Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 211: It’s Better to Provoke the General

As night fell, the hustle and bustle of Beiping was gradually enveloped by the darkness. The driver safely took Song Ci and Liu Shishi back to Jingyuan Villa.

As soon as Song Ci got out of the car, his steps were slightly unsteady, and the aftereffects of the alcohol made his eyes look somewhat hazy and dazed.

Seeing this, Wang Shan quickly stepped forward, helped his boss up, and escorted him into the living room.

After passing through the entrance hall, Liu Shishi helped her boyfriend to the soft sofa while instructing Sister Li to prepare a bowl of hangover soup.

Song Ci leaned back on the sofa, her head finding the most comfortable support, and naturally rested her head on Miss Liu's soft, white thighs.

Liu Shishi leaned down slightly and gently massaged his temples with her slender fingers, hoping to make her lover more comfortable.

"Next time you can't drink, don't try to be a hero. Even when you're with like-minded friends, you should still be careful to control yourself!"

Miss Liu spoke softly, her voice filled with tenderness and care, gently scolding him for drinking too much tonight, but her words were full of understanding and tolerance.

Although the Song Ci poem still carried a hint of intoxication, the comfortable evening breeze on the way back gradually restored clarity and sharpness to my mind.

Slowly opening their eyes, their gazes met in an instant. "We had a very enjoyable conversation today, and I had a couple too many drinks. I'll be more careful next time."

Liu Shishi suddenly chuckled: "It's mainly because you're too handsome, Yiyi. I'm worried about you, a decent man, socializing alone. I'm afraid you'll get drunk and be taken advantage of by a vixen."

Song Ci rolled her eyes at Miss Liu: "What are you saying? I only do it occasionally. I've always been very virtuous, okay?"

Liu Shishi's dimples appeared slightly, and a smug and playful smile appeared on her lips. It was no wonder that she could keep Mr. Song chaste for her.

He lowered his head and gave her a gentle kiss, his eyes smiling as he coaxed Song Ci: "I am so lucky to have met my ideal woman, Song Yiyi."

The housekeeper, Sister Li, quietly brought over a bowl of steaming hangover soup. Liu Shishi quickly helped Song Ci sit up and carefully let him lean against her.

"Let me do it, Sister Li!"

After saying that, she took the small bowl, scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it gently to cool it down, and then slowly brought it to her boyfriend's lips.

Song Ci obediently opened her mouth and drank it down. The warm soup entered her stomach, and she felt much more comfortable.

After being fed a few more bites by Miss Liu, Song Ci waved his hand, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and sank back into the soft sofa.

Sister Li, quick-witted and agile, took the small bowl from the hostess's hand and quietly left the living room, leaving the two hosts with a private space.

"Are you feeling better now?" Liu Shishi asked softly, her gaze tenderly falling on her boyfriend's face.

Song Ci nodded slightly, her eyes half-closed, as if savoring something. "What were you and Mrs. Lei talking about so happily at the dinner table just now?"

From the morning interview to just taking care of her boyfriend, Liu Shishi had been busy all day and was exhausted. She leaned her head on Song Ci's shoulder and softly replied, "I'm planning to invest in a small business with Sister Tong."

Upon hearing this, Song Ci became interested: "Oh, should I invest as well?"

"Forget it, you invest in big projects, while Tong-jie and I are just dabbling in small things, and I don't have much capital."

My acting fees and endorsement fees over the past two years have only amounted to around two million yuan, enough for only small businesses. Speaking of which, I still owe you 1600 million yuan from your last investment in Tangren Media.”

"I had forgotten about that little bit of money. Consider it your allowance."

"One thing at a time, I'll pay you back."

Liu Shishi pouted, feigning indignation: "Damn it! When will I ever earn enough to support a gigolo like you?"

"Shi Bao, you'd better work hard! Your husband should become the richest man in mainland China this year!"

Song Ci casually and nonchalantly announced that he would become the richest man, which made Liu Shishi grit her teeth in anger. He was so pretentious!
But in an instant, a huge surge of joy welled up inside her, and she asked incredulously, "Honey, are you really going to become the richest person in the world?"

Song Ci nodded calmly. This year's global financial crisis had caused the net worth of several real estate tycoons who ranked ahead of him last year to shrink significantly.

The valuation of Tengda Group soared due to the popularity of Weibo. Even without considering his hidden shares and profits from shorting subprime mortgages, he can still hold the top spot on the list of richest people in mainland China this year.

"Mwah!" Liu Shishi was overjoyed and showered Song Ci with kisses on the face. "My man is so amazing."

Song Ci reached out and put his arm around Miss Liu, his gaze softening: "Are you going back to Hengdian tomorrow?"

"Ok!"

"Then what are we waiting for? The spring night is too short!"

