Chapter 841: Chapter 351 Got a Top Influencer

Su Huai was immediately displeased.

“What do you mean by ‘show mercy’? As if your own self-destruction has anything to do with me. No way, no!”

Mr. Wang heard this and frowned, his face full of suspicion.

“Could it really not be him?”

Chen Jie cautiously replied, “Recently, Xingyu has been making big moves and is extremely busy. Perhaps they truly don’t have time to bother with us.”

Mr. Wang rubbed his forehead, deeply troubled.

“What on earth should we do? The compliance team is about to come knocking… Damn it, the Gouzhen internet office won’t even pick up my calls. Who’s behind this?”

Chen Jie didn’t respond and instead adopted a retreat-to-advance approach, handing over a resignation letter.

“Mr. Wang, with the platform in this state, I can neither continue working nor need to keep working. Here’s my resignation letter. Thank you for your trust so far…”

“What do you mean by this?”

Mr. Wang was both angry and anxious. “The company is in turmoil, and you’re ditching me?”

Chen Jie defended himself, “What’s left for operations to do now? Mr. Wang, I need to think about how I’ll make a living too…”

“Fine, I’ll promote you!”

Mr. Wang waved his hand, cutting Chen Jie off.

“You’ll take on the role of Vice President for now. If I’m called in to cooperate with investigations, you’ll oversee all operations and make sure the company holds up until I return!”

“Well…”

Chen Jie’s face showed a hint of temptation but also hesitation.

Mr. Wang, deeply earnest, began painting a bright picture. “Don’t waste time with doubts. Your skills are evident to me, and I trust your loyalty.

The company is in a dire state but isn’t doomed. I need you to persist a little longer. After everything is resolved, you’ll get the shares you deserve. For Gou Star, you’ll be the CEO, and I’ll focus on pushing Gou Star Music.”

“Alright then, I’ll give it a try.”

Chen Jie agreed to stay onboard the sinking ship. Without delay, he shifted into his new role and suggested, “The most urgent task is to actively bring in new investors to help us weather this storm. If we only rely on ourselves, once the platform goes under, there’s little chance of recovery.”

Mr. Wang greatly appreciated his insight and nodded approvingly.

“You’re absolutely right. Start networking in the industry and see what you can achieve. Of course, it would be ideal if you could convince Xingyu to come onboard. In our current predicament, streamers are far more valuable than traffic or money.”

“Alright, I’ll arrange a time to personally visit Mr. Su, with a smile on my face–my specialty.”

The next day, Chen Jie found himself seated in Su Huai’s office.

A cup of tea sat in front of him, completely untouched as he focused on reporting matters to Su Huai.

“How’s Wang doing?” Su Huai casually asked, “Can he escape this?”

“Unlikely.”

Chen Jie shook his head firmly and said, “They haven’t moved on him yet because the evidence chain isn’t strong enough. But sooner or later, this will pin him down indefinitely–it’ll take years to get out of it.”

“By standard sentencing guidelines, it should be over ten years, right?”

“It’s a bit different in this case. Running games on the platform doesn’t have a large societal impact. Our legal consultants believe there’s room for negotiation.”

Su Huai pondered for a moment and asked, “Then what about the lottery systems on Huya, Douyu, and Panda? How are they handling it?”

Chen Jie chuckled and replied, “They must’ve consulted legal experts. You see, those platforms don’t host the same types of games. Instead, streamers handle the lotteries, precisely to sidestep such issues.

We at Gou Star were just too reckless–our games used Star Coins for both the input and the prizes. If we had turned the prizes into equivalent-value gifts earlier or changed the format slightly, we wouldn’t be so passive now.”

Su Huai nodded, acknowledging his point.

Currently, gambling-like behaviors are pervasive in the streaming world. Games across platforms often involve currency exchanges, and coin-trading guilds and middlemen dominate the ecosystem. It’s structurally easy to set up direct exchanges.

If they changed the model from winning coins with coins to winning gifts with coins, the nature of the activity shifts. Existing regulations wouldn’t apply as directly, and higher authorities might turn a blind eye.

Even years down the line, these practices would likely still be overlooked.

Douyu’s Brother Chen was, however, a unique case. Legally speaking, he operated more covertly than official games on smaller platforms–the streamers handled lotteries, supposedly unrelated to him.

But his operations had too substantial a societal impact–fooling numerous middle and high-school students–and that was unforgivable.

Smaller platforms targeted adults, clearly banned minors, and quietly profited unethically. When investigated, they’d immediately shut down.

But Old Chen?

He outright required streamers to meet transaction quotas, even collaborating with streamers to jointly run companies. The guy acted like a madman.

Because of him, all borderline games across platforms were forced to halt operations, ruining countless businesses. Mention his name in the industry, and it’s all gritted teeth.

Su Huai couldn’t help but reflect, “In China, running a business can flirt with the edge of legality, but you must consider the bigger picture. Otherwise, disaster is inevitable.”

“Absolutely, your observation couldn’t be more accurate.”

Chen Jie respectfully asked, “So about acquiring Gou Star…”

Su Huai smirked, “Let’s wait a while. Wang is still ambitious. He might not be willing to sell completely yet, and the price could be an issue. I’m not in a hurry. Are you?”

“Why would I be? I’ll follow your lead.”

Chen Jie was sharp enough to know which matters were for discussion only and which could actually be acted on.

“Are you interested in Kugou Music as well? Want me to do a thorough background check for you later?”

“Sounds good.”

Su Huai nodded in satisfaction and explained, “The future of the online music industry will undoubtedly be a dual-dominance landscape, with one leader and one strong competitor sharing the market.”