Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 189 Two Lius
After the three of them sat down in the office, Liu Shishi got straight to the point and said frankly, "Lin Xia, actually I don't have high requirements for the people around me. As long as they work hard and keep their mouths shut, that's enough."

Next, you'll study with Yuanyuan for a while; she'll gradually tell you about my lifestyle. Also, you'll be coming back to Beiping with us tomorrow; I'll introduce you to my husband first.”

At this point, Liu Shishi paused briefly, her eyes revealing a blend of tenderness and determination.

“In our family, my husband makes the decisions on major matters. If he has investigated you and has no objections, I generally won’t refuse to let you be my assistant.”

"Ah!" Lin Xia was taken aback. She hadn't heard that the company's top female star had a partner! How come her job as an artist's assistant was so complicated and required the consent of the celebrity's family?

However, Lin Xia quickly concealed the surprise on her face and did not dare to ask any more questions. She simply replied honestly, "I will follow your arrangements, Senior Sister."

Liu Shishi nodded in satisfaction. She liked people who were well-behaved, sensible, and able to adapt to their environment quickly.

"Your first task as an assistant is to book our plane tickets back to Beiping tomorrow. If you don't understand anything, ask Yuanyuan."

After saying that, she turned to her best friend and said, "Yuanyuan, Linxia will work with you for now. You can teach her a lot and help her adapt to the job as soon as possible."

Jiang Yuanyuan patted her chest and assured her, "Okay, Shishi! I'll take care of everything. Lin Xia, come with me, let's go to the conference room next door and talk it over."

After watching the two leave the office and gently close the door, Liu Shishi could no longer contain her excitement and immediately took out her phone to dial Song Ci's number.

The call connected quickly, and Ms. Liu's lips curled into a smile again, her voice filled with joy: "Dear Mr. Song, I have some good news for you..."

At that moment, Song Ci was having a meeting with several senior executives of the group in the conference room. After receiving Liu Shishi's call, he gestured to Huang Sheng, the president of the TD gaming platform, who was speaking, to pause.

Huang Sheng, knowing the situation, stopped reporting, taking the opportunity to rest and take a sip of mineral water from the bottle on the table to moisten his throat.

The people present at the meeting were all Liu Shishi's confidants. Song Ci did not deliberately avoid mentioning the content of the phone call and said with a gentle smile, "What good news? Tell me about it."

Liu Shishi excitedly shared her news of becoming the spokesperson for Dove with her boyfriend, her tone full of pride: "Am I amazing, Mr. Song?"

Song Ci was slightly taken aback, but then she was also happy for Miss Liu for receiving her first brand endorsement.

My little childhood sweetheart is about to take off! Once Long Kui from "Chinese Paladin 3" comes out, she will officially have a place in the entertainment industry.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I sincerely offered my blessings: "Congratulations, Shishi!"

Liu Shishi's lips curled up, with a hint of arrogance: "That's right, this young lady is no worse than anyone else."

Honey, I was actually quite surprised myself. I didn't expect "Because of Love" to become so popular online. I'm really benefiting from your success!

Song Ci responded gently: "It's not just because of this song, but mainly because of your own hard work and accumulated experience. The brand chose you because they value your image and unique charm."

He has always encouraged and supported Ms. Liu, and has been committed to cultivating her self-confidence, because a woman who is both successful and confident is the most beautiful.

"Hmm!" Hearing Mr. Song's approval, Liu Shishi felt a warmth in her heart, and her mood became even more beautiful.

"I'm going back to Beiping tomorrow, darling."

"Then I'll have Wang Shan pick you up from the airport."

"Okay, see you tomorrow, darling." As she was ending the call, Liu Shishi added a final, worried reminder:
"Yiyi, don't overwork yourself. When I'm not around, you should relax and take good care of yourself."

When she's not home, her husband sometimes works so hard he forgets to eat and sleep, not taking care of his health at all, which worries her a lot.

Song Ci replied with a smile, "Don't worry, health is the foundation of everything, I'll take good care of myself. See you tomorrow, Shishi."

After hanging up the phone, Song Ci noticed that everyone in the conference room was staring at him. He smiled and said, "Why are you all looking at me? Mr. Huang, please continue."

Before Huang Sheng could even speak, Wang Jing, sitting to his right, couldn't help but tease, "President Song, is there some good news? Tell us so we can all share in the joy!"

Seeing that Song Ci's face was beaming with smiles, no longer as serious as before, she guessed that he was in a good mood and that it was alright for him to make a little joke.

