Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 48 Teahouse Owner
"...Okay, okay. I'll definitely visit you after the Chinese New Year."

Meng Bai hung up the phone and sighed tiredly.

This was the third call he received today. Like the previous two, the caller was also the head of a video platform. They all expressed interest in his next script and invited him to have a chat.

This has been his daily routine these days. Not only video platforms, but also some film and television companies have contacted him through their connections.

Even Li Qin called and said that her "Aunt Li" also wanted to meet him.

There is no way, the performance of the online drama "Soul Ferry" is really too brilliant.

In the third week after New Year’s Day, the last five episodes of "Soul Ferry" were all released, and the first season officially ended.

As the popularity of "Pendulum" continues to rise, the number of viewers has also increased day by day. According to the real-time monitoring data of Leshi.com, at its peak, nearly 60,000 people watched it online at the same time.

To be more precise, there should be 60,000 accounts, but the actual number of viewers may be far more than that.

After all, many viewers left messages online saying that they didn't dare to watch the show alone, and they always gathered together with a few others to give each other courage.

At the same time, the number of views of "Pendulum" has exceeded 200 million and is still rising rapidly. The number of new members of Leshi.com has also reached more than 200,000 in just half a month.

According to statistics on the membership application page and browsing records, at least three-quarters of the more than 200,000 new members came from "Soul Ferry".

In other words, even if every member is calculated only as the monthly card user with the lowest unit price, the investment cost of "Soul Ferry" can basically be earned back through membership fees alone.

Compared with data such as the number of views, these new members are what major video platforms value most. After all, the former can be inflated by adjusting the "statistical method", while the latter is real and tangible benefit.

What is the fundamental interest of video platforms? Traffic!

So where does the traffic come from? Of course, it comes from users.

The current video platforms are still in the stage of incremental market, but even so, few users will open memberships on multiple platforms at once. Most people will open memberships on one platform and wait until the membership period ends before considering which platform to choose next time.

Today, a large number of new users have chosen Leshi.com because of “Soul Ferry”, which means that for a considerable period of time, these users will be bound to Leshi.com, and it will be difficult for other platforms to attract them.

The one who is undoubtedly the happiest about this situation is Leshi.com, which is truly a case of users coming from nowhere while people are sitting at home.

When Gan Wei contacted Meng Bai, he told him that after the total broadcast data comes out after the new year, there will be a grand celebration banquet for the entire "Pendulum" crew, and everyone will receive a bonus red envelope.

Meng Bai was naturally happy to see this happen, as it didn't cost him any money anyway.

As for other platforms contacting him, he did not mention it.

Although he estimated that if he said now that the next script had been written, Leshi.com would immediately transfer the money to him very happily, he still had to leave himself a way out.

Besides, if he really wants to go further in this circle, he can't just stop at Leshi.com, he has to climb other trees as well.

Of course, these are all things to be considered later. Meng Bai's most urgent task now is to find a financial officer for his shell company "Arc Light Films" so that he can reconcile accounts with Leshi.com after the new year.

He originally wanted to find an accounting firm to work with, but after consulting, he found that most of their business was year-round cooperation, and the fees were not low. With this calculation, it would be more convenient to just find someone himself.

Coincidentally, he actually knew someone who worked in the "finance" field.
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In the deserted teahouse, Meng Bai pushed open the half-open door.

"Flower! Huahua!"

As soon as he entered the door, Meng Bai shouted twice out of habit, only to find that there was no one behind the counter.

Yeah? Where's she? He always saw this "Lolita girl" lying behind the counter and slacking off every time he came to the teahouse. But he didn't see her today, and it felt like a fixed NPC in a certain map in the game disappeared.

Just as I was wondering, a rather queenly voice suddenly sounded behind me: "We don't have 'Hua Hua' here, but we have one at 'Li Li'. What would you like to order, sir?"

Meng Bai turned around and looked behind him, and a smiling face came into view.

Standing behind Meng Bai was a girl with a sweet smile, tall and fair skin, with long black hair tied into a high ponytail hanging behind her, swinging left and right with the movements of her master. The most attractive thing was the girl's eyes, like two crescent moons, which narrowed together when she smiled, making people's heart move.

"Hey, isn't this Boss Li?" Meng Bai smiled and said in a familiar tone, "It's been a long time since we last met. I heard that Boss Li has made a fortune in the film and television industry recently?"

"Well, I'm just a little girl. I lose money in business, so I can only find ways to make a living. I'm not like our President Meng. I heard that he is now a famous screenwriter!" The girl replied in the same familiar teasing tone.

After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed.

The girl in front of him was called Li Yitong, the owner of this teahouse. She had known Meng Bai for a long time and they were good friends who were more than just friends.

"When did you come back?" Meng Bai asked after finding a table and sitting down.

Li Yitong poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile, "It was last month. I wanted to contact you, but Huahua told me that you were probably busy, so I didn't bother you."

Meng Bai calculated that it was just the time when "Soul Ferry" was launched, and he was indeed very busy.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet." Li Yitong blinked, picked up a cup of tea and said, "'2014 New Year's Hot New Drama', I can see discussions about your drama every day on the Internet, it's very popular. Congratulations, your wish for so many years has finally come true."

Meng Bai smiled and said, "Just drinking tea? To congratulate you, you have to be a little practical."

"I can't do anything about it." Li Yitong spread her hands helplessly and said, "I just paid the water, electricity and wages, and was waiting to sell the tables, chairs and benches to make up for the loss. Now, apart from a cup of tea, I really have nothing."

"You deserve it! You've been away eight out of ten days, so all the deals have failed."

"Hey, please sort out your logic. I only come here less often after my business failed, okay?"

"It means the same thing. It's all over anyway."

"..."

After some jokes, Meng Bai asked, "I heard from Huahua earlier that you went to film a movie?"

"It's not really filming, I was just helping a friend." Li Yitong explained: "She has a friend who is from Beijing Film Academy, and she wanted to film her graduation project but was short of a leading actress, so she found me."

"how do you feel?"

"I don't know. I just followed the instructions and made some movements and expressions. I didn't have many lines." Li Yitong said, "But it was quite fun. It was the first time I played a person who was different from myself. It was quite interesting."

"What? Are you planning to be an actor in the future?" Meng Bai asked.

"Does Mr. Meng think I'm suitable?"

Meng Bai didn't rush to answer. He took a sip of tea and then asked leisurely, "Can you perform?"

"……Won't."

"That's it."

(End of this chapter)