How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 169 This Child is Like Me. [10,000-word Update, Please Subscribe]

When Wang Yao and Ren Quan arrived at the agreed location, Liu Haifeng and Wang Jinhua had already drunk two pots of tea.

"Mr. Morita, let me introduce you. This is Wang Yao, the CEO of Tianhuo and Kanpianer.com."

"Mr. Wang, this is the representative from Chengtian Capital, Morita Ryu." Liu Haifeng stood up and explained to the middle-aged man at the head of the table in English.

"Mr. Wang, I've heard so much about you." Morita Ryu stood up, bowed, and shook hands, greeting him with a somewhat stiff accent.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Morita." Wang Yao shook hands and smiled. His English was so-so, but he could handle everyday conversations.

"Kanpianer.com is a great company. It will change the entire East Asian cinema box office market. Mr. Wang is our great benefactor." Morita Ryu praised with a typical Japanese fake yet genuine smile.

"You flatter me, it's just a minor reform." Wang Yao waved his hand with a smile.

"Mr. Wang is too modest. To be honest, when Mr. Wu described your age to me, I thought he was just trying to scam me into investing by using a fake company," Morita Ryu said with a smile.

It's unclear whether the information revealed was intentional or unintentional.

"Mr. Morita was unaware of Mr. Wu's investment in our Tianhuo?" Wang Yao asked rhetorically.

“We have given Mr. Wu absolute autonomy in operations. Apart from major issues such as the dissolution or restructuring of the company, we basically don’t interfere too much. We just handle routine matters every month,” Morita Ryu explained.

“Mr. Morita values ​​Mr. Wu highly.” Wang Yao smiled.

"But Mr. Wu has clearly failed to live up to our expectations." Morita Ryu pointed to the documents spread out on the table, which was Wang Jinhua's lawsuit, and said with great distress, "For his own selfish desires, he actually drove out such an excellent and important core partner as Ms. Wang. This has an extremely bad impact on the company."

"Perhaps Mr. Wu doesn't have any plans for artist management or film and television production in his daily work," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“We spent nearly $2 million to help him acquire Golden Harvest. When it went public, its market value was close to $3 million. But in less than six months, it has already fallen to around $1.5 million. This is obviously an important signal.” Morita Ryu’s face was full of anger, and he seemed very dissatisfied with Wu Kebo.

“After all, the proportion of shares circulating in the secondary market is small, so it’s normal for the market value to fluctuate. However, we are all very optimistic about Chengtian’s future potential. Otherwise, Brother Liu wouldn’t have been so eager to acquire Chengtian’s shares.” Wang Yao squinted, ignoring Morita’s performance.

Japanese businessmen really love to act.

Even though he knew perfectly well that Liu Haifeng was influencing the stock price behind the scenes, he still chatted and laughed with him.

“Chengtian’s assets are indeed very valuable. In the last assessment, excluding investments and shareholdings, the fixed assets were nearly 2.5 million US dollars, far exceeding the market value,” Morita Ryu nodded.

There are indeed that many fixed assets, no matter how low their market value is.

It was precisely because of its high quality that Wang Yao was interested.

"The cinema chain is a safe and promising direction, and President Wu's strategy is correct," Wang Yao praised.

"No, no, no, if it's just about heavy assets, then why didn't we invest in real estate back then?" Morita shook his head.

"Haven't you been investing in Asia's largest film and television city all this time?" Wang Yao joked.

"That's just a facade. As investors, we still hope to obtain more stable returns in the capital market or in terms of cash flow. But currently, it seems that Mr. Wu has gone astray." Morita Ryu expressed his dissatisfaction again, then changed the subject with a smile and said...
"Tianhuo Media and Meishe are both companies with great potential. The combination of internet, e-commerce, and entertainment forms a complete chain. Mr. Wu's investment was the most correct judgment. However, Mr. Wu doesn't understand how to combine these elements."
If it's just investment and can't achieve a synergistic effect of 1+1>2, then it's regrettable. So, my purpose in coming here today isn't just to investigate Mr. Wu on behalf of the investors after receiving Mr. Liu's report, but also to personally ask for your thoughts on the combination of three companies, or even four companies including the movie website.

