amaotonovel Chapter 1530 Showdown
Chapter 1530 Showdown
Chapter 1530 Showdown
The news that Wang Rong's first live-streaming sales exceeded three million yuan was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples within Xingyao Media and Mogujie.
The employees high-fived each other in celebration, their faces beaming with excitement and pride. For this startup, which had only been established for three months, this was more than just a sales figure; it was an affirmation of all their hard work, powerful proof that the live-streaming e-commerce model was viable, and a huge boost to the team's morale.
Standing in the crowd, watching everyone cheer and jump for joy, Wang Rong smiled with relief. All her fatigue vanished, and she became even more convinced that leaving the nightclub and choosing Xingyao Media was the best decision she had ever made.
This achievement brought an even greater shock to the founding team of Mogujie.
That evening, the founders and core management of Mogujie held an emergency meeting. The meeting room was brightly lit, and everyone's face was filled with excitement and contemplation.
"As everyone has seen," the founder said excitedly, looking at the live stream data on the projection screen, "just one streamer, one night of live streaming, can generate more than three million yuan in sales. Imagine what the future of Mogujie would look like if we could cultivate a thousand such sales-capable live streamers? We have every opportunity to forge our own differentiated path in the e-commerce arena!"
Without much debate, the founding team of Mogujie quickly reached a consensus and made a major decision—to fully develop the live-streaming e-commerce sector and make it the core development strategy for the company's future.
However, as soon as the decision was made, Mogujie encountered a thorny problem. In 2015, the live streaming industry was still in its infancy, and most of the streamers on the market were entertainment streamers, either relying on their looks to attract fans or on their talents to interact with viewers. Streamers who were good at sales and could truly drive product sales were extremely rare.
Hosts like Wang Rong, who possess both strong communication skills and sales talent, and can quickly adapt to the pace of live streaming, are extremely rare. Without a sufficient number of high-quality live-streaming hosts, the development of the live-streaming e-commerce sector will remain just empty talk.
After several days of discussion, the Mogujie team came up with a breakthrough strategy—creating role models. They aim to cultivate several benchmark livestreaming hosts, showcasing the prospects and potential of livestreaming sales to the entire industry, thereby attracting more capable individuals to join and encouraging other media companies to collaborate with Mogujie.
Xingyao Media, along with the three anchors Wang Rong, Li Na, and Zhang Qi, naturally became the core targets of Mogujie's "god-making plan."
On the one hand, Mogujie has increased its cooperation with Xingyao Media, providing maximum traffic support to the live streaming rooms, prioritizing the live streams of the three anchors on the platform's homepage, and launching exclusive promotional activities in conjunction with manufacturers to lower the threshold for live streaming e-commerce and improve conversion rates. On the other hand, Mogujie has vigorously promoted Xingyao Media's anchors through official accounts and industry media, reporting on their live streaming achievements and growth experiences, deliberately creating an atmosphere that "as long as they conform to Mogujie's development strategy, they can receive full support from the platform and achieve rapid growth."
The effect of "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones" far exceeded expectations.
In just three months, the three anchors from Xingyao Media quickly surpassed one million fans across the internet, thanks to their high-quality content, professional explanations, and the full support of Mogujie.
Among them, Wang Rong's "housewife" persona was the most down-to-earth, and her fans were the most loyal. Her total number of fans across the internet soared to three million, making her one of the most sought-after live streamers at the time.
The surge in followers directly led to a surge in live-streaming sales. Over the past three months, Wang Rong's single-session live-streaming sales have steadily increased, with cumulative sales exceeding 50 million yuan; Li Na's beauty account, which precisely targets female users, has also successfully surpassed 30 million yuan in sales; and Zhang Qi's travel e-commerce account, although starting a little later, has also broken through the 30 million yuan mark.
In other words, the total sales of just three livestreamers exceeded 100 million yuan!
This was the result of Qin Hao deliberately controlling the frequency of the live streams. In order not to excessively deplete the personal value of the three streamers and to avoid audience fatigue, Qin Hao specifically stipulated that only two live streams would be scheduled on weekends each week, with each live stream not exceeding four hours. Even so, such results were enough to make the entire industry take notice.
With the surge in sales, Xingyao Media, which was previously burning through cash, quickly turned a profit. Although the net profit was not particularly high after deducting platform commissions, product costs, staff salaries, and promotion expenses, it was of great significance to Liu Mengyao—it was the first time she had made money as a startup entrepreneur.
