Chapter 1 Aftermath

After the meeting, Chen Yufeng, filled with doubts, searched for Zhao Xuming's number in his phone contacts while pondering the true meaning of President Pei's words.

What puzzled him was President Pei's statement that money wasn't the top priority; friendship and sincerity were.

But what constituted friendship and sincerity?

Each live-streaming platform was a competitor, with no existing relationships. What friendship or sincerity could there be?

If the broadcasting rights were sold too cheaply, it wouldn't foster friendship but would likely lead to other platforms privately mocking Rabbit Tail Live for being naive.

So, President Pei definitely didn't mean to undersell the broadcasting rights.

The so-called emphasis on friendship and sincerity must mean prioritizing the other party's friendship and sincerity towards Rabbit Tail Live.

And the other party's friendship and sincerity would depend on their performance.

Moreover, President Pei specifically emphasized that the focus wasn't on money, but on things besides money.

What could those things be?

Chen Yufeng couldn't quite figure it out, and even if he did, it wouldn't be easy to say directly, as it would seem like extortion.

But it didn't matter; he could let the vice presidents of each live-streaming platform fully exercise their subjective initiative and propose solutions themselves. Chen Yufeng could then deliberate and consider the conditions put forward by everyone.

With that in mind, Chen Yufeng had a general idea and immediately called Zhao Xuming.

"Hello? President Chen, what's the matter?" Zhao Xuming's voice was enthusiastic on the other end of the phone.

After all, Rabbit Tail Live and the iCL League were still in their honeymoon period, and their previous cooperation had been relatively pleasant. Although Rabbit Tail Live had earned most of the popularity, Zhao Xuming had also profited, so he maintained a positive attitude.

Chen Yufeng relayed President Pei's words, indicating the intention to distribute the iCL League's broadcasting rights.

Strictly speaking, Rabbit Tail Live, after buying the exclusive broadcasting rights for the iCL League, was free to distribute them without violating the current contract and didn't need to seek the opinion of Finger Company and Longyu Group.

But it was still necessary to say something.

Firstly, out of courtesy, and secondly, it would be more convenient to contact all the live-streaming platform heads together with Zhao Xuming.

Zhao Xuming's voice instantly rose several octaves: "Really?"

His surprise was mixed with disbelief.

What was President Pei thinking, choosing to sell the iCL League's broadcasting rights at this juncture?

The iCL League was booming and gaining popularity!

For Finger Company and Longyu Group, distributing the broadcasting rights was definitely better. Although they wouldn't receive any revenue from this distribution, the overall exposure would be different.

More platforms broadcasting the iCL League would undoubtedly lead to more viewers, higher popularity, and greater publicity.

In other words, this was definitely a win-win situation for Zhao Xuming and Finger Company.

On the other hand, for Rabbit Tail Live, distribution meant losing exclusivity. While earning money, they were also giving up the opportunity to attract traffic and generate more popularity for Rabbit Tail Live, which seemed short-sighted and unlike President Pei's usual actions.

If Chen Yufeng hadn't mentioned it, Zhao Xuming certainly wouldn't have brought it up himself, not wanting to be a busybody.

But since Chen Yufeng had taken the initiative, and it was President Pei's intention, he couldn't be happier!

Zhao Xuming said, "How about this, President Chen? I'll arrange for the heads of several live-streaming platforms to have dinner together in Shanghai tomorrow to discuss the details?"

Chen Yufeng knew that such a big matter couldn't be finalized online and definitely required a face-to-face meeting, so he readily agreed.

Moreover, Chen Yufeng could take this opportunity to give the heads of each live-streaming platform some hints, prompting them to think about how to best express their "friendship" and "sincerity."

...

...

March 13th, Tuesday.

Shanghai, Longyu Group headquarters.

"Oh, President Chen, please come in, please come in!"

"President Zhu is here? Please come in quickly."

"President Peng, President Liu, come, come, everyone's already in the conference room."

Zhao Xuming was beaming and enthusiastically welcoming everyone.

He certainly had reason to be happy.

Previously, these vice presidents of live-streaming platforms had balked at paying seven or eight million for the iCL League's broadcasting rights. He had personally called each of them, but they had repeatedly declined.

Now, wouldn't these people have to obediently come to Shanghai and buy back the iCL League's broadcasting rights?