After going around in circles, Morita Ryu finally began to state his purpose.

"At the time, President Wu hoped that Tianhuo and Meishe would be restructured and I would become the CEO. He did not mention merging with Chengtian." Wang Yao feigned surprise.

"So, Mr. Wu is a very selfish person and not a qualified CEO." Morita Ryu said with a smile.

“If the four companies merge, it will create a closed-loop entertainment system encompassing content production, online and offline platforms, distribution and brokerage, and IP development. At least in the film and television industry, this company might have the opportunity to surpass Huayi in China.” Wang Yao pondered for a moment.

“President Wang is indeed a man of great talent. Therefore, on behalf of Chengtian Capital, I would like to invite you to seriously consider the merger of the four companies. On behalf of Chengtian Capital, I assure you that we will give you the maximum authority.” Morita Ryu straightened up from his kneeling position and performed a deep bow.

"Mr. Morita, given the current valuations of Tianhuo and Kanpianer.com, I'm afraid Chengtian might not be the largest shareholder after the merger," Wang Yao said with a smile, taking a sip of barley tea.

"It should be about the same, and our company can even consider making a follow-up investment." Morita Ryu smiled.

Before he arrived, he had calculated that with the value of Chengtian's assets, plus his controlling stakes in Meishe (30%), Tianhuo (20%), and Kanpian (10%), he was basically likely to become the major shareholder.

“That was originally how it was, but now, because of Meishe, Chengtian’s valuation may also be affected.” Wang Yao curled the corners of his mouth and handed over the iPad with a playful smile.

Morita Ryu subconsciously took it, glanced at it, and froze.

The above shows the trending topics on Japanese Twitter.

John Kitagawa, president of JNS, Japan's hottest entertainment company, has been accused of sexually harassing his trainees for more than ten years, involving several top boy groups and actors in Japan, with hundreds of victims.

This news will undoubtedly be a bombshell in the entire Japanese entertainment industry, and its impact will last for many years.

"How could this be?" Morita Ryu's face turned pale after reading it.

Because he had a good relationship with this old guy, this kind of thing was not a secret among people in their circle, but how could it be suddenly revealed?
"After all these years, the Japanese still prefer young boys," Wang Yao sighed.

Morita Ryu didn't understand, but Ren Quan and Liu Haifeng exchanged knowing smiles.

Morita Ryu's entire focus is now on this revelation. The influence of Japanese boy bands is not ordinary, and the consequences of such a scandal are unimaginable.

But he quickly came to his senses and frowned as he looked at Wang Yao.

"This matter will indeed have a significant impact on the entertainment industry, but it doesn't seem to affect us," Morita Ryu said, puzzled.

“Meishe just happened to encounter a similar situation,” Wang Yao recounted Feng Jiao’s case.

Morita Ryu's face darkened completely, and the smile he had been hiding vanished from his eyes. "So, Mr. Wang means that Meishe will be significantly affected by this?"

"Meishe's main business is likely to suffer a severe blow, and if the paid platform is ordered to rectify, it will lose millions of yuan every day. More importantly, it may also face a large number of lawsuits for breach of contract by its contracted models."

Because the contracts contain provisions for resource fulfillment, if Meishe.com runs into problems, all the contracted models have grounds to sue for compensation, which could potentially result in losses of tens of millions of US dollars.

Similarly, Meishe's valuation will inevitably be affected. And it's not just Meishe; even Tianhuo will be impacted. This is because it's not just Japan that's experiencing this kind of news; last month, Korea brought up the suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon from last year.
"Currently, 200,000 people have signed a petition in Korea demanding an investigation, and fans are holding up signs that read 'Reject unspoken rules, oppose oppression.' This is no longer just an industry issue," Wang Yao sighed.

After hearing Wang Yao's words, Morita Ryu was completely stunned.

