Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The news brought by Wang Tianqi seemed to have no effect on him.

he thought.

godfather?

It's 2016 already, why are they still using such outdated movie tropes?

Are these guys from AME still stuck in the last century?

But that's alright.

I'm worried about these partners who've become rich overnight; they're starting to lose their sense of self.

Someone has to give me a reason to clean house.

"understood."

Gu Ming said three words, then turned to Su Qingying and said, "Pass the word down that the quarterly partners' profit-sharing meeting will be held tomorrow morning. Make the financial statements look good; the numbers need to be large enough."

Su Qingying was taken aback: "A large enough number? At this time?"

"That's right." Gu Ming smiled. "Human nature can't withstand the test."

"But we can test the waters."

……

The next day, at the Starry Sky Building, in the top-floor conference room.

The atmosphere was strange.

On either side of the long conference table sat more than a dozen core "partners" of Starry Sky Holdings.

Most of them were living at the bottom of society just a few months ago.

Now, they are dressed in custom-made suits, wearing expensive watches on their wrists, and each of them has a quarterly profit-sharing budget displayed on an electronic screen in front of them, making them breathless.

[Liu Jian, Partner Level S, Quarterly Bonus: 87,450,000 RMB]

[Zhang Wei, Partner Level A+, Quarterly Bonus: 52,150,000 RMB]

[Li Na, Partner Level A, this quarter's bonus: 31,000,000 yuan]

……

A series of numbers shocked everyone present.

Sitting opposite Gu Ming was Liu Jian.

As one of the earliest followers of Gu Ming, he now holds the position of head among all the partners.

He looked at the numbers on the screen, his Adam's apple bobbed, and a glint of ambition flashed in his eyes.

Nearly 90 million.

One quarter.

It turns out that money really is just a number.

It turns out that you really can make a lot of money by standing at the forefront of trends.

but……

Why should we be controlled by others?

Why should I lead my team to work hard in the live broadcast room, while Gu Ming sits in his office and takes away most of the profits?

The enormous wealth made him feel resentful.

"Cough cough."

Liu Jian cleared his throat and turned off the screen in front of him.

He glanced at the few "allies" beside him who had exchanged glances, then raised his head and looked directly at Gu Ming.

"Mr. Gu."

He spoke, and the way he addressed him sounded distant.

"Before discussing profit sharing at today's meeting, a few of us would like to talk about the company's equity structure."

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Qingying's face darkened.

coming.

Internal strife has begun.

Gu Ming showed no surprise, but simply raised his hand, signaling him to continue.

Liu Jian became even bolder.

"We believe that the current profit-sharing agreement is no longer keeping pace with the company's development."

"The success of our livestreaming e-commerce is the result of our tireless work day and night. Our team and the livestreamers we manage are the company's core assets!"

"Therefore, we demand a revised profit-sharing agreement!"

"We want to take what's rightfully ours!"

Beside him, a partner immediately chimed in, "That's right! Mr. Gu, we don't want to go it alone, but you can't treat us like employees! We're partners!"

"Several top streamers under Brother Liu's management have received astronomical offers from other companies to poach them! It's only because Brother Liu is loyal that he's held them back!"

The two sang in perfect harmony, their voices complementing each other flawlessly.

It looks like they've rehearsed many times.

Su Qingying was very angry and was about to reprimand the group when Gu Ming stopped her with a look.

Gu Ming smiled.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the greedy expressions on the faces of the men in front of him, and thought to himself.

really interesting.

These people got to where they are today thanks to my guidance, but now they think it's all their own doing?

And you're threatening me?

Using the streamers I personally trained to threaten me?

Sure.

Then don't blame me for making sure you're completely out of the game.

"Are you done talking?" Gu Ming asked softly.

Liu Jian hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and stated his final condition: "President Gu, if you don't agree, we brothers will have no choice but to take our own teams and streamers and go out and do it ourselves."

"After all, AME offered us terms we couldn't refuse."

Surprisingly, he brought up AME on his own initiative.

This is a showdown.

This was the final act of forcing the emperor to abdicate.

The meeting room was quiet.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Gu Ming to unleash his anger.

however.

Gu Ming's reaction surprised everyone.

Instead of getting angry, he clapped his hands.

"good!"

He stood up, a smile of appreciation on his face.

"That's ambitious! No wonder you're someone I trained!"

Liu Jian and the others were completely stunned.

What... what's going on here?

"Not only do I agree to your departure," Gu Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, "I also want to formally announce a plan that has been in preparation for a long time."

He turned around and wrote six large characters on the whiteboard behind him.

——【Partner Expansion Program】

"From today onwards, Starry Sky Holdings is no longer an MCN company, but an open platform!"

"I encourage, and I will even invest in, each of you to go out and start your own studio or your own company!"

"You are no longer my employees, but my 'ecosystem partners'!"

"Starry Sky will provide you with algorithm support, supply chain support, and legal support! I want to nurture a hundred, a thousand 'little stars' in this blue ocean!"

