China Entertainment: I have been a director since 05

……

In April 2013, Toutiao, owned by Zhang Yiming and others, was forced into a desperate situation by Toutiaoke, owned by Liu Yan.

After a day-long negotiation meeting, the four founders of Toutiao finally decided to contact Liu Yan, hoping for peace talks. Not only did their attitude soften, but they also showed obvious signs of giving in.

After contacting Liu Yan, Zhang Yiming and his friends discovered strangely that the other party actually agreed.

And it’s happening very quickly, tomorrow.

The night passed slowly.

In April in Beijing, willow catkins should be flying outside the window.

But at this moment, in this conference room located on the upper floors of China World Trade Center Phase 3, which is said to overlook half of Beijing, there is only a heavy, suffocating low pressure.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the city was a little gray and the fog was extending. Looking down through the fog, the so-called hustle and bustle of traffic was nowhere to be seen. The traffic looked more like tiny, struggling beetles.

The conference table is made of marble and is rather cold.

The surface is very smooth, and it can almost reflect the pale light tubes on the ceiling, as well as the unconcealable fatigue and anxiety on the faces of the people sitting around it.

Zhang Yiming sat at one end of the long table, his back straight but he only dared to sit on half of it.

Although it wasn't too hot yet, there was sweat on his forehead, and his whole body movements were like a string stretched to the limit, ready to break at any moment.

Zhang Yiming was wearing a neatly ironed shirt with his collar slightly open, as if he wanted to vent the frustration in his chest.

The dark circles under the eyes are like the marks left by staying up late and under heavy pressure in the past few months.

Soon, squeak.

The door opened.

As soon as the woman opposite came in, the air in the entire conference room seemed to have been compressed repeatedly, and it was so stagnant that water could almost be squeezed out of it.

Zhang Yiming looked sharply at the woman who had gradually broken them down over the past six months.

His eyes were sharp, like a dusty blade, fixed tightly on the woman opposite him.

Willow Swallow.

She wore a red dress.

The off-shoulder dress with red roses made her look like a rose goddess blooming in a gorgeous greenhouse, sexy and elegant, stunning yet not tacky.

It gives off an absolutely high-end feeling.

This was not Zhang Yiming’s first time meeting a star, but it was indeed his first time meeting a top star.

Liu Yan is not an absolute top star, but she is definitely a first-tier star.

If you ask everyone who Yang Mi is, middle-aged people may not know. However, if you ask who is the most popular person in the entertainment industry, Liu Yan will definitely be one of the first names that come to mind, no matter whether they are old, middle-aged or young.

This is nationality.

Zhang Yiming couldn't help but look up and down at Liu Yan's red dress, because this style almost satisfied everyone's most beautiful imagination of women's outfits.

Elegant, sexy, full of tension,
She is also very elegant, and the highly saturated bright red color makes her temperament almost overwhelm everyone present.

Under her pure and strong feminine charm, even in such an important occasion, the group of men around her couldn't help but be attracted by her powerful aura and charming demeanor, and couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Liu Yan nodded slightly, and then sat down. She leaned back on the wide chair in a relaxed posture, with a delicate pen turning deftly between her fingertips.

There was no unnecessary expression on her face, as calm as a deep pool.

"Mr. Liu?"

Zhang Yiming's voice broke the silence, "In the past few months, the data growth curve of Toutiaoke is really impressive."

His voice was originally a little dry, like the sound of friction on a washboard.

At this moment, the conversation reached an emotional point, and his inner dissatisfaction made every word he said jump out from between his teeth.

"Moreover, the accuracy of Toutiao's information does not seem to be accidental. Whether it is capturing user portraits, actually controlling content push, or even the latest ideas such as interest extension maps that we are still debugging, you are always one step faster."

Zhang Yiming leaned forward slightly, his eyes as sharp as a needle, seeming to penetrate Liu Yan's calm disguise.

"Behind Boss Liu, I'm afraid there won't be only Boss Liu who is a god, right?"

Zhang Yiming, who graduated from a prestigious university and has been an entrepreneur for many years, figured it out yesterday when others talked about the possibility that they might be pawns.

How can a star be so fierce?

There must be some powerful people behind this.

They could guess it, and they thought others could guess it too.

There is only one person behind Liu Yan, and that is Guan Ling.

Therefore, Zhang Yiming came straight to the point and wanted to get to the core issue, so that at least he would not be so passive during the negotiation.

