How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 256 A Cancerous Behavior: Maliciously Inflating Salaries (Part 2)

After the restructuring, Tianhuo's total share capital is 4.8 million. In the period following the resumption of trading, it has benefited from a series of positive factors, including the parent company's revenue growth rate, the growth rate of the cinema market, the expansion of cross-border business, and the Changbai Mountain incident.

After the stock price nearly fell below 2 yuan after the market resumed trading, it rose to around 6 yuan, almost doubling the profits from the initial acquisition of Xingmei and Wang Yao, and fulfilling the promises made to other securities firms and shareholders.

Originally, Xingmei held 44.4% of the shares and Tianhuo (Meishe) held 42%, with the two major shareholders holding more than 86.4% of the shares. Subsequently, as the stock price rose and the pressure of releasing public circulating shares increased, the two major shareholders gradually reduced their holdings.

In the end, Xingmei held 30% of the shares, Tianhuo held 40%, and the rest were traded on the secondary market.

This is the company's first major announcement since the restructuring, and it's all good news. The addition of Wang Jinhua and Fan Bingbing alone is enough to make Tianhuo's value prospects catch up with Huayi. Moreover, after the integration of Tianhuo's cinema chains, it occupies almost one-third of the cinema market. From any perspective, its stock price may catch up with Huayi.

However, precisely because it involves issuing bonds, and is a risky strategy, even convertible bonds intended to boost shareholder confidence cannot stem the market's bearish sentiment.

Within four hours, the stock price was triggered multiple times during the cooling-off period, plummeting to the 4s and nearly halved in value, resulting in a direct loss of over a billion dollars in market value.

This overly aggressive bond issuance method, if not supported by five consecutive major positive developments, would likely have caused the stock price to plummet to rock bottom, as it felt too much like a scheme to raise funds and run away.

However, near the close of trading, some rumors circulated within the industry, suggesting that Tianhuo Entertainment's unusual bond issuance, coupled with five major positive news items, might be an attempt to suppress the stock price in preparation for Tianhuo Media's backdoor listing and reduce costs.

The news of Tianwang's backdoor listing has been circulating for over a month, and this strange operation combined with the rumors has piqued the interest of many people.

If we only look at Tianhuo Entertainment, its net assets and future prospects are at most around 10 billion yuan, similar to Huayi. However, if Tianwang goes public through a reverse merger, it could become a leading company with at least 20 billion yuan in assets.

Because Tianwang's revenue and gross margin in Q2 were very impressive, and most importantly, Tianwang also has Taobao Girl, a platform with e-commerce DNA.

The stock price was pushed back up to the 4s in the final minutes of trading, but the institutions that were subscribing to convertible bonds suddenly became very interested. However, when they went to contact the relevant parties to prepare to subscribe to a portion of the shares, they received some surprising news.

The private placement bond issuance has been completed, and the fundraising has been finished.

???

Such a high-risk bond issuance method, with funds raised in such a short time, is undoubtedly a behind-the-scenes deal! Releasing negative news about bond financing might just be a way to shake out these investors!
That further confirms the possibility that Skynet is planning a backdoor listing!

Many institutions that cleared out their positions in Tianhuo in the afternoon are now regretting their actions.

What upset them even more was that in the evening, Tianhuo Entertainment and Fan Bingbing's official social media accounts simultaneously released a message.

Skyfire and Fox are co-producing a film project called "Queen of Silicon Valley," based on the life of legendary CEO Carole Batzi. Fan Bingbing is slated to play the second female lead. The project has a budget of $1 million.

They just bombarded the film and television industry this morning, and now they're bombarding it again tonight, this time with a genuine Hollywood blockbuster project that's obviously going to be released globally. No wonder Skyfire is in such a hurry to raise funds to buy AMC Theatres!
It's working! It's working! Everything's working right away!

Skyfire is really going all-in on overseas expansion. Maybe Fox even has backing for the acquisition of the theater chain. No wonder they dare to go all in on this acquisition.

