Chapter 117: Movie Premiere

Words : 1919 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

After the two paid their deposit, they learned it would take at least 16 weeks for delivery, which meant four months later. Lu Liang felt it was a bit of a long wait but didn't really mind. He turned to Li Bing, "Mr. Li, how many cars do you think can be sold today?" "At least five thousand," Li Bing replied without hesitation. "That optimistic?" Lu Liang was surprised. These were luxury cars with a price tag of a million each, five thousand would amount to fifty billion in sales. Li Bing gave a bitter smile, feeling powerless in the face of such a behemoth, "Because it's called Tesla, and also because next year the country is planning to pilot the first batch of new energy vehicle license plates. The blue-plated electric vehicles could become a collector's edition in the future." Foreign monks always seem to chant better, let alone a foreign abbot, Apple was like this, and so was Tesla. But unlike Apple, Tesla was a monster created by the state itself, with foreigners occupying the home turf advantage. Musk was also a flamboyant figure, gradually taking over the trend of replacing Jobs as the new high priest of the tech cult. The speaker was unaware, but the listener had intent; Lu Liang suddenly remembered that Tesla was a company listed on NASDAQ. Perhaps there was a profit to be made. The new car presale launch event was very brief, not even exceeding 30 minutes, but it elicited cheers more than once throughout the venue. Cheers erupted as soon as the car appeared. When the falcon doors opened, another cheer went up, and more cheers followed the promotional video. Lu Liang finally understood where that sense of powerlessness on Li Bing's face came from. If the cheering crowd at the scene was not staged, then surpassing five thousand pre-orders on the first day should not be a problem. The combination of technology and belief is terrifying, reminiscent of the teenager who sold his kidney a few years ago just to buy an Apple phone. Fortunately, the Mao Dou X was so expensive that even selling oneself wouldn't cover the cost, but China was not short of wealthy families' scions. Once the launch event ended, Mao Dou X dominated the hot search terms across the internet, and the only thing that could overshadow it was the National Golden Week. It also sparked a trend of flaunting wealth through pre-order receipts, spending a million on a Porsche meant one knew how to live, but spending a million on an electric car, now that was a true sign of wealth. After all, a Porsche could still be worth seven or eight hundred thousand after three years, but the Mao Dou X might be left with just a few tens of thousands. After the event, Lu Liang declined Li Bing's invitation, even if he brought out Li Xiang and He Xiaopeng, Lu Liang wasn't interested. Chatting with a bunch of armchair strategists like 'Zhao Kuo' held no appeal; after all was said and done, the only objective was investment. Lu Liang wasn't interested at the moment; he had more important things to do. Leaving the venue, he immediately called Wen Chao. He told him to notify the six traders to come to work as usual tomorrow, they would be paid triple, and to wait for his instructions at the company. Lu Liang was gradually figuring out the pattern; whenever he became interested in or proactively engaged with an industry, the voice would emerge. Now he was quite interested in Tesla's stock and wondered if he would hear the voice of the future tonight. If yes, then he needed to be ready for the opening of US stocks the night after tomorrow, since NASDAQ doesn't take a break for the National Celebration. In the evening, Lu Liang returned to Scholarly Splendor District. Su Wanyu was reading on the couch, occasionally biting her pen in thought, her gaze drifting, lost in daydreams. Lu Liang tiptoed behind her and saw a corner of the book filled with his name, eventually forming a heart. From the day she transitioned from a girl to a woman, Su Wanyu's mood wasn't as composed as it appeared. Lu Liang chuckled but pretended not to see, deliberately making some noise and plopping down next to her, "Been reading all day?" "Mmm, when did you come back?" Su Wanyu hastily closed her textbook, glanced at her phone for the time, and suddenly exclaimed, "It's this late already, I should start cooking." "No need to cook, let's go out to eat and then see a movie," Lu Liang said affectionately, patting her little head. "'Lost in Hong Kong'? 'Nine-story Demon Tower'? 