Chapter 340: Happy to be a Dad

6:00 PM, Gongjian Hutong.

Early September in Beijing, some summer heat remained.

The sky was not yet completely dark when Boss Lu led Ma Yun, Ma Huateng, Zhou Hongyi, Zhang Chaoyang, and others into the door.

The sky above was framed into a square of deep blue by the flying eaves of the courtyard, and the old locust tree in the courtyard was lush, casting mottled light and shadows.

The future internet big shots walked along the path paved with blue bricks, and they could see the main hall.

A set of carved mahogany tables and chairs was placed in the center, with exquisite blue and white porcelain tableware on it.

In the corner, a simple screen cleverly separated the space, and the flowers, birds, fish, and insects painted on the screen were lifelike.

On the other side, on the Ming-style long table, a beautifully shaped bronze incense burner was placed, with curling blue smoke rising, adding a bit of elegance to the whole space.

Old Ma likes this tone, not without emotion: "Having such a house in the middle of the noise, Boss Lu is really living a fairy-like life."

"If Ma Zong is interested, I can spare a few sets for you."

Ma Yun was surprised: "Really? It seems that Boss Lu still has a lot of goods on hand?"

"Young and ignorant, I hoarded a lot." Boss Lu was humble.

Ma Huateng, who was a bit introverted, shook his head: "Boss Lu is too low-key; I bought one for my father in Nanluoguxiang last year, and it really can't compare to your Ice Cellar Prince's Mansion."

"The price is not low, it's almost 20,000 per square meter."

The average price of the courtyard house at this time has no high reference value, because of the complexity of property rights, the trading is basically one thing at a time.

However, the average price of Ma Huateng's house is almost three times that of when Boss Lu bought the Ice Cellar Prince's Mansion in 2002.

Zhang Chaoyang is a person who loves to eat and play, and he is also a first-rich person among portal websites, so he has some research on courtyard houses:

"The city issued a policy in the past two years, no longer restricting purchases by non-local households and foreigners, and last year it also promulgated the *Regulations on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Cities*, and the price rose so fiercely!"

Boss Lu personally took everyone to visit for a while, and then returned to the restaurant; Master Qiao found two helpers, and had already started serving dishes.

On the table were Huaiyang famous dishes such as crab roe lion head, Wensi tofu, and soft-hook long fish, with a few bottles of wine placed on the side of the blue and white porcelain plate.

"Red, yellow, and white, everyone can choose, everyone is free, no persuasion to drink today."

Zhou Hongyi has a heavy grassroots spirit, and he doesn't pay much attention to his appearance on weekdays; he is not used to this luxury of old money style: "I'll drink some Maotai."

Liu Qiangdong responded: "I'll accompany Zhou Zong, drink some white."

Except for Ma Yun who insisted on drinking yellow wine, everyone else chose the Haut-Brion that Boss Lu bought from the owner of a foreign castle—

From one of the five famous chateaus, the Haut-Brion Castle, which is also the only one of the five famous chateaus not in the Médoc region.

From the drinking, you can see the personality differences of several internet big shots who have not yet achieved great success.

Ma Yun is obsessed with Jin Yong, kung fu, and other classical cultures, and naturally also likes yellow wine as a cultural symbol of his hometown, just like the Ali he leads and his personal management style, mellow and gentle.

It has both elegance and atmosphere, and pioneering and enterprising spirit.

Brother Pony's native family conditions are superior, and both his personal temperament and the development context of his internet career have an exquisite and delicate background like red wine.

As for Zhou Hongyi and Dongzi, their personalities have the spicy and strong side of Chinese white wine, with the boldness of the grassroots and the personality of daring to fight.

As far as Zhou Hongyi is concerned, he fought with BAT in turn in his later life, and he is a very "stalky" entrepreneur.

Zhang Chaoyang, who loves singing, is about the same as Boss Lu; he is half an internet industry fun-maker, and naturally wants to taste this rare red wine.

The host naturally wants to propose a toast first:

"Good friends, I am half an internet industry person; among you, I have only dealt with Old Ma."

Zhang Chaoyang was strange: "Never heard of it?"