Of course, Longyu Group wouldn't earn a single penny from this distribution, but as the saying goes, no money, but there's exposure, so Zhao Xuming was definitely not at a loss.

The vice presidents of these live-streaming platforms were slightly embarrassed, but they still wore smiles on their faces.

Business is business. Although there had been some minor friction before, it was definitely a good thing if President Pei was willing to sell the iCL League's broadcasting rights and share the exposure with everyone.

Soon, everyone sat down in the conference room, ready to discuss the matter at hand.

Chen Yufeng had already briefly communicated with these people by phone yesterday, and everyone was well aware of what was happening. So, after a brief introduction by Chen Yufeng and Zhao Xuming, they quickly got down to business.

Chen Yufeng glanced around at the vice presidents of the various live-streaming platforms present today. There were some familiar faces, and some he didn't recognize.

A total of seven or eight people had come today, but only three to five platforms might actually make a deal. But that didn't stop the other platforms from joining in the fun.

Chen Yufeng said, "Everyone, regarding this distribution of the iCL League's broadcasting rights, President Pei said that money is secondary. The key is to see everyone's sincerity. Have you all considered it?"

The vice presidents of several live-streaming platforms looked at each other, already having ideas in mind, but unsure who should speak first.

Finally, Liu Liang of ZZ Live spoke first.

"President Chen, President Pei's desired sincerity is easy to express. Money is definitely one aspect. We've decided to offer 12 million to buy the iCL League's broadcasting rights."

"In addition, our platform has several good gog and ioi streamers who are still under contract. We'll include them as a gift to President Pei! We'll continue to pay their salaries, and their two-year contracts can be worth one million."

Peng Bin of Waiwai Live said, "We'll offer 10 million. Also, we currently have a live-streaming program with good viewership. We can give you the broadcasting rights for free. Of course, we also have several good streamers..."

Zhu Yan of Langya Live said, "We have a mobile game tournament with decent popularity, an exclusive broadcast. Although the popularity isn't high, it's still worth some small money. In addition, we'll offer 11 million."

Another live-streaming platform said, "Sorry, President Chen, we're a bit tight on cash flow recently and can only offer a maximum of 8 million. But... we're currently having a dispute with a big streamer and have already frozen him. We can conveniently give him to Rabbit Tail Live, using his three-year contract to offset the price, roughly 5 million. He'll stream on your platform, and we'll continue to pay his salary. What do you think?"

The bids from the various live-streaming platforms varied, but the value, including the attached content, was basically around 13 million.

After receiving Chen Yufeng's call yesterday, these vice presidents had been wondering what President Pei meant.

If money wasn't the top priority, then President Pei must need more live-streaming content for Rabbit Tail Live!

Everyone could see that Rabbit Tail Live's content was still relatively limited, with basically no reliable big streamers. The website's popularity relied entirely on the GPL and iCL leagues. Once the matches were over, the website's popularity would drop by more than half.

Since content was lacking, President Pei's attitude was clear.

He would only take a portion of the money, but each live-streaming platform had to contribute some live-streaming content in exchange for the iCL League's broadcasting rights!

After considering it, the vice presidents felt that President Pei had repeatedly emphasized the keyword "sincerity," so they couldn't offer too little money.

President Pei was so calculating. If they offered too low a price, President Pei might get angry and refuse to sell!

After all, President Pei was sitting pretty. He could sell or not sell the iCL League's broadcasting rights, sell to just one platform or sell to many.

The reason President Pei didn't make it clear was obviously to see the sincerity of each live-streaming platform. Platforms without sincerity would definitely be noted down by President Pei.

Considering the iCL League's rising popularity, 13 million was a high but sincere price.

Although the money was inflated, Longyu Group and Rabbit Tail Live had already invested a lot of resources and taken risks to promote the iCL League. These platforms were just picking the fruit, so paying a premium was reasonable.

As for the live-streaming content offered in addition to the money, there were obviously only two types.

The first was tournaments or programs with exclusive broadcasting rights, which could be given to Rabbit Tail Live to offset some of the price. The second was streamers, especially those who were at odds with the platform, who could be conveniently packaged and sent away.

For example, one live-streaming platform was currently having a conflict with one of its big streamers.

