Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 311 Don’t let him run away

Amidst thunderous cheers and enthusiastic applause from the audience, the Xiaomi phone launch event came to a successful close.

Song Ci politely declined Lei Jun's invitation to celebrate the victory together. He was about to sneak away with Liu Shishi, but a group of reporters who were prepared and waiting for him were not going to let him have his way. They were already blocking the exit and waiting for him.

At the entrance of the Electronics Pavilion, Song Ci was surrounded by reporters, completely blocked off. No matter how hard the bodyguards and security guards tried to push and shove, they could not get the boss out of the encirclement.

Tang Yue, the bodyguard, looked tense, his nerves taut as if facing a formidable enemy. He held his boss tightly behind him, fearing that the slightest accident might occur.

Song Ci hadn't expected the reporters to be so crazy. As more and more people gathered around, they were all desperately trying to squeeze in, creating chaos at the scene. Fearing a stampede, she quickly shouted to calm the reporters down.

"Please don't crowd! I will be giving interviews, please be careful."

"Mr. Song, I'm a reporter from Electronics Technology Magazine. May I ask...?"

"Hello Chairman, I'm a reporter from Toutiao. Today..."

A group of reporters, armed with cameras and microphones, seemed eager to shove their microphones into Song Ci's face.

No wonder everyone is so excited. The richest man is always low-key and rarely appears in front of the media. Today, he finally got the chance and must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Please keep order, one at a time, ladies first. This lady can ask her question first." Song Ci said, pointing to the female reporter closest to her.

The female reporter was overjoyed to hear that she had been chosen as the first person to be interviewed: "Mr. Song, why did you come to the Xiaomi phone launch event today? Everyone knows that you have never liked to participate in such events."

"There are two reasons. First, I am a shareholder of Xiaomi, so I naturally pay special attention to the launch of Xiaomi's first phone. Second, I am good friends with Mr. Lei, and I am here today to support him."

"So that's how it is!" Everyone suddenly realized. They hadn't expected that the richest man was actually a shareholder of Xiaomi. That explained everything.

After the female reporter asked her question, the other reporters seemed to have a tacit understanding and all asked a reporter wearing glasses to continue asking questions: "Mr. Song, I am a reporter from CCTV."

At the recent press conference, Mr. Lei Jun priced the high-performance Xiaomi phone at 1999 yuan. I think everyone understands that this price point is absolutely disruptive to the smartphone industry. What are your thoughts on this?

When facing CCTV reporters, Song Ci was cautious in his words and carefully considered his words: "I once said that the future of the Internet industry lies in the mobile Internet, and smartphones are the core carrier of the mobile Internet."

Since the advent of smartphones in 2007, three years have passed, and the penetration rate of smartphones in my country is far behind that in Europe and the United States. Is it because people are unwilling to use smartphones and embrace mobile internet?

At this point, Song Ci shook her head slightly: "No! It's because smartphones are too expensive, and people can't afford them! In 2009, the per capita disposable income of Chinese residents had just exceeded 1 yuan."

A smartphone often costs several thousand yuan, with even the cheapest exceeding four thousand. Such exorbitant prices naturally hinder the widespread adoption of smartphones, severely restricting the development of mobile internet.

I've always believed that technology shouldn't be something unattainable; it should serve everyone. Lei Jun (Xiaomi's CEO) once told me that Xiaomi's goal is to create high-quality technology products that everyone can afford.

The price of 1999 yuan proves that Mr. Lei is putting his beliefs into practice. Mr. Lei is truly a remarkable entrepreneur.

Song Ci's simple and sincere remarks were like a warm current, deeply touching the reporters present. They never expected that even the richest man in the country would be aware of the hardships of ordinary people.

The high price of smartphones makes even those with relatively good incomes hesitate to buy them, let alone ordinary white-collar workers and wage earners.

"Technology shouldn't be something unattainable; it should serve everyone. You're absolutely right!" The CCTV reporter silently kept these words in mind, thinking that the core idea of ​​this news report had finally been achieved.

"Mr. Song, I am a reporter from the Beiping Daily. I would like to ask how Tengda Group will use the huge amount of financing it recently received, which is as high as US$82.5 billion?"

"Most of the funds used for new product development will be invested in the research and application of cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence."

"Mr. Song, this is xxx..."

Faced with a variety of questions from reporters, Song Ci spoke eloquently and handled them with ease, occasionally using a witty anecdote or two. Her gentle and refined demeanor amazed everyone, who marveled at the extraordinary style of the richest man.

"Mr. Song, I'm a reporter from The Paper. May I ask what your relationship is with Ms. Liu Shishi? Have people noticed that the way you look at Ms. Liu Shishi is quite unusual?"

