Chapter 714

The practice room was spacious, with one wall being a large mirror, the floor made of soft wooden flooring, highly flexible, with wooden grain patterns.

Fang Hong sat cross-legged casually beside Liu Tianxian.

He said: "Your posture doesn't look very standard."

"How isn't it standard? It's perfectly standard! You don't understand—can you do the splits?" Liu Tianxian kept her original pose.

"I can't do the splits, but I can appreciate—your cleft hasn't been pressed down." Fang Hong nodded downward.

Liu Tianxian looked down and saw a noticeable gap between her thighs where she had split.

This was caused by not fully pressing down against the floor.

"I've seen others press that gap completely flat." Fang Hong added.

"It's too hard—I can't press it down no matter how long I practice." Liu Tianxian looked somewhat frustrated.

"Let me help you!" Fang Hong stood up, walked behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Be gentle, don't actually split me open." Liu Tianxian looked up.

"Relax, I know my own strength—you once split yourself doing a kick, and I won't do that." Fang Hong kept his hands on both her shoulders.

She had now fully recovered for nearly two months; movement posed no problem.

"What do you mean by that?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Nothing." Fang Hong replied.

"I remember now—you're mocking me, aren't you?" Liu Tianxian recalled: years ago, when he came to film "The Legend of Hongmen," this man showed up soaked by rain.

Back then, for some reason, she kicked him and accidentally split herself—it hurt badly then.

She'd forgotten the exact reason, but she clearly remembered wearing a dress; the photo was still saved on her phone.

At that moment, Fang Hong applied slight pressure; Liu Tianxian let out a muffled groan, feeling her body sink lower, a pang of pain.

The gap beneath remained—hard to press down so easily.

Fang Hong pressed again; Liu Tianxian cried out, "Ah!"

"Don't scream like that—someone might hear and think we're doing something." Fang Hong said.

"I'm in pain, can't I scream?" Liu Tianxian said.

Fang Hong pressed harder again; Liu Tianxian kept crying out, "Ah ah..." her voice undeniably alluring—anyone hearing it might think they were doing something intimate.

The sound faintly reached Liu Xiaoli's ears downstairs, where she was babysitting.

"These two—just recovered and can't control themselves." She hugged her child and shrugged: "Baby, let's go downstairs and play."

The baby was happily sucking on a bottle, face full of delight.

"Stop it—I'm in too much pain." Liu Tianxian signaled him to stop.

Fang Hong stopped, sat cross-legged beside her again, and sighed: "Ah, you've recovered well—looks like my good days are over!"

"Yes, we've both suffered." Liu Tianxian knew exactly what he meant; she stretched her long, straight legs out, back straight.

She brushed back her long hair, radiating her unique charm, and gave the man beside her a teasing glance.

Fang Hong smiled, crawled forward slowly.

Liu Tianxian drew her legs in, leaned back slightly; her chest lifted with the motion, her hand resting on the back of his neck to maintain balance.

"Who says she's a mother? She's still a youthful girl." Fang Hong leaned close, his hand on her soft cheek.

"Are you just teasing me?" Liu Tianxian fixed her gaze on the man; they were very close, and she softly inhaled the scent emanating from him.

"No, I'm not teasing—you're truly beautiful, even more beautiful than Diaochan." Fang Hong said.

"So you mean a sow is more beautiful than Diaochan?" Liu Tianxian laughed.

"You said it—I didn't." Fang Hong replied.

Liu Tianxian gripped his neck tightly, bit his lips, and said: "Has it been a long time since you've had a chance to use it?"

"Yes, too long—it's time to draw the blade." Fang Hong kissed her rosy lips.

Slowly, Liu Tianxian lay flat on the wooden floor; they kissed, as if savoring a delicacy.

Since her pregnancy, they hadn't experienced such tenderness in a long time.

Their kisses grew more urgent; Liu Tianxian slid her hand under his shirt and pulled it up.

Fang Hong rose, unfastening his belt; in his haste, he fumbled several times without succeeding.

Liu Tianxian slapped his hand away: "Useless!"

"Who says I'm useless? It's just been so long it's rusted and corroded." He still had the wit to joke.

"Let me see how rusty it is." Liu Tianxian was still very skilled; she quickly undid it, yanking his pants down.

Since giving birth, their movements had become much rougher.

But she hadn't done this in a long time either, and with postpartum psychological changes, she needed release.

"Right here?" Fang Hong asked.

"Just a few minutes—we'll be done before we make it back to the room." Liu Tianxian said.

"You underestimate me—I'll show you what a steel flood is." Fang Hong's phrasing made Liu Tianxian burst into laughter.

