Chapter 353

Four days later, Weibo and Yi'an reached an agreement to exchange shares at a ratio of 1:2.4.

Weibo holds 7.44% of Yi'an's shares, and Yi'an holds 3.1% of Weibo's shares.

It was clear that Weibo was clearly more dominant and unwilling to give away too many shares, negotiating right at the edge of Yan Li's requested range of 3–5%.

This was also normal; from any perspective, Weibo's prospects, strength, and value were higher than Yi'an's.

In this strategic partnership, Weibo didn't suffer much loss, but the benefits it gained were not as great as Yi'an's.

But there was no choice—Yan Li needed the two companies bound together to realize his industrial chain layout, achieve mutual complementarity and linkage, and enhance his own influence and voice.

Put more bluntly, the separate interests of Weibo and Yi'an were less important than Yan Li's own interests.

Share swapping was inherently meant to create momentum, so it wasn't concealed—the news was quickly made public.

Indeed, it became good news for both Weibo and Yi'an, especially Yi'an; binding with Weibo, a major social platform, carried extraordinary significance—if already listed, its stock would have hit several daily price limits.

Yan Li also paid special attention to public discourse, particularly regarding Weibo.

As a mass social and information platform, Weibo's binding with a single film company might invite criticism.

But soon, Yan Li discovered the situation was far better than he imagined, because from the very beginning, Weibo carried the strong imprint of him and Yi'an.

During earlier negotiations, Yi'an said Weibo's rise was largely due to Yi'an's contributions.

This was entirely true—Weibo's early traffic acquisition and its stable retention of the entertainment circle were both achieved through Yan Li and Yi'an's arrangements and deterrence.

Yi'an endorsed Weibo, and Weibo drove traffic to Yi'an's artists and film projects—this was an open secret; everyone assumed the two were one entity.

The share swap was merely a formality, deepening their financial entanglement.

Without the share swap, with Yan Li mediating, could Weibo and Yi'an possibly split and operate independently?

As for platform fairness?

Ha, if you think it's unfair, go to the half-dead Sina Weike and see whether fairness matters more or the benefits Weibo brings matter more.

For the vast majority, whether Weibo and Yi'an are one entity doesn't matter—it has nothing to do with them.

Perhaps Huayi and Chengtian might care a bit, but they can hardly counter.

Their artists won't easily abandon accounts with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers just to rebel against their companies by angering Weibo and Yi'an.

The companies themselves can't ignore Weibo's film promotion and marketing capabilities.

At this stage, Weibo is the primary battlefield for film promotion—abandoning Weibo is equivalent to cutting off one arm, even stabbing oneself in the heart—who dares, and who would dare to?

So they can only compromise—and must compromise!

At least as a platform, Weibo won't openly target them; at most, it might lean slightly—still within acceptable limits.

Huayi, Chengtian, and other companies now deeply hate Sina and Tencent.

Too useless!

If only these two would muster some spirit and at least try to resist Weibo, they'd receive full support.

But both have been consistently crushed by Weibo, with no hope in sight—making them too afraid to risk any bets.

To be honest, the Wang brothers now have somewhat given up on competing with Yi'an for the industry leadership.

Yi'an's momentum is too fierce, Yan Li has laid too many and too ruthless plans—after all comparisons, Huayi feels utterly hopeless.

The only reason they haven't fully given up is waiting for this one gamble after going public.

Even if they can't win, holding their ground and maintaining the challenge and threat to Yi'an means Huayi still has hope.

This also shows the Wang brothers are truly out of options.

Previously, they took the posture of seniors and leaders, cooperating with Yi'an to fight Chengtian.

Later, as Yi'an grew rapidly, Huayi began viewing it as a competitor, but still maintained a steady mindset.

Then, amid the rapid rise of Yan Li's various companies, they felt immense pressure, realizing Yi'an would be Huayi's greatest rival, and once considered uniting with Chengtian—but after that plan was ruined, they prepared for a brutal war to directly confront Yi'an.

After that, Yi'an grew even stronger, Weibo's momentum became unstoppable, and Huayi realized normal competition was unlikely to prevail, so they planned to rely on capital maneuvers after going public to turn the tide.

Now, seeing Yan Li's series of moves and Yi'an's terrifying profits and scale, they believe Huayi's IPO might still lose.

Their goal has shifted to: small loss is victory—just don't fall too far behind Yi'an, keep the hope of catching up.

Business warfare is also war—morale and confidence matter most; before even fighting, Huayi has already cowered.

From this moment on, Yi'an already has half its butt seated on the industry throne.

