Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 489 How to Deal with the Bad Seed? (Thanks to Xuegao Mengjiayi)
The atmosphere on the set of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" was relaxed. When Zhao Benshan joined the crew, they had a dinner party. This time, the future chairman of China Film Group came to give guidance, so another big drinking party was inevitable.

After the meal, the man with the buzz cut, who was in high spirits because of the happy occasion, chatted with Lu Kuan about another important matter in the room.

"The Film Bureau has received applications for online ticketing software development and filing; there are three such applications in total."

"Three? Who else?"

"A company in Shanghai called Guevara." Han Shanping remembers it clearly; for people of his generation, this name was also a symbol of faith.

Boss Lu nodded, not taking it seriously. Guevara was also developing steadily according to the timeline of the previous life, and he would deal with it as needed.

The two then discussed Damai.cn's public relations efforts regarding cinemas: "Did Damai.cn approach China Film Stellar Media for online ticketing?"

"We're in talks. I've asked Fan Jianghua to stall for time." Han Shanping took a sip of hot tea to sober up. "But I heard that a small number of Wanda's cinemas have already started trial operations during the off-season."

Fan Jianghua is the general manager of China Film Stellar Media, and is fully responsible for cinema affairs.

Lu Kuan nodded slowly, not surprised by this.

He didn't know when the Axis of Evil started this plan, but he wasn't surprised that business tycoons like Ma Yun, Wang Jianlin, and Liu Chuanzhi could think of this direction to break through.

However, for the current situation, the problem lies in the timing—

Even if he had three heads and six arms, he couldn't immediately conjure up a fully functional software that could keep up with the traffic of the Lunar New Year film season.

Since falling behind is a fait accompli, the only option left is to figure out how to strike back later.

The man with the crew cut thought he was troubled by this and comforted him, "I don't care about other places, but under the same conditions or even if they are slightly worse, the cinemas under China Film Group will definitely not have any objections."

"For this Lunar New Year film season, let's first see what conditions Damai.cn is offering. If they are suitable, we'll make contact and try it out. If they really offer a level of cooperation, I can't suppress the opinions of my subordinates too much."

Boss Lu caught the implication in his words, and since he hadn't made a definitive statement, he chuckled inwardly.

"Mr. Han, there is only one company operating the Lunar New Year film season. Without competition, there is no impact. However, their proposal is absolutely beneficial to the cinemas. Even cinemas without a strong stance have no reason to refuse it."

Han Shanping hadn't considered the question carefully yet: "Why?"

“China Film Stellar Cinemas and Southern New Line are both high-quality cinema chains, but not all of the 6000 screens that are expected to be installed nationwide by the end of the year are modern cinemas.”

“You see, traditional ticketing requires manual processing of seat selection, cashiering, ticketing, etc. Online platforms can replace manual windows through self-service ticket machines and electronic ticketing systems, which can significantly reduce manpower input.”

"Furthermore, the software they provide means that for cinemas in third- and fourth-tier cities, the platform covers the development costs for connecting with the cinema's TMS system, thus avoiding the high technical costs of cinemas building their own online channels."

Mr. Lu tapped the table lightly: "The savings from these costs alone are enough for cinemas to try out some of their ticketing work."

The man with the buzz cut raised an eyebrow: "What about cinema chains like Wenjie, Wanda, and China Film Group? What can they use to negotiate with cinemas? After all, online platforms also take a 5-15% cut of the ticket price as a service fee, which isn't very attractive to us, is it?"

"Two points: ticket subsidies and pre-sales for private screenings."

Lu Kuan looked at Han Shanping, who was deep in thought: "Ticket subsidies are self-explanatory. The platform subsidizes tickets out of its own pocket to attract customers to buy tickets online. It's like helping the cinemas promote their products and getting some traffic revenue for itself."

"If we use this tactic, I think 80% of the cinemas during the Lunar New Year season will not refuse it, and it will be difficult for China Film Group to refuse it as well."

"That's true. What about pre-sales for entire venues?"

Boss Lu seemed to be giving Damai.cn some advice, pouring himself and Xiaopingtou another drink: "The risks and investments of booking out entire venues for pre-sales are much greater, aren't they?"

"Online platforms need to book all the screens in cinemas for a certain period of time, taking into account both unpopular and popular movies and time slots, and then pay the cinemas in advance."