In the past, when domestic film and television companies talked about going global, it was mostly about projects like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, which were essentially Hollywood hype projects aimed at reaping the domestic market, or projects aimed at promoting their artists and raising their market value.

But Skyfire is clearly not like that. They are prepared to spend real money to buy international cinema chains. AMC is one of the world's largest cinema chains, with its core business entirely in North America and Europe. If they don't have confidence in operating it well, this money will be wasted.

Moreover, the actual person in charge of Tianhuo is Wang Yao, and the major shareholder is Tan Hui of Xingmei. One of them is a prodigy in Shanghai, and the other is a wild king in Beijing. Neither of them seems like a fool, and they would not easily take such a risk.

This is a serious strategy, and if the acquisition is successful, then China will truly have a foothold overseas in the future, and the potential for growth becomes limitless.

That evening, many institutions that sensed the potential for profit sought to connect with Tianhuo's major shareholders or securities firms, hoping to get a share of the pie.

I'd even accept opening a private equity fund!
The film and television industry was in an uproar. Giants like Huayi Brothers felt a strong sense of crisis. Although there had been rumors of Wang Jinhua's return to Tianhuo, no one was too worried.

After all, the "old, weak, sick and disabled" under Wang Jinhua's command were already second-tier in terms of commercial value. However, the addition of Shuang Bing was really unexpected. Moreover, with Wang Jinhua added to the mix, it was practically the same lineup that Huayi had at its peak.

Add to that the current influence of Skyfire Cinemas, the grand strategy of acquiring AMC, and now the announcement of a $1 million budget for co-producing "Queen of Silicon Valley" with Fox, which is almost the highest level of investment for a co-production film, and it seems poised to dethrone Huayi Brothers and firmly establish itself as the leader in the film and television sector.

Thanks to online ticketing, the film market revenue has surged this year. Feng Xiaogang's "Tangdi" grossed 4 million yuan in less than a month after its release last month, and is expected to reach 7 million yuan, successfully securing its place as the highest-grossing domestic film of the year.

As a result, Huayi's stock price has remained stable at over 10 billion, and it has not been greatly affected even by the threat of Berna's listing in the United States.

However, Tianhuo Entertainment has brought real pressure to the entire Chinese entertainment industry this time because its expansion and development strategies are too aggressive. Moreover, Tianhuo Entertainment can no longer be considered a traditional film and television company, as its parent company is engaged in new media/e-commerce and now holds shares in Leshi. Within the industry, it can only be referred to as an 'Internet film and television' company.

Both 'Genesis 101' and 'Silicon King' are international projects, and no domestic film and television plans have been announced yet.

The cast of "Silicon King" is top-tier Hollywood urban comedy, and it's rumored that Fan Bingbing's salary of 800 million US dollars almost surpasses the salaries of all male and female artists except Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Although everyone knows this is just an attempt to artificially inflate Fan Bingbing's value, it will have a very negative impact on the industry: inflation!

The highest salary for a top domestic actress is currently around one million US dollars, with Zhang Ziyi being the highest. She originally claimed that she received a sky-high salary of 400 million US dollars for "Geisha", surpassing Gong Li by a wide margin. However, due to the decline in her commercial value and various negative news last year, her salary has dropped.

The average salary of the other two Bing and four Dan actresses generally fluctuates between 150 million and 300 million yuan (based on Forbes' 09 figures), with no particularly large differences.

Although the salaries of top-tier celebrities have increased significantly this year due to the growth of the box office market and the influx of hot money, it is a bit too outrageous for someone like Fan Bingbing to have their value increase more than tenfold.

This will directly cause a serious situation of inflation in film and television salaries within the industry. If other female artists are all aiming for this salary, then male artists will also have to aim for it, and the production cost of the film may reach a terrifying figure.

This is absolutely a cancerous act by Skyfire, maliciously inflating actor salaries.

