Chapter 373: The Exorbitant New Three Kingdoms and Young Master Yan Have Arrived

Yi'an, Chairman's Office

Seeing Yan Li, working overtime, just watched today's "Lu Yu You Yue" and pointed out several flaws.

For example, the forced vibe is too heavy, the performance isn't smooth enough, and the slogan-like delivery is too pronounced—more naturalness would be better.

Speaking of which, Seeing Yan Li actually has a good impression of Lu Yu; though some of his questions were a bit "stupid," they balanced out the seriousness and made the interview atmosphere more relaxed.

Many reporters and hosts interviewing business tycoons always hold back, afraid of making mistakes, as if conducting some high-end dialogue.

Some reporters constantly try to trap guests or engineer explosive news, with clear inducement and confrontation.

This approach unconsciously pushes guests to become tense and formal, even wary and defensive, causing their speech and behavior to grow conservative and stiff, yielding nothing substantial.

Whether Lu Yu's interviewing skills are good or not, his lifestyle-oriented approach, with relatively simple topics, puts no pressure on guests—it feels like casual chitchat.

Seeing Yan Li personally prefers this kind of interview; if needed in the future, he can chat with Lu Yu again.

His phone buzzed with vibrations; Seeing Yan Li opened it to find one text after another.

Each message differed in content and reason, but the meaning was unified: they wanted to give this lonely bird a nest…

Seeing Yan Li couldn't help but get a headache—too many nests, too few birds, he couldn't handle them all!

Forget it, let's draw lots!

Seeing Yan Li tore a sheet of paper, wrote a few slips, rolled them up, and randomly picked one.

"Hmm, didn't shake it enough—invalid, try again."

"Uh, this slip is clearly smaller—unfair."

"…"

After three draws, Seeing Yan Li finally, under fate's guidance, picked a satisfactory answer.

He swore it had nothing to do with sending Xu Qing any suggestive photos.

This was Seeing Yan Li's first time coming to XU Qing's place; last time he'd simply invited her to one of his hideouts.

What surprised Seeing Yan Li was that Xu Qing's apartment was quite ordinary.

Not that it was bad—by ordinary people's standards it was quite nice—but for someone of Xu Qing's status, it was merely average, even somewhat old-fashioned.

"I bought this in the 90s—it's been fifteen or sixteen years now."

Xu Qing wore a robe, her hair still damp; she'd taken a shower before Seeing Yan Li arrived.

"Staying here out of nostalgia?"

Seeing Yan Li asked; Xu Qing shook her head: "One, I didn't have money; two, I was lying low."

"When I was famous back then, my pay wasn't that high—though money was worth more then—but I was young, had no interest in buying property, just needed a place to live, and spent everything."

"You know what happened later—I got involved with someone, and stopped caring about all this, then everything fell apart."

"I kept some money, but their troubles were too big—I suffered too. I sold off many houses and possessions; I've lived here for two years already."

"…"

Xu Qing didn't hide her past—hiding was useless; it was public knowledge, and Seeing Yan Li knew it all.

She couldn't control Seeing Yan Li, and Seeing Yan Li didn't care enough to be jealous.

"Sounds pretty tragic."

Seeing Yan Li commented; Xu Qing shook her head and smiled: "Not that tragic—I still have some savings, more than one house, and I'm earning again since my comeback. I've even started looking at new places—million-dollar luxury villas."

Xu Qing had risen and fallen dramatically, yet her mindset remained excellent.

And after being famous for so long, having been linked to powerful men, her wealth might not match up to upstarts like Fan Xiaopang, but she was far beyond what ordinary celebrities could touch.

"Cool."

Seeing Yan Li gave a thumbs-up; Xu Qing laughed: "But you're even cooler—you're already aiming to become China's richest man."

"Just bragging—I might want to, but that doesn't mean I can."

"I think you definitely can."

Xu Qing lit a lady's cigarette and offered it to Seeing Yan Li; he shook his head, instead pulled her over, his fingers gently tugging at the collar of her robe.

"Wait, you're cheating?"

Seeing Yan Li was annoyed—he'd turned down plenty of temptations; Xu Qing couldn't go back on her word.

Xu Qing sat on his lap, bending down: "I can't come out in my bathrobe—everything's in the bedroom. Pick whichever you like—I'll follow your lead."

"I want to watch you pick."

"Fine."

Xu Qing agreed to everything; Seeing Yan Li glanced again at her bathrobe, slightly stirred.

"This outfit isn't bad either."

It had a simple, slightly worldly feel—like a virtuous woman just entering the business, or a technician just returning to shore.

Xu Qing blew a smoke ring into his face: "Then keep this on for now—we'll change slowly."

Seeing Yan Li raised an eyebrow; this sister had still held back a bit on the set of "Let's Shoot First," but back in Jingcheng, she'd fully let loose—endless variety, everything he wanted.

