Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 385 Online Novel Micro-Reading: Investing in Xiaomi, Jiang Xin Also Needs to Find Teammates

Yan Li, this self-made young tycoon, is quite well-known in Asia and even globally.

After all, similar examples are extremely rare, and he works in the high-exposure industry of media and the Internet. His own experience is also somewhat legendary. Given his desire for success, there is no shortage of reports and discussions.

Some Japanese media outlets even used Lu Bu from the new Three Kingdoms series as a selling point.

Even the popularity of Lü Bu over other characters is partly related to Yan Li's real-life identity.

The Japanese admire strong characters, which is why Lu Bu became so popular. Yan Li, who rose from humble beginnings to become a Chinese entertainment mogul, is also a strong character. The characters and actors resonate with each other, and both are gaining fans.

Against this backdrop, the Japanese company that invited Yan Li was not only seriously lacking in preparation, but was even somewhat foolish.

This incident was reported by Japanese media, prompting many netizens to ridicule the company.

However, perhaps to capitalize on the trend, some Japanese companies soon announced that they would hire Yan Li as their spokesperson, claiming that the endorsement fee would be "international superstar level".

Yi An didn't actually receive any offers, but netizens in China were very interested and even started analyzing whether Yan Li or a certain superstar had a higher endorsement deal, etc.

This has even attracted the attention of some domestic companies. If Yan Li were to accept the endorsement, given his influence and public image, domestic companies would certainly be more willing to spend money on him.

Because so many companies inquired, and some of them were unaware of the inside story and did not know that Yan Li's personal business was handled by Yi An's board office, they went to the artist management department, which ultimately forced Jia Qian, the vice president in charge of artist management, to issue an official denial.

"Chairman Yan does not accept endorsements or advertisements."

However, Yan Li quickly refuted this, saying that he does accept endorsements, but it has nothing to do with the endorsement fee; it mainly depends on "fate".

As for what fate is, Weibo quickly told everyone that Yan Li became the chief promotion ambassador for [Weidu].

This also means that after launching Weiyin and entering the music market, Weibo is now re-entering the online literature and reading market.

Weibo has been making diverse attempts to build a rich ecosystem with Weibo as its core.

This approach is somewhat controversial, with many criticizing Yan Li for being a spendthrift and wasting money, or for not understanding the internet and offending people everywhere.

But in reality, Yan Li had his own reasons for doing so.

The current internet era is one of incremental growth, with large businesses clashing with each other, such as Baidu's search, Weibo's social networking, Tencent's games and instant messaging, and Alibaba's e-commerce.

Although there is competition and conflict, most of the time you do your thing and I do mine.

However, future internet competition will be a competition in the era of existing users, with each company vying for user time, constantly refining the market, and competing in every aspect.

Yan Li understands very well that Weibo absolutely cannot just focus on Weibo. While keeping the core business unchanged, it must diversify its investments, otherwise it will be left behind sooner or later.

Therefore, Yan Li made various plans, doing what he could and abandoning what he couldn't, hoping that a small business might catch the right opportunity and then rise to prominence.

Even if you don't get caught up in the final hype, there's still good news in the meantime, and if you sell, you can make a profit.

This is also the approach taken by many large internet companies. For example, Alibaba has always been keen on the telecommunications sector and has also made moves in the entertainment sector, while Baidu is also developing various new businesses.

Tencent has dabbled in every sector, including social networking, antivirus, games, e-commerce, portals, music, online literature, comics, and more, relying on its traffic pool and copycat tactics to rapidly expand its market share.

Therefore, casting a wide net and catching as many fish as possible is actually the right way for internet giants to play the game.

Whether you can successfully complete the game depends on your skill.

Weibo's wide-net approach is actually quite low-key, and it usually leaves room for maneuver.

It's either an experiment or a prelude, or it's designed to complement Weibo's main business or to further subdivide a specific category.

For example, [Weigou], which is more e-commerce oriented, does not compete head-on with e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com. Instead, it enters the market through e-commerce advertising and shopping guides, and cooperates with several platforms.

At the same time, we also contacted some offline shopping malls to cooperate with Weibo to do some promotion and group buying business.

They also have their own e-commerce platform, but they combine it with Weibo users to launch some fashionable items, trendy digital products, branded cosmetics, etc.

Although these businesses are somewhat disorganized, they can enrich Weibo's ecosystem, allowing Weibo to generate its own revenue and supplement its business to a certain extent.

Even a small profit is still a profit. If the e-commerce market becomes more prosperous in the future, Weigou can make relevant transformations and seize a certain sub-category market.