Immediately, the top figures in the industry began to contact Tianhuo. Wang Yao was not familiar with people in the industry, after all, he was a cross-industry player from the internet sector. His previous connections within the industry were mainly due to the Kanpianer.com business, and he mainly liaised with Ren Quan.

After all, Wang Yao didn't take the initiative to establish contact with them at the Shiba banquet, so they naturally wouldn't 'lower themselves' to try and get close to a junior.

But who could have imagined that in less than half a year, this junior from another industry would become a colleague who was on par with them, or even better? What's worse, with Tan Hui around, even Huayi Lao Wang didn't dare to make any rash moves and could only express his opinions and dissatisfaction indirectly.

We're all in the same boat, don't you guys consult with each other before you start doing things?

Among them, the person Wang Yao is most familiar with is Yu Dong of Bona, with whom he has a close working relationship in the variety show field. In fact, because of his previous investment in Meishe, he also holds a minority stake in Tianhuo.

Yu Dong's biggest regret now is that he didn't buy at the bottom after Tianhuo's restructuring and resumption of trading. When Wang Yao announced the "Genesis 101" plan, he specifically asked him if he wanted to get deeply involved.

However, Yu Dong declined the offer because he wanted to focus on the film and television business and was unfamiliar with idol record companies. If the acquisition of AMC is successful, and Huaxia Company can control such a core group of cinema resources in the West, it will be an absolute boon for Berna, which is going public in the US at the end of the year.

So before the market closed in the afternoon, he urgently convened a board meeting and finally decided to get involved and give Tianhuo a boost. Unexpectedly, the private equity quota was all gone.

This is a private equity fund with a scale of 10 billion yuan, and it's a negative risk financing. It was snapped up as soon as it was released?

"Mr. Wang, your current funds probably aren't enough, right? Are you going to acquire the company in stages?" Yu Dong asked after processing this unexpected news.

"I do have that idea, but negotiations will take some time, and AMC's debts are very complicated, so I wouldn't dare pay the full amount all at once," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“That 1 billion wouldn’t be enough, the down payment would need to be at least 2 billion,” Yu Dong said with a smile.

A cross-border merger and acquisition deal of this scale should require at least one-third of the funds to be prepaid, right? Does Tianhuo really have 10 billion yuan in its accounts?
"Yes, there is indeed a funding gap, but it's not a big problem. President Tan can raise some more funds, and the Le family will also help out," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"The significance of acquiring AMC is no less than that of the acquisition of IBM or Geely's acquisition of Volvo. This is an important step for China's film and television industry to go global. We can't let foreigners look down on us. So if Mr. Wang can make a call within the industry, I estimate that many colleagues will be willing to lend a helping hand to Tianhuo. After all, it is a benefit for the entire industry," Yu Dong said with a smile.

“This acquisition is indeed very risky. I didn’t want to trouble my peers. It would be great if we made a profit, but it would be embarrassing if we lost money.” Wang Yao smiled.

"Mr. Wang, you're being too polite. As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Tianhuo has the ability and confidence to go global, which we old guys admire. Besides, investment itself carries risks. We're just calling on like-minded people to join us in this great undertaking." Yu Dong's tone became serious.

"Thank you for your support and understanding, Mr. Yu," Wang Yao said with emotion.

“At least Berna is definitely willing to contribute. Although their capabilities are limited, they can still raise two or three hundred million,” Yu Dong stated.

Berna has entered the final stage of its IPO, and the feedback from securities firms and the market has been very good. Although there is not much liquid cash on the books because a large amount of funds have been invested in the variety show in cooperation with Tianhuo, Berna has little debt and can raise funds.

"Mr. Yu wants to participate in this bond issuance?" Wang Yao asked thoughtfully.

“Although the variety show hasn’t aired yet, I’ve already seen the finished product of ‘Sister Hua’. The effect exceeded my expectations, and the sponsorship revenue is quite considerable. In the future, Berna hopes to have closer cooperation with Tianhuo in the field of variety shows, so we want to hold more shares in Tianhuo, whether it’s buying bonds or direct investment,” Yu Dong said with a smile.

