Entering the Chinese entertainment industry is like entering a deep sea

Chapter 790 The 18-Year-Old Richest Woman Arrives Online

Before August 5th, Zhang Yiming conducted an internal gray-scale test of Douyin Music short videos.

The employees and their families of Zijie became the first batch of beta testers, with the function limited to 30-second short video shooting plus 12 basic filters.

Liu Yifei, whose personal account ID is @liuyifei.official, posted her first short video, singing a snippet of the theme song from "La La Land".

Currently, it is only visible to internal users. On August 25th, Liu Yifei's account will be officially released, and this short video of her singing and playing the guitar will be posted.

From the moment she posted her first music video, Liu Yifei had a premonition that Douyin would definitely become a hit, and a huge hit at that.

I might become one of the truly wealthy people that "Fan Ye" was talking about, because of Douyin!

"When you asked me to write the 'thank you' note, did you already foresee this day coming?" Liu Yifei's doubts returned once again.

Li Chen, of course, wouldn't admit it. He smiled and said, "You were the one who initially took a liking to Zhang Yiming and was interested in his information gathering and distribution, which is why you decided to invest 500 million in him. Have you forgotten?"

"If I had known that Douyin would be where he is today, I would have invested. It's not necessarily a good thing for a wife to be too rich. Men become bad to make money, and women become bad when they have money. I have to be careful."

Liu Yifei was both amused and exasperated: "You've got it backwards, haven't you?"

Li Chen feigned ignorance and asked, "Have they rebelled?"

Liu Yifei was unaware that this was her husband's way of changing the subject, and she didn't press the matter further.

Starting from the 10th, Rong Chen's artists, including Dilraba Dilmurat, Zhu Yilong, Zhao Liying, and Zhang Hanyun, joined the platform simultaneously.

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

"Monster Hunt" has surpassed the 20 billion yuan mark, becoming the second-largest domestic film after "Wanxiang Island".

Gu Lina's "love-obsessed" persona can be seen from just one Weibo post: "Zhang Han is pursuing me; he's infatuated."

"The girl you've taken a liking to is undeniably beautiful, but compared to Dilraba, she's not quite as bright."

Hearing her husband's comments about this fellow townsman of Dilraba, Liu Yifei laughed and said, "Yes, yes, yes, apart from President Li, I have never seen a devoted lover in the entertainment industry."

"Fine! Never mind, sigh."

"Why are you sighing? Maybe they're revealing their relationship now to promote the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas'."

"I suddenly realized that Sister Yu has won almost every award an actor can receive in her life, but her love life has been very bumpy."

Liu Yifei nodded: "That's true, you gain some things and you lose others."

Zhang Manyu has been dumped by her younger boyfriend again, and the news immediately went viral.

On August 11th, it was announced that Li Chen would serve as an advisor for the comedy and song and dance programs of the 2016 Spring Festival Gala.

Sina Entertainment News

"Major adjustments to CCTV's Spring Festival Gala! Lü Yitao appointed as the chief director for 2016, and Li Chen returns as an advisor for comedy and song/dance programs."

"After the 2015 Spring Festival Gala, directed by Feng Xiaogang, suffered a double decline in both ratings and critical reception, CCTV officially announced today the adjustment plan for the 2016 Spring Festival Gala directing team."

"CCTV veteran director Lü Yitao will serve as the chief director, while Li Chen, who created the Spring Festival Gala's 20-year ratings peak in 2014, will return as a 'special consultant for language and song and dance programs,' providing 4-5 core program ideas for the gala."

"This combination is seen by the industry as a strategic choice for the central bank to 'seek change while maintaining stability'."

"According to insiders, the station activated its emergency plan as early as June, and made three visits to persuade Li Chen to come out of retirement. The final compromise was that he would remotely control the most critical song and dance and comedy programs to ensure the core audience."

The news of Li Chen's return to the Spring Festival Gala has sparked heated discussions.

"Li Chen and Lü Yitao are a perfect match; one is responsible for the artistic height, and the other controls the expression on television."

"Last year, Xiao Gangpao turned the Spring Festival Gala into a client's annual meeting, but finally Leonardo DiCaprio saved the day! Now I have the desire to keep watching."

"I suggest that Leonardo DiCaprio host a separate event, called 'Rong Chen's Night,' and the ratings will definitely be high."

