Actor: Thank you.

Every person with a hobby will have a weakness.

Just like Wang Taili, he sat on the chair sobbing for a long time before he came to his senses.

"Sorry, I lost my composure." The man said, feeling a little embarrassed after calming down.

"It's okay, I understand."

Among the Chopstick Brothers, Wang Taili is currently the most difficult to manage.

Xiao Yang was already somewhat famous when he was taking classes at the Beijing Film Academy.

Known as a "celebrity" on campus.

After filming a public service advertisement called "Protect the Rivers" in 02, she won an advertising award in Taiwan and became a minor celebrity.

His nickname at the Beijing Film Academy is "King of Jobs".

It means he has a lot of work to do and can always find a way to make money.

Shooting commercials, drawing illustrations, working as a photographer... otherwise, he wouldn't resemble Wang Taili.

Although he is very capable, Xiao Yang's personality is not outgoing. Rather, he has a "closet and passionate" style similar to Ning Hao, after all, the two have similar experiences.

So, for life and work, we still have to rely on Brother Wang Taili, at least for now.

Because most of his current work still relies on his older brother to find him work.

Zhang Yuan roughly understood this point: people need to eat.

So he started with the eldest brother, and then he began by talking about meals.

Let's start eating!

They started chatting after a few drinks.

"I heard that you two seem to be doing quite well."

"You've already bought a house?"

The two nodded.

Buying a house and settling down in Beijing is not a bad thing at all.

"We've built up some material foundation, but we still haven't given up on our dreams, right?"

The two men picked up their cups and nodded.

In fact, their dreams were completely different, but they just temporarily intersected.

Zhang Yuan didn't care about that; he believed that feeding people was the first step to keeping them around.

“I know it’s a bit abrupt to talk about deep cooperation on our first meeting.”

Zhang Yuan offered another cup.

"Please forgive me, but I really find your works creative, interesting, and it makes me want to try them out."

"I'm actually a high-speed surfing boy too."

"I am still a shareholder of Tudou.com," Zhang Yuan said evasively.

That was true before, but not anymore.

But it's still used to intimidate people.

"what!"

Upon hearing the word "potato," the two men's expressions changed from smiles to surprise.

After all, their work garnered a significant number of views on Tudou.com.

"If needed, I can provide you with the assistance you wish to offer on online video platforms."

"Besides that, I know that you two now make a living mainly through advertising shoots."

"And I have many artists under my management, which gives me access to advertising and business resources."

"When they accept endorsements, I can appropriately mention some requirements for specific filming locations."

"We can also find work on small projects like movie trailers and promotional videos."

"I hope this helps you."

Drinking a hundred times is not as worthwhile as getting someone a job.

These two aren't petty people; they're considered quite amicable in the entertainment industry.

Zhang Yuan felt that appealing to their emotions and luring them with benefits should be enough.

This was naturally a pleasant surprise for the two of them.

They can get jobs, but nobody complains about earning too much money.

Moreover, if one could enter the entertainment industry through Zhang Yuan or Ning Hao's channels and connections, wouldn't that bring them one step closer to their dreams?
"Thank you so much, it's all in the wine."

"Guang guang" means to pour.

Her face turned bright red in no time.

Zhang Yuan would not give them benefits without limit.

Let's give them a few jobs first, make some money, and try it out.

Once you've tasted it and want more, you can't just take it for free.

"If you have any creative ideas for future works that you'd like to film, feel free to come to me."

Let's discuss it together.

"If I have any events that would suit your needs, I will contact you."

Xiao Yang was a bit older than him, and grabbed his arm, calling him "brother".

And after drinking too much, this guy hooked his arm around his shoulder and started groping him, acting really lewd.

Like any ordinary middle-aged man, Wang Taili started complaining and bragging after drinking too much.

It wasn't until the next morning that the two sobered up, and they came to Zhang Yuan, who was moving around in the yard, with their heads covered.

