How can you become a star without money?

Don't call me after Chapter 116, I'm afraid people will misunderstand.

Provocation is one of the outward manifestations of humiliation.

When Wu Kebo heard Wang Yao's name, he felt his blood pressure surge to the top of his head.

He was clearly calling Ji Jinru, the vice president of Chengtian Entertainment.

Why was it Wang Yao, a virtual adversary he had never met but who had been haunting him like a nightmare, who answered the phone?

It’s so hard to guess.

In an instant, even Ji Jin's anger at being betrayed by switching jobs was greatly diminished.

"Wang Yao? Mr. Wang, I've heard so much about you." Wu Kebo took a deep breath, and after regaining his senses, he sneered.

"I have long admired Mr. Wu's name; Sister Hua often mentions your deeds."

Wang Yao's voice was young and his tone was polite, but it sounded extremely harsh to Wu Kebo.

Clearly, the other party was deliberately mentioning Wang Jinhua's name, seemingly to tell him some facts.

This victor's attitude is truly outrageous.

"It seems that President Wang has already made arrangements with Xiao Ji? But Xiao Ji is really not very ethical; he didn't even bother to inform his boss in advance about changing jobs." Wu Kebo smiled sinisterly.

"Mr. Wu, you've misunderstood. I have no plans to resign at the moment. I just happened to be discussing some cooperation with Mr. Wang. As for the news, I guess it was just malicious fabrication." Ji Jinru's voice came from the phone.

Wu Kebo was stunned. After a moment of mental blankness, he suddenly realized.

What was the name Wang Yao just used, Tianhuo Online Media?

Does this mean that Ji might not know about Wang Yao's relationship with Kanpianer.com?

Is it really a collaboration that these two met today?
If the news of the job change was instigated by Wang Jinhua behind the scenes, it might have nothing to do with Wang Yao.

Or is Ji now playing him?

But why did the news break out precisely today when the two met? What a coincidence!

In an instant, countless possibilities and ideas popped into Wu Kebo's mind.

Reason told him that he shouldn't provoke Ji Jinxian to resign now, because it would definitely affect the company's stock price.

But his intuition told him that Wang Yao, Wang Jinhua, and Ji Rujin were definitely connected, and that they were likely targeting him.

Wu Kebo had been having trouble sleeping these past two days and was experiencing a splitting headache.

"Mr. Wu, actually I wanted to get to know you. I mainly noticed that the recent public opinion isn't very optimistic about the impact on Chengtian Entertainment's stock price, and I wanted to ask if there's anything I can help you with?" Wang Yao said with a smile.

Not very optimistic?

Why aren't you optimistic? Don't you know that yourself?

"Is Mr. Wang making fun of me?" Wu Kebo laughed angrily.

"I don't think that Chengtian and Kanpianer.com are necessarily just competitors in the online ticketing market," Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"Hmm? President Wang has created such a huge uproar to smear me, even dragging Chen Hao and Fan Bingbing into it. Could it be that he just wants to cooperate with me?" Wu Kebo scoffed.

"Does Mr. Wu think I have the ability to get Chen Hao and Fan Bingbing to cooperate?" Wang Yao asked rhetorically.

Wu Kebo was taken aback by the question.

Influenced by Yang Zi, he has always felt that the recent attacks against him were orchestrated by Wang Yao.

But after hearing what Wang Yao said, he seemed to think that even with Wang Jinhua and Ren Quan, they might not really be able to command those two.

In addition, the stock price has fluctuated significantly in the past two days, which clearly indicates that someone in the capital market is targeting him.

Considering the recent series of reactions from Kanpianer.com, it seems they really have no intention of directly clashing with Chengtian Entertainment.

Moreover, his assessment of Wang Yao, this virtual opponent, was based on the opinions of Yang Zi and Xu Chen, and he had always believed that Wang Yao alone could not possibly possess such great abilities.

Could it be that the opponent is someone else?
Wu Kebo shivered instantly, and countless thoughts raced through his mind.

"What does Mr. Wang mean?" Wu Kebo calmed down.

"Perhaps there will be an opportunity to have a good chat with President Wu?" Wang Yao chuckled.

After a long silence, Wu Kebo said, "Okay, if Mr. Wang has time, you and Xiao Ji can come to the company as guests."

"Okay," Wang Yao agreed readily.

Wu Kebo washed his face and began to reassess the current situation.

Juli, Meishe, Wang Jinhua, Kanpianer.com, Chen Hao, stock price, Lijia. Hiss!
The Li family?!
As the first pawn to expose himself in order to divert public opinion from the Li family, Wu Kebo was naturally aware of the Li family's recent crisis. However, he could only watch from the sidelines in this kind of dispute.

