Chinese entertainment, from radio love songs to superstars

Chapter 82, Old Ma, Old Ma
Du Ting called early in the morning.

"Alang, I really don't want to disturb your rest, but there is really no other way. In just one hour, more than 20 newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations called and wanted to do an exclusive interview with you."

"Don't bother me. I got up a long time ago and just came back from morning exercise."

Shen Lang could hear Du Ting's anxiety. Taking part in interviews is an effective way for artists to increase their popularity.

When artists participate in exclusive interviews and communicate directly with the media, they can demonstrate their personal charm, professionalism and social responsibility to the public, thereby attracting more attention.

This direct way of communication can also make the artist's image more three-dimensional and vivid, and increase the favorability and recognition of passers-by.

Moreover, if it is an exclusive interview on a large-scale platform, the content will be widely disseminated, which will significantly enhance the artist's influence.

"Let's meet and talk."

"Okay, I'll come find you now."

Du Ting lived in the next street, about ten minutes away, and arrived with a list of media outlets that she wanted to interview: "Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations, I picked out the best ones, the ones I think you can go to."

Shen Lang looked at the list. The newspaper she picked was "Huaxia Youth Daily", the magazine was "Contemporary Music", the radio station was "City Voice Network", and the TV station was "CCTV Channel 3".

Wow, all the first-line ones.

Since there are so many benefits, just go for it.

So, Shen Lang spent the next three days in interviews.

The filming of the MV was delayed for a few days, but it was not a big problem.

After finishing all this, Shen Lang notified Ning Hao to start work.

June 6th, Yan Danchen, "Dong Feng Po".

"Senior, your sad expression is superficial. It doesn't look good in a close-up. Please adjust it."

"Okay, I understand. Give me a few minutes to process this."

Yan Danchen is one year younger than Ning Hao, but she was from the class of 1 at Beijing Film Academy, while Ning Hao was from the class of 1996, so she has to call her “senior”.

However, Yan Danchen did not call him junior, but talked about his own things and called him "Director Ning" just like Shen Lang.

This campus beauty from Beijing Film Academy debuted early. In 1997, she won the Outstanding Adult Actor Award at the 8th China Film Tongniu Awards for her debut film "Carrying Dad to School", and also won the Best Newcomer Award at the 4th China Film Huabiao Awards for her youth drama "Season of Flowers and Rain".

But his acting skills still seem immature.

Maybe it was because it was her first time acting in a MV, or maybe it was her first time acting opposite a handsome guy like Shen Lang.

But after all, they are all professionals with strong adaptability and adjustment capabilities, so they can pass two or three tests.

The point is, Yan Danchen's ancient costume is really stunning. The red dress she's wearing today is no worse than the all-white Chang'e.

As for Shen Lang, he was very happy and natural.

June 6, Dong Xuan, "Love Finds You in Memory";
June 6, Chexiao, "Seven Friends";
June 6, Chen Hao, "Depending on Each Other";
June 6th, Zeng Lai, "Just Met You".

"Click, take a ten-minute break and set up the venue."

Ning Hao is now very familiar with shooting MVs. He is very methodical and efficient.

"Can you sing opera?"

"No, my voice is just a bit of an opera tune at best."

Because Zeng Lai was assigned to wear Peking Opera costumes, he mistakenly thought that Shen Lang had incorporated opera into his song.

Although Shen Lang was a professional music teacher in his previous life, he had never studied opera. All he knew was the so-called opera singing in pop songs.

Zeng Lai had been learning Peking Opera since he was a child, majoring in Qingyi. He thought he had found a like-minded person, but the topic ended there and he made an excuse to go to the bathroom.

At this time, Gao Yuanyuan, wearing the same suit he wore on the day of the concert, came over, handed him a bottle of water, and said in an assistant's tone, "Boss, do you need anything else?"

She actually came to visit the set today because she was bored staying at home alone.

Shen Lang unscrewed the bottle cap and gave it to her instead of drinking it himself. He said, "It's 35.2℃ today. It's really hot. You're really suffering here. Be careful not to get tanned."

