137: Chapter 137 A Single Sentence Almost Destroyed an Industry

During the Two Sessions, Bai Jingqing appeared heroic and extraordinary in bearing,

causing many people to admire him, and he became a viral sensation.

Naturally, his remarks also became common knowledge.

Information in the investment world has always been sensitive.

Upon learning that government regulatory departments would increase oversight of live-streaming platforms,

many investors began to hesitate about whether to continue investing in live-streaming stocks.

Subsequently, it was leaked by those with ulterior motives that Bai Jingqing had close ties with three ministers,

including the Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

Since Bai Jingqing had made such public statements in front of the cameras,

it was clearly done with the ministers' authorization.

Consequently, for the foreseeable future,

life for live-streaming platforms likely wouldn't be very easy.

Under the influence of this mentality,

the circulating capital in the entire online live-streaming industry shrank significantly,

falling into a state of depression for a time.

During this period, Panda Live, which had launched its Series B financing,

only managed to raise 50 million in its Series B round!

It was even far less than their Angel round investment!

While such things are quite common in the investment world,

it was unheard of for a subsequent round of financing to be so much lower than the previous one.

Especially when Panda Live was still at the height of its power,

and had even reached the position of the industry leader!

Logically speaking,

such a thriving platform

should not have been so poorly regarded by investors.

But simply because Bai Jingqing proposed increasing oversight of live-streaming platforms at the Two Sessions,

these investors truly did hold a pessimistic view of live-streaming platforms.

It could be said that with just one statement in front of the cameras, Bai Jingqing

dealt a major blow to Panda Live,

and nearly destroyed the entire live-streaming industry!

Even Bai Jingqing himself hadn't expected this kind of influence.

After all, he had also invested in Maoya Live and Dou-sha Live.

A reduction in the earnings of live-streaming platforms

would also have a significant impact on him.

After this happened,

Li Xiang Technology spared no effort to cooperate with Panda Live,

hiring many internet trolls to start debunking rumors on Weibo,

claiming that the government's upcoming focus on rectifying live-streaming platforms was completely fabricated,

something that simply didn't exist,

and telling investors not to lose confidence in the live-streaming industry.

However, whether a major rectification existed wasn't something that could be decided by a few words from internet trolls.

People intentionally looked for various clues

and, unsurprisingly, discovered that

female streamers on the platforms were wearing more and more clothes,

and many live-streams with negative energy were being halted and their accounts banned one after another.

Clearly, regardless of whether the government had intervened,

the live-streaming platforms themselves had already initiated a wave of self-rectification.

Wang Sicong had been feeling quite uncomfortable lately.

He couldn't eat or drink well,

and he was restless day and night.

During this time, his face had been constantly dark with anger.

With Panda Live's Series B financing being so meager,

setting aside whether the capital chain would break,

the result alone made him feel like he had lost face.

He was the 'National Husband' Wang Sicong, after all.

When had he ever had to worry about money?

When Bai Jingqing's remarks first appeared online,

Wang Sicong didn't care much at first,

thinking he could rely on his own reputation to counter this trend.

Before the Series B financing,

he had investigated the investment intentions of major domestic capital.

At that time, many big capital firms said they would come to support Wang Sicong

and invest in Panda Live.

Back then, they were all smiling and flattering him,

praising him for being young and promising.

But in the end,

none of them actually showed up!

They only managed to pull in 50 million in financing,

and that was only because he had swallowed his pride to raise it.

It was truly as embarrassing as it could get.

This matter also made Wang Sicong quite furious,

and it made him feel deeply for the first time that

if he couldn't make money,

no matter how much face he had, it was useless!

Those capital firms wouldn't give a damn about him!

Capital is inevitably profit-driven.

If your project can make money,

it's normal for people to give you face and invest.

But if your project is about to be targeted for rectification by the state,

these capital firms can't flee fast enough!

Give you face?

Is your face bigger than money?

Wang Sicong understood this logic,

but he couldn't swallow his pride,

and his hatred gradually shifted toward the instigator of it all, Bai Jingqing.

As it happened,

Samsung, having learned its lesson from losing to Huayao on the African continent,

was also looking to cultivate its own mouthpieces around the world during this time,

to build its own public opinion machine and publicity channels.

In South Korea, they didn't need to consider this.

After all, in South Korea, Samsung basically called the shots.

With money, one can do as they please.

Where was the need for some publicity machine to whitewash themselves?

Previously, Samsung's attitude had always been:

Yes, I am a conglomerate,

I am capital,

I am the source of all evil,

I am just this corrupt,

if you don't like it, come and fight me!

In South Korea itself,

naturally, no one could do anything to Samsung,

not even the government.

So, Samsung had always neglected public opinion and propaganda,

feeling it was completely unnecessary.

But now, Choi Jong-eun had also seen the light.

A few good words of propaganda can make the common people work themselves to death for you,

so why let those ignorant masses keep cursing you?

In South Korea, Samsung launched a software similar to Douyin,

and it was a huge success.

In other countries,

Samsung was also heavily investing in local mainstream short video and live-streaming platforms,

and progress was considered smooth.

However, in Dragon Country,

due to various reasons,

achieving this was a bit tricky.

But hearing that Li Xiang Technology was recently working on a live-streaming platform,

Samsung was also very eager to get involved.

After discussions with Xue Haixin,

Samsung directly participated in Panda Live's Series C financing,

investing 1 billion!

And that was in US dollars!

Dollars!

Choi Jong-eun had been completely fooled by Xue Haixin.

He listened to Xue Haixin praise Panda Live to the skies,

calling it some kind of pan-entertainment cross-cultural platform

that would have great influence in Dragon Country's gaming, entertainment, and cultural circles in the future,

which perfectly matched Choi Jong-eun's requirements for a propaganda machine.

Choi Jong-eun believed in Xue Haixin once again.

With the influx of this massive amount of capital from Samsung,

it also greatly boosted the domestic live-streaming market,

giving many investors who were originally hesitant about the industry firm confidence.

Even the stocks of major live-streaming platforms rose again,

and the live-streaming industry finally recovered from a period of strict investigation and sluggishness.

Bai Jingqing didn't have much of a reaction to this.

He knew that Samsung and Ideal had long been in the same boat.

It was expected that Samsung would step in to help at this time.

However, as a foreign company, how could Samsung

possibly understand the rules of survival in Dragon Country better than him?

His next move was already being arranged.

...

At one o'clock in the morning,

on the Panda Live platform,

inside an ordinary Star Show live-streaming room.

Xiao Li was an ordinary office worker.

Not satisfied with the meager salary from her company,

she also wanted to expand her sources of income.

Seeing many ordinary people making big money through live-streaming,

she had recently started streaming on the popular Panda Live,

dreaming that one day she could hook up with a wealthy benefactor.