You can think of it as an online platform underwriting the deal.

Han Shanping was astonished. If the other party really offered such a condition, even if China Film Group wanted to favor Wenjie, it wouldn't be able to.

Even a cinema chain like China Film Stellar Media, can it guarantee that every show will be sold out?
In particular, it's impossible to predict which films will be good or bad each year. Who would have thought that "The Promise" and "The Warlords" would flop like this?
As a result, after its reputation deteriorated, it had no audience attendance and its screenings plummeted.

If an online platform can offer pre-sales for entire events, it's essentially taking all the risk upon itself.

How could they possibly agree?

"Why wouldn't I? If it were Wenjie who did it, I'd be a hundred times more willing to do it." Boss Lu said with great enthusiasm: "Online ticketing platforms for pre-sales of entire venues are a test of one's own judgment."

"I booked the entire theater, which means I decide the screening schedule. Who makes money and who doesn't depends on their own abilities, so I can't blame anyone else."

Han Shanping slammed his fist on the table: "If everyone does this, where will the theaters' say go? Won't online platforms have the final say on film scheduling from now on?"

"Hehe, that's all in the future. Nobody knows what the future holds." Boss Lu picked up his teacup, choosing to avoid the topic.

Xiaopingtou is a visionary; the conflict between online platforms and cinemas is indeed difficult to resolve.

First, there was the impact of ticket subsidies and the collapse of the membership system. The long-term ticket subsidies of the platform completely destroyed the independent membership systems of each cinema chain, making the membership price of cinemas meaningless. Who would pre-pay?
Secondly, there is the struggle for scheduling and pricing rights. In 2018, Maoyan played a triple role in "production, distribution and ticketing" for "Us and Them". By manipulating pre-sale data through abnormal ticket refunds, it forced cinemas to give 49% of the screenings and squeezed the market share of "Behind the Scenes" at the same time. This is a naked data hegemony.

Even China Film Stellar Media, under the leadership of Lao Han, was forced to switch to the group-buying website Baidu Nuomi in 2015 due to the overwhelming power of Maoyan.

From another perspective, isn't this also a case of "e-commerce killing brick-and-mortar stores"?

However, in the early stages of development, online and offline channels were indeed mutually beneficial; otherwise, online ticketing would never have come into being.

Of course, Lu Kuan couldn't possibly tell Han Shanping about these threats now. Wenjie and China Film Group also had a cooperative and competitive relationship to some extent.

"Mr. Han, since Damai.cn is willing to be the first online ticketing website in China and is willing to be the first to try this new approach, it should demonstrate the determination to change the industry."

Lu Kuan laughed and said, "You don't know this, but I've already had Gao Jun from Wenjie Jiahe take the initiative to contact Cao Jie from Damai.cn. We want to become the second cinema chain to integrate with the online ticketing system!"

Wanda is the first one.

"Huh?" The crew-cut guy looked completely bewildered. After a long while, he finally reacted and burst into laughter, "You're such a rascal! You openly tried to spy on their trade secrets, didn't you? Do you think they'd dare install the software on your computers?"

"Whether you pretend or not doesn't matter. I had Gao Jun propose a cooperation plan," Lu Kuan said with a smile. "It's the pre-sale of the entire venue that we just discussed."

"Gao Jun is also a loose tongue. He probably revealed the plan during an interview. In a couple of days, theaters of all sizes will probably be arguing with Damai.cn about this plan."

Old Han was shrewd and knew perfectly well the purpose of Lu Kuan's detailed explanation of the "pre-sale of the entire venue." Now he was completely dumbfounded!
That kid is so wicked!
Since I can't handle online ticketing myself right now, I'm offering advice to all cinema chains, helping them negotiate with Damai.cn!

The business model of pre-selling screenings is uniquely suited to him, a time traveler. Who else can more accurately judge the market value of a film than him?
But asking the four major evil forces to do it is undoubtedly a hellish task. Even if they book the entire theater, which is equivalent to handing over the right to schedule the films to Damai.cn, can they withstand that kind of pressure?
This isn't about showing movies based on who you have a good relationship with; the most important consideration is profitability.

If a movie like "The Promise" is shown too many times, Damai.cn will not only have to pay for its own software and ticketing hardware to provide supporting services to cinemas, but also bear the huge risk of losses.