Song Ci glanced at the gossipy female reporter. She was the first among the many reporters to ask him a personal question; the previous questions had all revolved around topics like Xiaomi and Tenda.

"I am a fan of Liu Shishi. My favorite character she played is Long Kui. As for the way she looks at me, everyone loves beauty, and it is a longing for beauty."

The reporter wanted to ask again: "Mr. Song, what you said about Liu Shishi and your wife on stage..."

Song Ci waved her hand, interrupting her question: "Alright, I have something to do later, so let's stop here for today. If anyone has any questions, you can leave a message on my Weibo."

The reporters interviewed Song Ci for nearly half an hour and were now quite satisfied. Knowing that too much of a good thing can be bad, they realized that continuing to block the way might displease the richest man, so they all made way for him.

Seeing this, Tang Yue and his henchmen quickly protected their boss and left the electronics store.

Meanwhile, in the underground parking lot, several reporters were hiding and watching a Maybach not far away.

These reporters were too far from Song Ci to get the best spot, but they happened to see the famous actress Liu Shishi leaving discreetly, wearing a mask and sunglasses. So they followed her all the way to the parking lot.

“We’re legitimate journalists, not paparazzi. Why are we sneaking around like this? Just go and interview her openly.” Seeing Liu Shishi get into the car and not make a sound for more than half an hour, one of the reporters was getting a little impatient.

"Are you stupid? Who would be interested in a proper interview these days! What everyone wants to see is the private life of celebrities. Liu Shishi is obviously waiting for someone. Be patient."

Another reporter chimed in, "Liu Shishi's car is a Maybach 62 Zeppelin, which costs 1300 million yuan. Is that something she can afford? I feel like there's going to be big news today."

As if to confirm his words, several figures hurried over and headed straight for the Maybach that Liu Shishi was riding in.

"That's a Song Dynasty poem! Damn, he got into the car!"

"I knew it! There's no cat in this world that doesn't steal fish. A lone man and a lone woman, the rest is obvious!"

"No wonder Liu Shishi has become so popular in recent years; it turns out that the richest man in China is promoting her."

"That makes sense! Song Ci is handsome and rich, it would be unreasonable if he didn't sleep with a few female celebrities."

"Quick, take a picture! If this gets posted, the whole internet will be buzzing! I never thought such incredible wealth would fall into my lap, Lao Zhang. We agreed, guys, each of you report your own story, and each of you does it based on your own abilities. What are you all standing there for?"

A reporter was adjusting his camera and snapping away when he noticed his colleagues standing still. Only then did he belatedly look up.

Several men in black had appeared around them, looking rather intimidating in the dim parking lot lighting. Tang Yue cut to the chase: "Friends, this isn't the first time I've dealt with reporters. Taking photos without permission is illegal. Besides, there are some vested interests involved, I don't need to elaborate, right?"

A seasoned journalist, clearly knowing how to handle the situation, immediately said, "I understand. I'll delete the photos right away. You can check my camera."

After saying that, he pressed the delete button on the camera and handed the camera to Tang Yue.

Tang Yue gave one of his underlings a wink, and the other man understood immediately, taking the camera and examining it carefully.

After a moment, confirming that all the photos in the camera had been deleted, he nodded to his boss and, with Tang Yue's tacit approval, returned the camera to the reporter.

With one person taking the lead, the others followed suit without hesitation and began to operate accordingly.

After the younger brother checked the cameras, mobile phones and other photographic equipment of the reporters one by one, Tang Yuechong and the others bowed slightly and said: "We apologize for any offense caused and hope you will forgive us."

The veteran reporter who was the first to cooperate nodded: "We all understand the rules of the industry. Under normal circumstances, we don't need to overstep the principle of not touching the powerful and influential."

Tang Yue also enjoys dealing with intelligent people: "Thank you all for your understanding."

The Maybach drove out of the parking lot first, followed closely by two Mercedes-Benz cars.

Watching the luxury cars file out, a reporter said with regret, "It's a pity that Song Ci's bodyguards were too vigilant and missed a great opportunity."

If the richest man didn't know about this kind of gossip, he could just let it go. But since the bodyguards found out, they had no choice but to shut up.

"We didn't expect the person who came would be the richest man. In our excitement, we became too complacent."

The reporter who had cooperated first waved his hand impatiently and said, "Alright, let's keep this to ourselves. It's just a rich guy keeping a celebrity as a mistress. It's nothing new in today's society. It's only because Song Ci got married that it's a story of a talented man and a beautiful woman."

"That's true. With Song Ci's wealth and status, it wouldn't be surprising if he kept ten mistresses. Besides, with his looks, it's possible that female celebrities would be throwing themselves at him."

