Top Chinese entertainment stars start with lucky koi fish

Chapter 75 The Emperor Personally Visits the Entertainment Industry

"Auntie, Jiang Yuan would never do drugs."

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Meng Ziyi, who was standing to the side, eagerly entered the frame and said to Deng Ning.

Deng Ning then noticed Meng Ziyi sitting upright next to her son, and the girl had subconsciously raised her hand respectfully when speaking to her.

It's just like how a primary school student works hard because they want to be noticed by their teacher.

Deng Ning was amused by Meng Ziyi and greeted her warmly, "Oh dear, it's all Auntie's fault, I didn't even see Ziyi."

Hello, Auntie.

Meng Ziyi obediently called out, then quickly waved his hand, "How can I blame you? It's my fault for not being in the frame."

"Hmm, Ziyi, it's been a long time. You've become even more beautiful."

Deng Ning complimented the pretty girl, then looked at Jiang Yuan with a serious expression.

Seeing this, Meng Ziyi became nervous. Although she didn't know why the usually amiable Deng Ning was so serious today, she still explained for Jiang Yuan: "Auntie, I've been with Jiang Yuan the whole time. He definitely didn't do anything bad."

Dunning asked seriously, "Really?"

"Really."

As if to demonstrate his persuasiveness, Mencius raised his slender, elegant hands above his head.

Like a solemn Young Pioneer, he solemnly swore: "I swear, Jiang Yuan really didn't do anything, let alone use drugs. If I've ever lied, I will—"

The girl didn't seem to make many vows. She seemed to want to say that death was nothing to regret, but it felt strange. It was like a humanities student giving a neat but haphazard answer, lacking sincerity.

"I'll get so fat I'll die!"

After making his vow, Mencius looked at Mengzi expectantly and said, "Auntie, I'm most afraid of getting fat, you have to believe me."

Jiang Yuan looked at her mother's barely suppressed smile and said helplessly, "Mom, please stop teasing Sister Meng."

"She's always a bit silly, and if you keep teasing her, I'm afraid she'll stay in that silly state forever."

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Mencius pouted, crossed his arms, and turned his head to the side.

Then she remembered that this was not the time to be stubborn, so she quickly turned around and defended herself: "Auntie, I'm not stupid. My college entrance exam score was above the first-tier university admission line."

Mencius gracefully tucked her hair behind her ear and said earnestly, "I am very cultured."

This little girl is quite cute.

This was the first time Deng Ning had chatted with Mencius.

In the past, when they video-chatted, Jiang Yuan would be on set, and the other girls would shyly greet her, and that would be the end of it.

Deng Ning only considered them as her son's colleagues and didn't think much of a deeper relationship.

After all, her son has been popular with girls since he was little, and she's used to it.

Let alone young girls, even at parent-teacher meetings, when the mothers of young girls see their sons, they immediately transform into mothers-in-law, and many want to propose marriage between their children.

But now.

Deng Ning glanced at the background of the video and realized it was in a hotel, and the phone time was correct, it was past midnight.

She keenly sensed something unusual. Could Meng Ziyi be her son's girlfriend? Otherwise, why would they be in a hotel so late at night?

Thinking of this, Deng Ning couldn't help but be even more enthusiastic towards Meng Ziyi: "Auntie believes in you. When that brat comes back, Auntie will teach him a lesson. How dare he call you stupid?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan realized that her mother had misunderstood.

"Mom, Jingjing is here too."

Jiang Yuan let Xu Jing peek over the shoulder.

Quietly and obediently greeted Deng Ning: "Hello, Auntie."

This wasn't the first time Jingjing had met Jiang Yuan's mother; she was an assistant, and both she and Xiaoyu had Deng Ning's WeChat.

Jiang Yuan would often talk to Deng Ning, who was missing her son, while Jiang Yuan was filming, to keep her company and cheer her up.

"Jingjing is here too."

When Deng Ning saw Xu Jing, he realized he had misunderstood, which was a pity.

Mencius's philosophy is quite interesting; if I were to become his daughter-in-law, it wouldn't be boring at all.

"Okay, Mom, what makes you think your son is doing drugs?"