Ma Yun laughed: "Two or three years ago, Boss Lu waved a money stick to invest in Ali, but it was a pity that I was in Tokyo at that time, and SoftBank later increased its capital by 30 million US dollars."

Dongzi sneered in his heart; that should be when Ma Yun ugly-rejected his own boss, otherwise there would be no Wenjie Mall.

After all, the 30 million held by a film director and the 30 million in the hands of Masayoshi Son with multinational companies and consortium backgrounds have a huge gap in actual effect.

Even if Boss Lu has reached this position today, Ma Yun's choice will not change.

The young director continued: "Today, I listened to the instructions of the leaders and the speeches of the big shots in the industry with a calm heart, and I am sincerely happy for the development of the domestic internet industry."

"Nothing more to say, everyone met today, even if we made friends, drink first."

Zhou Hongyi and Liu Qiangdong responded first: "Come, cheers!"

The rest of the people, whether sincere or fake, are all good on the surface at this social wine table.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhang Chaoyang sighed: "Among so many young entrepreneurs in the country, I envy Boss Lu the most."

"How to say?" Boss Lu was using chopsticks to pick up steamed shad.

"Wandering in the entertainment industry of sound and color, sitting on huge assets and wealth, this is not mentioned; everyone here has some family background."

Zhang Chaoyang's tone was envious: "But there is one point, Boss Lu can put most of his time into the things he likes to do; this is too rare."

"I recently read a serialized novel on Blog China called *Those Things in the Ming Dynasty*; this author writes quite interestingly."

As part of the grassroots star strategy of Blog China, Mingyue was dug from Tianya at the beginning of his development.

"This book writes about the emperors, generals, and ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and the talented people and beautiful women, but my favorite essence is the last part of Xu Xiake."

Zhang Chaoyang was not without emotion: "The author said, the reason why I write about Xu Xiake is to tell you that the so-called century-old fame, thousand-year hegemony, and eternal reputation are actually nothing compared to one thing."

"This thing is—spend your life in the way you like."

Old Ma likes this kind of sentiment the most, and slapped the table: "This is well said! Should float a big white!"

"Indeed, Boss Lu's artistic genius and hobbies are incomparable to us vulgar people." Ma Huateng also drank until his face was ruddy.

Boss Lu laughed: "I am humble in other places, but I cannot deny what Old Zhang said."

"To be honest, no matter how much money I earn, it is for my film making and related industries; there are too many ways to make money, I only take this ladle."

"Art is intoxicating; in this point, I am slightly better than you all."

The young director smiled and touched glasses with Zhang Chaoyang, Ma Yun, and others, and also blessed this plain-looking Sohu boss: "Old Zhang, if one day you feel distressed about doing business, why not learn from Tao Yuanming, tired birds return to the forest."

"Singing in the program of Travel Satellite TV, or being a guest professor at a university to teach, it should also be quite comfortable."

Zhang Chaoyang's eyes lit up: "This idea is really good! I remember it, thank you!"

Ma Yun said truly or falsely: "Boss Zhang, you are bewitched by Boss Lu!"

"You are retreating in a hurry, won't his Wenjie Video have one less competitor?"

"Not necessarily, not necessarily." Zhang Chaoyang waved his hand hurriedly.

"Wenjie Video's film library is several times ours, especially some old films of Wenjie Jiahe; after the copyright issue is put on the agenda in the future, they are all Boss Lu's competitive advantages."

He put down his wine glass and suddenly frowned: "Mentioning this, Boss Lu, I have chatted with Liu Hong for a long time."

"Our two companies are now called big fools in the industry, having collected so many copyrights; do you think we should join forces to urge the progress of the anti-piracy regulations of the authorities? This is also for the healthy development of the entire industry!"

Boss Lu nodded: "Absolutely, let's find a time to chat alone later."

He wants this time to be later.

No other reason, the copyright hasn't been collected enough.

The more you buy now, the more "unjust money" you spend, the wider the moat in the future.

Zhang Chaoyang was a bit high today; he was interested in the entertainment industry, and today he happened to have the opportunity to get close to Boss Lu.

As a godfather-level figure in the domestic internet, Zhang Chaoyang is different from entrepreneurs like Ma Huateng who disdain to show their faces; he likes to wander everywhere.

