star of the peninsula

The big drama at the beginning of 2023 was preempted by someone else. Song Joong-ki suddenly jumped out and officially announced his remarriage at the end of January, which made everyone's tense nerves tense.

Lee Sung-soo had already fallen out with Lee Soo-man in mid-January, and the SM Entertainment Company, which he controlled, unilaterally terminated its cooperative project with Like Planning in mid-January.

The project pays Lee Soo Man 6% of S.H.I.E.'s sales every year, which is pure and simple profit transfer!
Lee Soo Man has been paid his due share every time, but he still uses extra means to suck his blood so much. Everyone at SM Entertainment is outraged, but at least they will not speak up for him anymore!

So Like Planning was smoothly separated from S.H.I.E., and it seemed as simple as just a comeback by an idol.

Lee Sung-soo's first sniper attack was a great success. Lee Soo-man was powerless and could not resist. Coming out to defend himself would only make him lose more people's support.

Lee Soo-man is definitely not a person who will sit and wait for death. Everyone is waiting for his counterattack, wanting to see what Lee Soo-man will do after suffering such a big loss.

When talking about idols in the Korean entertainment industry, it is really hard to avoid S.H.I.E., an entertainment company that is 100% sure to be written into the history of Kpop. As the founder and helmsman of S.H.I.E. for more than 20 years, everyone knows that Lee Soo-man is not an easy person to deal with.

This kind of play is really good! Serve it up quickly!
But at such a tense moment, Song Joong-ki jumped out to announce the news of his remarriage and his wife's pregnancy. It was really tactless!

Are you all concerned about your remarriage and whether your remarried wife is pregnant? !
Uh. I'm still concerned. "The Youngest Son" which ended at this time last month brought Song Joong-ki huge popularity. He is one of the most talked-about actors in South Korea recently.

As luck would have it, the broadcast of "Dark Glory Season 2" at the end of last year made his ex-wife Song Hye Kyo the most talked-about actress in South Korea.

This is interesting. Such strong male and female protagonists were actually ex-husband and ex-wife in the past? The number of people who rewatched "Descendants of the Sun" increased rapidly, and Song Zhongji and Song Hye Kyo also became hot topics on the Internet.

You, an entertainment company that mainly deals with idol management, are concerned about the internal war between the two idols. What does it have to do with us, the netizens who are not aware of the situation? You study your own things and we enjoy ours. If you are affected, you can only blame yourself for being too sensitive.

In addition, there is another very important message for these idol companies in January. ADOR’s new girl group officially announced that it will debut in February and is named New Jeans.

Chen Chen's nerves also jumped, but only for a moment.

Can NewJeans, who missed the original development line and had changes in members, still be the same NewJeans? No matter how hard you think about it, it is unlikely.

Even if a song can take you to great heights with the help of an excellent producer, you will still have to fall back down.

What's more, Chen Chen received news from his subordinates that the content of New Jeans' debut album was not what Chen Chen "predicted", and that some works with super exaggerated sound source performance had disappeared.

This may be a punishment for missing the timeline, which is good for Chen Chen and C headquarters.

Chen Chen took the opportunity to produce a few songs of New Jeans and saved them, so that he could use them if he had the chance in the future.

Of course, this opportunity means that Chen Chen can be sure that New Jeans and their music producer 250 did not write those songs.

……

In early February, SHAMA representative director Lee Sung-soo announced that in order to better develop international business, SHAMA will sign an exclusive contract with C headquarters.

On the same day, C headquarters announced that it had completed the acquisition of 9.05% of the shares of Shamao Company.

Shocking!

No one doubted that headquarters C could come up with so much money, nor did they doubt that this thing could be done. Everyone was just surprised that they didn't hear any advance news at all, and got the news at the same time as netizens!

It wasn't just the industry insiders who got the news, Lee Soo-man himself also received the news at this time.

9.05% of the shares is indeed a lot. If you get it, you will become the second largest shareholder after Lee Soo-man. It stands to reason that things should not be done in such a secretive manner.

But who made the shares of SMART so dispersed? If we gather some of the retail investors who are determined to follow Lee Sung-soo, we can make up the money, and then spend money to buy it at a super high price. Wouldn't that make it ours?
Don't ask how much it costs, it's very expensive.

The shares were expensive to begin with, and Chen Chen had to pay extra. The price of getting the shares was too high, so high that Chen Chen wanted to buy another 9.05% at the same price!
Although it hurts, Chen Chen can really afford it and can even buy it several times. This is the strength of a nouveau riche guy.

"Look, look, Chairman Lee Soo Man has jumped out to accuse you!"

Li Zhien patted Chen Chen's shoulder excitedly and her words were very harsh.

"You're not blaming me. It was Shirley who manipulated C Headquarters to do this. It has nothing to do with me." Chen Chen smacked his lips. "But are the words very harsh? Then I'll really have to take a look."

