Chapter 690: Capital Strangulation

Spring warmth arrived, and the family sat in their own chairs, chatting together, enjoying the spring sunshine.

Xu Liyun didn't care about those things, and she didn't understand them either.

Liu Xiaoli wore a floral dress, nearly sixty years old, yet still had a lingering charm and an elegant air.

"Lao Wang Zong is a very traditional person, very doting on his own son, but also very rational—he keeps emotion and business well separated, so he shouldn't be the impulsive type," she analyzed.

"If he's not impulsive, then why would he be impulsive? From the start he knew I was going after his son, yet he kept holding back, not getting overly involved. Even now he hasn't said he'd intervene in his son's Panda, and he hasn't given Wanda's money to Panda either—instead he wants to open a separate battlefield with me."

Fang Hong sat with one leg crossed over the other, knowing the kind of man Lao Wang Zong was.

Panda was destined to die, and in this regard Wanda simply couldn't counter Chang'e Technology—it could only go after Yutu.

Chang'e and Wanda, two enterprises in different fields.

"He hadn't made any moves before, so why is he suddenly wanting to open a separate battlefield with you this time?" Liu Tianxian asked curiously.

"Because of you. I wanted his son to come pour tea for you, and he didn't agree." Fang Hong reached out and stroked her long hair, then said again: "These rich people value their dignity more than their lives."

"When people are so poor that all they have left is money, money is just a number to them—of course they value their dignity highly," Liu Xiaoli said.

Money had already been obtained, so what one naturally pursued next was dignity and status.

"Why did you want him to come pour tea for me?" Liu Tianxian was very curious.

She had assumed this man simply wanted to destroy the other party.

"Just to help you vent a little," Fang Hong said with a smile.

Liu Xiaoli also pressed her lips into a smile—this was about establishing dignity for her daughter. In this circle, no amount of money could buy dignity; no matter how much money you had, if people looked down on you, they looked down on you.

But it could be established through means like this.

"I'm not angry. What's there for me to be angry about with someone like that? It's unnecessary." Liu Tianxian simply didn't want to lower herself to Xiao Wang's level.

"Doing this emotionally, I need an attitude from the other side; rationally, I need to protect you. If I can't even protect the person I love, then what's the meaning of everything I've done? There's no meaning. And I'm still a man—if I can't protect my loved one, do I even deserve to be called a man?" Fang Hong said, looking at her.

"I understand, I understand!" Liu Tianxian listened, moved.

Reaching this level requires a goal, requires dignity and self-respect—and these things don't come out of nowhere, they have to be fought for.

If they didn't have powerful strength, when Xiao Wang cursed people, he'd just curse, and no one could do anything to him.

That's how it was. In the entertainment circle, how many people had he cursed at? How many came to flatter him? Lin Gengxin was cursed at like a dog—so what? He still had to endure it.

Those celebrities played games with him, listened to his foul mouth, and still greeted him with smiling faces.

Liu Xiaoli just liked this about her son-in-law—he always had a clear sense of what he wanted, never blindly targeting anyone.

"Competing with Wanda, are you confident or not?" she asked.

"What confidence can there be in this? It's nothing more than wearing each other down with our respective strengths. They can't do anything to me, and I can't do anything to them. Wanda can't swallow Chang'e Yutu, and at this stage Chang'e Yutu can't swallow Wanda either," Fang Hong said.

"At this stage?" Liu Xiaoli caught the key phrase.

"Yes. Wanda taking domestic money to buy, buy, buy overseas in the first place isn't appropriate, and what they're buying isn't even quality real technology assets."

Fang Hong lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then tried to explain: "Actually, our country gives money to these entrepreneurs so they can develop themselves—to build up our own country, not so you can take the money overseas and buy all kinds of random stuff. What's the use of that stuff?

Apart from technology, minerals, and those ports, most overseas assets are actually inferior assets.

It's simple—your own home isn't even built up yet, and you go take money out to invest in someone else's home. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

What he didn't say was that we've always been preventing capital outflow, but some entrepreneurs just won't listen.

Buying houses abroad is fine, buying property for enjoyment is no problem, even emigrating is fine, but the money can't be taken out—that's the labor result of over a billion people working for decades.

You think you're so wise? Did you get rich on your own ability? You just rode the wave of the times—the times made you rich.

The reason Fang Hong has been fine until now, bouncing around, is that from the very beginning he was transferring overseas money back inward, supporting the film and television industrial system.

Although it was a drop in the bucket, judge by deeds, not by heart.

Liu Xiaoli thought it over thoughtfully, then asked: "Are you saying Wanda will run into a crisis?"

"Pretty much, though I'm not sure exactly when. Wanda's overseas assets are too massive—frighteningly so," Fang Hong couldn't say everything.

