Chapter 311: Suspicions

Words : 1935 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

"NIO, Li Xiang, Xiao Peng, Weima, Jihu, Aion, Nezha, Hengchi..." Lu Liang carefully counted, there had been 28 new energy car brands established in the past two years, and countless others were still watching and waiting. He predicted that next year the number could surpass 40, but according to the industry’s 90/10 rule, only about 8 of those 40 would survive in the end. Just like the early days of mobile phone brands, such as Jinli, Tianyu, Coolpad, Lan Mo, etc., some were acquired, while others went bankrupt. Searᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The car circle was even more brutal because the foundation of brands like BBA was still very solid, and BYD and Tesla would take up at least two spots. Thus, of the 40 Chinese car brands, only five or six might remain, a testament to natural selection in its fullest expression. "If the new car is launched, it must make a big impact to avoid quick iterations and getting dragged into the fray." Lu Liang murmured to himself, "Must slow down, can’t be hasty." The reservation channel for the 17th model NIO ES8 had just opened, and Li Bing had already started preparing for the 18th model, expected to release this autumn. No car owner wants to buy a product that’s already outdated; the release of the new ES8 is bound to backstab the owners of the older models. Releasing two generations in one year, with the new model being better, the owners of the older model would likely feel like they’d been taken for a ride. Li Bing was aware of this, but with technology upgrading so rapidly, they had to keep up or lose their competitive edge in the market. Li Xiang was facing the same dilemma with Li Xiang; however, he opted to delay iterations to avoid betraying the trust of his existing car owners. After all, since the launch of the NIO ES8, due to its high price, there were only about 500 reservations. In contrast, the Li Xiang ONE had already reached 1500 orders with 100 delivered, and its market reputation was quite good. For a little over three hundred thousand yuan, one could get amenities that typically came with luxury cars worth millions, such as refrigerators, televisions, big sofas, which were especially popular among some e-commerce entrepreneurs. E-commerce was a new industry, and online shop owners were young; unlike the older generation, who only recognized BBA as luxury cars, they had a strong ability to accept new brands and new things. At this moment, Zhuo Yifan knocked and entered, "Mr. Lu, the CEO of Good Dreams and Teacher Wu Jing have already arrived." "Mm, got it." Lu Liang nodded slightly and followed Zhuo Yifan to the adjacent reception room. "War Wolf 2" had a total investment of 230 million yuan, with Tianxing Investment owning a 52% share. Earlier in the year, after Wu Jing returned from Africa, he had been eager to visit his golden sponsor. But at that time, Lu Liang was busy setting up a Public Fund, and during the Spring Festival holiday, he went to Tokyo for a vacation. Upon returning, he was occupied with allocating 300 billion yuan. Wu Tianzheng and Wu Jing had come over several times, but each time they couldn’t get an appointment, until recently when Lu Liang finally had some free time. They planned to show Lu Liang the finished film and to discuss the release date and distribution issues. "Mr. Wu, Director Wu, sorry to keep you waiting." Upon Lu Liang’s entrance, both men stood up immediately, and Wu Tianzheng said with a smile, "No worries, we’ve only just arrived ourselves." "Mr. Lu, hello." Wu Jing’s face was all smiles; in all these years, he had met many investors, but very few had a heart as big as Lu Liang’s. With an investment of 120 million yuan, if it wasn’t for the monthly need to submit expenditure details to Tianxing Finance Department and get a signed feedback, he might have thought Lu Liang had forgotten about it. "Let’s go to the meeting room; there’s no projection system here." Lu Liang was very interested in the film and wanted to see what a movie that grossed over five billion yuan at the box office actually looked like. The film was 123 minutes long, and aside from the performance of a wealthy second-generation character who had originally been intended for Little Wang but got rejected, which was a bit awkward, the rest of the cast was on point, and big scenes were well crafted with limbs and arms flying all over the place. Especially gripping were the scenes of roaring in anger with tears in one’s eyes while firing guns, and carrying the national flag through a war zone, an exhilarating and thorough venting of pent-up frustrations. Two hours later, the curtains and lights in the meeting room came back on, and Lu Liang clapped and laughed, saying, "Very good, very thrilling." Wu Jing was delighted by Lu Liang’s approval, feeling a weight lifted from his heart, and Wu Tianzheng took the opportunity to say, "Mr. Lu, after discussing with Wanda, we decided to allocate 50 million yuan for marketing and promotion." The original arrangement was that the 210 million yuan included the film’s initial marketing costs, with production costs around 180 million yuan, squeezing out 30 million for marketing. But with Lu Liang’s involvement and his generous contribution of 120 million yuan, Wu Jing didn’t have to pinch pennies during the filming process. The entire 230 million budget was spent, leaving only 8 million, with a shortfall of 42 million for marketing. If it was according to the 52% investment share, Lu Liang