vstars Chapter 287 Wang Huabing, Caught in a Dilemma
Chapter 287 Wang Huabing, Caught in a Dilemma
Shanghai, Weibo Technology Headquarters.
Wang Huabing sat in his office, a data dashboard on the screen in front of him.
[Weibo's daily active users: 2.1 million]
TUTU Daily Active Users: 6200 Million
The gap is still huge, but Wang Huabing is not happy.
Because three months ago, the difference was 1.8 million to 4000 million.
Currently, it's 2.1 million versus 6200 million.
Although the absolute gap hasn't narrowed much, TUTU's growth rate is far higher than Weibo's. At this rate, TUTU's daily active users will surpass 100 million in less than a year, while Weibo's growth is nearing its ceiling.
Moreover, this is despite the recent decline in TUTU's user numbers, and Wang Huabing even has to thank Lu Ran for his injury.
"Mr. Wang," the assistant knocked and entered, "the data for the 'Warm Winter Plan' is in. In the past week, the total number of views for the topic exceeded 800 million, and more than 20 million users participated in the interaction. This data is better than we expected."
Wang Huabing nodded, but did not smile.
The "Warm Winter Project" was an emergency project he launched after the earthquake. It brought together hundreds of celebrities to launch a prayer campaign on Weibo and pushed out the latest developments and touching stories from the disaster area every day.
The project has been online for a week, and the data is indeed impressive.
But he knew that this kind of popularity was created by burning money. Splash screen ads, trending topics, celebrity resources—each of these required a real investment of money.
Moreover, this kind of enthusiasm is unsustainable.
Once the disaster situation fades from public view and users' attention is drawn to other things, the popularity of the "Warm Winter Plan" will quickly subside like the receding tide.
By then, the gap between Weibo and TUTU will return to its original state.
"What about TUTU?" Wang Huabing asked. "What have they been up to lately?"
The assistant opened her notebook: "The Super Girl finals are scheduled for this weekend, supposedly to be a charity performance for disaster relief. Also, Lu Ran wrote a new song, and I heard she invited artists from several companies to sing it together."
Wang Huabing frowned: "Which companies?"
"Starry Night, Starlight, Star Brilliance, Myth, basically everyone you can name is involved. Xu Manlin, Liu Siqi, Andy Lau, Lin Weiwei... the lineup is very strong."
Wang Huabing asked, "What's the name of this song?"
"It seems to be called 'Tomorrow Will Be Better'."
Tomorrow Will Be Better.
Wang Huabing pondered the name. Although he had never heard the song before and didn't know the melody, he had a bad feeling about it.
He recalled the news that Lu Ran had been injured in the disaster area, the image of the young man coming out of the airport in a wheelchair, and how he couldn't sit up after lying in the hospital for a few days.
That young man was unlike any other entrepreneur he had ever met.
Others start businesses to make money, but while he also starts a business for money, it seems like money isn't that important to him.
It's hard to say exactly what it is, but there must be a purpose behind it.
One song alone was not enough to make Wang Huabing take it seriously.
He felt that Lu Ran was losing his sense of priorities. In such a competitive gaming market, Lu Ran would spend all his free time rehearsing his song.
It's as if a song can bring him a lot of benefits.
"Mr. Wang?" the assistant called tentatively. "So, what's next..."
"Continue with the 'Warm Winter Plan'." Wang Huabing snapped out of his thoughts. "Also, have the operations department prepare a special page to report on the charity performance following the 'Super Girl' finale. Although it's TUTU's show, disaster relief is a good thing, and we should keep up."
Wang Huabing decided that although he didn't know how big Lu Ran could eventually become, since he had a positive image, if they continued to follow up and report on him on Weibo, they might be able to gain some positive feedback.
The assistant hesitated for a moment: "But...that's TUTU's content. When we report on them, aren't we promoting them?"
"What's wrong with helping them with publicity?" Wang Huabing retorted. "Disaster relief is a major issue, not commercial competition. In this kind of matter, we report on whoever does the best. That's the media's duty."
The assistant opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing Wang Huabing's expression, he swallowed his words back.
"Understood," he said. "I'll arrange it right away."
After his assistant left, Wang Huabing leaned back in his chair, stared at the ceiling, and let out a long sigh.
