April 11th, Thursday.

Magic City, Wolf Fang Live headquarters.

Zhu Yan sat at his computer, gently tapping the desk while reviewing work reports submitted by his subordinates.

“Hmm, we’ve poached two more promising new streamers from Rabbit Tail Live, though unfortunately, Crooked Live snatched another one.”

“They say we’re jointly opposing Rabbit Tail Live, but Crooked Live still can’t help stabbing us in the back.”

“Well, it’s all fair business competition, so I suppose it’s inevitable.”

Since Qiao Liang had made that safety declaration at the Rabbit Tail Live competition, Wolf Fang Live and Crooked Live had intensified their poaching of Rabbit Tail Live streamers, even beginning to test Rabbit Tail Live’s bottom line.

The frequency of poaching increased, and they moved from targeting insignificant small streamers to key top streamers in crucial areas of Rabbit Tail Live.

However, during this process, Wolf Fang Live and Crooked Live—though both members of the anti-Tenda alliance—still experienced some friction.

For instance, both platforms frantically competed for streamers poached from Rabbit Tail Live, even bidding against each other.

Another example was the recent incident involving a top streamer who switched platforms. This streamer was originally from the Crooked Live platform but was later poached by Wolf Fang Live.

Logically, since both had joined the anti-Tenda alliance and viewed Rabbit Tail Live as their common enemy, these minor frictions and disputes should have been temporarily set aside.

However, legal proceedings for this case had already begun and were going through the legal process, making it difficult to set aside temporarily.

The amount involved was too large, neither side was willing to back down easily, and the major streamer already had significant influence. Due to these combined factors, the heat of this incident couldn’t be suppressed and eventually erupted.

Both Rabbit Tail Live and Wolf Fang Live didn’t pay much attention to this, as their focus remained on Rabbit Tail Live.

After all, Wolf Fang Live didn’t actually need to pay this money—ultimately, it would come from the streamer.

If the streamer couldn’t afford to pay, they would become a debtor, and Wolf Fang Live had already made it perfectly clear in the contract that they wouldn’t cover for them.

Since neither platform would suffer any losses, why fight to the death? Wasn’t it nice to happily earn that bit of breach penalty from streamers and have them work for free for life?

Wolf Fang Live and Crooked Live both understood clearly that the strife between them was merely a minor ailment, while Tenda Group’s Rabbit Tail Live was the real threat to their vital organs!

Because Rabbit Tail Live truly threatened both of their streaming models!

Once Rabbit Tail Live’s business model succeeded, both platforms would face difficult times.

Just then, someone knocked urgently on the door.

Zhu Yan looked up and saw it was his assistant.

He appeared somewhat anxious and said, “Mr. Zhu, please take a look quickly. Rabbit Tail Live has released a new episode of ‘Managers Speak,’ and they’ve really flipped the table on us, just like Lü Mingliang from Headwind Logistics did back then!”

“Rabbit Tail Live’s homepage is playing it on a 24-hour loop, and the video on AiLiDao website already has over a million views!”

Zhu Yan was shocked: “What did you say?!”

He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

He hurriedly opened Rabbit Tail Live’s official website to check, and indeed, the video was prominently displayed on Rabbit Tail Live’s homepage, in a highly visible position!

Not only that, but the account for the “Managers Speak” series had also simultaneously updated with this episode!

Zhu Yan really hadn’t expected Rabbit Tail Live to take such extreme measures!

“Something’s not right?”

“Didn’t Rabbit Tail Live just issue a safety declaration showing weakness? This indicated their strategy clearly didn’t involve direct conflict with us in the short term, so why have they suddenly taken such a decisive action?”

Qiao Liang’s previous statement had obviously seemed like a sign of weakness and concession to Zhu Yan. Since he had said that, it suggested Tenda’s recent conflict strategy might be focused in other directions, such as fitness, food delivery, or gaming.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it have been better for Qiao Liang to say nothing and maintain silence?

In Zhu Yan’s view, Qiao Liang’s words were a “peace declaration,” intended to pacify the other two streaming platforms. Zhu Yan had precisely grasped this point, which was why he and Crooked Live were poaching Rabbit Tail Live’s streamers, testing Rabbit Tail Live’s bottom line.

