Chapter 300: Beautiful Master's Student or Oriental Medusa

Less than two minutes after Liu Yifei posted her blog, Yang Siwei sent a video pop-up.

It was exactly 9:00 PM in Beiping, and the background behind Yang Siwei in the video was a sea of city lights.

This was her newly renovated home in Beiping, located on the South Second Ring Road at Fuzhuo Garden, about 300 meters south of the Xuanwumen subway station.

"What's wrong? Miss me?"

Liu Yifei smiled as she looked at the slightly chubby...

No, she was now Agent Little Chubby, who might continue to develop into Medium Chubby, Big Chubby, or Giant Chubby.

Yang Siwei wondered how she could still smile; she worried that Liu Yifei might have been so angered by certain news that she had snapped.

"I did miss you. That blog post just now was great; post more often in the future!"

Not wasting any time, Yang Siwei turned to business: "There are a few things. Although I roughly know your answer, I still have to report them."

"Hmm?"

"Several entertainment companies in China want to cooperate with us. They’re offering to sign you or buy a stake in our studio."

"Don't be in such a rush to refuse. I feel some terms are negotiable; at least hear them out first."

Seeing Liu Yifei on the other side of the video nodding expressionlessly, Yang Siwei began communicating the points from the documents in her hand one by one.

"Huayi is offering a 20 million signing bonus, plus a 3% share quota in the company, to sign you."

"They guarantee at least one satellite-broadcast TV series per year and at least one major co-production film. The terms regarding portrait rights and artist revenue sharing are quite generous; I won't list them all."

She picked up another document from her side: "And there's Chengtian."

"Chengtian? Which Chengtian?"

"Chengtian International Entertainment, the one Wang Jinhua took people to when she jumped ship."

"Oh, right, your classmate Jiang Yiyan, who is about to disappear from the scene, is getting very cozy with their boss now."

Liu Yifei remained noncommittal, listening as she continued.

"50 million signing bonus, the female lead role in *Red Cliff*, and a guarantee of at least one film with a budget over 100 million and two satellite-broadcast TV series per year."

"At the same time, if you're willing, they can help expand into the Japanese market, for example, through cooperation with Sony Music."

Liu Yifei had been reading materials about the massacre for the past few months and was quite sensitive to topics involving the Japanese: "Are they Japanese-funded?"

"Not Japanese-funded, but the boss has a Japanese-funded background."

"Turn them all down."

Liu Yifei turned her head as if responding to something; Yang Siwei guessed the film crew had arrived, so she said goodbye and hung up.

Among the "many strong" companies in the Chinese entertainment industry, at least in the eyes of Liu Yifei, who knew Lu Kuan inside and out, not a single one was a match for him.

If there were truly suitable opportunities and resources, she wouldn't be opposed to maintaining limited cooperation; it would also be a good way to let the "washing machine" taste the saltiness of the sauce.

It was just that she was already the person in this world who understood Boss Lu the best.

From the inside out, from the surface to the core, no one else in this world could compare.

Even Zhuang Xu couldn't reach the level of understanding that Liu Yifei had of him.

The more she understood, the more she knew that companies like Huayi and Chengtian were simply no match for him under normal circumstances, unless they had some hidden means and assistance beneath the surface.

Liu Yifei double-locked the door and changed her clothes, simply using a headband to pull back her hair; today’s look was all about a casual, stay-at-home style.

There were already many Hollywood star bloggers on Mytube, but she insisted on this approachable "girl next door" route, which could create a contrast with her roles on the silver screen.

Liu Yifei walked out of the room; the living room of over 60 square meters had already been set up properly.

A traditional red tablecloth, Chinese-style tableware, and Chinese landscape paintings hanging on the walls created a rich atmosphere of Eastern culture.

Emil was directing the setup of the camera angles.

A high-quality camera was used for the main shot, placed in the center of the living room to film the entire cooking process from a fixed angle;

Another small handheld camera was prepared for close-up shots, such as details of the ingredients and cooking techniques.

As for lighting, they used soft warm lights to provide even illumination for the main scene, and a bright white pendant lamp was installed above the kitchen work area to ensure the cooking process was clearly visible.

"Oh, Crystal, long time no see!"