He also packaged himself as an artist, whether it was various film and television activities, Sohu Video, or even the wedding of Big S in the later life, he appeared on stage, very happy.

Ma Huateng suddenly raised his glass to toast, with a smile: "Boss Lu, I have always had a question to ask."

"What are you saying, let's communicate."

Brother Pony took a sip of the scarlet wine: "You sold MyTube in North America, and made a company called Weibo, and also promoted it in the program."

"Looking at it again in these few months, it seems that there is only one company called Twitter in North America now; what is your relationship with..."

"Oh, it's the company I merged into it." Boss Lu sighed: "You don't know, foreign investors can't hold such enterprises like MyTube."

The young director met everyone's doubtful eyes: "This involves the vigilance and prevention of Western ideology, and will not let foreigners control such media companies with greater influence."

"Unless it is a Chinese like Zhou Zong's old boss, Boss Jerry Yang, perhaps not so suspicious."

"So later I sold the company to a Chinese-American investor, and focused on making movies in the United States, which is also a helpless move."

Boss Lu drank a cup of bitter wine with a depressed face.

The future big shots here do not yet have such vision; their companies and main businesses are still some distance away from going overseas.

Currently, there is no profound understanding of the US imperialist economic plunder and political suppression through judicial means.

Ma Yun hesitated: "Is Boss Lu too careful; to be honest, Weibo's model is still very advanced, and I think Twitter's development is quite good now."

"It's a pity to sell it like this."

Ma Huateng and Zhang Chaoyang both flickered their eyes; entrepreneurs of this level naturally noticed this model long ago.

Especially Zhang Chaoyang, who has been paying attention to this internet entrepreneur wearing a director's skin since Wenjie Video.

Lu Kuan said righteously: "Perhaps only Old Zhou knows that the US imperialists amended the *Foreign Corrupt Practices Act* in 1998."

"The act has extraterritorial effect; as long as foreign companies use US dollars to sign contracts, or send and receive and store emails through servers located in the United States, the United States believes that it has the right to investigate and prosecute them."

The legal rationality of the Alstom incident in the later life all stems from this.

Of course, this is something that the US imperialists use to deceive the people of the world in order to cover up their wolfish ambitions and the impropriety of long-arm jurisdiction.

It's just that with a tough fist as the background, what can be done.

Everyone on the table looked solemn, and looking at the young director in front of them, their eyes were different again.

Zhou Hongyi felt a little bit of fear: "It's still safe here; at least the personal safety of entrepreneurs is guaranteed."

Ma Huateng agreed: "Exactly."

The two touched a glass with emotion.

Boss Lu watched his nose, nose, and mouth, resisting the urge to take out his mobile phone to record this conversation.

I don't know if there will be a 3Q war in this life, and the strange story of the Red-Clad Sect Leader running to Hong Kong at night.

Whether it is Zhang Chaoyang or Ma Huateng, everyone here is quite curious about this previously mysterious young entrepreneur, and they have inquired and understood for a while.

But the one with the heaviest heart today is undoubtedly Ma Yun.

In his previous life, Ma Yun had invested in Yanda Huayi, both as a company and as an individual, becoming the third largest shareholder.

In this life, he naturally developed an interest in entering the entertainment industry.

He wanted to insert a pole into Wenjie, but in these three or four years, the domestic venture capital has knelt white-headed, and none of them have been able to enter the eyes of others.

Only last year, Xiong Xiaoge and Tomorrow Capital's Xu Xin invested in Wenjie's subsidiary, Wenjie Mall, running wildly on the road of chasing Ali.

In fact, his marriage with Yanda Huayi is not because he saw this point.

If a person has no long-term worries, there must be immediate worries; Ali's advantage over Wenjie Mall is not absolute.

Alipay became independent in 2004, and Wenjie is also developing its own payment business;

Wenjie Mall's deep bundling with stars like Liu Yifei and Zhou Jielun, and event marketing, are what Ali doesn't have;

Wenjie Mall takes a different path, attempting to overtake on a curve from logistics construction and delivery services; even if the effect is not seen now, this is also what Ali doesn't have.

Furthermore, behind Yanda Huayi, there is not only the shadow of domestic bureaucratic capital, but also joint ventures and shareholding relationships with two of the Hollywood Big Six, Warner and News Corp.

