Restart life

Chapter 522 0510 [If you're not going to give me face, then don't take it]

On Huaqi's side, Chen Guiliang agreed to fly over.

As for when it would end, Chen Guiliang did not give a clear answer.

It might be tomorrow, it might be next year, or it might be that Huaqi simply can't wait until that day.

Moreover, Tian Yusheng, the screenwriter of "Lost in Thailand," was invited to fly from Chengdu to Beijing.

Tian Yusheng graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, but before graduating, he returned to his hometown of Chengdu and established a studio. The film "Lost in Thailand" was also created by his studio.

After many years, when he returned to the capital, he found that many places had been renovated and changed.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Tian Yusheng arrived at ByteDance and said to the receptionist, "Hello, my name is Tian Yusheng. Mr. Chen asked me to come, but we didn't agree on a date or time."

The receptionist picked up a folder, quickly flipped through it to confirm the information, and then smiled and said, "Please wait in the meeting room."

Tian Yusheng was taken to the meeting room, where he drank coffee and browsed Weibo.

After playing for a while, he was taken to Chen Guiliang's office.

"Have a seat." Chen Guiliang was playing "Oracle Era".

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Tian Yusheng sat down cautiously.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Did you write 'Lost in Thailand'?"

Tian Yusheng said, "I was the main creator, but some of the work was done by my colleagues in the studio."

Chen Guiliang then asked, "Did you also write the script for the sequel? Are you aware of your dispute with Xu Zheng?"

Tian Yusheng said, "I don't know the inside story. I was only invited by Huaqi Films to write a script outline for 'Lost in Thailand 2'. Later, I don't know how, we ended up in a lawsuit, and I still haven't finished writing the script because Huaqi hasn't paid me the progress payment."

Chen Guiliang said, "Don't write for Huaqi anymore. You write the story, I'll invest, and you can direct it yourself."

"Huh?" Tian Yusheng was dumbfounded.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Don't you want to be a director?"

"miss you!"

Tian Yusheng stood up abruptly.

Chen Guiliang said, "I want to invest in your studio, taking only 20% of the shares, and you don't need to sign a performance-based agreement. You can discuss the specific details with ByteDance."

Tian Yusheng said, "No problem, as long as I can be the director."

"Want to play Oracle Era?" Chen Guiliang asked with a smile.

“Let’s play,” Tian Yusheng said.

Chen Guiliang said, "Play two games with me. I'll play ADC, and you can play support."

Tian Yusheng was inexplicably invited to Beijing, inexplicably became a director, and now inexplicably has started playing video games.

He suddenly felt that life had become inexplicable.

Moreover, Mr. Chen is really bad at playing games.

What are you doing, ADC? Can't you just focus on farming minions in lane? Damn it, I'm just a lowly support, what can I do besides die with you?
When Tian Yusheng saw that Chen Guiliang's ADC had died, he rushed forward without hesitation to die with him.

This scene was clearly witnessed by their own jungler, who typed a curse: "Bot lane idiots. ***!!!"

Chen Guiliang said, "Block your teammates' messages and don't let them affect your mood."

Tian Yusheng quickly did as instructed.

Chen Guiliang asked, "What script are you writing lately?"

Tian Yusheng said, "I watched 'Love is Not Blind' a while ago and was inspired to write a love story. I've already thought of a title, 'Ex-Files,' and I've finished the outline."

Chen Guiliang said, "Just tell ByteDance what actors you want when you make this movie, 'Ex-Files.' They will definitely help you get them. If the first movie does well at the box office, I will invest in you to make 'Ex-Files 2' and 'Ex-Files 3.'"

"Thank you, Mr. Chen!"

Tian Yusheng was deeply moved. With the mindset of "a scholar would die for one who understands him," he focused on playing a support role and charged forward.

Chen Guiliang said, "What are you rushing for? Damn it, I have no choice but to sell to you."

"President Chen, Xu Zheng is here."

"Invite him in."