Conversely, they might rave about "Lost in Thailand" and "Let the Bullets Fly," since these were both produced by Wenjie, but that's another story.

The key point is that posing such a difficult challenge to a fledgling online ticketing website is to deplete the enemy's manpower to the greatest extent possible, while ensuring that one's own side is temporarily unable to participate in the competition.

Han Shanping was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "It would be one thing if no one thought of this model, but you asked Gao Jun to spread the word, which really put Damai.com in a difficult position."

He cleared his throat, took out his phone, and called Fan Jianghua, the general manager of China Film Stellar Media.

"Sir! Instructions!"

Old Han heard the noisy voices on the other end: "Still drinking?"

Fan Jianghua didn't dare to be negligent. He gave the people at the table a look and went to the bathroom in the private room: "The Lunar New Year film season is just a month away. All the major cinema chains are having a meal and drinks together and talking about scheduling."

Such internal communication within the industry is quite common; even cinemas belonging to different chains may be in competition with each other.

Because aside from the core market value, there are many factors that influence film scheduling, and no one dares to confidently say that they are right.

It's like a group of stock traders chatting about stocks; when they disagree, they call each other idiots and walk past each other.

The prevailing perception in China today is that works by directors with questionable backgrounds are ranked higher, with Zhang Yimou considered to be in the top tier, while other directors' works require more careful consideration.

Old Han laughed and said, "That's perfect. I'll tell you how to negotiate. You can also share the proposal with New Film Union or other small cinemas, and we can all work together to fight for our rights."

Fan Jianghua was completely bewildered; to him, these words were tantamount to "I will make the following arrangements."

Han Shanping immediately put his newfound knowledge to use, discussing the pros and cons of online ticketing with his subordinates, and instructing them to include the conditions for partial pre-sale of exclusive venues in the negotiation proposal with Damai.cn.

It's impossible to do it all. Each cinema chain has its own screening schedule and internal considerations. Being able to lock in profits in advance through partial screenings is already quite an achievement.

Fan Jianghua, whose face was flushed from drinking, was stunned: "Holy crap! This move is really..."

"Ahem!" Old Han was afraid that his subordinate, who had been drinking too much horse urine, would say something reckless again, so he quickly interrupted him: "I'm here on the set of 'Under the Hawthorn Tree,' so I don't have time to talk to you anymore. Just get things done!"

"Yes! Leader!"

Previously, Fan Jianghua had received instructions from Xiaopingtou to maintain a superficial relationship with Damai.cn.

I initially thought the phone call was just an ineffective micromanagement move to "move the artillery position forward by 100 meters," but it turned out to be the mastermind behind it all.

Fan Jianghua, who had led China Film Stellar Media for many years, had also considered the drawbacks of electronic ticketing, and he had a deeper understanding of the value of this approach than Han Shanping.

So dark!

Doesn't Damai.cn have no competitors?
If you can't compete with other online ticketing websites, then cultivate all your partners into competitors!

The pre-sale of private screenings is just the first step. He will have Gao Jun personally teach New Film Union and China Film Stellar how to negotiate with Damai.cn, hitting all the G-spots of online ticketing, even the points that the Axis of Evil itself hadn't thought of.

As for the impact of this move on the other players who will also be entering the fray, it can only be said to be negligible.

Boss Lu is eager for all cinemas to agree to his pre-sale bookings, so that he can unify the nationwide screening rights and pricing power online in less than five years!
However, the authorities and the industry will never allow this to happen, otherwise Wenjie will really become another "private film bureau".
-
The coronation of the Crown Prince in November became the biggest news in the world, with media from all countries vying to report on this historic moment.

Western media generally regard it as an important milestone in racial equality in the United States, while political scientists have been analyzing the potential impact of this event on Sino-US relations.

In the domestic entertainment and film industries, besides joking about a certain powerful figure using trending topics to suppress other trending topics, movie fans also suddenly discovered an online ticketing website called Damai.cn with advertisements all over the internet this month before the Lunar New Year film season.

The front page headline of the Nanfang Group media outlets read as follows:

"Damai.cn, your portable movie theater, makes queuing for tickets a thing of the past!"

