Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 346 Let me die knowingly!

In front of Netflix's headquarters, the young director spotted a familiar figure.

"Reporter Qi, long time no see!"

Ah Fei blocked the crowded crowd, and Qi Heng, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency's North American branch who had been promoted, finally squeezed in.

"Mr. Lu, the last time I saw you was last New Year's Eve. You and Miss Liu were in Manhattan."

Boss Lu was stunned for a moment. Time passed so quickly!

On New Year's Eve in 2006, he picked up Liu Yifei, who had sacrificed herself for him, at the bottom of the Fox building.

Xiao Liu then stayed in North America to study and experience life.

He worked on the Olympic creative team for Curse of the Golden Flower until July, and then began filming, which continues to this day.

Fortunately, the film is about to be completed, and Netflix and Marvel are about to arrive, so I have finally made it through this year.

After Qi Heng finished reminiscing about the past, he immediately took the opportunity to ask, "Mr. Lu, why did you come up with the idea of ​​acquiring Netflix?"

Boss Lu made a very childish joke: "Mr. Hastings of Netflix prevented me from acquiring Blockbuster, so I had to swap companies with him."

The truth is hard to tell.

For cultural export?

In order to break through the theater resources that are firmly controlled by the six major Hollywood chains?

In order to occupy the future streaming media track, is it aiming to surpass Disney and become the world's largest entertainment company by market value?
Can this be said?

The Washington Post reporter clearly came with a mission:

"Lu, what do you think of the comments made by American politicians in China these past two days? Is your acquisition of Blockbuster or Netflix intended to promote political propaganda for the University of Tokyo?"

Boss Lu remained calm: "I am a literary and artistic worker. I don't understand politics and I'm not interested in it. I ask some media outlets not to exaggerate to attract attention."

He suddenly stopped and said, "Come to think of it, I saw a report in an American newspaper last year. It asked why China was buying donkeys from all over the world. Was it trying to use up all the world's resources?"

"This report is consistent with your current tone, forcibly linking the merger and acquisition of non-sensitive companies with politics."

Qi Heng understood the meaning of the music and laughed, "Mr. Lu, why are we buying donkeys all over the world?"

Lu Kuan looked at the curious North American reporters and said, "Everyone, there is a medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine called donkey hide. It is extracted from donkey hide. Donkeys have a long breeding cycle, and the domestic donkey hide is not enough to meet the demand. That's all."

"Instead of what you claim, it's being used for the research and development of some new weapon. This is simply ridiculous!"

Boss Lu looked at the Washington Post reporter with the expression of an old man on the subway: "Similarly, is the DVD rental industry very sensitive? I don't think so."

"At least in the 70s and 80s, my friend Quentin Tarantino was already watching a lot of Hong Kong films on DVD. Movies are a cultural food that is loved by both Chinese and American people. I acquired the DVD rental business just for profit and cultural communication, nothing more."

"The Hollywood Reporter" reporter: "Lu, you said you don't understand politics and have no interest in politics, but we all saw that you were one of the chief directors of the Beijing Olympics. How do you explain this?"

A New York Times reporter chimed in: "Yes, and the film you're making is hard to say is unpolitical. Please answer."

Lu Kuan glanced at the two beautiful reporters. It seemed that both of them were media outlets under News Corporation!
Without seeming to think, he said emphatically, "The Olympics is a grand art event. Nearly one-third of my team are American artists."

"Ms. Lin Ying, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Mr. Cai Guo-Qiang, the fireworks master; Ms. Ma Wen, a visual effects artist from New York; and Mr. Shen Wei, a dancer from California."

"Especially Mr. Spielberg, who directed Schindler's List, is also one of our consultants."

"My 'The Sky of History' and his 'Schindler's List' are films of the same nature. If you're trying to use the Olympics and movies to link me with a political spokesperson, your reasoning doesn't seem very convincing, does it?"

The two reporters looked at each other helplessly, neither of them saying anything.

This Chinese person is too cunning and doesn't give them any chance to take advantage of the situation!

Isn’t it said that artists are crazy?
It’s a pity that the person they met was not only a famous director, but also a Berlin Film Festival winner and a public relations master.

It is too difficult to make such a person cause trouble through his words.

At this point in the strategy against Netflix and Blockbuster, the situation has become very clear.

After the financial war, there is the war of public opinion and the public relations war.

