After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 452 - 447: Showing Weakness is the Original Sin

"It's not a sin of war, just focus on managing your own small piece of land and see if you can keep a part of the cake."

Long Fei wanted to ask more, seeking a way to break through, but Little Wang was relaxed and appeared ready to let go.

As a second-generation tycoon, his desire for making money wasn't high; Panda being able to go public in the US had already exceeded his expectations.

Even if the stock price fell back to the listing price later, he still had billions of US Dollars, and his shares were worth several billions of US Dollars.

Knowing oneself and being content often brings happiness. For Panda, he hadn't been to bars or shown off online for a long time.

He always felt as if he was carrying an invisible shackle,

which restricted his speech and behavior, his whole conduct in society.

Knowing that Douyin had entered the realms of live streaming and e-commerce, Little Wang felt a sudden relief, as if the shackles had instantly disappeared by half.

Hope is a scary thing because facing Douyu and Huya, he always felt he could catch up and even surpass them, which made him work desperately hard.

But facing Douyin, as Lu Liang said, Panda wasn't even in the same dimension as Douyin; what could they compete with?

If you can't compete, then don't. The more you do, the more mistakes you make; just shrink the market, consolidate the base, and ensure it's not eroded.

"Chen Shaojie and Dong Rongjie, in order to make money, are desperate and have no limits; quality control is just for show, it's bound to go wrong eventually."

"From now on, we'll do better on quality control. Let's skip the slotting fees and see if we can become the JD of e-commerce."

Little Wang, grinning as he skewered kebabs, discussed with Lu Liang plans to go to a nightclub later to have a great time and celebrate.

"Mr. Wang, you are..."

Long Fei was baffled, filled with a disappointment as if the minister was ready to fight to death yet the emperor chose to surrender.

He couldn't help but look at Lu Liang, hoping he could make Little Wang act, as surrendering without a fight was a great shame.

"Maybe next time. I've stayed in Beijing too long; I need to handle some public and private affairs in Modu."

Lu Liang smiled, picked up his jacket, and prepared to leave. In mid-October in Modu, the nights were getting chilly.

Now that Little Wang was earning money and gaining fame,

it was natural for him to want to slack off.

In an era where slacking is common, being a little less slack might even be a merit.

This choice might not be the most correct, but at least it wasn't wrong, and he didn't feel right to stop him.

As night fell, Lu Liang returned to Sinograin No.1.

It being the weekend, as usual, Li Manli had a day off and was lounging on the sofa, fiddling with her phone while her pillow spun rapidly at her toes.

Suddenly, hearing the beep of the lock disengaging, she looked at the surveillance screen, and a smile instantly appeared on her face.

She was like a dog that had been locked inside all day and suddenly smelled its owner, speeding to the door.

Lu Liang pushed the door open and saw a figure pouncing towards him, accompanied by a burst of fragrance and the jingling of a bracelet.

Lu Liang laughed and cried, "Could you not be so fierce next time? Aren't you worried you might actually break my back?"

"Not afraid~" Li Manli smiled radiantly, her arms wrapped around his neck, her feet almost locking around his lower back.

"Can I change my shoes and take off my jacket first?" Lu Liang said, holding her, neither standing nor sitting comfortably.

"No, I want a hug first." Li Manli squinted her eyes, buried her head in his neck, smelling the scent of him.

After a long while, she reluctantly touched the ground, then suddenly ran to the bathroom, "I'll go run a bath for you."

Then came Li Manli's clear voice, "Are you hungry? Should I make some late-night snacks?"

"I just ate outside."

Lu Liang watched Li Manli bustle about, the sound of running water from the bathroom, and then she dashed to the bedroom to prepare clothes.

Then she took out various bottles and jars of cosmetics, "This is for moisturizing, this is for skincare... forget it, I'll help you apply them after your bath. If I let you do it, you probably wouldn't even glance at them before they expire."

Lu Liang chuckled helplessly, patted the sofa, and like a small kitten, Li Manli jumped right onto it.

Her arms wrapped around him, a substantial part of her body pressing against Lu Liang, her feet swinging left and right, conveying her excitement.

"Have you been bored while I was away?" Lu Liang stroked her hair, the waves turning back into long black and straight.

"Not really~" Li Manli quickly denied, then added, "It's okay when I'm streaming live, just the weekends are a bit boring."

To keep Lu Liang from worrying, she quickly added, "Just Saturday nights, because I sleep until noon, and I have yoga class in the afternoon."

