A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 216 What a talent!

"Brother Chongxin, hello! It's great to meet you!"

"Hello, Mr. Lin! I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

"Haha, sit down!"

February 9, 1998, the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

As arranged beforehand, when Lin Jianlu went to inspect her investment company, which had already been set up, Wu Minghua's husband, Cai Zhongxin, was already waiting there.

Originally unrelated, Wu Minghua's major was not finance and investment. She applied for the job of Lin Jianlu's administrative assistant. However, Lin Jianlu appreciated her personal abilities and authorized her to set up a small investment company for him. Then she became the president. At this time, the name Cai Zhongxin naturally came into Lin Jianlu's view - I remember now, that should be right, he later became the number two person in Alibaba.

So, it was actually Lin Jianlu who took the initiative to see him.

He is a very good person. He speaks and acts with propriety. He is obviously eloquent, with clear logic, and can even be described as sharp. However, he is also quite cautious in his speech, and is somewhat reserved in his choice of words.

Lin Jianlu liked him very much.

He is from Taiwan, with ancestral roots in Huzhou. He worked as a partner in a law firm, specializing in tax law. He resigned in 93 to work in private equity. In 95, he was headhunted by a Swedish company, I think it was called Investor Group, or if transliterated, it would be Investor Group, where he became its Asia President with an annual salary of 70 US dollars.

They are definitely high-earning professionals.

Lin Jianlu's salary for Wu Minghua was only 200,000 US dollars per year. Of course, there would be a series of bonuses and dividends, so normally Wu Minghua should be able to take away about 400,000 to 500,000 US dollars in income from Lin Jianlu in a year—these two are definitely highly intelligent.

Tsai Chung-hsin is quite interested in the Internet and has many imaginative visions for its future. However, this is clearly not his forte. After a 20-minute conversation, Lin Chien-lu knew that he could not be the kind of pioneer or leader who would overcome all obstacles, but he was a very good persuader and assistant.

It can be considered a good relationship.

Unfortunately, Lin Jianlu knew he wasn't exactly a passionate and ambitious trailblazer. His abilities were limited in his previous life, and it was hard to say he'd made any significant progress in this one. In just two or three years, he was already living a life of luxury, surrounded by wives and concubines. Moreover, because he had a clear understanding of future world trends, he already had a solid foundation. Even if he completely abandoned his lucrative singing and celebrity career, relying solely on his foresight to invest, he could already secure a future of immense wealth. All of this combined undoubtedly eroded his ambition, preventing him from ever starting his own business.

Why struggle so hard when you already have a bright future ahead of you?
Therefore, for him, at least in recent years, having an operator like Wu Minghua to assist him in managing his various investments is more than enough.

For him, strategists, lobbyists, and powerful advisors like Cai Zhongxin were simply useless.

Therefore, forcibly recruiting people without providing them with the space to develop their abilities is less effective than simply establishing a good relationship in the hope of future cooperation and investment opportunities.

However, after chatting for more than half an hour, before leaving, Cai Zhongxin said, "Mr. Lin is exceptionally talented and truly captivating. I heard from Ahua that you are the kind of person who can easily win people over and make them willingly go to great lengths for you. I didn't quite believe it until now. I truly admire you after meeting you. I hope to have more opportunities to meet you in the future. If there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

Lin Jianlu was somewhat surprised and turned to Wu Minghua to ask, "Did you really praise me like that?"

Wu Minghua nodded with a smile, "Yes, he doesn't believe me. He thinks I just like handsome guys, and you're too handsome."

Lin Jianlu burst into laughter.

This time, she held onto Tsai Chung-hsin's hand tightly and wouldn't let go, even patting him with her other hand. "I thought my charm only worked on women! Turns out it can also help me with recruitment!"

After saying that, he burst into laughter again.

Lin Jianlu had other things to do in the afternoon, but lunch hadn't been decided yet, so she suddenly became greedy and sincerely invited Cai Zhongxin and his wife to have lunch together.

