Chapter 110 - No upper limit.
Since Kang Shengzhe had things to do, the time he spent talking to You Liangxing was reduced by a great deal and it happened to coincide with the fact that You Liangxing was significantly busier at work. All in all, the cutting down of some of their contact could be considered as a good thing.
Speaking of his work, You Liangxing left a footprint with every step he took. Although he was busy bustling about, it was extremely smooth sailing.
Different from the novels that write about how a youth had to experience a row of fighting, scheming and mutual deception to upgrade themselves in order to reach the end game, You Liangxing’s group followed his orders without any protest from the beginning to the end.
Before they had thrown themselves into operation, You Ming had specially provided a group of outstanding talents. You Liangxing had a solid foundation to build on – especially when the arrangement and consolidation was in accordance to his own requirements – and they had an extremely clear and definitive goal to develop towards. Although each and every one in the group was rich in experience, none of them had underestimated You Liangxing despite how it was his first time undertaking such a project.
From the first day the project started, everyone had witnessed just how formidable You Liangxing’s capabilities were with their own eyes.
Everyone knew that the reason why You Liangxing could sit on the executive position was not just because he was You Ming’s son, but because only he could prop up the entire project steadily and reliably without exposing a single flaw.
Thusly, their advancement into the live broadcasting industry was on its feet and the things that still needed to be done were innumerable. You Liangxing threw his entire person into work and during his busiest days he would only rest for four hours. When the technology department took out the application after using preceding editions as a basis and conducting their own trial and error, the entire group heaved a sigh of relief. Now, they could carve and polish at the greatest problem they had before them.
The placement of their live broadcasting application.
A general survey of the live broadcasting industry showed that the compet.i.tion was becoming increasingly fierce. Just in the market alone, there were already more than ten pre-existing live broadcasting applications and that included the likes of MengMao and Shark, which were well-known and long standing. If they wanted to have an effect against them and occupy a place in the live broadcasting industry, their application’s placement had to be precise.
“Singing and dancing channels are everywhere and we have to expend a lot of effort if we want to specialise in that. However, there are a lot of matters to deal with regards to that area, especially dance, and it will not easy to manage. If there is the slightest flaw in handling of the matter, it will affect the impression people will have of the application, making it appear crude.”
“Agreed, the live broadcasting industry is complicated at the present moment, not to mention the various live broadcasts that exist on the outskirts which are relatively niche. If we want to target a younger demographic with our application, we need to be more in tune with their tastes.”
Throughout the entire small meeting, they were debating ceaselessly. Meanwhile, You Liangxing was flipping through the information provided by different departments without making a single sound.
Someone probed him: “CEO Xiao You?”
You Liangxing was calm in countenance as he coughed. His voice was fine and smooth which was utterly incongruous with his image. Whenever he tried to speak with power, there would inevitably some girlish and coquettish quality to it. Despite that, everyone in the room wore a serious expression, and they were waiting attentively for You Liangxing’s decision.
You Liangxing said: “We’ll avoid dancing and the niches. Our target demographic will be young viewers below and above and the age of twenty. And honestly speaking, it is not be a difficult matter to merge both of them together.”
Everyone gazed at each other helplessly before they sent him quizzical looks.
You Liangxing said: “Currently, there are quite a few live broadcasting applications on the market but they are similiar to one another with minor differences. Even the likes of MengMao and Shark have yet to produce something different that separates them from each other which means to say that it is not necessary for us to cater to every section; all we have to do is properly execute the newest and most popular sections and that will suffice.”
Not expending too much energy was certainly the right thing to do but wanting to specialise in only one main section while ensuring it held up their live broadcasting application signified that the section had to be capable of creating an equivalent value.
Once those words came out, the entire room went silent. An epiphany flashed through their minds and they commented in a scattered manner: “The newest, the most popular, and the one with the greatest value…”
“E-Sports!?”
Raising his head, You Liangxing said faintly, “Not just E-Sports, we have to guarantee the entertainment value too.”
The eyes of everyone in the team brightened and they exchanged gazes. Seeing that everyone was considering it deeply, You Liangxing’s brows relaxed as he announced the final decision. “Our application won’t do anything else, we’ll be focusing on just gaming.”
***
When the small meeting adjourned, the team dispersed and rushed to complete their respective tasks. During the brief, idle time he had, You Liangxing closed his eyes to take a short break before he mindlessly retrieved his phone.
Ever since Kang Shengzhe started to play basketball as if he had been possessed by something, the number of niceties he sent every day in terms of number and speed had become lesser and slower.
