How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 185 Superheroes is not science fiction, it's a documentary.
The production team of "22.22" spent a week preparing and officially started test shooting. At the same time, Alibaba finally responded to the e-commerce counterfeit scandal.

Ma Yun publicly stated that counterfeit goods are a fatal flaw in the development of all business models. The platform will cooperate with the official crackdown on counterfeit goods and strengthen online inspections and spot checks to vigorously eliminate the phenomenon of counterfeit goods. However, the results were not optimistic. As a result, this statement triggered a wave of C-store closures, with nearly a thousand stores being deregistered on the same day.

Meanwhile, vertical B2C websites such as Vancl, Dangdang, and JD.com have increased their promotional efforts, using Alibaba's trust crisis as an excuse to promote the advantages of their own self-operated and vertical platforms.

Alibaba's stock price fell by more than 5%, prompting the investment industry to begin a new round of evaluation of the two e-commerce platform models: "large department stores" and "boutique stores".

However, the very next day, Alibaba announced that its B2C platform, Taobao Mall, would become independent in June. It also announced a series of high entry security deposits and consumer protection rights, such as "7-day no-reason return policy," "genuine product guarantee," and "brand self-operated" services. In addition, it announced that more than 100 international and domestic brands had joined Taobao Mall, including popular brands such as Nike, Adidas, Dell, and Changxiang.

They have officially entered the fray to compete in the B2C market.

Wang Yao glanced at the Taobao Mall homepage, which was almost a simplified version of Taobao. Clearly, this strategy was a last-minute decision and was not adequately prepared.

Mr. Ma must be quite busy right now.

Wang Yao didn't want to cause trouble for him at this time, but there was nothing he could do, since Alibaba was now the major shareholder of Meishe.

Just as the entire internet was debating whether counterfeit goods were beneficial or detrimental, the "Model Channel," which had been established on the Ms platform for almost half a month, suddenly announced 36 lawsuits against Meishe Company for its inaction towards models signed with the platform, resulting in coercion of the models. At the same time, there were also hundreds of lawsuits filed by Meishe's contracted models against Meishe for compensation for contract termination.

Originally two unrelated industries, the overlapping issues of platform supervision and responsibilities have sparked multi-dimensional discussions among the public about internet platforms.

There's a popular post on Ms. (a Chinese social networking service) with over 100,000 likes titled "What's the difference between a platform and a mistress?"

The post discusses the similarities between the roles of a platform and a mistress, concluding that, besides mistresses, now there's another entity in the world where, if you're responsible to someone, they won't be responsible to you: the platform.

It quickly sparked heated discussions.

The main targets are clearly Alibaba and Meishe.

Alibaba is fine now, but Meishe is a different story. Meishe is like a candle in the wind, and could collapse at the slightest disturbance.

Suddenly, hundreds of lawsuits were filed, including criminal ones, with total compensation exceeding 100 million yuan. This not only shocked the entire internet but also nearly destroyed He Ming, the legal representative of Meishe.

Although he knew that becoming a legal representative was not a good thing, the sudden audacity of this action did indeed take him by surprise.

In contrast, acting CEO Xu Chen remained relatively calm. He had sold all his shares to Alibaba, and the company still had less than 2 million yuan in reserves and 4 million yuan in outstanding debts, which would be enough to cover all of them.

The only problem is that, in this way, the beauty photography becomes completely worthless.

He felt that this was probably what Wang Yao wanted to see.

After chasing away the crying He Ming, Xu Chen thought for a moment and then called Wang Yao.

"Mr. Wang, Alibaba wants me to collect the debt from Cheng Tian."

“Then let’s go for it. Alibaba is now the largest shareholder with a 47% stake,” Wang Yao said casually.

“But Cheng Tian probably won’t be able to come up with the money,” Xu Chen said hesitantly.

“If you can’t come up with the money, you can use your assets as collateral. With nearly 20 billion in fixed assets, are you afraid of not being able to get back 4 million?” Wang Yao laughed.

"Do you think it's better to have shares or assets?" Xu Chen asked tentatively.

Wang Yao seemed to be at the seaside, and could vaguely hear the waves and the sound of crashing.

