My capital is quite large.

Chapter 118 The Stock Price Crash

The release of the open letter offering "either of two options" caused the entire Chinese internet to collapse!

Tencent originally thought that by leveraging QQ's irreplaceable monopoly in netizens' contact lists, it could force users to choose between QQ and 360, and users would obediently uninstall 360 Security Guard.

But Pony Ma underestimated the rebellious mentality of this generation of netizens, and even more so, he underestimated the power of Hao Feng's Weibo to stir up public opinion at this moment!

"Damn Tencent! It's my computer, I'm in charge! What right does a chat application have to tell me what security software I can install?"

"Uninstall QQ! I'd rather make a phone call or send a text message than put up with this kind of thuggish behavior!"

"Haofeng Weibo, Aliwangwang, and NetEase email—which one can't be used for chatting? Resist monopolistic oligopolies!"

Anger spread like wildfire online, and the capital market reacted accordingly!

The following morning, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong had just opened.

Tencent Holdings, a leading technology stock in Hong Kong, saw its share price plummet at the opening of trading!

The red figures for the sharp drop are alarming; in just a few hours, Tencent's market value evaporated by tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars!

Shenzhen, Fiyta Building, inside the CEO's office at Tencent headquarters.

Pony Ma stared at the ghastly green candlestick chart on the computer screen, trembling with rage, and smashed the bone china teacup in his hand to pieces!

"Bastards! They're all a bunch of bastards!!"

He never expected that his drastic measure would not only fail to kill his opponent, but would also provoke public outrage and cause Tencent to suffer huge losses in the capital market!

In stark contrast is Nanjing, which is thousands of miles away.

In the bright sunlight of the luxurious CEO's office on the top floor of the Haofeng Networks headquarters building in Xianlin Science and Technology City.

"Boss, Tencent's stock price plummeted today. Several major investment banks on Wall Street are downgrading their ratings."

Zhang Xinyu, carrying a cup of warm pre-Qingming Longjing tea, walked up to Li Feng with a smile, her tone full of schadenfreude.

Li Feng took the teacup, took a leisurely sip, and gazed into the distance.

"That's one of the advantages of not going public."

"No matter how fiercely they fight in the stock market, Haofeng is a 100% privately held, non-listed company. We have no external shareholders and no short-selling institutions. No matter how fierce the storms outside are, they won't reach us."

That's his confidence!

Tencent has a responsibility to its shareholders; if the stock price falls, Pony Ma will face enormous pressure from the board of directors.

And Li Feng himself is the sole board of directors!

……

Inside the Fiyta Building, Pony Ma's anger had reached its peak.

Since business tactics have reached a dead end, let's resort to the most extreme off-the-ground tricks!

"Call the police immediately! Notify the Nanshan Branch!"

Pony Ma issued a stern order: "Zhou Hongyi developed 'QQ Protector,' which maliciously damages the underlying operating code of QQ. This constitutes the crime of damaging a computer information system! Apply for a cross-provincial arrest warrant and go to 360 headquarters to apprehend Zhou Hongyi!"

The energy of penguins in Nanshan is terrifying.

As soon as the order was given, the Economic Investigation Brigade of Nanshan District launched a swift and decisive operation, heading straight for Yanjing with the approval document!

As for arresting Li Feng, the instigator?

The economic crime investigation team in Nanshan glanced at the case report and crossed out the name of Haofeng Network.

What kind of international joke is this?!

Arrest people in Nanjing? Haofeng Network is practically a god of wealth worshipped by both the provincial and municipal governments! They're a super taxpayer who has created tens of thousands of jobs!

You think you can take Nanshan's approval document to a sub-provincial capital to arrest a star entrepreneur of this caliber? You'd probably be stopped and sent back by the local special police in Nanjing before you even left the high-speed rail station!

Unable to capture Li Feng, they could only focus all their firepower on Zhou Hongyi in Yanjing!

However, when the Shenzhen cross-provincial arrest team stormed into the 360 ​​headquarters on Jianguomenwai Street, they found nothing.

The chairman's office was completely empty; not even a hair on Zhou Hongyi's head could be found!

At this very moment, in a luxury suite on the top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong.

Zhou Hongyi, dressed in a red tracksuit, looked out at Victoria Harbour through the floor-to-ceiling windows, her forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

I still feel lingering fear when I think back to that phone call from Nanjing two days ago.

"Mr. Zhou, Tencent is desperate and will most likely take extreme measures, such as using the Economic Crime Investigation Department to arrest people. It's not safe for you to stay in Beijing. Buy the next available flight and go to Hong Kong for a few days of dim sum."

That was a call from Li Feng.

If Li Feng hadn't anticipated Penguin's treacherous scheme and tipped him off, he would definitely be sitting in the interrogation room drinking tea by now!

"You damn Pony Ma! If you can't beat the game with skill, you resort to dirty tricks!"

Having escaped death, Zhou Hongyi's ruthlessness was unleashed.

Since you can't catch me in Hong Kong, I'll use public opinion to destroy you!

Zhou Hongyi turned on her computer and logged into Haofeng's Weibo account.

At Li Feng's behest, Hao Feng's Weibo backend gave Zhou Hongyi the highest level of traffic whitelisting and site-wide promotion!

In just one day, Zhou Hongyi, who was in Hong Kong, seemed to be possessed by a war god, posting more than a dozen long Weibo posts in a row.

Not only did they condemn Tencent for abusing its power and making cross-provincial arrests, they also publicly released screenshots of the underlying code that allows QQ to scan users' hard drive privacy!

