Chapter 593

It's no wonder Lao Wang Zong called Yu Pangzi stupid—the Principal bought up floating shares right under his nose and colluded with those investors, doing this for years.

Yu Pangzi knew none of this; even after the event occurred, he remained clueless and made no effort at all.

If he had known Yu Pangzi had tried, had sought help from Alibaba and Tencent to hold the line, and those two had solemnly assured him, he wouldn't know what to think.

He'd probably also call those two idiots.

But then again, could it be that Fang Hong offered too much, and investors were willing to sell? For years, Bona was like this—the stock price rose, but it was all hollow.

Who could have anticipated that the Principal would devote so much time, energy, and $259 million—nearly 1.8 billion—to acquire a film company with such mediocre revenue?

It's not like he had so much money he didn't know what to do with—1.8 billion could do anything; anything else would be a massive sum, and the film industry couldn't absorb that much capital.

No one expected the Principal to have that much cash on hand, suddenly pulling out over a billion in cash.

The Principal truly shocked the entertainment circle and all the capital players—even Fan Luyuan of Alibaba and Liu Zhiping of Tencent misjudged the situation.

They thought the Principal's move wouldn't be so fast, that he'd need time to raise funds.

No—he paid the entire sum in one lump cash payment; his strength was not to be underestimated.

They didn't know this money came from previous sales of Tesla stock, not from Fang Hong's legitimate earnings.

You can't earn that much through legitimate means!

It was meant solely to target Bona—to take it over and deliver a small shock to the industry.

The industry was indeed shocked; no one expected the Principal to move so swiftly. Those in entertainment now viewed him with even greater awe.

"I never imagined the Principal had amassed such power just to go all-in," Liu Zhiping sighed, admitting his miscalculation.

"That lightning strike was well played—the Principal's just a gambler, like Hitler," Tony Ma muttered, without blame.

This event couldn't be ignored—it completely reshaped the current film industry landscape and disrupted the Big Entertainment Plan.

If they had known in advance and positioned themselves early, they could have trapped the Principal's capital, keeping him stuck, forcing him to pour in more and more money.

Simple: Alibaba and Tencent could have entered early, inflated Bona's assets, and issued new shares for them to buy at low prices.

They could have increased Bona's asset value several-fold.

Or offered generous terms to bring in a third party!

Earlier, Yu Pangzi had offered them generous terms, trying to get them to help.

But the Principal gave them zero time to react.

Jack Ma was also discussing this—he sat curled in his soft leather executive chair, a cigar between his fingers, praising: "Steady, precise, ruthless—Bona's acquisition was no injustice."

After all, he'd battled Jack Ma for several rounds—where did Yu Pangzi get the wit to fight the Principal?

Neither in strength nor intelligence could he match up!

"We can't let the Principal keep doing this—our Big Entertainment Plan, Taopiaopiao, and Phoenix Cloud Intelligence System will all be affected," Fan Luyuan worried.

Yutu and Bona, the two major film production houses, essentially controlled half of the film production market in Neidi and Hong Kong.

If future hit films all come from Yutu's system, then Alibaba Group's Taopiaopiao will have no movies to sell.

Without good, high-grossing films, even their Phoenix Cloud Intelligence promotions to theaters can be blocked.

No Taopiaopiao system—no tickets sold. It's that simple.

Of course, it's mutual destruction—but who knows how much power the Principal has, what hidden cards he holds, or what moves he'll make next?

Jack Ma took a drag and said nothing—he knew that if things continued this way, the Principal's Big Entertainment Plan would take shape first, while theirs was still on the way.

The Big Entertainment Plan has been a multi-party race—not just Alibaba and Tencent, but Baidu, Huayi, and Guangxian are all in it too.

Even Xiaomi and LeEco are involved.

But Xiaomi only dipped its toes in film, then shifted to video platforms with 360—iQiyi already has Shunwei Capital's investment.

Now, every industry wants to dip into entertainment—it's simple: policy liberalization.

