Chapter 57. Liu Pingping Couldn’t Show Her Admiration (Part 2)

A short while later, Li Mo spoke up:

“Good job, Tengyun. The leveling system was executed flawlessly—exactly as I envisioned.”

Ma Tengyun beamed at the praise.

“Of course! When you assign me a task, I take it seriously.”

“But lately, I’ve had this strange feeling… like I’ve been living in your shadow.”

Li Mo: “…”

Ma Tengyun looked at him expectantly.

“Mr. Mo, ever since Alibaba’s B2B model started turning profits, most e-commerce for businesses happens there now.”

“Teacher Ma (Jack Ma) has gained huge fame from it.”

“His company’s valuation has surpassed ten billion.”

“We need a profitable model too.”

Liu Pingping followed up:

“You mean… Alibaba’s Teacher Ma?”

Li Mo nodded.

“Mom, have you heard of Teacher Ma too?”

Liu Pingping looked at Li Mo with gentle eyes.

“Of course, son. Alibaba is incredibly popular right now. Our company uses it too. But I’ve taken a long leave recently, so I haven’t been keeping up. Still, I heard the company’s valuation has surpassed ten billion. It’ll probably go public in a couple of years. If your company could achieve even a tenth of that, it’d be a truly successful major internet enterprise! But that level is still too far out of reach for us—best not to think too much about it.”

Ma Yun and the others exchanged odd glances.

Did Liu Pingping not know that Mr. Mo was a shareholder of Alibaba? And not just any shareholder—he was the absolute largest after Teacher Ma himself, holding 24% of the board’s voting rights. Though he had delegated those voting rights to Teacher Ma, even Teacher Ma had to treat Mr. Mo with utmost respect.

But such matters were best kept from the general public.

The “Five Tigers” all silently understood this.

After reviewing the financial statements for a while, Liu Pingping spoke again.

“Tencent’s user growth is impressive. It’s captured the markets of office workers, students, and even minors. Features like group chats, QQ Zone, and chatting with strangers are nothing short of genius. The designers behind these functions must be brilliant.”

She recalled when she first used QQ—those features had fascinated her too. But after her husband’s death, she had no interest in remarrying, so she never engaged in online chats. She didn’t post on QQ Zone either, though her colleagues often uploaded photos there. Even if she didn’t use it much, she couldn’t deny the greatness of those features.

“Auntie, you might not know this,” one of them said, “but all those features were planned by Mr. Mo himself. He’s not just an investor—he’s the driving force behind our major decisions. Frankly, our startup team has relied on Mr. Mo most of the time. Without him, QQ’s user base wouldn’t have grown this fast.”

Liu Pingping turned to look at Li Mo.

His calm, unreadable expression made him seem even more unfamiliar to her.

At such a young age…

Not only had he earned thirty million in the stock market, but he had also designed revolutionary features like QQ Zone and stranger chats.

What had he been doing all these years before?

Helping XiaoXiao manage the household…

Playing with YanYan, keeping her company.

Yet, a wave of guilt surged within her.

“I’ve seen it,” she said. “QQ’s user growth is rapid, but the NASDAQ has dropped from 5,000 to just over 3,000 points—and it’s still falling. That means the U.S. financial crisis will persist for a long time. Capital inflows into domestic internet companies are drying up, so the ‘internet winter’ is very real. Based on current trends, it’s far from over. For internet companies to survive now, the first priority is finding a profitable model.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Five Tigers were impressed—this woman truly understood the industry.

No wonder she was Mr. Mo’s mother-in-law.

“Auntie, do you have any ideas for profitability?” Ma Yun asked.

Almost immediately, he regretted it.

Was he being naive?

If even they couldn’t figure out a viable profit model, how could a woman in her forties?

“I… really can’t think of one,” Liu Pingping admitted. “The only idea that comes to mind is charging for QQ Groups. They’re crucial for businesses now—imposing a fee could easily generate revenue.”

Li Mo shook his head, rejecting the suggestion.

The Five Tigers had proposed the same idea before.

Ma Yun had been eager to monetize, but Li Mo had shot down the proposal.

“Mom, Ma Yun and the team already suggested that,” Li Mo said. “But charging for QQ Groups isn’t realistic. While our user base is growing fast—soon to surpass two million—only a tiny fraction of those users are businesses with a real need for groups. If we charge too much, competitors will swoop in. Many companies are already copying instant messaging. Investors jump on trends regardless of viability. If we charge too little, profitability is impossible. So I vetoed it. Still, Mom, it’s impressive you thought of this. It shows you’re unlike other women your age.”

Li Mo genuinely admired Liu Pingping’s insight.

But his words made her feel inadequate.

How much had Li Mo been hiding all these years?

“You’re right,” she conceded. “I was being too simplistic. Charging for QQ Groups would be hard to price fairly, and it might just empower competitors.”

She racked her brain, trying to think of a viable profit model.

Yet nothing seemed feasible.

Any form of paywall would stifle QQ’s user growth, just as Li Mo had said.

“Don’t worry, everyone,” Li Mo said. “I already have a profit strategy—one that doesn’t require monetizing our core features. QQ’s era of losses is about to end.”

Instantly, the Five Tigers were electrified.

Even Ma Yun, who usually mimicked Li Mo’s composed demeanor, couldn’t stay seated.

Profitability was all he had dreamed of!

Since the company’s founding, Li Mo had poured in nearly sixty million in cash flow.

Burning through so much money while drawing a million-yuan salary and holding 10% equity—yet failing to turn a profit—had been eating at him daily.

Liu Pingping watched Li Mo, unable to suppress a flicker of admiration.

But she reminded herself—she couldn’t show such feelings toward a younger family member.

She kept brainstorming, desperate to figure out how to monetize without touching QQ Zone or Groups.

Yet she soon felt hopeless.

What kind of genius idea could achieve that?

Internet profitability was infinitely harder than XiaoXiao’s cosmetics business.

“Has everyone heard the news?” Li Mo asked. “Yidong is splitting from China Telecom to become the country’s second telecom operator.”

The Five Tigers were baffled.

What did that have to do with QQ?

Liu Pingping was equally confused.