Compared to micro-shopping, it leans more towards casting a wide net and strategic positioning, with music-focused [Weiyin] and reading-focused [Weidu] being Weibo's key incubation targets.

Because these two are inseparable from Yan Li's grand entertainment strategy!

The former goes without saying; it's a fiercely contested area in the cultural and entertainment business. The latter may seem insignificant, but it's a crucial cornerstone for cultural and entertainment IPs.

It's not just Weibo that's investing in reading platforms; if Yan Li gains control of Tudou.com and has sufficient resources and funding, he will also create a reading platform exclusively for Tudou.com.

You can never have too much content IP; even if you don't need it yourself, you can sell it.

As for whether the two companies and the two platforms will compete, that depends on future developments.

If necessary, Yan Li could orchestrate a merger of the two platforms, allowing them to operate independently, with Weibo and Tudou.com serving as upper-level and behind-the-scenes shareholders.

In short, Yan Li doesn't want Weibo to be idle.

The internet industry is incredibly competitive, even more so than the entertainment industry. Weibo is popular now, but it might not be so in demand in a couple of years.

In future intelligence reports, Sina Weibo died from conservatism and arrogance. Otherwise, given Weibo's peak influence, if it had seized one or two opportunities and developed new core businesses, it wouldn't have gradually declined and slowly died.

Of course, don't take too big a step, otherwise you might end up like LeEco, who ultimately ruined itself.

Yan Li was confident that he could control the timing and degree of the heat; if all else failed, he could always use the system to cheat.

【WeRead】is newly established and leans more towards traditional e-book platforms. Its next step is to enter the online literature industry.

Yan Li also studied and observed the current online literature market.

Qidian remains the industry leader, with Shanda Literature behind it being the absolute ruler, while the challenger is Perfect World's Zongheng Chinese Network.

As a newcomer to the industry, the most direct way for WeRead to achieve quick success is to bet on mobile reading.

With the increasing number of smartphones and the arrival of the mobile network era, the internet is undergoing a major transformation.

Due to market uncertainty, lack of experience, and limitations on terminals, many platforms are hesitant and observing.

Yan Li's eagerness to launch Weiyin and Weidu is precisely because he has this in mind, hoping to take advantage of this major change to grab a share of the market and even establish an advantage in certain aspects.

If you miss this opportunity, entering the market again will require significantly more financial and material resources, and you may not even be able to achieve results.

Therefore, internet professionals like to look for emerging trends, because with emerging trends, one can achieve twice the result with half the effort, or even soar to great heights.

...

Yan Li kept an eye on the trend and pushed for the development of Weibo, while others saw the potential in smartphones and decisively entered the market.

After the Spring Festival, Lei Jun, who stepped down from Kingsoft, announced that he would start a new business, with the main business being the manufacture of mobile phones, and named the company Xiaomi.

Yan Li, who had been getting closer to Boss Lei in the past two years, was soon invited to dinner by Boss Lei.

Lei Jun is rich, but when it comes to starting a business, especially a company like Xiaomi that makes mobile phones and burns through a lot of money and is risky, you can't just spend your own money.

When Yan Li founded Weibo, he burned through his own money and only started raising funds after the company had taken off, which actually went against normal business logic.

From the very beginning, Lei Jun started looking for funding for Xiaomi. Even before the Xiaomi project was officially launched, he had already reached a consensus with some friends.

A well-known example is Morningside Capital, whose head has been a longtime friend of Lei Jun, who received support with just one phone call.

Yan Li's old acquaintance, Xiong, from IDG, also has a positive view of Lei Jun and is preparing to invest in him.

Then there's Yan Li, who has been intentionally cultivating a good relationship with Lei Jun in the past two years and has repeatedly hinted at his optimism about the smartphone market.

Yan Li is not only an entertainment tycoon and an internet mogul, but also a well-known angel investor.

Tudou.com, Ganji.com, and JD.com are all examples of his brilliant achievements, and the various resources he possesses are highly coveted by many entrepreneurs.

Lei Jun, who has been working to increase Xiaomi's reputation and wants to make it a national brand, is very envious of the resources in Yan Li's hands.

Yan Li readily agreed to Lei Jun's investment in Xiaomi, but business is business.

It needs to be clarified how many shares he can exchange his money and resources for.

So Yan Li and Boss Lei started bargaining.

Like Liu of JD.com, Lei Jun is also very cautious and conservative in managing his shares.

However, JD.com's Liu was afraid of losing control, while Lei Jun was concerned that Xiaomi would burn through a lot of money to make phones, and it was uncertain when it would break even and become profitable. Therefore, he had to retain enough shares to have enough ammunition for future financing.