Tsai Chung-hsin agreed without hesitation.

So during dinner, I couldn't resist giving him a quick interview: "If... I mean, if I had HK$20 billion in cash right now, as the Asia CEO of an investment company, where would you advise me to invest it? In what direction?"

Cai Zhongxin hesitated for more than ten seconds before answering, "Mainland China!"

"Go to the mainland...what for?"

"Internet, real estate, and finance."

"Oh? How do you say it?"

"With its large population and vast territory, mainland China is naturally the most important market in the world. In recent years, I have been observing various policies and national economic development data in mainland China. In my opinion, mainland China will achieve astonishing development in the next twenty years. For example, in 1996, mainland China's GDP had already exceeded 7 trillion RMB. In my view, 20 years later, by 2016, this figure will very likely quadruple, or even exceed 30 trillion RMB!"

"Hmm, that's a very bold prediction."

"The current development model in mainland China is not new. The simple foreign trade model of processing imported materials is generally looked down upon as a rudimentary development model. However, in my opinion, the Chinese are a very special group. This group may not be able to find its direction. Once it finds the right direction and provides the initial impetus to get it running, many of the inherent characteristics of this nation will make this operation faster and smoother! I have a prediction that in ten years at most, mainland China will get rid of the most basic processing trade model."

"Well, continue."

"But no matter what, the mainland economy will have a preliminary market operation. Once that time comes, the whole country will have liquid money, and a large amount of foreign trade exports will bring in a large amount of US dollars. Considering the mainland's special financial policies, after these US dollars are converted into foreign exchange by foreign trade enterprises, even more money will be generated. Then, within ten years, all businesses in the mainland that are related to people's livelihood will usher in great development."

"Hmm. People's livelihood?"

"People's livelihood! Specifically, it refers to clothing, food, housing, and transportation, with the largest segment being the real estate industry. This includes not only commercial real estate but also residential buildings. At the same time, financial businesses engaged in consumer loans and production loans will also experience tremendous growth."

"Hmm... What about the internet? Of the three you just mentioned, the internet is number one."

"The internet... to be honest, what I can see right now is actually just a mirage. I feel that the internet industry still needs another year or two of progress before I can see its next development direction. But as for the mainland, I don't think there's anything that needs too much thought. Just copy."

"Plagiarism?"

"Yes. Copying is enough. As long as an internet company exists in America, just copy it to the mainland, then operate it to list in America. This is a golden track. In the short term, I even think it is the best track in China!"

"Hahahaha... plagiarism... Well, Brother Chongxin, I greatly admire your abilities and insights. I have some stocks in America, and in the last six months, I've also bought some stocks in Hong Kong. They're all financial assets, which are relatively easy to liquidate. I'm planning to sell some of my Hong Kong stocks to free up funds to look for more investment opportunities in mainland China... If you're interested in my limited funds, how about coming over and helping me manage these financial assets?"

"Oh? Mr. Lin also does financial investments in America? Could you tell me which stocks you mainly buy? How are the recent returns?"

Yahoo!

"Ya... Yahoo? When did you get it?"

"The earliest transaction was in the winter of 96, and the most recent one was last October."

"This……"

Cai Zhongxin looked shocked, his chopsticks hovering in mid-air, and he even forgot to put them down.

He had been a part of Hong Kong's business and investment circles for more than just a year or two, and he could easily obtain information that was unknown to outsiders—it was even on his advice that Wu Minghua applied for the position of administrative assistant to Lin Jianlu. Because he had learned a lot of things that could be called trade secrets from within the industry, including from his friends at HSBC, he already knew that Lin Jianlu, this big star, was not the kind of person who would spend all her money on sports cars and yachts, but rather had great insight into investment.

The company owns a commercial building in Central, Hong Kong, a 40% stake in another commercial building, and a huge, prime piece of land. All of this combined is enough for his wife to find a good job there.

To this end, he even went so far as to encourage Wu Minghua to meet with Wu Guangzheng and obtain the opportunity to discuss two property transactions in mainland China with their family. Through this, he actually managed to get in touch with Lin Jianlu's office.