Although Tianhuo currently has an extremely high debt ratio, the company as a whole is profitable and has high-quality assets. From the perspective of long-term holding and strategic cooperation, it is absolutely positive for Berna.

The only thing to worry about is that Wang Yao might reverse-acquire the company.

“It’s not easy to issue more shares after just issuing bonds. I’ll see if anyone inside is willing to give up some shares to President Yu, but the price certainly won’t be low.” Wang Yao did not refuse.

Upon hearing this, Yu Dong was overjoyed, exchanged a few pleasantries, and ended the call.

"What did Yu Dong say?" Tan Hui asked, putting down his cigar as Wang Yao hung up the phone.

"I'm looking to buy bonds or invest in stocks, with a budget of two or three hundred million," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Berna is out of funds, isn't it? Does it need financing?" Ren Quan asked.

Although Kanpianer.com is not a major shareholder of Tianhuo, it is a key player in the cinema business. This acquisition of AMC will require borrowing and mortgaging Kanpianer.com's funds.

Ren Quan originally hoped to increase Tianhuo's net asset value by directly holding shares in each other, but this was opposed by others. Firstly, the acquisition of AMC was too risky. The main revenue of Kanpian.com was still in the 'publicity and distribution business'. Although the cinema revenue prospects were high, those shareholders could not cash out in time.

AMCs are all international businesses, and they don't have any monetizable resources overseas, which is equivalent to deviating from the company's main business. However, their participation is not entirely wrong.

Secondly, as beneficiaries of Meishe Mutual Support, they do not want to follow in Meishe's footsteps.

However, considering Wang Yao's influence, they decided to directly use cash loans. The integration of the Tianhuo Cinema Chain was completed by the end of last month. Yaolai will focus on the high-end market, Xingmei will focus on the first and second-tier markets, Kanpianer.com will focus on the second, third and fourth-tier markets, and Tianhuo will be responsible for Southeast Asia and overseas markets. The four parties will develop without interfering with each other and can move in a unified manner to meet the needs of all groups and exert absolute pressure on other cinema chains.

With the addition of value-added services such as one-day store managers and experience stores, the online business of Kanpianer.com has grown extremely rapidly in less than half a month, with annual members reaching five million and box office revenue reaching 1 million in just half a month.

With one-third of the nation's cinemas, it has captured almost a quarter of the box office market and holds a 95% share of online ticketing. Based on this expectation, by the end of the year, online ticketing will account for more than 12% of the total box office market, exceeding the previous estimate of 8%.

In addition, the publicity and distribution business that Hu Mei and his team are in charge of has also seen significant growth, and its current valuation has exceeded 30 billion. They can mortgage and borrow up to 5 million to support Tianhuo, which can be considered as their full support.

Another reason is that Wang Yao once again painted a picture for Hu Mei and his team, allowing Kanpianer.com to take this opportunity to try the overseas online ticketing market. After all, AMC's size and membership alone are enough for them to establish themselves, and this overseas data can further expand the scale of financing and the story.

With the addition of Le Shi and Tan Hui, who can raise another 10 billion yuan, and with some additional funding from KT Entertainment in Korea, Tianhuo's current acquisition funds have reached 30 billion yuan, so they are not short of start-up capital.

However, since someone was willing to give money, and based on the principle of sharing the risk, Wang Yao and his group did not object.

"Huayi also wants to get involved. Old Wang has money, starting at 5 million. However, he has some reservations about us raising Fan Bingbing's salary," Tan Hui said with a smile.

"Don't even mention Lao Wang, I was bothered by Li Bingbing for ages. Isn't an 800 million dollar fee a bit outrageous?" Ren Quan also wondered. Even if Wang Yao and Fan Bingbing were hooking up, it wouldn't be worth such a high price.