Ask, besides Wenjie, is there a second film and television company or entertainment company in the country worth his choice?

Old Ma didn't forget the main task of this trip today, and probed: "Boss Lu, you are blooming in both the entertainment industry and the internet; what do you think of the Ali Search Star project I consulted you about this morning? Is there any head?"

"I really didn't pay much attention, Ma Zong; it's just a talent show, right? Cooperating with Xiangtai?"

"Exactly."

Boss Lu pondered for two seconds: "Do it; in fact, Wenjie's model for these years has long been studied through."

"It's nothing more than good works and programs to promote people, cash out through the internet and SP traffic, and at the same time, popularity feeds back internet products and works, programs, forming a virtuous cycle."

"But the quality of the program, whether the people you choose have the potential to be popular, and whether the internet products used for cashing out are suitable, this needs to be refined."

Even if he didn't mention this, it is the consensus in the industry today.

The "Ace Product" is Xiao Liu.

Ma Yun clapped his hands: "Boss Lu is a bright person, and he has said everything so clearly, then we will go all out!"

He stood up, although his height was much worse than Boss Lu, the momentum of the era's hero was not lost to anyone: "Come, Boss Lu, I must toast you!"

"I watched your speech at the Film Academy on Wenjie Video these days; you are a leader with great spirit and great breadth of mind."

"To be honest, I am also very obsessed with classical cultures such as Jin Yong and martial arts, and I hope that these excellent Chinese cultures can go out."

Ma Yun suddenly made another joke: "Tell a little thought for everyone to laugh at; in fact, I invested in Yanda Huayi, and I also wanted to see if there is a chance to invite Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and others to accompany me to make a martial arts movie, and let me have fun in the movie!"

Boss Lu sneered in his heart; it turns out that you, Old Ma, have this idea from now on.

"This movie must be supported by Wenjie; Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe 100% schedule arrangement!"

The young director followed with polite words, and everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was active.

The table was intertwined, the osmanthus tree in the courtyard swayed with the wind, the dark fragrance floated, and the chirping of a few sparrows resting under the eaves intertwined with interest.

There are two relatively famous industry big shot dinners on the mainland internet.

The first was on the Xihu in Lin'an in 2001, where Jin Yong, who had already stopped writing, sat in a group with Ma Yun, Ding Lei, Zhang Chaoyang, Wang Zhidong, and others, cooking wine and tasting tea.

The second was the "Wuzhen Dinner" during the 4th World Internet Conference, which became a convention and appeared one after another, reflecting the factional disputes in the internet world.

In this non-typical dinner at the Ice Cellar Prince's Mansion today, where important figures have not yet gathered in 2006, half of the Chinese internet world has arrived.

In the future internet world, whether those who are present today or those who are absent.

Perhaps in the near future, Wenjie will inevitably have direct competition with one or several people at the table.

For example, Ali, who has invested in Yanda Huayi, Penguin and Sohu, who are interested in the Weibo project.

Combining vertically and horizontally, either enemy or friend.

Just as he said to Liu Yifei, fighting with people is endless fun.

This is also the fun of the reborn person.

——

The 2006 China Internet Conference lasted for three days.

However, Boss Lu showed his face and handed in his job on the first day, and after a lot of flattery and outlook in the interview with reporters, he quickly returned to the Shi Jiao Film and Television Base in Jin Ling to continue filming.

Everything returned to normal, the crew entered the right track after this period of running-in, and the filming progress accelerated.

Whether it was the film emperor Tom Hanks and film queen Moore who were capable of business, or Liu Yifei who polished the role deeply, Lu Kuan, who was always bad-tempered on the set, rarely found too many mistakes.

It's just that some things have advantages and disadvantages.

Liu Yifei's immersion made the young director's efforts to help her divert her attention during this period discounted.

Or rather, as long as she hasn't grown to the point of being able to retract and release freely, she will inevitably have real-life entanglement with the role.

It's like temporarily salvaging a drowning person ashore; as long as her swimming skills are not good enough, there is still a risk when going into the water again.

Only let Liu Xiaoli and others pay attention to her state at all times, and then make adjustments in time.

