After the meeting, Chen Yufeng, filled with confusion, searched for Zhao Xuming’s number in his phone contacts while pondering the true meaning behind Mr. Pei’s words.

What puzzled him was that Mr. Pei had said money wasn’t the first priority—friendship and sincerity were.

But what constituted friendship and sincerity?

All the livestreaming platforms were competitors with no prior relationships between them. What friendship and sincerity could there be?

If he sold the broadcasting rights too cheaply, he feared he wouldn’t gain any friendship; instead, other livestreaming platforms would privately mock Bunny Tail Livestream for being naive and foolish.

So Mr. Pei’s intention definitely wasn’t to sell the broadcasting rights at a low price.

The so-called priority of friendship and sincerity must mean placing the other party’s friendship and sincerity toward Bunny Tail Livestream as the first priority.

And the other party’s friendship and sincerity would depend on their performance.

Moreover, Mr. Pei had specifically emphasized that the focus wasn’t on money, but on things besides money.

What were these things?

Chen Yufeng couldn’t quite figure it out, and even if he could, it wouldn’t be appropriate to say it directly—it would seem like extortion.

But it didn’t matter. He could let the vice presidents of various livestreaming platforms fully exercise their initiative and proactively make offers. Chen Yufeng could then deliberate and consider based on the conditions everyone proposed.

With this in mind, Chen Yufeng had a general idea and immediately dialed Zhao Xuming’s number.

“Hello? Mr. Chen, what can I do for you?” On the other end of the phone, Zhao Xuming’s voice was very enthusiastic.

After all, Bunny Tail Livestream and the ICL League were still in their honeymoon period, and their previous cooperation had been quite pleasant. Although most of the popularity had been taken by Bunny Tail Livestream, Zhao Xuming’s side had also profited, so his attitude remained positive.

Chen Yufeng repeated Mr. Pei’s words, saying that they intended to distribute the broadcasting rights for the ICL League.

Strictly speaking, after Bunny Tail Livestream purchased the exclusive broadcasting rights for the ICL League, they could freely distribute them as long as they didn’t violate the current contract, without needing to consult Finger Company and Longyu Group.

But it was certainly necessary to say something.

On one hand, it was out of courtesy; on the other hand, it would be more convenient to contact all the heads of livestreaming platforms together with Zhao Xuming.

Zhao Xuming’s voice instantly rose several octaves: “Really?”

His surprise was mixed with a hint of disbelief.

What was Mr. Pei thinking? Why would he choose to sell the ICL League’s broadcasting rights at this critical juncture?

The ICL League was currently thriving with increasing popularity!

In fact, for Finger Company and Longyu Group, it would definitely be better to distribute the broadcasting rights. Although this distribution wouldn’t bring them any financial benefits, the popularity would certainly be different.

With multiple platforms broadcasting the ICL League, there would definitely be more viewers, higher popularity, and greater promotional efforts—this was undeniable.

In other words, this matter was beneficial without any drawbacks for Zhao Xuming and Finger Company.

However, for Bunny Tail Livestream, distribution meant no longer having exclusive broadcasting rights. While they would make money, they would also give up the opportunity to drive traffic to Bunny Tail Livestream and bring more popularity, which seemed somewhat shortsighted and not quite like something Mr. Pei would do.

If Chen Yufeng hadn’t brought this up, Zhao Xuming certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it himself, not wanting to invite trouble.

But since Chen Yufeng had taken the initiative, and it was Mr. Pei’s intention, of course, he was more than happy!

Zhao Xuming said: “How about this, Mr. Chen, I’ll arrange a meeting with the heads of several livestreaming platforms. Tomorrow, we can all have dinner together in Magic City and discuss the details in person. How does that sound?”

Chen Yufeng knew that such a significant matter couldn’t be finalized online; they definitely needed to meet in person, so he readily agreed.

Besides, Chen Yufeng could also take this opportunity to give the heads of various livestreaming platforms some hints, allowing them to think in advance about how to demonstrate their “friendship” and “sincerity.”

…

…

March 13th, Tuesday.

Magic City, Longyu Group Headquarters.

“Hey, Mr. Chen, please come in, please come in!”

“Mr. Zhu is here? Please come in.”

“Mr. Peng, Mr. Liu, come in, everyone is already in the conference room.”

Zhao Xuming was beaming with joy, enthusiastically welcoming everyone.

He certainly had reason to be happy.

Previously, these vice presidents of livestreaming platforms had complained that 7 or 8 million was too expensive for the ICL League’s broadcasting rights. He had called each of them, but they repeatedly declined, unwilling to buy.