These things alone were enough to make him look at Lin Jianlu, this big star, in a new light.

Not to mention that from last year to this year, Lin Jianlu also quietly completed an epic bottom-fishing operation right under the noses of a group of stock market experts in Hong Kong – Hong Kong City Telecom!
That's incredible! In such a turbulent time, when the whole world seemed to be in a panic and all kinds of funds were fleeing, it was a singer like him who went against the trend and bought a large amount of Hong Kong City Telecom shares at a supposedly very low price.

According to market forecasts, he holds approximately 3.5% to 4% of the shares. Considering the cost of the acquisition and the current high share price of Hong Kong City Telecom, his gross profit from this investment alone is already between HK$30 billion and HK$40 billion!
This is something a celebrity shouldn't be doing.

So at this point, it was no longer appropriate to describe it as "looking at someone with new eyes." Cai Zhongxin was really full of curiosity about Lin Jianlu. After meeting him today, wow, even though he had seen many business tycoons and industry elites, he still felt that this young man, who was just over twenty years old, had an indescribable aura and a mysterious sense of victory that he felt he had the future under his control.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so openly expressed his desire to seek refuge with them...

However, they still underestimated him!

He was actually someone who invested in Yahoo back in the previous year, when even American investment banks generally believed that Yahoo, the internet star stock, had reached a historic high of $50 per share and was bound to fall back for a period of time to adjust its value!

Just two days ago, this first internet stock officially broke through the $360 mark per share, which made its total market value historically exceed $10 billion, officially becoming the first internet company in human history with a total market value of over $10 billion!

Having barely managed to compose himself, Cai Zhongxin asked again, "I don't know if this is a bit presumptuous of me to ask, Mr. Lin, about your shareholding in Yahoo..."

"Eight point one percent, 226 million shares."

Tsai Chung-hsin was stunned again.

…………

Media Asia Films, ATV, and the newly established Tung Wah Properties are the three pillars of Lin Jianlu's businesses in Hong Kong. This time, he visited all of them and got a basic understanding of their situations. For him, managing his businesses has come to a temporary end.

There was no way around it; he was a complete novice at all three companies.

He was well aware of his limited knowledge and abilities, so from the very beginning when he had some money and was considering investing, he laid the groundwork for a strategy that focused only on industry trends and did not involve specific business operations.

Among the many film companies of all sizes in Hong Kong, Media Asia Films is by no means a powerful one, but it has its own distribution capabilities. Although it has not been established for long, it has accumulated a wealth of distribution experience, and it also holds the copyright operation rights to dozens of Hong Kong films.

This is the foundation he has built for a deeper involvement in the film and television industry in the future.

ATV... represents his political stance, so he doesn't care about making or losing money, or anything else. He just throws money at it, trying to boost its influence as high as possible. Even if it loses money every year, he'll just keep giving it money every year.

Donghua Real Estate, on the other hand, is specifically responsible for the management of the real estate under its own name.

Specifically, it refers to maintenance and rental.

This can be considered a small triangle that allowed him to establish himself in Hong Kong.

But now, considering that Cai Zhongxin seems to be actively seeking to join him, Lin Jianlu suddenly decided on a whim to create another big triangle – the entire Greater China region's properties and real estate are one corner, the film and television production, distribution, and copyright operation in Hong Kong and the mainland, plus a television station like ATV, forming a complete production and sales chain, is the second corner, and then the stock investments in America and Hong Kong, including some potential internet-related venture capital investments in the future, will be the third corner.

Everyone hit it off and had a very pleasant conversation. When Lin Jianlu extended a formal invitation, Cai Zhongxin accepted almost without hesitation the invitation to assist Lin Jianlu in setting up his personal investment company and to serve as its CEO.

They didn't even discuss salary.

He also offered advice on the spot, saying that he could contact Lin Jianlu whenever he needed investment assistance to help him obtain HK$10 billion in private equity funding.

