Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 316, Section 314: Pandora's Box (Revised)

In October, although the summer heat in Shenzhen has not completely subsided, the air is already mixed with a humid and cool breeze blowing from the South China Sea, relieving the last bit of stickiness at the end of summer.

This young city, which serves as the forefront of China's reform and opening up, exudes a vibrant energy that races against time.

On October 10th, Wang Sheng's schedule pointed to this place.

Similar to his procedures in other places, upon arrival, Wang Sheng, accompanied by relevant officials from the Pengcheng propaganda and cultural systems, inspected the "China Film Grand Cinema - Pengcheng Center Store," which was under intensive renovation near the Futian Central District.

Compared to many cities in mainland China, Shenzhen's commercial complexes are more advanced. This cinema occupies two entire floors of the newly built "Shenzhen International Commercial Plaza" and is planned to have twelve theaters, including an IMAX giant screen theater equipped with a preliminary Dolby surround sound system (according to 2000 standards). It is ambitiously designed to become the flagship cinema in South China.

Wang Sheng, wearing a safety helmet, walked through the construction site where interior decoration was still underway.

The air was filled with the smells of paint, wood panels, and dust.

He carefully examined the ceiling height, the slope of the view, and the installation of sound insulation materials in the theater, and specifically inquired about the fire sprinkler system and the setting of emergency exits.

“Shenzhen has a large young population and a large migrant population. They are highly receptive to new things and have strong spending power.” Wang Sheng emphasized to the accompanying cinema manager and local officials, “Cinemas here not only need to have excellent hardware, but also need to have advanced service concepts. We can consider introducing innovative services such as membership systems to make watching movies a fashionable lifestyle, rather than just a movie-watching activity.”

Local officials expressed their appreciation for Wang Sheng's forward-thinking ideas, and the two sides had a brief exchange on topics such as the future development of Shenzhen's cultural industry and the integration of film and television with commerce at the construction site.

Subsequently, arranged by the Municipal Reception Office, Wang Sheng held a working meeting with several key officials from the Pengcheng Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department and the Culture Bureau.

The talks were friendly and pragmatic.

Pengcheng expressed its desire to leverage the brand and resources of "China Film Grand Ceremony" to further enhance Pengcheng's cultural taste and influence as a modern and international metropolis.

Wang Sheng then reiterated Shengying Media's and even China Film Shengshi Cinema's long-term strategy for channel development and market cultivation, and affirmed Pengcheng's unique advantages in market potential.

Both sides exchanged souvenirs with local characteristics, and the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves immensely.

After finishing his official business, Wang Sheng declined the dinner invitation, and the motorcade headed to the SEG Technology Park near Huaqiangbei, with Tencent as its destination.

……

At this time, Tencent had just survived its most dangerous period of financial depletion thanks to a $200 million investment from Wang Sheng.

In Tencent's somewhat cramped office, Pony Ma personally led the core team to greet them at the door.

Compared to the anxiety and uncertainty he felt in the teahouse in Beijing a few months ago, Ma's eyes now held a more composed look, but also reflected a deeper contemplation and exploration of the future.

"Mr. Wang, welcome to visit and provide guidance!" Little Ma stepped forward, shook hands firmly with Wang Sheng, and spoke with sincere respect.

"Mr. Ma, you look to be in good spirits, and the company atmosphere is great too." Wang Sheng smiled and looked around.

Inside the office, young programmers were engrossed in their computers, the air thick with the scent of caffeine and code, a unique energy characteristic of internet startups surging within them.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone entered the conference room and took their seats.

Without much pleasantry, Wang Sheng got straight to the point.

“I heard Tingting’s report on the progress of the ticketing system. The initial deployment in ten core cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, went smoothly, and the data feedback was also good.”

Wang Sheng first affirmed Tencent's work in developing the "China Film Grand Cinema Ticketing System," saying, "This system is the cornerstone of our cinema operation's digitalization and is of paramount importance. Subsequent maintenance and optimization must keep up."

"Don't worry, Mr. Wang, we've assigned our most core technical expertise to ensure the success of this project. We won't dare to neglect it," Little Ma quickly assured him.

This system is not only one of Tencent's most important sources of cash, but also a link closely connected with Wang Sheng's Pangda Industrial Group.