The promotional articles from major portals and Alispace describe it succinctly as follows:
"One-click seat grabbing, say goodbye to queuing! — Ali Payment Security × Direct Baidu Search × Wanda Cinema Privileges"

The most attractive thing was the announcement about movie ticket discounts:

"Enjoy a ¥10 discount on your first ticket at all participating cinemas during the Lunar New Year season! Long-term discounts available, plus a free gift with every ticket purchase!"

In 2008, movie tickets generally started at 40 yuan, and most of them were purchased by urban white-collar workers who had long-term usage habits. These people were also the core of internet users.

After receiving real-time push notifications across the entire internet, many people immediately tried to book tickets in advance for Wanda Cinemas' Lunar New Year films.

Xiao Liu from Yuanshan Hotel was registering an account called "Zi Di" and curiously sat opposite Boss Lu to try out this revolutionary ticketing experience.

This is truly an era-defining event. Even if the initiator is the axis of evil, from this day forward, the movie ticket consumption habits of hundreds of millions of movie fans and audiences in China will undergo profound changes.

Liu Yifei squinted as she operated the screen:

"My goodness, when I typed 'If You Are the One movie tickets' into the Baidu search box, the first result was 'Damai.com official ticketing - Wanda Cinema special offer screenings'."

Boss Lu sat across from me and laughed, “Keep going. You play the role of a newbie and try it from scratch. See how they experience the process.”

Xiao Liu clicked on the first link provided by Baidu, which had a prominent blue "Official Certification" label at the end.

The page immediately redirects to Damai.cn's exclusive event page, with a banner ad scrolling at the top that reads "Ali Alipay new users get an instant discount of 10 yuan".

"This instant discount of 10 yuan and subsequent offers should bring Alipay a lot of new users, right?"

"Definitely, it'll be incredibly effective." Lu Kuan finally finished planning Lin Yun's climactic scene in Russia, then got up and sat down next to his wife.

"The estimated total box office for the 2009 Lunar New Year film season is around 20-25 billion yuan. A movie ticket costs 40-100 yuan. Even if they don't get a lot, let's say they get 1/3 of the sales share. Do the math and see how many transactions that is?"

Xiao Liu turned her head and looked at him: "Then why do you look so relaxed? Did someone chase you down?"

"No rush. We should strategically despise the enemy. We've already made our move. Although we can't completely halt their advance, it's good if we can make them bleed a little."

Liu Yifei knew what he meant by "pre-sale of the entire venue," nodded, and continued with the process.

Enter the Damai.cn seat selection system, select CBD Wanda Plaza Guomao Store, December 18th, Huayi Productions' "If You Are the One".

A poster featuring Bingbing standing in the center position prominently appears at the top of the screen.

As if he hadn't seen it, Xiao Liu clicked on the 19:30 PM prime-time slot, only to find it was already sold out.

It seems the subsidy is quite valuable, but it's also because it was the premiere of "If You Are the One" that day.

People in China at that time had not yet been bombarded by various exploitative practices in later generations, so their threshold was relatively low. They would flock to any channel where they could get a good deal.

It's human nature to think that if there's a bargain, you might as well take advantage of it.

Xiao Liu then chose a slightly later showing, and the 3D seating chart for the entire theater loaded instantly—each seat was marked with a different color: green for available seats, yellow for reserved seats, and red for sold-out seats.

When you click on the couple's seats (numbers 9-10) in row H, both seats immediately glow with a soft pink light.

Liu Yifei exclaimed once again, "Wenjie's opponent this time is quite strong. I feel like you're going to have a tough battle."

Ahri's architectural technology is also top-notch, which is not surprising. It can only be said that the enemy's four or five months of accumulated strength has finally paid off.

Before its official launch, Wanda had already conducted internal testing, fully integrating the online and offline operation channels and scenario presets, and resolving many detailed issues.

The process was smooth until I finished selecting my seat, at which point the Alipay pop-up window automatically appeared on the checkout page.

Xiao Liu chuckled, "Oh ho, looks like I have no choice but to register an Alipay account. I've become an ally of the enemy."

Register by entering your debit card number and registered mobile phone number. The system will send a verification code via SMS to complete the initial card binding. Currently, Alipay only supports ICBC, ABC, BOCOM, CCB, and BOC. However, Alipay has already opened up channels with many other city commercial banks through Liu's connections.

Moreover, if this step were done through Alipay, there would be no need to register or fill in a mobile phone number at all.

