Chapter 230: Social Media

"Who's the biggest winner in this chip shortage? It's Fanghuan Investment!"
The executive said in a deep voice,
"Their shipping business not only made a fortune, but Fanghuan's Bitcoin exchange has also jumped to number one in the world!
Furthermore, those streaming platforms that were preparing to challenge Netflix didn't even have a chance to go live due to server problems; they all collapsed one by one.
Looking at it this way, isn't it obvious that this was all Fanghuan Investment's doing?"
These words caused a stir in the room!
"You mean... Su Hao deliberately pushed things to this point?"
"That's right! He was applying maximum pressure, squeezing every last drop of profit out of them, and then, just before the pot was about to explode, he leisurely pulled Xia Lian Group, the 'fire extinguisher,' into his fold!
This operation is simply extracting profits to the absolute limit!"
Hiss—
Everyone in the conference room gasped, feeling a chill rise from the soles of their feet.
This Su Hao... he's practically a monster born to maximize profits!
In terms of ruthless exploitation, there's probably no one else in the world who can rival him.
"Moreover, in the long run, this cooperation with Xia Lian might not be a bad thing for us."
The executive continued his analysis, "We can divert the orders we can't handle to them, using that to control them."
"You mean, we'll secure our position as the market leader, but treat Xia Lian as an 'outsourced factory'?"
Qin Han immediately understood.
This operation was like supporting a branch restaurant with similar flavors right next to his thriving business.
Xia Lian would survive by processing Jiang Jin's "leftovers," while simultaneously helping to stabilize the market.
And how much to feed them, and how to feed them, was entirely in Jiang Jin's hands.
"So… I should actually thank Su Hao?" Qin Han's expression was somewhat complicated.
“Yes, Chairman. Su Hao not only helped us weather this crisis, but in the long run, he also helped us stabilize the market landscape.
Incidentally, he also put a leash on the Xia Lian Group that we can tighten at any time.
This triple-killing, no, multi-pronged approach… it’s simply divine!”
Qin Han leaned back slowly in his chair.
When he first heard about the proposed alliance with the Xia Lian Group, he had actually been skeptical of Su Hao.
But every step Su Hao took was likely meticulously planned, with ten, even a hundred steps ahead.
He had only seen the immediate, petty gains, failing to grasp the intricate, interconnected scheme behind it all.
Huang Fengwen always said Su Hao’s “vision” was different, and Qin Han had previously been somewhat unconvinced.
Now it seemed… damn it, Huang Fengwen was far too modest!
‘If I had rejected that proposal back then…’
The thought sent a chill down Qin Han’s spine.
Given Su Hao's treacherous nature, he might say "it's okay," but who knows how many elaborate forms of torture that kid is preparing to inflict on him behind his back!
Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine!
***
The development of social media has spawned countless new possibilities.
Business giants have also keenly sensed this new trend:
Users are no longer satisfied with simply posting text and pictures; sharing short videos is becoming a new trend.
Fanghuan Investment, Chairman's Office.
Su Hao is personally experiencing Douyin (TikTok), the app under Digital Jump.
"...But this thing seems to be more than just simply uploading your own videos?"
Su Hao scrolls through his phone screen, looking at the Douyin interface.
A researcher beside him provides guidance:
"Yes, Chairman Su. This company's core strategy is to keep video lengths under a few dozen seconds, emphasizing a fast pace."
Su Hao tries it out himself and finds the videos are indeed extremely short, most even less than 30 seconds.
The content, frankly, is quite uninspiring—just lip-syncing, dancing, and silly antics.
But...damn, he just can't stop.
One after another, an hour has passed without him realizing it.
“Damn, this thing…it’s addictive.”
“Exactly, Mr. Su. While short videos aren’t a new concept, they’ve perfected the ‘easy to imitate, rapid spread’ aspect.”
However, Su Hao’s weather-forecast-like intuition didn’t seem to register much with Digital Jump.
“Actually, Digital Jump is facing serious trouble right now,” the researcher continued,
“They’re also struggling with server issues, forcing them to shelve some important projects.
They were ambitious, wanting to acquire an American company called ‘Musical.ly’ to use as a springboard to officially enter the European and American markets.”
Musical.ly is quite popular among American teenagers, often referred to as “the exclusive social circle for Gen Z.”
“That’s the problem. Its user base is too homogeneous, limited to a young demographic, which has prevented it from breaking through its growth ceiling.”
“So Digital ByteDance wants to acquire it, a powerful alliance?”
“Yes, it’s said the two companies hit it off immediately, and they’ve even finished developing a new app after the merger, I think it’s called ‘TikTok’…”
The moment that word appeared!
Su Hao’s intuition gave him an incredibly clear signal!
The signal wasn’t pointing towards the ill-fated Digital ByteDance.
But rather… to buy the prey that Digital ByteDance had been forced to abandon due to server issues—Musical.ly!
‘But… social media?’ Su Hao was a little confused.
He’d heard that young people these days had several social media accounts.
But he himself, having grown up, hadn’t really used that stuff much.
Back when he was unemployed, besides his guild members, he had hardly any friends, so he had no interest in social media.
Now that he was chairman, he had even less free time.
"Chairman Su, why don't you take this opportunity to register and give it a try?" the researcher suggested with a smile.
Su Hao glanced at him: "...You play that stuff too?"
"Chairman Su, don't let my age fool you, I'm the oldest in our department, I'm got a youthful spirit! Haha!"
For Su Hao, his only "online social interaction" was probably chatting and joking with a bunch of silly netizens in the game's world chat, or taking a screenshot and sending it to Brother Huang and his guild members to brag when he got a rare piece of equipment.
“But Chairman Su,” the researcher suddenly interjected timidly, “won’t there be risks if you get involved in social media?”
“Hmm? What risks?”
“Think about it, you’re the chairman of Fanghuan Investment.
What if you become famous on social media, and a casual post causes the related stock price to fluctuate wildly like a rollercoaster? Wouldn’t that…
get you invited for a chat by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for accusing you of market manipulation?”
“…Holy crap?”
Su Hao’s heart skipped a beat. Thinking about it carefully, it did seem like a real possibility!
But then he reconsidered. A normal, decent person wouldn’t be so bored as to use their personal social media account to manipulate stock prices, right?
Hmm, probably not!