Be reborn and be happy to the fullest

"Why are you listening to reports that criticize you?" Reba blinked and asked, puzzled.

Li Shuo casually remarked, "Many of the praises come from Sony Entertainment and Shuoguo Culture, but I actually prefer to hear the most authentic voices..."

"Pshaw, I don't believe you!"

Reba pouted. She had spent a lot of time with Li Shuo, so she naturally knew that this guy was very petty.

But she still selected some reports and read them aloud to Li Shuo:
"...A starting point that's too high might not be good for newcomers. We've seen too many stories of prodigies like Zhong Yong over the years. Li Jiulin's 'Little Apple' is quite good, but ultimately, it's still just a catchy pop song. Reportedly, at this signing ceremony, he's already started promoting his 'new song.' Well, the reason I put 'new song' in quotes is because it's just a song adapted from an imported TV series. The original song is..."

After reading it, seeing that Li Shuo's expression wasn't good, Reba teased him, "You're the one who made me read it, and besides, this big V's viewpoint is relatively moderate..."

Hearing others criticize you is naturally not a pleasant experience, but that's not what Li Shuo cares about. He asked with a straight face, "A Weibo influencer? What's your name?"

"His ID is Zhang Yi, he seems to have quite a few works, and he has over a million followers..."

"You said there were even more pointed comments? Keep reading..."

"Forehead"

Hotbar scrolled through his tablet, this time not repeating the story, but summarizing: "The commentary published in the Chinese music newspaper said you were overly ambitious, wrote a catchy pop song, and became arrogant because of the short-lived popularity and the attention you received from Sony's management. So much so that at the signing ceremony, you publicly promoted your cover song, while everyone else criticized it, saying it wasn't an original song..."

"There are also some tabloids and small websites that focus on your promotion of adapted songs. This kind of public opinion generally looks down on adapted songs, and also on film and television theme songs..."

Li Shuo snapped his fingers, smiled slightly, indicating that Reba could stop, then took out his phone and dialed Yuan Ke: Of the three heads of the secretariat, Wei Shuting stayed in Tianjin Port, and Feng Linlin is currently in Hangzhou, so for Leng Hai's matter, you need to contact Yuan Ke.

"Boss, have you arrived yet?"

"Not yet... There's something I need you to do. Help me investigate Zhang Yi, the Weibo influencer, and the background of Hualebao..."

"Okay, I'll hand over the big V stuff to the Shuoguo operations department. As for Hualebao, I think I've gathered some information about it before. I'll organize it and send it to your email later..."

……

After he hung up the phone, Reba quickly brought him a glass of iced drink and gently comforted him, saying, "Don't be angry. No one can please all the media. Besides, in the public sphere, they criticize you only because of their own interests..."

"Little Hot Ba, do you think I'm that petty?"

Li Shuo took the drink, laughing and crying at the same time, and said, "Unforgivable is an adaptation from South Korea. How could I not know that? The reason I mentioned it at the signing ceremony was firstly because people asked about it, and I thought I'd promote our company's TV series. The first half of 'Temptation of Returning Home' will be edited soon and has already entered the review process of various TV stations. Having a hot topic for promotion will result in a relatively higher selling price..."

"what?"

Hotba exclaimed in surprise, "I remember you said during the promotion that it would be broadcast on Hunan TV soon?"

"Heh, you're right. Most people in the entertainment industry rely on bragging; otherwise, where would they get their attention?"

Li Shuo was also instructing Reba, and then added: "The second point is to casually set up a hook to see who our potential enemies are. After the China-Korea Song Concert, Zhou Huanian and I have become mortal enemies. In the future, whenever we encounter each other in various aspects of the industry, we will inevitably compete. In this situation, what we need to do is to distinguish who is a friend and who is an enemy!"

"The Shuoguo Group has had too smooth a journey. It has developed into a behemoth. Even enemies with malicious intentions can only grit their teeth and do as they please under these circumstances. With Zhou Huanian stepping forward and me revealing an obvious weakness, these people will definitely seize the opportunity!"

Reba suddenly realized: "So that's why you made me read the bad reviews!"

"No, I'm magnanimous and don't care about such a small negative review..." Li Shuo joked.

"Pshaw, nobody would believe you!"

"You brat, you need a good scolding again, don't you? Stick your butt out..."

