Chapter 94: Handling the Perfect and Unambitious Zhang Li

"What? Seventy percent? President Chi, isn't your company's appetite a bit too large?"

Hearing this number, Wei Jin looked at the man opposite him in disbelief.

It had been three days since returning from the Cannes Film Festival, and Wei Jin felt the domestic public opinion atmosphere was far too intense; he didn't want to add fuel to the fire, so he had been staying at the company for the past few days, not intending to stir up any more sensations, just waiting for the heat to slowly die down.

Even when the school sent another invitation for Wei Jin to return and give a speech, he declined, saying the timing wasn't right, and scheduled the speech for after the graduation ceremony.

Today was the day to meet with President Chi of Perfect World to negotiate the revenue-sharing for the operation of *Zhu Xian*.

"President Wei, you haven't stepped into the gaming industry, so you don't understand the manpower and resources required for operations; Perfect World taking seventy percent is really not excessive."

Chi Yufeng was also somewhat helpless; Perfect World had always been committed to developing fantasy and xianxia games, relying mainly on the company's engine technology, and he had long been optimistic about the game market for the novel *Zhu Xian* after its adaptation, but who would have thought that all the copyrights to the novel had already been bought by someone else.

What was even more surprising was that an unknown game studio had actually developed the game, so when the other party sought an agency partnership, Chi Yufeng felt it was somewhat unreal—no, you snatched my project, and now you want me to help you with operations and promotion?

However, after seeing the other party's technical team, Chi Yufeng's attitude shifted; they were all top-tier technical experts from major domestic game companies, so it seemed the other party wasn't just messing around.

After seeing the completed game, Chi Yufeng was somewhat tempted; although purely acting as a game agent didn't align with Perfect World's philosophy of content output, he was genuinely optimistic about this game.

"But as far as I know, your company doesn't have much experience in game agency, right?"

Wei Jin had naturally done his research; Perfect World's current main revenue relied entirely on self-developed games and overseas licensing fees, and pure agency operations didn't seem to be their strong suit. However, Shanda was making even more excessive demands, acting as if they had Wei Jin cornered, so Wei Jin could only grind it out with Perfect World a bit more.

"President Wei can rest assured on this point; Perfect World already has mature promotion channels, and I can guarantee that we will promote *Zhu Xian* in the market just like a game developed by our own company."

Chi Yufeng gave his assurance, but in Wei Jin's view, this promise didn't have much effect; the current Perfect World couldn't yet be considered a gaming giant, so after some thought, Wei Jin had an idea:

"President Chi, how about this: our company will provide cooperation, we'll do a film-game linkage and promote it together; how about you calculate the agency fee at fifty percent?"

"I wonder what kind of arrangement this 'cooperation' of yours entails, President Wei?"

Chi Yufeng was somewhat indifferent—a film and television company wanting to do linkage promotion with him? "Our company can adapt *Zhu Xian* into a television series to coincide with the game's launch, achieving a win-win situation."

Wei Jin's plan was to combine film and television works with the game to form a two-way traffic flow.

"Oh? Tell me more specifically?"

Chi Yufeng became a bit interested.

Wei Jin then laid out marketing methods such as television series promotion, having the lead actors serve as game spokespeople, and television station channels; Chi Yufeng's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Clearly, in this era, there were very few ways to promote games through film and television channels, and Wei Jin's strategy seemed very actionable to Chi Yufeng, though he still had one question: "But how can you guarantee the television series will be a hit? What if the reviews are bad? Wouldn't that be a lose-lose situation?"

"That is my business. President Chi might not fully understand our company's strength in the industry; as long as I want to make it, it will definitely be a blockbuster!"

Wei Jin's words were full of dominance, which also gave Chi Yufeng great confidence.

"Good, since President Wei is so confident, I, Chi, will take a gamble with you; we'll do it as you say."

Although he had conceded twenty percent of the profit, Chi Yufeng acted very magnanimously; it looked like he intended to make friends with Wei Jin.

"President Chi is straightforward. This time, together, we will set an example for domestic game companies."

Seeing that the partnership was reached, Wei Jin also wore a look of joy, and subsequently, the two signed the contract under the witness of both parties' legal departments.

After seeing Chi Yufeng off, Wei Jin immediately went to the screenwriting center to ask about the progress of the *Zhu Xian* adaptation, and after learning the specific situation, Wei Jin felt somewhat relieved.

Adapting a novel into a television script was not a one-day affair, and filming a television series wasn't that fast either, but fortunately, the game launch also required multiple tests, so the timing should be about the same.

Returning to his office, Wei Jin pondered another matter in his mind: the second round of financing for Tudou was coming up.

News came from Xiang Wenlong that Tudou founder Wang Wei intended to raise 10 million USD.

Originally, this wasn't a big deal, and Wei Jin could have invested it alone; two months ago, the revenue share from *Dead Silence* had arrived, and this money alone was enough.