"I'm so sorry, I drank too much."

"I'm happy, that's normal." Zhang Yuan asked his assistant to bring him some herbal soup to help him sober up and some medicine to stop his headache.

"Do you two still remember what we talked about last night?"

"Uh... I vaguely remember."

"I remember, that was settled. I look forward to working with you two in the future."

"Especially in terms of online platforms."

Looking back now, they still feel it's somewhat like a dream.

Why did a benefactor suddenly appear at your door?
Although Xiao Yang graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, he has never been given a second glance by big directors or big stars.

Not to mention Zhang Yuan and Ning Hao, even Yang Mi, Xi Xi, and others who graduated from Beijing Film Academy at the same time didn't know him at all.

The acting and directing classes are the most prominent and they know each other well.

But he wasn't, so nobody wanted to hang out with him.

The term "influential figure" only applies in comparison to other students.

Compared to Yang Mi, who debuted at the age of 3 and has never taken a penny from his family since he was 16, yet still brings money home every day, he is still the youngest of the youngest.

So when I sobered up this morning, I wondered if I had drunk too much yesterday and was having delusions.

Now I understand that's not the case.

Then I wondered if we were being a bit too ungrateful?
"Gentlemen, I won't keep you any longer."

"Because I have some things to do and need to go out, we'll see each other another time."

"Hey……"

The two went home to digest the "surprise" that had come knocking on their door.

Zhang Yuan, on the other hand, handled some official business.

Talented individuals are hard to find, and investments must be made wisely to create fertile ground for their growth.

On Lefeng.com's side, Li Jing presented a third version of the investment plan, which both parties were basically satisfied with.

The deal involves exchanging 4000 million for 30% equity, which includes anti-dilution provisions and an agreement for follow-on investment in preferred financing.

We also need to fully support the beauty brand he and Fan Bingbing are developing together.

It should be promoted as the platform's flagship product.

In the early stages, we relied on this platform to open up sales channels.

However, Zhang Yuan also needs to make corresponding contributions, such as the need for sufficient inventory.

Li Jing accumulated a large network of contacts through her work as a host, and the investors from Sequoia Capital also provided her with many opportunities.

This platform is now planning to partner with Pacific Insurance to offer guaranteed compensation.

We promise 100% genuine products.

Last year, in 09, Taobao launched the Double Eleven shopping festival, a special event for Chinese consumers, through its Tmall platform.

Lefeng also plans to imitate this, holding a "Peach Blossom Festival" and promoting women's cosmetics every year.

The main reason is that the name is well-chosen; it's a festival of romance for women, but a calamity for men.

Because for many women, it is ultimately men who pay for their cosmetics.

Zhang Yuan remembers that the sales volume of the first edition exceeded 100 million.

In retrospect, 100 million in sales is nothing more than the amount of money a top internet celebrity can generate in just a few days.

However, in the first Double Eleven in 09, the total sales volume of Tmall was only 5000 million.

In earlier years, the general public's demand for online shopping had not yet been cultivated.

Zhang Yuan's idea was simply to follow Alibaba and get by, and that they would cultivate his online shopping habits.

However, Li Jing also made a requirement: Fan Bingbing must participate in the platform's live streaming activities once a month.

Lefeng.com's sales model is somewhat similar to the live-streaming e-commerce of later generations, which relies on celebrities or well-known makeup artists to persuade people.

Fan Bingbing's brand is too dazzling; she needs it.

They argued back and forth for a long time about the amount of stock to prepare and the number and timing of Fan Bingbing's appearances.

Meanwhile, Fan Bingbing has already found a factory from Zhejiang businessmen and locked onto her target.

I chose a company with relatively new equipment; they originally specialized in OEM manufacturing for export.

These days, the quality requirements for exported goods are much higher than those for domestic sales.

Simply repackage and label exported goods, and they become superior to most domestic generic brands.

Zhang Yuan and Fan Bingbing re-registered a limited company called "Fanmei".

