Chapter 521 - 312: Five Stars Rising in the East

Chapter 521: Chapter 312: Five Stars Rising in the East

"President Lin, are you working for the government?"

On the way to the hotel, Liu Chenhui held his tongue for quite a while before finally blurting out a question.

Lin Chu was taken aback by the question.

’Why would he ask that?’

"What? Did you hear something?"

Lin Chu asked with a chuckle, neither confirming nor denying it.

"Haha, I didn’t hear anything specific. I just saw the news a couple of days ago that you bought a plot of land in Dubai, right next to that cooperation zone. I only looked into it then and realized just how powerful our boss is."

"Then, I didn’t expect that just a few days later, you’d show up here in Paris."

"So I searched for you online, and you’re getting a lot of attention. There’s a really popular video on the international version of TikTok analyzing how you might be representing state capital abroad, just in a less conspicuous way, taking a private-sector approach. I saw a lot of people agreeing with it."

Hmm?

Lin Chu was momentarily dumbfounded.

’I haven’t really streamed lately, and I haven’t been keeping up with public opinion. When I was in Dubai, a lot of media outlets wanted to interview me, but I turned them all down. I haven’t paid any attention to the streaming platforms at all, so I completely missed this.’

"Send it to me. I’ll take a look."

Lin Chu said casually.

"You didn’t know?"

"Sure. The guy’s name is Five Stars Rising in the East. He’s pretty popular, but he’s mainly active on TikTok, not the domestic version. You can search for him."

Nodding, Lin Chu took out his phone, downloaded TikTok, and went through the registration and login process.

’The international version of TikTok doesn’t share data with the domestic one. Naturally, that means my follower count and my level of fame won’t carry over.’

Soon, Lin Chu found it.

The creator, named "Five Stars Rising in the East," was clearly a patriotic blogger. Judging from his video thumbnails, his content was a mix of debunking rumors, military analysis, armchair politics, nationalistic cheerleading... and intense online arguments.

He had a sizable following, too—an impressive five million-plus fans.

In fact, he was even livestreaming at that very moment.

On the screen was a man in his forties with a stubbly beard. He had a rugged, somewhat fierce look about him.

His IP address indicated he was in Switzerland.

He was currently analyzing the election across the ocean, speaking entirely in English at a rapid pace.

His concurrent viewership was also quite high.

Beside him was a beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed female assistant in a very sexy swimsuit. Her ample chest jiggled as she occasionally struck a seductive pose.

’What a strange vibe...’

Lin Chu couldn’t help but chuckle.

He wasn’t sure when this style had become so popular—interspersing photos of sexy women into dry, hardcore educational content. It was especially common back in the age of articles and forums.

Now, in the age of short-form video, this style felt like a fusion of retro and modern trends.

At the very least, it was guaranteed to grab the attention of some of the male viewers right from the start.

On the wall behind them hung a bilingual sign in both English and Chinese that read: "Everything is about sex, except for sex itself. Sex is about power. (Wilde)"

Lin Chu’s English was mediocre at best. He could manage a few dozen sentences for daily communication, so of course, he couldn’t understand the blogger’s current analysis.

He scrolled to the video Liu Chenhui had mentioned, the one the blogger had made previously.

It had a high number of likes—over a million.

The comments section had over 100,000 entries in various languages.

The blogger himself was speaking in English, but the video had Chinese subtitles. Lin Chu lit a cigarette and started watching.

"I recently started paying attention to a businessman named Lin Chu. I actually first noticed him through entertainment news. This guy gives away cars live to his fans, along with all sorts of other high-value gifts. He’s like a philanthropist or a performance artist. It’s all very surreal."

"His streaming schedule is pretty erratic, but that’s not the point. The point is, after doing a deep dive into his activities, I got a very strange feeling. He’s definitely working on something huge! The entertainment streams feel more like he’s just testing the waters!"

"So what has this guy done?"

"According to the intel I’ve gathered from various sources, first, his domestic business is targeting the top-tier luxury goods market. This is an extremely rare sector to enter in our country. Almost no one dares to try, and the odds are they wouldn’t succeed. It’s an industry that requires enormous upfront investment, has an extremely long investment cycle, and offers unclear short-term returns. Of course, if he pulls it off, it’ll be a powerhouse—a brand that could last a century. My friends, this is like marching onto someone else’s home turf to take their food."

...

"Second, he established a security company headquartered in Xiangjiang. He acquired the domestic license, and he has dozens of branches in other parts of the world. The scale wasn’t large before, but now he has a foot in the door. This is absolutely a prelude to overseas expansion, one that follows the path of capital but is led by force."

"Personally, I think this is a necessary move. Of course, it can’t stand up to state-level military power, but for regular business activities, it provides more than enough security."

...

"Okay, on to the third point. He bought a plot of land in Dubai, right next to the newly established economic cooperation zone, for four billion US dollars."

"My friends, do you have any idea what four billion US dollars means? That’s enough to place him in the top ten on a Forbes list of entrepreneurs under thirty, and all he did was buy a plot of land! The subsequent construction costs will certainly be even higher."

"The key is, buying land here in Dubai... Tsk, that’s an extremely long-term investment. It might not see any returns for five, or even ten years. Is that something a private entrepreneur would do?"