Produced by Radar Finance | Written by Mo Enmeng | Edited by Shenhai

Just as the outside world thought that 'True Repayment Saga' had come to an end, Luo Yonghao spoiled the new heavy plot of the second season of 'True Repayment Saga' on Weibo.

Luo Yonghao, who self-deprecatingly described himself as having been 'quietly repaying debts' in recent years, 'declared his hand.' According to Luo Yonghao, the current 'True Repayment Saga' has repaid 824 million yuan, far exceeding the previously announced 'more than 600 million yuan in debts.'

Luo Yonghao also stated that the 300 million yuan investment and 300 million yuan loan provided by state capital during Smartisan's fundraising have been silently repaid for more than a year. Among them, the 300 million yuan investment originally had no obligation to repay, but it will also be treated as debt and fully repaid in the coming years.

In another long post released on the same day, Luo Yonghao also responded to the multiple criticisms launched by Zheng Gang, an investor who had previously invested in Smartisan Technology. Luo Yonghao stated that Smartisan Technology's borrowing from Zheng Gang's organization was true, and that the failure to repay upon maturity was also true, but the failure to repay was related to Zheng Gang's online criticism of him. Moreover, Zheng Gang's attempt to rally more than 20% of investors to demand a repurchase was far from the 50% threshold stipulated in the legal agreement for triggering a repurchase.

On August 26, Radar Finance contacted Zheng Gang regarding this matter, and he stated that he would respond accordingly but needed time. In a WeChat Moments post released on the same day, Zheng Gang sarcastically referred to Luo Yonghao's 'heroic writing' as 'bearish writing.'

With the release of two long posts, Luo Yonghao, who had previously 'retired' from the internet, will officially return to social media in full force: 'After more than two years... with these 15,000 words, I will return to the social media world, opening accounts on a total of nine platforms, full steam ahead...'

To help wrap up the second season of 'True Repayment Saga' as soon as possible, Luo Yonghao revealed that he plans to repay debts through methods such as recording variety shows, accepting advertisements and endorsements, inviting celebrities and film stars to his livestream for interaction and product promotion, and even hosting weddings, funerals, and events related to marriage. He can also repay debts by resuming the production of his commercial comedy blockbuster and serious documentary 'True Repayment Saga,' which share the same name.

As for Luo Yonghao's new entrepreneurial project, which he has been quietly working on, the information disclosed on the domestic website of Thin Red Line is still limited. However, on the company's official website and Xiaohongshu account, Luo Yonghao's team is recruiting talent for Thin Red Line, with some positions targeted at overseas markets, indicating that although Thin Red Line's AR project has not yet officially launched, it has already considered overseas markets as an important aspect.

Luo Yonghao has repaid 824 million yuan, and 'True Repayment Saga' has a second season

On August 26, Luo Yonghao released two long posts on the first day of the new week on Weibo, one of which revealed many details about the second season of 'True Repayment Saga.' According to Luo Yonghao, as of now, 'True Repayment Saga' has actually repaid a total of 824 million yuan, far exceeding the previously announced 'more than 600 million yuan in debts.'

Luo Yonghao explained that the actual amount repaid was larger than the originally announced amount due to additional compensation arising from various legal disputes during the repayment process and various fines resulting from delays, which increased the total debt by nearly 100 million yuan. Additionally, some new debts arose due to certain circumstances that occurred at the end of 2022.

Regarding the 824 million yuan that has been repaid, Luo Yonghao provided further clarification in his Weibo post. Firstly, 548 million yuan was repaid in cash after taxes since starting his livestream e-commerce company in April 2020. Secondly, 180 million yuan was obtained from transferring the mobile phone team and intellectual property rights to ByteDance in 2018.

In addition to the above two main components, the repayment also included 66 million yuan generated by signing a personal unlimited guarantee to resume factory operations and using remaining materials to produce finished products to settle debts after Smartisan Technology's funding chain broke and production lines stopped in 2018. Furthermore, nearly 30 million yuan was generated by the debt settlement team of Smartisan Technology selling the company's remaining assets in various ways from 2018 to the end of 2019 to repay debts.