Though her stamina wasn't impressive, the flavor was rich—that's why Seeing Yan Li kept coming back.

…

The next day, as Old Jia had predicted, Huayi's stock price rose noticeably after Seeing Yan Li publicly praised it—and the increase was substantial.

But compared to Huayi's stock, the most viral moment from Seeing Yan Li's appearance on "Lu Yu You Yue" was his line about his small goal: becoming China's richest man before forty.

He single-handedly defined the phrase "small goal," sparking another wave of online imitation—"I declare myself!" style.

Like: set a small goal—to become the richest in our village before forty, or the richest in our apartment building before fifty.

It was quickly twisted into all sorts of absurd parodies: "aim for America," "raise my salary by 200," "confess to Auntie next door," and so on.

Most people either supported Seeing Yan Li's goal or just watched for entertainment.

Some mocked it, but were quickly mocked back by Seeing Yan Li's supporters.

After all, even if Seeing Yan Li is arrogant, his words are grounded in reality, not fantasy, while those who mock him are often challenged about their income and put down.

In the end, many were forced to resort to ideological and spiritual arguments, claiming Seeing Yan Li's thoughts are vulgar, saturated with the stench of money, and that he has been alienated by capital, lacking a free soul.

Seeing Yan Li himself pays no attention to such criticism; when asked, he simply says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

They pursue an untamed, free soul, yet lack the height to achieve it, so they silently endure the pain and emptiness of wealth.

There's no way to argue with him—he openly admits he's vulgar, utterly base, greedy and lustful. What can you do about him?

Some believe Seeing Yan Li's behavior sets a terrible example, while others think he's genuine, bold, and unafraid to act.

In truth, Seeing Yan Li thinks simply: he's already been elevated too high; if raised further, he'll become a sage.

Sages rarely meet a good end!

Seeing Yan Li has no objection to others praising his abilities—it benefits his business—but as for private virtue, forget it. He has never been a sage, nor has he ever wanted to be one.

So Seeing Yan Li is now deliberately lowering his public image, especially regarding personal conduct, and as long as he avoids major errors or widespread revulsion, the lower his image, the greater the benefits.

For instance, lust and greed—these are flaws the public can accept, and they reflect the basic humanity of most people.

Thus, people's resistance is weak; some even find Seeing Yan Li authentic and develop affection for him.

After all, many despise stupidity but not wickedness; a capable true villain is often far more popular than a useless fool or a hypocrite.

Compared to arguing with haters who dislike him, Seeing Yan Li values leveraging Hua Yi's listing to advance Yi'an's IPO.

Hua Yi has already gone public; some other companies are also preparing. Yi'an's listing should happen sooner rather than later.

Seeing Yan Li's plan is to finalize it by early next year, but that would greatly increase the difficulty of listing on the main board of the A-share market, and some investors and brokerages believe the Growth Enterprise Market is more suitable for Yi'an.

These circumstances led Seeing Yan Li to shift his thinking, planning to list Yi'an on the Growth Enterprise Market, which significantly accelerates Yi'an's listing process.

Meanwhile, Yi'an is also releasing a series of favorable news.

On November 10, Yi'an held a celebration banquet for "The Wind."

Since both leads were filming, Seeing Yan Li and Gao Qingshu and others smashed an ice sculpture symbolizing 300 million.

At the same time, Seeing Yan Li publicly announced another piece of good news: "The New Three Kingdoms" was officially scheduled for the 2010 New Year slot.

Shortly after, "insiders" revealed that the first-round broadcast rights for "The New Three Kingdoms" were sold to four provincial satellite channels—Jingcheng, Modu, Su Province, and Lu Province—at 2 million RMB per episode, totaling 160 million RMB.

This news shook the entire film and television industry.

As previously mentioned, TV drama prices have been rising these past two years; the million-RMB-per-episode level has gradually become the standard price for hit dramas.

But TV stations aren't fools; spending tens of millions at once creates enormous pressure, so they're desperately seeking ways to counter the rapidly growing market.

Many TV stations have begun producing their own dramas to cut costs.

For example, Zhejiang TV invested in the Yongle version of "Journey to the West," and Hunan TV produced well-received works like "Ugly Girl Is Invincible" and "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower."

If your price is high, I won't buy!

This strategy has, to some extent, resisted price increases, temporarily pushing some popular dramas below the million-RMB-per-episode mark; low-budget dramas with no distribution channels were even forced to accept prices from years ago, earning meager profits or suffering losses.

But refusal isn't an option—if TV stations won't buy, you can't keep them in storage; you must lower the price.

In this struggle, even Yi'an, known as the leader in TV distribution, made certain concessions.

But after this brief rationality, TV stations are now losing control again.

