Chapter 1462
Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
Respecting only the clothes and not the person is the norm in the world of fame and fortune.
Given Zhang Chaoyang's status and position, he is the object of admiration and respect at today's star-studded wedding.
Even strangers will show more respect when Sohu is mentioned.
In particular, Sohu has not completely declined and is still one of the four major portals.
Zhang Chaoyang is always fawned over wherever he goes; this is his normal life.
This is still based on external conditions; from the perspective of the product itself...
He graduated from the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University and went to MIT with a scholarship from the Tsung-Dao Lee Foundation for Sino-American Physics Research, where he pursued both a Master's and a PhD in Physics.
Physics is not like those humanities subjects; there are no discounts, only absolute intellectual superiority.
Later, Sohu was established, becoming the first company in China to establish an internet company using venture capital.
He also became MIT's liaison officer in the Asia-Pacific region, receiving both money and honors.
Of course, his role as an MIT liaison also allowed him to "recruit" a lot of physics talent from China and send them to North America.
Why did it prosper, and why did it decline?
After the company went public, it tried to break free from the control of Western shareholders, and only succeeded after paying a huge price, but also lost the support of Western companies.
This is one of the reasons for Sohu's decline.
This years-long effort to clear out shareholders also turned into a massive internal struggle, leaving Sohu exhausted and at a disadvantage in the competition for video platforms.
This also brought about another serious consequence: Zhang Chaoyang himself suffered from severe depression, and he is only slightly better now.
They were born with exceptional talents and high aspirations, but of course, their intelligence and education certainly qualify them to be so.
People with higher education levels are more prone to depression than those with lower education levels; the more they think, the more likely they are to become depressed.
Pride combined with depression made his personality increasingly eccentric.
Now, this person is sitting opposite him.
Zhang Yuan ordered a gin and tonic, while this man asked the bartender for a single malt whiskey.
“I noticed that Mr. Zhang has been staring at me ever since the ceremony.”
"I didn't expect myself to be so charming," Zhang Yuan joked.
"Let me make this clear first, I like women."
Zhang Chaoyang forced his mouth shut to prevent the wine from spitting out.
You mean I'm Gai...
Who knows? This guy never got married and almost never interacted with women.
"Just a little joke. Today is Xiao Fei's special day." Zhang Yuan felt a sense of satisfaction seeing the man's ferocious expression.
"I heard that you and Ms. Zhang Lan are very close and good friends."
"It's alright," he replied casually.
Most people would reply that the relationship is very good, but this person said it's okay, which is somewhat disrespectful.
"Since our relationship is still okay, what do you mean by doing this?"
Zhang Yuan raised his wine glass.
"What do you mean?" The man glanced at him sideways.
"I mean, the wedding was clearly announced long ago, and we were not going to give any media interviews."
"All guests are also prohibited from taking photos without permission, and especially from uploading them to the media."
Because they sold various copyrights, and these platforms also provided some sponsorship for the wedding.
For example, the S family chartered a plane from Taiwan, and the media paid for it.
The S family hired a Japanese wedding planning team, showing their continued fondness for Japanese culture.
The islanders arrived several days in advance, completely surrounding the area and making all hotel staff sign a pledge to prevent any leaks.
Security was also tight on site to prevent the media from sneaking in.
However, it is easy to dodge a spear in the open but difficult to guard against a hidden arrow.
Zhang Chaoyang, as a guest, or rather, a distinguished guest, came with his assistant.
It's perfectly reasonable for a big boss to bring an assistant when he goes out.
But this assistant was actually someone from Sohu Video's media department in disguise.
After coming in, I started snapping photos non-stop.
Not only did he take photos, but Zhang Chaoyang also posted them on Weibo even before the wedding was over, broadcasting them live with photos.
Meanwhile, the assistant will find the wedding video on Sohu Video to drive traffic to the platform.
Zhang Chaoyang is that kind of person; when he wants to do something, he doesn't consider other people's feelings.
He only cares about himself; what you think is your business.
