It's just that they have money.

Sun Yiming stood up, extended his hand, and smiled excessively.

"Mr. Fang! I've heard so much about you! Old Zhou has told me about you several times, saying you're young, decisive, and capable!"

He emphasized the words "capable," and his gaze swept over Fang Chen from head to toe, as if he were appraising him.

Fang Chen shook his hand and smiled politely. "Mr. Sun, you're too kind."

"Oh, it's not just politeness, I genuinely admire you." Sun Yiming's hand was clenched tightly, he shook it several times before finally releasing it. "Mr. Fang, what industry are you in? I heard from Lao Zhou that it's in the medical field?"

"Medical and agricultural fields," Fang Chen said, sitting down. "Film and television are new areas for me."

"Healthcare is great! Cash flow is great!" Sun Yiming sat back down, his eyes darting around Fang Chen. "Agriculture is great too, it's supported by the government. Mr. Fang, you're really planning this carefully, it's incredible!"

Fang Chen did not respond.

The dishes were served quickly, one after another, filling the entire round table.

Sun Yiming didn't eat much; he would only take one bite of each dish and then put it down, spending most of his time talking.

He was talking about a project he was working on, a major historical drama IP, with data popping up one after another about how much investment was made, how popular the actors were, and how much attention the platform paid to it.

"Let me tell you, Mr. Fang, this project is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Sun Yiming put down his chopsticks, picked up a tablet from the side, swiped it a few times, and handed it to Fang Chen. "Take a look at this PPT. I had the team work on it for three weeks."

Fang Chen took it and turned the pages one by one.

The PPT was indeed elaborately designed, with each page featuring exquisite stills, concept art, and data charts.

The projected viewership, topic views, and return on investment for product placements are all impressive figures.

Fang Chen turned to a page and paused.

This page lists the main cast.

The first name on the list was a popular celebrity he had never heard of before.

The promotional copy stated that the company had 30 million Weibo followers and that more than ten individual videos had garnered over 100 million views.

Fang Chen had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

This isn't a social dinner; we're here to fleece him.

He first gave Zhou Yaoguang a meaningful look, then raised his head and looked at Sun Yiming.

"Mr. Sun, what is the total budget for this project?"

"Two hundred million." Sun Yiming held up two fingers, smiling confidently. "Two hundred million, with a guaranteed return of four hundred million. If you're interested, Mr. Fang, invest fifty million, and I'll give you a twenty-five percent share."

"I'll invest fifty million, but who will guarantee the returns?"

"Well..." Sun Yiming's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "President Fang, when it comes to film and television investment, no one can guarantee anything. But look at the popularity of this IP, the appeal of this actor, and the promotional efforts of this platform. Overall, the risks are manageable."

"What has this lead actor acted in?" Fang Chen asked.

"He's acted in..." Sun Yiming thought for a moment, his smile starting to falter. "He started out as a popular idol, mainly doing variety shows and endorsements. As for film and television works... they're currently being filmed, but haven't been released yet."

The atmosphere in the private room subtly shifted.

Sun Yiming seemed to sense something and leaned forward again.

"Mr. Fang, do you have some prejudice against traffic? Let me tell you, in today's market, traffic is king. Traffic stars bring their own fans, and the fans do data, buy endorsements, and boost play counts—it's a one-stop service. If you invest 50 million, just from the fan economy alone, you can easily recoup 20 to 30 million."

Fang Chen looked at him and asked in return, "I know about the traffic economy, but you're making movies, and ultimately it comes down to box office revenue. People who watch movies don't just spend the money for one or two tickets; they actually sit in the theater for two hours."

Popular celebrities sell GG products and endorsements very well because GG endorsements are all about exposure, letting more people know about the product, rather than directly selling the product through the spokesperson.

Once the product has become ingrained in the spokesperson's target audience's memory, they will most likely choose this GG merchant when they need to make a purchase.

Those who buy streaming media rights are TV stations or film and television platforms. What they look at is the data, and online data can be manipulated.

But movie box office is really different. It's a movie-watching experience that real people buy with their own money and time. It's not only hard to fake, but also very costly to fake.

Sun Yiming's smile froze completely.

He had been in this industry for over a decade and had met all sorts of investors, some knowledgeable and some not, some easy to talk to and some difficult to deal with. But he had never met anyone who was so unpredictable, so detached from conversation, so oblivious to emotions, and whose every word hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Mr. Fang, what you're saying..." Sun Yiming chuckled dryly twice, "Box office revenue is important, of course, but the fan economy is the guarantee of box office success. Think about it, 30 million fans, if each person watches it twice, that's 60 million in box office revenue..."

Fang Chen interrupted him: "Thirty million fans, each watching twice. Mr. Sun, do you believe that?"

"Mr. Fang, aren't you just being argumentative?" Sun Yiming's tone changed. His smile remained, but the mirth in his eyes was gone. "That's not how you calculate fan economy, and that's not what I meant..."

"What does Mr. Sun mean by that?"

Fang Chen's tone was indifferent, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

But everyone at the table could tell that he wasn't asking for advice, but interrogating someone.

"What I mean is, this project has the support of popular celebrities, guaranteed promotion from the platform, and a large audience base from a major IP. With these three factors combined, the risk is very low." Sun Yiming sat up straight, abandoning his previous ingratiating attitude, and his tone became more serious. "President Fang, you're new to the industry, so you may not understand. In today's market, it's too difficult to rely solely on content to survive."

Fang Chen nodded.

"Mr. Sun is right."

Sun Yiming's expression relaxed a bit, thinking that Fang Chen had finally been persuaded.

"But I won't invest in your project."

Sun Yiming's expression froze again.

"Mr. Fang, what's going on...?"

"The reason is simple." Fang Chen leaned back in his chair, his tone still calm. "I don't believe that your lead actor with 30 million fans can handle a 200 million yuan project."

"I have a background in finance, so let me do a simple calculation. If we take a high estimate of 30 million fans, and half of them are active fans, and half of them are willing to pay for the video, let's say that's 8 million people. How much does a movie ticket cost? After deducting the revenue share with the theater, how much do you actually get? And that doesn't even include the film's production costs."

Zhou Yaoguang opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to smooth things over, but after glancing at Fang Chen, he swallowed his words back.

They didn't have any real relationship at all.

Mr. Li put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, glanced back and forth between Fang Chen and Sun Yiming, then picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said nothing.

Mr. Wang stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray with a soft hiss.

Sun Yiming slammed his teacup on the table, making a crisp sound.

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and wore a half-smile on his lips.

"Okay, Mr. Fang, you're awesome. It's fine if you don't like my project, but since we're sitting at the same table for dinner, let's make friends."

Fang Chen didn't have any ill feelings towards these people and nodded with a smile.

Seemingly in an attempt to warm up the atmosphere again, Sun Yiming said to Zhou Yaoguang, "Old Zhou, you're not being fair. It's a rare opportunity to meet such a talented young man as President Fang today. Why didn't you bring a few more beautiful women to this wonderful dinner? President Fang has to bring his own."

Fang Chen's smiling face completely collapsed.