Currently, it's practically impossible for any internet user in China to not have accounts or access to Weibo, blogs, Wenjie Mall, or Zhijie Video.

If you have one, you can log in and use it right now, bind your card, and use it with just one account.

The process continued until the final payment was made.

Xiao Liu glanced at the time in the lower right corner: "It's a bit scary that a surfer of my level can complete the whole process in twenty minutes."

Mr. Lu nodded: "It depends on how well they coordinate offline, but I think Wanda will cooperate properly."

He sighed deeply: "If everything goes smoothly, Alipay will really be able to recover a lot of losses after this Lunar New Year holiday."

"Fortunately, pre-sales through private bookings can deter them to some extent."

“We can’t hold them off for long. At most, we can make them bleed money, but their market share has already been taken.” Lu Kuan clicked the mouse a few times: “With this kind of high-quality service, even Jiahe Cinemas wants to get in, not to mention other small cinemas.”

"The only benefit is that when the electronic ticketing system goes live in February, it will reduce the number of bullets that the enemy fires at us."

Mr. Lu sounded somewhat helpless. He stood up and paced back and forth in the room a couple of times before suddenly taking out his phone and making a call.

"President Lu?" The voice on the other end of the receiver was Dong Shuangqiang.

"Old Dong, submit a 'Report on Withdrawal of Listing Application' to the China Securities Regulatory Commission and request the sponsoring institution to issue a written statement agreeing to the withdrawal, thus withdrawing Wenjie's listing application."

Dong Shuangqiang knew, of course, that the so-called listing plan was merely a pretext used in May to coerce Huayi into achieving its strategic goal, and it ultimately yielded excellent results. (Chapter 426)
But withdrawing now means giving Huayi, which is always in second place, a chance to catch up and surpass them, an opportunity they desperately want.

Could it be. . .

Is it time to close the net?

Old Dong, a rare capital tycoon in China's cultural and media industry, was thrilled upon hearing this.

"Reassure the employees and tell the outside world that the situation is not good due to the financial crisis, and the company has temporarily shelved its listing plan."

"I understand, I'll get on it right away!"

Boss Lu didn't say anything, and Dong Shuangqiang didn't ask anything either. This tacit understanding and absolute trust had been cultivated since the two first met a long time ago.

He knew that the next move would come soon.

Liu Yifei stared blankly at her husband, the same guess as Dong Shuangqiang forming in her mind: "It's going to be..."

"Yes, it's almost Chinese New Year, time to slaughter the pig," Lu Kuan said with a smile. He didn't chat with his wife much before making several phone calls and starting the busy arrangements.

Xiao Liu smiled wryly, pondering in his heart that his sudden decision must be related to the burgeoning axis of evil.
-
While the young couple were filming, they chatted about the Axis of Evil's business developments. Inside the Axis of Evil, everything was proceeding smoothly, though with both good and bad news.

The good news is that the situation is indeed very good. In the week since its launch, Alipay has added more than 150 million new registrations. Based on the calculation that the online ticket payment card binding rate is 60%, about 80 users have completed the bank card binding and become loyal users.

The estimated box office revenue for the entire Lunar New Year film season is less than 25 billion yuan, which will visibly generate the largest transaction volume and capital accumulation in Alipay's history.

Old Ma was overjoyed. He had been suppressed by Wenjie for the past two years, but finally there was hope, and he had already turned the tables.

Not to mention the Lunar New Year film "If You Are the One," which has the potential to replicate the business synergy model of "Meteor Shower," giving Alipay another boost.

For Ali, in addition to the benefits of business data, they also acquired data assets of cinema consumer profiles, which filled the gap in their original e-commerce user data.

This laid the foundation for subsequent targeted marketing, including movie merchandise promotion and ranking, which were originally the core of Wenjie Mall.

For Baidu, the "Baidu Search Direct Access" link to the Damai.cn event page is expected to increase clicks on the keyword "movie tickets" by 200% in the first week, generating advertising revenue of 500-800 million yuan.

Similar to Ali, Baidu optimized its algorithm by capturing entertainment consumption search habits to improve ad matching accuracy.

On the eve of the big data era, various internet companies have begun to recognize the importance of data assets.

At the same time, several shareholders were secretly astonished by the enormous expenses incurred during this period.

