Chapter 634 Career and Love Must Be One
Zhang Yiming glanced at the secretary unhappily, thinking, you're the only smart one.
In the circle, Zhang Yiming's image has always been very elegant, a serious science and engineering man who does not like socializing, loves to study technology, and likes to discuss with people. In short, to use today's words, he is a man with very stable emotions.
Ever since Liang Fei suddenly appeared, Zhang Yiming even studied this young man in his spare time and talked about Liang Fei with others.
Zhang Yiming was very disdainful of some of Liang Fei's actions.
For example, can you achieve great things by recruiting a group of disrespectful old men to hang out in clubs and pick up girls every day?
Liang Fei used the actual results to tell Zhang Yiming that it was possible.
As we all know, investors and shareholders are the most difficult to serve. When the market is good, everyone makes money happily together. When the market is bad, they are the ones who withdraw the fastest.
But Liang Fei is different. He has an angel investor who may be the coolest in the world.
Oh, it's gone now.
So Zhang Yiming was quite depressed. Although he had never met Liang Fei before, he would occasionally think that if this young man was not so impetuous and materialistic, given his achievements at this age, the two of them might be able to become very good and like-minded friends.
This idea came to an abrupt end after the emergence of TikTok.
Originally, Zhang Yiming always thought that he was a stable person, but now, he has started to believe in all kinds of monsters and demons.
Tell me how far this has come.
"Let him come."
Zhang Yiming sat on the sofa and saw that the secretary was still standing there. He said unhappily, "Hurry up and collect all these things!"
The secretary agreed, hurriedly picked up the cushion, held the incense burner in one hand and ran out of the office.
When Liang Fei led Tang Ruijie into Zhang Yiming's office, she took a deep breath, feeling relaxed and refreshed. She asked curiously, "What kind of incense does Mr. Zhang usually use? It smells good."
"The kind used in Taoist temples."
Zhang Yiming stood up and motioned Liang Fei to sit down. He carefully stared at this accomplished young man and suddenly said, "Mr. Liang, have you not had enough rest recently? You look very tired. What's wrong? Are you worried about something?"
Liang Fei really didn't sleep well these two days, and the reason is well known.
"Hey, don't mention it, this isn't..."
"Let's talk about what happened at NIO. I heard that Mr. Li Bin has been very tough recently, and the top management has changed very quickly." Zhang Yiming narrowed his eyes and suppressed the gloating in his tone. "I heard that Mr. Liang's original angel investor is now almost the de facto second-in-command of NIO. Tsk, things are unpredictable."
Liang Fei stared at Zhang Yiming in a daze. She had originally wanted to play the emotional card, but she didn't expect him to say that.
Do all losers like to show off their tongues so much?
"Oh, yes, yes."
Liang Fei patted the sofa and looked around Zhang Yiming's office: "Mr. Zhang's office is really simple and concise, focusing on pragmatism, which is in line with your style."
Zhang Yiming picked up the teacup and took a sip, then said calmly, "Offices are for work, there's no need for so many flashy things."
"That makes sense." Liang Fei agreed, "When my new building is completed, the soft furnishings will also be in the style of Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Yiming: “…”
Liang Fei continued to make up for it, and said with a smile: "I made all this from Douyin, Douyin is awesome!"
Zhang Yiming could no longer bear it, so he put down his teacup and said bluntly, "Boss Liang, you didn't come to me today just to show off, did you? I don't think you are such a vulgar and boring person."
Liang Fei's expression was very serious: "I can be."
Seeing that Zhang Yiming was about to lose his temper, Liang Fei quickly comforted him and said, "Mr. Zhang, don't be angry, don't be angry, I was just kidding. How could I go to the capital just to show off? The air tickets without discounts are quite expensive."
Zhang Yiming took a deep breath, glanced at Liang Fei and asked, "So what's going on?"
"About the acquisition." Liang Fei said sincerely.
Zhang Yiming stood up suddenly, and Tang Ruijie ran to the door quickly and leaned against it to block Zhang Yiming.
"What, what do you want to do?"
Seeing this, Zhang Yiming turned around and looked at Liang Fei, saying angrily: "Boss Liang, we are all people with higher education, and we live in a civilized society. Please tell your subordinates not to do such unreasonable things."
"You are obviously the most outstanding young person in the entire industry today, why can't you take the normal path?"
Zhang Yiming was very distressed. He thought that if he were to manage Lightyear Technology, it would definitely not be like this now. The company's reputation in the industry is almost ruined, its employees are very difficult to communicate with, and their erratic thinking is difficult to understand.
