Chapter 611 - 437: Nostalgia for the Summer of 2013

Early the next day, Zhou Hongyi publicly announced that 360’s search market share had surpassed 15%, ranking third in the industry behind only Lingxi and Qian Du.

Their rank had dropped, but their market share had risen.

Netizens had been curious about Lingxi and Qian Du’s market shares, and CNZZ soon followed up by releasing its monitoring data.

Qian Du: 43.9%, Lingxi: 21.3%, 360 Search: 15.1%, Sogou: 7.7%, Penguin: 1.6%. Compared to before the war began, Qian Du Search’s market share had plummeted by over 20%.

Senlian Capital and 360’s methods were the most ruthless. They not only poached business but also went after Qian Du’s advertising agents, causing its revenue to plummet.

Although Sogou and Penguin hadn’t contributed much to the fight, they took advantage of the situation to reap considerable benefits, and both saw a small increase in their market share.

With Qian Du repeatedly losing ground in its core business areas, its investors were full of complaints. Some shareholders stuck with depreciated stock were even less polite, directly @’ing Li Yanhong on social media and cursing him out by name.

"FUCK YOU! GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!"

"Instead of focusing on your perfectly good search business, you just had to provoke Senlian Capital. It’d be one thing if you could actually win, but do you even have the strength for that?"

"You take my money to fund your food delivery, Group Buy, and ride-hailing projects? You son of a bitch, you’re spending your old man’s hard-earned cash!"

Li Yanhong took the abuse but didn’t dare to talk back.

After all, Qian Du had indeed lost market share, its O2O strategy was showing no signs of life, and it had caused its investors to lose money.

But once the bow is drawn, there is no turning back. The competition between Qian Du and Senlian Capital continued.

Zhang Yiming took Qian Du’s products—like its Q&A, encyclopedia, and forums—and replicated them one by one, with the express purpose of replacing them.

Zhou Hongyi, naturally, was even less courteous. He simply copied Qian Du’s content and pasted it directly into 360 Search.

Li Yanhong was so furious he erupted in curses and immediately had his legal department sue both Senlian Capital and 360.

But as he himself had once said, the Spirit of the internet was to be free and shared.

Aside from giving Qian Du a slight edge in public opinion, the lawsuit posed no real threat to Chen Yansen and Zhou Hongyi.

What successful company didn’t have thousands of lawsuits against it?

’You think we’re scared of you?’

As a result, as soon as CNZZ’s industry data was published, Qian Du Network’s stock price plummeted.

Investors across the ocean cursed up a storm, damning eighteen generations of Li Yanhong’s ancestors.

Immediately after, news that Kuai Pao Maicai was entering the South China Market spread like wildfire.

By this point, Kuai Pao’s food delivery, Group Buy, and grocery businesses covered more than half of Hua Country.

While competing with Gong Zhenbing, Wang Zhongpu, and Xiang Hailong, Pei Yi never slowed the pace of expansion. His team grew larger and larger, and the number of employees swelled.

Half an hour later, the mini-comedy *Unexpectedly*, jointly produced by Douyin and Wanhe Tianyi, officially premiered.

In other words, Douyin had adjusted its short video limit from the original 15 seconds to a maximum of 15 minutes. This change greatly expanded the creative freedom for its creators.

"Hello everyone, my name is Wang Da Chui. I once won the award for ’Most Perfectly Peeled Mantis Shrimp’ in the Central Plains Region. Aren’t you in awe of me?"

"I have no regrets in my life. When I think back to that afternoon, running into the sunset... that was my lost youth."

"Before long, I’ll get a promotion and a raise, become a general manager, be appointed CEO, marry a beautiful, rich woman, and reach the pinnacle of life. I get a little excited just thinking about it."

*Unexpectedly* and short videos seemed like a match made in heaven. With just two episodes released, it garnered over 10 million views and 1 million likes in a mere half-hour.

Wanhe Tianyi had originally planned to partner with Youku, but the terms Liang Bo offered were too generous. Coupled with Mimo’s overseas influence, they weighed their options and ultimately chose Douyin.

This style of goofy, comedic short was perfect for product placement and could drive huge traffic to products like Kuai Pao, Fast Taxi, Gaode, and the Lingxi Browser.

On the last day of mid-June, *Unexpectedly* and Douyin would go on to become a cherished memory for countless people.

At the same time, the viral internet song "The Fox" exploded in popularity, and a flood of cover and lip-sync videos appeared on Douyin and Mimo.

*Tiny Times*’ box office surpassed 400 million.

*So Young*’s box office surpassed 700 million.

The Han Han-directed film *The Continent* entered its preparation phase.

Penguin Video secured the exclusive NBA broadcasting rights.

Momo’s user base surpassed 80 million.

Changba’s user base broke 100 million.

The summer of 2013 grew increasingly bustling with the arrival of the mobile internet era, and the sharing economy began to flourish.

Meanwhile, Wang Xin, along with Wang Huiwen, Shen Peng, and others, left the Meituan Headquarters, bidding a final farewell to the Group Buy industry.

That same day, they walked into an office building in Yanjing and put up a sign: "Group Buy Loans."

As the name suggested, it was the Group Buy site of the P2P world.

Groups of two, three, or more could apply for a loan together and receive a lower interest rate.

...

...

♫ We don’t talk anymore, I hope you don’t mind

♫ If there’s blame to be placed, it’s that we never got together

♫ And you seem happy with how things are now, so there’s no reason for me to stay...

Chen Yansen sat in the back of the Gusteau, scrolling through Douyin. Compared to Mimo, the content was relatively tame, nothing like it would be a decade later, with cringey videos every three seconds and suggestive content every five.

This year, everything was bursting with vitality, and the economy was developing at breakneck speed.

College graduates could easily find jobs right after graduation. Interviews came with travel reimbursement, new hires received welcome packages, and switching jobs could easily net you a raise of 30% or more.

The entrepreneurial army was vast and mighty. Everyone believed they could buy a car in three years, a house in five, and make millions within a decade.

’Suggestive content?’

’Even a dog wouldn’t stoop that low!’

A short while later, the car stopped at the Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park. Chen Yansen got out and walked toward the office building.