Because of this, Wang Xiaofei and he had a huge argument, and Wang Xiaofei even threatened to sue him.
Besides the copyright issue, Barbie Hsu also lost her temper, feeling that Zhang Chaoyang had taken very ugly photos of her.
My older sister only cares about her image.
Boss Zhang took a picture of her true appearance—a long, narrow face with protruding ears—without editing it, which infuriated her.
Zhang Chaoyang later issued a "no apology statement," publicly stating that he had no problem, and that he simply took the photos.
The situation has become quite tense online, and everyone has had their fill of gossip.
In reality, the two families reconciled privately after Wang Xiaofei and Barbie Hsu divorced.
Later, Wang Xiaofei remarried, and this person passed away.
The second marriage was kept low-key, and was held in a private courtyard house in Beijing.
There's more to this house than meets the eye. The owner is Zhou Shouzi, the one who collaborated with Xiaomi and later went to Douyin.
He wasn't an employee of these companies; in fact, he was a representative of the investment group behind them.
This courtyard house is said to have once been a prince's mansion, covering an area of about 3700 square meters.
It's equivalent to Zhang Yuan's house minus the east and west courtyards.
Interestingly, after Barbie Hsu passed away, Zhang Lan kept trying to capitalize on the event's popularity through her live streams, which led to her being banned by Douyin.
They also blocked Wang Xiaofei's Douyin account.
Wang Xiaofei went crazy and blocked Zhou Shouzi in a Chinese entrepreneurs' group...
Then post this online.
He was actually just using his ex-wife's death to generate buzz and create a persona of a devoted lover.
The way this mother and daughter behave is indeed rather low-class.
They make a scene in the media again, making themselves seem incredibly powerful, and then they go off to apologize to someone in private.
Zhou Shouzi didn't hold it against him and even lent him the house to hold his wedding.
Who gets angry with an idiot...?
The situation is similar to Zhang Chaoyang's now.
“Respecting the family at the wedding is a matter of etiquette and obligation for the guests.” Zhang Yuan directly pointed out the other party’s ulterior motives.
"However, I'm not sure how close you are to their family."
"So, I'll keep it a secret for you."
Zhang Yuan made a sly gesture in front of his mouth: "Because of this, don't you owe me a small favor?"
Zhang Chaoyang was speechless. He'd only been sitting there a few minutes, and he already felt like he owed him something...
But I was also taken aback.
This guy has such a sharp eye; even the security guards on site didn't notice, but he did.
And they deliberately didn't publicize it, only telling me about it privately.
You old rascal, you're really wicked!
After putting a little pressure on the other party and taking the initiative in the conversation, Zhang Yuan drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.
"Mr. Zhang, let's repay this small favor now."
"Don't worry, I won't make any unreasonable demands."
"On such a joyous occasion, everyone comes to celebrate and have fun."
"How about we play a little game together?"
Do you know how to play cards?
Zhang Chaoyang sneered; talking about this made him wide awake.
This person read "Water Margin" since childhood, liked Zhang Qing the Featherless Arrow, and started practicing "throwing knives" when he was about 10 years old.
He didn't have a knife, so he used stones to chop down trees, and claimed that he mastered the skill of picking flowers and flying leaves in just one year.
You're a physics student...
“Okay,” the man replied, arms crossed.
Zhang Yuan nodded and called out to someone not far away.
"Brother Qian."
"What is it?" Yu Qian, who was drinking, ran over.
"No, I called the wrong name..." Zhang Yuan scratched his head.
"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for Qian'er who can do magic tricks."
Although Yu Qian can also perform magic tricks, after all, he can conjure up cell phones, swords, durians, and other magical items from behind his back...
But this is considered an ancient magic trick; he sought out someone who knows modern magic.
Liu Qian arrived shortly afterward.
"What is it?"
"Could I borrow some playing cards from you?"
"No way, he was soaked when he fell into the water... Hey!" The man said, snapping his fingers next to his ear.
"But you have one more here."
Zhang Yuan clapped his hands in a very accommodating manner.
This guy's it's a professional habit; he has to do it a few times whenever he has a spare moment.
