Returning to Bilibili, after Luo Yonghao's conversation with Li Xiang raked in millions of views, did he bring out a box of "instant noodles"?

Lao Luo is at it again!

It has been 11 years since the publication of Never Stop Tinkering as Long as Life Endures. This 53 - year - old man seems to be constantly racing on the path of entrepreneurship. He stumbles, gets up, changes lanes, and stumbles again, living a real - life version of The Old Man and the Sea.

On August 19, 2025, his new project emerged: the in - depth Bilibili podcast Luoyonghao's Crossroads. The first guest was Li Xiang, the founder of Li Auto. The conversation between the so - called "jinx of the industry" and the "top post - 80s entrepreneur" was highly topical due to their similar experiences, lasting for 7 hours.

On screen, one shed tears to thank Wang Xing and revealed that his wife manages the money, while the other admitted to seeing a psychiatrist, and they shared their childhood experiences. From a live - streaming salesman to an in - depth content creator, from being burdened with debts to being debt - free, from a controversial figure to reshaping his image, how will Luoyonghao, who is always at the forefront of the storm, continue his business story?

01

From a Dropout Teenager to the "Jinx of the Industry"

"If you owe the bank 100 yuan, it's your problem. If you owe the bank 100 million yuan, it's the bank's problem. I thought to myself, I owe 600 million yuan, which means I've taken down six banks, right?" In 2020, Luoyonghao joked about his debt crisis on Talk Show Conference.

Luoyonghao always stirs up waves online. Dropping out of high school, starting a business by setting up a stall, and being in debt of 600 million yuan... From the founder of Smartisan Technology to a live - streaming internet celebrity, and then to his "Real Debt Repayment Saga", his story has always been full of drama and topicality.

In 1972, Luoyonghao was born into a family of grassroots cadres in Yanbian, Jilin. In his sophomore year of high school, he voluntarily dropped out because he "couldn't stand the rigid education system" and began his "social university" life: sifting sand, setting up stalls, and even going to South Korea to promote Chinese aphrodisiacs. These diverse experiences laid the foundation for the later Lao Luo, who was known for his astonishing remarks and deep understanding of street - smart wisdom.

Luoyonghao wrote My Struggle with a bold and sincere attitude - "A tough life needs no explanation". His writing is like sandpaper, rubbing off the illusion of a "perfect life" and revealing the real and stubborn struggle in reality. It is straightforward, rough, and touches people's hearts. Admirers love his true nature, his lack of pretense, and his courage to challenge authority; haters think he is sarcastic, slippery, and loves to ride on the coattails of popularity.

In the eyes of the world, Lao Luo is a capable person who dares to, can, and knows how to tinker. Every attempt of his refreshes the public's perception, so he self - mocks, "An English teacher who can't tell jokes isn't a good CEO." His entrepreneurial path can be called a "history of chasing trends": He once opened a mutton kebab shop, traded in medicinal herbs, did futures, sold computer accessories, and later taught at New Oriental.

In 2006, he quit his job and founded Bullog, which had over one million hits in two years but was later closed due to the issue of the scale of his remarks. After the website closed, he turned to publishing a best - selling autobiographical book and founded a personal English training institution. Just as he became well - known, he plunged into the mobile phone manufacturing industry.

In 2012, Lao Luo founded Smartisan Technology, vowing to make "the best mobile phone in the Eastern Hemisphere" and claiming to acquire Apple. However, radical design and poor supply chain management led to frequent mass - production problems. By 2018, the cumulative sales of Smartisan Technology were less than 5 million units, the capital chain broke, and Luoyonghao was burdened with a debt of 600 million yuan. To pay off the debt, in 2020, Lao Luo switched to live - streaming e - commerce.

02

The "Number One Live - streaming Salesman on Douyin" in the Real Debt Repayment Saga

In 2018, when Smartisan Technology went bankrupt and Luoyonghao was in debt of over 600 million yuan, the outside world was full of pessimism. But Luoyonghao started his debt - repayment journey through year - round live - streaming e - commerce and a self - mocking image of a "debt - repaying deadbeat".

On March 26, 2020, Luoyonghao announced that he had signed a contract with Douyin to become its exclusive live - streaming e - commerce platform. On April 1, his debut live - stream was a huge success: the cumulative viewership exceeded 48 million, and the total payment transaction amount exceeded 110 million yuan, setting the highest live - streaming sales record on the Douyin platform at that time. According to Tech Planet, his signing fee was as high as 60 million yuan. Since then, Luoyonghao's e - commerce territory has expanded rapidly.

Live - streaming e - commerce provided him with a fast - track to cash in. According to Tech Planet data, the placement fee for the first live - stream was as high as 600,000 yuan per product. The 22 products brought in over 12 million yuan in upfront revenue; plus about 22 million yuan in commissions (calculated at 20%) and nearly 2 million yuan in reward sharing, the conservative estimate of the single - live - stream income was 36 million yuan.

