Chapter 297: Not Being Famous Is a Sin: Public Relations Director Huo Siyan of Weibo

After the birthday banquet, they arranged to go to a karaoke private room in the city.

The conditions here in Hengdian are limited, so we have to make do; if it were Jingcheng, we could find other activities.

"President Yan, I toast you—happy birthday."

Wen Zhang, who attended the birthday banquet as a family member, came over to offer a drink; he and Ma Yili had come all the way from Jingcheng specifically to celebrate Seeing Yan Li's birthday.

He was at best a cheap brother-in-law; Seeing Yan Li clinked glasses with him and chatted casually.

"I heard you're planning to sign with Orange Sky?"

Wen Zhang nodded: "We're discussing it."

Earlier, Ma Yili had officially signed with Orange Sky as a member of the 【Five Warriors】, alongside Yuan Li, Hao Lei, Chen Xiaodong, and Wang Yan.

No wonder Seeing Yan Li looked down on Orange Sky—they pulled stunts like forming "Four Dan, Two Bing" groups for bundled marketing, which was understandable.

But the groupings made no sense: no selling points, no gimmicks, just forced pairings.

For example, the so-called Five Warriors—Seeing Yan Li couldn't figure out which five elements they represented; he looked it up and found nonsense like "fiery passion," "earthy weight," "metallic sharpness," and so on.

You'd think they were forming a celebrity group; if you didn't know, you'd think it was a xianxia web novel.

Bundled marketing requires finding common ground first.

If I were running it, I'd kick out Chen Xiaodong and replace him with Mei Ting—call them the Five Qingyi of Orange Sky or the Five Jinhua of Orange Sky; either would be stronger than these Five Warriors.

Perhaps Orange Sky themselves knew it wasn't working, so they set up a rivalry with Huayi's Five Tiger Generals.

The so-called Huayi Five Tiger Generals are the five male artists Huayi signed this year: Huang Xiaoming, Feng Yuanzheng, Zhang Hanyu, Li Yixiang, and the last one, 【Brocade Ma Chao】, whose identity was teased for nearly two months before being revealed as Li Zonghan.

All the hype actually relied entirely on Huang Xiaoming, the current rising star, to draw attention.

After months of back-and-forth, neither side generated as much buzz as the Four Big Brothers' Baisha Charity Night, let alone the Four Dan, Two Bing.

Realizing it was pointless, Huayi withdrew on its own.

Huang Xiaoming, the leader of the Five Tiger Generals, left the group and, bearing the title of Huayi's top male artist, mingled with the other top stars.

With no rivals left, Orange Sky's Five Warriors grew even more awkward—none of the artists even wanted to include that title in their own press releases.

Still, Orange Sky didn't seem ready to give up; they planned to launch another new generation of 80s stars called the Orange Sky Seven Princesses.

It's hard not to suspect they're trying to ride the coattails of 【Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies】, especially since these seven women are all well-known actresses in the industry now.

Although Orange Sky has plenty of weird moves, it's still the most suitable company for Wen Zhang to sign with.

Tong Dawei and Ma Yili—his big brother and girlfriend—are already there; they can look out for him and form a certain alliance.

Wen Zhang wasn't sure what Seeing Yan Li meant—was Yian also interested in signing him?

That would truly be a hard choice!

Even though Orange Sky has people looking out for him, its internal resources are limited; artists often have to take outside roles and rely on personal connections to secure them—otherwise, Ma Yili and the others wouldn't have gone out of their way to get close to Qin Lan.

Yian is completely different: rich in both internal and external resources, with a bright future.

The outside world talks about the Four Giants: Huayi, Yian, Hai Run, and Orange Sky.

In reality, Orange Sky is the most hollow of the giants.

It has money, but it's poured into the film *Red Cliff* and plans to acquire Shaw Brothers; most of its business is artist management.

Hai Run is formidable, but it focuses almost entirely on TV dramas, with barely any film achievements.

So in many people's minds, Huayi and Yian are the only ones truly developing in all directions, worthy of the title "giant."

Huayi has stronger overall foundations; Yian's strength lies in its potential and standout strengths in specific areas.

Especially since Seeing Yan Li owns a subsidiary, Yi'an Cinema Chain, which adds major points to Yian's value.

If Yian and Yi'an Cinema Chain merged, even without outstanding achievements in film production and distribution, they'd still force Huayi to tread carefully.

A real cinema chain built with hundreds of millions in investment is nothing like a lightweight film company.

So if Seeing Yan Li personally recruited him, Wen Zhang truly considered leaving Orange Sky for Yian.

After all, Orange Sky still had his girlfriend and big brother looking out for him; any good opportunities would still include him.

But soon he realized Seeing Yan Li had no such intention—it was just casual chat—and he could only leave, disappointed after toasting.

Seeing Yan Li watched Wen Zhang's retreating back and shook his head internally.

Wen Zhang has talent in acting, but his image doesn't measure up, and he doesn't form a unique advantage over Yian's other male artists.

In plain terms, most of the roles he can play could be handled just as well by Yian's other guys.