Sulli is in charge of external affairs, while Bae Joo-hyun is hiding in the C headquarters, busy with her own things. It is really okay to say that this matter has nothing to do with Chen Chen.

No, it definitely doesn't matter. I, Chen, have come to IU's place for vacation. How can it matter? Don't slander me!

"It is definitely not a normal or reasonable business behavior. Well, I can admit that, and it is not harsh." Chen Chen tasted Li Xiuman's speech again, "But you said it was not legal and not compliant, which is a bit too much. When is it your turn to say such things?"

"Why, do you have a trick to deal with him?" Li Zhien's eyes suddenly widened a little more, "You even predicted this?"

"What do you mean by predicted? There's no need to predict at all." Chen Chen glanced at her with disdain. "There are only a few speeches that can be put on the public platform in this situation. There is data to check which one is the most likely."

"I don't understand this." Li Zhien said coquettishly: "Tell me, what have you prepared?"

"I didn't prepare anything. It was Representative Li Chengzhu who prepared it." Chen Chen pursed his lips. "Let the bullets fly for a while. There will be new news soon."

Three hours after Lee Soo-man's speech, Lee Sung-soo made a new statement, saying that he had handed over the information on Chairman Lee's tax evasion to the prosecutor's office.

By the way, Lee Sung-soo also made a more intense speech, accusing Lee Soo-man of forcibly interfering with the artists' comeback plans, resulting in the delay of their comeback.

It doesn't sound like a serious matter, but this remark dragged the fans who were just standing by and watching the show into the battlefield.

The attitude of the fans in the fan circle was originally "you fight your own way, it's none of our business, it would be best if they kill two of them, we've been unhappy with you entertainment companies for a long time", but now they suddenly find that their own artists have been affected
What's more?! Fans rushed in with their keyboards in hand!
Among them, aespa's fans were the most excited, because they were undoubtedly the parties involved, and their last comeback was so miserable, they also needed an outlet to vent.

Lee Soo Man has now become the outlet and the target of public criticism.

"Aren't you going to respond?" Lee Ji-eun asked, "Although Chairman Lee Soo-man did something illegal, it doesn't mean that it is legal for C headquarters to secretly buy shares of SMART."

"What's the point of responding? Whether it's legal or not is handled by a special department. Going to court online is just to stir up public opinion." Chen Chen explained fiercely, "Now public opinion has completely tilted towards us. If we respond again, it will be counterproductive and will cause some netizens with younger mental age to rebel."

"..."

On February 9, SM Entertainment's white knight Hybe entered the market and officially announced that it was discussing the acquisition of more than ten shares held by Lee Soo Man, and at the same time publicly acquiring SM Entertainment's shares held by other people.

Hybe's own thoughts are actually quite obvious. It's true that he wants to be a white knight, and it's also true that he wants to take a big piece of the benefits. He wants both.

Lee Soo Man, who would never agree even if he died, is now very likely to agree. It's not because of anything else, but simply because he might really die.

"Did you expect that?"

Li Zhien looked at Chen Chen who changed his position on the sofa to read a novel and asked curiously.

"As expected." Chen Chen only gave Li Zhien a handsome back of the head. "Two years ago, Lee Soo Man discussed the sale of shares with CJ, Hybe, and Kakao. Now it's normal for one of the three of them to come out as a white knight and take some of Lee Soo Man's shares."

"Oh, by the way, CJ won't come." Chen Chen added, "Back then, CJ almost reached an agreement with SM, but the final result was a quarrel. Please imagine how unhappy they were. At least it was enough to make CJ unwilling to be the white knight." "I see." Li Zhien ran to sit next to Chen Chen, "Do we have a plan to deal with Hybe after he enters the scene?"

"It's a head-on competition." Chen Chen turned around and gave Li Zhien a firm look. "Hybe is really brave to participate in this kind of thing when their own New Jeans debuted, but courage alone is useless. The fact that it can't beat C headquarters will not change because of courage."

"That's right." Li Zhien nodded, not quite understanding. "It's useless if you can't win head-on. In the end, you still have to compete with strength."

"No! What's right?" Li Zhien suddenly reacted, "Hybe is not challenging you alone, it's the largest shareholder of SMART and Hybe teaming up to fight you!"

"Smart. I haven't seen you so smart in a long time." Chen Chen smiled. "Lee Soo Man didn't even need to hold a shareholders' meeting to transfer shares to Hybe. He has the ability to make Hybe surpass C headquarters as soon as it enters the market."

"But so what?" Chen Chen rubbed his fingers. "We are fighting a price war, and it depends on who has more money. If C headquarters has the financial resources to bid up all the shares held by Lee Soo Man, Hybe will still lose."

"Is there any in C headquarters?"

