2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 812 Famous Scene

Unbeknownst to many, the first Wuzhen Dinner Party quietly underwent some changes.

Tan Jincheng didn't know how many people were in Ding Sanshi's group, but they could be considered "old money" in the internet industry.

Tan Jincheng and his group represent the future of the internet.

This was a clash between old money and new money. When Lei Jun mentioned it to them, they all thought it was quite interesting and agreed to it.

Shen Nanpeng thought about it and figured there was no rush to talk to Tan Jincheng about the acquisition of Southeast Asian car brands, so he agreed.

After the banquet, Ding Sanshi found Tan Jincheng and asked him to rest for two hours while he prepared for a late-night snack together at 10:30.

Old Ding still didn't say who was on their side. Tan Jincheng's side didn't have many people either. Besides him, Shen Nanpeng, and Lei Busi, Lei Busi brought He Xiaopeng, while Tan Jincheng brought Zhang Yiming.

It's basically confirmed that UC will be sold to Ali, and He Xiaopeng's departure won't be far off. He'll have to think about where he'll go next.

Lei Jun probably brought him along for this reason, hoping he could find inspiration at these gatherings.

As for Tan Jincheng bringing Zhang Yiming along, it's quite simple. Toutiao has been developing rapidly in the past two years, but they don't produce news content. Most of their content is reprocessed by content creators from news on other portal websites.

To give an analogy, Toutiao's news is more like 'fan fiction' of other portal websites' content; if the similarity isn't done well, it's considered plagiarism.

As a result, ByteDance has been frequently criticized by major media outlets in recent years and has also been embroiled in lawsuits. In addition to Toutiao, its subsidiary Neihan Duanzi has been criticized for being vulgar on multiple occasions.

The content creators are mostly part-time students or similar individuals; since they've taken the benefits, it's unreasonable to expect them to be the ones to respond to lawsuits.

For more than two years, Tan Jincheng has helped ByteDance take a lot of hits. Speaking of which, ByteDance is still the most controversial company he has invested in, and it has the worst reputation so far. Today, he brought Zhang Yiming along just to get acquainted with the company and to let the seniors not be so harsh sometimes.

ByteDance will have to maintain this state for another two years. Before a certain app is launched, they will still have to go through the lawsuits.

Tan Jincheng was also having a bit of a headache. To date, he was still the largest shareholder besides the founder, and there were some things that he really had to handle himself.

At 10:30 p.m., Tan Jincheng and his group arrived as agreed.

The place Lao Ding found was a private room by the river. It was very small, with several tables pushed together to make up one large table. It looked quite simple, and the lighting was also a bit dim.

"The place is a bit simple, please don't mind; but don't worry, the food is definitely fine, and the wine is good too, let's drink some Shaoxing wine today."

As the host, Lao Ding warmly greeted everyone.

Tan Jincheng and his group arrived first, but within minutes, Lao Ding's group also filed in, making the small private room even more crowded.

Goodness, this really is half of the old money in the internet industry: Dr. Zhang, Li from Baidu, Zhang Yaqing (President of Baidu, Qingmu Group), Tian Suning, Wang Wei, and Zhu Yunlai.

They are all very famous people.

Tan Jincheng benefited greatly from Zhang Yaqing's speech in the afternoon. This scholar-type president, who was a child prodigy since childhood, was very refined. It seems that in his previous life, after leaving Baidu, he returned to Qingmu to teach, and his research was also about artificial intelligence.

He is a rare executive who has been able to settle down and return to academia.

On the other hand, Baidu's talent pool in artificial intelligence is truly exceptional. They were among the first to research this area and have been deeply involved for many years. Tan Jincheng genuinely wants to collaborate with them, but he doesn't know how to balance their interests.

They do have the technology, but they are also incredibly short-sighted. Tan Jincheng is genuinely worried that they might end up putting ads on Wei Lai's car infotainment system.

How to balance the interests of both parties?

