Rebirth Must Be Happy

Have you ever played "Honor of Kings"?

After listening to the two briefly explain their current situation, Xu Jinhuan couldn't help but feel pity and admiration, not only for these two, but also for the others in the show.

To be fair, if it were him, he probably wouldn't have been able to stick it out in this kind of team and would have been one of those who left long ago.

Ultimately, most people work for a paycheck, but the members of the "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" team, regardless of their inner thoughts, truly persevered for a dream.

However, he did not immediately express any opinion on this, nor did he promise to invest. Instead, he asked Tian Xiaopeng and Lu Wei a question that was beyond their expectations.

"Uh……"

The two seemed stumped by the question, apparently neither of them had ever played the game.

Xu Jinhuan was now a little embarrassed. He hadn't expected that "Honor of Kings" would be so popular, yet these two had never played it, making it seem like he was deliberately picking a fight.

"It's okay if you haven't played it. What I'm trying to say is that I've also included the Monkey King hero in 'Honor of Kings' and designed three very powerful skill combinations for him."

Xu Jinhuan smiled and smoothed things over, saying, "I really like this traditional culture, and I'm also happy to see that there are other people who want to inject new understanding and new vitality into it."

"We know that."

Tian Xiaopeng explained somewhat awkwardly, "Some of my colleagues are playing it and showed it to us, but we mainly looked at the model of the Monkey King, which gave us a lot of inspiration."

This is probably not a humble statement, because Xu Jinhuan's original artwork and modeling of Sun Wukong in "Glory" all borrowed elements from "Monkey King: Hero Is Back". After all, they are both animations. However, the three different states of Sun Wukong, Xingzhe Sun, and Zhexing Sun correspond to different original artwork and models. Only when the Zhexing Sun form activates "Law of Heaven and Earth" will it approach the fully armored complete form in the movie.

Of course, there aren't many special effects. Firstly, due to the hardware limitations of today's smartphones, smoothness is a higher priority; secondly, more dazzling special effects need to be saved for the 2016 Spring Festival.

That was the Year of the Monkey!

Moreover, following the original historical trajectory, there will be a strong online demand for Liu Xiao Ling Tong to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, but he won't listen. We can use this wave of popularity to promote him...

Xu Jinhuan temporarily put these thoughts aside and asked, "How big is your funding gap right now?"

Tian Xiaopeng and Lu Wei exchanged a glance. Lu Wei cautiously said, "We've estimated it, and it'll cost at least another 3000 million, but..."

Historically, the project's funding chain would have completely dried up after the Spring Festival. At the critical moment, fans raised 780 million yuan to save the project. One wealthy fan contributed 50 yuan and became a co-producer.

Subsequently, Lu Wei signed a box office betting agreement worth 6 million yuan and obtained a 2000 yuan high-interest loan, which finally enabled him to complete the Monkey King: Hero Is Back, which ushered in the first year of Chinese animated films. However, due to a shortage of funds, the original 22-minute finale was cut down to 9 minutes, and the character of the White Dragon was almost ruined, leaving behind a lasting regret.

The two calculated that the figure of 3000 million was only to ensure that the project could be completed. Naturally, they did not expect Xu Jinhuan to come up with all that money. In fact, even if Xu Jinhuan could invest a few million, it would be enough for the two to be extremely grateful.

Because this is what "being near water" means—it's not just about quenching thirst, but also about saving lives.

"Mr. Xu, if it's convenient..."

As a producer, Lu Wei was used to begging for investment all day long, so she didn't care about saving face or being abrupt. She directly asked for money, but before she could finish speaking, Xu Jinhuan had already spoken first.

"I came to you because I wanted to invest."

Xu Jinhuan could see that the two were nervous, so he didn't pretend to be serious and simply said, "I can provide the 3000 million, but we need to renegotiate the shareholding and profit rights."

"sure, no problem!"

"Great!"

The two were overjoyed when he agreed, but then Lu Wei realized what Xu Jinhuan meant. She paused for a moment, then said incredulously, "Mr. Xu means..."

"Yes, all 3000 million was paid out."

Xu Jinhuan smiled and nodded, "However, I have two conditions: first, shares and profit rights; second, the story."

He said seriously, "I want to see your script, and it has to be revised according to my requirements."

In China, due to the overall environment—more specifically, the "director-centric system" of traditional film and television dramas—screenwriters have too little say, resulting in numerous examples of movies and TV series with lavish special effects, sets, and actors, yet the stories are a mess.