In mid-September, several core management personnel of Wenjie arrived from Beijing. Gao Jun, Dong Shuangqiang, and Chen Zhixi arrived at the Sheraton, waiting for Boss Lu who had finished filming.

He had to take care of the Olympic group and the crew in Jin Ling, so he naturally had to ask Wenjie employees to work mobile if there was anything important.

Boss Lu pushed the door into his suite with stubble: "Waited long?"

The three people chatting in the room stood up, and Chen Zhixi opened her luggage: "Boss Lu, the tea you want is brought."

"Good, good, good! Exhausted these days, no tea and no smoke to refresh, really can't do it."

Dong Shuangqiang saw that his eye circles were heavy: "Don't work too hard, take it easy."

"No way, delayed for more than ten days some time ago, this progress must be caught up."

Boss Lu asked Chen Zhixi to brew it for him now: "Tom Hanks is also dumbfounded, working overtime every day, I think he must miss his capitalist country very much now."

"Hahaha!"

A cup of tea was placed in front of each person, Chen Zhixi distributed a stack of materials to everyone, and Gao Jun also opened his blue-covered work notebook that hadn't changed for ten thousand years.

"Boss Lu, the gossip I received in the industry, Warner is going to withdraw from China!"

The young director frowned, a little surprised in his heart, so early?

As early as 2001, when the country joined the WTO, it promised to open up to the outside world in theater chain and cinema investment, and the shareholding ratio should not exceed 50%.

One of the Big Six, Warner, entered China, and its subsidiary Warner International and Shanghai Film Group formed a joint venture to establish Yonghua Cinema.

The peak of foreign hot money investment occurred in 2003, when the country raised the foreign shareholding ratio from 50% to 75%, and the world looked at this corner of the East.

But just at the beginning of this year, the country promulgated the *Several Opinions on Introducing Foreign Capital in the Cultural Field*, lowering this ratio back to 49%, not allowing foreign capital to dominate.

Plus the cinema feeling of foreign investors in the mainland in these years was dominated by administrative power—

The task allocation of various main melody films made them very troubled, and thus began to gradually withdraw.

It's just that the timeline of this life seems a bit early?

Gao Jun explained: "In addition to policy factors, it is mainly because our super high-end cinemas in Shanghai and Beijing have affected their profitability; after weighing the pros and cons, they made up their minds to retreat completely this time."

Boss Lu laughed: "It's a crime not to eat this meat."

Gao Jun reported in detail: "Warner transferred a total of seven cinemas, among which Shanghai's Yonghua Cinema has won the mainland cinema championship for three consecutive years."

"But among these seven, Shanghai's Yonghua Cinema and Jin Ling's Shanghai Film Warner are all in the plate of Shanghai Film Group; they will definitely not let go."

"We can take action on the remaining five cinemas where Warner and Shenzhen International Trust cooperated."

Boss Lu was a little itchy: "Old Dong, can you handle Shanghai Film Group?"

"This matter is hanging; you also know Ren Zhonglun, that is a top-level model worker."

"Our Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe giant screen cinema is watching from the side; they can't let go of this piece of fat; I think even if the face is big, it's tough."

"Okay, put this matter aside for now." The young director opened the information: "Calling you here today is to make some adjustments to the expansion strategy of Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe."

"Everyone also knows that as of now, our super high-end giant screen halls in first-line and quasi-first-line cities are basically laid out."

"Two in Beijing, two in Shanghai, one each in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, plus Jin Ling, Suzhou, Ningbo, Lin'an, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, etc., a total of 13 giant screen cinemas that cost huge sums of money."

The three people who were writing and recording sat upright.

"Gao Jun, do you think this speed is fast or slow?"

Gao Jun smiled bitterly: "Boss Lu, except for the Xi'an theater chain that is about to be acquired, our 13 cinemas have really done their best to promote."

Don't be surprised that Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe took two years to lay out these 13 high-end cinemas in the country.

Considering land acquisition, operation, maintaining Wenjie Jiahe's original heavy-asset cinemas in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, especially considering the capital problem, this speed is not slow.

Is Wenjie short of money? The answer is unquestionable.

The stall abroad is basically self-sufficient.

The domestic Blog China has been burning money all year round, burning until it became the industry leader, and after barely self-sufficient with the help of SP, Wenjie Video was established.

