Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 288 I have to admit, you're right!

Facebook currently has a five-person board of directors. Liu Yifei's investment of $1.2 million only allows her to hold 0.8% of the shares, which is not enough to get her a seat on the board.

However, this was originally just a financial investment, and they had no intention of coveting power within Facebook.

"Didn't you say before that some people disagreed with raising funds so quickly?" Gu Bei asked curiously.

"I've already solved it."

Zuckerberg declined to elaborate further.

"Da da da!"

There was a knock on the conference room door.

Gu Bei turned his head and looked over. The all-glass conference room made it easy to see the faces of the people who came in.

He is also a tech mogul.

Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, or rather, founder of the prototype company before the merger of PayPal; Elon Musk's X was another prototype company.

He was also one of Facebook's earliest outside investors and was naturally a member of the five-person board of directors.

Gu Bei knew him because he had once heard him give a speech at the university.

"This is our new shareholder. He's very young. Did he finish university?"

Peter sized up Liu Yifei and said bluntly.

"Peter!"

Zuckerberg interrupted, clearly displeased.

Peter said nonchalantly, "I'm just asking questions as usual."

His tone was very innocent, trying to mask the aggression in his words.

at this time,

Liu Yifei suddenly spoke up, "I've graduated. It's been two years since I graduated."

Faced with her such a sincere answer,

Peter and Zuckerberg were both slightly taken aback.
The two looked at each other, and remained speechless for a long time.

"puff!"

Gu Bei couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He didn't expect that Liu Yifei's experience of going to university at fifteen and graduating at nineteen would actually make Peter's words lose all their offensiveness.

However, this was also thanks to Liu Yifei's excellent relaxed demeanor; the aura of Peter the Tech mogul had no effect on her.

And who are you?

Peter turned to look at Gu Bei.

Gu Bei did not answer him.
Instead, they started seizing on the loopholes in Peter's previous statements: "Mr. Thiel, I remember you said in your previous speech that higher education in North America was a more serious problem than the dot-com bubble!"

Peter is a tech mogul who really enjoys encouraging people to drop out of school and start their own businesses.

Peter's expression was rather unpleasant.

He had only been in there for a few minutes.

Liu Yifei and Gu Bei,
They responded to his attack in two different ways.

Quite interesting!

Peter became interested and said bluntly, "I don't agree with your idea. The so-called economic crisis cash reserve is just a rhetoric you use to get into Facebook!"

Zuckerberg interjected, "Bruce also contributed some really great ideas."

"Ideas aren't worth much, are they?"

Peter retorted casually.

He did not recognize the value of Gu Bei and Liu Yifei, believing that they could not bring enough benefits to Facebook, yet they wanted to share in Facebook's profits.

After a pause, he faced Gu Bei directly and questioned, "What can you really bring to Facebook? Can you bring Facebook to China? Or are there other benefits?"

Gu Bei looked up and met Peter's gaze, his expression calm.

But he knew in his heart that Peter was absolutely right; they couldn't bring enough value to Facebook besides cash.

The idea of ​​liking is worthless on the internet; it's only on Facebook that the value of this creative idea can be realized.

However, Gu Bei had originally brought Liu Yifei along to hitch a ride.

He wasn't embarrassed at all: "In this market environment where an economic crisis is about to erupt, cash itself is the greatest value!"

"A financial crisis? The economic crisis has already begun to subside steadily; you simply don't understand this market!"

Peter said firmly.

is it?

Gu Bei turned his head and glanced at the clock in the conference room.

It's 10 o'clock now; it shouldn't be long before everyone receives that message.

He said calmly, "I trust my judgment, and Zuckerberg trusts my judgment too. If you could convince the board, we wouldn't be here right now!"

Peter was about to speak.

at this time,

Jingle Bell--

Peter pulled his ringing cell phone out of his pocket.

Before he could answer the phone, the phone rang incessantly outside the conference room.

Peter glanced back and saw a truly spectacular scene.
Liu Yifei and Facebook's finance and legal team, totaling nearly thirty people, were all pulling out their phones, as if they needed everyone to know the explosive news of an alien invasion of Earth!
"Hello?"