Li Zhien asked carefully.

Chen Chen snorted coldly, his expression was both wild and cool.

"Hmph, I can buy Hybe as well!"

I'm not bragging or joking, Chen Chen now has someone behind him.

Hybe's original competitor was Kakao, a chaebol that was several levels higher than this entertainment company. So originally, Hybe surrendered after only a few days of price war.

But now Hybe is facing C headquarters, which is a stronger opponent but not much stronger. Hybe is confident that with the help of Lee Soo-man, it can use this price war to bring down C headquarters.

This is the real reason why Hybe is willing to take action. Their goal is most likely to attack C headquarters.

It was just that an unexpected situation occurred, and an unexpected situation that no one expected occurred to Chen Chen.
Chen Chen originally thought that Kakao would eventually get involved. After all, if he could acquire another SMART company, it would be a huge help to his layout in the entertainment industry. Even if there was a cooperation project with C headquarters MODHAUS, it would not be of much use. SMART would definitely be the better one.

But Kakao got the news, and they knew that Penguin wanted to accomplish something through C headquarters.

It’s the Chinese penguin, the penguin that has a close connection with Kakao, the penguin that Kakao itself has to save a lot of face for.

Penguin hopes to get a part of the SMART company through C headquarters and is willing to provide support for this. Do you think Chen Chen can refuse this? Can C headquarters still be short of money? !

Stop talking about Fatty Fang. I, Chen, will give you a favor. Let's just make an appointment to compete at the Han River Bridge. Whoever can't bear it first will leave! It will save you the trouble of bidding, and it will also save you Hybe from losing face!
Chen Chen will not lose no matter what. He will not lose in bidding. I am really confident that Chen Chen can beat that fat man. This is an all-round advantage!

Of course, Hybe and Lee Soo Man don’t know what’s going on behind C Headquarters. They are now sitting together and seriously discussing how to deal with C Headquarters.

Lee Soo Man first transferred 14.8% of the shares to Hybe, allowing Hybe to take an absolute leading position in the price war. He also instigated some of the veterans of SMART to speak out and put pressure on C headquarters.

The veteran who can cause more pressure is Yu Yongzhen, the core producer of S.H.I.E.

"It wouldn't be SMT without Lee Soo Man!"

Yu Yongzhen launched the strike while shouting such slogans.

There was an uproar for a while. On the one hand, it was quite rare for a music producer of such a high status to get involved in such things. On the other hand, fans of SM Entertainment's artists felt like their sky was falling. If Yoo Young-jin went on strike, they would become more worried about the quality of their idols' works.

"Countermeasures?"

Li Zhien has been numb during this period of time, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Chen Chen changed from admiration to calmness.

"Fuck him, disgusting!" Chen Chen cursed without any manners, "No matter who is in power, they will always give you benefits to support your music producer. Why did you come out to cause trouble? I have to take action. This is bullshit!"

After hearing this, Lee Ji-eun understood. Even a fool could understand.

Haha, you are threatening people with music producers? South Korea’s number one producer is a real participant in the war. Are you sure you want to open up the battlefield of music producers?
Even if the other party figured it out, it was too late now. Lee Sung-soo, representing the official SMART team, had already issued new news.

The last big event of SMART in the first quarter of 2023 is that Red Velvet’s Irene is about to start her solo activities.

Chen Chen, the core person in charge of the project, is responsible for the production of the title song and one included song.

Then Shamao released another public message on the social platform.

"Shamao's senior consultant Chen Chen has been transferred from the consultant position to the temporary contracted producer of Shamao."

According to the original order, Chen Chen should be announced as the producer of Shamiao first, and then he should be responsible for Irene's solo project, but Lee Sung-soo wanted to announce it in the opposite order, which was a loud slap on Yoo Young-jin's face.

Come on, threaten me, bark like a dog again!

The veterans of the SMART faction gave up their support, and Hybe also failed in the public bidding.

It spent a lot of resources in and out, and not only did it suffer a heavy loss, but New Jeans was also delayed.

In addition, this NewJeans is not the original NewJeans, and the works written by 250 cannot be used, so the obscurity is predictable.

As for whether Ms. Min will borrow such New Jeans to start a war, Chen Chen believes that she will.

No matter which NewJeans, they are all her tools. It is enough to be a tool. It doesn’t really matter how popular your idol group is.

Anyway, Chen Chen has already moved his stool and is ready to watch the show. Everything from now on will just be over after Penguin chooses the right time to buy some of SMART's shares from him.

Oh, that’s not right. Chen Chen has to help Bae Joo-hyun return first.

"Lend me a song by Lee Ji-eun."

Chen Chen flicked Li Zhien's face with his backhand.

"Which song?" Li Zhien looked confused.

"..."

"Cough cough."

“Love Wins All.”

……

……

(End of book) (End of chapter)