"very good."

Wang Sheng nodded, then changed the subject: "I'm here today mainly to talk to you about something else, something that may have more potential than the ticketing system, and will also put your operational capabilities to the test."

The meeting room fell silent. All the founding team members of Tencent held their breath and focused their attention on Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng leaned forward slightly, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and said clearly, "I plan to import and distribute a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. I will be responsible for handling the import approval, license application, and localization work with the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Press and Publication, and other relevant departments. As for the specific operation of this game in China, including server setup, marketing, customer service, and the establishment of a payment system, I plan to entrust Tencent with all of these."

"Game operation?"

Pony Ma and his co-founders exchanged glances, their faces showing surprise and contemplation.

Games are at the bottom of the internet technology hierarchy.

But considering that NetEase, one of the three major portals in China, is also involved in gaming, people don't feel so guilty anymore.

On June 30th of this year, NetEase went public on NASDAQ in the United States. Although it experienced a drop in share price, its prospectus clearly stated that online games would be one of its key future development directions, and its self-developed game "Westward Journey Online" is also in full swing of preparation.

Everyone knows the market environment.

Zeng Liqing asked the crucial question: "President Wang, how will the profits be divided?"

Wang Sheng looked at him and said, "I will be responsible for all the initial investment in the project, including all the necessary qualifications, copyright fees, and server costs. We will split the profits 70/30, with me taking 70%."

Thirty percent is not a small amount.

This offer is undoubtedly extremely tempting for Tencent, which is still struggling to survive.

Without much hesitation, Pony Ma and the core team members exchanged quick glances and saw the agreement in each other's eyes.

"Mr. Wang, we're willing to do it!" Pony Ma, representing the team, stated firmly, "To have your trust in entrusting such an important project to us, Tencent will definitely go all out!"

“Okay.” Wang Sheng expressed his satisfaction with Tencent’s decisiveness, but he immediately put forward a more specific and forward-looking requirement: “However, before the game is officially introduced and the qualification is approved, you need to start preparing a crucial infrastructure now.”

"Please speak," Little Ma said, sitting up even straighter.

"We need to develop a billing and management system that can cover internet cafes in major cities across the country," Wang Sheng described. "This system should not only be able to realize time and billing within internet cafes, but more importantly, it should be able to connect to the internet."

Wang Sheng didn't know exactly what the system looked like, since he didn't understand the technology.

All he knew was that in 2000, China's internet cafe industry was in its golden age of rapid, unregulated growth, with tens of thousands of internet cafes springing up like mushrooms in the city.

However, most internet cafe management software is feature-limited and operates independently, creating isolated information silos. Developing a unified, networked, and powerful internet cafe management system and distributing it free or at a low cost to internet cafes would undoubtedly provide access to a massive offline channel.

Little Ma immediately started thinking.

Technically, given the existing local area network technology and the nascent internet access conditions, it is feasible to develop such a C/S (client/server) architecture management system.

The challenge lies in promotion and on-the-ground marketing, but this is precisely where the "Shengying Group," with its vast offline resources, can leverage its strengths—the "China Film Shengshi Cinemas" that will eventually spread across the country may become the prototypes of regional promotion and service centers.

Xiao Ma and Zeng Liqing, along with other key technical personnel, immediately recognized the enormous potential of this project.

This is not just about serving future game operations; it has the potential to become a powerful platform in itself!

"President Wang, this idea is brilliant!" Zeng Liqing couldn't help but interject excitedly. "This is equivalent to us building an offline channel network that directly reaches users in advance! In the future, it may even be able to support more value-added services!"

"Yes."

Wang Sheng nodded approvingly, "Therefore, during the period of waiting for the game to be introduced, one of Tencent's core tasks is to concentrate on developing this internet cafe management system. What I need is not just a billing tool, but a networked, controllable, and scalable ecosystem node. I will provide support in terms of funding and necessary offline coordination resources."

Inside the meeting room, the Tencent team's enthusiasm was completely ignited.

At the same time, Pandora's box was also opened.

Since it's all the same who makes the money, investing it in the Chinese film industry is better than letting another "Sheng" company squander it all.

(End of this chapter)