Chapter 239: Coming and Going at High-End Clubs

Right now, among the several departments, only the Animation Department has no performance metrics and can only rely on Fang Hong's funding to stay afloat.

The Best Special Effects and games departments both have business; game revenue keeps growing, so it just needs a bit of juggling; as long as special effects keeps getting orders, it can develop and reinvest.

Only animation has the longest production cycle, won't generate any returns this year, and might not show any real progress until next year.

During this period, animation simply cannot generate revenue—it's the toughest industry to endure, requiring constant reinvestment on top of reinvestment, and a team of eight hundred is far from enough.

Fewer than three thousand people doesn't even qualify as a proper animation company!

Even though labor in China is cheap, by 2024 the market will be huge, and plenty of animation companies will still be in the red.

Take Auldey, for instance—the company that produced *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf* and *Balala the Fairies*. It later acquired U17, and has never made money since, bleeding losses nonstop.

Luckily it's a publicly listed company, so it can take the hit.

The only well-known animation company that actually makes money is one called Fantawild—the one that made *Xiong Chu Mo*. But even they had to grind for years before turning a profit, and that was only after producing a hit IP.

And even then the profit margin is razor-thin: roughly 2.9 billion in revenue for only 290 million in profit, about a 10% margin.

So from the very start, Fang Hong wasn't aiming at the domestic market—he was going for the international stage, for the copyrights, for the merchandise.

After all, animation doesn't use real people, so there are no racial or facial differences; the content just needs to align with European and American audience values.

More staff, a larger scale, and faster computing power too.

The data center of one thousand units previously built in Huailai County is now complete—servers made up of processors, memory, and hard drives, with storage and computing functions.

This counts as a high-end configuration at present; the quoted price is one hundred thousand per unit, so a thousand units comes to one hundred million.

This data center is shared by games, animation, special effects, and Bilibili—it's absolutely essential.

The data center construction funds were budgeted by the games department, the equipment was purchased through the overseas Zhonghua Jia account, and once the money is earned it'll be paid back to Zhonghua Jia.

No way around it—among the departments using the servers, only games is making money!

That quote includes the cost of server racks, servers, fiber optics, and so on, plus the power supply system, air conditioning system, and security system—all-inclusive.

County-level land is cheap, and data center maintenance is outsourced to a third party.

Put it this way: these thousand servers, if used solely for games, could stably support at least five million concurrent players of *Hero Glory*! Right now *Hero Glory*'s concurrent users haven't broken a million—they're at nine hundred thousand—almost on par with *League of Legends*.

The game's popularity ranks first, with the faint potential to claim the throne of esports' top dog!

Second is Dungeon & Fighter, and only third is *League of Legends*! Even so, Tencent remains the absolute hegemon—they have tons of games, while Yutu only has the one.

*Hero Glory* has been steadily and cautiously advancing, never rushing things; skins aren't released too quickly, and there are often free skins to use—far more conscientious than *League of Legends*.

The heroes designed are also highly playable.

And *Hero Glory* has been organizing tournaments all along—the first season's Grand Finals will kick off in October in Shanghai, and the buzz has been consistently high.

This game is also starting to show its money-making machine nature: it hasn't even reached the third quarter, yet two months of revenue have already hit 90.2 million—double what it was before.

Mainly because there are more skins now, all designed by film-grade designers—the artistry and texture are at movie-level quality.

Globally it's even more dramatic: monthly player numbers have climbed to 16 million, also going toe-to-toe with *Hero Glory*.

Revenue figures haven't come out yet—they won't be reported until September—but it's safe to say a quarterly take of over a hundred million USD is guaranteed! Right now the final box office of *Lucy 1* in Southeast Asia hasn't been tallied, so the licensing fees are being held back for now.

Once the box office numbers are in, we'll settle the licensing fee matter.

Because Yindu has to settle box office receipts with the various Southeast Asian distributors based on ticket sales, see how much comes in, and then pay Yutu's licensing fee according to the agreed ratio.

The revolution hasn't fully succeeded yet, but it's true that Yutu's strength and industry chain are growing ever more complete.

All Fang Hong needs to do now is keep working hard, keep feeding his massive industrial chain, and strive for self-production and self-sales, self-sufficiency, achieving an internal loop.

Same as always: use the big-screen films as a point to drive the whole surface, pulling the entire industry forward.

Only because big films involve special effects, art, cinematography, and every other aspect—only by continuously making movies can the whole of Yutu keep running.

That day, Fang Hong met with the two assistant directors of *Now You See Me*, as well as Producer Han Jianü.

The two assistant directors were Chen Sicheng and Lu Yang! Lu Yang was the one Fang Hong specifically requested—his cinematography has that high-end texture, and *Now You See Me* needs exactly that sense of class.

But he set a condition: he'd come in as substitute director only if Fang Hong invested in his *Xiu Chun Dao*.

Fang Hong agreed without hesitation, and even lined up the lead for him—Xie Miao.

Xie Miao's martial skills are beyond question, and in makeup he won't lose to Zhang Zhen—his performance in *The Blind Man* was full of commanding presence.

Chen Sicheng was still scripting his *Beijing Love Story* film version, so since he was free anyway, he came along.

The three of them discussed the casting for *Now You See Me* in an office—those magicians: the Lover, the High Priestess, the Hermit, and the Death.

The Lover is the lead, and needs someone both handsome and cool, someone who radiates that masculine charm.

