The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 272: What to do when targeted by Zuo Shandiao? Need help urgently!
Neither Yu Hailun nor Chunyu Qiao expressed any dissatisfaction with Yang Muye's early departure.

"The Voice of China" may be a top priority for Xingchen Dahai, but the problem is that Xingchen Dahai is not the only company under Yang Muyi's name.

Even exploring the stars and the sea is just one of Yang Muye's "side projects".

In this situation, it's already a great favor that someone would take the time to see you.

Moreover, Hu Ling later explained that Yang Muyi did indeed have more important things to do.

I'm going to meet a top figure in the industry.

Moreover, it's the film industry, which is at the very top of the entertainment industry's hierarchy of contempt!

Variety shows are currently in the bottom tier of this hierarchy of contempt.

Despite her immense influence within the industry, earning her the title of "Godmother of Variety Shows," Yu Hailun's impact diminishes significantly outside of that circle.

Out of curiosity, Yu Hailun asked a question tentatively.

"Are we going to see—President Han?"

Seeing Hu Ling nod, Chunyu Qiao, who was standing next to her, widened his eyes instantly.

Just like when people mention Director Zhang, they only think of him as the chief director of the Olympic opening ceremony.

When Han is mentioned, everyone's first reaction is that of Han Sanping, the head of a state-owned enterprise, nicknamed "Zuo Shan Diao".

This news shocked Yu Hailun and Chunyu Qiao for a good ten seconds, but Yang Muye, the person involved, was completely unaware of it.

After returning to his room, Yang Muyi received two text messages from Hu Ling.

The first text message explained that Yu Hailun had come to them seeking cooperation, and that Xin Huimei was the one who acted as a go-between.

There was also a matchmaker between Xin Huimei and Yu Hailun—Luo Lin.

Luo Lin is not only an artist under Yu Hailun's management, but she also had a secret relationship with Chunyu Qiao that ended after it was exposed.

Shortly after being exposed by the media, Luo Lin and Chunyu Qiao broke up quickly.

And they really broke up.

The reason is nothing more than the woman being more successful than the man, and both of them are very career-oriented. The conflict had been building up for a long time, and the media exposure was just the fuse.

Xin Huimei and Luo Lin have a very good relationship. After Luo Lin was asked by Yu Hailun to come to her, she agreed to help without saying a word.

However, Shin Hye-mi also made a request.

Once the two parties reach an agreement, "The Voice of China" will be produced by Chunyu Qiao.

Xin Huimei has volunteered to ask Hu Ling to let her be a mentor on "The Voice of China".

We'll take advantage of the show recording to give Chunyu Qiao a hard time and help Luo Lin get revenge.

As a result, Yang Muye's "unintentional success" led him to ask Luo Lin to also serve as a mentor on "The Voice of China," adding another topic of publicity to the show.

The second text message was very brief.

Someone wants to see Yang Muye in hotel room 8008.

Yang Muye raised an eyebrow after reading the text message.

Room 8008, isn't that right across the hall?
Although, for privacy reasons, none of the rooms on the hotel's executive floor have doors facing each other.

Room 8008 is just across the corridor, a few steps away.

The distance from door to door is even closer than the distance to room 8006 next door.

Why are you being so mysterious? Who is this?
I was just thinking about it—

"Ding dong!"

The doorbell rang suddenly.

Yang Muye assumed that Zhang Guangzheng was just bringing his suitcase up, so he casually opened the door.

He froze when he saw the girl standing outside the door.

Du Qiong smiled and offered her hand.

"long time no see!"

Actually, it wasn't that long, just over a month.

Du Qiong was responsible for Yang Muyi's makeup and styling at the Business School's welcome party at the end of September. However, Du Qiong had to leave early after the makeup and styling were done backstage.

A lot of things happened during this period, and it felt like a long time had passed.

"The person in room 8008 that Sister Ling told me about, is that you?"

Du Qiong shrugged.

"Or what? Who would you like to be?"

Yang Muye quickly stepped aside and invited Du Qiong into the house.

We can't continue this conversation.

"I heard from Sister Ling that Xin Huimei lives next door?" Du Qiong asked casually after entering the house.

Her beautiful eyes scrutinized Yang Muye, a mixture of curiosity and gossip in them.

Yang Muye remained calm: "Yes, she mortgaged her house in Yanjing to me in order to buy songs from me, so she can only stay in a hotel now."

