Chapter 194: Rising Winds and Gathering Clouds
their background well like Dad Chen, it seemed too unbelievable. Such an unbelievable scenario made him think that Su Can was overly ostentatious and precocious. Now his daughter mentioned wanting to...Chapter 194: Storms Brewing
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.
In the twinkling of an eye, it was already the year 2004.
Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland and its largest seaport, is located in high latitude with cool summers and gulls flying around. In winter, the Gulf Stream warms the area, making it pleasant.
By the Atlantic Ocean, the harbor often displays clear blue skies over calm seas with white sails standing tall. The city's main river snakes through ruined castles that seem to tell stories of the past and green meadows where daisies grow wild in the municipal park. It flows slowly between children letting go of balloons and couples embracing on the grass, as if time itself has paused.
Antrim is part of Belfast but is technically Antrim District. However, old residents still consider it Antrim County, not just another modern industrial city region. They deeply love this land.
In the northeast of the county by the bay, one can see a line of little seaside houses at sunset. Many locals still earn their living from fishing and prawning. During the day, wives prepare breakfasts and dinners for the day, while children take yellow school buses to secondary schools in the area. In the evening, men return to port in boats belonging to prawn companies, creating waves in the harbor waters. Sailors take off the blue hats of the prawn company as they wave to people waiting on shore.
The little houses in that residential area often light up with gentle lights at dusk, presenting a magnificent sight under large bands of stratus clouds stretching for thousands of miles.
At night, each house glows softly through glass windows, creating a warm and cozy world.
Fathers returning home from prawn companies are happy, carrying salaries they just received. They also hold new dresses they bought for their daughters, whose mothers died from serious illnesses long ago. As single-parent children, the kids often misbehave, and he doesn't know how to communicate with her properly, so he hopes this dress will mend some of the rift caused by recent arguments. Since his wife's death, he has developed a drinking problem but tries hard at work hoping to give his daughter a normal life. Sometimes fishing is dark or stormy, even encountering reefs, but none of these can compare to his love for her. Yet, as a fisherman, one cannot expect him to express this.
The light in the daughter's room is still on when he enters quietly. He holds the dress box tightly and wonders if she is still angry from their argument two days ago. He steps slowly, thinking about different ways of presenting her with the gift before leaving silently or telling her happily that he just received his salary.
His feet make slight sounds on wooden floors under dim lights as he gently opens the daughter's door without realizing it was not fully closed. The sound makes him pause; she turns around in shock, seeing her father then screams.
He looks at the computer screen where photos of her unclothed are newly uploaded.
His heart stops as he feels a great tearing sensation. He provides for her despite hardship and uses all his strength to give her material security. Though short-tempered, he always sees her as his princess whom he would protect with his life if necessary.
But what he sees now incites an extreme rage within him: at her carelessness, lack of understanding, and especially for using her youthful body to attract vulgar boys online. He angrily pushes the computer over then slaps her face harshly, cursing her as a "whore" and "slut."
The daughter fights back but he drags her by her hair into the living room. Using a sharp knife on the coffee table, he forcefully stabs at her twisting body, recalling his fight with a 200-pound bull shark underwater, where he stabbed its dorsal fin and tail without mercy.
He drops the knife covered in blood spattered up to two meters high.
Exiting the house, lights shine from many similar houses. Under the night sky filled with stars and harbor lights, this helpless middle-aged man shivers as he cries out repeatedly, "I love you so much, I love you so much..."
The police soon surround the house. Antrim County is shocked by the event, leading to major newspapers reporting it extensively.
In people's eyes, this tragedy started with the girl uploading nude photos on Facebook, aiming at its two billion active users worldwide. This led to a moral and ethical disaster. The media harshly criticizes it, prompting collective boycotts of Facebook in Northern Ireland, UK... In Jordan's West Bank...
The Israeli reporters covered the entire protest march, and Jewish immigrants in the occupied areas were extremely angry when they saw on Facebook that it was suggested they lived in Palestine. As a result, a group called "We Are Not Palestinians" was established on Facebook and quickly gathered 13,000 members.
On the other hand, another group named "All Palestinians on Facebook" was created with over 8,800 members. Both sides erupted in protests against Facebook in the West Bank, turning this event into a subtle international political issue that even high-level leaders from both countries had to intervene to prevent further escalation.
The last scene captured by an Israeli reporter's camera and broadcasted internationally was of a young child picking up a stone at the forefront of the crowd and throwing it towards a car. Inside the car sat a frightened mother with two children. The mother put herself in front of her children, shielding them from the impact as stones were thrown through the broken windows, hitting her back and shoulders.