At the same time, Luo Yonghao added that the list of repayment data and bank transaction details have been submitted to the national tax authorities during this summer's tax inspection.

Despite having repaid 824 million yuan in debts, 'True Repayment Saga' has not yet come to a close. According to Luo Yonghao, when Smartisan Technology raised funds, it received 300 million yuan in investment and 300 million yuan in loans from state capital, totaling 600 million yuan.

The reason this debt was not included in the first season of 'True Repayment Saga' was that the expiration date of this debt contract was at the end of 2022, while when 'True Repayment Saga' began in 2018, this debt had not yet taken effect and would only occur four years later, leaving room for potential changes.

Furthermore, there were other considerations for not including this debt in the first season of 'True Repayment Saga.' Luo Yonghao had considered capitalizing on this debt by repaying it with publicly traded securities after the listing of his livestream e-commerce business, which is why this debt was not included in the initial plan to repay with cash.

Later, Jiaojiao Friends became a Hong Kong-listed company. Luo Yonghao explained that because their creditors were state-owned capital, it was inconvenient for them to hold shares outside of mainland China. Secondly, due to the low trading volume of Hong Kong stocks in recent years, if a large number of shares were sold to repay debts after the listing, it could lead to a sharp drop in share prices, seriously damaging the interests of Jiaojiao Friends' investors and entrepreneurial team.

Considering these factors, Luo Yonghao decided to cede his equity interests to partners and the founding team before integrating the livestream e-commerce business into the listed company. Then, through other interest swaps (simply put, obtaining more cash benefits), he continued to cooperate with Jiaojiao Friends in livestreaming and ultimately used the earned cash to directly repay this debt.

Luo Yonghao further explained that of the 600 million yuan in the second season of 'True Repayment Saga,' 300 million yuan was debt, and the remaining 300 million yuan was investment capital. According to normal business logic and relevant laws, investments inherently involve both gains and losses; otherwise, they would be loans rather than investments. However, Luo Yonghao stated that due to various considerations, including public sentiment towards 'state capital,' the long-term development needs of the company's brand, and his personal brand, "all drive us to try to handle things better and more safely."

The specific approach proposed by Luo Yonghao was to, like in the first season of 'True Repayment Saga,' once again proactively forgo debt restructuring negotiations and directly promise the state-owned creditors that, in addition to the 300 million yuan loan, the 300 million yuan investment loss would also be treated as debt, meaning that Luo Yonghao would need to repay 100% of the 600 million yuan principal in cash.

According to Luo Yonghao, this debt "has been silently repaid for more than a year and will be fully repaid in the coming years." Additionally, due to various complex historical reasons, approximately 14 million yuan of Smartisan Technology's supply chain debt remains outstanding and will be fully repaid in the first half of next year.

However, Luo Yonghao denied that he was 'addicted to earning money to repay debts,' as some friends have joked, insisting that doing so was largely motivated by Maslow's concept of 'self-actualization in life.'

According to the financial report previously released by Jiaojiao Friends Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed company, the company recorded revenue of 1.074 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 152.4% year-on-year, with a net profit of 114 million yuan, an increase of 795.3% year-on-year.

On the same day that Luo Yonghao released two long posts, Jiaojiao Friends Holdings also unveiled its financial results for the first half of the year. In the first half of this year, the company recorded revenue of 622 million yuan, an increase of 43.8% year-on-year, with a net profit of 84 million yuan, an increase of 93.8% year-on-year. During the first half of the year, the company completed a total gross merchandise volume of 5.96 billion yuan on new media platforms, an increase of 18.2% year-on-year.

In Luo Yonghao's view, he has caught the wave of livestream e-commerce, but he believes that this is an opportunity given to him by the times, a so-called 'overwhelming fortune.' Although all of this is legitimate business activity that creates value, he actually dislikes it very much and does not truly feel that he deserves it 100%.

Luo Yonghao remarked, 'I am grateful to fate for giving me such an opportunity to turn things around during my toughest moments. Correspondingly, I also want to do more and better to live up to such arrangements and gifts.'