Just kidding, a seasoned driver with a mental age of 59, what's there to be afraid of being checked on?

Du Qiong couldn't detect anything unusual in Yang Muye's eyes and was feeling disappointed when she suddenly heard Yang Muye say something.

"Sister Ling, you're something else. How could you just tell me about company matters so casually?"

"Have you forgotten that I'm also a shareholder in the vast universe?"

Didn't you just get shares without actually owning them? When did you become a shareholder?
Yang Muye thought this to himself, but deliberately joked aloud:

"They say important people have bad memories, but it turns out you still remember you have shares in Xingchen Dahai!"

Du Qiong glared at Yang Muye.

"I've always kept in touch with Sister Ling, and with Hongdou too. Be careful, or I'll tell on you!"

Yang Muye shrugged indifferently.

Sue me if you want!
If Xu Hongdou really asked, Yang Muye would only give three sentences.

Not me!
I don't!
Don't talk nonsense!
After inviting Du Qiong to sit down in the living room, Yang Muye asked curiously:
"So what brings you here today?"

Du Qiong put away her joking expression:
"Do you know who got behind the scenes for 'Old Boys' getting approved so quickly?"

Yang Muye originally wanted to say that "Old Boys" was only streamed online and not released in theaters, so it was easy to pass the review.

But when the words were about to come out, he changed his mind at the last minute:

"My hero has come knocking, looks like I'm going to have to 'bleed' a lot of money today. Tell me, where do you want to eat lunch? You can pick any place you like!"

Du Qiong laughed when she saw Yang Muyi's feigned pain.

"You think you can just get rid of me with one meal?"

"How about adding another meal? But it's definitely not possible in the next couple of days, my schedule is already full."

Yang Muye smiled.

He's only coming back for two days, staying one night, and his flight back to Shanghai is at 10 pm tomorrow night.

In this limited time, I also need to meet up with classmates, acquaintances, and friends. It's already the limit if I can squeeze out a lunch to have with Du Qiong.

"Okay, remember you owe me two meals. This lunch doesn't count. I'll take you to a special place to eat."

As she spoke, Du Qiong raised her hand and glanced at her watch.

"It will take some time to get there. If you don't have anything else to do, let's set off now."

We arrived just in time for lunch.

Seeing that Du Qiong seemed to have arranged everything, Yang Muye became even more curious.

"Where?"

"China Film Group Cafeteria".

-

ten minutes later.

A black Maybach 62 slowly pulled up in front of the Fairfield by Marriott Hotel.

The driver was an acquaintance, the same one who delivered the makeup case to Du Qiong last time.

Zhang Guangzheng and another doorman on duty watched with envy as Yang Muye and Du Qiong got into the car.

They don't even have to do the opening and closing of the car doors; the driver does it all himself.

This scene was witnessed by Yu Hailun, Hu Ling, and Chunyu Qiao, who came out of the lobby bar.

Yu Hailun didn't know Du Qiong, but she knew the price of this Maybach 62...

Didn't you say you were going to see Han Sanping?

How come he turned around and got into such an expensive car with a pretty girl?

However, Yu Hailun quickly realized what was going on.

In Yanjing, families that can afford such a Maybach are not ordinary people. Perhaps that girl is the key to Yang Muyi meeting Han Sanping.

In the car, Yang Muyi deliberately acted like a "country bumpkin".

Look at this, touch that.

It's like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

The acting was so exaggerated that Du Qiong simply couldn't stand it anymore.

"You really like this car?"

Yang Muye turned his head and looked at Du Qiong with a serious expression:

"This car is too valuable, please don't give it to me as a gift!"

Even though Du Qiong knew Yang Muye was joking, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

Think beautiful!
Yang Muye turned his head and looked at Du Qiong seriously:

"Please don't send me the 62, because I'm waiting for the 62S."

Rainy night!

viaduct!
Maybach!
This is a source of regret for countless people in their past lives.

Of course, this doesn't apply to Yang Muye.

After all, he did drive a 62S, a limited edition he bought from a wealthy man at a fairly reasonable price.

Although it was secondhand, it still fulfilled my long-held dream of driving a Maybach on a rainy night on an elevated highway. Who would have thought that before I even warmed up the steering wheel, I'd wake up to find myself back in the womb?