The rapid rise of short dramas was largely due to their screenwriter-centric system. Although the costumes and props were often poorly made, at least the story was complete—no matter how ridiculous it was, the villains, conflicts, exciting moments, and pacing were all fine.

It could even be said that the worst short dramas still surpass most domestic TV dramas in terms of story content.

Due to budget constraints, the movie "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was heavily edited, resulting in an incomplete story. Even if it had been complete, Xu Jinhuan didn't think the script itself was particularly outstanding. This same problem existed in later well-received films like "White Snake" and "Big Fish & Begonia," where the scripts were too weak. It wasn't until "Ne Zha" that a complete and compelling story was told.

Moreover, Xu Jinhuan was not clear about which specific stories had been cut, so he hoped to make up for it a little. He would then help with the promotion, and the box office would definitely be more than the original 9 million.

"Oh, right, there's a third thing."

Xu Jinhuan then thought of something else, "Leave me a female voiceover, for free. She won't charge me, and it's not mandatory. If her voiceover isn't up to standard, then forget it."

"This……"

Tian Xiaopeng and Lu Wei looked at each other. The first and third points were quite normal, especially the third one. The voice actor didn't show his face, so he couldn't even get any publicity. Besides, they could probably guess who Xu Jinhuan wanted the voice actor for.

Although Chen Xingruo's popularity has declined significantly compared to her peak during "The Voice of China," it would truly be an honor for her team if she were to provide voice acting for "Monkey King: Hero Is Back."

After all, the entire project is uncertain and it's unclear whether it can be completed. Even if Chen Xingruo's popularity declines, she still has some popularity, and through songs like "A Little Happiness," she has already amassed a considerable fan base.

The key point is the second one. Logically speaking, it's normal to look at the script before investing, but Xu Jinhuan's attitude clearly means "If you're not satisfied, then change it for me," while many things in their project have already been determined.

If the script needs to be changed, then the characters and visuals will all have to be altered, the initial investment will be wasted, and new work will require further investment, which won't be enough to stop at 3000 million. "Don't worry, I won't make any random changes,"

Xu Jinhuan could naturally see what the two were worried about. "It's a big no-no for an amateur to instruct an expert, I understand that principle, but the screenwriter is the expert when it comes to the story itself, and you must have cut a lot of content due to insufficient funds."

Mr. Xu took a sip of his cola. In this business setting, this was undoubtedly a childish gesture, but his calm words revealed a strong sense of dominance: "Now that I'm here, you don't need to worry about this. Just focus on telling the story and making a good movie."

He himself is now quite wealthy, and Flappy Bird has been consistently profitable. Although advertising revenue has fluctuated, with his popularity and fame increasing, the advertising revenue in the Chinese server has continued to rise and is about to surpass the total of other regions.

The original work generated 35 yuan in advertising revenue per day at its peak. Although it is unclear how long this lasted, it was definitely only during its peak popularity. Xu Jinhuan, on the other hand, has been earning 30 yuan per day for almost three months.

This revenue is enough to cover the 3000 million yuan film investment.

If further investment is needed, Xu Jinhuan can easily bring Chen Xingruo in to invest; given her personality, it shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, the shares and profit rights must be negotiated in advance. In the past, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" grossed nearly 1 billion yuan, but the entire creative team only received a total of more than 5 million yuan, accounting for about 0.5%, which is outrageous.

"Thank you, Mr. Xu!"

Lu Wei didn't hesitate any longer and quickly thanked them. Since they had already said such things, what other problems could there be?
Although he wasn't the director or screenwriter, he was equally passionate about the project and the film. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken out a high-interest loan to support the project's production. In a sense, he was gambling with his future.

Tian Xiaopeng is even more so, and there is a strong sense of unreality in it. The funding problem that has been troubling the production team since they started making "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" in 2011 seems to have been solved casually by this young man who has just entered university.

'It's so good to be rich!'

Tian Xiaopeng felt a surge of emotion, but this correct but meaningless statement did not linger for long before he was immediately overjoyed at being able to continue fulfilling his wish.

Moreover, this time, he can present his hard work and creations in a more perfect form.

What did you do at noon?

Back at the company, it wasn't time for work yet. Now all three of them had their own offices. Xu Jinhuan passed by Chen Xingzhu's office and saw Xie Wanqing there, so he went in. The two of them were talking in hushed tones, but they stopped immediately when they saw him. Xie Wanqing then turned to ask him.

He then probably realized how silly that statement was, since he already knew where Xu Jinhuan had gone when Xu left at noon, so he added, "Are you really going to invest in that movie?"

