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After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 79: The Joy of Spending Money on Games
As the top internet celebrity on the web, Wang Xiaocong often live-streamed on his own platform, with his room number being 10000.
Just as he said in an interview, he was not only Panda's chief product manager but also its first broadcaster.
Previously, his live streams mainly involved playing League of Legends, letting team members help him rank up, or taking viewers on room inspections.
This evening, right after dishing out millions in gifts to a new broadcaster on the platform, he opened his own live stream.
Viewers rushed to inform each other and poured into Wang Xiaocong's live stream room. Suddenly, they discovered he was playing a very old game, and his co-broadcaster was a voice no one had ever heard of.
"Liang, what are you playing?"
"You start leveling up the demon. I'm checking out the grid's gear."
"Just buy the finished product, it's so much less of a hassle."
"The pets you train yourself have more sentimental value."
"It's not a woman; what do you need feelings for?"
The two chatted and laughed without a care, not bothering to promote anything in particular.
According to Little Wang, normal chatting was good enough, as the viewers were like detectives and would deduce the truth from the smallest of hints.
Indeed, it was just as he said. As soon as the nickname 'Liang' was dropped, viewers began asking in the bullet comments whether this was Lu Liang.
Wang Xiaocong pretended to be annoyed and hummed in response, causing the live stream room to explode.
"Who's Lu Liang? Is he famous?"
Some viewers, unaware of the facts, asked in the bullet comments, and the regulars in the live stream one by one began to explain.
"He shorted the yen, an anti-Japanese hero."
"He made tens of millions of US dollars overnight."
"The Eastern Soros."
"China's Speculation God."
"If you still don't get it, just go check the hot searches on Weibo."
At around eight in the evening, when netizens were most active, Lu Liang's surprise visit to Wang Xiaocong's live stream drew the attention of the entire network.
The number of live viewers climbed steadily, attracting many financial media outlets and financial commentators to the stream out of curiosity.
After all, Lu Liang had previously been very mysterious—almost like he had popped out of nowhere—and had never given any interviews.
Most people did not even know whether he was male or female; their main focus was pure curiosity.
Meanwhile, the live stream's control staff quietly informed that the actual number of viewers had already exceeded five hundred thousand.
Wang Xiaocong was overjoyed, but still cursed aloud, "Stop f**king spamming the chat, or I'll kick all of you out."
He was well aware of the inflated numbers claimed by so-called million-level broadcasters; the true viewership was usually one-thousandth to two-thousandth of the touted figures.
For top streams like Douyu's Three Entertainers, their actual viewership was just over a hundred thousand, and Panda's top host besides him, PDD, also had less than a hundred thousand.
With five hundred thousand actual viewers, Wang Xiaocong could guarantee that aside from official streams or top-level seasons, this was the live stream room with the highest online numbers, unmatched by any other.
Inviting Lu Liang to join the live stream tonight was truly a masterstroke; it could at the very least draw over 100,000+ new users for Panda, and even a 10% retention rate would be profiting handsomely.
It also sent out a signal that they had a good relationship, and naturally, people would find out that Lu Liang had invested in Panda.
Wang Xiaocong thought of many things because this was his career.
Lu Liang was merely enjoying the pleasure of spending money in the game.
Thinking back ten years ago when he first played Dream Fantasy.
Back then, he was still a student with not much money in his pocket.
Pig Factory's Dream Fantasy was a point card charging game, costing four yuan an hour, so he could only scrimp from his living allowance.
After graduation, although he played sporadically and mostly farmed in the game for pocket money.
Now, with one million RMB charged into the account, he could download whatever he wanted, and he truly felt the joy of the game.
Dream Fantasy, as a turn-based game that remained popular for a decade, was most praised for its in-game currency system, which was stronger than some Latin American countries.
All players in the game were real people, existing to serve the top operators.
This was the charm of the game: people naturally enjoy enslaving others and experiencing the authority of being in a higher position.
A few million in real life is not much, but in the game, spending millions could make you the boss of a region.
It wasn't until after ten in the evening when Wang Xiaocong ended the stream, saying he had reserved a thrilling venue, that Lu Liang reluctantly logged off.
"Tonight's peak online viewership reached 750,000, with over 180,000 new registered users."
As they walked out, Wang Xiaocong discussed follow-up plans, intending to invest an additional 20 million before the next round of fundraising.
With the current valuation at only 11 million US dollars, he was reluctant to carry out Series A at such a low valuation.
At least it had to be valued at over 80 million US dollars to meet his expectations.
"Whenever you want to follow up with an investment, just send me the proposal and I'll have finance make the transfer."
