WeChat Imitation

Chapter 282

Boys' Dormitory, Qinglin University.

The extraction of the "WeiLiao V2.0_Beta_Final" compressed package was completed.

Gu Ran held the mouse, opened the backend testing environment, and carefully checked the underlying interface code, the load redundancy of the server cluster, and the decoding efficiency of the video streaming media.

The data flow was smooth, and the green indicator lights blinked steadily on the backend panel without any error prompts.

"It's done."

Gu Ran leaned back tactically, smiling somewhat unbridledly.

Did Penguin really think that throwing money around and getting app stores to ban them could suffocate WeiLiao?

In the face of an absolute technological generational gap, traditional channel monopolies were nothing but paper tigers.

What do you have to fight me with?

He sat back up straight and directly sent an email to the technical department:

[Push to the entire network.]

Over the next few days, the situation developed exactly as Gu Ran had predicted, without the slightest deviation.

WeiLiao V1.5's "free voice call" function, relying on its clear sound quality and zero-latency experience, saw its reputation explode crazily across universities and the lower-tier markets.

Meanwhile, those users who had been lured by Penguin's subsidies to download "WeChat" realized that WeChat didn't even have the most basic voice function. After freeloading the red packets, they immediately uninstalled the app and left.

But when they prepared to download WeiLiao, they found that it couldn't be searched at all in the backend of major app stores.

Consequently, the netizens, feeling extremely frustrated, all flooded to WeChat's download page, drowning it in overwhelming negative reviews.

"Trash Penguin, what else can you do besides copying? You don't even have voice calls!"

"You think a ten-yuan red packet can buy me to uninstall WeiLiao? Keep dreaming!"

"Strongly demand the restoration of WeiLiao downloads! Otherwise, I'll uninstall your app store!"

"Trash app store, trash software can be listed, but you take down the good ones?"

Under the immense pressure of user loss and a plummeting daily active user count, the heads of the app stores finally couldn't hold on any longer.

Capital is profit-driven; when banning WeiLiao meant losing a massive number of active users, Penguin's so-called ban order became nothing but a useless piece of paper.

In less than three days, major app stores compromised one after another, quietly reopening the official download channels for WeiLiao.

WeiLiao's data once again ushered in a blowout surge.

.......

Shenzhen, Happy Valley Amusement Park.

The sun was shining brightly, and the roller coaster waiting area was bustling with noise.

Li Sinan, dressed in casual clothes and holding a cup of iced cola, was leading the members of GR Company's ground promotion and business teams as they waited in line.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz—"

The phone in her pocket began to vibrate.

Taking out her phone, it was still the name "President Wang (Zhonghua Kulian)". This was already the fifth call he had made today.

Li Sinan looked at the caller ID with calm eyes, even feeling a hint of a sneer in her heart.

A couple of days ago, when she went to the manufacturer's building, they still put on airs, using the excuse that "internal processes weren't finished" to leave her hanging in the reception room.

Why aren't they acting so arrogant now? Still trying to use Penguin's quote as a bargaining chip to take kickbacks from both sides and force the price down?

Gu Ran was right; some people just shouldn't be spoiled too much.

People who are too nice get bullied, just like tame horses get ridden.

Right now, the ones who were anxious weren't WeiLiao at all, but these mobile phone manufacturers.

WeiLiao's terrifying fan stickiness and the hardware sales gimmick brought by its voice call feature had already become an irresistible temptation for them.

Li Sinan continued to press the mute button, stuffed the phone back into her pocket, turned her head, and shouted to the team:

"Stop looking at your phones! Today is the last day for company reimbursements, so everyone, just let loose and have fun!"

......

Meanwhile, at the Penguin Building in Shenzhen.

The atmosphere on the floor where the WeChat business department was located was extremely oppressive.

The air was filled with the strong bitter smell of coffee and the stench of sweat from consecutive all-nighters.

The trash cans were stuffed with various instant noodle boxes and Red Bull cans.

In the spacious office area, apart from the mechanical sound of typing on keyboards, there was no other movement.

All the programmers had bloodshot eyes and greasy hair. A whole week of pulling all-nighters to rush the work had almost exhausted everyone's energy.

Su Wan, wearing a custom haute couture business suit, stood by the technical director's workstation with her brows tightly furrowed.

She held a test phone in her hand, and the device's speaker was emitting intermittent voice calls mixed with severe static noise.

