Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 354 King of Volume
Song Ci and Zhao Liying were talking quietly when a faint call came from the hospital bed: "Husband!"

The two turned their heads at the same time, and saw Liu Shishi slowly open her eyes, her eyelashes casting a faint shadow on her pale cheeks.

With her sleepy eyes half-closed and her gaze still somewhat unfocused, she could only vaguely make out the back of her husband sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Shishi, you're awake!" Song Ci immediately picked up the water glass from the bedside table, gently lifted his wife's neck with one hand, and said slowly, "The doctor said you can drink a little water today to quench your thirst."

Liu Shishi pursed her dry, chapped lips, leaned closer to the rim of the cup, and took a small sip.

"You can't drink too much!" Song Ci ignored Liu's pitiful eyes and ruthlessly moved the water glass away.

Zhao Liying, who was on the sofa, walked to the bedside: "Shishi, you've suffered."

Liu Shishi then noticed that there were other people in the room. When she saw that it was Zhao Liying, she asked weakly, "Liying, what brings you here?"

Zhao Liying crouched down, placing her hands on the edge of the bed to look her sister in the eye: "I heard you were injured, so I came to see you."

"Thank you!" Liu Shishi, her face pale, forced a smile, turned to her husband, her eyes pleading, "I've been lying down for too long and my whole body is stiff. I want to sit up and talk to Liying."

"Then I'll rock the bed!" Song Ci turned the rocker at the foot of the bed, and half of the bed slowly rose.

Zhao Liying reacted quickly and cleverly, grabbing a pillow from the cot and placing it behind Liu Shishi's back. She then moved a stool over and sat down beside the bed.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting dappled shadows on the pristine white sheets.

Lying on her sickbed, Liu Shishi couldn't help but feel sentimental. When she woke up from her deep sleep, the first stranger she saw was Zhao Liying, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

"We haven't seen each other for a while. I heard you're also filming in Hengdian." Liu Shishi's weak voice was filled with affection.

"Yes, I'm filming a movie with Chen Xiao."

"I'll treat you to a meal when I'm better."

"Then you need to get better soon."

"No one knows when an accident will happen." Liu Shishi sighed softly, her eyes reddening as she spoke.

"I never use a stunt double for dangerous stunts like wire work and action scenes, and I have never sought special privileges on set. Yet those online trolls deliberately spread rumors and slander me, saying I'm blind and arrogant!"

As Liu Shishi spoke, she felt increasingly aggrieved, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Song Ci quickly hugged his wife and comforted her gently, "Shi Bao, you are still injured. You must not be overjoyed or sad. You need to rest and recuperate."

After saying that, he gently kissed Liu Shishi's smooth forehead and softly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Zhao Liying also gently comforted her from the side: "Shishi, don't take those crazy things said online to heart. I'm often the subject of such talk, and I've long since learned to let it go in one ear and out the other, and I don't care at all."

After the two comforted her for a while, Liu Shishi finally stopped crying and smiled a little embarrassedly: "I just said it on a whim, I'm sorry you had to laugh at me, Liying."

While wiping away Liu Shishi's tears with a tissue, Song Ci said lightly, "It's because the audience is too well-fed. After a couple of years, when they suffer the beating of traffic stars and taste the coarse food, they will know how to cherish it."

The richest man sighed inwardly, realizing that there was a reason why the actresses born in 85 could remain popular for over a decade in his previous life.

On the one hand, they did catch a good time, accumulating a strong audience base with their hit works before the arrival of the era of internet traffic.

On the other hand, the actresses born in 85 each have their own strengths, and at least their dedication is impeccable.

Liu Shishi was still recovering from her injuries, and after saying so much and crying, she quickly became exhausted and fell asleep curled up in her husband's arms.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Liying quickly and gently shook the headboard to flatten it.

Song Ci carefully withdrew his arm, then gently tucked the blanket around his wife before leaving the sickbed.

"Shishi is still not very energetic and is too weak."

Zhao Liying glanced at the time, realizing she had lingered for quite some time, and said goodbye, "President Song, I'll be going now. I'll visit Shishi again after she recovers and returns to Hengdian."

"Thank you for coming to see her!" Song Ci nodded, then changed the subject and said with feeling, "Liying, in two years the film and television industry will be unprecedentedly prosperous, and top stars will easily earn tens of millions a year."

"I'll have Liu Rong look after you. Seize the opportunity to become famous. The future belongs to you '85 Flowers' (a term referring to actresses born in 1985)."

Stepping out of the ward, Zhao Liying stood in the corridor, holding the phone she had just added on WeChat to Song Ci's contacts, feeling as if she were in a dream.

The richest man not only promised to support her, but also proactively added her on WeChat! This gesture made her heart race. Her mind raced; could it be that President Song had feelings for her...?

But she immediately shook her head and rejected this absurd idea. Just now in the ward, she had personally witnessed Song Ci's deep affection for Liu Shishi.

"It must have been the visit to the chairman today that left a good impression," Zhao Liying muttered softly, her eyes sparkling. "Sure enough, opportunity always favors the prepared."

