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

Chapter 472 High protein is the most nutritious!

At the end of July, the Magnolia Awards released this year's shortlist, marking the start of the second half of the awards season.

Compared with previous years, this year's shortlist is more popular. This is the first list released since the three major awards announced in April that online dramas would be included in the nomination range.

In fact, with the rise of mobile terminals and the development of streaming media platforms, many dramas have chosen to be "broadcast simultaneously on TV and the Internet" in recent years, and the boundary between TV dramas and online dramas is not as clear as before.

Currently, the industry usually defines dramas that are "purely broadcast online" and "first broadcast online, then TV" as web dramas, while dramas that are "first broadcast on TV, then online" and "broadcast on both TV and the Internet" are TV dramas.

According to this standard, many people looked through the list of Magnolia Awards one by one and found that "online dramas are nominated" is not just talk, and many online dramas have indeed been nominated.

Like last year's popular "The Longest Day in Chang'an", "Joy of Life", "The Story of Yanxi Palace", and of course "The Bad Kids", which was called the number one of the year.

These dramas were not only shortlisted, but also received quite a few nominations.

For example, "The Bad Kids", as the most popular online drama last year, received a total of six nominations at this year's Magnolia Awards, including Best TV Series, Best Director, Best Screenwriter (Adaptation), Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Photography.

The remaining films also received four or five nominations.

In comparison, among TV dramas, only one Shanghai-based drama, "Little Joy," barely surpassed the list with eight nominations, but overall it fell behind.

From this we can see that it is hard to say about the other two awards, but at least the Magnolia Awards really values online dramas, and it is not just a gimmick.

"Boss, Magnolia has sent an invitation, should we go?"

In the office, Hua Yan put an invitation letter with a white magnolia printed on the cover on the table and asked.

Meng Bai took a quick look and said, "August 9th? Any plans for that day?"

“Not at the moment, but Pinduoduo’s shareholders meeting will be on the 14th.”

"Oh, yes, that's perfect. We have to go there anyway. Contact Director Xin Shuang and the others and report to Bai Yulan if they are going that day." Meng Bai said.

"Okay, then I'll contact you."

Watching Hua Yan go out, Meng Bai picked up the invitation again, looked at the words printed on it "The Bad Kids won the Best Screenplay (Adaptation)" and chuckled.

Unfortunately, when I applied, both "The Bad Kids" and "The Undocumented Crime" met the requirements, so I applied for both together. Although the latter is not as popular as the former, its popularity and quality are still good. I didn't expect that it didn't even get a single nomination.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of "The Silent Truth" which had just ended recently.

Just as expected, by the end and the finale, the popularity of the entire drama "just" exceeded 10,000, which is considered to be a hit drama.

To the outside world, this achievement is certainly remarkable. After all, Qiyi TV has only had two dramas with a popularity of over 10,000 this year.

However, considering the popularity of the previous work and the title of "ArcLight Productions", this result seems a little bit lacking.

However, the rating of this drama is quite high, and it remained at 9.1 points until the finale, maintaining the situation of starting high and ending high.

Moreover, according to the report from Qiyi TV, this drama is quite popular in the markets of neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, and the revenue from overseas copyrights should be very good.
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August 8th, went to Shanghai.

Tomorrow is the Magnolia Awards ceremony, but Meng Bai arrived a day early.

Not that he takes tomorrow's awards ceremony very seriously - it's not his first time attending an awards ceremony, so there's really nothing to be excited about.

The reason why it came early was actually because of the Pinduoduo shareholders' meeting that followed.

The flu at the beginning of the year affected most real industries to varying degrees. However, with the massive amount of funds from the United States entering the market to rescue the market, the financial market is booming.

In addition, during the influenza lockdown, various online e-commerce platforms became the main force for shopping, and Pinduoduo, a Chinese stock with multiple layers of buffs, saw its share price soar like a rocket.

At the end of last year, Pinduoduo's share price was $33, up 50% from when it first went public. But just six months later, the share price has reached $98, nearly tripling.

At the same time, Pinduoduo's total market value has reached more than 130 billion yuan and is still rising rapidly.

