Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

For something like this, of course you should ask your own mother for help!

Actually, at this point in time, although I don't really want to admit it, Xixi does treat Dongdong like a little brother.

While not a honeymoon period in the traditional sense, this was the most stable, trusting, and cooperative golden period in the relationship between the two during Bush's second term. It was a rare period of positive easing between tension and confrontation and full-scale competition.

But don't rush, there's still time. As long as we get out of there before the storm hits the island, we can make a quick getaway.

Xixi, having entered the era of abstraction, has lost its appeal.

In fact, there are many ways to handle small-scale evacuations, but dealing with such a large sum of money requires some thought.

The next day,

Zhuang Huai'an led his group to San Francisco and met the strange big-headed young man his father had mentioned.

Messy hair, stubble beard, black-rimmed glasses paired with bright silver earrings—it was indeed quite odd.

"An, I am Chen Shijun."

Chen Shijun spoke with great enthusiasm in broken and slightly affected Mandarin, "I never expected that Chairman Zhuang's son would be such a famous director. No wonder he has such good taste."

"My father does have a good eye," Zhuang Huai'an said with a smile, shaking his hand, while inwardly criticizing him.

That's why people say my dad is a walking embodiment of luck. First, he inexplicably snatched IDG's breakthrough project in mainland China, Tencent, and then inexplicably cut off Sequoia Capital's angel investment in YouTube.

I wonder if Sequoia Capital will still consider investing in Youku in mainland China after missing out on YouTube.

Upon entering the office, Chen Shijun introduced two other co-founders. Currently, Youtu has only four shares: Zhuang Kaixuan owns 60%, Chen Shijun owns 30%, and the other two are penniless, contributing 5% each with their technology.

That makes things easier. As long as Zhuang Huai'an confirms the sale, we can split the profits.

嗏

Zhuang Huai'an stated frankly, "To be honest, I'm very optimistic about this project. You all know my identity; by using streaming media to promote MGM, I can earn even more."

The three looked at each other, none of them expecting him to refuse, but upon closer inspection, it made sense. 15 billion US dollars was a lot for them, but for a film company with a market value of tens of billions, the value it could generate was far more than that.

Hollywood's operations are known worldwide; they make movies, but they're involved in finance.

"How about this, since you are the representative of the major shareholder after all."

After a long silence, Chen Shijun suggested, "The three of us want to sell. There are only two options: either you invest in acquiring our shares, or I'll contact Google and we can discuss it further."

Chen Shijun's suggestion also had its own ulterior motives. The three of them were at a disadvantage from the start when facing a behemoth like Google. With Zhuang Huai'an in front, no matter what the final outcome was, they would not suffer losses, and might even make more money.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Huai'an saw through his thoughts.

"Sure, you can package it all for me at a valuation of $15 billion. The equity stake will be held temporarily, and the price I sell it for is none of your business. Settlement will be made after the transaction is completed. How about that?"

Of course not!

Chen Shijun wasn't stupid. Seeing that things were hopeless, he gave an awkward smile and remained silent.

In fact, Zhuang Huai'an was just testing the waters. At this point, the two are completely bound together. Chen Shijun needs his authorization, and he needs Chen Shijun's server permissions. So, it's the most practical thing to work together to make the pie bigger before dividing it.

"You should contact Google now, explain the situation to them, and schedule a time to talk again. I'll be in San Francisco for a few days."

Zhuang Huai'an stood up, put on his suit jacket, shook hands with the three men, and said meaningfully, "Let them talk to me. If everyone is happy, then it's truly good, don't you think?"

"I understand." Chen Shijun said solemnly, and only returned after seeing the group downstairs.

On the way, they saw a HP store, and Zhuang Huai'an asked Zhang Lu to go down and buy a small printer and accessories before returning to the hotel.

I took out my laptop to check if it was connected to the internet, then plugged in the hard drive, entered the password, browsed for a while, found a script, and clicked print.

Zhang Lu, who was watching the whole thing, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Although it wasn't the first time she had seen her boss do something like this, she still found it inexplicably funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Zhuang Huai'an glared at her irritably. "This is called 'better safe than sorry,' so go ahead and learn from it."

"Yes, indeed." Zhang Lu nodded in agreement. She just found Zhuang Huai'an's actions amusing, not questioning his cautious attitude.

"Let Yang Chen spread the word that I will be holding a public audition in a week."

Zhang Lu took a look and exclaimed, "Another prize draw?"

"Of course, with those horror movie sequels in the works, MGM isn't lacking in the stimulus of commercial film box office, and awards are even more beneficial to the stock price, and..."

Zhuang Huai'an's lips curled into a smile. "I've already had my fill of the three Golden Awards. Now I'm going to dominate next year's Oscars, and I'll take both Best Picture awards!"

Hearing this, Zhang Lu was inexplicably ignited. She counted on her fingers, "It's really possible. The mainland sends a hearing girl, Taiwan sends a Blood Goddess, Little Days sends a mortician, Thieves Country sends Train to Busan, and then there's this local film, my goodness..."

Seeing her lost in her own thoughts, Zhuang Huai'an immediately chuckled.

"Aru, wake up! I was just showing off, and you actually want to sleep with me? How could that old white guy allow someone as awesome as me to exist?"

"Does this mean you're breaking the law?" Zhang Lu scoffed, thinking about the unscrupulous boss.

"Go on, and do your job well."

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand, tossed himself onto the sofa, and stretched contentedly. It was the third day since his little wife had left; he missed her…

Another day,

When Yang Chen leaked the information through MGM's channels, the entire Hollywood was in an uproar, with everyone logging onto the official website to download the script synopsis.

It's worth noting that this is the first film by Zhuang Huai'an to win a grand slam, and he has already proven himself at the Oscars, not to mention his position as a director of MGM.

Everyone flocked to it.

Interestingly, the first to be shaken was Wall Street. As soon as the news was released, MGM's stock price soared, increasing by $4 million.

This made other film and television companies gasp in disbelief, their eyes practically green with envy.

Zhuang Huai'an's power is terrifying!

Kirk had just returned to Las Vegas when he rushed to San Francisco to throw a grand opening ceremony. The old man was really happy.

"I'm not doing it anymore."

Zhuang Huai'an refused, "I don't have enough time. I need to finish filming quickly and then immediately prepare for the release of Mars. Moreover, this film is aiming for awards, and it must be completed before December. If you really have an idea, you might as well wait for the year-end celebration banquet."

"That's fantastic!" Kirk said with a grin. "With these two films as a foundation, I can already see the green fields ahead. You just keep making good movies, and I'll take care of the Oscars!"

"That's more like it. I'm making movies, you're handling PR—isn't it all for MGM's benefit?"

The two exchanged a glance, their squinting eyes crinkling with smiles, resembling two foxes who had just stolen a chicken.

"Oh, by the way, don't forget about the World Cup."

Zhuang Huai'an instructed, "The scores I give you must be absolutely correct. If there's a mistake, you'll still have to pay the difference."

"I won't forget, we signed an agreement," Kirk patted his chest and assured him, "I'll be waiting for your news anytime."

It's best not to say too much about this. Originally, Zhuang Huai'an had a pretty good plan: to not get involved and directly use MGM's shares to bet against Kirk, but the old guy wouldn't take it.

Since I can't be the dealer, I'll just make some pocket money!

Too much is also not good, as it could lead to acute iron poisoning.