Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 411 The Inner Circle of Powerful Successors

As the saying goes, you must let people see what you have done and you must take the initiative to talk about what achievements you have made.

It's like in the workplace: if you only know how to work hard, you'll often become the most diligent worker in the company, but you won't get the promotion or raise you expect.

For Chi Ye, "Lurking" served as a "megaphone." He needed something that people could hear and see, which was more effective, dignified, and reserved than him simply speaking and complaining.

He never questions his decisions and development direction. In fact, he had already succeeded once in the film industry, but he encountered various unspeakable changes and met an "invincible" opponent.

He needs a second chance.

Only in this way can he "defeat" his opponent and achieve his desired goal.

A single TV series may not be enough, but when a TV series has already created a phenomenal impact, its subject matter and content determine that as long as it sparks interest, it will definitely be seen by people.

Now, "it" has been seen.

The downward adjustment came so suddenly, yet so naturally.

The old leader didn't say much, but after thinking about Chi Ye's past actions and listening briefly to the recent events, he gave a simple evaluation: "It's a bit excessive."

This is a bit excessive. Tencent Video has done something that skirts the line, and the headquarters tried to cover it up several times with threats and inducements, but Chi Ye refused. As a result, they have been spreading rumors, slandering, and smearing him one after another.

The old leader felt this was simply incomprehensible, because although Chi Ye was just an entertainer, if you counted all the things he had done in the past, not to mention the success of "The Martian," it was still fresh in everyone's memory.

This is the first Chinese film in history to achieve great commercial success overseas—and it even has a chance to be nominated for an Oscar earlier this year.

"Blue and White Porcelain" promoted Chinese culture to the world; "My Love from the Star" and "Goblin" broke the influence of Japan and South Korea on the domestic aesthetic and idol drama market; and there were also early works like "Open Fire" and "The Dragon Scales of Heaven and Earth"...

The old leader felt that Chi Ye was a person with impeccable political credentials. As one of the representatives of the Chinese entertainment industry overseas and in the world, he was only thirty-two years old this year and had a great chance of becoming a true spokesperson.

A cultural media figure with immense influence was treated like this... which is why many people received that document.

……

It must be said that Ikeno's old boss had a very accurate grasp of timing, so accurate that he only needed Ikeno to pave the way for him once, and he could resolve the matter.

With this endorsement, Chi Ye's former superiors acted swiftly and decisively, so the various traffic restrictions and soft bans imposed on Chi Ye by major platforms disappeared almost overnight, as if they had never existed.

Only the derivative works copyrights that Ikeno has now voluntarily reclaimed remind everyone of what Ikeno went through not long ago, and how he seems to have succeeded now; he has won.

We won?

Incredibly, after a long period without official documentation, the dozen or so executives involved in the scandal finally began to meet their "final destinations."

Those with minor offenses are fine, but those embroiled in lawsuits will be dealt with directly in an iron cage. In the most serious cases, Mr. Liu might not be released for a very long time, perhaps until Chi Ye's child is in junior high school.

There was no movement from Tencent headquarters, and the news stopped spreading rumors every day. This time, they tried their best to minimize the impact as soon as they received the news. Nevertheless, it still caused a lot of trouble, and their already bad public image became even worse.

The big boss only gave one order: Keep a low profile.

Then, the headquarters executive who had been protecting his own people was announced to have resigned the following afternoon.

That day, he stood downstairs, holding a cardboard box, looking completely lost. Behind him stood the landmark skyscraper, the place where he had dedicated the first half of his life.

But now... everything is gone.

He was a senior executive at headquarters, holding small stakes in many branches within this unicorn company, with the video and entertainment sectors accounting for the largest share. However, after this incident, his investments have essentially gone down the drain. Without some sacrifice, the big boss might just send him to jail to spend his retirement years in obscurity.

Yes, without these things, at headquarters, he's just a high-level employee emperor.

Now he has lost his shares, his job, and his once high status and connections have been labeled as incompetent because of this incident.

