The main planner behind this "wife was poached" incident was none other than Chen Pingjiang.
The domestic internet was far less strictly regulated then than it would be in later generations.
In another dozen years or so, if Chen Pingjiang dared to pull such a stunt, he would likely end up behind bars, "pedaling a sewing machine."
In this era of rampant growth for internet companies, who didn't have a whole lot of dirt in their pants?
Those once-popular social apps primarily focused on "dating" and "suggestive content."
While such online incidents seemed low-brow, they were genuinely effective, instantly attracting traffic from the entire internet.
Naturally, similar incidents included "Brother Sharp," "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you home for dinner," "The Story of the 13-Yuan Malatang," and "Bronzebeard Gate."
Many of these hot topics at the time were later confirmed to be artificial hype.
If the "wife was poached" incident helped BMW and Chery gain a wave of exposure, then "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you home for dinner" made Warcraft popular.
In just three days, clicks reached 7.818 million, and replies numbered 302,000, with numbers still rising.
The "relatives and friends" of the Jia family swarmed out in the replies.
Many netizens also elaborated on the topic, creating various secondary creations and spoof images, and this slogan appeared everywhere.
You might think it was "a player named Jia Junpeng was so engrossed in the game that he forgot to return home, so his mother had to seek help from a friend who knew Jia Junpeng, and that friend posted an announcement in the game."
In reality, World of Warcraft was in a server shutdown state at that time.
After NetEase backstabbed The9 and fiercely snatched the agency rights, they were slow to open the servers, but not wanting to lose players, they created a marketing event to keep the game popular.
.............
Yan Liming's side was very efficient.
The next day, shortly after work began, he called Chen Pingjiang, inviting him to a meeting at the district government.
Chen Pingjiang was received by Che Qihui, the mayor of Wujiang District.
Just as Chen Pingjiang and Yan Liming had imagined, Che Qihui's mouth stretched into a wide smile as soon as he heard about such a good opportunity.
In the subsequent negotiations with Chen Pingjiang, he also showed considerable sincerity, not only giving Renren.com preferential treatment in terms of taxes and electricity but also selling a large plot of land at a very favorable price.
Chen Pingjiang excitedly rushed to see the land, finally feeling a sense of belonging.
"Finally, we won't have to move back and forth and change locations anymore."
While Chen Pingjiang felt he had gotten a great deal, the Wujiang District government felt the same way.
Although an internet company cannot bring a host of upstream and downstream enterprises like a physical factory, it can rapidly boost the various economic indicators of its location.
In addition to substantial tax revenue, employees of these major internet companies are either high-net-worth individuals or solidly middle class.
With these people arriving, various supporting facilities—restaurants, shopping malls, residential communities—would naturally follow.
The economy of the entire region would be revitalized.
On an intangible level, this also served as a business card for Wujiang District and a window for external promotion.
In the future, when Wujiang District goes out to attract investment, and business owners ask what famous enterprises are in their district...?
Everyone could proudly pat their chests and reply,
"We have Renren.com."
It's nothing new for some places to protect local enterprises; otherwise, how would the moniker "Nanshan Victor" have come about?
There was once gossip that in a certain place, to protect merchants from being cross-provincially detained, there was a highway standoff that blocked roads.
There were also rumors that when a certain Beijing big shot was in commercial competition with another major company, over 30 police officers suddenly arrived cross-province at his company.
The big shot was startled and quickly told his driver to turn around for the airport, flying directly to Hong Kong.
All these examples illustrate how strictly local authorities protect these major taxpayers and pillar enterprises.
Wujiang District usually couldn't even beg for such opportunities, so to have someone proactively deliver it to their doorstep made them wake up laughing from their dreams.
Subsequently, Chen Pingjiang dumped all the miscellaneous tasks of coordinating specific matters with Wujiang, such as obtaining various permits, paying land fees, and conducting project bidding, onto his subordinates.
Chen Pingjiang went to receive Tian Hongrui, a vice president from The9 responsible for specific operations, who had been poached by Shen Nanpeng.
Shen Nanpeng's speed impressed Chen Pingjiang, who had to give him a thumbs-up.
Although this guy later proved unreliable and moved to Singapore, at least for now, he could still provide some resources to Chen Pingjiang.
"Welcome, welcome. You must be tired from your long journey,"
Chen Pingjiang said as he met Tian Hongrui at the Sheraton Hotel.
With a standard square face, he appeared very capable and efficient, exuding a scholarly aura, which greatly pleased Chen Pingjiang.
Before coming, Tian Hongrui had already reviewed relevant materials and learned about his future big boss through various channels, but when they finally met, he still had to marvel at how people truly were incomparable.