Feng Xiaogang was so angry that he wanted to post a sarcastic comment about the Spring Festival Gala on Weibo, but his wife Xu Fan managed to stop him.

"Damn it, I didn't beg to be the director. Whoever wants to be the director can be the director!"

"If you're so capable, then don't come to me in the first place. Now you've brought Li Chen to disgust me. You're a scoundrel!"

Xu Fan sighed inwardly. These were things he could only say at home. If he dared to post them on Weibo or go outside to say them, he and his wife would be the ones who would suffer in the end.

"My goodness, just shut up already! I think you've gotten too big for your britches. You really think you'll stop working just because the central bank is gone? Look at the attitude you had when you took this job! Even I, let alone the boss, thought you were a complete idiot!"

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Feng Xiaogang bared his teeth.

Xu Fan fell silent, turned around and went upstairs, ignoring Feng Xiaogang's sullen face.

Recently, her husband and the Wang Zhongjun brothers broke up, but the brothers kept putting on a smiling face, making Feng Xiaogang feel more and more that the earth would stop turning without him.

He doesn't even look at the current state of the film industry; his box office performance is nothing to brag about anymore.

Excluding Li Chen, there are at least three people in Rong Chen's faction who can easily control Feng Xiaogang.

As a result, the brothers Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhongjun could not agree on a price.

In contrast to Feng Xiaogang's exasperation, the artists under Rong Chen's group were jubilant.

Dilraba and others have expressed their stance on Weibo, saying they are just waiting for their boss's call.

Lu Han was the happiest, as he missed the Spring Festival Gala this year because of the lawsuit.

I never expected that the opportunity Mr. Yang mentioned that there would be one in the future would come so soon.

Lu Han was so excited that she didn't know whether she should call Yang Siwei to ask.

Of the three who have returned to China, he is clearly the one with the best development trend.

What can be done if there are Huayi Brothers and Yaolai behind Wuyi Fan?
Not to mention Huayi and Yaolai, even if you add the four major private companies, Lu Han feels that she has the upper hand.

As for Huang Zitao, who terminated his contract with SM Entertainment in May.

My reputation has suffered a setback as soon as I returned to China recently.

He threw a tantrum because someone said he looked like Huang Bo, and was also called out by the sharp-tongued Jin Xing as a young male celebrity with the surname H who acted like a diva, saying he had nothing to offer except his hairstyle.

To be personally selected by Wang Sicong as ugly is truly the worst possible outcome.

He was no longer considered a rival by Lu Han.

"Do you think I should take the initiative to ask President Yang?" Lu Han asked her agent, unsure of what to do.

"I don't think we need to ask. Mr. Yang is too busy to care about these things lately. Why don't we ask the boss's wife? I think there must be a lot of people asking her right now if they have a chance to appear on the Spring Festival Gala."

When her manager reminded her, Lu Han slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "That's right! Why didn't I think of asking Sister Fei instead!"

Liu Yifei was indeed overwhelmed by the questions posed by Rong Chen's artists.

Meanwhile, Yao Lai's mood wasn't so cheerful when they learned that Li Chen had been appointed as the chief consultant for language and dance.

It's obvious that if Wu Yifan wants to get on the Spring Festival Gala, the path he took with Li Chen is definitely not going to work.

The movie "Monster Hunt" grossed over 2 billion yuan, but the male lead, Jing Boran, is a typical example of a movie that is popular but the actor himself is not.

He had no advantage whatsoever when facing Lu Han.

If Lu Han appears on the 2016 Spring Festival Gala first, it will be very disadvantageous for Wu Yifan.

Qi Jianhong felt that she could not sit idly by.

"Mr. Qi, could I possibly appear on the Spring Festival Gala?"

"Yes, Dad, you have to help Fanfan. If Luhan can go, he has to go too!"

"You two shut up! I have my own plans for this!" Qi Jianhong shouted.

He said he had his own plans, which involved a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, having Cheng Long directly contact Li Chen.

Hopefully, Li Chen will heed the 'public opinion' and allow the show featuring the three young heartthrobs, which couldn't be made this year, to continue into next year.

On the other hand, Qi Jianhong also promoted Wuyifan online, encouraging Wuyifan's fans to support their idol.

