My capital is quite large.

Chapter 130 The Fight Between the Snipe and the Clam

December 31, 2010, Jinling Olympic Sports Center.

The second annual Haofeng Weibo New Year's Eve Gala and Coronation Ceremony reached its climax amidst the celebration of tens of millions of netizens across the internet.

Compared to last year's somewhat suspenseful competition, the winners of this year's two supreme trophies have long since lost their suspense.

On the male side, Han Geng, who brought the first generation of Korean wave back to China as a "mercenary", crushed a group of domestic young actors with an absolute majority of votes and won the Weibo King trophy.

As for the female stars, after a whole year of fierce competition and promotion, Yang Mi finally got what she wanted.

When she received the Weibo Queen's Throne trophy, which cost five million dollars and was topped with a genuine South African diamond, amidst the attention of the crowd, her eyes filled with tears of excitement.

Sitting in the very center of the first row of the inner field, Li Feng listened to the deafening cheers around him, a polite but somewhat bored smile on his face.

Looking at Yang Mi, who was crying tears of joy on stage, Li Feng sighed helplessly in his heart.

As the helmsman of Haofeng, this commercial behemoth, he sometimes has to "work under pressure."

The gala concluded successfully.

The black Rolls-Royce Phantom drove out of the Olympic Sports Center and sped towards the Zijinshan Manor.

In the back seat of the carriage, Li Feng loosened his tie and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Boss, you must be tired." Zhang Xinyu considerately handed over a warm towel, then pulled up an encrypted text message from her tablet.

"Boss, our informant in Shenzhen just sent a message. Tencent has developed a mobile instant messaging app, I think it's called 'WeChat.' They say it's already in internal testing and will probably launch around the Spring Festival."

Looking at the intelligence report, Zhang Xinyu smiled with a hint of schadenfreude: "I guess Pony Ma was pushed to his limit by Haofeng's Weibo. He can't beat them on PC, so he's trying to come up with some new tricks on mobile to turn the tide."

Upon hearing the word "WeChat," Li Feng paused slightly while wiping his face, but his face showed no panic or surprise.

"As expected." Li Feng tossed the towel back onto the tray.

"Boss, should we have the R&D department develop a similar software to target them?" Zhang Xinyu suggested.

"Sniping? With what?"

Li Feng shook his head: "Do you think instant messaging software can be built with just a few lines of code? That 'MiTalk' that Lei Jun invested in has pretty comprehensive features, but do you think it can make any waves?"

"Xinyu, you must understand the underlying logic behind everything you do."

"Penguins may be defeated in other fields, but in the realm of instant messaging among acquaintances, they are the absolute rulers!"

"Because he holds the QQ social network of all Chinese netizens! Once WeChat launches, as long as the 'one-click import QQ contacts' function is enabled, any competitor will be crushed to dust!"

Penguin's background is too deep, and its network of relationships too intricate. To touch Penguin's core interests would not only be a thankless task, but also a path to certain death.

"We at Haofeng have Weibo as a public platform, videos, and games, that's enough. Instant messaging is a tough nut to crack, there's no need for us to go head-to-head with Tencent in that area."

"However, with the launch of WeChat and the addition of Alibaba's Alipay, the era of mobile payments is about to explode."

Li Feng understands the future direction of the Internet in the next few years.

Once WeChat Pay is launched, Tencent and Alibaba will engage in an unprecedented money-burning war to compete for market share in mobile payments!

From food delivery platforms to ride-hailing services, from bike-sharing to offline QR code payments, billions of dollars will be poured into this land, cultivating people's payment habits!

"This kind of electronic payment license, which involves the lifeline of the country's financial system, is too dangerous. Haofeng must never touch it."

Li Feng turned to Zhang Xinyu: "However, fighting a war requires supplies, ammunition, and even more importantly, a propaganda front!"

"I need to contact the senior management at Alibaba to discuss a deep strategic partnership with them."

"Since those two Mas are going to fight, then Haofeng Network will be the one selling them the megaphones! This freebie is too good to pass up!"

……

Late at night, the master bedroom of Zijinshan Manor was filled with enchanting scenes of spring.

Yang Mi, who finally won the "Weibo Queen" trophy, was extremely excited tonight.

She seemed tireless, transforming herself into a burning flame, displaying her gratitude and submission to the throne to Li Feng in various ways.

The extreme pandering after being fed with fame, fortune, and vanity gave Li Feng a unique thrill in this game of conquest.

However, no matter how crazy last night was.

The next morning at eight o'clock, when Zhang Xinyu woke Li Feng up on time, he did not hesitate at all. He pushed away Yang Mi, who was clinging to him, and went straight to the bathroom.

