"What's happening with MiChat?"
Chen Pingjiang asked at the meeting.
Li Xi said,
"It's still the same. They've only been released for about a month, and for now, they can only import QQ users. If they want to compete with us for the market, they'll have to wait until the voice walkie-talkie function is launched.
Otherwise, the technological gap between MiChat and WeChat cannot be broken, and users, once accustomed to WeChat, won't migrate to MiChat. I estimate they're working overtime to develop a new version, but by then, our video and voice call functions will also be online."
The battle between MiChat and WeChat in the past involved Lei Bus and Xiao Mage, Xiaomi and Tencent, as the parties involved.
Although Xiaomi was the first to release MiChat, gaining a first-mover advantage, this advantage was not significant.
Even Lei Bus himself said that if Tencent didn't react within a year, MiChat would have a 50% chance of winning; if they reacted within half a year, MiChat would basically have no chance.
However, Tencent reacted within a month.
Tencent's Guangzhou Research Institute quickly launched WeChat and received strong support from the Tencent Group.
Leveraging its accumulated high-concurrency backend technology that supported tens of millions of simultaneous online users and its advantages in social relationship chains, coupled with the immense advantages of comprehensive resources such as its company size, WeChat gradually overtook MiChat.
As a small startup company, Xiaomi could not simultaneously support the investments in both the mobile internet instant messaging and smartphone markets, each worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Therefore, it abandoned MiChat and devoted all its energy to the smartphone sector.
Even after WeChat 1.0 was launched, it received almost no reaction.
Because WeChat 1.0 only had a simple messaging function, and everyone's monthly SMS package was already more than enough.
Why would anyone want to spend data to use WeChat?
By WeChat version 1.2, even with the addition of image sharing, user response remained mediocre.
The turning point came for MiChat.
First, MiChat took the lead in developing voice walkie-talkie.
After Tencent copied it, the daily increase in users rose from ten or twenty thousand to fifty or sixty thousand.
The real turning point in the battle came after the "People Nearby" feature was launched.
In the half-year prior to this, WeChat's user count had not exceeded 1 million.
Even within Tencent, a product whose user count couldn't exceed a million in six months was considered almost insignificant.
However, after July, WeChat's daily new user count skyrocketed to an astonishing more than 100,000, and this was achieved without utilizing any QQ resources.
On the other hand, MiChat, being a startup company, quickly exposed its weak foundational capabilities.
The surge in user numbers caused its servers to crash five times in a single day.
Of course, another important reason for this was the relatively small number of smartphone users at the time.
Times have changed.
Tencent's opponent was Renren.com, which at this point was many times stronger than Xiaomi was back then.
It owned a social media "dream team," had two large data centers, launched its products earlier, and had more comprehensive features...
Almost every point could give Renren.com a fatal lead over Tencent.
Moreover, after having much of its "luck" taken away, Tencent was not as powerful now.
Chen Pingjiang nodded,
"In short, we still need to be cautious. Tencent is holding back a big move; their 'gauge' is probably almost full."
With their product not yet mature and not on the same starting line, Tencent wouldn't invest massive resources to directly clash; that would be too cost-ineffective.
Only when both sides' products are at a similar level will advertising bombardment and promotion be effective.
Tencent was waiting, and Renren.com was also waiting.
Everyone wanted the first ticket to the internet.
It would probably take a year or so to determine the winner, but it wouldn't last as long as the group-buying wars.
"Yiming, you've been with us for a while now. How do you feel?"
After discussing WeChat with Li Xi, Chen Pingjiang turned his gaze to Zhang Yiming.
"Hmm, it's pretty good. Colleagues are very kind, and General Manager Li also looks after me quite a bit."
Zhang Yiming looked a bit disheveled, and his dark circles were quite prominent, clearly showing he had been working a lot of overtime recently.
Having just joined, he came with high spirits, vowing to achieve some results, both to repay Chen Pingjiang's appreciation for his talent and to prove his capabilities to everyone, demonstrating that Chen Pingjiang's judgment in hiring him was sound.
"Recently, I've organized Today's Headlines' current algorithms. My colleagues' initial work has been quite good; both content-based recommendation algorithms and collaborative filtering-based recommendation algorithms are okay. It's just that the deep learning-based recommendation algorithm still needs significant adjustments."
"Currently, we are able to recommend news content that users have already viewed as tags and news with similar tags, and also analyze the browsing history of similar users to recommend content based on their behavior. However, we're not doing enough in analyzing user behavior data and history to predict their preferences."
