Actor: Thank you.

After learning that Zhang Yuan was filming in Shanghai, Tudou.com CEO Wang Wei unusually asked him for his address so he could visit him.

Why is Wang Wei called the CEO, rather than the boss?

Because at this point, after the latest round of financing, he was no longer the largest individual shareholder, and had long since ceased to be the shareholder with the most shares.

This founder has gradually become a high-level employee.

He currently still holds approximately 15% of the shares.

It will fall further...

"The owner of Tudou.com?"

Zhang Yuan then approached director Chen Desheng and told him that this now quite famous and controversial figure would be visiting him in the future.

Even people from Hong Kong now know how powerful mainland internet companies are.

It's not that they're paying much attention, but rather that the eldest son of the Li family's buying and selling of Tencent shares has become a topic of conversation among Hong Kong people.

In 01, Li Dashao sold 20% of Penguin's shares to South Africa's MIH for US$1200 million.

In 09, Tencent's market capitalization was $360 billion, and a 20% stake was worth approximately $70 billion.

This is still the value from 09.

If Li Dashao hadn't sold his Tencent shares back then, his net worth would be higher than his father's now...

Although everyone in Hong Kong laments, "Why isn't my dad Lee Ka-shing?", the Lee family doesn't have a good reputation.

So this deal, which was "sold too early and resulted in a huge loss," is considered a joke by people in Hong Kong.

Seeing your family suffer makes me happy... In reality, it's just a way for ordinary people who are constantly being leeched off by your family to find psychological comfort.

When these Hong Kongers heard the name Tudou.com, they wondered if it would become the next Tencent.

Currently, thanks to the Olympics, Chinese concept stocks are very popular in the US stock market.

It can be said that as long as Huaxia Technology Company goes public in North America, the boss will be set for life.

"Look, our male lead is different."

"That is!"

"Do ordinary people recognize such a big boss?"

"We don't know each other."

"So I'm taking you all to meet them." Zhang Yuan came to the director because he wanted to bring the crew members along.

Although "Bodyguards and Assassins" is not like "The Founding of a Republic" in that it used more than 80 stars for cameo appearances and leading roles.

But this film is pretty good too, with more than 20 stars, both big and small.

He wanted to bring along this large group of people to bolster his image.

This is easy to handle; it was settled as soon as I mentioned it.

Moreover, both sides are happy.

Needless to say, actors are a given, and every capitalist would want to know them.

Video websites have close ties with the entertainment industry, so Wang Wei was happy to agree and was surprisingly quite polite.

"Director Ye, come along too." Zhang Yuan looked at Ye Weiming with a smile.

"Okay."

You're happy on both sides, but I'm under pressure from both!
Most of the people in the film crew who had some status were invited by him to go.

However, he specifically asked Zhou Yun.

"You guys go ahead, I won't go." Teacher Zhou remained the same, showing little interest in such social engagements.

"Okay, then you should get some rest."

Zhang Yuan is quite tolerant of married women, especially married women who have given birth.

At the company, he also specifically instructed Yang Siwei to give Liu Tao more options; if she didn't want to go to a party or social event, she didn't have to go, and she shouldn't be afraid of offending people.

Because some people just like that, they find other people's wives exciting.

The official name for this thing is "the legacy of the Wu Wei dynasty".

Women who have children and still have to work have a tough time and need to be properly cared for.

Otherwise, if another extramarital affair occurs, and it gets caught on camera, or if the woman is forced into a relationship, it will be a serious matter.

Of course, it wasn't just Liu Tao; Zhang Yuan also had Yang Siwei keep an eye on Jiang Xin and Zhao Liying, so they could skip the social engagements.

They just sit down and eat, and can't say a few nice words. It would have been better not to go at all.

After filming wrapped up in the evening, Zhang Yuan led the crew to a grand hotel for dinner.

Wang Wei was already in the private room with three tables.

This situation is just as unusual as the friendly attitude during the phone call today.

When I contact him, he's usually not late, but he's also not usually early.

And often when they arrive, they have a frustrated look on their face, as if they are "working themselves to death".

Because all along, he had only regarded Zhang Yuan as an actor who had provided him with funds and who had also "taken advantage of him" at the same time.