Liu Yifei smiled and shook hands with the furry Emil. Before the 2002 Spring Festival, he had followed Lu Kuan to Sundance to participate in the non-competition section of *Whiplash*; that was their first meeting.

"I brought you a few versions of *Paranormal Activity* and DVDs of other films, as promised."

Liu Yifei happily accepted the gift; she had a little hobby of watching horror movies—the more she watched, the more afraid she became, and the more afraid she was, the more she watched.

"Thank you very much. Is there anything I need to prepare?"

Emil looked around at everyone doing their jobs, then laughed: "Don't put too much chili in later; I want to have a big meal after we finish filming the video!"

"Me too!"

Chen Shijun walked into the room with a smile, greeted Liu Xiaoli and the others, and walked over: "Lan Yue, my ancestral home is in Shanghai; do you have any dishes I'd be interested in?"

"Most of what I can cook now is Huaiyang cuisine, but I can fine-tune it according to your tastes."

After all, it was a video meant for viewing, and today they had even found some extras from different ethnic groups in the community.

While the photography and lighting were still being prepared in full swing, Liu Yifei simply pulled Chen Shijun into the garden to chat about Mytube.

The group discussions recently moderated by Xi Kaiyuan had been getting deeper and deeper.

"Do you really want to sell Mytube?"

"This is Lu's arrangement, but as the copyright library grows larger, our advertising revenue is indeed becoming unable to support it."

Mytube had been burning money since its inception, and the cash flow generated by the *Paranormal Activity* and *Insidious* series, as well as the *Alien* merchandise, had been continuously providing blood to the US account.

Liu Yifei asked: "I noticed that you are recently binding your promotion with *Twilight*? A lot of new bloggers have popped up on the site."

Liu Yifei was no stranger to this kind of marketing; starting from *Whiplash*, almost every one of Lu Kuan's films had traceable online promotion.

For example, the tear-jerker challenge for *Shoplifters*, the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* themed cultural activities for *Alien*, and the lucky draws inviting fans to Cannes for the premiere.

In her view, they were all just the same event marketing tactics.

"You watch *Twilight* too?"

"This is a traffic-driving activity arranged by Boss Lu. We need to make the data look better before we sell the company."

Chen Shijun just assumed she had a close relationship with the boss, so he didn't have much guard in his words; he had also chatted about things in front of her last time in Los Angeles.

Moreover, as time went on, it had become an industry consensus that Mytube was determined to wait for a good price to sell, so there was no need to hide it.

Liu Yifei nodded: "Speaking of data, I have to submit a paper recently. If there is any non-sensitive data, please provide some for me."

"Absolutely no problem. I wouldn't refuse, even if I were blamed by Boss Lu."

"After all, I haven't eaten authentic Chinese food in a long time! I hope that group of extras leaves a little more today."

Before Liu Yifei could answer, Chen Shijun's phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the number, made a gesture to Liu Yifei to take the call, and then excitedly answered: "Jimmy?"

"Really? You agreed! That's great!"

"Let me tell you, my genius boss told us that blogs are destined to be eliminated. Get out of that company that has one foot in the grave quickly!"

This was Chen Shijun executing Boss Lu's deployment, poaching more technical talent before the sale to prepare for the next step.

Chen Shijun walked away with the phone, and Liu Yifei looked at his back, lost in thought.

Blogs are destined to be eliminated?

The old Liu Yifei wouldn't have been too interested in these things, unless she was following Lu Kuan to see how he participated in these commercial activities.

Before coming to the Booth School of Business, even if she were interested, she wouldn't have had any extra doubts about this sentence that Chen Shijun had inadvertently revealed.

It was precisely because she had followed Xi Kaiyuan to study and analyze Mytube from its inception to the present that she had gained some deep-seated understanding of the relevant internet industry.

For example, the questions Xi Kaiyuan guided everyone to ask in class:

Where will Mytube go after it is sold?

What is the reason for the entrepreneurs in this video track to be in such a hurry to dump their assets?

These were all questions that Liu Yifei had studied, judged, and pondered in class and group discussions.

Therefore, after inadvertently hearing Chen Shijun's remark that blogs were destined to be eliminated, she fell into deep contemplation.

Blogs are to be eliminated?

Then what about his blogs in China? She hadn't seen him make any moves.

Perhaps there were, but she just didn't know yet.