After washing up, I put on a sharp, bespoke suit.

Li Feng glanced at Yang Mi, who was still fast asleep on the big bed, and walked out of the master bedroom without expression.

Women, power, and sex are merely spice in life.

Faced with a true business empire, no amount of comfort or allure could hold back this capitalist tyrant.

……

At nine o'clock in the morning, inside a top-class Chinese teahouse in downtown Nanjing.

The air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and the melodious strains of a guqin filled the air.

Li Feng sat in the main seat at the rosewood tea table, opposite Jack Ma, the head of Alibaba, who had come all the way from Hangzhou for the appointment.

"Brother Li, I've come to you today to really pour out my troubles!"

Jack Ma complained indignantly, "Pony Ma is really going too far! Why can't Tencent just focus on its social networking and gaming? Why does he have to try and encroach on Alibaba's territory!"

"Now he's not only getting into electronic payments, but he's also investing in everything I invest in! It's clear he's determined to fight Alibaba to the death!"

Li Feng poured tea for Jack Ma and smiled as he agreed, "Mr. Ma is right. Pony is indeed a bit too greedy, wanting to get involved in every field. Didn't he recently launch 'Penguin Weibo' to try and steal my business? In the end, it turned out to be a mess and became a laughing stock in the industry."

Upon hearing this, Jack Ma burst into laughter and pointed at Li Feng, saying:

"Brother Li, speaking of your Haofeng Weibo account, I truly admire it!"

"To be honest, my actuaries have done the math. Alibaba's e-commerce efforts, when advertised on your Haofeng Weibo account, resulted in conversion rates and click-through rates that were three to four times higher than when advertised on Baidu!"

This is the real reason why Jack Ma came to have tea in person today!

Alibaba's e-commerce needs traffic, and Haofeng Network is currently the largest traffic pool on the Chinese Internet!

"Since Mr. Ma thinks it's effective, let's deepen our cooperation."

Li Feng, taking advantage of the situation, presented Jack Ma with a strategic cooperation framework that had been prepared long ago.

"Besides the long-term annual subscription agreement with Haofeng's Weibo account, I can set Alipay as the sole featured payment option for all the Steam China regions I distribute, as well as all of Haofeng's self-developed and distributed mobile games, including the PC version of 'Three Kingdoms Kill Online'!"

"At the same time, in the upcoming mobile payment war between Alibaba and Tencent, Haofeng's public opinion and traffic across all channels will unconditionally favor Alipay!"

"The conditions are that all transaction fees for game recharges will be waived, and Alibaba will provide Haofeng with an additional rebate subsidy each year on top of the existing amount!"

Jack Ma flipped through the cooperation agreement. Although he knew that Li Feng was taking advantage of the situation, he had to win over Haofeng Network, an ally, in the face of Tencent's impending all-out attack.

"Good! Brother Li is generous. I'll sign this deal!"

Jack Ma readily agreed and signed the document.

After the business was over, the atmosphere between the two became more relaxed.

As Jack Ma sipped his tea, a strange longing suddenly appeared in his eyes. He then changed the subject and started talking about the film and television industry.

"Brother Li, I've heard that Haofeng Film and Television now practically controls everything in the Chinese entertainment industry."

Jack clicked his tongue and said with some longing, "Actually, I've had a martial arts dream since I was a kid. Watching all those big-budget productions you guys make, I'm really itching to try it myself. Tell me, with my looks, what if I went into a movie and played a martial arts master or something? Would that be a good fit?"

Hearing that this future e-commerce godfather actually had the idea of ​​becoming the male lead in a movie at this moment, Li Feng suppressed a laugh.

He vividly remembered that in his previous life, this Boss Ma spent a fortune to hire a bunch of kung fu stars to play supporting roles in the famous movie "Gong Shou Dao" in order to fulfill his dream.

"If Mr. Ma has such an interest, then of course there's great potential!" Li Feng said, readily agreeing.

"With your current status and wealth, Haofeng Films can easily arrange a gathering for you, just by asking! We can get top domestic directors and action stars—whether it's Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, or even Jet Li—to play supporting roles!"

Jack Ma's eyes lit up at the mention of it, but he quickly waved his hand and laughed self-deprecatingly:

"Forget it, Alibaba is still fighting with Tencent, I don't have time to make movies."

"But Brother Li, we have a deal! Once Ali is stable and I retire with honor, I'll definitely ask you to help me make a movie that fulfills my dream!"

"It's a deal. I'll be waiting for Mr. Ma's arrival at any time." Li Feng raised his teacup and clinked it heavily with Jack Ma's.

The two men looked at each other and laughed. Over a cup of tea, a profound alliance that would shape the landscape of internet payment in China for the next few years was quietly formed.