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

"Mr. Lu, shall we have a chat tonight?"

Zhu Hu smiled as he extended the offer, and Lu Liang smiled back, nodding in eager agreement.

Following Liu Qing's exit from and return to the meeting room, the fiercest battle for the lead investor position in ofo's Series A funding officially began.

Zhu Hu also bade Lu Liang a temporary farewell.

Liu Qing and Zhu Hu went to speak privately with Dai Wei in succession. After their conversations ended, the two discussed amongst themselves.

The content of the three talks was unknown, but they seemed to have temporarily reached some form of consensus, with Zhu Hu appearing slightly ahead.

With Golden Sand River subscribing to a 6% stake, and DiDi Capital subscribing to a 4% stake, this round of funding talks concluded.

Surrounded by two major capitals, Dai Wei was full of vigor, unmatched for a moment, and roared in a deafening voice: "For over a hundred years, many Beijing University grads have changed both Beijing University and the world, now it's our turn!"

After the funding, as a shareholder, Lu Liang was invited to ofo's internal meeting following the investment round.

He learned that Zhu Hu had pulled Ali Group into the picture, promising to have Alipay provide a traffic interface, thus leading the Series A round.

"Mr. Lu, we've booked a table for a celebration dinner, would you like to join us?" Dai Wei invited with a smile.

Lu Liang chuckled and politely declined, "You all have fun, I have some other matters to attend to, so I'll pass."

Dai Wei didn't insist and notified him of the post-funding equity distribution, besides having Lu Liang sign the authorization before watching him leave.

In this round of funding, ofo had released 10% of its shares, reducing his share to 50.4%, and Lu Liang's to 18%.

On his way back, Lu Liang received a call from Zhu Hu.

After contemplating for a few moments, he replied with a chuckle, "Mr. Zhu, I'm heading back to the hotel first, I'll come over later."

As Golden Sand River led the A Series funding, promising Alipay's traffic interface, ofo certainly had its price to pay.

The price that Dai Wei paid left Lu Liang astounded.

He decided to set up a board of directors at the end of the funding round, granting Golden Sand River Venture Capital a board seat and a veto right.

Lu Liang smelled a hint of conspiracy, not knowing what terms the two parties had agreed upon as the price for that trade-off.

Because what Dai Wei didn't know was that Lu Liang had accepted Zhu Hu's offer to transfer his equity at a 20% premium during the B round of funding.

When ofo carried out a B series funding round, Golden Sand River would surely participate and was highly likely to continue leading.

In this way, following the conclusion of Series A and B funding, Golden Sand River would own at least 10% of the shares.

Adding Lu Liang's 18%, even after dilution from the B round financing, they would still have about 16.2%.

Golden Sand River would hold a minimum of 26.2% plus a veto right, and not to mention whatever agreement Zhu Hu had reached with Liu Qing.

Dai Wei's time was up—

ofo was about to undergo a major change—

"What price did Zhu Hu pay for Alipay's willingness to provide a traffic interface?"

Lu Liang thought and thought, and suddenly it struck him—Shen Peng and his investment in Meituan.

Zhu Hu probably followed the same approach as Shen Peng, lining up buyers well in advance of his investment.

If the company were to go public smoothly, they would stay until the end; if things looked dire, they would just cash out and leave.

"Indeed, none of these venture capitalists are saints; if you want to start a business, you really need your own money."

After participating in two funding meetings, Lu Liang greatly benefited, with Shen Peng and Zhu Hu showing him what capital truly was.

An investor's money wasn't easy to take; it was like seeking skin from a tiger, always at risk of plummeting into the abyss.

Back at the hotel, Lu Liang took a bath, changed his clothes, and took a car to the address provided by Zhu Hu.

It had to be said, Zhu Hu's taste was a bit peculiar—a place that resembled a restaurant and also a bit like a KTV lounge.

Inside the private room, a table was set with rare delicacies, and several young women wearing bodycon dresses were present.

Zhu Hu was holding a microphone, singing "West Sea Love Song."

He sang with deep emotion, more like a coal tycoon than a venture capitalist, to the point that when Lu Liang arrived, he didn't even notice.

"Can't return to our former days~"

His voice, bitter and husky, full of worldly experience, elicited applause and cheers from the ladies in the room.

Lu Liang also clapped along with a smile: "True to Dao Lang himself."

"Not bad, not bad. Just bored and had an itch to sing," Zhu Hu said, his face brimming with joy, loving when others praised his singing.

