Chapter 534: Zhalang’s stock price plummeted
In 1992, when the world's first text message was successfully sent from a PC to a mobile phone on Walfon's GSM network, no one would have thought that this low-cost text messaging service, initially launched by telecom operators to solve the problem of high mobile phone charges, this seemingly childish communication tool, would have such a great impact on people's economic and cultural life, and even on politics many years later.
Mobile communication networks had SMS capabilities as early as 1994, but people with mobile phones at that time simply didn't need it.
Therefore, at that time, text messages were still a pure novelty in Xia Country, and not many people were exposed to or understood them.
Even domestic telecom operators are hesitant, fearing that after launching the mobile phone text messaging service, fewer people will make calls, leading to a decrease in phone revenue.
That is, Lu Yiming and Wu Ying had previously used Xiaolingtong to vigorously promote the text messaging function. As a result, this service was immediately well received by customers once it was launched, and even became one of the biggest selling points of Xiaolingtong.
After trying it out for a while, the operator found that users' phone bills did not drop significantly. Instead, the extra income from text messages increased rapidly, allowing Xiaolingtong to gain a large amount of new income.
And because only Xiaolingtong had SMS service, more and more people opened Xiaolingtong, which in turn took away a lot of market share from the two major telecom operators, forcing them to open SMS service in advance.
Precisely because SMS is a new thing, the market reaction is not that fast, especially domestic Internet companies, which do not know that they can actually make money through SMS business.
At least Cao Guowei had never thought about this level. His mind was completely confused by what Lu Yiming said.
"Mr. Lu, forgive my ignorance, but can this SMS service generate revenue for Zhalang?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Of course. You know the "Millionaire Painter" I worked on before? It enabled the SMS function. Users could vote by sending the contestant's number via SMS. Each SMS cost one dollar, which was my net income. The service fee was charged separately by the operator. Later, Xiaolingtong launched the ringback tone service, which also widely adopted SMS. Both of these brought considerable benefits. We can do the same at Zhalang. I plan to provide a monthly news package service. After the user activates the SMS service, it will cost ten or twenty dollars a month. It is divided into grades and levels. We will package and push the daily news to the user's mobile phone. Those who pay less can read the summary, and those who pay more can read the full text."
Cao Guowei was immediately amazed when he heard this and said, "Great! This will solve the problem of portal websites lacking stable cash flow income."
Cao Guowei was truly convinced by Lu Yiming. His wild imagination was beyond description.
"Mr. Lu, with this killer weapon, I dare say that Quwen will be able to turn things around immediately and will definitely become the first Internet company to get out of the Internet winter."
"Haha, I dare not say that. Come on, come on, let's eat first. After talking so much, the food is getting cold. Come, let me toast you first. Zha Lang will need you to take care of me in the future."
"I'd like to offer a toast to Mr. Lu."
Lu Yiming's most vivid memory of the SMS monthly subscription service was that it was used to open QQ memberships and red diamonds and blue diamonds. It was very popular for a while. And Xiao Ma Ge survived those years by making money from these services. Otherwise, with his trick of seducing users by dressing up as a woman, QQ would have been a failure long ago.
Later, text-based live broadcasts of NBA became popular in school. When the class was over, several students would gather together, stare at the one- or two-inch screens of their mobile phones, and watch the text scroll by like crazy.
James made a three-step layup.
Pass the ball.
…
The scenes are purely imagined, but many young people still enjoy watching them.
Cao Guowei has been in charge of Zhalang for three days, and the internal situation is basically stable. However, a phone call he suddenly received made Lu Yiming laugh and cry.
"Boss Lu, Wang Zhidong is here to work again."
"ha?"
Lu Yiming almost choked on his own saliva.
"Is this person so powerful?"
Cao Guowei asked tentatively: "Should we ask the security guards to chase him away?"
Lu Yiming smiled and waved his hands: "Don't be so unkind, I'm not a devil. Mr. Wang likes to go to work so much, so let him come."
Afterwards, a surprising scene occurred in Zhalang Company.
Wang Zhidong, who had no work to do but still insisted on coming to work every day, became the focus of everyone's attention.
