Chapter 734: Do You Really Like Li Luo So Much?

Li Luo was actually quite satisfied with the current situation.

If things continue at this pace, by the time he graduates from university, he'll likely have assets exceeding one hundred million.

In fact, his current net worth is already around several tens of millions.

Purely from online novel subscription royalties, "I Am Really Not a Star," a six-million-word work with an average subscription of sixty thousand, has earned him roughly twenty million in royalties combined from the main platform and distribution channels.

"Night Watch of Great Qian," though already exceeding eighty thousand average subscriptions, hasn't reached two million words yet, so its earnings are relatively lower—but still several million.

In addition, the copyright income from "A Little Joy" had been reinvested by Li Luo into this film and television project, continuously generating tens of millions in returns.

Add to that the Bihai Lanting apartment and the three commercial shops on Xijie, which are now worth roughly over ten million.

Li Luo also invested part of his royalties into the stock market, and by recalling specific stock trends from his past life within the Memory Palace, his rate of return has been quite favorable.

However, since he hadn't traded stocks much in his previous life, he could only recall fragmented details from conversations with Xu Youyu, knowing which stocks would definitely rise in the future.

Occasionally, he remembered a few recent speculative stocks, but he only dabbled lightly in them.

Although his current influence is minor, it still has some effect on the worldline's fluctuations.

Li Luo felt there was no need to take such risks—he'd rather earn his small fortune steadily.

Aside from those stocks destined to rise with societal development and national rise, Li Luo avoids all other stocks entirely.

Under these circumstances, his current assets have grown to the level of fifty to sixty million.

Now, having signed this contract with Huayue Film and Television, he has invested the film and television rights to "The Beginning" at a valuation of twenty-five million into this project.

If this project's performance next year matches that of "A Little Joy," then, based on Li Luo's one-third investment share, the returns would be extremely staggering.

Therefore, from Li Luo's own perspective, in just a few short years, he had amassed nearly a hundred million in assets, and he felt this was already quite good.

For someone who was just an ordinary person in his past life, having this much money, he didn't even know where to spend it.

At this moment, Yin Zhicheng gave him a clear direction to strive for.

Hmm… turn Chongran Culture into a legitimate entertainment and cultural company.

Once his thoughts connected here, Li Luo's mind instantly became active, rapidly processing and analyzing Yin Zhicheng's suggestion.

"According to Uncle Yin's advice, I'd like to organize my thoughts," Li Luo rubbed his temples, then slowly continued, "Let's assume I divide Chongran Culture's operations into several sectors."

"One is online novels—my own creative income, which doesn't require company management, so no need to elaborate."

"Based on this, there's the film and television copyright operation sector, including subsidiary rights for physical media, animation, comics, and audiobooks."

"And this splits into two directions."

"One is works published on online novel platforms, like 'Night Watch of Great Qian.'"

"This sector can only collaborate with Wenxue Group, relying on the platform's backing, and will most likely partner with Penguin."

"The other is my personal short stories, like 'A Little Joy' and 'The Beginning,' which can be developed through collaboration with Uncle Yin and Director Wang."

"That's two sectors."

Here, Li Luo paused briefly, took a sip of tea, then looked toward Yin Zhicheng and Wang Jun and said, "Then there's what Uncle Yin just mentioned—the company's signed artists."

"You're right—if 'The Beginning' continues to maintain its blockbuster success, profiting from just this one wave isn't enough."

"We should also seize the opportunity with artists, especially since this script is particularly suitable for nurturing newcomers."

"Ruan Lin from outside could be an option, but she's not essential."

Li Luo mused, "She already has 'A Little Joy' as her foundation—if she gets arrogant because of it, I have no reason to choose her; it's better to find someone more obedient."

Especially now that Ruan Lin is hailed as the nation's sweetheart—this title is one thing, but her face being overly well-known is another.

However, after two or three years, Ruan Lin has now grown into a college student, her face and figure having matured somewhat.

