cute, he seems to have a lifelong career, and he still has enough money to pursue his own hobbies." Zhang Chaoyang became a little envious as he spoke .

He was in Shanghai during this time, walking around the campus from time to time and hanging out at the Yike Research Center. He also made friends with Zhou Xin and became good friends who went fishing together. His mental state really improved a lot.

Fang Zhuo thought about it and realized that Zhou Xin was indeed a winner in life and said, "Verbal thanks are too pale. He has a charity fund named after his daughter. Please express your gratitude."

"Mr. Fang, it's not easy for you to ask for money so directly." Zhang Chaoyang mentioned another point, "The yacht he uses for fishing is still mine."

"It is better to have fun alone than to have fun together. If you achieve it, you can help the world. I think, brother Chaoyang, you are willing to let Sogou encourage Duji this time. This is a kind of benefit." Fang Zhuo spoke highly of Zhang Chaoyang's work. The first thing I said was, "Brother Chaoyang, you are a good person."

Zhang Chaoyang walked a few steps to his desk, casually opened a document from the pile, and said, "He's just a good person, not a good CEO, right?"

"If we talk about this, Mr. Zhang, you are a good man." Fang Zhuo changed his title and added another word.

To be honest, he had heard a lot about Zhang Chaoyang's management style at Sohu. The Yes/No he just said was a reaction to his actions. Sohu's decision-making for a long time required Zhang Chaoyang's approval. Those who followed his words were A good person is a bad person.

Including Wang Xiaochuan's dismissal and appointment, it also reflects the problems existing within the company in disguise.

However, in the past few years, he has become a shadow CEO again, saying that he will not ask questions anymore.

The transition from the Internet to the mobile Internet is a very critical time, and the absence of this moment is probably an important reason why Sohu is absent in the industry.

"A good old man makes it easier for you to control Sogou from the air, right?" Zhang Chaoyang still had some emotion in his words.

"Mr. Zhang, I have always been a very honest person. This time, Qi He is responsible for leading the competition for Du Ji. I only look at the final result." Fang Zhuo emphasized again and said, "Just like you saw before Whatever is in front of you, I also look at what is in front of me and then make a decision.”

He continued: "The search business model where Sogou is located is a very mature business model. From this point of view, Qi He's words are very reasonable. If it is not broken, it will not be established."

Zhang Chaoyang put down the document in his hand, picked up the second document, and said, "When I first walked into your office, I thought to myself, you guys are really unreasonable. You are fighting against your opponents as well as against your own people."

"But I have learned one thing, to reconcile with myself. Therefore, Sogou is probably not one of your own, so it is not surprising to take action."

Fang Zhuo smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang, Qi He mainly wants to promote competition with Duji. This is not just related to Sogou, but Duji has had a lot of friction with us during this period. To capture the thief first, capture the king. Don’t think too much, um, just pay attention to your mentality.”

"You just said you were honest, but you just go round and round when talking." Zhang Chaoyang said dissatisfied.

Fang Zhuo didn't answer immediately. After taking two sips of tea, he said, "Hey, hey, Mr. Zhang, stop scrolling down the documents. The one below is for your Sogou."

Zhang Chaoyang's hand, which was about to go down to take the document, stopped in the air.

He glanced at Mr. Fang and questioned: "You are a person who can't tell the truth from lies."

Fang Zhuo shrugged: "It's easy. Just take it down now, open it and take a look, and you will know whether I am telling the truth or not, and whether I am being honest or not."

Zhang Chaoyang didn't put his hand down for a long time.

In the end, he gave up, took back his hand, shook his head and said, "Forget it, it doesn't matter if it's true or not, and it doesn't matter if it's honest or not. The world is so bad, so just let it be, Hero Henglong."

Fang Zhuo smiled and said: "You are such a sensitive person, so let's just do it. Break what should be smashed, cooperate where there should be cooperation, and push forward where there should be. If Sogou really cannot become a mobile app, I think let it be Taking shelter under a giant is also a good way out.”

Zhang Chaoyang drank the last of the tea and felt it was time to return to the capital.

That night, the head of Sohu and the CEO of Sogou took a plane together. On the way, they continued to listen to the suggestions and desired competition from Yike. No matter how hard they pushed, since they had chosen a direction, they would naturally move forward.

Sogou's movements are an important part of Yike's counterattack against Duji.

As the leader this time, Qi He decided to delay the ignition of public opinion after much consideration, because Sogou needed to correct the next promotion, and because the special investigation by the media still took time.

It’s not that the media doesn’t have enough time to find things, but… there are too many things that can be found.

A simple search will fill the table with cases.

Upon closer inspection, the barbaric growth of the industry is shocking.

Correspondingly, local protection may also be involved, so this kind of special report requires even more attention and rigor.

After sorting out the relevant situation, Qi He reported it to his boss again, intending to push the time to the end of October, but received a clear instruction - to push it to after November 7.

He was a little confused and speculated whether the boss had other arrangements. When they met, he asked for answers in person, and then learned the answer.

