Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 514 Head Factory? Strip Factory?
In mid-May, as summer deepened, Hengdian World Studios seemed to be placed in a giant steamer.

Although it wasn't yet the scorching heat of July, the midday sun was blazing and the air was thick with heat.

"This awful weather, wearing this outfit is pure torture."

While gently wiping the sweat from her forehead with a tissue, Yuan Bingyan complained softly, her other hand tugging at the heavy brocade collar of her Ming Dynasty palace dress.

At this moment, she and Hu Bingqing were enjoying the cool breeze from the air conditioner in the spacious and comfortable RV of the first sister.

The car was filled with the faint scent of gardenias, creating a completely different world from the scorching heat outside.

Liu Shishi sat lazily by the window, her fair fingers idly swiping across her phone screen.

On Weibo's trending topics, terms such as "Nomination for the 19th Magnolia Awards", "Five nominations for 'Silent Notes'", and "Liu Shishi's third nomination for Best Actress" were prominently featured.

Yuan Bingyan and Hu Bingqing surrounded the top sister, their voices sweet and full of praise.

"Senior Sister, 'Silent Shorthand' is truly amazing! Five nominations, it's definitely the biggest winner at this year's Magnolia Awards!"

"Sister, you're sure to win the Magnolia Award for Best Actress this time! You already have the Golden Eagle Award, so if you win the Magnolia Award this time, you'll be a double Best Actress!"

Hearing the flattering compliments, Liu Shishi's lips curled up slightly, like a ripple spreading across a calm lake.

Yesterday, May 15th, the nominees for the Magnolia Awards were announced.

"Silent Records" swept five nominations, including Best Television Series, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress, making it a sensation.

This is her third nomination for Best Actress at the Magnolia Awards; she narrowly missed out on the award the previous two times.

This time, thanks to this phenomenal work that achieved both high ratings and critical acclaim, public opinion has almost unanimously favored her.

Even she herself felt more confident after carefully analyzing her competitors.

This year, there has indeed been no overwhelmingly dominant opponent, and the opportunity seems to have truly arrived.

"Knock, knock, knock." The sound of knocking broke the peaceful tranquility inside the RV.

Upon hearing the sound, assistant Su Xiaoxiao peeked out the window, then turned back with a hint of surprise on her face: "Senior Sister, it's Teacher Hu Ge and Chen Yao who have arrived."

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Liu Shishi's clear eyes. The appearance of Lao Hu and Yao Mei together was somewhat unexpected.

Puzzled, she rose gracefully, her elegant robes billowing, and said in a gentle voice, "Open the door, let's get out of the car."

The RV was her private resting place on set. It was fine for a few familiar girls on set to come over occasionally to use the air conditioning and chat, but it was not in accordance with the rules to let men in.

The eldest sister moved gracefully, followed closely by Yuan Bingyan and Hu Bingqing as they got out of the car.

The moment the car door opened, the stark contrast between the scorching heat outside and the coolness inside caused one to involuntarily frown slightly.

"Old Hu, what brings you here, you busy man? Has the roadshow for 'Partners' all finished?"

Liu Shishi looked over with a smile, and Hu Ge had a relaxed and carefree smile on his face, looking radiant.

"I just finished my last promotional event, and I can finally catch my breath. Since it's nearby, I thought I'd come back and visit." Hu Ge laughed heartily, her tone light and cheerful.

The box office performance of "American Dreams in China" far exceeded expectations, and the film received good reviews, which helped him establish himself on the big screen, naturally putting him in a good mood.

Liu Shishi turned her gaze to the quiet and pretty girl beside her, and asked in a gentle voice, "Yaomei, is everything going smoothly on the set of 'Joy of Life'?"

Chen Yao stepped forward, bowed slightly, and replied obediently, "Thank you for your concern, sister. Everything went very smoothly. The director and the senior members of the crew took good care of me."

Fan Ruoruo's scenes wrapped up yesterday. I came here today with Teacher Hu Ge mainly to say goodbye. Tomorrow I have to go back and focus on preparing for the college entrance exam.

She has successfully passed the entrance exam for the Beijing Film Academy, and now only the academic exam remains as the final hurdle. With only three weeks left until the college entrance exam, she must seize every second.

Yuan Bingyan and Hu Bingqing listened, their eyes filled with envy and complex emotions. Since Chen Yao signed with Tangren Media and gained the favor of their top female star, her resources have been so good that they are the envy of everyone.

Before even officially entering university, she had already played important roles in big productions such as "Xuan-Yuan Sword" and "Joy of Life," giving her an even higher starting point in her acting career than many of them.

"The college entrance exam is a major event in your life. Go back and study with peace of mind. With your intelligence and hard work, you will definitely be fine."

Liu Shishi patted Chen Yao's slightly thin shoulder encouragingly, then turned to the side and made a "please" gesture.