Now, weren’t they obediently coming to Magic City to buy back the ICL League’s broadcasting rights?

Of course, Longyu Group wouldn’t earn a penny from this distribution of broadcasting rights, but as mentioned before, even without money, there would be popularity, so Zhao Xuming would definitely not lose out.

Although these vice presidents of livestreaming platforms were slightly embarrassed, they still wore smiles on their faces.

Business is business. Even though there had been some minor friction before, since Mr. Pei was willing to sell the ICL League’s broadcasting rights and share the popularity with everyone, it was certainly a good thing.

Soon, everyone sat down in the conference room, ready to discuss business.

Chen Yufeng had already briefly communicated with these people by phone yesterday, so everyone was well aware of the matter. After a brief introduction by Chen Yufeng and Zhao Xuming, they quickly got to the main topic.

Chen Yufeng looked around at the vice presidents of various livestreaming platforms present today. There were some familiar faces and some he didn’t recognize.

A total of seven or eight people had come today, but those who would actually complete the transaction might only be three to five platforms. However, this didn’t stop other platforms from joining in to see what was happening.

Chen Yufeng said: “Everyone, regarding the distribution of the ICL League broadcasting rights, Mr. Pei said that money is secondary; the key is to see everyone’s sincerity. Have you all thought about it?”

The vice presidents of several livestreaming platforms looked at each other. Actually, everyone already had ideas, but they weren’t sure who should speak first.

In the end, Liu Liang from ZZ Livestream was the first to speak.

“Mr. Chen, the sincerity that Mr. Pei wants is easy to provide. Money is one aspect; we’ve decided to offer 12 million to buy the ICL League’s broadcasting rights.”

“In addition, our platform has several streamers who are good at GOG and IOI, still under contract, and we’re giving them to Mr. Pei as well! We’ll continue to pay their salaries, and their 2-year contracts are worth about 1 million.”

Peng Bin from YY Livestream said: “We’re offering 10 million. Additionally, we currently have a livestream program with good viewership each episode, and we’re offering the broadcasting rights for free. Of course, we also have several good streamers…”

Zhu Yan from Wolf Fang Livestream said: “We have a mobile game tournament with decent popularity, exclusively broadcast by us. Although it’s not highly popular, it’s still worth some money. Besides that, we’re offering 11 million.”

Another livestreaming platform said: “Sorry, Mr. Chen, we’re a bit tight on cash flow recently and can only offer 8 million at most. However… we’re currently having a dispute with a big streamer and have already shelved him. This is a good opportunity to send him to Bunny Tail Livestream. We’re offsetting his three-year big contract, worth about 5 million. He’ll stream on your platform, but we’ll continue to pay his salary. What do you think?”

The offers from several livestreaming platforms varied, but considering the additional content they were offering, the value was basically around 13 million each.

After receiving Chen Yufeng’s call yesterday, these vice presidents had been wondering what Mr. Pei’s intention was.

If money wasn’t the first priority, then Mr. Pei must need more livestreaming content for Bunny Tail Livestream!

Everyone could see that Bunny Tail Livestream’s content was still relatively limited, with basically no reliable big streamers. The site’s popularity entirely depended on the GPL and ICL leagues. Once the matches were over, the site’s popularity would drop by more than half.

Since they lacked content, Mr. Pei’s attitude was clear.

They could take only part of the money, but each livestreaming platform had to contribute some livestreaming content in exchange for the ICL League’s broadcasting rights!

These vice presidents pondered that since Mr. Pei had repeatedly emphasized the keyword “sincerity,” the money certainly couldn’t be too little.

Mr. Pei was so calculating; if the offer was too low, he might get angry and decide not to sell at all!

After all, Mr. Pei was now in a position of strength. The ICL League’s broadcasting rights could be sold or not, sold to just one platform or many platforms.

The reason Mr. Pei didn’t clarify his intentions was obviously to see the sincerity of each livestreaming platform. Platforms without sincerity would definitely be noted by Mr. Pei.

Considering the currently rising popularity of the ICL League, 13 million was a high price but one that showed sincerity.

Although this money was inflated, Longyu Group and Bunny Tail Livestream had already invested a lot of resources and taken risks to promote the ICL League. These platforms were just reaping the benefits, so paying a premium was reasonable.

As for the livestreaming content offered in addition to money, there were obviously only two types.

The first type was tournaments or programs with exclusive broadcasting rights, offering Bunny Tail Livestream the broadcasting rights, which could be valued at a certain amount; the other type was streamers, particularly those who didn’t get along with their platforms, who were conveniently packaged and sent away.

