Luo Yonghao Accused of Riding the Hype for Speaking Up for Dong Yuhui: Why Does He Keep Targeting Oriental Selection?
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"Oriental Selection might be the most unfair, absurd, and exploitative phenomenon-level company toward young people I've seen since the birth of live-streaming e-commerce in China."
On the evening of December 16, after Yu Minhong and Dong Yuhui appeared together in a live stream, Luo Yonghao publicly criticized Oriental Selection.
Known for his bold remarks, Luo Yonghao has repeatedly "championed justice" for Dong Yuhui in recent days, voicing his grievances on Weibo and frequently landing himself on trending topics, becoming an unignorable figure in the "small essay incident."
Although he announced his "retirement from the internet" long ago, the web is still full of his legends—and even fresh, hot takes keep pouring in. Why is Luo Yonghao so fixated on tearing into Oriental Selection this time?
What Does the Small Essay Incident Have to Do with Luo Yonghao?
Many bystanders have grown weary over the past few days as Dong Yuhui, Oriental Selection, Yu Minhong, and Sun Dongxu repeatedly appeared in trending topics. At one point, nearly half of the top 50 trending hashtags were related to the small essay incident.
Even Luo Yonghao, who was initially unrelated, has frequently become the protagonist of trending hashtags.
Weibo screenshot
The first instance occurred on December 15th. Luo Yonghao, who typically only debunks rumors without public commentary, finally couldn't "hold back" and publicly expressed his support for Dong Yuhui. He even directly called out, "I'd be very willing to join some friends in investment and business circles" to support Dong Yuhui's smooth entrepreneurial journey.
Having broken his silence, the veteran entrepreneur completely let loose, frequently interacting with Weibo netizens about the matter. When asked about his withdrawal from social media, he didn't avoid the question, admitting he'd rarely spoken up for over a year, but quipped, "After Leslie Cheung retired from singing, he still occasionally came back to perform a song or two."
Soon, the "essay incident" reached its climax. On the morning of the 16th, Sun Dongxu became the "former" CEO of Dongfang Zhenxuan. Yu Minhong announced he would host a live-stream chat with Dong Yuhui that evening.
Before their live-stream even concluded, Luo Yonghao—who had "watched for a while"—took to Weibo again, stating "the optics are terrible, another misstep." He argued it would be better to correct mistakes, negotiate terms, and have Dong Yuhui return naturally to the live-stream room rather than forcing him to respond awkwardly in the current situation. Ending on a somewhat meaningful note, he remarked, "Young Dong reads plenty of history books—I hope he stays clear-headed in this world and learns to protect himself."
Just over forty minutes later, the Weibo post that would be dubbed "Luo Yonghao's Blistering Critique of Dongfang Zhenxuan" was officially published. Comparing standard industry practices for profit distribution between live-stream e-commerce agencies and hosts, he called Dongfang Zhenxuan's handling of the matter "absurd" and "disgusting."
He explained that while depersonalizing non-family businesses is understandable—for instance, his own company "Friends" successfully achieved "de-Luo-ization" with his active cooperation—Dongfang Zhenxuan had failed to give Dong Yuhui his due rewards. According to industry norms and logic, "it would be relatively fair for Dong Yuhui to take at least about half of Dongfang Zhenxuan's earnings."
From this, he arrived at the conclusion stated at the beginning of his essay.
While outsider Luo Yonghao watched with gritted teeth and indignation, the statements made by Yu Minhong and Dong Yuhui during their live-stream seemed to signal the incident's resolution—one assuring everyone not to worry about Yuhui's treatment, the other repeatedly saying, "This really is enough."
Luo Yonghao passionately recalled his past, mentioning how in 2009, as a fan of Zeng Yike (known as "Luo Yonghao Kē'ài Duō"), he repeatedly defended her on shows. He said both instances were driven by his unwillingness to see a young person "get bullied."
Fans who shared his intent to "protect" Dong Yuhui caused Oriental Selection's Douyin account to lose nearly 3 million followers in just a few days. By December 16, the follower count had dropped to below 28.4 million.
After the "reconciliation" live stream between Yu Minhong and Dong Yuhui, the follower count began to slowly recover. By the afternoon of the 17th, it had rebounded to 28.65 million, and Oriental Selection's live stream room, which offered discounts and self-operated products to win back consumers, returned to the top of Douyin's sales rankings.
Douyin screenshot (December 17, 2023, 13:46)
Luo Yonghao certainly didn’t lose out—his Weibo followers started increasing again.
Moreover, data from HuiTun shows that the "Friends" live stream room on Douyin gained 362,000 followers in the past seven days. The days following Luo’s remarks marked the highest follower growth in nearly three months.
Why Is Luo Yonghao So Determined to "Challenge" Oriental Selection?
