After Divorce, I Can Hear the Future
Chapter 616: Unknown, Unexpected

"What did Temasek say?"

"Haven’t told them yet, planning to learn more nearby."

"This matter is rather tricky, given the timing."

Lu Liang frowned deeply, such a situation is unsurprisingly giving TK a choice.

"What choice?" Zhang Yiming asked.

"Decapitation or being a dog?"

Lu Liang drank his tea and suddenly recounted how Old Te monopolized power and ascended the throne back then.

He had participated in short selling against Trump’s reverse index, which he remembered vividly to this day.

"There are two main reasons for his election. First, the public craves change and no longer desires traditional politicians to win."

"Second, Trump’s electorate skewed younger because he utilized new channels the traditional Democratic Party had never used."

"’Twitter governance’ isn’t just a joke."

"Thus, the reason TK is targeted becomes obvious. Claims of privacy invasion and racial discrimination are nonsense."

"In short, it’s party infighting. The traditional Democratic Party doesn’t want another president like Trump to appear again. Now that Trump’s on board, they want to weld the door shut to prevent imitation."

Lu Liang summed up the essence of the event in a single sentence, paused for a moment, and added, "The time left for TK might not be much."

"Mr. Lu, why do you say that?"

Zhang Yiming questioned, humbly seeking insight.

TK being targeted only recently happened, theoretically, they have enough time.

"Currently, it’s merely party infighting. If TK embraces a wait-and-see approach, letting it develop, then it’s uncertain."

Lu Liang glanced at Zhang Yiming, almost immediately seeing through his cautious thoughts.

Sometimes, indeed, there are solutions before obstacles, if there’s truly no way, don’t fret about what’s about to happen, take it step by step.

But sometimes, before obstacles, there’s only a dead end, with the sole option of destruction.

"The party targets TK, not wanting it to fall into others’ hands, especially the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party’s reasons for targeting TK are the same, but the public sees differently."

Lu Liang told a short story: "At night, two factions clashed. Both the county chief and Si Lang knew the respective groups, but the public thought it was genuine bandits."

"If the two parties keep targeting TK, and it continues to develop, TK might not be bandits but will turn into one, ultimately becoming someone’s pledge."

"A phenomenal national software believes neutrality means peace, but it depends on the location, certainly not applicable to the United States."

Zhang Yiming’s face grew increasingly grim; he understood.

TK can’t be indecisive. They need to find a faction as a backing to continue overseas expansion.

Involvement in politics can’t even be written in novels, let alone for such a large enterprise, it’s like courting death.

Zhang Yiming looked pitifully at Lu Liang, hoping this ’idea king’ could come up with something.

Lu Liang pondered for a long time: "There is a way, but not sure if it’s a good one."

"Having something is better than nothing," Zhang Yiming chuckled along.

"Next time I come over, don’t stare at me."

Lu Liang glanced at him, laying down conditions first; Zhang Yiming’s expression was extremely conflicted, starting to play the emotional card: "Mr. Lu, you’re a co-founder of Douyin."

Lu Liang looked helpless and sighed, "TK is TK, Douyin is Douyin, let them develop as much as they can, and leave the rest to fate."

Splitting off and accelerating development is a way without cost, but it’s not a fundamental solution.

Unless TK is willing to rely on one side, this is a dead-end dilemma because they’re businessmen, with extremely limited choices.

Zhang Yiming frowned deeply, suddenly asked: "Mr. Lu, who do you favor for the next term?"

Lu Liang’s proposal wasn’t really a solution, as they had already considered it.

To resolve fundamentally, they must find a backing.

Actually, being a dog isn’t impossible, the crucial point is the owner they follow needs prospects.

Over the years, Lu Liang’s rapid development mainly stemmed from betting on two black swans, one large and one small.

The large black swan was Old England’s Brexit, even though jokes about England leaving the EU were common, it remained in jest.

Only Lu Liang truly believed and took action, ultimately reaping hundreds of millions of dollars.

The small black swan was Trump’s election that year, unexpectedly defeating Larry who held a two-term 16-year political legacy.

Successfully betting on two improbable events proves Lu Liang’s profound understanding of international affairs and politics.

Lu Liang briefly lost focus, pondering for a long time, several times wanting to speak but held back, finally sighed: "Hard to see."

Just a few days ago,

He heard news from the future about Trump losing the election.

But Lu Liang couldn’t understand why he would lose, clearly showing a posture of revitalization, and fulfilling campaign promises.

Such as the border wall, or manufacturing return, capital flowing back to the United States, arguably the most credible leader of the recent few terms.

The news of the re-election loss came in, and it was as if it were back to the battle Chang Kai fought back theneighty thousand against sixty thousand, hard to imagine losing.

But that was then, and this is now,

The environment in the United States cannot produce a hero out of nowhere.