The two sides exchanged pleasantries one by one, and in front of these people, Tan Jincheng's side appeared somewhat less imposing.

There was no way around it. In terms of numbers, our side only had five people, while the other side had seven, including Ding Sanshi. In terms of total wealth, academic achievements, and even education, our side was far superior.

Besides Shen Nanpeng, who has overseas experience, the person with the highest academic qualification on Tan Jincheng's side is Lei Jun.

Yes, Zhang Yiming's skills are comparable to Lei Jun's.

"Mr. Zhang, I benefited greatly from the speech this afternoon. I hope to have the opportunity to communicate with you again in the future."

After exchanging greetings and taking their seats, Tan Jincheng whispered something to Zhang Yaqing. His seat was below the host, and Zhang Yaqing was directly below him, while the others sat in a staggered arrangement.

Zhang Yaqing smiled in response; he had indeed observed Tan Jincheng taking notes diligently during his speech that afternoon.

He had seen what happened in the morning. The young boss seemed a bit distracted, whether he wasn't in the zone or what, but he became incredibly serious in the afternoon. He was truly unconventional.

In 2014, especially in November, the internet was the talk of the town that no other industry could keep up with. However, this young CEO managed to create his own hot topic by focusing on the listing of two companies under his actual control and a series of other events.

A few days ago, he even overshadowed Jack Ma, the founder of Ali.

Li Yanhong was sitting opposite Tan Jincheng, and he had seen their interaction: "Mr. Tan, what are you trying to do? Old Ding once said that you are not fair."

"Haha, what are you talking about? It has nothing to do with me. He's the one who ruined his reputation."

After some jokes, the atmosphere improved considerably. Tan Jincheng was the leader of the guests and the youngest person present, so it was most appropriate to make fun of him.

"Haha, Mr. Li, you're too nervous. I was just expressing my respect to Mr. Zhang. Your company's presentation this afternoon really resonated with our Weilai Intelligent Driving."

"Tencent's CEO Ma often says you're a scoundrel, and that you can easily poach talent from the company. Yao Xiaoguang was taken away by you, and he's doing very well at your TiMi now."

Old Ding laughed heartily: "Haha, that's right; by the way, why didn't you bring Yao Xiaoguang along?"

He works in the gaming industry, so how could he not see the potential of Honor of Kings? Although it was Tan Jincheng who came up with the idea, you can tell from the game's style that it was Yao Xiaoguang's work.

It's impossible to say that Little Ma wasn't heartbroken; even he felt heartbroken.

"Yao Xiaoguang has returned to Ningbo; he doesn't live here anymore."

There's been a lot of promotion for Honor of Kings lately, so Yao Xiaoguang won't be here often; he'll just make a brief appearance. Cheng Hao is mainly in charge of things at Orange Technology, but he hasn't come over today.

With the growth rate exceeding expectations during Singles' Day, Cheng Hao has a lot to do.

After Huang Zheng was introduced to Sun Tongyu, the two hit it off immediately. The two, who shared the same ideas, chatted very congenially. Sun Tongyu has decided to leave his job to work in investment and is currently handing over his work to Cheng Hao.

Sun Tongyu is expected to leave the company in the middle of next year, and Huang Zheng has indeed returned to work in early next year. The prototype of Pinduoduo is about to be launched.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Pinduoduo is likely to be ByteDance's last investment in the pure internet sector.

"Speaking of which, you poached Yao Xiaoguang while he was still establishing himself at Tencent. That was a brilliant move. Your game, Honor of Kings, is definitely going to be a money-making machine. If you ask me, it will have over 100 million users by next year."

"That's a good point. We've had people poached from our company too. Talent is a two-way street. If we share the same vision, then we can come together. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, Mr. Lei is getting a bit embarrassed."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. He Xiaopeng, who was both Lei Jun's mentor and friend, almost burst out laughing.

Rumors circulating online suggest that Lei Jun (CEO of Meizu) visited Meizu and took all their engineers with him, infuriating CEO Huang (Huang).