Emil's greeting from inside the house interrupted her brainstorming: "Crystal, ready to start filming, go put on some simple makeup!"

"Oh, okay."

Liu Yifei temporarily set aside her worries, but she always felt a sense that the clouds were about to clear to reveal the moon.

This high-spec food-themed video soon began.

Emil had had rich filming experience since his time at USC, and after being tempered by *Paranormal Activity* over the past two years, he was even more adept at ordinary camera techniques and scene arrangement.

In fact, such food videos and horror movie filming had certain things in common.

For example, in atmosphere creation, camera usage, and sound effect coordination, including suspense setting and rhythm control, these were all things that excellent horror movie directors were good at.

The three-hour shoot ended smoothly; the awkward part was that there wasn't enough food left at the end.

The extras of various ethnic groups brought by Emil refused to leave, launching an attack on the delicious dishes that hadn't been convenient to devour while the cameras were rolling.

Chen Shijun and Emil couldn't care about being reserved anymore and joined in to grab the food themselves.

It was as if the *Boxer Protocol* from a hundred years ago had reappeared; inside the villa restaurant in Hyde Park, Chicago, a group of great powers of different skin colors were once again carving up...

Chinese cuisine.

Only this time, they had become slaves under Liu Yifei's kitchen knife.

Especially Emil and Chen Shijun.

Liu Yifei had no choice but to give them the few pieces of toast left over from breakfast, and the two of them dipped the sauce in the plates until they were completely clean.

Liu Xiaoli watched, dumbfounded: "My god, they really are like the Eight-Nation Alliance!"

Liu Yifei chuckled as she listened, and it took a lot of persuasion to finally send off this group of ignorant foreign devils.

In the afternoon, Liu Yifei sat by the window of the study.

Through the window lattice, the fallen leaves on the ground of Hyde Park in autumn were layered, looking like an overturned palette.

Orange-yellow, crimson, and ochre colors intertwined and collided, forming an impressionist painting with delicate brushstrokes, quietly unfolding amidst the passage of time.

Liu Yifei was becoming a bit obsessed, with several keywords about blogs swirling in her mind.

In fact, the sentence she had inadvertently heard from Chen Shijun in the morning was like a pebble thrown into her thoughts, stirring up ripples.

The young girl, who had never had any entrepreneurial experience, felt her thoughts were in a mess; it seemed there were thousands of threads, but when she carefully lowered her head to grope for them, she couldn't find that crucial end.

She opened her computer and began to browse through the currently popular internet products in North America one by one.

MySpace, currently one of the world's largest communities for young people;

MyTube, the dark horse video website she had personally participated in and witnessed;

Flickr, the image website that had already been acquired by Yahoo in March 2005;

And Reddit, the hottest SNS platform and forum in North America at the moment;

Facebook, which had not yet left campus and whose clients were limited to student groups in the United States and Canada and some companies.

Of course, there was also Blogger, which, in the words of Chen Shijun, had already been sentenced to death in the future by Lu Kuan.

The young girl suddenly remembered something and rummaged through her bag to find the folded note.

On it was the contact information for the IT guy Dorsey, as well as that conversation at the University of Chicago restaurant yesterday.

She began to consider the problem according to the leadership courses and thinking models of Xi Kaiyuan: did this Twttr, born from a blog, actually have any value?

Being able to send and update blog posts directly via text message was its unique selling point at the moment.

Compared to the semi-closed community of Facebook, Twttr was an open platform where anyone could follow and browse.

Compared to traditional blogs, it allowed for impromptu writing that didn't require too much time or mental effort.

But it also limited bloggers who wanted to write long-winded posts, which was one of its drawbacks.

But if...

What if she added Flickr's image function as well?

The information content of a slightly more complex image was enough to equal a description of several hundred words.

Liu Yifei drove her thoughts in her mind, trying to consider the user experience of this product from the perspective of an ordinary user like herself.

Convenient to post, timely information dissemination; as long as you have a mobile phone that can send messages, it works.

The content is short and easy to read, and the barrier to creation is low, which is very suitable for her own blog style of being grounded and true to life.

If she added the image function and provided operations for users on the computer side, she could completely add the like, repost, and comment functions of domestic blogs!

Learn the dogs' superior techniques to control the dogs!

It seems...

