this man is not calm

Chapter 423 Austerity
After entering the fourth quarter of 1997, more and more "new players" flocked into the Internet industry to make money, among which the e-commerce track was the largest.

The reason is simple: this seems to be the most closely connected with reality, has the greatest potential for profitability, and has the most room for imagination.

After a busy schedule, on October 23, Thursday, the day of the Frost Descent, the No. 1 computer room of the data center was finally started up, and the photovoltaic power station, which was built relatively quickly, was connected to the grid for power generation; the wind turbines were much slower, and the hoisting and testing time was relatively long. We strive to complete the infrastructure before New Year's Day, and as for putting it into use, it would be good if it can be connected to the grid before the Spring Festival.

After the trial operation began, the first services that were transferred to the site were web services that did not require high real-time applications, such as portals, SNS social networking, forums, etc., which had high storage requirements but low computing power.
After confirming that it is running normally, you can start instant messaging, online games, and online videos.

As for e-commerce, be prepared to transfer it last. This thing has very high requirements for stable performance and involves the flow of a large amount of real money, so you must be careful.

After transferring some of the service demands, the pressure on the headquarters' mainframe was reduced, allowing the operations team, who had been maintaining it with great trepidation, to feel a little more relaxed.

However, the future will not be easy. As the user growth of the key software Jinxi Chat has reached a bottleneck, Jin Shang is thinking that in addition to natural expansion over time, he also needs to think of other ways to stabilize his position and resist the relentless pressure from Fetion.

Xiaolingtong, which already has tens of millions of users, caught their attention. Fetion can send and receive messages through mobile users, and Xiaolingtong can theoretically do the same, but the handheld mobile devices are too simple to process more complex signals, cannot recognize pictures, and naturally cannot use MMS and various applications.

Only short text messages can be barely communicated, and this seems to be something that can be used.

When so many Xiaolingtong users start to get used to the SMS function, the data processing pressure of Jinxi Chat will quickly expand many times, which brings about another problem: the demand for storage, transfer and processing functions of remote servers will increase rapidly.

After all the calculations, it turns out that the requirements of Jinxi Culture's Internet applications for data centers are almost unlimited.

If we add the online games that are scheduled to be released next year, it is almost certain that the storage and computing power of the current first phase of the data center will be quickly exhausted.

Next, there will definitely be large investments to continue expanding the scale of the data center.

Jin Shang felt a headache when thinking about the continuous increase in investment in this field in the future and the huge amount of resources required.

More than one million networked computers are still too few after all. They are not enough to sustain the existing online applications and turn them from losses to profits. The distance from quantitative change to qualitative change is still far.

It is estimated that only electronic games have some prospects. If combined with books, comic adaptations, live-action movies, TV series, special effects dramas and peripheral authorizations to develop an overall large IP, it can have sufficient commercial value.

For example, the popularity of the costume blockbuster "Changbanpo" has driven the hot sales of the novels, TV series and peripheral DVD tapes of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the tabletop card game "Three Kingdoms Kill", the arcade board, console and PC cross-platform game "Dynasty Warriors" and the "Three Kingdoms" series of games have achieved new success.

Yesterday evening, the real-time box office statistics exceeded 3 million yuan, which was better than expected. The overseas and surrounding areas were even hotter, almost twice as much. Historical IP with a cultural foundation is powerful, and its foundation is much better than that of "The Legend of White Snake". If the ticket price was not much lower than that of D movies, the actual domestic box office would not be so far apart. In terms of the number of moviegoers, it did not fall behind by much.

No matter what, the celebration banquet will be held as usual.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the film market has been increasingly sluggish in recent years. Unexpectedly, three films with box office revenues of over 100 million yuan appeared in succession this year, especially "The Legend of White Snake", which simply refreshed the cognition of domestic movie fans. The so-called common sense, market, experience and rules have all been shattered.

When Jin Shang arrived at the venue, the meeting had already started for a while.

The film, television and entertainment industry is a world of fame and fortune. Fame brings profit. Fame comes first, followed by profit. It is almost instinctive to find a reason to be exposed, especially at such a moment of limelight.

As the artistic consultant of Changdi Culture, he appears in the list of main creators from time to time, but not many people know Jin Shang's background. Even those who come late to the company don't know who the elusive Young Master Jin is.

