Chapter 1455
2D
Unlike his first trip to Tudou, when Zhang Yuan's car stopped in front of the office building in the YP district of Shanghai, a young woman was already waiting for him.
"Ahhhh!"
As soon as he got out of the car, he was greeted by a trembling scream.
The woman in front of him covered her mouth with both hands and hopped forward.
Zhang Yuan was startled and almost got back into the car.
"Don't panic." He stopped Brother Long, telling him not to make a move.
"fan."
Seeing that the other person seemed unable to speak, Zhang Yuan quickly stepped forward to comfort him.
Hello, it's nice to meet you.
"Ahhhhh..." all that was given in return was another scream.
"Don't be nervous, I have something to ask you."
"Are you the person the company sent to pick me up?"
"Ah...right, right, I'm sorry, I got too excited and forgot, I'm so sorry, so sorry." Only after being reminded did this person remember that they still had work to do.
"It's alright, you take me up first."
"How about I talk to you alone in a bit?"
"Um……"
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Fans can be divided into several levels, and those who get this excited are basically die-hard fans.
Zhang Yuan immediately understood that this person was someone who would spend money on him.
She's the kind of person who buys luxury goods endorsed by Zhang Yuan, regardless of whether she likes them or whether she needs them, just to support her idol.
We must not be polite to those who provide us with food and clothing.
After going upstairs, I was led to a small meeting room.
The young lady ran off to call for someone, then immediately returned to make him tea and get him some snacks.
Zhang Yuan smiled and pulled her over for a photo and autograph. He always finished his appointment before greeting the other person who had come.
"Don't blame her, everyone has a good side."
"I'll take full responsibility for any neglect."
"No, no, your presence is a great honor. We warmly welcome you and would never blame you."
The older of the two spoke first.
There were two people in total. One was actually in his early thirties, but looked over forty because of his high hairline.
The other one was in his early twenties, but looked like he was only a teenager who had just entered university.
"Hello, Mr. Xu and Mr. Chen."
These two were the very people who later became prominent figures.
The young Xu Yi is the founder of Bilibili.
The older Chen Rui is an angel investor in Bilibili.
The two were very warm and polite from the moment they met.
His celebrity status only accounts for 2% of his appeal; his face works well for women, but not so well for these two tech geeks.
Just like back then, he was already a movie star, but Wang Wei didn't take him seriously.
Today, people take him seriously, and 8% of the credit goes to Jun'er.
That's Lei Jun.
He contacted Jun'er in advance and asked him to put in a good word for him.
This Mr. Chen Rui is not only an angel investor in Bilibili, but also the founder of Cheetah Mobile.
Cheetah Mobile was originally called Kingsoft Networks.
It was formed by the merger of Beike Security and Keniu Imaging, which he co-founded with Meituan founder Wang Xin a few years ago.
The reason it was acquired by Kingsoft is because it originated from Kingsoft.
This person was a founding member of Kingsoft Antivirus, so he started making his own antivirus software after leaving the company.
Lei Jun was one of the founders of Kingsoft Antivirus.
After graduating from university, he joined Kingsoft and followed Jun'er ever since. He was Jun'er's designated technical assistant, a close associate, and one of the first members of the cadre training program that Jun'er organized within Kingsoft.
In private, this man used to call Jun'er "Master," "Teacher," and "Big Brother."
With Jun'er as a stepping stone, people weren't exactly enthusiastic.
The hardest part of anything is getting started, especially in many industries with high barriers to entry.
Now that he has one foot in the door and wants to come in and take a look, people will immediately come to greet him.
Jun'er said he is an investor in his company and is now interested in your website.
The other party learned two things after hearing this.
One of them was introduced by my master, so he's generally reliable and not some quack.
Secondly, the fact that they can invest in Jun'er shows that they have money.
Talking about anything always starts with chatting.
Let's chat first.
His chosen entry point was the world of anime and manga.
Both of them like anime and manga content; otherwise, Chen Rui wouldn't have invested in this website.
Because at that time, the most popular anime-themed bullet screen website was not Bilibili.
It is the more well-known A-site, which is also the first bullet screen video website in China.
Ultimately, AcFun isn't an original content site either.
Just like how Youku is imitating YouTube.
A-site is imitating Xiao Rizi's Nico Nico Douga.
This is also one of the origins of the name format of Bilibili (B站), which is based on repetition of words.
Of course, more importantly, the founder, Xu Yi, is a fan of Misaka Mikoto, one of the female protagonists of the hugely popular manga "A Certain Magical Index" and its derivative work "A Certain Scientific Railgun," whose nickname is Bilibili.
Many children may not know about this, nor may they have seen an electromagnetic railgun.