The acquisition of the cosmetics factory through this company went relatively smoothly.

Du Hua also gave him his feedback.

We agree to appoint Huang Xiaomao as the music director of Yuehua Entertainment.

However, regarding Zhang Yuan's offer of 2000 million yuan to acquire 30% of the shares, the other party stated... that more money would be needed!

This startled Zhang Yuan.

I thought she was going to do something...

The result was a request for an additional 500 million, bringing the total to 2500 million.

I breathed a sigh of relief; I thought it was going to double.

He didn't think it was a big deal, but the other person was very nervous when they brought it up, feeling quite guilty.

It's not that I think my company isn't worth it.

Instead, when he asked the owner of SkyNet for money, he was verbally abused over the phone for half an hour.

And labeled him as incompetent.

He also told her not to contact him again because of this.

It's normal for entrepreneurs to get criticized, but Du Hua always felt bad about it.

To transfer the shares to Zhang Yuan this time, we still need to negotiate with SkyNet.

It was also thanks to the other party's belief that she was incompetent and that someone was willing to "take over" and sell a portion of her shares.

The extra 500 million is the profit for the angel investor.

After a detailed explanation, Zhang Yuan expressed his understanding.

Du Hua was the one who breathed a sigh of relief this time.

Zhang Yuan didn't care about the extra 500 million; what mattered was keeping Du Hua and the relationship.

The rest is up to the lawyer.

He then hurriedly left.

"It went pretty smoothly."

Both Lefeng.com and Yuehua Entertainment have been secured.

Although Yang Mi left, taking two large ones with him, he also got two large ones himself, filling his emptiness.

Everything seems to be going smoothly, but trouble is just around the corner.

Zhang Yuan told Xiao Yang and Wang Taili that they would collaborate more on online platforms in the future.

Now he is going to visit an online platform.

It wasn't Tudou, nor was it Youku, which he was familiar with and had previously collaborated with.

Arriving at the North Fourth Ring Road West in Beijing,

There is an internet video platform that is yet to be launched and is in the works.

His first cry is not far off.

After getting out of the car, Zhang Yuan stopped in front of the door and looked at the two-character photo above the entrance: "Qiyi".

This is one of China's four major internet platforms, currently called Qiyi, which will later be renamed iQiyi.

"Hello, I have an appointment to meet with your General Manager Gong."

"ah!"

The receptionist was looking down at the new iPhone her boyfriend had bought for her.

When I heard someone speaking, I looked up abruptly and saw it was him. I was so startled that I almost dropped my phone.

"open……"

"It's me, I have an appointment with President Gong."

"I'll contact you right away!"

Zhang Yuan glanced through the glass door of the front desk.

At this time, the Qiyi platform had not yet been launched and was in the final stages of preparation.

But the office was brightly lit, and there were dozens of people inside at a glance.

And they all look like technicians.

Because the average amount of hair is less than 1/4 of Zhang Yuan's.

The workplace is too cruel.

"Mr. Gong said he understands. I'll take you there. By the way, could you give me..."

"Here." Zhang Yuan handed over a piece of paper that had just been torn from the sign-in book on the table, with his name signed on it.

He's starting to answer questions faster now.

Soon, Zhang Yuan was led to an office deep inside.

Inside sat a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

Zhang Yuan glanced at him and, judging from his demeanor, he didn't seem like a boss; he looked more like a mid-level government official.

"Hello."

"Hello, please sit down." After standing up to shake hands, the person sat down again and went about their business.

"Excuse me, I have some urgent emails to reply to."

"It's alright, you go ahead with your work." Zhang Yuan casually crossed his legs and waited quietly.

I recall being treated poorly the first time I visited Tudou.com.

However, Wang Wei's problem is his personality, while this guy...

"Okay, I'm done." After about two minutes, he stopped clicking the mouse.

"Although we made an appointment, I'm very busy lately and only have 15 minutes."

