My capital is quite large.

The late summer evening breeze still carried a hint of heat, but tonight, the temperature of the entire Chinese television industry and the internet was brought to a boiling point by a variety show called "The Voice of China"!

Unlike the heavily edited and million-dollar audio-visual-edited pre-recorded talent shows of later generations, Li Feng defied public opinion and issued a seemingly insane order—the blind auditions for "The Voice of China" would be broadcast live in the highest definition through both satellite TV and online channels!

At 8 PM, Zhejiang TV and iQiyi simultaneously switched to live streaming.

When the camera panned across the top-tier stage, which cost tens of millions to build and resembled a red and blue gladiator arena, viewers across the country sitting in front of their televisions and computers all gasped in astonishment.

There was no affected opening dance, and no lengthy script read by the host.

Liu Huan, Na Ying, Chen Yixun, Zhou Jielun!

Four top stars representing absolute strength and peak popularity in the Chinese music scene sat high above the stage in four technologically advanced red swivel chairs with their backs to the stage!

The first grassroots trainee to take the stage was an unremarkable, slightly overweight truck driver.

But the moment he picked up the microphone, a powerful high note rang out in the stadium.

No audio editing, no post-production processing! That raw, powerful graininess, delivered through top-of-the-line audio equipment, strikes straight to everyone's soul!

"Bang!"

The camera cuts to Jay Chou, who almost without hesitation presses the red button in front of him!

Accompanied by an imposing sound effect, the enormous swivel chair of the mentor suddenly turned around, and Jay Chou, looking at the chubby contestant on stage, shouted, "I want you!"

boom!

The audience at the scene and the comments in the live stream exploded at this moment!

This "blind selection" mechanism, where mentors turn their backs to the stage and only listen to their voices without looking at their appearance, combined with the real-time live broadcast, creates an unprecedented sense of suspense and dramatic tension!

What's even more exciting is that when the four mentors, in their quest to snatch a promising talent, disregard their image and playfully undermine each other in front of the live camera, the contrast between these big names and their humble demeanor creates a frenzy among everyone!

……

At this moment, at the data monitoring center of Haofeng Networks headquarters.

Han, the director of the film and television department, and a group of senior executives were staring intently at the data curves that were jumping wildly on the big screen, their excitement making them tremble.

"Mr. Li! It's broken! The ratings have broken!"

"The live report just came from Zhejiang TV: within just half an hour of airing, the national viewership rating has already surpassed 4%! And this is only the first episode of the blind auditions! At this rate, breaking 5% will be a piece of cake!"

Li Feng put down his teacup, but his expression didn't show much surprise.

This kind of avant-garde variety show format was like alien technology in 2009; it would have been a miracle if it hadn't become a hit.

"How much did you get for the exclusive broadcasting rights and naming rights?" Li Feng asked casually.

"We're making a killing, Mr. Li!"

Old Han pulled out a financial report, his hands trembling. "Zhejiang TV offered a staggering 50 million RMB per season for the exclusive premiere rights on television! Mengniu, seeing our lineup of four mentors, paid 60 million RMB for the exclusive title sponsorship! Plus, all those other miscellaneous inserts are now gone..."

"Just from the rights and GG fees for the first season alone, we've already raked in a whopping 150 million RMB in cash!"

150 million! For a variety show!

In 2009, this was absolutely a legend worthy of being recorded in the history of Chinese television!

However, what Li Feng cared about was not the meager sum from the TV station at all.

"TV stations only make quick money."

Li Feng stood up, pointed to the independent data monitoring screen next to him belonging to "Haofeng Weibo", and his eyes gleamed with a shrewd and strategic glint.

"Old Han, this is our core support!"

In order to squeeze the most out of this national-level music variety show, Li Feng planted an absolute "tyrannical clause" in the competition system.

The program stipulates that, in order to ensure absolute fairness in the competition, the "revival round voting channel" for all eliminated contestants, as well as the "popularity king" voting for each episode, will not be conducted on television or via text message.

Viewers across the country can only cast their precious vote for their favorite grassroots trainees by downloading and registering the [Haofeng Weibo] app and entering the dedicated official channel!

At that moment, on the live broadcast screen, the host loudly announced the opening of the Weibo voting channel.

The next second, on the large screen in the monitoring center, the red alert line representing the concurrent access volume of Haofeng's Weibo account instantly turned bright red!

"Mr. Li! The instantaneous access volume of the Weibo server has surged by eight million! The number of newly registered users is climbing at a crazy rate of 100,000 per minute!" the technician shouted at the top of his lungs.

Within just ten minutes, the Weibo hot search list was completely dominated by "The Voice of China"!

#JayChouTurnsAround#

#They should snatch people#

How fair is blind voting?

#SavingTreasureStudents#

Countless television viewers, deeply moved by the program, flocked to Haofeng's Weibo account to support their favorite grassroots star.

They posted on Weibo to promote their contests and engaged in online battles and feuds with fans of different mentors' teams, generating an immeasurable return of traffic and buzz!

Using the ratings of a phenomenal national variety show to forcefully bolster the moat of their social media empire!

……

Three days later.

Inside a highly private, upscale Chinese teahouse in Beijing.

