A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 225 They're really good at this!

The next day, Zhao Fengshou urgently flew back to Hong Kong and delivered a thick bag of documents to Lin Jianlu.

Lin Jianlu had only inquired about a few things before, but he was already very curious about Ye Keyong. Now, after briefly looking through the information about China.com, he felt that this man was simply a genius.

He, a Hong Konger, actually managed to persuade Xinhua News Agency to invest heavily in building his website. Even with nothing in hand, he managed to swindle a lot of money from Hong Kong and even overseas. Looking at the shareholding structure of China.com, it's not hard to see that it can definitely be considered a state-owned enterprise. Regardless of whether it's a tertiary industry or not, 60% of China.com's shares are genuinely held by Xinhua News Agency!

On the contrary, Ye Keyong himself only holds a pitiful 2% of the company's shares!

Moreover, China.com, run by Ye Keyong, has another peculiar feature: as of the end of December last year when this data was compiled, the company only had one website, which mainly published news and announcements authorized by Xinhua News Agency. Apart from that, it had almost no other business.

The daily pageviews are a mere 0 or so, and the annual revenue is absolutely zero—not a single penny of business income! In fact, there is absolutely no "business" whatsoever!
The entire company, including the programmers and Ye Keyong himself, currently has only twenty-four employees. However, the company's accounts are filled with investments from various parties that have been brought in several times, totaling more than 2800 million US dollars. The money in the company's account generates tens of thousands of dollars in deposit interest every month, which is almost enough for him to pay the employees' salaries!
Of course, for internet companies, the bulk of their business comes from server and bandwidth leasing.

Currently, China.com's monthly net loss is approximately HK$190 million, roughly equivalent to US$24.5. Moreover, there is almost no way to generate profit at present. Ye Keyong does want to introduce advertising, since it is currently the only revenue model considered feasible for global internet websites. Even Yahoo, the world's number one, has to do it. However, China.com's pitiful number of page views does not have much advertising value. Therefore, the only thing they can think about right now is to go public in America and raise funds.

In any case, for internet companies, operational status is not important. As long as you are an internet company and you are using the internet concept, you theoretically already have the value of going public and raising money.

In short... it's quite a peculiar business model!
Despite Lin Jianlu's previous large investments in companies like Yahoo and Amazon, he was only investing because of their names and had no understanding of the business and operating models of internet companies in this day and age. After reading the information from China.com, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise – what a makeshift operation!

However, after a brief review and careful consideration, Lin Jianlu quickly discovered the true value of this company and website, or rather, its core value that truly attracted numerous venture capital firms from Hong Kong and overseas.

Simply put, it's ICP, which stands for Telecommunications Value-Added Services.

There are relevant policies in China that only allow domestic capital to hold ICP licenses and do not allow foreign capital to hold shares.

In today's internet world, the most valuable and widely recognized as the most promising internet businesses for the future, and the most valued by capital, are two main areas: page views and telecommunications value-added services—in other words, television broadcasting. The former means how many viewers you have, and the latter means how much advertising you can place.

The regulations imposed by mainland China require domestic internet companies applying for overseas listings to separate their businesses and assets related to Internet Content Providers (ICPs). Many overseas investors see this as effectively locking down the possibility of mainland websites listing in the United States – your value lies in the vast domestic market of 1.2 billion people, which offers endless possibilities for every investor! If you lose the mainland market, or if the economic benefits generated from operating an ICP in mainland China cannot be shared with overseas investors, why would I invest in you?

But here's the important part: China.com is not under the jurisdiction of mainland China!

It's a Hong Kong website!

It holds an ICP license issued by the Hong Kong government, which allows it to freely and without hindrance list in the United States!
However, it also obtained permission to enter the mainland, and the entire website's browsing interface faces every internet connection in the mainland—my server is in Hong Kong, subject to Hong Kong law, and can freely list in the United States. Moreover, after listing, the profits shared by shareholders are the traffic brought by all internet users in the entire Greater China region!
Honestly, after understanding the value of this website, even if Lin Jianlu went back to look at the company's development history again, he still couldn't help but sigh that it was truly a bizarre product of the times.

