Huayu: When the director changed his major

Chapter 346: Poverty Will Lead to Short Aspirations
The next day, news that Yang Zi joined Zuibai Entertainment began to spread.

Yang Zi has always been in the spotlight because of her role as Xia Xue.

Especially when she and Zhang Yishan were admitted to the Film Academy together, the academy was clearly a winner.

Cooperated with several waves of publicity.

So there’s no need to keep saying that actors from film academies are not as good as those from the Central Academy of Drama.

This time, he has gained recognition from the new generation of actors.

As for netizens, of course they started to eat melons, with both positive and negative speculations:

[I think this rumor is probably true. After all, Yang Zi and Reba were roommates! Joining the same agency is a natural progression for them!]

[Not necessarily. Zuibai Entertainment has too many female artists, and Zuibai Entertainment hasn't signed a female artist in a long time.]

[My Xia Xue signed in to Zuibai Entertainment. They are the ones making money, okay?]

[Stop joking. Zuibai Entertainment can sign anyone right now. It's already very difficult for child stars to transition. I think it's going to be difficult for Yang Zi to find a good next home right now.]

Cheng Xi opened Weibo and read the news when he had nothing to do.

I saw that everyone was arguing heatedly, and they all came to my Weibo to verify it.

So I just posted the group photo of yesterday’s dinner on Weibo.

【Drunk White:
It was a great time to have dinner with friends I hadn’t seen for a long time!

Drink up!

Attached photos: @热巴@杨紫@白雪]

As soon as this Weibo post came out, everyone understood that Director Cheng had directly agreed.

The netizen who guessed correctly just now even attacked the netizen who guessed wrongly, which was really lively.

Immediately afterwards, Zuibai Entertainment’s official Weibo also released an announcement about signing a new artist, Yang Zi.

People in the Zuibai group also forwarded to welcome Yang Zi:
[Reba: Welcome my sisters and roommates to join the Zuibai family! ]

[Bai Xue: Welcome Zi Zi, let's go to the future together! ]

[Shen Teng: Welcome veteran artist Yang Zi. I grew up watching her TV series!]

[Naza: Welcome Yang Zi, I love you so much! I hope we can work together next time!]

And Yang Zi also responded directly.

This confirmed the revelation.

Cheng Xi did this to give enough face to Reba and to hype up Yang Zi.

Many people of the new generation today have never watched "Home with Kids" and may not know her as Xia Xue.

Just as she joined the Zuibai Entertainment family, Cheng Xi advertised for her and sent her a small gift package in advance.

Help her to reactivate her popularity.

It will also be convenient for rehearsing her plays later.

Not long after, the news that Yang Zi joined Zuibai Entertainment became a hot topic.

This makes many second- and third-tier artists envious, as they only appear on the hot search list a few times a year.

Now Yang Zi gets this treatment just by signing a contract, not to mention that she is so ordinary looking.

Alas, Zuibai Entertainment really is like taking shelter under a big tree.

And I heard that the unspoken rules of Zuibai Entertainment are not that serious.

The boss is willing to spend resources to support them, so basically all the newly signed artists were unknown at first, but now they are doing very well after joining Zuibai.

Reba, Nazha, Zhang Tianai, TFgirls, and a bunch of Mahua-style actors.
Now even the least popular Li Yitong has become a double-dress girl.

People in the industry feel jealous and envious when they see this!

Now everyone wanted it very much, and Zuibai's father also looked at him quickly.

Better to sign yourself in.

That would really be a blessing from our ancestors!
Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou.

Zhou Yuan, the founder of Zhihu, had just come out of this depressing building.

He looked back at the towering building and sighed deeply.

“Attracting investment failed again.”

"It's true that shit is hard to eat and money is hard to borrow."

I had originally made an appointment to meet the vice president, but he had an important meeting at the last minute.

In the end, I only met the manager of the investment department.

Not to mention Feng Qingyang, the person he wanted to see the most, there was no chance at all.

The Series B funding will soon run out.

I basically visited all the Internet companies and some well-known investors.

Previously, Baidu and Penguin had both expressed their intention to invest, but for some reason, they suddenly fell silent.

The blank shot almost stunned Zhou Yuan.

This is how things work in the investment world. Once word gets out that several well-known companies aren't investing in you, others will be deterred.

This is why Rounds B and C are a group of capitals that share the risk investment.

And I have almost burned through all the money in the B round, and I haven't found the precise profit point. No wonder potential investors want to withdraw their investment all of a sudden.

Just when Zhou Yuan was feeling extremely bleak about the prospects of his investment, his cell phone suddenly vibrated.

When he picked it up, he saw that it was his acquaintance, Liu Hongtao, the boss of Zuibai Mahua.

It can be said that Liu Hongtao was really lucky. He was the third-in-command in the Mahua department, and Mahua was just a small theater.

A small company with an annual profit of only about 100 million.

But I didn't expect that in just a few years, he would become so famous by following the Zuibai group.

With two movies that grossed over 10 billion yuan, and the team appearing on the Spring Festival Gala consecutively, the movies produced by Zuibai Mahua have now become synonymous with quality.

