After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

On the 13th, Lu Liang made a trip to Detroit and met with the head of General Motors.

Old Te kept up the pressure, seeking their willingness to partake in a technological partnership and to develop new chassis technology with Lu Liang.

Once the factory was constructed and the new cars were released, they would be branded with the prefix 'General', similar to the joint-venture vehicles in Modu.

Lu Liang also made a phone call to mobilize people, instructing Wang Xiaofeng in Modu to send a research team over, striving to utilize General Motors' technology to develop their own.

He stayed in Detroit for a day and a night, and the next day, he traveled to Paluo Duo in Californian.

Back in Modu, Musk had said that if Lu Liang had time on his next visit to the United States, they should meet and catch up.

Lu Liang had also been calling him these past few days.

Separated by 12,000 kilometers and a 12-hour time difference, Lu Liang was destined not to visit often, so he took this opportunity to see everyone he needed to see and get everything done in one go.

"The attitude of the United States towards electric cars is basically laissez-faire."

During his conversation with Musk and from his observations during the trip, Lu Liang discovered that the United States had a complex and variable attitude toward electric cars.

The East Country needed to maintain energy security and accomplish industrial upgrading; however, the United States didn't need to worry about this—as the Middle East was their backyard—leading to their ambivalence towards the electric car industry and Tesla.

They wanted it to do well and hoped that, following Apple, it would become the third generation to lead the global technology flagship.

Yet they did not want it to do too well because if electric cars thrived, they would eat into the traditional car market.

Musk was aware of this and thus planned to increase his investment in the Space Exploration Company in the coming years.

He had founded the company fifteen years prior, but due to a lack of funds, research and development had been sporadic.

Now that Tesla was gradually getting on the right track and maintaining steady growth, it was expected to turn a profit for the first time within the next three years.

He felt it was time to restart the Space Exploration Company's Starlink Project.

"Starlink Project?"

Lu Liang was puzzled, as Musk's Space Exploration Company mainly dealt in private spaceflight, but the purpose of the Starlink Project seemed undisclosed.

Musk just smiled and did not elaborate further, "Mr. Lu, if I were to put it in terms your internet companies use, it's about leveraging high-profile projects to empower the Tesla brand."

"Is that so?" Lu Liang furrowed his brows, skeptical.

"Yes," Musk said with a smile and a nod, abruptly changing the subject to inquire about the progress of research and development at Tianxing Automobile.

Lu Liang temporarily set his doubts aside and answered, "We are still in the early stages of preparation, probably another year and a half to go."

"I'm very much looking forward to the launch of your new car," Musk paused before adding, "ModelY is also about to be released."

This was a compact SUV, almost specifically designed for Chinese consumers.

In his view, consumers bought electric cars essentially for their powerful drive, which didn't really align with the design concept of SUVs.

But SUVs were favored by the Chinese, and the East Country was currently Tesla's biggest market, hence the creation of ModelY.

"Hopefully, there won't be any collisions."

Lu Liang laughed, and after touring Tesla's headquarters and factory, he bid Musk farewell in the evening and boarded a flight to New York.

"What exactly is the Starlink Project?"

Since Musk wouldn't tell him, he could only leave with his questions unanswered.

But the trip wasn't without its gains; at least it had let Lu Liang understand the pros and cons of integrated die-cast car bodies.

The advantage was that the entire car had almost no welding points; the connection between two surfaces was utterly reliable, giving the whole vehicle structure high strength and very high safety performance.

The integrated die-cast body required fewer parts and used lighter aluminum, greatly reducing the body weight and, therefore, extending the vehicle's range.

It also meant lowered costs, fewer parts, less need for welding points, less investment in molds, increased production capacity, and reduced factory footprint and inventory cycles.

However, the disadvantage was clear. An integrated die-cast body meant the whole car was one piece, and even minor damage required a total replacement, leading to high repair costs and insurance premiums.