"It's nothing serious, it's just that Shishi has become the spokesperson for Dove." Song Ci replied casually, but her joy was hard to hide.

Wang Jing continued jokingly, "Congratulations, Shishi! You'll have to treat us when she gets back to Beiping."

Song Ci smiled and shook her head: "You girls can make this arrangement yourselves, I won't participate."

The others also offered their congratulations, and the meeting room was filled with laughter and the atmosphere became relaxed.

After a few jokes, Zhang Yong clapped his hands and said loudly, "Alright, everyone quiet down. We'll have the chairman treat us after the meeting. Now let's continue the meeting."

The room gradually quieted down, and everyone's attention returned to Huang Sheng.

Huang Sheng organized his thoughts and continued his report: "Leaders, as mentioned earlier, the international version of 'Happy Farm' has been developed and is ready to go live at any time. As for the specific details of the overseas launch, please provide your guidance."

With Happy Farm becoming a huge hit in China and sweeping across the internet, Tengda Group's next step is naturally to set its sights on the broader overseas market.

The international version of Happy FarmVille is called Happy FarmVille. It has been fully updated and upgraded based on the initial version in China, which not only optimizes the game experience, but also improves the playability and sustainability of the farm.

After listening to Huang Sheng's report, Zhang Yong took the lead in offering his suggestion: "The essence of Happy Farm is a social game. Relying solely on the power of the TD game platform, it is estimated that it will be difficult to quickly capture the overseas market."

Therefore, we need to find an internet company specializing in social networking as a partner to mutually benefit from jointly promoting *Happy FarmVille*, in order to maximize the game's reach and popularity.

Song Ci quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind and made a decisive decision: "Let's launch the game first, spend more money on advertising, and even hire some popular European and American celebrities to endorse and promote it."

Only after achieving certain results can we have the leverage to negotiate with others.

Those foreigners are the type to only act after they see a tangible benefit. If we partner with social media companies now, we won't get favorable terms; we'll just be doing all the work for others.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong immediately told Huang Sheng, "Happy FarmVille will be launched overseas on the 1st of next month, and Happy Farm in China will be updated simultaneously."

Liu Yan couldn't help but chuckle: "Our company has been making big moves on the 1st for several months in a row."

Tencent's QQ Farm was only online for a few days, and now our Happy Farm is about to be updated. The programmers at Tencent are probably going to be furious again.

Zhang Yong adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, a confident smile spreading across his face:
"As long as we proceed steadily and execute the plan formulated by President Song step by step, the Weibo battle should be decided by the end of the year." Song Ci nodded slightly, agreeing with Zhang Yong's view.

In just three months since its launch, Weibo has already demonstrated its ability to control and guide news and public opinion, and now everyone can see its enormous influence.

Tenda Weibo now boasts 3800 million registered users, more than the combined total of all other Weibo platforms. As long as no internal problems arise, other companies have no chance of catching up.

When the number of users on the Weibo platform reaches hundreds of millions, Tenda Group will become a new social media giant and lead the era of traffic.

After the meeting, Huang Sheng returned to his office and called over the publicity manager.

A short while later, Wu Jiajian, the marketing manager, rushed over. He knocked on the door, and after receiving permission, he entered the office and asked nervously, "Mr. Huang, you wanted to see me?"

Huang Sheng pointed to the chair in front of his desk: "Sit down and let's talk. You told me last time that you were planning to hire a spokesperson for the upcoming game 'DDTank'. Has that been finalized?"

Wu Jiajian was somewhat surprised. Last time, General Manager Huang told him to just handle it as he saw fit, so why was he suddenly asking about it again today?

"It's not decided yet, but our department has chosen Liu Yifei as the spokesperson. We've communicated with her agent several times, but we haven't settled on the endorsement fee yet."

"Liu Yifei? The actress who played Little Dragon Girl!" Although Huang Sheng doesn't usually pay much attention to the entertainment industry, he still has some impression of several top actresses in China.

Wu Jiajian nodded, "Yes, Mr. Huang. She's very popular, and many young people like her. If we can get her to endorse 'DDTank,' it will definitely bring a lot of traffic to the game."

How much does she charge for endorsements?

"Ten million in two years."

Upon hearing this, Huang Sheng's eyes widened in disbelief, and his voice suddenly rose. "Ten million! Why doesn't she just rob someone!"

As a senior executive of Tengda Group and president of the game business department, he earns less than 500 million yuan a year in salary and performance bonuses, not including stock options.