Gao Yuanyuan quickly hid behind him, using his tall body to block out the sun, and said, "Since we're here, let's play for a while before leaving. By the way, how about the campus beauty of the Central Academy of Drama?"

Shen Lang smiled and said, "Oh... so you are here to supervise me."

Gao Yuanyuan said confidently: "No, I'm afraid you will make a mistake."

Shen Lang whispered something in her ear.

Gao Yuanyuan's cheeks were slightly flushed, which looked unusually bright in the sun, and there was a hint of joy in her eyes. After chatting for a while, Zeng came back, the break time was over, and the shooting continued.

June 6, Gao Lu, "You Hide, I Hide";
June 6, Zhou Yun, “Rogue”;
June 6, Tang Wei, "Big City Small Affairs";
June 6, Liu Yun, “Rain on Qingming Festival”.

It takes an average of two days to shoot a MV, which is very fast.

More than half a month has passed, and only "Same Day, Next Year" with Gao Yuanyuan, "Under the Mount Fuji" with Stefanie Sun, and Shen Lang's personal "Blue Lotus", "Love and Loyalty" and "Black Tangerine" are left.

Shen Lang gave the film crew two days off.

He is also tired of changing the heroine and the plot every day.

He took advantage of this holiday to come to Hangzhou.

No. 85, Wenyi Road, Xihu District, Alibaba Headquarters.

After realizing the crisis last year, Lao Ma quickly formulated his strategy, which is three B to C.

Return to China, return to the coast, return to Hangzhou.

In order to survive, the top priority is to cut costs and stop losses, so layoffs and reductions become an inevitable choice.

After doing all this, 2001 was already halfway through and there was not much money left.

Lao Ma knew that Alibaba’s cold winter was coming.

Just at this time, someone contacted him and said that he wanted to introduce him to someone who might be able to help him through the difficult times.

This person is Shen Lang.

But it is not easy to talk to Lao Ma, you need a middleman.

The only connection he has in the business circle is Qian Guosheng.

Qian Guosheng was very happy to help him, so he used his own network of connections to contact Lao Ma.

This meeting was hard-won and was the only opportunity.

Shen Lang finally saw the old Ma he had been thinking about in the conference room.

He hasn't changed much. He looks exactly the same as he did in 2024. It's rare that his face looks the same when he's young and old.

Judging from Lao Ma’s expression, he was surprised and unexpected.

Although he had read Shen Lang's information.

But it is hard to imagine that the person who wants to invest in their company which is in desperate situation and on the verge of bankruptcy is a young man in his early twenties.

Shen Lang came prepared, not with the $400 million, but with his understanding of Alibaba and venture capital.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Lao Ma knew that he was not a stupid person with a lot of money who came here to play.

The two talked about a lot of things, such as the future development of the Internet, whether Alibaba's model could be successful, etc., which was very speculative.

But we didn’t talk about investment.

It was not put on the table until the next day.

Shen Lang will invest in three phases, every six months, with each phase investing 400 million US dollars, for a total investment of 1200 million US dollars.

Just give him the equity in proportion.

To be honest, Lao Ma was very tempted.

In 2000, he met with Masayoshi Son of SoftBank for a few minutes, and then Son decided to invest 4000 million US dollars.

However, he had just received investment from Goldman Sachs and other institutions and did not need so much money. In the end, he accepted the $2000 million investment from Masayoshi Son.

Who would have thought that the Internet bubble would burst soon after and the money would be almost gone in just half a year.

The company has no way to make profits and has been losing money. The success rate of raising funds at this time is extremely low.

Now that $1200 million is offered to him, how could he not be tempted?

In the end, Lao Ma accepted Shen Lang's investment at a price of 400% equity for every 2.3 million US dollars.

A total of 6.9% equity.

Even if subsequent rounds of financing are diluted, a dozen years of more than a thousand times is enough.

(PS: There aren’t many scenes in the business part. This is my first time writing this, so please bear with me.)
(End of this chapter)