Chapter 390

The celebration process for "The New Three Kingdoms" was simple.

The producer and director took the stage to speak, review the achievements, thank the chairman, then Yu Hewei came up to express his thoughts and thanked the crew and Boss Yan on behalf of all actors.

Then they cut a large cake, took a group photo with relevant personnel, followed by dinner and toasts, with occasional actors or invited performers coming up to entertain.

Seeing Yan Li was unquestionably the center of attention; the director, actors, and several guests all came over to toast him.

When others drained their glasses, Seeing Yan Li usually just sipped a little—he had a good tolerance and wasn't worried about getting drunk, but there was no need to drink so foolishly.

When the food was mostly finished, Seeing Yan Li took the stage to deliver a closing speech, also serving as a pre-launch mobilization.

"Today, quite a few people from the company came—it's almost like the annual meeting."

Seeing Yan Li spoke conservatively; today was likely even livelier than Yi'an's annual meeting.

Because of the upcoming IPO, the previous Yi'an annual meeting had been low-key, with no real performances—just dinner and award-giving.

Holding the microphone, Seeing Yan Li looked out at the audience, his voice relaxed.

"Before coming, the board office gave me a speech draft; I memorized it, but it felt hollow. Since this is an internal gathering, there's no need for empty formalities—let's just speak plainly."

He paused, then smiled: "Yi'an is going public; the company has succeeded; most of you here will become wealthy."

"Here, I congratulate all future millionaires, billionaires, even trillionaires."

Clap-clap-clap~

One sentence instantly ignited the room; cheers and applause erupted—most of the senior executives and core staff present had received original shares.

With Yi'an's IPO, some would make hundreds of millions, others at least a million, and tens of millions were common.

Earlier, so many people flattered Seeing Yan Li—not just out of respect or flattery, but genuine gratitude.

Who wouldn't like a boss who makes you rich? Who wouldn't support him?

Seeing Yan Li waited nearly a minute before the applause finally died down, then spoke again.

"Besides congratulating you, I also want to thank you all for your efforts."

"Yi'an's success wouldn't have been possible without every colleague's hard work and dedication; these original shares are my personal and the company's recognition and reward for your labor."

Applause rose again; Seeing Yan Li waited a long while before speaking once more.

"I remember when Yi'an was first founded, we didn't even have an office; our business license was kept in the apartment I shared with Jiacuan. Later, we rented a small storefront and squeezed together to work."

"Jiacuan asked me: 'Is this even a company? It's even shoddier than a makeshift troupe.'"

"Yet this very makeshift troupe, in less than eight years, grew to over a thousand employees, produced dozens of films and TV dramas, owns dozens of cinemas, launched one star after another, leads the industry in profits, leads in valuation, and is about to become the industry's top market cap."

"The industry is watching; the whole nation knows—Yi'an is now the most powerful private film and entertainment company in China, and we will write countless new histories in the Chinese film industry."

Thunderous applause erupted again; every Yi'an employee felt proud, and Lin Jiacuan, named explicitly, held his head high.

Some non-Yi'an attendees couldn't hide their envy, providing immense emotional value to Yi'an's people.

After celebration, gratitude, and inspiring pride came the final forward-looking summary.

"I understand your excitement and joy, but I also want to pour a little cold water—to keep us clear-headed at this critical moment and ensure a smooth IPO."

"I also want to tell you: the IPO isn't an end, but a beginning. The capital market is a longer, more grueling marathon testing endurance and resolve; our future stage is bigger, our standards higher."

"Yi'an won't stop; Yi'an is still moving forward. The original shares in your hands will grow more valuable as the company expands—millions become tens of millions, tens of millions become hundreds of millions."

"Greed isn't a good word, but I like it."

"Only greedy people have endless ambition and drive; I sincerely hope you all stay hungry, stay greedy, and keep moving forward with me and the company toward success."

"…"

Seeing Yan Li waved and stepped down; applause continued nonstop—partly out of flattery, partly from the heated emotion he had stirred.

What Seeing Yan Li said sounded like drawing a cake, but the key was everyone had already eaten the cake—so naturally, they craved the next, even sweeter one.

Seeing Yan Li was satisfied with the effect; since the goal was to boost morale, it wasn't just about going through the motions—he had to encourage, affirm, and draw cakes when needed.

As he just said, the IPO was a major victory for Yi'an—and a new beginning.

Seeing Yan Li pushed Yi'an to go public not to harvest a quick profit and leave; he wanted to turn Yi'an into a money tree, endlessly harvesting… earning.

At this critical juncture of explosive cultural development, Yi'an's future holds immense potential.

So he hoped Yi'an's people would maintain passion and confidence, not act like Hua Yi's crowd, holding original shares and waiting only to dump them the moment lock-up ended.

This approach isn't wrong, but it's short-sighted—a double loss for both individuals and the company.

Seeing Yan Li wanted to use these shares as a bond to retain and motivate more core staff, jointly expanding the company's scale so everyone earns more.

Of course, some who want to cash out small gains and rest in peace, or refuse to take risks, are inevitable; after Yi'an's lock-up ends, many will likely follow Hua Yi's example and cash out.

Seeing Yan Li won't stop them—but if he senses their complacency, their fate will be neglect, even departure, making room for more ambitious people.

It's predictable that after Yi'an's IPO, some senior executives and core staff will be reshuffled, and artist resources will shift anew.

At that time, even veteran founders will face Seeing Yan Li's ruthless cuts.

After all, original shares have already been given, and daily treatment has always been good—he considers himself fair to old ministers and meritorious staff, and won't tolerate slackers hindering company progress.