With changes in makeup, hairstyle, and clothing, some of these issues can be mitigated.

But all of this depends on Ruan Lin and Lü Yilan's attitudes.

"Also, the male lead in this drama is a good position," Li Luo continued. "For the auditions, I hope we select from younger actors or recent graduates from performing arts academies."

"The key is they haven't signed with any talent agency yet."

"That makes them easier to approach."

"That requirement…" Wang Jun listened, paused thoughtfully, then advised, "Then it's best to hold open auditions directly at schools like Beijing Film Academy or Central Academy of Drama—though it'll be tiring, at least most candidates will meet your basic criteria."

"Hmm…" Li Luo nodded slightly. "Could you help me contact them, preferably scheduling it for the weekend?"

"Sure, no problem, what's hard about that?" Wang Jun chuckled. "We can start spreading the word."

"Students have fewer information channels, so let's build up some anticipation."

"After National Day holiday ends, we can lock in the other roles first, then conduct the open audition for the male lead."

"If you think Ruan Lin isn't suitable, we can hold an open audition for the female lead too."

"Good," Li Luo nodded in agreement. "Then regarding Ruan Lin…"

"I'll handle the negotiations," Yin Zhicheng said calmly. "Your company doesn't yet have a suitable person—just have Lawyer Tian accompany you."

"Uncle Yin, isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Li Luo asked softly.

Yin Zhicheng is still the general manager of Huayue Film and Television—helping an outsider sign artists… it wouldn't look good if it got out.

Although he's already done a few small things before, negotiating artist contracts is more likely to spread.

Yin Zhicheng thought for a moment, then his gaze fell on his daughter, and he chuckled. "Then let Xi Xi handle it—you said before that you wanted Xi Xi to manage Chongran Culture's operations, right?"

"Huh? Me?" Ying Chanxi, who had been listening quietly, was suddenly called out by her father and froze, her face blank with surprise.

But when Li Luo turned to look at her, he smiled: "Then have Lawyer Tian lead the negotiations, let Xi Xi represent Chongran Culture, and have Uncle Yin assist with strategy."

"R-Really?" Ying Chanxi still looked worried, her face tense as everyone's attention focused on her. "What if I mess it up…"

"If it falls through, it falls through—no big deal," Li Luo waved his hand. "You need to understand our position—we're not begging her to sign; if she refuses, we have other candidates waiting."

"Aren't you taking courses in corporate operations and management at school? Theory and practice must be combined to truly understand and absorb knowledge, and apply it to real cases."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi suddenly felt warmth in her heart, her earlier tension gradually fading.

She nodded firmly: "I'll do my best."

Li Luo smiled, then turned to Yuan Wanqing beside him: "After covering the online novel and film & TV sections, it's Yuan Auntie's turn now."

"Although Yuan Auntie's studio contract doesn't expire until 2019, collaboration between both sides has been ongoing."

"Besides that, it's Zhusheng's turn."

Saying this, Li Luo turned to Yan Zhusheng and smiled at her: "Your mom can't come over right now, so you'll have to sign with me first, right?"

"Or do you want to go to your mom's studio first and join us together in 2019?"

Yan Zhusheng had no hesitation; she blinked her eyes and decisively chose Li Luo: "I'll sign with you—I don't want Mom's side."

Although Yuan Wanqing herself preferred Yan Zhusheng to directly join Chongran Culture, seeing her daughter's unhesitating choice, she could only chuckle and press her forehead with her hand.

"So you really like following Li Luo?" Yuan Wanqing laughed.

"At Mom's place, we still have to split profits with the company," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "But with Li Luo, we don't."

"Even with Li Luo, you still have to sign a profit-sharing agreement with Chongran Culture," Yuan Wanqing reminded her.

"So what?" Yan Zhusheng blinked her eyes and tilted her head toward Yuan Wanqing.