Qiming Venture Partners' 4.2% stake has not moved since the listing, which is equivalent to more than billion US dollars at the current price. And because several previous investment institutions have reduced their holdings and cashed out over the past year, Qiming Venture Partners has entered the list of the top ten shareholders.

At this shareholders' meeting, the board of directors will report on its achievements and discuss whether to distribute dividends.

Meng Bai didn't have any special ideas about this shareholders' meeting. He was not in charge of the management, so he just trusted Huang Zheng.

However, a "rumor" disrupted his peace, and he arrived in Shanghai early.

In the outer room of the hotel's presidential suite, Meng Bai sat behind his desk, frowning as he looked at the report in front of him, tapping the table with his fingers.

Sitting opposite him were Gu Fei and several other Qiming Venture Partners staff members, who were reporting on the latest situation.

"...I have confirmed with Mr. Huang these days that he intends to announce his resignation as CEO of Pinduoduo at this shareholders' meeting." Gu Fei said in a deep voice.

Meng Bai took a deep breath: "Just the CEO? What about the board of directors?"

"The structure of the board of directors remains unchanged, and he will still serve as chairman." Gu Fei said, "But I feel that he is just worried that leaving directly will have too much impact on the company, so he is holding off. Once the new leadership has adapted, he may withdraw completely."

"Did he say why?" Meng Bai wondered.

It has only been five years since Pinduoduo was founded in 2015, and only two years since it went public. It was only this year that it entered a stage of rapid development.

Meng Bai is also the boss of a company. In his opinion, now is the best time to reap the rewards of years of hard work. Even if he wants to quit, he has to wait until the development stagnates and steadily stops moving forward. It seems a little too early to leave now.

Gu Fei was obviously confused by this question: "I asked Mr. Huang, and he meant that Pinduoduo has been on the right track and can just develop step by step. He, as the founder, no longer needs to do anything. There is no point in continuing to do it, so it is better to try another industry."

"…So casual."

Meng Bai complained, so this guy started his business purely to enjoy the process, right?

"What do you think?"

Hearing this, Gu Fei frowned and thought for a while: "I think it should be half and half. He may really feel that the development to this point is enough. Besides, he also feels that the tree attracts the wind to some extent."

According to Pinduoduo's current growth rate, its market value should exceed 2000 billion by the end of this year, almost equal to Alibaba. Even more radically, it is not impossible for it to surpass Alibaba and become the largest e-commerce company in China.

At the same time, as the founder and largest shareholder of Pinduoduo, Huang Zheng's net worth will inevitably rise, and he may even be able to compete for the position of richest man.

But as the saying goes, it’s lonely at the top. Although the title of the richest man is loud, the risks behind it are not something that ordinary people can withstand.

Groups like the "Two Ma's and One Wang" have been developing for 10 to 20 years. They are not only strong in the business field, but also have deep foundations in the political field.

But even so, problems frequently occurred after he became the richest man. Of course, there were reasons for their arrogance, but there were also murderous intentions lurking under the surface. In comparison, Pinduoduo rose too fast, and Huang Zheng himself did not have such a deep background. If he stood in that position, he would not be able to withdraw if he wanted to, and no one could guarantee what the outcome would be.

From this perspective, it seems that it is indeed a very appropriate time for him to choose to retire while the going is good.

Of course, these are just Meng Bai's speculations. Huang Zheng is probably the only one who knows what he is thinking.

Maybe he simply felt that Pinduoduo was boring and wanted to switch to a new track to start the second round.

Oh, no, Pinduoduo is already in the "fourth round". Judging from his past entrepreneurial experience, he does have this tendency.

"I'll ask him again when we meet in a couple of days."

Meng Bai said: "Huang Zheng resigned as CEO, who will replace him?"

"It should be Chen Lei." Gu Fei said, "He is also one of the co-founders of Pinduoduo and the chief technology officer. He has been following Huang Zheng since the establishment of Ouku.com."

"Oh, him? I've met him a few times before." Meng Bai touched his chin. "It seems that our CEO Huang is planning to transform Pinduoduo into a technology company in the future."

"Maybe, but it doesn't seem to make much sense." Gu Fei said, "Instead of changing the technology, it's better to invest more '10 billion subsidies'."

