Pirates began to dominate the Chinese entertainment industry.

Ji Yun actually knew her, but it was in the future.

They have collaborated twice, on one period drama and one modern drama; he was one of the assistant directors, and she was the lead actress in both.

In terms of status within the crew, I am definitely not as good as her, but she is always very polite to me.

At that time, she had already returned to work after marriage and was far less lively and cheerful than when she was young. She didn't talk much and mainly communicated with her agent and assistant, but she still attracted attention in the crowd.

Whenever Ji Yun assigned her work, she would quietly stand aside and listen to the others talk, then nod in agreement and obediently carry it out. Even when the male lead and the second female lead stole her scenes, she never openly threw a tantrum. She was the most gentle and reserved of the top actresses.

Upon seeing her future colleague, Ji Yun subconsciously glanced at her a few more times.

At this time, Liu Shishi had a youthful face and a fresh temperament, an absolutely charming young girl. However, many people seemed to prefer her elegant demeanor as a future married woman.

Another example is Gao Yuanyuan, who was pure and innocent when she was young, and her image has not only not collapsed as she has grown older, but has become more and more attractive.

These are all female celebrities who can be held onto for a long time.

When Cai Yinong saw Ji Yun, she smiled and greeted him, "Happy New Year, President Ji. You're so young and so hardworking, it puts a lot of pressure on me."

"If we don't work harder, the company will be gone," Ji Yun laughed.

His company was located just one floor below Tangren Media, and the two companies knew each other, even though one dealt in legitimate content and the other in pirated content...

Since Ji Yun took over the company, she has met the other party a few times, and they are at a level where she can exchange greetings.

He had approached her before when he wanted to produce a TV series, but unfortunately he didn't have much money or connections, so he couldn't persuade her to participate.

At this time, Tangren Media was overwhelmed by a series of problems, including its leading actor's car accident and the forced postponement of the production. However, as the leading brand in the mainland TV drama industry for the next few years, its productions such as "Chinese Paladin 1", "Chinese Paladin 3", and "Scarlet Heart" were all national hits that were sold overseas, demonstrating its strength to all.

Of course, it's also possible that you see him all the time and feel bad about taking advantage of him.

Cai Yinong was taken aback, clearly not expecting Ji Yun to be so frank.

She had naturally heard about the huge financial losses suffered by Ji Yun's TV series.

"You know Yuan Hong. This is Liu Shishi, a new actress I just signed last year. President Ji, please take good care of her when you start making films. Our two companies can collaborate more often." Cai Yinong enthusiastically introduced the two.

After all, she was a woman who could build her business from scratch, so she immediately changed the subject.

This woman is considered a beauty among all female bosses, but unfortunately, she is love-struck and eventually transferred the Tangren shares she had worked hard for half her life to her man.

The artists she recruits are all top-tier in terms of aesthetics and romantic sensibilities: Guan Yonghe, the first-generation leading lady who retired from the entertainment industry at her peak to marry Zhang Jiahui; Sun Li, the second-generation leading lady who also retired to marry; Liu Shishi, the current leading lady; and the future leading lady Nazha...

This is all passed down through generations; you don't deserve to be Tangren's top female star if you don't have a romantic mindset!

However, on the other hand, they are all quite sentimental.

"Ding." The elevator doors opened on the 7th floor.

"Okay, you're welcome."

Ji Yun exchanged a few polite words and strode away. The most pressing matter was stabilizing the company's situation; the cooperation could wait.

Wait for the elevator doors to close again.

Cai Yinong's smile faded slightly, and she turned to the two artists, saying:

"If he really contacts you, don't agree right away. I'll step in and refuse for you. His taste in films... is pretty bad."

The two nodded obediently.

"Especially your Shishi, these rich second-generation guys are the best at sweet talk. His previous movie was made to chase women. Be careful, this kind of man is unreliable."

Liu Shishi froze, her face instantly turning red with embarrassment, as if she had applied a layer of peach blossom rouge, leaving the man beside her stunned.

"Don't worry, K-sister, he's not my type."

She didn't actually have a good impression of Ji Yun. He was too handsome, clearly a playboy. Besides, she always felt there was something strange about the way he looked at her. Now that she knew he even used film contracts to pick up girls, he seemed even less like a decent person!

Upon hearing this, the person next to him straightened up a bit.

"No, no, no, I mean I'll focus on my work and won't date."

The person silently shrank back.

------

Ji Yun exited the elevator.

Looking up at the four characters "Tiandao Culture" on the wall, I felt somewhat dazed.

Although this scene is right before my eyes, it is twenty years later.

He had asked his father before why he had chosen such a wild name.