"Oh no... I'm still in pain..."

……

The journey from Beijing to Lenghai, even on the highway, takes a considerable amount of time. At first, Reba was in high spirits, but once her energy was depleted, she collapsed onto Li Shuo's lap, too lazy to move an inch.

Li Shuo received an email from Yuan Ke after exercising:

Hualebao is an entertainment gossip newspaper and magazine founded in 03. At its peak, its influence covered the whole country and had millions of paid subscribers. However, with the rise of the Internet, its profits have been plummeting. By 10, it had even turned from profit to loss!

These things are not important. What is important is that Hualebao has multiple shareholders, and the largest shareholder is none other than Century Huayue! That is, the same film and television score company that competed with Li Shuo for the music of "The Temptation of Returning Home"!
Li Shuo vaguely remembered that the company owner was Zhang Nianhua, and his son Zhang Xiang was a student at Lengyin. Well, because he competed with him for Zheng Yingshan, that guy voluntarily dropped out of school!

However, even now, Li Shuo still has a source of information about Zhang Xiang... He picked up his phone and called You Dongjie...

Zhang Xiang was a former defeated opponent, and Li Shuo naturally looked down on him now. But since he could mobilize resources like Hualebao, it must have been Zhang Nianhua who made the move. After the struggle, Fu Chengguo transferred 5% of his Century Huayue shares to Yunguo Film and Television. Because his shareholding was far less than Zhang Nianhua's, Li Shuo had never paid much attention to it.

But now that you, Zhang Nianhua, have been lured out, don't blame me for being impolite...

After chatting with You Dongjie for a while and getting some recent information about Zhang Xiang and Zhang Nianhua, Li Shuo was about to call Yuan Ke back when the latter called first: "Boss, I've already sent the details of Hua Le Bao via email. I looked into that Weibo influencer Zhang Yi; he's a freelance internet personality, notorious for his foul mouth, and his favorite thing to do is stir up trouble and ride the coattails of trending topics. So I think we can ignore him..."

"Okay, good, well done! Don't let your guard down with Zhang Yi for now. Since he's a freelancer online, we can try to make contact with him. The future belongs to the era of public opinion, and these people still have a lot of influence... Hmm, besides him, there are two other people: Han Er and Guo Laosi..."

In fact, Li Shuo knew about "Zhang Yi". Last year, he chatted with Jiang Shuying, who commented that he had the potential to be promoted to the "New Four Great Talents". The original Four Great Talents included Zhang Yi, Han Er, Tang San and others.

Later, Li Shuo Studio was established and began to cooperate with novel websites. This led to their contact with Tang San. However, at that time, Li Shuo Studio was not well-known and tried to win over the famous author, but was rejected. Subsequently, the two parties only had a normal copyright transaction relationship.

Therefore, Li Shuo, who was not short of money and only wanted to enjoy a comfortable life, temporarily gave up his idea of ​​cooperating with these "great talents".

But times have changed. Now that "X" has made his debut and his fame has risen so quickly, he does need to "mature" for a while. For example, he could rise to fame by stepping on a talented person, or he could receive praise from some well-known and talented people.

These are all quick ways to solidify one's reputation and become a "true talent".

In addition, according to the reborn person's understanding, Han Lao Er and Guo Lao Si have both reached the point where they should transition into directors. Regardless of the reviews of their films and television works, they are both very popular and profitable!
"Hey, Boss, now that you mention it, I remember who Zhang Yi is... You mean, we should offer a high price and sign him?"

Li Shuo shook his head and said, "There's no need to set a high price. We have a studio with a production line, so we don't lack works, just the corresponding fame. Therefore, we'll offer him an A-level agency agreement. If he's interested in signing, we can provide him with systematic management... If he doesn't want to be controlled by the company, then we can just do a one-off deal. We'll discuss the specifics when I get back. You should first notify Shuoguo Culture and have the relevant personnel prepare..."

“Okay! Also, there’s one more thing. The three websites you asked us to keep an eye on, referred to as sites A, B, and C, we’ve already taken control of site B. As for sites A and C, we’ve contacted their management and sent them letters of intent to invest…”

Of the three major ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) websites in China, Bilibili (B站) is undoubtedly the most famous in later generations, but the other two also have much to offer:

The most regrettable case is AcFun (A站). It was the first to accept capital investment and did very well for a time, but in the end, it only stuck to ACG content and did not transition to more universal content, so it never developed. Nevertheless, when Li Shuo was reborn in his previous life, AcFun was doing very well. Moreover, because it focused on ACG content, it did not have the revenue problems that Bilibili (B站) had. In the future, it was known as a boutique website that focused on "niche" content.

