After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

"Welcome Mr. Lautburn..."

A red carpet was laid, and a charming beauty presented flowers, while a stretch limo took them directly to the parking area.

Although China's signature formalism is somewhat rustic, it must be said it is quite effective.

Lautburn quickly walked down the boarding steps and stood in front of Lu Liang, his face full of confusion: "Mr. Lu, what's all this?"

The extraordinary diplomatic treatment made even someone as worldly as him feel flattered and slightly overwhelmed. He even wondered if there were some bigwigs on the same flight.

"You are the most distinguished guest, Mr. Bo En, it's been a long journey for you."

Lu Liang smiled, shook hands, and embraced him, then looked at the dozen or so technicians behind him: "Ladies and gentlemen, how about we head to the hotel now to rest and have a meal, and start working tomorrow?"

With flowers being presented by the beauty, Lautburn and the accompanying technicians then realized the reception was indeed for them.

"Mr. Lu, you're being too kind." He couldn't help but smile wryly; they had been showered with gifts the moment they arrived.

He vaguely guessed Lu Liang's intentions. While he felt he wouldn't be tempted, he couldn't say the same for his colleagues.

Most were tech nerds in their twenties and thirties, and when faced with beautiful, model-like young women offering them flowers,

each one acted like an inexperienced youth, shy yet slightly thrilled, teasing and joking with each other.

In their hometown dialect, the beauties were praised for smelling so fragrant and looking so beautiful.

"Mr. Bo En, this is Zhang Peiqiang, Professor Zhang..."

Lu Liang smiled as he introduced them to each other.

While the scene appeared grand, not a single cent was spent, relying solely on his connections.

The hostesses were flight attendants, the red carpet was available, and the flowers were so inexpensive, they wouldn't file an expense claim.

Lu Liang liked to fish with a net that catches everything, not letting go of big fish while collecting the small ones too.

His goal wasn't just Lautburn; it also included these key technical personnel. It was time to let them experience the alluring charms of socialism.

The escort vehicles left the parking area and arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Zhangjiang Science Park.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there will be a dinner party at seven. Please head to your rooms upstairs to check-in and rest first."

Lu Liang waved over the hotel manager; to welcome their arrival, he had booked an entire floor.

Even the smallest was a seventy to eighty square meter business suite, with a gym and meeting room on the same floor.

For the next two months, this would be their dormitory, and the five-star restaurant would be their canteen.

Lautburn's lips curled into a bitter smile; Lu Liang practically wore his eagerness to hire on his sleeve.

He thought it necessary to hold a meeting with his colleagues to build psychological resilience; otherwise, he feared they'd arrive with nineteen people and leave with just him.

"Mr. Lu, what a coincidence~"

Li Bing popped up out of nowhere to greet Lu Liang and quickly handed Lautburn a business card: "Welcome to Modu, Mr. Bo En, I am Li Bing, CEO of NIO."

"Hello, Mr. Li, we'll meet later. We're heading to check-in first." Lautburn smiled slightly and left with his colleagues. He hadn't heard of NIO and didn't recognize Li Bing.

"Mr. Li, you're quite well-informed, aren't you?"

Lu Liang squinted, his gaze unfriendly.

The person he had invited from afar, if Li Bing dared to compete for them, he'd cut his head off.

"Mr. Lu, it's a huge misunderstanding."

Li Bing looked innocent and quickly called over the hotel manager: "Manager Xu, haven't I been staying here upstairs all this time?"

He just happened to be staying here and knew Lautburn. They had met briefly in the United Kingdom, but it seemed the latter didn't remember him.

Hotel Manager Xu laughed, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Li has been a long-term member of our hotel, staying for over half a year."

Lu Liang's anger subsided, chuckling, "Don't you have a home to go back to, staying in a hotel all the time?"

"Mr. Lu, every family has their own difficult story."

Li Bing sighed, unable to express the sadness in his heart.

In business, there are two ideal family situations: one like Lu Liang, who achieved success without relying on his wife,

and another like Daqiangzi, who found a beautiful wife as a supportive partner after succeeding.

But for him, who had built the business with his wife, after achieving success, they became two independent interest groups.

Since the launch event last year, when Wang Yizhi offended Lu Liang and Milk Tea Girl and was kicked out of NIO, she increasingly acted like a shrew.

He couldn't find peace at home for even a moment, which led him to think of renting a long-term room in a hotel, occasionally enjoying solitude.