Therefore, in the first round of financing, Mr. Lei was only willing to give up less than 20% of the shares. After several other companies took a cut, there was hardly anything left.

Yan Li was not very satisfied. According to the intelligence, Xiaomi had raised funds in several rounds, and now was the most cost-effective time for them. Naturally, he hoped to get more.

"Okay, 10%. Go back and think about it again. It's too little and I'm not really interested."

Yan Li hadn't triggered Lei's bottom price information before, so he planned to play it safe and then find out Lei's bottom price.

"Old Liu is right, negotiating prices with President Yan is really torturous."

Boss Lei shook his head with a wry smile. Yan Li is usually very cheerful and generous, but when it comes to negotiations, he becomes extremely calculating and unwilling to concede an inch, making it very difficult for his opponents.

Despite the difficulties, Yan Li remains very interested in investing in Xiaomi. Although there are still some disagreements, the cooperation is basically a done deal.

"Let me first raise a glass to President Yan, wishing us a pleasant cooperation in the future."

"Pleasant to work with."

After finishing their meal, the two went their separate ways. Yan Li thought about Xiaomi from the future intelligence report.

At its peak, the market capitalization was in the trillions. As long as you held onto the stock, even if it only dropped to single digits in the end, it would still be worth tens of billions.

This adds another family business to the future children!

Yan Li was in a very good mood. After thinking for a moment, he asked the driver to drive to Jiang Xin's house.

Qin Dong was pregnant and couldn't do anything. Fan Xiaopang was busy for a while during the Spring Festival, and then went back to his hometown for the New Year.

Wang Ou and Yang Rong went on a trip together after the New Year. Huo Siyan had no travel companions, and the others were either unable to handle it alone or were not in Beijing.

Jiang Xin, who was based in Beijing and could handle the construction, became the best choice!

When Yan Li arrived at Jiang Xin's house, the house was in a mess. He asked around and found out that she was having a gathering with some friends. When she learned that Yan Li had come, she chased him away.

"You seem to be much more popular now."

Yan Li changed his shoes and joked that Jiang Xin was straightforward, but had low emotional intelligence and wasn't good at speaking.

Although she was more popular than Huo Siyan, she wasn't particularly well-liked.

In Yan Li's memory, apart from Yang Xue, no one else was particularly close to her.

With the huge success of "Lurking", Jiang Xin became a hot commodity in the entertainment industry and made many more friends. Yan Li had attended several of her friend gatherings, and there were also related photos on Weibo.

"I've always been popular with people."

Jiang Xin refused to admit that she didn't have many friends, and even less did she want to admit that some of her friends only became close to her after she became famous. She firmly refuted Yan Li's words.

Yan Li didn't argue with her. He grabbed a handful of dried fruit, looked at Jiang Xin, and asked curiously.

"I heard you and Sun Li got into a fight?"

"How did you know?" Jiang Xin shook her head after asking. Even those with good connections couldn't keep this kind of thing from her, let alone a big shot like Yan Li.

Don't forget, Sun Li and Jiang Xin both signed a subcontract with Yi An, and their teams include people from Yi An.

"Why?"

Yan Lizhen was a little curious. She had heard that the two had a conflict, but she didn't know the specific reason.

"What kind of conflict could there be between the top female employee and the second-best female employee in a company? They're just competing for resources."

Jiang Xin plopped down next to Yan Li, and even though the food was on the table, she insisted on snatching it from his hand.

Unlike Yi An, who is considered the top female star, Fan Xiaopang has a precipitous lead, and no one else has the right to compete with her.

Other companies also have some degree of competition. For example, Orange Sky Entertainment had a dispute over who was the top female host, and Huayi Brothers' Zhou Yongkang and Li Keqiang fought for several years.

Originally, Sun Li was a relatively secure position as the top female host at Hairun, while Jiang Xin wasn't even ranked second; Li Xiaoran and Wang Luodan were ahead of her.

However, the drama "Lurking" propelled Jiang Xin to the forefront of popularity, making her the youngest winner of the Magnolia Award for Best Actress. With the support of Hairun Media and Yi An Media, although she may not have surpassed Sun Li yet, she is certainly qualified to challenge her.

Jiang Xin isn't someone who can stand being alone, and relying on her powerful connections, she wants to become the undisputed number one.

Sun Li is no pushover either, and having cultivated her career at Hairun for many years, she has advantages in seniority, achievements, and connections, and she will not relinquish her position as the top female star.

So the two of them had a friendly competition, and even used it as an excuse to have a fight.