When Ren Zhengfei called yesterday, he was in contact with Harvey and K Street's public relations team.

Harvey has close ties with the Democratic Party and is also a good player in this area.

At the 2013th Academy Awards in 85, Jennifer Lawrence half-jokingly said after winning the award: "Thanks to Harvey for helping me beat the other competitors."

At that year's Oscars, Harvey hired Oscar's presidential campaign team to do public relations for his cousin, and the other competitors really had no temper at all.

Many members of this team come from K Street.

They understand every aspect of American culture, politics, religion, etc.

Especially the connections in politics and key departments can provide employers with the most "professional" services.

After a confrontation with Western media reporters, A Fei left as the last one standing while Boss Lu strode into Netflix headquarters.

If this were a movie, there would be a deep bass narration at this moment - I came, I conquered.

As the door to the conference room was pushed open, the noisy discussions in the room came to an abrupt end.

The sunlight was filtering through the blinds of the floor-to-ceiling windows, cutting out alternating stripes of light and dark on the long conference table.

The air was filled with the unique aroma of espresso in Silicon Valley technology companies, mixed with the smell of plastic from a BlackBerry charging.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes instantly turned to the major shareholder.

Of course, one of the gazes that seemed real came from the company's current dictator, Hastings.

In front of him was a cold espresso cup with three brown circles on the rim.

Boss Lu took the initiative to step forward and said, “Mr. Reed, I didn’t expect that our second meeting would be in this situation.”

Hastings's face was gloomy, and he was intimidating without being angry. "Your cunning is admirable, but if you want to get Netflix, you may need to work harder."

Boss Lu curled his lips and said, "Of course, Netflix is ​​still your territory now."

Although he said this, the way he pulled out the chair and sat down was full of the heroism of a barbarian.

The voice of Mary, the company's secretary, seemed to come from far away: "Mr. Lu holds 36.7% of the voting shares, which meets the conditions for convening an extraordinary board meeting under Article 7.3 of the company's articles of association."

"Ladies and gentlemen, today's board meeting officially begins."

Other shareholders present had mixed reactions.

Lawrence Fink of Capital Group (9.8%) thumbs over the BlackBerry scroll wheel;
Susan Walker of Fidelity Investments (7.2%) took off her tortoise-shell glasses and wiped them;
David Rubenstein of Blackstone Group (5.1%) slammed his pen into his notepad.

Hastings has been in charge of Netflix for more than ten years. He was like an old lion, reviewing the board members present with a demonstrative look.

Mixed joys and sorrows.

How could Hastings not tell whether it was a human or a ghost?

Some of the evasive and evasive glances towards him already explained a lot, at least they had already had some contact with the young director in advance.

Lu Kuan unbuttoned his dark grey custom-made Brioni suit, revealing a light blue Windsor collar shirt.

He was followed by two Clifford Chance lawyers, and the file boxes made a dull thud on the marble floor.

“It’s long past time to replace these 1999 Herman Miller Aeron chairs.”

He tapped the fiber mesh on the back of the chair, as if to suggest something.

Secretary Mary began to announce the first item on the agenda for today's meeting: "Let's first discuss Mr. Lu Kuan's proposal to reorganize the board of directors..."

"Wait a minute!" Hastings interrupted his old subordinate.

"gentlemen?"

Hastings waved at her and turned to Lu Kuan: "How about we chat in my office first?"

"You Chinese people's 'The Art of War' says to conquer the enemy without fighting. I'll give you this opportunity."

In fact, he just wanted to state the conditions that could not be made public.

This tenacious entrepreneur will never give up until the last moment.

Boss Lu respectfully obeyed: "Of course."

Mary said helplessly: "The board of directors will suspend for 20 minutes. Please take a break and ask the recorder to record the meeting."

. . .

Hastings has had many visitors to this office at Netflix.

In addition to work partners and clients, there are also some people who are farther away, such as Liu Yifei, the female hero who was ordered by the old demon last year.

More recent ones include Matthew from KKR, Mitchell from K Street, the Japanese director of Sony Columbia, and so on.

Like everyone who comes here for the first time, Boss Lu immediately noticed the poster of "The Godfather" on the wall.

Marlon Brando's face is full of stories. The dim light outlines his features, and his deep eyes seem to hide endless strategy and majesty.

This should be the leadership status that Hastings is aiming for, right?