Lu Liang wasn't interested in Li Bing's family disputes and waved his hand, "Mr. Li, I won't invite you for a meal, goodbye."

"Don't be like that, Mr. Lu."

Seeing his pity tactic fail, Li Bing quickly blocked Lu Liang, smiling, "You invited Mr. Bo En to help train your new car's chassis, right? A sheep is a sheep, whether one or a flock. What do you say we share the same chassis system between our new ES8 and Tianxing?"

"Our models are different."

Lu Liang rejected outright, then thought for a moment, saying, "But it's not impossible, 50 million US Dollars."

He didn't mind sharing with NIO, on the condition that Li Bing could cover the technical guidance fees for both models.

Li Bing was tongue-tied, "Is it that expensive?"

"You know Lautburn, do you think they're worth that price?" Lu Liang retorted.

"This Lautburn is indeed quite renowned in the industry. Mr. Lu, can we negotiate the price a bit?"

Li Bing looked conflicted, their luxury NIO ES8 was still using a Xiali chassis system and priced at above 400-500 thousand.

If he could bring in Cadillac's chassis technology, he could sell each car at 800 thousand. The problem was they were running short of funds.

The production base was under construction, battery swap stations too, and offline experience stores, everywhere needed money.

Even if he sold himself, he wouldn't come up with 50 million US Dollars.

"Isn't NIO going public? You can issue an IOU and pay in installments." Lu Liang laughed.

NIO's listing plan needed no worrying; it had smoothly passed Nasdaq Exchange's review.

They were planning to hit Nasdaq by May or June, with a valuation of 5.5 billion US Dollars, capable of raising at least 1.1 billion US Dollars in IPO.

Li Bing, unlike Li Xiang, chose concept and expectation, commonly known as hyping up, while Li Xiang pursued family practical car routes.

Once it goes public, as long as others dare to speculate on NIO's stock, he'll continue raising funds and issuing new shares until he sells the company.

It's living on Nasdaq like the Chinese stock market.

Li Bing should succeed because three years later, NIO's market value would peak at 98.3 billion US Dollars.

Veteran investors on Wall Street really buy into it, believing battery swap stations are the future gas stations for electric cars.

That's why Lu Liang wasn't afraid he wouldn't have the money.

"Mr. Lu, is it really worth 50 million US Dollars?" Li Bing was skeptical; Lu Liang's enthusiasm made him wary.

"Mr. Li, I specifically took a trip to Detroit for this, shouldn't I charge a little fee?"

Lu Liang appeared calm, showing no signs of hiding that in between, he pocketed a fair amount of profit.

"Right, right."

Li Bing smiled wryly, "Mr. Lu, it's just that the amount involved is quite substantial, could you give me some time to consider?"

"Contact me once you've thought it over, they'll probably be working in Modu for about two months."

Lu Liang also left, heading to his room upstairs to freshen up and change for the dinner later.

Nearing seven, Lu Liang arrived on the seventh floor, renting a private room that could accommodate thirty people.

Li Bing came, accompanied by Old Xu, whose main body seemed to be an Hermes belt.

"Mr. Lu, long time no see, how have you been?"

Old Xu was high-spirited, looking at Lautburn, "This must be Mr. Bo En, nice to meet you."

"Thanks to Mr. Xu, not bad." Lu Liang was puzzled, looking at Li Bing, "Why is Mr. Xu here?"

"Just happened to cross paths, learned you were here and Mr. Bo En too, so Mr. Xu said he'd like to come over and see."

Li Bing smiled, having decided to accept Lu Liang's 50 million US Dollar condition without issuing an IOU.

Fifty million US Dollars isn't a small number, and who among the new energy players besides Lu Liang has deep pockets? Hengchi, of course.

So, he contacted Old Xu, and the two agreed on a collaboration, pocketing quite a significant amount of profit in the process.

Hengchi is indeed a super client; though they've been silent for over a year, they've been storing a big move.

They plan to release six cars initially, covering all levels from A to D, achieving a complete product line coverage.

Just like their lion's head logo implies, protecting the blue sky, triumphing over the Red Ocean, and being a proud oriental lion, overlooking the world.

"Six models? You must have made more than a mere bit of profit, right?"

Lu Liang envied with his eyes reddening; he thought his role as a middleman was bad enough, only to find there's always a higher mountain.

"Just a bit." Li Bing looked humble and suddenly curious, "Mr. Lu, how much did you make off me?"

"Only a bit."

The two looked at each other and smiled, tacitly skipping the topic, neither revealing their earnings amount.