Reinventing the Millennium

Fang Zhuo's movements in the capital quickly met his expectations, which freed up time.

He didn't want to go to Sina to listen to the news, nor did he want to hear Zhang Chaoyang sing. After contacting CCTV to inquire about the Spring Festival Gala activities, he got an invitation to watch the rehearsal, and they hit it off immediately.

Since it was my first time to watch the Spring Festival Gala live, it was also my first time to watch the rehearsal.

On February 9, Fang Zhuo followed the Yike Capital technical team to arrive at CCTV Studio No. 1, where the makeup rehearsal will be held today.

Yike has set up technical teams in three cities. There are 6 access clusters and 200 servers in Beijing to process the expected Spring Festival Gala event data. This is not the first time they have come to the rehearsal site.

However, it was Fang Zhuo's first time here and he was a sponsor, so he was warmly received and given a good viewing position.

But soon, he saw Zhang Chaoyang from Sohu being welcomed in and placed next to him.

"Hey, Mr. Fang, when did you come to the capital? Why didn't you come to have a drink with me?" Zhang Chaoyang was surprised to see Mr. Fang here.

"I just came to the capital not long ago. I just came here for the Spring Festival Gala. I wanted to pay you New Year's greetings in a few days." Fang Zhuo stood up to welcome his good friend.

"The Chinese New Year will be in a few days, are you looking for me?" Zhang Chaoyang is not stupid.

Fang Zhuo pointed to the stage: "Hurry up and sit down, stop talking, let's start."

Zhang Chaoyang muttered: "What's so good about announcing the curtain?"

However, everyone around him had quieted down, so he didn't make a sound.

When Zhou Tao on stage began to interact with the audience, Zhang Chaoyang said: "Mr. Fang, you are rich again. Yongke can buy enough airplanes after selling it! You will not do this to Sogou again, will you?"

"You have so many shares in Sogou and it's not listed. I don't think it's okay to operate like that." Fang Zhuo shook his head, already used to the impact of the Morning Star incident.

Zhang Chaoyang nodded: "Yes."

Fang Zhuo added: "Unless Sohu can no longer survive and needs to sell assets."

"Mr. Fang, it's Chinese New Year." Zhang Chaoyang glanced sideways, "Can't you say something nice?"

Fang Zhuo followed the good advice: "You sing so beautifully, hurry up and catch up..."

He pointed at the queen waiting to take the stage: "Faye Wong."

Zhang Chaoyang did his part, he was definitely not as professional as him, but he still had skills.

"Oh, yes, why did you suddenly come to see the rehearsal?" Fang Zhuo remembered this.

"I think it's normal. We are going to support our Sohu Music signed singer Wang Lanfei this year. She also has a show. I think she can be popular." Zhang Chaoyang said.

Fang Zhuo was quite confused, Wang Lanfei? Never heard of it.

"I have to thank you. Xiao Wang took a song from Jay Chou and Fang Wenshan, which is not bad." Zhang Chaoyang added.

Fang Zhuo remained silent, "Well, if you want to thank me, just bear it."

He knew that Sohu was toying with the direction of entertainment, but this was not something he was familiar with and concerned about, and he didn't know if they could create a new world.

Zhang Chaoyang glanced at Mr. Fang and sighed: "I can't compare to you."

Fang Zhuo didn't know why he suddenly said such a sentence.

Zhang Chaoyang took out his Mars3 phone and asked, "How many users does Yixin have now?"

"Hush, Faye Wong is singing." Fang Zhuo cooed, showing respect for the singer.

Zhang Chaoyang looked at the stands. He had been here several times and knew that "Legend" was about to be sung, but the order seemed to be different from the previous rehearsal.

After singing one song, Fang Zhuo sighed: "This is a song."

Zhang Chaoyang: "Huh?"

"I mean, it's pretty good to listen to music live. In the early years, I often used iMusic to listen to music." Fang Zhuo said with a smile. He used to listen to it a lot when he was making a player.

Zhang Chaoyang nodded, this is natural. Yike has never given up on this aspect. The overseas market of hardware is still contributing to revenue, not to mention the software iMusic.

The rehearsal was still going on on stage, and the two of them would chat for a while while watching a program. After that, the rehearsal reached the middle of the show.

Fang Zhuo stood up, stretched his body, and said with a smile: "Watching the show live is much better than watching it on TV. Hey, I shouldn't have come to this rehearsal. There will be no surprises at the Spring Festival Gala."

Just as Zhang Chaoyang was about to speak, he saw Faye Wong who had sang before and Eason Chan who had not yet sang walking along the aisle, and he looked at Mr. Fang.