Peter answered the phone.

His keen sense of smell had already detected something unusual.

However, the message on the phone still struck him like a thunderbolt, leaving him speechless for a long time.

At 10:00 a.m., Lehman Brothers, one of the world’s top investment banks, announced that it had to file for bankruptcy protection due to total liabilities of $610 billion, and an unprecedented financial tsunami was sweeping the world.

"Something happened?"

Gu Bei stepped forward and stood beside Peter.

He looked at the group of people scrambling around in front of him.

I took a picture with my iPhone to commemorate the moment.
This moment may only come once in a lifetime, witnessing the beginning of the decline of the great beauty, and all the future competition between East University and West University can be glimpsed from this year.

"you are right!"

Peter put down his phone and said dejectedly.

"This is not good news."

Gu Bei said lightly.

Peter didn't say anything more. He told Zuckerberg, "I need to get back to the company now, so I won't be attending the signing ceremony."

After a pause, he glanced at Gu Bei and said, "In addition, I am revising my opinion that I insisted on at the board meeting. Facebook does need more cash now!"

It's unclear when this financial tsunami will end.
Reserve enough cash.
It only benefits Facebook, and has no drawbacks.

Liu Yifei tugged at Gu Bei's clothes: "What bad news?"

Gu Bei laughed and said, "It's nothing, the house you just bought has already lost value!"

"I'm not selling, it's none of my business!"

Liu Yifei replied indifferently.

Gu Bei looked at Zuckerberg, who was reading the news on the Washington Post website, and asked, "Are the other board members coming?" "They probably won't be here!"

Zuckerberg shook his head, then looked at Liu Yifei, "Crystal, are you sure you still want to invest in Facebook? Facebook is definitely not worth a $150 billion valuation now."

Gu Bei looked at Liu Yifei.
I was also curious about how she would answer.

Facing the gazes of the two people, Liu Yifei simply said, "Value is meaningless during a crisis. I believe you can lead Facebook out of its predicament, so there's no need to care about the current valuation."

Welcome to Facebook!

Zuckerberg and Liu Yifei shook hands.

Subsequently, the two signed a financing agreement.

Liu Yifei has officially become one of Facebook's shareholders, holding a slightly larger share than Li Ka-shing, thus successfully acquiring the first piece of the world's richest woman.

Facebook has $500 million in cash on hand.
This crisis also provided a perfect opportunity for it to embark on its journey to become the world's number one social network.
In fact, from the moment Facebook surpassed MySpace, it was basically destined to become the world's number one social network; it was just a matter of time.

But there's no doubt that Facebook, now flush with cash, will be even more confident!

A few hours later,

The Wall Street Journal published a news article on its website:
"Facebook has completed its latest round of financing amid the crisis, with the investor being a wealthy Chinese woman surnamed Liu. The main purpose of this financing is to accumulate more cash to weather the economic crisis."

Because Facebook's offices are open-plan,

Regardless of what Zuckerberg becomes later, at least for now he genuinely agrees with the open-minded spirit of California.
Therefore, all employees can see Liu Yifei's contract signing.

However, the Wall Street Journal's informant was clearly unaware of Liu Yifei's background, using the same phrase as the tabloid article from a few days prior: "a wealthy woman surnamed Liu from China."

In the past
This coincidence was quickly brought together by astute journalists.
But in this situation, everyone's eyes are glued to the Federal Reserve and the White House.

Nobody has time to connect the owner of the Beverly Hills mansion with Facebook's latest shareholder.

……

Kyoto.

"Finally home!"

After arriving at the airport, Gu Bei stretched his body.

I don’t know if it was just his imagination, but the airport seemed a bit more deserted than usual this time. But the full-blown economic crisis shouldn’t have spread that quickly, right?

As Gu Bei walked out of the arrival gate, he immediately saw the driver who had come to pick him up.

Before he could walk over,

A large black rat suddenly appeared in front of him: "Director Gu, would you like to give an interview?"

Gu Bei carefully examined him. He was a somewhat refined and cultured man, unlike the paparazzi image that the public usually had in mind.

How did you know I was going back to China today?

Gu Bei asked curiously.