A bit interesting, right?

In fact, Twitter first became popular in the United States, which had a lot to do with the lack of a product similar to Penguin Groups in the United States.

The text messaging business in the United States was very underdeveloped, and IM was also concentrated on point-to-point communication between two or very few people; everyone had almost no habit of group chatting in the past, even on Facebook.

In fact, Twitter was, to some extent, making up for the lessons of Penguin Groups, so it became popular very quickly.

Therefore, this "identity-free information stream" function of Dorsey was very pleasing.

But times change; the Liu Yifei of this life, drawing on the gameplay of domestic blogs and thinking about adding an image function to the product, seemed to make it look even more interesting.

She had strong execution; she took out her phone, compared it to the note, and dialed the programmer Dorsey's number.

"Crystal? I hope I can hear some good news."

Dorsey's voice was very low; he had already completely become a minority in Odeo.

The Dorsey of later generations was only known for his technical skills; he was at a disadvantage in the several internal struggles of Twitter and could hardly be called a qualified corporate leader.

"How much capital do you need?"

Dorsey was silent for a few seconds, his emotions obviously becoming high-pitched: "3 million... no! 2 million US dollars!"

"But this is only the initial capital!"

"We need to purchase the most basic 3 to 5 servers, Cisco switches, and other office equipment."

"In terms of software, we need at least one set of JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA, and there may be other integrated development environments later."

"There are also version control programs, database management tools, and test servers..."

Liu Yifei couldn't help but interrupt him: "Stop!"

"Make a list of what you said and send it to my email; I will find professionals to verify it."

"Also, 2 million US dollars is fine, but I want a 95% stake; can you accept that?"

Dorsey's excited mood and tone came to an abrupt end, as if he had been doused with a basin of cold water in the middle of winter.

One sentence from the angel investor on the other end of the phone gave him a warning not to be fraudulent;

The other sentence directly pushed him into the abyss of IT coolie labor, leaving Dorsey dumbfounded.

Angel investor?

You are a devil investor!

"No! Crystal! This is an unreasonable ratio!"

"Do you know Facebook? The main technical personnel, Zuckerberg, took 65% of the shares! The other two entrepreneurs, Saverin, held 30%, and Moskovitz held 5%!"

Liu Yifei didn't take the bait: "Listen to me, don't use Facebook as an example; your Twitter is not a technology-driven website, and the construction is very simple."

"If you want to hear examples, I can give you the example of MyTube; their vice president Chen Shijun just left my house this morning."

"The genius Mike Solomon, who is rising in your North American architect circle, only got 6% equity at MyTube."

Of course, you don't see who went to negotiate; if Boss Lu were ruthless, maybe he wouldn't even have that much.

However, Lu Kuan had originally recruited Mike Solomon for his own use, and even the domestic Wenjie Video's architecture was written by him; talent is hard to come by.

Dorsey pondered for two seconds; due to the programmer's brain not being very developed in administrative affairs, he couldn't think of a good excuse to fight back.

But he was also too unwilling!

"Crystal, listen to me, you can just be responsible for the investment, and I will write the architecture and do the management and operations."

"I think my contribution is worth more original equity; I hope you will consider it carefully, otherwise I would rather go find other partners."

The other end of the phone was silent for two seconds.

"Hehe."

The female voice, which originally sounded pleasant and crisp to the IT guy, seemed to be endowed with more emotional factors in those two light laughs.

It seemed a bit deeper.

Dorsey, who was holding a hot dog on a park bench to fill his stomach, suddenly felt the warmth of the sun behind him decrease slightly, and he unconsciously focused his attention, waiting for the Asian actress's answer.

"Honestly, I am very familiar with Chen Shijun; if I asked him to find Mike Solomon to write an architecture according to your ideas, it would only take a day or two."

She still underestimated it; that genius architect had spent half a day writing MyTube back then.

"I..." Dorsey was almost anxious!

Is this still the harmless-looking little girl?

Little Liu's charming female voice seemed even more steady and powerful, interrupting him with strong confidence: "Don't be anxious, I'm not threatening you."

"I'm just telling you a dangerous fact, my programmer friend."

"I have fully grasped your ideas and thoughts; it would be easy for me to cut in."

