National Tide 1980.

However, for Mi Xiaoran, the happiest thing in May was not the surge in the revenue of several restaurants, or the windfall from stock market arbitrage.

Her most satisfying, proudest, and most fulfilling achievement of the entire month was snatching two high-quality, promising projects right under Ning Weimin's nose—the film investment rights for the movie "Ferocious Animals" and the industrial project of a modern potato chip processing plant.

She felt as clever and resourceful as the fisherman watching the snipe and the clam fight.

Taking advantage of Ning Weimin's momentary lapse in attention, they pushed him into the water and watched him thrash about, easily taking away the fruits of his labor that he had been eagerly anticipating.

She felt extremely pleased with this speculative victory, which was filled with a sense of vengeful satisfaction.

Regardless of the rise or fall of revenue or the profit or loss on paper, the key point is that this was a complete reversal of her long-standing rivalry with Ning Weimin, and it is the best proof that she has truly defeated Ning Weimin.

Of course, launching two brand-new cross-industry projects simultaneously has brought a real amount of busyness.

Because there are so many things that need to be dealt with quickly, it can be really exhausting, to the point where you're constantly running around and overwhelmed.

Mi Xiaoran's spacious, bright, and stylish office is filled with the incessant ringing of telephones from morning till night, with almost no pause.

People of all kinds came looking for her.

Jiang Wen discussed scriptwriting and crew setup, Liu Xiaoqin communicated the cast and collaboration details, Li Xiuming coordinated factory equipment and production preparation, and there were also crew coordinators, practicing lawyers, cooperating banks, financial accountants, cooperating media, advertising planning companies... One call after another came in, and layers upon layers of tasks rushed in.

Even Mi Xiaoran's once skillful and daily short-term stock trading has been reduced by half due to numerous other matters.

As long as she's at the company, she's like an actor performing a one-woman show on stage, constantly answering phone calls, constantly changing her tone and expression, one face and one attitude for each call, even she finds it quite tiring.

"Ah, Director Jiang, hello! Don't worry about me, the contract with the US side is all settled, no problems at all. How did the casting go? What, besides you guys, you want me to have a cameo role too? Ugh, I'm terrible at acting! Ah, not many lines, very simple? Okay, I'll think about it. I'll definitely be there on the day the crew is formed. Okay, my treat, how about we go to Xidan for Cantonese food? Yes, my Xin A Jing Cantonese Restaurant, their snake soup is famous, and they have fresh seafood, shark fin and abalone, and I'll give you as many prawns as you want..."

"Hello, is this Mr. Zhang? I want to tell you that your request has made me very unhappy. What time is it now, and you still can't come up with an advertising plan that satisfies me? How can this be? Our product will be produced soon, and sales work can't wait. You should really think it over! I'll give you three more days, don't delay any longer. Money? Money is no problem, of course. As long as the plan is really good, I don't mind increasing the budget a bit..."

"...Ah, hello! Sister Xiuming, of course, how could I not trust you to handle things? I have no doubts about that. The equipment needs some additional miscellaneous items? It'll cost over ten thousand yuan, of course, I agree. As long as your production requires it. You're too kind. In the future, you don't need to ask me about these things; you can make the decisions yourself. What? Changing the business license? Sorry, I can't go today, but I'll be available the day after tomorrow, morning or afternoon. Okay, it's a deal. Don't worry, our company is a genuine foreign-invested enterprise, so of course we can enjoy preferential tax rates. Yes, all the companies I invest in are like that... Okay, let's get in touch later! Goodbye!"

However, on the other hand, it was these two investment projects that gave her a sense of honor in terms of improved social status.

It's important to understand that in the Chinese business world, people in the catering and clothing industries are generally considered to be of a lower social standing because they require little technical skill and are widely recognized as hard-working. Anyone with money can invest in these industries.

Previously, her most prominent identity was simply that of an ordinary businesswoman who invested in the catering industry.

But she is different now.

She is a cultured person who controls film and television projects, associates with celebrities and socialites, and mingles in high-end circles.

She is a rising female entrepreneur who holds shares in physical factories and engages in modern food industrial production.

She was always the center of attention on set.

Walking through the business district, he commands respect from everyone.

Whether they are artists in film and television production crews, investors in the business world, or even government officials, anyone who has heard of her name will look at her with respect.