"Either way, Alibaba wants the shares, and Kanpian.com wants the assets. Either way, we won't lose out," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“I understand.” Xu Chen received the hint and turned to call Wu Kebo.

"Mr. Wu, help me!"

"Mr. Xu, what makes you say that?" Wu Kebo's heart sank as soon as Xu Chen spoke.

His plan to drive the dog away and devour the tiger had reached a critical juncture when Xu Chen came to collect the debt—a matter of life and death.

"You must have seen the news, right? Meishe is in big trouble. Alibaba has asked us to prepare a compensation plan, but Meishe doesn't have enough money in its accounts," Xu Chen sighed.

"Mr. Xu, it's not that I don't want to pay you back, it's just that I'm also having a tough time right now. You can see from the stock price. I'll pay you back as soon as there's any financing I can get," Wu Kebo said, feigning poverty.

“I understand Mr. Wu’s difficulties, so I am willing to bear the losses from the breach of contract and calculate the debt at 8% of the original price. That is, as long as you pay us 3.2 million yuan in cash or assets every day, it will offset the previous 4 million yuan dismantling. I don’t even want the interest,” Xu Chen said in a deep voice.

Wu Kebo was stunned.

Logically speaking, this 8% discount and interest-free policy is indeed a great deal, equivalent to paying off 1 million yuan of debt in one day. Under normal circumstances, Wu Kebo would definitely be willing to do so, but now he really can't come up with a single penny. If he were to use his assets to pay off the debt, he was afraid that Morita Ryu would really make him commit seppuku.

However, Xu Chen's willingness to offer a discount to collect the debt was indeed somewhat unexpected. Is Meishe really in such dire straits?
Although Alibaba is currently embroiled in controversy, surely it can afford to be unable to support itself with this amount of money.

"Mr. Xu, is the situation really that serious?" Wu Kebo suddenly had a bad feeling.

"It's not just Meishe that's facing difficulties; it seems Alibaba is also in a very serious situation. They've already given a firm order: if negotiations fail, they'll proceed directly to litigation," Xu Chen sighed.

"Huh?!" Wu Kebo exclaimed in surprise.

Different butterflies have different colored tears.

Zhang Yuqi flew all the way here to show Wang Yao this new discovery at the beach.

"That bastard is begging me to get back together again." Zhang Yuqi lazily curled up on the beach, watching Wang Yao prepare to cast his fishing rod.

After catching Wang Xiaofei cheating in Beijing, she officially broke up with him. However, because it involved helping Qiao Jiangnan with publicity, Zhang Lan reached an agreement with her to continue their on-screen couple relationship, paying her a fee each time they cooperated with the publicity.

Zhang Yuqi wanted to refuse, but Wang Yao persuaded her, "Why not take money that's free?"
Zhang Yuqi thought Wang Yao had some kind of fetish, so she reluctantly agreed.

"He's quite devoted to love," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Pretending to be sentimental, it's disgusting how self-pitying she is." Zhang Yuqi scoffed. "Someone asked me to act in 'White Deer Plain'."

“You’re not suitable.” Wang Yao glanced at her.

"After 'Fairy Robe' ends, what are you planning to do with me?" Zhang Yuqi asked, frowning.

“If you want to act, go check out the Happy Twist stage plays. They’re currently rehearsing scripts that will be released in theaters in the future. If you want something more comfortable, there’s a travel variety show coming out in the second half of the year,” Wang Yao said.

"A travel variety show?" Zhang Yuqi asked, getting up with some curiosity.

"It's just about eating, shopping, and having fun, with some product placements," Wang Yao said with a smile.

He just signed a series of collaborations with Zheng Ziwen regarding the Zheng family business, including the promotion of the blockbuster K11, and plans to produce a travel variety show similar to "Sisters Over Flowers". They plan to find several sponsors in Hong Kong and then film one season to test the waters.

"That sounds amazing! I want to participate!" Zhang Yuqi said with a big smile. "But I also want to see the play."

"You're quite greedy," Wang Yao chuckled.

"What's wrong with eating a little more if you don't eat much?" Zhang Yuqi gave him a charmingly flirtatious look.

“You don’t eat little, you just have a small appetite,” Wang Yao shook his head.