Anyway, Wanda is pretty terrifying—spent hundreds of billions overseas buying theater chains, buying Ministry of Culture and Tourism properties, buying hotels, and so on.

For the country at this stage and the external environment, these things really have no use. What we need is industrial surpassing and technological catching-up.

Not letting you build up overseas, boosting someone else's GDP and employment. An economy without strong real strength as its backing is paper-mâché—this understanding is very clear-headed.

If this money had stayed in the country, there'd be no big problem—you built up your own. The money went out, but the assets stayed locally.

As said before, spend a hundred million on construction—although the money is gone, there's always something there, and that thing is worth a hundred million. That's an asset—that's the logic.

If you spent it overseas, the assets stayed overseas. Those hotels, theaters, and such? Can you carry them away?

A very simple example: Li Chaoren held onto land for decades without developing it. For a businessman that's nothing, and people even praise him for having a long-term vision.

But for the local area there's no benefit at all. Land is given to you so you can create more value, drive the local economy, but you didn't drive it. What it was like when first given to you, that's how it ended up—and you still made money and left.

This is also why his reputation is terrible everywhere, why people even give him a cold shoulder—no value created.

What about that "last copper coin" thing—he felt the pressure, and the development forced him to actually do something.

For example, if the whole area around you is commercial streets, and yours is just an empty lot, and people keep urging you to develop it—if you don't develop it, name your price. Do you feel pressure or not?

No contribution, who would still sell land to him? He could only slink away, and prettify it as "the last copper coin."

Hong Kong capital tycoons are basically all in real estate, and none of the real estate developers are like him, yet they all made money. Even when they later blew up, there were never reports of Hong Kong real estate developers blowing up.

He even complained, saying he wasn't given special privileges. Damn, you don't even have that awareness yourself, don't want to develop the local economy a bit—why would they give you anything? And you set a very bad example.

Even the common people are cursing—being rich but unkind, his reputation has gotten that bad.

The phenomenon in our country is just like this: a businessman without a sense of national responsibility will inevitably be cursed.

"How do I see Lao Wang Zong? He's quite sentimental," Liu Xiaoli knew that Lao Wang Zong was a former soldier.

"Sentiment is sentiment, but this matter depends on your actions, not your heart. Who can see your heart? And no one has the mind to figure out what kind of person you are," Fang Hong said.

Liu Xiaoli nodded, feeling this son-in-law had very sharp political instincts.

Anyway, whether you love your country or not, I don't know, but your actions I'm watching. Who knows if you're just shifting assets overseas.

Hundreds of billions—the labor result of how many people—and we're supposed to look at your "heart"? Shout a couple of slogans? No one dares to gamble on that.

Just like Liu Tianxian, her behavior these years has always been "a virtuous child of China," so the authorities have recognized her—her nationality truly doesn't matter.

Just ask which actor has ever earned such praise from the authorities.

Liu Tianxian said nothing; she had been listening attentively all along.

Perhaps this is why "Yifei Xianju" was established—not for profit, but solely for cutting-edge tech research, to highlight her sense of responsibility.

Whether or not any tangible results emerge, at least her attitude and actions are there, and her assets and achievements remain locally.

While the struggle between the Principal and Xiao Wang continued, the entertainment circle still churned out one big scandal after another.

At Baoguangtou's wedding, Liu Yan was teased by several groomsmen and nearly thrown into the water—the incident sparked widespread outrage and trended on hot search.

Netizens were also debating: "Aren't you afraid Liu Yan might get exposed and feel embarrassed?"

This incident made Baoguangtou, his wife, and those groomsmen the targets of public fury—every comment under their Weibo posts was filled with insults.

As the matter grew larger, perhaps feeling pressure or something else, Liu Yan released a video to apologize.

Netizens responded: "You didn't do anything wrong here—why are you apologizing?"

And so they launched another wave of verbal attacks against those men.

In fact, the netizens did more harm than good—the harsher they criticized, the more isolated Liu Yan became in the industry, with no one wanting to associate with her.

It's simple: if you can't even take a joke, and immediately expose it online, who dares to hang out with you?

Celebrities frequently attend such events; hugging, touching, and borderline behavior are all normal—but to netizens with explosive moral righteousness, these acts are vulgar, signs of moral decay.

Besides this, Lao Wang and Xia Jie held their wedding in Bali, instantly dominating headlines across entertainment media.

Last year was the announcement of their marriage certificate; this time was the grand wedding!

Online, video clips of their wedding flew everywhere—words like "happiness," "sweetness," and "luxury" were everywhere.

Naturally, comparisons were drawn with the Principal's and Liu Tianxian's wedding.

"The Principal's and Liu Tianxian's wedding looked more comfortable, with solemn ceremony."

