Chapter 96: OO Has Never Copied QQ

“Oh!” Huang He let out a soft hum. Leng Zhiruo’s face showed a hint of displeasure, but no one paid attention to these two somewhat inconspicuous figures. The entire room’s focus was naturally fixed on our little Brother Ma.

“Mr. Ma, according to some preliminary intelligence my secretary just gathered, since OO’s launch four months ago, it has been growing steadily, continuously poaching clients from QQ, and achieving remarkable results. It may now have over two million active users,” Sun Zhengyi explained.

“Especially recently, during your voice chat battle, OO has won a sweeping victory. Their OO voice service has been running smoothly for nearly two weeks, while on the day your QQ voice launched, serious issues arose. Ultimately, you had to implement a queue system for users to take turns using the voice feature.”

“But OO’s service is unlimited and accessible to all users without restriction. As a result, your users have already started to defect in large numbers. Is that an accurate assessment?” Sun Zhengyi pressed further, striking at Brother Ma’s vulnerable spot.

“That’s precisely why I came here today. Once we resolve this issue, OO will be nothing to worry about!” Brother Ma spoke sincerely. “Mr. Sun, QQ’s voice chat technology is already very mature, several times more advanced than OO’s. We simply lack sufficient funding to prepare the servers we need, which has caused our current predicament. Once we secure fifty million dollars, I guarantee OO won’t stand a chance against us!”

“Mr. Ma, on what basis are you so confident?”

“Because we will win!” Brother Ma smiled. “True, OO has stolen some spotlight recently, but everyone seems to have forgotten that QQ’s user base is still several times larger than OO’s.”

“In the realm of instant messaging, there is a powerful network effect. Users need to communicate, and if their friends are scattered across different platforms, it becomes highly inconvenient. People naturally pursue convenience, so these users will gradually converge onto a single platform, until one dominates the entire market.”

“QQ’s size is several times larger than our competitor’s, and our network effect is correspondingly greater. As long as we can quickly restore our servers and eliminate major functional gaps, this network effect will reassert itself, and the users who left will return.”

“This has already been proven with QQ’s Pigeon Messaging. OO somehow stole our in-development Pigeon Messaging feature and launched it first in their app store, swiftly attracting over 600,000 active users. But once we released our official Pigeon Messaging, those users returned within days, because their old friends were all on QQ. They had no choice but to come back!”

“I see!” Sun Zhengyi nodded thoughtfully.

“This despicable—” Leng Zhiruo was about to erupt, but Huang He grabbed her arm.

“Calm down, maintain your composure,” Huang He said calmly.

Hmm, Brother Ma had been speaking in English, but Huang He hadn’t understood a word.

“Sis-in-law, he says we copied their feature,” Leng Zhiruo quickly summarized Brother Ma’s words in brief.

“Damn it!” Upon hearing the translation, Boss Huang immediately rolled up his sleeves. But just then, Old Brother Ma spoke up, “That’s quite interesting—accusing the latter of copying the former. How amusing!”

“Mr. Ma, do you bear any prejudice against me?” Brother Ma’s expression stiffened as he retorted.

“None whatsoever. I’m just speaking factually, Mr. Ma!” Old Brother Ma quickly smiled.

For some unknown reason, Old Brother Ma felt an inexplicable urge to spar verbally with Brother Ma every time he saw him.

“OO’s plagiarism of QQ is known to the entire world. From the icon, UI layout, to various functions, OO copied QQ entirely. Every netizen knows this. So what’s unusual about them copying our Pigeon Messaging?” Brother Ma countered confidently.

“That’s utter nonsense. OO has never copied QQ from start to finish!” Our Boss Huang finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up. At the same time, Leng Zhiruo loudly translated his words into English, marking Huang He’s first vocal stand in this meeting room.

“Who are you?” Old Brother Ma was surprised. At first, seeing Brother Ma sitting with Huang He, he assumed Huang He was his subordinate. He never expected Huang He would openly contradict Brother Ma.

Sun Zhengyi also looked curiously at Boss Huang.

“How can you lie with your eyes wide open?” Brother Ma glared at Huang He. When they had chatted earlier, hearing Huang He’s interest in investing in Tenda and calling Tenda one of the two best network companies in China, Brother Ma’s impression of Huang He had skyrocketed.

But never had he imagined Huang He would dare to retort him so bluntly now, which only intensified the agitation already brewing in Brother Ma’s heart.

“I’m just stating facts,” Huang He replied calmly. “OO did not copy QQ. That is the truth. Why wouldn’t I tell the truth?”

“This is ridiculous. Everyone knows OO copied QQ. This gentleman hasn’t even used OO, yet dares to spout nonsense here!” Brother Ma snapped without restraint.

“No one knows OO better than I do!” Huang He sighed.

“Oh? Then I’d like to know how long you have used OO and how many investigations you’ve conducted on it!” Brother Ma’s words came out with some regret. Since Huang He wanted to invest in Tenda, he must have researched competitor OO thoroughly, so he might actually understand OO well.

But if he really understood OO, he wouldn’t say it never copied QQ. That was obvious even to a fool!

“I’ve never conducted any investigation on OO!” Huang He shook his head, then pulled a simple printed business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Brother Ma with a smile. “I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself. I am Huang He, chairman of Jiangnan Group in WZ City. OO is one of our subsidiary products.”

The room fell silent upon hearing this. Old Brother Ma and Sun Zhengyi both wore expressions of sly delight, while Brother Ma was so embarrassed he might have scratched his foot down to his prostate.

No wonder Huang He had such a strong reaction—he was openly calling him out. But with his adversary right in front of him, Brother Ma could not back down.

Moreover, in Brother Ma’s mind, OO had undoubtedly copied QQ. It was clear as day. So after regaining his composure, he challenged again, “So Chairman Huang has come in person. May I ask you to be honest—can you assure us OO did not copy QQ?”

“Of course!” Huang He touched his chest sincerely. “I swear to heaven, OO has never copied QQ!”

“Ha! Then I won’t even mention UI or feature copying. I’ll just ask—didn’t you copy our QQ’s name? Even the name is plagiarized! How do you have the face to argue here?” Brother Ma pressed on fiercely.

“Ah, our OO didn’t copy QQ because we copied OICQ!” Huang He answered seriously. “Also, our OO’s name comes from the letter ‘O’ in OICQ, just as your ‘Q’ comes from the ‘Q’ in OICQ. In a way, we two are like brothers!”