Furthermore, Bilibili wasn't originally called Bilibili; it was called Mikufans.
Xu Yi was a die-hard fan of Hatsune Miku before he became a fan of Misaka Mikoto; he's a long-time anime and manga enthusiast.
These are all tears of the times.
Back then, countless otaku cried and begged to marry Hatsune Miku.
Xu Yi was originally a long-time user of AcFun (A-site) and belonged to the first generation of professional anime and manga enthusiasts on the Chinese internet.
So why did he build his own website?
It's fair to say that AcFun is really useless, which is something many veteran anime fans regret.
In later generations, when people talk about bullet screen websites, who still mentions AcFun (A-site)?
The decline of AcFun is not a pity; in short, it was self-destructive.
The reason is simple, just two words: internal strife.
The details are complicated, but in short, the founding team and management team of AcFun (A站) got into a fight.
The focus of work became daily brawls, seeing who could dominate whom. No one cared about technology or service. The servers frequently crashed and malfunctioned, often requiring large-scale rollbacks.
This caused long-time users to waste months of hard work.
In addition, there were various problematic videos and articles being reposted. Only those who lived through that era truly understand how biased the people in the early copying and political commentary sections were.
Because of this, they were blacklisted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and could not obtain a network audio-visual license or access operators.
Just delete the problematic content; proper management is all that's needed.
They're too busy fighting amongst themselves to care.
Xu Yi, a well-known user, founded Bilibili at this time, initially as a backup for AcFun to prevent frequent rollbacks.
At first, I was ridiculed and looked down upon.
However, A-site had too many problems, so people began to migrate.
With Chen Rui's involvement, its operations became more standardized.
Passion alone is not enough to manage a large company, which is why Zhang Yuan didn't come sooner and instead took over Bilibili from the beginning.
I neither know how nor have the energy to manage Bilibili on the front lines.
Now they already have two mascot girls, 22 and 33, and Chen Rui has also introduced several people from the Kingsoft system to help with the technology and operations.
A few years later, after Cheetah Mobile went public, he cashed out and left, becoming the person in charge at Bilibili.
This person is truly in love.
After many ups and downs, AcFun was eventually acquired by Youku and then incorporated into Alibaba's business empire.
The end result was that after being completely exploited, they were thoroughly reformed by parachuted personnel from the Alibaba system and, as expected, destroyed.
But it also left behind a "legacy".
After undergoing rectification, A-site shifted to the game live streaming sector, but eventually its staff and technology left, becoming the later Douyu.
Anyway, when you look at the big picture on the internet, you can't escape the influence of just a few giants.
Compared to BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), Kingsoft is relatively low-key, but it has produced a considerable number of talented individuals, making it a prime example of a diverse and highly capable organization.
Bilibili would never have achieved its current success without the support of Kingsoft.
The two company leaders have different preferences.
Founder Xu Yi is a fan of Japanese anime and manga, while investor Chen Rui prefers Western anime and manga, such as Transformers.
This is a good conversation starter; we can talk about things that interest everyone.
After all, Zhang Yuan had watched quite a few Japanese anime, specifically mainstream anime.
It's even easier in Europe and America. Chen Rui likes Transformers, and he even acted in a Hasbro movie.
I promised to get him a life-size Optimus Prime when I go filming overseas next time.
At this time, Bilibili was still a small-scale operation, with about 200,000 to 300,000 monthly active users. In terms of staff, there were fewer than 20 people in total.
The two had been discussing this for a while. Xu Yi wanted Chen Rui to help him manage the company and needed Chen Rui's connections to help attract investment.
Bilibili's user explosion occurred 13 years later, rising from less than a million to tens of millions in just one year.
When they mentioned needing funding, people started actively seeking it out!
That's not a good thing.
He was introduced by an acquaintance and has money.
What else is there to say?
Let's discuss the Series A funding directly.
In the angel round, Chen Rui invested $100 million, which stabilized the website.
The number needed next will be much larger, and it is for expansion.
“Mr. Zhang, after our conversation, we understand that you have a great interest in the website.”
After all, Zhang Yuan talked about everything from Dragon Warrior, Let's & Go!!, Tekkaman Blade, Ronin Warriors, Tenchi Muyo!, all the way up to Gundam 00, Code Geass, the three major shonen manga, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
They were practically about to unleash a Specium Ray on Xu Yi.
"But I'm not sure if you have any experience in website operation."
"I am still a shareholder of Youku."
"Oh..." The two of them understood.
This isn't their first time investing in the internet sector.
"Because I have investment experience and have succeeded, I can see that your website has potential, but also great risks."
"Sorry, I'm a bit blunt."
