Chapter 299

The next day, the hotel bathroom

Yan Li, bare-chested, grimaced as he stared at himself in the mirror, turning this way and that.

Yesterday, Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang had gone too far; when he tried to calm them down, they'd resented him, scratching and biting him, leaving plenty of marks—several had drawn blood.

"Is it really that big a deal? It's not the first time."

Yan Li couldn't help complaining; Li Bing, already awake, ignored him—last time it had been half-hearted resistance and mutual consent, but this time was different.

She could scratch him to death and it still wouldn't be enough!

Still, Li Bingbing took out the medicine from her own room and found some iodine and such.

Actors often travel for shoots, sometimes for dozens of days at a time; getting sick or sustaining minor injuries on set is normal, and experienced ones always carry basic common medications.

"Lie down properly."

Yan Li obediently lay in the middle while Li Bingbing and Fan Xiaopang each held a cotton swab to apply the medicine.

As she applied it, Fan Xiaopang started shifting blame, attributing the worst injuries to Li Bingbing.

The latter wasn't one to be pushed around; she not only exposed Fan Xiaopang's malicious intent but also brought up yesterday's old grievances, accusing someone of aiding the tyrant and bullying her.

Still, despite the lingering tension between them,

after a fight and a good night's sleep, the threshold between Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang had risen considerably; they still snapped at each other, but weren't truly angry anymore.

Having figured things out yesterday, they now threw caution to the wind—their resistance had lessened, so they seized the opportunity while they could, because such beauty might not come again for years.

"I've already arranged it for 'Xiao Yanzhi Snow'—the 'Hua Pi' crew agreed too; today we're all taking leave to sober up."

Yan Li wasn't worried about people making wild assumptions; after drinking too much yesterday and making such a scene, it was perfectly normal to lie low for a while.

But Fan Xiaopang and Li Bingbing knew he wasn't letting this go—he hadn't had enough last night, and now he wouldn't let them off today.

They'd been too gentle!

Fan Xiaopang, disgusted by this absurdity, stood up to leave, but Yan Li grumbled: "Go ahead, leave, and let her get all the benefits."

At those words, Fan Xiaopang couldn't help pinching Yan Li several times, but her butt didn't budge.

Li Bingbing, however, found it easier to accept.

She saw Yan Li as a hookup partner; under these circumstances, she treated it as an occasional thrill—after all, Fan Xiaopang wouldn't tell anyone, so safety was guaranteed, and the other party was Fan, so she wasn't losing face.

More importantly, it had already happened—not once, but multiple times; dwelling on it was pointless, better to just enjoy it.

Once they walked out that door, this chapter closes; afterward, everything returns to normal.

So Li Bingbing's attitude was far more relaxed; she even opened a bottle of red wine in the suite and took a couple of sips to clear her head.

"Older people really do have a better perspective."

Yan Li complimented her, earning a glare from Li Bingbing that nearly made her splash wine in his face—just because she had perspective didn't mean he needed to gush about it.

Li Bingbing remained calm; Yan Li was pleased. Fan Xiaopang, feeling like she was putting on airs, gradually softened her mood too.

At this point, though Yan Li didn't stop his hands-on behavior, he did chat with them about a few serious matters.

The most important matter was Weibo!

Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang were his two most famous cards—he had to use them well, so they absolutely had to be on Weibo, and not just present, but active.

Fan Xiaopang needed no explanation; for Li Bingbing, Yan Li had to clearly lay out the benefits.

His relationship with Li was one of emotion, gratitude, desire, and mutual interest.

Yan Li never hid that he used Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang to gain advantages, but he also gave them something in return—especially Li Bingbing—he planned generous benefits for her, which was why the Li sisters mostly gave him their full support.

They were all adults; no matter how charming Yan Li was, he couldn't keep taking advantage for free.

Once or twice was fine, but over time, wouldn't they grow disillusioned?

Give enough benefits, nurture the relationship properly, and add a little personal effort on the side—Li Bingbing had never let him down.

Sure enough, Li Bingbing readily agreed to cooperate with Weibo's activities and promised to post regularly.

She'd always liked posting blogs—or rather, she'd intentionally cultivated this persona; on her blog she called herself "Boss Li," sharing daily little essays; though not as glamorous as Xu Caivü, she was down-to-earth and had solid popularity.

Yan Li didn't push further—he didn't ask Li Bingbing to stop blogging for Weibo.