"See? The primordial beast—I'm scared even looking at it, it'll scare you to death!"

"Hahaha!"

August marked exactly one month since the first summer batch premiered: "The Bounty Hunter" grossed 213 million; "Magic Wheel" grossed 7.87 million; "Big Fish & Begonia" grossed 573 million; "Cold War 2" grossed 676 million; "Rocking Poodle" grossed 39.54 million; "The Great Reversal" grossed 78.46 million.

Other films earned around a few million or tens of thousands.

Except for "Big Fish & Begonia," all these films had entered their settlement period—meaning, as promised, they would be settled within fifteen days after one month of release.

Taking "The Bounty Hunter" as an example, after deducting theater shares and distribution fees, roughly 70 million needed to be settled with the production team.

Due to the large number of theaters, only Yutu's own cinemas, Dadi, and Hengdian had signed agreements for 15-day payouts; all others had not.

Therefore, RabbitTicket had to advance part of the money—this portion alone exceeded a hundred million, given the sheer number of theaters and films involved.

To manage cash flow, the settlement payments would be sold to financial institutions or banks at a 97% or 98% discount, and once all box office revenue came in, that portion would be repaid to the bank.

Two or three percentage points amounted to interest paid to the bank, because the accounts were clear—money was just temporarily delayed and needed time to return.

Banks were very willing to accept this arrangement, since they earned pure interest.

To secure a lower discount, Fang Hong decided to negotiate directly with Liu Tianxian's uncle, since securing a lower discount would let Yutu Piaopiao earn more.

And this way, the money wouldn't flow out to outsiders!

"This carries no real risk—you can proceed. Give a 98% discount; we'll take two points as interest." The uncle had no objections and agreed to lend to Yutu Piaopiao.

After all, the loan was made with full knowledge of the exact amount to be recovered—risk was virtually nonexistent.

If this deal were offered to anyone else, they'd gladly take it.

"This is a long-term project and may require your side to provide long-term financing, though we'll continuously roll over new loans to repay old ones," Fang Hong said.

"Then we must sign an agreement. This funding is limited to a short term—only three months," the uncle said.

"No problem," Fang Hong agreed.

After all, two points meant roughly two million yuan in interest per hundred million yuan—money that could be used for their cash flow.

It was effectively like having the funds in hand first, to be repaid upon maturity, with the known box office revenue of the films serving as collateral.

This would allow them to borrow a large sum to pay back film distributors, while theater chains lacking funds for their fifteen-day box office receipts would gradually receive payments, which they could then use immediately.

Production companies such as Tianma, Huayi, and Hai Run all received their previous month's box office returns within a short time.

This news spread quickly through the industry.

"The Principal really does what he says—he actually paid them back," Xiao Wang and Lao Wang were thrilled.

This was the first time they had received such rapid returns; even smaller producers like Ji Mei and Hai Run received their corresponding box office payouts.

Although some amounts were small, the speed was still satisfying—far faster by countless times compared to before.

And this money could be reinvested.

This instantly earned recognition for Yutu Piaopiao's distribution model from major film and television producers.

Guangxian was frustrated—even their film, "Big Fish & Begonia," which earned hundreds of millions, couldn't get paid yet and had to wait months, effectively held up.

After all, they hadn't followed the Principal's plan.

This rapid return cycle benefited the further prosperity of the film and television market—faster cycles meant faster investment.

The Principal's policy would benefit many people.

The summer season in August was still ongoing, and could be said to be even more prosperous than the previous month.

This month saw the release of "The Lost Tomb," a film co-produced by Yutu; also Huayi's "Mr. Six"; and major films like "Line Walker."

Each film was staggered by roughly one week—never before had the film market been so harmonious.

This was thanks to Fang Hong's growing control over the film industry; only by controlling the industry could one maintain it.

Yet these films still didn't screen at Wanda Cinemas; of over a hundred films in the entire summer season, only a dozen screened at Wanda, leaving Wanda essentially with no films to show throughout the summer.

Those dozen films were rotated repeatedly, and their box office was low; the early releases had lost their appeal.

The long-awaited rent hike by Lao Wang Zong never happened—not even a whisper of it.

Heng Da merely announced rent increases for several of its cinemas, though they didn't disclose the brands; but observant people had already identified them as Yutu's three cinemas.

They were Chongqing Zhongyu Guangchang, Nanning Guoji Zhongxin, and Wuhan Shiji Guangchang—all operated by Heng Da.

No other Yutu-operated cinemas were involved.