In Italy,
a Facebook group praising jailed mafia leaders sparked public outrage. A bill was submitted to the Italian Senate, which then sent a notice to Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook's headquarters in the United States, suggesting that Facebook remove content defending or inciting criminal behavior by the mafia. Although this bill did not pass in the Italian Senate, Zuckerberg personally removed the controversial content from within Facebook.
In the Middle East, the freedom Facebook gives individuals is beginning to surpass national boundaries. In Turkey and Chile, it is ubiquitous among high-ranking officials and intellectuals, with many believing that not using Facebook means self-isolation.
The author of a book titled "Sons of Jihad" explains this phenomenon: "These countries are under oppressive regimes, so people have almost no way to express themselves. They feel more connected to the real world online than in their daily lives."
But what is truly the real world in such a chaotic environment
Is it The Matrix for Neo or the giant studio set for Truman...Shanghai,
The Facebook Chinese headquarters, located on the 17th floor of Mero Tower.
The bustling Xuhui commercial district unfolds before transparent floor-to-ceiling windows. Although many areas are under construction, the vibrant pace of development and the city's endless ambitions are awe-inspiring at all times.
Through the glass, Su Can’s face reflects a slight weariness from last night’s poor sleep but with an expression of determination. Qiao Shuxin says to him across the desk, "The news about a father killing his daughter in Northern Ireland shocked everyone there. It's truly tragic." Behind Su Can are the core members of Facebook China, who work against a wall adorned with a Sony LCD TV displaying international news reports criticizing Facebook.
Next to Qiao Shuxin is an unassuming woman wearing glasses and dressed impeccably in a suit who is Kate, the financial officer from America. She has collaborated with Qiao for years and is a visiting professor at Nanjing University. During Facebook's acquisition of World of Warcraft shares last year, she played a crucial role in coordinating between American Facebook and China. Her lecture at Tongji University that garnered thunderous applause was titled "I belong here."
Next to Kate sits Mu Guotao, formerly a professor at Nanjing University and one of the pioneers in public policy development in China. His decision to join Facebook caused quite a stir among academic circles back then.
At that time, when Facebook China was just established, many professors at his level felt he was underutilized. Government departments had invited him for consultations, including an exchange delegation from the State Council offering him special advisor positions in Canada. Yet Mu Guotao chose to stay with Facebook.
Currently, Facebook China has 20 million users across the country, encompassing high school and college students, postgraduates, PhDs, and a significant portion of white-collar workers and civil servants. All foreign companies now use Facebook's newly launched "Round Table Facebook" for internal communication.
The most striking figure in this office is not any of these influential individuals but the girl standing by the door. Dressed in a black suit over her white shirt, she wears high-heeled shoes and has let down her ponytail into long, straight hair that frames her neatly. Her slender yet tall build makes even Mu Guotao, who prioritizes academia over beauty, feel an intense impact from her presence.
Her charisma transcends age; even those young people from various fields like finance, information technology, marketing, administration, and languages from prestigious universities outside of China can sense their admiration for her.
Tang Wu looks at the TV screen with eyes like obsidian that now exude a mature charm. She watches the reports about protesters carrying banners like watching a grand documentary but knows it's not like Reagan's assassination or Nixon’s resignation; this is current news happening around the world.
"Facebook has over 200 million active users in the U.S., thanks to its open platform strategy, which allows third parties to develop programs independently and thus promotes international expansion. This indeed profoundly changes people's lives, but we have no choice but to face the upcoming issues," Qiu Shuxin said with a furrowed brow. "This isn't just about a father killing his daughter or people advocating politics and praising the criminal underworld in Dubai. When Facebook exceeded the limits of the UAE government by criticizing it and protesting against Gulf Air, the UAE government completely banned Facebook."
After watching the documentary on TV to its end, Qiu Shuxin turned off the television with the remote control and said, "Now governments around the world are studying how to control people who harbor malicious intentions or disrupt social stability by abusing the freedom of speech provided by Facebook. Such studies and possible measures may impact Facebook's headquarters in California. We need to consider what we should do if this situation worsens and poses a substantial threat—even an existential crisis—to us."