But he himself did not feel embarrassed at all. Instead, few of Zhalang's old employees dared to greet him, for fear of being put on the new boss's blacklist.
On this day, Wang Zhidong appeared in the office on time again .
Jiang Fengnian, who had been observing him for several days, came to him and advised, "Why do this? When it's time to let go, you have to learn to let go."
Wang Zhidong gritted his teeth and said, "That's what I said, but I can't accept it. This is the company I founded, and I worked hard to get it listed, but now I, the founder, am being kicked out. How can I swallow this?"
After listening to this, Jiang Fengnian was silent for a while.
He thought of his past.
In 1995, he went to the United States and tried to start a business in Silicon Valley the following year. The Internet had just emerged at that time, and he saw the future potential of this industry, so he decisively established Huayuan Information.
This is the predecessor of Zhalang.com.
When he started working in the Internet industry, Jiang Fengnian was already 38 years old. At this age, people tend to seek stability. However, he made an even more puzzling move, which was to merge with Wang Zhidong's Sohu.com to form the Chinese Internet company - Zhalang.
When the decision was made to merge Huayuan and Sitonglifang, no one supported Jiang Fengnian's bold decision, thinking that he must have been kicked in the head by a donkey.
Everyone found it unimaginable, especially his American employees.
Why do you want to merge with a Xiaguo company?
Why create a Chinese website?
Countless questions and debates came one after another.
Jiang Fengnian looked at Wang Zhidong and said with a sigh, "Everyone thought I was crazy at the time, but I was determined to become the leader of Xiaguo's Internet. How could I not enter Xiaguo's market? In the end, despite the opposition of all investors, I completely gave up venture capital and burned my boats. I completed the merger in just two months."
Wang Zhidong was also reminded of Jiang Fengnian's words, and said with emotion: "It was with this foresight that we worked together to create the largest Chinese portal on the Internet, and Zhalang was born."
You know, the road ahead for Zhalang was not easy at the beginning, and Jiang Fengnian and Wang Zhidong also did not escape the hardships of entrepreneurs.
Wang Zhidong smiled bitterly and said, "I remember that time, three of us were on a business trip and stayed in one room with two beds. The waiter thought we were weird. How could three men sleep in one room?"
Jiang Fengnian also said: "When Taiwanese employees went on business trips to the United States, they all stayed at my house. Looking back on that time, I still feel very touched."
The two of them talked back and forth, reminiscing about the past. At the end of the conversation, Wang Zhidong gritted his teeth and said, "It is precisely because I have suffered such hardships that I don't want to give up just like that."
Jiang Fengnian tried to persuade him again, "If you let go now, you still have a chance to catch up. Staying in Zhalang will only waste your time and energy. Lu Yiming has spent a lot of effort to set up this killing situation. Believe me, you really have no chance of turning the tables."
These words made Wang Zhidong finally loosen his clenched fist dejectedly: "Am I just giving up like this?"
Jiang Fengnian shook his head and said, "You just . The worst that can happen is that you can just get up. Why admit defeat? Wasn't Steve Jobs also fired by Apple? What was the result? Apple couldn't survive anymore, so they had to politely invite him back."
Wang Zhidong also recalled the time when he was kicked out, and said he wanted to emulate Jobs. He immediately said proudly: "You are right! Zhalang has kicked me out now, and one day, they will bring me back in a sedan chair!"
Seeing Wang Zhidong's renewed fighting spirit, Jiang Fengnian smiled and said, "That's right. What young man hasn't done a few somersaults? The important thing is to stand up immediately after doing a somersault and keep running forward."
After returning to his office, Jiang Fengnian hesitated for a moment, but still picked up the phone on the table and dialed Lu Yiming's number.
"Boss Lu, I'm Jiang Fengnian from Zhalang."
Lu Yiming still had some impression of Jiang Fengnian, but not much. He asked in surprise: "Boss Jiang, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Facing Lu Yiming, the famous richest man in Xia Country, Jiang Fengnian sighed in his heart, but still extended an invitation: "Mr. Wang, are you free at noon today? I would like to invite you to dinner."