Liu Shishi blinked and teased, "After drinking so much, are you still alright?"

"Ah!" With a startled cry from Liu Shishi, Song Ci suddenly used his arms to lift her up by the waist and carried her to the bedroom on the second floor.

"How dare you question me! Every time, you're the one who begs for mercy first!"

Liu Shishi blushed, wrapped her arms tightly around Song Ci's neck, her eyes were alluring, and she replied in a sweet voice, "Longkui knows she was wrong! Please don't blame Longkui, Brother Wang."

Holding the soft, delicate body of the beauty in his arms, Song Ci's eyes lit up instantly: "You brought back the Flowing Immortal Dress with Wide Sleeves?"

"Mmm!" Liu Shishi nodded slightly, her voice soft and sweet.

Upon hearing this, Song Ci unconsciously tightened his arms even more, as if he wished he could meld her into his body right now.

They hurried toward the enchanting bedroom, letting the night engulf their figures, leaving only the room for their tender moments.

The following day, around noon, a sudden thunderstorm struck Hengdian World Studios, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring in the sky, accompanied by torrential rain.

In the CEO's office at Tangren Media's Xiaobailou building, Cai Yinong stared at the computer screen with a serious expression.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Come in."

Having returned to Hengdian, Liu Shishi, carrying a damp air, pushed open the door and went straight to sit down opposite Cai Yinong.

He kept complaining, "It's raining so hard. Luckily it didn't rain in the East China Sea, otherwise the plane might be delayed."

"You're back!" Cai Yinong glanced at her sideways. His sister looked radiant, clearly having been well-nourished during her trip back to Beiping.

Liu Shishi gave a soft snort and smoothed her hair from her forehead: "I'm exhausted! Sister K, you have no idea, there was a flight attendant on the flight who kept staring at me, it made me feel so uncomfortable!"

Cai Yinong simply gave a perfunctory "hmm," clearly not caring about what Sister Yi had just said, and his attention returned to the computer screen. "What are you looking at, Sister K?" Liu Shishi sat up slightly, stretching her snow-white swan neck, trying to see what Cai Yinong was looking at so intently.

"I'm watching your interview video with Toutiao Entertainment yesterday."

"Oh, they've been released so quickly? That's incredibly efficient."

While scrolling through related reports, Cai Yinong said in a deep voice, "This morning, Lin Yichen's agent informed me that she will no longer cooperate with us in promoting 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'."

Liu Shishi's eyes widened, her face full of surprise and confusion: "Ah, she's the female lead, yet she's not contributing to the promotion of the new drama? Why?"

Cai Yinong sighed: "I guess she was unhappy with yesterday's interview. I just watched it, and I felt I was being a bit cold to her back then."

Liu Shishi pouted, recalling how Lin Yichen had tried to ride on Mr. Song's coattails yesterday, and felt displeased.

Song Ci is her Achilles' heel, and the good impression she had built up during filming has now vanished: "If she doesn't want to participate, then she doesn't want to participate. It's the same whether she's there or not."

Cai Yinong was filled with helplessness. The inexplicable falling out between the female lead and the second female lead would definitely affect the promotion and publicity of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The original plan to hype up the rumors between Lin Yichen and Hu Ge would definitely not be used.

Liu Shishi knew that Sister K had high hopes for "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," and now that the publicity plan had been ruined, she felt a little guilty and muttered apologetically, "She's so petty. I'm just talking about my husband, why is she meddling in my life!"

Seeing that the host looked sullen, Cai Yi-nong comforted her, saying, "Don't worry about this. I'll handle it properly. Actually, yesterday's interview was just a trigger! The conflict was bound to erupt sooner or later."

Now it was Ms. Liu's turn to be confused, and she looked completely bewildered.

Before the lead actress could ask, Cai Yinong proactively explained: "This drama has been delayed for too long, which has seriously affected Lin Yichen's subsequent schedule, so her management team is very dissatisfied."

Furthermore, everyone's demands are different. Tangren Media wants to promote you and Hu Ge, while the promotion of the female lead is secondary.

Therefore, they are dissatisfied with our consistent emphasis on portraying Mu Nianci as the "purest and most innocent Mu Nianci," which is an irreconcilable conflict.

Liu Shishi is now of paramount importance to Tangren Media, so the company naturally wants to allocate all its resources to her. Lin Yichen is not an artist under Tangren, so no matter how popular she becomes, it has nothing to do with Cai Yinong.

Ms. Liu nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought, and generally understood what Sister K meant: issuing press releases and bribing the media to create momentum all cost money.

Seeing the understanding look on the top female contestant's face, Cai Yi-nong continued, "There's an even deeper level of competition involved."

A look of confusion appeared in Liu Shishi's eyes; she couldn't understand the intricacies of the situation at all.

