After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 230 - 229: Refrigerator, Sofa, Big-screen TV

"Mr. Lu, sorry to disturb you."

Old Jia felt embarrassed as Lu Liang was so straightforward, making any further interruptions seem rather shameless.

After all, he was once the top figure on the Growth Enterprise Market, treated with great respect wherever he went, as if he desperately needed Lu Liang's investment.

"Mr. Jia, I apologize," said Lu Liang calmly, watching Old Jia leave. It seemed the rumors were true: LeEco's financial situation was more severe than imagined.

Approaching two o'clock, guided by the staff on site, Lu Liang took his seat in the front row of the press conference, flanked by Jingwei's manager Zhang Ying and Meituan's Wang Xing.

Even though it was their first meeting, the three conversed amicably.

Wang Xing teased, "Mr. Lu, it looks like Mr. Li plans to leverage your golden signboard."

He glanced at the photographer on stage, whose lens often paused on Lu Liang, or swept past him.

Clearly, Li Xiang intended to use Lu Liang's fame to launch Li Xiang's new car with a bang.

"Just use it then."

Lu Liang smiled indifferently, having anticipated this scenario—the new Li Xiang car was equipped with TSOS, after all, they ought to pay some advertising fees.

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓ Only.

Suddenly, a resentful gaze came from behind, sounding almost like a ghost, "Mr. Lu, don't neglect one for the other."

Li Bing regretted to the core; NIO was even more in need of money than Li Xiang because they were building battery swap stations.

Such an excellent opportunity had slipped away, making him feel he had lost out on a possible few hundred million in valuation.

Lu Liang chuckled helplessly, "When the new NIO car is released, I'm willing to go up and host it myself."

Said in jest, yet taken seriously by those around, including He Xiaopeng—these words suggested that NIO was soon to launch another new car.

And it wasn't a supercar, it had to be a mass-produced vehicle.

Two o'clock arrived.

Li Xiang, with a beaming smile and flanked by Li Xiang oen, appeared at the center of the stage. With the reveal of the interior, it was officially declared that cars were entering the era of refrigerators, TVs, and large sofas.

While the press conference was still ongoing, photos and video clips had already spread online, sparking hot discussion across the net.

The luxurious interior of the Li Xiang oen was nearly on par with that of a Toyota Alphard, perhaps even surpassing it.

But the front face of the car, which resembled a Bentley, inevitably became the subject of mockery, earning it a new nickname, 'Binli'.

Lu Liang's attendance at the press conference also sparked discussions online, with netizens joking, "He's not hiding anymore, planning to debut?"

In the second half of last year, and in the first half of this year, he was famed as the most mysterious man on the internet. Recently, he's been seen more frequently, prompting netizens to tease that he is officially debuting.

"Just debuting my ass, he's just addicted to getting free publicity."

"If it weren't for Lu Liang's investment in Li Xiang, and if Li Xiang weren't equipped with STOS, do you think he would come?"

"No way, don't tell me there are people who don't know STOS stands for ThestarsOS."

"Nowadays, every Tom, Dick, and Harry are developing infotainment systems and putting them in electric cars—even saving their cremation money."

"I agree that Tom, Dick, and Harry shouldn't develop infotainment systems, but you're wrong about electric cars—that is a totally 'pants-down' car."

"Range extender hybrid technology sounds good, but it's just using gasoline to generate electricity which then powers the car, and the equipment that generates electricity from gasoline is called a range extender."

"I'm really curious if there's a way to skip the range extender and directly drive the car with gasoline?"

"Ha ha ha~ Is it something that, once you put it into the tank, the car can run?"

"Can it also be divided into 92, 95, and 98?"

"Can it be divided into manual, semi-automatic, and automatic?"

"Stop being sarcastic, the range extender isn't that bad—it does improve fuel efficiency. The claimed fuel consumption figures of 6.8-9.6L/100km have to be true."