Involving such specialized knowledge, Chen Pingjiang was a bit bewildered listening to it.
Probably only Miao Bingwei among those present shared a common language with him.
"So, the recommendation results aren't precise enough?"
Zhang Yiming nodded,
"Yes. Recommendation algorithms often have an excessively high demand in a certain direction, causing some users to repeatedly see a specific type of news, while making it difficult to recommend other news resources, thereby creating information inequality."
"Do you have a solution then?"
"Currently, we need to reduce the bias in the recommendation mechanism and make recommendations more personalized by using different attributes of user profiles."
Chen Pingjiang understood these few sentences.
To put it plainly, it was still a problem of big data algorithms.
Zhang Yiming's goal was to diversify the news presented to users, adding other different types of news beyond what they were already interested in.
In this area, frankly, Taobao's big data recommendations were very poorly done.
"Recommended for you" completely failed to guess what you liked.
Perhaps a user just browsed a few stores selling computers, and then all the recommendations were for computer stores, with no other categories visible.
This was frustrating; users still needed to separately search for other categories of stores to "correct" the "Recommended for you" feature.
In this regard, Douyin would be much better; it would recommend similar videos, but not all of the same type.
"In short, keep up the good work. You can bring up any needs you have. For technical support personnel, you can find Miao Bingwei and Li Xi."
......
Chen Pingjiang was at a city government meeting when he received a call from Ge Mengshi.
On the phone, Ge Mengshi directly said she wanted to meet Chen Pingjiang.
By the time Chen Pingjiang arrived at the agreed location, two hours had passed.
"Brother Chen, you're here. General Manager Ge is in the private room on the fifth floor."
Upon seeing Chen Pingjiang, Dai Sheng immediately greeted him.
At the same time, Chen Pingjiang was particularly curious as to why Ge Mengshi chose Tiangong Bar.
"Why did you choose to meet here today? Not at the company?"
After seeing Chen Pingjiang, Ge Mengshi smiled, and this smile made Chen Pingjiang feel something different.
"Today's matter is more important. There are too many people at the company, and it's inconvenient."
Vaguely, Chen Pingjiang realized something and asked curiously,
"Then tell me."
For a moment, Ge Mengshi's expression was incredibly complex—a mix of happiness, nervousness, anticipation, and worry.
Slightly uneasy, she discreetly took something out of her Chanel purse and handed it to Chen Pingjiang.
Only after placing it in Chen Pingjiang's palm did Ge Mengshi withdraw her hand.
Chen Pingjiang was stunned the moment he saw what was in his hand.
A pregnancy test stick!
And it showed two lines!
In an instant, Chen Pingjiang's mind went blank, feeling a little dizzy.
He was going to be a father.
It was a bit sudden.
Weren't those men on TV very happy when they heard their wives were pregnant?
But why did he only feel okay?
He was happy, but not ecstatic.
More than that, it was an indescribable, wonderful feeling.
It was as if he saw the true meaning of life and the continuation of his lineage.
"What, you're not happy at all?"
This was also the reason for the worry mixed in Ge Mengshi's expression earlier.
After all, they weren't married, and she was afraid Chen Pingjiang wouldn't want this child.
After all, if this child were born, they wouldn't be from an ordinary family.
They would be born directly in Rome.
Behind this could be a massive family fortune.
The old Chen family really had a throne to inherit.
"How could that be? I am happy, but it just feels a bit strange, indescribable. Should we go to the hospital to check your HCG? Also, how have you been feeling lately?"
Ge Mengshi said,
"I feel fine physically, just a bit of a lack of appetite, very sleepy, and my body temperature is a bit high."
"No nausea or vomiting, right?"
"Not that."
"We'll go to the hospital for a check-up this afternoon. If you're pregnant, you need to check HCG, progesterone, and hormones. Initial data is very important.
For example, HCG not only indicates pregnancy but can also show whether it's an intrauterine or ectopic pregnancy, and if there's a biochemical risk. This stuff doubles every 1-2 days, keeps doubling and doubling. If it doesn't double, there might be a problem."
Ge Mengshi lost her usual dominant and aloof CEO demeanor, becoming apprehensive at Chen Pingjiang's words.
Then, realizing something, she widened her eyes and asked Chen Pingjiang,
"Why do you know so much? Even I, a woman, don't know as much as you do."
"Uh!"
Chen Pingjiang was speechless for a moment, having spoken too excitedly and not knowing how to smooth it over.
"Isn't this common knowledge?"
"?"
"Never mind, these aren't important. Anyway, I'll go with you to the hospital for the check-up this afternoon."