He had the 'princesses' turn on the room's lights and dismissed the accompanying ladies, inviting him to sit at the dining table with a smile, "Just served, haven't started eating yet, come join us."

Lu Liang nodded, and the two quietly continued eating without touching the alcohol, intending to at least wait until they were done with their business before drinking.

"Did you just come from an internal meeting at ofo?" Zhu Hu asked. Seeing Lu Liang nod, he followed up, "What do you think?"

"B round valuation should be several hundred million dollars. This deal, we're going to make a pretty penny," Lu Liang said with a smile.

The implication was clear: he could see the opportunity but wasn't interested; he just wanted to cash out at a high price and walk away.

The subsequent chaos had nothing to do with him.

"We sure are making a lot," Zhu Hu said, his smile brimming with happiness.

The two agreed to meet the next day to officially sign the contract.

As their glasses clinked together, it signified that the business talk was over, and it was time for leisure and entertainment.

Drinking, feasting on meat, singing, and bragging about everything.

From the situation in the Middle East to the rising price of meat, they talked about everything but business, and their titles also shifted from Mr. Zhu and Mr. Lu to Hu and Liang.

"Hu, it's such a pity we met so late~"

"Liang, let's finish this drink~"

After three rounds of drinks and a taste of five different dishes, Zhu Hu was already embracing a beauty, focusing his efforts below the belt, his true colors as a man laid bare.

But noticing Lu Liang's apparent dissatisfaction, he waved his hand grandly and said, "Let's change the venue and keep the party going."

Zhu Hu, with a look of disgust, wiped his hands on the beauty's clothes, preparing to take Lu Liang to a new setting.

After all, Yanjing was his turf, the guest must be satisfied, or it would be the ultimate insult to the host.

Lu Liang smiled and politely declined, "Hu, I've got some things to take care of tonight. Just have fun."

He roughly knew what the next scene entailed. It wasn't that he was resistant; he just didn't want to go with Zhu Hu.

When out and about, it's still crucial to protect oneself; it's a mistake to make deep confessions of friendship prematurely when the relationship hasn't developed that far.

Zhu Hu mused for a moment, understanding Lu Liang's reservations, and said with a smile, "Then let me walk you out."

"Hu, there's no need."

Outside the restaurant, Lu Liang waved goodbye to Zhu Hu and returned to the hotel with Wen Chao and Fang Shiyu.

After a shower, sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, he looked out at the bustling Beijing, contemplating his plans for the next couple of days.

The next day, Lu Liang went to the Golden Sand River Venture Capital's office in Beijing.

This institution focused on investing in high-tech companies, managing about 4.5 billion US dollars and 12 billion RMB.

Even though its funds were not as abundant as Redwood's, Zhu Hu was one of the founding members, unlike Shen Peng, who was only a partner at Redwood, and thus their positions in the domestic venture capital circle were quite similar.

The three founders were each responsible for different sectors: Lin Renjun focused on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the healthcare industry, Zhu Hu handled the Internet, wireless, and new media sectors, and Ding Jian concentrated on big data, digital healthcare, VR/AR, and new media.

Lu Liang's interest in Kuai Shou and ByteDance coincided with Golden Sand River Venture Capital's participation in their early-stage financing, holding between 2% and 6% of the shares in each.

"Short videos seem to be becoming a trend," Zhu Hu said while asking someone to prepare the contract, noticing Lu Liang's particular interest in these two companies.

"After all, life's pace is speeding up, and people want the most thrill in the least amount of time."

Apart from electric cars, the short video industry was also an area Lu Liang had been watching closely; he hadn't hesitated to spend a million to hire a third-party agency to conduct market research.

Thus, he understood why short videos were gradually becoming a trend.

Zhu Hu was surprised, not expecting Lu Liang to have such thorough insight, capturing the essence in one sentence.

He asked with a laugh, "Have any companies caught your eye?"

"Kuai Shou is pretty good, just a bit tacky."

"Tackiness can be a form of elegance."

"Perhaps."

Lu Liang smiled but didn't completely agree.

Tackiness being a form of elegance was a concept he could accept, but he didn't believe Kuai Shou met this standard.

At least, subsequent trials either by himself, Fang Shiyu, Wen Chao, or Chen Jinchun, all spending several hours, found no exception other than Wen Chao, who couldn't accept it because Wen was from the north, while the others were from the south.

They couldn't see what was appealing, even feeling a bit of aversion, joking about regional differences, and reinforcing the stereotype of northerners.

Although they couldn't represent the entire south, their experience did prove that Kuai Shou faced certain barriers in entering the southern market.