Fang Zhuo saw two familiar singers coming this way, and also looked at Zhang Chaoyang. This person could be considered half an insider, and he seemed to be indeed influential now.

Unexpectedly, Faye Wong and Eason Chan came over and immediately shook hands and greeted me.

Fang Zhuo was a little surprised and chatted for a few words, then changed his mind and said with a smile: "I liked listening to your songs when I first started the company. If your contract expires in the future, we can cooperate and develop."

As soon as these words came out, Faye Wong and Eason Chan looked at each other, and Zhang Chaoyang next to them was also stunned and then burst into laughter.

Faye Wong said nothing.

Eason Chan said a little awkwardly: "Mr. Fang, my contract is now with Sony Yike Music Company."

Fang Zhuo was stunned, oh, is that so...

He looked at Faye Wong.

"Yes." Faye Wong nodded slightly. She was now semi-retired, but her contract was still with Sony.

Faye Wong was previously at EMI Records, and then joined Sony in 2002. In recent years, her focus has not been on music. Eason Chan joined Universal's New Arts in 2005, and was roped in by Jay Chou to join Sony at the beginning of last year. Yike Music Company.

Sony Bertelsmann Music Company→Sony Music→Sony·Yike Music, because Sony Music sold its shares and Yike has developed very strongly in recent years, the decision-making power of China's music subsidiary has been transferred.

These two people just saw the boss of the company and wanted to come over to pay New Year's greetings without being rude, but...the richest man in the mainland has a big business and didn't know the situation at all, so he poached people and poached him.

The two singers left silently.

Zhang Chaoyang couldn't stop laughing. It was rare for Mr. Fang to have such an embarrassing moment.

"Okay, okay, okay, I'm not interested in the entertainment industry, and I can't be familiar with every job." Fang Zhuo stopped Zhang Chaoyang from laughing.

"Yes, Mr. Fang is not interested, but the people under you are doing quite well, right?" Zhang Chaoyang couldn't help but smile.

Fang Zhuo shook his head and sighed: "That's okay because Sony signed people. Well, I didn't expect Jay Chou to recruit people to the company. It's really not free to invite him to watch the game."

This is the subjective initiative from Jay Chou.

"I'll post on Weibo first." Zhang Chaoyang took out his phone and thought it was so interesting.

"No, I rarely use social media recently." Fang Zhuo stopped him with his hand and changed the subject, "It's almost the Spring Festival, and I'm still thinking about wishing Pony a happy New Year this year. Is it possible that I have to change my mobile phone card? He called."

Zhang Chaoyang shook his cell phone: "It's better to reconcile enemies than to make enemies. I'll be a middleman and help you send your blessings to him in Yixin."

Fang Zhuo just changed the topic. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly said in surprise: "You sent it to him using Yixin? Do you have his Yixin friends?"

He was not surprised that Zhang Chaoyang used Yixin, but what was strange was that Ma Huateng also used it and even added each other as friends.

"Didn't you, Yi Xin, recommend registered friends in the address book?" Zhang Chaoyang knew what surprised Mr. Fang and said with a smile, "I saw it was displayed on my account, so he tried to add it, and it really passed."

He continued: "It is said that if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be in danger of a hundred battles."

Fang Zhuo was dumbfounded: "This can be spread and publicized..."

"Hey, Mr. Fang, what comes out of my mouth is not authentic." Zhang Chaoyang advised, "Competition in the company, personal relationships don't need to be so tense, just find an opportunity to talk about it during the New Year."

It's not that Fang Zhuo has to be nervous, it's the Chinese New Year opportunity... it's actually not a good opportunity.

He shook his head: "Let's talk about it later."

Zhang Chaoyang is a warm-hearted person. He still remembers drinking together in the capital with Mr. Fang, Ma Chen, Ma Huateng, and Li Yanhong. At that time, the company was far inferior to what it is now. Everyone has gone through that stage, so why is it like this now?

He was thinking about this matter in his mind. Since Mr. Fang wanted to ease the relationship but couldn't hide his face, he would send a blessing during the Chinese New Year and mention Mr. Fang's New Year greetings casually.

Corporate competition is corporate competition, and we don't have to keep in touch with each other in private.

Zhang Chaoyang stopped mentioning it and brought the topic back to Yixin's user base.

Since Yixin announced 8 million users and a target of 12 million registrations by the end of the year, no official data has been given. Calculating time, according to Yixin's previous curve, it must be 13 million now, right?

But it’s hard to say, because the “Letter” launched by Penguin seems to be effectively dividing the Yixin market.

