Chapter 689

In the past, Xiao Ma's first choice would definitely have been to continue grinding downward, after all, the Tencent Group, which is now gradually getting on the right track, should most urgently focus on reorganizing Shanhe and developing slowly.

But alas, Microsoft, that damn fool, simply refuses to act like a human—pressing forward step by step, making a high-profile entrance.

Due to Microsoft's famous name, everyone at Tencent is somewhat anxious. No matter how you look at it, this world giant's most direct rival after entering the domestic market is them.

MSN and Microsoft Mail are no longer threats visible to the naked eye; they are the Dragon-Slaying Blade already held across the neck of their little penguin—

At least that is how it looks to anyone currently, and even internally, their scalps are tingling with dread.

Mainly, the email business is currently, for the Tencent Group, truly a case of a nest within a nest—QQ Mail, since its launch in 2002, has remained lukewarm; even copying some excellent aspects of other peers has been of no help.

Otherwise, Xiao Ma would not have set his sights on Foxmail under Guiyi.

"If it really doesn't work, talk about shares with them; that should reduce the difficulty of the acquisition somewhat."

Xiao Ma pushed up his glasses, glanced around, and then voiced his final plan: "You have all seen Zhou Yi's influence; after the third anniversary celebration of QQ, the new users and returning users driven by him have repeatedly hit record highs.

"Not to mention he is not short of money now; the Foxmail software behind him can be funded by Guiyi, which Zhou Yi holds, and will only expand faster in the short term..."

These core user growth data are known only to the people currently sitting here in the company.

From being mocked as a fool in the investment circle to being revered as an honored guest within the industry, Guiyi took less than four short years.

Cheng Hao, pushed to the forefront, attracted a huge amount of attention on behalf of Zhou Yi, but those in the industry who understand the trade basically know that the latter is the true mastermind behind the scenes.

And for many companies needing investment, Zhou Yi, this angel investor, is simply a perfect-level existence—only investing money, never interfering.

Even with a seat on the board of directors, Guiyi's representative is quite low-key, basically never pointing fingers at the company's development matters.

At least, that is the case based on Guiyi's track record so far.

There is also one point—Zhou Yi's cash flow is solid, high-quality cash flow, the kind that is Bai Bai (clean and clear).

And it is a massive amount, visible to the naked eye.

"I still don't understand, what exactly are those people in Qatar thinking? Do they really not treat money as money?"

After the meeting ended, the vice president smoked all night long, still unable to figure out where this bunch of bastards in Qatar got so much money from.

Fifty million a year, two hundred million US dollars after tax over four years—after tax!

The next day, due to the secrecy of the schedule, many internet users who did not yet know Zhou Yi had quietly returned to the country woke up to suddenly find that, besides the Hollywood elevator door incident, the latest hot topic online about Zhou Yi had added a Qatar endorsement event—

The original source is "untraceable," after all, the internet today, growing wildly, is all about rumors flying everywhere.

"Holy crap?! How much?!"

"It's actually true?! Last night I thought it was just fake news online, how come this morning so many newspapers are reporting on this?!"

"Spread it out, fifty million US dollars after tax per year; the current exchange rate of US dollars to RMB is just over 1 to 8.27, which means calculating at the minimum 58 times 40..."

"Damn your big brother! Just this endorsement contract is 413.5 million RMB a year? That's insane! The strongest money-printing machine in the entertainment industry?"

"Um, last year, didn't the combined box office of the top five domestic films not even equal the money Zhou Yi earned from endorsements this year..."

"Top five box office? Be bolder, the combined box office of the top ten last year isn't enough!"

On Tianya, the fan circle belonging to Zhou Yi was in a frenzy.

Some even directly displayed the data for the top ten domestic films of the year: "Cell Phone" 53 million, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" 52.22 million;

Following in order were the two Matrix films, both around 43 million, followed by "Pirates of the Caribbean," which had Zhou Yi's popularity boost, at 41.6 million.

"Heroes" 41 million, "Infernal Affairs 3" 36 million, "Finding Nemo" 35.53 million, "Terminator 3" 28.32 million, "Dragon" around 25 million.

The box office income of the ten films combined was just over 400 million RMB, still a bit lower than Zhou Yi's...

What is even more terrifying is that Zhou Yi's income is directly after tax, while film box office income must be split layer by layer.

"The Ultimate Embodiment of a Singer's Commercial Value: Zhou Yi: I Want to Fight Ten!"

An article, unknown where it originated from, specifically summarized the data of netizens arguing online; after being written, it was published under the four major portal news websites Sina, Sohu, NetEase, and Tencent, directly delivering the first shock to the domestic entertainment industry since the start of 2004!