My dad said he hesitated about opening this pirated DVD company back then, so he went to pray to the God of Wealth and ask for a fortune stick. Unexpectedly, the God of Wealth agreed.

Therefore, he named himself "Tiandao (the thief)" to indicate that he was acting according to the will of Heaven.

However, Ji Yun felt that he probably died so early because he only thought about the God of Wealth's opinion and didn't get the consent of the God of Longevity.

Ji Yun walked into the office area.

It was noisy inside, with a dozen or so people gathered together shouting for money.

When his father was in charge, the company had more than forty employees.

When he took over, the piracy business had already been hit hard, and he didn't want to continue doing piracy.

Now, there are only about twenty employees left.

The people present here now are most of the company's employees.

A middle-aged man in the crowd saw Ji Yun appear, his eyes lit up, and he quickly walked over.

"Xiao Ji, you've finally arrived. The people downstairs are saying the company is out of money, and they're all resigning en masse, wanting to take their money and leave." Uncle Wei said, seemingly anxious, holding a stack of resignation letters.

Ji Yun didn't rush to speak, but stared intently at the other person, already thinking about sharpening his knife.

Uncle Wei was the first employee Ji Yun's father hired back then, and a company veteran. After his father's health deteriorated, he continued to be in charge of the company's business.

For more than a decade, he has always been seen as a hardworking and honest person in the company, and he is well-liked among his employees.

However, these are all superficial appearances.

Through a series of subsequent events, Ji Yun saw through the trickery.

He was the one who connected us with the production company, and this directly led to the company's cash flow drying up.

Now they are spreading rumors privately to incite employees to strike, hoping to make Ji Yun lose interest in the company, lose the support of the employees, and be unable to start new work.

In his previous life, he endured it and had to temporarily hand over the company's management to appease people.

Unexpectedly, the company couldn't hold on for more than a month.

This veteran contacted a group of long-time employees and distributors, and started a new company from scratch.

They seized the family business built by Ji Yun's father without shedding a drop of blood.

He claimed that he couldn't bear to see his father's hard work go bankrupt and that he wanted to ensure that the long-term employees could have jobs to support themselves.

But actually, the person who has caused me the most trouble these past few months is this good uncle whom I used to rely on and trust.

"Oh, since everyone wants to leave, then let them go. They're all old folks, so make sure they get their severance pay," Ji Yun said calmly.

"Huh?" Uncle Wei was stunned, clearly not expecting Ji Yun to be so indifferent.

He originally only wanted to use this incident to force Ji Yun to relinquish power, and did not really want to break up the group.

He hasn't yet fully grasped all the company's distributors or won over everyone's hearts.

"Hey, it's not that bad. We still owe tens of millions, and the distributors haven't paid us back yet. The company only has a few hundred thousand left in the account, and the severance pay is at least 50, which we can't afford," Uncle Wei whispered a reminder.

"The company doesn't have one, but you do," Ji Yun said with a smile.

"I?"

"I'm too lazy to calculate how much you got for that movie. Just give me back 250 million and I'll let you go."

In Ji Yun's view, the most urgent task at present is to save the company. As for dealing with this old man, there will be plenty of opportunities later. For now, let him produce some gold coins to leave the company with start-up capital.

As soon as Ji Yun spoke, the entire room fell silent, and all eyes turned to Uncle Wei.

The company's top two executives publicly criticized each other; young people are really something else.

"Xiao Ji, what nonsense are you talking about? This company was built up by your father and me from the ground up. How could I possibly take the company's money?" The other party still had an honest and simple look on his face.

Ji Yun waved his hand: "You can find out by secretly contacting the distributors at all levels. It's also easy to check if there are any large transfers in your account. You are a veteran of the company, that's true, but you are a veteran of the pirated disc company. I can call the police and have you arrested right now."

"You...you're crazy?! You're the company boss." Uncle Wei originally wanted to struggle a bit, but as soon as he heard that the police were called, he panicked and didn't care where Ji Yun got the information.

"So what if I'm the boss? I've been in this business for over three months, and I haven't done any piracy." Ji Yun chuckled. "Anyway, my dad's gone, so you'll have to take the blame. After all, you're a veteran."

During the time he took over, he only invested in one TV series, which resulted in a loss. He didn't make any profit whatsoever, so his background is absolutely clean.

As for the company, it already owes money to the bank. The bank should be the one to be afraid, not him.

Moreover, since he put aside his own family for the greater good and made a meritorious report, he might even receive a banner of commendation.

The other party's fate is hard to predict.

Uncle Wei was dumbfounded, looking constipated, and trembling with anger.