Jiang Yuan casually asked, "What about my dad?"

He knew that his mother didn't believe he was using drugs; she was just calling to talk to him.

"Jiang Mingli went to sleep yesterday afternoon and just now invited some people to go night fishing in the middle of the night."

Deng Ning said helplessly, "I'm almost fifty years old, and I don't know why I like fishing so much."

Jiang Mingli is the name of Jiang Yuan's father, belonging to the "Ming" generation.

When it came to Jiang Yuan's generation, Jiang Mingli did not add a generational name to his son.

One reason is that the generational names of Jiang Yuan's generation are complicated and unpleasant to hear, making it difficult to choose a name.

Secondly, it's because after Jiang Yuan was born, before the couple named her, they had the same dream.

The message conveyed in the dream was that the generational name couldn't support Jiang Yuan's destiny.

The single character "愿" (yuàn) is the name.

Jiang Yuan's name comes from this.

Deng Ning remembered the important matter: "Have you seen the news? There were male actors in your area who were arrested for group drug use. You'd better stay away from those people, otherwise they might drug you and make you addicted, and then you'll be in big trouble."

"Huh? I don't know."

Jiang Yuan turned to look at Meng Ziyi; this girl liked to eat melons.

Unexpectedly, Meng Ziyi also shook his head in confusion this time and whispered, "I'm filming with you."

Jingjing quickly said, "Brother Yuan, there are two male celebrities who were arrested by the Chaoyang police tonight. The specific details haven't been disclosed yet, but it's already said online that they were arrested for drug use."

Jiang Yuan remembered this incident.

These two drug use incidents have caused quite a stir.

After a celebrity was arrested for drug use, the production team of "Monster Hunt" suffered a major blow just a few months after editing began, as its joint investors, such as Wanda and Enlight Media, absconded.

The head of Anyue Pictures, the biggest investor in the project, thought about it for months, then risked his entire fortune, gritted his teeth, and continued to invest money to reshoot the film with a different actor.

But this has nothing to do with him, since he's not in the capital.

Jiang Yuan said helplessly to her mother, "Mom, Chaoyang is in Beijing, and Hengdian, where I am, is in Zhejiang Province. Those male actors aren't here with me."

Deng Ning asked doubtfully, "Aren't there only so many male actors? Your industry isn't very big, is it?"

"Mom, you only know a few male actors, so you think the industry isn't that big."

Jiang Yuan laughed and said, "Like your son, I'm just a nobody to other people, they've never even heard of me."

"Nonsense."

Deng Ning rolled her eyes at Jiang Yuan, "My son is so outstanding, he can do anything, he's going to be a big star in the future."

Deng Ning did not object to Jiang Yuan becoming an actor; on the contrary, she thought it was a good idea.

After all, actors are much safer than war correspondents with shells flying overhead.

In other words, Xiao Yuan said she wanted to experience society, but she didn't bring a single penny, let alone any support from her family.

Otherwise, relying solely on the assets and resources the family has accumulated over the years because of their son.

This is enough to shock the entertainment industry and show them what it means for a king to fall from the sky.

"Yes, Jiang Yuan will be a big star."

Mencius nodded in agreement, tilting his head to look intently at Jiang Yuan.

Seeing this scene, Deng Ning smiled knowingly. It seemed her son was still popular with girls.

This girl wants to become her daughter-in-law, but I don't know what Xiaoyuan thinks.

Meng Ziyi tried to find something to talk about with Deng Ning: "I heard it was planned to air at the end of the year, but now that he's been arrested, the production company is probably going to lose a fortune. I wonder if they'll reshoot it to make up for the losses."

"This is such a big production! It would be great if they could get Wong to do the reshoots."

Quietly, she listened to the news of such a large-scale production and expressed her longing.

"Two or three hundred million?"

Deng Ning thought about it carefully and felt that it wasn't much.

The annual dividends from the companies our family invests in are far more than this.

It was just last year, 2013.

One of their invested companies, Tencent, has a revenue of 60 billion yuan and a net profit of 15.5 billion yuan.

Tencent distributed 15.4 billion yuan in shareholder dividends.

