Chapter 832: Chapter 811: Weakness Is Original Sin In mid to late November, Lu Liang concluded a four-day trip to Beijing and was about to return to Xiangjiang. Before departure, Zhang Yiming rushed to the airport to ask about the future development of Douyin Overseas during the spare time before boarding. As Lu Liang had expected, with the trade war escalating, criticizing Chinese enterprises and excluding Chinese workers had become the political correctness of both parties. Moreover, it’s intolerable for them that Douyin Overseas controls the Western public opinion platform and is not subject to control by either party. “There’s no solution, it’s just stalling.” Lu Liang thought for a long time and eventually showed a helpless expression. In the past, he might have persuaded Zhang Yiming to invest in Trump with him, betting on his reelection. But ever since finding out about the Spanish Flu, Lu Liang no longer had such naive ideas. This is a clash of civilizations, a never-ending struggle, which can’t be changed by human force or the words of a single family. Douyin Overseas is related to their upcoming plans, just like how the great flu was prefixed with “Spanish.” They don’t allow an uncontrolled opinion platform to grow wantonly in the soil of capital. This severely undermines their strategy to keep people ignorant. “Is there really no way?” Zhang Yiming frowned and tentatively asked, “How about doing it like YouTube?” YouTube is the world’s most double-standard platform; if a blogger uploads a video praising East Country, it will be deliberately restricted. On the contrary, they would receive hidden traffic promotion. If kneeling could allow growth in Europe and America, then kneeling wouldn’t be impossible. After all, it’s business, and there’s no shame in it. Lu Liang’s face grew cold, but his tone remained flat: “You can just try it.” Zhang Yiming’s heart skipped a beat, and he chuckled awkwardly, “I was just saying, it’s not like I would really do that.” He could hear the implied meaning; if Douyin Overseas dared to kneel, Lu Liang would definitely break his legs first. Recently, although Lu Liang has been ignoring Douyin, he is still the co-founder of Douyin on the surface. Lu Liang had sponsored Yang Zhenyuan and had a lot of money from Tianxing Finance. After two years of development, Douyin and Byte had long been indistinguishable, mastering the core technology. If Lu Liang had an idea, he could completely support Yang Zhenyuan for Douyin to separate from Byte. Lu Liang pondered for a moment and suddenly said, “Not joking, worth a try?” Zhang Yiming was taken aback: “Mr. Lu, you’re not saying the opposite, are you?” “Since you can’t be a fence-sitter, then stand firmly on one side,” Lu Liang said. Zhang Yiming asked, “Which side?” “Which side do you think?” Lu Liang replied in an annoyed tone. “Why not just get in touch directly? Why needlessly test it and bring on more infamy?” Zhang Yiming didn’t understand. He could well imagine that if Douyin Overseas tried kneeling, he’d probably be labeled a traitor like the Liu family. Lu Liang smiled and said, “You contacting her and her contacting you are not the same, right? Douyin Overseas being targeted is not normal commercial behavior. While this harm is negligible to Douyin, as the core market is not in Europe and America, how can those above always turn a blind eye?” Douyin Overseas being targeted is different from Huawei being targeted. The former losing the market only means less profit, while for the latter, it’s a matter of survival, getting choked, so the state’s attitude towards the two companies being targeted is also different. Douyin Overseas has been targeted for so long, yet the state has not taken action. Having Zhang Yiming kneel a bit is to force those above to intervene. Lu Liang also wanted to express dissatisfaction in this way. After all, he had been bothered by this for a long time and eventually decided to report the matter to the state. In the end, although those above knew what plan the opponent would take, they still chose to take hits passively. The correct choice doesn’t mean it’s the right choice, especially when viewed from a rational perspective. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝓷𝓮𝓽 “It makes sense, but there’s no other way?” Zhang Yiming looked reluctant. Even if being scolded doesn’t hurt, being called a traitor is intolerable for anyone. “How about letting Old Yang do it?” Lu Liang smiled playfully. “I’ll do it then. Old Yang is already busy handling Douyin’s affairs every day.” Zhang Yiming’s eyes were full of resentment. This was no longer a hint but a blatant threat. Moreover, Yang Zhenyuan’s head is too small to wear this hat, and eventually, it might still turn out like he instigated it. “Let’s do it this way!” Lu Liang clapped his hands, showing a satisfied smile, and looked at the airport manager, the plane had been waiting for him for a while. Zhang Yiming gritted his teeth, forced a smile, and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: “Mr. Lu, see you again!” On the way to Xiangjiang, there suddenly came news that Byte was rumored to be considering spinning off Douyin Overseas’ equity. “What does Byte mean by this?” “The United States only said something; it hasn’t even started targeting, and Byte slid to its knees at lightning speed?” “Did Zhang Yiming’s mother forget to give him a backbone when he was born?” “Can’t he learn from Huawei? Even after Meng Wanqiu was arrested, they still remained unyielding.” As soon as the news came out, it caused a great uproar across domestic internet platforms, prompting countless netizens to discuss. Even if they showed a little resistance and eventually backed down, there should still be a process for surrendering, right? Especially with Huawei’s precedent, Byte’s quick submission seems particularly contemptible. After a few hours of fermentation, it had already become the hottest topic on domestic internet platforms. Once the light of Hu Jian, the First Rich of Hu Jian, now also called the disgrace of Hu Jian. “Feel sorry for Mr. Zhang.” On the way to Central from the airport, Xu Jiawei reported the online opinion, suddenly feeling a bit sympathetic towards Zhang Yiming. Although Zhang Yiming is also capital, Lu Liang’s capital strength