Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 468 Harvesting Fans?
"Didn't you already get it?"

Cao Sheng countered with a question.

Fan Jinshuo fell silent.

She knew he was pretending to be stupid; his answer had already told her.

After a moment, she composed herself, smiled, hugged his neck tighter, and said in a coquettish tone, "Brother! I want to act in a movie, preferably as the female lead. What do you think?"

Cao Sheng nodded slightly.

In his memory, she played many leading roles in movies in the original timeline.

Although she hasn't shown particularly outstanding acting skills or proven her box office appeal, it must be said that among the new generation of actresses in mainland China, her acting skills are already quite good.

As for box office appeal?
At least if viewers see her name in the cast list, most won't stop watching a movie just because she's in it.

This is very rare.

"Okay, I'll arrange it for you when I find a suitable script."

Cao Sheng agreed.

Fan Jinshuo repeatedly expressed her gratitude and kissed him frequently to show her appreciation.

At that moment, she couldn't tell whether she was happy or unhappy.

Having received Cao Sheng's promise and achieved her purpose for coming to Huizhou, she should have been happy. However, the thought that he had no intention of dating her made her feel uneasy.

During this period, she was sometimes very ambitious, and sometimes not so ambitious.

Sometimes, when she sees female celebrities who are not as good-looking or as well-built as her enjoying great success, her ambition is ignited, and she thinks: I will surpass you sooner or later!
But sometimes, when she gets tired of working in this industry and sees no hope of getting ahead, she feels exhausted and wants to marry a good-looking man from a good family so she can live a comfortable life without worrying about food and clothing.

It's like that phrase some women like to say: "At worst, I'll just marry a rich man."

Of course, most women who say this are clueless.

And Fan Jinshuo?

With her looks, temperament, and current fame in the entertainment industry, she could easily find a rich man to marry if she really wanted to.

only……

This wealthy person obviously does not include Cao Sheng.

Fan Jinshuo is gone.

The next day, early in the morning.

After Cao Shengchen finished his practice and was having breakfast in the second-floor restaurant, his former assistant Wang Jing, who had been transferred back to his side, came up to him in a gray women's suit and smiled, "Boss! Around 10 a.m. this morning, a group from Tencent's publicity department will be arriving in Huizhou. Should I greet them, or would you like to make an appearance as well?"

She was transferred back to Cao Sheng's side, while Cui Xinyu was transferred to Pengcheng to serve as the vice president.

The subsidiary in Pengcheng promoted one of its former vice presidents to a higher level to take charge of the business there.

Cao Sheng didn't dare let Cui Xinyu take over the entire company as soon as she arrived.

Firstly, Cui Xinyu was not familiar with the situation of the subsidiary there.

Secondly, Cui Xinyu's work ability is not particularly outstanding.

Sending her there this time was also to train Cui Xinyu's abilities.

Upon hearing Wang Jing's report, Cao Sheng casually said, "You go and receive them! I'll go over when I need to shoot the advertisement. They just arrived today, so please help them settle in and familiarize themselves with the environment here."

Wang Jing responded.

After hesitating for a moment, he spoke again: "By the way, boss! You asked me to come back and set up the framework of the head office. I've come up with three plans so far. Would you like to hear them?"

Cao Sheng glanced at her, somewhat surprised.

But she still nodded and hummed in agreement.

Wang Jing: "My first idea is a conventional one. As you wish, we would rent or buy an office building here as the company headquarters, and then hire some people to set up the company's personnel framework to help you supervise and manage the subsidiaries, including your shares in Qidian, Rongshu, and Tencent, as well as your properties in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Anhui. In addition, we can also help you manage the copyrights of all your works. This is my first idea."

Cao Sheng listened without saying anything.

Seeing that he didn't express his opinion, Wang Jing continued, "My second idea is to replicate the experience of Pengcheng's subsidiary, buy and renovate houses in Huizhou and rent them out. However, considering the differences in objective conditions between Huizhou and Pengcheng..."

For example, there aren't as many migrant workers here as in Shenzhen, and the economy of Huizhou is far less developed than in Shenzhen. Therefore, I suggest that we don't need to buy entire buildings of property in Huizhou. We just need to buy a few houses scattered throughout various neighborhoods, then set up a rental company. The business should be quite good, and the headquarters of this company can serve as the headquarters of all your other companies. What do you think?

Cao Sheng nodded slightly. "What about the third option?"

Wang Jing smiled and said in a light tone, "The third option is based on your profession and the characteristics of Huizhou city. You are Zhongyuan Yidianhui, and you are currently the number one online novelist with fans all over the country."

And what about Huizhou? It has Huangshan Mountain, dozens of scenic spots of all sizes, famous historical sites, famous mountains and rivers, and the unique cultural charm of Huizhou. It is a very famous tourist city in China. I think many of your book fans would be interested in traveling here. If we open a hotel and promote it among your book fans, it should attract many of your book fans to stay here.

If we were to open a travel agency, your book fans, out of their trust in you, would likely prioritize our agency.

Or we could open a chain of guesthouses here, offering affordable options to tourists from all over. I think your fans would support us. That way, our headquarters here could manage the guesthouses on a regular basis, and use the rest of the time to oversee your other businesses. What do you think?

So many ideas?
Cao Sheng was somewhat surprised that Wang Jing could come up with three such solutions.

Each option has its advantages and disadvantages.

The first option, while conventional, is relatively simple and won't require much of his energy or investment. Even if he were to buy a building for the headquarters, he could get a substantial loan from the bank to cover the cost of the property.