Their family owns 46% of the shares, which is nearly half of what they received, amounting to over 7 million.

I heard that Tencent's profits hit a new high this year, and they might get 6 billion yuan in dividends. They then resold the shares and got another 3 billion yuan.

Jiang Mingli was proud of himself, considering himself an investment genius.

Deng Ning couldn't help but feel a headache when she thought of her husband's smug look.

If it weren't for her little wish.

Jiang Mingli, that business idiot with absolutely no investment sense, is probably going to lose a fortune.

However, without Xiao Yuan, he wouldn't have that much money to invest.

But I always benefited from Xiaoyuan's success.

Although everyone in the business world says her husband is a business genius, Deng Ning knows he's a business idiot.

One of the achievements of Jiang Mingli, a business idiot, is investing in Tencent.

In 2000, Penguin Pony came to us because Penguin was on the verge of collapse. The predecessor of QQ, OICQ, had experienced a surge in users, server crashes, and no money for expansion.

To make matters worse, the original American version of ICQ discovered this and sent a lawyer's letter regarding plagiarism and infringement.

Deng Ning had heard that Xiao Ma was preparing to sell the company for three million, but at the time no one realized the importance of traffic. A company that could not monetize and only had users could not find a buyer.

Unable to sell them, Xiao Ma and his partner thought of seeking investment.

Having heard of Jiang Mingli's reputation as a philanthropist, Xiao Ma came to solicit investment.

As a result, the business idiot Jiang Mingli thought that Iogo from Pony.ai was a penguin.

Not handsome, only good at acting cute, not like a ruthless hero.

Therefore, I'm certain this company is doomed! Investing in it will be a complete waste of money.

When Deng Ning heard her husband's idea, she was so angry that she almost laughed. Although Deng Ning didn't know much about business, she knew that people invest based on things like a company's prospects and business plan.

Jiang Mingli, are you looking at the logo?

"Heroic figure? You read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and you judged my son as nostalgic and not like a hero."

Deng Ning simply stopped listening to Jiang Mingli's analysis.

They went directly to the school to pick up Jiang Yuan, who was 9 years old at the time, and let him make the choice.

Xiao Jiang was only partially enlightened at the time and had never been reborn, so he didn't understand what company investment was.

But Xiao Jiang is willing to flip a coin; he's used to his parents letting him make the decisions.

The decorative pattern represents "yes," while the literal meaning is "no." It's a very simple method.

When Jiang Mingli discovered that his son had bet on the flower pattern, he understood and happily went to spend the money.

Initially, Xiao Ma was so disappointed that he was even prepared to try his luck with the American venture capital firm IDG.

Historically, Pony Ma and the founders also directly approached IDG executives for evaluations and begged for investment.

It was a success, attracting $110 million in investment.

But that's not enough.

Then one of the founders of Tencent used IDG's name to his advantage.

They said that IDG in the US has invested, and since they are big players, they have recognized our company's potential, so you should invest too.

They tricked PCCW Digital, a Hong Kong company preparing to expand into the mainland market.

PCCW also invested $110 million.

IDG and PCCW each invested $110 million, acquiring 20% ​​of the shares respectively, and taking away 40% of Tencent's shares.

Then, a year later, the two companies were sold to South African Press for $3200 million, secretly delighted that their return on investment had increased tenfold.

As a result, a few years later, they regretted it so much they slapped their thighs in regret.

South African Media Group held onto the shares, with Peak holding 46.4%. Even after multiple reductions in holdings to cash out, Peak still had 22.8% of the shares remaining by 2025.

Let South Africa remain the largest shareholder of Tencent, this Chinese tech giant.

And this space-time.

Vision Capital directly invested three million US dollars, plus an extra 25 US dollars, and took over 50% of Penguin's shares.

However, the company has been diluted somewhat by financing and listing over the years, but it has also invested in other companies and has not sold any shares. It currently maintains a 46% stake.

Jiang Mingli even put on airs, saying, "We'll invest in Chinese companies ourselves, and the Americans can get lost."

Little Ma was incredibly moved; he and his partners had originally only planned to sell the company for three million RMB.