For unsuitable roles, Seeing Yan Li could assign them to close associates like Tong Dawei, Nie Yuan, or Wu Yue.

Wen Zhang lacks competitiveness and connections; naturally, he wouldn't earn Seeing Yan Li's favor or attention.

Of course, Wen Zhang could break through this barrier—if he became famous.

If he could become famous enough to generate real value and real money, Seeing Yan Li would look at him differently.

Seeing Yan Li is sentimental, but he's also pragmatic in business: if you make him money, he'll value you.

Under equal conditions, relationships come first; but if someone can make more money, that person takes top priority.

Fan Xiaopang doesn't need to be mentioned—Deng Chao was heavily promoted, even outperforming Zhou Yi and others, because Seeing Yan Li saw his value.

If Deng Chao demonstrates his value and repays Seeing Yan Li's investment, his top-star status won't be shaken; if he doesn't, he'll have to step aside and make room.

In the entertainment industry, fame means everything; not being famous is the original sin!

The Teddy Sisters' group brought only Ma Yili as a family member; everyone else came alone—either they had no family, no time, or it wasn't appropriate.

Several of them took turns toasting Seeing Yan Li, their brother-in-law; by normal logic, he should have paid the most attention to the popular ones like Huo or Li, or close associates like Liu Yun.

But no one expected Seeing Yan Li to talk the most with Gan Wei, the little sister.

"What's your husband Jia been up to? We haven't seen him in ages—let's get together sometime."

Although he had no intention of getting entangled with LeTV, he still needed to maintain private contact.

Jia Laoban is a great conversationalist; talking with him is comfortable. Also, LeTV is half his competitor—meeting him could yield useful intelligence, help him understand the enemy, and even let him borrow good ideas.

That's also why Seeing Yan Li sometimes likes to meet up with the two Wang brothers from Huayi.

Lucky for us, Huayi's underpants were pulled right off—many Huayi executives don't know Huayi's internal secrets as well as Seeing Yan Li does.

If Seeing Yan Li were willing, Huayi would have to catch an insider every single day!

Gan Wei was slightly surprised by Seeing Yan Li's familiarity with Jia Laoban; in her memory, Jia Laoban didn't seem to have met Seeing Yan Li more than a few times.

But she wasn't foolish—she immediately added, "Jia Laoban often mentions Brother-in-law too. He just happened to be on a business trip this time; otherwise, he'd have come along."

"Exactly! I heard LeTV is also planning to enter the film and television industry. With your connection to Qin Lan, if we exchange information, maybe there'll be a chance for collaboration."

Seeing Yan Li smiled pleasantly, but Gan Wei was a bit bewildered—she hadn't even heard Jia Laoban mention this twice, so how did Seeing Yan Li know?

Hearing the two's conversation, everyone else turned their gazes toward Gan Wei.

Although Gan Wei had deliberately kept a low profile, everyone in the Teddy Sisterhood knew her background—after all, anyone wanting to join couldn't possibly hide it.

But to secure her position in the Teddy Sisterhood and avoid trouble, Gan Wei rarely mentioned LeTV, and no one paid much attention to this obscure Jia Laoban.

They only knew he had some wealth and treated Gan Wei well, so she spent generously, but no one clearly knew what industry he was in.

Mostly because Seeing Yan Li's spotlight was too bright and directly tied to them, so everyone's attention was completely snatched away.

Only when Seeing Yan Li revealed his attitude toward Gan Wei and casually mentioned Jia Laoban did many realize they had underestimated the Jia Laoban behind this little sister.

Gan Wei became even more popular; Huo Siyan, who was closer to Seeing Yan Li, quietly slipped away to ask him for details.

"Brother-in-law, who exactly is this Jia Laoban?"

"He's in telecommunications and the internet. You've heard of LeTV, right? That's his."

Huo Siyan shook her head, puzzled—right now, there were hundreds of video websites, big and small; apart from the most famous few, the rest had little presence. LeTV hadn't yet pushed hard, and many hadn't even heard of it.

Seeing Yan Li thought for a moment and rephrased: "He's probably worth over a hundred million."

He wasn't actually sure if Jia Laoban's current net worth had reached that much—based on company and actual assets, it was definitely more, but the key wasn't necessarily Jia's own money.

Still, no matter what, Jia Laoban's potential was obvious—even if he wasn't there yet, it was only a matter of time.

Hearing Seeing Yan Li say this, Huo Siyan instantly understood—Little Nine (Gan Wei) had hooked a big fish.

It was 2007; a net worth over a hundred million was absolutely top-tier.

Many popular stars hadn't even managed to land one, yet Gan Wei, a minor actress, had clearly hit the jackpot.

And more importantly, even Seeing Yan Li knew him and acted like they were on good terms—this meant he wasn't just any rich man, let alone the fact that he seemed ready to enter film and television.

If he were an ordinary rich man, even with money, to these stars he was just rich.

But if he were an insider, the meaning of "rich" changed entirely.

Huo Siyan watched Gan Wei, who was being pulled aside by Xiong Naijin and Ma Yili, and suddenly felt her position as second-in-command of the Teddy Sisterhood was in jeopardy.

Hmm, maybe not.