…

But Yan Li remained unaware—or rather, as long as Yi'an hadn't fully become the leader and Huayi was cowering, it didn't hinder Yi'an from moving forward.

In early April, in Shanghai, the film "The Siege of the Ten Thousand Cities" began filming.

Director Chen Desen attended the launch ceremony with stars Liang Jiahui, Yuan Li, Zhang Fengyi, Donnie Yen, Deng Chao, Li Tianwang, Ren Daohua, and Yang Mi; producer Chen Kexin and investment representatives Yan Li and Yu Pangzi also attended.

On the first day of filming, "The Siege of the Ten Thousand Cities" announced its Release Period: this year's Lunar New Year slot.

Chen Kexin's tone was shockingly bold, openly declaring a target of 400 million yuan, aiming for 500 million.

Reporters asked Yan Li for his opinion; Yan Li smiled and uttered some empty platitudes, while internally cursing Chen Kexin to high heaven.

You can brag all you want, but at least give me a heads-up, okay?!

Yan Li doesn't oppose bragging—it's a form of promotion—but there's a limit; no film in the current market has yet reached 400 million, yet Chen Kexin is directly targeting 500 million.

"The Warlords" already got slapped once—now you want another round?

The key is, Yi'an is Lead Producer and distributor of "The Siege of the Ten Thousand Cities"—if it gets mocked, Yi'an can't dodge the blame.

"Director Chen has great confidence in this film?"

Yan Li smiled at Chen Kexin: "Our promotion team set our target at 300 million—we still need to learn boldness from Director Chen."

Chen Kexin sensed Yan Li's displeasure but remained confident: "Our cast is still excellent—500 million isn't out of reach."

"If stacking stars alone could generate 500 million, Chinese cinema would have already taken off."

Yan Li loves stacking stars too, but he doesn't believe stacking stars guarantees success.

Star power is merely a door-knocker to attract some audiences—film quality and successful promotion are what truly matter.

"I don't care about production and filming, but regarding promotion, I expect the crew to consult with Yi An—don't let us be caught off guard."

Yan Li was most dissatisfied not with Chen's bragging, but with the disregard for Yi An's existence.

In plain terms, these famous directors have been spoiled—they say whatever they want, and when they cause trouble, the distributors clean up after them.

But Yan Li won't coddle them; each person handles their own task, eats my food, follows my rules, and at the very least, Yi An must be kept informed.

If a real mishap occurs, Yan Li might still clean up after them for the project's sake—but the paper he uses to wipe their ass, he'll shove straight into their mouths.

Chen Kexin was somewhat dissatisfied, but intimidated by Yan Li's status and power, she nodded obediently.

"Sorry, Master Yan, I'll be more careful from now on."

After a few more words, Chen Kexin turned to her work, and Yu Pangzi, who had remained silent since arriving, spoke up.

"Aren't you overreacting? He's a renowned big director."

"Precisely because he's a renowned big director, and his careless words carry heavy influence, that's why I'm doing this. If he were a normal director, I'd just teach him properly."

Yan Li looked at Yu Pangzi: "There's another reason—you've dealt with him before, so I don't need to spell it out."

"You're knocking on the mountain to scare the tiger—that's why I thought you were making a big deal out of nothing."

Yu Pangzi understood. Bo Na had also participated in "The Vow." Chen was the producer of "Jiang Shan Meiren," so he had some understanding of this person.

"If the cook doesn't steal, the five grains won't ripen. Every industry has its side income. I've seen plenty of skimming in crews—but taking a little grease is fine; don't treat me like an idiot."

Many film and TV company bosses didn't start in the industry and don't understand the inner workings of a crew.

Take Yu Pangzi—he began in distribution. The Wang brothers at Huayi started in advertising. Wu Boss of Chengtian was previously a corporate executive. Qin Boss of Star Media was also an outsider.

But Yan Li is different—he rose steadily from a minor actor, later personally organized crews, served multiple times as producer, and fully led projects from start to finish.

Yan Li knew exactly how everyone in the crew skimmed money; he could glance at accounts and immediately sense which ones had obvious problems.

Yan Li understood: too clear water holds no fish.

Running a crew is hard, especially for mid- and lower-level staff—they work day and night until their bodies are worn down, their wages aren't especially high, and if you don't give them some grease, why should they follow you?

But skimming must have limits—you can't treat the boss like a sucker and then think he's an idiot who deserves to be cheated.

Chen Kexin, Yan Li never shortchanged him—he gave him all the dividends and pay at market rates, and if he took a little extra, Yan Li could pretend not to notice.

But clearly, he wasn't content with that. As filming began, he started stirring up trouble—this was Yan Li's warning hint.