Walking down the hospital corridor, Zhao Liying's thoughts were racing.

The richest man's predictions that celebrities' incomes are about to skyrocket and that the entertainment industry is entering a golden age both excited and made her nervous.

Clenching my fists tightly, I was determined to seize the opportunity and carve out my own path in this upcoming golden age!
After seeing off actress Zhao Li, Song Ci rang the call bell to summon a nurse to change Liu Shishi's IV bag. She then continued processing work emails and browsing Tengda Group's financial report for the first half of 2011.

Thanks to the global expansion of WeChat and the strong performance of its PC and mobile game businesses, Tenda Group's revenue in the first half of the year reached US$74.52 billion, with a net profit of US$26 billion. It is expected that the full-year revenue will exceed RMB100 billion.

Just as Song Ci was focused on reviewing the data, her phone next to the computer suddenly vibrated. Turning her head and looking down, she saw it was a call from Jiang Tiantian, the office director.

"what's up?"

"Mr. Song, I heard that Madam was injured. Are you taking care of her at the hospital?"

"Ah."

Jiang Tiantian respectfully inquired, "Chairman Song, should the meeting originally scheduled for the 5th be postponed?"

Song Ci slapped his forehead, realizing he'd almost forgotten about it in the past two days. After a moment's thought, he said, "Let's postpone it for two days, to the 7th! Change the meeting location to the Donghai Cloud Computing Center. Send out the notice from the office right away."

Considering that Liu Shishi's condition is currently stable, he should be able to get out of bed and walk around on the 7th, at which point he can basically focus his energy back on his work.

However, in order to make it easier to take care of his wife, he specially changed the location of the meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held at headquarters, to Donghai.

"I will issue a notification immediately and report to you promptly if there are any developments."

Meanwhile, at Beiping Tengda Culture, the newly appointed president, Liu Rong, was reviewing documents in her office. She had only recently taken office, and was still getting familiar with many of the company's projects.

A knock came at the door, interrupting Liu Rong's thoughts. "Come in!"

After receiving permission, Zhuang Liqi and Zeng Jia pushed open the office door and entered, saying in unison, "Mr. Liu, you wanted to see us?"

Two deputies arrived together, and Liu Rong smiled and said, "Sit down and let's talk."

Zhuang Liqi and Zeng Jia sat down at the desk, waiting for the top leader to speak.

Liu Rong sat up straight and said seriously, "The group's semi-annual meeting is in two days. I will be representing Tengda Culture to report on the work done in the first half of the year to Chairman Song and the board of directors."

But I'm new here, and I'm still figuring out some things. We'll need to go over the company's key projects for the first half of the year together again.

Logically, as a newly appointed CEO, she should be in a period of adjustment, and the chairman wouldn't be too harsh on her at the meeting. However, anything can happen. The chairman was in a bad mood these past two days due to his wife's injury. She had heard that Chairman Song was emotionally unstable and had given Weibo president Liu Yan a severe dressing-down yesterday, so she needed to be fully prepared for her work report the day after tomorrow.

Zhuang Liqi, who is in charge of finance and other back-office work, took the lead in reporting: "General Manager Liu, I have sent you the company's six-month data report, which contains the income and expenditure details of all completed projects."

As for projects with signed contracts but no payment yet, as well as projects still in progress, these are the responsibilities of General Manager Zeng.

Liu Rong nodded slightly. The data reports provided by Zhuang Liqi were very detailed, clearly showing the expenditures and revenues of major projects in the past year and the first half of this year.

Zeng Jia spoke up at the opportune moment: "The TV drama projects I'm currently working on include 'Beijing Love Story,' 'The Big Man Gets Married,' and 'The Secret History of Princess Taiping.'"

The film projects include *Tai Chi*, *The Assassins*, and *A Letter to My Wife*, totaling twelve. Funding for these projects will be disbursed in the second half of the year.

Liu Rong took careful notes, occasionally asking for details.

Just then, a "ding-dong" sound rang out. All three of them were very familiar with this sound; it was the notification sound of a WeChat message.

While checking her phone for messages, Liu Rong gestured for Zeng Jia to stop reporting.

I opened WeChat and found a new notification in the group's work chat.

The senior executives of Tengda Group have a WeChat work communication group, which includes Song Ci, Zhang Yong, Wang Jing, as well as presidents and heads of various departments and subsidiaries.

Liu Rong swiped the screen and carefully read the notification.

Jiang Tiantian, General Office: Good morning, leaders.

The Group’s 2011 first half-year business analysis meeting has been postponed to 9:7 a.m. on July 7 (next Thursday).

Meeting Venue: Multimedia Conference Room, 3rd Floor, Comprehensive Building, Donghai City Group Cloud Computing Center

Meeting Agenda:

1. Chief Financial Officer Mr. Chen presented the first half-year business analysis report.

2. CEO Zhang outlines key tasks for the second half of the year.

. . .