She'd been managing her account for a long time; he couldn't just make her abandon it overnight. But Yan Li was confident: once Weibo took off, she'd naturally shift her focus.

Fan Xiaopang was curious how many stars Yan Li had lined up, especially the Four Dan and Two Bing.

Yan Li's Weibo was, in a way, a rival's territory—would those few even bother?

Hearing the question, Yan Li's expression turned slightly odd: "Xu hasn't opened one—she has a contract with Sina Blog and won't leave easily. Zhou and Zhang agreed to open accounts, but whether they'll actually use them is uncertain. Zhao was the most straightforward and promised to be active."

Honestly, excluding Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang, Xiao Yanzi had the deepest conflict with Yan Li—he'd once pulled a stunt on her because of Fan Xiaopang.

So when inviting her to Weibo, Yan Li had prepared for her refusal.

Unexpectedly, she had great perspective—or rather, didn't cling to old grudges—and proactively reached out to Yan Li to turn hostility into harmony.

After recalling some information from his intelligence network, Yan Li could only conclude that she was beginning to transcend the limits of an artist, approaching life and work from a business perspective.

Besides Xiao Yanzi, her old classmate Huang Xiaoming was also very good at handling relationships; once contacted, he agreed to cooperate without hesitation.

Most who had complicated ties with Yan Li or Yi'an followed the same pattern as Zhang and Zhou: from an artist's standpoint, they gave Yan Li face by opening an account, just enough to show goodwill, leaving room to maneuver—whether they'd actually use it later was up for debate.

No matter how powerful or domineering Yan Li was, he couldn't force people to use Weibo.

So the current situation was quite clear: artists close to Yan Li would be highly active on Weibo and cooperate with its campaigns.

Those with poor relations either registered an account out of face-saving or simply ignored it.

The largest group was neutral—they had no ties to Yan Li, but out of courtesy, might register and even try it out.

Whether they'd stay on Weibo long-term depended entirely on Weibo's own merits.

Besides stars, there were also social elites, internet influencers, and sports celebrities.

Especially sports celebrities—next year's Jingcheng Olympics was definitely a powerful card; Weibo absolutely couldn't waste it.

As long as Yan Li brought in enough people early and built strong retention and moats, the difficulty for other Weibos would keep rising.

Even if they still spent money to carve out a slice of Weibo's pie, it wouldn't damage Weibo's core—and it would drain their funds and resources instead.

With his Heavenly Eye opened, Yan Li wasn't just good at growing Weibo—he had already prepared plenty of traps for his competitors.

What's disgusting is that most entrepreneurs start by focusing on building their company, trying their best to boost their own competitiveness, then react to threats as they come.

But Yan Li? He'd already dug holes and was waiting before his rivals even showed up.

And the most annoying part? He didn't just plan ahead—he could use his intelligence system to gather info and adjust accordingly.

For example, now that Weibo is about to launch and news has leaked, he already has a rough idea of how Sohu, Sina, and Tencent will react—and he's calmly preparing his response.

So what if you're an outsider? It doesn't matter when your opponent plays their cards face-up!

Watching Yan Li's fierce determination, Fan Xiaopang voiced his inner doubt.

"Is Weibo really that powerful?"

At this, Li Bingbing also looked over—she, like Fan Xiaopang, barely understood what Weibo was.

To them, Weibo was just Yan Li trying to create a new blog to replace Sina Blog.

"Replace blogs?"

Yan Li shook his head. It's hard for people to imagine something they've never seen—not just Shuang Bing, but most people who talked to Yan Li saw Weibo as just another blog.

"A blog is just a giant message board. If Weibo succeeds, it'll become the most popular public information platform—combining socializing, information, and interaction…"

As Yan Li spoke, seeing Shuang Bing's increasingly confused expression, he decided to cut straight to the point.

"If Weibo succeeds, I'll be China's Murdoch!"

This was a bit of bragging—Old Murdoch's power wasn't ordinary; he controlled TV networks, print media, film and television, the internet, telecommunications—all globally connected, a true media titan who even influenced high-level politics.

Yan Li was still far from Old Murdoch's level, but if he kept quietly building, integrating all the supply chains and deeply cultivating the cultural sector, he could still become a giant.

"Murdoch? Who's that?"

Fan Xiaopang felt the name sounded familiar but couldn't place it; Li Bingbing couldn't help rolling her eyes at her.