"What is Lao Wang? How dare he compare himself to our Principal? In age, ability, wealth, and personal morality—he can't be compared at all."

"The Principal isn't remarried; the Principal and Liu Tianxian are similar in age, and didn't marry an 18-year-old!"

"Exactly—don't let just anyone latch onto the Principal. The Principal is YYDS!"

"I used to think the Principal wasn't that great, but now I feel that even if he's a bit flawed, he's still perfect."

Netizens freely commented, but those involved didn't even pay attention—it wasn't even on the same level.

Also, there was the incident where Guanxi Ge insulted Zhiling Jiejie, with many theories: "Zhiling Jiejie and He Sui didn't get along; He Sui complained bitterly to Qin Shupei, and Guanxi Ge flew into a rage for his girlfriend's friend!"

Qin Shupei is Guanxi Ge's girlfriend.

Another theory: "Zhiling Jiejie stole Qin Shupei's resources, making Guanxi Ge furious!"

In any case, rumors abounded—the entertainment circle never lacks gossip, and there were even leaks claiming Da Hu Zi and his wife had both cheated on each other—utterly explosive.

Recently, another piece of news impacted the film industry: Bona announced its successful delisting and initiated its A-share listing process.

If Bona succeeds in listing, it will remain a giant in the film industry; Huayi has already collapsed, and Guangxian has done nothing significant.

Effectively, the Principal now controls two giants of the film industry and dominates the top production end.

The current date is mid-April; the May Day holiday box office season has begun, but there are no major blockbusters this May Day.

Aside from "The Great Tang: Xuanzang," whose promotional campaign was relatively large, all other films rely on star appeal—one is "The Phantom of the Magic Palace," starring Lin Xinru.

Another is "Dream Partners," similar to "Chinese Partners," except it's a romance film.

Romance films are notoriously hard to achieve high box office—even with a superstar cast, it's always been this way.

This genre suits TV dramas better; romance films differ from youth films—youth films carry nostalgia, romance films don't.

Romance films struggle to resonate with reality, because everyone's experience of love is different; audiences don't go to theaters to watch two people dawdle through a love story—the runtime is so short.

"Bound" only had a hint of romance in the first half; the second half was pure reality.

In her past life, Liu Tianxian added romance to every film she starred in, which caused low box office—this was her trait; it seemed as if without romance, no one would watch.

In this life, the films Fang Hong made for her had no deep romance at all.

Besides these films, there were several animations, and on May 6, Hollywood's "Captain America 3" would be released.

Of course, "Lucy 2" would also be released in this slot—it had been delayed for a long time.

Overseas, it would premiere simultaneously with the May Day holiday, still distributed by Universal.

Now all films have entered the propaganda phase; "The Great Tang: Xuanzang" is pushing Huang Jiaozhu as its main draw—part of the Belt and Road cultural export.

But audiences don't care much for suffering—it won't earn high box office.

"Lucy 2" is pushing pure thrills, leveraging its prequel IP, and has released a trailer with nonstop high-energy moments.

Liu Tianxian's determined gaze, her cool stride; and Thanos's formidable stance—these ignited audience anticipation.

But Liu Tianxian won't appear for promotion; Thanos has no obligation—he didn't sign any agreement. Li Xuejian, who plays the professor, is old and has no buzz—forget it.

So "Lucy 2" is being promoted casually, but since there are no big blockbusters in this slot, its anticipation remains very high.

Just as the May Day holiday approached, Wanda Old Wang acted—Fang Hong received the news immediately.

"Boss Fang, Old Wang Zong has extended our box office payout period from 60 days to 180 days, and also demands we pay a 30% box office deposit—meaning if our future films fail to meet their projected box office, they'll seize 30% as theater loss and maintenance funds."

They also require streaming rights payments to be deposited into their theater chain's designated account, frozen until the film's theatrical run ends, supposedly to prevent us from releasing the film prematurely on streaming platforms.

They also demand a 20% incremental split of online pay-per-view revenue." Chen Zhixi reported.

Effectively, beyond the traditional revenue split, we must pay a 30% deposit—this forces us to gamble: if the film fails to meet the theater's projected box office, the 30% is forfeited.

Traditional split plus 30% deposit—the producer makes no profit at all; it's a loss, we might even owe them money.

Whether the film makes money or not, we might still owe them money, because you never know when they'll return your deposit.

And you may not even reach the theater's box office target—they could set it at 10 billion, demanding you hit that number—unless "Nezha 2" makes an Arrival.

It's a forced gamble—you have no choice but to play.

As for streaming rights being deposited into their designated account, that's a tyrannical clause—they're claiming partial copyright to the film and demanding partial copyright fees.

This is equivalent to putting up a heavy margin deposit — although the money is still yours, it won't circulate, which means the Jade Rabbit's funds will be strangled.

(End of chapter)