Copyright purchase plus operating expenses, continue to burn.

Focus Media swallowed Focus Media, unified the world, but all the equity pledge funds of the listing were invested by Boss Lu to Paulson for subprime mortgages.

DJI has no profitability now, and Butian Film is self-sufficient.

Besides that, there is Wenjie Mall that has obtained financing, which can be considered to have removed a heart disease in terms of cost reduction.

However, the income from film and television investment and Travel Satellite TV can basically only support the market development of Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe, advancing at this speed.

Building a cinema is not a game of throwing dice to buy land and build houses in Monopoly.

The construction of high-end cinemas is really expensive.

Simply calculate a bill—

In the cinema projects laid out in the above first and second-line cities, because it involves world-class decoration and equipment introduction, and also considering the appreciation after land prices, they are basically self-purchased.

Standard 8-hall 1200-seat cinema, construction area is generally 1000-1200m.

The purchase cost of commercial real estate in first-line cities is 15,000-30,000/m, with a comprehensive average of about 25 million;

Single-hall decoration cost is 2-3 million, with a comprehensive average of about 20 million;

Procurement of foreign first-line brand equipment and giant screens, seats, etc., about 20 million per cinema;

Operating costs including personnel wages, water, electricity, property, marketing expenses, and sales turnover are about 2 million per year;

Calculated comprehensively, from nothing to something, the average investment cost is nearly 70 million, and 13 stores are nearly 1 billion.

This also has to consider the coordination of land acquisition, public relations time, construction time, training time, etc.

The key is that the total plate of the domestic market is only about 3 billion now, and these cinemas are real black holes!

Gao Jun complained a little, reflecting the arduousness of the work.

Dong Shuangqiang gave him a secret look, signaling not to speak again.

Boss Lu's face was not very good-looking: "The results achieved by yourself are always gratifying, but the vision must be placed on the whole industry."

He shook the information in his hand: "Look at the situation of domestic theater chain competitors."

"First place, China Film Star Beauty, 82 cinemas, 550 screens, market share 18.6%, relying on China Film's import film distribution monopoly in first-line city core locations."

"Second place, Shanghai Film United, 65 cinemas, 278 screens, market share 15.3%, dense layout in the Yangtze River Delta region, completed digital transformation first, closest to us in cinema quality."

"Third place, New Film Union, 58 cinemas, 241 screens, market share 12.8%, controlling more than 80% of high-quality cinema resources in Beijing."

"Fourth place, Wanda Theater Chain, only 15 cinemas but all are self-owned properties, 120 screens, market share 4.5%, but their single-screen output is 2 times the industry average."

Boss Lu paused: "Fifth is us."

"If you don't count the resources of the Xi'an theater chain that hasn't been finalized, we have 13 cinemas, less than 110 screens, and a market share of 4%."

"I won't mention the rest of the Southern New Trunk Line in the Pearl River Delta, Pearl River Jin Yi, Sichuan's Pacific, etc."

The atmosphere in the suite was oppressive.

"Gentlemen, comparing this data, do you still think our actions are fast?"

Everyone knows what he means.

Not to mention the number of theater chains controlled by China Film and Shanghai Film, just compared with the direct competitor Wanda, Wenjie's disadvantage is undoubtedly huge!

Boss Lu warned: "Everyone should also be very clear now, what is Wanda's model?"

"They sweep through first, second, and third-line cities like locusts; where there is a Wanda Plaza, there is a Wanda Cinema; their cinemas are nested in commercial real estate."

"I ask you, if you were the local government, would you give the most core location to Wanda, or to Wenjie?"

"If we don't speed up our efforts in second and third-line cities, wait for the locusts to cross the border, don't even think about getting involved in the best business districts and locations."

Gao Jun sighed secretly in his heart.

The boss opens his mouth, and the subordinates run their legs off.

To be honest, Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe's expansion is limited.

What limit? Undoubtedly limited by the cash flow of the entire Wenjie Holdings; Boss Lu wants too much, and the stall is spread too wide.

This is the advantage of the reborn person, and also the disadvantage of the reborn person.

But whether it is laying out future streaming video websites, self-sufficient special effects companies, or a series of internet fist products, which one is not important?

