How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 104 Fight, keep fighting, until complete victory! [10,000-word update, please subscribe]

Wang Yao treated everyone to a meal at Quanjude, since they were already in the capital and couldn't miss out on Peking duck.

It was discovered that Naza only ate cucumbers the entire time.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Wang Yao asked with concern.

"No, I was just upset." Naza sighed deeply and pinched her tummy. "I really need to lose weight. I can't keep going like this. All the ladies today are so slim and beautiful."

"Are you alright? Their dance major requires a lithe figure, so you just need to be more proportionate and look good on camera. You have your own advantages," Wang Yao smiled.

Jin Chen and the others are indeed too thin; it's almost a done deal for them.

Naza at least seems to have some money to spare now.

“Exactly, body image anxiety is not advisable; what matters most is feeling beautiful yourself,” Ni Ni added with a smile.

"You're about to join a production team, aren't you going to control yourself?" Wang Yao asked curiously.

"The crew said I have a low body fat percentage and told me to eat more to fit the role, but I only gain weight in my face and not my body when I eat, so I probably need to work out," Ni Ni said, distressed.

"There's not much of a chance for the front chest, but we can try to work on the back muscles," Wang Yao commented.

"Does CEO Yao like women with exaggerated waist-to-hip ratios?" Ni Ni squinted.

"Men are naturally drawn to round things," Wang Yao chuckled.

"Pah, I clearly saw you staring at Jin Chen and the others' legs during the day," Ni Ni spat.

“I was admiring his years of perseverance and dedication. Aren’t you also a dancer? Can you even do the splits?” Wang Yao laughed.

"You still have the skills from childhood, but they can't compare to Peking Opera. If you want to see them, Mr. Yao, I'll show you the unique features of our national standard dance next time," Ni Ni snorted.

"We're planning to put together a dance program soon. Are you confident you can take on the challenge?" Wang Yao asked.

“Before the casting results are announced, the production team won’t let us reveal them. How about I not go to ‘Jinling’ and you give me a role in ‘Justice from Heaven’? I can fund it!” Ni Ni whispered as she leaned closer.

She's practically a CEO now, so bringing her own funding to the project shouldn't be a problem.

"It's not impossible, but it reminded me that we can design an exchange mechanism internally, such as exchanging a certain number of web images for a web series, a certain number of web series for a TV series, and a certain number of TV series for a movie," Wang Yao said with a flash of inspiration.

I think Pinduoduo's card collection model is very suitable for the promotion of company artists. It seems fair and rewarding hard work.

"Huh?" Ni Ni didn't know why he suddenly changed the subject.

"Um, Mr. Yao, can I participate in your program? Actually, today's 'The Matchmaker' is one of my more familiar plays," Miao Miao asked quietly from the other side.

Today's meal is mainly to thank her for showing us the way.

“Of course, by the way, but what about Miss Miao’s affiliation with the theater troupe?” Wang Yao frowned.

"The troupe doesn't have a rule against taking on outside work, but my body really can't handle such high-pressure training, and I've already considered quitting."
"Besides being a dancer, I also work as a stage choreographer for the production team. If Mr. Wang doesn't mind, I can help plan this dance program." Miao Miao mustered her courage and offered her services.

Ni Ni looked at Miao Miao with some surprise.

A secure job in a song and dance troupe, a position so many people dream of, and she actually wants to quit?

“Alright, how about this? I have an idea: remake classic plays. Do you think you could adapt a new dance drama based on ‘The Matchmaker’?” Wang Yao squinted his eyes.

"Huh? Will anyone even look at this revised version?" Miao Miao was taken aback.

This play has not been performed for many years, except for its use as a basic skill training exercise within the group.

"Why not give it a try? Who knows, someone might like it," Wang Yao chuckled.

“My brother’s tastes are very traditional,” Naza couldn’t help but comment, feeling that these were things that grandparents and grandparents would like.