This is too much of a coincidence. News of this kind broke out in three East Asian countries almost at the same time, and it is very likely to spread to the entertainment industry around the world.

If Wang Yao's prediction is true, then Meishe's main business is basically obsolete, leaving only the value of its related shares.

He could almost see an invisible but exceptionally sharp needle hanging over the head of Meishe Company, as if it might fall at any moment and burst the bubble.

Then bomb Cheng Tian, ​​who is closest to it.

Although Chengtian's market value can hardly be reduced any further, its excessive holding of Meishe shares will definitely affect Chengtian's assessment of its asset-light strategy!
And most importantly.

The debt ratio has exploded!

That bastard Wu Kebo has audaciously expanded his original debt of 1 million US dollars to nearly 2 million US dollars. Although it was for the purpose of acquiring Tianhuo, it still reached a terrifying 64%.

If Meishe goes bankrupt, then the shares that Wu Kebo pledged with the cross-shareholdings will be liquidated!

They can either buy it back or wait for creditors to sue and force the use of the fixed assets for enforcement.

In other words, the investment in Meishe has directly turned into a debt!
Fixed assets could potentially shrink by a third every day?!
That's a loss of nearly $1 million?!

This is the risk of excessive mutual holding: all prosper together, and all suffer together.

Even though nothing has happened yet, Morita Ryu is already feeling the pinch.

"Thank you for keeping the appointment today, Mr. Wang, but I suddenly have some urgent business to attend to and must take my leave. Please enjoy your meal. I have already paid the bill." Morita Ryu forced himself to remain calm, stood up to say goodbye, and did not even wait for Liu Haifeng and the others to try to persuade him to stay.

“He’s getting anxious,” Ren Quan said with a smile.

"Hurry, hurry up, everyone!" Wang Yao stretched and picked up a slice of salmon.

In contrast, China's internet industry is still in a playful mood, with people saying "General Manager Wu is dizzy with excitement."

The atmosphere on the external internet was rather tense.

After the scandal involving the Japanese boy band JNS broke out, the entire Japanese social media exploded. In terms of fighting spirit, Japanese fans are the opposite extreme of Korean fans.

Korean fans love to shout, but they don't do anything productive.

Japanese fans are usually quiet, but they really do something when something happens.

Less than three hours after the news broke, JNS was surrounded by boy band fans, and several of Kitagawa's residences were also taken into custody. The fans were preparing to confront him and demand an explanation.

The situation was equally chaotic both online and offline. As the first platform to expose the issue, Myspace attracted a lot of attention from netizens. Consequently, the "Korea Refusal to Submerge" campaign, which had been brewing on MS for half a month, was exposed among Japanese girls.

Japan was the first to test the female version, one version ahead of Korea. The "no diving" policy immediately hit a nerve with the Japanese girls, especially after learning about the Jang Ja-yeon incident. Coupled with the stimulation from JNS, the Japanese and Korean girls shouted "Sisters, stand up!" to each other, and the two sides directly showed their support from afar.

The original petition had only about 200,000 participants, but with the addition of foreign aid, it has now reached nearly 500,000.

The fervor that had been painstakingly suppressed in Korea erupted once again. This time, the Korean girls learned from the new experiences of the Japanese girls, and led by Ewha Womans University, thousands of people took to the streets.

Tensions were high, ready to erupt at any moment. At 8 PM in China, news came from faraway Cannes.

At the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony on the 12th, Fan Bingbing, who shone brightly around the world in a dragon robe, mentioned the 'Zhang Ziyan' incident during an interview on the third day of the festival. She also wrote the words "Reject the unspoken rules" on the back of her hand and generously showed the words to the camera while covering her mouth.

She is the second female celebrity, after Nicole Kidman, to express her stance on such a large occasion.

Fan Bingbing's photos quickly went viral on foreign websites, and a "one person, one photo, reject unspoken rules" campaign was even launched on MS.

Imitating Fan Bingbing's photos, write five Chinese characters on your hand, then cover your mouth and take a selfie.

The implication is that even if you cover your mouth, justice will still seep through your fingers.

