Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”What do you think?”

Priscilla asked softly inside the banquet hall.

”He... seems like an idealist on the surface, but I’m not sure. People have two sides, and I probably haven’t seen his other one yet.”

Zuckerberg shrugged and said to his wife.

He had come to Hua Country to build connections with the higher-ups and push Facebook into the Hua Country market.

Traveling with his wife, as the son-in-law of a Chinese family, might make it easier to gain acceptance.

He was only staying in Shencheng City for two days. Tomorrow night, he would fly to Yanjing to meet with the head of the Internet Supervision Association and participate in some promotional events along the way.

A market of over a billion people made his mouth water.

In his opinion, Chen Yansen’s incredible success was inextricably linked to this massive market.

Priscilla chuckled, thinking that Chen Yansen was just better at putting on a disguise.

She knew the true colors of a businessman better than anyone.

Just then, as arranged by the event organizers, a staff member led Zuckerberg and Priscilla over to Chen Yansen and made a brief introduction.

”Do you speak Chinese?” Chen Yansen asked, looking down at Zuckerberg.

It wasn’t that he was being arrogant, but the other man was only 1.7 meters tall, barely reaching his chin.

If he didn’t look down, he’d be talking to the top of Zuckerberg’s head.

’This little guy wanted to fight Musk in an octagon?’

’Good thing it didn’t happen, or Facebook would have lost its founder.’

Zuckerberg didn’t understand, so his wife translated for him.

He looked up at Chen Yansen. The man was taller than him by more than half a head, with a tall and straight posture. There was a difference of several sizes between their builds.

”You don’t? Then getting into the Hua Country market won’t be so simple,” Chen Yansen quipped.

He and Zuckerberg were, in a way, competitors.

Mimo Short Video was all the rage in the North American Region, but users don’t just fall from the sky. Naturally, it had to snatch market share from the hands of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

With his wife’s translation, Zuckerberg understood Chen Yansen’s meaning. His face hardened as he asked, ”Isn’t Hua Country an open and free market?”

Chen Yansen’s English was no worse than Zuckerberg’s, but he deliberately chose not to use it. He smiled and replied in Chinese, ”You don’t even understand Chinese, yet you want to create a Chinese social media app?”

That question stumped Zuckerberg!

Although he could hire people for localized operations and management, not understanding Hua Country’s culture would inevitably lead to a series of problems.

”If Mimo can enter the North American market, why can’t Facebook enter the Hua Country market?”

Zuckerberg retorted.

”I can speak English. Can you speak Chinese?” Chen Yansen teased with a smile.

”...” Zuckerberg froze, his train of thought derailed by Chen Yansen’s redirection.

In truth, both he and Chen Yansen knew that the biggest obstacle to Facebook entering Hua Country wasn’t localization or the founder’s Chinese proficiency, but approval from the Internet Supervision Association.

It all came down to their approval. If they said you’re in, you’re in. If they said you’re out, you’re out.

Ma Wenteng smiled when he saw this but said nothing.

Although he was certain the higher-ups wouldn’t let Facebook in, there were always exceptions. If Facebook really did break into the domestic market, even if it couldn’t win, WeChat would still lose a portion of its market share.

He didn’t want another competitor!

”You don’t get to decide that,” Zuckerberg quickly regained his confidence and said in a low voice.

”Good luck to you.” Chen Yansen wasn’t in the mood to talk. After saying his piece, he turned and left.

He had nothing much to discuss with Zuckerberg. When industry peers meet, a few pleasantries were enough. That was all.

”In him, I feel like I can see Mimo’s expansion style: aggressive, crude, but full of conviction.”

Zuckerberg muttered to himself after Chen Yansen had walked away.

”The penetration rate of 4G networks has seen a year-over-year increase of at least 30% compared to 2012. I think Facebook should also add a video module to increase user retention time,” Priscilla suggested.

”We’re already testing it internally. I’m not going to let Mimo keep running rampant,” Zuckerberg nodded and replied.