So much so that Lu Liang has been a bit introverted lately,

In 2020 and 2021, what exactly happened in these two years, many critical turning points occurred during this period.

There’s also another reason why Lu Liang doesn’t dare to be forthright with Zhang Yiminghe wants to undertake something with the biggest change.

But he hasn’t made the decision yet, at least until after the financial summit held in Modu in the fall.

"Can’t you really see it?" Zhang Yiming suspiciously, Lu Liang’s hesitation was so damn obvious.

"Let’s just consider it as 50/50, choose the side more beneficial for TK now." Lu Liang smiled slightly.

"You’re not even sure yourself, how can we dare to make a decision easily." Zhang Yiming sighed deeply, looking worried.

"It’s getting late, I’m leaving."

Lu Liang didn’t want to say more and bid farewell to Zhang Yiming.

"Let me see you off."

Zhang Yiming stood downstairs, watching Lu Liang leave, worry deepening in his eyes.

Because at their level, a lot of things can be said directly; even criticizing the government face to face is okay, as long as it benefits the country and its people.

But even Lu Liang was reluctant to mention it, indicating that the situation for the next term is surely not ordinarily chaotic.

"If we delay, TK will die, and if we don’t delay, there will be trouble. Better to wait a while."

Zhang Yiming made his decision, turned around, and returned to the company, leaving behind a long-lasting sigh.

From Kuxun to Jiujiufang, and now to Byte, he had gotten used to not having a solution for every problem.

Because some things are simply unsolvable.

At night, Lu Liang came to Phoenix City at Sanyuan Bridge; having not visited Beijing for so long, he had to make sure he was well-received everywhere.

Little Love was quite nice, at least she ranked midway on his leaderboard.

Knowing her door lock password, Lu Liang went straight over without giving a heads-up.

But inside, it was pitch black and empty: "No idea where she’s run off to."

"Looks like I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight." .

Lu Liang suddenly laughed; he remembered that he seemed to have been working intensely lately, especially last night.

These days, Little Lu had been too tired; it was time to give him a day off to recuperate.

Zhang Tian’ai’s home had a strong living atmosphere, maybe because she had a long vacation recently; the refrigerator was stocked with many fresh ingredients.

However, to maintain her figure, most were high-protein and low-fat like shrimp, beef, and fish, and the seasoning bottles were mostly unopened, probably intended for a simple boil with salt.

Lu Liang took a shower, changed into pajamas, went to the kitchen, and suddenly felt an urge to cook himself dinner.

Over the past few years, he’d rarely cooked, curious if he was out of practice because he used to be a great cook.

After preparing the ingredients for half an hour, while the soup was stewing, Lu Liang received a call from Wang Xiaofeng.

A bit of bad news: the warning lights of the 18th batch from the factory had issues, but the technicians couldn’t identify the problem.

The factory’s new cars are released in batches of 80 cars; the 18th batch was the latest to be delivered.

"Is the problem widespread? Is it the entire batch or just a few cars in the batch?" Lu Liang frowned.

As the hottest product this month, for Tianxing, countless self-media bloggers were scrutinizing it as if with a microscope compared to competing models.

Any issue would be magnified indefinitely, let alone a problem like the warning light staying on with no detectable cause.

"It’s only serial numbers in the 18th batch; according to customer feedback, it’s only eight cars. The cars before and after in line had no problems." Wang Xiaofeng quickly said.

"How do you plan to handle the appeasement for the owners?" Lu Liang asked.

He didn’t understand the technology behind it and was unsure how to solve such a random low-probability event, but he knew after-sales service must be top-notch.

"Out of the eight owners, only two are willing to accept a refund." Wang Xiaofeng answered.

"And the compensation plan? Don’t tell me there isn’t one, and they’re only willing for a full refund?" Lu Liang’s tone turned cold.

Wang Xiaofeng knew Lu Liang valued consumers greatly and quickly said, "I’m offering an unlimited, unconditional discount voucher worth twenty thousand. If they choose us, Tianxing Automobile again, it can be used at stores nationwide, even combined with local discounts."

Lu Liang nodded in satisfaction and asked, "What about the six who didn’t accept the refund?"

"Since we’re doing factory recalls and repairs, with full refunds, we’re giving them 100 US Dollar ride vouchers daily until their new car is delivered."

Upon hearing Wang Xiaofeng’s arrangement, Lu Liang thought for a moment and said, "Continue to give the twenty thousand discount voucher, then increase the ride voucher to 200 a day. Finally, ask the two already refunded owners if they’re willing to queue again."

"You personally call them. Be humble. Many eyes are on us; tomorrow, Lotus’s Blossom is also launching. We can’t afford any mistakes during this time, giving people ammunition."

"Understood." Wang Xiaofeng responded promptly.

While the two were talking, a hidden camera in the corner of the living room slowly moved, focusing on the kitchen.