The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The VIP lounge at the Water Cube.

The soundproof glass shut out the noise from outside. But the air inside was hotter than outside.

The champagne had been opened. The sound of the bubbles bursting in the glass was clearly audible in the small space.

Lin Che sat in the main seat on the sofa and did not touch the wine.

There were four people sitting opposite him.

Shen Nanpeng (Sequoia China), Xu Xin (Today Capital), Zhang Lei (Hillhouse Capital), Zhu Xiaohu (GSR Ventures).

These four people combined have enough money to buy half of the Chinese internet.

There was no small talk.

This is the top of the food chain, where people only talk about the weight of the meat.

"President Lin."

Shen Nanpeng broke the silence. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes, which always held a smile yet were extremely sharp, fixed on Lin Che.

"The demonstration was excellent, but I have a question."

He leaned forward, his fingers interlaced on his knees.

"What scale of concurrency can the current computing power of MicroLight Brain support? If I connect all the data from JD.com and Meituan, will your servers be able to handle it?"

This is an expert.

Forget about concepts and sentiments, just ask about its practical implementation.

Lin Che picked up the bottled water on the table and turned it on.

"Wang Jian."

Wang Jian, who was standing in the corner, immediately handed over a tablet computer.

"This is the backstage log from the press conference just now." Lin Che slid the tablet in front of Shen Nanpeng. "Peak concurrency was 5800 million. The label matching rate of Micro-Light Brain is 99.2%, and the latency is less than 200 milliseconds."

"As for JD.com and Meituan..."

Lin Che smiled, his tone as calm as if he were discussing tomorrow's weather.

"Mr. Shen, do you think I'll lack servers? As long as the money is right, I can mobilize all of Alibaba Cloud's idle computing power in a second."

Shen Nanpeng glanced down at the data.

Only three seconds.

He looked up, and his eyes changed.

As the "Eastern Heretic" of the investment world, he has seen countless entrepreneurs make grand promises.

But this was the first time he had ever seen someone like Lin Che, who first turned technology into a "nuclear weapon" and then used it to blackmail capital.

"Just say it."

Shen Nanpeng closed the tablet, no longer going in circles.

"Sequoia Capital will lead this round, but I have one condition."

He held up one finger.

"An exclusive agreement stipulates that the underlying algorithm of Microlight Brain cannot be licensed to Tencent and Alibaba within three years."

Zhu Xiaohu, standing nearby, grew anxious: "Old Shen, you're going too far! Jinsha River also wants to participate, are you trying to hog it all?"

Xu Xin also put down his wine glass: "President Lin, you know how Today Capital understands the consumer sector. If Microlight Brain wants to launch in e-commerce, it can't do without us."

The scene instantly became somewhat chaotic.

This isn't just financing. This is robbery.

Try to grab a ticket to the next decade.

Lin Che leaned back on the sofa, watching these usually aloof big shots scramble for a share like middle-aged women at a market.

He didn't speak.

He is waiting.

Lin Che only slowly straightened up after the argument subsided slightly.

"Everyone."

He tapped on the table.

"I won't sign an exclusivity agreement."

Shen Nanpeng frowned.

"Tencent and Alibaba will become Microlight's clients sooner or later, and even..." Lin Che paused, a hint of ambition flashing in his eyes, "...will become Microlight's prey sooner or later."

"I don't take sides. I only act as the banker."

Lin Che held up two fingers.

"In this round, I only need $5 million to release 10% of the shares."

A valuation of $50 billion?!

Zhu Xiaohu exclaimed, "President Lin, you're still in the PPT stage and you dare to ask for 50 billion US dollars? Even JD.com wasn't that expensive before its IPO!"

Is it expensive?

Lin Che pointed outside the door.

"In the ten minutes following the press conference, the Weiguang APP saw 600 million new downloads, with a retention rate of 85%."

"AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol, that's fame."

"The Micro-Light Brain understands human nature; that's a gold mine."

Lin Che stood up and straightened his suit.

"If I don't invest, there are still people from IDG and Matrix Partners waiting in line at the door. I don't mind talking to a few more companies."

This is the arrogance of a seller's market.

Shen Nanpeng stared at Lin Che for a full five seconds.

He was calculating.

It's not about calculating financial statements, but about calculating the potential of this young man.

This person understands technology, understands human nature, and what's even more terrifying is that he knows how to exploit greed.

"it is good."

Shen Nanpeng made the decision.

There was no bargaining. There was no due diligence.

"Sequoia will invest 2 million, and you can split the rest."

"make a deal."

Lin Che extended his hand.

The two hands are clasped together.

At that moment, Shen Nan, who was standing next to him, felt like his heart was about to stop beating.

five minutes.

Valuation of five billion US dollars.

Three billion RMB in cash has been received.

Is this the frenzy of bubbles? No, this is the violent aesthetics of monetizing knowledge.

……

……

After the investors left.

Only the core team remained in the lounge.

Wang Jian slumped in his chair, covered in cold sweat, clutching the tablet computer tightly in his hand.

Shen Nan was frantically replying to messages, his phone vibrating like a massager.

"Boss, will the money... really arrive in my account?"

Wang Jian still felt it was unbelievable. "Just based on a few labels? They actually believed it?"

"They don't believe in labels."

Lin Che walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the blue exterior of the Water Cube.

The crowd in the square had not yet dispersed, and countless young people were still taking pictures of the big screen with their mobile phones.

"They believe in 'monopoly'."

Lin Che turned around, the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a cold and murderous look.

"The money's here, but the game's only just begun."

He walked to the whiteboard and picked up a black marker.

"Wang Jian."

"Yes." Wang Jian immediately sat up straight.

"Weiguang Brain's technology has been released, and the Weiguang APP now includes the 'You May Like' algorithm."

But that's not enough.

"The current Weiguang is just a 'tool' with an algorithm. Users use it and then leave."

"I'll make sure they can't leave."

Lin Che made a heavy tap on the whiteboard with the tip of his pen.

"Starting today, we will launch a top-secret project."

"Connect all the computing power of the Micro-Light Brain to a new shell."

"We're going to create... a time black hole."

Wang Jian was taken aback: "A time black hole? You mean making a game?"

"No."

Lin Che shook his head.

He remembered his past life.

I'm reminded of that red logo that made hundreds of millions of people scroll through their screens like zombies.

It reminded me of those catchy, addictive background music tracks that played in the subway, in the restroom, and at the dinner table.

"Wang Jian, Shen Nan."

Lin Che's voice was deep and resonant, echoing in the closed room.

"This $5 million is not intended for depositing in a bank."

"Shen Nan, take half of it and go on a shopping spree. Buy out the exclusive rights to all the catchy songs on the market, even online songs. As long as the rhythm is strong, buy them."

"Wang Jian, your algorithm team has only one task ahead."

"I want to teach this AI to control human dopamine."

"Dopamine?" Wang Jian asked, puzzled.

"right."

Lin Che looked out the window at the night scene.

"Thinking is painful; we must eliminate thinking."

"I want to create a product that doesn't require brains, just a swipe of your finger."