"Isn't this penguin about to make a difficult decision?! Well then, today I'll let the entire nation see just how much filth and disgusting stuff is inside this penguin's belly!"

This has really stirred up a hornet's nest!

This added fuel to the fire in public opinion across the country, causing the penguin's image to plummet!

……

This major battle, which affected hundreds of millions of netizens and created chaos on the entire Chinese internet, finally alarmed the top leadership!

The following morning, an urgent order bearing an official red header was faxed to Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Hong Kong.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with several other ministries, urgently issued a notice to hold talks with relevant parties.

The top executives of Tencent, 360, and Haofeng Network are required to come to Beijing immediately for a meeting to accept mediation!

With official endorsement and safety assurances, Zhou Hongyi dared to fly back to Beijing from Hong Kong.

Li Feng, along with Zhang Xinyu, leisurely landed at Beijing Capital International Airport.

At 2 p.m., in a large, solemn conference room in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology building.

Several ministry leaders sat in the main seats, their faces stern.

On either side of the conference table, Pony Ma and Zhou Hongyi sat facing each other, their eyes filled with a look of utter hatred that seemed to want to devour each other alive!

Li Feng, sitting between the two, had toned down all his sharpness today, looking like a pure and innocent college student.

"This is utter nonsense!"

The leader from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, seated at the head of the table, slammed his hand on the table and reprimanded them sternly, "Look at the current state of the internet! What have you done to it?! You've forced hundreds of millions of netizens to choose between two options? You've arrested people across provinces?! Do you have any respect for national laws or market regulations?!"

Pony, his face ashen, pointed at Zhou Hongyi and Li Feng through gritted teeth:

"Boss! It was 360 who first developed a cheat program to damage the underlying code of QQ! And Haofeng Network, they stirred up public opinion on Weibo and maliciously smeared the reputation of Tencent! We were forced into making that difficult decision!"

"Bullshit! It was QQ Doctor that blocked our software at the lowest level! You're the scoundrel!" Zhou Hongyi slammed her hand on the table and stood up, glaring angrily.

Seeing that the two big shots were about to start arguing again, Li Feng, who was sitting in the middle, sighed softly.

He stood up, his expression sincere, with a hint of heartbroken regret.

"Leaders, esteemed seniors."

Li Feng's voice carried an air of righteous innocence: "Our Haofeng Network is just a small, honest company that focuses on making games and film content. Our Weibo account is simply a platform for netizens to communicate."

"Seeing the situation today, I am truly heartbroken."

Li Feng turned to look at Pony Ma and Zhou Hongyi, his eyes filled with regret and confusion:

"Mr. Ma, Mr. Zhou. Both of you are highly respected elders in the Chinese internet industry, and you are the guides for our industry!"

"We're all in business. If there's any friction, can't we just sit down, have a cup of tea, and talk it out? Why make things so tense and turn the computer desktops of hundreds of millions of netizens into a battlefield?"

"Forcing users to choose between two options not only deprives them of their right to choose, but also makes China's internet a laughing stock in the eyes of outsiders! It absolutely shouldn't have come to this!"

Li Feng's words were both reasonable and emotionally appealing.

He completely absolved himself of any responsibility, as if this earth-shattering battle that swept the entire internet had nothing to do with him at all, and that he was just an innocent bystander who was caught up in the fight and was trying to break it up!

Hearing this extremely "green tea" statement...

Zhou Hongyi's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she watched!

Where did that ruthless, almost murderous, spirit that used to rip up Tencent's ancestral graves go when he was making those private phone calls to organize gatherings?! And now he's pretending to be all innocent and pure in front of the boss?!

Pony Ma, sitting opposite him, was so angry that he almost had a brain hemorrhage on the spot!

He was trembling all over, and his finger pointing at Li Feng was shaking.

You started the fire! You built the alliance! And now you're jumping out to play the good guy?!

However, Li Feng's remarks perfectly aligned with the official tone of "keeping the peace."

"Mr. Li is absolutely right!"

The leader from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology nodded, gave Li Feng an appreciative look, and then sternly looked at Pony Ma and Zhou Hongyi.

"Look at the awareness of these young people! You older folks really need to reflect on yourselves!"

The leader made the final decision and issued an ultimatum:

"Starting today, all mutual attacks must cease! Tencent must immediately restore compatibility with 360 software! 360 must stop QQ Protector's blocking function!"

"Within three days, each of you must issue a public apology statement on your respective official websites to netizens nationwide! If you dare to disrupt market order again, you will be severely punished!"

The matter was settled, and the mediation ended.

Stepping out of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology building, a chilly autumn wind was blowing.

Pony stopped and turned around to stare intently at Li Feng and Zhou Hongyi, the murderous intent in his eyes almost tangible.

But Pony Ma is also an absolutely rational person, and he knows this very well.

Haofeng Network is not listed on the stock market, so it is not only impossible to short sell in the stock market, but it also has a get-out-of-jail-free card in Jinling, and there is no legal basis to find any evidence of monopoly.

Li Feng, he really can't bite anymore.

"Since we can't beat Haofeng Networks in Jinling..."

Pony got into the car, a fierce glint in his eyes, and gritted his teeth as he gave the order:

"Notify all legal professionals in the entire group! Assemble immediately at the Shenzhen headquarters!"

"I'm going to unleash the full firepower of Tencent's legal department! Sue 360 ​​to the death!"

"If you can't take down Haofeng, you'll surely get your hands on Zhou Hongyi! I'm going to sue 360 ​​until they're bankrupt and liquidated!"