As the reporters chatted and sighed about the realities of society, Liu Shishi was in the car pressing her husband about the meaning behind his statement at the press conference.

As Song Ci answered her questions one by one, Liu Shishi smiled and said, "Then I am both your Kunlun Moon and your Jiangnan Willow! But what does the final amber light mean?"

With a keen eye, Song Ci expresses his deep affection: "The female poet Li Qingzhao wrote a poem called 'Huanxi Sha: Do Not Allow the Cup to Be Deep and the Amber Thick,' and I am using this allusion to subtly refer to the sweetness of marriage. The Kunlun moon is the reflection of the willows in the clouds over Jiangnan, and Liu Shishi and my wife are the same person."

The exquisite imagery her husband described captivated Liu Shishi: "So this is what amber light means. I guess I need to study more of the Tang and Song poems, otherwise I won't understand my husband's sweet talk, which would be too embarrassing."

The following morning, at the A33 Theater in Beiping, a group of actors were performing passionately on stage.

In the audience, Ma Xin, the number one director from Tengda Culture, looked helplessly at the empty seat next to him.

Originally, Liu Shishi had invited him to watch the Happy Twist performance today, and afterwards they would meet with Shen Teng and other members of the drama club to finalize the cast of "Goodbye Mr. Loser". Unfortunately, the leading lady stood him up and broke the promise.

The phone in Ma Xin's pocket vibrated slightly. He took it out and saw that he had received a text message.

Liu Shishi: Director Ma, I'm sorry, something came up today and I can't go to the A33 Theater. I'll leave the negotiation with Kaixin to you. I'll wait for your good news.

Liu Shishi, who was still lying in bed at this moment, had no choice. Yesterday, her husband was passionate and they made love until the early hours of the morning, exhausting her half to death.

When she woke up in the morning, I was still enthusiastically dragging her to do morning exercises. But she was sore all over, feeling like her body was about to fall apart. She didn't want to move at all, let alone go to the theater to see a play.

Ma Xin sighed. The investor and lead actress were unreliable, so it seemed he would have to rely on himself to handle the casting for the film.

On stage, the actors' expressive lines and exaggerated, humorous actions failed to capture his interest at all.

No matter how wonderful a play is, it will become boring after watching it too many times. He had watched several Happy Twist plays before in order to see if Shen Teng was suitable for the male lead role. Now, watching it again, he felt that it was tasteless.

Since I had already taken out my phone, and was feeling rather bored, I opened Weibo and browsed the trending topics.

"A press conference that judges people by their looks."

"Liu Shishi is the spokesperson for Xiaomi phones."

"The richest man claims to be a fan of Liu Shishi."

"Love at first sight".

"Technology should not be something unattainable."

. . . . . .

Ma Xin casually browsed through the trending topics from last night to now, and most of them were about the couple Song Ci and Liu Shishi. He cursed them inwardly, thinking they were a pair of scoundrels, secretly showing off their affection. They were already married but didn't go public, just playing with netizens.

After scrolling through Weibo for a while, the play finally ended, and Ma Xin went against the flow of people to the backstage area.

As soon as I stepped into the backstage area, a man came forward to greet me and introduced himself very enthusiastically: "Director Ma, hello, I've heard so much about you. I am Zhang Chen, chairman of Happy Twist Culture Media."

Before coming, Ma Xin did his homework and learned a lot about Happy Twist.

In 2003, the people in front of us, Zhang Chen, along with two others, Yu Kai and Tian Youliang, each invested 100,000 yuan to jointly establish Happy Twist Culture Media.

Happy Twist initially tested the market with the stage play "Want to Eat Twist? I'll Twist It for You Now," but due to the impact of SARS, they shifted their focus to developing spoken dramas.

Dissatisfied with the company's development, Tian Youliang withdrew and sold his shares to Yu Kai.

After 2008, Yu Kai gradually lost interest in running Happy Twist, and Zhang Chen gradually acquired shares from other shareholders, becoming the largest shareholder and controlling the actual operation of Happy Twist.

Knowing that the person in front of him was the big boss of Happy Twist, whom he had booked yesterday, Ma Xin shook hands with Zhang Chen and politely replied, "Mr. Zhang, I apologize for the intrusion in visiting today."

Like a sedan chair carried by many, Zhang Chen also praised Ma Xin, a leading figure among the new generation of directors in China, saying, "Director Ma's presence is an honor for Happy Twist."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ma Xin got straight to the point: "Mr. Zhang, I'm here today mainly to talk to Shen Teng. I'm currently preparing for a new movie and I think he's very suitable for the lead role. I'd like to hear his thoughts."

(End of this chapter)