She thoroughly enjoyed this new feeling, the feeling of success of standing in the spotlight and being greeted by smiling faces.

The vanity of being firmly positioned at the forefront of the times, associating with celebrities, and being surrounded by elite circles, and the pride that arises from the bottom of one's heart, cannot be expressed in words.

Deep down, she already understood Ning Weimin's thoughts. No wonder he, who started in the catering and clothing industry, wanted to marry a female celebrity and get involved in the cultural industry once he had some money.

Just as anyone who has eaten seafood knows that boiled shrimp and boiled white radish taste different, having witnessed such a glamorous life, Mi Xiaoran also doesn't want to go back to the obscure life she once lived.

What's the point of just having money in your hands?
People need social status, attention, and the limelight.

Having money and status makes you a true upper-class person.

So, both to celebrate her initial victory in targeting Ning Weimin and to strengthen her ties with these new friends in the film and television industry, Mi Xiaoran took a weekend before the official start of filming and warmly invited Liu Xiaoqin, Jiang Wen, and Li Xiuming and his wife to fly to Hong Kong and then to Macau for a good time.

Although the trip was only a few days long, the two cities that never sleep, Hong Kong and Macau, filled with neon lights, hotels, shows, massage parlors and casinos, still left a deep impression on them.

They had a great time during that limited time.

They watched song and dance shows, music shows, and aerial shows at the show venue day and night.

They even went to the table to experience what it was like to be a red and blue warrior.

Mi Xiaoran also used company funds to buy gold watches as gifts for everyone, including herself.

And so, amidst the fine wines and delicacies, the extravagant lifestyle, they almost forgot who they were and couldn't even tell which direction the capital was.

Mi Xiaoran, immersed in the joy of victory and indulging in happiness, was unaware that what she considered a great victory was actually insignificant and of little value in Ning Weimin's eyes.

She had no idea what kind of financial pitfall the movie her trusted friend had invested in would be.

It's important to understand that Ning Weimin had valid reasons for both rejecting her script and demanding stronger financial control over Jiang Wen's films.

The script she presented was so bad that Ning Weimin would never risk his own star's reputation, especially since Big Ship Entertainment Company had its own work schedule and neither of the stars could spare the time.

As for Jiang Wen, Ning Weimin simply added him to the "risk blacklist" based entirely on the information he had learned in his previous life.

He wouldn't have invested in this company if it weren't for the fact that the movie he was making would be renamed "In the Heat of the Sun" and might make money.

After all, this guy's ability to swindle investors in movies is comparable to that of Wong Kar-wai in Hong Kong. In another timeline, he would have already reached the point of being notorious for his numerous misdeeds.

That's right, Jiang Wen is indeed talented, and he has the ability to be a director.

But burning through money like water, scaring away investors from all sides, has long been a daily routine for him when making films.

In fact, he never made a film that didn't exceed its budget. Moreover, only two of his films ever made money: "In the Heat of the Sun" and "Let the Bullets Fly".

Even for "In the Heat of the Sun," which is currently still under the title "Animal Fierce," making a profit is still a long shot.

It is said that during the filming of "In the Heat of the Sun," Jiang Wen burned 25 feet of film reel, resulting in a final cut ratio of 1:15. The average film-to-cut ratio for domestic films is 1:3.

The extreme pursuit of cinematic perfection made "In the Heat of the Sun" an astonishing money-burning machine.

There are even more outrageous rumors. An insider revealed that, at Jiang Wen's request, 500 extras were hired.

Once everyone had arrived, Jiang Wen told them to collect their money and leave, explaining that he hadn't yet decided how to film it.

In addition, the chimney of Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing is half red and half gray, which was repainted by the great director Jiang when he was filming.

How can you not rein in such a reckless person who treats other people's money like dirt?

Moreover, Ning Weimin remembered that when Jiang Wen started filming in another timeline, he only raised four million yuan. His willingness to contribute six million yuan was already more than enough to save face for Liu Xiaoqin.

If used properly, six million is more than enough to make this movie, and it's possible that it could eventually gross sixty million, surpassing the original record of fifty million.

But without constraints, let alone six million, even twenty million or thirty million... this guy could squander it all.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Wen is just playing around with movies; he's rather capricious and not suited to making commercial films.

It's not that he lacks the ability, but rather that he seems to simply dislike commercial films.