Lin Jianlu thanked him, but of course, he wouldn't use it.

It's mainly unnecessary.

Previously, starting from the end of October last year, he had made a series of investments, borrowing as much as US$5.6 million (equivalent to HK$42 billion) from HSBC, Wells Fargo, and Citibank. However, after only four or five months, these loans no longer pose any pressure to him. The total value of the stocks he plans to entrust to the investment company to be established, including Yahoo! America, Amazon, and Hong Kong's City Telecom, already exceeds US$16 billion!

Lin Jianlu could have easily paid off the loan by selling a portion of his shares in Hong Kong City Telecom—but why rush to pay it off? Operating with debt is the norm!
And now, just by virtue of these high-quality financial assets in his possession, Lin Jianlu can easily obtain loans of several hundred million US dollars!

Now that he's at this stage, unless he suffers a catastrophic setback in some investment or operation, his relationship with the bank will only get better and better—and such a catastrophic setback almost only occurs when faced with a major epochal shock.

For example... while the whole of Hong Kong has breathed a sigh of relief, as if the impact of the financial crisis has truly subsided and the wounds caused by the financial crisis are gradually healing, Lin Jianlu is 100% certain that the next financial shock is probably not far away!

Memory doesn't lie. The national team hasn't even made a move yet, and a bunch of American financial tycoons haven't suffered any losses. They also feel that Hong Kong hasn't really been conquered yet!

How could we possibly let this go so easily!

…………

In the afternoon, I went to ATV again.

By simply handling some documents, convening a small meeting with some senior executives, and fully demonstrating his approachable and easygoing side and his exceptional charm, Lin Jianlu continued to paint a rosy picture. Amidst bursts of laughter, Lin Jianlu, the newly appointed chairman of the ATV board of directors, had once again made an effort to integrate himself into the organization.

When they returned to the office, Brigitte Lin followed them in calmly and kissed them on the lips.

She seems to have recently experienced a second spring in her life. Not only her figure, skin, and body are improving, but it's also as if she has gradually begun to approach her peak condition at thirty years old after only a little postpartum recovery training. Even her ambition in her career is gradually rising. She is full of energy every day. When she goes home to take care of her child, she is a domineering female CEO. She has even become too lazy to warn young girls like Liang Yongqi and has instead started to win them over.

She has even started discussing with Lin Jianlu about having a second child recently.

According to her, she felt that giving birth to the child made her several years younger.

Lin Jianlu hugged her, his hands wandering everywhere, once again experiencing the feeling he had heard from Zhang Aijia before, "When she was young, her waist was so slender that you could pinch it with your bare hands"—it was true, just a pinch from his two big hands was enough to almost completely encircle her waist.

She really doesn't look like a woman in her forties who has just given birth.

But she came after me today for something else entirely.

"My sister just called me. She said her husband read in the newspaper that the stock you recommended to them last year, what was it called? The stock price has increased more than sevenfold in the past year?"

"Oh, Yahoo? Hi, there's been a lot of news lately about Yahoo breaking the $10 billion market cap mark. Seven times... I think. Let me think... I recommended it to them last year, during the summer vacation, your sister came over during the summer, right? Back then, it was probably around $50 a share, about seven times! ...What's up? Why are you asking about this again?"

"Really? Wouldn't that make you a stock market guru?"

"Ha! You know less than one ten-thousandth of your husband's abilities!"

"Haha! They asked me to ask you if it's still too late to buy this stock now."

"Come on! Have you forgotten what you said when I recommended it last year? What if I recommended it and they lost money? Do you expect me to pay them back? My answer is no, I don't recommend it!"

"Oh dear, back then, people didn't know you knew about stocks and the internet! Was it any good or bad to buy?"

"You wanted to buy it yourself, didn't you?"

"Hahaha...you're so annoying! Yeah, so what do you think, any recommendations?"

