China Entertainment 1997

Beijing, Baihua Recording Studio

The recording was paused, and Wei Xixi, the sound engineer and other staff members left at Cao Xuan's signal. Only Cao Xuan and Hu Jing, whom he trusted, were left in the recording studio.

"Brother Ma, say, um, um."

Cao Xuan drank the fish soup brought by Hu Jing with a spoon. He put his mobile phone to his ear with his left hand and listened to Brother Ma talking in his ear.

At the beginning of this year, China's Internet reached its peak. Li Huanggua's several operations brought the Internet to the sky. The market value of major domestic Internet companies soared, and all practitioners were delighted.

At that time, Cao Xuan went to Shenzhen City, and Xiao Ma took him to drink and celebrate, preparing for a big fight.

However, just as China's Internet was rejoicing, in March, the Nasdaq Internet stock market was slowly collapsing.

The stock market in China slowed down a little, but it only lasted until early April, when it began to fall crazily, bubbles overflowed, and the Internet winter came.

The Internet companies that were originally a hot commodity turned into poison in an instant. The stock market collapsed and the market value dropped rapidly. Major capitals also tightened their purse strings and were unwilling to invest.

It was at this juncture that Penguin ran out of money.

When the momentum of the Internet was good, Xiao Ma was not afraid of Cao Xuan giving up Penguin. Even if Cao Xuan had no money, with QQ's current market share, he could still attract additional investment.

However, now that the Internet winter is coming, investors are avoiding the Internet like snakes and scorpions, and Xiao Ma has no confidence, and is even beginning to fear that Cao Xuan will let go.

Penguin has not yet achieved profitability. Without the support of Cao Xuan, the company's funds will be broken in half a month at most.

In fact, before this, Brother Xiao Ma had already started to take some measures, even limiting the online time of users to reduce the pressure on the server.

He kept gritting his teeth and not looking for Cao Xuan, just because he was afraid that Cao Xuan would sell his shares and run away because of the bad industry environment.

But seeing that the funds on his account were about to bottom out, Xiao Ma was so worried that he couldn't sleep well for several days and stayed in the office overnight.

If Cao Xuan saw Brother Ma now, he would definitely be shocked by his appearance. His hair was disheveled, his face was sallow, his eyes were lifeless, bloodshot, and he looked extremely haggard.

The other founders were not much better. Their psychological pressure was even greater than when they were preparing to sell QQ last year.

After all, QQ had just started at that time, and a few people didn’t invest much, so it wasn’t particularly painful to give up.

Now QQ has a huge user base and tens of millions of investments. Even in the Internet winter, Penguin can maintain a market value of hundreds of millions, making it the largest company in China's Internet rankings.

Several people have invested countless efforts in the development of Penguin and QQ, which is also their important asset. Seeing that the results are about to disappear, once they return to the liberation, it is strange that they feel no pressure.

It’s not that they haven’t thought about finding others, but no one is willing to hunt for treasure in the minefield of the Internet. Many Internet companies are selling at bargain prices and no one wants them.

So after several people discussed it for a long time, they still had to find Cao Xuan.

Before making the call, Brother Xiao Ma and the others discussed several options, thinking that even if they were cheating, they would get some money from Cao Xuan.

At the same time, several people were also prepared for the worst. If Cao Xuan chose to withdraw, or even used the power of the major shareholder to force them to sell QQ to regain blood, how should they oppose it.

But unexpectedly, after the phone call was made, Cao Xuan had no intention of blaming or complaining. Instead, he asked about the company's business development.

He also said that he was too busy during this period to take care of Penguin. When he gets some free time, he would go to Shenzhen City to have a look.

Several people looked at each other and saw that Cao Xuan's tone was not bad. Brother Xiao Ma became cruel and stated his purpose.

Want money!

Cao Xuan actually knew it already. Although he was busy during this period, he never forgot to pay attention to the Internet.

The reason why he didn't call Penguin, but waited for Brother Ma to call him, was to wait for Penguin and Brother Ma to come to the desperate situation again, and he would make a brilliant appearance again.

Since you have to give money no matter what, then you must sell enough favors...

………

Cao Xuan was silent for nearly a minute while holding the phone. Brother Xiao Ma on the other end of the phone had their hearts in their throats before Cao Xuan finally spoke.

