Chapter 0976: Business Sense

No one dislikes receiving bonuses, not even programmers who bury themselves in front of computers all day, oblivious to the world outside.

When Zhao Fusheng and Dong Chenxi arrived with the bonuses, Dong Guoxiang's team was ecstatic.

Men tend to have surging hormones and make bold promises in front of beautiful women. Thus, before Dong Chenxi, those passionate young men declared that Xiaonei.com would break ten million users within a year.

Who knew where those guys got their confidence.

As the boss, Zhao Fusheng was naturally happy to see them working hard. He watched them make vows with a smile and said nothing more.

After a round of celebration, Dong Guoxiang announced a day off. Except for a few who stayed behind, everyone else went to a restaurant for a group dinner.

Zhao Fusheng, accompanied by Dong Guoxiang and Dong Chenxi, made a round of toasts at each table to encourage the employees before returning to their private room.

There was no helping it—the website management team and the technical development team, dozens of people in total, had already filled up the small restaurant.

"Senior, we can start preparing for the matter I mentioned on the phone earlier," Zhao Fusheng said calmly to Dong Guoxiang after eating a few bites and wiping his mouth.

Hearing this, Dong Guoxiang was taken aback: "So soon?"

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "Yeah, the market is big, but many want a piece of the pie. If we want to earn more than others, we have to be one step ahead."

Dong Guoxiang fell silent, then nodded. He naturally understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning. Dong Chenxi, being more responsible for funding, didn't grasp the fierce and残酷 competition in the internet industry. Dong Guoxiang, on the other hand, being in charge of technology and website management, understood better how brutal the competition was in the current landscape.

As Zhao Fusheng said, to stand out in the ever-changing internet tide and defeat powerful enemies, the only way was to stay ahead of the times.

Dong Guoxiang knew well that if Xiaonei.com ever went under, titles like 'founder of the first social networking site' would be meaningless. He would only be passively ridiculed and blamed, unable to fight back, even knowing the accusations were slander.

Because a defunct website, like a dead person, has no right or qualification to defend itself.

Thus, Dong Guoxiang, deep down, fully supported Zhao Fusheng's approach with both hands and feet.

That was the difference between doing technology and doing management.

Dong Guoxiang and Dong Chenxi had different starting points, so their considerations naturally differed.

Of course, both meant well for the company—Zhao Fusheng was sure of that.

"The new project can be prepared now, mainly focusing on those games," Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Guoxiang. "Don't worry about funding. How much you need, just submit a report later."

Dong Guoxiang nodded in agreement, and the topic ended there.

...

...

Time flew by. Just before Christmas, Zhao Fusheng received a call from Dong Chenxi.

"Recently, people have started contacting me."

Dong Chenxi dragged Zhao Fusheng out of his home and reported to him in her office.

Zhao Fusheng remained calm: "What's so strange about that? Isn't it normal?"

He really didn't think it was unusual. With Xiaonei.com's rapid growth, it would be odd if no one paid attention. The internet bubble crisis was gradually fading, and the entire internet industry was recovering. Domestically, it was one thing, but abroad, many internet company stocks were slowly rising.

In Tan Kaixuan's words, the internet was now a cornucopia—everyone wanted to reach in and grab a dream.

Whether they succeeded or not, they'd take a shot first, just in case.

"No, they want to buy not just Xiaonei.com but also the my123 navigation page," Dong Chenxi explained with a wry smile.

Clearly, she herself had been quite surprised when she first heard the news.

Zhao Fusheng was also startled, looking at Dong Chenxi in surprise: "What did you say?"

Dong Chenxi glanced at him: "They want to acquire both the my123 navigation page and Xiaonei.com together in a package deal."

"Huh, deep pockets."

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng paused for a moment, then said noncommittally.

To be honest, he was quite surprised. He hadn't expected someone to be so ambitious as to try to acquire both the navigation page and Xiaonei.com.

"Yeah, it's not just deep pockets. Their intention is clear—they probably want to bundle them together," Dong Chenxi said.

Zhao Fusheng didn't respond. He understood what Dong Chenxi meant. It seemed some company had noticed Xiaonei.com's rise and realized the role of the navigation page.

"Reject them. Tell them we won't sell the two websites together as a bundle," Zhao Fusheng said slowly after a moment's thought.

It wasn't that he didn't want to make money, but the two websites were different. The navigation page was solely owned by Zhao Fusheng, while Xiaonei.com had Han Bin's shares.

Zhao Fusheng still had basic business ethics.

"Okay," Dong Chenxi nodded and agreed.

"By the way, which company contacted you?" Zhao Fusheng asked casually, curious.

"Baidu," Dong Chenxi replied.

"Which one?" Zhao Fusheng was quite surprised, looking up at Dong Chenxi: "Baidu?"

When Dong Chenxi nodded again, Zhao Fusheng's expression grew even more peculiar. Honestly, he really hadn't expected the company contacting Dong Chenxi to be Baidu.

"What, are you interested in them?" Dong Chenxi found his reaction strange; he rarely reacted this way.

"I'm not particularly interested in Baidu," Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "But I'm curious whether they're more interested in the navigation page or Xiaonei.com."

That was the truth. If he remembered correctly, Baidu had always been very focused on the navigation page business. Frankly, he was already surprised they had waited this long to approach Dong Chenxi. But he hadn't expected them to be interested in Xiaonei.com as well.

The two companies' businesses seemed completely unrelated.

Could it be that Baidu had some other plans he didn't know about?

Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng became even more intrigued by the matter.