20demayo Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Chapter 143: The 3Q WarMa put the call on speaker and placed the phone on the table. He fell silent. He hadn’t expected Zhou Hongwei to call so soon.
The Penguin PC Manager project wasn’t a secret at Jinshan…Zhou Hongyi surely knew about it.
“Mr. Zhou, it’s been a long time since we parted at Xizi Lake. I’ve missed you.”
Zhou Hongwei didn’t believe for a second that Ma Tengyun missed him…he was now Ma’s biggest rival.
“Mr. Ma, I heard Penguin is entering the cybersecurity space.” “Could I beg you not to develop security software? We promise never to touch instant messaging. Let’s coexist peacefully.” “If Penguin launches security software, our 370 might be doomed.”
Zhou Hongwei lowered himself, practically to the point of groveling. 370 had grown rapidly. After Yahoo’s domestic business collapsed, Zhou had clawed his way back with 370, becoming the undisputed leader in the field. But he hadn’t held that position for long before hearing that Penguin was preparing to strike.
Panic gripped him. Everyone knew…once Penguin entered a sector, that sector would never know peace. For the longest time, his greatest fear had been Penguin targeting them. Now, that day had arrived.
Ma Tengyun remained calm. “Don’t worry. The security space is huge. Everyone has their own market share.” “No need to be afraid. We’re not directly interfering with each other.” “Penguin won’t destroy 370. We’ll each do our own thing. Rest assured.”
Zhou saw that Ma had no intention of backing down. He pressed further. “Mr. Ma, how about this…let’s collaborate.” “Qiandu is your real enemy now.” “I could develop something to block Qiandu’s ads.” “Let’s first eliminate Li Hongyan’s 30% medical ad revenue.” “We take down Qiandu and split their market. What do you say?”
Zhou tried to redirect the threat, hoping Penguin would abandon its attack on 370. But Ma knew Mr. Mo’s decisions were never wrong.
“We don’t have much business overlap with Qiandu.” “If you’re that ambitious, we won’t compete with you for that market.”
Zhou kept trying to persuade Ma to back off. But Ma responded with polite deflections, never committing.
Eventually, Zhou hung up in frustration.
“This Zhou Hongwei is no fool,” Ma said. “Trying to redirect the threat to Qiandu…clever move.”
“Qiandu’s growth has been explosive. We tried investing before, but Li Hongyan was completely unapproachable. He treated Qiandu like his private empire.”
Li Mo nodded. Qiandu’s future didn’t look promising. Compared to Alibaba or Penguin, the gap was enormous. After failing to reach an agreement with Li Hongyan, he had dropped the matter.
“If Zhou is this afraid of us, aren’t we winning without a fight?”
At that moment, Zeng Liqing scoffed. He didn’t think 370 was even worthy of being Penguin’s opponent…worse than Lianzhong.
“Liqing, never underestimate your enemy,” Li Mo said, swirling his wine glass.
“370 achieved remarkable success in the security market. Zhou Hongwei’s capabilities are undeniable. His smooth talk is just a stalling tactic. When the real fight begins, they won’t hold back.”
Zeng Liqing felt ashamed. He had clearly underestimated them.
“But we don’t need to worry too much about 370.”
“First, our Penguin Manager boosts daily activity time by half an hour just by logging in with a Penguin account.”
“Second, we’ll acquire Norton.”
“Anyone who downloads and registers Penguin Manager will get Norton antivirus for free.”
“And we’ll bundle Jinshan Duba inside Penguin Manager too.”
Ma Tengyun gasped. “That’s brutal. Norton is the gold standard in antivirus…but it’s expensive. Most users can’t afford it. If we offer it for free, it’ll trigger a massive wave!”
“Acquiring Norton won’t be cheap.”
Li Mo smiled. “Price isn’t the issue. What matters is strengthening Penguin’s core. Penguin is our foundation…never forget that.”
Lei Xiaojun was thrilled. “Just logging into Penguin Manager to boost activity time will attract tons of young users!”
Everyone saw it clearly now…an internet war of the century was about to begin.
The next day, Penguin Manager launched with great fanfare, directly targeting 370 in every feature.
The internet exploded.
Media outlets widely reported Penguin’s aggressive declaration of war. The battle was officially underway…and soon dubbed the “3Q War.”
Countless netizens followed the drama, eager to see the outcome of this clash between two rising internet giants.
Even middle-aged users knew about the 3Q War. Compared to the previous Lianzhong Games conflict, this was on a whole different scale.
After all, casual games didn’t have the same impact as antivirus software.
At Xiaoxiao Beauty, the company’s internal chat groups were buzzing by morning. Su Xiaoxiao, just waking up, saw the news in the executive group.
“This time, Zhou Hongwei and Ma Tengyun are the stars of the show.” “Zhou is coming to our celebration banquet.” “Our valuation is bound to rise again!”
Some supported Zhou Hongwei, others backed Ma Tengyun.
“If ‘damn Ma Tengyun’ wins again, people will curse him even more!”
Industry insiders knew the real investor behind Penguin was Li Mo…but few were aware. Most only knew the public-facing CEO.
Even Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t heard. Wu Lulu, who knew, was caught in a property dispute with her husband over a leaked video. Yan Feilei had forbidden her from speaking, so the news hadn’t reached Su Xiaoxiao.
She scrolled through the chat, feeling a bit envious of the internet sector’s explosive growth.
Her company was growing fast… But compared to these rapidly expanding tech giants, it felt insignificant.
The 3Q War had begun… And the entire internet was watching.