is obviously stronger, which is why he was able to force him to make such a decision. Lu Liang said indifferently, “What’s there to sympathize with? Once you sit in that position, you must take on certain responsibilities; otherwise, you’d better let Old Yang take over.” “Mr. Lu, your lesson is well taken.” Xu Jiawei gave a sheepish grin, swiftly admitting his mistake, then unexpectedly caught sight of the tablet, and was startled. He quickly said, “Mr. Lu, the White House guy has updated Twitter again.” “What did he say?” Lu Liang asked. Xu Jiawei’s expression was peculiar: “Declared that the government won’t allow any United States company to acquire foreign Douyin.” Lu Liang was taken aback, then laughed angrily: “That old bastard, even more shameless than I imagined.” The implication was clear; originally they had planned to acquire Douyin’s operations, offer some money and send Byte packing. But just as they spoke, Byte caved; well, sorry, they’re not planning to pay now. A moment ago, Lu Liang was criticizing Xu Jiawei, but now he couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy. It’s predictable that when the news reaches back home, it will create a sensation, akin to a sewage truck exploding in a bustling area. After all, slipping and kneeling at lightning speed is one thing; the crucial point is that they want to freeload without any gratitude. It illustrates what is called cutting five cities today, ten cities tomorrow, then gaining a peaceful night’s sleep. The key is that they didn’t even get a night’s sleep; it’s unclear whether that old bastard was waking up or just never slept. At 3 a.m. United States time, still surfing the web intensively, and swiftly responding. Lu Liang thought over it and decided to send Zhang Yiming a message via WeChat, expressing his remorse. He said, “Mr. Zhang, are you okay?” The chat interface showed Zhang Yiming was typing continuously, seemingly having a lot to say. But ultimately responded with a Jacky Cheung emoji: “Eat shit, you.” Lu Liang chuckled helplessly, seeing his embarrassment: “Next time I’m in Beijing, I’ll treat you to a meal and properly apologize.” What’s done is done; he won’t regret it; even if he could do it again, he’d still do it, just feeling somewhat embarrassed. However, as soon as the message was sent, a red exclamation mark appeared! Lu Liang was blocked by Zhang Yiming. Lu Liang smiled silently: “Alright, at least there’s a way to vent, at least he won’t be suffocated.” Very soon, the remarks from the White House guy spread back home. After all, compared to the previous guy, the current one still has lots of fans on the domestic internet; many netizens regard him as an electronic pet, constantly following his news. Once the news spread, Zhang Yiming’s already poor reputation turned as bad as a rock in a cesspit, dark and stinky. Meanwhile, Lu Liang returned to the trading room at Tianxing Financial Building, dismissing the Byte matter. After all, it wasn’t considered a major issue, just a means of venting frustration and forcing the higher-ups to step in with support. The immediate priority is to focus mainly on shorting Neon, since after four days, it’s the settlement day. “How’s it going?” Lu Liang called Sun Yutao over. He had just been on a flight, observing stock and foreign exchange market trends, the 5 billion dollars of short-selling funds set up yesterday seemed like the last straw on the camel’s back. Yesterday the closing exchange rate of the US-Japan forex market was 128 yen, and the Nikkei 225 Index fell below the 19,000-point mark. But at today’s opening, some unknown funds pulled up a straight gain line in both markets. Causing the 5 billion dollars additionally invested yesterday to be like money down the drain. The original 16.1 billion dollars profit now has only around 12 billion dollars left. “Mr. Lu, things don’t look too optimistic.” Sun Yutao’s brows furrowed; just now, news from Neon was received, explaining the reason for today’s market surge. Jian Yiwei played the populism card, declared this a national defense battle, intending to issue 50 trillion yen in national debt. He himself took the lead in subscribing 500 million yen, demonstrating with a desperate attitude. He stated that if the defense was inadequate, he would resign from acting prime minister and let someone more capable take the position. Even though he’s just acting prime minister, he’s still a prime minister. Immediately upon taking office, putting such a determined stance, it made billions believe they’ve finally awaited a wise leader, Neon’s prosperity seemed just around the corner. Thus, before dawn, a massive queue formed in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, rushing like crazy into the stock market. The stock market surged, reclaiming the lost ground of 19,500 points, and another 50 trillion yen’s financial bailout is being prepared. Consequently, the foreign exchange market also responded with a rise. “These people are so easily deceived, they just believe it?” Lu Liang looked puzzled; An San clearly regarded him as a scapegoat. 50 trillion yen, 400 billion US Dollars, it’s not that civilians can’t come up with it, but it’s that Jian Yiwei has no charisma. Furthermore, domestic institutions wouldn’t choose to subscribe, because like Lu Liang, they only wish to appear as harvesters. Moreover, with Lu Liang’s presence, the East Country, once the main subscribers of Japanese debt, probably won’t get involved. Considering all these factors, this round of national bonds, is destined to end with fundraising failure. “Perhaps they aren’t easily deceived, just have no choice.” Sun Yutao mused, holding a different view, under a fallen nest, no egg remains unbroken. The wealthy can still entrust financial institutions to shelter their funds, or even conduct post-event harvesting. But ordinary people have no choice; they can only hope the country gets better and the currency becomes more valuable. So even knowing they’re drawing pie-in-the-sky promises, they have no choice but to swallow them, maintaining economic stability. “Maybe.” Lu Liang smiled indifferently, sympathy can’t be a reason for holding back. Big fish are born to eat small fish, and small fish are destined to be eaten by big fish, being weak is the original sin.