In the conference room at Damai.cn headquarters, Cao Jie was reporting on his work, which involved the next marketing budgets of several companies:

"Distinguished leaders, our total marketing costs are currently estimated to be around 6.5 million RMB."

"So much? What happened to the previous budget of 3.5 million? Where did the extra money go?"

Wang Jianlin hadn't yet uttered any grand pronouncements about setting "small goals," and was somewhat surprised that four "small goals" were about to be spent in just one week.

Ma Yun and Li Yanhong also frowned as they looked at Cao Jie. Since Chairman Liu was not present today, Cao Jie only needed to face the three big shots.

The president of Damai.cn looked somewhat embarrassed; it seemed as if he had embezzled funds.
"Distinguished leaders, let me start from the bottom and work my way up."

"The cost of online customer acquisition includes our own Taobao and Baidu platforms, as well as the marketing ads we run on external websites. The cost per click is around 5-8 yuan, with a conversion rate of 10%. The estimated daily search volume during the Lunar New Year holiday season is 50, and the cost for the 90-day period is approximately 4500 million yuan..."

"Alright, alright!" Wang Jianlin was getting impatient: "Let's not talk about these routine things. Tell me where the extra 3 million yuan budget went."

Ma Yun and Li Yanhong secretly criticized this guy's impatience. They were both internet entrepreneurs, and there was a mental barrier between them and Lao Wang, who was doing business in the real economy:
People in the internet industry are naturally indifferent to the issue of burning money, or rather, they've gotten used to it.

But landlords like Wang Jianlin, who meticulously planned and calculated every step of building their houses, have an innate sensitivity to cost control.

Furthermore, Wanda is not like these two companies that have already achieved performance and data growth. Although online ticket booking is booming now, it is not yet the Lunar New Year season, and everything still needs to wait until the money is in hand.

Furthermore, currently only Wanda and a few small local cinema chains have entered the market, along with the core player, Guangdong Pearl River Golden Harvest Cinema. The overall situation remains complex and unpredictable.

The key cases involving China Film Group and New Film Union are still unresolved.

Wang Jianlin's serious expression put a lot of pressure on Cao Jie, who sighed softly: "President Wang, the reason for the extra 3 million in budget is because of the 'private pre-sale' that Gao Jun of Wenjie Jiahe proposed last time."

Ma Yun asked curiously, "Didn't we already reject and suspend negotiations?"

"The rejection has been made, but the impact has already been felt. Now China Film Group and New Film Union are taking a firm stance and are determined not to back down, insisting on negotiating according to the pre-sale model for private screenings."

"These two companies account for about a quarter of the national market share, and their influence is enormous. Many local cinema chains and small cinema chains are following suit and making a fuss."

Cao Jie said helplessly, "Now, apart from our core business and Huayi, all other negotiations are at a standstill, which is why we have this new budget."

"Based on the current progress of negotiations, if we can agree to half of the pre-sales for screenings by the two cinema chains, we are confident that the system can get in first, but the cost..."

Ma Yun, Wang Jianlin, and others looked at the proposal in their hands and fell into deep thought.

It's a tough choice.

6 million yuan is not a large sum of money for the four companies, since it's not like any one company is asked to contribute on its own.

But ultimately, each party has its own strategic needs, and judging from today's scene, Old Wang is clearly very dissatisfied.

He's not an internet company, so this traffic doesn't mean much to him. Wanda Cinemas already has a high occupancy rate and revenue per screen, so online ticketing is just icing on the cake.

At most, they can use online data to drive film scheduling and dynamic pricing, further increasing Wanda's already advantageous single-screen output.

Wang Jianlin shared the same idea as Lu Kuan: if Wanda cannot expand its online ticketing influence to the whole country and all cinema chains, what is the point?
But precisely because he was the only CEO among the crowd who understood cinema marketing, he found this kind of pre-sale booking even more challenging.

Who the hell can guarantee that the movies they choose will make them money?
In his opinion, Wenjie's previous film "Cow" almost lost money.
If Lu Kuan's "Tangshan" hadn't suffered a critical failure with "The Promise," the outcome of the film would have been uncertain.

Ma Yun still has the courage to forge ahead, because he has indeed seen the hope of achieving the strategic goal: "I think this money is well spent. Currently, our average customer acquisition cost is 15 yuan per person, and in the future, Wenjie will have to spend 20 yuan to leverage it."