"Fan Bingbing's salary has increased, which has also increased the production costs outside the company. However, Skyfire's internal revenue-sharing mechanism can balance our own costs. 70-80% of the salary of A-level artists goes back to the company, which can continuously provide funding for project development."

But if they want to follow suit, they either have to bite the bullet and increase costs or cut quality, or they have to do what Tianhuo did and squeeze the entire artist group to reform. Otherwise, their output next year will likely be halved, and the risk of making a profit will be high. With this shift in power, Tianhuo's competitiveness will become more prominent. Wang Yao also explained with a smile.

"Are you trying to force them to their deaths?" Tan Hui was taken aback, looking at Wang Yao, who had a warm and harmless smile, with some surprise.

That kid is really ruthless.

"I understand the logic, but it's too offensive to many people." Ren Quan was somewhat hesitant because the film and television industry is full of complex interests, involving not only companies like Huayi and Bona, but also others.

"Large companies that want to use celebrity premiums should face countermeasures. Small and medium-sized companies should give up the idea of ​​using big stars to make a splash and instead use low-cost newcomers to focus on quality. This is beneficial to the development of the entire industry."

"Tianhuo is simply making appropriate adjustments based on its own and the industry's interests. If anyone has objections, fair market competition will suffice." Wang Yao disagreed.

"Han Sanping also has some reservations," Tan Hui said seriously.

Han Sanping represents China Film Group, which invests the most in China Film Group every year. If the cost of film remuneration is high, it will also be a great risk to them.

"Does he need to follow market prices when hiring? We're not competitors, are we?" Wang Yao chuckled.

"That's true, but excessively high salaries do have a lot of impact," Tan Hui said, scratching his head.

"Then update to Skyfire mode, increase the commission rate, and let the artists who don't want to cooperate go. Are you worried about not having enough actors?" Wang Yao scoffed.

Tan Hui pondered for a moment and realized that if Tianhuo's high commission rate was used for all of them, although it would seem that the actors' and stars' salaries would increase significantly, it would actually put the actors in a passive position.

Actors like Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi, who used to be able to take on at least 2-3 projects a year, are now likely to only get one a year after the price increase. Actors like Chow Yun-fat will probably find it even harder to get roles. But film companies can't reduce their output because they need to maintain box office revenue.

In order to control costs, the lead actors in many projects may have changed from first-tier to second-tier, or even some promising marginal artists. Moreover, the model of star + blockbuster to boost box office revenue seems to be no longer viable.

Tan Hui was momentarily unsure whether Wang Yao was trying to control the film and television company or the artists' career development.

Tan Hui doesn't understand the concept of decentralization, but he can roughly deduce that the industry rules will change significantly due to the Tianhuo model. Top artists may seem to have more power, but they will actually have fewer opportunities and direct conflicts with their management companies, while second- and third-tier artists will get more opportunities.

“If Han Sanping is worried about losing money, he should just invest all his money in Tianhuo’s projects,” Wang Yao added.

"Is this the internet mindset?" Tan Hui said thoughtfully.

"Pretty much. Starting this year, the hot money in the film and television industry will cause the market to expand several times over, and the salaries will naturally rise. Besides, the salary I gave Fan Bingbing is an international salary, while the domestic salary is a different system." Wang Yao curled the corners of his mouth.

"So this is a dual-track system too?" Ren Quan couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Tianhuo Temple is small, so the restructuring is flexible. It all depends on the awareness of other companies. Besides, Tianhuo is pursuing an international route," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"What about the remaining 35 billion shortfall?" Tan Hui asked.

Their initial plan was to take 30 billion to AMC to discuss the acquisition, sign the acquisition agreement, and then come back to secure a mortgage loan to pay the remaining balance.

But now that competitors are scrambling to give money, I have another option.

"Is Xia Dian planning to participate?" Wang Yao pondered for a moment and then turned to ask Tan Hui.

