Chapter 28: The Launch of WeChat Moments and Experiencing Guangzhou Culture

Just as he was heading out, Yan Fei received a call from Liu Suxin. Sitting in his car, he chuckled and asked, "Suxin, did you miss me?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Suxin, unable to handle Yan Fei's playful, "playboy" demeanor, coquettishly retorted, "Miss you? In your dreams! I certainly did not!" Despite her feigned annoyance, her heart was filled with joy.

Sensing her happiness, Yan Fei smiled and asked, "Do you have any classes this afternoon? I'm planning a trip to Guangzhou; would you like to come along?"

"Guangzhou?" Liu Suxin immediately replied with a smile, "Sure! I haven't been out for a while, and it would be nice to go together."

To her parents, Liu Suxin was a model daughter—studying was her life, and she rarely went out. She had few friends and followed her parents' wishes in everything. Yet, deep down, she craved a bit of excitement, like sneaking out to bars with the local "second-generation" crowd or attending concerts with her best friends.

Yan Fei drove to Shen'an University, waited a while, and after Liu Suxin finished her last morning class, they set off for Guangzhou together.

With the sports car top down and the beauty by his side, they cruised along the slow lane of the highway. Liu Suxin raised her hands high, cheering into the wind, her natural, lively spirit painting a beautiful picture.

Watching his adorable and serene sweetheart, Yan Fei felt a profound sense of satisfaction. He drove, savoring the beauty of the moment, though as always, the best times flew by too quickly.

Before he knew it, they had arrived in Guangzhou and parked below the office building of Wechat Technology. As they got out, Yan Fei took Liu Suxin's hand and said with a smile, "This is the social networking company for acquaintances that I co-founded with a friend."

Liu Suxin nodded and followed him upstairs. From a distance, they saw Zhang Xiaolong waiting at the company entrance with an assistant. Yan Fei walked over quickly and said, "Mr. Zhang, sorry to keep you waiting."

Zhang Xiaolong smiled and replied, "I just stepped out of the office. It was a long journey, Mr. Yan; you must be tired."

Holding Liu Suxin’s hand, Yan Fei introduced her: "This is my girlfriend and also our angel investor, Ms. Liu Suxin."

Zhang Xiaolong immediately offered his congratulations: "Mr. Yan is truly blessed to have such a wonderful partner as Ms. Liu. It is truly enviable."

The group chatted in a harmonious atmosphere. Led by the assistant, they entered the general manager's office, where Yan Fei and Zhang Xiaolong began discussing the development of WeChat.

After downloading WeChat, they tested it for a while. Yan Fei remarked, "Aside from text and voice messaging, the other features are about the same as QQ. There’s nothing that stands out. How are we going to attract users?"

Zhang Xiaolong nodded and said in a low voice, "The current version was developed by combining features from QQ and Fetion. It’s similar in functionality but stands out for being more concise, lighter, and much smoother than its competitors. We are still planning other features."

Yan Fei nodded and asked, "How are the download numbers? How many registered users?"

Zhang Xiaolong replied immediately, "WeChat has been live for three days. We currently have 125,468 registered users and 37,845 daily active users. The engagement rate is low, and we are currently analyzing why."

Yan Fei waved his hand dismissively. "No need to analyze. The frequency of communication between acquaintances is naturally low. Without a massive user base, we are always on the verge of bankruptcy. We must prioritize increasing our user base or user stickiness."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaolong had a sudden realization. He nodded in agreement and said, "I will gather the core team for a brainstorming session to discuss how to increase stickiness."

Yan Fei agreed. Soon after, in the main conference room, over twenty core members gathered. Yan Fei sat at the head of the table, with Zhang Xiaolong to his left and Liu Suxin to his right.

Zhang Xiaolong stood up, scanned the room, and introduced them: "This is our company's major shareholder, Mr. Yan Fei, and this is our angel investor, Ms. Liu Suxin. Let’s welcome them."

The staff had already seen in the company's business registration that Yan Fei held a 90% stake. Seeing him in person, they were excited; his youth suggested he was a super-wealthy heir, meaning they didn't have to worry about the company going under or losing their jobs during the Internet bubble.

Yan Fei pressed his hands down, and the applause died out. Clearing his throat, he got straight to the point: "Our urgent task is to improve user stickiness. Everyone, please feel free to speak your mind."

A young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight raised his hand and said seriously, "Boss, I've used both Fetion and WeChat. As a product manager, I feel that while WeChat is easier to use than Fetion and mobile QQ, the features are too simple; there’s nothing to make users stay. I suggest adding features like voice and video chat. Also, I suggest adding an 'Explore' section on the home page to house these new features."

Yan Fei’s eyes lit up. "What is your name? That’s a brilliant idea."

The young man replied happily, "My name is Zhang Xing'an, the product manager. Thank you, Boss."

Encouraged by Zhang Xing'an, others began to offer suggestions. Dozens of ideas were listed, which Yan Fei praised before analyzing their feasibility with the group.

Ultimately, with the final approval of Yan Fei and Zhang Xiaolong, a new tab was added to the bottom of the app called "Discover." The personal profile page was streamlined to "Me," offering options for page customization, personalized avatars, signatures, and background showcases.

Most importantly, the "Moments" feature was added, allowing users to share their lives in real-time and interact with others through comments and likes.

Voice chat was also launched. As for video chat, Zhang Xiaolong vetoed it, arguing that current bandwidth couldn't support it and data costs were too high.

Considering the reality, Yan Fei said, "We’ll launch these for now. We can add video chat once we have more capital. By the end of the month, I want to see WeChat surpass one million users..."