Hopefully, this will make Li Chen think twice before he just praises his own person, Lu Han.

But will Li Chen have any reservations?
The answer is, of course, no.

Actually, Liu Yifei asked for Lu Han without her even having to ask. "Those who have already been with us don't need to be considered again. We also need to give newcomers a chance, otherwise it won't be easy for me, the patriarch of Rong Chen, to do this."

Liu Yifei nodded, agreeing that this was the proper way.

Dilraba and the other actresses have all performed on the Spring Festival Gala, so this time it was clearly not within her husband's consideration.

There's not much to discuss about Lu Han.

The couple didn't have time to think about these things yet; the Venice Film Festival at the end of the month and the week of screenings in preparation for the Oscars were their priorities.

Li Chen won't be able to get his hands on the Spring Festival Gala until at least October.

Lu Han only received two words from Liu Yifei's WeChat reply: Keep it up!

Lu Han was overjoyed: "Does Sister Fei mean it's a sure thing?"

The agent also beamed with joy: "Of course! Choosing Rong Chen back then was definitely the wisest decision!"

Compared to the young and handsome Lu Han, veteran actress Zhang is showing signs of going a bit overboard.

Southern Metropolis Daily reported

"Recently, the 'Huayingshan Chinese and Foreign Celebrity Wax Museum' has become a hot topic. The difference between the wax figures and the real people is too great, and netizens have called it 'ugly to the point of having no friends' and 'the ugliest wax museum'!"

"The wax figures of celebrities such as Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Liu Yifei, Li Chen, Zhou Xingchi, Cheng Long, Jay Chou, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Yimou, and Andy Lau in the wax museum are counterfeit and have very low resemblance. Some netizens have questioned whether this is an attempt to uglify the celebrities."

“In response, celebrities such as Zhang Ziyi, Liu Yifei, and Huang Xiaoming have stated that they have never authorized this wax museum.”

"Zhang Ziyi's agent is furious. I saw it a few days ago. It's outrageous. We'll find time to have our lawyer send a letter to remove Ziyi's wax figure."

Looking at all the wax figures, Zhang Ziyi's was indeed the ugliest, no wonder she lost her temper.

It seems that since marrying Ah Wang, there hasn't been a single happy event related to her, except for her mother's sudden increase in wealth due to Wanda.

Compared to Zhang Ziyi, other celebrities, including Li Chen, have adopted relatively low-key methods.

With Zhang Ziyi's outburst, this wax museum in the farmers' market won't be open for more than a few days.

Two weeks flew by, and it was already the evening of the 24th.

Liu Yifei and Zhang Yiming attended the official launch event for Douyin's public beta test.

Everything is ready.

Liu Yifei prepared videos without any beauty filters or special effects, deliberately retaining behind-the-scenes footage, such as shots of her making mistakes while playing the piano, to create a realistic persona.

Rong Chen's artist matrix bombardment is also ready to go.

Dilraba Dilmurat released a behind-the-scenes dance video of "Eternal Love".

Zhao Liying collaborated with ordinary people on the makeup and styling for "The Journey of Flower," and directly tagged Huo Jianhua to take over.

Pan Yueming, Jiang Shuying, and Zhao Da, the three main actors from the original TV series "Ghost Blows Out the Light," along with the six main actors from the film version, are joining forces to count down the three-day countdown to the premiere of the TV series.

Top celebrities such as Yang Mi, Tang Yan, Zhang Hanyun, and Lu Han all have projects in preparation.

In addition, there's a heavenly "money power" reward mechanism.

Users who post videos with the hashtag #RongChenChallenge# can share a prize pool of 1000 million yuan.

It can be said that everything is ready and all we need is the east wind.

Li Chen went to bed early, which angered Miss Liu, who exclaimed that he was disloyal.

At midnight, Douyin officially launched, and Li Chen opened his eyes on time.

Weren't you asleep?

"How can I sleep? You are 16 years old today. If I dare to leave you alone to sleep, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep peacefully in the future."

Twenty-eight, but her husband called her a beautiful twenty-eight. Liu Yifei smiled and said, "You're smart enough to know what's good for you. Come and help me check if the video I posted is correct."

"Beautiful, absolutely gorgeous!" Li Chen didn't care whether it was right or wrong; he just showered her with compliments.