"I have a technical meeting to attend in 15 minutes."

"I understand," Zhang Yuan replied as concisely as possible.

Wang Wei's negligence stems from his bad personality; he's arrogant and has always had problems dealing with people.

This unusual CEO is named Gong Yu.

That's just his way of doing things.

Wang Wei and Gu Yongqiang both have business backgrounds, but this guy is really something else.

Like Lei Jun, he has a technical background.

PhD in Automation Control Theory from Tsinghua University!
Because Qian Xuesen is the father of automation control in China, this person can be considered his disciple who passed on his torch.

He's a tech genius, efficient and capable, so I just tolerated it.

Jun'er is also concise in his daily speech and actions, which is a characteristic of a technical personality.

He founded Focus.cn in 99 and sold it to Sohu in 03, making a fortune.

Focus.com was an early online platform for buying and renting houses.

He then took a position at Sohu Group.

After Gu Yongqiang left, he took over the position of Chief Operating Officer!
Therefore, he is also the successor of CEO Youku Gu.

With so much experience, he left after Sohu completely integrated Focus.net into its system in 09.

Seeing the potential of video websites, he resolutely invested in them.

Of the four major video platforms in China, apart from Mango TV, the other three belong to the well-known BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) system.

Alibaba later acquired Youku.

Tencent built its own platform.

iQiyi, on the other hand, was jointly established by Baidu and Providence Capital.

The founder of Providence Capital is a well-known investor in the European and American telecommunications and entertainment industries, and has many connections in these fields.

Therefore, in terms of origin, iQiyi is actually the highest.

But as everyone knows, Baidu's fundamental style is to do everything possible to make money off its own family.

Therefore, in any industry, you may get up very early but arrive late.

This is determined by the personality and values ​​of the company's leaders.

Baidu's CEO, Mr. Li, also has a technical background, which is why he hired a technical person to be in charge of his video platform.

“Since you’re pressed for time, I won’t waste any more time.” Zhang Yuan sat up straight.

"You should have already learned about me before I came here."

"Now I am a key manager at a film company that has produced films and television series such as 'Ip Man,' 'Bodyguards and Assassins,' and 'Crazy Racer.'"

"The purpose of my trip is to reach a deep business cooperation with you."

"You're quite well-informed," the other person said, looking at him.

"Of course, if they're not well-informed, they won't come knocking."

"I heard you were once a shareholder of Tudou.com." The other party stated very directly that they had not only investigated you, but had investigated you in great detail.

"Yes."

"Then why did you quit, and why did you come to me?"

"My departure from Tudou.com was due to some transactions I had with Huayi Film & Television, which were related to personnel and the market."

"The specific details are rather complicated to explain, so I won't go into them here."

"In short, I was originally incompatible with Wang Wei, the owner of Tudou.com, and although we invested in each other, we had little cooperation."

"I came here because I want to invest in the future."

"Oh?" The other person nodded. If you don't tell me, I'll go and check it myself.

"What kind of cooperation are you referring to?"

"Exclusive online copyrights to film and television works, and exclusive copyrights to TV series and variety shows."

"I mentioned that we currently have the online rights to 'If You Are the One' and 'China's Got Talent,' which has not yet been broadcast but is currently in production."

"As for TV series, I also hold the online rights to the two most popular comedies, 'My Own Swordsman' and 'iPartment'."

"In addition, a large-scale historical drama series with an investment of nearly 9000 million yuan is currently in production."

"These are all open to discussion."

Zhang Yuan also frankly revealed some of his chips.

This piqued the other party's interest; they had no idea he had so many items in his possession.

He checked, especially "iPartment," which brought a lot of traffic to Youku.

Video platforms do need content to attract viewers.

However, iQiyi, backed by Baidu, is different from other companies in that it has more ways to attract users.

In the future, anyone who searches for videos on Baidu will find iQiyi at the top of the search results.