When the Nan brothers and Dai Yiqun came out in person to introduce them, many people still looked at them sideways. Fortunately, no one was so blind as to find an excuse to get close to them.

Nan Dalong intimately hooked his arm around Jin Shang's shoulder, Dai Yiqun and Nan Dabiao joked from time to time, have people in the circle ever seen the big shots in their minds be so "approachable"?
"Is it okay to deal with interviews and publicity?"

"Don't worry, the people from the cultural and publicity departments have already informed us and have passed on all the instructions. Just be honest during this period. By the way, that TV series Journey to the West you mentioned is really amazing..."

"The platform is effective..."

"That is also the result of excellent quality. It looks even more exaggerated than "The Legend of White Snake" and "The Strange Cases of the Song Dynasty", and the IP value is much higher."

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that "Journey to the West" is a mythological story based on "A Record of the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty" and folk legends. The plots in it are so classic, and each of the vivid characters can be taken out individually to develop a series of character IPs.

This kind of mythological drama is really suitable for being adapted into a 3D special effects blockbuster. The success of the movie "The Legend of White Snake" has greatly increased the value of ancient mythological stories on the market, and major film and television companies, publishing companies and media groups are all scrambling to get them.

A few people ignored the gazes of the crowd and sat down in the VIP seats in front of the rostrum. The host was livening up the atmosphere, interacting with the guests, and directing the people and groups with performance tasks to go on stage one by one.

Looking around, Jin Shang saw that the flashing lights in the distance were no longer endless. He turned around and asked Nan Dabiao:

"We interviewed a lot of media outlets. It must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"Not many people were invited. Many of them came here on their own. You have to believe in the appeal of our company now. The days when we had to pay for everything are over."

"Really!"

Taking time out of his busy schedule to come and take a look was not just a whim, but something serious. Jin Shang thought about it and said,

"I may need to collect a batch of funds in the fourth quarter. The large expenses in the next year or so will be considerable, and I cannot leave too much liquid funds in the account."

"Okay, I've made a lot of money this year, so I don't have to live a tight life."

Nan Dabiao assured with certainty,

"I'll ask the finance department to process the account faster. If you have any requirements, please contact me immediately." "Okay! Thank you for your help!"

The first interest payment will be made in January next year, with a concentrated repayment of about 4.8 billion yuan. The gross profit and personal income from more than two years of entrepreneurship may be much less than this.

The second year's interest will be repaid in the middle of the year, and the first installment of principal and the third installment of interest will be repaid at the end of the year. In more than a year, the total amount to be repaid is nearly 20 billion.

It is not too difficult to survive. One-third of the money is recovered from arbitrage of financial bonds, one-fifth of the money is recovered from books, film and television discs, music albums and copyright operations, about a quarter is from PHS and MP3 players, and the shortfall is made up by various incomes from newspapers and magazines, equity financing and dividends, used car trading market and farmers' market. There is even a slight surplus, which is ideal.

Fortunately, there are mid-term lease rights auctions in the used car market, operating income from large farmers' markets, royalties from many cultural and creative works, interest on share transfers, sales revenue from PHS phone calls and MP3 electronic music sales, listing financing, bond market profits, etc. When all are added together, the gap is not big anymore, and it can be easily made up by applying for a credit line from a bank or mortgaging part of the assets for a loan.

After doing a large asset transaction with Lao Huang, the second and third years were the most stressful, but it became easier and easier afterwards.

It is not easy to maintain a certain level of investment expansion while facing the pressure of debt. This time next year, the second three-year real estate lease right will be auctioned, which will bring in another large sum of money.

The total debt is extremely high, but the cash flow is sufficient. However, we must start preparing now.

In a high-profit, high-debt, and high-turnover model, risk control is of paramount importance. It is like walking on a tightrope on a cliff and performing a hat trick. If you are not careful, the result will be crushed to pieces.

Fortunately, it seems that the deadlock set by great-grandfather Huang Zhengkuo has been solved by Young Master Jin.

The super IP "Three Kingdoms" alone, due to the hit of "Changbanpo", brought direct and indirect benefits of more than 500 million to Jin Shanghe's companies.

Of course, this is the total amount of increase for many years to come, and it will take time to realize it. It would be great if we could achieve half of it in the next three to six months.

