Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

"National Finals Runner-up..."

"Zhang Liangying! 3.98 million votes!"

"National Finals Champion..."

The fans cheered and screamed wildly, their voices almost hoarse from shouting.

"Li Yuchun! 4.2 million votes!"

(Li and Zhang both received more votes than the actual number.)

After the match, the backstage area was in chaos.

Reporters, fans, and staff filled the corridor.

Lu Chen pulled Liu Yifei's hand and secretly squeezed into the lounge through the side door.

Zhang Liangying sat in front of the dressing table, her makeup ruined from crying.

Seeing Lu Chen enter, she immediately rushed over and grabbed his hand.

"Director Lu, I came in second! Second place!"

Lu Chen patted the back of her hand.

"I know."

Zhang Liangying stopped crying and smiled, letting go of him and wiping away her tears.

"Thank you, Director Lu."

"You're welcome. It's all thanks to your own hard work."

Liu Yifei stood to the side, watching this scene with a smile on her face.

She took a pack of tissues out of her bag and handed it to Zhang Liangying.

"Don't cry, let me wipe it off."

Zhang Liangying took the tissue and stared at her for a couple of seconds.

"Sissi? What are you doing here? I didn't recognize you at all with your hat and mask on."

"I've come with Young Master Lu to support you."

"You're wherever Director Lu is, right?"

"No way, don't talk nonsense."

The next morning, Wang Yan sent the ringback tone data to Lu Chen's mobile phone.

"Zhang Liangying's 'Loving You' was downloaded more than 1.2 million times on the night of the finals."

"Including the licensing revenue share from Li Yuchun and Zhou Bichang, Coordinates Music earned a total of 2.4 million tonight."

A while later, Wang Yan sent another text message, but this time it wasn't an announcement.

"Bro, I feel like we're moving faster than robbing people."

Lu Chen looked at the sunrise outside the window, which was as red as fire.

Lu Chen flew to Hong Kong the day before Baidu's IPO in August and stayed at a hotel near Emperor Securities.

Yang Shoucheng hosted a banquet at Mandarin Oriental, where several senior executives from Emperor Securities were also present.

During the meal, Yang Shoucheng asked him, "How much do you plan to buy?"

Five million dollars.

Yang Shoucheng raised an eyebrow.

"So confident?"

"If I say it's just a gut feeling, I wonder if Boss Yang would believe me?"

Yang Shoucheng glanced at him, then recalled the note he had given Zhang Guorong last time, and became even more certain of his guess.

"Alright, since Boss Lu has said so, then I wish you success."

Lu Chen picked up his wine glass.

"Mr. Yang, I salute you. Thank you Emperor Group for the opportunity."

"No need to thank me. The 'Chinese Paladin' series is excellent; let's cooperate for mutual benefit."

"Don't you see who made the move? Hahaha."

Yang Shoucheng also laughed.

"Then I hope Mr. Lu will continue to support Emperor's business in the future."

After saying that, he raised his glass and clinked it with Lu Chen's.

When you know something is bound to happen, all you need to do is prepare.

On August 19th, Baidu went public on NASDAQ. (This timeline is one year ahead of reality.)

The offering price was $27, nearly $10 higher than the initial price range.

Institutional investors' enthusiasm for subscription far exceeded expectations.

Lu Chen was in the trading room of Emperor Securities in Hong Kong, with three computers and a dedicated telephone line in front of him.

US stock market pre-market trading begins at 9:30 AM.

He used the mouse in his right hand, the keyboard in his left, and stared at the screen.

9:30.

He clicked the buy button.

The offering price was $27, and $5 million was used to purchase 180,000 shares.

As soon as the order was placed, Baidu's stock price started to fluctuate.

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one...

Each jump represents a multi-million dollar increase in market value.

Baidu was quoted at $115 at the close of trading.

The stock rose 325 percent on its first day.

His 180,000 shares were now worth $20.7 million.

Including existing US stock holdings, total US stock assets have exceeded $32 million.