"It's been postponed anyway. I want to see the results of this election in the United States."

Qi He immediately felt ashamed. The boss's concerns were different from his own. He really didn't seem to care much about the outcome of his competition with Duji this time.

But then I thought about it, maybe this was because the boss was very confident in himself.

Qi He arranged many things and only waited for a serious exchange with his friends and businessmen.

…

With the company becoming the default search engine for Samsung, Apple and other brands, Duji is very satisfied with the competition in the mobile market.

Although a lot of money was spent, the results were smooth.

At the same time, since the action against Sogou has been stepped up, of course, it must be completed in one battle.

As one of the people in charge this time, Vice President Lu Zhendong even persuaded Robin to participate in cooperation negotiations with UC Browser, the largest mobile browser.

UC Browser also competes with Yike, because the latter launched its own "Jianyou" browser, which has been well received by many users.

Different from the mainstream browser styles on the current market, "Jianyou" does not add, but subtracts. It only returns to the essential entrance functions and does not even have ads.

It is unclear whether advertisements will appear in the follow-up of "Jianyou", but according to Yike's family and business, if this situation really continues, it will be really stressful.

Thanks to the competitive relationship between Yike and UC, Duji negotiated very smoothly with the other party and finalized the main cooperation on the default search engine and the hidden Sogou option.

After concluding the negotiation with UC, Li Yanhong couldn't help but lament the success of this time: "It's also because Yike has too much business. This time it was all because of the conflict between UC and it that the cooperation was quickly promoted."

This year, UC Browser has captured 51.2% of the domestic market share, followed closely by the sudden rise of Yike “Jianyou” with 21.9%.

The gap between the two is very big, but the latter has only been launched for more than a year and is growing very fast.

In addition, there is another point that irritates UC. Yike and the YMS mobile phone manufacturers it leads have ended their software pre-installation cooperation with UC and switched to installing "Jianyou". This is also a major reason for its rapid growth.

Software pre-installation is the main tool for many software promotions. It means paying mobile phone manufacturers to install the apps in advance when they leave the factory. The effect is very good.

When the Yike Department severed this cooperation, UC was both angry and shocked. Therefore, it also loved Sogou and was willing to fulfill Duji's actions.

Just as Li Yanhong sighed, he suddenly discovered a problem. It's not right. Just saying that Yike has too many businesses, Duji also launched a mobile browser last year, which also competes with UC.

Duji Browser was launched in June last year.

He glanced at the people around him and found that their faces were a little strange. They probably felt embarrassed as if they were thinking, "We have a lot of business, but we just don't have a sense of presence."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little cold, Lu Zhendong quickly said, "Yi Ke uses the banner of 'simple beauty' to force others to do things. This has finally backfired. Whenever we put up the banner of competing with Yi Ke, most of the cooperation is smooth."

Du Ji's mobile terminal strategy is not only for hardware manufacturers, but also for a large number of software manufacturers, which involves the characteristic positioning of YMS.

In addition, advertisers are also quite annoyed by Yi Ke's existence, which is also a resource point for Du Ji to exert influence on the industry.

From hardware to software to sponsors, Lu Zhendong's contacts and cooperation have a sense of smooth sailing.

Li Yanhong nodded. He attaches great importance to this competition against Yi Ke's ecosystem.

Although considering the company's strategic transformation, search revenue is a cash cow. Only when the source of funds is healthy enough can it support the attempts and development of many businesses.

Lu Zhendong said with confidence: "Yike has angered the public. Mobile phones are its core business and cannot be touched. At least, as for search, as long as we make an effort, its big defeat will come."

As soon as the giant makes an effort, the defeat will come.

How can a one-stop service in the industry lose?

…

On November 6, Meilijian re-elected its leader.

The result this time was not unexpected. The former leader won a big victory over his opponent with 303 electoral votes.

Just when many media reported this important current news, Bingxin, which suspended its listing on NASDAQ in the middle of the year, quietly submitted a list to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and announced the restart of the listing procedure.

Austin, a good friend of Meilijian and a close friend of many people, called Mr. Fang as soon as he learned the news to inquire about the situation this time.

"16 billion! 16 billion! This time the valuation is only 16 billion US dollars, not to mention 210, not to mention 200, not even 180!"

"Who is the reason? Think about it carefully!"

"Losing money, I have invested so much money for so long, and now this is the result! You people really don't know what's good for you!"

"You all reach out when it comes to dividing the money, but you are useless when it comes to working!"

Fang Zhuo did not play the role of a good guy this time. He chose to announce the valuation figures of this listing on this phone call, angrily scolding his good friends for being useless, and feeling sad about the huge losses caused by such a long-term heavy investment.

At the mid-year moment, Bingxin is expected to be listed on Nasdaq with a valuation of 21 billion US dollars. Just less than half a year later, the target was adjusted to 16 billion US dollars, shrinking by 5 billion US dollars.

This figure is not as high as the last round of Bingxin's valuation of 18 billion US dollars. It is undoubtedly a bleeding listing.

Anyway, if you make less money, you will lose money. Some people must think so.