Hardcover novels, commemorative edition game packages, boards and PC games have once again reached a sales peak after a two-year hiatus, making the copyright operations department of Jinxi Culture Content Division very happy.

Not to mention offline statistics, the real-time statistical data of Jinxi Mall has almost skyrocketed, which has greatly increased the pressure on the logistics department and terminal outlets.

Nowadays, the main goods on e-commerce platforms, calculated by the number of pieces, are still clothes (textile products) and books (including music and film and television discs), which have low unit costs, high gross profits, and minimal revenue impairment caused by logistics losses and returns and exchanges.

It is no wonder that the early successful e-commerce platforms were all selling books and clothes. Other categories could not hold up. Daily necessities require cheap and convenient logistics, large-scale electrical appliances require efficient after-sales service, and rice, flour, grain and oil require even more consideration.

Now the clothing section of Jinxi Mall still needs the support of offline stores, and cultural and creative works such as books are even more dependent on distribution through outlets.

Jin Shang has not taken charge of the former, leaving it to employees to develop on their own. The latter is closely related to cultural media and affects the strategic positioning of the parent company, so he intervenes more frequently.

Considering that profits in the next few years will still depend on film and television theaters to drive peripheral revenue, Jin Shang couldn't help but raise the importance of this industry a little.

While chatting with the people around me, I glanced around and unexpectedly saw a few familiar faces.

"Why are that director named Niu Something Gen and the liar named Lin also here?"

Two years ago, they wanted to trick Jin Shang into authorizing the image of their ancestors to make a movie, but their tactics were too despicable and they were seen through at the first sight.

"Those two..."

Nan Da Biao glanced at them nonchalantly and replied,

"There are too few directors who are up to par in China. Our company has only recruited two who are decent, that is, they are from other industries and are not well-received by people in the industry, so we got a bargain. As for the others... we can't just have a few people to support such a big plate, we need some backup. Although Niu Jiangen is not a brilliant person, he still has some ability. After years of hard work, he won't get any big jobs, so it's not a problem for him to start work. There are more than a dozen movies and TV series every year, and there are not many obedient directors to work. It's not a big deal to train new people..."

Everyone needs to eat, and if there is nothing to do, there is no money to be made. Changdi Culture is wealthy and powerful, and film crews come one after another, so it is normal for some people to get close to them.

"That's fine. They are all bad people who have been corrupted by the atmosphere in the circle. You say they are bad, but those who have been cheated really want to kill them, but there is nothing we can do about them. If they are useful, then use them. Doing business is not charity. Just control the risks."

"The producers, executive directors, finance and screenwriters are not careless. They also cheat outsiders to make money. They all eat from the same food trough and know each other well. There is no chance for them to make trouble."

The circle of film, television and entertainment is a world of fame and fortune. There are few people who are capable and can make a name for themselves. It is normal to cooperate with people who have low moral standards but are capable. It is impossible to be too demanding on their personal morality. If there is nothing serious, they can be subdued and can get things done, then just use them first.

Especially reliable directors, producers and agents.

With that being said, there probably aren't many good people among all the men and women present. They all came for the costume blockbuster with a box office of over 100 million yuan, the big star Dai Yiqun, and the rising industry giant Changdi Culture.

In 1997, the average monthly income in Beijing was just over 1,000 yuan, and there were many temporary workers earning a few yuan a day. If top stars could make it in Beijing and work hard, they could have a good chance of earning hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands a year. There were many bar singers with a little fame who could earn three or four thousand yuan a month.

As the celebration banquet progressed, Jin Shang asked about Dai Yiqun's plans for the end of the year, which included commercial performances, advertising endorsements, album releases, movie promotions, and preparing to appear on the Spring Festival Gala. Although she was busy, she had nothing to worry about.

The road is going smoothly now, and it is much better than before.

The rest of the time, there was nothing new. After rejecting interview requests from some curious reporters, Jin Shang said hello to his acquaintances and prepared to leave.

This kind of public appearance is not suitable for me to perform, but it is not the path for me to be a public figure in public. Unless I can completely push the "stage name" Yuan Xiu to the forefront, it will be of no use to me.

Of course, there are also those who are too busy to deal with it. Hong Renquan, who is about to retire, is still waiting to meet to discuss business.

(End of this chapter)