Film and Television World Life Record

Li Mu did this for no other reason than that he was attracted by Su Mingzhe's computer knowledge; a Tsinghua undergraduate and a Stanford graduate are not exactly rare finds.

Moreover, in Silicon Valley, the world's technology center, they are involved in the most cutting-edge VR technology.

In this situation, the efficiency is many times higher than that of self-study.

By working diligently and participating in projects, you can not only broaden your horizons and learn many new things, but you might also bring back valuable computer skills when you return to reality in the future.

Even if you can't become a senior software engineer, it's always good to have more skills, and you'll always find a use for them someday.

As the old saying goes, "Knowledge is the greatest wealth!"

……

Two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye, and the price of BTC has broken through $7000. The cryptocurrencies held by Li Mu have more than doubled again.

The cryptocurrency, originally valued at $625 million, has increased in total value to $1850 million, with a net value of $1511 million.

This time, Li Mu was more cautious. Even though the leverage ratio had dropped to 0.25 times, he only planned to increase the leverage to 0.8 times, borrowing $870 million in leveraged funds.

Most of these funds were used to buy back the existing cryptocurrencies, with a small portion going towards BTC to diversify risk.

Regardless, BTC still has 2 to 3 times the upside potential, so entering the market now can still yield a significant profit.

After a series of transactions, the total value of the cryptocurrency held reached $2720 million. In several separate transactions, a total of $1209 million in leveraged funds was borrowed, resulting in a net worth of $1511 million.

This was the last time Li Mu used leverage. There was still a huge surge ahead, but he dared not use it again.

With market volatility increasing and risks rising, we shouldn't be too greedy after already reaping substantial profits.

How much you can ultimately gain depends on how high the price can go next.

If it multiplies several times, your assets might break 100 million, and you'll achieve financial freedom.

……

Time passed quietly, and the company's layoff plan was officially announced, causing quite a stir, even reaching Wu Fei.

Unsurprisingly, according to the layoff criteria, he, as a key technical member of the company, was not included in the layoffs.

As a cutting-edge technology company, technology is the foundation for our presence in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, and also the basic condition for attracting capital investment.

Stanford graduate students aren't exactly commonplace; they're still highly sought after in the Bay Area.

If no one had taken advantage of the situation, Su Mingzhe, as a key technical staff member, would not have been laid off so easily.

As the technical face of the department, they wield considerable influence in a technology-driven company.

Therefore, department head David and Su Mingzhe maintained a fairly good relationship.

However, recently, since rumors of layoffs began to circulate, Li Mu has clearly sensed a slight change in David's attitude towards him.

There was a hint of indifference and even a touch of wariness in his demeanor.

Especially in the last two days, there have been rumors within the company that, in order to cope with the crisis, not only will there be layoffs, but also some adjustments to middle management.

The company's overall style is becoming more Silicon Valley-like, with a greater emphasis on technology and an increased proportion of management personnel with technical backgrounds.

Some managers who lack technical background or are not technically proficient may be laid off or replaced.

Given the company's current situation, it is impossible to recruit new management personnel; the only option is to promote from among the existing technical backbone.

As the technical face of the department, Su Mingzhe's technical skills are obviously many times better than those of David, the department head who graduated from an unknown university and is well-versed in workplace politics.

Judging from the rumors, Su Mingzhe does indeed pose a slight threat to David.

Could this be the reason he was later used as a pretext to be laid off?

Li Mu shook his head. All of this was just his guess; perhaps the other person really didn't mean it.

Regardless of whether it was unintentional or deliberate, with the system task in place, if he really ends up on the layoff list in the future, he won't have to show any mercy and can retaliate against the other party with a clear conscience.

Li Mu already had some contingency plans in this regard.

His company, Olkus, is a technology company specializing in VR virtual reality technology. Founded in 2012, it is considered quite powerful in the industry.

Due to some differences from the real world, VR technology here is generally lagging behind and is not as sought after by capital as it is in the real world.

Li Mu had also studied the reasons carefully. At the beginning, the two worlds were similar in terms of VR, and the point of divergence was in 2014.

In the real world, in 2014, Facebook acquired a VR virtual reality company for a staggering two billion US dollars.

In fact, this company has only been established for a little over two years and has raised less than 20 million US dollars in total funding.

As a global social media giant, Facebook's big move has attracted the attention of the industry and investors, bringing VR, a niche product, into the public eye.

Many investors have begun to pay attention to this field, which has driven the development of VR virtual reality technology.