As a result, they've secured three million dollars in investment!

He truly deserves to be called a philanthropist and business genius in the business world.

Only Dunning knew that he was actually a business idiot.

Even our first pot of gold was earned through our good fortune.

However, Deng Ning was used to it, after all, Xiao Yuan was abducted in the 1990s.

The human trafficker also contacted buyers in Myanmar, but he caught the eye of Khun Sa, the opium tycoon, warlord, and drug kingpin, who said he could bring good fortune to the ancestral graves.

After hearing the human trafficker's confession, Deng Ning went to investigate and found that this Khun Sa also said that his ancestors were from Dali and had gone there during the Republic of China era.

However, this idiot was quickly defeated and surrendered by the regular army.

Warlords and drug lords alike couldn't withstand the divine favor bestowed upon her little wish!

I also want to buy her precious son!

Although Khun Sa harmed many people by smuggling drugs, he had good judgment and knew about her family, the Xiao Yuanwang clan, and their ancestral graves.

"Yes, Auntie, it's worth two or three hundred million! I wish Jiang Yuan could act in it."

Mencius immediately chimed in, not letting his future mother-in-law's words fall flat.

"Yes, that's great, but it depends on what Xiaoyuan thinks."

Deng Ning smiled. If her son wanted to act in the role, she could actually get the script handed over to her.

But this goes against the son's wishes. If the production company had approached him themselves, the son wouldn't have said anything.

But when she puts her strength into it, that won't work.

After all, if the son wants to act, God will send him to it.

Thinking of this, Deng Ning wanted to see if his beloved son's attitude had changed: "Xiao Yuan, I heard that Alibaba spent 6 billion yuan to acquire ChinaVision Media Group in March and established Alibaba Pictures?"

Deng Ning thought for a moment, realizing that her son was still abroad in March and might not know, so she glanced at Meng Ziyi.

Mencius, who had been itching to do so for a while, cleverly understood the situation and stepped forward to provide some information.

"Yes, Auntie, I know. I heard my teacher talk about it at school. Alibaba is going to enter the film and television industry. Alibaba Pictures has complete qualifications for film and television shooting, production and distribution."

Mencius racked his brains trying to figure out what to say when he was talking to the teachers at the Beijing Film Academy about the platforms these actors might collaborate with.

"Alibaba has also invested in the pants factory and Enlight Media, gaining control of video broadcasting channels —"

"What's a pants factory? A factory?" Deng Ning asked, puzzled.

"It's not a factory, it's the online streaming platform Youku Video."

Meng Ziyi explained, "The TV dramas that actors film are either broadcast on satellite TV stations or on online drama platforms."

"These are all big companies that we actors can't afford to offend, so we've gotten used to calling them 'Pants Factory'."

Mencius counted on his fingers, "Besides Youku, there's Tencent Video called 'Goose Factory,' and Baidu's iQiyi Video called 'Peach.'"

"Anyway, these are the platforms you absolutely cannot offend," Meng Ziyi sighed. "Otherwise, if you get blacklisted, your acting career is basically over. These platforms are behemoths; they not only have TV drama production projects, but also film production, like Alibaba behind them."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Deng Ning exclaimed in surprise.

Meng Ziyi nodded: "Yes, Auntie, if an artist is blacklisted by satellite TV channels like Hunan TV and Zhejiang TV, their career will basically be completely over, with everyone calling them out on them."

Youku belongs to Alibaba, Tencent belongs to Penguin, and iQiyi belongs to Baidu.

These companies are all too familiar to me.

She wasn't familiar with Hunan TV or Zhejiang TV, but these were all subordinate television stations of local broadcasting authorities.

Xiao Yuan used to work as a civil servant in a cultural management department and was appreciated by her superiors.

Deng Ning originally thought that her son might want to try other professions after returning to China, which is why he chose to be an actor, but she didn't expect him to do it for so long.

Now, after listening to Mencius's discourse, she realized that if her son's path to becoming an actor truly required family support...

That was hardly a shock to a nobody in the entertainment industry.

This is practically the Emperor himself visiting the entertainment industry!

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