Facebook’s six degrees of separation and its open platform nature註定它的市場在國際上。註定了當年那個在菲利普斯學院的男孩像是他鐘愛的兵棋一樣會徹底改變世界。
However, it also引發來自世界各地的巨大波浪反擊，現在那些有關倫理道德，有關**和個人權利與自由，有關毒品和黑社會的輿論，在確實引發的社會問題或某些敵手刻意打擊之下，朝著臉譜網帕洛阿爾托玻璃房子的總部襲來。
同樣血緣關係的臉譜中文或許也會在這種滔天的輿論下受到波及。
"When Facebook raised $60 million from Axel Springer last year, no one expected it to burn through this money so quickly. Now Zuckerberg's team is facing the biggest challenge: how to successfully raise funds for further development in the face of international condemnation. In California alone, Facebook spends $500,000 on electricity and $1 million on bandwidth every month. This year they need to buy two thousand servers and one NetApp 3050 storage system each month to meet demand," Sun Can wasn't familiar with Qiu Shuxin's professional terms or internal rules but was well-versed in NetApp products, which were designed for data centers. The company had three NetApp 3050 systems, while the main configuration of personal computers that year was only 80GB. A server from a small to medium-sized enterprise could store about 1TB, whereas one NetApp 3050 system could store up to 168TB.
A single storage device currently costs nearly $1.5 million internationally. With Facebook's current expansion speed, it needs to buy one every month; in the future, they might need to purchase one every week.
...
In 2004, information enterprises were on the brink of entering a petabyte (PB) storage era.
Moving into PB-level storage meant that all employees could save telephone records related to business for an entire year. Marketing departments could easily access promotional video data from a month ago and analyze changes in customer gender ratios by comparing them with videos from several months prior. Such PB-level storage was previously only found in university labs or microbiology and genetics laboratories, not even the top five universities in China had this capability, which represented an organization's massive internal information processing power.
Currently, Facebook China is still at the terabyte (TB) level while American Facebook has already entered the PB-level.
The meeting room was quiet, and Qiu Shuxin continued, "Besides these expenses, Facebook’s office rent in Palo Alto and its data center rental fees amount to $10 million annually. Monthly salary costs are at $2 million. These massive expenditures have only just begun." After a pause, he said, “As far as I know, Zuckerberg's CFO, Gideon, is currently in Dubai seeking funds through the Gulf capital market because of domestic and foreign pressures; Facebook’s next round of financing from the U.S. market might be difficult. At least for now, there won't be large-scale funding due to revenue growth being slower than costs. If American Facebook encounters a winter of public opinion or even pressure from the U.S. Congress, coupled with financial difficulties, it could face its first major crisis.”
Sun Can knew that his rebirth had altered history's course but hadn't anticipated that under the influence of chaos theory, the world would start to develop in an unpredictable direction.
...
Sun Can understood what Qiu Shuxin was worried about: Facebook’s external turmoil affected China as well.
Domestic newspapers were already filled with articles expressing concerns over social networks.
Tang Wu had told Sun Can that a relevant report titled "Unrestrained Panic Brought by Social Networks Worldwide and Regulatory Oversight in China's Cybersociety" appeared on Xin Hua Internal Reference, the internal bulletin for vice-ministerial-level officials within the Chinese government.
The article detailed Facebook’s development history as well as its current status in China. It compared overseas and domestic situations to highlight both the rise of social networks and their potential risks. The tone used by Xin Hua Internal Reference was smooth, regardless of how turbulent or stormy a process might be; it described things from inception through growth to eventual decline.
The report mentioned Facebook China as part of the broader domestic social network landscape without naming Sun Can directly.
Actually, publishing such content in Xin Hua Internal Reference was quite fortunate for Sun Can. There were likely several political negotiations behind this decision.
If it had been published on Qiu Shi (the topmost internal reference), Sun Can would have immediately flown to Chengdu to meet Wang Bo and prepare for a showdown with opposing forces.
Sun Can knew that such possibilities existed.
The most significant change in 2004 was the emergence of several SNS networks in Beijing and Shanghai.
Behind these information industry companies was Sequoia Capital China, whose chairman and partner was Jian Hua. Jian Hua was nurturing these high-tech enterprises to replicate Facebook's success in China and surpass it.
"They will never catch up with us," Qiu Shuxin said calmly, with a smile on his face. His words carried an implicit confidence and strength stemming from the belief that their team could change many historical enterprises.
However, this doesn't mean that Zhan Hua and the Gao family behind him won’t play some tricks; for instance, the article published in Xinhua Intra-Party Review which Su Cun learned about through Tang Wu hinted at something. Mu Laotai merely instructed Tang Wu to convey a message: "People always have enemies and contradictions, but this isn't strange. As long as one focuses on doing their own work, it's far more meaningful than wasting energy in endless conflicts."
The weight of these words combined with the exquisite sound of Tang Wu’s voice was quite flavorful. Su Cun felt addicted to her angelic voice and wanted it to echo in his dreams every midnight and pour gently over each year they spent together.
