At around eleven o'clock in the morning, many reporters gathered on the street outside the court, waiting for Chai Yang and Lin Zhixia to come out. Their dispute has always been a hot topic in the science and technology section of the provincial capital's "Morning Daily", because the two of them encompass many keywords such as "beauty, rich, genius, entrepreneurship, fraud, returnees, investment", etc.
After Chai Yang showed up, reporters swarmed over him.
Before entering the court, Chai Yang gave red envelopes to reporters.
Now, he refuses all interviews.
He tilted his head to look at the street. The male anchor of their company was still conscientiously introducing the situation in front of the court.
The male anchor's tone was up and down: "Hello! Hello, dear audience members, I am your anchor Kevin, you can call me Wenwen... New gentlemen and ladies are in luck, our boss has come out of the court. What is the result of the boss's trial? Those who guessed correctly will have a chance to win a prize."
While talking, Kevin approached Chai Yang and called him in a coquettish voice: "Boss Chai! Chai Chai!"
The sound of "Chai Chai" is full of tenderness, as if it wants to speak but cannot.
In an instant, the total number of viewers dropped from three thousand to two thousand.
Chai Yang’s head hurt even more.
Fortunately, Chai Yang's friend Nie Tianqing was waiting for him on the roadside.
Nie Tianqing drove a car and waved at him.
Chai Yang left the male anchor of his company and went straight to Nie Tianqing's car. He sat in the passenger seat, and Nie Tianqing asked him, "Is the trial over?"
He said, “It just ended.”
Chai Yang looked unhappy. Nie Tianqing smiled as he drove: "What about the lawsuit between you and Jiang Yubai?"
"I won't come to court next time," Chai Yang said. "I'll give my lawyer full authority... I'll change my lawyer. Hey, my lawyer today was full of loopholes in his words."
Nie Tianqing asked again: "Where do you want to go?"
Chai Yang closed his eyes and rested: "The headquarters of Yangyang Live."
He originally planned to return to the headquarters of "Yangyang Live" to take a short break, but unexpectedly, Nie Tianqing revealed: "You were in court this morning, and headhunters called your employees to poach them with high salaries..."
Before Nie Tianqing finished speaking, Chai Yang's eyelids started twitching.
What do startups fear most
The first fear is lack of money, the second fear is lack of people.
Back then, when Chai Yang had just founded the prototype of "Jiangke Software", he followed everyone's advice and organized a "two-tier shareholder" structure - the first-tier shareholders were the core team of the founders, and the second-tier shareholders were the company's earliest employees. In this way, Chai Yang quickly improved the team's cohesion and consolidated his leadership position.
When Chai Yang left Jiangke Software, he took a group of employees with him. The shares of those employees were repurchased by Jiang Yubai, and they have had nothing to do with Jiangke Software since then.
Chai Yang knew that the employees in his team did not wholeheartedly want to assist him.
He and Jiang Yubai fell out and left Jiangke Software. If his old employees continued to stay in the company, they would inevitably be caught up in factional struggles. It would be better for them to cash out their equity first and then follow him, using his "Yangyang Live" as a springboard to jump to major Internet companies across the country.
Chai Yang is not a proud and conceited person.
He knew how to strike a balance.
First, he must stabilize the company's technical backbone, second, he must pass the B round of financing, and finally, even if he loses his entire fortune, he must ensure the user activity of "Yangyang Live".
The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.
Nie Tianqing remained as steady as a rock: "Whatever you are afraid of, it will come. Don't worry too much."
Near noon, there was heavy traffic in the provincial capital.
Nie Tianqing wanted to send Chai Yang back to his home as soon as possible.
Chai Yang lived in a luxury apartment building in the city center. So Nie Tianqing followed the instructions on the map and went to a commercial street, which was crowded and bustling with groups of young people full of youthful energy.
Chai Yang lowered the car window a bit.
The cold wind at the end of February was very strong, bringing a bone-chilling chill.
The thread connecting the nasal cavity to the trachea seemed to be cut by an ice knife transformed from the cold wind.
Chai Yang shuddered.
He glanced sideways into the distance.
At the end of this commercial street leads to the financial district of the provincial capital. The headquarters building of "Baiqi Asset Management Co., Ltd." controlled by Jiang Yubai is located in the core area of the financial district.