should contribute another 21.84 million yuan. "Of course, when do you plan on releasing it?" Lu Liang asked without hesitation. The First Rich’s final box office was fixed at 2.756 billion yuan, temporarily leading the year’s rankings. Tianxing Investment had only a 15% stake, investing 22.5 million yuan and earning a return of 118 million yuan. This money was about to mature, and Wanda was almost ready to pay up, which was perfect for the marketing of "War Wolf 2." Wu Jing promptly said, "Mr. Lu, we plan to release it in late July during the summer schedule." "Not bad, just in time for the lead-up to Army Day." Lu Liang was momentarily lost in thought as he suddenly remembered Su Wanyu. Her eight-month exchange program seemed to be coming to an end. He had been busy with various matters recently and hadn’t been in contact with her for a long time; the last time seemed to have been around Chinese New Year. It was just a brief message, wishing a happy Spring Festival, after all he took Li Manli to Tokyo for fun. The news was buzzing online. "Mr. Lu, is there a problem?" Wu Tianzheng asked cautiously. "No problem, I’m just reminded of something else." Lu Liang shook his head, summoned Tang Caide, and had her take care of the subsequent contract signing. After speaking, he returned to his office. Wu Jing could only offer a wry smile, "Mr. Lu really is straightforward." Aside from the two hours watching a movie, their interaction with Lu Liang didn’t even add up to ten minutes. Securing an advertising fee of 50 million was as simple as drinking water. If only all investors were as straightforward as Lu Liang. "Mr. Lu is an exception." Wu Tianzheng said with a smile, continuing on, others might spend billions or even hundreds of millions and would keep having meetings to discuss. But Lu Liang spent 300 billion of Public Fund in just one month. For those unwilling to redeem their shares, he didn’t indulge them; he simply transferred 6 billion in shares to the Su City Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, displaying sheer dominance. In the office next door, Lu Liang’s office. He washed his face and tidied up his appearance before video-calling Su Wanyu. The call didn’t go through; it was cut off immediately, and Su Wanyu sent a question mark: "In class." "How have you been lately? Is your study going smoothly?" Lu Liang pondered, looking at the wall clock. Because he often dealt in the international markets, his office wall featured three clocks, showing Beijing time, New York time, and London time. Beijing time, three o’clock in the afternoon, London time, eight o’clock in the morning. University of Edinburgh was in the United Kingdom, so it matched London time. Would students have classes at eight in the morning there? "Life is going pretty smoothly, it’s just that my studies are a bit tough. I have to work hard to keep up with the pace here." Su Wanyu went on to say that the so-called happy education in Europe and America did exist, and it covered 95% of the area. But the remaining 5% of elite education was highly competitive; ever since she arrived, she felt like she was back in her senior year of high school. "Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, I even got a study-abroad fund of 50,000 US Dollars per semester~" Su Wanyu suspected it was Lu Liang’s doing because she had asked a senior student, and there wasn’t such a fund in previous years; it only started this year. And the scale of the financial aid was unprecedented, with a minimum of 20,000 US Dollars per person per semester, up to 50,000 US Dollars. In the past, only domestic students studying abroad had such benefits, but now they, the overseas students, could enjoy them too. Lu Liang’s lips curled into a smile, "Who’s the generous soul funding this, not afraid that you won’t come back?" "How could that be possible, Britain has decided to leave the EU, and it’s been noisy on the streets every day." The public vote ended last year, the queen signed the contract, and now the process is underway—the Brexit is a done deed. Lu Liang then asked, "What about you, when are you coming back?" "Probably not until the end of the year; I haven’t completed all my credits yet, and I’m just shy of failing one course." Suddenly, Su Wanyu said, "Can’t talk now, I think the professor has seen me using my phone." "Let’s talk another time." Lu Liang’s brows furrowed as he made a call to the director of the International Office at Tongji University. He obtained Su Wanyu’s grades from last month, they were mostly A’s, excellent, with just a few B’s, good. "Mr. Lu, there is another matter, Su also applied for special consideration at the University of Edinburgh, as well as an extension of her student visa through our school," the director said. "What does that mean?" Lu Liang wondered. "Last year, a female overseas student from our university named Liu Jiao also applied for these two items. Later, it was learned she was preparing for childbirth." The director hinted at the possibility but didn’t dare spell it out. If it was Lu Liang’s, that was fine. If not, the matter could be quite serious. After all, donating 2 million US Dollars every year to set up an overseas study fund was a strategic move with ulterior motives. Lu Liang was silent for a long time before responding gravely, "I understand, Director Sun, I hope the school can avoid disclosing this to the outside as much as possible." "Understood, understood," Director Sun reassured him repeatedly.

Chapter 311: Suspicions

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