"Don't all crowd at the car door in the sun. If you have something to say, go sit under the rest area and talk it out. Xiao Su, go get some chilled drinks."

The group moved to the rest area, where Hu Ge walked side by side with Liu Shishi: "Shishi, congratulations in advance! I think you've got this Magnolia Award for Best Actress a sure thing!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi smiled brightly, but quickly composed herself and shook her head with feigned modesty: "Don't talk nonsense. It's hard to say until the final result is out."

Seeing this, Hu Ge simply smiled knowingly and said nothing more.

In his view, Liu Shishi's three nominations are a case of "the third time's the charm"; her work "Silent Shorthand" is of excellent quality, popularity, and depth, and has received a strong social response.

Privately, everyone in the industry knows this without saying that the organizers also need to consider the influence of the richest man. If the "richest man's wife" is repeatedly left out, it won't look good on her.

The group chatted and laughed as they moved to the rest area. Assistant Su Xiaoxiao quickly brought over a case of chilled mineral water and drinks, and cut open a chilled watermelon.

After a few bites of sweet watermelon, the heat gradually subsided, and the conversation shifted from trivial matters on set to recent news in the film and television industry.

Hu Ge recalled the financial news she had seen recently and couldn't help but sigh softly, her words full of envy: "Have you guys been paying attention? LeEco's stock price has gone crazy lately!"

Jia Yueting welcomes all celebrity shareholders; LeEco now has over thirty celebrity shareholders.

Three days ago, LeEco held a high-profile press conference to officially launch its first smart TVs, the X60 and S40.

They claimed they would deeply integrate LeTV's vast film and television resources with hardware, achieving bundled sales of "content + hardware" and building the "LeTV ecosystem".

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi raised her eyes and glanced at Hu Ge with a half-smile, her words tinged with amusement: "What, seeing others making a fortune from buying LeEco stock, are you itching to do the same?"

"No, no." Hu Ge quickly waved his hand, scratched his head, and explained, "I was just expressing my feelings. Boss Jia's eloquence is truly unparalleled."

He became emotional and tearful during the press conference, describing his dream of "breaking boundaries and achieving ecological synergy," which certainly sounded impressive, and it's no wonder he attracted so many celebrity investors.

After hearing this, Liu Shishi curled her lip, her bright face revealing undisguised disdain.

"Ecological transformation? Changing the world? That's quite an ambitious statement. LeEco Video isn't even as good as a subsidiary like Toutiao Video under my husband's company. I really don't know where they get the audacity to shout such big slogans." He paused, his tone becoming more condescending and indifferent. "Those celebrities who invested in LeEco either genuinely didn't understand the industry and were fooled by the so-called 'dream,' or they had ulterior motives."

Hu Ge smiled but didn't respond to that question.

As the wife of the richest man, Liu Shishi, with her wealth and resources, had the confidence to look down on Mr. Jia's empty promises.

For most celebrities in the entertainment industry, Jia Yueting, who controls video platforms and can provide film and television resources and investment opportunities, is a capital tycoon.

People at different levels naturally have vastly different perspectives on issues.

When the topic turned to the soaring stock price of LeEco, Hu Ge suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if he had remembered something important.

He grinned, a mixture of anticipation and embarrassment on his face, and asked in a low voice, "Shishi, I asked you to inquire about Chairman Song a while ago. Do you have any news?"

Liu Shishi was picking up a bottle of water when she heard this and paused, a look of confusion crossing her face: "What is it?"

"Moutai! Moutai stock!" Hu Ge hurriedly reminded him, his tone tinged with anxiety.

"Oh! You mean this!" Liu Shishi suddenly realized, put down the water bottle, and replied easily, "I asked, and my husband said, 'Keep it, it can still go up.'"

Since he said that, you can consider selling in a few years; there's no rush.

"That's wonderful! Thank you so much! You've really gone to a lot of trouble. Please also thank Chairman Song for me!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Ge was overjoyed, feeling a great weight lifted from her heart, and her smile was exceptionally bright.

He is a direct beneficiary of this "value investing" approach. Back in 2009, he was fortunate enough to receive guidance from the richest man in China and gritted his teeth to invest ten million yuan in Moutai stock.

Since then, my feelings have been somewhat similar to those of American stock market investors: living in fear of continuously rising stock prices every day, feeling both excited and uneasy.

Last year, affected by policies such as restrictions on "official consumption," Moutai's stock price experienced a significant correction, which really made him nervous for a while.

But after a few months, the stock price stubbornly and slowly rose back up, and it was about to break through the previous high and reach a new high. That "happy fear" returned!
Now, having received the "golden advice" from the richest man, he has completely given up the idea of ​​reducing his holdings when prices are high. He has even started to consider whether he should take advantage of the market's current divergence and find another opportunity to increase his holdings, and directly hold a large position!