"I don't recommend it! Investing in US stocks? With your limited funds, you should forget about it. There are profits to be made, but the market is already at a high point, with a market capitalization of 10 billion US dollars! If I had to recommend something, I'd suggest you pool your spare cash and buy a few shops, or even an entire floor of a building. If that's not enough, you and your sisters can chip in. Rosamund Kwan is quite wealthy, you have a lot of money, and Leung Wing-ki has also recently made a fortune!"

"Really? House prices have plummeted recently, do you think they'll ever recover?"

"I am absolutely certain that we will recover!"

"You said it yourself, if I lose money after buying it, you have to compensate me!"

"Forget it! I don't recommend it!"

"Hahaha! No! You have to pay me back!"

…………

We booked the whole place for the night.

"Titanic" is still showing in theaters. During my visit, I saw in the local Hong Kong newspapers that there were various reports about the movie almost every day. It's not just a matter of publicity; the movie's popularity has generated a strong social response, resulting in a constant stream of news.

Some young people in relationships use whether their partner is willing to jump into the sea with them as a standard to test the authenticity and intensity of their love—that's utter nonsense!
It premiered in Hong Kong on New Year's Day and has since grossed over HK$5600 million, bringing it ever closer to two of the highest-grossing films in Hong Kong's box office history: the second-highest grossing film, "Rumble in the Bronx," with HK$5691 million (starring Jackie Chan, released in 1995), and the highest-grossing film, "Police Story 4: First Strike," with HK$5752 million (also starring Jackie Chan, released in 1996), which remains incredibly popular and continues to be shown in theaters today.

It seems that surpassing Jackie Chan's two masterpieces will only take a few days.

Lin Jianlu's girlfriends in Hong Kong have all already seen the movie. The old Bentley owners have figured things out: watching a movie is one thing, but it's another. But young people are different. Liang Yongqi had been calling and pestering Lin Jianlu since the Lunar New Year, hoping he could come to Hong Kong and watch a movie with her.

It seems that watching this movie together has become a kind of vow of eternal love.

This is utter nonsense—Lin Jianlu has a lot of women. He may like some, and he may even love some, but it would be too difficult for him to go through life and death with any one of them.

But there's nothing we can do about it. Young girls always seem to take these things very seriously, so let's just take some time to be romantic with her.

I'll call Lin Xilei and ask her to arrange a private screening. I'll go with her when the time comes.

Yes, this is the second time.

Actually, there's a third time coming.

Su Huilun said that she has held back and hasn't gone to see it yet, because she wants Lin Jianlu to come to Taiwan quickly so that she and Chen Shuhua can go see it together.

There's nothing we can do but wait and see.

Watching it a second time, Liang Yongqi cried again. Even after the movie ended, her eyes were still red. Lin Jianlu couldn't empathize with her delicate emotions. After the movie ended and they left the theater, Liang Yongqi lowered her head and held Lin Jianlu's arm without saying a word. But as soon as she stepped out, she ran into a middle-aged man. It was obvious that the man was coming straight for her.

Lin Xilei came out a step ahead of him. She seemed to have exchanged a few words with him earlier. When she saw Lin Jianlu come out, she walked back and whispered, "It's the owner of the cinema chain. His surname is Jiang and his name is Jiang Zhiqiang. He said he wants to get to know you and hopes to do some cooperation."

Lin Jianlu was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized what was happening.

Lin Jianlu patted Liang Yongqi's hand, and when she let go, he quickly went to greet her, "Hello, Mr. Jiang."

He was very humble, extending both hands to shake hands, "Hello Mr. Lin! I heard from my staff that Ms. Lin Xilei booked the entire theater. Everyone in the industry knows that Ms. Lin is your personal assistant. So I guessed that you were coming to see a movie and couldn't resist taking this opportunity to get to know you, hoping to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future!"

“Great! If the opportunity arises, I would certainly be willing to cooperate with Mr. Jiang.”