Yu Pangzi had just finished a meeting with his executives, giving them a pep talk—they all swore to follow him to the death and stand against the Principal.

If the Principal takes control of Bona, they'd all resign, leaving Bona as an empty shell.

They spoke with fiery passion, but Yu Pangzi felt no joy—if it came to that, his decades of painstakingly built Bona would be utterly destroyed.

He couldn't bear it. He didn't want to see it.

Others had no emotional attachment to Bona, but he did—he saw it like a child he'd raised himself.

At this moment, Yu Pangzi sat in his executive chair, shrouded in gloom, deeply uncertain about the future, unsure how the Principal would handle Bona or what tactics he'd use against him.

"Honey, if it comes to that, let's go down fighting—sell off all of Bona's assets and leave the Principal with an empty shell," Peacock said, massaging her husband's shoulders.

They still had some time—the equity transfer wasn't final; Yuanmeng Tiancheng still needed to submit an ownership transfer application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Of course, the US wouldn't care about such a small company—it didn't involve monopolies or anything serious; approval would be easy.

The real trouble was the domestic regulatory approval process—that's why Fang Hong didn't buy under his own name.

Like the merger of Huya and Douyu, which was halted by market regulators.

After all, Bona is a company registered domestically, and there are only a few major film and cultural giants.

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is the empire I built over decades—my entire life's work is in here!" Yu Pangzi spun around, suddenly exploding.

Peacock jumped, silent now.

Women simply don't understand how hard it is for a man to build a business—the hardships, the tears.

They don't understand. They can't empathize—they never lived through that struggle.

There's a saying: a man's success is measured by his career; a woman's success is measured by her man—only when a man's career succeeds does a woman find him charming and worthy of commitment.

Of course, that's not absolute—many women still have sound values, like Liu Tianxian.

"We still have a chance. If it comes to that, I'll fight to the end—I won't hand Bona over to the Principal," Yu Pangzi said, calmer now, his tone softer.

He knew he shouldn't have snapped at his wife—she understood nothing, only cared about beauty and dressing up.

Assets can't just be sold off at will—if everyone sold when they sensed a takeover, chaos would erupt, and you'd end up in jail.

"I support you, husband."

Peacock Princess encouraged him, her hands pressing on his shoulders, then both hands slipped from his collar into his clothes and downward, bending to breathe against his ear, soft and seductive: "Do you want to release some fire?"

"I'm not in the mood right now." Yu Pangzi reached back and patted her cheek, then his body sank back against the boss chair.

But his face was full of worry — he was wavering over whether to continue seeking help from Alibaba or from Tencent.

Those two had, when the Principal was acquiring his company, kept telling him it was fine, it was fine, telling him to set his heart at ease.

And now look — not only had his heart not settled back into his stomach, it had leapt right up into his throat; worried to death, anxious to death.

Peacock Princess said nothing, but kept massaging him, her hands wandering every so often.

"Don't bother me, I need to make a call to the Principal, feel out his position." Yu Pangzi said, stood up, picked up the desk phone's receiver, and dialed out.

He had still decided to call the Principal — if he could solve it himself, he would solve it himself.

If the Principal wanted money, he'd give money. Worst case he'd owe debt and pay it back slowly. A billion or so could still be raised through capital — it was just a matter of giving up more equity.

The call was quickly transferred and connected, and the Principal's familiar voice came through: "Hello, who's calling?"

Actually Fang Hong knew who it was — his secretary had already notified him — he was just saying it on purpose.

"Principal, it's me, Yu Dong." Yu Pangzi's tone was solemn.

"Oh, Fatty! Sorry, the name just slipped out — you don't mind, do you?" Fang Hong's tone carried a hint of teasing and ease, as if he didn't take him seriously at all.

Being called "Fatty" to his face, Yu Pangzi felt as if he'd been insulted, but there was nothing he could do — he could only force down the fury in his heart.

"I don't mind. Let's get down to business — I just want to ask, what's your purpose in acquiring my Bona?"

