Chapter 165: Afraid You Can't Hold Back

This round of negotiations ended with concessions on both sides. China Film Group promised to lower Yutu Film's share to 6% going forward, though of course this was off the record.

The Propaganda Department either had to pay extra or raise the percentage.

Fang Hong also gave China Film Group an annual system access fee of 200,000 yuan for Tu Piaopiao to plug into China Film's theater chain, plus a 2,000,000 yuan deposit.

The deposit was refundable—it was there to prevent skimming of box office receipts, to make sure tickets bought through Tu Piaopiao actually reached China Film Cinema, and to guard against things like fake tickets.

It didn't really matter; that was just how the rules worked.

This way the software on Tu Piaopiao would have the information of every major China Film theater nationwide—location, number of seats, all visible.

Still, Fang Hong insisted on using his own ticketing machines and kept rolling them out, to keep a little initiative in his own hands.

Separately, "Fleet of Time," which had already been negotiated, was set to release on November 8.

That release date was chosen to avoid the New Year Slot's "Big Character" coming up later, and also to steer clear of blockbusters like "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" and "The Flowers of War."

A cheesy youth film going head-to-head with movies like that wouldn't stand a chance.

And "Fleet of Time" wouldn't be distributed by China Film alone either—Fang Hong gave Tu Piaopiao a 3% share.

In other words, China Film and Tu Piaopiao would co-distribute, meaning 9% of the distribution share was being given away.

The reason Fang Hong negotiated with China Film to lower the percentage was to carve out room for Tu Piaopiao to step into distribution.

Of course, for now Tu Piaopiao was just putting its name on it, running some ads to build the brand.

For example, the opening and end credits of the film would carry the "Tu Piaopiao" name, and when the cast and director did publicity, the backdrop at the premiere would also display the Tu Piaopiao logo.

"Fleet of Time" had already entered its publicity phase. Following the same playbook as before, the slogan was: "Whose youth doesn't hurt?"

Yutu had plenty of experience promoting youth films like this—you could say it came naturally.

Just make people cry, just make it melodramatic—no real skill needed.

At the premiere event for "Fleet of Time," the backdrop wall displayed not only the words "Fleet of Time" but also the Yutu and Tu Piaopiao production and distribution credits.

Producer Han Jianü, director Wang Ran, and actors Shuchang, Zhu Yilong, Zheng Kai, Chen He, and others all showed up at the event.

In addition, Yutu stars Zhang Songwen, Zhao Xiaodao, Li Xian, Chen Xiao, and others attended one after another.

No choice—they only had so many names to draw on; the truly hot stars from outside wouldn't come.

Now Zhao Xiaodao and Li Xian had a little fame of their own.

After all, "Bad Genius" had just finished its theatrical run. Even if audiences only recognized their faces and they weren't really famous yet, they could still draw a bit of crowd.

A reporter asked: "Shuchang, I heard you're good friends with Liu Tianxian—why didn't she come?"

Shuchang, surrounded by a pack of reporters: "She's gone abroad, no time."

A reporter asked: "Then do you know about her and Zeng? I hear the two of them have an unusual relationship."

"I don't think so. I've known her for almost ten years, and even someone like me can't interest her." Shuchang said it as a joke, sneaking in a self-compliment—she was a beauty too, after all.

It indirectly helped Liu Tianxian debunk that rumor.

You can't take this sort of thing seriously. If you get serious, others will get serious. You can only treat it as a joke—meaning you're all just joking around.

Seeing they couldn't get anything out of her, the reporters turned to the film: "May I ask why you chose to star in this movie?"

"They asked me, so I acted. No special reason." Shuchang answered crisply.

Getting a film offer was already good enough—where would all those "whys" come from?

Over on the other side, Zhu Yilong was also surrounded by reporters.

A reporter asked: "This is your second time starring in a youth drama like this, isn't it? Anything you'd like to say?"

"Thank you, Principal. Thank you, Yutu. I'll keep working hard." Zhu Yilong clenched his fist to encourage himself.

The theme song, also titled "Fleet of Time," was sung by Zhang Jingying, with lyrics by Fang Hong as always and music by Dong Dongdong.

Originally they'd wanted Wang Fei, but she was far too aloof—after two lukewarm attempts, they gave up.

There was no way Fang Hong would go after her personally—wouldn't that cost him face? Once the "Fleet of Time" song came out, it quickly took the number-one spot on Baidu and QQ Music's charts. On the Tencent platform alone, over 40 million plays beat out any viral video.

The song's MV also landed on Bilibili, Tudou, 56. com, Youku, and many other video sites.

Of course it was all free—listen, watch, share, whatever you like.

If anyone wanted to buy it, they wouldn't sell. Selling wouldn't bring in much money anyway—better to pad out their own content library.

Even a hit show like "Zhen Huan Zhuan" only fetched 263,000 yuan per episode for exclusive online streaming rights—less than 20 million total.

