Chapter 144 Course Heading

ayong handing over the phone while wearing glasses; despite his refined appearance, he didn't know how to respond to Su Cen's words. He looked up at Su Licheng and smiled, saying, "Your son asked me t...Volume 3: Go to a Distant Place Chapter 144: Course

Rarely spending a weekend with Tang Wu at Snow Sea Retreat, Su Cen felt that the apartment he had in Manhattan First could never match up to Tang Wu's home in Shanghai in terms of warmth. After all, there were special memories associated with her place; moreover, he didn't have time to manage his downtown residence before final exams. He would only go over to turn off electricity and close windows when leaving the city, and pack some things.

After reaching an agreement with Tang Wu on taking over some businesses in the future, Su Cen planned to take her to the headquarters of FaceBook China for a familiarization visit soon. After all, the main business of Big Pineapple Holdings in Shanghai was FaceBook China; UpKTV and Pineapple Media didn't require their attention since Zhao Hao and Lin Guangdong were already competent enough.

However, there was no need to rush Tang Wu into taking over Big Pineapple Holdings. Su Cen thought that he could have her gradually take on some of the company's operations during her senior year in university. This would provide a transitional period without affecting her studies at Nan University. On the other hand, it would allow her to combine what she had learned with practical experience; actual hands-on management was the best teacher. Gradually, related management and coordination tasks could be assigned, as the saying goes that one’s achievements depend not on their uniqueness but rather on their position. Su Cen eagerly anticipated how far Tang Wu would progress.

The greatest benefit of spending a weekend at Snow Sea Retreat was that Tang Wu could focus on her books; additionally, to prepare for these few days' reading and their small life together, they bought enough food supplies for three days from the supermarket.

That Friday evening, they made hotpot with the base broth they had purchased. Outside, it was a wet and cold autumn night. The dampness of Shanghai's cold weather was said to make even northerners shiver; that weekend’s cold wind seemed to seep through Su Cen's sweater to his bones.

However, cooking hotpot at Tang Wu's place with steam fog slowly covering the floor-to-ceiling windows and watching people involuntarily hunch their shoulders as they emerged from cars in the cold wind, while having a beautiful woman by his side adding fuel to the fire, was perhaps one of the most satisfying things in Su Cen’s life.

During these undisturbed days, Su Cen felt he had forgotten about everyone else and that everyone else might have forgotten him as well.

Tang Wu devoted herself entirely to studying while Su Cen quickly went through her existing notes. Unlike his initial efforts to keep up with Tang Wu in high school by excelling in rigorous exams, after entering Nan University, he adopted a policy of not failing any courses and only delved into areas that interested him.

Unless one was a technical specialist, very few graduates from today’s universities could find jobs directly related to their majors. However, some major companies with robust training departments could transform a clueless college graduate into an office elite through systematic training. Thus, Su Cen felt there was nothing wrong with picking what he liked and learning those things in university.

Moreover, his energy had to be directed toward the expanding business endeavors as well.

Over the weekend, Su Can also received a call from Sichuan City where his father, Su Licheng, was calling.

"You're still being asked by your alma mater, Nan Da University, to serve as a charity consultant This just confirms that you are playing around. Besides, now that they've invited you to join the charity advisory committee, how much money do you plan to donate to appear reasonable You can't possibly not give anything at all," Su Licheng was still concerned about his son's finances. After all, he was a frugal person himself and didn't mind donating from time to time, but given Su Can's current status, if the amount was too small it wouldn't be impressive enough, while giving too much would make him feel guilty as it would seem like his hard-earned money.

This is my father. There’s nothing grandiose about him when it comes to morality or duty, even though he's a head of a major state-owned enterprise and is about to be promoted to vice mayor. But in the end, when it comes to me, he still thinks like an ordinary father who worries about this and that.

"You're going to be working as a deputy mayor in Phoenix City; why are you still fussing over donating money" Su Can joked.

However, he couldn't avoid being lectured by his father. "It's not me who is worrying about this. You’re just starting your entrepreneurial journey, and it’s unrealistic to expect you to contribute something meaningful for society at such an early stage. It’s merely a gesture for the sake of appearances, to gain recognition from Nan Da University, which is nothing more than empty praise. Don't think that getting attention in one place means you’ve achieved anything significant. You still have many things to face and a long road ahead."

Su Can didn’t dare to argue further and could only explain, "The entrepreneurship base at Nan Da University provides welfare support for those who want to start their own businesses but lack initial capital or have had ideas that failed due to inadequate funding or poor management. I’ve invested some money in this project and also built up our talent resources."

Su Can initially invested one million yuan in the entrepreneurship base at Nan Da University, with an additional two million over two phases planned for further support of entrepreneurs in their early stages. This aligns well with Facebook China's strategy to establish a technical talent platform, making it mutually beneficial for both parties. Talented individuals within the park would be monitored by Facebook China’s human resources department; if they perform exceptionally well, job offers might be placed on their desks or additional funding provided for outstanding projects.

Of course, due to the current focus on acquiring shares of World of Warcraft, these plans had to be postponed. The initial one million yuan investment was squeezed out from limited resources while waiting for further financing from American Facebook to support ongoing operations and future growth.

"That sounds a bit more reasonable," Su Licheng finally nodded his approval over the phone. But what Su Can didn't see was that his father had an approving smile on his face. Despite occasionally scolding him, he was filled with confidence in his son’s abilities, something even he sometimes struggled to articulate.