“All art is essentially old wine in new bottles. On the contrary, I think there’s a real lack of this kind of positive and uplifting performance style now. Maybe we’ve seen too much of the Western effeminate style.” Wang Yao smiled.

"President Yao is a typical example of someone who has eaten too much rich food and occasionally wants something lighter to change things up. He has a typical hedonistic mindset and needs to be criticized," Luo Hongming joked.

"That's all I'm good at, do whatever you want." Wang Yao rolled his eyes at him.

“If President Yao trusts me, I can give it a try.” Miao Miao’s eyes gleamed with ambition.

Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly. In his impression, this girl should be a typical virtuous wife and loving mother, but why does she seem to be quite career-oriented as well?
"It's alright, just do your best. You'll be in charge of this project. If you need anything, you can talk to Ni Ni. If she can't handle it, come to me." Wang Yao nodded.

After finishing his meal at Quanjude, Wang Yao returned home and, as usual, checked on the progress of each project.

With students returning to school for winter break, the movie-watching website Kanpianer has seen a new surge in moviegoing, averaging around 300 million RMB in box office revenue per day. The forum has around 5 active users, which has stabilized, as there isn't much film-related information available.

However, it has become the absolute top forum in the niche category of film and television industry. Once it gains popularity, its daily active users can reach more than 10.

The main source of traffic and discussion is the "40 Years of Film History" project that Kevin Rudd is currently in charge of, which has over 100,000 followers on the platform and nearly 500,000 followers on Weibo.

After the New Year, he went to Shanghai to report for duty. Wang Yao gave him a high level of authority to set up a 'marketing department' and planned to recruit about 30 people to be responsible for the compilation and publication of 20 account types on various platforms. He was to first take stock of all the major figures in Hong Kong.

The post style is that one account criticizes, one account praises, and one account remains neutral, using the perspectives of three parties to analyze a person or a work, in order to first build up followers for the account.

Wang Yao is also cultivating a group of film accounts with an "over-interpretation" style. He hasn't found a suitable person to manage them yet. These film interpretation accounts mainly focus on foreign films, which makes them less likely to be targeted and can also attract new film enthusiasts.

Most importantly, data can be used to select suitable scripts for adaptation.

Kanpian.com is currently valued at approximately 2 million yuan, thanks to its niche market and proven profit model.

The business chain of information + online ticketing + publicity + social networking has almost been closed.

If things don't go wrong by the end of the year, and with the addition of establishing its own cinema chain and cooperating on film production and investment, it will basically replicate the Maoyan model, and then all it needs to do is wait for capital operations.

The rise of Kanpianer.com has spawned a number of imitators, but most of them are regional platforms. Unless they receive large capital investment, they cannot keep up with the development speed of Kanpianer.com.

The development of the Myspace platform has not exceeded Wang Yao's expectations. Currently, there are fewer than 200,000 newly registered users. The high threshold has indeed blocked many users, but the website's daily page views can reach tens of millions, approaching the level of forums like Hupu.

The main reason is that there is a lot of interaction and a lot of onlookers.

Currently, the overall trend on the platform is GHG, and it has clearly become a social interaction and assistance platform mainly for women, thus fulfilling Wang Yao's initial positioning of the platform.

The biggest topic of discussion on the platform is still Yang Lan's "When They Go to Court." The trailer for the first episode of this program has been released and has garnered nearly 300,000 likes. Following that is the aftermath of the Jackie Chan and Little Dragon Girl incident.

Although public opinion has overwhelmingly condemned Wu Qili, Yang Lan has not given up on the topic and still conducted an exclusive interview with her. After uploading it in a couple of days, it will generate another wave of buzz for the website.

Secondly, there's Ni Dajie's account. Since her accurate attack on Yao Chen last time, she has gained a large number of single mother fans and has become one of the top three internet celebrities on the platform.