Baiqi Asset Management Co., Ltd. is a private equity fund company involved in stocks, bonds and macro futures strategies. Chai Yang used to be a guest of honor at this company. But now, he has to take a detour when he sees the word "Baiqi".
He raised one hand and directed Nie Tianqing: "Let's change lanes and go to the street on the west side..."
Nie Tianqing saw through him effortlessly: "Bai Qi's company is in the east. If we go to the west, we can avoid Bai Qi's building."
"Bai Qi's fund is worth at least several billion yuan, and he has a very high status in the investment circle," Chai Yang said on impulse, "Every circle I've been in... is about flattering the powerful and bullying the weak, without exception."
He elaborated in detail: "When I was a student, my teachers and classmates only respected those with good grades. Only those with good grades were human beings. After graduating from college and entering the society, I thought too much. Whoever has money is the father, and whoever has power is the father of the father! Six years ago, I was penniless. Hundreds of angel investors threw my business plan into the trash can. I couldn't even afford the printing fee of A4 paper. At the door of a financial company in Beijing, the security guard grabbed my collar and slapped me wildly. It was broad daylight, and passers-by surrounded me like flies..."
This was the first time Nie Tianqing heard him mention the "slap incident".
Nie Tianqing paused for a moment and asked, "How many times did the security guard slap you?"
"More than a dozen slaps," Chai Yang described honestly, "My cheeks were swollen, but I still tried to smile. I refused to leave because I wanted to meet people from their company and get them to invest some money in me. You said I was a beggar, but I accepted it. To start a business, you have to be shameless - my naive and thin face was beaten to pieces by the security guards a long time ago."
Nie Tianqing did not express sympathy. He held the steering wheel and asked casually: "You are shameless, why are you hiding from Jiang Yubai? He is more unreasonable than the security guard?"
Chai Yang listened to Nie Tianqing's advice.
Avoiding is not a solution.
Chai Yang said, "Drive slower, turn around, and stop by the roadside. I'm going to Baiqi Company... We lost the lawsuit against Lin Zhixia, and it would be best if we could get back the equity of my team members."
Today happens to be Baiqi Company’s annual “Investment Strategy Review Meeting”.
Jiang Yubai has been very busy since nine o'clock in the morning. It is not until the lunch break at noon that he can put down his work, sit in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, and enjoy lunch in silence.
The aroma of light, warm meals wafts through the private office area.
The glass windows were fogged up.
Jiang Yubai turned on his phone and saw the message from Lin Zhixia: "Have you had lunch?"
Jiang Yubai said: "I'm eating."
"You're so busy," Lin Zhixia comforted him, "You'll be fine after today. I'll take you to relax tomorrow."
Jiang Yubai raised his fingertips, placed them on the phone screen, and placed them on the words "Relax".
At this time, Lin Zhixia said: "The trial of my reputation rights case has finally ended. In a few days, Chai Yang will sue you for a contract dispute. You were not at the scene today, and you didn't see that my uncle became Chai Yang's lawyer..."
Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai have always been able to talk about anything.
Lin Zhixia was truly shocked by her uncle's performance in court. She recounted what she had seen and heard, and did not allow Jiang Yubai to reply to her.
Lin Zhixia meant: "Eat well, don't type."
Jiang Yubai asked: "Can we have a video chat?"
Lin Zhixia didn't want to agree at first. But she accidentally touched the video call button with her thumb, and Jiang Yubai's voice bypassed the phone screen and reached her ears.
"Finally I meet you," he said.
Jiang Yubai's voice was very low, and he seemed to pause for a second before reading the first word, which made Lin Zhixia suspect that he had really experienced a long and arduous wait.
How long have they been apart
Less than six hours.
This morning, they woke up in the same bed.
Lin Zhixia was just about to tease him when a phone call suddenly sounded near him - it turned out that the internal phone on his desk was ringing.
Jiang Yubai did not hang up the video call. He picked up the receiver and said "OK" briefly, and then did not make any further comments. Shortly afterwards, his secretary came to the office and said something like "They didn't make an appointment," "I didn't expect President Jiang would agree," "They can wait for 30 minutes, you can have lunch first." Based on these fragmentary information, Lin Zhixia deduced that Chai Yang was probably going to visit Jiang Yubai's office.
"Being a guest" is just a polite way of saying it.
Lin Zhixia couldn't predict what specific disputes would arise.
She acted decisively, hailed a taxi on the street, and said to the driver: "Hello, I want to go to the Baiqi Building in the financial district."