Everyone knows that's not the truth, but it's really funny to talk about it in this context.

Lei Jun shook his head helplessly, pointed at Tan Jincheng and said, "It's been so many years and you're still using this tired old joke. I heard that you initially wanted to invest in Meizu, but President Huang didn't agree to it."

"Haha, that's true, but we also got their business."

If you say Tan Jincheng values ​​shares, Lao Huang values ​​them even more than Tan Jincheng. I don't know if it's related to his childhood experiences. He was expelled from school in his first year of high school and "kicked out" of his home by his father, who made him start his own business.

Perhaps out of fear of losing, Tan Jincheng's approach to controlling the shares differed from his. He mainly wanted to maintain control and ensure the company operated under his own vision. If selling shares would benefit the company's development, he would not hesitate to do so.

In fact, IDG had approached Mr. Huang seeking investment long before Tan Jincheng did, but Mr. Huang rejected him without hesitation. In his view, all venture capital firms are speculators.

This opening livened up the atmosphere considerably, and as they toasted and drank, the atmosphere gradually warmed up. While they might be competitors in business, they actually had a pretty good relationship in private.

Both Foxconn and NetEase have sued ByteDance, but after a few drinks, Dr. Zhang put his arm around his younger cousin's shoulder and said that their algorithm was interesting, but their methods were too shameless. Nobody runs a company like that.

Zhang Yiming, who was meeting so many big shots for the first time, was clearly a little uncomfortable in this kind of setting. He was quite an oddball in the room; he didn't smoke and didn't socialize much, like a homebody.

But Dr. Zhang and his ilk are different. They have everything from cigarettes and alcohol to movies. Dr. Zhang even personally stars in movies and has a very extravagant lifestyle.

It's rare for entrepreneurs to have pure friendships, but an opportunity like tonight to reminisce about the past and envision the future, without discussing business, is truly precious.

Old alumni, old friends, and new friends made Tan Jincheng, who was always concerned about enterprises, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances, feel much more relaxed. There was less intrigue and more warmth.

Tan Jincheng had some acquaintance with Zhang Yaqing and had also collaborated with Baidu, but this was his first time meeting Tian Suning and the others, and he was a little reserved at first.

However, he now treats Tan Jincheng like a junior, which is also due to Lao Ding's protection.

"Come on, let's take a group photo. I'll post it on Weibo to show off," Wang Wei said, pulling out his phone after they had eaten and drunk their fill.

"Then you should turn on a beauty filter. Everyone's faces are a little red right now, and it won't look good if we post it."

Among those present, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Yiming had the lowest alcohol tolerance; the others seemed completely unaffected.

A dozen or so people, less than 20 bottles of Shaoxing wine—it was child's play for them, but this stuff has quite a strong aftereffect.

“You young people know so much, you know about beauty filters, but we old folks don’t. Alright, I’ll call a waiter over.”

That same evening, Wang Wei posted a group photo of the 12 people on Weibo, where these high-and-mighty entrepreneurs publicly revealed their private relationships, while the leftover food on the table looked so down-to-earth.

The group photo quickly went viral on the internet that night, but Boss Tan didn't care about that; he was fast asleep right now.

Tan Jincheng's activities were scheduled to begin at 9:30 the next day, and although he slept until 9:00, he didn't seem to be suffering from a hangover.

After a quick breakfast, Tan Jincheng prepared to attend today's meeting.

Hehe, there were so many memorable moments today.

On the way, Tan Jincheng ran into He Xiaopeng, and after a night together, their relationship had clearly become much closer.

"Mr. Tan, could we schedule a time to talk after the conference?"

He wanted to find Tan Jincheng last night, but it was obviously not the right occasion.

"Let's chat as we walk. Mr. He is always welcome to visit us anytime. I'll be in Ningbo a lot lately. So, Mr. He, are you planning to start a second business?"

"Did Mr. Lei tell you that?"

