After returning to the hotel in the evening, Bu Housheng just took a phone call, and upon returning, he said to Chen Ping,
"Chairman Chen, do you have time tonight?"
"Yes, why? Is something wrong?"
"Well, our Tianyuan Capital previously met some startups and seed companies here in BJ. Tonight, the head of a company called Jiujiu House wants to come and talk to you."
Chen Pingjiang frowned, continuously recalling in his mind, having never heard of a company called Jiujiu House.
How good could a company be if he couldn't even remember it?
"Old Bu, you can just meet with them."
Bu Housheng nodded with some regret:
"I'm quite optimistic about this young man. His name is Zhang Yiming."
"?"
Chen Pingjiang suspected he misheard, his voice rising:
"What? Zhang Yiming?"
"Yes, boss, do you know him?"
"Uh, no, I don't."
While saying he didn't know him, Chen Pingjiang's heart was stirred.
How could he possibly not know him?
But at this point in time, how did Zhang Yiming come up with Jiujiu House?
This wasn't Chen Pingjiang's fault; at most, he remembered which year the bigwigs started their businesses, what awesome products they made, and what amazing things they said.
How could he remember everyone's resume clearly?
"I have plenty of time tonight. Ask him to come over, find a more private restaurant,"
Chen Pingjiang said.
After speaking, he felt a faint excitement.
He had something of a delusion that "all heroes under heaven were within his grasp."
What Chen Pingjiang didn't know was that in this era, the future tycoons weren't doing so well.
For example, Zhang Yiming had just left Fanfou and turned to establish Jiujiu House.
Fanfou was the blog he co-founded with Wang Xing, copying Twitter, which was later forcibly shut down in 2009 for violating regulations.
Jiujiu House was Zhang Yiming's fourth job experience, started four years after graduating from Nankai University at the age of 26.
Each job lasted just over a year on average.
At this time, Zhang Yiming was a bit anxious, eager for success, completely lacking the future composure, resolve, and patience.
If not for Chen Pingjiang's appearance, flapping the butterfly's wings, Wang Xing might still be lost in confusion now.
Compared to Zhang Yiming, who constantly changed jobs and sought new anchors in life, Wang Xing's situation was even more tragic and worse.
Fanfou was his brainchild, but it was disconnected, and by the end of the year, the response regarding whether Fanfou could reopen was still nowhere in sight.
During that period, Wang Xing was in a state of constant anxiety, living in endless anticipation, moving from hope to disappointment, rekindling hope only to face disappointment again, and finally despair.
It was also during these two years that Wang Jian of Ali and the engineers of Alibaba Cloud were cooped up in an apartment in BJ with no heating or even a door number, trembling as they typed code.
In summer, they had to manually fetch ice cubes to physically cool down the machines.
There was no coffee or tea; they relied entirely on bringing their own.
While the external environment was manageable, the skepticism within Ali itself was the most lethal.
Huge sums of money were invested without any visible results, KPI assessments were at the bottom every year, Alibaba Cloud engineers had gone through 4 generations, and only 20% of the earliest core members remained.
Resignation letters read:
"If I continue, I see no hope."
There was once a saying on Ali's internal network:
"Every year we thought Wang Jian would leave, but he just 'stuck around' and didn't go."
His former subordinate Wu Hanqing also said:
"Dr. Wang was tottering, but he just wouldn't fall."
It was precisely with such persistence that Wang Jian eventually became the first academician of both academies from a domestic private enterprise.
But at present, almost no one applauded him; even the participants were half-believing, half-doubting.
Thinking about those days of being misunderstood and unaccepted yet still having to inspire the team to move forward felt like an inhuman life.
This year, Lei Bus was also unsatisfactory.
At the Kingsoft IPO appreciation banquet, Qiu Bojun proposed a toast to Lei Bus.
Lei Bus took the glass, drank it in one gulp, and then smashed the cup, crying bitterly.
This was Lei Bus's self-venting of years of hard work for Kingsoft to go public, only for himself to be a minor figure far from his inner expectations, and it was also a farewell as he decided to leave Kingsoft and seek a new stage.
After leaving, Lei Bus searched everywhere for investment opportunities, facing many setbacks.
Of course, at least he still had money, but he just wanted to build a career.
That year, he was drinking in a bar in Zhongguancun.
It happened to be his birthday, and everyone asked him to share his thoughts on life.
He said:
"With a thousand words, I don't know where to begin."
Oh, that year, Wang Xin had already created Kuaibo, not knowing if he would ever imagine that one day he would end up in jail.
Chen Pingjiang, slowly pulling back his thoughts, tapped his fingertips rhythmically on the table.
It seemed he could seize these outstanding talents before they truly shone, bringing them into his fold a step ahead.
...
That evening, Chen Pingjiang met the legendary Zhang Yiming at a private club.
Compared to many years later, he hadn't changed much, only at twenty-seven, he appeared youthful and somewhat naive.
When Zhang Yiming saw Chen Pingjiang, the emotions in his heart were no less than Chen Pingjiang's.
This young man, five years younger than him, was already the richest man, while he had accomplished nothing.
The fate of life was truly marvelous.
What Zhang Yiming didn't expect was that Chen Pingjiang, upon seeing him, actually stood up and walked over to shake his hand warmly, making Zhang Yiming feel somewhat overwhelmed at that moment.
"Mr. Zhang, I've long admired your reputation."
"Uh, I'm flattered. I didn't expect Mr. Chen to have heard of me,"
Zhang Yiming said with a smile.