"But I still want to reason with you one last time; why do I want 95% equity? Do you think you have the patience to listen to me finish?" On the park bench, Dorsey's newly arisen thought of resistance was interrupted and suppressed by Liu Yifei's seemingly polite but unrefusable rhetoric.

He stammered and couldn't speak, quite like the situation when he was kicked out of the chairman position by his own entrepreneurial partners in later generations.

"Okay... okay, I'm listening."

He looked up at the warm sunlight, wrapped his body slightly tighter, and felt that his body temperature was constantly dropping.

"In my plan, you only need to be responsible for the technology."

"I will find professional talent for the website's operation, I already have ideas for marketing, and in terms of traffic, I will persuade Leonardo and others who are about to join the group to participate."

"In addition, I have a very good personal relationship with Chen Shijun, Huang Anna, and others at MyTube; they also need me, a top Asian blogger, and we can exchange resources."

"You could say that you, Dorsey, only need to spend one or two days giving me a complete architecture to realize your entrepreneurial dream, and you don't have to worry about the administrative affairs you don't seem to be good at."

"Your technology is not irreplaceable, but my capital and resources, especially my interest, are rare and hard to find for you."

Liu Yifei listed the irrefutable reasons one by one, every word hitting the programmer's most fragile defenses.

Seeming to want to give him some time to react and think, the female master from Booth School of Business paused for two seconds to give him an ultimatum.

"5%, if you agree, come to Vancouver tomorrow to talk about the details, and I will find someone to draft the contract."

"If you don't agree."

The voice on the other end of the phone paused; the image of the angel girl turning into a female demon rushed into Dorsey's mind again, and he unconsciously gripped his phone tightly.

"If you don't agree, then I can only wish you a pleasant afternoon."

"I agree! I agree! Give me the address! I agree!"

In the study of the mansion in Hyde Park, Little Liu, who looked far less confident and strong than she did on the phone, covered the receiver and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Good, see you."

She threw the phone away and ran out of the room like crazy!

"Mom! Mom!"

Liu Xiaoli was cleaning up in the kitchen and was startled by her daughter's scream; as soon as she turned her head, she was "embraced by a swallow returning to the forest."

It's just that this swallow was now a bit too big.

"What's wrong?"

Liu Xiao, startled by her daughter, steadied Liu Yifei by the shoulders, watching the excited flush on her face.

"Hehe, it's nothing!"

Having succeeded in her first informal business negotiation, the young girl was extremely excited; she planted a kiss on Liu Xiao's face, then immediately scurried back to her room.

She opened her computer, forced herself to calm down, and reviewed the several segments of the conversation from the phone call just now.

Had she negotiated the way she was taught and guided by Xi Kaiyuan, similar to the group discussion methods she used with elite students from different industries?

For instance, opening strategies in business negotiations, clever questioning, effective listening, verbal suppression, and so on.

It seemed she had, but it felt like she hadn't applied these techniques systematically.

She recalled the entire process.

She set the tone right at the opening, offering a strong 95% equity figure.

She cited the shareholding ratio of Mytube programmer Mike Solomon as a reference.

She brought up an industry rising star like Chen Shijun as a banner, forcefully interrupted Dorsey's questioning to strike at the opponent's negotiating momentum, and output her own viewpoint.

She frequently remained silent during key issues of the negotiation to create psychological pressure on the other party.

Naturally, she thought of her "enlightenment teacher" far away in the East.

What would he do?

He wouldn't throw out his bottom line of 95% right from the start, would he? He would definitely go lower, waiting for the stupid programmer to haggle!

If Dorsey had rejected him the first time, according to his habits, he should have hung up the phone immediately and arranged for Mike Solomon to intercept the deal, right?

Also, she had thrown out so many resources and advantages; it seemed she had revealed all her trump cards to the opponent, which was also a very unwise move. He shouldn't have done that.

Liu Yifei recalled the entire process of how Zhang Nara was set up.

First, he intercepted her *Diao Man Gong Zhu* resources and waited for the other party's reaction.

Once Zhou Jun realized something was wrong, he immediately played the second card, releasing the video of Zhu Husheng making money in Korean variety shows.

Zhou Jun was exhausted, busy planning charity and cultural activities to whitewash her, and when the incident happened through the TV station and Sina, he delivered the fatal blow.