After a pause, he continued, "Just the two of us."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, “Of course I’m free. If you’re not active in eating, there must be something wrong with your brain.”
At noon, Lu Yiming met Jiang Fengnian in the restaurant as scheduled.
After they sat down, Lu Yiming asked, "Boss Jiang, did you invite me here today to discuss something?"
Jiang Fengnian has a good temper and is the kind of person who is well-educated and cultured.
Although Jiang Fengnian is a few years older than Lu Dingdu, he did not act like an elder in front of Lu Yiming. Instead, he was very friendly: "Mr. Lu, I asked you to come here today mainly because I hope you can show some mercy and let Wang Zhidong go."
Only then did Lu Yiming realize that Jiang Fengnian came to act as a peacemaker.
Jiang Fengnian said sincerely, "Wang Zhidong is too straightforward. He has offended Mr. Lu before. But Mr. Lu is angry now. Can you be magnanimous and not pursue the matter any further?"
Then, fearing that Lu Yiming would not agree, he added another weight: "I have already persuaded Wang Zhidong that he will not cause trouble in the company again, and he is willing to transfer his shares at a fair price. I just hope that you, Mr. Lu, will be generous."
Now Wang Zhidong still holds 3.8% of Zhalang's shares. Although it is not much, if he buys it at the current market price and waits for the stock price to rise again in the future, it will be worth a lot of money.
It can be said that Jiang Fengnian's move was very sincere. Lu Yiming thought about it and decided that killing people would not go far enough. He had already taken down Zha Lang and had slapped him in the face. If he continued to hold on to him, people would think that he was narrow-minded and intolerant.
He can't just destroy the other person's family just because the other person cursed at him, right?
So Lu Yiming thought about it and decided to agree to Jiang Fengnian: "Okay, as long as he doesn't make trouble, I won't pursue this matter anymore."
Jiang Fengnian was overjoyed and quickly poured a glass of wine, saying, "Mr. Lu is very generous. Come, I'll toast you."
Taking down Zhalang was also a relief for Lu Yiming. After arranging all the tasks, Lu Yiming returned to Zhonghai.
As a result, before I could enjoy a few days of peace, Bill Gates called me from overseas.
"Lu, what's going on? Right now in the United States, there's all this negative news about Zhalang's management changes and the cancellation of new businesses. The stock price has fallen below ten dollars!"
Zhalang's IPO price was US$17, and it even reached a high of US$22 at one point, but now it has been cut in half.
Of course Bill Gates will come over to demand accountability.
Lu Yiming asked in surprise: "It's only been a few days and the news has spread abroad? This is unscientific and doesn't make sense."
He suddenly remembered the incident where Li Chaoren dug up information about him and gave it to Hu Run, and said, "Damn it, is someone going to mess with me again?"
Bill Gates frowned and said, "You mean, this news was spread deliberately?"
Lu Yiming said: "It should be. We used a lot of tricks to buy Zhalang's shares at a low price. They are probably regretting it now, so they are making trouble and trying to drive down the stock price."
Bill Gates couldn't help but complain: "Is your new business really reliable? I spent a lot of money buying Zhalang's stock, don't let me lose money."
It's the Internet winter now. Even Microsoft, a big company like this, is having a hard time. Therefore, every penny you have is crucial and you can't afford to lose it.
Lu Yiming smiled and comforted Bill Gates, saying, "Hey, you are the richest man in the world, you have too much money to spend, why are you telling me this? Besides, when have I ever made you lose money?"
Bill Gates directly exposed his past and said unhappily: "The last time I bought VA Linux from you, the stock price has fallen a lot recently."
Lu Yiming was not panicked at all. Instead, he said confidently, "Well, even if I did cheat you once or twice, can't you forgive me? I am your friend."
Bill Gates: “…”
Even Bill Gates has never seen someone so shameless.
But what can he do?
I can only choose to forgive.
After all, although Lu Yiming had cheated him before, the benefits he brought were greater. As long as there was money to be made, the friendship between the two would be more real than real gold.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yiming called Li Yiwen again: "Bill Gates just called me and said that Zhalang's stock is going to collapse."
"What?"
