Chapter 150: Recruiting Investment (Requesting Monthly Votes and Appreciation)

The Golden Horse Awards ceremony is in November, with the film and actor nominations announced in September.

That's about one or two months in advance.

The news that Liu Tianxian had been nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards for *33 Days of Losing Love* spread rapidly, drawing media attention.

Nothing else—she's been active lately, running around promoting the movie everywhere, earning money while Yutu also spends money promoting both the film and her, so the spotlight naturally centers on her.

Her nomination also sparked heavy skepticism from many Wangyi.

"Can a blank-faced actress really be nominated for the Golden Horse? This is a joke!"

"Did the Golden Horse Awards make a mistake? In *A Chinese Ghost Story*, Liu Tianxian's stiff acting was already at its peak."

"Never thought I'd live to see this—Liu Tianxian actually got a Golden Horse nomination?"

"Have any of you even watched *33 Days of Losing Love*? Liu Tianxian's acting in it is actually good, please don't underestimate her."

"None of you have even seen it, yet you're all here criticizing!"

"Every time Liu Tianxian makes a good movie, she rewards herself with a terrible one—no wonder people criticize her."

"I never watch Liu Tianxian's movies—her acting is dog shit."

"."

Some defend her, some criticize her, simply because her previous image was so bad—she had nothing but her face.

So many people were still surprised by her Golden Horse nomination; criticism is normal.

What about the other nominees—Shu Qi, Ye Dexian, Qin Hailu? Is anyone talking about them?

Maybe they are, but it doesn't matter—they have no heat.

There's nothing to be done: Liu Tianxian cannot change public perception with just one or two films, let alone with rivals actively sabotaging her, constantly calling her acting dog shit.

The nomination hits some people hard—it creates a huge gap, so they must question Liu Tianxian's professional ability.

Anyway, whenever Fang Hong makes a good movie for Liu Tianxian, she rewards herself with a terrible one—it's become routine.

After *Love in the Time of the Movie*, which was terrible, Fang Hong gave her *Those Years*.

After *33 Days of Losing Love* got decent reviews, she rewarded herself with *A Chinese Ghost Story*, reverting to her old self.

While filming *The Mastermind*, she rewarded herself with *The Legend of the Banquet of Hongmen*.

When it comes out, there will surely be another wave of criticism.

Luckily *Tongque Palace* was stopped—if she'd taken that role, it would've been dog shit squared, and her image would've crumbled further.

The next movie Fang Hong makes for Liu Tianxian will probably involve another epic-level disaster like *The Four Legendary Warriors*!

She's now on the same path as Huang Jiaozhu and Deng Chao.

Huang Jiaozhu makes a good movie, then rewards herself with a domineering-CEO drama.

Deng Chao takes a good movie, then rewards himself with a painfully ugly comedy.

They're all the same damn pattern.

But Fang Hong has no choice—women don't understand how precious you are until they suffer a little.

No comparison, no pain!

At an event venue, lights flashed, fans chattered noisily; Liu Tianxian sat in her assigned seat, wearing a blue long dress and heavy makeup.

A reporter asked: "Yifei, what type of movie is your upcoming *The Mastermind*? Tell us about it."

"What type is it again? Uh… crime drama, I guess. I play a genius girl in it—different from before," Liu Tianxian replied vaguely.

The reporter asked: "Compared to your other roles, which one do you like the most?"

"Huh, what did I just play again?"

Liu Tianxian pressed her hands to her forehead.

She was confused—she'd forgotten what role she'd played, momentarily blanking out.

The reporter thought the girl seemed dazed and continued: "I heard you were nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Horse—is that true?"

"Yes, I was surprised too," Liu Tianxian replied clearly—Fang Hong had told her.

She had been excited for several days.

The reporter asked: "Do you think you'll win the award?"

"Who can say? It depends on how the judges evaluate. But whether I win or not, I accept it," Liu Tianxian said.

The reporter asked: "What do you think about the online criticism?"

"What can I think? I accept negative criticism—I allow different voices to exist," Liu Tianxian spoke haltingly.

Whether it was because she didn't sleep well last night, was struggling to phrase her words, or was just emotionally hurt by the criticism and scolding.

After Xiao Feifei left, Fang Hong worked hard and improved himself.

He understood that to establish himself, he must constantly strengthen his own abilities and his industrial chain—only by achieving self-production and self-distribution could he fear no one.