"I'm sorry, I've been quite busy recently, haven't had much time to spend with you."

Lu Liang sighed, the promised trip abroad had to be postponed again and again.

"Don't frown." Li Manli said sternly, smoothing the furrow between Lu Liang's brows with her hand.

Holding his hand, she said earnestly, "I am your girlfriend, you shouldn't apologize to me."

Her delicate features, like those of a doll, always carried an immaturity of a child pretending to be an adult.

Lu Liang gently kissed her forehead and they enjoyed a tender moment until the sound of water splashing came from the bathroom.

"It's full." Li Manli dashed to the bathroom and turned off the tap, "You can take a bath now."

Lu Liang walked to the bathroom and closed the door, suddenly Li Manli's voice came from inside, "I've just finished my shower."

...

The next morning, Lu Liang arrived at the office and met Zhang Haoyu from the Silver Supervision Committee. His face was full of worry, the private placement had been stalled, and he was frequently called about it.

What should have been a splendid gold-dotted long holiday was spent in fear. The situation he faced now was the best interpretation of mortals suffering from gods' battles.

Lu Liang couldn't help but grin and patted his shoulder, "Mr. Zhang, no problems with the investigation this time?"

"Mr. Lu's company sets an example for the industry, every fund company should learn from you."

Zhang Haoyu hurriedly shook his head and handed over the inspection report, only Lu Liang's signature was needed to conclude it.

Lu Liang signed the document smiling, "Mr. Zhang, why don't you stay for lunch?"

"Mr. Lu, maybe next time. I need to submit the report quickly for the leaders' approval, aiming to unfreeze the funds as soon as possible."

"Alright then, I won't keep you from your duties."

After seeing off Zhang Haoyu, Lu Liang went to the 17th floor where the private equity firm was located, no one had worked there for a week, they were all cleaning.

He called over Sun Yutao, "Send out the net value of Phase Three and Four at noon and in the evening."

Having 5.65 billion in liquid assets, he decided to allocate 87.5 million US Dollars for additional investment in Li Xiang.

The remaining over four billion, to remain untouched for now, he felt that Li Xiang's financing implied that NIO would likely follow suit.

After all, these two, with He Xiaopeng from the south, had a private group, naming themselves a mutual aid group.

If Li Xiang had financed, Li Bing should have heard the news, NIO would then need more capital.

There was one thing, however, that Lu Liang was trying to figure out.

It seemed that Li Xiang had better prospects, yet its market value in 2021 was only 38.5 billion US Dollars.

Looking at NIO, whose ES8 sales had barely exceeded a thousand, still boasting about their battery swapping plans, yet its market value had soared to 98.3 billion US Dollars.

"Let's invest first, and we'll find out later."

Lu Liang preferred not to bother, as the timespan was too long, with four years ahead and anything could happen during that period.

Perhaps Li Bing's battery swapping scheme might succeed, becoming a new major player, but it could also end up copied like Panda.

After all, during that period, Tesla's market cap reached 1.2 trillion US Dollars, if NIO branded itself as Tesla's successor, it too might benefit from a market cap of trillion US Dollars.

Approaching noon, investors from Phase Three finally received calls from Sun Yutao, last month's net value increased by 12.2% to 1.822.

Although not as lucrative as before, when profits were several times higher and became legend, they were more concerned about the war between Lu Liang and the Liu family.

Operations of the private equity fund resumed after the National Day, indicating Lu Liang should be on the winning side, and the Liu family likely showed weakness.

This sparked unusual thoughts in some people, considering if they could replace him.

Shenzhou, Xiaomi, and Huawei announced massive investments in developing desktop computers in the second half of the year, to participate in municipal procurement bidding.

Lenovo's dominance as the national leader stemmed largely from governmental support for domestic brands.

Government departments generally prioritized local brands, and Lenovo had seized the opportunity back then. Its market share in personal computers exceeded 80%, and the usage rate in administrative departments was also more than 70%.

As major brands felt squeezed out and unable to penetrate the market, they simply gave up on the desktop market, allowing Lenovo to grow even larger.

However, now with Liu family showing weaknesses in their interactions with Lu Liang, and appearing to lose their past dominance,

They were tempted to make a move, and if successful, it could be a trillion-level super market.

After all, although laptops are convenient, desktop computers remain irreplaceable.

"It's really cruel, show a little weakness and others will take you down."

Upon hearing the news, Lu Liang couldn't help but reflect, thankful that he hadn't yielded, or else it would not be Lenovo they were targeting, but him.

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