The sandalwood incense wafts gently, and the tea soup is crystal clear.

Li Feng sat in the main seat of the rosewood tea table, slowly and methodically rinsing the purple clay teaware.

Sitting directly opposite him was a middle-aged man wearing a simple plaid shirt and glasses, speaking with a heavy Xiantao accent.

Lei Jun, who just resigned as CEO of Kingsoft and is currently working as an angel investor in Beijing.

At this time, Lei Jun did not yet have the dazzling aura he would later achieve, but he was already an absolute veteran in the IT circle of Zhongguancun.

However, when facing this young tycoon in his early twenties who had built the internet behemoth Haofeng Network in just over half a year, Lei Jun's eyes still revealed a hint of undisguised inquiry and seriousness.

Over the past six months, Haofeng Network's record of making a fortune both at home and abroad, as well as its dazzling yet meticulously planned pan-entertainment strategy, has long been considered the bible for the entire internet venture capital circle.

"Mr. Li, Haofeng Networks is really riding high lately."

Lei Jun picked up his teacup, smiled tentatively, and said, "The Voice of China has been all over the internet these past few days, and I've heard your mobile games overseas are making a fortune. You've flown all the way to Beijing to have tea with me today, you wouldn't happen to want me to work for you at Haofeng, would you?"

"Mr. Lei, you're too kind. You're a senior figure in Zhongguancun. How could I dare to condescend to let you work for me?"

Li Feng personally poured Lei Jun a cup of tea and got straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"Mr. Lei, I'm here today to discuss a huge business deal with you that could revolutionize China's entire manufacturing industry and the internet."

"Oh?" Lei Jun leaned forward slightly, clearly intrigued. "What big deal?"

Li Feng put down the teapot, his gaze fixed intently on Lei Jun: "Make mobile phones!"

Upon hearing these three words, Lei Jun paused abruptly, a look of disbelief and shock flashing in his eyes.

Making mobile phones?!

Recently, he has indeed been secretly planning with Lin Bin and several other former subordinates to make a name for himself in the smartphone industry, preparing to launch a hardware revolution focused on "enthusiasts"!

However, he kept this matter strictly confidential, and hadn't even written a business plan yet. How did this young boss in Shenzhen manage to pinpoint his deepest ambitions so precisely?!

Seeing Lei Jun's changing expression, Li Feng continued:

"Mr. Lei, I won't hide it from you. Haofeng Network's core cash cow right now is overseas smartphone games."

However, we encountered a fatal technical bottleneck while developing the large-scale 3D mobile game "Temple Run".

"It's not that our code is bad, it's just that the current Android hardware is terrible!"

Li Feng astutely pointed out the current pain points in the industry: "Apart from Apple, those Samsung and HTC phones costing several thousand yuan on the market have poor performance and sluggish systems. As for domestic counterfeit phones, they're practically electronic waste!"

"The domestic mobile phone market is stagnant now, it's terrible!"

"In the upcoming mobile internet era, if I want my games, my Weibo, and my iQiyi to occupy every Chinese person's spare time, I need high-performance hardware capable of supporting this ecosystem!"

"Apple phones are too expensive; consumers in lower-tier cities can't afford them. So, I want to create my own performance monster to drive down smartphone prices to rock-bottom levels and forcefully accelerate the development of China's mobile internet market!"

These words struck Lei Jun like a thunderclap.

This perfectly aligns with his philosophy!

"But Mr. Li..."

Lei Jun took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement. "Making phones isn't like making software. It involves a massive supply chain integration, hardware R&D, factory manufacturing... It's a bottomless pit! It easily burns through tens or hundreds of billions of yuan!"

"I understand."

"That's why I came to find you."

"I know about your connections in this industry, Mr. Lei, and I know you understand hardware and integration. But I can't be in two places at once. I also have to manage Haofeng Film and Television and the game business. I can't go to the factory every day to supervise the production line."

Li Feng reached out and threw out his chips.

"Mr. Lei, let's go head-to-head."

"I, Li Feng, will cover all the initial investment and subsequent costs for this mobile phone business!"

"No need to beg and plead for funding, Haofeng Network has plenty of cash flow!"

"You'll build the team, you'll handle the supply chain and technology development, and you'll be the CEO of this new mobile phone company!"

"Regarding the share distribution, I will contribute all the capital, holding 60%, while you and your founding team will contribute your technology, holding 40%!"

Lei Bus stared wide-eyed at the excessively young yet incredibly bold man before him.

They'll burn through cash! No CEO position! They'll only own 60%, giving the founding team 40% equity?!

In the ruthless venture capital world, this is an unheard-of "angel investment clause"!

Keep in mind that the initial stages of hardware development require billions of dollars! Li Feng essentially used a mountain of gold to smash open the door to Lei Jun's dream!

"Gulp."

Lei Jun swallowed hard, feeling all the blood rushing to his head.

"Mr. Li... are you serious?"

"I don't like joking."

Li Feng raised the purple clay teacup in front of him, a confident smile playing on his lips. "If you finish this cup of tea and Mr. Lei agrees, the first batch of 200 million RMB in start-up capital will be deposited into your new company's account tomorrow."

"I, Li Feng, will cook this millet porridge with you!"