After all, there’s a saying about finishing off someone when they’re down. Since Rabbit Tail Live wasn’t planning to resist at the moment, they should naturally bully them to the extreme.

If they didn’t act now, and waited until Rabbit Tail Live recovered and Mr. Pei mobilized Tenda’s resources, wouldn’t the situation be even worse?

But Zhu Yan never imagined his judgment would be wrong!

Rabbit Tail Live indeed hadn’t banned the other two platforms from streaming Tenda games, but instead directly used the “Managers Speak” program to flip the table!

A sense of foreboding instantly welled up in Zhu Yan’s heart.

Because the previous episodes of “Managers Speak” were still fresh in his mind, and almost every time they had struck at the vital points of these industries!

Now Zhu Yan’s only hope was that Qiao Liang didn’t understand the streaming industry well enough and hadn’t spoken to the point. In that case, the damage caused wouldn’t be too great.

This possibility was small, but it did exist.

After all, Qiao Liang was just an acting manager, and his insights into the streaming industry might not be that profound.

With an extremely uneasy feeling, Zhu Yan clicked on the video to watch.

…

“Hello everyone, I’m Qiao Liang, acting manager of Rabbit Tail Live. Here, I’d like to share two things with you.”

“First, several more streamers from Rabbit Tail Live have been poached by other platforms.”

“Second, there’s the incident of a streamer’s astronomical breach of contract penalty from last week. This caused quite a stir, and for those unfamiliar with it, you can search online for related information.”

“Perhaps streamers didn’t expect it, and viewers didn’t expect it either, but astronomical contract breach penalties have indeed arrived.”

“Today, I want to analyze the chaos hidden behind the rapid development of the streaming industry from these two different perspectives.”

“In the past few years, the live streaming industry has developed at a tremendous pace.”

“Compared to other industries, the live streaming industry has very obvious advantages, such as: top streamers enjoy generous incomes, relatively free time, turning hobbies into work, and being adored by fans.”

“At the same time, this is an extremely inclusive industry. Whether you’re a retired professional player, an articulate beautiful scholar, or a skilled street player, you can find your position on a streaming platform.”

“But many streamers who have just entered the industry don’t know that high value often comes with high costs, and that all gifts bestowed by fate have prices secretly marked on them.”

“Take this streamer who switched platforms as an example. Within the contract period, he earned over 9 million yuan on the original platform. Additionally, the platform spent nearly 10 million yuan to register him for two variety shows, and according to the contract, this money should also be counted as part of his earnings. Based on this, the streamer’s earnings on the original platform multiplied by 5 would require compensation of at least 100 million yuan. The platform’s litigation request has also received support from the court.”

“Some people say this is because the streamer lacked a sense of contract, forcibly switching platforms during the contract period without any consideration for his original employer, so being fined the breach penalty is well-deserved.”

“Others say the platform deceived the streamer, signing an unfair labor contract, and claiming such an astronomical compensation violates legal regulations.”

“Of course, I don’t want to judge who’s right or wrong in this case; I believe the law will provide a fair verdict.”

“But regardless, the model of setting traps for streamers with breach penalties and binding them does exist widely among streaming platforms. And this isn’t the only trick streaming platforms use.”

“Today, I’m going to dig deep into this for everyone!”

…

At this point, Zhu Yan began to panic.

Qiao Liang spoke calmly and steadily, but this feeling was completely consistent with the impression Lü Mingliang had given people at that time.

Obviously, they both positioned themselves from an objective and neutral perspective, seriously analyzing this incident.

And the identity of being an “industry insider” didn’t constrain them at all!

This was the most frightening part.

Because people outside the industry, though sufficiently objective and neutral, don’t understand the inside story, so what they say is full of loopholes and similarly unconvincing.

People within the industry, though understanding the inside story, often don’t dare to speak, and what they do say only touches the surface, not daring to reach the core.

Neither of these situations would cause too serious an impact.

But if an industry insider completely stands from an objective perspective and reveals everything, then the problem becomes serious!

Zhu Yan silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and continued watching.

…

“Trick One of streaming platforms: withholding wages.”

“Of course, the withholding of wages mentioned here isn’t actual withholding, but delayed payment. This has legal basis, as platforms need to verify the streamers’ labor results.”

“A streamer’s contract definitely stipulates requirements for effective popularity, and streaming content definitely needs manual review, otherwise situations like inflating stream time would occur.”

