When Li Xue said those words—Lin Shuang’s mind started buzzing. It felt like she was floating through clouds, rising endlessly—But at the sa ti, like she was plumting into a bottomless abyss.
She was completely stunned.
Although things in this world were a bit similar to Tang Yao’s previous life,the China Securities Regulatory Commission didn’t exactly encourage publicly traded companies to acquire gaming firms.In general, it was very difficult for ga studios to go public.
The bar for IPOs was extrely high—focused primarily on supporting hard tech.Entertainnt companies, especially gas, were rarely granted access to these funds.
Lin Shuang herself knew plenty of examples.She’d once invested in a ga company with an annual profit of about 100 million yuan, valued at around 2 billion yuan.Even though their IPO pricing didn’t breach the 23x PE multiple cap, they still got rejected—twice.In the end, they had to sell off at a much lower price than their valuation to another company.
As a general rule,when investing in ga companies, their fund had a line:Anything over 15x PE was considered unviable.
Because of that 23x IPO cap,investing at a high valuation ant there wasn’t much room to grow.There simply wouldn’t be enough upside.
BUT!
Forget IPOs for now—Lin Shuang vividly rembered:Her cousin’s friend only asked for a few million in her proposal!
A few million!!
And the ga’s first-day revenue was nearly 100 million!
Even if you factored in every possible cost,even if you exaggerated them to the extre—the net profit would still be outrageously high.
And more importantly, this was just the first day!
Yes, while researching earlier, she’d already realized the ga was trending hard in the ani community.It had been building hype for a while.And yes, it was a fresh concept to players.
So there was a chance that Day 1 revenue was artificially inflated.
But even if it was—what’s the worst-case drop?One-third? Half?
It couldn’t go that low.
If players were willing to pay on Day 1,and the ga didn’t screw things up later,why wouldn’t they keep spending?
The ga had just launched.
The first-month revenue would be at least 500 million yuan—minimum.
And after that?As long as the devs kept up their current model and released content steadily,what would their annual profits look like?
With that kind of revenue—even without going public, even just selling shares privately—the returns would be off the charts.
Because back then, Tang Yao only needed a few million!
Even if she’d funded it personally,she’d have made a fortune and beco completely financially free.
Thinking about that—
Lin Shuang’s eyes grew even redder.She rembered that pretty girl at the café—the look of hope in her eyes.Rembered how she’d hesitated for less than a minute before turning her down.
It felt like a nightmare.
Her chest physically ached.
Why did I hesitate back then?!
Why didn’t I just give her the money?!
It wasn’t even that much!
JUST SAY YES, YOU IDIOT!
She scread inwardly.All her composure was gone.Her queen-like deanor shattered.
She was on the verge of breaking down.
“Cousin, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up.”
Suddenly, Li Xue’s voice brought her back.
Lin Shuang jolted awake.She took a few deep breaths, forced herself to calm down, and imdiately softened her tone:
“Xue Xue, wait—just wait a second. Can I ask sothing… How much did you invest in your friend’s ga? At what valuation? How much equity did you get?”
“…Equity?”
Li Xue’s voice was cold and clearly annoyed:
“She’s my friend. I told you—I helped her as a friend.The amount of money doesn’t matter.We never talked about valuation or shares.”
“That’s impossible!”
Lin Shuang’s voice jumped an octave.But then she caught herself, cald down, and spoke gently again:
“She must’ve made arrangents for you, right?You’re her benefactor!You invested without hesitation.Co on, tell your cousin—just a little?”
“Benefactor?”
Li Xue’s voice turned even colder—clearly irritated by the term:
“I wouldn’t call it that.As for arrangents… she did say she’d give
half.But I didn’t take it.I told you—I’m her friend.”
“……”
Hearing the word “half”,Lin Shuang’s breath caught.And then when she heard that Li Xue refused it,she cursed her cousin eight tis over in her mind.
But then—a realization struck.
She couldn’t waste ti scolding.Her eyes, still red, lit up with wild hope.She grew even more enthusiastic:
“Xue Xue… I understand.You didn’t want to use your help as leverage.That’s very noble of you.But—how about this?
Since you don’t want the equity,why not ask her to transfer it to ?
All you need to do is ntion it to her, and arrange for us to et.I promise I’ll make sure she’s happy with the price.You’ll still be her closest confidant!”
Yes—it wasn’t too late yet.
As long as she could get in now,it would still be worth it.The ga had just launched.
“……”
Li Xue went silent.
Only after a long pause did she finally say:
“Cousin… do you think I’m an idiot?‘Confidant’?”
Lin Shuang froze.
“That’s all. I’ve got sothing to do. Hanging up.”
Li Xue chuckled lightly, and added aningfully:
“By the way, cousin…Let
say this: rose-colored glasses will cost you.Especially when it cos to family.Especially when money’s involved.
Even professionals like you get dazzled by smooth-talking founders.How much more easily can ordinary people be fooled?
Whether sothing’s good or bad doesn’t matter—I didn’t want to drag you down with .That’s why I never told you more.”
“……”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Li Xue hung up.
Lin Shuang sat there in a daze for a while.Then, not even caring about Li Xue’s word-for-word reuse of her own past advice,she imdiately dialed again.
But Li Xue didn’t pick up.She really was busy.
Still—Lin Shuang wouldn’t give up.She called again and again…Li Xue never answered.
Finally, Lin Shuang gave up.She shot to her feet and started pacing furiously around her office, muttering to herself:
“No, no, no… I have to convince her…This is a gold mine…That kind of return…Just a few million…I could’ve been part of it…”
She walked back and forth like a caged animal.She was completely overwheld by anxiety.All her usual calm and poise were gone.
If Li Xue had never introduced her to Tang Yao,then no matter how dazzling Avalon Studio’s success looked today,she would’ve just admired it from afar.
Even if she found out later that Tang Yao was Li Xue’s friend,she’d have sighed at the missed opportunity, but nothing more.
She wouldn’t have gone into this spiral.
But reality didn’t work like that.
Li Xue did make the introduction.She was aware of the project.
And missing a chance like that—that’s what eats you alive.
As she walked,Lin Shuang suddenly pictured Tang Yao again—so full of confidence, so hopeful—the way she looked at her that day at the café.
She stopped in her tracks.
Then—
SMACK—
She slapped herself hard across the face, turning one cheek beet red.
“Idiot!!”
In the end—
She regretted it.
She regretted it deeply.
What she didn’t know was that this regretwould follow her for the rest of her life.
Because after this,trying to buy into Avalon Studio would be… virtually impossible.
“And you had the nerve to say she was the naive one…”
anwhile, at Wenxin Press.
Li Xue sat back in her chair.When the call finally stopped ringing,she looked away from her phone and got back to work, muttering softly:
“Who’s the silly one now…”
She wasn’t the type to hold grudges—but she didn’t forget them easily either.
Still, it didn’t take long for her to push her arrogant cousin out of her thoughts.She was smiling again soon enough, especially when she thought about how Tang Yao had picked her up last night,the look of joy on her face…
Li Xue lightly bit her glossy lip, then let out a soft, happy laugh.
They were cousins by blood.But because of one decision,they had already stepped onto two completely different paths in life.
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