Jiang Xin was still somewhat indignant when she said this: "It's no wonder I'm angry. The company is going too far. They made me play a villainous supporting role for Sun Li, and it's in a TV series. Even if I'm not as good as her, I haven't been reduced to this level."

Nowadays, Jiang Xin receives decent movie scripts, and she mostly plays the female lead in TV dramas, with her pay being among the highest for TV drama actors.

Asking her to play a supporting role in a TV series for Fan Xiaopang would be met with some grumbling from Jiang Xin, let alone Sun Li.

Yan Li seemed to be thinking: "Is it Zheng Xiaolong's 'Empresses in the Palace'?"

Jiang Xin was taken aback: "You've heard about it too?"

"I heard something."

Zheng Xiaolong's influence in the TV drama field is undeniable. His previous work, "Golden Wedding," was a critical and commercial success, which led Yi An to keep an eye on him and release his next work.

Zheng's plan to film a currently popular palace drama has already attracted Yi An's attention.

As a result, Yan Li also triggered information related to "The Legend of Zhen Huan", and he attaches greater importance to this drama, and has already considered investing in it and sending people to participate in the production.

Zheng Xiaolong and Hairun have always been close, and Sun Li has also worked with them, so it's understandable that she was chosen as the female lead.

As for Jiang Xin...

Yan Li glanced at the other party. According to relevant information, Jiang Xin had benefited greatly from this drama, and it was even a milestone role in her career.

However, given Jiang Xin's current status and fame, playing a supporting role is indeed a waste of her talent.

"Our company is quite optimistic about this drama. It has the potential to be a hit. If you can, try your best to get the female lead role. If that doesn't work, a supporting role is also acceptable. Popularity is the top priority."

Yan Li felt it was a pity to let Jiang Xin miss out on the role of Consort Hua.

Jiang Xin is ultimately a talent-driven actress, so while billing order is important, it's not that crucial. Besides, Sun Li is indeed superior to her in many ways, so it's not that embarrassing.

"Is this play really that good?"

Jiang Xin hesitated. If someone else had given her the same advice, she might not have listened, or even been unhappy.

But Yan Li held a special place in her heart, and he was known for his excellent taste. More importantly, Yan Li personally chose the drama "Lurking" for her.

Jiang Xin still remembers that when Yan Li chose this drama, he was certain that "Lurking" would be a huge hit.

As it turned out, Yan Li was right, and Jiang Xin's career underwent a dramatic transformation.

This also made Jiang Xin, who had tasted the sweetness of "Lurking", immediately start to consider the feasibility of participating in "Empresses in the Palace" after hearing Yan Li's words.

"I'm not sure either, but acting in this drama won't do you any harm. But if you don't act in it, and Sun Li becomes a huge star because of it, and the actress who played Consort Hua becomes a sensation, how would you feel?"

Jiang Xin: "..."

She took out her phone, sent a text message to her agent, and then said, "I'll take a look at the script first."

"Ah."

Yan Li didn't try to persuade her further. With "Lurking" as a backup, Jiang Xin wasn't lacking in resources. Acting in "Empresses in the Palace" would be the icing on the cake, and not acting in it would only cause her some regret, but it wouldn't be a big mistake.

For Yan Li, the success or failure of his woman's career is not a big deal. He will offer some help and advice, but he will not force her.

However, Jiang Xin took it to heart and seized the opportunity to ask Yan Li some questions.

Among Yan Li's current women, she is considered to be quite career-oriented.

One reason is their personality, and the other is that they feel more confident having a career to rely on.

If Yan Li were to separate from her one day, she could still live a good life.

Yan Li didn't mind offering advice to Jiang Xin, but he wasn't discussing business with her today, so he pinched Jiang Xin's chin.

"Are you just going to ask that without any explanation?"

Jiang Xin pouted, then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and then hesitantly continued to ask questions.

Yan Li leaned back slightly and helped Jiang Xin analyze the latter's career.

At present, Jiang Xin appears to be in a very favorable position, but in reality, his status is still somewhat awkward.

Sun Honglei, who also became very popular thanks to "Lurking", has taken on several film roles, including some leading roles, but Jiang Xin still mainly works in television dramas.

The reason is that the two sides have different competitive environments.

Sun Honglei has only a few competitors, such as Zhang Hanyu and Hu Jun, who are a few tough and rugged actors from the mainland. His acting range is also wider, and he can play both righteous and villainous roles.

Other talented actors lack popularity and star power, and younger actors can't match his talent and image.

But Jiang Xin is in a problem; her personal characteristics aren't that prominent, and female celebrities tend to be curvy.

Most of the four leading actresses and two supporting actresses rely on both skill and popularity. Other leading actresses and supporting actresses are also quite resilient. Jiang Xin has a certain advantage, but it is not enough for her to break through the encirclement.