The competition between these two companies in mobile instant messaging is destined to be a long-lasting battle.

However, Fang Zhuo did not give a positive response and just said: "Yixin is under great pressure. The operators are difficult to deal with. Penguin is making efforts again. Let's see after the new year."

Zhang Chaoyang heard the prevarication and said angrily: "I still have you tell the truth about not recognizing your singer on the Internet."

"Isn't that great? Everyone knows that I focus on my career, unlike you who are both filming and singing." Fang Zhuo had already adjusted his mentality and said nonchalantly.

"I was filming for the company's business." Zhang Chaoyang said plausibly.

Fang Zhuo only gave a thumbs up in response and did not dwell on it.

Zhang Chaoyang wondered about the attitude of the richest man in the mainland. Is this looking down on his own career efforts?

He watched the rehearsal, thinking about Yike's trends this year, and whether Sohu had anything worth proving. Unknowingly, he waited until Wang Lanfei, the newly signed singer from Sohu Entertainment.

Sohu Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary established by Sohu. In order to control the direction of new Internet entertainment, Zhang Chaoyang personally served as president and selected many newcomers with a keen eye.

Sohu Entertainment, Sohu Video.

This is the new development direction of Sohu given by him in the past year.

However, today I saw Mr. Fang himself, looking back at the end of the year, leaving Sogou aside, Sohu unknowingly seems to have not made much development on the mobile side.

Zhang Chaoyang made a comparison in his mind, thinking about Yike's mobile hardware + YMS software ecosystem walking on two legs in the past year, and suddenly felt that the gap between them was getting wider and wider.

"Mr. Fang, I'll treat you to a drink tonight and ask you something." Zhang Chaoyang waited until the rehearsal came to an end and then extended an invitation to drink.

Fang Zhuo glanced at Zhang Chaoyang and said with a smile: "Hey, why did I suddenly see respect in your eyes? Not tonight. I have already made an appointment with CCTV. It's Chinese New Year, so I can't miss the appointment."

"Then tomorrow." Zhang Chaoyang said again.

"Sina invites me to a big dinner tomorrow night." Fang Zhuo didn't wait for him to continue the invitation and said with his fingers, "I'll go to China Unicom the day after tomorrow. There will be a small banquet for the Industry and Information Technology Department the day after tomorrow. If you have anything to say, just say it, or you can have a drink after the New Year."

Zhang Chaoyang thought for a while and pointed to the phone: "Then I'll think about it and let's chat on Yixin."

Fang Zhuo said "hmm" and suddenly thought about why he didn't see Pony's Yixin friend recommendation. Could it be that the other party discovered this problem and turned off the push from within the software?

As Zhang Chaoyang approached the New Year's Eve, he felt something in his heart. But when he went back to the rehearsal and thought about it, he felt that the development foundations of Sohu and Yike were different. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about it. When he got out of this state of mind, it would be New Year's Eve on the 13th. This is not a time suitable for talking about business.

He knew that Mr. Fang would appear at the Spring Festival Gala this year, so he thought about sending him a New Year text message after seeing him on TV and setting up another time for drinking.

However, before that, Zhang Chaoyang carefully considered the blessing text message sent to the head of Penguin. He was so inspired and so sincere that he had to write three of them before he could finish it.

When it comes to Chinese Internet companies, Sohu is known as a giant earlier than Penguin, and everyone has gone through stages such as the bubble of the century, painful exploration, and rapid development...

Zhang Chaoyang recalled the past and mentioned that there were dinner parties with Zhang Sohu, Fang Sina, Ma Ali, Ding NetEase, Li Baidu, and Ma Penguin. It was just after the bubble, and the spring of the industry had not yet come, but everyone unanimously had an unparalleled interest in the Internet. confidence.

The past of youth is always beautiful, but looking back at the present can’t help but feel a little sad.

Zhang Chaoyang naturally mentioned Mr. Fang in the text message - I met Mr. Fang two days ago, and he also said that he would like to wish you a happy New Year this year. It has not been easy for everyone to get to this point. Competition is competition, and relationships should still look forward.

He didn't actually use Yi Xin, but sent a text message. He read it again and felt moved.

On the other side, Penguin boss Ma Huateng was sitting in front of the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala. He received a long congratulation from Sohu Zhang Chaoyang, and he couldn't explain how he felt.

No matter what, Mr. Zhang Chaoyang is still a good person.

Ma Huateng couldn't deal with other people's true feelings, so he was thinking about how to reply.

