Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 157 Fan Group
The fan group suddenly became lively. Lin Hao clicked the mouse and zoomed in on a picture. Instantly, a woman dressed in white, as white as snow, came into view.

"Wow!"

Unable to help but exclaim in surprise, Lin Hao excitedly tugged at Song Ci's sleeve and shouted, "Fourth brother, come quick! The photos of Senior Sister walking the red carpet at the film festival are out!"

Song Ci was resting her chin on her hands, carefully considering the wording of a section of her thesis, when she heard the shout and came back to her senses.

Infected by Fatty Lin's enthusiasm, he leaned closer to look at the computer screen with great interest, wondering whether his girlfriend had actually worn the dress he had chosen to the film festival.

Looking closely, one sees a beautiful woman in the photo, her eyes sparkling with autumn water, her smile gentle and reserved, her makeup exquisite, her dress impeccable, exuding elegance and charm with every smile and gesture.

What impressed Song Ci the most was the ribbon in Miss Liu's hair, which fluttered gently in the evening breeze, perfectly complementing the white dress she had chosen and adding an indescribable touch of ethereal beauty.

She couldn't help but nod and exclaimed sincerely, "So beautiful, especially the one with the headband fluttering, it's a stroke of genius. The photographer captured it perfectly, and the stylist had a great idea. With Tangren's marketing capabilities, once this picture is released, Shishi will gain another wave of fans."

"Fourth brother, you're sounding like you're praising your own wares, but Shishi is really beautiful! Oh no, if this keeps up, I'm going to be brainwashed and become a die-hard fan of Shishi! No, no, Lin Hao, you have to pull yourself together and think about your fairy sister!"

Lin Hao showed the photos one by one, praising them repeatedly. Then, his true nature was revealed, and he gave a sly and regretful look: "It's a pity that the goddess is already taken, otherwise..."

Song Ci rolled her eyes at her glib-tongued roommate and retorted, "What else? You want to steal my boyfriend?"

Lin Hao quickly stopped talking, chuckled awkwardly, and changed the subject: "It's nothing, I'm a loyal fan of poetry and lyrics couples! Fourth brother, do you think her fans would go crazy if I announced your relationship with Shishi in the group?"

Song Ci sat up straight again and replied nonchalantly, "Whatever! I don't really care. Shishi and I didn't deliberately hide our relationship, but we won't make a big fuss about it either. Remember to send me those pictures."

Lin Hao, feeling snubbed, pouted and obediently sent Liu Shishi's beautiful pictures to Song Ci via QQ.

"Hey fourth brother, do you want to join the fan group too? The girls in the group are so enthusiastic about your idol, and they have first-hand material from your senior sister!"

Song Ci dismissed Lin Hao's suggestion with disdain. "Why would I need to join a group? You can only look at pictures. This chairman is usually surrounded by beautiful women, but I experience real people."

While saving the pictures Lin Hao sent, she casually replied, "The group admin is her assistant; she'll report to me if anything happens."

The group managed by Lin Hao was Liu Shishi's earliest fan group. Originally, Liu herself was the group owner, but later, due to busy filming, she handed over the group ownership to Jiang Yuanyuan and had her assistant manage it. The group members are all veteran fans.

Song Ci originally intended to continue writing her thesis, but after her train of thought was interrupted, she lacked inspiration for the time being. So she simply saved and closed the document, taking a break from work, and browsed the news online to relax. She will continue writing her graduation thesis tomorrow.

Lin Hao was bored as he watched the messages flooding the group chat. Seeing that Song Ci was no longer writing his thesis, he remembered a hot topic from last month and decided to chat with him about it.

"Fourth brother, do you think idol worship can really be this crazy? I saw a news report the other day about a girl who was so obsessed with her idol that her family was destroyed and her father committed suicide by jumping into the sea, all so that his daughter could meet Andy Lau. That's just too outrageous!"

Although he also idolizes celebrities like Liu Yifei and Liu Shishi, he cannot understand such extreme and crazy behavior at all. How can celebrities be more important than family or life itself?

Song Ci recalled the bizarre and varied idol-chasing behaviors of fans in her previous life. She said that fan culture is not yet prevalent now, but in the future era of internet traffic, all sorts of strange things will happen.

He exclaimed, "The world is so big, there are all sorts of wonders! There are definitely die-hard fans, but this is a very rare case. In fact, celebrities don't like these extreme fans either, because they will face a lot of public pressure if something goes wrong."

