Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 128 Online Trolls? Anyone can use them.

Tao Le was in the process of handing over his duties. He was originally scheduled to leave on June 1st, but Zhong Lifan completed the handover in three days and let him leave ahead of schedule.

"Director Chen hopes we can work together again in the future," Tao Le said as she entered Chen Shouzhe's office.

"Save your breath. I'm not that cheap to cooperate with Huayi. I wish you great wealth at Huayi." Chen Shou smiled and, after three days of adjustment, felt nothing was amiss and was quite relaxed.

Tao Le was a little surprised by Chen Shouzhe's attitude. For the past three days, he had thought that Chen Shouzhe would try to keep him, but unexpectedly, Chen Shouzhe had no intention of keeping him at all. He said, "You can stay or not, if you don't want to, then leave."

This chilled Tao Le's heart. He hadn't expected Chen Shouzhe to be so heartless. He would have stayed if Chen Shouzhe had been willing to offer some shares.

No one wants to work for someone else their whole life. Although he earned a lot of money in the five years he worked for the company, he felt that he had contributed to the company and should therefore receive shares in the company.

"Director Chen, do you really have to be so ruthless?" Tao Le said.

“Do we have to be so ruthless with Huayi? I have no interest in helping Huayi make money,” Chen Shou said with a smile.

“It’s not about Huayi, it’s about the company’s operations. Are you really not going to give me any shares? After I leave, many other people will leave too. Aren’t you worried at all?” Tao Le said.

"Who do you think is the most important person in this company?" Chen Shou asked with a smile.

"It's you."

"That's right. As long as I don't leave, this company won't go bankrupt. Do you think you're irreplaceable or I'm irreplaceable? Cultural companies are different from other production companies. They're more like high-tech companies. They rely on high-tech talent, not management."

That's why they distribute profits and shares to talented individuals. As for this company, how much of a role do you think you play? You're not irreplaceable. Even if I were to recruit a management student from Beijing Film Academy, they could do your job perfectly. And if this company loses me, what do you think is left? Everything is mine; without me, it's gone.”

Tao Le was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected Chen Shouzhe to be so ruthless.

However, he is right. The company's output is indeed solely generated by Chen Shouzhe; everyone else exists to serve him.

The work revolves around him alone, and has little to do with anyone else.

His job is simple: coordinating various departments and managing internal operations. This is a job that anyone with a management background can do.

Especially Zhong Lifan and Guo Fan. Zhong Lifan goes without saying, as she has already taken over his position. Guo Fan is a graduate student in management, and like him, he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. Now managing Xiaoxiaomeng, he can completely replace him.

"To put it bluntly, your joining Huayi won't significantly improve the company, because all your experience and connections came from me. Once you leave me, do you think you can still manage those connections? Of course, you can use Huayi to develop your relationships. I don't care what benefits Huayi gives you, just work hard at Huayi from now on. The company won't miss you, and it won't make much difference if you're here. Everyone in this company except me can be replaced. And you're using this method to blackmail me. Honestly, those who are willing to leave with you will regret it one day."

Chen Shou sighed. He thought of his former fellow disciples and wondered how they had fared after they left.

He's done quite well after leaving, but he can't stop talking about Guo Degang. Like many self-media outlets these days, he gets no traffic if his headlines don't mention Guo Degang.

Guo Degang has supported countless self-media outlets, and we should also thank these self-media outlets and haters for keeping Deyun Society in the spotlight.

Old people left, and new people came.

Tao Le left the company, and the company also posted a message on Weibo.

[Thank you, Mr. Tao Le, for your contributions to the company over the past five years. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. The company has appointed Ms. Zhong Lifan as General Manager, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the film industry!]

This Weibo post, seemingly a blessing to Tao Le, is actually a message to her colleagues in the film and television industry: from now on, Tao Le has nothing to do with Shou Zha Film Industry, and those who need to contact the company should contact Zhong Lifan.

This message was undoubtedly seen by many industry insiders, who all thought that Tao Le had gone mad.

Leaving Shouzhe Pictures at this time is surprising, given that everyone knows the potential of Shouzhe Pictures. Even without shares, the annual dividends are substantial, and countless people would love to join Shouzhe Pictures.

Tao Le also posted a personal Weibo post.

[After five years of weathering storms together, I am grateful for Director Chen's guidance and wish Shouzhe Film Industry all the best. I have since resigned from Shouzhe Film Industry.]

"I told you long ago that there would definitely be conflicts. If the company is not listed and one person controls the entire company, the senior management will definitely be dissatisfied."

"Congratulations to Mr. Tao on escaping his misery."

"Chen Shouzhe is just like his godfather, not giving anyone a single share. Bah, he deserves to be dismissed by the senior executives."

"Chen Shouzhe is the Guo Degang of the film and television industry. He didn't learn any crosstalk, but he learned all of Guo Degang's bad habits."

"What a piece of trash this company made!"

"Am I the only one who doesn't like Chen Shouzhe? He's too ugly, and he's even trying to create hype with Liu Yifei."