When Xu Zheng came in, he saw two people playing games. He greeted them and then stood aside to watch Tian Yusheng play.

Chen Guiliang introduced, "This is the screenwriter of 'Lost in Thailand'."

"We've met before," Xu Zheng said. "Hello, screenwriter Tian."

"Hello." Tian Yusheng didn't turn around.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Why did you stop cooperating with Huaqi Film and Television and instead switch to a company in Beijing? It seems you wouldn't get much benefit from cooperating with Qitian Dadi, would you?"

Xu Zheng explained, "Lost in Thailand was directed by a Hong Kong director. To be honest, they were very difficult to work with. Moreover, the Hong Kong director received too much, while our lead actors received too little. They promised to give us a bonus if the film was a box office hit, but Huaqi reneged on that promise."

Chen Guiliang said, "The CEO of Huaqi wants you to offer him a toast as an apology. Are you willing?"

After hesitating for a long time, Xu Zheng finally said, "I'll listen to President Chen."

Chen Guiliang was satisfied with the answer: "Huaqi asked me to fly to Jiangcheng to act as an intermediary, but I am too busy to leave and I don't know when I will be available."

"You can't just sit idle. You need to do some preparatory work for 'Lost in Thailand.' You can give reporters a heads-up, but be careful with your wording. Don't directly link it to 'Lost on Journey' to avoid being sued for copyright infringement. But you must still connect it to 'Lost on Journey'."

Tian Yusheng, who had just emerged from the spring, suddenly looked up upon hearing this and stared at Chen Guiliang, who was buying equipment across from him.

Xu Zheng thought about it carefully and quickly understood: "President Chen is willing to invest?" "I am thinking of investing," Chen Guiliang said.

Xu Zheng said happily, "I will get the preliminary preparations done as soon as possible!"

Xu Zheng was extremely reluctant to toast and apologize to the CEO of Huaqi because the latter had reneged on his promise of a red envelope. Furthermore, he felt very uncomfortable with the people in the Hong Kong entertainment circle and didn't want to film the sequel with them again.

He first approached Qitian Dadi, but gave up after losing the script lawsuit. Then he approached Xiaoma Benteng, but Huaqi ruined that as well.

Now that Chen Guiliang is willing to invest, he's asking Xu Zheng to apologize to the CEO of Huaqi. Xu Zheng has no choice but to accept it reluctantly. But then, unexpectedly, there's a twist!

From Chen Guiliang's words, Xu Zheng could tell that President Chen was very dissatisfied with Huaqi.

The CEO of a prestigious listed company and a rising star among the top five richest people was actually asked to fly to Jiangcheng to act as a middleman.

Whom does this annoy?

……

A few days later, a piece of news broke: "Chen Guiliang is entering the film and television industry. ByteDance Pictures has invested in 'Lost in Thailand 2' and invited the original cast and crew to create it."

Immediately afterwards, ByteDance Pictures issued a statement on its official Weibo account: "Our company has not initiated any project for 'Lost in Thailand 2'. Please do not believe or spread rumors."

Xu Zheng posted on Weibo: "I'm collaborating with ByteDance on a story that takes place in Thailand. I'm still working with Wang Baoqiang, and Huang Bo has also agreed to join the cast. As for whether it's 'Lost in Thailand 2,' I can't reveal that."

Chen Guiliang, Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, Wang Baoqiang... Business tycoons and movie stars were all involved in entertainment news, and tabloids added fuel to the fire with their reports.

Soon Chen Zhixi received a call from the CEO of Huaqi: "Ms. Chen, when will Mr. Chen fly over? I've already prepared the banquet."

Chen Zhixi said, "President Chen is very busy. Let's talk about it after this busy period is over."

"No way! The copyright to 'Lost in Thailand' is in our hands. You ByteDance can't infringe on it." The CEO of Huaqi was getting a little anxious.

Chen Zhixi said, "We will not infringe on any rights."

The CEO of Huaqi asked, "How about Mr. Chen arranges a time for me to fly to Beijing and talk to him in person?"