In 1994, Xinhua News Agency registered its wholly-owned subsidiary, China International Network Communications Limited (CIC), in Hong Kong, intending to establish a website called "China International Network" exclusively for domestic users. Ye Keyong was appointed as the general manager to be responsible for the development and operation of the entire website.

However, the rapid development of the internet industry caused this initial plan to quickly fall apart.

If we can't build a national internet platform, we must expand the internet.

However, at that very time, Ye Keyong, who was part of the founding team, had already successfully persuaded many investors and secured a large amount of initial funding. At this point, CIC had to give the investors an explanation, and it was too late to withdraw. With no other option, in 1996, Ye Keyong, as the company's general manager, strongly promoted the final launch of the portal website China.com.

The original domain name was China.com.Co, and later china.com and china.cn were added.

In the past two years, especially after Yahoo's successful IPO and the stock price surge last year, Ye Keyong successfully raised a large amount of overseas financing again and acquired the domain names Hongkong.com and Taiwan.com. However, the company's business itself has made almost no progress. To put it simply, it seems that this guy is really good at raising money. His early acquisition of so many top-level domain names proves his excellent vision. But it is obvious that this guy doesn't really understand how to operate an internet or a portal website.

At the very bottom of the large file folder was a business plan that Ye Keyong had just submitted in early April. He hoped to use 100 million US dollars to acquire a 70% stake in an American internet consulting company called TheWeb-Connection.

Well, this plan not only made Lin Jianlu see clearly once again that Ye Keyong had no knowledge or plan for how to build a website, but also made him realize that Ye Keyong, as the general manager of China.com, did not even have the authority to independently access 100 million US dollars.

Should I take over?

The foundation is so good!

I don't know how to build a website, but I do know what a website should offer to internet users!

Looking even further ahead, could a combination of portal websites and television stations be a game-changer for the next decade?

Even if we can't think that far ahead, and simply aim to create a portal website that's above average, and then take it public in America as soon as possible...

Oh, I can't think about it anymore, it's all money!

"You should talk to your boss properly. I'm not trying to refuse, it's just that I have too much work on my plate!"

"Well, of course I'm willing to do my best, but I don't have time, Lao Zhao. You know me, and the leaders should know too. I'm actually not very ambitious. I just want to make some money quickly and then retire!"

"Haha, you know me best, Lao Zhao! If I don't make time, how will I have time to pick up girls!"

Zhao Fengshou was a shrewd man, or rather, in mainland China, anyone who could rise to a certain level within the system was a shrewd man. So, he laughed a few times and began to probe, "Should I just... be straightforward with the leader like this? You have to offer some terms!"

Lin Jianlu pondered, "What conditions do I have? What conditions are there to talk about when serving the people! The main problem is that I really don't have time. I saw a plan in that file folder. It's about President Ye Keyong wanting to acquire some company in America. It's only a million US dollars, but it has to go through such a long process. Just think about it, how can I have time to do this? To be honest, I'm going to America to film a movie next, and I plan to record a new album in the second half of the year. After the album is recorded, I plan to hold a world tour. This is a huge project that will take one or two years to complete. Time, sigh, I'm just worried that I don't have enough time!"

Zhao Fengshou understood immediately.

"I understand. Yes, the leader must also understand that you are indeed short on time. I will go back and report to the leader. Since we are asking people to do the work, we must delegate authority. It is obviously not acceptable to ask for instructions and report every little thing. Doing business is like fighting a war. It is easy to miss the opportunity!"

Lin Jianlu laughed heartily, "Mr. Ye Keyong's actions are actually quite good. It's good to consult and report more often. I don't think there's anything wrong with what he's doing. And don't go around telling your superiors nonsense!"

"understand!"

Speaking of seasoned veterans, Zhao Fengshou is far more cunning than Lin Jianlu. "So, do you have any other requests? What I mean is... the leadership's intention is that no matter who comes in, Xinhua News Agency's shareholding cannot be less than one-third. It's currently 60%, so how should I report this to the leadership?"

Lin Jianlu hesitated for a full seven or eight seconds before saying, "How about... I take out 20 million US dollars as financing, and take a 40% stake?"

Zhao Fengshou said "Oh," clearly doing mental calculations. After a moment, he said, "Then I'll report it as you suggested and see what the leaders say."

"Sure. It's just a suggestion; the final decision rests with the leader."