Of course, as a subordinate, he won't say these words, and there is no need to say them; after all, the ox and horse are here to do things.

"Boss Lu, we have also realized this problem internally."

Gao Jun reflected decisively: "In April this year, Wanda's cinema on the top floor of Nanchang Walmart Shopping Center opened, five-star level, only a little worse than ours."

"I asked a friend over there, Nanchang's total film box office last year was 6 million, but as of the end of the summer file, Wanda's five-star has already received 9 million in revenue."

In less than half a year, it exceeded the whole of last year.

This is the prosperity of the film market, and also the embodiment of Wanda's single-store revenue crowning the industry.

This is not an isolated case, just a microcosm of Wanda in second and third-line cities.

Boss Lu in this life may be an existence that the natives can't look at in many fields.

But in the field of theater chain investment, Wenjie treats Wanda as a competitor, and Wanda should have never looked at this "little ant" at all.

Since 2010, Wanda Theater Chain's market share has occupied the first place in the country for 14 years.

The boss of the "little ant" spoke: "Gentlemen, the situation of Wenjie Holdings now being brocaded with flowers and cooking oil with fire is not easy to come by, but there are hidden crises."

"Not to mention anything else, if we can't obtain a certain market share in the theater chain, we won't be able to eat the biggest cake in the era of the future film plate of 40 billion, 50 billion."

Gao Jun, Dong Shuangqiang, Chen Zhixi, and others nodded silently.

Although they may not have such high expectations for the big plate mentioned by Boss Lu, the importance of the theater chain is unquestionable.

Didn't you see that he "sold himself" to Jing Tian as a teacher for the theater chain resources in Jin and Shaanxi!

Dong Shuangqiang proposed: "Second and third-line cities, if you want to speed up, besides direct acquisition like the Xi'an theater chain, I think joining can also be considered."

"No, the speed of joining is fast, but the loyalty is too low."

Boss Lu refused: "Cinemas are undoubtedly profit-oriented; join us today, and tomorrow other theater chains offer better conditions and jump ship, too unstable."

"Besides, our Wenjie Wenjie Jiahe's current management system and corporate culture may not be

"At that point, there will be a pile of issues with merchandise turnover, box office leakage, and membership management—it's a massive headache."

The young director set the tone: "Cinemas are also a service industry; service is the foundation. Although land prices are still rising, I believe they are far from reaching their peak."

"We must insist on purchasing our own land and building our own cinemas. In special circumstances, we can do as Wanda does: buy one or two floors in core commercial districts for renovation."

Seeing that morale was a bit low, Boss Lu gave them a pep talk: "Let's overcome these difficulties for now; our capital situation will be better next year."

The three of them looked at each other, not knowing how to take that statement.

Is a pie going to fall from the sky next year?

It really could.

Next year, the first wave of harvesting from the big short Paulson's CDS is set to begin.

By the time the 2008 earthquake and the Olympics roll around, he also plans to reveal his identity, reclaim actual control of Blog Network, and plan for an IPO.

This golden goose has been coveted by top domestic and international investment banks for a long time.

It's just that he had previously let Zhuang Xu hold the shares on his behalf, and since it was basically breaking even, he hadn't been in a rush to push it forward.

Times have changed; now, Boss Lu's various preemptive layouts both domestically and abroad are truly crying out for nourishment, and they urgently need the nourishment of this dew.

The four of them then agreed on some expansion plans for second and third-tier cities, such as compressing the cost per store to around 20 million and copying and pasting them in various locations.

After all, the thirteen top-tier, high-standard cinemas in the country have already had a demonstration effect; these provincial and sub-provincial cities can form a radiation effect on other prefecture-level cities, establishing the high-end commercial image of Inquiry Realm.

As the time approached nine in the evening, the three prepared to take their leave, but the young director dropped another bombshell.

"Yanda Huayi's *The Banquet* is scheduled for around September 20th, and *Foreign Land 2* is scheduled for the National Day holiday."

"Old Dong, Old Gao, I'm giving you a task."

The two looked up, bewildered.

"I will tell Han Shanping that *Foreign Land 2* is moving its release date up, directly to the 25th for the premiere—I won't give *The Banquet* any room to breathe!"

