Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 388 Intercession
"Huh, it finally came out——"

At the gate of Chaoyang Branch Detention Center, Li Mu, who had just walked out, took a deep breath of the air of freedom.

I have lived for more than 20 years. Although I have not achieved much, I have always been law-abiding and rarely ran a red light. I never thought that one day I would be in jail for writing two articles.

It turns out that since ancient times, many scholars have violated the rules with their words!
Fortunately, it was only administrative detention, and there is no criminal record. Although there will be a record of my political review, at least it will not affect my descendants.

Just as he was hesitating whether to report to Mr. Meng, a black business car stopped in front of him. Then, two tall and familiar figures got out of the car and gave him an ugly smile.

Li Mu sighed. Well, now he didn't have to worry about it, because they just invited him.

He got into the car on his own accord, and more than twenty minutes later, he met Mr. Meng again.

"Tsk, after three days in there, your complexion has improved."

Looking at Li Mu who was a little restless opposite him, Meng Bai teased.

Li Mu's face was full of vicissitudes. "I get up at six in the morning, go to bed at ten in the evening, and do two hours of physical exercise during the day. All three meals are noodles, bean sprouts, and blanched vegetable leaves. I have never had such a regular schedule in my life."

"It sounds healthy. It's a good place to be."

"..."

"OK, let's get down to business." Meng Bai regained his composure, "You should know why I kept you here, right?"

"I know." Li Mu smiled bitterly and said, "Boss Meng, just tell me what you want me to write."

"It's very simple. You don't even need to do anything." Meng Bai handed him a document. "You just need to repeat what the other party did in a clever way."

Li Mu took it and took a look at it, and couldn't help but be shocked.

The information in hand recorded the details about Straw Bear Entertainment and the company's owner Liu Xiaofeng, shareholders Wu Qilong, Liu Shishi, and Zhao Liying. But the most important thing was how the other party had cooperated with the film buyers of several major TV platforms over the years to manipulate the ratings and establish a black industry chain.

Before Li Mu was detained for public security, he already knew that the group of people who contacted him to attack Meng Bai was Liu Xiaofeng. At this moment, he immediately realized that it was Mr. Meng's counterattack that had begun.

Moreover, unlike the other party, he did not start with the other party's personal reputation, but went directly to the core weakness of the other party.

Li Mu said hesitantly: "Mr. Meng, this..."

"What's wrong? Are you having any difficulties?" Meng Bai asked.

"It's not that difficult..." Li Mu said stiffly, "It's just that I just got out. What if I get found again this time...right?"

His words were vague, but Meng Bai still understood his concerns.

"Don't worry, we at Arc Light don't have the habit of killing the donkey after it has done its job." Meng Bai comforted him, "You just need to write the content, and we will handle the subsequent dissemination. But you'd better not say everything like before, just keep it to yourself."

"Don't worry, it's enough to suffer this kind of loss once."
-
With the National Day holiday over, all legal holidays this year have passed. Everyone is working and going to school, and there will be no more holidays except weekends until New Year's Day.

Without the anticipation of the holiday, the days become boring and long. Every day when we get together, besides playing games, watching TV series and movies, we also chat about all kinds of gossip.

If we talk about the hottest topic about the entertainment industry on the Internet during this period, in addition to the total box office of "Detective Chinatown 2" which is about to exceed billion, the other hot topic is the "pregnancy rumors" about Zhao Liying.

Ever since the release of "Journey to the West: The Women Kingdom" at the beginning of the year, there have been rumors that Zhao Liying and Feng Shaofeng, the male and female protagonists of the film, fell in love with each other because of the film.

Until recently, someone suddenly posted on the Internet saying that the two had already registered their marriage, and that Zhao Liying was pregnant for three months.

As one of the most popular "85 flowers" in recent years, Zhao Liying's popularity is unquestionable. As soon as this gossip appeared, it immediately triggered a lot of heated discussions. Especially her fans, who denied it online with netizens and called on the studio to come out and give an explanation.

Perhaps because of the fans' pressure, Zhao Liying finally came out and posted a Weibo. In the photo, she was wearing a floral dress with her legs apart, and wrote "I don't know what to say, I'll do a split for everyone."

Her fans and many netizens naturally thought that this was her denial of the pregnancy rumors.

However, many people, especially haters, pointed out that the content of this Weibo post neither denied nor admitted the incident, and said nothing at all. If people later find out that this is true, they can use "we didn't deny it" as an excuse, which can be said to be ready to pass the buck in advance.

Zhao’s fans were naturally dissatisfied with these remarks, and the two sides naturally started arguing online.

It was at this time that a new piece of gossip spread from many marketing accounts.