Zhao Fengshou clearly understood everything. "Of course! Wait for my call!"

Lin Jianlu wants to invest 2000 million US dollars for a 40% stake, which means valuing the current China.com company at 3000 million US dollars. Xinhua News Agency originally held 60% of the shares, but after the financing is completed, its shareholding will be compressed to 36%, which is exactly one-third of the total shareholding. In addition, the total shareholding of state-owned assets and Lin Jianlu will reach 76%, which is an absolute controlling stake.

But the key issue is clearly not that. It's that once Lin Jianlu invests, his shareholding will surpass Xinhua News Agency's, making him the company's largest shareholder. From a capital market perspective, the amount of financing and valuation are negotiable, but state-owned assets, when making decisions, never prioritize simple capital or funding. Their primary concern is who controls the company and whether it's safe to do so! In the event of trouble, will this company or website be obedient and easily controlled?

So, this is actually a question Lin Jianlu has posed—do you trust me, Lin Jianlu?

As a result, less than half an hour after hanging up, Zhao Fengshou called back.

The higher-ups have complete confidence in you.

The higher authorities have verbally agreed to the investment of 2000 million US dollars to acquire a 40% stake in China.com. Regarding management control, once your investment is complete, the company can establish a board of directors, and all decisions will be made by the board. Xinhua News Agency, as the second-largest shareholder, will only send one director and will not directly interfere with or review the company's decisions.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Jianlu felt a little flattered.

Was my previous declaration of loyalty really that successful?

Or is it because the higher-ups think that someone who is so lustful is less likely to be turned by foreign forces?
…………

Friday, December 24, 1998.

The weather is cloudy.

The temperature wasn't quite right, so the planned sea trip was canceled. But the three of them were getting bored staying cooped up in Zhou Huimin's little house. Going out shopping was an option, but putting aside Lin Jianlu, Zhou Huimin was already famous enough, and Zhou Haimei wasn't exactly unknown either. If the three of them appeared together, although the reports could still be suppressed, their intimate behavior together wouldn't be a good thing if word got out—well, mainly because Lin Jianlu was starting to care more about his reputation now. Things were different now, and he didn't want his reputation to continue to be tarnished.

It wasn't that he was afraid of delaying album sales or movie box office; the main thing was that he felt he was a person of some stature, and he often had to deal with higher-ups. Having a few hobbies was permissible, but if they became public knowledge, it would ultimately be undignified.

Now that I've switched to the capitalist track, I need to maintain a bit of dignity. I went to Zhou Huimin's house in the morning, and the three of us had a great time for almost two hours. Everyone enjoyed themselves, especially the two girls, and especially Zhou Haimei. By the end, she was completely flushed. Her skin was already outrageously good, but now it had an even more delicate rosy glow, making anyone who saw her feel a surge of passion.

However, after finishing up, I called the restaurant to order takeout for lunch and had a quick bite. But I was bored in the afternoon, so Lin Jianlu suggested that we go out and look at houses together!
That's great. No one in Hong Kong dislikes buying a house. Even though the property market is sluggish now and everyone in Hong Kong is cursing how much they've lost due to the high prices, people still get excited whenever the topic of houses comes up.

So the two young beauties quickly got ready and accompanied the big boss to see the mansion.

Unlike Wang Zuxian, who, despite not lacking money, still prefers to live in her small apartment, Zhou Huimin has always longed to live in a large house. However, she hasn't been very famous for many years, so she simply couldn't afford a slightly larger house. The Mid-Levels villa is indeed large, but it's shared by five or six women, which she used to feel very constrained. It wasn't until recently, when she discovered a new kind of fun, that she was willing to go and live there.

But that still can't compare to having a big house all to yourself!

The new album is selling incredibly well, and I can foresee a huge sum of money coming in, but it hasn't arrived yet, has it? — But it's okay, my boyfriend can buy me a place to live.

Although it won't be published in the newspapers, news flows very smoothly within the entertainment industry—besides the luxury villa on the hillside, Lin Jianlu has bought two more large houses from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the kind of luxury duplex apartments. It is said that one of them houses his other lover, Gong Li, a film queen from the mainland, and the other house houses his two lovers from Taiwan.