"I will make every one of my brothers a true boss!"

These words excited all the partners except Liu Jian and a few others, and they wished they could thank Gu Ming on the spot.

Take a look!

Look at their vision!

While we're still thinking about how to get a bigger share of the money, Boss Gu is already thinking about how to turn us all into bosses!

Liu Jian and his "allies" were completely dumbfounded.

They felt as if they had punched with all their might, but missed.

"Mr. Gu...you...you mean it?" Liu Jian stammered.

"Of course it's true." Gu Ming walked over and patted him on the shoulder affectionately. "Whatever AME bets on for you, I, Gu Ming, will double it!"

"Go for it! Go for it! Show those old guys how we do things in this new era!"

……

three days later.

Genesis Media was established with great fanfare.

Founder: Liu Jian.

At the opening ceremony, Liu Jian held a champagne glass and looked very pleased with himself.

He stood under the spotlight, speaking eloquently to the cameras of hundreds of media outlets.

"Our goal is to break the stars' monopoly!"

"We want to help streamers reclaim the value they rightfully deserve!"

"Within three days, our flow of water will surpass that of the stars!"

Behind him stood a dozen top streamers and dozens of core operations staff who had been brought from Xingchen.

AME's 500 million investment has been received.

The 100 million yuan that Gu Ming "sponsored" is also lying in the company's account.

He has people, money, resources—he has everything now.

He felt he had succeeded.

He felt that getting rid of Gu Ming meant a bright future.

however.

He didn't see that Su Qingying was looking at him from below the stage, her eyes filled with pity.

……

Reality soon dealt him a heavy blow.

first day.

All the anchors under Genesis Media went live together.

The number of online users is only one-tenth of that during Stardust.

Liu Jian was stunned: "What's going on?! Buying traffic! Buy all the trending topics on every platform!"

As a result, despite spending 100 million yuan on marketing and promotion, the number of online users only increased by less than 20%.

He discovered that without Xingchen's "Algorithm 2.0," users simply couldn't find his live stream! Even if they did, they couldn't stay!

The traffic bought with money quickly disappeared without bringing any results.

the next day.

Poor traffic directly led to a decrease in sales.

Moreover, when he contacted those supply chain bosses with whom he had previously had good relationships, they all adopted a businesslike attitude.

"Mr. Liu, I'm sorry, we have an exclusive agreement with Xingchen, so the lowest price we can offer them is..."

"The price we're offering you is the best we can offer."

Liu Jian was so angry when he saw the price list that was twice as high as Xingchen's wholesale price that he almost smashed his phone.

He then realized that people had only been giving him face because of Xingchen's huge shipment volume.

The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...

The company's funds are being depleted very quickly.

The cost of buying traffic is simply not recouped.

The livestreamers, seeing that they only earned a few thousand yuan a day, began to complain.

The team was in disarray, and many people were privately contacting StarCraft's HR, wanting to go back.

Less than half a month.

Liu Jian went bankrupt.

The 500 million yuan invested by AME, plus the 100 million yuan "sponsored" by Gu Ming, has all been spent.

He became the laughing stock of the entire industry.

……

It's another rainy day.

Rainwater was washing over the glass curtain wall of the Starry Sky Building.

Downstairs in the building.

Liu Jian, along with several partners who had left with him, knelt in the cold rain.

They weren't wearing custom-made suits or expensive watches.

They were soaked to the bone by rain and mud, looking disheveled, with expressions of regret on their faces.

"President Gu! We were wrong!"

"Please, give us another chance!"

"We're willing to do anything for you! Please take us in!"

They cried out at the top of their lungs, their foreheads slamming heavily against the wet floor tiles with dull thuds.

Top floor, CEO's office.

Gu Ming stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, holding a cup of hot coffee, and looked indifferently at the few people kneeling downstairs.

Su Qingying stood behind him and asked softly, "Do you want to see them?"

"Why do you want to see me?" Gu Ming asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Trash should stay in the trash can."

He didn't look downstairs again.

He simply gave a brief instruction to the general counsel beside him.

"Drop a 'Class C Outsourcing Labor Contract' down."

"Tell them that if they sign, they will get a share of any leftover Stardust."

"If they don't sign, then let them disappear from this industry completely."

Through this public event, he told the entire industry and everyone at AME:

Within this system I established.

I am the one in charge.

Just then.

The office door was suddenly pushed open.

Su Qingying lifted her skirt and strode in, her face showing great excitement.

"Gu Ming!"

Her voice even trembled slightly with excitement.

"The final agreement for the Series A funding round... is settled!"

Gu Ming raised an eyebrow; this was within his expectations.

With its internal problems cleared, Star is now more stable.

However, Su Qingying's next words caused his hand, which was holding the coffee cup, to pause slightly in mid-air.

"but……"

Su Qingying took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"The identity of the lead investor..."

"You'd never guess!"