Chen Pingjiang's youth was simply enviable.
This meant that as long as he didn't make mistakes himself, he had at least sixty years to lead Renren.com to greater glory.
Sixty years might not seem like much, but it's certainly not a short time.
"It was fine. I didn't dare to delay on the way, wanting to get to Dongjiang as soon as possible and enter work mode at the fastest speed,"
Tian Hongrui said with a smile.
Chen Pingjiang nodded,
"Renren.com and I welcome your arrival. You have a heavy burden. Renren.com has no experience operating online games. You need to build organizational structures at all levels, and also coordinate with the Korean side to launch DNF in the shortest possible time. The company will provide you with all necessary resources to assist your work."
Chen Pingjiang spoke very candidly, which made Tian Hongrui feel deeply valued.
In fact, this was also what Tian Hongrui valued.
Below one, above ten thousand—it might sound exaggerated, but that was the reality of the situation.
"Chairman Chen, rest assured! I came prepared. Since I'm here, I will definitely do things well and live up to your earnest expectations."
Tian Hongrui fully understood Renren.com's current situation; it was practically starting from scratch in the online gaming sector.
However, this very fact made him more motivated and better able to highlight his abilities.
After having dinner with Tian Hongrui, Chen Pingjiang went to the private club where he had previously played mahjong with He Zhiyu and others.
As soon as he sat down, he was surrounded by He Zhiyu, Liu Cheng, and Wan Qiping.
Their faces showed expressions of relief mixed with lingering fear.
"Mr. Chen, I'm convinced. If I weren't twice your age, I'd be calling you Brother Chen."
"Yeah, fortunately, we listened to you last month and sold off all our stocks, otherwise we'd definitely be trapped."
He Zhiyu nodded in deep agreement,
"The A-share market has crashed terribly these past few days. I heard some people even jumped off buildings, after embezzling public funds for stock trading and ultimately losing everything."
During this time, the three men's emotions were like a roller coaster.
Initially, they had some doubts about Chen Pingjiang's words, especially since various indices were still rising when they sold their shares, even leading them to believe at one point that Chen Pingjiang had misjudged and there wouldn't be a significant drop.
But when the A-share market began to plunge like a waterfall a few days ago, and their relatives, friends, and colleagues were all beating their chests and stamping their feet in distress, He Zhiyu and the other two felt an endless sense of relief and lingering fear.
If they had hesitated even a little back then, they might not have been able to get out and would have been permanently trapped.
Being merely trapped would have been one thing, but who doesn't add some leverage when trading stocks these days?
With leverage, a margin call would result in forced liquidation, meaning they would lose everything.
Chen Pingjiang smiled and took a sip of tea,
"I thought some of you wouldn't listen to me? Don't worry, don't harbor any hopes of luck; this crash won't end so quickly. Don't assume it has hit rock bottom after some time and start clamoring to 'buy the dip.' To put it plainly, this crash isn't technical; market sentiment will only grow more pessimistic."
Wan Qiping grinned,
"We're not fools. With your reminder, our 'half-immortal,' why would we be stubborn?"
"Hmm, this time we'll listen to you, and we've even told some colleagues and friends around us,"
He Zhiyu said.
"Not telling them is the right thing to do,"
Chen Pingjiang said, setting down his teacup.
"Leaving aside that in a hot bull market, if you tell people to sell off, they won't just disbelieve you; they'll think you're a fool or have some ulterior motive. What's more, I'm afraid everyone will believe it, and it will spread like wildfire, ultimately dragging you all down."
This was also a test for the three from Chen Pingjiang; if they couldn't even keep quiet about such minor matters, then he wouldn't bother involving them anymore.
"The reason I called you over today is to ask which city's real estate you are more optimistic about?"
Without a moment's thought, Chen Pingjiang said,
"All first-tier cities are fine, but try not to take out loans, or take out as few as possible. If you encounter risks, you'll lose absolutely everything."
Many property speculators constantly mortgage and remortgage, using all their money to buy houses.
Once a black swan event or housing price regulation occurs, their capital chain breaks, and they end up losing everything without even knowing how.
Chen Pingjiang personally disdained property speculation, but he didn't mind letting those around him profit somewhat from this wave.
Anyway, property speculation in this era wouldn't be limited to just He Zhiyu and the other two.
"You don't need to hold them indefinitely. The three of you can form a property speculation group; it will be better to negotiate collectively to drive down prices, then get in and out quickly."
After the A-share crash incident, He Zhiyu and the other two were completely obedient to Chen Pingjiang, not daring to say a single 'no', and even more afraid that Chen Pingjiang would not include them.
(End of chapter)