In fact, many people had heard his name more than once—Media Asia Films is primarily a distribution company, with distribution accounting for more than half of the company's revenue. Their own film investment only accounts for a small portion. Being a distributor, they naturally have an intimate knowledge of the Hong Kong cinema chains. While Jiang Zhiqiang's cinema chain specializes in foreign films, especially Hollywood and European films, he's also willing to dedicate one or two screens to screening popular Hong Kong films occasionally, making a small profit based on market conditions. Therefore, they have business dealings.

Not to mention, it is said that Jiang Zhiqiang has recently been in a strong need to expand his business. It is probably because although Hong Kong films have been declining in recent years, foreign films have become increasingly popular, and he has made a lot of money. Therefore, he wants to make some investments in film production. He almost took over Hou Hsiao-hsien's "Flowers of Shanghai".

So, a wealthy investor who wants to enter the film industry to make investments.

At most, he's only a semi-expert in film.

It's not that complicated. In the film production industry, not to mention now, even during the peak of Hong Kong films, there was a considerable risk of losing money. Therefore, Hong Kong has long established a production practice of one main investor and several companies following suit to invest in the production. This is to avoid the risk of losing money. However, although the capital that follows suit shares a lot of the risk, it can only get a small share of the money!

Previously, when Sammo Hung wanted to persuade Lam Kin-lu to make films for him, he proposed this idea: that his money could be invested, but the box office profits could not be divided according to the investment ratio.

From another perspective, it's understandable for powerful companies in the industry to welcome outside investment; this is a common practice in many industries. However, Lin Jianlu has always been assertive in his dealings with people and business. He doesn't accept this cooperation model and insists on either not doing it at all, or if he does, he insists on being in charge.

If Jiang Zhiqiang wanted to invest, Lin Jianlu wouldn't object, and Zhuang Cheng and Shi Nansheng would likely welcome it too. However, unexpectedly, after a brief exchange, just as Lin Jianlu was about to introduce him to Zhuang Cheng, Jiang Zhiqiang suddenly said, "I know Mr. Lin is from the mainland. I wonder what Mr. Lin thinks of the mainland film market? Do you have any thoughts on us joining forces to invest in and operate cinemas in the mainland?"

Lin Jianlu was surprised, "Going to the mainland to work on cinema chains?"

Oh...you know what, I actually forgot about that!

I've been so busy and tired lately.

Lin Jianlu had considered this matter before, back in November of last year, when he was considering acquiring two buildings in mainland China from Wu Guangzheng's Wharf Holdings.

The mainland is currently undergoing film system reform. Although it hasn't been implemented yet, it's likely that the reform will be underway once those two buildings are completed and put into use. At that time, it's highly probable that private cinema chains will be allowed to emerge. Since both buildings belong to the owner, with one holding 87.5% and the other 51%, why not simply allocate a floor for each building, invest some money, and establish two flagship cinemas in the mainland?

Anyway, they own several film and television companies, so they definitely don't lack film sources every year.

The key point is that the next twenty years will be a period of booming development for the domestic real estate industry. If you don't have the ability or energy to develop real estate, but you have money, it is almost inevitable to buy up prime locations and landmark buildings everywhere. Developing cinema chains is something that is relatively easy to combine with commercial real estate, so why not?
"Great idea! That's a wonderful suggestion!"

After a moment's thought, he realized that running a cinema chain wasn't something you could just do on a whim. Although the technical requirements for running a cinema were far less than those for filmmaking, there was still a clear distinction between experts and laymen. Jiang Zhiqiang himself had been operating cinema chains in Hong Kong for many years and was clearly an expert with extensive experience.

As I said before, I'm only good at seeing the big trends and I only invest in those big trends. As for the specific operations of each industry, I still have to leave it to the professionals!
The more I thought about it, the better it seemed!
If he were to open a cinema chain in mainland China, Jiang Zhiqiang, who had come to him on his own initiative, would be an excellent partner. So, he shook hands with him a second time and said, "It's late today, almost 10 o'clock. Tomorrow, I'll invite Mr. Jiang for tea so we can discuss the cooperation in detail. I'm very interested in opening a cinema chain in mainland China."

(End of this chapter)