By NUPIAO Correspondent
On June 10, popular streamer Zhi Sheng took to social media to share a reflective video marking his final broadcast days, captioning it, “My vacation starts now—goodbye. This ‘love letter’ hurts more than any breakup.” His exit marks the fifth time a key figure has walked out of “Oriental Selection” this year alone.
He paired the clip with G.E.M.’s haunting track “The End of the World,” sparking an outpouring of sympathy in the comments. When fans asked why he was packing his bags, Zhi Sheng simply promised, “I’ll keep making videos you’ll actually enjoy,” but left the real reasons for his departure under wraps.
Known for his down-to-earth food reviews and sharp, witty commentary, Zhi Sheng quickly became a fan favorite. One community joke even dubbed him the “leftover-plating specialist.” His Douyin page, simply called “Call Me Zhi Sheng,” has gathered over 8,000 followers and racked up more than 610,000 likes so far.
His stepping down isn’t an isolated incident—it’s part of a broader talent exodus that’s been rolling through “Oriental Selection” all year. Back in late April, four other heavyweight streamers, Mingming, Tianquan, Zhongcan, and Linlin, announced they were moving on. Fans used to group Dong Yuhui, Dundun, Mingming, and Tianquan as the original “F4” of live commerce, but today, that founding lineup has completely dissolved.
When pressed on why they were leaving, the departing quartet all pointed squarely at the heavy operational overhaul brought in by the new leadership. It started back last December when reports surfaced that Sun Jin, then vice president of New Oriental Education & Technology Group and principal of the Guangzhou campus, would step in as executive president of “Oriental Selection.” The company later confirmed the appointment. He’s actually the second top exec to shake things up in just one month, following former CEO Sun Dongxu, who stepped down in November.
Sun Jin isn’t exactly a rookie—he’s been with New Oriental since 2006, clocking nearly two decades inside the company. He cut his teeth teaching essay writing for college entrance exams, reading comprehension for grad school prep, plus TOEFL and IELTS writing. Over the years, he climbed the ranks to become executive vice principal and later principal of the Nanjing branch, and was even spotted leading test division initiatives back at a 2014 Suzhou campus event.
What really pushed them out? According to Mingming, the sudden shift in streaming formats and day-to-day operations left him burning out from constant internal stress. Tianquan echoed that sentiment, noting how the company’s core philosophy, livestream vibe, and office culture all changed overnight after the leadership swap. Zhongcan and Linlin felt the same way—despite trying hard to adapt to the radically different compliance rules and workflows, they just couldn’t make it work anymore, so they packed up.
Facing the mass exodus, founder Yu Minhong didn’t hide behind corporate speak. During a live stream, he publicly apologized and owned up to some serious management missteps. He shared that he’d personally sat down with each of the four streamers for heartfelt retention talks while working closely with the new ops team to bridge the gap. Acknowledging the frustration this caused fans and viewers alike, Yu stressed that these weren’t just employees—they were early partners who grew alongside the platform, and losing them was a genuine hit to everyone involved.
Looking ahead, Yu emphasized that the company fully respects each creator’s career choices. More importantly, he pledged a full internal audit to fix what went wrong. Specifically, he pointed out that post-restructuring, leadership leaned too hard into strict policy enforcement while neglecting the human side of team building—a combo that definitely soured workplace morale. Moving forward, “Oriental Selection” plans to strike a better balance between structured operations and genuine employee support, specifically targeting rigid, high-pressure practices that stifled creativity.
But there’s a bigger picture here. The steady stream of departures ties directly into “Oriental Selection’s” aggressive pivot away from star-driven branding. Ever since Dong Yuhui left in July 2024 to launch his own independent channel, the company has doubled down on “de-influencing” its model. The goal? Build a standardized retail engine that doesn’t rely on a single celebrity face. Earlier this January, during their earnings call, Yu actually laid out a roadmap to roll out over 20 matrix accounts and scale the hosting squad from 27 to 60 creators.
Right now, the roster leans heavily toward fresh faces, with only a handful of veteran hosts still on deck. While the transition is underway, the overall viewer engagement and market clout still lag far behind the original powerhouse lineup.
You can see this tension between strategic pivots and talent drain playing out straight on the balance sheet. According to their latest earnings report covering the first half of FY2026 (June to November 2025), total revenue hit 2.312 billion RMB, up 5.72% year-over-year. Net profit flipped back to positive territory at 239 million RMB. If you strip out the spin-off channel, revenue jumped a solid 17%, proving that their in-house product lines and supply chain infrastructure are genuinely picking up steam.
Still, those improving numbers haven’t fully insulated the company from the shockwaves of a mass staff walkout. On April 27, shares dipped sharply during intraday trading—nearly dropping 8% before settling at a 2.26% close loss. Fan metrics took a hit too: third-party trackers showed the main video account lost roughly 41,000 followers in just three days, sliding from 28.38 million down to 28.34 million by 8 AM that morning.
In response, “Oriental Selection” threw down some serious cash to lock in the people keeping the lights on. Under their 2023 equity incentive program, they handed out a massive block of shares—roughly 19.3 million units—to 302 directors, executives, and key staff members. That represents about 1.82% of all outstanding shares.
A filing dated April 28 broke down exactly who got a slice of the pie. Yu Minhong himself snagged 1.8 million shares (0.17%), while Executive Director and CFO Yin Qiang received 450,000 shares (0.04%). The remaining 300 staff members split up another 17.05 million shares (1.61%). Here’s the kicker: the grant price is zero. Those shares vest gradually over three years at a steady one-third pace annually, but only if they hit annual performance targets.
As of market close on June 10, stock prices ticked up a tiny 0.75% to HKD 21.46. Even so, the ticker is still sitting nearly 20% below its March peak of HKD 26.60, leaving the company’s market cap hovering around HKD 22.75 billion.