He linked Zhang Nara in public opinion to the humiliated Korean star Li Enzhu, completely erasing her last shred of hope in the domestic entertainment industry.

The young girl furrowed her delicate brows, concentrating and thinking deeply, pondering the subtle clues in his way of dealing with people and affairs, hoping she could do better next time.

People cannot be taught by others, and besides, Boss Lu never deliberately taught her this.

But the young Liu, who had ventured into North America alone, began to imitate him unconsciously when handling her own affairs.

This was how experience teaches people; once you go through it, you understand seven or eight out of ten.

It was just that due to her nature, she was far from being as ruthless and vicious as Lu Kuan, and could not play with people's hearts like he did.

No matter how well she learned, she might just be a beautiful female master walking out of Booth School of Business.

Unless she suffered strong stimulation and her personality changed drastically later on, it would be extremely difficult for her to become an Eastern Medusa who is treacherous, takes risks, and puts interests above all else.

It was just that as the gears of fate turned, on this land said to be full of the "American Dream," Liu Yifei had indeed encountered some opportunities that could change the world line.

The great professor Xi Kaiyuan, the Uncle Ao who would live in Hyde Park walking his dog in the future, and Dorsey, the Twitter founder currently in the struggling stage.

It was just like in certain eras, when young men and women in the country squeezed their heads to go to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen to venture out.

In such places, it was indeed easy to meet people or things that change one's destiny; it was just a matter of probability.

After taking more than two months of leave from school, the next day, Liu Xiao and her daughter, accompanied by the female bodyguard Mia, rushed to the *Eerie 2* set in Vancouver.

The shooting cycle for *Eerie 2* was very short; in this sequel, the roles of the male and female leads had minor adjustments, but Leonardo was definitely still the main force carrying the box office.

The first day was mainly preparation work before filming, simple script reading for the leads, and adjustments to their physical states.

Leonardo wouldn't be able to join the crew until the second day, so the young Liu went through the martial arts routines in this work with Yuen Woo-ping's team.

"Yifei, your physical fitness has improved again, and the routines are even more spectacular."

Yuen Woo-ping's top disciple, He Guanliang, who had just practiced with her, smiled and shook his wrists: "It's not just spectacular, Master, her strength has improved quite a bit."

"Hehe, I've been practicing boxing lately and going to the gym a lot," the young Liu said with a shy smile.

*Eerie 2* had higher requirements for her weight and figure, with many extremely tight-fitting outfits, requiring the display of the female lead's sense of power and body curves.

During this month in Hyde Park, she had started anaerobic strength training with Mia, which had been quite effective.

Yuen Woo-ping looked at the young girl with a smile; he had thought highly of Liu Yifei since the 2002 *Eerie*.

She possessed the focus and professionalism of old-school Hong Kong actors like Jackie Chan, and she wasn't delicate at all.

"Yifei, there's a female lead audition for *Fearless* next year. Are you interested? It's a scene opposite Li Lianjie, playing a blind girl."

This character was named Yue Ci, a pure, kind, and simple-smiling image, played by Sun Li in the future.

Yuen Woo-ping was the martial arts director for *Fearless* and thought highly of Liu Yifei, feeling that for such a young actress, acting opposite Li Lianjie would be a good opportunity.

"Thank you, Director Yuen, but my next movie is already scheduled."

"Oh? Is it convenient to disclose?"

The young Liu smiled: "A historical film, Lu Kuan is the director."

"Oh! That's good, that's a good opportunity." Yuen Woo-ping smiled helplessly; he should have thought of that earlier, worrying for nothing.

Yuen Woo-ping could only stay with the *Eerie 2* crew for a week this time; he still had to rush back to the country to deal with the mess of Feng Xiaogang's *The Banquet*.

The first day of adaptive rehearsals ended quickly.

That night, in the hotel room, Liu Yifei prepared to talk to her mother about Twitter.

She sat in front of the computer writing a business plan: "Mom, how much money do we have now?"

"Huh?"

Liu Xiao was washing apples for her daughter by the sink and poked her head out upon hearing this: "What do you mean?"

"I'm in trouble!"

"What?"

The mother was startled and asked suspiciously as she came out of the bathroom: "Tell me quickly!"

She scanned her daughter from head to toe; she was under her nose every day, what trouble could she be in?