After establishing Douyin as his main battlefield, Luoyonghao accelerated his commercialization: He opened an exclusive store called "Make Friends" on Taobao and registered the trademark "Lao Luo's Strict Selection". In 2021, in an exclusive interview on the program My Bronze Age, Luoyonghao said that the 600 - million - yuan debt that was originally planned to be paid off in five years could be paid off within three years without any accidents.

This means that Luoyonghao earned 600 million yuan in three years, an average of 200 million yuan per year. According to Titanium Media, the annual earnings of Luoyonghao's team exceeded the net profits of 60% (2,659) of the listed companies on the entire A - share market in 2020.

A reporter from Southern Weekly once sighed, "You have to admire Luoyonghao's ability. He stepped on dog poop, but he made the dog poop regret it." In the public's eyes, "He exudes a rebellious spirit, mocks and challenges the unfair social order in the posture of a fighter, and succeeds."

03

Feuds in the Arena: Confronting Investors, Employees, and Former Employers

As his business territory unfolds in front of the live - stream camera, Lao Luo has also stirred up waves in the public opinion arena with his straightforward and confrontational attitude.

Recently, Luoyonghao fired a shot at the mystery of Dong Yuhui's income and also exposed Yu Minhong's secrets. His words, "Dong Yuhui's annual income will be two or three billion yuan after going solo", pushed the topic to the top of the hot search list, and the comment section was almost boiling.

On the surface, Lao Luo was speaking up for Dong Yuhui: "When working with a stingy boss (implicitly referring to Yu Minhong), he couldn't even save enough for the down - payment of a house. Now that he's on his own, his annual income is directly two or three billion yuan." But those in the know are aware that the feud between Luo and Yu has a long history.

Twenty years ago, Luoyonghao, a high - school dropout, impressed Yu Minhong with a ten - thousand - word job application letter and was exceptionally recruited as a teacher at New Oriental. Later, he was pushed out of the company for calling it "profit - oriented" and even sued his former employer in a copyright dispute, finally getting a compensation of 7,901 yuan.

In recent years, the conflicts have become even more intense: From supporting Dong Yuhui during the "Small Essay Incident" to fiercely criticizing Dongfang Selection for selling "neck meat", Lao Luo even exposed a lot of inside information about New Oriental in a 5,600 - word long article and threatened to make Yu Minhong retire if he was provoked again. Confronting Yu Minhong has become his regular routine. This time when he dug up the old scores, netizens joked, "After 20 years, he still can't let it go?"

This is not the first time Luoyonghao has caused controversial remarks. From his early "theory of no parental grace" to his ten - thousand - word counter - attack against investor Zheng Gang, calling him a "baby - like capitalist who talks nonsense and splashes dirt recklessly", when having a feud with former Smartisan Technology employees, he severely criticized them for "not focusing on work and speculating in cryptocurrencies all day long".

He could have retired after paying off his debts, but in August 2025, Luoyonghao got caught in another public opinion storm for speaking up for Yang Yuanyuan in the Wuhan University Library incident. While most people criticized Yang Yuanyuan for academic fraud and an arrogant attitude, Luoyonghao took the opposite stance: "I don't care if she has a good character or if she committed fraud. I only look at the sexual harassment incident she reported. She was right about that."

These remarks sparked great controversy. Some criticized him for "skirting the main issue to gain attention", while others praised him for sticking to principles.

04

The Recording Scandal: The "Leak and Hype" Riddle

The day after the launch of Luoyonghao's first podcast episode, Luoyonghao announced that he would unveil the TBT project the next day. "TBT is finally coming! Nine years have passed. What has changed is the track, but what remains the same is the strong desire to bring some different innovations to this track. Reimagine your perception of instant noodles. See you tomorrow!" Luoyonghao said.

Previously, a suspected private recording of Luoyonghao was exposed, revealing the inside story of the failure of Smartisan Mobile. In the recording, he admitted for the first time that during the period of Smartisan Technology, he had secretly promoted an innovative project codenamed "TBT" and said that it was "extremely attractive", even to the extent of diverting the already scarce team resources.

The TBT project is regarded as the predecessor of the TNT workstation and was Luoyonghao's early attempt to "redefine the personal computer". Due to the over - allocation of most of the energy and resources to TBT, it indirectly led to the misallocation of resources in the Smartisan mobile phone business and the break of the capital chain, resulting in failure. Lao Luo also admitted in the recording that "the team was already overwhelmed at that time", but the project's appeal was irresistible. The recording also revealed that this project, which had been dormant for nine years, was now ready to be launched.

The leakage of the recording also raised many questions. Netizens questioned the identity of the recorder and the motive for the leakage, accusing the person of "violating business ethics and infringing on personal privacy"; some also speculated whether this was a pre - warm - up for Luoyonghao's recent podcast project or a hype for the launch of the TBT project.

Regarding the TBT project, some netizens guessed that "reimagine your perception of instant noodles" implies a hardware product. Some netizens also left messages on Luoyonghao's Weibo: "Nine years... Finally, a box of instant noodles is served." "What does it mean, Teacher Luo? I don't understand." "It should be an instant noodle product."

Looking back at Luoyonghao's entrepreneurial history, in 2022, Luoyonghao announced his high