After the news reached China, just two days ago everyone was criticizing Fan Bingbing for wearing a dragon robe that was an embarrassment to the country, but unexpectedly, she is actually going to ascend the throne.

After rejecting a wealthy family's offer last time, Fan Bingbing has once again transformed from a queen to an empress in her speech, and this time the voices of support are clearly even more enthusiastic.

The "covering mouth for selfies" trend has spread like wildfire on MS, and other social media platforms have quickly followed suit, afraid of missing out on the trend.

Along with the official spread of Zhang Ziyan's "tragic story in the Korean entertainment industry," it quickly spread, bringing Wu Kebo's harem incident, which was originally joked about for "fainting the Taoist priest," back into the spotlight and being ridiculed again.

Moreover, this time it's not just a matter of public opinion, but also a matter of morality, since he is arguably the person closest to the 'unspoken rules'.

The concept of "social death" doesn't exist yet, but Wu Kebo has already experienced it.

When he received the message, he jumped right out of his hospital bed.

He was going to go all out with the act, originally planning to use hospitalization to buy some time, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

A major scandal involving a CEO can directly cause fluctuations in the company's market value.

Wang Yao, Liu Haifeng, and others will definitely pull some dirty tricks behind the scenes tomorrow, and the market value may very well fall to a level that no one can accept.

Before Wu Kebo could react, Morita Ryu called.

“Mr. Wu, if the stock price really falls below $1 million tomorrow, you might really have to perform seppuku for the board.” Morita Ryu had been scolding him all afternoon and was really out of the mood. “No matter what method you use, persuade Wang Yao to restructure the three companies.”

Wu Kebo broke out in a cold sweat and immediately tried to call Wang Yao, but his phone was switched off.

Then they called Ren Quan and others, and even Chen Hao, but all their phones were switched off.

Oh no, this is terrible.

"Oh no, this is terrible."

Lehman was stunned when he received the news.

Fan Bingbing ascended the throne of empress, but at the cost of the collapse of Meishe.com.

He doesn't even need to think; he can anticipate it.

If Tianhuo upholds justice for Feng Jiao by tomorrow morning, coupled with Fan Bingbing's global "anti-substitution" remarks, Meishe.com will have virtually no chance of turning the tide, and its name may be forever associated with the label of "substitution rules."

He had already asked around, and no one wanted to bring bad luck at this time.

This incident may directly reverse the recently relaxed regulations, returning them to the conservative levels of five years ago. It's likely that the paid online photography industry will never again see large companies like Meishe.

Not to mention going public.

When Meishe had all the advantages last year, Lehman felt that he was far ahead and would be the undisputed monopolist in this field. But he never expected that someone would be able to cut off this path.

Lehman suddenly recalled the comments people in the industry had made about Chen Tianjiao of Shengda.

He moved faster than anyone else, faster than anyone else, so fast that there were no enemies and no road ahead.

Lehman was finally devastated and took out his phone to call the few people he had just talked to that afternoon who were willing to take over his company.

"Old Li, Meishe shares, 1 million, take it."

Lehman Brothers' 25% stake, originally worth 500 million, is now being sold at a 20% discount.

Even so, compared to his initial investment of 1400 million, the revenue is still 7 times.

"Old Lei, I offered you 2 million this afternoon but you didn't sell. Now that the truth has come out, do you think I'll take it and use it as my coffin lid?" The man opposite sneered.

“Regardless, Meishe also owns 45% of Tianhuo’s shares. So, is it not worthwhile to buy 10% of Tianhuo’s shares for 1 million?” Lehman said in a deep voice.

"If it were really a good deal, would you sell it to me?" Old Li countered.

“I just don’t want to be stimulated anymore,” Lehman said with a wry smile.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow." Old Li hesitated for a moment, deciding to see how things went tomorrow.

With Meishe collapsing, Alibaba might switch to Tianhuo, so he felt it was safer to follow the lead of the big players.

"Tomorrow? The price won't be this high tomorrow." Lehman sneered and hung up the phone.

