The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

The next day, which was the second day of the Lunar New Year, the opening day box office figures for "Kung Fu Panda" were released.

The film grossed 1650 million yuan on its opening day in mainland China and a total of 3420 million US dollars worldwide on its opening day.

"That's a pretty good result!"

Lin Bufan hung up the phone, feeling fairly satisfied.

After all, Kung Fu Panda is an animated film, and nowadays audiences hardly appreciate animated films, so it's normal that its box office performance wasn't high.

Furthermore, with Stephen Chow's "CJ7" and Jay Chou's "Kung Fu Dunk" also released around the same time, achieving this box office result is quite good.

Last year's film "Lost in Thailand" revitalized the concept of the Spring Festival film season.

"CJ1" was released on January 30th, so strictly speaking, it doesn't belong to the absolute Spring Festival film season. In addition, although Stephen Chow starred in the film, it is not a comedy, so the box office was not very high.

On the contrary, Zhou Jielun, because he is a popular singer and a superstar in the music scene across the country, his movie grossed 1580 million yuan on its opening day, only a few hundred thousand yuan less than "Kung Fu Panda".

"Mr. Lin, I've found the professional you were looking for. When would you be available?"

Lin Bufan's phone rang, and after answering it, Xu Hongfei's voice came through the line.

"So fast?"

Lin Bufan was somewhat surprised. He had only asked Xu Hongfei to look for the person yesterday, and the person had already been found in just one day.

Xu Hongfei is very clear about his own position; Zhewei Capital can do without anyone, including him.

To secure his position, he must do everything he can according to Lin Bufan's instructions, whether it's a big or small matter.

"One hour later."

"Yes, Mr. Lin!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Bufan glanced at Liu Yifei beside him, then quietly got up.

Last night, Liu Yifei was exhausted.

Of course, she wasn't the only one who was exhausted. Yang Mi and Shu Chang were also exhausted. Last night was a girls' gathering, and Liu Yifei was the one who "wrapped up" the party. If she was this tired, you can imagine how tired Yang Mi and Shu Chang must have been.

After tidying up briefly, Lin Bufan drove his car towards Oriental Plaza.

"President Lin!"

When the elevator doors opened, Lin Bufan saw that Xu Hongfei was already waiting at the door.

Lin Bufan nodded slightly and walked into the company.

"The company is still making employees work overtime during the Chinese New Year?"

Lin Bufan walked into the company and found that there were still people working inside.

"President Lin, the company has several projects underway recently, so..." Xu Hongfei hurriedly explained from the side.

In the investment industry, there are no absolute holidays.

If you wait until after holidays to approach many projects, it will already be too late.

"President Lin!"

Just then, Zhou Mingxuan, having received the news, rushed to Lin Bufan's side.

Upon seeing Zhou Mingxuan approach, Xu Hongfei subconsciously frowned. Ever since Zhou Mingxuan became the vice president of the investment department, he had taken away a lot of power from Xu Hongfei.

"You've come at the right time. Order a Starbucks for everyone working overtime at the company, every day. Put the bill directly on the company's tab," Lin Bufan instructed Zhou Mingxuan.

Although Lin Bufan has already stepped into the capital circle, it doesn't mean that he is the kind of ruthless capitalist who preys on people.

"Yes, Mr. Lin!"

Zhou Mingxuan's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied.

Although the order was issued by General Manager Lin, he himself was the one who publicized it to the people below, which also helped him win people's hearts within the company.

Of course, his so-called "winning people's hearts" was aimed at Xu Hongfei.

As the saying goes, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier; similarly, a manager who doesn't want to be a general manager or deputy manager is definitely not a good manager.

Given the chance, he would naturally want to replace Xu Hongfei.

"This is a standard procedure, and it will be the same whenever someone works overtime at the company."

After Lin Bufan finished speaking, he looked at Xu Hongfei and asked, "Where is he?"

"It's in the office, Mr. Lin, this way please!"

As Xu Hongfei spoke, his gaze inadvertently glanced at Zhou Mingxuan.

"You want to take my place? You're still a long way off..."

How will you know if you don't try?

Their eyes met in mid-air, as if a flash of light appeared, and both knew exactly what the other was thinking.

Lin Bufan had witnessed the rivalry between the two men in private, but he had no intention or action whatsoever to mediate between them.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts and struggles; this is normal.

No one wants to be left behind; that's human nature, and you can't go against it.

As long as their competition is healthy, it is in the best interest of the company and him.

If the competition between the two people really turns into something vicious, he will naturally take action.

However, they were both smart people and knew very well that no one would do such a thing.

Because if someone harms the company's interests due to competition, the other party will definitely benefit, and I believe they are well aware of this.

……

"Mr. Lin, let me introduce myself..."

After entering the office, Xu Hongfei was introduced to Lin Bufan by the group.

These individuals were professionals whom Xu Hongfei had managed to contact from top universities using a great deal of his connections.

"I have some documents here. Could you take a look and tell me which industries these technologies involve?" Lin Bufan said, taking a thick stack of documents from his briefcase and placing them on the table.

"Yes, Mr. Lin!"

For these professionals, all small talk is meaningless; just be direct and say what you want to do.

These materials are the 3D shooting and projection technology information that Lin Bufan signed in with.

"Old Xu, is the company currently investing in any coffee brands?"

While the others were looking at the documents, Lin Bufan beckoned to Xu Hongfei and asked him a question.

He only thought of the 'coffee' industry when he was talking about Starbucks just now.

"Not at the moment!"

Xu Hongfei shook his head slightly, then offered an explanation.

Currently, there are coffee brands in China, such as Shangdao Coffee, which at this time is far larger than Starbucks in terms of scale.

Starbucks currently holds only 12% of the market share in China, while Shangdao Coffee holds over 40%.

Even in terms of average order value, U-Island Coffee is in no way inferior to Starbucks.

"I sent people to investigate the Shangdao Coffee brand, but the results were not ideal..."

For investment banks, any profitable industry is a potential investment opportunity.

He had certainly considered the coffee industry, but unfortunately, none of the coffee brands on the market were very competitive.

Even U-Island Coffee, with the highest market share and 3,000 stores nationwide, was already on the verge of collapse in his eyes.