The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 703 Group Buying and My Childhood Dream of Martial Arts

The turtle girl found a large restaurant in the mall and even bought a large set meal through Meituan.

Compared to ordering directly at a restaurant, ordering a set meal through a food delivery platform is at least one-third cheaper.

Having money at home doesn't mean you can't save money; it just means you like to spend money recklessly on meaningless things.

For example, raising turtles.

Anyway, that short-haired, spirited girl wouldn't understand, and An'an doesn't like keeping these kinds of things.

Many of her friends like to keep dogs and cats, and they spend hundreds of thousands of yuan every year.

It's understandable that girls like to keep small pets, but keeping turtles is indeed a rather niche hobby.

The shopping mall outside the school is crowded, especially during holidays.

Many of them are college students, and some are just shopping in the vicinity.

An'an not only asked why her mother hadn't come, but also asked about the other family members.

There was a very bad situation: her maternal grandmother, who was also Chen Pingsheng's grandfather, was dying.

Chen Pingsheng will also be going back in the next few days. If it weren't for the fact that his family's financial situation has improved, his grandfather would have passed away several years ago.

This was achieved by spending money to extend life by four or five years; that's about the best medical technology can do these days.

In more extreme cases, people need to go abroad or to Hong Kong for blood transfusions or organ transplants.

Chen Pingsheng had previously suggested that such a surgery would be impossible to perform without several million yuan or even a certain amount of resources, but his grandfather was unwilling to do so.

He couldn't persuade him any further.

Birth, aging, illness, and death—while the wealthy may extend their lifespan by five, ten, or even more years, it is still ultimately finite.

Grandpa's current condition has also led him to increase his investment and research in the field of longevity medicine.

Admittedly, even he has his day when he couldn't escape the common fate.

In reality, once they reach that point, who can escape the common fate?

In life, we get what we're meant to get; what's left is birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The illness is gone, but death remains; truly, no one can escape this fate.

In fact, he has already invested tens of billions in this field, and with the seven chief executives who cooperate with him, the total investment is close to 100 billion.

There was some effect, but not much.

Even with such a small effect, in the context of Shuiyunjian and his investment in the health industry, it is a trump card project that competitors can only dream of.

This is the absolute pressure that large capital exerts on small sectors.

Whether it's wellness projects or the current big health industry, all of them are subject to the annual R&D expenditure of over 150 billion yuan by Tengying Group and Tengye Group.

They are all small karaomi.

Not to mention that he also participated in a global immortality project, which is something that the top wealthy people in various countries are doing.

It can only be said that the resources he extracted from this are far beyond what those smaller industries can compare to.

Despite his seemingly ordinary appearance, Chen Pingsheng received a warm welcome from An'an's roommate.

After the dinner party ended, the others gave the father and daughter some time alone.

An'an mentioned a recent idea she had: "Dad, I want to film some short dramas during my university years and play a martial arts girl. What do you think?"

"Well... it's up to you!"

Chen Pingsheng said, "In the past, Dad would have restricted you, but now there's no need for that. Life is only a few decades long, so do whatever you like. Nothing is more important than my daughter's happiness. Just don't forget your identity and try not to use your real name."

"I understand..."

An'an has dreamed of becoming a martial arts heroine since she was a child; she wants to be a martial arts heroine or even a martial arts star.

However, such a dream is unattainable for most people.

But for her, it was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

It's not worth mentioning, and it even seriously lowers her status.

Chen Pingsheng didn't stop her because the four years of university were indeed the best time of her life, and he hoped that An'an could happily spend these four most wonderful years of her life.

An'an watched her father leave with her own eyes. He didn't ride in a luxury car; he simply rode a Butterfly brand bicycle.

The approximate price is around four million.

Once you have all the money in your possession, you'll find that making money is actually quite simple.

The difficult part is often the accumulation process from zero to one.

Top-tier rich kids like An'an have a level of knowledge, vision, and understanding that is simply incomparable to ordinary people.

She had wanted to be a martial arts heroine for a long time, but she hadn't said it before because she felt she was too young.

The reason she wants to speak now is because she knows that if she doesn't speak now, she will never have another chance.

Upon graduating from university, she either went to inherit the family business or spent a year or two working at one of the world's most famous investment banks or institutions.

In short, she could no longer do what she liked as she pleased.