"Good news! Good news! I want to start a company and need your help!"

Liu Xiao wasn't too surprised; after all, she had come to Booth School of Business to study, so having some ideas was normal, and besides, she was already running a studio.

"Listen to me, Mom, I want to start a company in the United States, and I want to register it using your identity."

The young Liu had already transferred her nationality back to the country in 2002, but Liu Xiao's status as a green card holder had many conveniences.

Seeing that this wasn't a small matter for her daughter, Liu Xiao listened patiently to her entrepreneurial idea.

She was completely confused.

What was her daughter talking about? Information flow, stranger social networking, mobile blogging...

"Isn't it a bit risky, Xixi?"

Liu Xiao instinctively wanted to persuade her: "And you're so busy with work, do you have time to manage that mess?"

"That Lu..."

The young Liu blurted out, but didn't want to mention that name in front of her mother: "Doesn't Quan Jie operate the same way? And it's on such a large scale."

"Professional people do professional things. I'm just providing the startup idea; I don't know how to execute it either!"

Liu Xiao was a bit hesitant, but thinking of the news about the Hurun Rich List from the country, Lu was already worth nearly 10 billion, which was truly astonishing.

Besides, it didn't seem to delay him from making movies.

"Mom, let me tell you, this idea was inspired by Blognet and Mytube, and I think it will work."

"Hurry up and tell me how much money we have, I need to plan!"

"20% of the *Eerie 2* salary has been prepaid, about 800,000 US dollars, and the previous endorsement income in the country is all in the studio account. I need to check the specifics."

"How much do you need?"

Liu Yifei pursed her lips: "I only need about 2 million US dollars for now, and we'll see about the rest later."

She wasn't sure in her heart either; judging by the money-burning pace of Mytube, the day of success would probably be the time to sell out to venture capital.

But the young girl was currently in the excitement of thinking she was "doing big things," and only wanted to get this business up and running quickly.

The figure the young Liu revealed startled Liu Xiao, but she couldn't resist her daughter's pestering and finally agreed.

To be honest, she had long since lost control over her daughter in the past two years.

Because of her experiences and broader horizons, the Liu Yifei of this life already had a maturity and independence far beyond her peers; it was too late for her to stop her now.

If time could be reversed, perhaps only by returning to that day in 2001 and sweeping a certain little immortal she first met out the door would work.

The night was deep, and the young Liu was burning the midnight oil in her hotel room, conceiving the marketing strategy for this internet product startup.

Nothing else, she didn't understand anything else.

She didn't understand law, and she didn't understand website UI.

She could imitate Mytube and Quan Jie for company operations; as a boss, her only advantage was having seen the rise of blogs and Mytube.

Celebrity traffic, topic marketing...

That's it!

Liu Yifei's train of thought was suddenly struck, and she quickly typed the four words *Twilight* on her computer.

This was the hottest book in North America recently, and the audience was all young girls like her; even Mytube was relying on *Twilight* topics to gain users to sell itself.

There was no reason for Twitter not to ride this wave of popularity.

After thinking it over, she still put the focus on *Twilight*; as a big blogger on Mytube anyway, she could completely contact the author to promote each other.

She would package herself as a die-hard *Twilight* fan and let the author guide topics and interactions on Twitter.

The hardest part was celebrity resources; she was at best a small celebrity who had shown her face in North America, and among the big stars, she only knew Leonardo.

It wasn't certain if he would be willing to help her; Hollywood stars looked easygoing, but when it came to interests, they were all strictly business.

If it were Lu doing it, it would definitely be convenient; a wingman like Harvey would be enough for him to command.

Liu Yifei bit her finger, lost in deep thought, and the desk lamp in her room did not go out until very late.

——

At 11:00 PM Vancouver time, Canada, Little Liu, who had been brainstorming all day, entered a deep sleep.

On the other side of the globe, Boss Lu had just stepped out of his car to attend a luncheon hosted by Han Shanping.

Last night, he had just dined with Old Han and Dong Shuangqiang to celebrate the timely and massive success of the Travel Satellite TV program *The Voice*, and the advertising naming rights had also been successfully auctioned off today.

Among them, the Uni-President Group, which had just spent 500 million to acquire a stake in Wandashan this July, won the bid.