Of course, all this will be handled gradually after the IPO; for now, Seeing Yan Li still wants everyone to celebrate together and share the glory.

…

Before the celebration ended, Seeing Yan Li left first—otherwise, most people couldn't leave.

As soon as Seeing Yan Li left, Wang Ou slipped away too.

She didn't hide it; everyone around pretended not to notice—any senior executive or core staff at Yi'an knew Wang Ou's identity.

If Fan Xiaopang were here, Wang Ou would have to stand aside; but since Fan Xiaopang wasn't here, she was effectively one-third of the boss's wife—even vice presidents had to give her some face.

After Wang Ou left, Bai Bing grew restless, constantly checking his phone.

Beside him, Zhang Meng silently observed her.

As a newcomer, Bai Bing had starred in multiple hit dramas and films—"Painted Skin," "Myth," "New Dream of the Red Chamber," "Shinjuku Incident"—and as a lead actress, she'd always had a mysterious background in the industry.

In reality, among those paying attention, Bai Bing's background wasn't complicated.

Either Seeing Yan Li or Ying Huang was backing her; combined with her resources and closeness to Wang Ou, it wasn't hard to guess.

But these days, information isn't that advanced—just release a few press releases, drop a few vague rumors, and a huge crowd will believe them, so there's no shortage of real leaks, let alone the even greater number of confusions and outright fabrications.

Though there are rumors within the circle, they're all mixed truth and falsehood; without reaching a certain level or having certain connections, it's hard to tell them apart.

So crafting a mysterious background and obscuring the two's relationship benefits Bai Bing's advancement.

Precisely under the cover of Yinghuang and Bai Bing's team, Yi An also lent a hand, causing Bai Bing to be rumored as having deep connections.

Previously, Bai Bing was always mentioned alongside Han Xue, known for this very thing.

Now there's also Jing Tian, who landed the female lead in the billion-yuan blockbuster "Warring States," and Gan Wei, who hasn't acted much but has an excellent relationship with the Teddy Sisters.

Riding the momentum of the Four Young Lords of Jingcheng, many netizens dubbed these four women—pure-looking, beautiful, and richly resourced—as the "Four Beauties of Jingcheng," and some even combined their names into "Bing Xue Wei Tian."

Zhang Meng has known Bai Bing for only a short time, but has always felt Bai Bing doesn't seem to have any background.

During the filming of "Mythology," Bai Bing's mother visited the set; Zhang Meng took the chance to investigate and discovered Bai Bing isn't from any wealthy or noble family.

A female actress with inexplicably abundant resources—unless it's from her family—must come from a man.

Zhang Meng suspects Bai Bing has a benefactor, and Hu Ge's occasional avoidance of Bai Bing subtly confirms this.

But Zhang Meng isn't sure whether Bai Bing's connection is with Yan Yi'an or Yang Yinghuang, nor whether it's merely a simple quid pro quo or a long-term benefactor.

She's a minor nobody in the industry; just getting close to Bai Bing, a rising star, through filming is already enough—how could she dare to probe her background?

Still, Zhang Meng leans toward Yan, because from a few rare details, it's clear Bai Bing is deeply dependent on and fond of her benefactor.

Given Yang Yinghuang's age, unless Bai Bing has a daddy complex, the most likely scenario is that the benefactor is the highly charismatic Boss Yan.

And Bai Bing's behavior today further solidified Zhang Meng's guess: Bai Bing's benefactor is Seeing Yan Li.

This made Zhang Meng's envy hard to suppress, even bordering on resentment toward Bai Bing.

Why can she cling to Seeing Yan Li, while Zhang Meng dares only to fantasize about Seeing Yan Li's "yes-man"?

Then, recalling Seeing Yan Li's commanding presence and radiant confidence just now, Zhang Meng conceived a bold idea.

Take the gamble!

If you want to cling to a leg, go for the thickest one—worst case, the plan fails and you fall out with Bai Bing.

Zhang Meng made up her mind and kept her eyes fixed on Bai Bing; the latter's demeanor was clearly off, likely preparing to act, and Zhang Meng couldn't afford to miss her chance to encounter Seeing Yan Li.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Bai Bing's phone flashed; she glanced at it, a flash of delight crossed her face, then she grabbed her bag, said goodbye, and prepared to leave.

"Mengmeng, I've got something to do—I'm leaving first."

Zhang Meng picked up her bag: "Let's go together—I'm bored sitting here alone."

She'd driven here, so she could naturally follow Bai Bing out; the latter didn't think much of it—Zhang Meng, in her eyes, was a quiet, honest type.

They headed to the parking lot; Bai Bing made a call, then looked at Zhang Meng.

"You go ahead—I'm waiting for someone to pick me up."

Zhang Meng shook her head: "I'm not in a hurry—I'll keep you company until you leave."

Bai Bing froze—didn't she hear that obvious dismissal?

She repeated it; Zhang Meng still pretended not to understand. So Bai Bing cut straight to the point.

"I've got urgent private business—this isn't convenient. You go first."

Zhang Meng was determined to stick to her: "It's fine—I'll stay with you."

At this point, even if Bai Bing were dense, she realized something was off—she turned to leave, but Zhang Meng stepped right after her, still urging her to slow down, which made Bai Bing laugh bitterly.

"Fine, you don't want to leave? Then stay."

Bai Bing pulled out her phone and, right in front of Zhang Meng, spoke clearly: "Sister Ou, I've got a sticky note I can't shake off—go ahead without me."