After the pleasantries, the group politely deferred to one another and took their seats. Chen Yansen observed Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi with great interest. Who would have thought that a few years later, these two would be trading barbs on Weibo over the mobile phone business, even escalating to the point of arranging a "fight" at Chaoyang Park?
Though the actual fight never happened, Lei Jun's move of sending Li Wanqiang to scout the opponent's position was still exposed.
As Chen Yansen studied Zhou Hongyi, Old Zhou was also squinting at him.
Old Zhou's face was expressionless, but his eyes held a subtle hostility. Nowadays, the mere mention of the word "Penguin" made him angry, and since FoxTao was backed by Tencent, they were his natural adversaries.
If Lei Jun weren't present, he might have already lost his temper.
"President Chen, Amazon's new channel director is an old colleague of mine. I've already spoken to him. Tomorrow, your company's sales team responsible for channel expansion can contact him directly," Lei Jun said, showing his sincerity as soon as he sat down.
He was the founder of Joyo.com, which he had sold to Amazon seven years ago. Most of the employees were transferred to Amazon at the time, so the "old colleague" he mentioned was likely a former subordinate.
"Thank you, Mr. Lei," Chen Yansen replied with a faint smile, offering polite thanks.
At this point, FoxTao had already attracted over 40 B2C websites of various types, and its need for Amazon wasn't as urgent as it had been earlier.
Even without Lei Jun's introduction, Amazon would have proactively approached FoxTao for cooperation after the new director took office—after all, competitors had already joined, and not joining would mean losing market share.
"Chen Nian from Vancl is also an old friend of mine. He'll arrive a bit later," Lei Jun added quickly upon seeing Chen Yansen's lukewarm reaction.
Another unlucky soul! Chen Yansen chuckled inwardly. He remembered clearly that in 2011, with Lei Jun's and investors' support, Vancl had set a revenue target of 10 billion yuan but achieved only one-third of that. Not only did its valuation shrink significantly, but it also ended up with 2 billion yuan worth of inventory piled in warehouses, taking a full five years to recover from the losses.
However, clearing inventory always comes at a price—Vancl's brand value plummeted, turning it into a common, mass-market product.
It wasn't until over a decade later, after Lei Jun successfully ventured into car manufacturing, that Chen Nian regained some popularity.
Thinking this, Chen Yansen looked at Lei Jun and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Boss Lei is truly loyal to his friends. Chen Nian lost him a hundred million dollars, yet they didn't fall out. If it were me, anyone daring to lose that much of my money wouldn't just get a broken leg…
"Yuncheng, brief President Lei on FoxTao's current situation," Chen Yansen nodded, signaling Song Yuncheng to handle the brand promotion.
"No rush. Let's just eat and chat today. We can discuss the details at my company tomorrow," Lei Jun waved a hand.
While outsiders couldn't obtain FoxTao's most accurate data on daily active users, orders, and sales, they could make rough estimates.
Compared to FoxTao, Lei Jun was more interested in Chen Yansen himself.
A previously overlooked e-commerce platform had been transformed into a thriving success, offering everything from brand flash sales and group buying to brand marketing.
When Chen Yansen called yesterday, he seized the opportunity to propose a game co-promotion partnership with Xiaomi using a CPS and CPA revenue-sharing model, which greatly impressed Lei Jun.
If FoxTao's valuation hadn't already exceeded 2.8 billion, he might have tried to recruit Chen Yansen into Xiaomi's marketing department.
Just then, Chen Nian walked in, beaming with pride, accompanied by his female assistant.
At the end of last year, Vancl had completed a $100 million Series E funding round, valuing the company at over $1 billion—making it a certified unicorn.
This was Vancl's peak moment, and also Chen Nian's.
Hearing that Lei Jun wanted to introduce him to a new friend and learning it was the founder of FoxTao—precisely the external traffic channel he desperately needed—Chen Nian was eager. With a 10 billion yuan revenue target already announced, achieving it required significant improvements in both traffic and product development.
"You're here. Sit next to President Chen. Let me introduce you: this is Chen Nian from Vancl, and this is Chen Yansen from FoxTao." Lei Jun stood up to make the introductions.
"President Chen, it's an honor to meet you!"
"President Chen, you're young and promising!"
The two shook hands with smiles, though Chen Nian harbored a hint of arrogance.
In Chen Nian's view, building one's own platform was the right path. A traffic diversion platform like FoxTao had a predictable ceiling and limited future.
Zhou Hongyi watched coldly. He and Lei Jun had another agenda: 360 was seeking an IPO, and Lei Jun had experience in this area. He was here to seek advice.
Since Lei Jun said they were only eating today, they avoided other topics, casually sharing opinions on the domestic economic situation instead.
They had thought Chen Yansen was too young to contribute much to such discussions, but his opening remarks shocked them. For a moment, it felt like they were chatting with a seasoned business veteran.
After listening for a while, Zhou Hongyi scoffed at Chen Yansen's words and suddenly steered the conversation to his own industry: "President Chen, what do you think is the future of internet security services?"
Chen Yansen glanced at him, knowing this guy was up to no good, and chuckled before uttering two words: "It will die."
Zhou Hongyi's face instantly froze. 360's main business was PC management and antivirus software—Chen Yansen's words were essentially declaring 360 doomed.
"Bullshit!" Zhou Hongyi snorted coldly, outright swearing.