Rumors circulated, but for Vivian Chow, they were no longer just rumors. She even knew exactly who the two so-called Taiwanese lovers were, and she also knew that the rumors about Chen Shuhua and Su Huilun having children with Lin Jianlu were all true.

So, the tycoon has a penchant for buying houses for his woman to live in!
I spent two hours looking at three houses.

They were all duplex apartments that were previously bought for Gong Li, Chen Shuhua, and Su Huilun. They are actually quite private. The best places to live are in the city, and being hidden inside a building provides better privacy.

The two pretty girls seemed to like each other after seeing one.

In the end, they chose the largest apartment—but Lin Jianlu bought them all.

The larger ones are over 320 square meters, and the smaller ones are over 270 square meters. The interior decoration level, specific location, floor, and view are different, so the price is naturally different. But in Lin Jianlu's opinion, they are all ridiculously cheap. A duplex villa with two floors of over 300 square meters is definitely an extremely luxurious mansion in Hong Kong. The location is good, the view is good, and it comes with a fine decoration that doesn't show much signs of use. The asking price is only ten million, and with a little bargaining, it was sold for nine million.

It's about 2000 yuan cheaper per square meter than when we bought that apartment for Gong Li a few years ago.

Even compared to the apartment that was later sold to Chen Shuhua and Su Huilun, it was 1500 yuan cheaper per square meter.

Yes, it keeps falling!
buy!
Three absolutely fantastic houses, all done for less than 2600 million!
More than 20 years from now, these will all be houses worth a solid 200,000 yuan per square meter! A seven or eight-fold increase in value is a piece of cake!
Of course, nowadays, Lin Jianlu doesn't really expect the house to appreciate in value anymore—it's for his woman to live in. As long as she's willing to stay with him for a few years, regardless of whether they have children, if she wants to break up with him in the future and find someone else to marry, the house will be given to her as a breakup fee.

It's even easier if you have children. You can live with them as long as you don't have a boyfriend or get married. I'll cover all the expenses for the house, including the children's and yours.

Of course, at present, although there are many women, their requirements are nothing more than the same.

They provide security, support in your career, and indulge you in bed. They have plenty of pocket money, live in big houses, drive luxury cars, and can have children whenever they want—and I haven't sensed any complaints or dissatisfaction from any of their lovers. Everyone is quite well-behaved.

…………

After finally settling on the 320-square-meter unit, Lin Jianlu sent Ge Fuhong to negotiate the price with the real estate agent, specifically instructing that all three units be taken. Turning her head, she saw two beautiful young women holding hands, looking here and there, occasionally hugging and whispering to each other. Just as Lin Jianlu was about to go over, her phone rang.

Yes, it was Cai Zhongxin who called. Ye Keyong must have received instructions. Longhua Investment, where Cai Zhongxin used to be in charge, contacted him. Cai Zhongxin meant that he had spoken with Ye Keyong and that the major shareholder, Xinhua News Agency, welcomed Lin Jianlu's intention to invest. He himself didn't seem to have any objections.

He just wanted to test whether he could stay as general manager or whether he could become CEO after the company officially established a board of directors.

This is exactly what the question implies, and frankly, Lin Jianlu quite admires him.

Perhaps when it comes to building websites, his skills are really nothing to write home about, but when it comes to attracting investment, bragging, and storytelling, just look at China.com's financing history and you'll know that he must be a master!
As for going public... back then, making money in the internet industry was extremely difficult. To put it bluntly, wasn't everyone competing on telling a story? Wasn't it all about making empty promises to shareholders?

He's definitely going to be the CEO!
However, Lin Jianlu himself does not intend to go back to serve as chairman of the board.

Ye Keyong is quite good at hype and storytelling, but Lin Jianlu considers himself an expert in this field as well. He just hasn't decided yet who to promote!

I actually wanted to choose Rosamund Kwan, but I felt that Aunt Thirteen was too lazy and I was afraid she wouldn't be able to play the role.