At this point, Song Ci suddenly turned to look at Lin Hao, making the fat man Lin feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with me?" Lin Hao subconsciously straightened his collar and asked, puzzled.

Song Ci joked, "Actually, celebrities like fans like you. You're educated, financially secure, and if you have some technical skills, you're a high-quality fan!"

"Technology? What technology?" Lin Hao asked curiously when Song Ci mentioned fans. He had been in the fan groups of Liu Shishi and Liu Yifei for so long, but he didn't know that there were different levels of celebrity fans.

"A true fan is one who can edit photos, write press releases, and logically and convincingly promote and criticize their idol. If they can also contribute money to organize offline events and support their idol, they are the perfect true fan."

Or they might be able to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to rent out a whole theater for their idol's movie; or they might even send their idol to heaven. That's what a super-rich fan is.

"Going to heaven? How does that mean?" Lin Hao became increasingly curious. He could understand the previous questions, but what did this "going to heaven" mean?

"When you launch a satellite, you can engrave a celebrity's photo on it. Once launched, the idol and the satellite will go into outer space together, which means they've gone to heaven."

"Fourth brother, I'm not stupid, how could that be!" Lin Hao gave him a look that said, "You're kidding me."

Song Ci smiled slightly and didn't explain. In the future, Miss Liu's fans might just send her photos into space with a satellite!
"Fatty, why don't you try generating fans through technical means? You're good at writing articles, you just need to learn photo editing techniques. Maybe one day, your beloved fairy sister will even meet you and arrange for you to be the president of her fan club."

Lin Hao shook his round head, reluctantly refusing: "Let's not meet. I've heard that many celebrities look very different in person than on camera. I'm afraid that meeting Liu Yifei in person will ruin the beautiful image I have of her."

Song Ci laughed and said, "That's not the case. Your fairy sister is in her prime. She's a rising star right now and she's still very popular offline."

"That's true. Senior Sister looks no different in person than on screen, and I imagine Liu Yifei is the same."

Fourth brother, when will your film and television company be able to get Liu Yifei to act in a TV series? And also arrange for Shishijie to be in it. It would be perfect if my two favorite actresses could act together on the same stage.

"You really dare to dream big. Don't count on acting skills; it's impossible in this lifetime. You'll have plenty of drama in the future, though. But Liu Yifei has already ascended to heaven; she won't be filming TV dramas anymore and will focus on the big screen."

Song Ci silently mourns for Lin Hao. Your goddess has officially begun a decade-long journey of film flops. Cherish Zhao Ling'er and Little Dragon Girl while you can.

Lin Hao exclaimed, "It's such a pity that they don't make TV series!"

Then, unable to contain his distress, he said, "How do I start a fight? If Liu Yifei and Shishijie go up against each other, whose side should I take?" "You're really meddling in other people's business. What business is it of a little fan like you to worry about celebrities' affairs! As for how to start a fight, look here." After saying that, Song Ci pointed to the computer screen, indicating that Lin Hao should pay attention to a news article he was browsing.

Lin Hao moved his chair closer to Cong Ci and read with narrowed eyes: "According to insiders, famous actress Gao Yuanyuan and actor Xia Yu developed feelings for each other after co-starring in a play and have officially become a couple."

As is widely known, Xia Yu's girlfriend is Yuan Quan. It seems Gao Yuanyuan has repeated her past mistakes, and after breaking up with Zhang Yadong, she has once again embarked on the shameful path of being a mistress.

Drag the mouse over Song Ci, and besides this report, the rest are all tabloid news about Gao Yuanyuan with sensationalist headlines.

"A Look Back at Gao Yuanyuan's Little-Known Romantic History!"

. . .

"A detailed account of actress Gao Yuanyuan's several relationships where she was labeled a mistress."

"Gao Yuanyuan was originally a star, having become the leading lady of a film with a box office of over 100 million yuan. She was glamorous and walked the red carpet at the film festival.

This will generate a lot of negative news, damage her public image, and leave a bad impression on the audience.

Although her past relationships have been criticized, it's pointless to keep bringing them up and attacking her. After all, what's wrong with a goddess wanting to pursue a romantic love? She just has poor taste in men!

Upon hearing this explanation, Lin Hao immediately understood: "I get it. Today should have been a good opportunity to promote a positive image, but someone contacted the media to spread her negative information everywhere, suppressing her reputation and popularity."