"How much funding gap will there be?"

"20 million...10 million is fine. The company is currently cooperating with China Mobile on a project. If possible, it can alleviate some of the financial pressure."

Brother Ma was afraid of scaring Cao Xuan away, so he took the initiative to cut off half of the funds, and kept emphasizing that Penguin had found a way to monetize it to encourage Cao Xuan.

But in fact, Xiao Ma is not sure how much profit Monternet, which cooperates with mobile companies, can make. Anyway, let's blow it out first.

Monternet is out?

Cao Xuan was overjoyed. Although he didn't know much about how this project worked, he remembered that this thing had saved many Internet companies, and Penguin began to make profits from then on.

In other words, as long as we survive this difficult period, there will be no need to transfuse blood to penguins.

"20000000……"

Cao Xuan muttered and began to calculate how much cash he still had.

Fanxing can't touch his money, he only has the salary from "The Swordsman" and commercial acting endorsements.

Previously, the Seven Wolves had offered a price of 4.5 million a year. If it goes down further, 5 million is still possible, and a two-year contract would be 10 million.

There is also a Backgammon repeater, which is also under negotiation, with a price of 7 million in two years, but it is said that they are also contacting Xingye at the same time, and they don’t know who they will choose in the end.

These two are considered high-priced products, and there are two products with slightly lower bids. If you take them, you can make up to 8 million.

After deducting taxes and adding the money in Cao Xuan's hands, 20 million can still be squeezed out.

Moreover, this money is not a one-time transfer. As long as Cao Xuan's new album is released for a few months, he can get enough money without having to sell himself for endorsements at a low price.

Thinking of this, Cao Xuan finally spoke amidst the anxiety of Brother Xiaoma and others.

"Brother Ma, I'll give you 10 million before the end of the month. I'll get the remaining 10 million before the end of the year. Again, just do the work, I'll take care of the money."

Brother Xiao Ma and others did not expect that Cao Xuan would be so happy, and they were overjoyed and very moved.

At this juncture, Cao Xuan didn't say a single sarcastic word, and took out the 20 million immediately. Compared with other investors who ran away and even messed with the company, he was like an angel.

However, the brothers clearly settled the accounts. After all, 20 million was not a small number, and Cao Xuan was not a philanthropist. It was necessary to clarify how he meant this money.

Cao Xuan gave Penguin two methods.

One is a bridge loan. The 20 million is lent by Cao Xuan personally to Penguin. After Penguin makes a profit in the future, it will return the principal with interest.

The other is to regard 20 million as financing, discuss it between the two parties, and then allocate a certain proportion of equity to Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan naturally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get more shares, but he already had 45%. Any more would threaten the controlling rights of Xiao Ma and others.

It's easy to say now, but if the penguin grows bigger in the future, it is likely to arouse the vigilance of Xiao Ma and others.

Cao Xuan did not want to cause disputes, so he hoped to maintain his shares at a relatively safe share.

But Cao Xuan doesn't want the shares, but Xiao Ma and others want to tie him up with the shares this time.

After all, Penguin doesn't have a profit model yet, and it's too stressful to carry 20 million in foreign debt.

Moreover, in the current Internet winter, they don’t know when it will end. They tied up Cao Xuan with the 40 million shares they bought. Even if Cao Xuan didn’t want to lose money, he had to keep investing money in it to maintain Penguin’s survival.

Therefore, Xiao Ma and others insisted on financing, but Cao Xuan could not persuade him. In the end, Cao Xuan took the initiative to acquire the company at a high price, only taking 4% of the shares.

The founder team including Xiao Ma Ge holds 51% of the shares and still maintains absolute controlling rights.

At the same time, the two parties once again signed an in-depth agreement. Cao Xuan promised not to participate in company management and other matters, and to ensure that Xiao Ma and others have the advantageous position in Penguin as much as possible.

Cao Xuan did this not to be cowardly, but to reduce conflicts of interest in the future. He came to make money, not to compete for power with Brother Ma.

Maintaining the absolute say of Xiao Ma and other founders in Penguin may seem like Cao Xuan’s interests have been ceded, but it ensures the smooth operation of Penguin and prevents the company from being disrupted by high-level strife.