Wang Yao has signed her to [Spark Cooperative] and is packaging her as a single mother sharing her daily life, creating an inspirational role model of a single mother who is "strong for motherhood" and a persona of mutual support. This setup is quite realistic and very appealing.

Several maternal and infant brands have already approached her for endorsement, but Wang Yao has turned them all down for now, waiting for a larger brand to sign her.

The growth strategy of this platform is to siphon off users from established platforms and forums like Sina. Whenever there are any controversial topics on Sina, Myspace's contracted and marketing accounts can quickly respond and attract some of the corresponding users to Myspace.

After all, their comments on Myspace currently only receive praise and no opposition. However, as the user base becomes more diverse, the community will eventually split into several factions, at which point we'll just have to watch the magic clashes.

The next major event for the platform is the chart-topping campaign for the all-star version of the "Labour" album. If it can attract a new group of fans, then it can basically start cultivating a fan culture.

Recently, Wang Yao has received numerous public relations collaboration invitations from male and female celebrities. The lingering effects of Cheng Long's previous scandal have left many people feeling uneasy, but Wang Yao is still screening them. After all, there are only a few ways to whitewash one's image, and careful selection is necessary to maximize profits.

The current potential collaborators are Fan Bingbing, Song Jia, Gao Yuanyuan, and Tang Yan.

The first three are trying to clear their names.

The latter, Tang Yanfang, complained that her boyfriend had been stolen by her best friend Dong Xuan and wanted to use this opportunity for self-promotion.

Tang Yan is currently experiencing a surge in popularity. "Chinese Paladin 3" has truly helped her successfully transform her image, and she can also leverage the "Chinese Paladin 3" controversy to continue marketing and capitalize on the popularity of Yang Mi and others.

However, the scandal of her recognizing Wang Jing as her godfather to obtain resources in the Hong Kong entertainment circle still exists, and there are also her complicated love triangles with Wu Kebo, Chen Hao, and Jiang Yiyan, which could easily lead to her being labeled a two-faced sweetheart and causing a public scandal. Moreover, most importantly, Wang Yao is now cooperating with Wang Jinhua, making him a sworn enemy of Chengtian Entertainment.

When Wang Yao received the cooperation offer from Tang Yanfang, he even felt it was somewhat outrageous.

Why don't you do background checks on the company?
However, these are a few win-win projects that can continuously bring popularity to the platform.

The remaining projects are investment projects that are still in progress. The first draft of the script for "The Return of the Temptation" is being revised, and Cheng Long's "Justice from Above" is still being worked out with Shang Guan's team. As for the variety show projects, Wang Jinhua and Bo Na have not yet provided any feedback.

Wang Yao's attempt to acquire Zhou Yougen's company has not yet been finalized, but Zhou Yougen has transferred the management contracts of several of his main artists, including Yang Ying, Guo Biting, Liang Luoshi, and Xiong Dailin, to the cooperative. Wang Yao will receive 70% of the profits, which is considered a great show of sincerity from Zhou Yougen.

Yang Ying is currently one of the projects she's been promoting. Since her public feud with Chen Weiting, which earned her the "daring to love and hate" persona, and with the popularity of the movie "All Love," she has gained nearly 500,000 new followers on Weibo recently.

Wang Yao has already connected her with the variety show "I Am a Big Beauty," and they will explore further opportunities in the fashion industry after the show airs.

Furthermore, after learning more about Yang Ying, Wang Yao unexpectedly discovered that she was a young woman with a keen business sense. When she debuted, Zhou Yougen promoted her and Wen Yongshan as the "Twins" of Hong Kong's young models, quickly gaining them fame. The two, being of similar age, formed a deep friendship. After earning some money in 07, leveraging their connections in the fashion industry from their modeling days, they collaborated on a trendy clothing brand called "C." Whether due to poor management, unequal profit-sharing, or later, a falling out, the brand disappeared after their split.
Then Wen Yongshan terminated her contract and went to Li Ming's company, while Yang Ying went solo last year and developed her career in Japan before returning to Hong Kong to start a nail salon brand.