I've already driven a used one, so I have to buy a brand new one this time, right?

Du Qiong, however, felt that Yang Muyi was deliberately changing the subject by talking about cars.

Aren't you curious who's paying for today's meal?

"Isn't it your treat? Or am I the one who's going to treat you? As far as I know, state-owned enterprise canteens aren't open to the public."

Du Qiong turned her head and looked at Yang Muye.

If you're saying this guy is deliberately pretending to be confused, he does know that the China Film Cafeteria isn't open to the public.

To say he wasn't pretending to be confused is an exaggeration. He clearly knew that someone else was treating him to a meal, and even guessed who it was, yet he acted as if the other person was just accompanying him to the China Film Cafeteria for a free meal.

In the end, Du Qiong decided to speak up herself.

"Someone else is hosting today, and—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Muye interrupted him.

"You know he's your relative?"

"A family friendship".

Du Qiong only hinted at the point and did not reveal too much.

Yang Muye sighed.

It seems that the film "Old Boys" was able to pass censorship smoothly thanks to Du Qiong.

The decision to give Du Qiong "dry shares" back then was indeed the right one.

Just as I was thinking this, Du Qiong's voice continued to ring out.

"Don't overthink it. Uncle Han just watched 'Old Boy' and thought it was well-made, so he just put in a good word for him."

Upon hearing this, Yang Muyi's first reaction was to frown.

He actually preferred that Han Sanping was only helping out because of Du Qiong's family.

Now it's turned into him owing Han Sanping a favor.

Du Qiong meant well in helping, but it ended up being a case of gilding the lily.

"Why, you're still not happy?"

"No, I was just wondering if the food at the China Film Cafeteria would suit my taste."

That's obviously a lie.

Han Sanping is from Sichuan Province, and Yang Muye is from Yunnan Province. As two of the Southwest F4, how bad could their tastes be?
Du Qiong didn't expose him, but instead asked Yang Muyi about his impression of Han Sanping.

"I don't have much of an impression of him. I just know that China Film Group is in charge of film affairs across the country, including the quota for imported films. It seems that people in the industry secretly call him Master Han."

Yang Muyi was just describing the average person's impression of Han Sanping, which was pretty perfunctory.

Fortunately, Du Qiong didn't mind and instead took the initiative to "educate" Yang Muyi:
"It's not just Master Han, actually most people call him Zuo Shandiao."

He spoke while observing Yang Muye's reaction.

Over the years, Han Sanping has offended many people because of his tough and ruthless approach to things.

Even many insiders complained that China Film Group is like the two oil giants in the film industry, a monopolistic industry where anyone could achieve great things no matter who was in their position.

It's similar in meaning to Lei Jun's saying, "If you stand at the right place at the right time, even a pig can fly," but it sounds much harsher.

Yang Muye shrugged and confided in Du Qiong:

"If I remember correctly, President Han was only promoted to the top position last year. He's still a long way from retirement, isn't he?"

Du Qiong nodded, but didn't understand why Yang Muye was asking this.

"With President Han still in office, it is obviously too early to evaluate his merits and demerits. People are limited by their time. We can only have a relatively objective evaluation of what happened now, at least ten years from now."

"When you ask me to comment on President Han, I am reminded of a very famous entrepreneur in the tobacco industry of Yunnan Province—Mr. Chu. The times can indeed make people successful, but the facts prove that not just anyone can make a name for themselves in a monopolistic industry. This also applies to President Han."

Du Qiong silently remembered these words, preparing to go back and "complain" to Han Sanping.

More than half an hour later.

The Maybach 62 drove into the underground parking lot of the China Film Group headquarters building.

They simply registered the license plate at the entrance and let us through, clearly someone had made prior arrangements to give us preferential treatment.

After finding an empty parking space and parking her car, Du Qiong called Han Sanping.

A few minutes later, Han Sanping's assistant came downstairs to pick him up.

Du Qiong arrived right at lunchtime, and her assistant, surnamed Tang, led them directly to the cafeteria.

It wasn't as luxurious as I imagined; it was only slightly better than the Yanjingmao canteen.

Assistant Tang led Du Qiong and Yang Muye to get their trays and swiped their cards to get their food.

After that, he led the two of them to a table by the window.

Han Sanping had already prepared the food and was eating by himself.

If it were any other company's CEO eating in the cafeteria, his employees would have already tried to get close to him.