The Le Xiang OEN, equipped with a range-extender hybrid system, became the center of online discussions once its fuel consumption data was publicized.

A mid-to-large size SUV that can achieve 6.8-9.6L per hundred kilometers is bound to sell well; after all, a fridge, a flat-screen TV, and a large sofa are the dream vehicles for married men and travel enthusiasts.

The only requirement is that it can't be a laughingstock.

Netizens were fervently discussing, but the buzz was there, and the goal of Le Xiang's new product launch was achieved.

After all, it would be a year and a half before the official presale, so it was important to leave an impression with the public, good or bad, so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a no-name car when the time came.

Li Bing was extremely envious, as their own EP9 launch hadn't even made a splash.

Sports cars might earn you prestige, but if you want to make money, you have to develop SUVs.

After the meeting, he hurried off, his desire to advance the release of the NIO ES8 stronger than ever.

Meanwhile, Li Xiang convened the shareholders of Le Xiang, outlining the plans for the future, aiming to start production by the end of next year.

He was also hinting that it was time to invest more money.

Car manufacturing is costly. Despite not having done much and not having even built a production base yet, 600 million US dollars had already been spent.

This time, the plan was to raise 450 million US dollars in one go, which should last until the OEN officially started production.

Zhang Ying pondered for a long time before turning to Lu Liang and asking, "Mr. Lu, what do you think?"

"Should we finance or follow on with additional investment?" Lu Liang asked with a nonchalant smile.

Le Xiang may become the first new-energy automotive company among the three major players—Weiliao—to start mass production.

Ningde Era is destined to break through a market value of a trillion dollars, and the new-energy market is forming a scale. No matter the amount, he is willing to make a follow-on investment.

Li Xiang was overjoyed, quickly saying, "Mr. Lu, we plan to offer up 15% of our equity for financing this time."

Lu Liang asked with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Wang, if you're not interested, how about Tianxing takes the lead in this round of investment?"

Zhang Ying and Wang Xing looked at each other. Everyone knew that Lu Liang had a sharp eye for investments, but market data once again proved that the future was uncertain.

They wanted to trust Lu Liang's judgment, but they couldn't because they needed to be accountable to their shareholders. Unlike Tianxing, which was entirely up to Lu Liang's decisions.

After much thought, they both agreed, "Mr. Lu, then let Tianxing lead this round of investment."

Tianxing invested 300 million US dollars to lead this round, holding 18.5% of Le Xiang's equity, second only to Li Xiang's 34%.

This was followed by Dragon Ball's 17.5%, Jingwei Capital's 17.5%, and Ming Shi Capital's 12.5%.

That night, Lu Liang took a flight to Hang City, planning to meet with Huang Hao from Ali's mobile division.

Jack Ma was too busy delivering speeches around the world to pay attention to such trivial matters.

The reason for investing in OFO was to gain political support, Lu Liang learned from Zhu Hu. Such a typical Western business mindset—it was unclear if it would work in this red land, but if it did, it would pave a totally new path.

After resting at the hotel for a night, the next day at noon, Lu Liang was invited to Ali Park.

He met Huang Hao from the mobile division and Zhang Yong, the then COO of Ali who played a significant role in creating the Double Eleven shopping festival.

"Mr. Lu, hello, Mr. Ma is away on business and can't return at the moment, please forgive us," Zhang Yong greeted with a smile.

Lu Liang, with tens of billions in funds, was no minor character. It would've only been polite for Old Ma to meet him personally if he had been there.

Lu Liang smiled and exchanged pleasantries, then got straight to the point, "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Huang, has it been mentioned to you?"

Zhang Yong nodded, "Mr. Lu, we are indeed interested in promoting the YUN system and the Hammer smartphone is a good carrier for it."

"Pleased to do business," Lu Liang said with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Although Luo was the main character in this event, his consent was not required for this decision.

In just a few words, the fate of Luo and his Hammer Technology was decided by them.