Li Yiwen, who was enjoying his afternoon tea, almost choked to death on his coffee.
"Are you kidding me? We just bought these stocks, don't let them drop in value."
Lu Yiming comforted him, "Don't panic. Even if it drops further, it will only drop to one dollar at most."
Li Yiwen became even more depressed after hearing this: "You're making me even more panicked, okay? If the stock price drops to one dollar, is this company still worth keeping?"
Then, Li Yiwen suddenly remembered something: "That's not right. The board of directors of Zhalang has just been re-elected. How come the United States knew about it immediately? And judging from the situation, it has become known to everyone?"
Lu Yiming acted very calm, as if everything was still under control: "Why else? Someone is interfering."
Li Yiwen cursed: "Who is so full and has nothing to do? Why is he targeting Zha Lang?"
Lu Yiming seemed to be thinking: "It's probably the investors who sold the shares of Zhalang before. Only they have the motivation and ability to do so. Others would not be so idle to do such a thing that would harm others and not benefit themselves."
After all, they had a vested interest in each other. Li Yiwen himself had also bought a lot of Sina shares, so he couldn't help but ask, "What are you going to do?"
Lu Yiming said calmly, "The low stock price is not a bad thing for us. I plan to buy back some of the shares at a low price and sell them when the stock price goes up. Both the purchase and the sale will bring profits."
Li Yiwen really didn't know where Lu Yiming's confidence came from. He was still a little worried in his heart: "It seems that you are sure of your new business. Otherwise, aren't you afraid that the stock price won't rise?"
No one had ever tried this new business model of combining text messages and news before. Although Lu Yiming explained it in a very clear and logical way, Li Yiwen still lacked confidence.
After all, if this business fails to take off, Zhalang’s stock price will be completely hopeless and will definitely drop to a point that will make people question their lives.
But it is obvious that Lu Yiming doesn't think so. He is very confident in the new SMS news project.
On Joe Bert's side, Lucien Falk reported to him, "Boss, we have already spread the news on Wall Street to discredit Zhalang. We guarantee that Zhalang's stock price will hit the bottom this month."
Joe Bert looked ferocious, and gnashed his teeth as he said, “Lu Yiming, if you dare to play tricks on me, I will make you pay the price.”
At the beginning, after he sold his shares in Zhalang, he asked someone to investigate Xu Dadan and found out that the so-called overseas inheritance did not exist at all. It was a trap set by Lu Yiming from the beginning to the end.
Lucien Falk said, "But I got the news that Lu Yiming is buying back Zhalang's shares. Why did Lu Yiming spend so much time buying Zhalang's shares? We have someone who has done a special investigation on this company, and it is indeed hopeless."
The pain point of portal websites is whether they have stable cash flow income.
Previously, it had been maintained by investors burning money, and after its operation and listing, it made money by making empty promises in the stock market.
But the problem is that it is the cold winter of the Internet, and it is unknown whether Zhalang can survive. Outsiders may not know the actual situation of Zhalang, but as one of the original investors of Zhalang, Joe Burt and Lucien Falk know it very well.
It was precisely because they had never thought that someone would come to acquire Zhalang at this time that they fell for this crude scam.
Joe Bert couldn't figure it out either, so he simply stopped thinking about it: "It's not important. The most important thing now is that Zhalang must fall. Otherwise, the sale of Zhalang shares will turn from a credit to a crime. You don't want to be blamed for this, right?"
Upon hearing this, Lucien Falk nodded vigorously and said, "You are right. Zhalang must fall. Only when Zhalang falls completely can we prove that it was the right decision for us to sell our shares in Zhalang."
In the next half month, all kinds of negative news about Zhalang were flying all over Wall Street.
Countless retail investors in the United States who hold shares of ZHALANG have been selling off their shares, as they are all afraid of falling into the trap if they sell too slowly.
As a result, Zallang's stock price hit new lows every day, starting a downward trend. It plummeted from $10 per share to around $3, and there was no sign of it stopping.
But in China, Lu Yiming remained very calm and just let Li Yiwen slowly and secretly acquire shares of Zhalang, with no intention of coming out to clarify the matter.