What's next? Where is he going?
The executive was a bit confused. He still felt it was all absurd and dramatic. He couldn't understand it; she was clearly just an actor, a minor entertainer whom he used to think he could easily toy with...

Don't talk to him about being a top star or not. In their eyes, a so-called top star is like a courtesan in an ancient brothel—famous but ultimately just a plaything to amuse people.

Female celebrities are even more so; with just a wave of his hand, even the most popular ones have to fawn over him.

When did it become the turn of an entertainer to kill him...?

"You're always too reckless. That Chi Ye is no ordinary person."

When he made up his mind to protect the video company's core business this time, a friend in the entertainment industry who was also an investor in the industry suddenly remembered what he had heard.

"Chi Ye has started to shift his focus to capital now. His own film and television company is doing well. More importantly... the short dramas that you haven't been paying attention to lately have a considerable number of users and paid subscriptions on the Yeguo platform."

At the time, he dismissed it dismissively: "He doesn't have any backing anymore, does he?"

"……Gone."

Have his small companies gone public?

"No."

"That's it."

He confidently stated, "Besides, I don't necessarily want to mess with him. I want to cooperate with him and give him a chance. Any normal person knows how to choose in this situation. Don't worry, we'll re-sign him. Maybe the video department will benefit from this misfortune."

Imagine if shows like "My Love from the Star" and "Goblin" were released on Tencent Video, what would that have done for the development of video companies?
He couldn't guarantee anything else, but he felt that the shares he held would definitely be more valuable, and he could easily cash out tens of millions of pocket money, doing it once every quarter, living comfortably.

He truly hadn't expected that Ikeno had a mental illness!
This person's behavior was abnormal; there was no hint of compromise for profit, only appreciation for his own actions... It was too artistic; he had never seen this kind of play before. He thought Ikeno was an artist, a very abstract artist.

He won; he has now successfully taken down a very powerful CEO at a unicorn company headquarters.

Following Yuena Group and Jingquan, he has brought down the top tycoon in the Chinese entertainment industry.

But what about after that? The executives were not optimistic about Chi Ye's future. There was no reason or logic to it; it was just his wish. He hoped that Chi Ye's outcome would be very bad, only then would he feel more at ease.

"...A person like that, someone so domineering, will certainly not have a good end."

……

"Chi Ye is known for his domineering nature. He was already very domineering even before he became famous. Back then, he dared to mess around with the entire Yue Na company all by himself, and in the end, everyone knew about it. Not to mention what happened afterward... I told you long ago, don't listen to Tencent, don't listen to Tencent, but you just wouldn't believe me!"

kiwi.

Mr. Gong's mood has been like a rollercoaster these past two days, but to be honest, seeing the current success of "Lurking" and the current situation, he is happy for Chi Ye—and extremely frustrated for Kiwi.

Mr. Chen called again, but this time it was different from before. In the past, Mr. Chen was always aloof and superior. As one of the senior executives of the search giant, he always had a sense of superiority over people like Mr. Gong who were being invested in.

Although the investor in the kiwi fruit company was not easy to get along with, from the day he invested in them, he told them: be responsible for your own profits and losses, and be independent and self-reliant.

We are independent and self-reliant when we need to be, and we must obey when we are required to be "obedient".

This is Schrödinger's principle: don't reason with the person who gives you money, because they control what you need most and always hold the initiative.

This time, however, Mr. Chen felt that he had lost the initiative.

The old friend who had been working with them on other major projects and probably profited a lot from them, had his headquarters executives slink away, completely ruined. The big boss of Tencent was unusually angry, and their cooperation naturally remained on paper.

The problem now is how to stop the losses in time.

The popularity of "Lurking" is seen by many as merely a superficial phenomenon, a trigger, or a tool in this incident. But even so, setting aside these factors, for kiwifruit, this is still a windfall of money!

Many people overlook the benefits created by "Lurking" because of bigger and higher-level matters.

Kiwifruit wasn't overlooked, and neither was President Chen, the "ex-boyfriend" from the TV series "Lurking," and his group.