12. Chairman Song's speech
The entire meeting is expected to last three days. All leaders are requested to dress formally and attend on time. If you are unable to attend, please inform the CEO. Thank you!
(The official meeting notification has been sent to all leaders via OA) @Everyone
Liu Rong was taken aback, not expecting the group's semi-annual meeting to be postponed. Just as she was about to reply, several department presidents in the group had already spoken first.

Within seconds, a series of replies appeared on the screen.

Tang Jun from WeChat Business Center: Received

Jiang Yuwei, Mobile Game Publishing Department: Received

Li Lei, Literature and Animation Division: Received
Cao Yun, Financial Shared Service Center: Received

Tang Yongchao, Overseas Mergers and Acquisitions Special Task Force: Received

Data Platform Ni Shibao: Received
Li Guangjian, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Operations Center: Received

. . .

Liu Rong tapped the screen lightly with her fingertip, shaking her head helplessly.

This Weibo CEO, Tang Jun, is always the first to reply whenever there's a notification in the group chat or a speech from the chairman.

Having strong work ability is one thing, but to be so proactive in showing off to the leaders is to take the competition to a whole new level. How are the other department presidents supposed to compete?

Thinking of how Yu Xin, the former president of TT Video Network, was swindled away by Tang Jun in the same way, Liu Rong silently changed Tang Jun's nickname to "King of Swindling".

Liu Rong from Tengda Culture: Received

After replying, Liu Rong put down her phone and looked at her two deputies: "I just received a notification that the meeting has been postponed by two days and moved to Donghai. That's good, it gives me plenty of time to sort out the company's projects again."

Zeng Jia seemed thoughtful: "President Liu, the Chairman made these arrangements to make it easier to take care of his wife. Should we go and visit her?"

Without hesitation, Liu Rong said, "Of course we need to go to the hospital."

I've already inquired with Director Jiang in the office. General Manager Zhang and General Manager Wang are supposed to visit the hospital tomorrow, while we department presidents will go the day after tomorrow.

With the chairman's wife hospitalized, they, as her subordinates, certainly had to do something to show their support.

However, in such situations, one must show concern without overshadowing the CEO, COO, or other leaders; a delicate balance must be struck.

Zeng Jia sighed softly, realizing that the level of the visitor was still too low. At her level, she wouldn't even be considered for a visit.

Unless she had a personal relationship with the boss's wife, Liu Shishi would probably have recovered and been discharged from the hospital long ago after all those department presidents in the group had gone through their cycles.

As time went by, Liu Shishi's condition gradually improved. On the third day of her hospitalization, the doctor allowed her to eat small amounts of liquid food, and on the fourth day, she was able to get out of bed and move around appropriately.

On July 7th, the sixth day of Liu Shishi's hospitalization, her condition had begun to improve, and she was able to be discharged after one more day of observation.

Song Ci also officially returned to his work rhythm, heading to the Donghai Tengda Cloud Computing Center early in the morning to attend the semi-annual conference.

In a VIP ward at the hospital, after seeing off a group of guests, Liu Shishi stood by the window and slowly stretched her limbs. She had spent most of the past few days lying in bed and felt like her body was rusting.

"Shishi, how are you feeling today?" Cai Yinong asked with concern as she entered the ward. She had been visiting her sister at the hospital every morning these past few days.

"I'm getting better every day, and I should be able to be discharged the day after tomorrow." Liu Shishi stretched, and sunlight streamed through the window onto her slightly pale face.

Upon hearing this, Liu's mother, who was peeling an apple, looked up and said, "Even after being discharged from the hospital, you can't be careless. You still need to recuperate for a few more days."

"Take a good rest, there's no rush with the film crew." Cai Yinong hurriedly advised, if the lead actress's old injury flared up due to filming, Boss Song would definitely skin her alive.

"Don't worry." Liu Shishi nodded and lay back down on the bed to rest.

Liu's mother mashed the peeled apple in the lunchbox, preparing it for her daughter to eat with a spoon.

Looking at the mashed apple, Liu Shishi said with disgust, "It's all mush, how am I supposed to eat this!"

Liu's mother glared at her daughter, a half-smile playing on her lips, and said in a teasing tone, "You can eat hard food? Do I have to call Yuandan to come back and feed you?"

Liu Shishi blushed. These past few days, taking advantage of her illness and bed rest, she had been waited on hand and foot, having Song Ci feed her food and water in a delicate manner, which had earned her a lot of ridicule from her parents.

Cai Yinong looked around at the flowers and fruit baskets that were almost filling the entire ward, and asked curiously, "Shishi, I just saw someone come out of the ward. They looked familiar, but I just can't remember who they are."

"You must be talking about Hou Hongliang, right? He's the producer of 'Crossing the Guandong,' maybe you've met him before." Liu Shishi scooped up some apple puree and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"So it was him! Shishi, you have some connection with him?"

"Yes! Producer Hou and Director Kong left Shandong Film and Television Group to start their own film and television company, and I am their investor."

Upon hearing this, Cai Yinong's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

Hou Hongliang and Kong Sheng, this master and apprentice pair, are famous in the industry for making serious dramas. Now that the top actress is their investor, Hu Ge's serious drama resources for her transition are finally secured!
(End of this chapter)