Besides, just because Cao Xuan doesn't care about things doesn't mean that everyone can really ignore this major shareholder who owns nearly half of the shares.

Cao Xuan strives to be a good shareholder who is aloof from the world and is highly trusted by the founders and senior management. He lies down and watches Brother Ma make money for him, and a few people still have to think of him.

As for 20 million to buy 4% of the shares, it is actually not a high price.

In the original time and space, in June 2001, MIH spent about US$32 million to acquire 46.3% of Penguin's shares. When converted, the average cost per 1% of the shares was 5.7 million + RMB.

Therefore, it is not considered a loss for Cao Xuan to spend 20 million to buy these 4% shares.

Cao Xuan was not at a loss, but Xiaoma Ge and others felt that they had gained a lot, and even felt a little guilty, feeling sorry for Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan is kind and kind.

He used his own money to raise Penguin, put the company in crisis many times, and used his reputation to advertise on QQ and boost business.

Fully respect their founding team. Not only do they not meddle in the company's management on a daily basis, but in times of crisis, they would rather ask for less shares and suffer losses themselves. They must also ensure that their founding team's controlling stake is kept and they will not be distracted.

Privately, I regard them as friends, and I never act like a celebrity. Last year, during the Chinese New Year, I even mailed gifts to each house, both for the elderly and children. They were considerate and heart-warming.

For such a good brother and a kind person, they are still plotting against others, which is really hard to bear in their conscience.

Brother Xiao Ma and others are thinking that the next time Cao Xuan comes to Shenzhen City, they must sincerely apologize. They treat us as national scholars, and we must repay them as national scholars.

Cao Xuan also cheered for Xiao Ma Ge and others on the other end of the phone, encouraging them to cheer up and face severe challenges, and he would always stand behind them.

Cao Xuan even said that it doesn't matter even if Penguin loses, money is a small issue, and the relationship of the brothers is the first priority. At the worst, he can make a comeback with another project, and then he will invest in Barabala for them.

None of the technical geeks like Xiao Ma had ever seen this before. They were so moved that they almost shed tears. If Cao Xuan was here, he would probably just pull the burning yellow paper and bow.

………

"Okay, Brother Ma, I will arrange for Lao Gu to keep an eye on the follow-up matters. Well, I will go over when I have time..."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Xuan wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He was so involved in the performance just now that he became emotional.

Just as he was about to continue drinking the fish soup, he turned around and saw Hu Jing looking at him with a strange look on his face. Cao Xuan was confused.

"What for?"

"Did you deceive others?"

"I said all these words sincerely. I spoke from the bottom of my heart. It's not like you didn't hear it. For 20 million, I agreed without much hesitation."

"right."

Hu Jing began to doubt her judgment just now and muttered: "Who made your eyes keep rolling just now? It looked like you had some bad idea."

"Nonsense, when did I have a bad idea? They were just thanking me on the phone."

Cao Xuanyi refuted it eloquently, then turned around and asked casually: "By the way, when are your parents leaving?"

"In a few days, why are you asking this? I'm afraid my mother will be gone and I won't have any soup to drink. Don't worry, I've learned everything. If it doesn't work, just go to the restaurant to buy it."

"The soup is not important. The main thing is that I'm afraid that your parents are gone and it won't be safe for you to live alone."

"What's so unsafe about that?"

Hu Jing didn't care at all, but Cao Xuan was following her lead and frightened her with the news about a single woman being robbed in an urban village in the capital.

Hu Jing was a little scared at first, but then she came to her senses, slapped the table and said angrily.

"You rolled your eyes again, wondering if you were planning something wrong."

"I am upright and aboveboard. I am entirely concerned about your safety. Don't tarnish my innocence with your dirty thoughts."

"Pooh."

Hu Jing spat, Cao Xuan failed, and started to suffer miserably again.

He said that he didn’t have anything to eat when he got home from recording songs at night, and the food outside was unhygienic. He had diarrhea after eating, and went to bed hungry every night.

Of course Hu Jing would not believe these lies, but the key to the problem was not whether Cao Xuan could deceive Hu Jing with his words, but whether Hu Jing was willing to be deceived by him.

Therefore, Hu Jing said she was disgusted, but when she left, she left an apartment key for Cao Xuan, tacitly admitting that Cao Xuan could go home to have a meal.