"I've already agreed to invest, that's great."

Xu Jinhuan gave the two a brief introduction to the inspirational story of the production team, and said with a smile: "Although I haven't read the script yet, the project has reached this stage, and it can still maintain a team to keep going. It's impossible that everyone is doing this for the sake of their dreams, right? There must be some people who think this project has a lot of potential. Having dreams doesn't mean being stupid. It's instinctive to seek benefits and avoid harm."

He's made pretty many strange decisions so far, and Xie Wanqing and Chen Xingzhu have both started to give up. Without trying to persuade them, Xu Jinhuan brought up the matter of having Chen Xingruo do the voice acting again.

Chen Xingzhu then became a little worried and said, "She's not a professional, she definitely won't be able to match it well. What if she messes it up? How embarrassing would that be?"

"Just give it a try. If the voice acting isn't good, then don't do it. It's not like we have to do it. It's just an opportunity."

Xu Jinhuan explained, "I genuinely think this movie could be very good, especially since it's about the Monkey King, which can be linked to games and cars..."

"Let's just consider it publicity."

Neither Xie Wanqing nor Chen Xingzhu tried to dissuade her, since they really didn't understand these things. Even Xie Wanqing, who was only a first-year graduate student, had gained experience through online store operations and had a broader perspective than the average student, but this level of knowledge was still far beyond her capabilities.

Needless to say, Chen Xingzhu's intelligence and temperament are more suited to the business world than Xie Wanqing's. However, even after arriving in Beijing and gaining a lot of high-level knowledge through Chen Guiliang, it was only limited to what she heard and saw, and she was far behind in terms of practical skills.

Moreover, given Xu Jinhuan's near-perfect record in decision-making and the added advantage of being in a relationship, even the more rational Chen Xingzhu would be close to blindly trusting him.

Tian Xiaopeng was desperately needing money to save his life, so his efficiency was naturally excellent. As soon as Xu Jinhuan started work in the afternoon, the entire set of documents was sent over.

Xu Jinhuan brought in two of Chen Xingzhu's private "outsourced" employees to help clarify the current shareholding and profit rights of the project, and then put forward his own conditions:
Based on the total project amount, after investing 3000 million, he will receive 50% of the shares and profits!

Originally, the total investment in "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was less than 6000 million yuan, but the shares and profits can't just be calculated based on the investment amount, because the production team has to share the profits, and those who invested earlier will definitely get more.

From this perspective, Xu Jinhuan's conditions are extremely unreasonable.

But things certainly can't be calculated that way, because at this moment, not many people have enough confidence in "Monkey King: Hero Is Back"—the confidence and dreams of the production team don't count, because they don't have the money; it's the investors' confidence that counts.

From an objective point of view, without Xu Jinhuan's 3000 million yuan investment, the entire project would have failed, and all previous investments would have been wasted. Therefore, Xu Jinhuan had a certain degree of confidence in proposing this condition.

Tian Xiaopeng and Lu Wei didn't think the harsh conditions were excessive. Firstly, the project was about to fail, and secondly, they didn't have much of a share of the profits anyway, so they weren't worried about losing money.

Even if you capital parties are very demanding, you can't possibly not share any of the profits with the production company, right?
The next few days were basically a tug-of-war. Tian Xiaopeng and his team were desperate for money to save them, so they were extra proactive in communicating with the previous investors. Xu Jinhuan was asking for an exorbitant price, and given the project's imminent demise, they reached an agreement on the final terms in less than a week.

Xu Jinhuan invested a huge sum of 3000 million yuan to acquire 47% of the shares and profit rights of the soon-to-be-defunct film "Monkey King: Hero Is Back".

"There's another contract here,"

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, heavy snow fell in the capital. Xu Jinhuan, along with Xie Wanqing and other essential professionals, finished signing the contract. However, instead of leaving immediately, he gave Xie Wanqing a wink and, as Xie's assistant brought out another contract, said with a smile, "Take a look at it first, and then sign it."

His attitude was unquestionable, which left Tian Xiaopeng, Lu Wei, and the others somewhat bewildered, feeling that this Mr. Xu was being a bit too much of a bully.

"At worst, I'll just forgo investing and borrow money to start the project myself!"

After being subservient for so long, Lu Wei finally couldn't suppress her anger any longer. She secretly comforted herself with the self-deception of Ah Q, then took the contract with a glance and was stunned.

This is a transfer agreement!
Xu Jinhuan transferred 12% of the shares and profits to the production team, but of course, it wasn't free; he had to charge one yuan. (End of Chapter)