Former investment partners turn into enemies, and the 'Luo-Zheng War' escalates

After revealing some details about the second season of 'True Repayment Saga,' Luo Yonghao launched a 'counterattack' against Zheng Gang, the Smartisan Technology investor who had previously criticized him, in another long post titled 'Clarification of the Truth About Long-term Rumors and Slanders by Smartisan Technology Investor Zheng Gang.'

Radar Finance notes that Luo Yonghao had previously responded to the dispute with Zheng Gang on January 7 last year. At that time, Luo Yonghao addressed Zheng Gang's allegations, including not holding shareholder and board meetings for three years, kowtowing to US-based funds such as Li Feng and Zhang Ying, and offering unscrupulous agreements that allowed investors to abandon billions of yuan in repurchases in exchange for minority equity in his new company.

Speaking out again this time, Luo Yonghao also mentioned that when he first responded, he did so calmly and in a composed manner. Although Zheng Gang continued to stir up trouble and insult him online, Luo Yonghao chose not to engage further.

Luo Yonghao stated that it was only when he became a hot topic of public opinion again due to his involvement in the Yu Minhong-Dong Yuhui incident this year that Zheng Gang 'brought out the dirty water he had been splashing for more than a year and splashed it all over again,' causing significant reputational harm to the company and himself. Currently, the company's legal department has completed evidence collection and will formally sue Zheng Gang for long-term rumors, slanders, and defamations.

In this long post, Luo Yonghao also selected several main points to respond accordingly. He first pointed out that the venture capital agreement clearly stated in black and white that for Smartisan Technology's investment shareholders to force a repurchase of their shares, more than 50% of the investor shareholders must sign to trigger the repurchase. However, Zheng Gang only rallied a little over 20% of investors, far from the 50% threshold stipulated in the legal agreement.

Luo Yonghao stated that Zheng Gang's demands for a repurchase were unreasonable in every way. If Zheng Gang insists on pursuing legal action, he will only succeed if he and his accomplices can manipulate the legal system to create false convictions, which is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, Zheng Gang has still initiated frivolous lawsuits to force a repurchase.

Regarding the matter of 'Smartisan Technology borrowing 15 million yuan from Zheng Gang and failing to repay it upon maturity,' Luo Yonghao stated that Smartisan Technology did indeed borrow from Zheng Gang's organization and failed to repay upon maturity. However, Luo Yonghao pointed out that before this company-to-company loan matured, Zheng Gang, who claimed to be his friend, had already initiated frivolous lawsuits to force a repurchase and had continuously insulted and defamed him online for several months.

In Luo Yonghao's view, if Zheng Gang wants to talk about friendship, he can personally pay back the money Smartisan Technology owes Zheng Gang's company. However, Zheng Gang cannot 'file frivolous lawsuits to force me to repurchase while clearly having the terms in black and white, nor can he insult me online every day.' If Zheng Gang does not want to talk about friendship, then everything should be handled professionally, and he should not expect Luo Yonghao to personally repay the company-to-company loan.

Luo Yonghao also stated that, consistent with his usual Be generous , he has proactively assumed and repaid more than half of the company's debts amounting to billions of yuan and does not mind repaying the money Smartisan Technology owes Zheng Gang. If Zheng Gang wants him to repay the money, he needs to shoot an apology video and promise never to commit such frivolous acts against any entrepreneur again. If Zheng Gang 'values face over money,' Luo Yonghao will not only praise him but also donate the money to charity.

Regarding Zheng Gang's accusation that he did not share the benefits of his new ventures with Smartisan Technology's old shareholders, Luo Yonghao outlined a timeline. When Smartisan Technology was struggling in 2018, Luo Yonghao attempted to save the company through an internally incubated project called Bullet Messenger, which gave Smartisan Technology a direct 25% stake as the incubator.

After Smartisan Technology and Bullet Messenger failed successively, Luo Yonghao turned to Xiaoye Technology in 2019 to earn quick money to repay debts. However, he only stayed for half a year before withdrawing due to significant uncertainties in industry policies and before completing a shareholding plan for Smartisan Technology's old shareholders.