The biggest risk was the capital investment required to purchase the super-large die-casting machines and related equipment, which were expensive, complex to operate, and came with high risk of failure.

But this problem wasn't really an issue for Lu Liang; he considered integration to be a key framework for future new cars.

In the early hours, the plane arrived at New York Airport.

Little Wang greeted him with a smile, in a very good mood.

He smiled and asked, "All done?"

"Pretty much."

Lu Liang stretched lazily. Normally, they'd likely hit up a street food stall for some late-night grub.

But nights in New York, even on the streets of Manhattan, weren't nearly as safe as those in a small county back home.

After leaving the airport, the two returned to the hotel and arranged for the chef to deliver some barbeque.

After his shower, Lu Liang grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and tossed one to Little Wang, "Did Panda's IPO review get approved?"

"Next, we'll face three to six months of scrutiny. If all goes well, we could be listing by the end of the year, or next spring at the latest."

Little Wang downed half a bottle in one go and let out a long breath, his eyes brimming with excitement, his mood exhilarated.

Submitting the documents twice made him realize just how different it was to have Lu Liang by his side, or not.

The first review was full of trouble, nitpicky to the extreme, like some tale out of a magazine—a society of law with no room for personal feelings.

The second time around, it was like a mere formality. He and the review team's Gardson were like old friends, laughing and chatting as the documents were reviewed.

Tomorrow, they would head back home.

Ensuring the market stayed stable for the next six months, they'd consider a slight expansion.

Live streaming had huge potential. After discussing with Long Fei, they decided once they went public, they would break away from Pinduoduo and go solo.

By connecting directly with manufacturers, they could cut out middlemen, expand the company's revenue, and ride out the six-month post-IPO lock-up period.

After all, the current valuation was at 3.2 billion US Dollars, the planned funding from listing aimed for a 4 billion US Dollar valuation.

With the current hype, tripling the market cap wasn't out of the question. Even if it kept 70% of its peak value, that'd still be at least 8 billion US Dollars.

They could also raise capital from the market, unfazed by offending Tencent.

Lu Liang, watching Little Wang daydream about a bright future, couldn't help but smile and suddenly said, "You head back on your own tomorrow. I'm taking a trip to the UK."

Little Wang stopped short, puzzled, "What for?"

Lu Liang, distractedly playing with a skewer of beef, replied, "Just bored, need to stretch my legs, clear my head."

Little Wang, suspicious, cleared his throat and said, "I went to high school in Winchester, college in London."

"And?"

"It's been a while since I visited my old school."

Lu Liang wasn't the type to get bored; a mere nod from him could unleash the power of capital.

Plus, with the stocks that Tianxing Mixed Fund had targeted reaching the end of their six-month lock-up period soon, he needed to be back to oversee things.

Little Wang felt there was more to the story.

"Do you know what happens to people who know too much?" Lu Liang asked abruptly.

"I'd rather not find out."

Little Wang chuckled, then probed further, "Do you need help crafting the illusion that you're headed back home?"

Lu Liang, with an expression of resignation, sighed, "That'd be for the best."

"No problem, I've got it covered."

The next day, at New York Airport.

Little Wang suddenly updated his Weibo and Twitter, and took a selfie with Lu Liang, "Mission accomplished, heading back home."

Just as the update went live, Wanda's private jet was finishing its final check, while on another runway, a flight to Edinburgh was taking off from New York Airport.

Lu Liang was right; so much news had erupted during his few days in New York, drawing the nation's attention. Su Wanyu had no reason to be unaware or uninterested.

At the first sight of Little Wang's update, she fell silent for a long while, let out a sigh, feeling an emptiness inside.

Since Lu Liang's arrival in New York, she had been keeping an eye on his itinerary, harboring a little hope that he might swing by and discover that he was about to be a father.

Beautiful as the thought was, reality often begged to differ.

Day one in New York, day two in Washington, day three in Detroit, day four in Paluo Duo, day five heading home.

With his busy schedule, it was normal if he didn't remember.