The platform had repeatedly hinted that the streamer should ask viewers for more gifts and top the charts, but the streamer had refused time and again. He had signed a big contract but couldn't generate enough profit for the website, so the platform's vice president had long been displeased with him. This was a good opportunity to discount the contract and offset part of the money for buying the iCL League's broadcasting rights.

Although the platform would still pay the streamer's salary, it was quite suitable to get rid of an unprofitable streamer and gain the iCL League's broadcasting rights.

What surprised both Zhao Xuming and Chen Yufeng was that five live-streaming platforms had made offers!

The main reason was the special payment method.

Instead of directly taking out 13 million, they could take out only seven or eight million, and the rest could be converted into other content resources from the platform. Some exclusive content could be shared with Rabbit Tail Live for broadcasting in exchange for the iCL League's broadcasting rights. These platforms felt that they weren't at a loss.

So, some live-streaming platforms with relatively tight cash flow were also tempted.

The iCL League's broadcasting rights were different this time.

Before, no one was sure if it would be popular, so everyone hesitated and wasn't decisive. Now, seeing President Pei taking the lead and the iCL League getting better and better, all the big live-streaming platforms were scrambling for it...

The other live-streaming platforms naturally couldn't sit still!

It was like the same product. If there wasn't a single customer around, most passersby wouldn't give it a second glance. But if it was surrounded by people, everyone would definitely want to take a look!

So, the vice presidents of these platforms made offers and looked at Chen Yufeng with expectant eyes.

Although Rabbit Tail Live should lack these exclusive resources and streamers, it was true that there was a bit of a "forced collection" feel to it.

It was hard to say whether Chen Yufeng and President Pei were willing to accept it, so the vice presidents were a little uneasy.

Chen Yufeng listened carefully to everyone and nodded slightly.

He could sense that these platforms were forcing the issue, such as one platform sending over a big streamer they were having a conflict with, while another platform was discounting a relatively unpopular sports competition, and another platform simply packaged twenty or so underperforming contracted streamers and offered them up...

But obviously, these platforms were also aware of this and had lowered their overall valuation accordingly.

Chen Yufeng now felt like he was in a large second-hand market, surrounded by all sorts of usable and unusable things, and surrounded by a group of people eagerly promoting them.

After thinking about it, Chen Yufeng felt that although these things were being forced on them, they were indeed what Rabbit Tail Live lacked, so it wouldn't hurt to accept them all.

As for live-streaming content, no one would complain about having too much, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

But even so, he had to give these platforms a slight warning, so as not to be taken advantage of.

With that in mind, Chen Yufeng slightly hardened his expression and coughed lightly, saying, "Although the estimated value of the things you're offering is indeed acceptable, you should all know in your hearts whether they're actually worth that much money, right?"

The vice presidents' expressions changed, feeling a little guilty.

The main reason was that they were indeed slightly at fault, and arguing would likely lead to a breakdown in negotiations.

No one dared to have a falling out with President Pei, because no one knew what President Pei would do afterward...

But asking them to add more? They were also reluctant to do so.

They couldn't just break the bank for the sake of the iCL League's broadcasting rights, could they? Sell their own star streamers? They couldn't do that either!

Seeing this situation, Zhao Xuming secretly thought that things were not going well.

Although he was jealous that the iCL League's broadcasting rights could be sold for so much money, he was also the one who most wanted this distribution to succeed.

After all, more platforms distributing the iCL League meant more exposure for the iCL League!

Zhao Xuming quickly smoothed things over: "Everyone, please calm down."

"Actually, I've already seen everyone's sincerity, but President Chen is indeed suffering a small loss."

"I have a suggestion. How about this? Rabbit Tail Live will broadcast the iCL League thirty seconds faster than other platforms. In this way, no one will suffer any real losses, and President Chen can explain it to President Pei when he gets back. What do you think?"

The vice presidents of the live-streaming platforms looked at each other and then nodded, saying, "Okay!"

A thirty-second delay in broadcasting shouldn't be a big problem, with minimal impact.

For Rabbit Tail Live, being thirty seconds faster could indeed attract some viewers, which would be a small bonus for this distribution.

Chen Yufeng nodded: "President Zhao's suggestion is good. In that case, Rabbit Tail Live has no problem. Let's finalize the details and then sign the contracts, shall we?"