That's equivalent to 264 million RMB.

He closed the trading software, walked slowly to the window, and looked out at Victoria Harbour, where the setting sun had turned the sea golden.

Despite having witnessed many grand scenes in his past life, he could not suppress the burning passion in his heart at this moment.

Just then, my phone rang. It was Liu Yifei calling.

"I'm in Hong Kong," she said.

"Why are you here?"

"I came to see you. Didn't you say Baidu went public today?"

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

"Where are you?"

"Your hotel lobby."

He grabbed his coat and strode out of the trading room.

Yang Shoucheng was talking to someone when he saw Lu Chen rushing away. He smiled and said to the person next to him, "You see, the speed is different when you run for money and when you run for a woman."

When Lu Chen arrived at the hotel, Liu Yifei was sitting on the sofa in the lobby, flipping through the promotional brochures on the table.

She was wearing a white dress, a mask, and a hat, but Lu Chen still recognized her at a glance.

She looked up and saw Lu Chen panting heavily, which she found somewhat amusing.

Why are you running so fast?

"I was afraid you'd have to wait too long."

She stood up, walked up to him, and extended her hand.

"Congratulations, you're a billionaire."

Lu Chen also reached out his hand, and the two hands clasped together.

"Let's go, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Where to?"

"The sauerkraut fish you treated me to before."

That's Hengdian.

"Hong Kong also has pickled fish."

He led her out of the hotel.

She walked on his left, her hand never letting go.

The night breeze blew through the stray hairs on her forehead, and a strand of hair drifted into the corner of her mouth.

He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

She didn't flinch, but simply lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting a small shadow under the streetlight.

"Let's go," she said, "I'm hungry."

"it is good."

They continued walking.

The streets of Hong Kong are bustling with people, and neon lights illuminate the entire street in a riot of colors.

Nobody noticed the two of them.

Lu Chen walked to her left, on the side closest to the road.

Their hands were still clasped together, not letting go.

I found a sauerkraut fish restaurant near Central, hidden in an alley on the second floor.

The storefront is small, and the lobby is almost full of customers.

Lu Chen pulled Liu Yifei inside and whispered to the owner, "Do you have any private rooms? We'd like to see the two of us."

The shopkeeper glanced at the two people, not recognizing them, but still pointed towards the second floor.

"Turn left on the second floor, there's a room at the very end."

When the sauerkraut fish was served, the hot oil was still sizzling, and the spiciness made her squint, but she had already put her chopsticks in.

She picked up a piece of fish, blew on it, and put it in Lu Chen's bowl before eating her second piece.

While eating, she suddenly stopped, tilted her head, and looked at Lu Chen.

"Now that you're a billionaire, would you still buy throat lozenges yourself?"

Lu Chen swallowed the fish slice, then pursed his lips.

"Young Master Lu makes hundreds of thousands every minute these days, how could he possibly have time to buy that himself?"

Her eyes crinkled at the corners, and the corners of her mouth slowly turned up. She pulled a piece of candy from her pocket like a treasure and placed it beside him.

"Then I'll buy it."

Back at the hotel that evening, Lu Chen roughly took stock of all his current stock market assets.

A-share account, 14 million RMB.

The Hong Kong stock account contains 500,000 shares of Tencent and HKD 300,000 in cash, totaling approximately RMB 4.8 million.

The US stock account contains 180,000 shares of Baidu, 25,000 shares of Google, 10,000 shares of NetEase, 5,000 shares of Netflix, 3,500 shares of Apple, and cash margin totaling approximately US$26 million, equivalent to RMB 216 million.

The three items total approximately 235 million RMB.

In addition to non-current assets such as copyright assets, expected revenue sharing from variety shows, and ringback tone income, the total assets have reached the level of 300 million.

From 6.37 million to 300 million, it increased several dozen times in 14 months.

Lu Chen picked up a pen and made a mark on the asset list.

The next phase of the strategy requires cashing out some shares, while some stocks will need to be held.

Now we can go all out and do something big.