Xiadian's industrial layout covers the entire value chain, and it has even invested in many companies around the world.

"Should we bring them along?" Tan Hui asked, frowning.

“If Xia Dian is interested, we can let them take the lead and get 30% of AMC’s share,” Wang Yao said.

“They’re not that interested in AMC, after all, they’re well aware that they don’t have the capability to go overseas, and investing in it is risky and asset-heavy. What they’re really interested in is the future prospects of Skynet + Skyfire,” Tan Hui said frankly.

Neither Huayi nor Xiamen Cinema has much interest in overseas cinema assets. What they are really interested in is the Tianhuo Group, a company with the potential to reach a scale of 20 billion yuan after its future listing.

Even if AMC Theatres operates well, it would take at least twenty years to recoup its investment through profits without considering asset appreciation. This is not a good option for a film company that operates with a light asset model.

On the contrary, some industries that are accustomed to heavy assets, such as the real estate industry, are more willing to hold such assets.

However, if they were to exchange Tianhuo's shares for private convertible bonds at the current price in the future, and then wait for Tianwang to go public through a reverse merger and sell off their shares, they could earn at least double the profit. Having tasted the benefits of capital gains, Huayi and the others found it difficult to settle down and do things steadily.

Their willingness to invest stemmed from their belief in the future of Tianwang's backdoor listing.

“In that case, I’ll get the Fosun Group and Shanghai Commercial Investment to take the lead, pledge some of SkyNet’s shares, and create a private equity fund of 40 billion yuan.” Wang Yao narrowed his eyes, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

After Tianhuo Media released its Q2 data, coupled with the potential recovery of the stock price of its controlling stake, Tianhuo Entertainment, and its acquisition of Leshi shares, the overall valuation of this new model of 'new media + film and television + internet platform + e-commerce' has long exceeded 60 billion.

Using Tianwang's shares as collateral for a private placement convertible bond would also perfectly meet the expected needs of Huayi and Bona.

However, the redemption costs will definitely double.

"Using Skynet directly as collateral?" Tan Hui was somewhat surprised.

Originally, it was thought that Wang Yao's acquisition of AMC was a strategy to boost the stock price and raise funds, but now that he has even mortgaged the core assets, it seems that the authenticity is at least 60%.

He is different from Ren Quan. Ren Quan may have a high degree of trust in Wang Yao's decisions, but he has been out in the world for so many years and has seen all kinds of things. Even though Xingmei and Tianhuo are now tied together, he still has his own judgment.

"The private equity funds are there; people can invest if they want, it's entirely up to their personal choice." Wang Yao shook his head.

"Anyway, there's no rush. To acquire such a large cinema chain across borders, we need to find a suitable intermediary. It will probably take at least two or three months before we see any progress. This meeting mainly focused on the operation of the cinema chain in the second half of the year."

"Fan Bingbing has really found a good sugar daddy, willing to spend so much effort to promote her." Upon hearing the news, Zhang Ziyi immediately complained to Chen Yun.

She joined WMA to enhance her international status, but due to the ink-splashing incident and the charity fraud incident, she not only dared not take on any roles this year, but also dared not easily participate in any events. On the contrary, she watched Fan Bingbing steal the spotlight time and time again. Although she failed to win awards twice this year and was ridiculed by the industry, her international popularity and influence have indeed been genuinely increasing.

Now she's being offered an astronomical $800 million salary, even more extravagant than during her peak, so naturally she can't sit still.

"I told you to go and have a proper talk with President Wang, but you insisted on acting all high and mighty. Now look what happened." Chen Yun rolled her eyes.

When I entrusted Tianhuo with handling Zhang Ziyi's public relations, I wanted her to try to get closer to him, but Zhang Ziyi didn't take a liking to Tianhuo, a new company, and she didn't believe that a young man like Wang Yao could handle such a big matter.

She approached Wong Kar-wai herself for a role, intending to remain silent for a year before making a stunning comeback and breaking through all the negative publicity with her talent.