Subsequently, Luo Yonghao launched his livestream e-commerce company after the 2020 Spring Festival to repay debts. At the time, when designing the company's shareholding structure, Luo Yonghao stated that he and his partners offered a 5% original share plan for Smartisan Technology's old shareholders. Due to policy compliance, procedures, and some restrictive agreements, these shares will not be fully allocated to these old shareholders, old partners, and old colleagues until around January 31, 2025.

When launching Thin Red Line Technology in 2022, 5% of the original shares were reserved for Smartisan Technology's old shareholders from the start, as Thin Red Line was a venture-funded company from the beginning.

Luo Yonghao believes that professional investors must understand that investments involve both gains and losses. Investments are not loans, and investors must accept the risks of their investment decisions when they fail. He also emphasized that entrepreneurs who use fund investments have no legal or ethical obligation to compensate investors for losses after doing their best. While it is noble for entrepreneurs to offer some compensation to investors who lost money on their previous projects when starting a new venture, it is not an obligation or standard practice.

Regarding the request for Smartisan Technology's old shareholders who voluntarily receive original shares of Thin Red Line to sign a statement waiving their repurchase claims, Luo Yonghao explained that this is a common practice among professional investment institutions for risk control purposes. 'When a new company is established and raises funds, investors require entrepreneurs to disclose and eliminate financial risks and hidden dangers, which is a standard practice among professional investment institutions. Otherwise, if the new company succeeds in the future, and some old shareholders of the previous company initiate malicious lawsuits, it will cause significant losses to both the new company and its founders.'

In this long post, Luo Yonghao also revealed that when the 5% original share plan for Smartisan Technology's old shareholders offered by Jiaojiao Friends is implemented at the end of January next year, the shares will be allocated to these old shareholders based on their investment proportions in Smartisan Technology at the time, excluding Zheng Gang and those who colluded with him to initiate frivolous lawsuits.

Regarding Zheng Gang, Luo Yonghao admitted that the two of them 'cannot say they have absolutely no personal feelings,' but he evaluated Zheng Gang as 'someone who has always been mentally confused and lacks logic, although he has always been very active and enthusiastic in his work.' Out of old friendships, Luo Yonghao had tried to tolerate Zheng Gang, but as the matter has escalated to this point, he can only publicly refute and clarify.

In response to Luo Yonghao's long posts, Zheng Gang did not choose to remain silent. At noon on the same day, Zheng Gang responded on WeChat Moments, saying, 'Is this all the energy you have? Technique as shown: The moon only ever shows you one side; you'll never see the other. The focus of the 15,000-word post is the clarification of 'True Repayment Saga,' right? The first part only wrote 1,000 words, omitting quite a bit, huh? Now you've redefined 'heroic writing' as 'bearish writing'... It deserves a negative score and should be kicked out.'

At the same time, Zheng Gang also said that he had read the second article written by Luo Yonghao, "It's very good, the Luo's logic is clearly written, I would give it 90%." Zheng Gang also said, "Wait until I can speak the truth with evidence, pictures, and videos to convince normal people (I don't care about you and me).","Luo Yonghao Ends "Retirement" from the Internet, "Niuhulu" Returns with a High Profile

In fact, Luo Yonghao's consecutive long articles are just the beginning of his full return to the internet.

The clock goes back to June 12, 2022, when Luo Yonghao bid farewell to the outside world on Weibo, "It's almost been 13 years in the blink of an eye, time flies. Tomorrow, I will officially quit Weibo and all social platforms to start my business again."

It is worth noting that when announcing his "retirement" from the internet before, Luo Yonghao renamed his personal social media account to "Make Friends Live Studio" and stepped down from the management of "Make Friends." After that, Luo Yonghao only kept an account named "Luo Yonghao's Rumor Debunking Account" to have a "formal place to refute rumors and clarify things."

Although Luo Yonghao announced his "retirement" from the internet, he did not completely disappear from the public eye. In addition to appearing irregularly in the live streaming room of Make Friends, Luo Yonghao has responded to events such as the exposure of unpaid wages of Make Friends on Weibo, and also served as an off-site commentator to defend Dong Yuhui when Oriental Selection was embroiled in a "small essay" controversy.