In addition, he got to know her through his ex-wife.

As their relationship deteriorated and their relationship soured, the rift between Wang Wei and Zhang Yuan widened further.

Just like MOSS said in "The Wandering Earth".

"It is indeed a luxury to expect humanity to remain rational forever."

Even the largest companies and the most prestigious boards of directors are still made up of people.

Humans have emotions, likes and dislikes, which affect their decisions and judgments.

Even when someone knows they are right, they will often focus on the person rather than the issue.

Wang Wei saw Zhang Yuan walking side by side with director Chen Deseng from afar, followed by a large group of "underlings".

The way he walked, his expression, combined with the music, made it seem like the God of Gamblers had arrived.

Moreover, those so-called "underlings" included Nicholas Tse, Hu Jun, Wang Xueqi, Fan Bingbing, and Zeng Zhiwei.

Li Min and Li Yuchun were also on the list.

Wang Wei narrowed his eyes and stood up to greet him.

These actors are all well-known figures in the industry.

He summoned them all with just one sentence.

Zhang Yuan wanted to make him feel this sense of pressure!

Let me show you that Tudou.com is powerful, but I'm not one to be trifled with either.

Zhang Yuan knew why Wang Wei had come to see him today, so he did this on purpose.

Show off your connections and capabilities.

The reason for the other party's unusually polite attitude was because of a movie.

Love Apartment!
This TV series is already being broadcast simultaneously on Shanghai TV and Youku, both online and offline.

And it finished airing two weeks ago.

At first, everyone just thought it was a pretty lively sitcom.

Many people even felt it was chaotic and too noisy.

Although it airs on Shanghai TV, it's not considered a satellite TV program; it's just broadcast on the drama channel during non-prime time.

After all, following "My Own Swordsman," the authorities have forced the broadcast of sitcoms during prime time.

Most industry insiders believe that sitcoms are "dead" because of this regulation.

The higher-ups have imposed restrictions and clearly don't support this type of content. What new ideas can we possibly come up with?
Wow, that actually works!
When it was one-third of the way through, the TV station's ratings had already become the best in its time slot.

When the film finished airing, several local TV stations had already approached us to purchase it.

Among them was Jiangxi TV, which offered to broadcast the show on satellite TV.

Furthermore, Jiangxi TV cleverly stated that this show is not a sitcom, but a comedy drama.

Anyway, that's how he'll apply for local radio and television approval.

In this way, it can overcome the limitations of sitcoms and air in prime time.

With its broadcast on satellite TV and prime-time slot, its popularity on the ground is gradually building.

The same applies online!
When Youku first aired the show, the ads were so strong that it attracted a lot of viewers.

As word-of-mouth grew, viewership increased dramatically.

It directly broke Youku's record for the most-watched TV series on the platform, with total views exceeding 100 million.

However, unlike later times, piracy was rampant at this time, especially online piracy.

In addition, given the limited home internet speeds back then, many people opted to download content to watch.

Those who didn't experience that era wouldn't know how much of a sense of salvation the "ding" sound of a download being completed on Xunlei brought.

After all, the most desperate thing in those days was to stay up all night without turning off your computer, downloading for several days, only to have it stuck at 99% and just wouldn't budge.

That would really drive you crazy.

Therefore, with over 100 million views on Youku, the total number of downloads online has exceeded 500 million!

However, it's not counted as a whole series, but as a single episode.

But this is scary enough!
Major online platforms unanimously agree that this is a phenomenal work.

This also proves that the audience for online video is surpassing that of television.

The emergence of "iPartment" made it much easier for various video websites to raise funds.

Investors also saw potential in this and their confidence increased.

This also boosted the price of online TV drama copyrights!
A hit TV series can help a company break through, open up the market, boost confidence, and benefit everyone.

A few days ago, Mr. Cai was talking about "Chinese Paladin 3," and Zhang Yuan said that the price of online copyrights would rise again recently.

This price increase is because of "iPartment".

This is called praising someone's achievements.

Zhang Yuan's two dramas seem to have propelled him to stardom.

Of course, there are also many dissenting voices online.

The main focus is on the issue of "plagiarism".