“Let’s play Flying Cards.” Zhang Yuan took a deck of cards from the great magician and pointed to a fruit basket at the end of the long bar, which was filled with various tropical fruits.
Bananas, dragon fruit, oranges, coconuts... "Each person has three chances to see who can cut the fruit."
"The loser drinks..." Zhang Yuan turned his head and glanced at the bar: "How about some Ore de la Life?"
It's that famous Polish vodka, a mere 96 degrees...
"Wow, this is interesting!" the great magician exclaimed, trying to liven things up.
"Come on, I'll be the referee, it will be absolutely fair and impartial."
Zhang Yuan almost lost his composure upon hearing this; the person who claimed that magic tricks relied entirely on shills was being treated fairly and impartially…
"You are a senior, please let me pass." Zhang Yuan politely stepped aside.
"Try it a few times first."
"casual."
If Zhang Chaoyang's throwing knife skills were learned from childhood, they certainly weren't completely lost.
Throwing cards is a skill; it requires steadiness, accuracy, and ruthlessness. It not only requires strength but also technique, relying on wrist strength.
After flying more than ten times, this person began to hold their breath and concentrate.
With a whoosh!
With a flick of his wrist, a playing card flew vertically, hitting a bunch of bananas... and a coconut next to them.
The strength is okay, but the accuracy is lacking.
Then, it took off again with a sudden burst of speed.
With a soft "snap," the banana was hit this time, but the card bounced off.
The accuracy is good, but the power is not.
"You're very close!" Liu Qian encouraged from the side; he's a professional when it comes to throwing cards.
With the final blow, there was a soft "plop" sound as Zhang Chaoyang stood up and swung his arms.
The card was inserted steadily into the banana, about one centimeter deep.
"Wow, our CEO Zhang is amazing!"
"If you switch careers to magic, I'm afraid I'll be out of a job," Teacher Liu said, still radiating emotional warmth.
"You're too kind. I practiced when I was a kid. If it were marbles, I could hit them even more accurately..."
He was about to show off, but before he could even utter the word "accurate," he heard a piercing sound as a card with a perfect golden spin struck the banana he had just cut.
Zhang Yuan, standing next to him, blew on the two fingers he was using to throw the cards, striking a Western cowboy pose.
As he whistled, the banana on the other end snapped in two.
His opponent took three hits to land, but he interrupted it immediately.
It's not over yet!
There are two more chances.
He remained in his cowboy pose, pulled his hand from his lower back, and threw out a second card.
Zhang Chaoyang looked at it and saw that the fruit was fine.
Hehehe, missed...
Just as he was thinking that, he heard a "plop" sound.
A can of Coke placed not far from the bar was deeply embedded in its body with a playing card, and brown bubbles gushed out.
Metal cans are much harder than bananas.
Mr. Zhang's eyes widened in shock. If that happened to him, he'd be covered in bruises.
Just then, Zhang Yuan folded a card, like a paper airplane, making the head pointed.
He glanced at it briefly, then swung his upper arm, which in turn propelled his forearm, creating a gust of wind before striking.
This time, the movement was different. With a whoosh, it shot out like an arrow, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air.
A muffled rustling sound came from the end of the afterimage.
Zhang Yuan strode forward, but soon turned back.
He suddenly had a coconut with a pointed card stuck in it.
It is a coconut with its green skin peeled off, revealing the white interior.
Otherwise, no matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to peck through.
“Mr. Zhang, I’ve heard that coconut milk and vodka have a unique flavor.”
He "pulled" the card, found that it hadn't been pierced through, so he aimed at the spot and used his fingers to forcefully pry it open!
With a "plop," the water flowed through the hole, and the other person filled a cup with the coconut water that flowed out.
Zhang Chaoyang's eyes widened so much they almost fell into the cup.
If this were stuck in your body, it would be more than just bruises.
If that hand were to hit someone's head, it wouldn't look like a bowling ball anymore.
The skills he was so proud of, which he often used in games like darts at gatherings of entrepreneurs, seemed utterly childish in front of the other party today.