Wu Kebo carefully reviewed all the recent public opinion and finally discovered that although it was ostensibly targeting Chengtian Entertainment, the whole situation was actually pointing to the Li family!
In that case, Wang Yao's attitude seems reasonable.

Was I just an innocent victim of this disaster?

For a moment, he was overwhelmed with emotions.

When Ji brought Wang Yao in, he was still in a daze.

"Mr. Wang, seeing you in person is truly an honor. You are indeed a young and talented man." Wu Kebo perked up and stood up to greet him with a smile.

"Mr. Wu, you're too kind." Wang Yao shook hands with him in greeting.

"Xiao Ji, go ahead and get busy. I'll take care of President Wang myself," Wu Kebo waved his hand.

Ji nodded and left the office.

“When I visited Mr. Xu at Meishe the day before yesterday, he praised Mr. Wang highly.” Wu Kebo poured him a cup of tea, seemingly exchanging pleasantries casually.

Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Wu Kebo went to see Xu Chen? That's unexpected news.

However, he quickly realized the purpose: she probably hoped to influence him through her photography.

"I just got back from Korea and haven't visited Mr. Xu yet," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“Chengtian Entertainment originally intended to focus on cinema and offline theater business, so the competition with Kanpianer.com was both accidental and inevitable,” Wu Kebo explained.

"I understand, after all, online ticketing is the trend, and we're just getting in early," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"What is Mr. Wang's main responsibility at the movie website?" Wu Kebo asked.

"It mainly involves online promotion and new media marketing, similar to Tianhuo's business. However, we are not as large and powerful as Tianhuo. Mr. Wu's marketing subsidies with huge sums of money really scared us." Wang Yao took a sip of tea.

"Not at all. President Ren and Sister Hua are quite capable. They certainly don't have as many assets as Cheng Tian, ​​but when it comes to cash flow, I might not be their match." Wu Kebo shook his head.

"Online ticketing, or rather the cinema market, is a major trend in the future. Kanpianer.com only has online influence, so it is still very passive when facing cinemas. Therefore, we have always planned to build our own cinema chain."

"But I think the market is big enough, and it's not fully developed yet. It can at least accommodate both of us." Wang Yao smiled warmly.

"What advice does Mr. Wang have? Does he want us to join forces to target the cinemas?" Wu Kebo raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Mr. Wu has done online ticketing and found that this thing actually has a low barrier to entry. You can just use money to acquire users, so if we can do it, Wanda and Huaying can do it too.” Wang Yao shook his head.

Wu Kebo's mind raced. "President Wang wouldn't be thinking of merging with me, would he?"

"Excuse my bluntness, but Chengtian Entertainment's cash flow seems rather pessimistic right now," Wang Yao said, without giving a direct answer.

“It’s alright. Although the stock price seems to have fallen, we don’t rely on capital financing for the time being. Mr. Wang doesn’t need to worry about not having enough money to make up for the losses,” Wu Kebo said in a deep voice.

In reality, Chengtian currently has less than 2 million yuan in funds at its disposal. If we exclude this year's cinema expansion, the amount may be even less. If the stock price continues to be sluggish, then it will face serious cash flow problems next year.

"I believe in Mr. Wu's abilities, but ticket subsidies are ultimately a lose-lose situation where both sides suffer heavy losses. I think professionals should do professional things. The online operation model of Kanpianer.com has been proven, and the development of Chengtian Cinema is also steady and solid."

"Why don't we cooperate? We'll expand online, and you can focus on offline. This powerful alliance might just change the landscape of the three major cinema chains in China," Wang Yao said with a smile.

Cinema chains are capital-intensive, and Kanpian.com doesn't have the resources to expand rapidly in the short term. Ren Quan recently integrated over twenty small cinemas, and with fewer than 50 screens, that's already their limit.
Moreover, given the inherent industrial chain advantages of cinema giants like Wanda, it is difficult to break free from dependence on cinema chains.

However, Chengtian Entertainment already has more than 200 screens. If it abandons its online business and invests all its money in offline cinemas, it can not only stabilize its cash flow, but also catch up with giants like Wanda in terms of expansion speed.

Wu Kebo could figure out the math. "Why would President Wang choose to cooperate with Cheng Tian?" Wu Kebo asked, somewhat puzzled.

Publicly, Chengtian Entertainment was the first to provoke the dispute; privately, Chengtian Entertainment had a long-standing grudge against Wang Jinhua and Ren Quan. Regardless of their public or private positions, there was a conflict between them.