"Ugh, who told you to look at me and say whether I'm pretty or not!" Liu Yifei said, but she was clearly pleased with her husband's words.

-

At Douyin headquarters, Zhang Yiming was still listening to his subordinates report various data.

At midnight, the number of registered users exceeded 15 within just ten minutes of the launch.

If this pace continues, breaking 500 million on the first day seems quite feasible.

However, we are currently in the peak period, and once the peak is over, the growth rate may not be as high as before.

An hour later, someone called him again to report the data.

"Mr. Zhang, the data shows that 70% of users downloaded the app because of Mr. Liu's joining, and videos of Rongchen's artists also contributed 45% of the views."

"Excellent! President Liu truly lives up to her reputation as a celestial being!" Zhang Yiming said with a smile in front of his subordinates.

"Yes, Mr. Zhang, after all, in the entertainment industry, there's only one person in a hundred years who can be called a celestial being, Mr. Liu."

On the day of the "Heavenly Fairy Day," Douyin (TikTok) dominated the trending topics on Weibo.

That evening, Douyin dominated the headlines of major entertainment, lifestyle, and internet sections.

Information Times reported
"On August 25th, Liu Yifei's birthday sparked a frenzy on Douyin! It dominated Weibo's trending topics, igniting a nationwide short video craze!"

"Today, the Chinese internet is witnessing a historic moment – ​​Douyin, the music short video platform under ByteDance, officially launched on the birthday of national goddess Liu Yifei!"

"Starting from midnight, Weibo's trending topics were completely dominated by topics related to Douyin. The 30-second short video storm swept across the entire internet, with celebrities, internet celebrities, and ordinary people all joining in the frenzy. China's social entertainment has officially entered the short video era!"

Sina Tech and Sina Entertainment reported.

"Douyin's valuation surged on its first day of launch, making Tianxian China's youngest female tech billionaire."

"Comparison of Liu Yifei's soaring net worth: Before Douyin went online, her main assets were: Rongchen Pictures equity (approximately 70 billion RMB) + early investment in ByteDance (6 million RMB) + real estate, etc. (5 million RMB), totaling approximately 81 billion RMB."

"After Douyin was launched, the value of Douyin equity increased by 75 billion yuan, and the total net worth exceeded 151 billion yuan."

"Surpassing Bi Guiyang, she became the youngest female billionaire under 40 in China."

On the first day of Douyin's launch, Zhang Yiming experienced both pain and joy.

Because Douyin not only exceeded its previously set target of 500 million users, but also created a data miracle: a new record in the Chinese internet.

Within 12 hours of its launch, the number of registered users exceeded 800 million.

明星账号总粉丝量：刘一菲（1000万）、迪丽热芭（500万）、杨蜜（600万）、朱一龙（280万）、鹿含（600万）
The server crashed three times, and the programmers worked overtime to fix it.

Zhang Yiming called wearily and said, "The character knot is really 'jumping' today."

Liu Yifei's net worth has skyrocketed, making all previous notions of her as the female version of Buffett, Zhao Yanzi, a laughing stock.

Netizens' scathing comments:

"Even a celestial being can only casually make a move that's already at the limit of this level. A female version of Buffett? NO! NO! NO! Buffett is just a mortal."

"Weibo used to be all about pictures and text, but starting today it's all about short videos!"

"On the first day of Douyin's launch, WeChat Moments has become a 'forwarding zone'."

Liu Yifei: I was just celebrating my birthday, I never expected to achieve financial freedom and reach the pinnacle of life.

"I don't need to marry into a wealthy family, I am a wealthy family!" This is a line that only a celestial being could say. It's a pity she married Leonardo DiCaprio! She'll never have the chance to say that!

On her 28th birthday, Liu Yifei celebrated by becoming the richest woman in China, and she seemed a little distracted.

Artists from Rongchen's group started arriving one after another from around 4 or 5 pm to celebrate the boss's wife's sudden increase in wealth.

That was a real surge, and this was only the first day Douyin was launched.

People with a keen sense of smell, such as Dilraba Dilmurat and Deng Jiajia, have already foreseen that this boss's net worth may not be able to surpass that of her boss in the future.

After all, the boss's wife holds more than 60% of the shares in Zijie.

(End of this chapter)