"Old Zhou, watch your language!" Lei Jun frowned. He had organized this dinner, and Chen Yansen was his guest. Zhou Hongyi's words showed neither respect for Chen Yansen nor regard for him.
"Alright, President Chen, I spoke without thinking. Just pretend you didn't hear it." Seeing Lei Jun's displeasure and remembering he needed a favor, Zhou Hongyi softened his tone perfunctorily.
"President Chen, don't take Old Zhou to heart. He's just rough around the edges." Lei Jun glared at Zhou Hongyi, then smiled, trying to smooth things over.
"Some people can't handle the truth. What can we do? Industry trends won't change just because some people refuse to accept them." Chen Yansen grinned, completely disregarding Zhou Hongyi.
His demeanor, however, piqued Lei Jun's interest. "Why don't you explain in detail, so Old Zhou doesn't think you're targeting him?"
"First, Microsoft has included Windows Defender in the system since Windows 7. Although it only provides basic virus protection, it's enough for most people's daily use, reducing computer users' reliance on third-party antivirus software. Perhaps Microsoft will include more powerful antivirus features in the next version."
Lei Jun's brow relaxed upon hearing this, realizing Microsoft's move would indeed impact domestic security service products.
Zhou Hongyi knew Microsoft had this in mind but hadn't taken it seriously before. Chen Yansen's mention made his heart skip a beat.
"Second, mobile phones are entering the era of large screens. The closed systems of mobile devices, coupled with app store review mechanisms, will inevitably lead to a sharp decrease in viruses. No one will install antivirus software on their phones if it affects smooth usage…"
Chen Yansen continued.
When smartphones first emerged, RAM was limited, and most people wouldn't waste precious memory on antivirus software.
As smartphones gained more RAM, people grew accustomed to life without antivirus software.
If phones worked fine without it, why bother installing it?
A decade or so later, the antivirus software market would be largely dominated by enterprise users.
"Does President Chen believe mobile devices will replace computers?" Lei Jun asked curiously.
This aligned with his own view—it was precisely by recognizing the development opportunities in the mobile communications industry that he decided to found Xiaomi.
"An inevitable trend," Chen Yansen said confidently.
Seeing his optimism about the mobile phone industry, Lei Jun smiled and invited him to visit Xiaomi's R&D studio the next day.
Chen Yansen readily agreed.
Afterward, the group began drinking and chatting. As entrepreneurs, they were all heavy drinkers.
Before long, Lei Jun was flushed. He took out cigarettes, passed them around, and lit one for himself, taking a deep puff.
Chen Yansen shook his head and declined—he drank but never smoked. The few packs of cigarettes in his car were solely for business occasions.
Two hours later, everyone was satisfied, and the gathering ended.
Before leaving, Chen Nian had his assistant take down Song Yuncheng's phone number for future communication and cooperation.
Chen Yansen waved goodbye to Lei Jun, confirmed their meeting for the next day, then got into his car and had the driver take him directly back to the hotel.
After Chen Yansen's car drove away, Lei Jun looked at Li Wanqiang and asked, "What do you think?"
"Anyone who can build a company valued over a billion is no ordinary person." Li Wanqiang felt this keenly—he had observed the entire evening.
If it were him, dining with a group of billionaires at under twenty, he wouldn't have felt as comfortable and at ease as Chen Yansen.
"We can discuss the game co-promotion. I heard from people at Shunwei Capital that before the New Year, FoxTao was attracting 400,000 new customers daily. Even if only 1% of those users visit the promotion page—not counting returning customers—that's still over a million visits per month, which would alleviate a lot of pressure for us." Lei Jun patted Li Wanqiang's shoulder with a smile.
"Giving up some profits is acceptable." Li Wanqiang grinned and nodded in agreement.
"Old Lei, do you really believe that kid that much?" Zhou Hongyi questioned, somewhat unconvinced.
In his view, Chen Yansen's analysis was nothing but wild speculation—how could a mere kid predict the future direction of the industry?
"I only believe half of it—that mobile terminals will likely become mainstream," Lei Jun said confidently.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Chen Yansen sat on the sofa by the window, deep in thought.
Tonight's dinner wasn't a waste—at least it brought two B2C platforms to FoxTao. Tomorrow's visit would also allow him to gain a deeper understanding of the mobile phone R&D and manufacturing process. If it wasn't too difficult, he might even consider competing with Lei Jun in the mobile phone field.
As for Zhou Hongyi, he didn't take him seriously at all. Even without his interference, Zhou Hongyi would eventually paint himself into a corner.
Over a decade later, when Zhou Hongyi met Pony Ma again, he'd still be teased for "turning into a streamer." To the once-billionaire Zhou, this was a direct mockery, a blatant insult.
Chen Yansen picked up the water glass on the coffee table and took a large gulp.
The northern climate was dry, and after drinking, he felt even thirstier. At the same time, he was extremely irritable.
Through the reflection in the glass, Chen Yansen could see Song Yuncheng's every move. She was half-crouched in front of the sofa, her pale fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard, clearly still adjusting materials for tomorrow's meeting, afraid that even the slightest oversight would cause the cooperation to fail.
A strand of Song Yuncheng's hair clung to the corner of her mouth, and her pure white trousers hugged her round, firm buttocks—a sight that only fueled Chen Yansen's irritation.