Yan Li personally believes that it will be very difficult for Jiang Xin to break into the film industry, or rather, to gain a foothold in it.

Instead of competing with the "Four Dan and Two Bing" (a term referring to top actresses in China) and Hong Kong and Taiwan actresses, she should focus on television dramas, leverage her existing popularity and fame to become a leading television actress, and then seize the opportunity to enter the film industry.

"Don't use your teeth..."

Yan Li patted Jiang Xin on the head: "Don't underestimate TV dramas. If nothing unexpected happens, the next few years will be the golden age of TV dramas. At that time, even those movie actors might come back to compete for a share. If you do well, you'll reap the rewards."

"I still want to make movies."

Jiang Xin looked up and said, "No matter what happens to the TV series in the future, movie stars are awesome right now, and I also want to experience being a movie star."

"Then you should perform well, and I'll see if I can arrange one for you."

Yan Li did not refuse. Even if Jiang Xin had already signed a film contract with Yi An, it wouldn't be a big deal to arrange a movie for his woman if he could please Yan Li.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xin served him even more diligently. After Yan Li finished, she groaned that her legs and back ached.

"Others become more and more ferocious as they get older, but I feel like you're not as good as you used to be."

Yan Li complained that Jiang Xin used to be able to barely take on Yan Li single-handedly during her peak, but now, perhaps because she has been living a life of luxury for too long, her combat strength has obviously declined.

Why don't you say that you've become even more difficult than before?

Jiang Xinyu held it in her hand, feeling both love and hate: "You've already gotten Li Xiaolu into the hospital, I think I'll be in that situation sooner or later."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Li Xiaolu and Yan Li have already broken up, so Yan Li definitely won't admit it, but Jiang Xin doesn't believe it; she has her own logic.

That slut Huo Siyan is definitely having an affair with Yan Li. With her physique, how could she possibly be a match for Yan Li? She must have an accomplice.

It could be Qin Lan, or Li Xiaolu, who is closest to her, or possibly all three of them together.

Yan, Huo, and Li are all in the hospital, suffering from ruptured corpus luteum. With Li Chen, their ex-boyfriend, providing indirect testimony, it's highly likely they've contracted the condition.

Yan Li was speechless. She wasn't the only one with similar thoughts to Jiang Xin; Wang Ou and others did too.

Even Fan Xiaopang had his doubts, but Qin Dong, because of his good relationship with Li and the fact that he personally witnessed Yan Li going to the hospital that day, was blinded by his own limited perspective and therefore did not believe the rumors about Yan and Li.

Yan Li didn't want to argue with Jiang Xin about this mess, so he put his arm around her waist and smiled maliciously.

"If you can't handle it, you can find help."

Jiang Xin glared at him and said reproachfully, "I knew you were still thinking about that Li Lin."

What do you mean by that?

Yan Li was speechless. Li Lin's incident was purely accidental; if Jiang Xin hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.

He had no intention of rekindling their relationship; what's past is past.

"What I mean is, someone you're close to, someone who's honest and upright, and preferably someone I know well too."

Yan Li thoughtfully outlined the scope for Jiang Xin, who was speechless: "Why don't you just name Yang Xue directly? I knew you were still up to no good."

Jiang Xin rolled her eyes. Yan Li wasn't uninterested in Li Lin; he was clearly interested in collecting all seven fairies.

"But you're too late. Yang Xue recently started dating someone, so you've missed your chance."

Jiang Xin looked somewhat gloating, while Yan Li was slightly taken aback but didn't pay much attention.

Yang Xue is single and doesn't dislike me, so I can try to win her over. But she's already taken, so I'll just leave it at that.

Gathering all seven fairies would be a perfect achievement, but for Yan Li, it doesn't matter if it's not perfect, since life is full of imperfections.

"Angry?"

Jiang Xin noticed that Yan Li was in a bad mood, so she asked him what was wrong. Yan Li glanced at her.

"No, but you have no helper."

Jiang Xin snorted: "I don't need it."

"unnecessary?"

Yan Li smiled. Seeing that it was still early, he gave Jiang Xin another lesson, making her understand how Li Xiaolu got to the hospital.

After class, Jiang Xin was too exhausted to even take a shower. She kept up a tough front, but in her heart, she was actually thinking about whether she should find a helper.

However, unlike Huo and Wang, she didn't give up entirely and resort to any means to win favor.

She was still thinking about her escape route. If she really wanted to find a teammate, she needed someone she could use against her, someone who wouldn't dare to betray her...

　(4000/269000)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)