Capital City, Borui Club
On the ring, Li Mushi, dressed in a black martial arts training outfit, launched a relentless storm of attacks at her opponent. Front kicks, whip kicks, side kicks, knee strikes, straight punches, horizontal elbow strikes, each move flowed seamlessly into the next, leaving onlookers almost breathless.
She was like a beautiful black panther, determined to tear her prey apart on this small stage!
A large crowd had gathered around the ring. They were all coaches and staff members of the club, cheering Li Mushi on enthusiastically. Their encouragement only made her offensive momentum grow more fierce and imposing.
However, her opponent was far from weak. In fact, he was even stronger.
Faced with her ferocious assault, he handled it with effortless composure. He sidestepped and dodged, raised his arms to block, and lifted his legs to guard his body. Though he retreated step by step, his defense remained airtight, steadily draining Li Mushi's strength with every failed attack.
Bang!
Li Mushi's spinning side kick was once again blocked by Lu Chen's forearm. When she landed, her supporting left leg visibly buckled, and she stumbled, nearly falling on the ring.
She was exhausted.
Lu Chen took two steps back instead of counterattacking. Wearing a faint smile, he simply looked at Li Mushi.
Her chest heaved several times. She glared at him in frustration and embarrassment before finally letting out a defeated sigh.
"Forget it, forget it. I'm done fighting. Sparring with you is the most boring thing ever. You're all defense and no excitement!"
Lu Chen merely smiled without saying a word.
Still unwilling to give up, Li Mushi asked, "You're so busy these days, running between Hong Kong and the Mongolian grasslands. How do you even manage to keep your martial arts skills in shape?"
She genuinely couldn't accept it.
Ever since losing to Lu Chen in a sparring match half a year ago, she had specifically hired top-level kickboxing coaches and spent countless hours training hard. She was confident that her strength had improved tremendously.
So when she learned that Lu Chen had returned to Capital City, she had practically dragged him to Borui Club for another match.
Yet this time, Lu Chen had shattered her confidence simply by defending and blocking throughout the entire fight.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen replied,
"Maybe it's because I'm naturally gifted."
The martial arts skills Lu Chen possessed came from Mo Ran's memories. Moreover, he truly did have exceptional talent in this area. After more than a year of persistent training, reaching the level of Mo Ran at his peak was no problem at all.
More importantly, Lu Chen genuinely enjoyed practicing martial arts. Training made him stronger, more energetic, and filled him with confidence and fighting spirit. No matter how busy work became, he always made time to maintain his condition.
Li Mushi had improved, but he had not stood still.
In fact, he had become even stronger.
Hearing such an answer, Li Mushi could only roll her eyes.
Licking her lips unwillingly, she declared fiercely,
"Don't get cocky. Next time, I'll definitely beat you!"
Her fiery red lips parted slightly, revealing pearly white teeth and the tip of her tongue. Amid her beauty lingered a trace of wild danger, creating a unique charm that even made Lu Chen's heartbeat quicken.
Smiling, he cupped his fists in salute toward her.
"I'll be ready anytime."
Below the ring, Wan Yong, one of Borui Club's coaches, secretly gave Lu Chen a thumbs-up.
Lu Chen blinked, then laughed.
After leaving the ring, the two went to the locker room to shower and change clothes. Later, they sat down together in the lounge area by the window.
A club attendant brought them coffee and tea.
Having freshened up and redone her makeup, Li Mushi seemed like a completely different person. Dressed in a light-colored office-lady suit, she had returned to her usual elegant and beautiful appearance, without the slightest trace of the combative aura she had displayed earlier.
But Lu Chen knew that she had merely concealed her claws and fangs for the time being.
"Lu Chen, do you have any good suggestions regarding the future development of our company?"
Li Mushi took a sip of coffee. After setting down her cup, she asked seriously,
"The reason I invited you here today is that I want to hear your ideas. The company's expansion has run into major obstacles recently."
Muchen Crowdfunding Network Co., Ltd. was officially established in September of last year. The Crowdfunding Website went online that same month and obtained a Business Concept Copyright Protection Certificate, granting it one year of legal protection.
As the founder of the crowdfunding platform, Lu Chen had transferred his ownership stakes in the company twice. In the end, he retained only a 10% non-dilutable founder's share, effectively withdrawing from the website's day-to-day operations.
Over the past year, as a new type of online business model, the crowdfunding platform had developed at an astonishing pace under Li Mushi's management. Backed by the Li family's resources and connections, its business volume continued to grow steadily, and it had become profitable very early on.
At present, Muchen Crowdfunding employed several hundred people. At its peak, more than five hundred crowdfunding projects were running simultaneously on the platform, and the amount of capital being raised had reached a remarkably impressive level.
The website's profit model was not particularly complicated, nor was the platform itself technologically sophisticated. The fact that it had achieved such outstanding results in such a short period of time was undoubtedly due to the strength of its business concept.
However, concepts are also the easiest things to imitate and learn from.
Many major players in both the internet and financial industries had long been eyeing this lucrative piece of the market. Therefore, once the crowdfunding platform's copyright protection expired, more than a dozen similar websites launched across the country almost simultaneously, and competition became extraordinarily fierce.
As a result, the pressure on Li Mushi became immense.
Among her competitors were several powerful industry giants with strong backing and abundant financial resources. Since they had set their sights on this market, they were never going to be satisfied without taking a significant share of it.
Although Li Mushi had anticipated such a situation, she had not expected the competitors' offensive to be so aggressive. A market that had once belonged entirely to her was suddenly being carved up bit by bit.
Naturally, she was anxious.
The reason she had dragged Lu Chen over today, and sparred with him first, was partly to vent some of the frustration and negative emotions she had been bottling up. Only afterward did she seek his advice.
"I know you must have a solution!"
At present, the crowdfunding website still held the largest market share by a considerable margin, leaving all later entrants far behind. Nevertheless, Li Mushi believed in preparing for danger even in times of security. She had no intention of simply living off past achievements.
In fact, she was planning to list the crowdfunding company on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM).
"The crowdfunding platform was your creation from the very beginning. You don't want to see your hard work destroyed, do you?"
"And don't forget, you are still a shareholder. Once the company goes public..."
First she appealed to reason, then to emotion, and finally to profit. In order to extract some useful insights from Lu Chen, Li Mushi had truly put a lot of thought into her approach.
Lu Chen could only laugh helplessly.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Give me a couple of days and I'll prepare a report for you."
If he searched through the memories from the Dream World, he should be able to find plenty of useful information.
Of course, whether the crowdfunding platform could ultimately overcome its many powerful competitors would still depend largely on Li Mushi's own abilities.
Only then was Li Mushi satisfied.
"That's more like it."
Suddenly, she remembered something important.
"The team you've been training at our club... are you finally planning to put them to use?"
Lu Chen was immediately stunned.
(End of Chapter)
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