Venture capital, also known as start-up investment, primarily invests in some early-stage enterprises.
Lin Zhixia couldn't help but comment, "Is the venture capital firm willing to support Chai Yang's current venture? Live streaming is a hot field with intense competition. Major e-commerce, video, and gaming platforms are all engaged in live streaming and already have established user bases. For Chai Yang to charge into the live streaming market with a small team, using quarrels with me and lawsuits against you as his traffic generation strategy is just too..."
"Naive," Jiang Yubai remarked tersely.
Indeed, it was naive.
Jiang Yubai had a professional legal team. Before signing the investment contract with Chai Yang, he had lawyers review and revise it, taking all possible consequences into account.
After Chai Yang resigned, he no longer held shares and lost his director qualifications—since Chai Yang was no longer a shareholder of the company, Jiang Yubai could remove him from his director position without notifying him personally.
Although Chai Yang was the founding member of the "Jiangke Software Company" team, Jiang Yubai used the clauses in the contract to successfully strip Chai Yang completely from "Jiangke Software Company."
What frustrated Chai Yang the most was that back in September, when he had just broken with Jiang Yubai, he had kept to himself and avoided contact with Jiang Yubai as much as possible. He didn't answer Jiang Yubai's calls, didn't reply to emails, and avoided unnecessary disputes. Yet, Jiang Yubai contacted his team, forcing him to face Jiang Yubai under pressure.
At that time, Jiang Yubai had been very friendly toward him, even saying plenty of diplomatic niceties, such as, "With your abilities, you'll make a comeback soon," and "Your team includes technical talent from Silicon Valley—what are you afraid of?"
Chai Yang had thought that Jiang Yubai, considering their potential future cooperation, wouldn't act too harshly.
However, over the next three months, Jiang Yubai left Chai Yang with no room to maneuver. Not only did he revoke Chai Yang's director status at "Jiangke Software" and reclaim his equity, but he also used a Valuation Adjustment Mechanism they had once signed as leverage. This left Chai Yang completely at a disadvantage, feeling as if a sword of Damocles hung over his head, its tip aimed directly at him, ready to fall at any moment.
Rather than wait for death, it was better to strike first.
On December 31, 2016, Chai Yang cast aside all his reservations and released an explanatory video online, detailing his five-year entrepreneurial journey and the disputes with his investor.
In that video, Chai Yang didn't dare to mention Jiang Yubai by name directly, instead referring to him as "Investor A." He also styled himself as "the most ill-fated entrepreneur in the global IT industry," portraying "Investor A" as a wealthy and powerful figure seizing the fruits of victory.Chai Yang, dressed in a custom-made high-end suit, spoke with great emotion: "Dear friends, I'm not even thirty yet. When I share my personal experience, I'm not trying to set up a target for you to criticize Investor A. Those who know me well understand that I was the first male college student from my village to get into a 985 university. My parents taught me from childhood to be grateful - without Investor A, there would be no me today. Similarly, without me, there would be no Jiangke Software. When I first graduated and started my business, I had no connections or background. I've slept on floors, eaten instant noodles, been slapped by security guards... Friends, I've taken many wrong paths. If you're also a young person with entrepreneurial dreams watching this video, remember the most important lesson I want to share - when you sign contracts with partners and investors, you must, must check every single clause one by one!"
Spreading his arms wide, he reflected on the past: "Those familiar with me know I started out in technology. Five years ago, when I signed the contract with Investor A, I didn't bring a lawyer. I just randomly searched a few terms from the contract on Baidu, and the search results seemed fine... The investor's lawyer kept rushing me, my mind went blank, and I just picked up the pen and signed. Five years have passed, Jiangke Software has grown larger and larger, while I... was driven out of the company by the investor."
He stood tall and declared: "I will represent Jiangke Software's founding team to sue Investor A, taking up legal weapons to protect entrepreneurs' legitimate rights!"
After his speech, the video added an "applause" sound effect.
Chai Yang was brimming with confidence.
He remembered back when he first met Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai in a coffee shop, he had been willing to testify for Lin Zhixia's group, proving that the guy named "He Shangqing" had been slacking off in the group project.
Chai Yang clearly recalled that He Shangqing was over 190 cm tall, with compact, well-defined muscles that gave his simple sportswear an extraordinary texture. Yet Chai Yang wasn't afraid of retaliation and insisted on testifying for Lin Zhixia and the others.
How brave he had been back then?
He believed he possessed extraordinary courage.
Now, he still dared to fight back, unafraid of Jiang Yubai's wealthy family background, and unconcerned about winning or losing the lawsuit. As long as it increased his own visibility, he would consider this difficult battle won.
Five years had passed, yet Chai Yang's original aspiration remained unchanged.
Chai Yang's video quickly spread through Lin Zhixia's social circle.
Everyone expressed strong condemnation.
Even Lin Zeqiu, who never got along with Jiang Yubai, said: "Chai Yang is such an idiot."
Lin Zeqiu rarely used the term "idiot" to describe someone, unless he genuinely couldn't stand them.
Lin Zeqiu's parents were also concerned about Jiang Yubai's work situation.
On New Year's Day 2017, when Jiang Yubai visited his parents-in-law, bringing many New Year gifts, the family sat on the sofa chatting about their respective work. Lin Zeqiu casually brought up Chai Yang.
Lin Zhixia took over the topic and carefully analyzed: "The truth is, Jiang Yubai never forced Chai Yang to leave the company. Their management approaches differed, so Chai Yang left with his team..."
Lin Zeqiu jumped to the key point: "Chai Yang criticized Lin Zhixia online.""Yes," Lin Zhixia added, "he thinks I'm a fraud without real talent."
A fraud?!
How could that be possible?
Having raised their daughter for so many years, Lin Zhixia's parents clearly knew exactly how intelligent she was—though the extent of this intelligence was beyond their parental comprehension.
Lin Zhixia's father couldn't help but frown: "Does he even know our Xia Xia, to call her a fraud?"
Jiang Yubai interjected, "He doesn't. They've only met a couple of times."
Sitting side by side with Lin Zhixia on the opposite end of the sofa, Jiang Yubai felt her lean against his arm as she continued: "There are many exceptionally smart people in our Quantum Team, like my classmates Wen Qi and Feng Yuan... They finished their PhDs in just three years, and their research results have made the news."
The doctoral student circle Lin Zhixia described...
Was likely an exclusive domain for geniuses.
Lin Zhixia's parents fell silent. Lin Zeqiu pretended to be watching TV, Jiang Yubai lowered his head to quietly peel an orange, while Lin Zhixia remained unaware she had dampened the mood. She cheerfully announced: "They're coming to the provincial capital tomorrow! I'm going to pick them up at the airport!"
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