Chapter 310 - 309: Back from the Dead, User Count Reaches 200 Million

Chapter 310: Chapter 309: Back from the Dead, User Count Reaches 200 Million

And just like that, Jin Taian was arrested and thrown in jail.

This was due to his involvement in smuggling, organized crime, and a slew of other illegal activities.

Given the severity of his actions, he was convicted on multiple counts and would likely never see the light of day again.

Of course, Sun Qing’s crimes were even more severe.

He was suspected of participating in several major criminal cases in his early days and would likely face a life sentence.

These two villains received the punishment they deserved, and it was, of course, thanks in no small part to Lin Feng pushing things along behind the scenes.

However, Lin Feng didn’t have time to celebrate yet. He had a bigger problem to tackle: how to make Douhu bigger and stronger under his leadership.

Of course, Lin Feng had already made all the necessary arrangements to acquire Douhu.

The CEO had been arrested and imprisoned.

The blow to the company’s reputation was so immense that Douhu’s user base plummeted from tens of millions to just a few tens of thousands.

Furthermore, all the senior executives resigned one after another, and the key figures—the pillars of each department—all jumped ship to other companies, leaving Douhu severely weakened.

At first, the shareholders at the general meeting had stubbornly refused to let go of Douhu.

Lin Feng was a little baffled. How had this group of people managed to stay afloat for so long without going bankrupt?

It was clear that an incident this egregious would inevitably lead to endless condemnation and criticism.

Not only was the social impact terrible, but it also filled all their users with a sense of disgust.

Why did they all think they could cash in on the chaos, or even use it as free publicity to make Douhu’s brand even more famous?

However, as the user base dwindled by the day, the company’s cash flow dried up.

The shareholders finally panicked. Lin Feng brought in negotiation experts to apply a mix of threats and inducements, and in the end, he managed to buy back all their shares at an extremely low price.

The entire affair was settled in just two short days.

It had to be said, Lin Feng worked exceptionally fast.

It also indirectly proved that Douhu’s so-called shareholders were no longer cut out for this fast-paced world.

But after taking over Douhu, Lin Feng discovered that moron Jin Taian had left the company in a complete mess.

Not only were the company’s books an absolute disaster, but there wasn’t even a basic talent pool or a corporate structure with effective checks and balances between departments.

If Douhu had been just some small, obscure company with a scale of no more than 100 people, then it might have been excusable.

It would be perfectly fine for the big boss to call all the shots, act decisively, run a small operation, and have everything follow the leader’s style.

But Douhu had grown into a medium-sized enterprise.

Even if Lin Feng hadn’t used his methods, the company would have eventually faced a crisis and been driven to a dead end.

"Sigh. It seems I didn’t ruin you after all. Instead, I took over this disaster for you. If I’d known, wouldn’t it have been better to just build a new live-streaming platform from scratch?"

Lin Feng was now feeling a fair bit of regret.

After all, if he built a company from the ground up, everything could have a fresh start.

Moreover, establishing rules and regulations from the beginning would be far more effective.

But the problems in a company that had been running for several years had been accumulating for a long time. Resolving them quickly would be no easy task.

Lin Feng frowned, sitting in the sofa chair in the CEO’s office.

He closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

He began to contemplate the fastest way to turn the company’s chaotic situation around.

Although things were messy and the scope of the problem was large, for Lin Feng, if he wanted to do something, he could get it done.

Plus, the one silver lining was that all the senior management had resigned. This meant the company was now just an empty shell.

So, by bringing in new talent, he could still rebuild all the rules and regulations from the ground up.

In just five minutes, Lin Feng had sorted out all his thoughts.

When he opened his eyes again, the confusion was gone, replaced by a gaze filled with determination and hope.

Then, in the span of a single day, Lin Feng restructured the equity, hired the number one headhunting firm to poach executives from various live-streaming companies, and visited Deqin—the top-ranked of the world’s Big Four accounting firms—inviting them to conduct a full audit of his company’s books...

Of course, Douhu’s books had already been sorted out.

However, Lin Feng was well aware of how important a Chief Financial Officer was to a company.

That was why Lin Feng urgently needed to find a highly experienced CFO with a great reputation and a work ethic compatible with his own to act as his right-hand man.

He was clearly reluctant to search the open market for one.

Besides, it was too inefficient. It was better to recruit from Deqin—a veritable training ground for the world’s top financial professionals.

