Overnight, TikTok's two most core and profitable overseas markets were hanging on the edge of a cliff, liable to collapse completely at any moment.
More than the market bans, it was the attitude of capital that made him more anxious.
A new round of financing was in a critical phase, yet those investors who had once been so optimistic and supported him with heavy investments were now silent, even starting to distance themselves.
The office door was pushed open gently; the footsteps were very light.
It was his personal assistant, Lin Zhou, who entered.
Holding a list of shareholders and documents, he stood by the desk and spoke softly: "Mr. Zhang, I've compiled the contact information for all the core shareholders. Do you... want to contact them now to explain the current situation and see if anyone is willing to help?"
Zhang Yi nodded and took the materials from Lin Zhou.
After glancing at those earliest investment partners, a name that wasn't very familiar yet left a deep impression on him caught his eye.
Jiang Cheng, Xingchen Entertainment.
Seeing Zhang Yiming staring at Jiang Cheng's information, Lin Zhou spoke up: "The boss of Xingchen is a young man. You should have an impression of him; he likes to..."
Lin Zhou originally wanted to say 'likes to play around,' but in the end, he weighed his words and changed it to: "He's quite active on the TikTok equivalent... um, no, it's more that he's often photographed by others, though the video and audio materials about him are all protected."
slang reference to Zhang Yiming had a deep impression of Jiang Cheng and often liked Jiang Cheng's posts on his Moments.
Naturally, he knew what Lin Zhou meant by "protected."
At an age where he was young, promising, and wealthy, and being handsome to boot, he naturally attracted attention whenever he went out.
"Jiang Cheng... At the celebration banquet for TikTok surpassing a billion users last year, he attended as an investor. At the time, he wore a black suit, had a steady temperament, didn't talk much, but was very insightful. The TikTok equivalent Live and TikTok equivalent Shop he proposed have made us a lot of money," slang reference to Zhang Yiming said.
Lin Zhou nodded and added: "Exactly. Mr. Jiang has sufficient cash flow and a mysterious background. From what I've learned, during the 2018 World Cup, he also made a related investment of 2 million. It didn't seem like much, but it accurately hit the traffic trend and earned a lot. His vision is indeed unique. I think we can also contact him to see if he has any ideas..."
slang reference to Zhang Yiming sighed: "The situation is difficult now, but since they dared to invest in me and believe I could build up TikTok back then, they should know that I, Zhang Yiming, am not the type to give up easily. I am the decision-maker of ByteDance and the helmsman of TikTok; I can't just fall like this. I have to be responsible for tens of thousands of employees and all the shareholders who trust me."
Seeing him forcing himself to hold on, Lin Zhou hesitated for a few seconds before bracing himself to advise him.
"Mr. Zhang, I know you're unwilling to give up and want to shoulder all the responsibility. But the current situation is truly unbearable... The ban in Indonesia is a foregone conclusion, India could follow at any time, valuations are plummeting, and financing has completely stalled. If we keep dragging this out, not only will TikTok be lost, but the entire ByteDance could be dragged down. At that time, not only will employees lose their jobs, but all shareholders' investments will be lost as well. The board of directors will certainly not let it go."
These words were like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing the last trace of hope in Zhang Yiming's heart.
He fell silent, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of his phone, his knuckles still white, the stubbornness in his eyes slowly replaced by exhaustion.
Yes, he could hold on, but he couldn't gamble with the entire company and the interests of all employees and shareholders. He couldn't afford to lose, and he couldn't afford to bet.
Seeing his expression soften, Lin Zhou quickly took a step forward.
"Mr. Zhang, these are all core shareholders with high shareholding ratios and certain strengths. Do you want to try contacting them again?"
After a long while, Zhang Yiming's fingertips finally tapped on the phone screen.
However, when he opened his contact list, his first choice was still to call Mr. Zhou of Red Three Capital.
Red Three was ByteDance's earliest and most core investor.
Back then, when TikTok was just a small project that no one favored...
ByteDance was still struggling in a small office, and he was the first person who dared to make a decision and pour in hundreds of millions of funds to support him.
It could be said that without Red Three's early support, there would be no ByteDance today, let alone the TikTok of today.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yiming pressed the dial button. His voice even carried a trace of expectation that he hadn't noticed himself.
The phone rang three times before it was picked up. Mr. Zhou's polite but cold voice came from the other end.
There was none of the usual familiarity, only distance: "Mr. Zhang, it's so late. Is something the matter?"
Zhang Yiming clenched his palm, trying to keep his tone calm: "Mr. Zhou, regarding the new round of financing for TikTok, I want to talk to you again. About the situation in Indonesia, we are actively communicating and should be able to resolve it..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Mr. Zhou.
The other party's tone was heavy, yet he spoke very bluntly, as if afraid Zhang Yiming wouldn't understand.
"Mr. Zhang, there's no need to talk. Regarding the financing, we've already discussed it internally; we can't follow up anymore, and we can't help you further."
He instinctively pressed: "Why? Mr. Zhou, you know that TikTok's overseas growth has always been the fastest. As long as we get through this period of regulatory turmoil, the returns will only be higher than before. We endured such difficult times together back then; why can't we persist a bit longer now?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and then the words that followed were like sharp knives, stabbing deeply into Zhang Yiming's heart.