Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1008 Named Global, the Reasons Behind the Cloud
For some reason, after hearing Zhou Wenqiong's guess, Hideki Yuzuru immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

In the early 1990s, I invested in real estate in Hainan.

That's the famous...

In just a moment, various memories intertwined with the real estate bubble flooded Hideki Hanyu's mind.

He originally thought that with his help, Lizhi would achieve success in advertising entrepreneurship in this time and space, thus escaping the fate of the other time and space.

After all, in another timeline, the reason why Lizhi incurred huge debts was because of losses from investing in real estate.

But who would have thought that although the other party dodged one small pit, they immediately jumped into another big one.

In the end, there will be no winners in the South China Sea real estate market.

Those who fail will undoubtedly lose everything.

Even those who succeed, as long as their roots are in the mainland, will ultimately face the fate of being purged.

In today's China, things are not like they were in later years, where a certain major power could create a mess worth trillions of yuan and still act like nothing happened.

Now, however...

Well, some things Hideki Hanyu can only understand intuitively, not say out loud.

To prevent the fragmentation of time and space and the annihilation of the Great Dao.

Thinking of this, Hideki Yuzuru quickly said to Wenqiong Zhou.

“I have no interest in investing in residential real estate. My real estate company in mainland China mainly focuses on commercial complexes and pedestrian streets.”

After rejecting his sister-in-law's investment advice, Hideki Yuzuru considered whether he should remind Lizhi.

That woman had only just begun to achieve some success in the advertising industry. Instead of consolidating her foundation and expanding her business, she was ambitiously trying to enter the real estate market. It seemed extremely unwise of her.

But as soon as this thought arose, Hideki Yuzuru realized what kind of storms Lizhi would stir up in the future where she was going to invest.

If he were to reveal a secret and it got out, causing him a lot of trouble, then all his years of hard work in China would be ruined in an instant.

It's a complete loss to do something for a woman.

So let's "respect the fate of others and put aside our desire to help them."

Not to mention that Lizhi has lost her novelty for him, just considering their physical relationship, the support and rewards he gave her before were enough to repay, and even far exceeded.

Under these circumstances, whether the other party succeeds or fails, lives or dies, or what their future holds, Hideki Hanyu has no regrets.

After all, he had already planned out a bright future for her. If Lizhi herself was not satisfied, whatever the outcome, it was all her own fault.

Just then, the assistant brought them drinks as instructed.

Taking the opportunity, Hideki Yuzuru changed the subject and chatted with the three women about other things, completely forgetting about his sister-in-law's suggestion to invest.

Soon, it was time to start work in the afternoon.

Hideki Yuzuru led the three women downstairs to help his sister-in-law, Zhou Wenqiong, take advantage of her position to tour the headquarters of Cloud Entertainment in Hong Kong.

Zhou Wenqiong led the team here mainly to expand the record business in mainland China.

They also wanted to leverage the strength and reputation of the Yunshang Group to persuade Ms. Yang to sign with Qionghua Entertainment.

Therefore, the main place visited was the former Cloud Music (Asia), now the headquarters of Universal Music (Asia).

Putting aside the title of record company, what singers are most interested in are undoubtedly the various facilities for record production.

As the latest headquarters built by Cloud Music in all regions of Asia, including Japan, Cloud Music's Asian headquarters adopted the world's most advanced technology in both its basic facilities and the construction of its recording studio.

In addition to the six top-of-the-line professional recording studios, there are four reverberation rooms, two mixing studios, and three mastering studios.

Cloud Music alone occupies two entire floors of Hopewell Centre.

While all of this will be prioritized for use by artists signed with Cloud Music, it will also be available to external artists for a fee.

This has led to the current situation in Hong Kong's music scene where almost any singer who is particular about album production will book their album production with Cloud Music.

Actually, it's not just Hong Kong; many singers from South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia also choose to record music here.