But any script featuring her as the lead actress is guaranteed to be a hit!
Imagine a superstar from the mysterious East, hailed as a "once-in-three-thousand-years beauty" and "the most beautiful woman in the East." From a young age, she harbored dreams of achieving great things, wanting to prove that women could also build a successful career. However, she had always relied solely on her looks. But after discovering the internet, she quickly realized it was something that could change the future of the world. She threw herself into it wholeheartedly, even retiring from acting to focus on building and creating the "Number One Portal Website in the East," finally realizing her dream…

Wow, this story is amazing! Miss Guan, dressed in a form-fitting uniform, exudes a captivating charm that only amplifies her stunning beauty despite her serious demeanor. Standing among a group of investors, she speaks eloquently and confidently, delivering speeches that always begin with: "No one understands the internet better than me," "No one understands portal websites better than me," "No one understands China better than me," "It's time for an Eastern wind to blow through the world of the internet," "It's time to make the internet great!"...

Tsk tsk tsk!
If I were an investor, I would invest in all of them!
This is so charming!
But... Thirteenth Aunt is lazy!

The script can be prepared for her, and the general affairs can be handled by specialists. Ye Keyong is already very capable of playing the role of a persuasive shill, and Cai Zhongxin should be more than qualified. But the problem is that she's too lazy to even memorize a few internet-specific terms. She can't even stay at the company for a few days to pretend to work...

Sigh, we'll see!
If all else fails, fire Yu Feihong.

She's very popular in Europe and America, so she already has a solid reputation. Plus, she's a natural academic achiever. While she may not know much about the internet right now, it shouldn't be a problem to give her some professional training and cast her as a cool, intellectual Eastern internet hero.

Going public, for internet companies, is all about selling concepts!

China.com already possesses the two major concepts of "Chinese market" and "Internet." If you add concepts such as "beautiful founder" and "big star abandons glitz and chooses to prove herself with wisdom," coupled with the recent rise of chick flicks represented by Julia Roberts and the frequent discussions about female independence in the Western world, Lin Jianlu feels that the entire promotional script he has prepared for China.com is simply a tailor-made, sure-fire strategy for investors and shareholders in the American stock market!

They can't possibly stay out of it!

Well, both of them are basically suitable, but Aunt Thirteen takes priority - mainly because the news comes from America that Yu Feihong is willing to return to the attention of major brands, which has been welcomed by everyone. In other words, Yu Feihong will most likely start her own business in Europe and America next.

There's no need to force this tech hero career path onto her.

"Honey, come here, come here!"

As soon as she hung up the phone, Vivian Chow waved, her expression revealing a lot of secrets.

Lin Jianlu walked over and was pulled up the stairs by her. At the door of a room on the second floor, Zhou Haimei covered her mouth and laughed shyly when she saw Lin Jianlu following her. She even turned her head away, not wanting anyone to see her little buck teeth.

Zhou Huimin pulled her to the doorway, and Lin Jianlu looked inside. "What...what's going on? What's this?"

Two expansion bolts were driven into the ceiling, and two large iron rings were fastened on top. "A swing?"

What's so strange about that?

The previous homeowner had a child who happened to like swinging!

But upon hearing his words, Zhou Huimin and Zhou Haimei burst out laughing in unison. Zhou Huimin leaned close to Lin Jianlu's ear, and even though there was no one else around, she still insisted on whispering in his ear, her sense of secretiveness extremely strong. "Amei said she saw a foreign movie that said you could tie a sailboat cloth up here, like a swing, but girls could sit on it..." As she spoke, she gestured with her hands.

To be honest, Lin Jianlu was stunned for several seconds before she came to her senses.

Zhou Haimei was already furious and pounced on Zhou Huimin, shouting, "It wasn't me! You were the one who said it was okay to do it here!"—Zhou Huimin laughed heartily.

Lin Jianlu turned to look at the two of them, "How about I arrange for someone to buy it right away, and we try it out tonight?"

"no!"

Unexpectedly, the two of them stopped their playful fighting and objected in unison.

Zhou Huimin said seriously, "I'll go and buy it secretly after we've settled in and moved in. If you arrange for someone else to buy it, what if people guess what you're going to use it for? Don't let them laugh at you!"

Lin laughed when he saw the deer.

"Alright, do whatever you want..."

He looked up at the two finished iron rings, exclaimed in admiration, "So that's what they're for!"—and added, "Hurry up, I'm going to America soon! I have to play with them before I leave."

The two pretty girls giggled and agreed.

(End of this chapter)