"In the internet industry, being late by even one day is no longer a matter of being a year late; it's a matter of being a lifetime late!"

Robin Li supported this, saying, "Baidu's traffic can be further tilted towards its allies. These are not problems. I said before that now is the poorest time in the world and the richest time for us. There is no reason not to go all the way."

Cao Jie silently looked at Wang Jianlin.

"This is more than 300 million! This is just a prepayment. If we really negotiate the final price, it could even double." Seeing how eager the two of them were, Wang Jianlin had to offer a word of advice.

The booming domestic film industry in the past two years has attracted a lot of hot money, but outsiders probably don't know the dangers involved.

Old Wang said in a deep voice, "Besides, none of you saw Lu Kuan's sinister intentions. This move is to force us to bleed, and incidentally, to give blood to himself."

"What do you mean?" Robin Li was the least knowledgeable of the three.

"Which domestic film director, if not guaranteed to make money, has at least never lost a film since their debut?"

"Which domestic film and television production company, whether it's a TV series or a movie, is so successful in marketing and distribution, even making money from derivative products?"

Wang Jianlin looked gloomy: "Now he has China Film Group and New Film Union leading the charge, bringing a bunch of third- and fourth-tier companies to negotiate with us, forcing us to bleed money and accept the pre-sale model of booking entire theaters."

"Let me ask you three, since you'll be in charge of scheduling the films, whose films will you schedule?"

"Lu Kuan doesn't have any movies this year, but the company has three projects: 'Lost in Thailand,' 'Let the Bullets Fly,' and 'Under the Hawthorn Tree.' Do you want to place a heavy bet on these three?"

Ma Yun and Li Yanhong remained silent, while Cao Jie looked embarrassed. He had considered this difficult choice beforehand.

Old Wang felt increasingly irritated: "Zeng Maojun from Wanda told me that even without online pre-sales, Wenjie's films would still be scheduled ahead of the audience. This is something that all cinemas are doing proactively for the sake of box office revenue and profits."

"Now he's forcing us to push Wenjie's screening schedule even further. The money we earn will become bullets aimed at us after the new year."

What a helpless realization.

"What a wicked seed!" Feng Qingyang, 44 years old this year, couldn't help but swear.

Following Wang Jianlin's words, it's likely that Wenjie Jiahe would also be very willing to cooperate with Damai.com for pre-sales of entire venues.

Damai.cn paid for the promotions, while Wenjie Cinema and the movies made money. They learned Damai.cn's entire process and then turned around and bombarded Damai.cn with Gatling guns.

No guns, no cannons, Damai.cn will build them for us?
But what if they don't choose to book entire theaters for pre-sales? Obviously, in today's seller's market, it's very difficult to gain a negotiating advantage with theaters.

Because Wenjie Jiahe has already stated that once their software is launched, they can fully accept pre-sale services for private events without any problems.

Whether it's true or not, this gives the theaters the confidence to negotiate, right?

Where does this scoundrel get his confidence?

Or is it simply a rotten egg thrown out to disrupt our own plans?

With Chairman Liu absent, the three of them ultimately failed to reach an agreement during their discussion today.

Ma Yun and Li Yanhong didn't take the extra 3 million or the subsequent 5-6 million to heart, since the entire Taishan Club could serve as a replenishment depot.

However, Wang Jianlin, who was more cautious, did not quite agree with such a desperate gamble.

However, when asked to come up with a new solution, Old Wang was powerless to do so for the time being, and he wished he could curse him as a "bad seed" in his heart to vent his anger.

On November 7th, Chairman Liu returned from his inspection tour in the United States and organized another discussion among the shareholders to assess the current situation.

With less than a month to go before the start of the 2009 Lunar New Year film season, time is running out for the axis of evil.

Ultimately, Chairman Liu, whose word was law, made the final decision to follow up on the "pre-sale for a private event" trap set by Wenjie.

This is like knowingly walking into a tiger's den, or choosing the lesser of two evils.

As for why Wenjie expressed its support immediately upon learning the news and announced a close cooperation with Damai.cn?
The axis of evil helplessly consoled itself:
The more the enemy opposes me, the more it proves that I am doing the right thing.

Even my enemies support me, which proves I did the right thing.

How do we deal with bad seeds?

Go ahead and learn!

(End of this chapter)