Chen Zhixi said, "President Chen manages two large companies, and Byte Pictures is just a small company under ByteDance. Moreover, it's a small matter like making a movie, so President Chen usually doesn't personally get involved. You can fly to Beijing, but I'm afraid you won't be able to see President Chen."

The CEO of Huaqi remained silent.

"If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now," Chen Zhixi said.

The CEO of Huaqi quickly said, "I'll talk to ByteDance directly; there's no need to bother CEO Chen!"

……

Several more days passed.

Chen Zhixi called Chen Guiliang to report: "The talks have fallen through."

"Why?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Chen Zhixi said, "First, Huaqi agreed to co-invest, but our investment amount cannot exceed 30%. Second, Huaqi does not agree to Xu Zheng as director and insists on using the original Hong Kong director. Third, Huaqi will have the dominant control over all commercial operations of the film, from theaters to other channels."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Did Xu Zheng offer him a toast as an apology?"

"He apologized, and very readily at that," Chen Zhixi said.

Xu Zheng was quite sensible. The more readily he offered a toast and apologized, the more Chen Guiliang sided with him, because he was giving President Chen enough face.

The more demands the CEO of Huaqi makes, the less respect he gives to CEO Chen!
Chen Guiliang instructed: "Please hire a lawyer who is proficient in literary copyrights as an advisor to participate in the entire process of script revision and film promotion. We should bypass Huaqi and film separately, trying our best to avoid copyright disputes with 'Lost in Thailand'."

The title "Lost in Thailand" is definitely not acceptable; it should be simply shortened to "Lost in Thailand." Furthermore, the promotional materials cannot touch upon the name "Lost on Journey."

This change will likely lead to a protracted and contentious legal battle.

The year 2012 has arrived.

The rumors about the 2012 doomsday prophecy have become increasingly vivid, and even though the lousy movie "2012" has been out for two or three years, it still has an impact.

Perhaps it's time to put an end to the pessimism surrounding Chinese concept stocks, now that it's almost Chinese New Year.

Chinese companies listed in the US with slightly better financial reports have seen a collective rebound in the US stock market, with only a few companies still barely surviving.

Baidu's stock price surged back to $124.

ByteDance's stock price also rose to nearly $90.

Giant Interactive, Perfect World, Sina, Sohu, 360, Tudou, Youku... all of these are rising in price.

Although Tudou.com's growth was slow, it eventually returned to above $10.

Tudou.com, which had several senior executives replaced by Chen Guiliang, underwent a complete redesign during the New Year's holiday: servers and bandwidth were upgraded for smoother video playback; the website interface was cleaner; a bullet comment feature was added; film and television copyright resources were exchanged with AcFun (A-site) for a fee; multiple video production teams were signed; and the online broadcasting rights for ByteDance's Night event were acquired…

The second ByteDance Night was held as scheduled.

This year's ByteDance Night was sponsored by HarmonyOS mobile phones. In addition to receiving a trophy, the winners will also receive a TianShu Pro phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S II has been released in mainland China, but it missed the market opportunity, resulting in mediocre sales. It can only be described as average.

The main reason is that, compared to the Tian Shu Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S II doesn't seem particularly impressive.

As for the official Apple 4S, it has not yet entered mainland China and is currently in the network access testing phase. Moreover, this has nothing to do with Chen Guiliang; the government-mandated three-month network access testing period has not yet expired.

The 2011 market report for the mobile phone industry has finally been released.

Total market share (including feature phones): Nokia 23.8%, Samsung 14.6%, Lenovo 10.2%, Huawei 6.1%, ZTE 5.2%, HarmonyOS 4.4%.

In terms of smartphone market share: HarmonyOS 17.8%, Nokia 16.6%, Samsung 8.1%, HTC 6.9%, and Apple 6.3%.

If we only consider smartphone sales, HarmonyOS phones were the top-selling smartphones in China in 2011!
(End of this chapter)