That same year, they also invested 30 million USD to secure a 5% stake in Huiyuan Holdings, just as they were beginning to flex their muscles.

The naming rights for *The Voice* were sold for a total of 80 million RMB, and combined with the advertisements before and after the program, they had fulfilled the advertising revenue plan set by the station for this year ahead of schedule.

Old Han, who had been dead drunk, had called him again at noon to come eat, acting mysterious and not saying why.

Boss Lu’s confusion did not last long; the moment he pushed open the door to the VIP private room at the Jingcheng Club, he understood Old Han’s intention.

"Mr. Lu!"

The young director felt a bit of toothache hearing this title, feeling as though he had been made to age a dozen years by being called that.

"Golden Rose" was dressed much more modestly today, in a light-colored cardigan short-sleeved sweater paired with a light blue fish-scale patterned skirt, full of the gentle and fresh air of a girl next door.

"Jing Tian, hello."

Lu Zheng at the table also stood up with a smile; after going through all kinds of hardships, he had finally managed to invite this great Buddha out.

Ever since the Bazaar Charity Night, Lu Kuan had repeatedly declined invitations, so it was truly not appropriate to bother him too much; the only way was to have the head of the China Film Group set up a meeting.

It was just that he now owed General Manager Han another favor.

"Sorry, there was a car accident on the way, I'm late."

Han Shanping laughed: "You are now serving the country; important people are busy, we wouldn't dare rush you!"

In early December, the second round of the shortlist for the opening and closing ceremony proposals for the Beiping Olympics was about to be released; if Wenjie successfully made the cut, Boss Lu would still need to prepare properly.

This time, the Wenjie team, having managed to supplement all their materials, was determined to win and would bring their full strength to participate in this top-tier artistic event.

Lu Zheng stood up very politely and invited him to the main seat.

"Hey, this protocol isn't right; General Manager Han is here!"

Han Shanping waved his hand while sipping tea: "I'm just a guest today; the person they invited is you, hurry up and sit."

"If I weren't afraid of you having an opinion, I would have left and gone home already; your sister-in-law was just scolding me."

Lu Zheng couldn't let that remark fall to the ground and busied himself refilling Old Han's water: "General Manager Han, how can you say that? It's not easy to have you grace us with your presence for a meal, we can't have you quitting halfway!"

He gave a wink to Jing Tian, who was watching Lu Kuan with a smile on the side, thinking to himself, why does this girl giggle as soon as she sees someone!

"Tian Tian, hurry and ask Boss Lu to sit down?"

Jing Tian stood behind Boss Lu, watching the natural ease and indifference in his every move, feeling something indescribable.

It wasn't entirely a young girl's secret crush or liking.

She just felt he was quite different from the so-called elites and celebrities she had met, which made her especially curious.

"Tian Tian?"

Jing Tian was brought back to her senses by Lu Zheng; without much shyness, she generously moved to pull out the chair for Lu Kuan.

Boss Lu reached out to hold it, signaling he would do it himself: "I'm not so lacking in gentlemanly manners, am I?"

"Haha, Director Lu is too polite."

Lu Zheng smoothed things over very familiarly, taking care of everyone in the room in his words, then went out to order the dishes.

After three rounds of drinks at the luncheon, Lu Zheng saw that Han Shanping had made up his mind to maintain an attitude of indifference, so obviously, he had to speak up himself.

Old Han understood Boss Lu better than anyone; he was not a person who listened to persuasion.

If you want to ask someone to do something, you, Lu Zheng, just need to bring out something real; he certainly wouldn't object to an exchange of interests.

It was just that there weren't many resources left that could interest him now.

Unless he were to offer up the pretty young girl in front of him, but thinking of her background, that was obviously impossible.

"Director Lu, I'll bring Tian Tian to toast you together; please drink as you like, how about it?"

Lu Zheng’s posture was very low; the two clinked glasses, and he immediately downed his in one gulp.

Boss Lu laughed: "General Manager Lu, our surnames have the same sound, don't be a stranger, just say what you have to say."

Lu Zheng wiped his hands with a wet towel, composed; he had been laying the groundwork since the Fashion Bazaar gala, and now, under the expectant gaze of Jing Tian on the side, he finally expressed his request.

"Director Lu, we would like to ask you to teach Tian Tian acting."

(End of chapter)