Now, with Luo Yonghao's high-profile official announcement of his return, the account "Luo Yonghao's Rumor Debunking Account" has been renamed "Luo Yonghao Niuhulu." As of press time, the number of followers on Luo Yonghao's Niuhulu Weibo account has exceeded 460,000.

After Niuhulu's official "return to the palace," Luo Yonghao and his team decided to go all-in, stir up trouble, and use all legal, compliant, and ethical ways to "hype things up" and ramp up cash income in various ways to repay the remaining debt of over 500 million yuan as soon as possible.

The plot of the second season of "Zhen Huan Zhuan" will include, but is not limited to, Luo Yonghao fully resuming the updating and operation of his social media accounts, and this time, he will operate simultaneously on nine online platforms. At the same time, Luo Yonghao will also partially resume recording variety shows, fully resume taking commercial advertisements and endorsements, and fully resume inviting cultural celebrities and movie stars to interact and sell products in the live streaming room...

To repay his debts, Luo Yonghao even said on Weibo that his repayment methods also include partially resuming hosting services for weddings and funerals; and fully resuming the creation of the eponymous commercial comedy blockbuster and serious documentary "Zhen Huan Zhuan."

However, along with Luo Yonghao's high-profile return, the progress of his startup project "Thin Red Line" has also attracted widespread attention from the outside world. According to Tianyancha, Beijing Thin Red Line Technology Co., Ltd. was established in July 2018 with a registered capital of 100 million yuan. It is a company primarily engaged in technology promotion and application services.

In November 2022, Thin Red Line announced the completion of approximately $50 million in angel round funding, with a post-investment valuation of approximately $200 million. It is reported that this round of funding was led by Meituan Dragonball, with follow-on investments from BlueRun Ventures, Legend Capital, Matrix Partners China, DJI, ATMCapital, and individuals such as Li Wanqiang and Wu Yongming.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of this year, SOHU Technology reported that it learned from multiple sources that Luo Yonghao's Thin Red Line AR business had slowed down in hardware and software research and development, and AR-related businesses had laid off employees, potentially shifting to the large model industry. In response, a company representative said that the report was untrue and that Luo Yonghao was still focused on AR hardware and software.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and currently, there is still no specific introduction to Luo Yonghao's new startup project on the domestic official website of Thin Red Line. The content displayed on the official website is mainly job postings from the Thin Red Line team. Judging from the job posting page, Thin Red Line has at least several departments, including Software Engineering, Software Products, Strategic Planning, Supply Chain Management, and Overseas E-commerce.

Radar Finance noticed that the job descriptions for multiple positions in the aforementioned departments mentioned AI, smart hardware, and other terms.

Not long ago, Luo Yonghao also said on his official account on the Xiaohongshu platform that due to the gradual expansion of business in Singapore and the United States, Make Friends and Thin Red Line would continue to recruit talent. Among them, the overseas branch of Thin Red Line is recruiting positions mainly including the company president's assistant and the head of after-sales customer service. However, since the company is still in its initial stage, it cannot apply for local work visas for many people, so job seekers need to have long-term visas or status.

According to "Lei Technology" news, according to information disclosed by Luo Yonghao in a previous live broadcast, Thin Red Line will officially launch two new products in September, priced at $199 (approximately RMB 1,426) and $299 (approximately RMB 2,144), respectively. There are also rumors that these two new products may be an AI headset and an AI native hardware.

On this occasion of his full return to social media platforms, some netizens left a message in Luo Yonghao's Weibo comment section, saying, "Why haven't you announced what you promised to announce?" In response, Luo Yonghao replied, "Which project are you asking about? Oh, that one, hmm, we have our own process... We will consider announcing it at an appropriate opportunity... I forgot the other words," seemingly responding to the progress of the new company's project.

Luo Yonghao, who calls himself the "original source of traffic," will bring what new stories to the outside world next? Radar Finance will continue to follow up.