This is Baidu's greatest strength: it largely controls the information channels of all Chinese netizens.

Despite such a good start, Boss Li managed to make him so disliked that everyone scorned him.

“We can consider these things. I think you are very insightful and have great courage at such a young age.”

He's an engineering student, but he's not inhuman or lacking in social skills, so I still praised him.

If someone truly doesn't understand social etiquette, they wouldn't be in that position anyway; they can only work in a small cubicle.

"Thank you, but I have more ideas than that."

“I also hope to join your company as an investor and shareholder, just like I did at Tudou.com.”

"This will make our cooperation even closer."

Zhang Yuan stopped playing games and dropped all pretense.

I, Zhang Yuan, am sending you money!
"You..." Faced with his directness, Boss Gong was slightly taken aback.

I was thinking of investing in us, but do you have the capability?
We don't want these "small change" of a few million.

But then I thought, he just left the potato business, so he must have a lot of cash on hand.

I see. They still wanted to collaborate with internet platforms. If one option doesn't work, another will, so they came to me.

It made perfect sense, and Mr. Gong could understand it; in fact, he appreciated his foresight even more.

In his eyes, celebrities are all about hedonism, big breasts but no brains, living for the moment.

Having a strategic vision and recognizing the importance and future development trends of video websites truly makes one a talented individual.

"Let's put that aside for now. Would you be interested in working for our company?"

Zhang Yuan: …

No, I'm here for a job interview?

I didn't bring my resume either.

"Of course I'd be happy to, but I might not have the time to serve you and your company long-term," Zhang Yuan replied, having no choice but to back down.

"What a pity, just like me, I also feel it's a pity."

"I understand your investment intentions."

"But if I may be frank, we at GE are not short of funds right now."

"We also don't lack copyright for our works."

"Your investment will not bring me any added value."

Although they used different words, this person, who is also a tech enthusiast like Jun'er, expressed a similar meaning.

You are useless to us.

The higher you climb, the more you realize your own "incompetence," because those who stand at the top are all too strong.

They were all exceptional individuals who, from their teens or twenties, far surpassed ordinary people.

It also has strong connections within the political and business system.

Each of them, taken individually, could be the male protagonist of a wish-fulfillment novel.

Some people's memoirs are even more satisfying than wish-fulfillment novels.

With Baidu backing them, they certainly don't lack money for the time being.

At least initially, no financing is needed.

Unlike Tudou and Youku, where the boss has to go out and find money.

Boss Gong simply lay down in his golden nest.

Zhang Yuan understood that the other party should be able to guess the approximate amount of his funds.

The other party is aware that the amount is at least in the hundreds of millions.

But they really don't need your one or two hundred million.

Moreover, Baidu is quite determined and initially had no intention of giving up its shares.

"Cooperation is negotiable, but the matter of equity investment... has to be put on hold." The other party changed their mind at the last minute, not making any absolute statements.

If you ever need their money, don't make enemies.

"It's okay, we can talk about it slowly."

"Please go ahead with your work, we'll contact you again later." Zhang Yuan showed no sign of disappointment.

This made the other party think more highly of him, showing that he was shrewd and calculating.

Zhang Yuan wasn't disappointed, because he hadn't expected it to succeed either.

He knew that Baidu was behind him.

He also knew what kind of "Pixiu" personality Mr. Li had.

The future may hold the promise, but now is definitely not the time.

Because the starting point for Exceptional was too high, with White and Providence Capital contributing a total of $1.2 million to get started, it was beyond our reach.

Therefore, he did not come to accomplish anything.

It was destined to be anything but smooth.

But just like with Stephen Chow, I went to see him and was photographed by the media.

Then, Huayi, a potential investor, found out.

Zhang Yuan directly adopted a "borrowing" approach, referencing Stephen Chow's clever idea.

What you can do, I can do too.

Let's "light a volley" on iQiyi's end and see when it happens... (End of Chapter)