[Zhao and Feng are indeed married, and the pregnancy is also true. The two were together when they were filming a movie. The reason they are in such a hurry to get married is that Zhao's early capital investment recently ran into trouble, so she wants to use the power behind Feng to help solve it. ]

Although the contents of these marketing accounts are different in details, the general meanings are similar. In addition, these marketing articles are mixed with a lot of specific descriptions, which makes them seem very real.

Zhao fans and Zhao haters were already arguing fiercely, and the spread of this rumor was like adding fuel to the fire, making the situation even more intense.

However, the actions of both sides were quite consistent. They immediately began to investigate what the so-called "capital operation in trouble" was.

This information was naturally easy to find, and netizens soon discovered the clues.

As early as 2015, Zhao Liying acquired 10% of Straw Bear Entertainment for 1 yuan and became its celebrity shareholder. Not long after, Baofeng Technology wanted to acquire Straw Bear Entertainment for 15% of the shares for 60 billion yuan, but it failed.

Despite this, Straw Bear Entertainment still appeared in the sight of the capital market. In the following years, Alibaba and Qiyi TV successively joined the ranks of shareholders. The valuation rose to 28 billion at its highest, and even now it is still worth more than billion.

Although Zhao Liying has not worked for Straw Bear Entertainment, the two sides have cooperated a lot in recent years. The popular dramas "The Legend of Zu" and "Princess Agents" in recent years have the participation of Straw Bear Entertainment.

Moreover, she has kept her 1% stake until now. All in all, the 10 yuan she invested has increased nearly times, which can be called a perfect capital investment.

But now, the problem lies in this point of shares.

As early as when Guo Jingyu first posted on Weibo to expose the "black industry of fake ratings", someone determined based on the description that the satellite TV station he said "required to buy ratings" was Lizhi TV. And the so-called "god" who could manipulate the ratings was Liu Xiaofeng, the boss of Straw Bear Entertainment.

However, due to the "scandal" of Arc Light Pictures boss Meng Bai, everyone temporarily let the matter go.

However, with the recent press conference held by Arc Light Films to clarify the relevant rumors and reiterate the "boycott of the ratings black industry", coupled with the successive voices from the industry and officials, this matter has returned to the public eye.

Now coupled with the news that "Zhao Liying was implicated and avoided suspicion", it can be said that the previous rumors have been basically confirmed.

Not many netizens know about Straw Bear Entertainment and Liu Xiaofeng, but everyone is familiar with the company's several celebrity shareholders.

Suddenly, in addition to Zhao Liying, the celebrity couple Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi were also involved.

Besides, Zhao only holds 1% of the shares, so even if something goes wrong, it won't cause much trouble. But Wu and Liu are different, especially Wu Qilong, who is not only one of the founders of Straw Bear Entertainment, but also the third largest shareholder. There are even rumors that boss Liu Xiaofeng is just a spokesperson he pushed up, and he is the actual controller.

If this news is true, it means that Wu is very likely the real mastermind behind the industry's black market.

Conspiracy theories, once proposed, cannot be easily quelled. For a time, the controversy over Wu and Liu on the Internet immediately became a hot topic.

But the situation was far from over. The day after the identity of "Wu Liu" was revealed, Arclight Entertainment, which had been at the center of controversy for some time, issued a lawyer's letter and formally filed a lawsuit against a man named Chen Zhijie.

The name of the lawsuit is "spreading false statements causing damage to the company's image."

As soon as they saw the reason for the lawsuit, netizens immediately realized that this should be referring to the "scandal rumors" from some time ago.

After digging up Chen Zhijie's identity information, it turned out that he was indeed an executive of Straw Bear Entertainment.

Now the whole cause and effect is connected.

A large number of netizens flocked to the social media accounts of the two people at work, demanding that they come out to explain the situation and whether they were involved in the "black interest chain" behind the scenes.

Wu and Liu have many fans, but also many haters. Especially Liu Shishi, her fans, the "little lions", are well-known for their strong fighting power in the entire "85 Flowers" fan circle, and they have also made many enemies because of this.

Now that they see the rival team in trouble, how could fans of other teams miss this opportunity and join the "attack army" together.

Such a large-scale dispute is naturally impossible for the "little lion" family to resist. Even if a big fan called for control of comments, it was quickly drowned in the vast ocean of "people".

It's impossible to play dead and get away with it when things are so serious. And even if netizens don't pay attention, there are still lawyers' letters and official attention.

Soon, both the "Wu Liu" studios issued statements stating that the matter had nothing to do with them.

[…Mr. Wu Qilong and Ms. Liu Shishi are only investment shareholders of Straw Bear Entertainment. They are not involved in the actual operation and do not hold management positions. The relevant personnel have no connection with us…]

Both sides decisively denied their relationship and said they were "unaware". This is naturally a common practice in the entertainment industry, and it was only released to stop the dispute among netizens.

