Ever since Tencent received the $1 billion investment, QQ has become a tool for others to manipulate the market.

Zhong Xinxin couldn't stand Liang Huihong's short-sightedness, so she scolded him, "We're already in the river. If we were to turn back, the initial investment, including advertising, technology, equipment, and talent recruitment, would have already exceeded 20 million."

“If we don’t accept this $1 billion investment now, we will not only have to pay back the money we’ve spent to the investors, but also to the TV stations and all the advertisers.”

They are now in a very awkward position. They don't want to be controlled, but if they try to break free from this control, they may lose everything.

However, if they want to get rid of this control, they will not only lose all their wealth, but also likely be burdened with huge debts, and may even be imprisoned.

That's $1 billion!

Zhong Xinxin looked at Mr. Ma and hesitated before saying, "We used all of the 20 million yuan investment from Dailusi Media Company on advertising and promotion in China, Southeast Asia, and Europe and America."

"As for the $100,000, it has already been used for technology development and talent acquisition. Right now, we have a lot of money in our account, but it is not from profits, but from investors."

Zhong Xinxin didn't mean to push Mr. Ma into a trap, but the current situation left them with no other choice but to go down a dead end.

After listening to Zhong Xinxin's words, Boss Ma finally lowered his head.

Soon, half a month passed, and the money Tencent spent on promoting this approach in Europe and America gradually lost its effectiveness.

The public experiences aesthetic fatigue and a rebellious mentality towards advertising. If an advertisement or a product appears in people's lives for a long time and in large quantities, it will arouse people's rebellious mentality.

Some people initially thought QQ was a pretty good product and planned to download and try it out.

But when he finds that his life, whether walking on the street, at school, or at work, is filled with QQ advertisements, he will develop a rebellious mentality and feel that even if the product is good, he doesn't want to touch it.

The anti-QQ sentiment stemming from the advertisements led a significant portion of young people in Europe and America to internally resist QQ.

As a result, the data showed a slight downward trend.

Mr. Ma and everyone in the office gathered in the meeting room. This market research results discussion was different from the past, and the atmosphere was unusually stiff.

"Was the ICQ Show developed by Longteng Company the one that General Manager Da Yu was in charge of?" Boss Ma asked with a sullen face and eyes as black as a hole.

No one dared to speak. Zhong Xinxin cautiously said, "As far as we know, after President Da was poached by their company, he participated in Longteng's new project within two days."

“He just left our company and immediately took on such an important project,” Luo Qun sneered. “Why do you think Chen Dong from Longteng Company trusts this General Manager Yu so much? It must be because he used our company’s trade secrets as leverage.”

"Boss, when you hired him, why didn't you sign a non-compete agreement with him? That way, after he leaves this industry, he won't be able to work in a related industry for at least two years."

When this question came up, Liang Huihong rolled his eyes at him and said in a low voice, "Because back then, our entire company office only had five people, and we hired General Manager Yu by paying him a monthly salary of 2,000."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the office lowered their heads. The fact that Tencent's technical staff were hired by Jack Ma at two or three times their current salaries, compared to the 2,000 yuan salary, created a stark contrast.

“General Manager Yu was the company’s chief engineer back then, responsible for developing the entire QQ project. He was only paid 2,000 yuan a month, and you even made people sign non-compete agreements. Who would work for you?” Liang Huihong looked at Luo Qun.

In fact, Liang Huihong was quite resentful about Da Yu's departure.

The five people in their office were once united, but now...

In Liang Huihong's heart, Da Yu was someone he was reluctant to leave. This product was born in Da Yu's hands and is now being operated by Tencent.

Although they didn't find the right direction at first, they didn't make much of a splash in the first two months after launching.

However, after they received investment, Mr. Yu was very eager to participate in the project's development, but Mr. Ma excluded him from the project.

No matter who you are, you would feel disheartened after experiencing this.

“General Manager Da is not that kind of person,” Boss Ma concluded. “Everyone should stop discussing General Manager Da’s departure from now on.”

"Everyone else is gone. What trade secrets does our company have? Is it related to Longteng's newly developed ICQ Show?"

Luo Qun opened his mouth, somewhat surprised that Boss Ma had been helping him, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Zhong Xinxin changed the subject, "Alright, let's not focus on any one person. Let's take a longer view. ICQ's development of ICQ Show is obviously aimed at us."

“Previously, in the European and American markets, we had hundreds of advertisers’ ads launched overnight, which clearly touched the core of ICQ.”

"That's why they were in such a hurry to release an ICQ Show version that hadn't even been tested yet."

Looking at the latest data for ICQ Show, Mr. Ma was still somewhat unconvinced, but he had to admit, "Even the beta version of ICQ Show has instantly diverted the attention of our QQ users."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!