Chapter 621

The call ended; after reaching a rough agreement with Jiang Zhiqiang, Fang Hong let go of him and spared Monster Hunt.

As for how much box office it will earn, that's up to them.

Whether they steal, rob, or forge—it's all the same to him.

As for the Big Sage Returns bootleg version, report and crack down on it; with Chang'e Technology's help, full-network monitoring is possible—this kind of thing, once reported, gets taken down for sure.

They were illegally operated anyway, many of them pornographic sites; but after these sites are shut down, they just open new domains.

It's just the old trick of the cunning rabbit with three burrows—everyone does it this way.

It only makes things inconvenient for Wangyi; once taken down, finding such sites again still takes effort.

Of course, some people can still find them.

As for Youku, it still needs targeting, otherwise there'll be no peace—but Fang Hong hasn't yet found a good solution.

"Boss Fang, I'll be going now." Since the matter was settled, there was nothing more for Chen Zhixi to do.

"Mm, coordinate with Anle," Fang Hong said.

"Understood," Chen Zhixi replied—it was about the joint operation with Anle—and then she stepped out.

But he hadn't taken two steps before turning back: "By the way, Boss Fang, there's a person named Jiaozi who also makes animated films—would you like to meet him?"

"What does he want? Is he looking for investment?" Fang Hong asked.

"Yes, he wants our support," Chen Zhixi said.

"I won't meet him. Give him full support—whatever tech, resources, or talent he needs, let him pick freely." Fang Hong saw no point in meeting him.

It's just seeing this legendary figure—but in the end, support must be given.

"Huh?!"

Chen Zhixi couldn't help but be startled—this level of support was way too much. Even for Big Sage Returns, Boss Fang had only given money.

This time, it's not just money—it's tech, resources, and talent too.

Resources: no graphics cards? Give him graphics cards. No computers? Give him computers. Full support: motion capture, digital tablets, 3D scanners, everything.

It's equivalent to opening up all of Yutu's virtual reality, LED Studio, and more to this person.

Liu Tianxian also froze for a moment—her man had never supported anyone this much before.

"Don't doubt it. By doing this, we can attract more people to join animated feature film production. If we can make Tian Xiaopeng successful, we can make Jiaozi successful—or others. What we need to do is give people like this more opportunities."

"Don't bet everything on live-action films. Diversify. We're pioneers—we're willing to lose money if we have to. Aren't we always doing this anyway?"

Fang Hong gave himself a perfectly reasonable excuse: be a pioneer, the one everyone doubts.

The one everyone hesitates to be—she must be the one who dares to go first, especially since she's always succeeded.

Chen Zhixi said nothing—it was just like the Principal, always giving people opportunities; Yutu's Producers and Directors all rose from newcomers.

After she left, Liu Tianxian said: "Aren't you afraid you'll go bankrupt?"

Animated film production isn't cheap, and the cycle is long—she knew that well.

"Not afraid. Why make so much money? I still live the same way. Even if we lose, it still helps the industry—cultivates talent, opens paths. Someone has to walk this road first—let it be me," Fang Hong said, head raised.

At that moment, his expression was melancholy, as if deeply lonely.

Liu Tianxian was subtly infected by his emotional state.

"Actually, money just sitting there still gets taxed—better to invest it," Fang Hong suddenly smiled.

"Huh?!" Liu Tianxian didn't understand.

"This money—lying on the company's books—is company income, subject to tax. If I invest it all now, it counts as business operation, so the profit drops," Fang Hong explained.

Company income is calculated based on profit; if I invest it, there's no profit—that's the logic.

Yutu no longer has tax incentives—it's been around five or six years; how long can tax breaks last?

Back then, we needed development, so the authorities supported us; now that we've risen, it's time to give back to society.

After rising to a higher level, Fang Hong understood many corporate logics: do you think Tencent or Alibaba really want to invest, and not just stuff money into their own pockets?

If you funnel money into your personal account, you pay twice—once on corporate income, once on personal income. A trillion? Half of it vanishes.

Company money is company money; personal money is personal money—they're different.

Of course, many companies don't want to invest—they find every way to siphon money into their own pockets—I won't name names.

Many corporations keep investing, investing recklessly, because they have so much money they have to invest—otherwise, they're forced to hand it over.

The original intent is good: encourage companies to invest—whether in tech or other industries to expand the pie—don't invest, the state helps you.

The whole world works this way—not just us. Other countries have even higher rates; overall, ours are relatively low.

In the United States, corporate income tax tops out at 37%—a trillion in profit? Three hundred and seventy billion vanishes instantly—terrifying.

Of course, they have many tax-avoidance methods—all invented by top billionaires.

So Fang Hong is wildly acquiring theaters, investing in animation, distributing money to subordinates, funding other companies to produce web dramas and films.

"Oh, you're so sneaky," Liu Tianxian said.