Tan Jincheng looked up at the Heavenly Dao: "No, UC is merging with Ali. I believe it won't be long before Ali transfers you, the founder, out of UC. You may be given a very high position, but I believe you won't have any real power for long. That will be the time for you to leave."

"Haha, they say that the one who understands you best is your opponent. Mr. Tan may not be considered Ah Li's opponent, but he certainly understands Ah Li very well."

He Xiaopeng laughed. In the 1970s and 80s, the social status of working-class families was not bad, but their conditions were limited. His family situation was similar to that of Tan Jincheng. Studying hard and making a name for himself was his goal since childhood.

During his university years, he had a grand ambition to achieve financial freedom by the age of 40, and now that goal has been achieved. Ali plans to acquire UC for $43 billion.

It's worth noting that UC's angel investor wasn't Lei Jun, whom people are familiar with. UC, which initially focused on email, received its first angel investment of 80 yuan from Ding Sanshi. When he learned that they didn't even have an office, he even provided them with one.

Tan Jincheng only found out about this last night. The internet industry is so complex and intertwined, so even if the competition is fierce, you might end up making a fortune by taking their shares after defeating them.

"That's normal. This is standard practice for Ali. It's not just used on your company. Gaode rejected their acquisition because of similar concerns. Also, I guess Mr. He's second venture is related to new energy vehicles, or even an OEM brand?"

"Nothing can be hidden from President Tan. It's not convenient to talk here today. I would like to learn from President Tan and visit your company later."

"You're welcome anytime. Let's learn from each other. Just give me a call when you're coming."

"Alright, then let's agree on that for now. Mr. Tan, you're busy."

"Haha, we're not the ones who'll be busy today, we're just here to watch; let's go."

The most anticipated event today was the China-Foreign Entrepreneurs Summit Dialogue, which was the session in which Tan Jincheng participated. Unlike yesterday's somewhat dull speeches, today's direct dialogue between entrepreneurs was truly captivating.

When Tan Jincheng arrived, a large crowd had already gathered, including media reporters and businesspeople. The appearance of Tan Jincheng and He Xiaopeng drew the clicking of cameras; both of them had attended the dinner party the previous night.

A reporter seized the opportunity to push forward and point the microphone at Tan Jincheng, saying, "Mr. Tan, you attended the dinner party with Mr. He last night, and you came here together again today. Does this mean that your company has a cooperation plan with UC?"

"No, we didn't talk about work last night. Brother Ding just introduced me to some senior colleagues. It was a purely private late-night gathering. As for today, it was just a coincidence. Don't cause trouble."

"Haha, no, no, I was just curious; I wonder what President Tan thinks of today's summit?"

Tan Jincheng discovered his little scheme, and the man dared not say anything more, quickly changing the subject.

Actually, it's Tan Jincheng's age and appearance that are deceptive; if it were Da Ma or Xiao Ma, the other party definitely wouldn't dare to be so direct.

Tan Jincheng glanced at him and said, "I'll sit and watch."

After saying that, he ignored everyone else and headed straight into the venue, leaving the reporters looking at each other in disbelief. This young CEO was not to be underestimated; his aura was overwhelming.

However, this awkward transition quickly became a popular internet meme, with "I'm sitting here watching" spreading widely online in less than an hour.

At 9:30 a.m., the venue, which could accommodate 100 people, was packed to capacity.

Boss Tan's comment about sitting here isn't just a casual remark to this troublemaker. There weren't that many chairs available, and very few people could actually sit down. Zhang Yiming, the founder of the emerging algorithm company ByteDance, barely managed to snag a seat in the back row.

Most of the entrepreneurs who squeezed in had to stand, yet no one wanted to miss this rare opportunity.

Nine entrepreneurs participated in the dialogue, including the executive chairman of Qualcomm, the president of Reuters, the executive chairman of LinkedIn, and the senior vice president of Apple. Domestic participants included Jack Ma of Alibaba, Li Keqiang of Baidu, Liu Jingdong of JD.com, Dr. Zhang, and Lei Jun.