One can imagine the immense shock that Hideki Hanyu would have on these people when he led Zhou Wenqiong and her group into the recording area of ​​Cloud Music.

Even those who don't understand music, like Ning Jing who came along to broaden his horizons, will feel the professional impact when they see the bright, clean, and spotless area filled with various advanced equipment.

Those professionals from Qionghua Entertainment who came with Zhou Wenqiong to learn from her experience felt a sense of being outmatched.

Compared to what I see here, the so-called professional recording studios in China are so different that the word "professional" can be completely removed.

Someone even said to Zhou Wenqiong on the spot, "Boss, I don't think we need to invest in building our own recording studio. In the future, our singers can just come here to record music. We're all one family anyway."

In order to win over Ms. Yang and to enhance the company's status, Zhou Wenqiong boasted to these people that Qionghua Entertainment was a subsidiary of Yunshang Music invested in China.

Although the two companies have no actual shareholding relationship.

Based solely on Zhou Wenqiong's relationship with Yu Sheng Hideki, no one would doubt the truthfulness of this statement.

"How can that be? We need to develop ourselves too; we can't rely on others for everything."

Besides, it's so convenient to come to Hong Kong now, what if there's an urgent job I need to rush to?"

Zhou Wenqiong firmly refused, clearly showing that despite her seemingly exaggerated claims, she was still very concerned about the development of Qionghua Entertainment.

But after saying that, Zhou Wenqiong carefully looked at Miss Yang and explained, "Don't worry, Miss Yang, if you sign with Qionghua, I guarantee that all your albums will be produced here."

After saying that, he nudged Hideki Yuzuru with his elbow, "Brother-in-law, don't you think so?"

Hideki Yuzuru was speechless upon hearing this. What was his status now that he had to lie with Zhou Wenqiong in order to sign an unknown singer?

Even if this Ms. Yang becomes a top-tier female singer in China in the future, so what? The money he makes in a month from his domestic investments is enough for her to earn for a lifetime.

If it weren't for accompanying Zhou Wenqiong, and Liu Xiaoli calling him early on to tell him to take good care of his younger sister, he wouldn't have wasted his time visiting Cloud Music.

However, just then, the door to a recording studio they were visiting opened, and a woman in a women's suit walked out.

Upon seeing the group of people outside, especially Hideki Yuzuru, the woman immediately went up to greet them.

"Mr. Yuzuru, good afternoon. I didn't expect to meet you here."

"I brought them here just to look around. Miss Mei, are you here to record?"

Hideki Yuzuru casually asked a question, taking the opportunity to change the subject from Zhou Wenqiong's words.

As for the person greeting him, it was Anita Mui.

The other party is not a singer from Cloud Music, but is signed to Capital Artists Records, founded by Mr. Shao from TVB.

Through Mr. Shao's connections, Cloud Music has been continuously acquiring shares of Huaxing Records over the years and is now the largest behind-the-scenes shareholder.

In fact, Cloud Music was just one step away from completely acquiring Huaxing Records, but due to certain superficial relationships, it has not done so for the time being.

Furthermore, the Grasshopper band, discovered by Anita Mui, was under the Yunshang Group, both in terms of management and record contracts.

Therefore, in terms of relationships, Anita Mui can now be classified as part of the Yun Shang Group.

When Hideki Yuzuru greeted Anita Mui, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ms. Yang, who was standing next to Zhou Wenqiong, immediately became excited after seeing Anita Mui.

This is clearly a fan's reaction to seeing their favorite singer.

So, after exchanging a few polite words with Anita Mui, Hideki Yuzuru deliberately steered the conversation toward the group from Qionghua Entertainment.

This helped Ms. Yang and Anita Mui have a good interaction.

In particular, when Anita Mui heard someone introduce Qionghua Entertainment as an investment of Yunshang Group in China, she immediately said that everyone was one family and that they should let her know if they needed help in the future.

Moreover, even before Ms. Yang had signed a contract, he switched to the industry's custom of addressing her as "junior sister" repeatedly.

