On December 6th.
A tabloid suddenly broke news on Renren Weibo.
Ni Zhen was passionately kissing a woman, suspected to be a female university student, in a bar.
This big news immediately sparked a trend.
Countless netizens flocked to Renren Weibo to watch the event unfold.
Why?
Because the tabloid that broke the news had an account on Renren Weibo, and Ni Zhen and Zhou Huimin were also on it.
The entertainment industry was already turbulent this year; the fallout from the sex photo scandal hadn't fully dissipated, and playboy Ni Zhen was passionately kissing a hot girl in a bar.
For a time, countless people fiercely criticized Ni Zhen.
Everyone was speaking up for the beautiful Zhou Huimin.
The story between the two was incredibly dramatic.
Just as everyone online was supporting Zhou Huimin and telling her to stay away from the scumbag, a week later, rumors of Zhou Huimin getting married surfaced, and for a moment, jaws dropped everywhere.
Due to this entertainment industry scandal, Renren Weibo's registered users and daily active users experienced explosive growth.
After several months of development, the situation in the Weibo battleground had gradually become clear.
Tencent, on the other hand, found the group-buying sector very appealing and had already gone to invest in Meituan.
They entered the market the latest, and after Xiaomage's calm analysis, he felt they might not be able to beat Chen Pingjiang, so they gradually reduced their investment in Weibo.
Sina Weibo was indeed fiercely competing with Renren Weibo, but it was merely picking the best from a bad bunch.
Mainly, Renren Wang's ecosystem was too well-developed, with multiple lines progressing in parallel, supporting each other.
Coupled with its strong foundation and early entry, it had firmly secured the top spot in the market.
As major new media outlets, various meme accounts, and grassroots influencers gradually grew, Renren Weibo had, to some extent, become invincible.
While the group-buying sector was in full swing, there was also considerable activity on the Weibo front.
One day, a guy wearing glasses, with greasy, flat hair, a slightly plump build, and ordinary facial features, uploaded a photo to Renren Weibo.
In the photo, he was wearing a black suit, dressed like a real estate agent.
The caption read: "Can't find a partner, where do you all think my problem lies?"
What the blogger probably didn't expect was that people actually commented on it, with many netizens suggesting he first change his hairstyle, lose weight, and change his clothing style.
And the blogger promptly replied in the comment section, actually following the advice.
His execution was incredibly strong.
Following netizens' suggestions, he embarked on a massive transformation project.
Losing weight, changing hairstyles, changing outfits... each time he posted a new change, it would attract netizens' attention and discussion.
As time passed, Student Xiao Ai's image underwent a dramatic transformation compared to his original look.
His humble acceptance of advice and diligent efforts to change garnered praise from many netizens; many called him "the most advice-taking man on the entire internet," and his inspirational story began to circulate on other platforms as well.
In just a few months, relying on his "listening to advice spirit" of actively adopting suggestions, his strong self-discipline, and persistent perseverance, Student Xiao Ai completed a thorough transformation, from his hairstyle, physique, and clothing style, to his overall state and demeanor, all presenting a completely refreshed appearance.
It wasn't a big deal originally.
But it just happened to capture netizens' interest.
Consequently, many netizens who were dissatisfied with various aspects of themselves also joined the "listening to advice" army.
This operation directly stunned Sina.
At this time, the disadvantage of Weibo as a stranger social platform emerged: there were no strong connections, meaning little capital to retain users, and many users began to migrate from Sina Weibo to Renren Weibo.
Upon seeing this, what did those bloggers and influencers on Sina Weibo think?
They all started secondary accounts on Renren Weibo.
This further exacerbated the decline of Sina Weibo.
Group buying also needed to be integrated with local markets, requiring manpower for offline promotion.
Losing online meant losing, and if they couldn't win, they would suffer a complete rout.
Sina was frantically trying to retain users, barely managing to stabilize the situation.
......
December was when WoWo Wang was most aggressively poaching talent.
It seemed as if Chen Pingjiang had enlightened him.
Xu Maodong, CEO of WoWo Tuan, went further and further down the path of poaching talent.
This month, a major event occurred in the group-buying industry: WoWo Tuan directly poached the East China regional manager from Lashou Wang.
Compared to Lashou's minor poaching, Xu Maodong was truly willing to spend money.
This guy wasn't short on money; he had been an entrepreneur for many years, having sold Qilu Chaoshi, Kaiwei Guanggao, and Baifentonglian.
His ultimate goal was still to create a listed company.
So, when he took action, he really spent a fortune.