"Lu, as an entrepreneur, the fact that you're here today and have successfully convened the board meeting should indicate my sincerity."

Boss Lu didn't expect that he would start today's conversation like this. What was his intention?
A sign of weakness? Or a demonstration?

Hastings's expression was calm. "On the last trading day, I was able to find a suitable reason to apply to the exchange for a trading halt. This would have delayed you for at least ten days."

"During this period, I can first request a board meeting to approve shark repellent and golden parachute clauses, and then find Microsoft or Walmart to act as a white knight."

"It's not that easy to take control of Netflix."

“Even if there is, the price to pay is not cheap.”

Boss Lu spread his hands: "Indeed, I am a little surprised. I thought you had surrendered, but now..."

Hastings stood up, as if trying to make his breathing smoother.

"Smart people don't need to waste time. I know that wasting a few hundred million dollars or delaying you for a month or two won't be a big deal to you."

"Because you're like me! We both see the future of streaming! This is at least a strategy for the next few decades. Who cares about hundreds of millions and a few months of delay?"

Boss Lu was noncommittal: "Streaming media...if they haven't even standardized the format, what future can we talk about?"

"I just mentioned it casually that day, Hastings, you're overthinking it."

He took out a cigarette, gestured to Hastings as if he were in his own territory, and then lit it himself.

"No! Lu! Stop hiding!" Hastings seemed to be suddenly crazy and couldn't help but roar out loud.

He had indeed been holding it in for a long time.

Boss Lu squinted his eyes, blew out a smoke ring, and looked at Hastings speechlessly.

My goodness, it’s only been a short time and you’ve been forced into this state.

Not even as good as Xiao Liu!

But he could understand.

In my past life, wasn't my dream of becoming a director shattered? I struggled under the iron hoof of capital and the industry's unspoken rules.

He saw the company in which he had been the dictator for more than ten years, the great company in which he was about to build his dreams, being poached, especially after such a turbulent financial war.

It's really sad.

Hastings calmed down a bit: "I showed my sincerity, but you don't seem to have it?"

"Let me tell you what you really want!"

"Foreigners are not allowed to buy shares in TV stations in the United States, but you, a Chinese director, want to break the monopoly of the Big Six in Hollywood!"

"What you want is the future movie output port. In the future, you can occupy two of the four output windows: big screen, home TV, DVD, and computer screen!"

"Mr. Director, if I make your intentions public, and even make your goal of cultural export and political propaganda known to the world, do you think you can still get Netflix?"

"Even if you hire a K Street PR team, can you withstand the combined efforts of the six major Hollywood studios?!"

Hastings' eyes were sharp, and he thought he saw through the true intentions of this Chinese director.

"Lu, I don't ask for much. If you quit Netflix, Blockbuster will be yours."

"Whether you're optimistic about streaming or not, everyone is competing with each other in the business world, but..."

"You've seen so many politicians come forward with accusations this weekend. You have reason to believe I can do this, right?"

"Besides, the shares you bought in Carl Icahn have at least doubled now, right? Isn't it enough that you've made nearly $200 million from this?"

This harsh speech contained threats, persuasion, and a hint of weakness, but unfortunately it could not shake Lu Kuan's mind.

Even if Hastings does not intervene, it is impossible to stop these clamors from the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Because many politicians in North America make a living by being "anti-flower", that is, votes and support rates.

Boss Lu put out his cigarette. "The subprime mortgage crisis in the US is getting worse. The US government needs foreign investment to boost employment and economic growth."

"The entertainment industry is by no means a sensitive sector. If restrictions are imposed on even a sunset industry like DVD rentals, it will undoubtedly significantly dampen the interest of foreign investors."

"As for the accusation you just mentioned, I believe the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Affairs Committee will consider it carefully. Don't bother." The young director smiled and stood up. "Hastings, at first I just wanted Blockbuster, but you seemed reluctant."

"Now that I'm about to take over your Netflix, you're trying to persuade me to go back to Blockbuster?"

"With your level of screenwriting skills, you won't be able to make a living in my film company."

Hastings' face turned pale as he watched Lu Kuan, who seemed unwilling to waste any more words with him, push the door and leave.

"and many more!"

The Netflix president, knowing that he was powerless to save the situation, stopped him, his voice gradually weakening: "Lu, I want to know where your money comes from?"

