Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 257 doesn't match up
Beijing Capital International Airport.

Ren Xianqi carefully placed Zheng Zhihua in the wheelchair, and together they thanked the flight attendants for their help before pushing him toward the exit.

Both craned their necks to peer into the crowd; the one in the wheelchair was excited and determined, while the one pushing the wheelchair was confused and apprehensive.

Although Ren Xianqi chose to go north to seek opportunities at Zheng Zhihua's urging, even thirty years later, the mainland was still shrouded in the fog of war in the eyes of many Taiwanese, let alone in 1993.

While going through immigration procedures, he couldn't help but whisper, "Brother Zheng, is singing in mainland China really a viable career path?"

"It's hard to say about other places, but there's definitely potential to make your dream come true."

Zheng Zhihua had already said what needed to be said, so he didn't go on at length. Instead, he said, "As the saying goes, hearing is believing, seeing is believing. You'll know for sure once you see it for yourself."

At this moment, the staff handed the documents back, and Ren Xianqi hurriedly nodded and bowed as he took them, then pushed Zheng Zhihua to continue walking out.

"Brother Zheng~"

As soon as they exited the gate, Zhang Yan and Wang Jinghua, who had been waiting for a long time, came up to greet them. They first shook hands with Zheng Zhihua, and then looked at Ren Xianqi behind him: "This must be Mr. Ren. He is indeed a handsome man."

Seeing someone who was clearly around his own age say such things with such maturity beyond his years, Ren Xianqi was somewhat bewildered.

Zheng Zhihua quickly introduced, "Xiao Ren, this is General Manager Zhang from Yuanmeng."

"what!"

Ren Xianqi quickly shook hands with Zhang Yan and exclaimed sincerely, "I've heard Brother Zheng talk about many of President Zhang's achievements, but I never imagined that President Zhang was so young and accomplished."

Zhang Yan laughed and introduced Wang Jinghua to Ren Xianqi. Then, he took over from Ren Xianqi and personally pushed Zheng Zhihua out.

As soon as he stepped out of the airport, Richie Jen couldn't help but look around, and almost tripped over his own feet.

Wang Jinghua helped him up and said with a smile, "It's still dozens of miles from the city, and there's nothing much to see nearby."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhihua turned around and laughed, scolding, "Calm down, don't act like a Kuomintang spy."

This only made Ren Xianqi more nervous.

Seeing this, Zheng Zhihua shook his head slightly and said to Zhang Yan, "He knows too little about the motherland, and he only has a superficial understanding of the mainland music scene based on hearsay, so he is always uneasy."

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "The mainland music scene still has great potential. The music variety show I recently co-produced with a TV station has received more than 28 million votes from the audience."

The finals are just around the corner, and the final vote count is estimated to exceed 35 million.

Wang Jinghua then briefly explained the voting model of "I Am a Singer". Ren Xianqi was astonished. Taiwan's total population is about 2100 million. The total number of votes for this music variety show far exceeded Taiwan's total population.

In fact, Bright Dairy has sold 9000 million packs of postcard instant noodles so far, but most people did not send the postcards to the program team, but kept them for future use.

When Ren Xianqi got into Zhang Yan's Toyota Crown, he was slightly shocked again. After all, according to the island media, the mainland was still in the era of horse-drawn carriages and bicycles.

“There are indeed many bicycles, but car sales are gradually picking up as well.” Zhang Yan explained as he started the car: “After all, the population base is what it is. Even if only a few people can afford to buy a car, the overall consumption will still exceed that of Hong Kong and Taiwan.”

It is estimated that in twenty or thirty years, when the people of mainland China become wealthy, even a fraction of their industrial consumption will be comparable to that of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

To demonstrate to Ren Xianqi the power to realize his dream, Zhang Yan even drove him around two commercial streets after entering the city.

Hearing the loud music outside, Wang Jinghua understood and introduced to Ren Xianqi: "Now, among the songs playing outside in various stores, at least six out of ten songs are related to 'I'm Crazy for Singing,' and at least two of them are produced by our Yuanmeng Production."

This is in Beijing. If it were in a third- or fourth-tier city, the proportion of our products produced by Yuanmeng would increase significantly.