'Xia Luo's Worry'? There are so many good movies during National Day this year." Su Wanyu's face lit up with joy, she loved watching movies; a classic film was like an amazing journey. Out of the top hundred films in global cinema history, she had seen them all except for the ones she didn't like or were too dark. "'Xia Luo's Worry,' I heard it's really good." Lu Liang had just heard from Wen Chao; the movie was released today. The previews had good word of mouth, and Zhang Chen planned to add an extra 20 million to the marketing budget, with more to be added depending on the situation. Lu Liang had no objections, just a bit curious how a movie with a budget of twenty million could rake in over 1.4 billion at the box office. "Yay, let's go!" Su Wanyu was excited, raising her arms high. But finding movie tickets near University City was tough; they could only book the midnight show around ten o'clock. "Either's fine. After dinner, we can go for a walk around and hit the movies at ten. After the movie, it'll be just in time to go back to sleep." When Lu Liang talked about sleeping, he meant it literally, but Su Wanyu obviously thought otherwise, her cheeks instantly blushing red. "You, your mind is always in the gutter." "Nah, nah, nah—It's you whose mind is in the gutter." Searᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Amidst the laughter, after they finished dinner and strolled around the mall, Lu Liang was quite distressed. Su Wanyu only browsed and didn't buy anything, which made his legs ache. Fortunately, over an hour passed by idly. At nine forty, the two entered the cinema. The film lasted 104 minutes. The storyline wasn't very interesting—it was just another tale about dreaming of being reborn. But surprisingly, it turned out to be very amusing, delivering small gags every three minutes and a big one every ten. With a loud "No!" the song "A Cut of Plum Blossoms" began, further heightening the atmosphere of the theater. Su Wanyu was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath, clutching Lu Liang's palm tightly and shaking it continuously. Over a hundred people spent those 104 minutes amidst laughter and cheerful voices until the film ended. "Xia Luo played his part so well, and Yuan Hua was hilarious too." Su Wanyu's smile was radiant, as she kept pressing her index finger against her apple cheek, her face almost cramped from laughing too long. Lu Liang draped his arm over her shoulder, asking, "Tired or not? If you're not, come with me to the company." His earlier mention of sleep was all about serious slumber, because tonight was likely to be busy. On the one hand, he was waiting for the chime at midnight, and on the other hand, the first day's box office tally would be released. Zhang Chen would probably call with good news, then they would decide on the subsequent publicity funding. Also, Tesla's first-day preorder volume was expected to cause some waves. Su Wanyu shook her head, serious, "As long as you don't mind, I want to stay by your side." Lu Liang smiled, patted her little head, and the two arrived at the entrance of the theater just as the old pal drove the car over. On the way, as Su Wanyu looked at the unfamiliar scenery by the roadside, she suddenly asked, "Aren't we going to Yongfeng?" "We moved at the end of last month. The old place was too small, so we switched to a bigger one," Lu Liang also remembered that Su Wanyu had not visited the company's new address yet. Su Wanyu realized in a moment but had yet to grasp how much bigger Lu Liang meant. They took the elevator from the underground parking garage, transferred at the fourth floor, and then went straight to the thirty-second floor. Although it was late at night and no one was on duty, the reception desk of the company still had lights on. Tianxing Capital and Tianxing Assets, two strings of gilded letters, twinkled brightly. Lu Liang entered his fingerprint and password to open the door. The nighttime code was different from the daytime. Currently, only he knew it and only he had the permission to open the company doors at night. "Shiyu, turn all the lights on, it's too dark. It's uncomfortable to look at." As the lights came on, Su Wanyu's eyes widened. She now understood just how much bigger Lu Liang's place was—you'd probably get an echo if you shouted. Lu Liang left the old pal at the entrance and took Su Wanyu into the office, pointing to the rest area behind the desk, "There's another room inside. If you're sleepy, go in and take a nap." "Do your work, pretend I'm not here," Su Wanyu stood by the window, quietly enjoying the city's nightscape. Lu Liang smiled and didn't say more. As the midnight chime sounded, he picked up a pen and paper and began to jot down key information. "October 21, Tesla, $96 per share." "What the heck?" Lu Liang's eyes widened in surprise, speechless as he quickly opened the US stocks app and rubbed his eyes. He saw Tesla's market value of $17 billion and the stock price at $182. He was sure, He hadn't seen wrong, And he was sure he hadn't heard wrong. In the coming half of the month, not only had Tesla's stock price not risen, but it had actually been cut in half. "How could this be? Is it ex-dividend, or stock split? It shouldn't be, where would Tesla get the money to pay dividends?" Lu Liang was utterly baffled, searching through documents and news trying to find the reason for the stock's plunge. It shouldn't have happened. China supported the development of the new energy industry so much. To let the catfish Tesla in, Modu had even allocated 200,000 square meters of land for Tesla to build a factory. Online, flaunting Tesla's Mao Dou X preorders had become a trend, and even Little Wang seemed to have joined in the fun. With so many bullish news stacked up, not only did the stock price not soar, but it also suffered a dramatic cut. What on earth had happened to provoke such fury and disdain?

Chapter 117: Movie Premiere

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