That day, when the finance department delivered the quarterly profit report to Liu Mengyao, she held the report and looked at it again and again, her smile never fading.
The success of Xingyao Media and Mogujie serves as a signal, making the entire e-commerce industry smell the huge business opportunities in live-streaming e-commerce.
Taobao quickly responded by launching its own live-streaming e-commerce platform, leveraging its strong supply chain advantages to invite brand merchants and influencer streamers to join. Kuaishou followed suit, combining its user base in lower-tier cities to aggressively develop live-streaming e-commerce. Other live-streaming platforms such as Weishi and Meipai also wanted a piece of the pie and attempted to enter the live-streaming e-commerce field.
However, these platforms quickly discovered that live-streaming e-commerce is not simply a matter of "host + product" to succeed. Due to their lack of a complete e-commerce business system, streamlining the intermediate links of "live-streaming - order placement - logistics - after-sales service" is not an easy task.
Although platforms like Weishi haven't formed much of a competitive edge in the short term, the entire industry is already seeping into a frenzy, and a competition for live-streaming e-commerce has begun.
The booming industry has directly driven the demand for related professionals. Managers in charge of live streaming, supply chain, and operations at many e-commerce platforms have been receiving calls from headhunters. Platforms are poaching each other, and the salaries of professionals in the entire e-commerce sector have been artificially inflated several times over, even leading to a situation where it is "impossible to hire an operations person even with a thousand pieces of gold."
As one of the initiators of the live-streaming e-commerce industry, Qin Hao naturally wouldn't sit idle. With Xingyao Media's growing reputation and the three anchors' increasingly outstanding performance, many anchors have proactively contacted Qin Hao, expressing their desire to join Xingyao Media.
Qin Hao maintained strict selection criteria, assessing candidates based on multiple aspects such as communication skills, sales talent, and personal branding. Ultimately, three suitable livestreamers were selected to focus on snacks, clothing, and home goods, respectively, further enriching the company's livestreamer portfolio.
With the expansion of the live-streaming team, the support team naturally needed to be increased accordingly. Qin Hao recruited several more employees, including operations assistants, copywriters, customer service representatives, and logistics coordinators. Xingyao Media's team size gradually expanded from less than ten people initially to thirty people.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, New Year's Day 2016 arrived. Meanwhile, Qin Hao's five million yuan principal in the stock market experienced astonishing growth during this period, mirroring the dramatic fluctuations in the stock price of Terui A.
Terui A experienced a final surge before the end of the year, with its stock price peaking above 100 yuan. Subsequently, the major players began to reap the profits, causing the stock price to plummet. Qin Hao accurately timed his exit, selling all his shares just before the crash. By the time he finally left, his initial investment of 5 million yuan had ballooned to 23.8 million yuan, nearly a five-fold increase.
On New Year's Day evening, to celebrate the New Year, Qin Hao arranged for six anchors from Xingyao Media to jointly launch a special New Year's live broadcast.
Mogujie provided maximum traffic support for this live stream, with six hosts taking turns to explain products and give away benefits, creating an exceptionally lively atmosphere in the live stream room.
From 7 p.m. to midnight, a full five hours of live streaming, the six hosts were exhausted and their voices were hoarse, and the back-end operations staff were also extremely busy.
Ultimately, the live stream sales reached 80 million yuan, setting a new record for Xingyao Media's single-session live stream sales.
After the live stream ended, all the company's employees slumped into their chairs, exhausted, but their faces were filled with a sense of accomplishment. Looking at their tired yet excited expressions, Qin Hao smiled, picked up the microphone, and announced loudly, "Everyone has worked so hard! To celebrate the New Year and to thank everyone for their efforts, the company has decided to grant a three-day holiday! Everyone should rest well, spend time with their families, and get back into shape. Let's keep going strong after the New Year!"
"Long live President Qin!"
"President Qin, I love you!"
The employees cheered instantly, their fatigue vanishing. Qin Hao waved his hand with a smile and teased, "Ahem, watch yourselves, or President Liu might give you a hard time."
Liu Mengyao walked over, smiling at everyone, and said playfully, "This guy is too hard to handle, I've already given up. If any of you can handle him, I'll give her a big red envelope!"
Wow~~~
"Really? Mr. Liu, how big is the red envelope?"
Several livestreamers' eyes lit up instantly, surrounding Liu Mengyao and bombarding her with questions, their gazes towards Qin Hao carrying a hint of mockery. Qin Hao shook his head helplessly, knowing that staying any longer would only invite ridicule, so he had no choice but to flee. Once a woman goes crazy, there's nothing a man can do.