It has to be said that Yang Ying has a good eye for talent, but she was born at the wrong time. Every industry she invests in is a blue ocean, but it's always too early.

However, Yang Ying has accumulated some experience and connections in the streetwear industry, and Wang Yao plans to go back and explore collaborations with her further.

With his work progressing smoothly, Wang Yao took stock of his available assets and finally felt somewhat secure.

Just as Wang Yao was preparing to relax for two days, spend time with his friends like Chopsticks to polish the script project, and wait for Nazha Jingdian's exam before working hard again.

Chengtian Entertainment suddenly held a high-profile press conference.

The content mainly covers two points.

Firstly, Chengtian Entertainment is expanding into the global film and television industry and has already contacted Hollywood Legend Entertainment to discuss acquisition matters, aiming to become a pioneer for Chinese films to go global.

Secondly, Chengtian Entertainment's cinema chain is preparing for a global expansion, with in-depth cooperation with AMC Theatres and the announcement that Pengcheng Chengtian Cinema City's monthly box office exceeded 10 million yuan during the Spring Festival, making it a flagship cinema in China.

Taking this opportunity, Chengtian Entertainment plans to add 10 to 20 cinemas in second- and third-tier cities in the coming year, and at the same time launch the Chengtian Integrated Cinema Cultural Center, creating a landmark project for the company that combines cinemas, five-star hotels, and art and leisure facilities.

Finally, we established an online ticketing platform, 【Chengtiankanpianer.com】, to provide convenient online services to all viewers.

The first reaction to this announcement wasn't in the public sphere, but in the capital market. After a year of constant backdoor listings with little activity, they've finally unleashed their big move.

Moreover, this first point is clearly aimed at Berna Entertainment, which is also going to ring the bell in the US this year and strive to become the leader in the Chinese film industry.

It's a clear message to our peers and investment banks: stop waiting for Bernard, come invest in us directly, we can move directly into Hollywood, and you don't have to worry about not adapting.

The second point is undoubtedly aimed at 'Kanpianer.com', and they even have similar names.

The biggest weakness of Kanpianer.com is that it does not own its own cinemas, so its net profit cannot be guaranteed.

However, Chengtian Entertainment not only owns its own cinema chain, but is also a production company. Most importantly, it has the financial advantage of the capital market, which allows it to learn from Kanpianer.com and subsidize movie tickets to attract users.

This is equivalent to skipping the current development pace of Kanpianer.com and directly entering the next stage.

Unsurprisingly, Chengtian Entertainment's stock price surged immediately upon the release of this announcement.

Since Kanpianer.com is not publicly listed, we cannot see the market reaction from the stock market, but we can see it from public opinion discussions and the suddenly ambiguous attitude of the cinemas.

Wang Yao could conclude that the situation was extremely serious.

The other party must have been planning this for a long time; it wasn't a sudden decision.

After all, Kanpianer.com is just an intermediary platform packaged as the Internet. It doesn't have any competitive advantages or technological moats, so it's easy for people to follow suit.

"Brother, what should we do?" Ren Quan called immediately.

Judging from his tone, he didn't seem panicked; in fact, he seemed a little excited.

"Any changes to the cinema chains we're partnering with?" Wang Yao asked with a smile.

"Definitely. The three major cinema chains have collectively demanded a reduction in our commission, or they'll reduce the number of films available. The six major cinema chains are doing alright, but they've also been hinting at wanting to renegotiate the cooperation. The smaller cinema chains haven't made any moves," Ren Quan said with a sneer.

That's how the business world is; people's hearts can change in an instant.

"Have any of our company's employees been poached?" Wang Yao asked with a light laugh.

"You could have guessed that?" Ren Quan said with a smile after a moment of silence.

"Brother Quan, they're clearly here to wipe you out." Wang Yao laughed heartily.

"I never expected Wu Kebo to be so shameless," Ren Quan sighed.

