After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

In the European and American markets, Tianxing might not be recognized, but mention Lu Liang, and eight or nine out of ten would know him.

Because the United States has always been setting up hypothetical enemies, the China threat theory has been circulating for many years and has been accepted by many.

Following military, technology, and economic threats, even the financial realm was threatened, naturally receiving extensive media coverage in the US.

Lu Liang's fame in Europe and America is bigger than most people imagine.

Because the US media screwed up. Initially, they intended to propagate the Chinese threat in every aspect.

But Wall Street doesn't have any clue, painting themselves as the underdog, not realizing the notoriety that already exists in the streets, with Lu Liang also praised as the dragon slayer from the East.

He single-handedly defeated Wall Street.

"Is NIO following Tesla's route?"

On the way back, Lu Liang flipped through NIO's strategic planning book distributed to shareholders.

After all, he surely didn't come early in the morning just for NIO's opening ceremony. With that time, wouldn't snuggling with a beauty for more sleep be more pleasant?

Lu Liang primarily wanted to see Li Bing's arrangements for NIO's cars, and the subsequent plans, to study and learn.

NIO's first concept car already had a prototype, named NIO EP9, a pure electric supercar.

This car wouldn't be mass-produced, its main purpose was to stack up performance, establish a reputation, and position NIO as a high-end car brand.

Going from low-end to high-end is difficult, Xiaomi is the best example.

Ever since the Red Rice series became a hit, Xiaomi tried to transition more than once, but let alone breaking into the high-end market, they couldn't even squeeze into the mid-range market.

But it's easy for a high-end brand to cater downwards, like the BMW X1, a regular three-cylinder car, difficult to sell for a hundred thousand without a brand insignia, but can be sold for two hundred thousand with it.

It's partly due to BMW's positioning, and on another note, because of BMW's fame.

NIO is a new force in car manufacturing, lacking fame, and can only start from positioning, somewhat similar to Tesla's trajectory.

Initially, they also started with a sports car, achieving records in various championships and setting world records, establishing their fame.

"Is contract manufacturing the mainstream?" Lu Liang pondered to himself.

NIO partnered with Jianghuai, Li Xiang with Lifan, Xiao Peng with Guangqi—without exception, all new forces chose contract manufacturing.

Although it saved time and reduced investments, the quality control couldn't be guaranteed, and most importantly, the mass production timing was delayed.

New forces are after all partners, and contract manufacturers only make a tough earning, they would also launch their own new energy vehicles.

This way, they'd fall into Xiaomi's initial predicament, unable to increase production, leading to Lei Jun being mockingly called a monkey showman.

By contrast, Lu Liang preferred BYD's route, self-producing, self-selling, self-research. From concept initiation to vehicle implementation, it probably wouldn't take a year, and as long as it passes the public listing review, mass production could be realized immediately, keeping production costs very low.

"But BYD took more than two decades to open up all industrial chains and form a complete ecosystem."

Back at home, Lu Liang kept thinking about how to traverse the path BYD took decades to walk in the shortest time possible.

He thought about his strengths. Since the inception of finance, it was there to support manufacturing and expedite business development.

A car requires thousands of parts, coming from over 200 first-level suppliers, with countless second and third-level suppliers.

If he invested in first-level suppliers, reaching a certain degree of ownership, it could apparently count as forming an ecosystem.

Through their hands, he could cultivate his own forces, forming a truly complete ecosystem.

"The money from private equity seems far from enough."

Lu Liang was startled by his own thoughts because this wasn't a matter of just a few billion or hundred billion.

The required capital was not just astronomical, but the profit cycle would be very long, with no certainty of even breaking even.

"Private equity won't cut it, but public funds might be possible."

Private equity is a channel for the rich seeking high returns, but public funds are different because they are aimed at the general public.

The public's demands are low because, lacking suitable investment channels, they just want to beat inflation.

The biggest advantage of public funds is that they can be bought and sold; as long as a strong foundation is built and a bank run on redemptions is prevented, it can last ten years, twenty years, or even longer.

Lu Liang's eyes grew brighter and brighter; he felt a high possibility of success with this venture, as Tianhong Fund linked to Alipay already had four hundred million users and surpassed one trillion in scale.

He had also thought about the choice of foundation, such as Modu's pension institution and State-owned Xiao Xin, planning to attract them to his next private equity, giving them a taste of profit.

