The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 706 Guess
In September, autumn has quietly arrived in the capital.

The trees on both sides of Gongti North Road in Zhaoyang District were dyed red by the sunset.

At the traffic light, Liu Shishi stepped on the brakes firmly.

She first looked at Lu Jia who was taking a selfie in the passenger seat, then retracted her gaze and inadvertently swept her eyes across the rearview mirror.

In the back seat, the two little ones were sitting quietly. Well, not quite quiet, they were making a lot of small movements.

Yaoyao was fiddling with her cell phone with her head down, and from time to time she would push her naughty brother who had his head resting on her shoulder with disdain.

Zhou Qi was not annoyed when being pushed away, and he shamelessly leaned towards his sister.

"Oh, don't lean on me, it's so annoying." Yaoyao pressed his chubby face and pushed him back hard.

Zhou Qi squeezed hard: "Sister, I want to see it too, let me see it."

"No."

"Sister, good sister."

"No, no, I won't give it to you. I'm going to be angry."

"Both of you shut up." Lu Jia's head was buzzing from the noise.

Zhou Qi was punched on the head by his sister and sighed softly.

Just when I was about to continue trying shamelessly, I found that my sister suddenly looked up, staring at me with her two Tyrannosaurus eyes, her cheeks puffed up, and her eyebrows inverted, as if she was about to get angry.

Alarm bells rang in his heart, and he made a prompt decision. He stretched out his little hand, pointed at the words at the top of the WeChat chat interface, and asked in a very naive and obedient voice.

"Sister, what is this in my aunt's phone?"

“Selling pineapple rice.”

“Who’s selling pineapple rice?”

"uncle."

Zhou Qi's curiosity grew. He lifted his butt and moved over, seizing the opportunity to get close to his sister.

"Why does uncle sell pineapple rice?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" Zhou Yaoyao was impatient. Well, she herself didn't know the reason.

She swiped up the chat history and muttered, "Aunt, why didn't uncle reply to my message?"

"Your uncle is still filming right now." Liu Shishi replied.

Zhou Qi looked up and blinked: "Aunt, why does my uncle sell pineapple rice?"

“It’s a homophone of an English word.”

"What's your name, aunt?" Zhou Qi asked as a matter of course.

"Uh" Liu Shishi's expression froze and he groaned inwardly.

Are you going to tell Qiqi that your dear stinky uncle gave her the nickname “Dog Shit Seller”?
She shook her head and said no, it would be too embarrassing.

Just then the traffic light at the intersection turned green, she stepped on the accelerator, and the car moved slowly.

"Hold on tight and think about what to eat in advance, we'll be there soon."

"Okay!" the two kids answered in unison.

Zhou Qi did not ask any more questions. After being disliked and having his ears twisted by his sister many times, he seemed a little discouraged.

He pouted, leaned his forehead against the window, and stared outside, wondering what he would eat next.

Seeing this, Liu Shishi looked at Lu Jia and smiled.

The kid is so easy to fool.

There is a newly opened hot pot restaurant on the second floor of Tunsanli Mall on Gongti North Road, Chaoyang District.

Festive big red lanterns are hung on the exterior wall of the store, and a movie poster starring Huang Xiaoming is placed in front of the door.

Looking inside from the store door, the decoration is full of Chinese style, with wooden tables, chairs and counters arranged in an orderly manner, looking antique.

Looking up, I saw the shop sign hanging high with four big characters: Hot Number One!
Lu Jia stared at the sign: "Is this the restaurant that Huang Xiaoming asked Xiaoyuan to invest in?"

"Yeah." Liu Shishi nodded.

There are three shareholders of this store, Li Binbin, Ren Quan and Huang Xiaoming.

According to Lu Yuan, after Ren Quan and Li Binbin watched the movie "Chinese Partners", they came up with the idea of ​​opening a restaurant. Ren Quan talked to Li Binbin first, and Li Binbin agreed without hesitation.