With a rare three-day holiday, Qin Hao didn't waste any time; he planned to move to a new place. He was fed up with the cramped, damp, and dimly lit "little dark room" in the urban village, and the daily commute by crowded buses and narrow alleyways. Now that he had some money, there was no need to suffer any longer; he wanted to move to a spacious and comfortable place.
When Liu Mengyao learned that Qin Hao was moving, she immediately volunteered to help.
"If you ask me, you should have moved out a long time ago." She drove her Audi A8 to the building where Qin Hao rented a room, looked at the narrow and dilapidated alley with a look of disgust: "If it were me, I couldn't stay in this lousy place for even a day. It's dirty, messy, and cramped."
Despite claiming to be helping, Liu Mengyao was simply there to cause trouble. She took a pillow from Qin Hao's rented room and stood there giving orders, saying things like, "Put this over here," and "Be careful with that, don't break it." Her bossy manner made the unsuspecting neighbors think she was the lady of the house.
Qin Hao packed his things while helplessly following her instructions, occasionally offering a rebuttal, but Liu Mengyao always left him speechless. When they were almost done packing, Liu Mengyao leaned against the car and asked curiously, "By the way, why don't you just buy a house? Renting is so troublesome; you have to move after a short time, and rent is a considerable expense. With your current wealth, buying a nice house in Guangzhou shouldn't be a problem at all, right?"
Qin Hao stuffed the last box of personal belongings into Liu Mengyao's trunk, closed the trunk lid, and said with a smile, "I signed a ten-year contract with this landlord, and the rent is very cheap. Do you believe that in ten years, the same down payment now will be equivalent to the full amount?"
"Tch, how could that be?" Liu Mengyao curled her lip, her face full of disdain. "House prices in Guangzhou change every day; they only go up, never down. How could they possibly collapse?"
Qin Hao knew that explaining anything to her now would be useless. After all, the real estate market in 2016 was booming, and few people believed that housing prices would fall. He didn't insist, just smiled, turned around and walked to the landlord, returning the keys to the rental apartment to him.
The landlord chuckled as he took the keys, pointed in the direction of the rented room, and asked, "Xiao Qin, there are still some small appliances and odds and ends inside. Are you really not going to take them?"
"Never mind, you can handle it." Qin Hao waved his hand casually. The things inside were just some inexpensive small appliances; the newly rented apartment was fully equipped, and he was too lazy to unpack anything.
The landlord smiled and nodded, then took the keys and went upstairs. Just then, a familiar voice came from the alleyway across the street: "Hey, Qin Hao, Mr. Liu, what's going on here...?"
Qin Hao and Liu Mengyao turned around at the same time and saw Zhao Mei and Liang Danning walking towards them side by side, looking like they had just come back from get off work. When Liu Mengyao saw Liang Danning, a mischievous smile flashed in her eyes, and she deliberately raised her voice and said, "We're moving. Qin Hao is moving to my place."
As soon as she finished speaking, Liang Danning's body stiffened noticeably, and she subconsciously looked at Qin Hao, her eyes filled with a hint of panic and barely perceptible disappointment.
Qin Hao rolled his eyes at Liu Mengyao, annoyed, and quickly explained, "Don't listen to her nonsense. It's just a simple move. My new apartment is several kilometers away from hers. She lives in upscale neighborhoods with ridiculously high rents, which I can't afford."
Hearing this, Liang Danning visibly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that Liu Mengyao was deliberately trying to provoke her. A surge of competitive spirit instantly welled up inside her. She gritted her teeth, walked up to Qin Hao, and said, feigning anger, "Moving house is such a big thing, and you didn't even tell us. Don't you consider us friends anymore?"
Qin Hao looked at her feigned anger, a smile flashing in his eyes, and sized her up with interest: "In my hometown, we give gifts when someone moves to a new house. Since you're so eager to come to the banquet, you should at least give a red envelope, right?"
Liang Danning pursed her lips, and without the slightest hesitation, took out her phone, quickly tapped a few buttons, and said, "Okay, I've transferred it to you."
Qin Hao opened his phone and saw the red envelope sent by Liang Danning. He couldn't help but laugh—the red envelope only contained 18.8 yuan.
"You're being too stingy!" he teased deliberately. "With this little money, you can only afford a bowl of braised pork trotters rice downstairs. You think you can freeload off my housewarming party?"