Of course, the problem lies with the chairman Liang Fei.
Just look at this little girl. I heard that she is the supervisor of the general manager's office. Whose general manager of a company with a market value of hundreds of billions is blocking the door of another company?
"Xiao Tang."
Liang Fei stood up and said, "Don't do this. You're scaring Mr. Zhang."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang." Tang Ruijie immediately stood up straight and bowed slightly to Zhang Yiming to apologize. "I guess I scared you. I will be more careful next time."
Is there going to be a next time?
The veins in Zhang Yiming's temples were throbbing.
Liang Fei walked up to Tang Ruijie, waved for her to go back and sit down, and then he blocked the door himself.
Zhang Yiming: “…”
The office fell into silence. Zhang Yiming lowered his head and pushed his glasses up, then said to Liang Fei, "Boss Liang, is it necessary to make the atmosphere so awkward?"
Liang Fei sighed and said to Zhang Yiming, "Boss Zhang, don't act on impulse. Think about it carefully. There is definitely a chance of success. After all, you don't want to be led by Kuaishou, right?"
Zhang Yiming refuted: "If I am acquired by you, I will be led by you by the nose. I am still the boss of ByteDance and have a strategic partnership with Kuaishou. If Huoshan Video is really bought by you, I will only have Toutiao left."
"That's not the case. Mr. Zhang, your business is not just Toutiao."
Zhang Yiming was very annoyed: "Don't you understand what I'm saying? Speechless , I really shouldn't have let you in."
Liang Fei shrugged. Since he had already come in, there was no reason for him to leave.
"Mr. Zhang, please listen to my advice. There is no point in holding on like this. If I hadn't been distracted by NIO, Kuaishou would not have been my opponent. Now it seems that there is a situation of Kuaishou in the north and Douyin in the south. But once I deal with the affairs of NIO, its market share will continue to shrink. I'm sure you can see it."
"If by that time, Kuaishou can only be a small business, then what is the meaning of your Huoshan Video? I guess you won't even be able to recover your initial investment, right?"
Zhang Yiming frowned: "What do you mean?"
"Every trend will eventually pass, so we should plan ahead and also look to the more distant future."
Liang Fei smiled and said, "Let's work on your artificial intelligence research lab together. You can be fully responsible for this matter. Of course, the premise is that Huoshan Video is shut down and ByteDance joins Lightyear."
"I'll give you the position of independent director, and you will definitely have a high degree of freedom."
Zhang Yiming remained silent.
Liang Fei's voice was like the whisper of a demon from hell: "We are all working in the Internet industry. What we sell is not products but concepts. Once the capital chain is broken, even the largest companies will die. We are not Penguin and Ali, who have life-saving products to protect us. What do we have? We can be replaced by the market at any time and anywhere."
"Mr. Zhang, you don't want all your hard work over the years to go to waste, right?"
After a long time, the office door opened and Liang Fei walked out with a comfortable and happy look on his face.
The secretary who had been waiting outside looked into the room and saw Zhang Yiming with a deep gaze, his head lowered and silent, as if he was immersed in some indescribable state.
"What did you do to our General Manager Zhang?" the secretary was horrified.
"Oh, it's okay. Mr. Zhang is thinking about the future development of ByteDance."
Liang Fei patted the secretary on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You are a good kid, you know how to protect your master."
After watching Liang Fei leave, the secretary hurried into the office, poured a cup of hot tea for Zhang Yiming, and then asked with concern: "Mr. Zhang, are you okay?"
Zhang Yiming's thoughts were pulled back. He glanced at the secretary and said calmly, "You guessed right."
"What?"
"Liang Fei wants to acquire us."
The secretary looked at Zhang Yiming in embarrassment, and after thinking for a while, he said, " Mr. Zhang, this is no longer a secret. Many media have speculated on this."
Zhang Yiming looked at the secretary: "Did they figure out that Liang Fei wanted to eat us whole?"
The secretary was shocked.
Zhang Yiming's statement is a bit exaggerated. Liang Fei's idea for ByteDance is just like the way Penguin Technology invests: give money, hold controlling stakes, but do not interfere with its operations and development.
There are examples of random interference followed by rapid failure. There are countless failure cases on Ali's side. A startup company that was originally very good and promising came up with a little thing, which was taken a fancy to by Ali, who immediately bought it and replaced it with his own management.
Facts have proved that the Ali model is not well suited to local conditions. Their people go out and bring down one company at a time, without any ambiguity.