The field chosen is still Ren Quan’s old profession, hot pot.

This time they are no longer satisfied with small-scale operations, but are determined to build an IP and create a big brand, planning to open 30 restaurant chains within five years.

They extended an olive branch to Huang Xiaoming again. After Huang Xiaoming agreed to join, Ren Quan actively lobbied Huang Xiaoming to invite Lu Yuan to invest.

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan is not very interested in the catering industry.

Seeing this, Huang Xiaoming turned to invite Liu Shishi. Seeing that her boyfriend did not want to invest, Miss Liu also chose to refuse.

After listening to her, Lu Jia looked at her future sister-in-law curiously and said, "Why don't you take part in it? Stars must make money if they open restaurants."

Liu Shishi held her nephew's hand and said, "Lu Yuan told me that I should try not to get involved in unfamiliar industries. The capital market is cruel, and the star effect is a double-edged sword. It can certainly bring resources and traffic, and win attention and investment for the project."

"But if you lack professional knowledge and risk control awareness, blindly investing will only put you in trouble. Li Yapeng is a living example. No one knows what pitfalls are waiting ahead. Just focus on the film and television industry."

If this restaurant is only operated on a small scale and is open to insiders in the entertainment industry, Liu Shishi would have no problem taking a stake in it because of the relationship between Huang Xiaoming and Lu Yuan.

The price of the dishes is a bit expensive, but the main purpose is to communicate feelings.

But Ren Quan's ambition goes far beyond that. He plans to use the influence of celebrity shareholders to increase brand awareness and adopt a paid franchising model.

This model has the potential to bring considerable returns, but the risks involved cannot be ignored.

In the catering industry, issues such as price, safety and hygiene can easily be led by peers and become the focus of public opinion attacks.

The celebrity effect can bring attention, but it can also magnify problems.

If you find a hair in the dish, in an ordinary restaurant, most people may not think it is a big deal and just change the dish. But try it in a celebrity restaurant.

When something happens, it brings traffic, topics, and money.

At that time, countless people will be watching you, waiting for you to make a mistake. If you don't make a mistake, they may even make you make a mistake deliberately.

In the Internet age, it is not surprising that any strange things happen for the sake of traffic and topics.

The end result was that the company closed down, its star shareholders suffered backlash, and its image was affected, which was not worth the loss.

Zhou Qi broke free from his aunt's hand, ran to the door to peek, and was picked up by Ren Quan who suddenly appeared. He was stunned.

Ren Quan pinched his cheeks, then turned to greet Liu Shishi and the others: "Shishi, you're here!"

"Brother Quan, congratulations on the opening of the new store." Liu Shishi responded.

She had accompanied Lu Yuan to many parties before, and had met Ren Quan a few times, but they were not very familiar with each other. Today she came mainly to support him on behalf of her boyfriend.

Liu Shishi looked at the other person, and couldn't help but think of Gou Shizi's high evaluation of Ren Quan.

Ren Quan has an extremely keen business sense and his style of doing things is vigorous and decisive.

In the early days after graduating from college, although he had participated in several TV dramas, he soon realized that his resources in the entertainment industry were limited and it would be difficult to gain a foothold as an actor alone.

After investigating the market, he concluded that as people's living standards and incomes continued to improve, the catering industry would surely develop well.

So he borrowed 40,000 yuan from Li Binbin and plunged into the catering industry.

After years of development, he opened many Sichuan restaurants and hot pot restaurants in first-tier cities across the country and made a fortune.

In addition, he also established an investment company, expanding his business scope from the catering industry to entertainment, technology, finance and other fields. He also made frequent moves in the stock market and achieved remarkable results.

He is considered one of the more successful cross-border figures in the entertainment industry, and he has a very low-key personality. Although Huang Xiaoming is praised by the media for his vision in investment, he is no match for him.

