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

On the highway to the airport, torrential rain poured down.

The windshield wipers were swung wildly, but they couldn't clear the thick curtain of water from the windshield.

In the back seat of the Maybach, Lin Che's phone kept vibrating.

The same name flashed on the screen: Xu Xin (Capital Today).

This is the lead investor in Microlight's Series A funding round, and also the investor with the most influence on the board of directors.

Lin Che watched the name flash for a full minute before pressing the answer button.

"Lin Che! Are you crazy?!"

As soon as the call connected, Xu Xin's loud voice pierced the silence in the carriage.

"TME's legal team just called me. They said you rejected the settlement offer and are going to sue them?"

Lin Che held his phone a little further away, watching the rain rushing past the window.

"Mr. Xu, that's not a settlement proposal."

His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

"That's a contract of servitude."

"So what if it's a contract of servitude?!" Xu Xin roared on the other end of the phone. "Do you know the current situation? In just the past half hour, Weiguang's daily active users dropped by 15%! User retention rate halved! Social media is full of complaints!"

"Lin Che, doing business isn't about acting impulsively. 10 billion is a lot, but we just raised 5 million US dollars, we can afford it! As long as we survive, as long as we retain our users..."

"Can you afford it?"

Lin Che gave a cold laugh.

"Mr. Xu, do you think what they want is money?"

"What they want is a glimmer of hope, a backbone."

Lin Che reached out, his fingertips unconsciously tracing patterns on the condensed car window.

"Article 3 of the terms requires us to use Tencent's music external links 'exclusively.' If we sign it, it would be equivalent to turning Weiguang's traffic entrance into Tencent's backyard."

"Today they dare to ask for 10 billion in licensing fees, but tomorrow, when we grow bigger, they'll dare to ask for 20 billion or 30 billion."

"This is called pig farming."

"Once the pigs are fat, they won't want money anymore, they'll want our lives."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Xu Xin's tone softened slightly, but it was still filled with anxiety: "But Lin Che, that's Tencent, that's Nanshan Invincible. If we don't back down, Weiguang will die right now. What do you have to fight them with? Your pride? Can pride put food on the table?"

"Who said I'm going to fight to the death?"

Before hanging up the phone, Lin Che only said one sentence.

"I need to go find a knife."

"A knife that can pierce through this sky."

……

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Unlike the thunderstorms in Beijing, Hangzhou was experiencing a gentle, fine drizzle typical of the Jiangnan region.

The air was damp, carrying the scent of earth and camphor leaves.

Lin Che walked out of the VIP passage without using an umbrella.

Shen Nan followed behind, panting heavily as he dragged his suitcase.

"Boss, I've contacted NetEase."

Shen Nan wiped the rain off his face, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

"Ding Lei's secretary said... Mr. Ding is not in the company today."

"Where?"

"At...the pig farm."

Shen Nan's expression was strange.

"Anji, Weiyang Pig Farm, said that a batch of black pigs will be sold today, and he wants to go and oversee it personally."

Lin Che stopped in his tracks.

The road signs for the airport expressway were barely visible in the rain and fog.

"Pig farm".

A playful smile curved Lin Che's lips.

This is so Ding Lei.

Ding Lei is an anomaly in the circle of internet moguls in China.

Jack Ma likes to talk about Tai Chi and martial arts, Pony Ma likes to talk about products and ecosystems, and Robin Li likes to talk about technology and AI.

Only Ding Lei.

He was as happy as a mischievous child with unlimited money.

When I'm happy, I raise pigs; when I'm unhappy, I DJ.

NetEase's stock price fell, so he went to raise pigs;

NetEase's stock price went up, and he even went into pig farming.

Outsiders describe him as a "Buddhist-like" leader.

But Lin Che knew that was just an appearance.

"Walk."

Lin Che got into a Buick minivan that was already waiting by the roadside.

"Go to Anji."

"But the boss..." Shen Nan hesitated for a moment, then got into the passenger seat. "Are we going empty-handed? Ding Lei definitely knows about Weiguang's current situation. In his eyes, we're just a hot potato that Tencent has messed with. Why should he see us? Why should he help us?"

The car door closed, shutting out the noise from outside.

Lin Che leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

The prolonged tension caused his temples to throb.

"Shen Nan, do you know what NetEase Cloud Music's biggest pain point is right now?"

Shen Nan thought for a moment: "Limited copyrights? Playlists turned gray?"

"right."

Lin Che opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing in them.

"TME has been pursuing an 'exclusive copyright' strategy for the past few years. They spent exorbitant sums to buy out the music libraries of Universal, Sony, and Warner, and then immediately blocked NetEase Cloud Music."

"If you open NetEase Cloud Music now, Jay Chou is grayed out, Eason Chan is grayed out, even Mayday is grayed out."

"Ding Lei is a proud person."

"He prides himself on being the most tasteful intellectual in the internet circle. The products he makes emphasize sentiment and style."

"But now, he's being humiliated by Ma Huateng."

"This humiliation is worse than death."

Lin Che took a USB flash drive out of his pocket and tossed it lightly in his hand.

The USB drive fell to the ground, and he gripped it tightly in his palm.

"What he lacks is not money."

"What he lacks is the power to bring those grayed-out playlists back to life."

"Or rather..."

"He needs a new way of playing to prove that Tencent's 'copyright monopoly' is outdated garbage."

The car entered the Hangzhou-Changsha Expressway.

The bamboo groves on both sides rushed past, their vibrant green leaves glistening after being washed by the rain.

Lin Che looked out the window.

In my past life's memories, NetEase Cloud Music barely survived that year thanks to its community atmosphere, but due to a lack of copyright, its daily active users were always overshadowed by Tencent's.

The situation only changed with the rise of short videos.

And now.

He wanted to bring this turning point to Ding Lei three years ahead of schedule.

"Shen Nan."

"exist."

"Check the current daily active user data for NetEase Cloud Music."

"Around seventy million," Shen Nan replied quickly.

"That's too little."

Lin Che shook his head.

"Tell Ding Lei's secretary that I have a way to double the daily active users of his NetEase Cloud Music within three months."

Shen Nan was stunned, turning to look at Lin Che: "Boss, this is too much..."

"boast?"

Lin Che smiled.

That smile carried a confident air of being in control of the whole situation.

"In this era where traffic is king."

"There's nothing that algorithms can't do."

"If so, then the algorithm isn't brute-force enough."

The van sped through the rain, heading towards the mountains deep in Anji.

There is a pig farm there.

This will also give birth to the most fanatical alliance in the history of the Chinese Internet.

……

……

Beijing, Weiguang Headquarters.

Old Wang, the director of the technical department, was staring at the screen with bloodshot eyes.

That red mute icon looks like a virus, and it keeps spreading.

Every time the backend is refreshed, hundreds of videos are identified as copyright infringement by the system, and the audio tracks are automatically blocked.

"Boss, our customer service hotline is ringing off the hook."

One of his young men took off his headphones, looking utterly desperate.

"Users are asking when the sound will be restored, and some are even asking if it's because we don't have the money to buy the copyrights?"

Old Wang gritted his teeth, staring at the glaring red text on the screen.

That was Lin Che's dying order before he left—[Don't remove the icon, keep it].

Tell customer service to answer truthfully.

Old Wang took a deep drag on his cigarette, and the smoke made him cough.

"Just say we're at war."

"Tell users that the icon isn't because we don't have money."

"It's because someone wants us to shut up."

"But we won't."

In a corner of the office, several young programmers who were originally preparing to leave and change jobs silently stuffed their resignation letters back into their drawers after hearing this.