Liang Danning smiled slyly, her eyes full of pride: "In Guangdong, this is how we give 'lucky money' (lai see) – it's for good luck, the sentiment is what matters. But you can't be stingy when you treat us, or people will look down on you."
Qin Hao shook his head helplessly, never expecting to be tricked by this girl.
"Alright, you win." He conceded with a smile: "You can choose where you want to eat. I've made a little money recently, so I should treat myself."
Upon seeing this, Liu Mengyao immediately exposed him: "Small change? Don't be fooled by this guy. He transferred six million into the company's public account without batting an eye back then, and now he's worth tens of millions."
"Six...six million?" Upon hearing this number, Liang Danning and Zhao Mei were both startled, looking at Qin Hao with shocked expressions. In their memory, Qin Hao and Liu Mengyao had only been running the company together for half a year, how could he suddenly become a multi-millionaire?
Qin Hao deliberately put on a smug look and said, "Alright, I originally planned to interact with you as an ordinary person, but it seems that won't work! I'm a multi-millionaire, I'm laying my cards on the table..."
Before he could finish showing off, Liu Mengyao pushed him away, saying, "Stop being so cocky. Ten million doesn't make you a millionaire. In Guangzhou, you're embarrassed to call yourself rich if you don't have a net worth of at least a billion. Maybe the landlord in this urban village you live in is richer than you."
Qin Hao feigned a helpless expression and sighed, "I finally have a chance to show off in front of others, couldn't you have exposed me a little later? That's so disrespectful."
"No way, you don't even have a chance to show off in front of me." Liu Mengyao raised her chin smugly, then turned to Zhao Mei and Liang Danning: "Get in the car, he's treating today, let's go have a big meal!"
Qin Hao originally planned to sit in the back with Zhao Mei and Liang Danning, but Liu Mengyao stopped him: "Hey, do you really think I'm your driver? Come sit in the front."
Helpless, Qin Hao had no choice but to close the back door and sit in the passenger seat.
"Where should we eat?" he asked.
Liu Mengyao shifted gears and stepped on the gas. The Audi A8 smoothly drove away from the alley. She smiled and said, "It's rare for you to treat us today, so of course we have to have a big meal."
Qin Hao raised an eyebrow and teased, "Didn't you say that only hole-in-the-wall restaurants have the most authentic and delicious food?"
"That was when I was treating, so of course I had to say it that way to show I wasn't stingy," Liu Mengyao said matter-of-factly. "Now that you're treating, you should naturally eat something good, otherwise it would be a loss."
Qin Hao was speechless for a moment and had no way to refute.
Liang Danning, sitting in the back row, felt inexplicably uncomfortable listening to the two arguing in the front row.
Seeing this, Zhao Mei quietly leaned close to Liang Danning's ear and whispered comfortingly, "Don't overthink it. Liu Mengyao is just trying to annoy you and make you jealous. Don't fall for it."
Liang Danning took a deep breath, nodded emphatically, and a hint of stubbornness flashed in her eyes.
Before long, the car stopped in front of a luxuriously decorated Cantonese restaurant. The restaurant was bustling with cars and people, clearly indicating its popularity. Liu Mengyao was obviously a regular customer. After getting out of the car, she greeted the waiter at the door, who immediately came over warmly and led the group to a private room on the second floor.
After entering the private room, Liu Mengyao unceremoniously picked up the menu, flipping through it as she said, "I know this place well and know what dishes are good. I'll order today, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
As she spoke, she ordered a large table of dishes, including steamed grouper, poached chicken, roast goose, and braised sea cucumber in abalone sauce. All of these were the restaurant's signature dishes, and each one was quite expensive.
Seeing Liu Mengyao's completely uninhibited attitude, Liang Danning grew increasingly annoyed. Always stubborn, she couldn't swallow this insult and, contrary to her usual self, asked the waiter, "Waiter, what kind of wine do you have here?"
The waiter quickly stepped forward and said respectfully, "Miss, we have beer, liquor, and spirits—a wide variety. What would you like to drink?"
"Then let's have a Western-style bar. Do you have whiskey?" Liang Danning's tone was calm, but it carried an undeniable air of authority.
"Yes, miss, we have Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker, and Blue Ribbon. Which one would you like?"
“No need to pick, just take four bottles, one for each of us!” Liang Danning said without hesitation.
Liu Mengyao raised her head, a playful smile playing on her lips, and looked at Liang Danning: "Miss Liang, are you planning to drink with me until we're both drunk?"