"Because it suits me." Wang Yao smiled.

"Hmm? I'd like to hear more." Wu Kebo narrowed his eyes.

"Chengtian Entertainment's advantage is that it also has cinemas in East Asia and is willing to accept the online model, but you can't compare with Wanda and others in mainland China."

Kanpianer.com's users are primarily domestic, which can help cinemas reduce competition costs and accelerate their expansion. At the same time, Kanpianer.com also needs an overseas cinema network because it sees potential in the East Asian market.
In addition to being a ticketing website, we are also a marketing and distribution company. And since you have already spun off your distribution business, we are a perfect match for each other, whether it's online or offline, and we complement each other perfectly.

Most importantly, if we cooperate with Wanda and their companies, we won't be able to have equal communication for the time being. A drawback of large corporations in decision-making is that their decision-making costs are extremely high.

A decision might require half a month or even half a year of negotiation, and Chengtian's advantage is that Mr. Wu has the final say. The most important thing about online + offline cooperation is quick response; this is the only way for us to overtake the traditional cinema model.” Wang Yao spoke slowly, laying out all the advantages and disadvantages of each condition on the table.

Wu Kebo's eyes gleamed, and he even showed a bit more appreciation for the young man in front of him.

Such a clear line of thought, it reminds me of my younger days.

Moreover, how could someone with such an honest attitude be the treacherous villain that Yang Zi described?

He now understood why Yangzi was so hostile towards this young man; it was because of his inferiority complex.

Compared to Wang Yao, Yang Zi is truly an incompetent fool.

"Would Ren Quan and Wang Jinhua be willing for me to become a shareholder?" Wu Kebo feigned indifference.

"I've always believed that there are no permanent enemies in business, only permanent interests. If our interests align, and they insist on opposing us, I'll actually consider the risks of having them as a partner."
"Besides, Sister Hua wasn't involved in the Kanpianer.com project; it was led by me, Ren Quan, Director Hu, and Sister Ling." Wang Yao shook his head with a smile.

"Mr. Wang, would you like to consider coming to Chengdu? You can name your salary." Wu Ke was tempted.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wu, this kind of lifestyle isn't suitable for me," Wang Yao said with a smile, politely declining.

“That’s true. How does Mr. Wang want to cooperate?” Wu Kebo asked.

“Cross-shareholding, 1:1,” Wang Yao said.

"Even at the current stock price, it would still be worth 16 billion a day. What makes you think your movie website can compete?" Wu Kebo frowned.

He had already conducted a detailed investigation and assessment of Kanpianer.com, and currently estimated its value to be around 10 billion yuan.

"If it's just online business, it certainly can't compare to Chengtian, but even if we can't cooperate with Mr. Wu, we will find ways to cooperate with other cinema chains, combining online and offline channels."

"I'm confident we can capture 10% of the box office market this year, and with revenue from marketing and distribution, our net profit this year can exceed 8000 million yuan," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Is Mr. Wang trying to make me laugh?" Wu Kebo frowned.

Chengtian Entertainment's net profit last year didn't even reach 8000 million! What makes you think you can?!
"Whether you believe it or not is up to Mr. Wu to decide. I can only reveal that we have already signed annual agreements with several leading film and television companies, including Huayi, Bona, Baina, and Huangyu. In the online streaming media promotion sector, I wouldn't say we have a monopoly, but we're pretty close." Wang Yao smiled slightly.

Wu Kebo's pupils contracted; he had almost forgotten that the publicity and distribution sector was actually quite profitable.

He could verify these reports.

"Moreover, if President Wu cooperates now, the news of the alliance between the two parties can help boost Chengtian Entertainment's stock price. At least I can mediate the public opinion dispute with Sister Hua and the copyright issues with Wang Jing." Wang Yao's smile was incredibly bright.

Wu Kebo swallowed hard. Without a doubt, if these two pieces of public opinion could be suppressed, it would indeed be great news for him.

"By the way, we've also independently developed a networked online ticketing system that can optimize labor costs by about 20%. As communication technology matures in the future, the value of this system will increase," Wang Yao continued.

Wu Kebo fell completely silent.

If Wang Yao wasn't lying to him, then saving on labor costs would definitely be a significant boost to the company's profit margin this year.

Moreover, the press conference announcing the cooperation with Kanpianer.com is definitely a major positive news. It can at least boost the stock price of 16 yuan. In addition, the smokescreen of the acquisition of Legend Entertainment may allow them to raise another round of funds.

Faced with so many temptations, he had to admit what Wang Yao had just said.