"Not just in our own thirteen top-tier cinemas, but use your connections to push the screen allocation for *The Banquet* to the absolute minimum!"

Gao Jun hadn't recovered yet, and Dong Shuangqiang asked in surprise: "Boss Lu, this..."

Why is he out for blood again?

Where did those two blind brothers offend him this time?

They heard him clearly; increasing screen allocation is fine, as there is competition between release windows.

But what does "not giving them room to breathe" mean?

"Boss Lu, is it because of Xu Zheng..." Dong Shuangqiang probed.

Boss Lu waved his hand and smiled: "It's not that serious; it was actually me who suggested Xu Zheng go to Yanda Huayi."

"Simply put, the quality of *The Banquet* is not up to par. I've seen it with Harvey in North America; *Foreign Land 2* will have no problem going up against them."

"Let's move the date up and capture the traffic faster."

Gao Jun, Chen Zhixi, and Dong Shuangqiang looked at each other.

I don't believe a word of that!

Boss Lu was indeed lying; at the very least, that was not his true purpose.

His purpose cannot be spoken of to others right now, but if Liu Yifei were here, she would likely be able to deduce it.

This is "besieging a point to strike at reinforcements"!

There is no doubt that Lu Kuan intends to gain control of Yanda Huayi through Sina, core artists, and future operations in the secondary market.

Then this Yanda Huayi must become more valuable.

How can it become more valuable?

By besieging it without killing it, putting immense pressure on it so that Ali and Deng Wendi keep injecting capital and extending its life, helping Yanda Huayi become more competitive in artist training and cinema development.

After all, they also want Yanda Huayi to be packaged beautifully for an IPO so they can make money for themselves, right?

To use an inappropriate analogy, the current Yanda Huayi is Linghu Chong being locked in the Xihu Plum Villa by Lu Kuan.

In *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, Linghu Chong was locked there and learned the Star-Sucking Great Art, drained Hei Baizi dry, and after escaping, he drained Yue Buqun and others as well.

The current Yanda Huayi is the Linghu Chong that Boss Lu is deliberately letting go.

He wants to use Yanda Huayi to drain as much of Ali and Deng Wendi's vitality as possible; the more it drains, the more satisfying it will be for him to consume later!

Furthermore, if he can use this method to drag down Old Ma's Ali and give Inquiry Realm Mall a chance to overtake them on a curve, that would be even better—it's killing two birds with one stone.

In fact, suppressing *The Banquet* was just a whim he had only just now.

Wanda is formidable at acquiring land, but Yanda Huayi, with its deep background, isn't much worse—after all, it was an advertising company that once undertook the national ICBC standardization work.

The young director wants to use the suppression of screen allocation to see if he can force them to develop into the cinema business; after all, Zhou Jun had tried to snatch Wenjie Jiahe from him a year ago.

Just imagine: Yanda Huayi drains decades of power from Ali, Deng Wendi, and News Corporation, works hard to open up a path for a cinema chain, finally masters the divine art, and successfully goes public.

Just as the Wang brothers, Old Ma, and Deng Wendi are celebrating, they are suddenly shocked to hear that Yanda Huayi has changed hands.

The child they raised for years turns out to be the wife's child with someone else!

A surprise fatherhood!

And he can acquire the cinema resources Yanda Huayi developed without any effort, continuing to challenge Wanda.

This tactic is called "borrowing a path to conquer Guo"; on the surface, it suppresses Yanda Huayi, but in reality, it also consumes his opponent Ali and his arch-enemy Deng Wendi, only to turn around and devour Yanda Huayi later.

This tactic is also called "borrowing a womb to bear a child," using Yanda Huayi's red resources to acquire land and build cinemas, then devouring them in one bite to make them his own cinemas.

This tactic is even more like "drawing the firewood from under the cauldron."

And his firewood, starting from the Bingbing, Zhou Xun, Zhang Jizhong, and Sina of 2002;

As well as the "activists" Huang Xiaoming, Xu Zheng, and Zhang Guoli...

... had already begun to be laid out.

The Yanda Huayi of the future is clearly about to become the Battle of Verdun on the battlefield of war, reduced to a meat grinder for the games and slaughter of various capital forces!

(End of chapter)