"People like this should be banned."

The sudden surge of comments stunned many in the film and television industry; it smelled strongly of paid trolls. Chen Shou hadn't even checked Weibo; his assistant had to tell him.

"interesting."

Chen Shouzhe picked up his phone, edited a Weibo post, and sent it out, which quickly caused a stir.

[I just resigned, and a huge group of online trolls have already started attacking me. I don't know how many people have been misled, but I can teach you a way to identify which company these trolls belong to: the company they work for. That's where their trolls are sent.]

As soon as Chen Shouzhe finished posting on Weibo, his phone rang. When he saw the message, he immediately smiled.

The call was answered, but no one spoke. The person on the other end became anxious.

"Director Chen, is it really necessary to go this far?"

"As for that? You should ask your master. Does that mean they can't let others talk about what they've done? Do you expect me to give them face and let them trample on them, telling them they'd better watch out?" Chen Shou sneered.

Tao Le on the other end of the phone stopped talking. It was obvious that he was there to confront Shou Zhe Film Studio. He had only just left the company and already had so many online trolls. Anyone with a brain could tell who was behind this.

Now, with Chen Shouzhe's Weibo posts, everyone's attention is focused on him. Once he joins Huayi, it will be confirmed that these online trolls are from Huayi.

Using public opinion to smear someone is clearly a tactic that Huayi has always used. In the past, when social circles were closed, it was easy to use this method to smear rivals, but now it's different; everyone can use it.

Zhong Lifan also contacted online trolls to try and shift the blame onto them, and promoted Chen Shouzhe's Weibo post.

Netizens are all watching Tao Lek closely, wondering which company he will join.

Huayi has now lost more than it gained. Does that mean they don't want Tao Le and the others anymore? They've already signed a contract and completed the formalities. If they breach the contract, it's not like Zhou Xingxing's verbal promise that can win a lawsuit.

Inside Huayi Company, Wang Zonglei looked like he'd just eaten something horrible. He hadn't expected his attempt to steal a chicken to backfire so badly, as Chen Shou had delivered a decisive blow. Now that Huayi had accepted Tao Le and his group, it would confirm that they had indeed hired online trolls.

Tao Le and the others have left Shouzhe Film Studio, so it has nothing to do with Shouzhe Film Studio anymore. It doesn't matter how they are used, and Chen Shouzhe won't treat them that well.

Now it's Huayi's turn to have problems. Everyone knows they've hired online trolls, so Chen Shouzhe must be keeping an eye on them. Once Tao Le joins their company, Chen Shouzhe will definitely step in and keep smearing them.

“I told you not to mess with him, but you still insisted on doing it. He’s already already had enough from poaching his people, and you still have to do this. What’s the point? Is he the kind of person who would suffer a loss? The stock market is doing so well right now. We can’t let them be affected. Don’t let them start working yet. We’ll deal with it after things calm down.” Wang Zongjun was furious with his younger brother.

“I understand, brother. I’ve already explained things to Tao Le and the others. I’ll start working in two months,” Wang Zonglei said.

"I really don't know what you were thinking. There are already so few movies these past two years, why did you have to provoke him? What did Ye Ning say?" Wang Zongjun asked.

“He has agreed, but he won’t be able to start work until the end of the year,” Wang Zonglei said.

"Then let's wait until the end of the year. The stock price is getting higher and higher, so let's not do anything that would be detrimental to the group."

Wang Zonglei could only endure it, because if he had really done it, he would have already asked the online army to smear Chen Shouzhe and portray him as someone like his godfather Guo Degang.

Unfortunately, it's impossible. Tao Le can't compare to those crosstalk performers. At least crosstalk performers can perform, but Tao Le can make movies? Or write screenplays?
Zhang Dapao would die without Zhang Yimou.

Even after Tao Le left him, things remained the same.

Many people called Chen Shouzhe, including Ye Ning. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ye Ning began to subtly eavesdrop.

"Director Chen, where did President Tao go?" Ye Ning asked.

"How would I know? Didn't he tell you?" Chen Shou said with a smile.

"What are you going to tell me?" Ye Ning asked.

“You were all poached in the same way, so you should all know. I certainly don’t know where he went.”

Ye Ning immediately understood that Tao Le had gone to Huayi just like him. The thought of working with Tao Le at Huayi in the future felt quite like fate.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shou shook his head. It seemed that Ye Ning was determined to go to Huayi.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. There's no room for Wanda to move up now. If he stays like Taurak, he'll only be able to work for the rest of his life.

He certainly did contribute to Wanda Pictures. At least because of Chen Shouzhe, Wanda Pictures has always made a lot of money, since Chen Shouzhe's movies usually feature Wanda.

It's likely that Huayi offered him shares, and the current strong stock market has given him the idea.

On May 20th, the premiere of Painted Skin was held. Chen Shouzhe wanted to support Wuershan, and with the investment from companies like China Film Group, the premiere was hosted by China Film Group.

(End of this chapter)