"Am I sneakier than you? You just walked in and demanded their theaters." Fang Hong laughed.

Just now, he applied pressure; she released it.

"How was I supposed to know you wanted to cooperate? You never made it clear," Liu Tianxian said.

"You don't even have this much intuition?" Fang Hong leaned in, teasing.

"It's all your fault," Liu Tianxian snapped, grabbing his neck and pressing down hard.

She hadn't wanted to act like that—it made her seem like the villain—it was all this man's fault.

Fang Hong hunched his neck, hands clasped in surrender.

"Hmph. I'll spare you."

Liu Tianxian released him and added: "Actually, the CEO of Anle is a decent person."

"He's only decent because you haven't threatened his interests," Fang Hong said.

"What does that mean?" Liu Tianxian didn't understand.

"You'll find out in a few days. The world won't give you respect just because you're a good person; the more such people are, the shorter their lives."

"There's a saying: good people don't live long, but villains endure for a thousand years — and this saying is very reasonable."

"Anything you say turns sour in your mouth."

"What flavor? Taste it yourself."

Fang Hong spoke, then leaned in and kissed his plump lips.

On July 16, Monster Hunt was officially released.

On this day, The Monkey King: Hero Is Back's box office was affected, earning 89.09 million, returning to the level of its fourth day, with total box office around five hundred million.

This film could hold steady; its reputation had already fermented, and along the streets, children could be seen everywhere holding "Sun Wukong" figurines.

Even online, many pirated merchandise appeared; of course, Yutu received some licensing fees for the merchandise — not much, just a few tens of millions, enough to recoup the cost of the free figurines given away.

This film was already hot, with high popularity; many children loved it, and due to herd mentality, many parents either didn't want to or couldn't take their kids to the cinema, or wanted to wait, so they bought such figurines online.

But box office would certainly be affected; even without pirated copies, Monster Hunt was impacted, and it had been out for so long.

Of course, Monster Hunt's box office was also affected; its opening day revenue was 130 million, two to three hundred million less than in its previous life.

On the 17th, The Big Bang premiered, earning over 130 million on its first day, causing Monster Hunt to lose another hundred million, falling behind the former.

But on the 18th, Monster Hunt caught up again, earning 160 million in a single day; The Big Bang earned 150 million.

The Monkey King: Hero Is Back stabilized at sixty to seventy million!

As for other films, they had collapsed completely; earning a hundred million was already considered a hit.

Yet Monster Hunt and The Big Bang inevitably entered battle mode, with fans from both sides mutually insulting and attacking each other on various social media and review platforms.

Monster Hunt was criticized: "Built solely on special effects!"

The Big Bang was mocked: "Lowbrow patchwork!"

The insults from both sides made the entire internet lively, and even the film market became fiery hot.

These so-called fans were actually paid Water Armies hired by each side to insult and belittle the other — don't treat Wangyi as fools; they wouldn't randomly insult others for no reason.

Wangyi would insult only if they called both films damn trash and garbage!

Soon after, it was exposed that both Monster Hunt and The Big Bang had falsified box office numbers.

Monster Hunt was exposed for manipulating box office through midnight and pre-dawn screenings.

Many theaters saw full houses at night, even exhibiting the abnormal phenomenon of multiple showings in the same hall within ten minutes.

Reporters also learned that a theater in Shanghai had consecutive screenings from 1 a. m. to 5 a. m., with ticketing platforms showing sold-out status.

The Big Bang was exposed for inflating box office figures.

A theater manager leaked that this film used ticketing platforms to lock in prime-time slots, squeezing out screening space for other films.

It was basically the logic of buying tickets just to occupy seats without watching — that's the gist.

Also, it was claimed that after its opening weekend surge, The Big Bang's growth rate plummeted, raising suspicion of pre-sale inflation.

It was also said that The Big Bang used Water Armies to manipulate ratings.

Even Guangxian's Wang Changtian couldn't watch anymore and publicly hinted: "Unscrupulous tactics!"

Who he was cursing was obvious — he probably cursed both sides.

They say Fang Hong is combative, but these people were even more combative; Wanda, Tencent, Alibaba, Jiang-Zhe, Anle, Huayi — all got involved.

Yutu had invested too, but this time he truly stayed out of it; exposing his pirated copy, he was also a victim.

Moreover, these players fought so fiercely that the Film Bureau had to step in and issue documents demanding strict crackdowns on false theater box office, affecting even ticketing platforms like TuPiaoPiao and TaoPiaoPiao.

Higher authorities demanded all ticketing platforms publicly release real-time box office data, increasing transparency, ushering in another round of industry regulation.

In the past, this was usually Fang Hong's doing; now, it's these capital interests doing it.

Liu Tianxian now understood Fang Hong's meaning — Jiang Zhiqiang was no good person either.

(End of Chapter)