Wang Yao's face suddenly appeared in my mind.

How come this kid is so lucky?
Not only Lehman Brothers, but other shareholders of Meishe are also looking around to see if anyone is willing to take over, especially Alibaba.

They spearheaded a 2 million yuan cash investment, but unexpectedly, it may all go down the drain in less than a month. Not only that, but more importantly, without the support of Meishe, the "one-click matching" function, which was just about to take flight, may suffer a major loss.

Inexpensive models and photography resources are hard to find replacements for in a short time.

Moreover, with Tianhuo speaking out for Feng Jiao, the overall cost of the online auction industry will also increase. If I had known this, I would have used the money to set up my own outsourcing company.

Normally, if such a small project loses money, so be it; Ma Yun and Cai Chongxin wouldn't waste their energy personally getting involved.

But once the project design platform is transformed, it's no longer a matter of money, it's a matter of strategy.

"This kid, he's really got a lot of trouble." Ma Yun called a quick meeting with Cai Chongxin and Cheng Wei.

"You're saying he orchestrated this whole thing with Fan Bingbing? Does he have that kind of ability?" Cai Chongxin frowned.

He thought it was just a coincidence, but Feng Jiao's situation was indeed beyond his expectations.

“But he will combine all these extra factors together, turning a dud into a bomb, and then detonating it with a bang,” Ma Yun laughed.

"I've been thwarted twice by this young man, so I'll remember him," Cai Chongxin said with a wry smile.

He could hear the sarcasm in Ma Yun's voice. If he had listened to Ma Yun back then and directly bought shares in Tianhuo at a premium, perhaps he wouldn't be in so much trouble today.

It was indeed his misjudgment; Wang Yao wasn't some dud that everyone could bully. This kid was a real bombshell.

"What does Xiao Cheng think?" Ma Yun asked Cheng Wei.

"Wang Yao is a young man with a strong sense of purpose, and he has the same chivalrous spirit as Boss Ma," Cheng Wei commented after a moment of contemplation.

"Oh? This kid is like me? Then Xiao Cheng, could you arrange a meeting with him for me tomorrow? I want to meet him in person." Ma Yun said with a smile.

Just as Cheng Wei was about to say something, the door to the small conference room was suddenly knocked open, and Ma Yun's special assistant handed over a document with a solemn expression.

"Two hours ago, the data department detected abnormal traffic data on JD.com and Vancl. An hour ago, the traffic of both platforms doubled, the reason being 'women's safety'."

"Women's safety?" Ma Yun and the other two were taken aback at the same time. The term was somewhat unfamiliar. They were stunned again after opening the document.

The document shows that JD.com experienced an abnormal surge in traffic of more than ten times within an hour, all stemming from a single search term, "women's safety." However, there were fewer than 20 stores listed under this term, and the products they sold were also quite strange.

Low-power electric baton, pepper spray, safety whistle, self-defense flashlight, tactical pen
They sell all self-defense items, and these shops all seem to be new, with no sales yet, but there's no doubt that their sales will skyrocket soon.

The data feedback from Vancl was even more direct, because they released a T-shirt with the five words "Reject Unspoken Rules" printed on it, which was simple and consistent with Vancl's previous style.

"The source of this entry? It can't be Mulan Street, can it?" Ma Yun's voice was somewhat gloomy.

The earliest related entries on Mulan Street appeared three months ago, and the frequency has not been high in the last two months. The main sources are social media channels such as MSN, Weibo, and forums.

The data department predicts that the buzz surrounding Fan Bingbing's "refusal to engage in sexual activity" will drive 3000 million visits to these two platforms, resulting in at least tens of millions in sales for JD.com. "The assistant quickly replied."

“This is a new market.” Cai Chongxin said with a solemn expression.

Moreover, if JD.com can seize this niche market segment, it may be able to ride the wave of opportunity and capture a group of people with extremely strong potential purchasing power.

“Contact Wang Yao, I want to see him,” Ma Yun chuckled.

"This child resembles me."

(End of this chapter)