He has also become a high-ranking official of the Zuibai faction.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan also pressed the answer button:
"Old Zhou, it's been a while. How have you been lately?" "Mr. Liu, I'm having a hard time describing my recent situation. I was rejected again today. You're the best brother. When I can't make it anymore, I'll follow you into the entertainment industry."

"Hahahaha, that's great. But I guess your dream of becoming an actor will have to be put on hold for a while. Are you free these few days? Our boss wants to meet you to discuss investment."

At this moment, Liu Hongtao heard a "click" sound, and after a while, he heard the voice from the other end of the microphone again:

"Sorry, man. I got so excited that I dropped my phone!"

"Boss, are you referring to Director Cheng?"

"Of course, who else is my boss besides Director Cheng? Come over as soon as you're free these days. My boss is already very busy, so you should seize this opportunity."

"That's true! I'm so grateful to you, brother. It must be you who recommended it to me. Regardless of whether the investment is successful or not, I will always be grateful for your kindness."

"Let's not be so polite, let's have another drink after we finish talking."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yuan became excited.

I just said there was no hope, but I didn't expect that after waiting for a while, the clouds would clear and the moon would appear, and there would be a new village.

But don't be too happy too soon. He is now afraid of death and has done the same as before, leaving nothing behind.

And Director Cheng.
Apart from knowing his achievements in the film and television industry, I really don't know much about what kind of person he is.

Two days later.

Zhihu's Zhou Yuan brought several founders of the company to the Cube Building to meet Cheng Xi.

He had long heard of Cheng Xi.

He became famous at a young age and built up such a huge family business in just five years.

It's really amazing.

I have always been considered a young talent. I founded Zhihu at the age of 35 and received a round B investment.

But this person is afraid of comparison. Compared with Cheng Xi, he is just a piece of rotten wood.

But no one expected that such a talented young man would be interested in investing in an Internet company like Zhihu.

However, he also did some investigation in the past two days and learned a detailed understanding of Zuibai Entertainment and Cheng Xi personally.

Including the following subsidiaries.

I also discussed with the team many times how to conduct this investment negotiation well.

It sounds nice to say that we can just meet and chat, but in fact, everyone knows that life and death are determined at first sight.

So he did not come to see Cheng Xi immediately, but spent two days preparing the information.

But strangely, Penguin contacted me again yesterday, saying that it was willing to invest and asked me to go to Shenzhen.

But after much consideration, Zhou Yuan decided to find Cheng Xi first.

Although Penguin is much stronger than Zuibai Entertainment, he vaguely feels that Zuibai Entertainment's investment intention is the most real.

As long as this side is handled, the penguins will also receive the news, thereby increasing their willingness to invest.

But so far, the team really doesn't know Cheng Xi's specific ideas.

Judging from the fact that he is not satisfied with the artist company and has acquired Chinese websites and video websites, he is a person who wants to take his destiny into his own hands.

So what is his purpose in investing in Zhihu?

It seems like I can't provide any help to the entertainment industry.

And such a person is definitely not as easy to deal with as it seems from the outside.

At least I can't be fooled by his age.

As soon as he got downstairs, Zhou Yuan saw his old friend Liu Hongtao waiting for him from afar.

There were a few other people nearby, all gathered around a middle-aged man in his forties.

This middle-aged man who exudes a capable air should be Li Wentao, the biggest contributor to Cheng Xi's journey.

It can be said that he is undoubtedly the second-in-command of Zuibai Entertainment.

Zhou Yuan then quickly walked over, slightly bent down, and held out his hands:
"Hello, Mr. Li, Hello, Mr. Liu!"

"Mr. Zhou, hello, hello. I'm sorry for not welcoming you."

"The boss is already waiting for you in the VIP room upstairs. Please move over."

After a few pleasantries, Li Wentao led Zhou Yuan to the VIP room on the 7th floor.

Cheng Xi had already made tea in the conference room.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou. I have heard a lot about you."

"Director Cheng, you're too polite. I'm really familiar with you."

After saying that, both of them smiled at each other.

After they sat down, Deng Jie made tea for them, then went out and closed the door.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while and chatting about interesting things about movies and the Internet, the two got down to business.

Cheng Xi: "Mr. Zhou, what are your plans for Zhihu's profit model in the future?"

When Zhou Yuan heard this, he knew that the sex scene was about to begin, and he also answered with full attention.

"Director Cheng, Zhihu's core competitiveness lies in its professionalism. This means I'm primarily considering three profit-making strategies:

The first is the most common advertising revenue.

The second is to provide channels for big Vs to monetize and take a commission from them.

The third one is preparing to connect to e-commerce and list Zhihu showcases and the like.”

When Cheng Xi heard this, his brows couldn't help but frown slightly.

This is still a traditional old item, which basically relies on traffic to gain commercial value. Although this method of monetization is very direct and fast, it also consumes a lot of resources on the website.

What's more, it's still in its early stages.

It seems that Zhihu is really afraid of being poor and is anxious to realize its commercial value.

Mr. Zhou, some people are too poor to have high aspirations.

(End of this chapter)