"What? Not satisfied? Can't you eat without Zhang Meng?" Zhang Yuqi frowned and snorted.

"You'll know next time we have a meal together," Wang Yao glanced at her.

"Get lost! What do you take me for?" Zhang Yuqi retorted angrily. This came at a time when the entire internet was discussing counterfeit goods and consumer rights issues.

The third Huading Awards finally eased the tense public opinion atmosphere on May 5.29th. This new award, formerly a survey organization on the public image satisfaction of performing artists, was sponsored by enterprises and this year it was quite a big deal to distribute the prize money.

The reason it was able to surpass the two hottest items was mainly due to the dramatic effect of Feng Xiaopao's veiled insults against Zhao Benshan at the awards ceremony, which led to Zhao slapping him in the face.

This move also shows that Feng Xiaopao has indeed become a bit arrogant after Huayi's listing.

However, it did divert a lot of people's attention.

Perhaps seeing that this method worked well, Ma Yun actually called Wang Yao herself.

"Mr. Wang, the recent counterfeit goods scandal has had a significant impact, and Mulan Street must have been affected as well," Ma Yun asked with a smile.

In fact, Mulan Street was not greatly affected, because the brands on the platform are basically the brands that Wang Yao cooperates with for operation, and all of them have done background checks and breach of contract clauses in advance.

"Yes, sales have dropped by at least 30%," Wang Yao sighed.

"Don't be discouraged. This is just a small problem or growing pain encountered in the process of development. As long as we don't lose heart, there are always more solutions than problems," Ma Yun said with a smile.

“Mr. Ma is right. We’ve been paying close attention to our partners lately,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"The development of the e-commerce industry is not just Alibaba's business. Others may not see the stakes clearly, but Mr. Wang certainly does. The industry hasn't reached the point of internal competition yet. What we should be doing now is weathering the storm together, not engaging in internal sabotage."
"Regardless, the public attention seems a bit too intense. Mr. Wang is a master of publicity; I wonder if he has any advice?" Ma Yun said after exchanging pleasantries.

He has already tacitly agreed to the 'acquisition' of Skyfire, which is why he made this call personally. He doesn't want the outside world to know, and he also wants to use other methods to divert public attention.

"Mr. Ma wants to cool things down?" Wang Yao squinted.

“That’s right. It’s not that we’re afraid or trying to avoid the important issues, but we just don’t want these things to take up too much public resources,” Ma Yun said in a deep voice.

"This level of cooling is probably too expensive," Wang Yao pondered, quickly thinking of feasible projects.

"Are you confident?" Ma Yun's tone hardened.

Alibaba is facing hundreds of millions of yuan in losses in both stock prices and revenue every day recently, and the intangible losses are even more incalculable. Ma Yun naturally knows that the cost of stopping the losses will not be small.

"The film industry has been quite lively lately, which might be a good way to divert attention," Wang Yao said.

“Yes, how much do you need?” Ma Yun asked in a deep voice.

Ultimately, the film industry should not be able to hold Alibaba accountable.

“Currently, the daily discussion volume of Activity A is in the hundreds of millions. To create a topic of the same level, it would cost at least nearly ten million per day,” Wang Yao quoted a price.

“It is indeed quite expensive,” Ma Yun muttered upon hearing this, but compared to the current losses, it seemed like a drop in the ocean. “It’s inconvenient for our two parties to transfer funds. How about this, I’ll give you 10% of Meishe’s shares. You can work hard.”

The only valuable asset Meishe currently holds is its shares in Tianhuo, which, according to the conversion, would be worth nearly 1 million yuan for 10%.

Under normal circumstances, it would be considered generous of Ma Yun to give him these shares.

However, Meishe is now facing not only negative news but also a large number of potential compensation crises. It is clear that Meishe is being treated as a junk asset and is being prepared to be disposed of quickly, but there is no suitable buyer.

Ma Yun simply came up with this method to indirectly 'redeem' Wang Yao.

“Mr. Ma, you certainly know how to do business.” Wang Yao paused for a moment, then chuckled.

"Mr. Wang, you didn't lose out, did you?" Ma Yun said with a smile.

He had grasped that Wang Yao definitely wanted to redeem his shares.

