Chapter 151: Utterly Foolish (Bonus Chapter: Request Monthly Tickets and Rewards)

Fang Hong could get Ceng Maojun on board precisely because he had production capability, and what the other side lacked was exactly production capability.

Additionally, Fang Hong was bluffing, claiming he could distribute the films for them.

This was still somewhat attractive to Wanda at the moment.

Just because Yutu's films had never lost money, and with some cultivation, they could become Wanda's backlot for production.

Earn from both screening and distribution!

Develop further—integrate production, distribution, and screening; it's just around the corner! But now the film market is still too small, and cinemas still take the lion's share.

Ceng Maojun was a very powerful figure in the film and television circle; nothing else, Wanda Cinema Line was currently the largest cinema chain.

In a teahouse, ancient and elegant, with tea smoke curling, the two sat facing each other.

Ceng Maojun wore a suit and polished shoes, his appearance very upright; Fang Hong also wore a suit and polished shoes, his hair slicked back gleaming.

Beside them, a young woman in a qipao performed an elaborate tea ceremony; after brewing the tea, she bowed deeply to the two and withdrew from the teahouse.

Fang Hong gestured: "General Manager Zeng, please!"

Ceng Maojun lifted his teacup and sipped: "If you hadn't come to me, I was about to seek you out—I'm also interested in cooperating with you."

"That's excellent, let's speak frankly then," Fang Hong said smoothly.

"Good!" Ceng Maojun nodded.

Both sipped tea, exchanged pleasantries, then turned to business.

"Wanda can take an equity stake in Yutu; you handle production, we handle cinemas—mutually beneficial," Ceng Maojun said calmly.

"Yutu's institutional structure isn't mature yet; accepting equity investment now wouldn't be appropriate," Fang Hong said tactfully.

He had never intended to let capital intrude into Yutu; it was his foundational base, his most core asset.

"We won't interfere with your operations—you remain in full control. You take the money, combine it with our resources, and you'll grow faster," Ceng Maojun assumed he was worried about this.

Fang Hong thought for a moment: "General Manager Zeng, listen to my alternative proposal."

Ceng Maojun signaled him to continue.

"I've created a Tupticket—a ticketing platform. All future films will be distributed through Tupticket. If Wanda is interested, you can take an equity stake and we can build it together; the logic is the same," Fang Hong said.

"Ticketing platform? You mean an online platform that sells movie tickets?" Ceng Maojun understood immediately.

Because online ticketing platforms were already being developed—Gewara's online ticketing platform had been established for years.

But earlier, the internet wasn't developed, and it wasn't mobile internet, so there was little response.

But after this year, a flood of ticketing platforms would emerge: Spider, Koudianying, Meituan, Maoyan, Taopiaopiao, Shiguangwang, Wepiao, QQ Movie Tickets, Tuan 800 Movie Tickets, Baidu Nuomi, and others would successively appear.

The emergence of so many online ticketing platforms wasn't just chaos—it also gradually shifted audience moviegoing from offline ticket purchases to online.

The chaos had its benefits: everyone desperately pushed audiences toward online platforms.

"Yes, internet ticketing is the future; soon it will be the era of mobile internet, and this will transform the current single model of offline ticket purchasing," Fang Hong said.

Ceng Maojun sipped tea, lowered his head, and thought—indeed, the future would develop in that direction.

But that was something internet companies played with; they had traffic, they had online channels—they were the only ones who could afford it.

Simply put, film and television companies had too low a profit margin; Huayi's top player earned only a hundred million or so per year—this kind of money couldn't even play a game in traffic channels.

Internet market competition required throwing money around—no fancy tricks.

"How far have you gotten at this stage?"

"We've just finished developing the app, and we're already contacting electronics manufacturers to produce ticket pickup machines, preparing for deployment and promotion," Fang Hong replied honestly.

Others could see right through this—no need to hide it.

"At this stage, it's still very preliminary; we can join in once you've achieved some results," Ceng Maojun remained hesitant.

Mainly because this investment might very well turn into a total loss, and it wasn't a matter of a few million—it would be a bottomless pit.

"That's fine, but I'll always keep a spot open for Wanda," Fang Hong extended goodwill.

"Fine!" Ceng Maojun didn't care.

Having it was better than not having it—if this guy actually pulled it off, Wanda could just step right in.

Wanda Cinema Line currently had the most cinemas nationwide, at its peak, flush with cash.

"But I have a small favor to ask of you, General Manager Zeng," Fang Hong said.

"What small favor?"

"I'd like Wanda's cinemas to open a green channel so we can install our ticket pickup machines inside."

"This—"

Ceng Maojun hesitated—he knew what this meant. Once someone occupied the market, they'd be at that person's mercy.

If everyone bought tickets online, they'd only get audience flow through online platforms.