During the transition from 2003 to 2004, Wang Bo proposed "Ten Guidelines" and “Three Major Events” in Sichuan Province; the three major events referred to poverty alleviation in rural areas, revitalizing the secondary industry within the province, and ecological environment construction. Su Cun was also aware of the situation with the Wang family in Beijing, where over recent years, Wang Bo had been on a steady rise within his faction.
Meanwhile, the handling of various matters by the Wang family faction and Gao family became increasingly irreconcilable. The two factions were not entirely opposed but rather cooperative while also being wary and secretly competitive with one another.
In fact, there was a joke about a central ministerial vice-minister from the Gao camp who had to be reassigned down to Sichuan Province; after hearing this news, the vice-minister felt extremely disheartened. The people around him also whispered that this time downgrading might mean he would never rise again. The vice-minister reportedly sought connections but couldn’t change the decision made by the Central Organization Department. Before departing Beijing, he invited many friends to drink and let out some honest words; the implication was clear: once gone, it likely wouldn't be good.
Eventually, Wang Bo heard about this too, but merely smiled; whether through proper reassignment or if someone from the Gao family used this to test waters, Wang Bo still acted appropriately. That vice-ministerial official’s arrival was formal and orderly, and he mostly kept a low profile due to others’ concerns. Such an impression on Beijing's political scene likely wouldn’t change in under two or three years.
Regarding Facebook’s development between 2003 and 2004, it faced considerable external pressure and made some missteps amid its rapid growth; however, changes were inevitable.
To ease operational costs while continuously losing money, Facebook sought profitability through advertising. Its primary competitor in the U.S. was Google, a giant company, but Facebook's unique charm influenced Silicon Valley’s industry.
Zuckerberg lured Sheryl Sandberg from Google after four years there. She was around 40, graceful, tallish with black short hair; she started at Google in 2001 and became an executive for its advertising business. To address potential funding shortages, Facebook had to earn money via advertisements; as an expert on this matter, Sandberg devised new ad plans and commercial strategies.
In the months following her appointment, Facebook underwent a fundamental restructuring. Tina Tan was the first to leave after Zuckerberg named Sandberg CEO in addition to himself and Su Cun’s joint presidency. He then seamlessly became the CEO and is one of Facebook's "six founding members."
When Zuckerberg announced at a company roundtable that he appointed Sandberg as the new CEO for future advertising profits, Van Natter knew this meeting was ultimately about him stepping down from his position. At that point, he felt it was time to leave Facebook; shortly after, he jumped ship to another U.S. social media site as CEO.
Matt Cohler, one of the "six founding members," and Zuckerberg’s braintrust in the second year since creation. After Sandberg firmly established advertising business as a cornerstone, their diverging views led him to leave Facebook. He joined Benchmark Capital as a venture capitalist; before handing over his resignation letter, he told Zuckerberg they would remain friends though he still wanted to add "don't be sad," unsure if the curly-haired boy always looking blankly at others could feel such an emotion.
Next was Adam D'Angelo, Zuckerberg's Exeter High School buddy who knew Su Cun and Tang Wu from their exchange visit; as one of Facebook’s “six founding members,” he opposed Su Cun sharing the "joint CEO" title with Zuckerberg. Despite Zuckerberg taking the lead in reality, when Zuckerberg told him China was just as important as America, Adam had no counterarguments and disagreements grew increasingly large. In January 2004, he left Facebook to start his own company, taking top engineer Charlie with him.
Though the departure of three "six founding members," people saw a cold Zuckerberg; many believed beneath his curly hair and freckles was mechanical thinking that shouldn't have room for friendship.
The next in line to leave was Chris Hughes, the fourth "founding member."
When Facebook reached 500 employees, departments gradually professionalized, and Zuckerberg's college friends' influence inevitably waned. He told Zuckerberg: “More importantly, we’ve spent a long time blending into our roles; as the company grows, so does your power. This makes me, Matt, Adam feel less influential in our positions. Finally one day, I realized it was time to go.”
When working with someone who likes controlling everything—even if they're your best friend or former roommate—disagreements become increasingly unresolvable.
But Dustin and American girl Kathrin comforted Zuckerberg; they were still there, always would be.
Zuckerberg spent three days in his room after the departure of company pioneers.
After those three days, visibly thinner than before, he asked Dustin to buy a flight ticket to Shanghai.
Shortly afterward, this president of Facebook with 200 million members boarded China’s airways. Onboard, he met two Chinese girls who seemed to confirm his identity and quickly fished out their signature book to hand over. The stewardess offered to pass it along carefully; she added another notebook for her flight diary, blushing as she said: "This is mine...sed cobblestones with her little feet clad in small single shoes exposed outside. The veins on her ankle were faintly blue, but even though she only revealed such a tiny patch of skin from the calves...