Before I could answer, he added, "You should know that the United States has the Patriot Act. Even if you don't tell me now, you will have to explain the legal source of the acquisition funds during the review. You..."

Boss Lu turned around and thought to himself that he was going to die knowing why.

Admittedly, if the enemy and we were in a battle of equal information, it would be difficult for the world to achieve such a result.

If I hadn't planted the seed of subprime mortgage CDS a year ago, I would have been able to reap the fruits of victory and use them as bullets to attack the enemy.

Perhaps the moment Hastings and Ballmer saw through his intentions, he was killed by Hastings, who had $25 billion in his hands.

But he had the initiative in this battle and even had many moves that were not yet made.

For example, using Liu Yifei's 14% stake to short sell and slowly reduce the market, so as to acquire shares with a more cost-effective attitude;
Or wait for Blockbuster to become a penny stock, lure Hastings into the trap and bury him completely, and even force Goldman Sachs to liquidate his 13-point equity pledge in Netflix.

But in order to avoid any further complications, it is better to get the money as soon as possible.

Boss Lu looked at Hastings's eager eyes and felt sorry that he couldn't tell the truth now.

"As for this question, it seems you'll have to wait for the foreign committee's announcement to find out the answer. Sorry."

"Lu! You'll regret this!" Hastings was completely enraged by the young director's lazy attitude. "You don't understand the politics of this country. I'll make your acquisition fail in the very first congressional debate!"

After all, he was a corporate dictator who had been in power for more than a decade and had personally led Netflix to defeat the industry leader Blockbuster. When had he ever suffered such humiliation!
I have been so frank and just want to die knowing the outcome of the war. Do I have to endure such arrogant treatment?
Boss Lu was helpless, but the CDS was far from being in his pocket, so how could he make it public like this?

He ignored Hastings' threats, and naturally knew that this last hurdle would be difficult.

The young director pointed to the Godfather poster on the wall and said, "Hastings, I'm a fan of Marlon Brando and Coppola, just like you."

"There's a line in the movie by Marlon Brando, The Godfather Corleone, that has stayed with me for decades."

"It took me a lifetime to learn to be careful. Women and children can be careless, but men can't!"

This sentence speaks of the caution and hardship of the Godfather's life.

He struggled in the dangerous and calculating world of the gangsters, and after going through countless hardships, he realized that caution is the key to survival.

Behind this understanding are countless blood and tears, revealing a kind of tragic grandeur that has gone through vicissitudes of life.

Undoubtedly, Hastings also felt this tragic feeling at this moment.

The dictator watched the young man leave and cried out in his heart.

You are not even thirty years old yet, so where do the decades come from?
If I make a mistake this time, I might ruin decades of hard work.

The dictator looked at the poster of "The Godfather" on the wall and decided to make one last effort.

Since this Chinese director is unwilling to make a deal with him, Hastings would rather Netflix be taken away by Microsoft, the Big Six, or Walmart than be handed over to him!
He picked up the phone and called his secretary, ordering the latter to attend the board meeting on his behalf, and then made one call after another angrily.

"Mitchell, please increase the volume of the opposition and tie this despicable Chinese to politics!"

The second call was made directly to Murdoch of News Corporation.

Hastings knew the two men had an old grudge.

It’s a pity that Murdoch was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone and finally gave him a polite refusal.

Sony and Japanese right-wing figures had approached him before, trying to cause trouble for the director of historical films.

However, according to his information sources in the mainland, this young director will soon go to Haizi to report on his work.

Murdoch didn't want to cause trouble, at least there was no deep hatred between them.

Even though I was humiliated last time, I'm not completely sure. Why bother provoking this little bully again and getting myself into trouble for nothing?

News Corporation cannot resist your various tactics in the mainland, but as long as you want to develop in North America, you will inevitably have to deal with News Corporation, right?

The old white Jewish man is old, so naturally he won't have any emotional disputes, not to mention that it was Wendi Deng who was embarrassed last time.

It is still more important to wait for opportunities and seize benefits.

Hastings hung up the phone angrily, and for a moment he didn't know who to call.

There is no need to consider Disney at all, as there has never been any intersection between them and Warner.

Paramount?
Netflix was previously derived from Paramount, but it has declined to such an extent in recent years that it seems unable to recover.

global?