When he read through their history, the last message Kang Shengzhe sent was still the k2018;good morning’ at 8:10AM, and after You Liangxing reciprocated with a k2018;good morning’, there were no other messages forthcoming.
There were no other messages. You Liangxing stared at it for a while, heart feeling a little empty. After a short while, he flipped open Liao Su’s WeChat account and typed: k2014; Work went well.
They did not communicate much but he would occasionally update him on his progress and that was how year three school seniors typically interacted. Without having to wait long, the other party did not disappoint as he quickly returned a reply shortly after his message went out.
— Lying down, Brother Liang flipped my tile, feels good.
You Liangxing was too lazy to acknowledge him and he was about to exit when Liao Su opened his chatterbox as he sent him a jubilant expression pack.
— 〖Profound〗I’m in the basketball court.
The two words ‘basketball court’ made You Liangxing pause. He replied: — So?
Liao Su sent him a meaningful expression: — Pretend, keep pretending. What kind of relationship do we have? I understand, I’ll send it to you immediately.
You Liangxing: ……
Without waiting for You Liangxing to type another question, Liao Su proactively sent him a short twenty-second-long video. Even though he did not open it, the still image of Kang Shengzhe could already be perceived.
You Liangxing: — … What are you doing.
Liao Su: — Filming G.o.d K for you ah.
You Liangxing’s eyelid jumped: — When did I say I wanted to see Kang Shengzhe?
Liao Su laughed: — Is it even necessary for you to state it? Didn’t you find me to ask for news about Kang Shengzhe?
You Liangxing: — No.
Liao Su: — Is that really not the case?
Liao Su pretended to mutter to himself: — Fine then, I was mistaken.
As he said that, his finger moved and he retracted the small video he sent a second ago.
You Liangxing: ……
Liao Su said: — Do you feel a little angry, to the extent where you want to hit someone?
Liao Su: — Hei hei hei, who told you to pretend!
You Liangxing: ……
Once You Liangxing was not by his side and in a place where his fists could not reach, Liao Su’s courage burgeoned greatly and he could be as thick-skinned as he wished. You Liangxing took several breaths, and it was only then that he removed himself from the suffocating feeling he was surrounded by.
When they got to the bottom of the matter, Liao Su was not the target of his ire. Rather, it was the subtle sensation of having been seen through. You Liangxing stabilised his emotions and pretended that the person trying to dismiss his words was not him.
— Send it.
Liao Su feigned stupid. – Send what?
You Liangxing: — Hurry up.
Liao Su burst out into laughter on his end. It was alright to tease You Liangxing but it was also true that he did not dare to go too far. Afraid that You Liangxing would really become annoyed, he no longer razzed him and he re-issued the video he retracted just now.
Once it was sent, his gaze shifted and he happened to see Kang Shengzhe getting off the court to drink water. Thoughts moving, Liao Su raised his phone to record another segment.
The two videos were uploaded one after another. You Liangxing tapped open the first one and Kang Shengzhe was wearing a deep blue basketball uniform in the video. A five versus five match was ongoing on the court, and with his ridiculously tall height, he seemed to cause a gust of wind every time he moved. His opponents were focusing on him by close-marking him in defence but because of his overly tall stature, Kang Shengzhe could still score a three-pointer further away from the hoop by raising his hands. His actions were dexterous, natural and unrestrained but his eyes were washed out and his entire face wrote ‘so tiring, it’s so tiring’.
The video only showed Kang Shengzhe in the act of throwing the ball but it failed to record as to whether the ball scored, which caused an irrepressible curiosity within You Liangxing where the results were concerned. Even though it had been more than a month since he left, an indefensible and unexpected sense of regret arose and he wondered why he was not in school at the present moment.
Was it that tiring?
But if it was that tiring, why did he choose to persist in playing basketball?
When You Liangxing arrived at the cause, he could not suppress his chuckle. Just as he was laughing softly, Kang Shengzhe opened his mouth to say: “Water.”
That magnetic voice fell and a wave of female students’ cries rang out in the video.
The camera turned towards the side of the basketball court and over ten female students who were spectating the basketball team practice were shouting excitedly. “Kang Shengzhe!! Kang Shengzhe!!” “Drink mine!! Drink mine!!”
The smile on You Liangxing’s visage stiffened.
The voices in video ceased abruptly. Liao Su said: — What’s wrong?
— Is your expression steady like that of an old dog, but you feel an incomparable panicked in your heart?