It is said that, according to rumors, Mango TV's revenue has skyrocketed due to "Lurking," with new memberships alone reaching a record high. Of course, if this is just the immediate benefit, then the various new memberships and platform downloads are the opportunity for Mango to "elevate its status."

One question: Mango TV has gone crazy and stood with Chi Ye this time. After "Lurking", whose resources and works will Chi Ye favor in the future?
Without a doubt, it must be Hunan TV.

Mango TV was originally a traditional TV station that transitioned to the internet. However, due to time and funding constraints, it lost out to the three major players and could only rely on its strongest product, variety shows, to secure a fourth-place market share.

But to say that Mango TV doesn't want to get involved in the more profitable and lucrative film and television sector is absolutely nonsense.

They tried, and they did have some good works, but most of them were critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. In the end, they had no choice but to focus on their core strengths, namely variety shows.

However, after they sided with Ikeno this time, it is highly likely that the competition for film and television market share will reignite.

Furthermore, it appears that KuYing has been overtaken, with Mango TV now ranking among the top three in downloads nationwide, and its paid users currently number one – thanks to "Lurking".

Mr. Chen was very anxious; in his view, this was all his money, and he felt he needed to do something: "Is it possible to reconcile?"

General Manager Gong remained silent: "To be dismantled?"

Mr. Chen raised an eyebrow: "So many of his projects are stuck in our hands."

"So, do you want to keep it stuck?"

Now it was Mr. Chen's turn to remain silent.

Continuing to hold them back is certainly an option, but at this critical juncture, the situation is completely different from before. If they continue to operate in this way, there will only be two possible outcomes.

First, they can continue the lawsuit, but it is unlikely to drag on for too long. With the help of "Lurking" to recover the losses, and even with Chi Ye's connections from this "calamity", he can easily borrow money to revive these "unfinished buildings".

Second, fight to the bitter end and become complete enemies.

After thinking for a long time, Mr. Chen tentatively asked, "We're not seeking new collaborations, but can the current projects continue?"

"This one……"

Mr. Gong hesitated, "I don't know."

Logically, since the contract has been signed and they are no longer using the gacha system, the project should proceed smoothly, and everyone should make money together.

The problem is... even President Gong can't quite figure out Chi Ye's way of doing things.

He used to think that Ikeno would most likely choose to continue cooperating with kiwifruit, but after this experience, the sun shines brightly and everything becomes clear.

Given Chi Ye's style of daring to bring down the "emperor," even top executives of unicorns and big shots on par with President Chen have been directly brought down. Would he be so easily "lenient" towards Kiwi?
"Don't tell me that even the cooperation we agreed on before is no longer possible?"

Mr. Chen's tone had changed: "We also invested money."

"...I can only try my best."

Mr. Gong paused for a moment, then said, "Perhaps someone will call you in a few days."

Who would call him?

Mr. Chen was puzzled.

But three days later, he understood the meaning behind President Gong's words that day.

"Hello? Old Chen? It's me, Old Lin, haha."

"Oh, Sister Lin, what made you think of calling me?"

When Mr. Chen saw the name "Mango Sister Lin" in the notes, he already realized what was going on.

"Nothing, I just missed you. It's been a while since we last met, hasn't it? The last one was the Internet Video Conference you were in charge of."

"...You want to buy those projects in Ikeno?"

"……OK."

The voice on the other end of the phone, Sister Lin, was very pleasant, gentle yet assertive: "I have a general understanding of your cooperation methods. Given the current situation... we don't need to beat around the bush. We can buy all the projects you've invested in, however much they are worth."

"hehe."

Mr. Chen laughed: "Is this about money? Sister Lin, isn't what you're doing a bit unfair? You got lucky with 'Lurking,' and now you want to take over everything else too?"

Sister Lin on the other end paused for a moment, then said, "I'll give you double the investment amount."

Mr. Chen was taken aback.

“I don’t think we’re being dishonest; this is already quite honest, Mr. Chen.”

You know perfectly well who's being dishonest.

(End of this chapter)