175: Chapter 175 The Snipe and the Clam Fight, the One Gains Advantage Through Telepathy

On the other end of the line, although Shen Fei's voice was steady, one could still detect a hint of mockery or perhaps a touch of smugness.

This only served to increase the anger in Pony Ma's heart:

"President Shen, you are a major shareholder of Tencent. What is the meaning of pushing the transsion security guardian at a time like this?"

Shen Fei chuckled and said candidly, "President Ma, you have misunderstood. I am not the type of person to take advantage of someone's misfortune."

Pony Ma did not respond, but he was already cursing Shen Fei in his heart.

Not the type to take advantage of misfortune, yet that was exactly what he was doing.

The interface was indeed different, but the core functionality was the same.

He had thought that there would be a winner and a loser between Tencent and 360, but he hadn't expected... He shouldn't have agreed to Naspers selling their shares a second time back then.

Now he had found a big boss for himself, and one could say he had invited both big bosses himself.

"The transsion security guardian was made for Transsion users. Protecting privacy, blocking GG, cleaning up junk files—that is all."

"It is merely to protect user data security and has nothing to do with the war between Tencent and 360."

But Pony Ma was already completely heated over the 360 matter; any new competitor was an opponent.

He could not hear, or rather, was completely unwilling to acknowledge the meaning behind Shen Fei's words, automatically translating them as: 'I am just here to snatch the market...'

"Besides, President Ma, do you really think it's a good thing to make users choose one out of two? This behavior is too vile..."

Pony Ma fell silent. Of course, he knew that forcing a choice was not a good thing and would inevitably attract the heavy hammer of regulation.

It was just that 360 had gone too far, cutting off their most important source of revenue. In just a few days, multiple partners had canceled their cooperation.

The loss was at least 500 million.

If he didn't snatch 360's market share, how would the market view him? As a sick cat?

"I understand what you mean, but Transsion will not take sides, and neither will I. Play however you want; we only do one thing: stand on the side of the users."

"This has no downside for Tencent. Abusing dominant power is not a good thing."

Shen Fei fell silent after speaking, but his words caused Pony Ma to feel a stormy surge of emotion.

The initial reason the two companies started fighting was because he wanted to rely on the Tencent ecosystem to seize the security market.

As for the process, it was naturally Tencent's lowest-cost method: Ctrl C plus Ctrl V.

The interfaces and functions of the two companies could only be described as... exactly the same.

It was normal for Zhou Hongyi to be a bit impulsive, but...

The 'choose one out of two' mandate had already been implemented, and without third-party mediation, neither side could admit fault.

After all, the stock market had already provided the correct feedback to his actions; he could not bow his head!

"President Shen, I am finding you increasingly difficult to understand."

"Don't tell me you have instant messaging test software internally as well?" he asked with a chuckle.

"President Ma, how did you know? We actually do have a piece of software internally."

"President Shen, stop joking."

"It's true."

The more confident Shen Fei sounded, the less Pony Ma believed him. He believed that Tencent's massive ecosystem was an incredibly solid moat.

If Shen Fei had given an ambiguous denial, it might have been true, but now...

After hanging up, Pony Ma calmed down, but then he began to panic again.

He re-analyzed the possibility of Transsion entering the instant messaging market.

But after his analysis, the possibility was almost zero.

Not to mention Tencent's market share of over 95%, what would a mobile phone company want with instant messaging software, and how would he promote it?

However, Transsion did have experience in doing this, which could not be ignored.

After all, this feeling of having one's peaches plucked by someone else was too uncomfortable; he couldn't let it happen a second time.

Finally, Pony Ma sighed and said, "Cannot be careless; perhaps in the future, Transsion really will be the greatest enemy."

On the other side, at the 360 headquarters in Beijing. Zhou Hongyi stared at the data for the transsion security guardian, his brow also tightly furrowed.

Downloads were growing, and users were giving unanimous praise. He had really managed to break through; he had been careless.

The interface layout of the transsion security guardian was completely different from theirs; there was no copying or imitation, giving people a refreshing feeling.

The virus detection rate was very stable, the antivirus speed was even a bit faster than 360, and it could accurately detect and kill some rare viruses.

"This Shen Fei..." Zhou Hongyi muttered to himself, "Seeing is believing; he's got something."

The assistant asked cautiously, "President Zhou, should we contact Transsion to discuss cooperation?"

Zhou Hongyi shook his head, "When the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman benefits; they have already eaten the meat, so how could they possibly cooperate with us?"

"However, since he is not taking sides, let's not provoke him. This person is not to be trifled with, and there is no need to provoke him."

"He controls the terminal market, and we must also seize it; let's talk to the other companies about cooperation."

Third-party mediation came faster than imagined. On September 28th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology forcibly intervened, ordering both sides to stop the war immediately.

Tencent restored compatibility, and 360 removed the qq bodyguard...

But the end of the war did not mean the end of the battle. After the software was removed, Tencent took 360 directly to court... This war continued in another form.

On the other side, at the Transsion Building. Liu Zhihong looked at the download count breaking 40 million and was completely thrilled.

A few days after launch, the Transsion antivirus software had already become the third-largest antivirus software in China.

Although it was still the one with the smallest user base, the activity level was very high, and user feedback was very good.

"President Shen, 42 million. The security software with the best reputation on the entire web. Our transsion security guardian has succeeded!"

"It's still early."

Shen Fei raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, his eyes smiling but also carrying a hint of calculation.

"The 3Q war is over, and we have eaten a big chunk of meat, but this is just the first step."

"Most users are just disgusted by the competition between Tencent and 360, and they chose us just to avoid risks."

"They are not loyal users. The next step is to raise privacy protection to the industry ceiling, perfect GG blocking, and make the experience addictive for users."

"Once users get used to it, we will slowly expand other businesses. Don't be as aggressive as they are."

Everyone nodded; everyone admired Shen Fei's layout.

Every time, he calculated everything just right; he could eat the biggest cake and also retreat successfully.

A few days after the 3Q war ended, Shen Fei was called to the provincial government once again.

But this time, when Zhang Shiqing looked at him, his face was full of admiration.

"You're here, so fast? Wait for me for one minute." Zhang Shiqing quickly picked up his pen and signed the documents. "Good, pour President Shen a cup of tea."

"Xiao Wang, I don't have any other work this morning, right?"

"Leader, no, you don't."

After Secretary Wang finished speaking, he poured tea for Shen Fei.

It was this year's new tea, just snatched from the Secretary, and Zhang Shiqing himself hadn't even drunk it many times.

After finishing that document, Zhang Shiqing quickly took out another document from the safe nearby.

"The Academy of Sciences has released a report." He stared at his son-in-law with full admiration. God was truly standing by his side; researching an automotive material actually resulted in...

As long as he didn't make too much of a mess, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye.

Shen Fei took the document and opened the first page, which was filled with dense data.

He glanced at it and turned directly to the conclusion section:

"Batch 0078 material has significant value in fields such as aero-engine blades, gas turbine hot-end components, and automotive lightweight structural parts. It is recommended to be included in the national strategic material reserve system; proceed with caution regarding the civilian market."

Shen Fei looked up: "So fast? And what does that line 'proceed with caution regarding the civilian market' mean?"

"This is a material we developed for cars; those old guys can't do this, right?"

Seeing his son-in-law playing dumb, Zhang Shiqing smiled.

"Fast? Do you know what the reaction of those old guys at the Academy of Sciences was when they saw the test data?"