When she got back, she made a point of reporting the good news to Jiang Tang.

In their tiny dormitory, they even held a special photo shoot ceremony for her, themed "Heroine An'an".

Then upload it to Turtle Girl's short video.

The next morning, An'an took Jiang Tang to the short drama shooting base of Tengyou Live.

Their family owns the largest short drama production group in China, also known as YATeng Short Drama.

It was the only listed company in the short drama field, and later it merged with Tencent Video.

In reality, it was acquired by Tencent.

Their family truly dominates a large portion of the entertainment industry.

From Tencent Entertainment to Yateng Short Drama, and then to Tencent Media.

It's fair to say that in this relatively small industry, they own over 70% of the market share.

This shows what kind of status An An has in the entertainment industry.

She wanted to be a martial arts heroine, but she didn't really want to rely on her family's status, so Zhang Wanyi made a special arrangement for her.

An An's every move in Guangzhou was actually being observed by her and Chu Qiuyan. It wasn't that they had any other intentions, but they simply had to fulfill their due responsibility to take care of her.

The main reason for not making long dramas is that they take too long.

There's simply not enough time; short dramas are obviously much faster.

The original model of short dramas was very simple: low investment, quick and easy.

It relies on a highly emotional rhythm to quickly capture the audience's attention.

This one approach completely overwhelms current TV dramas, leaving them utterly bewildered.

However, things were completely different after An'an arrived.

Zhang Wanyi gave direct instructions from the highest level regarding all short dramas in which she was involved.

It requires a top-notch team, a large investment, and the most professional actors.

Short dramas have actually made many actresses famous, such as Xu Yizhen, Li Muchen, and Ma Qiuyuan.

Short dramas are further divided into vertical screen dramas and horizontal screen dramas.

Horizontal screen dramas generally require a larger investment and have a greater impact, but vertical screen dramas are more attractive to viewers.

An An's first drama was "Fu Hao".

She was also the wife of King Wu Ding of the late Shang Dynasty and the first female military commander in Chinese history with verifiable records.

She led her army on numerous expeditions, defeating more than twenty small states, including the Northern Tu Fang, the Southern Yi Kingdom, and the Southern Ba Fang, making immortal contributions to the expansion of the Shang Dynasty's territory.

A person like her is qualified to star in a female-centric drama.

If we move the production to film a short drama, we won't be able to capture the same scenes if the investment is too small.

If the investment was too large, given the payback model for short dramas, the losses would be so great that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them. And then... the entire short drama industry was shocked.

The short drama "Fu Hao" has announced an investment of over 100 million yuan, setting a new investment record in the short drama field.

Not only that, it also hired the most famous long-running drama director to film it, and paired it with numerous well-known actresses as supporting actors.

Even Zhao Liying, the queen of TV dramas, came.

In the realm of short dramas, this is truly a devastating blow.

Anyone who can secure a place in the realm of long-form dramas would never lower themselves to film short dramas.

Now, not only has a top director arrived, but also countless well-known actors.

Even Zhao Liying, a queen of the drama industry, has come.

When she was five years old, Xiao An'an said that she wanted to be a peerless martial arts hero when she grew up.

With her background, even the most unrealistic ideals would have a large group of people helping her achieve them.

In late September, Chen Pingsheng's grandfather passed away.

Chen Pingsheng took a private plane from Shanghai directly to his rural hometown, while An'an also took a helicopter from Guangzhou back to Shacheng.

Their relatives, no matter where they were in the world, have all come back now.

Grandpa's passing was a joyous occasion, but it was also a part of the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The funeral banquet at home was extremely large, and the whole village came to see him off. Chen Pingsheng personally carried the coffin.

Time flies, but he still remembers the days when he often drank with his grandfather in Shanghai.

Grandpa is gone now, and Grandma left long ago too.

The rural banquet lasted three days, but even the grandest feast could not mask the sorrowful emotions.

Chen Pingsheng didn't return to Shanghai until the end of September.

An'an went to Guangzhou again. The university courses were very easy. An'an had a martial arts dream since she was a child.

It is now being realized step by step.

Chen Pingsheng had just finished a phone call with Zhang Wanyi and learned some information about An'an's situation, but he didn't say much.

Compared to An'an, the arrogant and friendless Erpiya was clearly a bigger headache for him.

Erpiya was completely unaware of this; she firmly believed that she was the cutest one in the family.