Compared to this news about Zhou Yi, things like the "secret rules" scandals of famous directors such as Zhang Dahuzi were all trivial matters.

Zhou Yi's private mobile phone even received a huge pile of calls from curious people seeking verification—

Such as Fan Xiaopang, who was still filming "A World Without Thieves."

"Is this price real or fake? Is there really that much money?"

"It's real."

"Damn!"

Due to being too shocked, Fan Xiaopang, still on the set, lost all emotional control the moment she received Zhou Yi's personal confirmation, letting out a curse.

Feng Dapao, currently directing "A World Without Thieves" and ambitiously aiming to be the number one director of domestic commercial films, was sitting behind the camera resting. For some reason, after hearing the news of Zhou Yi's true "one against ten," he suddenly felt a sense of frustration and boredom—

The goal he had pursued for most of his life was not even as good as a single endorsement contract Zhou Yi took on...

Because of the outrageous numbers and the extravagant generosity of the wealthy dog-owning household, which treated money as if it were worthless, almost all entertainment sections across the country gave the headline to Zhou Yi on the 5th—

"The Light of the Chinese Music Industry: Zhou Yi: The Brilliant Bloom of Commercial Value"

"Strength Forges a Legend, Charm Conquers the World"

"Commercial Value Highlighted: Zhou Yi Conquers West Asia"

"..."

This time, it wasn't just those old acquaintances; it also included the "Beijing News," founded last November.

Yes, the Beijing News.

Don't think that because this newspaper leans more towards politics it is high-end; actually, it also reports entertainment news—

"The Light of the Chinese Music Industry: Zhou Yi: The Brilliant Bloom of Commercial Value."

"In today's fiercely competitive global entertainment industry landscape, endorsement contracts are undoubtedly the top priority for stars.

"Recently, a shocking piece of news swept through the entire entertainment industry: Zhou Yi successfully secured a four-year endorsement contract with a total value of up to two hundred million US dollars. This feat is not only a milestone in this singer's personal career but also a great leap in the commercial value of the Chinese music industry.

"Since his debut, Zhou Yi has set wave after wave of trends in the Chinese music industry with his unique musical style and extraordinary singing ability.

"From classic love songs to dynamic dance tracks, from lyrical slow songs to national-style sounds rich in cultural connotation, Zhou Yi has demonstrated his profound musical attainment with versatile styles; every song is like a brilliant pearl inlaid in the long river of Chinese music.

"The result of him obtaining a two hundred million US dollar endorsement contract is by no means accidental.

"Zhou Yi's commercial value has continued to climb over the past few years, and he is now indisputably the number one figure in the domestic entertainment industry.

"He has not only achieved remarkable success in the music field but also demonstrated extraordinary influence in fashion, charity, and other areas, becoming the first singer from our country to perform on the World Cup final stage.

"The reason Qatar chose Zhou Yi as its brand ambassador is precisely because of his unparalleled popularity and global appeal..."

The entire article was filled with praise, using no complex language, so Sun Yanzi read it with great ease: "Not bad, Zhou Yi. This is the first time an official print media outlet has devoted such an exaggerated amount of space to reporting on you."

Zhou Yi, who was eating porridge with eggs, fried dough sticks, and meat buns, didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, letting her sit in the chair and finish reading with a smile: "Read less of this low-quality newspaper. Haven't you noticed that among all the articles in this type of paper, only this reporter exposed my endorsement fee?"

"?"

Huh?

Sun Yanzi, who had just been beaming with joy, was instantly stunned: "Then... should we hire someone for public relations?"

"Public relations? What public relations? I earned it cleanly; it's not black money."

Zhou Yi put down his chopsticks, a toothpick in his mouth, and sneered: "What's wrong with one beating ten? I'm not afraid of that 'praise to death' tactic."

His golden body was already formed, and all the sources were legitimate; who would dare to touch him?

In his opinion, it was just too much of a fuss.

Setting aside other things, in the future, Qatar, to buy the football player Neymar, directly transferred 220 million euros after tax to his account alone, letting him pay the breach of contract fee himself.

After that, they gave him a signing contract with a salary floating between 167 million euros and 267 million euros, truly bringing a little shock of money to the world football scene.

To host the World Cup, Qatar spent even more, throwing out over 200 billion US dollars, an expenditure that directly exceeded the sum of all previous World Cups combined.

Having experienced the shock of the White Turbans, he could only say that this number caused not a single ripple in his heart.

If the times weren't wrong, he would have demanded even more.

His popularity within the East Asian region was now even higher than Michael Jackson's.