"Mr. Lu is still filming in Xiamen, right?" Ren Quan put Zhou Qi down and asked her.

"Well, he called me yesterday and asked me to congratulate you on his behalf."

"Hahaha, you're welcome."

Li Binbin followed behind, smiling and holding out his hand. "This must be Lu Yuan's sister, no wonder Teacher Lu is so popular in Asia, your family has really good genes."

Lu Yuan has a beautiful young sister, and Liu Shishi often goes to various shopping malls with her future sister-in-law and their two children, which is not a new topic in the industry.

"Thank you for the compliment. Teacher Li is even more beautiful in real life than on the screen." Lu Jia greeted her calmly.

Nowadays, she is no longer restrained when facing the so-called big names in the entertainment industry.

After all, no matter how big a star she is, she is not bigger than her brother. When she thinks that these people have to stand aside when performing on the same stage with her brother, she feels that they are nothing special.

"Brother Xiao Ming didn't come today?"

"He's a very busy man, he's filming on the set, he doesn't have time."

The group exchanged greetings for a moment at the door, Ren Quan stepped aside to let a few people into the store, and then followed behind.

His eyes fell on Liu Shishi's back.

Of course, he was not looking at Liu Shishi, but was thinking about things related to Lu Yuan.

He and Lu Yuan first met when they were filming "Assembly" that year.

At that time, Lu Yuan was just a newcomer who had been in the industry for less than two years. He had some fame, but was far behind him.

But no one expected that Lu Yuan would become famous at such an astonishing speed.

Ren Quan likes to study people, especially the growth trajectories of successful people.

He didn't think that Lu Yuan's sudden popularity and subsequent development could be explained by luck alone.

After Lu Yuan became famous, he kept a low profile and lived the life of an old cadre.

But he has calculated that this man's net worth is at least over 18 billion, including his film pay, endorsements, and the proceeds from his investments in movies and TV series.

But I have never heard that this person has made investments other than film and television, which is a very unreasonable thing.

He thought that with Lu Yuan's vision, he would not be so foolish as to put the money in the bank and earn interest.

So always pay attention to this aspect.

Compared with most of his peers in the industry, he believed that he had a much deeper understanding of Lu Yuan.

People who know Ren Quan all praise him for his great talent in investment and his great success.

For example, a few years ago, he used 200 million to buy shares of Huayi.

The investment increased more than ten times and finally exited at a high price of more than 30 million yuan.

But it depends on who you compare with. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Lu Yuan left Huayi and cashed out more than 100 million yuan.

And according to some gossip he collected privately, Lu Yuan's current business empire is far more complicated than people imagine.

In addition to the well-known Yuanfang Media Co., Ltd., he seems to have close ties with the industry-leading PPS video platform.

He was not sure about this speculation at first, but Lu Yuan, as a small screen grand slam, unexpectedly took on the role in the idol drama "My Love from the Star" and displayed a series of high-profile attitudes in subsequent interviews, which undoubtedly increased his suspicion.

As the leading domestic video platform with tens of millions of paying users, PPS's market value will be difficult to estimate once it goes public.

The market value is just the tip of the iceberg. What is more important is the platform’s voice in the film and television industry. It is very likely to become a rule maker in the future.

Even as a small shareholder, its influence should not be underestimated.

Perhaps, this hidden grand slam is the real investment genius in the entertainment industry.

So he founded Hot One, thinking of inviting the other party to invest and taking this opportunity to verify his guess. Unfortunately, Lu Yuan did not show any interest in investing.

Liu Shishi had no idea that someone was tickling her dog behind her back, and she walked into the hall arm in arm with Lu Jia.

The hall was almost full, all of them were fans attracted by Huang Xiaoming and Li Binbin's fame.

Seeing Liu Shishi coming in, the group of people were quiet for a moment and then suddenly became alert.

"Wow, it's Liu Shishi. Liu Shishi, I like you so much."