"Hello? Can you hear... bzz... hear me? The sound on this side... is lagging..."

The quality was extremely poor, and occasionally it would just disconnect directly. The user experience didn't even reach a passing grade.

Su Wan stared at the screen, tightly gripping the phone.

Although she was extremely dissatisfied with this shoddily made semi-finished product, she also knew that in such a short time, this was already their limit.

She had seen the team's dedication over the past week.

But asking her to open her mouth and praise them, she couldn't do it.

How could she praise such a semi-finished product?

She didn't even dare to let this thing go live on the app stores!

But she had no choice.

The old guys on the board of directors had already been full of complaints about throwing a billion yuan into WeChat without seeing a splash.

Now even the old man at home was helping her withstand the pressure.

Therefore, WeChat had to pin down and obliterate WeiLiao!

As for WeiLiao's call function, WeChat also had to immediately put out a benchmarking product. Even if it was a defective product, they had to occupy the space first.

There was simply no time to continue polishing and optimizing it.

"Package it up and get ready to launch," Su Wan took a deep breath and issued the order through gritted teeth.

"But President Su, the packet loss rate of this version is too high, and the user experience will be terrible..." the technical director tried to dissuade her.

"We have no choice, get ready to launch!" Su Wan sighed and continued, "If we don't launch it now, we won't even have the right to be scolded!"

At the same time, she still hadn't given up.

After studying WeiLiao's path to success, she deeply realized the importance of the offline base.

So, she separated a ground promotion team of over a hundred people, approved a massive budget, and assigned them to head straight to the internet cafes around major universities nationwide.

She wanted to achieve a pixel-level imitation of WeiLiao's "encircling the cities from the rural areas" strategy.

Using Penguin's most adept "superpower of money," she would forcefully smash out a bloody path.

Around Qinglin University, "Interstellar Internet Cafe".

Smoke swirled in the air, and the sounds of keyboards, mice, and in-game slaughter blended together.

A WeChat ground promoter, wearing a blue vest printed with the Penguin logo and clutching a thick stack of ten-yuan cash red packets, walked sweating profusely behind a college student who was playing DOTA.

"Excuse me, classmate," the ground promoter piled on a smile, "Download Penguin's newly launched WeChat, and you'll immediately get ten yuan in internet fees, plus a chance to draw Q Coins!"

The boy was at a critical moment in a team fight. Being patted on the shoulder, he impatiently turned his head and glanced at the flyer.

"WeChat? Does it have voice calls? Our dorm always uses WeiLiao voice chat when we game together."

"Yes, yes, yes! It's a newly launched feature. Produced by the big tech company Penguin, it's absolutely guaranteed!" The ground promoter quickly handed over the red packet.

Perhaps for the 10 yuan internet fee, or perhaps because of Penguin's brand name.

The boy pulled his roommate to download it with half-belief. After registering and logging in, he tried calling his roommate sitting at the adjacent computer.

"Beep— Beep—"

The moment it connected, a burst of static noise spread out first.

Following that, the sound became intermittent. Less than five seconds into the call, the interface completely froze, and then the app crashed.

Is this really an app made by Penguin?

The guy froze for a second before cursing out loud.

Fuck! What is this piece of trash? Wasting my data!

His finger immediately pressed down on the WeChat icon on his screen, and he tapped uninstall without a second thought.

I wouldn't use this even if you paid me. What else can Penguin do nowadays besides copying others? They can't even get a simple voice chat feature right, and they call themselves a top-tier tech giant? Get lost, stop ruining my team fight!

Behind the counter, the internet cafe manager, who was busy chatting with his girlfriend on MicroChat, heard the commotion and poked his head out.

Dude, give it a rest! Look around this cafe, who isn't using MicroChat to hit on girls or team up for games? Your app can't even transmit a clear sentence. Just leave!

The ground promoter stood there clutching a thick stack of red envelopes, his face flushed bright red.

The college students, already accustomed to MicroChat's crystal-clear voice calls and rich features, had zero interest in this half-baked product.

He had talked until his throat was sore for an entire afternoon. He had given out quite a few red envelopes, but the actual user retention rate was infinitely close to zero.

Even handing out free money couldn't drive up the download numbers. He had no choice but to scurry away in disgrace and report his miserable failure to the Shenzhen headquarters.