“So legally speaking, it’s in compliance with the law for platforms to issue wages and make payments after auditing and verifying labor results. But precisely because these regulations have strong operability, platforms tend to release wages as late as possible, delaying repeatedly.”

“Trick Two of streaming platforms: fake popularity.”

“Except for Rabbit Tail Live, all other streaming platforms use fake popularity metrics.”

“When these platforms first started using fake popularity, they were easily exposed, but after a period of time, once all viewers got used to this feeling, the fake gradually became real.”

“The key is that platforms can increase the heat as much as they want, and naturally, they can also decrease it.”

“Many streamers who switch platforms claim that the platform side withholds wages. But platforms often use contract clauses stating ‘if streaming numbers don’t meet standards, the platform has the right to deduct streamer income’ to get away with it.”

“Combined with the first trick of delayed payment, it’s easy to create an illusion for streamers that ‘my wages have been withheld, so my platform switch is justified.'”

“In reality, once a dispute arises, streamers can almost never provide effective evidence, while platforms can use popularity data to prove their deductions from streamers comply with regulations. In litigation, streamers almost certainly lose.”

“For these platforms, to restrict or suppress a streamer, they only need to lock their popularity.”

“Since platform data can be manipulated at will, without basic authenticity, how can streamers truly complete the task clauses required in their contracts?”

“Trick Three of streaming platforms: deceptive poaching.”

“When platforms poach people, they inevitably consider poaching efficiency. Different streamers have different perceptions of their popularity; some streamers are good at bargaining, while others are relatively honest.”

“When platforms poach people, those skilled at bargaining often get better terms, while honest streamers are likely to be deceived into accepting a lower price. This is an unsolvable problem. As long as platforms continue to poach disorderly, this problem will never be resolved.”

“Because platforms can hardly trick shrewd streamers, they can only trick honest ones.”

“Many platforms, when poaching, verbally promise streamers they’ll help resolve contract disputes, but it’s just talk. Perhaps due to personal relationships or other small favors, inexperienced streamers develop trust in these platforms and impulsively switch.”

“But they quickly discover that platforms won’t pay a penny when it comes to lawsuits. For businesspeople, only profits matter, and things must be in black and white to count.”

“Yet many streamers lack the ability to discern and differentiate; they believe whatever they’re told, so being deceived isn’t surprising.”

“Through these three methods, major streaming platforms engage in chaotic battles. Because they continuously break bottom lines, no company with standards can escape unharmed. In the end, only the most unscrupulous platforms with the strongest capital can truly survive in this competition.”

“Furthermore, such unscrupulous behavior naturally becomes a trend, affecting the content of the entire streaming platform.”

“Streaming platforms need popularity, and streamers need popularity to prove their worth, forcing them into a vicious cycle of ranking competitions. Under this collective pressure for popularity, streaming platforms inevitably make more and more unscrupulous actions for popularity, tolerating some streaming content that has popularity but no standards.”

“Poached streamers think they’ve reached heaven, but in reality, they’ve just entered a bottomless pit they can never climb out of.”

“Unfortunately, many streamers from Rabbit Tail Live still haven’t seen through this point, being deceived by empty promises. Once they sign, they carry enormous penalty fees, making it extremely difficult to leave.”

“At this point, some might ask, is Rabbit Tail Live really different from other platforms?”

“Of course! Rabbit Tail Live uses a completely different model from other streaming platforms.”

“First, Rabbit Tail Live doesn’t pursue popularity; viewers must learn an hour of content before watching livestreams. This has cost Rabbit Tail Live a lot of popularity, but on one hand, it reminds Rabbit Tail Live itself not to lose standards for the sake of popularity; on the other hand, it also reminds users not to sink into the false popularity of livestreams—only focus and knowledge are true wealth.”

“Second, Rabbit Tail Live uses only real data and never engages in any popularity manipulation. Therefore, a streamer’s true value can be accurately reflected through the real number of people in their livestream room, without worrying about falsification.”

“Nor will there be unfair situations where popularity increases for those who obey the platform and decreases for those who don’t.”

“Most importantly, streamers at Rabbit Tail Live are always free. We have no intention of restricting these streamers’ freedom, because only a free person has endless creativity!”