Everyone in the room laughed. Indeed, this is Pinduoduo’s biggest moat.

As they were chatting, there was a knock on the door.

Meng Bai gestured to Hua Yan, and the assistant hurried over to open the door.

"Flower."

The door opened, and a woman wearing sunglasses and a mask stood at the door. Seeing the assistant who opened the door, she smiled and greeted him.

"Sister Tongtong, you are here."

Hua Yan said happily.

The woman at the door was her former boss and current boss's wife, Li Yitong.

"Where's your boss?"

"The boss is in a meeting."

Hua Yan said softly as she let the other person in.

Li Yitong was stunned for a moment: "Ah, I thought it was over. Then is it inappropriate for me to come? Otherwise, I will come back later."

"It's okay, we can just go to the back room and wait."

As the two of them talked, they walked into the room. Li Yitong glanced through her sunglasses and saw that besides Meng Bai, there were five or six other people in the room.

She knew the woman in professional attire who was in the lead. Her name was Gu Fei. She was in charge of capital investment business for Meng Bai. She had met her several times before.

Sure enough, Gu Fei also recognized her and nodded to her. Li Yitong responded quickly, and then looked at Meng Bai who was sitting opposite.

Their eyes met in the air, Meng Bai chuckled and motioned her to go in first. Li Yitong nodded, and then walked into the inner room with Hua Yan.

Gu Fei and the others were also very considerate. After saying a few more words, they all stood up and said goodbye.

After seeing everyone out, Meng Bai turned around and looked at Hua Yan who had just come out. The young assistant went out consciously and returned to her room obediently.

"Hey, where's Huahua? Why did you leave so soon?"

Li Yitong had just tidied up and heard no sound outside. She walked out and found that the room was empty: "Did I disturb you?"

"No, we've already finished our business, we were just chatting."

"That's good." Li Yitong breathed a sigh of relief.

Meng Bai walked over, put his arm around her and sat on the sofa: "I thought you were coming tomorrow, why are you here so early?"

"I don't have anything to do these days. I have to come here anyway, so I might as well come earlier." Li Yitong leaned on Meng Bai's chest, looking up at him.

"Are you sure it's not because you missed me? In fact, you can just tell me directly. I won't laugh at you."

Li Yitong tapped his chest coquettishly: "What about you? Did you miss me?"

Meng Bai didn't answer, but lowered his head and kissed the woman's rosy lips.

“Do you feel it now?”

"Just so-so."

Although she said so, Li Yitong couldn't help but smiled with her eyes curved.

"It's a pity that Lao Zhang and the others won't be here until tomorrow, otherwise we could have dinner together in the evening." Meng Bai said.

Li Yitong attended the Magnolia Awards with the crew of "Joy of Life", but as a supporting actress she was not nominated and was there to be a guest to present the awards.

This girl was also very ungrateful. She didn't care much about her own work. Instead, she kept asking Meng Bai whether they could win the award.

"It's hard to say. Judging from the number of nominations given by the Magnolia Awards, they shouldn't deliberately suppress online dramas. But as we all know, the Magnolia Awards' criteria have always been to prioritize people over works, so it's hard to say whether it will win."

As an "industry technical award", the selection criteria of the Magnolia Award have always been confusing. In many cases, someone is selected first, and it is considered that he should win the award, regardless of the quality of the works nominated by him this year, and he is forced to win.

Just like when Sun Li won the Best Actress award for "Hot Mom", this drama itself is a very ordinary urban family drama. Both the quality of the plot and Sun Li's personal performance are average.

But because Bai Yulan felt that Sun Li had been runner-up several times, she should be given an award, so she just gave it to her.

"I think there is still hope." Li Yitong said with a positive expression: "At least your screenwriting award, I don't think any other award can surpass "The Bad Kids"."

"This year, the chances of winning are indeed higher by separating original works from adapted works." Meng Bai said, "Forget it, we'll know tomorrow whether we win or not. We have more worthwhile things to do now, so don't think about it."

"I haven't eaten yet, and now I have no energy."

"It's okay, high protein is the best."

(End of this chapter)