He anticipated obstacles when he collaborated with Wang Jinhua, but he never expected them to be related to the Kanpianer.com project.

Wang Jinhua was not involved in this project at all; she was an innocent victim.

"This is how conflicts of interest always are. The more involved, the more risks and variables there are. But it doesn't matter. Even if it doesn't happen today, other capital will step in." Wang Yao smiled.

Hearing Wang Yao's calm laughter, Ren Quan felt much more at ease. "Brother, what do you suggest?"

"Let's split up. You handle the theater chain and the company. Whether it's spending money to improve salaries or something else, I need to ensure that the daily operation of Kanpianer.com is flawless," Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"No problem, I know what I'm doing," Ren Quan replied.

"Secondly, how much money is left in the accounts?" Wang Yao asked.

"Is it available? The advance payment for publicity plus the box office revenue share should leave us with about 20 million. But don't worry about the money, I can raise it myself," Ren Quan said in a deep voice.

Judging from his tone, he seems to be prepared for a do-or-die battle.

“Always relying on the Li family, this is a game of capital, simple and straightforward. It’s all about who can burn money the most. Brother Quan, what do you think is the stop-loss point?” Wang Yao chuckled.

Twenty million is nothing to him; what he wants to see is Ren Quan's ammunition depot.

"What's the explanation?" Ren Quan swallowed nervously.

This was my first time experiencing a real, hard-fought business battle.

"There are only three choices: one, surrender and lose half; two, cooperate with Chengtian Entertainment and admit defeat," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"That's impossible," Ren Quan refused outright.

"Second, survive. Burn it until the very end, and see who gives up first," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"What's the highest possible price?" Ren Quan asked.

"Nobody can say for sure. This has nothing to do with the industry's ceiling. If you treat the whole country to movies for free, you can burn through 400 billion in a day," Wang Yao chuckled.

"Don't scare me!" Ren Quan exclaimed.

"So it depends on the effect you want. I've estimated that in a normal 100 billion yuan box office market this year, with an average of 2.5 million moviegoers, it would take 50 billion yuan to acquire customers at a cost of 20 yuan each. Similarly, the lower the customer acquisition cost, the less you spend," Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"What's the difference between that and 400 billion?" Ren Quan broke down.

“Don’t worry, Chengtian Entertainment doesn’t have that much money. Would the Li family put all their money into this sector?” Wang Yao smiled. “I estimate that the other party can only offer a maximum of 1 million in subsidies, which would be a lot.”

"It's alright, I can still raise the money if I try hard. But what will our website be valued at then?" Ren Quan came back to his senses.

"At least a billion." Wang Yao blinked.

"Let's do it!" Ren Quan said hatefully.

"Then you should prepare 5 million first," Wang Yao said, changing the subject.

"Why?" Ren Quan was taken aback.

“I said it was an estimate. What if they also need financing? I think 5 million is a stop-loss line,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

Chengtian Entertainment is, after all, a company already valued at 20 billion yuan, and it also has the Li family behind it.

"Should I also look for investors?" Ren Quan pondered for a moment.

"Whatever you say." Wang Yao declined to comment.

"Isn't there a third option?" Ren Quan suddenly remembered something.

"Yes." Wang Yao paused, then spoke loudly.

"Fight, keep fighting, until you achieve complete victory, until it's delisted."

Even through the phone, Ren Quan felt a surge of blood rush to his head and a chill run down his spine.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" Ren Quan swallowed hard.

"You think this is just a fight against Chengtian Entertainment? This is a fight against all the wolves who are watching from the sidelines." Wang Yao chuckled.

"Hit with one punch, and avoid a hundred punches."

　My sleep schedule has been irregular lately, and the pressure to update my blog 10,000 words a day, with 8 hours of non-stop writing, has had a significant impact on my physical and mental health. My update schedule is indeed quite irregular, I apologize.

　　We need to have a backlog of drafts to ensure stability.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)