"it's okay no problem."
"But I believe that risk also presents opportunity."
"We must face danger with a smile; how can we stand still?"
“I will travel through time and space, and do my utmost to come to you…” Xu Yi automatically continued the poem.
Zhang Yuan scratched his head. He usually spent too much time chatting about business, so he always felt a bit neurotic here.
"And you might not know this, but I also do cosplay."
"Really?" Xu Yi perked up.
Someone who looks like you, doing cosplay?
Zhang Yuan nodded, "That's right."
He often has women cosplay, and then he plays along.
“I know you might be wondering how much money I plan to invest.”
"But as I said, I have experience in internet investment."
"So you should be the ones giving me the proposal and telling me how much money I want and how much I'm willing to pay."
“I think 500 million US dollars…” Xu Yi opened his mouth anxiously, but Chen Rui quickly stopped him.
"This...we need to discuss this carefully."
"Of course." Zhang Yuan didn't react much, answering quite calmly.
"But let's not even mention a figure like 500 million US dollars."
Chen Rui glanced at Xu Yi again and said, "Can you leave this to me from now on? You're too incompetent."
If it all comes out at once, how can we play anymore?
They're sure to try and lower the price.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuan's idea was exactly the opposite of theirs.
"This number is too small, it's meaningless."
"Huh?" they both exclaimed in unison.
Chen Rui thought about it and agreed!
No wonder my older brother introduced him; he's bound to be rich and powerful.
"Think carefully about what the maximum price you are willing to pay."
"Let's discuss another number."
“I think we can all be bolder.”
"Since I'm here, I've come with sincerity."
He grinned, revealing his fangs.
A giant with a future market value of 3000 billion, the most powerful platform outside of the four major video websites, if it doesn't take a big bite, how will I support myself in my old age?
In addition, it has been a great help to my career.
Make the other party want to participate and create a detailed financing plan.
He wasn't in a hurry. Bilibili was still a fledgling company, and not many people were optimistic about it, let alone trying to take it over.
The annual New Year's greeting festival has not yet been established; it is still in the planning stage.
Everything has just begun.
After leaving the other party's company, I checked into a hotel.
As soon as he put down his luggage, Brother Long came to his side with his phone.
"Boss, there's new information."
"What new information?"
"From Fengxing Studio."
He sat up straight and listened attentively.
"Go ahead."
"Those of us who were watching noticed that the people from Fengxing Studio were traveling all over the world after resuming work."
"I've been all over the country."
"Hengdian, Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Northeast China, Taiwan..."
"He traveled all over China."
"Tourism?" He didn't understand.
"I don't think so. Look at this."
He took out a document.
"This shows the exact location that the other party's members went to."
"Peach Blossom Island in Zhejiang, Guiyang, Foshan, Songjiang..."
"What's the problem?"
"Oh, I think I've been to all of these places before."
"It seems I've been traveling quite a bit over the years filming."
Zhang Yuan was fanning himself with the documents, about to reminisce about the past, when he saw Brother Long nod at him.
He frowned, realizing what was happening.
"I've been to all of these places!"
He picked up the document again and looked at it carefully, and found an address.
It's common for filming to take place in places like Hengdian, Shanghai Film City, and Beijing, so it's normal for the other party to go there.
"Ganzi County, Kangding City..."
But this address is not normal.
Because it is located in the area of Mount Gongga, which is also the filming location for the snow mountain in the movie "A Deadly Secret".
This place almost killed me while filming; very few other film crews go there.
“I’m visiting the places I’ve been.” His fingers tapped incessantly on the armrest of his chair.
What are they going to do?
"Is it a coincidence, or is it targeting me?"
It seems the lesson we learned last time wasn't enough!
The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and the other party felt it was okay again.
He hoped that wasn't the case.
After all, getting dog skin plasters on your skin is really annoying.
However, Zhuo Wei is different from others; he is truly no ordinary person.
"Keep an eye on it."
He looked worried.
"We cannot hastily conclude that the other party is definitely targeting me."
"If not, then we might easily cause trouble if we act rashly."
Brother Long neither nodded nor shook his head, but continued to speak.
"There's one more message."
“A friend discovered that Zhuo Wei kept a low profile and didn’t take on outside jobs.”
"Yes, he should be responsible for copywriting and rarely does fieldwork."
"But he recently went to see someone."
"Our people took a picture of it."
Brother Long took out another envelope.
He took it, pulled out the photo, and then squinted.
Besides Zhuo Wei, who has a round face and thinning hair, there is also a middle-aged man with a big nose and wide cheeks wearing a white baseball cap in the photo.
Zhang Weiping… (End of Chapter)