"For the Lover we've shortlisted a few: Huang Xiaoming, Hu Ge, Zhu Yawen, Duan Yihong."

Han Jianü handed over several photos and the cast list: "Do you want us to call them in for a screen test?"

Fang Hong took them and looked them over, crossed out Huang Xiaoming, Hu Ge, and Zhu Yawen on the spot—only Duan Yihong would play the role.

Duan Yihong is thirty-nine now, and paired with that scruffy-stubbled look, he's at the peak of his masculine charm, and his acting is solid too.

The others' acting is inconsistent—Fang Hong can't be bothered to teach anyone how to act.

Take Huang Xiaoming, for example—paired with an opponent like Liu Tianxian, his acting floor would probably be dragged way down.

The High Priestess needs no selection—it's Liu Tianxian!

The Hermit goes to Xie Miao, as promised from the start.

The Death, the youngest, will be played by Zhu Yilong.

The police detective—the one who played the Hulk in the original—goes to Zhang Songwen.

The Interpol agent, the female cop, fulfills Mom's promise—give it to Jiang Shuying. The magic exposer goes to Zhang Zhijian—the one who played Gao Yu Liang.

Originally wanted to get Chen Daoming, but forget it—his price is too high, can't afford him.

This film's big spending will go into production and special effects, not into star salaries—the highest star salary must be kept under three million.

Even though Liu Tianxian's market price has soared and hers is the highest, it still has to be capped at three million; the others at most one or two million, or just a few hundred thousand.

Total cast salary cannot exceed ten million! Those are the main cast; for the rich guy and other minor roles, Fang Hong can just cameo and scratch his acting itch.

From now on, unless absolutely necessary, Fang Hong won't appear so prominently on the big screen—at most a cameo like the old man at Marvel, quietly staying behind the scenes, letting people gradually forget him.

Fang Hong quickly selected all the actors and crossed out everyone else, handing the cast list to the three: "Go find them based on this; if they refuse, use the backups—no auditions needed."

Han Jianü, Chen Sicheng, and Lu Yang passed the list among themselves, then exchanged glances.

Such decisive action—everyone else still goes through the motions of auditions, but the Principal never auditions; he just makes the call.

The three said nothing and arranged things according to Fang Hong's decisions, not caring whether those actors had availability.

This film's investment exceeded 130 million yuan, making it an absolute major production within China's film industry.

It's a resource you can't seek out—it's not up to the actors to choose!

Besides, Jade Rabbit has already proven her strength; she's never lost, so they have even less right to pick.

As for blacklisting? Before such a major production, it's a joke—even Huayi must think twice before making a big film.

That evening, Fang Hong was about to pack up and go home when he heard his phone go "beep-beep-beep."

Seeing it was an unknown number, he hesitated, then answered anyway.

The moment the call connected, a middle-aged woman's voice came through: "Hello, Xiao Fang, where are you now?"

"I'm at the company. What do you need?"

Fang Hong recognized it—his mother-in-law's voice.

Strange—since Liu Tianxian had returned, why didn't she call? Why send her mother instead?

"Xixi is being harassed by people from the Hong Kong circle. If you have time, come over and help her out," Liu Xiaoli said.

"Alright, send me the address—I'll come right away."

Fang Hong knew this was him being asked to play the villain; his mother-in-law's intentions were crystal clear.

They hung up. Fang Hong checked the address sent to his phone—it was at a club.

He then went downstairs and stepped out of the office building, just as Lu Dabo was clapping a man on the shoulder, talking as he walked, bending the man's waist with each slap.

"Where's General Manager Lu off to?" Fang Hong teased.

Lu Dabo turned around: "Principal, please don't call me that—I dare not call myself General Manager in front of you!"

As he spoke, he shoved the man beside him, signaling him to get lost.

Fang Hong stepped closer and slung an arm over his shoulder: "What trouble are you up to now?"

"I'm not doing anything bad—I'm about to film with you again, so I'm just giving instructions to make sure your affairs are handled properly," Lu Dabo immediately bent his waist two inches lower.

How did he get the impression that he liked doing bad things? He was a good man!

"I see. Thanks for your hard work."

Fang Hong patted his shoulder: "Come on, come with me somewhere."

"Where?" Lu Dabo asked cautiously.

"I'm taking you to a high-end club," Fang Hong said with a knowing smile.

Lu Dabo instantly understood that smile—only men knew what it meant—and his heart surged with excitement.

He'd never experienced high-end luxury in his life!

Who knew the Principal was so slick? He played such wild games behind the scenes—should he tell Immortal Sister? So agonizing!

He thought it was some sketchy club—these days, even borderline places called themselves "clubs."

The very words "high-end club" had been corrupted!

"Is that your car?"

Fang Hong pointed to the shiny new BMW in the distance.

He didn't know Lu Dabo's thoughts—he just feared being too flashy and getting beaten up, so he wanted Lu Dabo along for protection, at least as company.

"Yes," Lu Dabo nodded.

"Give me the keys," Fang Hong extended his hand.

"Take your Porsche—my car isn't good enough to match your stature," Lu Dabo reluctantly said.

He treated it like a treasure.

"We need to be discreet at a place like this—if anyone recognizes you, it's bad. After all, I'm a respectable person. Don't worry—I'm sure no one knows you," Fang Hong lied.

Lu Dabo thought it made sense—this was the first time the Principal was taking him to a high-end club. "I'll drive!"

"I'll drive—you don't know the location."

Without further argument, Fang Hong snatched the car keys from his hand.

(End of Chapter)