But no one expected Fan Bingbing to rise to fame so quickly. The two of them are considered to have a good but superficial relationship. Last year, when Zhang Ziyi collaborated with Wanmei Company to transform her career into a self-directed and self-acted film, "Sophie's Revenge," she specifically brought Fan Bingbing along to make herself stand out.

I feel that if I don't step in now, I might be overshadowed by Fan Bingbing next year.

"Just who is this Wang Yao?" Zhang Ziyi frowned.

"His background is unclear, but his strength speaks for itself," Chen Yun shook her head.

The e-commerce projects she collaborated on with Wang Yao have shown remarkable progress, with her receiving over 20 million yuan in brand intermediary fees and commissions alone.

Moreover, based on this, the film and television projects that Tianhuo plans to produce in the second half of the year are also very likely to receive sponsorship from these multinational brands, especially variety shows. She is just waiting for "Sister Hua" to premiere. If it really becomes as popular as Wang Yao said, the average sponsorship fee will exceed 100 million yuan in the future, and then it will take off.

The cat-loving girl persona that Liu Yifei is being cultivated for has also started uploading on YouTube. Although the number of fans has not yet reached a thousand, judging from the comments, the effect is far beyond expectations.

With Skyfire now preparing to acquire AMC Theatres, and WMA and Fox jointly involved in the "Queen of Silicon Valley" project, the cooperation between the two parties will definitely become even closer in the future.

Wang Yao is now not only Fan Bingbing's sugar daddy, but also considered an important client of Chen Yun.

"Tsk, Mr. Chen doesn't have any strategy for dealing with this?" Zhang Ziyi asked, frowning.

"No, you're still embroiled in scandals, so it's not suitable for you to be too high-profile. After all, getting rid of you is much easier than getting rid of Fan Bingbing right now," Chen Yun glanced at her.

"The Heavenly Fire has such great power?" Zhang Ziyi was slightly surprised. Why did Chen Yun seem somewhat afraid?

It's important to understand that although WMA doesn't have a huge presence in China, it holds a very prominent position, almost like a bridge between different countries.

"It is of great value. In addition to Tianhuo, Wang Yao also has the Xinghuo Group of industries. The Magic Comic Exhibition that caused a stir on the Internet some time ago alarmed the three major game companies: Wanmei, NetEase, and Sohu."

"You should also know that there are many new forces in the entertainment industry now, and the gaming industry is the biggest force among them," Chen Yun explained.

Wanmei was one of Zhang Ziyi's sugar daddies, and upon hearing this, his expression turned serious: "Should I find some time to pay them a visit?"

“My advice is that it’s best not to, there’s no legitimate reason.” Chen Yun was worried that Zhang Ziyi was being presumptuous.

The fact that Tianhuo is so supportive of Fan Bingbing is most likely because it's directly related to Wang Yao. Who knows if Fan Bingbing has been whispering in Wang Yao's ear about Zhang Ziyi?

It's better not to show your face; showing your face makes you more likely to become a target.

After all, in the current situation, criticizing Zhang and praising Fan is the most profitable approach.

“Cooperation? Just say you need to help me with public relations,” Zhang Ziyi said, frowning.

“I asked you to go before but you didn’t go. If you go now, the price will probably go up.” Chen Yun frowned.

“I am currently the most famous international female artist. If Tianhuo wants to take the international route, then I have no value?” Zhang Ziyi pouted upon hearing this.

The reason I didn't go before was because I felt that Tianhuo's public relations fees were a bit high, and now that they're raising prices, it's even more painful.

"If you were really that valuable, you would have been the one to star in 'Silicon King'." Chen Yun was too lazy to coax her anymore.

It's time for Zhang Ziyi to face reality. She's been living off her past achievements too much these past two years, and the public's recognition of her international star status is declining. If she doesn't work harder, she might really be surpassed by Fan Bingbing.

I need to think of a way to flirt with her.

(End of this chapter)