However, he doesn't seem to have much interest in stereotypical art films; he just enjoys the process of making movies.

Once a movie is finished, he's elated. He doesn't care how much money he made or whether it sells well.

He's the one who's having fun, so he doesn't care whether other people are having fun or not.

This is one of the reasons why Jiang Wen makes so few movies; not many bosses dare to give this guy money to make movies like this.

Therefore, investors that Jiang Wen had worked with, such as Dong Ping of Huayi Brothers and Wang Zhongjun of Huayi Brothers, were heartbroken, like heartbroken men and women after a failed relationship.

Ning Weimin didn't want to fall into such a trap, so he had to require his own people to supervise Jiang Wen's spending; otherwise, he would rather not invest at all.

Mi Xiaoran, unaware of this, foolishly joined the game with plenty of money, without any restraint on Jiang Wen.

This means that she replaced the unlucky guy from Hong Kong and was destined to be the one to take over Wen Jun's financial problems and worry about the subsequent funding issues.

To be honest, from Ning Weimin's perspective, even if they didn't cooperate, the fact that he was willing to personally take the time to talk to Liu Xiaoqin, Jiang Wen, and Mi Xiaoran was already a sign of his loyalty and friendship.

After all, for someone with assets of at least tens of billions of dollars, every minute that passes brings in at least thousands of dollars, or tens of thousands of RMB, in passive income. That is the price of his time.

Normally, Ning Weimin could have easily delegated the requests made by these individuals to his subordinates at Dachuan Entertainment.

The reason he was still willing to talk to them face-to-face was out of consideration for their past friendship and to save face for everyone.

Unfortunately, his act of cherishing old friendships was not understood by anyone and instead drew complaints.

This only shows that it is difficult to communicate with people who only see their own needs but cannot consider things from the other person's perspective.

Any kindness shown to such a person would be a waste of effort.

Moreover, Ning Weimin is genuinely busy right now.

The park acceptance work of the Beijing amusement park; the hotel equipment bidding meeting; the renovation project of the original sites of Quanyechang, Qingyunge, Hongxinglou, Qingyunlou, and Huixiantang; the construction work of some Japanese companies relocating to Huaxia to set up factories; the legal process of Huaxia Pierre Cardin Company's acquisition of Japan's Pierre Cardin Co., Ltd.; the construction of the film and television city under the name of Dachuan Entertainment Company; the cooperation and promotion of large-scale film and television projects; the release and promotion of new music albums... etc., all require Ning Weimin's continuous attention and approval.

To be honest, whether it was the abolition of the food rationing system or the changes in the film system, he was the biggest beneficiary.

Who can invest as much capital and lay as a solid foundation in these two industries as he has?

While others used basins to collect money, he simply dug a large pool in his backyard.

Even so, such immense wealth was still a bit too much for him.

To put it bluntly, having too many projects can be a worry, and having too much money can be a source of anxiety.

Ning Weimin is so busy right now that he doesn't even bother to count the money in his pocket. He's focused on carrying out the things he values ​​step by step, so he doesn't really care about projects introduced by others.

That's how I'm happy whether I succeed or fail; I'm truly at ease, and it doesn't matter what happens.

Even if these matters suddenly disappeared without a trace, he wouldn't care and wouldn't even bother to inquire about them.

"Having seen the ocean, one finds it hard to be impressed by mere rivers; one cannot discuss ice with a summer insect." This is the fundamental difference between him and Mi Xiaoran.

Even if it's just a difference in asset size, quantitative changes can still lead to qualitative changes.

Therefore, Mi Xiaoran's smugness and self-righteousness about winning through cunning are essentially just a form of self-deception, a kind of mental opium.

Her so-called shrewdness and scheming were all in vain, because Ning Weimin didn't take them to heart at all.

If she hadn't been scheming and plotting behind the scenes to steal them, even if she had openly asked Ning Weimin for them to his face and simply said, "I want to do these two projects," Ning Weimin would have given them to her.

Out of consideration for their neighborly relationship, they would even proactively tell her about the pitfalls to avoid.

But the problem is there are no "what ifs." Since Mi Xiaoran chose such an unfair way to get what she wanted...

Whether her investment will result in a profit or loss in the future is none of anyone else's fault but her own; she can only hope for the best. (End of Chapter)