Back then, Friends, also known as Six People, was extremely popular in China.

However, it was a pirated copy, and it wasn't until more than ten years later that a domestic platform bought the copyright.

Because this American TV series is so popular, the price is quite high.

From 00 until around 12, this film was used as an "English textbook" by Chinese university students.

Watching this movie is quite useful for learning spoken English.

Therefore, many people are familiar with the plot and can immediately see the borrowing from "iPartment".

But no matter how much the audience shouted, it was no use, because Wang Yuan's father was the vice president of Shanghai Film Studio.

Go ahead and sue them, but they'll all stay silent.

Who in the hall is suing me?

Come, feed the young master some cakes!
Let alone domestic viewers cursing, even overseas copyright holders and TV stations couldn't do anything about it.

And the more they were accused of plagiarism, the more popular they became!

Those who had seen "Friends" were now curious to see what parts of the show were copied and how well it was copied. This sparked a frenzy, making it the hottest show online recently, bar none!

Since it's so popular, major platforms will definitely pay attention to it.

A few days ago, Tudou.com held a high-level meeting, which was attended by many shareholders and investors.

One of the guys started talking about this show.

"Why haven't we created a work like 'iPartment'?"

"Youku is clearly ahead of us in this regard now!"

Wang Wei didn't dare to make eye contact with anyone; he was very guilty.

I thought I could just give a few perfunctory words and get it over with.

But a manager from another investment firm raised his hand to speak.

"I heard from my connections at Youku that they had approached Tudou before Youku took over the project?"

Is that true?

"Mr. Wang?"

Everyone in the conference room turned their attention to Wang Wei.

Wang Wei is arrogant and conceited, but he's not without his merits.

At least my brother doesn't lie; he's honest in his words and actions.

And he knew that lying was useless.

They can always find it.

If investors discover that you've lied, the consequences will be even worse.

"Uh...yes, the project's investors have come to me."

"I heard that this investor is also one of our Tudou.com shareholders?"

Wang Wei: ...

He feels like digging a hole and crawling into it right now!

What a shame!

The project was offered to me, but I turned it down.

Now that someone has publicly exposed my shortcomings, what am I supposed to say?
The face is gone.

"Yes..." He could only clear his throat and reply.

What followed was being besieged.

A group of people pointed their fingers at him and asked him questions. If they weren't all wearing suits and trying to look respectable, they might have started cursing on the spot.

Wang Wei felt like he had been mentally kicked out.

And there's no way to talk back.

Some investors even began to question his abilities.

The film was made by our shareholders, but it somehow ended up on a competitor's platform.

If this gets out, will the company still be able to go public?

What about market expectations? People will laugh at us.

You're not ashamed? We are!
After giving him a thorough dressing-down, I told him to quickly find someone to discuss the follow-up.

That's why Wang Wei took the initiative to contact him, and his attitude was much better than usual.

You can't learn something by being taught it a thousand times, but you can learn it after being taught it once.

After being lectured, Mr. Wang became much more polite.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

"Come, come, please sit down."

Hello everyone, nice to meet you!

Her face started to smile, and she started saying nice things.

Zhang Yuan understands that whether in the entertainment industry or the capital industry, ultimately, it is strength that speaks for itself.

Whoever can make money is the boss, and people will treat you with respect.

Zhang Yuan knew the reason for his politeness, so he deliberately brought such a large group of people with him.

What do you mean by "don't pursue a cornered enemy"? Today I'm going to make things even more difficult for you!
And it wasn't just targeting Wang Wei.

As Zhang Yuan introduced everyone, he secretly glanced at Ye Weiming while greeting them.

I saw the CEO of a popular internet company, which is a large company that is generally believed to be worth tens of billions once it goes public.

Yet he was so polite to Zhang Yuan.

It seems I need to be careful too.

At the same time, they became even more interested in collaborating with Zhang Yuan.

Seeing this, he nodded in satisfaction.

Killing two birds with one stone: using today's scene to give you both a psychological boost.

We sat down for a meal and talked about industry matters.

The celebrities were all very respectful to Wang Wei, showering him with flattery, which made him look much better.

