The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 65 Yang Mi Comes to the Door
Late November.

Big news has come from the entertainment industry: the Legend of Lu Zhen, produced by Tencent Entertainment as the primary investor.

After seven rounds of auctions, Hunan TV, which has the highest viewership in Hunan Province, finally won the first broadcast rights for a high price of 1.5 million yuan.

This news not only put Zhao Liying in the spotlight, but also caused a stir.

As a result, Tencent Entertainment also gained some popularity, especially considering that this entertainment company first started to emerge.

They simply released the news themselves, announcing that they had invested 100 million yuan to film an ancient costume drama adapted from a novel, called "Hua Qian Gu".

It hasn't been that long.

Everyone knows that filming TV dramas is very risky, and making money from it is even more difficult.

Unfortunately, Tencent Entertainment, which was only recently established, made a profit on every film it invested in.

This naturally provided plenty of fodder for entertainment reporters.

However, compared to that, Chen Pingsheng was clearly more concerned about the money in his hands.

The total investment in Lu Zhen Legend is 30 million, of which he personally invested 15 million.

It holds a 40% stake.

Now that it's been auctioned off for a record-breaking 1.5 million, the return on investment is 400%.

Adding to the more than 20 million he already had, his savings suddenly reached more than 80 million.

Life is wonderful.

Just when he was focused on preparing to film "The Legend of Hua Qian Gu," he was suddenly approached by a large film crew.

To be honest, I was truly amazed when I first saw this woman.

Yang Mi was undoubtedly the top star of 13.

Actually, Tencent Video only became popular within a small circle, since all the dramas it invested in starred Zhao Liying as the lead actress.

To outsiders, it seems as if Tencent Film Studio was established specifically for Zhao Liying.

Given that he's now a small business owner in the entertainment industry, it's not surprising that he met Yang Mi.

"Mr. Chen, the profits from 'Legend of Lu Zhen' are very high. Our company has a TV series, I wonder if you would be interested in learning more about it?"

They're here to attract investment.

The speaker was not Yang Mi, but a vice general manager of Jiaxing Company.

Jiaxing's performance in 13 was just so-so, relying entirely on Yang Mi to keep it afloat.

It's not much better than Tencent Entertainment.

"Where's the script? Let me take a look."

The vice president was also a woman, in her early forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

It's quite fashionable, actually.

"Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms?"

The name sounds nice, but Chen Pingsheng feels that making money in the entertainment industry is just making money off fools.

Just use the cheat code to analyze it; there's no such thing as using your brain to analyze it.

"Target Analysis: Three Lives Three Worlds"

"Target analysis in progress, please wait."

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed.

A row of golden characters reappeared before him.

Title of the drama: Three Lives Three Worlds.

Filming period: two years.

Total investment: 1.8 million.

"Return on investment: 200% to 500%"

It is a profitable TV series, but the investment cycle is obviously a bit too long.

Moreover, the return on investment is just so-so, far inferior to that of Hua Qian Gu.

Chen Pingsheng wasn't too interested, but with Yang Mi around, he wouldn't mind learning more about her.

"I'd like to ask how much you want me to invest?"

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, our company has high hopes for this drama. With Yang Mi playing the lead role, the ratings are guaranteed. The total investment is 1.8 million yuan, and I personally hope that you can invest 20% to 30% of it."

Two or three percent would be thirty or forty million.

After taking a sip of tea, Chen Pingsheng quickly thought for a moment.

"Investment is no problem. I only have one condition: if you can meet it, 30 to 50 million will be transferred to your company's account immediately."

Entertainment companies, especially startups like this.

If it's a big-budget production, almost no one will take on the project alone; usually, three to five companies will be brought in as joint venture partners.

The purpose is to mitigate risks. If it makes money, that's great; if it doesn't, having four or five partners share the burden prevents the business from going out of business.

Yang Mi looked up, a hint of displeasure still in her eyes; she seemed to have realized something.

If it were under those conditions, she would definitely leave without saying a word.

Having reached this point, they are no longer easily exploited.

Unless you can truly cut off her path in one fell swoop.

Only one type of person can go this far: those in the entertainment industry who are in charge of censorship.

"Mr. Chen, what are your terms?"

Not only Yang Mi had a premonition, but the deputy general manager did too.

After all, a woman like Yang Mi, who is at the peak of her beauty, would excite any man.

“My wife owns a high-end beauty salon called Shuiyunjian. She loves her business, so my only condition for investing is that Yang Mi must be the spokesperson for my wife’s Shuiyunjian for free for two years.”

It was a bit unexpected.

I never expected the conditions to be like this.

Perhaps because their psychological defenses were too high before, they were able to accept the sudden change immediately.

Endorsements are nothing to lose; it's not like I'll lose anything.

The most important thing is to secure these 50 million yuan to ensure the smooth start of filming for "Eternal Love".

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, you are the most unique person I have ever met in the entertainment industry."

"Don't say that. Yang Mi is very beautiful and any man would like her, but she's just a little bit less attractive than my wife."

Chen Pingsheng chuckled; he still remembered his promise to Song Yanxi.

They've got Yang Mi to endorse Shuiyunjian's breast care products.

Make this project a flagship project for Shuiyunjian.

Yang Mi snorted. There are women in the world who are prettier than her.

But absolutely no man would say to her face that his wife is prettier than her.

The phrases "feigning indifference to lure the enemy" and "trying to cover up one's true intentions" are all quite varied and suggestive.

"Oh...right, if possible, I have someone else here. You can take a look and see if there's a suitable small role for her. She's very talented."

Chen Pingsheng called Bai Xin over, and Bai Xin almost cried tears of joy.

Who is Yang Mi? She is undoubtedly a top-tier celebrity.

There hasn't been a more popular female celebrity in recent years. To be able to play a supporting role next to her would be an extremely high starting point.

"Thank you, uncle."

"Thank you for your hard work as a cleaning lady here during this time. Now that you have the opportunity, please give it a try."

He's invested so much money, he can't just casually arrange even a supporting role.

That would be underestimating capital.

For him, fifty million was nothing more than bidding on the profits from Lu Zhen Legend.

Yang Mi's endorsement of his Shuiyunjian product brought immediate benefits.

Really looking forward to it.

I just don't know if the breast care card from Shuiyunjianchong can activate random multiplication.

If he could, he would make a fortune.

The investment of 50 million also requires the signing of an investment agreement in the presence of lawyers from both parties.

As for Yang Mi's endorsements, that's naturally not mentioned.

It can be done privately.

Chen Pingsheng spent the entire afternoon discussing the specific investment details of "Three Lives Three Worlds".

He knew the show would definitely make money, so he didn't care.

Why not get Yang Mi as a spokesperson for free?

When he got home, he called Song Yanxi over to discuss it together.

Yang Mi has a very tight schedule and won't be able to stay in Beijing for long this time.

She would specifically set aside half a day to go to Shuiyunjian.

They will need to arrange for reporters and editors who specialize in writing viral content in advance.

To ensure this event receives maximum online exposure.

That's Yang Mi.

If he doesn't seize such a good opportunity, then his 50 million investment will have been wasted.

(End of this chapter)