They have never had any intersection, and the vice president of Universal just laughed at the question of the world's offer to acquire Marvel last month. Would they regard him as a serious opponent?
After all, apart from a few movie IPs, Wenjie currently has no other outstanding market performance in North America.

Instead, it was Lu Kuan's speech at USC that attracted the interest of many powerful figures in Hollywood.

After all, the results of the cooperation between Disney and the industry over the past year have been outstanding.

Not only has there been more expansion in media channels, but a new path has also been opened up in batch film distribution.

There are many independent films that have been saved by Golden Harvest's distribution network throughout Southeast Asia, which has made up for the shortcomings of Disney's global distribution channels.

Hastings drew his sword and looked around, feeling confused.

Who will join me in killing this thief?

I thought that if such an "alien species" suddenly invaded, he would easily find allies to target it.

Unexpectedly, there seems to be no better way except to suppress it under political pretexts.

Other Hollywood film forces either cooperated with him, temporarily ceased fighting, or remained aloof from the matter. . .

Maybe only Sony Pictures.

"Ring ring ring!"

Hastings looked at the unfamiliar number on his phone and answered it with a blank expression.

"Mr. Reed, I'm Kenji Sato from Sony Columbia."

"To make a long story short, Sony Columbia has noticed a Chinese director's film company in North America and has announced a takeover offer for Netflix. I'd like to work with you."

Hastings seemed to have grasped a lifeline and hurriedly asked, "Sony, are you willing to acquire Netflix? I can help you convince the board of directors!"

To whom is it not sold?

As long as I don't let him get Netflix, I can get rid of this anger!
Hastings knew this Kenji Sato.

He is a close confidant of Kazuo Hirai, the current chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment (USA), and was appointed vice president of Sony Columbia's production department last year.

Before joining Sony Columbia, he worked for Japan's Toho Pictures for many years, but was later poached by Sony, which made Toho Co., Ltd. very angry.

In Japan's entertainment industry, Toho and Sony have a certain competitive relationship. The former is now Boss Lu's ally in Japan, while in South Korea it is CJ Entertainment.

Whether in Asia or North America, Lu Kuan has used interests to bind himself with powerful allies and form alliances with other competitors.

Unfortunately, Kenji Sato did not give Hastings the answer he wanted: "I'm sorry, I can't help you. This is not the cooperation I'm talking about."

"Your disastrous failure at Blockbuster is regrettable. Sony is willing to help you recover some of your losses. This is the greatest sincerity we can offer."

Hastings was not willing to give up: "Mr. Sato! If you don't want to invest in Netflix, Blockbuster is also fine."

"As long as you provide me with funds, I am confident that I can lead Blockbuster to defeat the Chinese who only know how to scheme and scheme!"

He was answered by silence.

Sato Kenji said calmly, "Sony is willing to take over Blockbuster and help you out, but..."

"On the contrary, Mr. Hastings, I don't think the streaming media you and Director Lu Kuan mentioned is a great strategy."

"In fact, have you ever considered that he used this trap to trick you into underestimating your enemy and leading you to such a defeat?"

Hastings felt suffocated after hearing this!
madness!

madness!

Stupid Japanese!

You are even worse than that Chinese director who humiliated himself!
At this moment, the head of Netflix, the dictator who will make Netflix's market value the world's number one entertainment company in the future, feels a bit like "If we have Yu, why do we have Liang?"

To this day, he has no choice but to cut off his arm to survive: "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to use Blockbuster's remaining stores and its online and offline resources to help us with some publicity."

Hastings frowned when he heard this: "What?"

Sato Kenji said solemnly, "I need you to take the helm of Blockbuster and provide us with a marketing strategy to counter the negative impact of that Chinese director's new film."

"For example, in the short term, we could put some DVDs of films and TV shows that promote US-Japan friendship or reflect the excellent qualities of our great Japanese people on the market, either at a special price or with a limited-time discount."

"At this point in time, it's best to start now. I heard that his movie is almost finished."

"For example, 'Spirited Away' can reflect our great Japanese people's reverence for nature, and embody the Japanese people's tenacity, bravery and kindness."

"Hastings, you should understand what I mean."

I understand it so well!
Hastings thought that he had originally planned to use the excuse of cultural input to target Lu Kuan, but he didn't expect that the Japanese would actually do it!

The key is that I want to be in charge!
It is conceivable that their demands will not be limited to animated films like this, but perhaps more.