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Liang didn't object; he owned 15% of the shares, so even if he were to follow up with an investment of a hundred million, it would only require 15 million in funds.
He also wasn't interested in more shares; investing in Panda was mainly a way to pay tuition fees and understand the industry.
The two arrived in the underground parking garage of the building, where Wang Xiaocong had specially rented an area for his vehicles.
Two sports cars, two luxury cars, one nanny car.
Liang couldn't help but sigh that having a good father really made a difference.
Although he could afford them, his thought process was still that he would buy what was needed and temporarily set aside what wasn't.
So far, his personal assets consisted of just two cars and the house he had bought for his parents to live in temporarily, apart from the string of cold numbers in his bank account.
A red Ferrari F12 zoomed out of the parking garage, closely followed by a yellow Lamborghini Urus.
They arrived at TAX Bar in the city, which sat comfortably at the top spot of Modu's nightlife scene.
It wasn't just a gathering place for internet celebrities and stars from various industries but also attracted plenty of tycoons from the finance and internet circles.
Last year, Ding Sanshi made his first appearance as a DJ at this nightclub for the promotion of NetEase Cloud Music, becoming the talk of the town by switching from 'raising pigs by day to spinning discs by night.'
Being a regular, Wang Xiaocong's iconic vehicle had just shown up at the entrance when a sexy female manager quickly approached with a smile, "Mr. Wang, we've reserved the VIP room on the second floor for you."
She turned to Liang, a glint of confusion flashed through her eyes: "And you are, sir? How should I address you?"
Managers of nightclubs were shrewd; from one's stance, posture, to tone of voice, they could deduce who was the leader and who was the follower through the smallest of clues.
Last year, with a fortune of 260 billion, Old Wang had become the world's wealthiest Chinese man, and Little Wang, as his only son, was naturally full of pride.
Seeing him treat someone so equally and even somewhat courteously was rare, so the female manager naturally harbored thoughts of making a connection.
Liang replied indifferently, "Lu Liang."
"Mr. Lu, this way please," said the female manager.
Her eyebrow raised in recognition, the name sounding familiar. She racked her brains but couldn't place where she had heard it, yet she dared not show any neglect.
They passed through a vibrant and visually stunning corridor, entering the interior of the bar.
All high-end bars were typically similar in layout, often divided into two floors with booths and a dance floor on the first level, while the more private VIP rooms were on the second.
From the second floor's vantage point, one could oversee the entire dance hall, convenient for wealthy youth to hunt for beauties, finding their targets.
The identity of Mr. Wang as the son of the 'First Rich' held an incomparable attraction for internet celebrities.
With just a phone call, four girls came over, two for each person.
After several rounds of party games, the atmosphere in the VIP room got increasingly familiar and intimate; just as Wang Xiaocong was about to take a girl downstairs to dance, he suddenly stopped.
Outside the window, a charming woman in her thirties approached with a smile, holding a bottle of exquisitely packaged brandy.
He returned to his seat, whispering to Liang, "Zhuang Xiaoting, the bar owner, is a mistress of some big shot in the Beijing Circle."
"What's she coming over for?" Liang asked, while one girl fed him fruit and the other poured drinks and lit cigarettes for him.
"After all, you are the 'Speculation God,' and anyone with a bit of money would want to know you."
After spending a few hours together, Wang Xiaocong spoke more casually, knowing that Liang wasn't the type to be offended by jokes.
Liang understood.
Zhuang Xiaoting also knocked and entered the room, beaming with joy, "This morning, the magpies were chirping incessantly on my roof. I thought something was up, but it turns out they knew Mr. Lu would grace us with his presence tonight."
A very resourceful woman, she showed no trace of unfamiliarity upon first meeting, instantly closing the distance with a single phrase.
Wang Xiaocong chuckled, "Sister Ting, did the magpies call out when I arrived?"
"Indeed, I remember very clearly. They lined up in a row right by the window."
Zhuang Xiaoting extended her delicate hand, "Mr. Lu, nice to meet you. I'm Zhuang Xiaoting, the manager of TAX."
"Mr. Zhuang, hello. The atmosphere of the bar is quite nice," Lu Liang replied with a smile, raising his glass in a toast.
He was planning to set up a private equity fund in the future, so getting to know a diverse range of people wasn't a bad thing.
"Your satisfaction is our greatest encouragement."
Zhuang Xiaoting's face was full of smiles; she opened the brandy she brought over, carefully avoiding any mention of money or gifting.
After all, both guests were not lacking in funds; to show good intentions, she could only do it discreetly, like mentioning to the reception to give a 30 to 50 percent discount.
To speak of it openly could make them feel uncomfortable, a lesson learned from years of experience in her field.