Chapter 505: Invitation

All because of a single sentence from Liu Yutong—if you acquire enough copyrights, you could easily build a film and television company worth billions.

Lin Muyang had been buying up copyrights in bulk since last year.

He now held over eight hundred thousand film and television drama copyrights, not even counting internet music rights and others.

He’d poured virtually every cent he had into this venture, and on top of that, he’d taken out loans totaling over a hundred million from the bank his mother worked at, nearly exhausting that too.

Yet until Liu Yutong gave the word, he could only keep his head down and continue acquiring.

Besides, he’d run into a competitor in the process.

A company called Leshi was also frantically buying copyrights, but their war chest wasn’t as deep and their efforts not as aggressive, so he still held the numerical advantage.

In short, he was now a major player in the copyright space.

Only so far, he hadn’t received any word from Liu Yutong on next steps. Coupled with the pressure on his funds, he’d rushed from Pearl City to get clarification.

Now he finally had a concrete timeline, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The end was finally in sight.

They moved on to discuss equity distribution for the new company.

“Yutong, I’ve staked my entire fortune on these copyrights,” Lin Muyang said. “How do we proceed from here, and how should we divide the equity? I want to hear your thoughts.”

Those words coming from his mouth were quite remarkable—a clear departure from his usual style.

Perhaps he too had realized that Liu Yutong was now a completely different person from before.

In the past, he’d been able to stand on equal footing with her by virtue of his status, even considering himself superior in the beginning.

But look at the people in her circle now.

Zhou Muchen, Gu Yebai, Zhu Silin… the list went on.

All of them were top-tier young elites whose status far outstripped his own.

Looking at Liu Yutong now, Lin Muyang thought of himself waiting outside the Finance University gates to deliver flowers.

In retrospect, it seemed almost ridiculous.

But… he had no regrets.

Liu Yutong cut straight to the point, taking a business-first approach to dividing the shares.

“For the new company, you’ll contribute all your existing copyrights. I’ll handle all subsequent capital investment, including funding for building the streaming platform, content production, and operations. Preliminary equity split: I take fifty-one percent.”

That was a normal controlling stake.

Lin Muyang’s fingers tightened slightly.

In the past, he probably would have immediately erupted, arrogantly insisting he must have control.

Now, after a brief silence, he raised his head with a somewhat strained smile.

“Agreed! Fifty-one percent, no problem.”

“You’ll also take the lead on management and decision-making. I’ll cooperate with you.”

Liu Yutong regarded Lin Muyang quietly. She could clearly sense that some balance between them had shifted.

Though he remained her partner and a partner in Mingzhu Capital, he was no longer that high-spirited Lin Muyang who declared everywhere he would win her over.

For the first time, he had truly bowed his head before her.

Liu Yutong shook her head. “I don’t have that much time to manage it. I’ll only provide strategic direction. You’ll still have full authority over daily operations and executive decisions. You’ll remain chairman of the new company.”

Lin Muyang was taken aback.

He’d assumed surrendering controlling stake meant losing leadership, but Liu Yutong had no intention of seizing power.

“Fine. We’ll do as you say.”

“Since the direction is set,” Liu Yutong continued, “we need to build the core team quickly. You handle the heads of technology, content, and marketing as soon as possible. I’ll arrange for the funds to be transferred.”

“No problem.”

Lin Muyang thought of something else. “Have you heard of that Leshi company? I feel their vision is similar to ours. They could become a serious rival.”

“I’ve heard of them—a company whose boss loves talking about dreams,” Liu Yutong said calmly. “But the market is never short of competitors. Build the platform framework first. Your copyright library is your foundation; capital is mine. Next, we’ll show everyone what it truly means for content to be king!”

When Lin Muyang heard Liu Yutong’s final words, his eyes glazed over for an instant.

He seemed to see that girl from last year, just making her mark on the Finance University campus, the one who’d caught his eye and made his heart stir. Only now, she’d shed some of her youthful greenness, becoming more mature, powerful, and dazzling!

How could such a perfect woman exist in this world.

After finishing with Lin Muyang, and arranging with Yu Mo to participate in the judicial auction the day after tomorrow, everyone went their separate ways.

Lin Muyang planned to head south to Deep City to scout talent for building the platform.

After all, the software talent pool was deeper there.

Liu Yutong’s thoughts stirred as well. She thought of a crucial figure from her past life—Zhang Dalong, the talent who’d built a nationwide social media platform.

He might be worth recruiting.

According to her timeline, he should still be running the email project now. Two years later, he’d officially launch that software that would eventually exceed a billion users, becoming a legend in the industry.

Before leaving, she specifically instructed Lin Muyang to visit this Zhang Dalong at the Big Goose Company when the time came.

Money was no object if they could poach him. She could afford any compensation—she had that confidence. At this point, not even Pony Ma would have more cash flow than her.

If they couldn’t poach him, they could at least get him over for a talk.

Once he was there, she’d handle the rest.

Lin Muyang solemnly memorized the name Zhang Dalong and promised he would find the man.

Yu Mo also left to make preparations after learning which project Liu Yutong planned to bid on.

Only Liu Yutong, Yu Xin, and Lan Die—who’d been standing quietly nearby—remained in the room.

Lan Die hadn’t sat down once since entering, standing silently at Liu Yutong’s side the entire time.

As if only now remembering her, Liu Yutong turned and asked, “Lan Die, have you settled into Pearl City and Wanlong Society these past few days?”

Lan Die was slightly startled, apparently not expecting Liu Yutong to ask about this.

She nodded faintly, her voice cool. “Quite well.”

“When Hua Muying recommended you, she specifically mentioned your abilities.”

“She said you’re exceptionally persistent and hardworking.”

“But Wanlong Society doesn’t lack persistent, hardworking people. What we lack are partners worthy of complete trust.”

“Yun Cheng is away on business. During this time, I need someone responsible for my security, but this position isn’t for just anyone.” Liu Yutong spoke seriously.

“If Miss Liu needs a bodyguard, the Society has many more suitable candidates,” Lan Die said.

“No!”

Liu Yutong shook her head gently. “I’ve said it before—I need more than a bodyguard. You’ll understand later.”

She extended her hand then, issuing a solemn invitation: “Lan Die, your past experiences have made you accustomed to going it alone. But I want to invite you to try living a different way.”

Looking into Liu Yutong’s sincere eyes, Lan Die finally understood why so many in Wanlong Society were devoted to her.

Because you only had to stand before her to feel it—any normal person would find it hard not to like her.

Unless you were her enemy.

After a moment of silence, Lan Die slowly raised her hand, grasped Liu Yutong’s, and spoke a single word: “Agreed!”

The update is unstable today. I attended a wedding banquet at noon, visited someone at the hospital in the afternoon, then went shopping for tomorrow’s holiday. Here’s one chapter for now. I’m temporarily posting a photo as a leave notice—I’ll delete it later mainly because I don’t think photos fit well.

Also, due to image insertion limits, the quality might be a bit blurry. (And, well… actually it’s not that good-looking—not being modest, there’s just a lot of makeup on my face and the photography retouching is quite good… I only indulge myself like this once a year, haha…). Anyway, happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!