The pen in Liu Yan's hand stopped turning, and she gently pressed it on the table, making a subtle but clear "click" sound. She raised her eyes and met Zhang Yiming's gaze. His eyes were calm, but there seemed to be some kind of light that saw through everything in the depths. She smiled, "Mr. Zhang is joking."

Her voice was not loud, but it pierced the air.

"It doesn't seem to matter which deity it is, right? What's important is that we finally invited Mr. Zhang to the negotiation table in front of us."

Liu Yan smiled, "And what Mr. Zhang said is just the law of the market. Users like products that understand them better, and whoever grasps this will win. As for being one step faster..." The arc at the corner of her mouth seemed to deepen a little, "Maybe it's luck, or maybe... clearer thinking? Or, do you want to accuse us of plagiarism now? But unfortunately, this algorithm has no patent, and everyone can use it. It seems that it doesn't matter if we use it."

This is a bit shameless.

But Zhang Yiming couldn't refute it.

This is a commercial war, and the means are never important. What's more, the other party's means are legal and compliant, and there is nothing wrong with them.

The software just looks similar, what can I do?
But this method is indeed disgusting. In such a short period of time, a concept has become what it is now, and they have been completely forced into a corner, leaving them at the mercy of others.

"Thoughts?" Zhang Yiming seemed to be stung by the word. He let out an almost sarcastic sneer, instantly destroying his forced calmness. "Boss Liu, let's be frank. You and I both know that there is no luck or thoughts behind this! It's purely based on spending money. You have been hiding behind us since the establishment of Toutiao. You used capital to pave the way and used the resources you brought from the entertainment industry to force traffic. Now you have forced us to the point where we can't even get the B round of money, but you don't want to crush us to death. How should we negotiate? Please draw a way, Boss Liu."

"That's easy! The reason we're willing to talk to Mr. Zhang today is because we know we can properly resolve this issue."

"Also, Mr. Zhang better watch your attitude. We have never been hiding behind, but we just didn't want to reveal the news too early at the beginning."

Liu Yan's voice was not loud, but it was like an invisible whip lashing the air. The calmness on her face froze instantly, and her eyes were as cold as ice knives, piercing directly at Zhang Yiming, as if everything was under control.

This statement has the air of a superior.
So in an instant,

There was dead silence in the meeting room.

Zhang Yiming subconsciously shrank his neck back, and several Byte executives held their breath and their faces turned pale.

At this moment when the air was about to condense and explode,

The phone rang. The ring tone was not steady or clear, but it sounded abruptly with a certain strange rhythm.

The sound was neither fast nor slow, hitting everyone's eardrums, but more like hitting the taut heartstrings.

Everyone in the meeting room, including Zhang Yiming who was facing Liu Yan coldly, seemed to have been paused. Their movements and expressions froze instantly. Their eyes were all fixed on their phones.

The coldness in Liu Yan's eyes melted away like spring snow, and the corners of her mouth curved up again, with a hint of understanding that everything had settled. She didn't even look back, but leaned back in her chair with a more relaxed posture.

"Answer the phone." She said clearly, without any emotion in her voice.

The assistant beside him answered the call and turned on the speakerphone option.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang."

A clear voice came from the other end of the phone. A business negotiation led by Liu Yan seemed more like a game at this moment.

The mysterious boss behind the other party, who Zhang Yiming had already guessed, was indeed Guan Ling.

But at this moment, he was not even willing to come to the capital for the interview.

"It's just a phone call. Doesn't it seem a bit too disrespectful?" Zhang Yiming shook his head slightly.

He thought of countless scenarios, such as Guan Ling's shadow entering the conference room.

-

The bright light from the corridor outside the door suddenly poured in, forming a long, slanted band of light at the door.

A figure stood at the junction of light and darkness, with an upright posture and calm steps.

There was no crowd or deliberately created pomp and circumstance, only him. But the air in the entire conference room was filled with his invisible aura as he entered.

It exudes a kind of power that comes from being in a high position for a long time and being able to make things happen with a wave of the hand, mixed with the artist's unique sensitivity and control.

But Zhang Yiming never thought that the person on the other end would just make a fucking phone call. . .

A feeling of humiliation spread throughout Zhang Yiming's body.

At this moment he really wanted to say the word "actor", but he couldn't say it. His pupils suddenly contracted, the blood color on his face instantly faded, and an abnormal flush suddenly surged up.