Ge Mengshi thought about it, then shook her head,
"I can go by myself. Your identity is too sensitive right now; it wouldn't be good if someone saw us."
"No!"
Chen Pingjiang sternly refused,
"No discussion. I'll be careful."
He thought, if he wrapped himself up tightly and paid a hefty sum for silence, it shouldn't be a big problem.
Chen Pingjiang thought to himself.
After her initial hesitation and unease, Ge Mengshi finally breathed a sigh of relief, a soft glow appearing on her face as she slowly stroked her belly.
"This feeling is truly wonderful!"
"It is quite wonderful."
Chen Pingjiang suddenly became playful,
"Our physical condition isn't bad, right? One shot, hit the bullseye! Of course, it also helps that you're probably prone to getting pregnant."
Getting pregnant is both simple and difficult.
College students easily get pregnant by accident, people occasionally get pregnant after starting work, but after marriage, it can be hard to conceive even when trying.
Some women can't conceive no matter what, while others get pregnant instantly even after four or five abortions.
Isn't that wonderful?
Ge Mengshi gave Chen Pingjiang a charming glare.
"By the way, how do you plan to explain this to your parents?"
Chen Pingjiang suddenly remembered and asked.
At this, Ge Mengshi also froze, having not thought of this at all until now.
"Let's keep it a secret for now, and talk about it when we can't hide it anymore. Also, I plan to give birth abroad,"
Ge Mengshi replied after a long pause.
Chen Pingjiang fell silent.
He naturally knew that Ge Mengshi was doing this for his sake.
To minimize his trouble to the greatest extent.
After all, neither of them knew what Ge Mengshi's parents' attitude would be.
If they were determined to hold Chen Pingjiang responsible and caused a big scene if he didn't, it would indeed be very troublesome.
Furthermore, giving birth abroad would prevent colleagues at the company from finding out, avoiding rumors spreading everywhere.
Chen Pingjiang, feeling a bit moved, took Ge Mengshi's hand.
"Going abroad is fine, but I must make time to visit your parents. Whether it's to apologize humbly or confess everything, it needs to be made clear; it can't be ambiguous. At the very least, if you have family with you while awaiting birth abroad, your mental state will be different."
When he said this, Ge Mengshi was both happy and worried.
She was happy that she had indeed judged him correctly; Chen Pingjiang didn't evade problems, dared to face them, and was worthy of her trust.
Her worry was that her parents at home would be difficult to handle.
"I can do it. I'll just read books and play the piano to pass the time."
At such a critical moment, Ge Mengshi's independent and stubborn spirit resurfaced.
It was precisely because of this stubbornness that she had resolutely left her previous company and selflessly offered herself to Chen Pingjiang that night.
Even if they might have no future, even if it might just be her wishful thinking.
And now, she was once again "taking a risk."
Chen Pingjiang inadvertently adopted his assertive company demeanor:
"This matter is settled. Objections are invalid."
"Well... we'll see then. Anyway, it'll be a few months before I start showing. Before that, I still need to work normally."
"The first three months of pregnancy are the most unstable, what are you working for?"
"I've been working for so many years, and so many female colleagues had children, including Xiao Qin, and they all worked until nine months. How could I be that fragile?
Besides, I won't be able to stay at the company for long. Once I start showing, I won't be able to work. Before that, I need to hand over my work for the period I'll be away from Dongjiang properly."
Both had valid points, but in the end, Chen Pingjiang couldn't argue with her and had to agree:
"Then you must be careful at work, don't overexert yourself. If you sit for too long, stand up and move around a bit."
"Got it!"
Ge Mengshi found Chen Pingjiang's appearance a bit funny.
He was really different from his usual self.
"Like an old woman."
With her mind and body at ease, Ge Mengshi propped her chin in her hands and stared intently at Chen Pingjiang's profile as he replied to messages.
Suddenly, a thought struck her, and as if possessed, she leaned over and gently bit Chen Pingjiang's earlobe.
"Want... want to."
This startled Chen Pingjiang, who was in the middle of sending a message.
"Jiejie, are you crazy? How can you be so improper now? Do you know this could cause contractions!"
"Hmm, alright!"
Ge Mengshi blinked pitifully like a child who had done something wrong and returned to her seat.
Realizing his tone had been a bit harsh, Chen Pingjiang softened his voice to comfort her:
"It's normal to have desires now because of hormonal changes in your body, but you absolutely must resist."
"Hmm, so why exactly do you know so much!?"
Chen Pingjiang: "..."
(End of Chapter)