Let alone a song people could just pirate.

But after the new year, "Palace 2" sold for 1.85 million yuan per episode.

You could say the content market looked completely different year by year.

Copyright rules were also getting stricter year by year, and along with that came an annual war over rights, driving copyright prices ever higher.

In truth, the copyright war was pushed by state legal provisions on one hand, but capital was also pushing it with everything it had. Because they had the money to buy rights, and once they bought them, they'd cut off the paths for other competitors. Dare to pirate? They'd sue you into the ground, wielding the state's legal provisions to finish you off—Tencent knew this game inside out.

So the copyright war kept raging year after year.

If you sit around waiting for the state to regulate things for you, you'll be waiting forever. Better to push it yourself and take control of the content platform.

That was why later on only the BAT could play this game—everyone else died out, because you couldn't beat them.

They had the law and the evidence on their side—how could you compete? So Fang Hong kept a lot of his rights unsold, or sold them for only a year. The main goal was to fill his own content library, build original content, and prepare for his own video platform.

He also didn't buy outside TV dramas or web series—he just laid out his own plans and did it himself.

That day Liu Tianxian kept Xu Liyun company all morning, then left after lunch, saying she'd come again next time.

When Fang Hong got home, Xu Liyun told him about it.

"She only kept you company for a bit and then left—didn't do anything?" Fang Hong asked.

"What else could we do, just chat." Xu Liyun said.

"Didn't she take you out for a stroll, or to buy something?" Fang Hong asked again.

"No, we just walked around the courtyard." Xu Liyun shook her head.

"Then your daughter-in-law is way too stingy—didn't even buy you a piece of clothing, didn't even take you out for a cup of milk tea." Fang Hong laughed.

"You're my son and you didn't even think to buy me clothes or bring me something to eat. Yifei at least knew to buy me fish. You're nothing at all, and you still have the nerve to talk about Yifei." Xu Liyun said in his defense.

"Mom, seems like I'm the one who's your actual son." Fang Hong said.

"So what if you're my own? Being my own doesn't mean I can't say it. You're still not as thoughtful as Yifei." Xu Liyun said with great enthusiasm.

Her son would normally just toss her some money and let her buy whatever she wanted, never once asking what she liked.

Fang Hong shut his mouth. He couldn't say anything against Liu Tianxian — the moment he did, it would be his fault.

Liu Tianxian had simply kept her company, and his mother's heart had melted. He thought about how he himself used to go to Liu Tianxian's house every day to keep Liu Xiaoli company, yet never got anywhere with it.

Compared like this, it was deeply frustrating.

That evening, Fang Hong, as a matter of routine, gave Liu Tianxian, who was far away in Southeast Asia, a phone call.

Anyway, there was no time difference between Southeast Asia and China — whatever time it was here, it was the same there.

"Hello, Miss Liu."

"Hello, Mr. Fang."

The two of them were still quite polite with each other. Mainly because Fang Hong had too many ways of addressing her — "Feifei, Xiao Feifei, Miss Liu, the one surnamed Liu" — all of them were his inventions.

He used to call her by her proper name, but now he just called her whatever.

Liu Tianxian sometimes also called him whatever — Fang Gouzi was her invention.

"Mr. Fang is calling this little lady so late at night — what can I do for you?" Liu Tianxian's tone was very casual.

She was in the hotel wearing a white bathrobe, her long hair pinned up, facing the mirror to look at her face, as if she had just washed it.

"Isn't it because I missed you? Wanted to check how you're doing over there. Is it hot, is it cold, have you eaten enough?" Fang Hong said.

"Oh, should I be touched then?" Liu Tianxian chuckled lightly.

"You can be a little touched, but don't be too touched — I'm afraid you won't be able to hold yourself back." Fang Hong said.

"When it comes to you, I can still hold myself back." Liu Tianxian suddenly blurted out this line.

"The way you say that, I have no charm, huh." Fang Hong's heart felt as if it had been pricked.

Liu Tianxian laughed "hehe" twice, feeling she had been a bit hurtful too, and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes, very charming — isn't that why I've taken a liking to you."

"Then you must have been drawn in by my handsome exterior." Fang Hong teased her.

Liu Tianxian didn't answer on the phone, just kept laughing "gegege" — this guy was way too narcissistic.

"What's so funny? Am I wrong?"

"Right, right, right."

Liu Tianxian went along with him, then said, "Is it cold on your side?"

"Cold! The lowest is zero degrees. You really picked a good time to leave — it just started getting cold and you left." Fang Hong said.

"Then you should wear more clothes."

Liu Tianxian said a word of concern, then added, "I'm in Singapore right now, it's pretty hot here. It'd be nice if you were here — the sea breeze here is very comfortable, we could go out and look around."

"Next time. You're busy — when would you have the time."

"."

(End of chapter)