The group-buying market immediately became a bloodbath.
If you poach mine, I'll poach yours; neither of us will have it easy.
The headhunting firm WoWo Tuan hired was also particularly professional.
They compiled a document on the sales teams of other websites in various cities, recording their sales rankings from the previous month and also each person's emotional state, for instance, a certain salesperson was recently in a bad mood because the city manager gave a big order to his friend instead of him.
One wonders how the executives of other websites felt when they saw this document.
The enemy understood their subordinates better than they did themselves.
WoWo Tuan also spared no expense to acquire all the small local websites, going all out with high-profile moves, throwing money at them.
Chen Pingjiang himself expressed envy at their display of wealth and power.
While the entire Jin-Xi'bei region was in utter chaos, Renren Gou remained calm and collected, only beating Lashou's younger brother in Shanghai every day, never venturing outside its own territory.
If one had a sand table, they would be surprised to find that the areas where Renren Gou operated and where other group-buying websites operated were distinctly separate.
No one wanted to provoke Chen Pingjiang to begin with, especially after Lashou Wang suffered a setback in the Shanghai area; they were even less willing to "stroke the tiger's whiskers."
Don't end up not capturing the market and getting into trouble instead.
Of course, Gao Songbin wasn't idle either.
The recruitment speed of Renren's Iron Army significantly accelerated, multiple training camps opened concurrently, and they had already begun formulating their next strategy.
Yan Yan grew rapidly.
When she first started, she experienced new-hire shock, spending ten full days reading documents until her head spun before finally finishing them all.
She had a learning method; she didn't just read without remembering but also incorporated her own understanding.
And indeed, reading the documents was quite effective.
Currently, Yan Yan could barely manage to handle the assistant's role.
"Chairman Chen, this is from President Bu in North America,"
Yan Yan said, dressed in a professional suit skirt, with her hair tied up, exuding a slightly mature charm.
Chen Pingjiang feigned anger:
"Didn't I say that when it's just the two of us, you shouldn't call me 'Chairman Chen'? It's too formal. You never listen; next time, I'll spank you."
Yan Yan's face reddened slightly as she handed over the document:
"This is work, after all."
Bu Housheng's bottom-fishing operation in North America was coming to an end.
From the gradual decline starting in July, until the plunge after Lehman Brothers' collapse, on September 29th alone, the US stock market evaporated $1.2 trillion, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 788 points, nearly 7%.
After several months of intermittent bottom-fishing, they successively purchased shares in multiple tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, almost all at their lowest points.
It could be said that even if Chen Pingjiang did nothing now, he wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life.
It's worth noting that September 2008 was the lowest point for Apple's stock price.
If one had purchased $1,000 worth of Apple stock at that time and held onto it, by 2023, it would be worth $100 million.
It increased by tenfold.
......
Returning to the University of Finance and Economics again, Chen Pingjiang felt a slight sense of unfamiliarity.
"Strange, I'm only in my third year, yet I already feel a bit nostalgic."
Yan Yan pursed her lips and chuckled beside him:
"Because you barely attend school."
Chen Pingjiang nodded:
"That's true. I'll take you to see the boys' dorm."
The two strolled through the University of Finance and Economics campus, hearing exclamations from time to time, or people greeting Chen Pingjiang.
Among those who greeted him, Chen Pingjiang didn't recognize any.
But the students all recognized him, mainly because the university's publicity work was too good.
"How strange, why are you all here today, everyone's present?"
The residents of Dorm 603 thought they had misheard.
Looking up, they saw Chen Pingjiang standing at the dorm entrance, holding Yan Yan's hand.
"Holy crap, Brother Chen, you still remember how to come back?"
"Oh my god, this must be Sister-in-law, right?"
This was the first time everyone had seen Yan Yan; Zhao Shaoyang and the others were staring blankly.
They had to avoid suspicion in front of Chen Pingjiang, trying hard not to sneak glances at Yan Yan, yet couldn't resist, occasionally stealing a peek when others weren't paying attention.
"Sister-in-law, do you have any older or younger female cousins? Introduce one to your little brother here,"
said Zhao Shaoyang, who was quite thick-skinned.
Yan Yan smiled faintly:
"I don't."
Zhao Shaoyang put on a disappointed expression.
"How could you be short of girlfriends? Others might not know, but I know you."
"Brother Chen, familiarity is familiarity, but if you slander me, I'll sue you for defamation just the same."
After not seeing each other for several months, their appearances hadn't changed much, but their demeanors were different.
They had matured but also become somewhat decadent.
(End of Chapter)