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

Chapter 434: Night Mooring at Huangpu
Meng Bai stayed with Li Yitong on the crew for a while until the next scene was about to start, then he stood up and said goodbye.

"I'm leaving first. Let me know when you're feeling better in the evening and I'll pick you up."

"Okay." Li Yitong nodded with a bright smile on her face.

After saying goodbye to Zhou You and the others, Meng Bai left the crew of The Rebel. The car turned north and headed towards Changning.

This time he came to Shanghai, in addition to accompanying Li Yitong on her birthday, another thing he did was to attend Pinduoduo's shareholders meeting.

Pinduoduo has been listed for a year. According to the rules of the US stock market, companies listed within one year can arrange their corporate structure at will, but after one year, they must rebuild the board of directors and other senior management according to Nasdaq standards.

Prior to this, Pinduoduo's board of directors had a total of six directors, including Huang Zheng himself, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, etc. According to Nasdaq regulations, the board of directors of listed companies must be composed of more than half independent directors.

According to this rule, among Pinduoduo's major shareholders, one from Tencent, Gaorong Capital and Sequoia China must leave the board of directors to ensure that the other three independent directors can meet the required ratio.

Theoretically, the board of directors could handle this matter on its own, but it just so happened that the mid-year meeting and the upcoming "Double Eleven" coincided with this, so institutional shareholders such as Meng Bai also came along.

Of course, he is very self-aware and knows that he does not have a deep understanding of the e-commerce field, so he is just here to make up the numbers.

Pinduoduo's headquarters is still in the Jinhongqiao International Center, but its current scale is no longer the mere half-floor office when Meng Bai first came.

As Pinduoduo has passed the "newbie period" after its listing, and with the continuous increase in the number of users and transaction volume over the past year, its stock price has also been on the rise.

So far, Pinduoduo's total market value has exceeded 400 billion US dollars. Although it is still far behind Taobao, it is already very close to JD.com.

The company's stock price soared, and Meng Bai's net worth naturally rose as a shareholder. According to the figures released by Hurun and Forbes last year, even without the expansion of film and television in the past year, his assets have exceeded 20 billion US dollars.

What's more, he now has Ruyi Pictures, which is about to be acquired at a high price, which is also a huge increase in value. If all the assets in his hands are added together, it is estimated to be close to 30 billion US dollars.

But for Meng Bai now, he really doesn't care whether his assets are 200 million more or 200 million less. What Arc Light lacks now is not funds, but foundation, which takes time to cultivate slowly.

Of course, having more money is definitely beneficial. At least without financial difficulties, development can be much faster.

The shareholders' meeting is not something that can be completed in one day. In fact, this afternoon, Meng Bai and his friends came here just to have a chat. Meng Bai played his role as a "mere attendant" and barely made a speech.

But he was not just a bystander, he still talked with Tencent Investment for a long time. Hengten Network, which acquired Ruyi, was jointly established by Evergrande and Tencent, and was also invested by Tencent, so they could talk about the progress of the acquisition.

Because it was not a formal meeting, it didn't last long and was over in just over an hour.

Meng Bai returned to the hotel, washed and packed up. Then he remotely handled the company's business and several projects in preparation while waiting for Li Yitong to finish.

It was unknown how long the crew had been filming. It was not until after seven in the evening that Meng Bai received news from Li Yitong.

After instructing Hua Yan and the others to check the venue in advance, Meng Bai drove to the underground parking lot of the crew hotel. Not long after, a charming figure ran over and opened the car door.

After sitting in the passenger seat, the man let out a long breath, took off the sunglasses and mask on his face, revealing Li Yitong's bright smiling face.

"You finished work quite early today. I thought you wouldn't finish until after eight o'clock." Meng Bai said.

"It was supposed to be, but because of a last-minute adjustment to a scene, I finished filming in the afternoon and have no scenes today."

"Then why did you give me the news so late?"

"It's a date, so I have to come back to pack up and change clothes." Li Yitong said as a matter of course.

Meng Bai then noticed that the girl's attire was indeed different from that during the day. She was wearing a white dress and a wooden wide-brimmed round hat on her head. Her long black hair fell down along her shoulders, and she looked youthful.

Seeing Meng Bai observing her, Li Yitong turned her head and asked, "How is it? Does it look good?"

"Very beautiful." Meng Bai laughed, "Who said our boss Li is 29 years old? She is obviously only 18 years old. I should find you a heroine in a youth film later."

Li Yitong's eyes curved into crescents, and from her expression it was clear that she enjoyed Meng Bai's words very much.

"But..." Meng Bai changed the subject, "You might feel cold at night with this outfit."

"cold?"

Li Yitong was a little confused. It was a hot summer in Shanghai in September, so how could it be cold?

"Where are you going tonight?"

"You'll know soon." Meng Bai didn't answer, but helped her adjust the seat back. "Take a rest first. I'll call you when we get to the place."

Li Yitong's curiosity had reached its peak at this moment, but the answer was about to be revealed, so there was no need to rush.

After all, they can't take me to the airport and say they're flying to Northeast China to celebrate my birthday, right?

As the car started, Li Yitong wanted to talk more with Meng Bai, but she had been filming all day and was exhausted. The air conditioner in the car blew a cool breeze, which was very comfortable, so she fell asleep in a daze after a while.

She didn't know how long it had been, but she suddenly felt the car stop, and then she heard Meng Bai pat her lightly a few times, and said in a gentle voice: "We're here, Boss Li, get out of the car."

Li Yitong woke up suddenly and opened the small mirror above her head to take a look. Fortunately, her makeup was not smudged and she was not drooling or anything, so she managed to save her image.

Although Meng Bai has seen her in all kinds of terrible ways over the years, today is her birthday date after all, so she still takes it very seriously.