He unconsciously clenched his hands under the table into fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Shock, astonishment, anger at an actor... complex emotions rolled and collided violently in his eyes.

At this moment, the same thing happened to other ByteDance executives. They had guessed it, but they didn’t expect this kind of scenario.

Guan Ling certainly didn't know what the scene was like here, he just spoke softly.

"The reason why I didn't show up is because I'm currently filming a new movie in Inner Mongolia. And I believe that Mr. Zhang will be very satisfied with my communication with him. So there's no need for me to go back in person."

Guan Ling's voice sounded again, deep and mellow.

Every word is clearly heard by everyone, giving them a sense of natural control.

It seemed as if he was stating a simple fact.

“I know everything about ByteDance right now, including the fact that there is no hope for your Series B financing, and that you will not last more than four months.

Previously, I asked Liu Yan to help me fight against you in order to temporarily prevent the circle from knowing my movements, but at this moment, I think it is necessary to have a frank conversation with you."

Guan Ling also got straight to the point.
"As long as your ByteDance is willing to accept my investment, I will be responsible for all future financing and development of ByteDance. And you will still be the one in control of all future trends and developments."

Guan Ling's tone was calm, so calm that Zhang Yiming's Adam's apple rolled violently, as if he was trying to suppress the exclamation and questioning in his throat.

He took a deep breath, trying to find his voice, to regain the initiative in the negotiations, and to regain his footing which had been completely disrupted by this sudden big deal.

Someone gives you money and lets you be the one in control?
Where in the world can such a good thing happen?
A living Bodhisattva?

"Director Guan... Director Guan?" Zhang Yiming's voice was extremely dry, with an undisguised sense of surprise and doubt. "Not only will you not force us to retreat completely, but you will even provide us with financing? And you want me to be the helmsman?"

He subconsciously glanced at Liu Yan, then suddenly looked back at his phone, his eyes filled with huge question marks when he saw Guan Ling on the phone.

Guan Ling did not answer immediately.

The call paused for a few seconds, and Guan Ling said, "Liu Yan, give it to him."

After saying this, Liu Yan stretched out her slender fingers and casually and almost nonchalantly opened the thick financing plan that represented the lifeblood of ByteDance from the meeting folder in front of her.

She handed it to Zhang.

The paper made a slight rustling sound, which was particularly harsh in the silent conference room. Zhang Yiming read quickly, his eyes quickly swept over those complex financial models, user growth forecasts, and market valuation figures, his eyes calm and without any waves.

But my head is even more buzzing.

“Shouldn’t we be the ones to write this financing plan?

How come they have already prepared everything for us? Only our signatures and official seals are left?"

An inexplicable feeling rose from the bottom of my heart.

Zhang Yiming was numb.

They did want to raise funds, and they had given countless copies of the financing plan to other people, but at this moment, the same plan was handed to them personally by an investor who wanted to invest, and the amount of money they were willing to pay was personally marked on it.

Zhang Yiming was completely stunned.

Soon, the sound of flipping papers stopped. Zhang Yiming's finger stopped on a certain page, and his fingertip gently tapped a number marked in bold font - that was the valuation line that Lingyun Media expected for ByteDance's Series B financing.

"Two hundred million?" Zhang Yiming said, his voice still steady, but his heart was like a huge rock thrown into stagnant water, stirring up thousands of waves, and he was extremely excited, "RMB?"

"Could Director Guan really be a Bodhisattva?"

Liu Yan spoke softly,
"Director Guan said that in business, efficiency is the key. He said before that he is not interested in playing the financing game over and over again."

Liu Yan pointed to the document in front of her, and then took out another document from her bag.

“If everything goes well, Director Guan hopes that he will cover all your rounds of financing in the future, and it will be exclusive.

The valuation will be 30% higher than the Series A figure.”

Zhang Yiming felt very uncomfortable with his heart. This number was not friendly to their psychological expectations. It was even lower than the minimum survival red line.

"And Director Guan also said that voting rights must be proportional."

Dead silence.

The only sound in the conference room was the low and monotonous roar of the air-conditioning system, like the sigh of a dying person.

Zhang Yiming's expression slightly narrowed. Taking advantage of others' misfortune was just like that.

On the other end of the phone, after Guan Ling finished listening to what Liu Yan said, his voice continued, "Mr. Zhang can think about it carefully, but Mr. Zhang must make one thing clear. Whether ByteDance will jump or not is completely in my hands..." (End of this chapter)