Chapter 21

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

With Facebook’s press conference, XlouS officially opened its name to the world and became a global company, stepping into the public eye and vision of investors.

It was apparent that XlouS had become an investor’s darling. Even though it was just a startup company that was founded less than a month ago, it was extremely popular.

With a series of stories in the media and press, the news spread extremely fast on the Internet and soon reached China.

When eye-catching keywords relating to China’s XlouS appeared over the Internet, such as 12 billion USD, Facebook, strategic partners, 36.5 billion USD conservative valuation, and 130 billion USD optimistic valuation, China was stunned.

It went without saying that most of the major media in China received the first news from abroad. The news of XlouS’s partnership with Facebook became the front page of the Internet news section and technology circle news section.

If the sudden visit of Zuckerberg to the Greater China region made XlouS officially enter the media and public’s attention, at that moment, the entire Internet and netizens erupted into an uproar when the news came to China from abroad.

That series of keywords and figures were so striking. Which of the sky-high figures of 12 billion USD, 36.5 billion USD, and 130 billion USD wouldn’t leave one breathless?

The truth about Zuckerberg’s entry into China has surfaced! An astronomical 78 billion RMB investment in a strategic partnership with Chinese Internet company, XlouS!!!——<>

A new Chinese Internet giant is born: XlouS, the technology company!!!——<>

The company has a valuation of 846.6 billion RMB, and a net profit of 78 billion RMB in the first round! Is ‘X’ about to be added to BAT1?! China’s Youngest Internet Tech Founder!!!——<>

When netizens opened the home page of UC News and browsed its content, they were bewildered. The headline was filled with red, huge, and glaring numbers that were simply impossible to ignore.

Although netizens who browsed UC News were used to seeing such ‘click bait’, this front page of the news section was still very convincing. Netizens who clicked on it were basically driven by a strong sense of curiosity.

China’s New Internet Company, XlouS, Enters The 100 Billion USD Club. Company’s Founder, Ren Hong Is Only 19. China Adds Another New Upstart. Ren Hong Becomes China’s Youngest Internet Technology Boss…

The news editor’s hyperbolic descriptions remain unchanged as usual, and while exaggerated, the content was essentially true. Because the actual news was exaggerated enough on its own without the editor needing to use his powerful imagination at all.

Less than an hour after the headlines was announced, the comments section had already left a cumulative total of over 1500 comments.

[For the first time I agree with the editor’s outrageous and exaggerated descriptions. But still, we need to feed the editor with sh*t. Everyone, like my comment and push me to the top to feed the editor sh*t!]

This comment received a cumulative 30,000 replies. And in contrast to this witty message, the second most popular comment was normal and full of enthusiasm and inspiration.

[This is like déjà vu from Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. Ren Hong followed the example of these predecessors who dropped out of school to start their own businesses and achieved world-renowned successes. Anyway, I just want to say to Ren Hong that from today onwards you are my idol! I give in to you!]

In an instant, Ren Hong and his company didn’t only explode in popularity around the world, but also in their own country. Despite that, their rise in local popularity wasn’t inferior in any respect. After all, such an occurrence was much rarer than abroad.

At that moment, the news of Ren Hong and his company flooded the feed of all social media platforms.

The factors that came with popularity were beginning to occur. Most typically, XlouS’s website traffic instantly skyrocketed. The official website server was down temporarily due to the influx of turbulent traffic. The speed of the newly leased server wasn’t proportional to the speed of the rapidly converging official website. XlouS had no choice but to announce that it was temporarily shutting down its company website for maintenance.

Meanwhile, other effects also took place. Special correspondents from major media and newspapers arrived at Tsinghua University one after another.

The person in question, Ren Hong, no longer dared to show his face in the outside world. Even when he headed out, he must be in disguise. The good news was that he was resourceful. And after recruiting the CEO of the company, he instantly relocated the company outside the school.

By the time the reporters swarmed classroom 317 in Tsinghua University, the place was empty, leaving them furious and frustrated.

“Boss, you’re so wise! It’s as if you knew what would happen in the future and stopped us from announcing to the public our identities. Otherwise, we’re gonna have a hard time!” Zhang Han and Chen Kai both arrived at Building 003 out of curiosity, and were speechless to see the foreign personnel coming and going with cameras here.

Chen Kai nodded empathetically. In the past few days, he had already felt how amazingly eager the outside world was for XlouS.

The thought of being one of the six people on the initial team of XlouS was thrilling.

“Let’s go! There’s nothing left to see. If you want to be a celebrity, pull a reporter and tell him who you are; it’s that simple. But I’ll make it clear beforehand, don’t drag me into it!” Zhang Han patted his roommate’s shoulder and said with a smirk.

“C’mon! I don’t want to die so soon; I haven’t even experienced the life of a billionaire!” Chen Kai said, losing his smile.

“We’ll just be those quiet pretty boys behind the scenes. It’s almost time for class, don’t forget what the boss told us. Our capabilities no longer match the identity of the original XlouS team; we must work together and our time will come after graduation!” Zhang Han was overwhelmed with emotion.

“Yes!” Chen Kai agreed. The two of them quietly left without any concern about the clamors of the outside world. Meanwhile, reporters came and went, but they had no idea that among the people they passed by several times were the majority shareholders of XlouS and had an inextricable relationship with the company.

At that moment, Ren Hong and the company’s CEO, Gao Yue, reached a large office building in the city. In addition to the two of them, there was also a middle-aged man.

Ren Hong inspected the floor, finally nodding and looking towards Gao Yue. “This is the place for now! We’re renting all of this floor for a year.” He said and shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man.

Upon hearing his words, the middle-aged man was overjoyed with this huge deal. He grinned and said: “Mr. Ren, we welcome your company to this building.”

After Ren Hong watched the delighted middle-aged man left, he once again looked at Gao Yue and said, “Facebook has wired the first tranche of funds totaling 4 billion USD into the company’s account. Get ready to have your hands full.”