If we really want to solve practical problems, we have to start from the "source".
-
Arc light, president's office.

"I didn't expect that, Mr. Dai, they would actually come to you to plead for them." Meng Bai leaned back in his chair and spoke into the phone in a leisurely tone.

Dai Ying's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Well, we at Qiyi TV have been working with them for a few years and have invested in their company, so there must be some kind of cooperative relationship."

Although Straw Bear Entertainment received investment from Alibaba, it did not choose to cooperate with Youku. On the contrary, Qiyi TV has been their largest seller of works over the years, accounting for more than 80% of the online broadcast revenue.

Qiyi TV also values Straw Bear Entertainment. In addition to normal film and television cooperation, it also invested money through a venture capital company under its umbrella, accounting for approximately 12% of the shares, making it the fourth largest shareholder.

Unlike the opponent's previous stealth actions, Arc Light, who held many cards in his hand, did not bother to hide his identity at all. He stood up openly and launched a counterattack against the opponent.

Straw Bear also knew that the key to this crisis was Meng Bai. Therefore, while issuing a notice to calm netizens and fans, he also asked various connections to help contact Meng Bai.

After searching around, they finally found Qiyi TV. Dai Ying and her team didn't want to bother with the other party at first, but in the end, considering their years of cooperation, they reluctantly helped to contact them.

"Straw Bear said they want to meet you for dinner to discuss whether there is any possibility of an apology and compensation." Dai Ying said, "Mr. Meng, just come and see what you want. I'm just helping to pass on a message. Don't worry about us."

"Haha, I still have to give face to President Dai." Meng Bai smiled brightly, "Okay, let's meet. I'm also curious about how they want to apologize."

"Okay, I'll reply to them then."

Dai Ying responded, but then reminded, "Boss Meng, don't blame me for being long-winded. I think no matter how they apologize, we still have to think about it. After all, the official attitude this time is quite tough. Don't let it cause trouble for us later."

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Dai. I know what's going on now."

……

After receiving Dai Ying's message, the other party acted quickly and made an appointment for the next night.

"Hahaha, Mr. Meng, I've heard of your great name for a long time. I'm honored to finally meet you today."

In a private club in northern Beijing, a middle-aged man in formal clothes, smiling, warmly greeted Meng Bai who had just entered the room. After speaking, seeing the unfamiliar expression on Meng Bai's face, he clapped his chin and said, "Sorry, I was a little excited and forgot to introduce myself. I am Liu Xiaofeng from Straw Bear Entertainment."

"Ah, Mr. Liu." Meng Bai nodded, a faint smile on his face: "I remember when we were working on Peace Hotel last year, I seemed to have had some exchanges with Mr. Liu. I guess we have been friends for a long time."

Liu Xiaofeng was a little embarrassed when he heard this, but he still kept a warm smile on his face: "Haha, speaking of that cooperation, I was really blind. It's a pity that I couldn't cooperate with Arc Light."

Both of them looked cheerful and talkative, and no outsider could tell that they had a hostile relationship with each other.

Or maybe it's that adults are full of hypocrisy, and even if they stab each other, they do it with a smile.

After a few pleasantries, he entered the room, where there were two people sitting, a man and a woman.

Meng Bai recognized the man as Wu Qilong, who was in the spotlight recently. As for the woman, she was a girl with a slim waist, long legs and a sweet face, but she was not Liu Shishi.

"Mr. Meng, let me introduce you." Liu Xiaofeng said, "This is Wu Qilong, a shareholder of Straw Bear Entertainment..."

"Mr. Liu, there's no need to introduce him." Meng Bai said, "I watched a lot of plays when I was a kid, so he must know him."

"Hello, Mr. Meng. It's our first meeting. I've heard of your great name for a long time." Wu Qilong's attitude was also very enthusiastic. When he heard Meng Bai's words, he quickly said a few words of humility.

Meng Bai smiled and turned his gaze to the last woman.

"Hello, Mr. Meng, my name is Zhang Chunye." The girl quickly stood up and introduced herself somewhat stiffly.

Liu Xiaofeng at the side introduced: "I don't know if Mr. Meng recognizes Xiao Zhang, but she is the most popular host of Lizhi TV. I have always admired Mr. Meng, and when I heard that you were coming to meet me, I had to follow you. Later, Xiao Zhang, you will sit next to Mr. Meng, which will just fulfill your wish."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chunye immediately gave Meng Bai a sweet smile.

Meng Bai glanced at a few people and couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

Isn’t it said that the “beauty trap” is put at the end? Why doesn’t this follow the routine?

(End of this chapter)