"I'll try my best." Wang Yao agreed first, then turned around and pulled up the backend data of the movie website.

May is considered a prime time for movies, with several big-budget domestic and international productions being released this month, including "Triple Tap," "Ip Man 2," "Iron Man 2," "How to Train Your Dragon," and "Monster 4."

Among them, "Ye 2" became the box office champion for three consecutive weeks thanks to the explosive word-of-mouth of the first film, and has accumulated a total box office of 1.6 million yuan.

"Iron Man 2" failed to take the box office crown in its opening week, but it defied the trend and overtook it in its second week, currently holding the top spot with 1.2 million yuan. It is certain to surpass "Leaf 2" next week. Meanwhile, "Iron Man 2" has already reached 1.2 million US dollars in global box office after two weeks of release, and it is predicted that the final box office will exceed 6 million US dollars.

This continues the trend of superhero movies achieving global success.

First came Avatar at the beginning of the year, followed by Iron Man 2. These two films have put immense pressure on the global film industry, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.

Film forums in every country are discussing the same question: why is Hollywood able to produce such a consistent stream of superhero movies, while other countries can't?

The same applies to the Huaxia Forum. The emergence of online ticketing has generally increased box office revenue and attendance by 20-30%, attracting a wider audience and thus generating more discussion.

Kanpianer.com, currently the most active functional movie social forum in China, has also been discussing related issues recently.

Wang Yao inquired internally and found out that in order to compete in the arena, the publicity and distribution expenses for "Leaf 2" had already burned through nearly 6000 million yuan, but "Steel 2" had only spent less than 1000 million yuan, and the rest was all natural discussion and fermentation.

Even if "Ye 2" wins, it will probably be a Pyrrhic victory, and judging from the number of screenings next week, "Ye 2" has probably given up.

Wang Yao glanced at the mainstream opinions and content on the movie website, held an impromptu meeting with Kevin Rudd and Jin Quan, and an hour later, a new post appeared on the movie website.

Why can Hollywood make good superhero movies? Because they've actually seen them.

The post was very simple, with no argument, just statements.

"Zhang Taofang, the 'King of Snipers,' a soldier from the 72nd Division of the 24th Army, set a sniping record of killing 214 enemy soldiers with 442 bullets between January and May 1953 using a Mosin-Nagant rifle without a scope."

In the Battle of Shangganling in November 1952, 19-year-old Hu Xiudao, known as the "Tunnel Warfare God," and two comrades held the No. 3 position on Hill 597.9. After his squad leader went to support other positions, he single-handedly repelled 41 enemy attacks, killing more than 280 enemy soldiers, creating a miracle of individual defense in the history of human warfare.

He successfully deceived the enemy by setting up decoys at multiple firing positions and throwing empty ammunition boxes to create the illusion of a large-scale battle.

In the Battle of Xue Mali in April 1951, Liu Guangzi, a soldier of the 63rd Army, led only two new recruits to pursue the elite British Royal Gloucester Regiment.

He used the terrain to throw dozens of grenades while shouting "Surrender and you will not be killed" in English, which resulted in the collective surrender of 63 British soldiers, setting a new record for the highest number of enemy soldiers captured by a single soldier in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

Zou Xixiang, a sniper from the 15th Army, combined traditional hunting skills with modern sniper tactics, achieving a precise record of killing 203 enemy soldiers with 206 bullets at the 537.7 North Mountain position in Shangganling.

By observing the enemy's activity patterns, he targeted officers, gunners, and messengers, forcing the enemy to keep their eyes closed during the day and to carry out nighttime transport.

After its tactics were adopted, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army annihilated over 13 enemy soldiers with sniper fire, directly altering the local battlefield situation.

A series of familiar words and numbers were combined to form a shocking post. After the post was published, the most frequent replies were not discussions, but rather...

'? ? ? '

Why does Iron Man's high-tech outfit suddenly seem bulky and comical?

Within half an hour of the post being published, it received tens of thousands of replies and countless reposts on the movie website.

Forty minutes later, a trending topic appeared on social media platforms such as Weibo.

'Superhero movies are not science fiction, they are documentaries.'

This caused an uproar, and unfamiliar names and deeds began to be circulated in a strange way.

(End of this chapter)