"You've got it wrong, I didn't acquire your Bona." Fang Hong wouldn't admit it.

"Liu Xiaoli is your mother-in-law. If you weren't backing her from behind, I don't think she'd have the ability to acquire my Bona." Yu Pangzi shifted his angle, saying it was Liu Xiaoli who did the acquiring.

"So what if she did?" Fang Hong admitted this time — as long as it wasn't said to be him who acquired it, that was fine.

If it was said to be him who acquired it, he wouldn't admit it.

"Let's talk terms. I'm willing to buy back the shares in your hands at a price above market." Yu Pangzi got straight to the point.

"How much above?" Fang Hong asked again.

"You paid 259 million USD, I'll add another 50 million — 300 million USD, how about it? Lets you make 50 million USD." Yu Pangzi felt his offer was already very generous,

The Principal turning his hand over and earning 50 million USD in one round trip — that's 350 million RMB, far better than making any film.

Where does making films ever get such a high return?

"Heh-heh-heh, can you actually come up with that?" Fang Hong laughed noncommittally, laughing at his overreach.

If he could come up with it, he wouldn't have been acquired — he could have completed the privatization himself.

"Principal, I can't come up with it right now, but I will definitely pay you back. You can also hold onto my Bona — whenever I've raised enough money, you can sell it back to me. If Bona's market value rises, you can sell to someone else; if it doesn't rise, then at the minimum price of 300 million USD."

Yu Pangzi's words sounded very pleasant, and very sincere!

Mainly there was no choice — to keep Bona from being controlled by the Principal.

But Fang Hong didn't buy any of it. He said: "Fine, I'll give you a plan too. 300 million becomes 500 million. You can't possibly pay it off in a year or two — counting inflation, I have to make something, right? Otherwise why would I go through all that effort? Since you can't pay it off in one go either, like this — principal plus interest, I've roughly calculated, in total you owe me 5.2 billion."

"How could I possibly pay that back?" Yu Pangzi blurted out — this was more terrifying than loan-sharking, suddenly adding over 3 billion.

"I haven't put a time limit on you — I've already been very lenient. If you really can't pay it back, you can use film box office, film and TV rights, theater revenue to repay. Bona stays yours, I won't interfere — how about it?" Fang Hong proposed the plan.

"You're making my Bona a slave for generations — I will never sign an agreement like that with you." Yu Pangzi appeared righteously indignant, very resentful.

Given Bona's current profit situation, with interest compounding, it really could become generational slavery.

Even at Bona's peak, profits were only around 300 million. If the 5.2 billion figure didn't change, it would still take 17 years to repay.

Seventeen years — a whole generation's youth would have passed. The Principal was too ruthless.

And Bona didn't make that high a profit every year either, nor could all profits be poured into debt repayment — it had to develop. So Bona would essentially be working for Yuanmeng Tiancheng for about 30 years!

Thirty years! Suddenly shouldering 30 years of debt — apart from a mortgage-slave idiot, who could stand that?

Only Liu Tianxian has done something this stupid — she guaranteed 6.3 billion in debt for Fang Hong, but then again, that was true love.

This was clearly an overlord clause — on top of the 300 million USD base, another 440-plus million USD was added.

"You're the one who wanted to settle this with money. I gave you a plan, and you don't agree." Fang Hong's tone was light — he was clearly making an outrageous demand, certain Bona couldn't pay it back.

Back then, even Jade Rabbit's size found it hard to borrow 6.3 billion through connections, let alone Bona!

"I don't think there's anything left to discuss with you — you never intended to resolve this in the first place." Yu Pangzi was already furious, "slap" — he hung up the phone directly.

The negotiations between the two naturally ended on a sour note!

After hanging up, Yu Pangzi went "bang" — slammed his fist hard on the table, face full of rage: "Principal, fuck your mother, you're bullying people too far."

"What's wrong?" Peacock Princess leaned her pretty face close.

"I'm full of rage right now!"

Yu Pangzi pulled Peacock Princess over and pressed her head down.

(End of chapter)