There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

"Xiao Ji, what kind of cooperation are you going to discuss with President Wang?" After seeing Wang Yao off, he called Ji Jinru to his office.

Ji now truthfully stated that it was for the follow-up publicity of Tang Yan and others, and presented the artist department budget that had been planned for this year.

After glancing at the budget of 20 million, Wu Kebo frowned and looked at Ji Jinru.

If he becomes deeply integrated with Kanpianer.com, he will definitely focus on theatrical business. The artist management sector is not very valuable, and after being attacked by Chen Hao and Fan Bingbing, he is no longer interested in female celebrities.

They're all a bunch of ingrates!

Then this artist department seems to be unnecessary.

"Keep the budget with me for now, I'll let you know later." Wu Kebo dismissed Ji Jinru and lay down in his office to doze off.

I was just about to fall asleep when I was woken up by a phone call.

Upon checking the phone, I saw it was Yangzi. He answered the call and interrupted me before the other person could speak.

"Mr. Yang, please don't call me anymore. I'm afraid people will misunderstand."

"Are you sure Wu Kebo will be willing to exchange his shares?" Ren Quan asked doubtfully after hearing Wang Yao's proposal.

He was really shocked when he heard yesterday that Wang Yao was planning to take over Chengtian Entertainment.

He doesn't mind cooperating with Cheng Tian Cinemas, after all, it is one of the three major cinema chains in Hong Kong, and it is very likely to become one of the top six cinema chains in mainland China in the future. Most importantly, there is no need to burn money on ticket subsidies.

However, based on his understanding, he could not determine how to reverse takeover a company with absolute control.

Moreover, even if Kanpianer.com's current valuation is inflated by 1 billion, Wu Kebo, unless he's an idiot, probably wouldn't agree to a 1:10 share swap.

“He doesn’t want to talk anymore, so what? I didn’t stop him from negotiating.” Wang Yao smiled.

Recently, due to the decline in the performance of Kanpianer.com, some sharks in the capital market have come looking for opportunities. Several investment companies want to lower the price and invest in Kanpianer.com's angel round.

They gave it a valuation of 6 million, which is clearly a deliberate attempt to drive down the price.

Ren Quan pushed all the money back, but this round of valuation did make him a little anxious. Because Wang Yao didn't offer ticket subsidies, all the money was used to build a cinema chain. The money was almost gone, and he had only integrated less than 50 screens. The huge pressure of offline heavy assets was painful for Ren Quan.

If Chengtian Entertainment insists on subsidizing ticket sales, then it will inevitably have to raise funds from investors, and it can't accept the investment company's drastic price reduction.

Yesterday I discussed with Wang Yao whether there are any ways to raise funds and go public without having to sell to investment companies.

The most direct method Wang Yao could think of was to go public through a reverse takeover.

Then the idea of ​​reverse takeover of Chengtian Entertainment came to mind.

The main reason is that Liu Haifeng told him yesterday that he was preparing to continue shorting Chengtian Entertainment and drive its stock price to the bottom. He didn't know what kind of revenge plot had been triggered.

Moreover, he has recently used various methods to buy more than 5% of the shares (nearly 500 million shares) in the secondary market through multiple accounts, and asked Wang Yao if he was interested in joining in.

Wang Yao thought about it using reverse thinking. Although the low stock price had no impact on Wu Kebo, he assumed that with such a low stock price, close to the bottom, there would be a positive news to push the price up.

So, besides retail investors who are easily fooled, who is most likely to fall for the bait and buy low and sell high?
It should be Wu Kebo himself or the investors behind him.

However, if secondary market liquidity is locked down, those who want to be bullish will naturally buy at higher prices, or major shareholders will start releasing shares to the market.

This might shake Wu Kebo's absolute controlling stake. At the same time, Wang Yao guessed that as long as Wu Kebo was given the opportunity to invest in Kanpianer.com, he would definitely not be able to resist using other means to try to take over Kanpianer.com as its performance improved.

Actually, at this time, the fact that Chengtian Entertainment has few shares in circulation is a good thing.

With no shares available for trading, major shareholders who want to boost the stock price must either sell at a low price or issue new shares to stimulate the secondary market.

Wang Yao didn't know how to operate it, but Liu Haifeng did. After hearing Wang Yao's idea, he was even more excited than Wang Yao.

As long as the acquisition cost is lower than the company's output value, it's a huge profit, not to mention that cinema chains are assets that will definitely appreciate in value.

Both sides began setting up a trap for Chengtian Entertainment.

Whether it will work out depends on how greedy the other party is.

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(End of this chapter)