Cai Yinong leaned back in his office chair, looking straight at the leading lady, "Since the photo scandal at the beginning of this year, several leading middle-aged actresses in Hong Kong have basically been finished, and their reputations and careers have suffered heavy blows."

The future will be a battle between Taiwanese actresses and you young stars. If we suppress you, they can snatch the pie vacated in Hong Kong.

Liu Shishi didn't disbelieve what Cai Yinong said; she just felt that her status wasn't high enough to warrant such attention from him.

Seemingly seeing through what the top star was thinking, Cai Yinong continued, "You're no longer a nobody in the entertainment industry."

Among the new generation of actresses, in their early twenties, while students at the three major universities are still in school, you are already the leading lady in several TV series and movies.

Look at Yang Mi. She's been working on film sets since she was a child, and last year her leading role in the TV series "Wang Zhaojun" was broadcast on CCTV-1. Now her popularity is about the same as yours.

On the island of Taiwan, there are only a handful of truly outstanding new-generation actresses, such as Lin Yichen and An Yixuan.

Therefore, the forces over there will definitely want to suppress the development of the new generation on the mainland if given the chance. Whether they can succeed in suppressing them is another matter. So ultimately, everyone's interests are different, and they are not on the same side.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi's mouth agape slightly, gaining a deeper understanding of the complexity of the entertainment industry. She had previously heard that the Beijing, Shanghai, and Northwest entertainment circles operated independently, but she never imagined that Hong Kong and Taiwan were also at odds.

"Ultimately, it's because the entertainment industry pie is only so big." Cai Yinong spread his thumbs and made a gesture.

"The number of movies released in theaters each year, the number of TV dramas broadcast on television, and the number of brand endorsements are all counted. If you are popular, you can get more, while others can only get less."

Liu Shishi nodded solemnly, looking as if she had already seen through the essence of the entertainment industry, but what she said next made Sister K furious.

“I understand, Sister K. But I don’t care. My husband will support me. I only need to act in one or two movies a year. The most important thing is to be happy.”

Cai Yinong couldn't help but roll his eyes, feeling extremely annoyed and disappointed in his top female idol.

He thought to himself: I just asked you to cultivate a persona of being gentle and unassuming, but you actually did it!
Where is your sense of responsibility? Where is your ambition? Your husband still hopes that Tangren Media will grow bigger and stronger, raise funds and go public, but you are so lazy. How can Tangren Media develop in the future?

"We still need to treat the symptoms!" Cai Yinong thought to himself, then changed the subject: "By the way, Shishi, you're trending again."

Liu Shishi looked puzzled. She had been rushing to catch a flight all morning and hadn't had time to check Weibo.

"What's going on? Is it because of yesterday's interview?"

Cai Yinong's lips curled up, a sly smile hidden within: "Yes."

In your interviews, you and Lin Yichen both said that Song Ci was your ideal type. After this segment aired, many female celebrities in the industry jumped on the bandwagon, saying that your man was also their ideal type.

Upon hearing this, the eldest sister's eyebrows shot up, and she immediately asked angrily, "Which of these 'seductive sluts' are eyeing my husband?"

"Oh, there are so many. First it was Fan Bingbing and Gao Yuanyuan, then Qin Lan and Zhang Jingchu... Anyway, they're all just riding the coattails of others' popularity, so why not!"

Cai Yinong counted on his fingers, rattling off a string of female celebrities' names, looking on with amusement.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi flew into a rage, slamming her fist on the table. "These wicked women! They're all toads trying to eat swan meat. They think they're worthy of even thinking about my husband?"

Seeing Liu Shishi so angry that she was incoherent, Cai Yinong covered his mouth and chuckled, "Then, a well-meaning blogger set up a poll on Weibo, listing all these female stars and letting netizens choose the female star whose appearance best matched Song Dynasty poetry."

"Outrageous! Outrageous!" Liu Shishi's face flushed red. She could imagine that the popular A-list actresses must have received more votes than her.

Cai Yinong then provoked the next contestant: "You're not bad either, ranking third in votes, only behind Fan Bingbing and Gao Yuanyuan, that's good."

After her initial outburst of anger, Liu Shishi calmed down a bit and regained some composure. She realized that she couldn't compare to Fan Bingbing or Gao Yuanyuan at that moment.

"And then, how did I end up trending on social media?"

"And then your man liked it!"

"Like?" Liu Shishi was completely confused.

Cai Yinong calmly and slowly explained the reason: "It must be your loyal fan who posted some photos of you as Mu Nianci."

They even added a special note: "The most beautiful Mu Nianci in history." Then, your Mr. Song surprisingly liked it, which immediately put you on the trending topics list.

(End of this chapter)