However, Anita Mui's album recording schedule was tight, and she didn't talk with the others for too long before bidding farewell to Hideki Hanyu and leaving.

Next, Hideki Hanyu continued to lead the group on a tour. Besides encountering several popular Hong Kong singers, they also witnessed the incredibly respectful and humble attitude these stars displayed towards Hanyu.

At this point, Ms. Yang, who had come along for the visit, finally truly realized just how powerful Cloud Music is.

It can be said that the resources and manpower of Cloud Music, as she sees them, are unmatched by domestic record companies.

Of course, to be precise, it should be called Universal Music.

Although that's what it's called, Yang Yuying also noticed from what she saw and heard that people here actually prefer to call it Cloud Music.

At this moment, Ms. Yang, who had already decided to sign a contract with Zhou Wenqiong, naturally wanted to know more about the inside story.

Just as everyone finished visiting the Universal Music (Asia) headquarters, the other accompanying staff returned to the hotel to prepare inspection documents, while she, because Zhou Wenqiong wanted to watch the movie filming, wanted to go to the set with Ning Jing to visit.

Just as the vehicle was heading towards its destination, Ms. Yang seized the opportunity to express her curiosity to Hideki Yuzuru.

"Mr. Yuzuru, why is it that when we visited Universal Music, everyone, from the singers to the staff, referred to it as 'Cloud Music'?"

Before Hideki Yuzuru could even speak, Zhou Wenqiong volunteered to answer Ms. Yang's question.

"The answer is simple. My brother-in-law acquired Universal. Oh, right, you should know Universal, right? It's the Universal Pictures that's so famous, America."

When Zhou Wenqiong said these words, she mentioned that Hideki Yuzuru had acquired Universal Music, and both her tone and expression showed a proud and honored demeanor.

“I’ve heard of it.”

Information access in mainland China is far less developed than in later generations. Although Ms. Yang had heard of Universal, she was unaware of the significance that name represented in the global entertainment industry.

However, Zhou Wenqiong did not dwell on this point, but continued to explain.

"After my brother-in-law's company acquired Universal, Universal Music, which belonged to Universal Films, merged with my brother-in-law's Cloud Music."

The company we just visited used to belong to Cloud Music, and it was renamed Universal Music after the merger.

So those people must be used to calling it "Cloud Music" to keep calling it that; there's nothing strange about it.

After hearing the explanation, Ms. Yang looked enlightened.

Hideki Hanyu, who was driving, remained noncommittal.

The apparent reason is indeed the same as what Zhou Wenqiong said.

But hidden beneath the surface are some deeper things.

While Cloud Music and Universal Music are said to have merged, in reality, Cloud Music has been completely swallowed up by Universal Music.

Except for Japan, where Cloud Music continues to exist, all other regions that originally had Cloud Music were renamed Universal Music, merged with Universal Music's business, and completely disappeared into history.

And this outcome was entirely driven by Hideki Hanyu.

He did this for two main reasons.

The first step was to take full control of the new Universal Music Group by leveraging the acquisition of Cloud Music.

After all, after the acquisition, Universal was split into four major parts: Universal Pictures, Universal Music, Universal Studios, and Universal Television Network. Although they are still a group on the surface, they are actually operating relatively independently.

In order to avoid obstruction from Americana and to circumvent certain legal restrictions, Hideki Hanyu had to bring in Americana Entertainment Investment Company as the acquiring entity.

Although this was merely a front for Hideki Hanyu within America, a platform for currying favor with political figures and dignitaries to share the spoils, the company's control remained firmly in Hanyu's hands.

But how could Hideki Hanyu, who is always careful and cautious, not have a few backup plans for himself?

Therefore, Hideki Hanyu naturally wanted to use various means to further gain more power over Universal Music, which had been split into four parts.

By acquiring Cloud Pictures, he diluted the equity of other investors, indirectly giving him greater power.

