21: Chapter 21 The Unknown Future of TikTok

The elevator door opened.

The receptionist girl hurried over to greet them.

Douyin had gained momentum, and every day, many companies came to seek collaboration.

"We're here from Tencent Messaging App, Zhou Rui speaking. We have an appointment."

The secretary behind Zhou Rui stepped forward and stated the appointment details.

Afterward, the receptionist prepared to lead Zhou Rui into Inspur Technology.

However, before they had taken a few steps, a figure inside Inspur Technology looked over.

"Yo, isn't this Zhou Rui? What a rare guest! Nice suit; looks like you're doing quite well at Tencent."

Zhao Lei walked out from inside.

Just a moment ago, when he saw Zhou Rui, his steps had faltered, and his face showed surprise. He knew Zhou Rui had gone to Tencent, but he hadn't expected to run into him today.

He came up to greet him, preparing to personally escort Zhou Rui into the current Inspur Technology.

He hadn't known who had made the appointment to see Qin Mo.

Moreover, although they were no longer in the same company, the camaraderie from their past work remained. Zhao Lei didn't know why Zhou Rui was there, so he was quite enthusiastic.

He even thought the other party was back to visit.

"Old Zhao."

Zhou Rui walked over and patted Zhao Lei on the shoulder, his hand feeling clammy.

"Long time no see. You've lost weight."

After finishing, Zhou Rui let out a long sigh.

"I felt terrible when I left back then. My wife and kids were pushing me every day, and you know the situation at home—the mortgage and car loans were suffocating me."

"Now that I've established myself at Tencent, I've come back this time to help you guys out."

"Help us?"

Zhao Lei was stunned for a moment.

Zhou Rui nodded.

"I'm here to discuss an acquisition. Tencent wants the Douyin that you've developed..."

Hearing this, the enthusiasm on Zhao Lei's face cooled significantly.

Although Zhou Rui claimed he had no choice when he left, Zhao Lei knew clearly that when Zhou Rui graduated, no company wanted him. Forget rent; he couldn't even afford to eat.

It was Qin Mo who kindly took him in. Even when the company was struggling later, they never once delayed employee wages.

Not to mention Zhou Rui abandoning the dying Inspur Technology back then.

And now, you're actually speaking for Tencent, wanting to come and acquire Douyin?

Qin Mo's office was small. By the window sat a very ordinary desk, on which were three monitors and a cup of soy milk that had already gone cold.

Qin Mo looked up from behind the monitors. When he saw Zhou Rui, his expression didn't change at all; he simply lifted his chin to signal him to sit.

"Sit."

Zhou Rui sat on the sofa, and the secretary stood behind him, pulling a thick folder from her briefcase.

Zhao Lei called Lin Xiao over. The two stood at the door, neither leaving nor sitting.

They exchanged a look, saying nothing.

"Brother Mo, we're brothers, so I won't beat around the bush."

Zhou Rui leaned forward slightly, placing his hands on his knees, his tone very sincere.

"Tencent has taken a fancy to your technology and sent me to discuss an acquisition."

"One billion, split fifty-fifty between cash and shares."

"The cash portion will be paid in full at once, and the share portion will be calculated based on Tencent's market price."

"This price is considered top-tier for a startup. I fought for it bit by bit in front of President Sun for you!"

He paused, waiting to see a flash of wavering on Qin Mo's face.

But Qin Mo just looked at him silently, not saying a word.

"Brother Mo, you might think I'm helping outsiders to poach my own people."

Zhou Rui shook his head and sighed.

"But let me tell you the truth. All these years, I've watched you lead the brothers through so much hardship. From the local lifestyle software to the projects that followed, every single time, they were crushed to death as soon as they were made."

"Now that Douyin has finally taken off, Weikan has come."

"You and I both know the scale of Tencent. This time, they've thrown the homepage recommendation slot of Tencent Video and the pop-ups of Tencent Messaging App at you. You can't even imagine what they might throw at you next."

"You can't hold out for long by brute force. It's better to take a good price and quit while you're ahead while you still have bargaining chips."

"One billion is enough for you to do nothing for the rest of your life and just lie down and count money every day."

Zhao Lei stood at the door. Even though he had many grievances against Zhou Rui, he subconsciously swallowed hard when he heard "one billion."

He glanced down at Lin Xiao, and Lin Xiao was looking at him too. The two whispered to each other.

"One billion."

"So much."

Zhao Lei's voice was extremely low.

"We only scraped together three hundred thousand after selling our cars, and now they're offering one billion right off the bat."

"We've worked so hard on the software for so long. The boss even had to think about saving on breakfast during the toughest times. Now, with this money, anyone could retire."

Lin Xiao adjusted his glasses, his lips barely moving, his voice squeezed through his teeth.

"Tencent is definitely after the algorithm."

"Weikan being able to issue an announcement shows that they lost a lot of data last week."

"They know now that they can't retain users without the algorithm, so they want to spend money to buy ours directly."

"Zhou Rui coming today is just Tencent's usual tactic. After all, besides plagiarism, another one of Tencent's methods is acquisition."

He paused.

"But one billion is indeed a lot."

Qin Mo leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping on the desk rhythmically.

He wasn't hesitating; he was thinking about how to phrase it.

Tencent thought one billion was a lot.

For software with just over a million daily active users, a valuation of one billion was indeed not low.

If it were any other startup founder, they would be unable to resist wavering when faced with this number.

But he knew the potential of Douyin.

In his previous life, Douyin's global daily active users exceeded eight hundred million, and monthly active users exceeded two billion.

It became the unicorn enterprise with the highest market value in the world, and the definition of a unicorn enterprise is a startup that has been established for no more than ten years and has a valuation of over one billion dollars.

Douyin's market value wasn't one billion, not ten billion, but trillions.

That was a trillion-level business.

Now Tencent wanted to buy something worth trillions in the future for one billion.

Qin Mo couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

Zhou Rui frowned.

"Nothing, just thought of something funny."

Seeing Qin Mo's reaction, Zhou Rui thought the other party was hesitating, so he gave his secretary a look.

The female secretary understood and stepped forward.

"President Qin, the price of one billion is already very exaggerated."

"People need to know how to be satisfied; don't accidentally let the snake swallow the elephant."

"There is an offer of one billion now, but I'm afraid in a few days, this price won't be on the table."

Qin Mo put away his smile and nodded as if he were truly considering it.

"One billion, it is indeed a lot."

Hearing this, Zhou Rui and the secretary breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Qin Mo had given in.

But unexpectedly, the next moment.

Qin Mo looked into Zhou Rui's eyes, his voice without a ripple.

"But sorry."

"Not for sale."