"Oh, give it up; with that pocket change you couldn't bankroll anything." Wang Congcong waved a dismissive hand.
"Always raining on my parade. I shouldn't have asked you. Hey, Brother Cheng, do you ever dabble in investments?"
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Yeah, a while back I casually set up an investment firm and an entertainment company."
Hearing Jiang Cheng had launched two companies, Wang Congcong perked up. "What are they called? I've wanted to get into entertainment myself, but Dad wouldn't let me, so I started a streaming platform instead."
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Both are named StarSky. I know yours—ChestHair Live."
After founding ChestHair Live with 20 million in registered capital last year, Wang Congcong signed a bunch of Internet Celebrities and pulled plenty of stunts this year to advertise his platform.
Jiang Cheng remembered, though, that within a few years ChestHair Live would announce its shutdown.
During those two years Wang Congcong also roped in numerous stars to appear on his platform's streams.
He even opened his own channel on Panda, and every member of his IG esports squad streamed there as well.
He personally rained millions in tips on up-and-coming influencers, starting at a million per session.
Consequently ChestHair Live quickly rose to prominence as one of the "Big Three" streaming platforms.
Sadly, just when everything seemed on track, senior execs began infighting for personal gain; other shareholders ganged up and completely sidelined Wang Congcong, the largest stakeholder.
After a drawn-out power grab, Congcong was left with an empty title—status and prestige outside, zero say inside.
That marked the opening act of his very first investment failure.
The internal strife turned the platform into a cesspool; countless Streamers had their wages withheld, complaints erupted, and the mess blew up online.
Three years later Panda officially folded, and this boardroom war finally ended.
Yet the fallout unexpectedly derailed Wang Congcong's later life, even landing him on the deadbeat blacklist.
When investors jointly sued for compensation, the court ordered him to shoulder a staggering 2-billion-yuan loss.
He was twice slapped with high-spending restrictions by the courts.
But that's all in the future; right now it's still the year he spreads his wings.
Wang Congcong nodded. "Streaming's doing great, it fits my interests, low investment, high returns."
Jiang Cheng nodded. "The sector's solid, but your company's share-structured, right? Choosing the right partner is crucial."
Congconc didn't catch the warning and simply nodded. "We're raising rounds; next year we'll hit Series A, projected valuation 2.4 billion."
Jiang Cheng watched his beaming face, smiled, and said nothing.
With ChestHair Live riding the wave, telling him to stop would fall on deaf ears.
Besides, Jiang Cheng had no intention of intervening.
Whatever the loss, he's still the son of the richest man; a mere two billion is just the price of a lesson…