Ten days have passed since the Venice Film Festival ended, and I never expected that someone would still be watching me, and I actually managed to catch them.

Fortunately, he and Liu Yifei returned to China at different times.

Otherwise, we might get caught red-handed this time!
"I don't know!" The paparazzi shook his head, a slight smile appearing on his face. "But I know that Gravity is about to start its open casting call, and Director Gu, you'll definitely have to go back to China."

If you can't squat for one day, try for two. You'll eventually be able to squat for one day!

"Alright! Let's go over and talk!"

Gu Bei pointed ahead, "By the way, which newspaper are you a paparazzi for?"

This paparazzi has some ideas and perseverance; he's quite a talent!

"I'm not a paparazzi! I'm Zhuo Wei from Fengxing Studio!"

Zhuo Wei stated righteously, "I am doing my utmost to pursue the truth and to monitor the entertainment industry!"

He's a celebrity!

Gu Bei was slightly startled.
Unexpectedly, he was surrounded by domestic reporters for the first time.

That's when he met Zhuo Wei, who would later become the top paparazzo in mainland China.

Even though he hardly ever followed the entertainment industry, he often saw or heard about Zhuo Wei's name.

"Director Gu, are you dating Liu Yifei?"

After Zhuo Wei sat down, his first question went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Is this the supervisory role you've played?" Gu Bei smiled faintly. "Next, don't ask these pointless questions!"

You might find it boring, but nobody else does!
Zhuo Wei inwardly grumbled.

But he was very clear that,

Directors are not afraid of paparazzi.
Moreover, Gu Bei is a big-name director who has a strong presence in both China and Hollywood.

He was in a good mood when he met Gu Bei, which is why he was able to sit down and chat with Gu Bei. He couldn't miss such a good opportunity!
After a pause, he asked, "Director Gu, after your silent film *The Artist*,..."
Are there any plans to make black and white films?
For example, your musical!

Gu Bei glanced at him, a look of surprise on his face.

"I prefer black and white movies, especially the black and white sound movies from Hollywood's golden age."

Zhuo Wei said with a smile that this question was also a bit of his personal concern.

"Probably not."

Gu Bei shook his head, "The artist is more like a love letter I wrote to that era."
Musicals have never truly died; black and white films weren't essential for them. This musical will be a story about love and dreams.

"What about Gravity?" After satisfying his wish, Zhuo Wei started looking for sensational news. "Who will be the male and female protagonists in Gravity?"

"Remove the male!"

Gu Bei smiled and provided a small surprise.

"You mean... the male lead won't have many scenes, and the focus will be more on the female lead?" Zhuo Wei smacked his lips, and he actually made a definite statement.

"Gravity will almost be a one-woman show for the female lead, a story of a woman surviving alone in a space crisis, so we will invite all qualified Chinese actresses from home and abroad."

What are the specific conditions?

Zhuo Wei quickly pressed for an answer.
His heart began to pound. A movie with an absolute female lead.

This is extremely rare worldwide; Gu Bei is truly daring!

"First of all, you need to be able to speak English, since this movie will be released worldwide. As for other requirements... our auditions are by invitation only, so if you receive an invitation, you meet the requirements."

Gu Bei took the coffee from the waiter and stood up.

He waved to Zhuo Wei: "As for the follow-up news about Gravity, you can follow the official accounts of the production team. It's already online on Weibo, Fanfou, and various blogs."

Especially Weibo, you should follow them too, it should be very useful for a paparazzi studio like yours!

Zhuo Wei looked disappointed when he saw Gu Bei about to leave.

but,

He has obtained the information he needed today.

That's enough to create a viral article.

'The story of a woman surviving alone during a space crisis'
This type of high-concept film condenses the story into a single sentence.

This alone is enough to show Gu Bei's ambition.

In addition, Gu Bei himself admitted that he wanted to go global.
Presumably, when his news comes out,
It's not just ordinary readers who will be excited about this; many female celebrities in China will also feel either excited or disappointed.

After a pause,

He suddenly realized,
He shouted at Gu Bei's retreating figure, "Director Gu, I'm really not a paparazzi!"

(End of this chapter)