Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

Chapter 570 A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a stolen affair

"They pirated themselves relentlessly, and then used the pirated copies to break through the encirclement?"

This is absolutely the most outrageous statement Bai Ling has heard in recent years!

Although the world of Beijing has a very weak awareness of copyright due to various reasons.

They especially favored what their big brother had and simply adopted it without considering other implications, which led to them becoming a copyright wasteland, much like their big brother, the Soviet Union.

Anyone with a modicum of moral conscience would wholeheartedly agree that piracy is extremely immoral.

What's more, it's itself that's being pirated!
"Isn't this just letting them take advantage of us?! We finally managed to make a high-quality film, and more importantly, one that's sure to make a lot of money, and then you say it's pirated and it gets pirated!"

"They're just piracying themselves, practically handing themselves over to others to get freebies. Why should they?! How do we filmmakers account for all the effort we put in? And what about those projects that cost tens of millions of dollars, US Dollar's money? What are we going to do with that money?!"

"We finally found this way to make money while lying down, after going through so much trouble! And you just say you don't want it anymore, that it's gone just like that! Do you know how much money this is? Do you know how many things you could do with it?!"

The fact that Bai Ling was so shocked that she swore out loud shows just how shocked and how much she found it hard to agree with Ximen Lang's outrageous statement.

Simon Lang, of course, knew just how valuable that money was.

After all, this was a sum of ten or twenty million US dollars under the Bretton Woods system, a sum of ten or twenty million US dollars that could be directly linked to gold, which is completely different from the US dollar that could be subject to unlimited quantitative easing in later generations.

In terms of value, there's no doubt that the purchasing power of the US dollar today is more than ten times that of the US dollar in later generations. (According to the official CPI inflation calculator from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, $1 in 1955 has approximately the purchasing power of $11.42 in 2024.)
"But the problem is you have to be able to make that kind of money! I've already said it, given the current incompatible relationship between Beijing and the US, even if they were crazy, they would never let your movie enter their market and let you make their money. So what else can you do besides piracy?"

Bai Ling certainly understood this principle, and she was very clear about it.

"But we can't let them take advantage of us for nothing!"

Seeing that Bai Ling was really obsessed with money, just then, Lao Luo and the principal, who had finished reporting to their superiors and were beaming with joy, returned.

One sentence.
"Old Luo, Principal, you've come at the perfect time."

He pulled Lao Luo and the principal to sit down and briefly recounted the whole incident to them in detail.

This surprised and delighted Lao Luo and the principal, who both wished they could hug Ximen Lang and give him a big bite on the face to express their gratitude.

Explain the situation clearly to Lao Luo and the principal.

Ximen Lang continued.

"Old Luo, Principal, tell me, compared to this mere one or two hundred billion dollars, which is invisible, intangible, and impossible to earn, is it more important to use piracy to break through the encirclement, conduct low-cost cultural infiltration, and spread our cultural symbols virally, or is this mere one or two hundred billion dollars more important?"

To be honest, because the people of Sijiucheng World have been farmers for generations, they were truly terrified of poverty. Hearing that a single movie could bring in one or two hundred billion dollars, Lao Luo and Principal's first reaction was...
"Nonsense! Money is more important right now! That's a hundred or two hundred billion US dollars. With that much money, I could easily equip just one army. Of course, money is more important!"

But upon closer examination...
"Sigh, although I'm also reluctant to part with so much money, the reality is that the former is far more important than a mere ten or twenty million US dollars! This is a strategic matter."

Just as I was about to elaborate on the strategic benefits of low-cost cultural infiltration and the viral spread of cultural symbols to soothe my bleeding heart, Bai Ling, obsessed with money, spoke up.

“Let me remind you, that’s the revenue that just one film can bring us. We can easily make dozens, even hundreds, of films like that in a year. Even if not every film is a huge success, it’s still far more than tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars that USdoller earns. Think carefully before you speak.”

These words caused Lao Luo so much heartache that he couldn't breathe, and he even couldn't help but shed tears.

Seeing Bai Ling's chattering, even Lao Luo was somewhat swayed by her words.

Ximen Lang was speechless.

"Seriously, Lao Luo, it's just a little money, is it really necessary to be so short-sighted? You're not that short-sighted, are you?"

"Of course I'm not that short-sighted!"

That settles it.

"But it costs so much money... it really hurts my heart!"

Looking at the principal next to him, although he did not explicitly state his attitude, his true feelings were evident from the same heartbroken and breathless expression he wore as Lao Luo.

It's clear that these people present are really obsessed with money.

Having completely transcended base desires, and with the ever-increasing wealth at his disposal, Ximen Lang, who had become remarkably indifferent to money, couldn't help but remark.

"But you have to be able to earn it first! I've already said I can't, and you're still agonizing over it like this. Isn't this just plain crazy? Aren't you just torturing yourselves?!"

"What's the key point? The key point is piracy. But that doesn't mean we don't make money! You've forgotten, we actively engage in piracy! Because our technology is very mature, even with piracy, we can still make amazing profits."

"Even if no single film earns ten or twenty million dollars, the steady, consistent income won't necessarily be much less! Add to that the numerous, intangible, yet real, hidden benefits that can even reach strategic levels."

"It might even be more profitable than selling legitimate copies, don't you understand?"

Fearing that Lao Luo and the others still wouldn't understand, Ximen Lang picked out numerous examples and explained to them again how the Western world in later generations had been constantly eroding the world through massive piracy.

I also explained to Lao Luo and his team the underlying logic behind the viral spread of these cultural symbols: a wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a stolen one, and a stolen one is not as good as one that cannot be stolen.

Upon hearing this, Lao Luo and the others couldn't help but start praising it.
"You guys really know how to play the game! You can even make something out of piracy so many times. You're really cunning!"

I explained all the principles and reasoning to Lao Luo and the others.

While it may not have had an immediate effect, it certainly changed their thinking to some extent, gradually leading them to accept Ximen Lang's outrageous theory that what seemed like a huge loss was actually a huge gain.

With a shared understanding and a common foundation, Simon Lang immediately shifted the topic to how to quickly conquer the Chinese cultural sphere.

(End of this chapter)