He recalled that a few months ago, he had sat in the same spot and said something similar to Zhou Zhixiong: "Business competition is business competition, but there are some bottom lines that cannot be crossed."
Looking back now, it's easy to say those things to others, but difficult to do when saying them to yourself.
Because when you sit in this position, when you face the pressure of KPIs, financial reports, and the board of directors, and when you see your competitors getting closer step by step, those so-called "bottom lines" become blurred.
But he still wanted to hold on.
It wasn't because of his nobility, but because he knew that once that line was crossed, it would be difficult to turn back.
"Lu Ran, Lu Ran, don't push me to that point!" Wang Huabing has recently been pushed to the brink by the company's board of directors.
He even went so far as to plagiarize TUTU's Happy Farm, which has led him to this predicament.
...
In Shanghai, at Lu Ran and Shen Yuege's small villa.
Lu Ran leaned back on the sofa, his right leg propped up on a footstool, holding his phone and scrolling through the news articles.
EA's collaboration with Perfect World, Sakura Games' continued expansion, Tencent's ambiguous stance, and Weibo's "Warm Winter Plan"—every piece of news tells him that during his recovery, his rivals have been keeping busy.
"What are you looking at?" Shen Yuege came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of pork rib soup and placed it on the coffee table.
"Let's read the news." Lu Ran put down his phone. "EA has partnered with Perfect World, Sakura Games has invested in three more companies, Weibo is promoting the 'Warm Winter Plan'... They're all getting more and more proactive."
Shen Yuege sat down next to him and pushed the soup bowl towards him: "Drink the soup first."
Lu Ran picked up the bowl and took a sip.
The pork ribs were stewed until very tender, and the soup was sweet and delicious with corn and carrots added.
"Is it good?" Shen Yuege asked.
"It's delicious." Lu Ran took another sip. "Your cooking skills are getting better and better."
"Stop flattering me," Shen Yuege laughed. "Let's get down to business. What do you think of those companies' actions?"
Lu Ran put down his bowl, thought for a moment, and said, "It was expected that EA would cooperate with Perfect World. Perfect World is large and has deep technological accumulation, but its cash flow is tight and its bargaining power is weak. EA can leverage their strength and maintain control by choosing them, which is a worthwhile deal."
"As for Sakura Games, this guy, Yitiao Xinquan, is indeed patient. Investing in small and medium-sized companies, integrating channel resources, and using alliances to leverage top players—this approach may be slow, but it's stable. Once he has completely integrated those dozen or so companies, he will have leverage to negotiate with anyone."
"Tencent, on the other hand, is still observing. They're not in a hurry to take sides or make a move. After all, they're a large and powerful company, so they have plenty of time to wait."
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a moment, then asked, "What about us? What should we do?"
Lu Ran looked at her and smiled.
"Us?" He pointed to his right leg. "Let's get my leg healed first. Then we'll finish the Super Girl finals. Then we'll release 'Tomorrow Will Be Better.' Then—"
He paused, his eyes becoming serious.
"Then, let them see that even with only one leg, Lu Ran isn't so easy to bully."
Shen Yuege looked at him and suddenly smiled.
"Okay." She stood up. "Then I'll go heat up some soup for you. Finish this bowl first, there's more in the pot."
"it is good."
Shen Yuege turned and walked into the kitchen. Lu Ran picked up his phone again and opened the group chat called "Tomorrow Will Be Better Choir".
The group chat was still buzzing with discussion. Some people were posting photos of the rehearsal, some were sharing their singing experiences, and some were scheduling the next rehearsal.
Tan Yu sent a voice message. When you listen to it, it's a recording of him practicing the chorus part. He's completely off-key and got scolded by Xu Manxue. He's still chuckling to himself in the voice message.
Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.
He left the group chat, opened his notes app, and typed a line of text—
[Finals countdown: 3 days.]
Then I put down my phone, picked up the soup bowl, and drank it all, sip by sip.
The sky outside the window gradually darkened, and Shen Yuege's humming voice came from the kitchen; it was the melody of "Tomorrow Will Be Better".
Lu Ran leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, listened to the voice, and smiled slightly.
Tomorrow will be better.
It's not just the song title.
And it's not just the disaster area.
His company, Shen Yuege's career, will have a better tomorrow.
...