Chen Pingjiang nodded:
"I run Weibo, and Wang Xing runs Fanfou, so naturally I've researched competitors. It's not surprising that I know you; personally, I deeply admire your technical prowess."
Bu Housheng, standing nearby, suppressed a smile, listening to his boss boast.
"They're just minor tricks, unworthy of your attention."
After they were seated, Chen Pingjiang asked,
"I heard from Mr. Bu that Mr. Zhang particularly wanted to see me. Is it about Jiujiu House's funding?"
"Not exactly. We have SIG's support for funding, so we're fine for now. I came to you hoping to collaborate with Mr. Chen, to use Mr. Chen's Renrenwang, Weibo, Juzi Mobile, and even Renrengou to promote Jiujiu House,"
Zhang Yiming explained slowly.
"Renrenwang and Weibo go without saying. The Jiujiu House app could be pre-installed on Juzi Mobile, and Renrengou, as a local life application, also has a basis for cooperation with Jiujiu House."
Chen Pingjiang laughed heartily:
"Wang Xing, your fellow townsman, and I are fighting tooth and nail with Meituan. If he knew you came to me for cooperation instead of Meituan, wouldn't he be furious?"
"Business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships."
Regrettably, under Zhang Yiming's expectant gaze, Chen Pingjiang slowly shook his head:
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid you've made a trip for nothing. Jiujiu House has only achieved phased success at present; it's still some distance from becoming my strategic partner."
Chen Pingjiang's refusal was so straightforward that it momentarily left Zhang Yiming feeling awkward and unable to recover.
Such immense enthusiasm just now, followed by such a cold refusal now, it was truly a drastic change.
"First, pre-installing Jiujiu House on Juzi Mobile is impossible. Niche applications are actually not suitable for pre-installation; only browsers and chat tools are more appropriate. Similarly, I'm not optimistic about the cooperation between Renrengou and Jiujiu House.
The group-buying war isn't even over yet, and we don't have the energy to lay out plans in this area. I imagine you must have approached Wang Xing before me, and he gave you the same reply, right?"
After speaking, Chen Pingjiang watched Zhang Yiming's face turn a little pale, guessing that his heart was probably sinking to the bottom at this moment.
When the atmosphere had built up sufficiently, Chen Pingjiang changed the subject:
"However, while I'm not optimistic about the Jiujiu House project, I am particularly optimistic about you as a person."
Chen Pingjiang's train of thought was so fast that Zhang Yiming couldn't quite keep up.
Hearing his words made him unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Jiujiu House was his brainchild, and being evaluated as "not optimistic" by Chen Pingjiang, known for his sharp insight, would essentially pronounce a death sentence for Jiujiu House if it got out.
But Chen Pingjiang's particular optimism about him was, after all, a form of comfort.
Zhang Yiming was also somewhat troubled.
He believed his technical skills were strong, but he always struggled to find direction.
Chen Pingjiang continued:
"Come work with me. The sea is wide for fish to leap, the sky is high for birds to fly; Jiujiu House's stage is too small, it's not suitable for you. Renrenwang might just be your ultimate destination. We currently have an internal project that I personally feel is very suitable for you. If you're willing to come over, I'll put this project in your hands."
Zhang Yiming was somewhat moved.
He was somewhat arrogant by nature, otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly started businesses.
Wouldn't it be comfortable to earn a high salary at Microsoft?
Now, Chen Pingjiang, with his halo, extended an olive branch to him, a "small figure."
It would be false to say he wasn't flattered.
"May I ask what kind of project it is, Mr. Chen?"
Chen Pingjiang nodded and began to introduce:
"The internal name for this project is 'Jinri Toutiao.' It's currently in the testing phase and will be launched soon, though I'm not entirely satisfied with some of the algorithms. Jinri Toutiao is essentially a recommendation engine product based on data mining, providing users with news, information, and services that connect people and information. To some extent, it can also be called the mobile end of a portal website."
"However, I don't want to create very rigid news recommendations. Instead, I hope to maximize the algorithms and information distribution technology to personalize content for users. When users use Toutiao, they should experience 'a thousand people, a thousand faces,' where user models are calculated based on their interests, and then information is extracted, mined, deduplicated, and categorized before being recommended to them."
Zhang Yiming's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he sighed inwardly,
"He truly is the man lauded to the heavens by the outside world."
Even a small project like this was so innovative and market-ready, completely incomparable to the products he had tinkered with before.
"Mr. Chen, you don't need to explain it in such detail. Aren't you afraid I might steal this idea?"
Facing Zhang Yiming's probing, Chen Pingjiang chuckled heartily:
"What's there to fear? Not to mention, this product is almost fully developed and can be launched at any time. Simply put, you as a person are worthy of my trust. My optimism about you isn't just talk; I genuinely hope you can join my team."
Zhang Yiming hesitated.
Faced with an invitation from the number one person in the internet industry, few could refuse such temptation, especially for a new product, a promising new product, and as the head of a project.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, this matter is too big, and after all, I'm still the CEO of Jiujiu House. I... need to go back, process this, and think it over carefully."
"Then I'll wait for you in Dongjiang!"
Not long after, Zhang Yiming left.
At this point, Bu Housheng asked curiously,
"Chairman Chen, are you really that optimistic about Zhang Yiming?"
Chen Pingjiang didn't answer the question but instead asked,
"Do you think he'll be tempted?"
"I think he will. Compared to an unclear future, independently leading a project, an entire business unit, within a top enterprise—almost no one could refuse such a temptation, right?"
"Then I hope he can figure it out."
(End of chapter)