This is the source of Yuanmeng's current confidence. After nearly a year of implementing the MV going to the countryside program, Yuanmeng's songs have occupied at least half of the market in small cities and counties.

Not only Ren Xianqi, but Zheng Zhihua also exclaimed after hearing the data provided by Wang Jinghua: "Everyone says that things are changing rapidly on the mainland, but I didn't expect that the changes in your Dream Realization program are even greater and faster."

"Haha, it should be said that we've fulfilled our dream."

Zhang Yan smiled and corrected Zheng Zhihua's statement, but Zheng Zhihua remained silent.

This puzzled Zhang Yan. Could it be that Zheng Zhihua had changed his mind again and didn't want to sign a contract with Yuanmeng anymore?
He then tried to get some answers by asking a few indirect questions, but failed to get any.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Zheng Zhihua revealed the reason. "I feel my inspiration is drying up."

Holding a cup of tea, Zheng Zhihua said helplessly, "During the production of 'The Crying Actor,' especially after my father passed away, I always felt somewhat powerless. So after signing the contract to fulfill my dream, I'm afraid I won't be able to release one or even two albums a year like I did in previous years."

It turned out to be the case.

While expressing his regret, Zhang Yan offered Zheng Zhihua a suggestion: "After you sign with the company, you could try writing songs for our artists. Perhaps a different approach could spark your creative inspiration."

Next, he briefly explained the commission mechanism for original songs within Yuanmeng to Zheng Zhihua.

After listening, Zheng Zhihua nodded and said, "This is a step further than the island. Although the island also has a commission system, it applies to record releases, and creators don't get a share of the income from commercial performances."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What's the current market like for commercial performances in mainland China?"

Because his condition wasn't suitable for a tour, Zhang Yan had never mentioned it before. Now that he asked Ren Xianqi about it, Zhang Yan was bound to brag a little.

Of course, the Dream Come True tour does have something to boast about. With the MV going to the countryside program, Dream Come True has basically made the most of the vast and densely populated mainland China.

Wherever they went, the local people welcomed them with open arms.

I heard that the singers signed to Dream Realization earn at least two million a year, and some can easily earn five or six million a year [advertising revenue accounts for a significant portion]. Richie Jen was so happy that he scratched his head.

This income is certainly not top-tier in Taiwan, but Ren Xianqi is currently going through his most difficult and down-on-his-luck period, so he is more concerned about the lower limit than the upper limit.

Zheng Zhihua pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, we can also add a record revenue sharing system between the internal and external systems. This would make it easier to commission songs from famous producers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Of course, this also depends on the sales of the company's individual albums."

"I am still confident about the album our company will release next year."

Just then, Zhang Yan's mobile phone suddenly rang.

Zhang Yan answered the phone and heard a tired voice: "Mr. Zhang, are you still buying courtyard houses? Courtyard houses near the Forbidden City, all with rosewood furniture."

"you are?"

Zhang Yan recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place it.

"I am Li Chengru."

"Mr. Li?!"

Zhang Yan pictured Li Chengru striding confidently with a cigar in his mouth, but the image of him with that tired, hoarse voice just didn't match up with his current one.

How come things have changed so drastically in just a few months?

Zhang Yan tentatively asked, "What's this...?"

"Don't even mention it, I went bankrupt trading foreign exchange."

Li Chengru didn't hide anything, sighing and saying, "Because I made a lot of money at the beginning, I was so blinded by greed that I bet all my savings on it."

"Well, anyway, if you still want the house now, I'll sell it to you at a lower price—but you have to be quick, because I won't have the final say in a while."

It turns out that his so-called way of making money from foreigners was to speculate in foreign exchange.

Even if you lose all your money trading foreign exchange, there's no need to rush to sell your house, right?

Besides, forex trading isn't gambling, so where would the creditors come from?

"They are the creditors of Special Mall."

Li Chengru explained, "I misappropriated the company's working capital to speculate in foreign exchange, and the accounts receivable have been outstanding for almost half a year..."

That's not surprising; it seems he probably wants to sell the house to protect his core business.

To be honest, Zhang Yan was quite tempted. In recent years, Li Chengru had been enjoying unparalleled success in the capital, so the house he chose must be quite impressive.

(End of this chapter)