Song Ci nodded slightly: "Yes! This is a common tactic used by female celebrities in the industry, and it's also the simplest way to create conflict: buying negative press articles."

Who did that?

"How would I know? Maybe it's your goddess Liu Yifei, or Shishi's agency Tangren, or even my Tengda Culture."

One or more parties could be involved; it doesn't matter who did it, as long as there's an opportunity to kick them while they're down. The entertainment industry pie is only so big; squeezing out one person gives you a chance to rise to the top.

Lin Hao was dumbfounded: "It seems the entertainment industry is more complicated than I imagined."

Song Ci sneered: "You think only the entertainment industry is complicated? Every industry is complicated. If you work in finance after graduation, you'll know that the darkness of the financial industry is beyond your imagination, probably ten times darker than the entertainment industry!"

"Let's talk about the future later!"

Mentioning graduation, Lin Hao's spirits dampened. This place, which held three years of his youth and dreams, was about to see one of his good brothers leave ahead of schedule, and a touch of sadness welled up in his heart. He said wistfully:

"I haven't thought about what I'll do in the future. My family wants me to go into politics, but I know I'm not cut out for it. All the officials are shrewd and calculating. If I went into politics, I'd be played to death by those old foxes. So I thought about it and decided to work in a bank. I can use my family connections to attract deposits and make loans. It'll be a stable job."

Song Ci knew that this was just a joke from Lin Hao. How could a top student from Guanghua College of Peking University only work as a low-level clerk in a bank after graduation? Thinking about Lin Hao's usual grades and knowledge, a thought inexplicably lingered in her mind.

"Hey Fatty, how about you come work for me after you graduate next year?"

Lin Hao stared wide-eyed, wondering what Boss Song was up to this time: "Go to hell! Fourth brother, are you kidding me? I can't code. What would I do at an internet company if I studied finance?"

Song Ci quickly explained, “I own an investment company called Shan Hai Capital. I need a capable and trustworthy person to help me run the company and be responsible for investing in and managing capital for emerging internet and technology companies in China. I think you are very suitable to take charge of Shan Hai Capital for me.”

Although Song Ci's idea was impromptu, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Lin Hao was suitable and that he was fully capable of helping him operate Shan Hai Capital.

Despite his unassuming appearance and chubby build, and despite his loud and boisterous manner, Lin Pangzi is an outstanding student who has repeatedly achieved excellent results in the school's financial competitions.

His professional competence, analytical skills, and keen market insight are all top-notch, making him fully capable of handling the work at ShanHai Capital.

Most importantly, their three years as college roommates fostered a deep friendship and understanding between them.

Although Fatty Lin is sometimes a smooth talker and has some minor flaws, his overall qualities outweigh his weaknesses. He is undoubtedly capable and is one of the few people I can trust.

Although his other two roommates, Tang Xiaochuan and Lu Yugang, each had their own strengths and he got along well with them, Xiaochuan's poor background and life experience in the first eighteen years of his life resulted in him having far less experience and perspective than Lin Hao.

As for Gang Ge, he comes from a working-class family. Influenced by his parents, he only wants to find a stable job. After graduation, he wants to work for a state-owned financial institution. His life plan and expertise are not suitable for Shanhai Capital, so it is impossible for him to work for me.

Seeing his brother's serious expression, which didn't seem like he was joking at all, Lin Hao also suppressed his smile and asked with utmost seriousness, "Song Ci, are you serious?"

Song Ci nodded, sincerely expressing her invitation: "Lin Hao, I know you have always been passionate about the financial industry and have your own unique insights. Shan Hai Capital is looking for outstanding talents like you, so I would like to invite you to work with me."

Song Ci's invitation came somewhat suddenly, and Lin Hao was completely unprepared.

This was a major life decision, and Lin Hao was momentarily confused, hesitating for a long time:
"Can I think about it, Fourth Brother? To be honest, although I really want to work for you, I still need to discuss it with my family. I can't give you an answer so quickly."

Lin Hao's dilemma regarding Song Ci is understandable; life choices are crucial, and there was no need to pressure his good friend.
"Next year you will be seniors, and you will generally be going out for internships. If you are willing, you can come to my Shanhai Capital for an internship as a manager. You can take your time to consider it during this period."

"It won't take that long. I will definitely give you an answer before you graduate."

Song Ci smiled and said, "Okay, I look forward to you and me facing new challenges together and creating our own glory."

(End of this chapter)