You Liangxing: — ……
Liao Su was extremely considerate: — However, you can rest a.s.sured. With me around, I’ll definitely watch G.o.d K with extreme keenness. If he does anything that wrongs you, I will, I will… En… Either way, while I am around, there definitely won’t be any problems! Even if it’s my G.o.d K, he’s not allowed to put a green hat on my Brother Liang.
You Liangxing did not know what Liao Su was smoking; for his words had become an incoherent jumble all of a sudden. Originally, he wanted to say a few words to Liao Su, but after he typed it into the dialog box, he thought of something, causing him to pause unconsciously.
You Liangxing sent him a message: — Did you……
Before he could continue his words, Liao Su had already answered him: — That’s right, I saw it all, high definition and uncensored, and it was on my bed too.
Out of shame, You Liangxing descended into silence. He remained numb for a long time, not saying a single word. Then in the moment of silence, Liao Su said: — It’s fine, I understand, this isn’t something that is easy to explain. Not telling me is normal.
Although their current circ.u.mstances had revealed some differences, the tolerance borne out of friendship from Liao Su made You Liangxing immensely touched. He returned a simple reply: — En.
It had to be said, the fact that Liao Su could give his tacit approval after recovering from the shock that his fellow brother was interested in men, proved that the mutual affection that had acc.u.mulated between You Liangxing and Liao Su over years was firm enough. Even if he had been kept in the dark, all Liao Su required from You Liangxing was a single ‘en’ before he casually flip the page over.
— Speaking of which, Brother Liang, you’re frankly amazing, you managed to pick up my idol, hey.
You Liangxing did not have any desire to bicker with him: — I’m leaving.
— Hold on, wait.
Liao Su called him to a standstill because he seemed to have sensed something. He said: — Brother Liang, you’re not hiding something else from me, right?
The question was too broad and You Liangxing found it hard to understand.
— Hiding something else?
Liao Su: — Yeah.
You Liangxing: — There should be none.
Liao Su: — Okay then.
You Liangxing responded briefly. After he exited his WeChat, he thought about it carefully; he was not certain what the word ‘hiding’ comprised. Did a small thing like Bai Yao being his older sister and the fact that his own net worth was upwards of billions count?
… It probably did not count. Even if it counted for something, he did not deliberately hide it……
Afterall, Liao Su had never asked him.
You Liangxing sighed softly. His line of sight landed on the information on the table. He flipped through it but his mind was constantly fixated on the female student’s shout in the video just now.
—— “Kang Shengzhe! Drink mine!”
You Liangxing’s fists clenched and the fountain pen creaked under the stress he placed on it.
“Cough, CEO Xiao You?”
You Liangxing returned to his senses and issued a questioning gaze. Without further ado, the secretary in charge of delivering him files gave him the information she had just organised regarding game anchors. She said: “The anchors who are currently popular, with potential and the new entrants who are worthy of cultivating are all summed up here. I’ve organised them but it might not be the full list. I’ll supplement it later; you can take a look first.”
When they got down to absolute necessities of propping up a live broadcasting company, it was definitely anchors that could retain their audiences. And undoubtedly, anchors originated from two sources: one was self-cultivated and the second was using huge sums of money to dig people out. The latter might sound a little underhanded but it was merely the matter of trading prices; it was open and above board because the person with the money was bound to win.
“The prices for the anchors are listed behind. And if CEO Xiao You finds them reasonable, we can dig out the people that are within our acceptable limits. However, we can only attempt; whether it succeeds or not still requires negotiations.”
You Liangxing made a noise of a.s.sent and poured over the information a.s.siduously. Most anchors’ worth were around a million. Even for the two big companies MengMao and Shark, the highest price that they had for their backbone anchors did not go above five to six million. You Liangxing picked a few anchors who were of suitable character that could directly enter. On one side, he noted the amount of money and the highest amount that he wrote was roughly: 2 million, 2.2 million.
When he flipped the paper over, You Liangxing suddenly saw three familiar characters. The information had the anchor’s photo as well, and underneath that familiar name, it was indeed the head shot that had been used to select beauties on the campus.
His expression was blank and wooden and he was completely dependent on his attractiveness to hold out.
His secretary prodded him: “Are you targeting him? Kang Shengzhe…… Victor KK, this person certainly is popular, do you want to dig him up?”
You Liangxing stared at it for a while and he could not help but reveal a slight smile. He stretched his hand out to caress Kang Shengzhe’s face and a trace of affection emerged in his gaze.
You Liangxing shook his head. He did not state if he was going to dig him up or not, but in the column for the amount of money that could be offered for Kang Shengzhe, he leaned his body over and noted down:
No upper limit.