Wu Jiajian gave a wry smile: "Mr. Huang, this is the price for endorsements from top-tier celebrities. Moreover, Liu Yifei has a movie coming out soon with Jackie Chan and Jet Li, a big-budget co-production with Hollywood. If the box office is good, the endorsement fee may go up."

"Another price increase?" Huang Sheng frowned, his interest in listening had waned.

Every game produced by Tengda is a hit. Even without a spokesperson, their performance would be excellent. Hiring a spokesperson is just icing on the cake.

So he made a quick decision and directly ordered: "Immediately stop the endorsement negotiations with Liu Yifei. The company will not hire her."

Wu Jiajian looked conflicted: "This... Mr. Huang, isn't this a bit inappropriate? We've almost finished negotiating with the other party."

Huang Sheng, with a fiery temper, slammed his hand on the table and demanded sharply, "What's wrong with her? We haven't signed a contract yet. We can't afford to hire her, so why can't we just not have her as our spokesperson?"

When his boss got angry, Wu Jiajian didn't dare to argue with him and quickly replied, "I'll inform them in a moment to cancel this endorsement deal."

Seeing that the president's anger had subsided slightly, Wu Jiajian cautiously asked, "President Huang, should we still hire a spokesperson for 'DDTank'?"

Huang Sheng glanced at his subordinate and replied matter-of-factly, "We still need to hire a spokesperson."

"Then I'll find a few more popular celebrities for you to choose from."

Huang Sheng waved his hand and made the decision directly: "No need to bother, I've already thought it through. Liu Shishi will be the spokesperson for 'DDTank'."

"Liu Shishi?" Wu Jiajian was taken aback when he heard this. His brain raced as he tried to recall the somewhat familiar name.

I suddenly remembered the trending topics on Weibo a few days ago. Isn't Liu Shishi the female singer who sang "Because of Love"?

Wu Jiajian gritted his teeth and hesitated before reminding him, "President Huang, this Liu Shishi is a relatively new celebrity."

Compared to Liu Yifei, she's far less famous. You should reconsider. Even if you don't choose Liu Yifei, there are many more suitable candidates.

Huang Sheng's face was as cold as frost, and his tone was icy: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? I'm not discussing this with you. Just do what I've decided."

Wu Jiajian was intimidated by his boss's demeanor and dared not say anything more. He quickly replied, "Understood, General Manager Huang. I'll take care of it right away."

"Also, don't go around saying silly things like Liu Shishi is inferior to so-and-so. Watch your mouth, or you'll offend people for no reason."

Wu Jiajian suddenly realized, as if struck by a thunderbolt, that Liu Shishi was the key to the problem. He secretly pondered to himself that he would have to thoroughly investigate this girl's background and find out who she was.

"Thank you for the advice, Mr. Huang. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

Huang Sheng nodded slightly, then added with a hint of concern, "Go ahead, and remember to be polite when you invite them."

He had a sudden inspiration when he heard about Dove's endorsement at the meeting, and thought of trying to curry favor with the future chairman's wife.

However, his subordinate's foolishness in speaking without thinking made him a little uneasy. He was worried that his good intentions might backfire, so he gave him a few more words of advice.

Back in his department, Wu Jiajian immediately called over Xiao Jiang, the staff member who had been in charge of liaising with Liu Yifei. "Immediately terminate the cooperation negotiations with Liu Yifei."

Xiao Jiang asked in confusion, "President Wu, why? We're about to achieve results. If we give up now, won't all the previous negotiations be for nothing?"

Wu Jiajian looked annoyed. He had been scolded by Huang Sheng and had nowhere to vent his frustration: "Why so many questions! This is what General Manager Huang wants. Just do as he says and don't ask so many nonsense questions."

Xiao Jiang was rebuffed and didn't dare to ask any more questions: "Okay, Mr. Wu, I'll contact Liu Yifei's agent right away and stop this endorsement deal."

"What kind of mess is this!" Wu Jiajian sighed helplessly as he watched Xiao Jiang leave in a hurry. He then turned and went into his office, where he began to search for information about Liu Shishi online.

After some investigation, he realized that this female celebrity had a complicated background and was closely related to Tengda Group.

Of the works she has participated in since her debut, half of them were produced by Tengda Culture, and she played the leading role in all of them. The relationship between them is self-evident.

Considering Huang Sheng's attitude towards Liu Shishi earlier, Wu Jiajian finally realized the truth: it wasn't that Liu Yifei's endorsement fee was too high, but rather that Liu Shishi was a person with connections, and the president definitely wanted to use this endorsement to do a favor.

(End of this chapter)