She patted her face a few times to make sure there were no marks or anything like that before she opened the door and got out of the car.

Li Yitong thought she would feel a gust of hot air when she walked out of the comfortably-temperatured carriage. Instead, she was greeted by a cool breeze.

She looked around and realized that there was a wide river not far in front of her.

"Is this... the Huangpu River?" Li Yitong asked doubtfully. Anyway, this was the only big river she knew in Shanghai.

"Yes, it is the Huangpu River."

Meng Bai walked up to her and said, "Let's go. I'll show you the night view of Shanghai."

As he spoke, he took the girl's hand and walked towards a small ferry on the river.

Li Yitong initially thought it was a riverside restaurant, until she stepped onto a three-story yacht, she finally realized what was going on.

No wonder that guy said it might be cold at night. We were sitting in the middle of the wide river, surrounded by the refreshing river breeze, and it was night, it would be strange if it wasn't cold.

At the entrance deck of the yacht, a middle-aged woman in a small suit and with a smile on her face stood there to greet the two. "Hello, Mr. Meng." The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "Follow me."

After saying that, he turned sideways and led the way.

I followed the other person around a few turns and up two escalators and finally arrived at the top floor of the yacht.

As soon as she stepped on the roof, Li Yitong instantly felt that the view in front of her was suddenly clear. The top floor was a semi-open-air design, surrounded by hollow fences. From here, she could see the surrounding scenery at a glance.

Li Yitong walked a few steps quickly, came to the fence and looked out from afar. Standing here, looking out, you can see the night view of the Huangpu River and the flashing neon lights of the Bund in the distance.

"So beautiful!" she exclaimed subconsciously.

"There's a telescope over there. You can see more clearly with that."

Meng Bai said something behind him, and Li Yitong looked around. Sure enough, she found a delicate telescope standing in the direction of the bow. She immediately ran over with great interest.

Looking at the girl's cheerful expression, Meng Bai smiled, and then told the middle-aged woman that she could start the boat.

"Well!"

Feeling a slight tremor under her feet, Li Yitong couldn't help but exclaimed and quickly stood firm. Fortunately, this yacht was designed for sightseeing. The speed and horsepower may be ordinary, but the stability is extremely strong.

Therefore, apart from the inevitable shaking when the boat first starts, the feeling afterwards is not much different from being on the ground.

“Nice view, huh?”

Meng Bai walked up to Li Yitong, leaning against the fence and asked.

"Yeah!" Li Yitong nodded with a bright smile on her face, "This is my first time to see Shanghai at night in the center of the Huangpu River."

"Yes, it's a very beautiful city." Meng Bai replied, and said in his heart that one must have money to see this unique beauty.

As the busiest waterway in Shanghai, there were naturally more than one ship on the Huangpu River. However, because the river was wide, they kept their distance from each other, so they didn't have to worry about being spotted by other ships.

"Eat something first. I've been waiting for you for a long time and I'm hungry."

Meng Bai said this, then walked over and sat down at the dining table on the bow.

"Hey, Mr. Meng, you've worked hard." Li Yitong sat opposite him and put a piece of beef on his plate. "Here, eat more."

Meng Bai glanced at her and said, "Are you sure you want me to give you more?"

"what?"

Li Yitong was stunned for a moment, but then she reacted: "In such a good atmosphere, don't do anything naughty!"

"When will it be done?"

"At least after dinner."

Li Yitong replied, but after that they both laughed.

Looking at the smiling girl opposite him, Meng Bai sighed in his heart. Although she looked a bit similar to Teacher Li, their personalities were quite different.

If Li Qin was here, he would have rolled his eyes and called him a "hooligan" and then started to look forward to it secretly. But Li Yitong was the opposite. She didn't care about this level of teasing at all and even answered him seriously.

"Why did you think of finding a yacht for a date in the water?"

"The city is full of people, and it's inconvenient to go anywhere. If I just stay in the house, it will feel too boring." Meng Bai spread his hands, "A yacht is good, with a wide view and unique scenery, and I don't have to worry about being photographed by others."

Li Yitong thought about it and felt that for artists like them, a yacht was indeed a suitable date location.

"Where is my gift?" Li Yitong stretched out her hand.

"No, girl, do you want it just like that?" Meng Bai raised his eyebrows.

Li Yitong thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, that's right. We still have to be more tactful."

After saying that, she picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of vegetable for Meng Bai. Then she put down the chopsticks and stretched out her hand: "Where is my gift?"

"..."

Sure girl, you win.

Meng Bai stood up, opened a small cabinet beside him, and took out a gift box: "I wanted to give it to you after midnight."

"It's just a matter of receiving gifts. A few hours won't make a difference."

Li Yitong smiled, then opened the lid of the gift box, revealing a Chanel bag inside.

"How do you know I particularly like this model recently? I asked before, but it's not available in China."

Li Yitong took out the bag, stroked the delicate skin, and asked in surprise.

"Of course I have a way to know." Meng Bai looked mysterious.

Well, actually, he and the assistants around this girl found out about it. Otherwise, he normally doesn't even wear extra accessories, so why would he care about these things?

Li Yitong touched the bag in her hand with a smile. In fact, it was not that she liked it very much. Although it was difficult to buy, she could always buy it by spending more money. What she cared about was that Meng Bai always cared about her preferences.

Meng Bai took a sip of wine, and seeing that the girl seemed to be reluctant to let go of the bag, he reminded her, "Don't just look at this bag, there are other things."

Upon hearing this, Li Yitong put down the bag in her hand and found a small and exquisite box inside.

When I opened it, I saw a transparent green jade bracelet inside. Under the light, it glowed with a warm green color.

Unlike many girls, Li Yitong likes traditional things very much.

For example, drinking tea, opera, and jade.

(End of this chapter)