The difference between games and killing techniques.
Oh, right.
He makes action movies, so he must have trained.
I never expected to have practiced to this level.
"The bet we made earlier was a joke. This liquor is pretty strong, let's drink it together."
"I have a question I'd like to ask you while we're having a drink."
Zhang Yuan poured both of them cocktails made with a mixture of water of life and coconut water, borrowed a pen from the bartender, and took a tissue.
"When I was throwing the cards just now, I was thinking that the folded cards would pierce the coconut more deeply."
"But the results were not ideal."
"You are a PhD in physics from MIT. I would like to ask what caused this."
"It's because the feature area after folding is not good."
"It is the temperature in Sanya that affects the air density, resulting in insufficient lift coefficient."
"Or the breeze created by the dancing crowd around may have affected the lateral force coefficient."
"Or perhaps the angle of attack or the surface roughness of the playing card affects the aerodynamic coefficient."
As Zhang Yuan spoke, he wrote down the empty motion derivation formula of the card he had just played on a tissue and then pushed the tissue to Zhang Chaoyang.
Upon seeing this, Boss Zhang raised his eyebrows high.
The playing cards were randomly selected on the spot.
Moreover, it was something Liu Qian just casually picked up.
I'm not good at preparing in advance.
Even with advance preparation, the formula is still correct.
You can fool others, but you can't fool me...
Mr. Zhang's main focus in physics is electrodynamics, and he also has some knowledge of quantum mechanics and astrophysics.
Aerodynamics wasn't his specialty, but he knew a little about it.
Among global entrepreneurs, he is among the most knowledgeable in physics.
Amazon's founder, Bezos, also majored in physics.
However, after spending three hours calculating a partial differential equation without making any progress, he realized that he lacked talent.
It's important to know that people like Qian Xuesen and Yu Min could mentally calculate partial differential equations; that's the difference between people.
He understands that if he can't reach the top 50 globally in theoretical physics, then all his efforts will be wasted.
He then switched to electrical engineering, which laid a foundation for his future work at Amazon.
You either know how to do it or you don't; you can stay up all night and still not learn.
Zhang Chaoyang's favorite thing to do is to pick up any object while eating or playing and start analyzing its physical properties. He starts with the mass-energy equivalence equation and the physical properties of electrons, and comes up with a bunch of difficult derivations, which draws cheers from those around him.
With his intelligence and ability, if he had continued down the research path, he would already be a professor at a top university.
If you're lucky enough, and pull some strings, you might be able to become an honorary academician before or after retirement.
Because he was knowledgeable, he understood that Zhang Yuan wasn't just bluffing.
No...you're really good at this!
He can understand it, but he's not good at aerodynamics, so he can't open his mouth very easily.
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation in his life, being openly humiliated in his physics knowledge.
"This is a very complex issue, and we don't have time to discuss it in detail today."
He couldn't give an answer on the spot, and he wasn't in the mood either.
At first, I was just watching with a skeptical attitude, wanting to see what tricks this kid could pull.
He hadn't expected any of these tricks.
Throwing knives and knowledge of physics are his two strengths, and they are similar to the kind of "strengths" that Yu Wang Feide possesses, such as playing mahjong.
You said I'm not very good at business, but I won't hold it against you.
You say I'm bad at throwing knives and don't understand physics? Well then, I'll have to have a word with you about that.
A profession can't compare to one's passion.
Zhang Yuan was targeting his preferences.
I'm going to take down the elite!
He did this to make the other party feel frustrated.
In terms of martial arts, I am stronger than you.
I can also write papers.
Confident and arrogant.
No problem, let's start by undermining your confidence.
"Alright, let's discuss this privately sometime."
"I am very interested in physics and have been studying it on my own."
Zhang Chaoyang: ...
I was given a physics lesson by an actor.
He was taught a lesson by someone he looked down upon most—a member of the entertainment industry with low cultural level and a sycophantic personality.
The lesson is called: Don't judge a book by its cover. (End of Chapter)