The second and third options are very creative, but also very complicated, involving many people and things.

It might even involve his book fans.

Wang Jing mentioned the advantages of these two plans in attracting her book fans to patronize her business.

However, it did not mention any drawbacks.

Cao Sheng considered a drawback: it's impossible to please everyone. His fans are scattered all over the country, and they come with all sorts of personalities. They may come excitedly to support his business, but some of them will definitely be dissatisfied with his service.

They might even dislike his work because of this. This single flaw led Cao Sheng to reject Wang Jing's second and third proposals.

Because his book fans are the foundation of his career.

After his rebirth, he used so many works to accumulate such a group of fans, and he didn't want anything outside of his works to affect his fans' perception of him.

At that moment, he thought of a comedy master from the original timeline.

That comedy master, who had worked hard in the entertainment industry for most of his life, ruined his reputation when he was over sixty years old by selling alcohol through live streaming online.

It became a joke in the eyes of countless netizens.

Before selling alcohol via livestream, this comedy master held a high position in the hearts of most netizens because he had produced many classic works.

However, after the livestream wine-selling went wrong, netizens jokingly nicknamed this master "Panzi" (a derogatory term implying someone who sells alcohol online).

This is a classic example of something going wrong outside of the work itself.

There are many similar examples.

For example, a certain celebrity may have a good public image, but because of the restaurant, noodle shop, or hot pot restaurant they open, which is criticized by countless netizens for its poor quality and high prices.

With these past lessons flashing through his mind, Cao Sheng chuckled and said calmly, "Sister Jing! Your three proposals are very insightful, but business is business. Don't involve my fans, and don't use my name on purpose. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wang Jing paused for a moment, her expression quite surprised.

In her view, making a living from fans is something many celebrities do, and it's perfectly normal.

Others who don't have fans are desperate to gain a bunch of fans to make money.

He clearly has millions of fans, why doesn't he want to make money from them? Aren't you writing books also about making money from those fans? It's not as fast as running a business! Why not make money no matter what?
Therefore, she didn't understand, so she couldn't help but say, "Boss! You have so many fans, it's such a waste not to do business with them. Anyway, if they come to Huizhou for tourism, they'll need to eat and stay somewhere. Even if we don't do business with them, they'll still need to eat and stay somewhere else..."

Cao Sheng frowned, raised his left hand on the table, and stopped her from continuing.

"I don't want to discuss this issue. In short, if you're going to do business, don't use my name."

Wang Jing: "..."

With a wry smile, Wang Jing nodded. "Understood! Then let's proceed with the first plan?"

Cao Sheng thought for a moment, "We can consider opening a hotel, or simply buying one and continuing to operate it. You're right, Huizhou is a tourist city with many tourists, so this business is viable. Our headquarters can be combined with the hotel."

He didn't mention another consideration.

He was thinking that more and more celebrities and famous people had been seeking him out in the past two years, and it would be inconvenient for him to entertain them at home every time.

Moreover, the food at home may not suit these people's tastes.

It's also inconvenient to arrange accommodation.

If he owned his own hotel, he could arrange accommodation and meals perfectly for anyone who came to visit him.

In addition, it is becoming increasingly inconvenient for him to eat out now, as he is often recognized by people.

Occasionally, he would be photographed by reporters having meals with someone.

Owning your own hotel can eliminate these worries.

The key is that there are a lot of tourists in Huizhou, so the hotel business is very good, especially during the peak tourist season when almost every hotel is fully booked.

"Okay! Boss!"

Wang Jing's spirits lifted.

She didn't really care what kind of business she did; the main thing was that she had gotten used to being busy in Shenzhen over the past two years and had become accustomed to having a bunch of subordinates under her command.

Now that she's suddenly been transferred back to Cao Sheng's side, she's really not used to it.

If she was only responsible for setting up the framework of the head office and supervising the work of the subsidiaries, she felt it was quite boring.

That's why two of the three proposals she just mentioned involve starting new businesses.

……

The next afternoon.

Cao Sheng arrived at a photo studio's photography booth.

The team from Tencent's publicity department has already finalized a collaboration with this photo studio and decided to shoot some advertising materials here.

If you need to shoot outdoors, the photo studio also has outdoor shooting locations, because the main business of the photo studio is to take wedding photos, and there are many outdoor shooting locations for wedding photos.

Cao Sheng originally thought that shooting an advertisement would be quite simple and wouldn't take much time.

When I arrived at the scene, I realized it wasn't as simple as I had imagined.

Upon arriving, Dong Qianyu from Tencent's publicity department came over with a folder and introduced him to several shooting plans.

Cao Sheng listened patiently, telling himself: This is also a way to accumulate writing material, so I should cooperate well.

result?

This shoot lasted for three days.

The first day of shooting in the studio went smoothly, but on the second day, when we went to shoot outdoors, the weather turned against us. When we arrived at the location, the scenery was beautiful and the weather was sunny and breezy. We had just finished getting our makeup done and changed into our clothes when dark clouds appeared, strong winds started to blow, and soon after, a torrential downpour began.

The group took shelter from the rain for more than two hours in a nearby villa before the sky gradually cleared up.

We didn't shoot for long before it got dark and the light wasn't enough to keep up.

On the third day, the weather was also bad. Although there was no strong wind or heavy rain, there was a constant drizzle.

Cao Sheng braved the rain to shoot some footage and barely managed to complete the filming.

(End of this chapter)