Ying Chanxi, hearing this, feared Yan Zhusheng might say something strange and quickly grabbed her arm to interrupt: "Zhusheng joining Chongran Culture is definitely best—I'll be your agent!"

"Cough…" Yuan Wanqing cleared her throat and whispered, "As for the agent role, I actually have someone in mind."

"Who?" Li Luo asked curiously. "If I later sign lead actors, I'll probably need to find an agent too."

"Xiao Wen—you all know her," Yuan Wanqing smiled. "She's been working with me for years. Though she's called an assistant, she's actually doing agent work."

"Her skills have been fully developed now; continuing to stay by my side would be a waste of her talent—she won't be able to fully shine."

"If you don't mind, you might consider her."

"That's not bad," Li Luo nodded with a smile. "Sister Xiao Wen is great, and she's already familiar with Zhusheng. Having her as agent is a good choice."

After this exchange, the group roughly settled the framework for future development.

Wang Jun's director studio is still in its early planning stage and plans to use this "The Beginning" project to build a core team, then expand gradually.

After the massive success of "Little Joy," Wang Jun's value has surged recently.

In the coming months, "Little Joy" is expected to receive several TV-related award nominations, adding luster to Wang Jun's reputation.

So even without "The Beginning," Wang Jun has no shortage of scripts to choose from.

But when he heard in September that Li Luo had another script ready, he immediately turned down all other offers and decided to focus entirely on Li Luo's project.

He knew clearly that taking other people's scripts yields low hit rates—it's just earning a director's hard-earned fee.

Though the pay isn't low, Wang Jun understands the priority perfectly.

Even though he highly values Li Luo, he also knows a person's talent has limits.

A genius like Chongran, currently in a phase of rapid growth, is now at the optimal window for his talent to be realized.

In a few years, he might enter a state of creative exhaustion, forced to rely on past glories and capital maneuvers to earn money.

Wang Jun has seen too many such cases in the industry, so for Li Luo's second script, he naturally wanted to get on board while Li Luo's talent was still in its prime.

As for other scripts, if "The Beginning" continues to explode in popularity, there will be plenty of future opportunities for them to come knocking.

More crucially, after some maneuvering, Yin Zhicheng offered their studio a chance for equity investment.

Though it's only a little over a million yuan, it's already substantial—more than that, they couldn't afford.

"Oh, by the way, one more thing."

Li Luo had nearly finished the conversation and was rising to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned back to Yuan Wanqing.

"Yuan Auntie, did ByteDance reach out to you?"

"Huh? What's 'jumping'?" Yuan Wanqing blinked in confusion.

"TikTok—a mobile app," Li Luo reminded her. "You might not be involved in this area directly—ask whoever handles content partnerships at your studio."

"TikTok… I think I've heard of it," Yuan Wanqing recalled, prompted by his words. "Xiao Wen mentioned it before, but we thought it was just a small app, seemed a bit unprofessional, so we declined."

"Hmm…" Li Luo sighed faintly, not surprised by Yuan Wanqing's choice.

Short-video platforms like TikTok and Kuaishou were still seen as low-end in 2017.

Even many years later, they still carried that stigma.

TikTok had made several attempts and was slightly better off than Kuaishou.

But even so, it wasn't much better back then.

"You should really consider talking to them," Li Luo sincerely advised. "I have strong confidence in the future development of such short-video platforms."

"You don't have much free time, so you don't feel it deeply."

"But these platforms are wildly popular among young people."

"For our entertainment industry, capturing young people means capturing the future."

"If TikTok's terms are favorable, Yuan Auntie might as well reach out."

"If possible, let me know a bit about their terms."

"Of course," Yuan Wanqing nodded with a smile. "If you recommend it, I'll have someone reach out again."

"Alright," Li Luo nodded lightly. "Thanks for the trouble."

After learning Yuan Wanqing had been approached by TikTok, Li Luo turned to Yan Zhusheng—his mind now held a clearer path, stretching toward the future.

(End of Chapter)