He would find their most reliable team to conduct an audit at his company.

If he discovered a particularly capable person during the process, he could promptly poach them.

It had to be said that Lin Feng’s current actions showed a level of wisdom and decisiveness far beyond what a man in his early twenties should possess. Perhaps this was a boon from his "system."

But more than that, it was driven by Lin Feng’s own burning desire to change his destiny.

If Lin Feng had just wanted to coast through life, he could have easily done so.

Ever since the first day of military training when he snatched Su Ruoxi’s water, Lin Feng had possessed the ability to make a fortune every day. He could have just lazed around and waited for death, and he still would have lived an incredibly wealthy life.

However, unwilling to accept a mediocre fate, he continued to strive forward. As the weight of his responsibilities grew heavier, Lin Feng found that the path before him was becoming smoother, and his life, in turn, more exciting.

’Why should a true man live a dull and ordinary life?’

However, while Lin Feng was enjoying the challenge, those around him grew more concerned about his health.

This was especially true for Su Ruoxi. Whenever Lin Feng dragged his exhausted body home, her heart would ache for him. She would bustle about, drawing a bath for him in advance, preparing a rich and restorative late-night snack, and trying her best to have interesting anecdotes ready to make him a little happier, or at least more comfortable.

It had to be said, having a woman like Su Ruoxi by his side was also a great fortune for Lin Feng.

Mutual understanding and compassion between a couple, rather than just keeping score of gains and losses—this was perhaps the foundation of mutual support in a relationship, and a prerequisite for two people to have a long and loving life together.

Besides feeling sorry for her brother, Lin Xiaoman was filled mostly with admiration for him.

This was because Lin Feng had delivered on every single promise he had made to her.

Not only did he give equity to all the streamers who had participated in the operation, but after restructuring the salary system, every one of them was now taking home double what they had before!

"When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away."

"When the cunning hare is dead, the hunting dog is cooked."

These adages might sound cruel, but as society developed and people grew more indifferent, this kind of behavior had become the norm.

Therefore, no one had really expected Lin Feng to fulfill all of his promises.

But who would have thought that a capitalist could have a kind side?

Their big boss, Lin Feng, had actually opened his purse generously and turned all of their dreams and hopes into reality!

Just as everyone was feeling a mix of joy and apprehension, a greater crisis was lurking just around the corner.

Because of Lin Feng’s decisive actions and his recruitment of a group of capable, ambitious executives, Douhu quickly got back on track.

Combined with pouring money into advertising and promotion, and continuously fostering an internal corporate culture based on fairness and equality,

Moreover, to standardize and proceduralize the streamers’ work for higher-quality content output, Lin Feng spent a fortune training each and every one of them.

This not only improved their professional skills but also helped each of them find their own unique, irreplaceable niche.

As a result of all these advantages combined, Douhu’s user base began to grow exponentially.

As of now, Douhu’s daily active users had reached a staggering two hundred million!

Its industry standing was on the verge of surpassing the top dog, Shark Live Stream.

Furthermore, Lin Feng had pioneered an open-source approach to collaboration.

In other words, streamers from other companies could also open their own channels on Douhu and start streaming.

He would even give them a cut of all the revenue from tips and gifts.

The only difference was that their employment contracts weren’t with his company.

As Douhu grew by the day and its reputation steadily improved, its user metrics continued to rise, and more and more streamers began to moonlight on the platform.

While still drawing a salary from Shark Live Stream for their full-time streaming job, they would also secretly open a channel on Douhu.

This infuriated all of Shark Live Stream’s executives.

The unwritten rule of the industry was that a streamer should build their career on a single platform.

Now, Douhu’s open stance was undoubtedly shattering this industry convention.

Most importantly, who would turn down the chance to earn extra money?

Of course, Lin Feng’s actions were perfectly justifiable.

And all the streamers loved this approach. However, this indirectly forced Shark Live Stream to start cultivating a more diverse and open corporate culture of its own.

An open attitude meant that streamers could freely choose their platform.

If streamers were allowed to choose based solely on their own preferences, the live-streaming platforms would lose all their dominance and instead be forced into the role of service providers.

Only by providing more, better, and more professional services to streamers could they hope to retain these cash cows.

Lin Feng could accept this situation.

But that didn’t mean Shark Live Stream’s CEO could accept such "unfairness"!