The most unbelievable thing is that after C station changed its name to Douyu TV, it was a dark cloud hanging over Bilibili for a long time, until Li Shuo was reborn and the dark cloud gradually dissipated!

Regardless of whether it declines in the future, or whether the live streaming industry is disrupted by short videos, it is undeniable that Douyu TV, at its peak, was listed on NASDAQ in the United States, with a market value that once approached 10 billion US dollars, making it a model of maximizing capital operation in the live streaming website industry! This listing also brought unparalleled huge profits to its shareholders!
As Li Shuo recalled these future memories, Yuan Ke had already explained the situation regarding the termination of the two companies' agreements, and finally said:

"Although AcFun has accepted capital investment, the management seems quite conservative and unwilling to relinquish operational control. On the other hand, the financial results provided by Shuoguo Investment suggest that AcFun's ACG culture has great potential for development. Moreover, the management's conservatism may not be a bad thing for their current development. Therefore, we support your proposal to invest in AcFun, Boss..."

"In contrast, C-site's boss, Chen Duoduo, is too aggressive in his approach. Currently, C-site has the lowest traffic among the three, but instead of focusing on protecting the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) community, he wants to enter the live streaming market. Given the current limitations in hardware and bandwidth, the investment department feels that investing in C-site rashly may not be a good choice..."

After listening, Li Shuo frowned and asked, "That's it? Who made this kind of investigation result?"

Yuan Ke quickly replied, "Previously, our Shuoguo Investment was merely a shell company based on Shuoguo Assets. The management authority over its subsidiaries was solely determined by you and the subsidiary management. However, with the formal establishment of the Shuoguo Group, relevant departments have begun to be improved, especially the core directly affiliated department of the Shuoguo Group: the investment department. We have recently recruited many financial talents..."

Li Shuo rubbed his forehead, feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if he had dug his own grave. How could he not know about the "financial talents" in China?

After thinking for a moment, Li Shuo still sighed helplessly, "Let's ignore these people for now. This is the golden age of internet development. No matter what strategy we use, we will eventually reap some rewards. The only difference is the size of the rewards. We can invest in A-site, and we can still invest in C-site. Has Chen Duoduo made an offer?"

Yuan Ke said, "I was just about to tell you about this. Chen Duoduo has been in Qi Province. He heard that you returned to Lenghai from the capital today, and he specially invited you to stay in Qi Province for a while. Perhaps you can talk to him in person..."

Li Shuo pondered for a moment: It was already close to noon, and the Rolls-Royce was going quite fast. They had already passed Qi Province, but for Li Shuo, he could still turn back if he wanted to, it just depended on whether Chen Duoduo had the face to do so!

"That's good. Is he in Jinan? I just happen to be passing through here."

The answer is that Chen Duoduo has the influence, or more accurately, the prospects of C-site are simply too tempting!

Before Douyin existed, Douyu, formerly known as C-site, was undoubtedly the leading live streaming platform. Almost all well-known internet celebrities started their careers on Douyu. Since Li Shuo wanted to do new media and new talent agency, it can be said that Douyu was the first platform he could not avoid!

In addition, there were some unspeakable reasons. After all, in his previous life, Li Shuo was a man who liked to follow innocent and sensual girls on Douyin. How could he not have used Douyu? The only pity was that when Douyu was popular in his previous life, he had only been working for a short time and was broke. When he met a female streamer he liked, he could only watch her longingly and could not spend money to ask her out like he did later...

"Qinghe, turn around, head to Jishi..."

Although they had only just passed through Qi Province, the return trip to Jinan still took a considerable amount of time. It wasn't until 12:30 PM that the Rolls-Royce finally stopped at a resort on the outskirts of Jinan.

"Hello Mr. Li, I'm Chen Duoduo, and this is my friend Zhang Mingwen, who is also a shareholder of C-Station..."

Chen Duoduo, the founder of C-site and later the CEO of Douyu, along with friends and two members of C-site's management team, were already waiting in the resort's square. (End of Chapter)