Suddenly, Yan Fei thought of Baidu's bidding ranking system. He looked at the group excitedly: "Rankings! We can create a local ranking. Every week, we hold a contest for the 'Most Beautiful Moments' in each city, with cash prizes for the top ten. Every month, we’ll hold a national ranking with cash prizes for the top ten as well."

Seeing the confusion in the room, Yan Fei explained excitedly: "Every WeChat user can submit one post from their Moments to enter the weekly local contest and the monthly national contest simultaneously. We will use real-time rankings displayed on a secondary page within Moments. The only criteria for the ranking will be the number of likes and comments. Whoever has the highest combined score ranks first. Every WeChat user can participate."

Zhang Xiaolong immediately grasped the importance of this feature and shouted excitedly, "Brilliant! This will drastically increase user stickiness. The trend of sharing and liking Moments will sweep across China."

The staff became equally excited, convinced that these features would cause user numbers to skyrocket and that the company’s future was limitless—perhaps even reaching the hundred-billion-yuan market cap the boss had promised.

As they discussed the details, Liu Suxin joined in happily. Wechat Technology buzzed with renewed energy, and they worked late into the night, finalizing the development details by midnight.

Looking at Liu Suxin, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, Yan Fei felt a pang of guilt. He had promised to take her out to enjoy Guangzhou, but instead, they had spent the day working overtime.

Zhang Xiaolong, noticing Yan Fei’s fatigue, ended the meeting. "Mr. Yan, you should head back to the hotel to rest. I’ll keep an eye on things here. Regarding your plan for cooperation with the three major mobile carriers, I’ll arrange for someone to negotiate tomorrow. We must secure the right to access WeChat directly via mobile numbers. As for acquiring Fetion, I don't think it's possible. It's a state-owned enterprise. Even though it's failing, no one will risk the accusation of causing a loss of state assets by selling it to us after two years of operation."

Yan Fei nodded. "A pity. Fetion has tens of millions of users; if we could absorb them, we would take a giant leap forward."

Zhang Xiaolong wasn't worried. "The users are there; as long as we compete for them, they will become WeChat users. I am more concerned about Tencent's counterattack. Mr. Yan, please keep a close eye on their movements in Shen'an."

Yan Fei nodded, picked up the sleeping Liu Suxin, and left the office. He found a nearby hotel for the night. The next morning, Liu Suxin woke up, her face flushing as she realized she had stayed in the same room as Yan Fei.

After washing up, she peeked through the door to see if Yan Fei was awake. He was sitting on the balcony, listening to international news and deep in thought.

When she walked out, she saw his profile in the morning sun and felt her heart race. In that moment, she thought he looked incredibly handsome.

Sensing her presence, Yan Fei turned and smiled. "You're awake. Let's go down for breakfast, then we can head to the Canton Tower and Sanjiu Lane."

"Okay!" Liu Suxin jumped with joy. They enjoyed a dim sum breakfast and drove to the Canton Tower. Looking up at the towering structure, Yan Fei laughed, "Suxin, let’s race to the top."

Liu Suxin happily agreed. After buying tickets and taking the elevator to the climbing point, they strapped on their safety harnesses and began to climb the steel structure.

Seeing the dizzying drop beneath him, Yan Fei’s legs began to tremble as his fear of heights kicked in. Ahead of him, Liu Suxin laughed, turning back to call out, "Brother Fei, hurry up! Why aren't you moving?"

Seeing her covering her mouth to hide her smile, Yan Fei refused to look weak in front of his beloved. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "I'm not scared! I'm just letting you have a head start."

Liu Suxin, seeing his childish stubbornness, found him even more adorable and laughed harder, continuing her ascent while checking on him.

Forcing himself to ignore his discomfort, Yan Fei quickly overcame his fear. Grabbing the steel beams, his trembling legs steadied, and he climbed toward her, quickly adapting to the view from hundreds of meters in the air.

Soon, they reached the top of the tower. Sitting on the spire, they looked out over Guangzhou. The blend of modern skyscrapers, classical architecture, and natural villages gave the city a timeless beauty.

"It’s so beautiful!" Liu Suxin whispered, mesmerized. "If my parents knew I was at such a dangerous height, they’d be terrified. But if I hadn't come up here, I wouldn't have seen this."

Thinking of something, she looked at Yan Fei, whose legs were still shaking, and said with a smile, "Brother Fei, you're very brave. Thank you for being crazy with me."

"N-no... I'm not scared," Yan Fei insisted. "The weather is perfect today. Being here, seeing the most beautiful scenery with the person I love—it's wonderful."

Liu Suxin felt a sweetness in her heart and leaned against his shoulder. "Brother Fei, do you think we can be this happy forever?"

"Yes, we definitely can!" Yan Fei said firmly. "Suxin, I only love you in this life, and that will never change."

"Mm!" she replied softly. They sat in silence, admiring the view until the staff urged them to descend.

After returning to the ground, they headed to Sanjiu Lane, a famous snack street in Guangzhou filled with local history and delicacies.

Walking hand-in-hand like any other couple, they explored the bustling street. A stall selling aged beef offal caught their attention. The steaming, fragrant pot filled with tender tripe and tendon, paired with a special chili and garlic sauce, was a culinary delight. They each took a skewer, chatting and smiling as they ate.

Next, they tried the famous Chen Tianji fish skin. The thin, crispy, golden-fried skin sprinkled with sesame and cilantro was refreshing and savory. Liu Suxin took a bite, her eyes lighting up as she gave Yan Fei a thumbs-up.

Tired from walking, they sat down in a tea house to enjoy the local morning tea culture. A pot of hot Tieguanyin and baskets of delicate dim sum—shrimp dumplings, siu mai, and rice noodle rolls—offered a perfect blend of flavors. In the tea house, elders chatted leisurely while children looked around curiously, letting them experience the unique rhythm and warmth of life in Guangzhou.