Self-produced dramas save costs, but there are still too few hits; otherwise, TV stations would have long since produced and aired their own content.

Moreover, if a self-produced drama flops, you not only lose money but also waste time, energy, and face the burden of responsibility allocation.

Therefore, licensed dramas can never be replaced—especially by ambitious TV stations, which must compete in the market for hot projects.

Meanwhile, the rise of online video platforms has also exerted some pressure on TV stations.

They must fight not only TV stations but also the internet; without strong content, they can't deliver viewership.

Especially for nationwide-watched projects like the "New Four Great Classical Novels," the more the market declines, the fiercer the competition becomes, because TV stations have money and will fight desperately to secure them.

Rather than gamble on self-produced dramas or those uncertain hot projects, it's better to go all-in on "The New Three Kingdoms."

Moreover, for such industry-shaking, high-priced projects, no manager can unilaterally approve them—they require collective voting by the TV station's senior leadership, so if it fails, responsibility is shared and no one individual bears the blame.

Additionally, Yi'an recognized the excessive pressure of exclusive premiere rights and brokered a joint broadcast among the four satellite channels.

Although this splits viewership, it also reduces risk and cost.

Ultimately, under Seeing Yan Li's direct promotion, "The New Three Kingdoms" sold its premiere rights, setting multiple records for per-episode and total price.

Shortly after, Tudou. com announced it had purchased the exclusive online streaming rights for "The New Three Kingdoms" at 180,000 RMB per episode, totaling approximately 15 million RMB.

This price was equally record-breaking for the online streaming market.

Remember, Tudou. com and Youku, the two giants, spend only tens of millions annually on film and television rights acquisitions.

Spending 15 million RMB on "The New Three Kingdoms" was a bold gamble by Tudou. com.

A Youku executive, in an interview, deemed Tudou's move unwise—but was quickly contradicted by Tudou's senior leadership.

Youku also participated in bidding for the exclusive online rights to "The New Three Kingdoms," once offering 165,000 RMB per episode, but ultimately withdrew—not due to high risk, but due to lack of funds.

Leaving aside the verbal sparring between Tudou. com and Youku, 15 million RMB plus 160 million RMB equals 175 million RMB.

With an investment under 140 million RMB, "The New Three Kingdoms" immediately recouped its costs and earned over 30 million RMB in profit.

But that's not all—Seeing Yan Li confirmed on Sina Weibo that "The New Three Kingdoms" had been licensed to Japan at 120,000 USD per episode, exceeding 65 million RMB in RMB terms, breaking the record for the highest price ever paid for a mainland Chinese drama overseas.

This Weibo post immediately topped the trending chart.

Earning 65 million RMB from Japan is entirely different in significance from earning nearly 200 million RMB domestically.

China's film and television industry has long been calling for overseas exports, but very few works have genuinely gone global and achieved substantial success.

The last major hit in Japan was "Red Cliff"; indeed, "The New Three Kingdoms" owes a debt to "Red Cliff"—without the renewed Three Kingdoms craze it sparked in Japan, "The New Three Kingdoms" would have struggled to fetch this price.

Now that the TV stations haven't aired it yet, if Japanese TV stations have already begun broadcasting and generated some reaction, it might even land on the "News Broadcast."

175 million RMB plus 65 million RMB equals 240 million RMB—"The New Three Kingdoms" can now declare over 100 million RMB in profit.

But Yi'an believes this project still has enormous potential; the overall producer of "The New Three Kingdoms" stated in an interview that they expect total revenue exceeding 350 million RMB, with profits around 200 million RMB.

This is not fantasy—"The New Three Kingdoms" still has numerous rights and revenue streams.

For example, Xiangjiang TVB has claimed it is negotiating with Yi'an Production for the Xiangjiang rights to "The New Three Kingdoms"; given the drama's popularity and scale, it is very likely to break TVB's record for importing mainland dramas.

Taiwan's China Television and another broadcaster have also had senior officials state they are interested and considering it.

The record-breaking high prices of "The New Three Kingdoms" have not only drawn immense attention and popularity to the drama but also shown many people Yi'an Production's profitability.

Compared to films, television drama production and distribution are in fact Yi'an Production's strongest profit drivers.

Simply this year, the number of hot dramas produced or distributed by Yi'an Production has exceeded double digits; when including somewhat lesser dramas, the total transaction value may have surpassed a billion.

Even accounting only for distribution revenue, Yi'an has already earned nearly a hundred million.

Keep in mind that Huayi Brothers' publicly disclosed annual report showed total revenue of just a few hundred million up until this year before its listing, with profits under eighty million.

Yi'an Production's distribution department alone can suppress Huayi Brothers.

Of course, if calculating the company's total profit, Yi'an may still lag behind Huayi Brothers, because it has poured too much money into theatrical releases.