Simple: users open the app, don't care which cinema—just buy a ticket for the nearest one. Even dating, they could book in advance.

If your cinema isn't on their app, you get zero audience flow—that's fatal.

"General Manager Zeng, don't misunderstand—we only want to install machines in Beijing and surrounding cinemas. Besides, even if we succeed, Wanda loses nothing—you can just step in directly," Fang Hong added.

That was true—if they saw potential, Wanda could simply invest; this promise was acceptable.

"Besides, we don't charge service fees, we don't need Wanda to provide anything—just a tiny bit of space. We'll even bring you free traffic and save you labor costs," Fang Hong said persuasively.

"Alright, as long as your promise holds, this isn't a big issue."

Ceng Maojun agreed, then added: "But what about Yutu?"

"Yutu is just a small company—I'm just trying to make a living, not interested in managing it. If you want it, I'll give it to you later."

Fang Hong spoke without blinking: "I'm going all-in on the ticketing platform. Once this takes off, every movie will need to sell tickets through me—that's the real money."

Ceng Maojun was stunned by the young man's boldness—Yutu, a company he was ready to give away.

Wanted it? He'd hand it over.

"Why not give it to me now?" But he didn't say it—the man still relied on it for his livelihood.

Of course he didn't take it seriously either — sending it to the company was impossible, pure nonsense.

But he could also tell that this person didn't value Jade Rabbit much.

"General Manager Fang has real guts. Then just send your ticket machines straight in. I'll give the word to my people below. Once it's set up, don't forget to share a slice of the pie." Ceng Maojun said it casually — for them this was a trivial matter. Let this guy handle it first.

"Thanks, General Manager Zeng. I won't forget."

Fang Hong raised his glass, and the two clinked together.

That could be considered the biggest chunk of theater chains settled. The remaining cinemas could be left for Meng Jun to negotiate with one by one. If he couldn't even handle something this small, how would he ever amount to anything in the future, how would he ever lead Rabbit Ticket?

Just as Fang Hong was vigorously expanding his career, Liu Tianxian had already gone on Happy Camp. Besides the Happy Family crew, there was also Zeng Yike.

On stage, Liu Tianxian sang "Chasing Light," the theme song of the film "Love Is Not Blind."

During the song, whether on purpose or not, Hunan Satellite TV had the two of them appear in one shot, complete with an ambiguous blue atmosphere.

Zeng Yike's gaze was practically stretching into threads.

After finishing the song, Liu Tianxian bowed and thanked everyone: "Thank you all. On October 29th, please support my new film 'Bad Genius.'"

The show wasn't over yet. He Laoshi asked: "Is there any story behind this song?"

"There's not much of a story, really. The Principal just took me to the recording studio to record it." Liu Tianxian said.

"Then what kind of person is the Principal? Can you share?" He Laoshi asked.

Everyone else watched Liu Tianxian intently. The Principal was far too mysterious — he never really showed his face — yet his legends were everywhere in the jianghu.

Zeng Yike also gazed on with tender affection. This person spoke very little on the show.

"Him? He's a very overbearing person, but sometimes quite cute." Liu Tianxian said with a smile.

It was like saying nothing at all!

He Laoshi turned to Zeng Yike again — everyone had to be looked after.

"Yike, when did you and Yifei meet?"

"We met on 'Love in Disguise.'" Zeng Yike said.

Liu Tianxian was the more talkative, the more lively one: "At the beginning we didn't really have much interaction. It was about a year after we finished filming — a year or maybe half a year, I can't remember — when I suddenly received a text message. Can I share it?"

She sought Zeng Yike's opinion.

"I don't mind. That text was, 'I miss her.'" Zeng Yike said, rather shyly.

"Ahhhh!"

The crowd kept cheering — there was a whiff of gossip in the air.

Just talking about the Principal hadn't been much, but the moment Zeng Yike came up, the audience got worked up. The Principal wasn't here, and these two had exactly that kind of vibe.

Mainly because Liu Tianxian was acting lively, as if they were very close. Zeng Yike wasn't just shy — his gaze was stretching into threads. Anyone with eyes could see it clearly.

The show wasn't over yet; they were still interacting. Liu Tianxian corrected herself: "That text was, 'It's Keke. This is my number. Let's hang out sometime when you're free.'"

"Yike, Yike."

He Laoshi quickly corrected her and changed the subject: "At the time, didn't you think, how can this person be that slow to warm up?"

"No, I was actually quite touched at the time." Liu Tianxian said warmly.

The studio audience erupted into another round of shouting — the whiff of gossip grew even stronger.

Everyone knew Zeng Yike had once forcefully kissed a girl — a fellow — it was no secret.

If Fang Hong saw this segment, it would upend everything he thought he knew. He'd always considered Liu Tianxian quite clever.

Looking at it now — utterly foolish! (End of Chapter)