Universal Studios goes without saying, and the Universal Wonderland project, which is already underway, is preparing to dilute Universal Studios' rights in the future.

As for Globe Television, after Hideki Hanyu arranged for his sister Yui Hanyu to obtain American citizenship, he has been using capital to acquire local television media.

When the time is right, he will merge the television media controlled by his sister with Universal Television Network, which will not only help Universal Television Network expand its scale, but also give him more control over Universal Television Network.

With this explanation, it's quite easy to understand how Hideki Hanyu strengthened his control over these companies after Universal Music was broken up.

Of course, it sounds simple, but it's actually very complicated to do.

However, Hideki Hanyu used the same tactic with Universal Music Group.

To outsiders, it would seem like Universal Music was sacrificing Universal Music to help it grow stronger.

After all, while Universal Music has a bigger reputation, its strength in Asia is far inferior to that of Cloud Music.

The acquisition of Cloud Music by Universal Music Group has brought a much greater boost to its strength than Universal's acquisition of PolyGram in another timeline.

Therefore, the most fundamental control of Universal Music Group, which acquired Cloud Music, naturally fell into the hands of Hideki Hanyu.

Having stated the first objective, let's move on to the second.

Why did Universal Music Group, after acquiring the more powerful Cloud Music in Asia, directly replace Cloud Music's name, causing the latter's name to disappear completely?

That is, Hideki Hanyu was well aware that for a long time to come, the power to define the world would fall into the hands of the North American continent.

Therefore, for the sake of future development, he often habitually puts on an American guise when doing things.

America Entertainment Investments did this so that Universal Pictures, both in terms of capital and in appearance, would still be essentially owned by America.

This is why, even though the Cloud Group took over the operation of Universal Pictures after the acquisition, the Japanese media boasted about it with great pride.

However, the American media's reaction was limited to the change of ownership of Universal, and the opposition was far less than that of Columbia Pictures being acquired by Sony.

From a capital perspective, Cloud Entertainment is merely one of the participants in the acquisition, a minor shareholder that cannot transform Universal Pictures from an American company into a Japanese company.

If this is the overall strategy of Cloud Entertainment, then Cloud Music needs to give way to the bigger picture and don the Universal Music brand. The benefits in the future will far outweigh the benefits of keeping a name.

As a transmigrator from China, Hideki Hanyu could not possibly have any sense of national honor in Japan.

He can use his status as a writer to enhance his reputation in order to gild his image.

But if you asked him to follow Sony's example and use his own interests to exchange for the so-called glory of Japan, he would never do it, even if it meant death.

So what if Cloud Music surpasses Sony to become Japan's largest music company, representing the overseas expansion of Japanese record companies?

So what if Hollywood’s Cloud Studios is the most successful film company in America?

If it should be absorbed, then it should be absorbed; if it should be eliminated, then it should be eliminated.

Hideki Hanyu had no mental burden whatsoever, not even the slightest hesitation.

But just because he thinks this way doesn't mean others think this way.

Many people who have dedicated themselves to Cloud Pictures and Cloud Music, watching the company grow and thrive like a child, are unwilling to accept this outcome.

This is why many high-ranking officials in the cloud computing industry stubbornly continue to use their original titles even after their names have been changed.

Following the example set by those above, some people who were unaware of the situation also started using that terminology.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that, as Zhou Wenqiong said, it's just a habit that can't be changed.

Regardless of the reason, Hideki Hanyu ignored it.

Even if someone is really dissatisfied, we should keep them quiet!

Can't hold it in?
Hideki Hanyu could help by asking their American father to come and have a chat.

Just look at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Department; Hideki Hanyu is practically becoming the unofficial head.

Of course, given Hideki Hanyu's current power in Japan, he has almost no rivals and needs to use America's power to deal with them.

As for the various reasons and the truths hidden beneath the surface, Hideki Hanyu naturally could not explain them to outsiders.

(End of this chapter)