"By the way," Su Can added with a grin, "the news of you taking up your new position is already spreading around like wildfire. In Sichuan City, it's no secret anymore. Dad, when are you planning on starting your new role so I can feel what it’s like to be an official’s son"

Su Licheng ignored his son’s teasing and responded, "It isn't a matter of public knowledge yet. The Phoenix City People's Congress hasn’t convened for the announcement yet; don’t just follow everyone else."

"You act all official before you even take office, but everyone knows it's just for show. It’s actually quite stable and composed of you not going there to take up your post until the formalities are complete. You have an air about you."

Su Licheng chuckled helplessly and said, "The personnel procedures are still on their way; at least it will take over a month to finalize. I’m not in a rush and am waiting for the handover there as well. It’s not too late to leave when the formalities arrive. Should we go together after your exams"

"If I run into you then, let's go together. The provincial government’s appointment principles don’t drag their feet and avoid internal transfers within a region to prevent entrenched local factions. Do they need time to prepare for our arrival I have the feeling that this trip by my dad isn't simple. Wang Bo arranged it, but there must also be meddling from opposing factions. Phoenix City has a developed economy and strategic significance; such places usually have more complex factional dynamics.

If my father goes over there, either he will firmly establish himself or completely get pushed out as a failure. There’s no third possibility."

After the weekend was over, Su Can and Tang Wu, who had disappeared for an entire weekend, vanished again from public view on Monday. Su Can drove to the Merlion Tower with Tang Wu, determined to let her integrate into his business at least by understanding what they were doing and planning.

Li Pengyu didn’t always stay around Su Can; as a chief executive assistant, he had to learn more from Qiao Shuxin most of the time. Li Pengyu was solid in technical aspects but still needed to start learning about finances, company structures, and operations.

Su Can’s Bentley dropping off Tang Wu caused quite a commotion; Su Can’s identity within the Facebook Chinese internal network was public knowledge, so nobody expected their top boss to suddenly make an appearance.

Especially when Tang Wu appeared beside Su Can with her black hair down and wearing a black tweed coat after untying her ponytail. The employees in the front row holding phones forgot what they were saying; an assistant hurriedly passing through the corridor dropped their files, scattering them everywhere.

Everyone looked at the young chief executive who appeared, as well as Tang Wu on his side, calm and composed. At that moment, almost no one realized that this girl, more graceful and charming than a neighborhood girl, would soon become their future female boss.

"You can imagine that when our membership base reaches 1 million, 5 million, or even 10 million, and we launch any project product, such as some convenient application software or charge for game props in the community games, if only ten percent of users are willing to pay, then within three years, we could reach tens of millions in scale. And these products accumulate together; is there really a lack of profitable models for social networks The extent of our future profitability depends on whether this user base soil is wide enough to allow us to grow more flowers."

At the meeting Su Can convened, Tang Wu attended as well. Su Can added at last, "So user experience should be top priority, and membership services are what we truly need to focus on.

Around them applause could be heard, Li Pengyu would glance at Tang Wu from time to time while giving Su Cen subtle hints with his eyes. The implication was very clear; Su Cen's actions would leave many single female youths on Sina Weibo who were eagerly waiting for a gold phoenix to land in their nests sighing in regret.

The next event was another small meeting of the management team where Tang Wu’s identity as "Special President Assistant" was introduced, resulting in another round of applause. Li Pengyu even couldn’t help but smile and say, “Long admired your reputation,” only to receive a resentful look from Tang Wu.

After all the introductions were complete, Tang Wu had gained an overall impression of Sina Weibo and was now exiting with Su Cen. He then asked, "How is it Are you getting used to it I told Li Pengyu that he should transfer some documents for you to look over first. Start by looking at the equity structure, department division, and key PR values and so on; these aren’t too complicated. No regrets"

"Regret," Tang Wu nodded slightly, then smiled warmly as Su Cen’s expression turned grim, "It seems a bit complex, but I should be able to adapt quickly. You said that Sina Weibo needs to reach two million members by March next year based on the current twenty thousand; do you think this is too much of an ask From your team's expressions, it doesn’t seem like they’re very confident."

The two walked side-by-side into the company cafeteria and strolled along a floor-to-ceiling window area as if ordinary employees. However, surrounding discussions about them being bosses were seemingly ignored by both.

When mentioning the company, Su Cen resumed his commanding demeanor; this was not usual especially in front of Tang Xiaowu who made him feel less superior. Naturally, he tried to put on a good show, "Two million members is just our most conservative estimate for March next year. At that time we will exceed these numbers by far. We don’t want to set the bar too high initially or nobody would believe it's possible."

In 2002, when many in China were still unfamiliar with applications and internet entertainment was limited, Sina Weibo pioneered opening its application port.

Su Cen not only utilized internal R&D resources within the company but also invested funds to support Nanjing University's startup base. He gathered technical forces to develop applicable tools and games for Sina Weibo, planning to spread them virally to entertain users and make up for China’s internet environment differences with America, enhancing user stickiness to capture this nascent market.

Outside the window, heavy raindrops formed a continuous line connecting sky and earth. Distant high-rise buildings were blurred and indistinct in the misty weather, cold winds brushing against them.

"You can just say what you think," Tang Wu's cloud-like hair hung down as her face was reflected beautifully in the floor-to-ceiling window. Her obsidian eyes stared out of the window at the distant high-rise buildings shrouded in a wet and chilly fog; she stood alone amidst an expansive landscape.

The second update has arrived, now that renovations are done I feel relaxed, to everyone’s benefit, let me keep writing.uble in Nan University; now you're planning to come here and create chaos Shanghai International Studies University is too small for your antics." Then her eyes darted between Tang Wu and Lin Luoran,...