For instance, one of the livestreaming platforms was currently having a dispute with one of their big streamers.

The platform had repeatedly hinted to this streamer to ask viewers for more gifts and boost rankings, but the streamer had repeatedly refused. Despite signing a big contract, he wasn’t bringing enough profit to the site, and the platform’s vice president had long been dissatisfied with him. This was a perfect opportunity to discount his contract and offset part of the money for buying the ICL League’s broadcasting rights.

Although this streamer’s salary would still be paid by this platform, getting rid of a non-profitable streamer in exchange for the ICL League’s broadcasting rights was quite suitable.

What surprised both Zhao Xuming and Chen Yufeng was that there were actually five livestreaming platforms bidding this time!

The main reason was this special payment method.

Instead of directly putting up 13 million, they could offer only 7 or 8 million, with the rest coming from other content resources from the platform. Some exclusive content could be shared with Bunny Tail Livestream for broadcasting, in exchange for the ICL League’s broadcasting rights, and these platforms felt they weren’t losing out.

So, even livestreaming platforms with relatively tight cash flow were interested.

This time, the ICL League’s broadcasting rights were different from before.

Previously, no one was certain whether it could generate popularity, so everyone was hesitant and not very decisive. Now, seeing Mr. Pei taking the lead and the ICL League getting better and better, all the major livestreaming platforms were rushing to compete…

Naturally, other livestreaming platforms couldn’t sit still either!

It’s like the same product—if there are no customers around, most passersby won’t give it a second glance; but if it’s surrounded by people, everyone will definitely want to take a look!

So, the vice presidents of these platforms each made their bids, then looked at Chen Yufeng with anticipation in their eyes.

Although Bunny Tail Livestream probably needed these exclusive resources and streamers, there was indeed a sense of “forced bundling” to some extent.

Whether Chen Yufeng and Mr. Pei would be willing to accept this was hard to say, so these vice presidents were a bit anxious.

Chen Yufeng listened carefully to everyone, then nodded slightly.

He could sense that these platforms were trying to force bundling, such as one platform sending over a big streamer they were having a dispute with, another platform discounting a relatively niche sports match, and another platform simply offering a package of twenty-some contracted streamers who hadn’t been performing well…

But clearly, these platforms were aware of this forced bundling, so they had adjusted their overall valuation downward.

Chen Yufeng now felt like he was in a large secondhand market, surrounded by all sorts of things, useful or not, with a group of people eagerly promoting their wares.

Chen Yufeng thought that although these items were forcibly bundled, they were indeed things that Bunny Tail Livestream lacked. Accepting them all might not be a bad idea.

As for livestreaming content, no one would complain about having too much, whether it was useful or not.

But even so, he needed to verbally chastise these platforms a bit, so they wouldn’t see him as a pushover.

With this in mind, Chen Yufeng slightly hardened his expression, cleared his throat twice, and said: “Although the things you’re all offering have reasonable valuations, whether they’re worth that much money… you all should know in your hearts, right?”

The vice presidents’ expressions changed, feeling a bit uneasy.

This matter was indeed slightly disadvantageous for them, and if they tried to argue, the negotiation would likely break down.

No one dared to have negotiations break down with Mr. Pei because no one knew what he might do afterward…

But to offer more? Everyone was really reluctant.

They couldn’t all break the bank just for the ICL League’s broadcasting rights, could they? Sell their star streamers? That wouldn’t work either!

Seeing this situation, Zhao Xuming thought it didn’t look good.

Although he was envious that the ICL League’s broadcasting rights could sell for so much money, he was also the person most hoping for this distribution to succeed.

After all, the more platforms that got the distribution, the more popularity the ICL League would have!

Zhao Xuming quickly smoothed things over: “Everyone, please calm down.”

“I’ve seen everyone’s sincerity, but Mr. Chen’s side is indeed at a slight disadvantage.”

“I have a suggestion—what do you all think of this? On Bunny Tail Livestream’s side, the ICL League broadcast will be thirty seconds faster than other platforms. This way, there’s no substantial loss for anyone, and Mr. Chen can also give Mr. Pei a reasonable explanation. How about it?”

The vice presidents of the livestreaming platforms looked at each other, then nodded and said: “That works!”

Broadcasting thirty seconds slower shouldn’t be a big problem; the impact would be minimal.

And for Bunny Tail Livestream, being thirty seconds faster could indeed attract some viewers, which was a small bonus for this distribution.

Chen Yufeng nodded: “Mr. Zhao’s suggestion is good. In that case, Bunny Tail Livestream has no issues. Let’s finalize the details and then sign the contracts, shall we?”