Hastings sighed: "Okay..."

Between two evils, choose the lesser one. The current dictator can only hope that Mitchell and Sony can snipe him through the public relations level.

And it seems that I can only seek to survive from the ruins of Blockbuster...

There was no dramatic scene like in movies and TV shows, where barbarians stormed into the boardroom, raised their arms and shouted, supporters followed suit, and opponents struggled.

At today's board meeting, the Barbarian Road boss was very polite and the institutions and major shareholders present were also very enthusiastic.

At a time when Netflix and Blockbuster were in operational and financial slump due to a major war, an international communist director traveled thousands of miles to the United States to help the trembling institutional investors get out of their predicament and promised to conduct bulk transactions with them at a considerable premium.

You are the Chinese version of Bethune!
For institutional investors, trading discipline is iron, and reducing losses is steel. They don’t care about DVDs or streaming media, they just want to cash in first!
On the weekend of May 2007, 5, Nasdaq’s official website released an announcement:

Netflix will suspend trading from today due to undisclosed matters that have a significant impact on the company's operations and development. In order to ensure fair information disclosure, safeguard the interests of investors, and avoid abnormal fluctuations in the company's stock price, the company will suspend trading from today.

同时，问界也以每股40美元的价格发起要约收购，期限为6月5号至7月5号。

The relevant acquisition applications, financial reports and funding source review materials have been submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the SEC and foreign committees, awaiting approval.

A single stone caused a thousand ripples, and the news was transmitted back to China through the Xinhua News Agency's North American branch, Xinlang's overseas news team, etc., and instantly occupied the headlines!

The day after the announcement, CNN Evening News ran a commentary with the title "Will your 'Friends' be replaced by 'Journey to the West'?"

Former Congressman Krueger said the Pentagon should be concerned about the security of Netflix user data.

It is not known whether the documents submitted by Q&A fully disclose the connection between its twelve offshore structures and mainland state-owned funds.

The headline of the Wall Street Journal directly had three big exclamation marks!
According to previous evaluations of the battle between Wenjie and Netflix, the scale of funds available to Wenjie will not exceed 25 billion.

But whether it is the actual secondary market competition, institutional bulk transactions, or the current takeover offer price, it seems that everyone has underestimated the strength of this Chinese director.

The author reminds the Ministry of Justice to strengthen its review of the legality of the source of funds and to thoroughly investigate whether it is related to the state-owned banks and insurance funds behind Wenjie!

Of course, when the news reached back home, there was naturally jubilation!
Lang Xianping, who had previously underestimated Boss Lu's total assets, continued to follow the trend and analyzed the total price of the transaction.

Based on Netflix's net assets and liabilities, as well as operating costs disclosed by the listed company, the total acquisition price is estimated to be nearly US$45 billion!
In addition to the 30 billion in acquisition funds, there is also nearly 15 billion in debt to be borne.

This is also the reason why major shareholders are so enthusiastic about him.

If the acquisition is successful, Netflix's common stock will no longer be publicly traded and will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of North America.

The front page headline of the financial edition of the Economic Observer Times, titled "The capital strategy behind Wenjie's lightning acquisition", analyzed the overall situation of the capital game over the past month.

Of course, it is difficult for the outside world to get a full picture of the several internal reversals.

The Global Times published a commentary written by its editor-in-chief Hu Xijin on its front page:

Chinese capital pries open the door to Hollywood! Wenjie's acquisition of Netflix writes a new chapter in the overseas expansion of cultural products!

Lao Hu published an article on his blog account simultaneously, in which he pointed out:

This acquisition by Chinese entrepreneur and famous director Lu Kuan is the largest cultural merger and acquisition case in this century.

The month-long capital battle can be regarded as a modern interpretation of the "Use the normal to unite and the unusual to win" in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

When some media question "cultural infiltration", we should see that this is the legitimate reconstruction of global cultural discourse power by Chinese wisdom under the rules of market economy!
Lao Hu's flattery made Boss Lu feel embarrassed. He could have flattered him later.

For example, wait until the US authorities relax their vigilance a little, or when Western public opinion no longer easily elevates the issue to a political one.

On June 6, after discussing the plan with K Street’s public relations team, Lu Kuan arranged for the crew to take a half-month holiday and fly back to Beijing.

Prepare to go to the palace to report work!

(End of this chapter)