“It’s a rare treat to have dinner with a big boss like President Liu,” Liang Danning met Liu Mengyao’s gaze, her tone slightly provocative, “Of course I have to make sure President Liu has a great time, otherwise wouldn’t that be too impolite?”
The waiter quickly brought over four bottles of whiskey, along with four glasses. Liang Danning immediately opened one bottle, poured herself a full glass, poured one for Liu Mengyao, then picked up her own glass and downed it in one gulp. The spicy liquor slid down her throat, the burning sensation spreading instantly, but she remained unfazed.
Then, she used the turntable to push Liu Mengyao's wine glass towards her, looking at her with a firm gaze: "President Liu, please."
Liu Mengyao did not hesitate at all. She picked up her wine glass, tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp, without showing any unusual expression on her face.
Qin Hao sat to the side, watching the two of them get into a tense standoff. He couldn't help but clear his throat and say, "Ahem, that's enough. Don't get drunk before the food is even served. Then no one will take you home."
After downing a glass of wine, Liang Danning's cheeks began to flush, but her eyes remained firm, and she said without backing down, "Who do you think you are? My alcohol tolerance is not what it used to be. After working in a bar for so long, I've long since developed it. This little bit of alcohol is nothing to me."
Liu Mengyao didn't back down either, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Oh? Is that so? When I was studying in England, I used whiskey as mouthwash."
The moment the words left their mouths, the two women were locked in a fierce battle. They stopped talking and just kept drinking, one glass after another, neither willing to give in. By the time the first course was served, a bottle of whiskey was already empty. Zhao Mei watched as Liang Danning's cheeks grew increasingly red and her eyes began to glaze over. She had originally intended to help her drink a few glasses, but Liang Danning stopped her: "No need to help, I can manage on my own."
Qin Hao tried to mediate and persuade the two to drink less, but Liu Mengyao waved her hand and said, "Qin Hao, don't interfere. Today is our personal feud. Nobody should meddle!"
Helpless, Qin Hao had no choice but to give up mediating. He could only keep urging the two of them to eat more vegetables to fill their stomachs, but they wouldn't listen and kept drinking one cup after another.
Before all the dishes were served, Liang Danning was already seeing double and her speech was becoming slurred; Liu Mengyao was in no better shape, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were unfocused, and she could barely speak, but she still insisted on continuing to drink with Liang Danning.
Seeing their state, Qin Hao knew that if they continued like this, they would definitely end up in the hospital. Without further hesitation, he snatched the wine glasses from their hands and said in a serious tone, "Alright, stop drinking! If you drink any more, something really bad will happen. That's enough for today."
The two were already drunk and incoherent, and no longer resisted.
Zhao Mei helped Liang Danning to the door of the private room, then suddenly stopped, turned to Qin Hao, and said in a serious tone, "Qin Hao, I have something to say to you. Danning likes you, you should be able to tell. If you really like her, be decisive and don't let her suffer; if you don't like her, tell her clearly and don't string her along. Danning is my best friend, if you dare to hurt her, I'll never forgive you!"
Qin Hao was taken aback for a moment, and was about to explain when a loud "whoosh" came from behind him. Liu Mengyao had vomited all over the floor, making a mess of the private room. Qin Hao had no choice but to temporarily put aside his conversation with Zhao Mei and quickly went to Liu Mengyao's side, supporting her: "How are you? Are you alright?"
Seeing this, Zhao Mei said no more, helped Liang Danning out of the private room, and took a taxi home.
Qin Hao finally managed to get Liu Mengyao into the passenger seat of the Audi A8. Just as he was about to help her fasten her seatbelt, Liu Mengyao suddenly hooked her arm around his neck, pulling him closer. Their eyes met; Liu Mengyao's breath reeked of alcohol, but her eyes were unusually bright as she stared straight at him.
Qin Hao's heart skipped a beat, and he asked softly, "You're not drunk?"
Liu Mengyao rolled her eyes, her tone tinged with grievance and reproach: "Hmph, if I weren't drunk, would you have ignored me and gone to take care of that girl instead?"
Qin Hao tried to remove her hand, but Liu Mengyao stubbornly refused to let go, her strength was astonishing.
"Qin Hao." She looked at him, her eyes serious, her tone pleading, "You have to give me a straight answer today: do you want me, or her?"
Qin Hao looked at her reddened eyes, at the expectation and grievance in them, and fell silent.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Mengyao's eyes instantly reddened, and large tears welled up in them. She suddenly let go of his hand, lowered her head, and said in a choked voice, "Okay, I know the answer. Take me home."