Recently, Luo Yonghao openly discussed his unpleasant work experience at New Oriental during a live stream. He had wanted to leave after three and a half years but stayed another year and a half because he wasn’t sure what to do next. "But Xiao Dong (Dong Yuhui) is very clear," he added.
Is Dong Yuhui's career path really that clear?
From the live broadcast on the evening of the 16th, it was evident that Dong Yuhui appeared exhausted and could barely muster a smile.
He clearly understands that people don’t like him because he sells goods well, but because of the other content he shares. "The world doesn’t lack one more salesperson, and I don’t want to become a top-tier live-streaming host either." He still describes himself, as before, as just a "reader."
"Such a Dong Yuhui, at least for now, is clearly not suited to be an entrepreneur," commented industry analyst Zhang Shule. As a clean-cut type of host, Dong attracts people precisely with his scholarly demeanor, which also makes it difficult for him to be a smooth or mature businessman in the commercial world.
Equity investor Wu Xiao (pseudonym) even joked that in the industry, there’s a saying: "Encouraging someone to start a business is like inviting a thunderbolt." If Dong Yuhui really wanted to start a business, naturally, many would be willing to invest large sums of money. However, the myriad problems behind entrepreneurship cannot be solved by money alone.
After all, Luo Yonghao, after years of entrepreneurship, has only recently managed to extricate himself from the "True Repayment Saga."
But is Luo Yonghao really just holding a grudge against New Oriental, hence his "lingering resentment" and sharp words toward Oriental Selection?
Zhang Shule noted that Luo Yonghao’s personal style over the years has been almost like a "crosstalk performer," not only criticizing others but also himself. More importantly, his public image remains unshaken, and his popularity has never waned.
"I’m inherently unruly, outspoken, and have an aggressive personality. Even as a corporate leader, I often fail to restrain myself, causing many unnecessary troubles for the company."
This was once Luo Yonghao's self-evaluation. He also said that after the collapse of Smartisan, all his bad habits were cured.
But this idealistic entrepreneur, once one of the top ten annual figures on Baidu's popularity list, seems to have grown accustomed to living under the spotlight and to his "fast-talking" style. Last year, he even included a photo of Yu Minhong's live-streaming session in his offline presentation slides, with the caption "Laid-off education professionals switching to live-streaming," which was quite sarcastic.
He never hesitates to criticize others, and of course, others criticize him too. Even in January this year, Zheng Gang, founding partner of Zihui Ventures and former investor in Smartisan Technology, who once strongly supported Luo Yonghao, posted on his social media, accusing Luo of "putting on a facade" and being "two-faced."
Returning to the "small essay" incident, whether it was to ride the wave of popularity or to stand up for justice, Luo Yonghao certainly gained attention.
In May last year, Luo Yonghao announced his departure from the management of the company "Jiaoge Pengyou" and launched his new metaverse technology startup. According to Huxiu, a representative from Jiaoge Pengyou stated that Luo Yonghao currently accounts for less than 2% of the company's live-streaming hours and less than 3% of its GMV. In the more than a year since Luo stepped back, Jiaoge Pengyou Holdings has maintained steady growth in overall GMV.
Luo Yonghao stated that he voluntarily stepped down and secured his share of the benefits, so he understands the "removal of Dong Yuhui." However, he believes Dong Yuhui should have received at least half of the profits, which is why he spoke out for him.
But ultimately, Dong Yuhui is not an entrepreneur or manager like Luo Yonghao; he is an employee of Oriental Selection.
Interestingly, another "New Oriental alumnus," Chen Xiangdong, founder, chairman, and CEO of Gaotu, has solidly benefited from his former employer's "dividends."
From the beginning of the essay incident, Dong Yuhui's 'mothers-in-law' flooded into the previously quiet live-streaming room of Gaotu's 'Gaotu Premium,' causing its popularity to soar. By the afternoon of the 17th, the Douyin account of Gaotu Premium had gained 2.33 million followers, and its stock price also saw a significant rise.
Whether in education or e-commerce, Gaotu has followed in the footsteps of New Oriental. Chen Xiangdong, once the executive president of New Oriental, later founded Gaotu, becoming a competitor to New Oriental. Last year, Gaotu followed East Buy's lead and pivoted to live-streaming e-commerce.
Weibo screenshot
Zhang Shule pointed out that although both are former 'New Oriental people,' Luo Yonghao left as a young teacher, constantly facing setbacks and starting new ventures, always carrying a 'passionate' mark. In contrast, Chen Xiangdong left New Oriental as a seasoned manager, well aware of its strengths, and has now capitalized on the trend to gain a wave of traffic.
While success ultimately depends on one's own efforts, for now, both have profited.
On the morning of the 17th, Luo Yonghao said, 'Tonight, I’ll compile what I’ve written over the past few days into a clear article and post it. Starting next week, I don’t want to mention this dirty matter again.'
Perhaps by next week, most people won’t care about this incident anymore.