But Wang Wei insisted on introducing a third-party partner, which seemed to mean he wanted to bring in an internet company to integrate resources.

Regarding this, Wei Jin didn't have any particularly good solutions; the development of video websites indeed required the introduction of strategic investors who possessed relevant resources.

Wei Jin planned to find a time to have a good chat with Wang Wei; a shareholder as easy to talk to as himself was not easy to find. In the evening, Wei Jin took Zhang Li to the celebration banquet for *Lost on Journey*.

Now, whenever Wei Jin attended a banquet, as long as no female companion was specified, Zhang Xu would arrange a company artist for him to piggyback on his boss's popularity, and Wei Jin didn't mind this.

Today, Zhang Li was in a professional suit, which, combined with her 170cm height and high heels, made her look very capable, possessing the aura of a strong career woman.

This outfit was, of course, Wei Jin's instruction; there were no female stars in the country currently following this route, and Wei Jin intended to establish this persona for this girl to capture a wave of career-focused fans.

The company's artist management operations were still too crude, and Wei Jin was wondering where to find Yang Tianzhen.

When the two arrived at the hotel, there were already quite a few people from the circle in the lobby.

Seeing Wei Jin appear, many people came to greet him, and Wei Jin responded to them one by one, taking the opportunity to introduce Zhang Li.

"Junior brother, you're here."

Ning Hao was full of pride at this moment; two films with box office receipts exceeding 100 million had directly made him the most prominent young director. Wei Jin didn't count, as no one in the circle viewed Wei Jin as a mere director anymore.

"Senior brother, congratulations; you can handle your next film yourself."

Wei Jin's words were somewhat teasing, but Ning Hao was indeed not short of money now; *Lost on Journey* gave Ning Hao a base salary of 1 million plus a 5% box office share, totaling over 3.5 million in remuneration.

Counting the previous *Crazy Stone* and the remuneration for filming the MV for Jing Tian, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for Ning Hao to say his net worth was in the tens of millions.

If he were only handling small-budget films, he could completely do it himself.

"That won't do; I don't have that much confidence and ambition. What if I'm not careful and return to the pre-liberation days overnight? Your sister-in-law would fight me to the death."

Ning Hao had once had this thought, but once he thought about the miserable state of a box office failure, he hurriedly dismissed his unrealistic idea; it was just that currently, out of ten films invested in, eight lost money, and the probability of profit was too small.

"But don't arrange any projects for me during this period; I'm preparing to polish a script."

"That's fine, you rest for a few months; I'll try not to arrange anything for you this year, haha."

Before long, the staff came to urge them, and the celebration banquet officially began.

Watching the main creators on stage smashing the ice sculpture symbolizing the box office, Zhang Li felt a bit envious.

"What's wrong? Want to make a movie too?"

Wei Jin looked at this beautiful woman with distinct facial features, wondering why she hadn't become popular in his previous life.

"Ah, President Wei, of course I want to make a movie, and it would be your script."

While expressing her longing, Zhang Li also flattered her boss.

"Hmm, there will be opportunities. The company's play this time didn't give you a very important role, so don't overthink it."

This time, Zhang Li only made a cameo as a small supporting character in *Beauty's Rival in Palace*; as a boss, Wei Jin still had to take care of the artist's emotions.

"That won't happen, President Wei. The company has already been very thoughtful. I just graduated, so having the opportunity to show my face is already very good."

Zhang Li hurriedly explained, not wanting to be misunderstood by her boss as harboring any resentment.

Although her role in the film crew this time was small, the treatment was excellent, and she was even provided with a nanny van; while it wasn't for her exclusive use, she could still feel that the company was very attentive when it came to treating its own artists.

Wei Jin inquired further with Zhang Li about the situation on the film set and the current status of the company's artists, then began chatting with the others at the table.

During the banquet, Wang Baoqiang and Xu Guangtou also came to offer a toast. With the film's box office being so high, the boost for the two leads was especially significant, so both were full of gratitude toward Wei Jin.

Especially Wang Baoqiang, who had just wrapped up filming for *Soldiers Sortie*; upon learning that it was Wei Jin who had specifically chosen him for the role, he came up and downed three glasses of wine in a row. He really had a bit of Xu Sanduo's simple-mindedness, which left Wei Jin stunned, though he also gained a bit more appreciation for this famously honest man in the industry—he was someone who knew how to conduct himself.

After the banquet ended, seeing that Zhang Li had no intention of "seeking progress," Wei Jin arranged for a vehicle to take her back. Regarding his own artists, Wei Jin never had any ulterior motives, but if the other party took the initiative to seek advancement, Wei Jin would not refuse; his main approach was to go with the flow.

He then instructed Zhu Wei to drive to Yanjiao Villa; he hadn't seen Yuan Yuanjie since returning this time. The new book is now live, three chapters presented today. I earnestly request all readers to reward me with subscriptions and bookmarks. Thank you all! (End of this chapter)