Without Facebook, a social media giant, it would be impossible for VR technology to receive investment and widespread attention; it would remain a niche technology, popular only in small circles.

Perhaps it was a butterfly effect between two worlds, but in 2015, with hardware upgrades, some scenes of VR technology amazed some investors, attracting a wave of investment.

Olkus, the company where Su Mingzhe works, also took advantage of this trend and raised a large amount of funds.

He joined the company in 2015 during its expansion phase following financing, and has been with it for over two years.

However, despite its amazing effects, the product has always been a niche product, popular only in small circles, due to its immature technology and extremely high price.

Capital investment requires returns, and because the returns are nowhere in sight, the popularity of VR virtual reality technology has gradually declined over the past year.

Financing is becoming increasingly difficult.

Olkus, the company Su Mingzhe works for, is considered a high-quality company in the industry, with technology and strength, and has accumulated a strong foundation in VR technology.

However, the capital market has always been unreasonable. Despite the valuation being lowered again and again, no financing agreement was reached, and layoffs were needed to alleviate the crisis.

It is said that the company's valuation has now dropped from its peak of $2.5 million in early 2016 to around $1 million, which is still not satisfactory.

Fortunately, in the past two years, the company took advantage of its peak valuation to conduct several rounds of large-scale financing, totaling $80 million, which gave it some resources to survive.

……

Based on real-world experience, VR (Virtual Reality) technology is a project with great potential, and with breakthroughs in hardware, its market prospects are vast.

In the future, if the investment returns from cryptocurrencies are substantial enough, Li Mu plans to allocate some funds to invest in or acquire a portion of the company's shares.

If the employees quit, we'll become shareholders.

As for whether he would be laid off, Li Mu didn't care. This job was dispensable to him, and he would make a strong comeback one day.

As for David, if he really ends up on the layoff list, the only thing to do is fire him.

Chapter 5 Explanation

Time, just like that, slowly passed by.

That day, Li Mu suddenly received a call from China informing him that Su's mother had passed away. This made him somewhat emotional, as nothing had changed.

Seeing that Li Mu's expression was strange, Wu Fei asked in confusion, "Mingzhe, what's wrong?"

Li Mu gathered his thoughts, sighed softly, and said, "Mom's gone!"

"Oh! How could that be? Mom is perfectly healthy!"

Wu Fei was indeed very surprised. They had met once before the baby was born. Although Su's mother walked with a professional gentleness, everyone could see that she was radiant and full of energy.

Besides, she's a nurse; she should know best how to take care of herself. How could someone so young, just retired, be like this...?

Li Mu remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I need to go back to China to handle the funeral arrangements. For the next period of time, I'll have to trouble you to take care of the baby alone."

Wu Fei nodded, then suddenly remembered something, her expression hesitant. She opened her mouth, but still said, "Mingzhe, I heard your company is laying off employees, and it's quite a large-scale operation. At this crucial time, won't it cause you trouble if you go back to China?"

Li Mu wanted to explain the company's layoff criteria. Under normal circumstances, as a key technical staff member, even if he went back to China at this time, he wouldn't be laid off.

However, he was indeed laid off in the future. Let's not dwell on that, since he didn't care about the job anyway.

But Wu Fei was unaware of these things.

For her, the death of her mother-in-law, whom she had only met twice, left her with few thoughts other than worrying about her husband and regretting her mother-in-law's untimely death.

She was more concerned about Mingzhe's job situation. In the United States, for families like theirs who don't have much savings and have to pay for housing, cars, and children, unemployment is a very serious matter.

If you can't find another job, staying there will only make things worse.

Not only has their quality of life declined rapidly, but it has also become a matter of survival.

Faced with Su's mother's passing, Mingzhe could afford to be irrational, but she had to remain calm. Life must go on, and the baby needs a healthy environment to grow up in.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again: "Mingzhe, you went back to China and couldn't come back for a week, especially during a critical period of layoffs. Aren't you giving others a handle to use against you?"

What if I lose my job?

"Our family doesn't have much savings, we still have a baby to raise, and we still have a mortgage to pay..."

"I…"

As she spoke, her eyes began to redden.

Li Mu sighed softly, stepped forward, gently pulled her into his arms, and patted her back.

After a long pause, he said, "Don't worry, Feifei, you don't need to worry about the money. I won't let you work so hard in the future."

Wu Fei was also a little confused, thinking he was just saying comforting words.

He looked up in confusion.