The opening discussion focused primarily on smartphones, with even Apple's vice president expressing disbelief at the speed of their development. Baidu's Li also offered a rare on-the-spot reflection, suggesting that underestimating the development speed of 3G and 4G had led to Baidu's precarious and painful period of transformation over the past two years.

"I believe that mobile phones will become our close companions."

When it was Lei Jun's turn, he launched into a long speech, first expressing Xiaomi's ambition to become the world's number one smartphone company within the next five to ten years, making a bold statement.

He then expressed his opinion.

"I'm coming."

Tan Jincheng couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Sure enough, CCTV's beautiful host Liu Fangfei quickly seized on Lei Jun's remarks and threw the question to Apple's vice president, Bruce.

"Mr. Lei from China said that his Xiaomi company will become the world's number one smartphone company within the next five to ten years. Does Apple feel any sense of crisis about this?"

"It's always easier said than done."

Bruce's reply was arrogant, and the atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Unfortunately, the female host quickly turned the conversation back to Lei Jun: "Mr. Lei, tell me, what should we do?"

If Bruce's arrogance was justified, then aside from a bit of awkwardness, there wasn't much to say. But the female host's actions created a rather strange atmosphere.

Tan Jincheng secretly shook his head. If he hadn't received a bribe and was deliberately making things difficult for Lei Jun, then it could only be said that this famous CCTV host's performance today was far below par and completely unworthy of her level.

Lei Jun's expression was visibly embarrassed, but he reacted quickly. After all, this wasn't the first time he had faced such an awkward situation. Back then, Ms. Dong had made him feel extremely embarrassed at the annual Person of the Year awards ceremony.

"Jack Ma once said, 'What if it comes true?' Four years ago, we were just a very small company. Today, we have become the third largest in the world. In this magical land of China, besides companies as amazing as Ali, there are also small miracles like Xiaomi. Our land has never lacked miracles."

Beautiful! That sets the tone perfectly. The experience of being there in person is completely different from seeing those iconic scenes on screen.

To react quickly in such a short time, to handle the host's difficult questions without losing composure—how would he have done it in that situation?
Tan Jincheng couldn't help but clap his hands, and He Xiaopeng followed suit, clapping along with him. The applause in the room was deafening.

Lei Jun secretly cast a grateful glance at Tan Jincheng, who was sitting in the first row below the stage.

"You have to rely on your friends when it matters most," Tan Jincheng interrupted with applause, which not only livened up the atmosphere but also gave him ample opportunity to organize his thoughts.

"Mr. Tan seems to agree that Xiaomi will become number one in the world in the next five to ten years?"

When the applause subsided, Tan Jincheng was surprised that the female host would steer the conversation toward him.

Damn it, it's definitely because Old Ma gave them benefits, otherwise it wouldn't make sense!
I have a connection with Kunmao, but I'm not afraid of him.

Tan Jin, holding the microphone, spoke with a firm and powerful tone: "Of course, Apple is a great company, but I believe in Lei Jun's determination. Take me for example, ten years ago, I was just a high school graduate. Who would have thought I could create companies like Flash, Weilai, and Orange Technology?"

"We must believe in the power of miracles, and we must believe in this land."

Whether it was a difficult situation or not, Tan Jincheng didn't particularly care, since it wasn't him. However, Tan Jincheng was a little annoyed by her mention of Xiaomi Company from Zhongguo. It wasn't that he was being cynical, but rather that this was their home turf.

Using such a guest's tone to describe one's own family members feels somewhat uncomfortable.

Ten years ago, he was an unemployed 19-year-old high school graduate; ten years later, at 29, he was worth hundreds of billions. His rise to wealth was impeccable.

Tan Jincheng used his own experience to endorse Lei Jun, leaving even the usually eccentric Jack Ma speechless.

The female host was momentarily at a loss for words, while Bruce, who understood the meaning behind Tan Jincheng's words through simultaneous interpretation, could only shrug helplessly.

(End of this chapter)