It is impossible for Liang Fei to do everything by himself. Every company has its own style. If he rashly sends someone to take over, the chance of getting a good result is very, very low.
After thinking so much, Liang Fei suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh my god, he hasn't agreed yet, why am I thinking so far?"
Tang Ruijie cheered Liang Fei up and seemed very confident: "Mr. Liang, due to the failure of the short video platform, ByteDance's funding from all aspects is shrinking, and some investors are ready to wait and see and stop giving money. They may still have ways to overcome the difficulties, but if they want to go further, there is no other way except to accept our investment holding."
"Zhang Yiming is an ambitious man, he will not easily accept control from others."
Liang Fei said to herself, "So at this time, personal charm will play a key role. Xiao Tang, I think this matter is settled. After all, no one is more charming than me."
Tang Ruijie may have thought of something and laughed.
Liang Fei put his hands in his pockets, leaned against the elevator and looked at Tang Ruijie strangely: "Boss Tang, what are you laughing at?"
Tang Ruijie immediately stopped laughing. Normally, Liang Fei called her Xiao Tang. When she was in a very good mood, she would call her Ruijie. But if she had bad intentions, she would call her Mr. Tang.
After leaving the ByteDance headquarters, Liang Fei continued to chatter: "Although my plan is very impressive and a bit unreasonable, as a dignified Internet giant, it is really boring that you don't even treat me to a meal and show your hospitality."
"Where's the car? The car?" Liang Fei was speechless. "I told you to park closer. We have to go back to discuss the next acquisition. Hey, what's that thing that focuses on young people's shopping? How are the early negotiations going?"
Liang Fei has arranged her work very fully recently, as if she wanted to finish everything in a very short time.
Du, which was later renamed Dewu, does not make much money, but can be combined with Douyin's short videos and operated as Lightyear Technology's own e-commerce platform in the future. The specific transformation will have to be finalized after the acquisition.
While waiting for the car to arrive, Liang Fei unhappily lit a cigarette, then suddenly smiled and said to Tang Ruijie, "Look, does that person look like Tang Xi? Sure enough, beautiful women are all similar. Not only do they have similar figures, but their faces are also very similar. Which hospital did she get her augmentations from? I'm really curious."
Tang Ruijie took a look and said, "Boss Liang, is it possible that it is Tang Xi?"
Liang Fei: “…”
Why did she suddenly come to the capital?
In a restaurant near Byte, Tang Ruijie sat at a table alone, looking at the small round table separated by a screen from time to time.
Tang Xi, who suddenly appeared in the capital, took a sip of the water cup, put it down and smiled at Liang Fei: "What a coincidence."
"It's quite a coincidence."
Liang Fei asked curiously: "What are you doing here? What was that in your hand just now?"
Tang Xi felt that it was unlikely that she could hide it from Liang Fei, so she replied, "It's a resume."
"CV??"
"Yes, I'm here to interview for a media position at ByteDance. I meet all the requirements and the interview result is also good." Tang Xi pursed her lips, then smiled at Liang Fei and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I will start work next month."
Liang Fei was stunned for a moment after hearing this: "Come to the capital to work?"
"Well, if possible, I will stay in the capital to develop in the future."
"No." Liang Fei denied it and asked Tang Xi, "Then what should I do?"
"But what shall I do?"
Tang Xi's face was full of embarrassment, but she didn't seem to blame Liang Fei at all: "Mom and Dad asked me every day why I didn't bring you home for dinner, and how far our relationship has progressed. I can't tell Liang Fei, I can only say that I want to develop in the capital, and I have to be separated from you temporarily..."
Liang Fei shook her head and said, "Who would believe this? Would a normal person leave a man worth hundreds of billions and travel thousands of miles away from home to work in a completely unfamiliar place? Why? Could it be for a dream?"
"I can't help it."
Tang Xi's voice was still gentle, and she whispered: "It can only be like this, Liang Fei, I still have the same belief as before, I don't regret following you, even if you can only spare a little time to accompany me, that's also good."
"Remember to come to the capital more often in the future, okay? Stop trying to persuade me."
Liang Fei took a deep breath: "Tang Ruijie!"
Tang Ruijie immediately ran over, took out the tablet from her bag, and opened a document: "Mr. Liang, you have three properties near Byte. I think this one is suitable for Miss Tang Xi. The area is suitable..."
"You are sick!"
Liang Fei shouted: "I asked you to book another plane ticket and bring her back to me!"