"After all, the world has suffered from funds for a long time; the rich can't always profit while the average person just watches."

At this moment, Lu Liang felt a surge of spiritual elevation, although his original intention was to spread the risks, he convinced himself.

Stepping out of the study, he saw Li Manli playing games on the couch, her white silk legs swinging intentionally or unintentionally.

By the end of October, a freezing Siberian cold front had descended, and temperatures in Modu were rapidly plummeting to single digits.

But she seemed impervious to the cold, determined not to wear long pants as long as she could wear skirts and shorts with bare legs.

"Are you not streaming today?" Lu Liang pounced forward, noticing she was playing Fruit Ninja.

"I'm taking a few days off. Panda is preparing an online variety show, and they want me to be a regular guest."

Li Manli put down her phone, clung to Lu Liang like a sloth, and squinted her eyes, revealing an expression of pure enjoyment.

She really liked the smell of Lu Liang, a faint scent of smoke, and another indescribable but comforting aroma.

"When are you heading over?"

Lu Liang suddenly remembered a show called 'Hellos Goddess,' a national audition for 240 beauties, out of which only 10 are selected to participate in a 49-day enclosed interactional live stream, culminating in a five-member group debut.

Little Wang was the director of this show and had invited him to be a guest too, but he declined.

"Tomorrow." Li Manli pouted, realizing she would probably not see Lu Liang for about 49 days.

"Learning to dance and to sing, picking up some talents—it's all good," Lu Liang said with a comforting smile.

"I'm a guest, you know, mainly just supervising and giving pointers," Li Manli complained.

"What can you do then?" Lu Liang asked.

"Uh, cooking?"

"Not particularly tasty."

"What about cosplaying?"

"Mediocre."

"I'm angry now." Li Manli huffed, folding her arms across her chest, looking unappeasable.

Lu Liang laughed and explained the importance of having a good personal brand: wealthy, good-looking, likes cooking, enjoys cosplaying, and if she were diligent and keen to learn, she'd be an unbeatable combination.

Panda had borrowed 50 million from him, with at least 30 million invested in this show. There was a chance for guests and participants alike to become wildly popular.

"Besides, I'd like to see you dance gracefully. It should look quite charming."

"If you like it, then I'll go and learn."

The next morning, Lu Liang was on his way to the company and took the opportunity to drop Li Manli off at the high-speed train station. He wouldn't see her for over a month, and he was bound to miss her.

"Liang~"

Li Manli's way of expressing her feelings wasn't as reserved as Su Wanyu. At this moment of parting, she wrapped her arms around Lu Liang's neck for a fierce two-minute French kiss.

Only when her vision became blurred and she was almost breathless did she reluctantly leave, dragging her suitcase into the train station: "Bye-bye~ I'm leaving now."

"If anyone gives you trouble, call me."

Lu Liang chuckled, patted her head, and watched as she entered the train station, looking back three steps at a time.

Back at the company, he had a meeting with Director Zhao from the Human Resources Bureau to discuss preparations for the second phase of Tianxing Private Equity.

The progress was not particularly smooth; the bureau wanted to monitor his accounts, but Lu Liang did not agree.

"Mr. Lu, I'm very sorry, but we need a stable, long-term institution that is subject to regulatory oversight."

Lu Liang didn't meet their criteria, and although Director Zhao expressed regret, he looked forward to a future collaboration.

Pension funds were not like other institutions; making money might just earn you lukewarm praise, but losing it could spell disaster.

They would rather do nothing at all than make mistakes.

After Director Zhao left, Lu Liang felt a twinge of regret.

In the afternoon, he met with Zhou Yongtao from State-owned Xiao Xin, known as a vanguard of reform at the forefront.

Once contacted, the other party showed great interest, a completely different attitude from Director Zhao.

"One billion dollars?"

It was the fundraising amount for the second phase of Tianxing Private Equity. Lu Liang also planned to divide it into fifty parts.

They could only raise funds from fewer than fifty people with their current qualifications; going over that number would be considered illegal fundraising.

Zhou Yongjiang was slightly worried: "Mr. Lu, the scale of the second phase is quite large; won't the fundraising period be extended quite long?"

Lu Liang smiled: "Director Zhou, don't worry. We plan to launch the second phase around January next year."

He intended to take full advantage of Tesla's market trends before announcing the scale of the second phase of the private equity. By doing so, the net value could explode by about 4.5 times, making the one billion dollars target feasible.