It's obvious it was raised on cuteness over food.

Erpiya, completely lacking any princess-like demeanor, crossed her legs and trembled slightly as she said, "Dad, I heard that my sister went to be a martial arts heroine?"

"What, you want to be a female knight-errant too? Do you have her skills?"

"This... is indeed a tiny bit off."

"You call that almost there? You can't even roll."

"Dad, you can't talk to me like that."

Erpiya is in junior high school and hasn't lost weight yet. Chen Pingsheng seriously suspects that she will stay chubby forever.

“I gained weight on my own, do I need to lose weight? Besides, my sister used to be even fatter than me, but she lost weight as soon as she started high school.”

"You might have misunderstood. She was already thin in junior high, while you were three sizes bigger in junior high."

With a couple of hums, Erpiya said unhappily that she wanted to lose weight, and then bought a whole bunch of top-of-the-line fitness equipment online and put it at home.

It's like she can lose weight just by displaying these things.

In the end, they bought them but never used them. Unbelievable.

Two days later, Erpiya realized she still hadn't lost weight, so she went to ask Dada, one of the employees.

The solution to losing weight is to eat less and exercise more.

She found that she couldn't do any of them. If eating more and exercising less could help her lose weight, she would definitely be the slimmest one.

The reverse is not quite right.

Before we knew it, Er Yatou was already 12 years old.

The only one completely different from her was Chen Lu, the mistress, who was having a great time playing games.

He's the kind of person who can't be called by anyone.

"Pingsheng, did An'an tell you that she's not coming back for National Day?"

"Yes, I did say that I'm staying in Guangzhou to film a movie."

"Sigh... She's really grown up. She doesn't even come back for National Day anymore. If she suddenly brings a boyfriend back next time, she might give us a real shock."

Song Yanxi said with some concern.

"Don't worry, An'an isn't that stupid. If she brings a boyfriend home, it must be someone she's already decided on."

"I hope so!"

The couple started worrying about their daughter's love life again.

It's true that every age brings a new hurdle. Before, I worried that she wouldn't do well in her senior year of high school, and now that she's in college, I worry that she'll be scammed.

I really don't know when I'll be able to completely stop worrying.

"We parents should also relax and not worry about this or that."

Chen Pingsheng said, "After a while, I will go to Guangzhou to stay for a longer period of time."

What are you going over there for?

"Of course I'm here to accompany my daughter, and also to see how her filming is going. I'll also go there and be an extra."

"Come on, what age are you to still be an extra? You must have nothing better to do, right?"

"No, it's just that once An'an graduates from university, she won't even be qualified to be an extra in her films anymore."

Chen Pingsheng still had his own ideas; he simply wanted to be involved in every step of his daughter's growth.

Four years of university may sound like a long time, but at their age, it's just a blink of an eye.

After thinking about it, Song Yanxi also decided to take some time to go to Guangzhou.

Chen Pingsheng didn't have time during the National Day holiday; he went to Guangzhou after the holiday.

An An has been filming here, along with Jiang Tang and her two college roommates.

The advantage of large investments is that the scale is large; when fighting a battle, there won't just be seven or eight extras making empty threats.

Instead, you need hundreds or even thousands of extras to create a scene with any sense of war.

Chen Pingsheng went to see his daughter, and Zhang Wanyi came to see him again.

"Uncle Chen...you've come to Guangzhou now, but you don't even tell me."

"I'm just here to see my daughter, it's not like I'm doing anything, I don't want to bother you!"

"What do you mean by trouble?"

Zhang Wanyi said, "Uncle Chen, it's been a long time since I've worked by your side. When you come to Guangzhou, you should at least visit me."

"Forget it, don't tell anyone I came. I just wanted to spend some time alone with my daughter. By the way, how's her filming going?"

"Very good. An An is quite skilled. She has the foundation for action scenes. There are very few people in the industry who can compare to her at this age."

"Alright... An'an has had a martial arts dream since she was a child, but she only started to realize it in college. It's been many years."

To be honest, Zhang Wanyi has watched An'an grow up; it's been so many years.

She went all the way from An'an Elementary School to junior high, then high school, and now university.

Once she fulfills her childhood dream of becoming a martial arts hero, she will probably leave the entertainment industry.

This process may take a year, or it may take two or three years.

In short, it will happen before university.

(End of this chapter)