After announcing the rent hike, Yutu Cinemas immediately shut down operations, causing a sharp drop in foot traffic at the malls.

Wanda Cinemas remained open, but with scarce film supply; people still dropped by occasionally, and though they didn't have their favorites, some would watch other films out of laziness.

Heng Da's Yutu Cinema shut down completely, and Yutu Piaopiao displayed "Closed for Business."

A sign reading "Temporarily Closed" was posted at the entrance!

Not only did they shut down, but Yutu struck first, suing Heng Da for malicious rent hikes and violating contract terms by cutting off water and electricity.

Heng Da's spokesperson replied: "The rent increase is reasonable; cutting off water and electricity never happened—it's completely baseless. We will also take legal action."

They hadn't even cut the utilities yet, and Yutu had already shut down, sending employees home to rest.

Both sides were preparing to sue each other—they were completely at each other's throats.

Due to the public attention, Xu Laoban learned of the situation and specifically inquired.

"Kick him out, kick him out immediately—I can't stand it anymore," Xu Laoban said, furious upon hearing the news. "I've never seen such arrogance—how dare he come after me like this?"

"Mr. Xu, if we kick them out, no theater chain will move in," said the executive who had attended the meeting with Fang Hong.

"How could no one move in? There are so many theater chains—surely some would take the space," Xu Laoban refused to believe it.

"You're right—we've approached other theater chains. After Yutu's exit, not a single one dares to move in," the man sighed.

The Principal had been right: when he withdrew, no one dared occupy the space—except Wanda.

But Wanda is a proprietary brand and doesn't occupy other commercial streets.

"There's really such a thing?" Xu Laoban was astonished, completely confused.

He spent his days enjoying the dance troupe—he never paid attention to the entertainment industry's troublemakers. Jack Ma told him, and he readily agreed.

Currently, only Heng Da was planning a rent hike; other property service providers like Vanke and China Resources showed no signs of action.

This puzzled Lao Wang Zong—not just him, but many theater chains were puzzled too. Logically, August was the rent-increase month; with Heng Da acting, other property managers should have reacted too.

Especially Vanke—absolutely no movement. Over a hundred commercial streets, all cinemas operated normally, and no one heard of any rent hikes.

When Lao Wang Zong inquired, he was told: "We can't raise rents—we simply can't." Just those two sentences left him frustrated.

Only after discussing with Jack Ma did he learn: the Principal had publicly declared at the meeting that whoever raised rents, he would shut down—shutting down all hundred-plus cinemas.

If he couldn't make money, no one else would either.

"The Principal is truly a hardliner—he's managed to scare off all those property developers," Lao Wang Zong didn't know what to say.

Those property developers were too weak—they weren't even as tough as him.

"I never expected him to fight like this, at the cost of mutual destruction."

Jack Ma also didn't expect the Principal to threaten the real estate service providers by shutting down all theaters.

This didn't just hurt themselves—it hurt the theater operators too.

He added: "But they have no conflict of interest with the Principal; they won't go out of their way to offend him—it benefits them nothing."

In other words, the Principal has narrowly escaped a disaster.

"Then let's launch a copyright war next," said Lao Wang Zong.

"Start with Hollywood," said Jack Ma.

Right after the two reached an agreement, Warner's *Friends*, *Harry Potter*, *The Big Bang Theory*, and others;

Disney's Marvel series, *Star Wars* series, as well as *Frozen*, *Zootopia*, and others;

Universal's *Fast & Furious* series, including DreamWorks' *Kung Fu Panda*, *How to Train Your Dragon*, and others.

Also, Paramount's *Transformers*, *The Godfather*; and Sony's *Spiderman* series.

The copyright agents of Hollywood's Six Majors' films and TV shows all launched copyright enforcement actions.

They filed over two hundred lawsuits against Bilibili and TikTok at once, and the number continues to rise.

All of them sued over second-creation content—namely, commentary and short-video plot analyses—accusing both platforms of infringement.

This move didn't hurt TikTok much, since it's primarily a music-based short-video platform; whether these second-creation commentaries were there or not didn't matter much—even removing them had little impact.

But it severely hurt Bilibili, which hosts a massive amount of Hollywood films, film and TV commentaries, and second-creation videos.

These film and TV second-creation commentaries have large, dedicated user bases who specifically enjoy this kind of content.

Now, with these agents launching hundreds of copyright lawsuits at once, Bilibili is truly suffering—they must respond and prepare to compensate for economic losses.

It's not that Fang Hong's good relations with Warner and Universal can let him slip through—these films and TV shows have copyright agents in China.

(End of Chapter)