On New Year's Eve, at eight o'clock in the evening, the Spring Festival Gala will be held as scheduled, with singing and dancing first.

After the opening of "Tiger Leaping and Dragon Soaring to Herald the New Year", Ma Huateng typed a lot on his mobile phone. The hosts of the Spring Festival Gala joined in and pointed out that this year's theme is "Tiger Leaping and Dragon Soaring to Celebrate the New Year".

Ren Luyu, who served as the host of the Spring Festival Gala for the first time this year, held the microphone with a smile on his face and mentioned the innovation of the party: "Science and technology are developing and times are progressing. This year we have brought new blessings to audience friends across the country. Ouyang Xiadan, you You know? We can now receive red envelopes through our smartphones.”

Ouyang Xiadan, who was also hosting the Spring Festival Gala for the first time, was surprised: "Can you also receive red envelopes on your mobile phone?"

Ren Luyu took out the national brand Yike mobile phone and said with a smile: "This year, Yike mobile phone has brought us the blessing of technology. As long as you shake it through Yixin, you can receive and share 880 million cash red envelopes, and you can share the red envelopes after shaking them." Get red envelopes for friends and family."

Ouyang Xiadan took the phone, clicked on Yixin on the screen, clicked on "Me" - "Shake", and immediately heard the sound of coins.

Event subtitles appear at the bottom of the TV in a timely manner. After each Spring Festival Gala program, you can use "Shake" and "Red Packet Sharing" to receive a total of 88,880,880 cash red packets from Yike , the total amount of the red envelope is also a series of 8, which is in line with everyone's lottery habits.

In addition to the red envelopes after each program, you can also open the "Everyone Grabs Red Envelopes" at the top of the hour, and have the opportunity to receive a single large red envelope of 8,888 yuan.

Spring Festival Gala host Ouyang Xiadan quickly understood the gameplay and sighed to the camera: "Times are progressing, and red envelopes can also appear on mobile phones. This year is really a year of technology!"

After the host's introduction, Yixin's logo fell on the lower right corner of the screen, which also successfully aroused the curiosity of many viewers in front of the TV.

After just a short oral broadcast, the young people quickly understood the simple gameplay. The middle-aged and elderly people who gathered together to watch TV were puzzled by this so-called software red envelope. When they saw their sons, daughters, and grandchildren starting to play with their mobile phones, they quickly I was asked to go to my mobile phone to try "share and win together".

Incidentally, it has also been popularized that Yixin can send text messages for free. Those who don’t understand red envelopes don’t understand, but sending text messages for free will immediately understand.

When the host mentioned his smartphone on TV, Ma Huateng put down editing text messages and began to listen carefully to the oral broadcast. As he listened, he felt his emotions surge inside.

Electronic red envelope? Share fission?

Yi Xin, who is deeply involved in the acquaintance relationship chain, carried out a wave of maximum publicity on the Spring Festival Gala, the stage where acquaintances can easily connect with each other?

He stared at the text message from the head of Sohu again. Is this the New Year that Mr. Fang wants to wish him?

Ma Huateng deleted his drafted reply word by word. He should have known it a long time ago. Didn't Sohu and Yike still have in-depth cooperation in search?

Shameless ugly thief, a fox and a dog friend.

He maintained his last grace and replied with a brief blessing: "Mr. Zhang, I also wish you a happy New Year."

Ma Huateng got up from the sofa, grabbed his coat, and summoned members of the general office for an emergency online meeting. As soon as he saw the event, he knew that this was a red envelope impact that was no less than the hippopotamus incident!

While he was on the phone, the statement made by the head of Yike not long ago came to mind - "Yixin's development must be step-by-step", "We will not try to do it again", "Yixin will compete in the long term next"...

I can't believe a single word, and I can't believe a single word from Fang's mouth!

It’s easy to trust the red envelope, and the penguin moves quickly.

However, it was not just the Penguin family that was active at the same time. Alibaba's head Ma Dan did not watch TV. He turned on the Spring Festival Gala after receiving a call later and tried out Yixin's marketing activities himself.

Unlike Ma Huateng, what Ma Chen saw was not Yixin, but Yipay behind Yixin.

"Fang Zhuo came here for Alipay!"

"Yike is at war with us!"

Ma Ren felt like he was suddenly attacked. Alipay relied on Taobao, and Yipay relied on Tesco. Originally, the two sides developed peacefully, and their competition was limited to the e-commerce level.

Now, this is a war that touches a deeper level and spreads to more areas!

On the Spring Festival Gala stage, with 880 million cash red envelopes, Fang Zhuo is just burning money to start a war!