At this point, we still have to say it's a veteran star.

Aside from Fan Bingbing, Wang Wei was interested in almost every man.

Besides that, he was very interested in Li Min.

People of Wang Wei's age also grew up listening to the Four Heavenly Kings.

I finally met my idol.

Li Min was very kind; she even pulled the other person into singing.

And she took the initiative to pull Li Yuchun up to clap along and sing.

After Li Min joined the crew, she learned that Li Yuchun was also involved in music and that this was his first time acting, so she took good care of him.

The superstar is quite enthusiastic and happy to take care of newcomers.

While it's fun to have fun, we still need to get back to the main topic.

Fan Bingbing, being very perceptive, pulled the people around her to drink, thus sending everyone else away.

Zhang Yuan gave her a thumbs up in his heart, thinking, "She truly deserves to be called a social butterfly cultivated by Huayi."

He and Wang Wei left a small space around them so they could talk.

"Mr. Wang, what brings you here today?" Zhang Yuan feigned ignorance as always.

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point." Wang Wei raised his hand and put his arm around his shoulder.

"I am very grateful for the star-studded event today."

"However, none of these stars can compare to the brilliance of the recent 'iPartment' show."

Wang Wei used his arm force to pull the distance between him and the other person closer.

Do you have any plans for this drama, or similar works?

"I think we should explore deeper cooperation."

Zhang Yuan inwardly grimaced.

They won't offer me any benefits, they won't even bother to draw up a picture of the future, and they just want to talk to me?
Indeed, it's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature.

“What a coincidence, I want to turn the sitcom ‘iPartment’ into a series,” Zhang Yuan replied with great enthusiasm.

"The work is quite popular now, and I think we should capitalize on this success and make a sequel."

"I was just about to discuss this with the production company."

"That's wonderful." Wang Wei grasped his hands.

"We've been friends for a long time."

"And there's also a shareholding partnership."

"The foundation for cooperation between us is quite good."

"I think it would be better to exclusively stream the sequel to 'iPartment' on Tudou.com!"

See, you're in such a hurry again... Zhang Yuan just smiled and didn't answer immediately.

But Wang Wei was anxious!

They were eager to give the shareholders an explanation.

If "iPartment" is returned to its rightful owner, this explanation would be enough for him to stand tall in front of the shareholders.

So when he heard there were plans for a sequel, he immediately became excited.

"It's not impossible," he said, feigning reluctance.

"But the price of online copyrights changes every day now, you should know that."

"This show is so popular, the price must be high."

"Especially for sequels, the price will have to go up, otherwise I won't be able to convince the creators."

"It's alright, you can just say whatever you want about our relationship." Wang Wei acted like they were brothers.

"Then I'll tell you, okay?"

Zhang Yuan grinned mischievously and held up his right hand, showing his five fingers, each one distinct.

"5 per episode?"

“No problem!” Wang Wei replied immediately.

"No, no, no, you're mistaken."

"I'm talking about 50 per episode!"

Hiss... This price really made Wang Wei take a deep breath.

50 per episode. If it's made into 20 episodes like the first one, that would be 1000 million!
A single film costs tens of millions of yuan. I need to raise several more rounds of financing to acquire enough copyrights.

Zhang Yuan thought to himself, "You should be secretly happy. In five years, I won't sell it for 2 million a episode!"
But that was five years later.

At this point in time, 50 per episode is clearly far above the market price.

"It's okay, you can think about it."

"Or we can go back and discuss it," Zhang Yuan patted him on the shoulder.

Wang Wei's face, which had been quite warm throughout the match, turned cold at this moment.

They ate and drank, and laughed and joked with the actors, but their mood was clearly not as good as when they arrived.

"what did you say?"

"That guy's expression changed." A moment later, Fan Xiaopang came to his side with a wine glass in hand.

Zhang Yuan stated his asking price.

"You're so dark-skinned!" Fan Bingbing laughed and pointed at him.

"It would be strange if people didn't turn pale when they heard that price."

“Yeah, it would be strange if he didn’t look angry.” Zhang Yuan repeated the other person’s words, while taking a sip of wine.

Because I never intended to sell it to him in the first place! (End of Chapter)