"No wonder people say that the chances of meeting celebrities in this store are high. Liu Shishi even came to show her support!"

"Liu Shishi, where's Lu Yuan? Why isn't he here? Professor, please give me an autograph."

"Why hasn't Eternal Love started airing yet? Can it be aired sooner? I will definitely watch it over and over again."

"Shi Shi, my girlfriend likes you very much."

"Shishi, I'll steal the battery to feed you."

"Hello everyone."

Facing the enthusiasm of everyone present, Liu Shishi smiled and waved.

"Liu Lulu!!" Someone in the corner was right next to her and firing his gun.

"Pfft, hahaha." Everyone laughed.

Liu Shishi: "."

"Let's go to box 888?" Li Binbin also covered his mouth and laughed.

As popular as Liu Xinyou is due to "My Love from the Star", Liu Shishi becomes as green as she is.

Liu Shishi was about to answer when she saw Yaoyao find a seat in the corner of the hall and sit down. Qiqi sat beside her, swinging her short legs.

"Let's go to the hall, no need to go to the box." She changed her mind.

"That's okay too."

Liu Shishi and Lu Jia sat down face to face with the two kids. A waiter approached them and asked what they wanted to order.

"Aunt, TV!" Zhou Qi raised his hand and pointed.

Liu Shishi looked back and found that at the top of the hall was a high-definition display screen, on which was playing PPS's web drama "Soul Ferry"!
She had read the script before and knew the general outline of the story.

This web drama starts from the perspective of the Three Realms, traveling through ancient and modern space, with the "Underworld" represented by Zhao Li, the "Human World" represented by Dong Qing, and the "Heaven" represented by Wang Xiaoya as the main line, presenting a series of dramas that seem to be about "ghosts and gods" but are actually very warm.

Dong Qing, a young man with the yin-yang eyes, and Zhao Li, the soul ferryman, work together to help many souls who are stranded in the human world because they have unfinished business.

Although it is a horror theme, it is full of "human touch". I believe it can break the public's inherent impression of horror ghost movies and subvert the audience's view of the supernatural.

At this time, in addition to the people who were taking pictures of Liu Shishi, there were many diners in the hall who were focusing on the screen and whispering.

"I was thinking of renewing my PPS membership for another month, but I didn't expect that I could watch it here directly."

"If it looks good, then pay to support it. If it doesn't look good, forget it."

"Pan Yuemin has good acting skills and is handsome. I don't know what Dong Jie is thinking."

"Hehe, I guess the anesthetic needle pierced my nose. Either my nose is itchy or it's not numb."

"The picture quality is pretty good. It's said that the cost was only 800 million, but it doesn't look like a web drama at all. It seems that the rumors that the lead actor didn't receive any salary and all the money was used for production are true."

The first episode of "Soul Ferry" tells the story of Xia Dongqing joining the 444 convenience store.

That night, a five-year-old boy named Doudou came to the store, and with him was a girl who called herself Wang Xiaoya.

Wang Xiaoya wanted to take Doudou home, so she borrowed the store's computer to search the Internet for the address Doudou mentioned.

As a result, I saw a horrifying news that Doudou died in a car accident 7 days ago.

Both of them were frightened and became suspicious. Just when they were trying to confirm whether it was Doudou’s “first seven days”, Doudou’s mother came and took the child away.

At this time, another clerk on duty, Zhao Li, came to the store.

He said that Doudou did not die in the car accident, but was saved by another college student, who was still lying in the hospital. His name was Wang Xiaoya.

When the three words "Wang Xiaoya" were spoken from the mouth of Zhao Li, played by Pan Yuemin, amid the sound of thriller music, the audience in the hall were stunned.

"Fuck, that's interesting. It turns out Wang Xiaoya is the ghost. I was shocked."

"My goodness, it's a bit good-looking, what's going on."

“I didn’t expect that a decent ghost movie could be made in China.”

(End of this chapter)