Seeing Hu Ge's excitement upon hearing the news about Moutai, even his eyes brightening, Liu Shishi couldn't help but feel a little curious.

She doesn't care much about specific stock investments, but judging from Hu Ge's reaction, she must have made a lot of money.

He casually asked, "Speaking of which, how much has your Moutai stock gone since you bought it?"

Hu Ge chuckled, his face revealing undisguised pride and excitement, but he still tried to remain restrained in front of the top star.

"Including cash dividends over the years, as well as stock splits and bonus shares, the total unrealized profit is about four times."

He then quickly added, "It was all thanks to Chairman Song's guidance back then; his words were truly invaluable!"

"It actually quadrupled?" Liu Shishi was slightly stunned. She quickly calculated in her mind that it had only been a little over four years since 2009, and the annualized return rate was close to 100%!
Even in the capital market where miracles are commonplace, this is considered a miraculous return.

Although she didn't lack the money, the speed at which the wealth behind this figure increased still surprised her, and she couldn't help but marvel at her husband's earning ability.

Beside them, Yuan Bingyan and Hu Bingqing, although unaware of the exact amount of capital Hu Ge invested or the precise timing of her purchase,

But the number "four times," coupled with the other party's barely suppressed joy, says it all.

The two exchanged a silent glance, both seeing intense envy and a hint of restless desire in each other's eyes.

They couldn't help but secretly wonder if they should try to find out if they could catch this wave of wealth.

Chen Yao, the youngest of the group, is relatively simple-minded and doesn't have many complicated investment ideas.

After listening to my older siblings talk about high-end topics like LeEco and Moutai, I couldn't help but blink my big eyes and curiously chime in, remembering some interesting topics I'd seen online recently.

"Senior Sister, it seems like the pharmaceutical factory, peach factory, and pants factory all have big plans right now. Many netizens are curious and looking forward to it. When will the magnetic factory release its big move?"

"Magnetic factory?" Liu Shishi was taken aback, her face full of doubt. "What medicine factory, peach factory, pants factory? Yaomei, what code are you talking about?" She had been focused on filming and catching up on the schedule these past two days, so she was a little behind on the new internet memes.

Seeing that his sister looked blank, Chen Yao couldn't help but chuckle and quickly explained, "Sister, have you been offline lately?"

These are the 'brand nicknames' that netizens have given to some of the most popular video websites right now, and they're really vivid!

LeTV's video service is called "Pharmaceutical Factory," iQiyi's is called "Peach Factory," and Youku's is called "Pants Factory"—all names derived from the shape of their platform logos or homophones of their names. Pretty funny, right?

Hu Ge added with a smile, "LeEco just announced that it will manufacture TVs and develop a large-screen ecosystem."

The very next day, iQiyi officially announced the full acquisition of PPS. This was a powerful alliance that immediately addressed the shortcomings of its client application, and its user base directly entered the top ranks of the industry.

Youku wasn't idle either, launching a major 'multi-screen integration' redesign, unifying the interface and underlying architecture across PC, tablet, phone, and TV platforms, supposedly to improve the user experience.

He then concluded, "The pharmaceutical factory, the peach factory, and the pants factory have all been making frequent moves and causing quite a stir recently."

So netizens are all waiting to see what countermeasures the undisputed strongest force, 'Toutiao Video,' also known as Magnetic Factory, will take. They're all hoping for a big surprise!

"My schedule has been so packed these past two days, I've been working non-stop from morning till night, and I just collapse into bed as soon as I get back to my place, so I haven't really been paying attention to these news reports."

Liu Shishi seemed to be deep in thought. On Mother's Day, she specially flew back to Beiping to reunite with her family. She only stayed at home for a short day before rushing back to the film crew to catch up on the shooting schedule. She was really working non-stop.

Hu Bingqing chimed in, "Sister, the industry is currently talking about a pattern of 'one superpower, three strong players, and four factories standing side by side,' and the magnetic factory is the focus of everyone's attention."

As Liu Shishi took out her phone to browse related news, she asked with great interest, "So how did our Toutiao Video get the nickname 'Magnetic Factory'? It sounds quite unique."

Chen Yao explained with a smile: "At first, some people wanted to call Toutiao Video 'Toutiao Factory' or 'Toutiao Factory,' but everyone thought it sounded bad and a bit strange."

It just so happens that Mr. Song's name contains the character "词" (cí), which sounds like "磁" (cí).

"Magnetic Factory, Magnetic Factory"—it's a catchy name, and it also has an attractive connotation, as if it can draw in all the good things. Gradually, everyone started calling it that.

After hearing the whole story, Liu Shishi's lips curled up slightly, revealing a proud smile: "So that's how it is."

A magnet factory! Hmm, that's quite interesting. It sounds much more sophisticated than a pharmaceutical factory or a pants factory.

(End of this chapter)