Before absolute strength, all schemes and tricks are futile. Emotions too—if he were a nobody, would Liu Xiaoli give him her daughter? Impossible. All adults know: emotions are one thing, but you must also have strength and status.

So Fang Hong always believed a man must prioritize his career.

Tupiaopiao APP 1.0's development had progressed for some time, and after its release, testing continued.

Fang Hong and Meng Jun stood before a ticket machine.

Meng Jun held up a smartphone and explained: "I buy a movie ticket online now, and this machine at the theater prints it out."

He said this, then bought a ticket on his phone, entered the pickup code on the machine, and the ticket printed out—simple as that.

But the machine's interface used old-fashioned mechanical buttons, not touchscreen.

Its design was also outdated and unattractive.

"How much is this machine?" Fang Hong asked.

"850 per unit, with discounts for bulk orders," Meng Jun said.

Fang Hong silently calculated: 850 per unit, two per theater—that's 1,700 yuan.

Ten thousand movie theaters at 17 million—still not expensive; there are only about 2,000 cinemas nationwide now, and next year it will exceed 3,000.

Of course, you can't say the accounts like that; labor for installation, maintenance, transportation, operation, and development all cost money.

At a cost of 15 million per unit, two would total 30 million—also acceptable.

"Redesign this machine, switch it to a touchscreen—it's ugly as hell," Fang Hong said.

Smartphones have already come out; touchscreens must exist too—we must keep up with the times.

"That would drive costs up infinitely, and maintenance costs would be high too," Meng Jun advised.

If you switch to a touchscreen, someone might break the screen, make it unresponsive, or do something else—it won't just be expensive to buy, but also expensive to maintain.

Some users just jab at it with their fingers, hard and random, then run off.

The temperamental ones even punch it twice and smash it—you can't even hold them accountable; you can't find them, and they're anonymous.

Current touchscreens are still quite fragile.

"This is a trend, and it's also about image—go anywhere to buy tickets, people head straight for the good-looking machines."

Fang Hong continued: "Doing this has many advantages—it raises the barrier to entry. You use mechanical machines, others use touchscreens—can you even show your face? It also lets capital see our brand, preparing for investment recruitment."

His meaning was to raise the entry barrier infinitely, blocking some people from entering this field, preventing demons and monsters from disrupting the market.

Also, improve the image—next, we need to tell investors a story; Fang Hong had no intention of playing this alone—he couldn't afford it.

This isn't just about deploying ticket machines; ticket subsidies are the real money-sink, burning hundreds of millions at a time—who has that kind of idle cash?

Mainly, he has too few traffic channels—he can't avoid bringing in capital.

Meng Jun nodded, agreeing it made sense.

Spending more money can block some demons and monsters while building the brand.

The machine is meant to face users directly! "First, take 30 million to set up the company's framework; deploy machines only in Beijing and its surroundings—don't expand elsewhere yet. Just pilot it, check for flaws needing improvement, and don't stop APP development."

Fang Hong instructed.

30 million is enough for the initial phase; deploying 100 to 200 machines in Beijing and its surroundings is the limit—this money mainly goes into perfecting hardware and software, and launching propaganda.

This much money is needed mainly for operations, servers, and other hardware, plus software like APP development and security.

This is also preparing for investment recruitment; once capital takes interest, we can proceed with large-scale deployment.

Just get a solid start—capital will invest if they see potential here.

Meng Jun acknowledged and added: "There's one issue—how do we get these machines into movie theaters?"

You can't just say "put it here," and the theater will let you.

"Won't they be happy to save on labor costs? Users buy tickets online, then just pick them up—the theater only checks tickets, charges no service fee, and we bear all the costs. Plus, online sales attract distant customers and help them optimize seat allocation—only benefits them."

Fang Hong spoke as if it were self-evident.

Hearing this, Meng Jun thought it actually made damn good sense.

Not many people have long-term vision; those who talk about being controlled later are only focused on immediate gains.

If everyone had long-term vision, internet companies wouldn't be seizing territory everywhere—even the vegetable basket is nearly lost, requiring state intervention to warn them.

In this world, no one can touch you if you don't even care about money.

This matter now has a starting point; the initial investment counts as an angel round, holding the largest share.

But to ensure smooth progress, Fang Hong arranged a meeting with Zeng Maojun, General Manager of Wanda Pictures.

He is the Vice President of Wanda Group, overseeing Wanda Pictures operations.

When Wanda acquired AMC Theatres in the United States next year, he became a director of that cinema chain.

Later, when Wuzhou Distribution was established, he became Chairman.

(End of Chapter)