Even if you're not qualified to say hello, you can at least get to know them.

But China Film Group is not.

Everyone in the company knows what kind of person Han Sanping is, so no one dares to come and make a fool of themselves.

Du Qiong stepped forward carrying the tray and greeted her warmly:
"Uncle Han!"

Han Sanping raised his head, smiled and waved to Du Qiong, but his eyes were fixed on Yang Muye beside him.

The idiom "a man of exceptional appearance" truly came to life at this moment.

Han Sanping had investigated Yang Muye's background before inviting him to dinner.

Du Qiong walked to sit opposite Han Sanping, deliberately leaving the seat directly opposite Han Sanping for Yang Muye.

Before taking his seat, Yang Muyi prepared to greet Han Sanping.

As a result, Han Sanping spoke up directly.

"Sit down, let's have a meal together, don't be shy."

Yang Muyi hadn't even taken a bite of his meal when Han Sanping's voice rang out again.

"I heard from Qiongqiong that you are very optimistic about the development of video websites, and you are even planning to launch a live streaming website?"

Han Sanping ate and talked at the same time, appearing very casual.

However, Yang Muyi still keenly sensed something unusual in those words.

"Mr. Han, is there going to be any new policies from above regarding video websites?"

Han Sanping put down his chopsticks, raised his head, and his gaze was like a knife.

"What new policy? Tell me about it."

Yang Muye knew that Han Sanping was deliberately testing him, so he decided to steel himself.

"The film and television industry has suffered from piracy for a long time, and video websites are now a major area of ​​piracy. The development of any emerging industry goes from barbaric and extensive to scientific and refined. The country cannot continue to tolerate piracy. Video websites that have developed by relying on piracy will have to face the copyright issue sooner or later."

"What goes around comes around, right?"

Han Sanping quoted a line from a Hong Kong movie, which made Yang Muyi turn his head on the spot.

I almost forgot, the man in front of me, Zuo Shandiao, is a strong advocate for co-productions.

Han Sanping looked up at Yang Muye:
“You are right about one thing: the country cannot allow piracy to continue indefinitely, but this is not something I can decide, and I don’t have that kind of power.”

Han Sanping was telling the truth, but he didn't tell the whole story.

China Film Group may not have the power to push for national-level anti-piracy efforts, but if the national government begins to crack down on piracy, China Film Group will definitely be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Putting aside everything else, the revenue sharing from importing Hollywood blockbusters alone can increase significantly.

Not to mention Han Sanping's ambitious push to usher in the era of blockbuster films for Chinese cinema.

Curbing piracy can immediately boost movie box office revenue.

However, since Han Sanping had already made his point clear, Yang Muyi could only echo his sentiments:
"From the creator's perspective, they definitely hope that the country will crack down on piracy. This is a good thing for video websites and the entire Internet industry, which may cause some pain in the short term, but will definitely benefit their long-term development."

Once free pirated content becomes unavailable, the skyrocketing copyright costs will force video websites to focus on producing their own content.

Many people now believe that cracking down on piracy will deal a fatal blow to video websites.

In reality, the formalization of copyright was the beginning of the rapid development of video websites.

"Oh?"

A hint of interest flashed in Han Sanping's eyes.

He mentioned that the government might start cracking down on piracy, intending to remind Yang Muyi that those video websites that made their fortunes through piracy were about to face dire straits.

If you want to get involved in the film and television industry, you still need to find a professional and reputable company to cooperate with.

In China, which company dares to claim it is more legitimate than China Film Group?
It's basically the same old trick of giving a hard blow first, then offering a sweet treat.

To everyone's surprise, the pounding had no effect.

At this point, Yang Muyi seemed to Han Sanping a bit like the unruly Monkey King.

Yang Muye continued to speak eloquently:

"In the Internet 1.0 era, various portal news websites have already wiped out traditional print media. Now that the Internet is about to enter the 2.0 era, the next medium to be eliminated will be television. Further down the line, the pressure to survive will be transmitted to cinemas. The future will be the era of streaming media."

On the eve of the takeoff of the mainland film market, predicting that cinemas will eventually be replaced sounds somewhat sensational.

Anyway, Han Sanping didn't believe it.

They even felt that Yang Muyi was getting a little arrogant.

It's just a short online movie, isn't it?

Once they actually make a theatrical film, they'll know better if it flops at the box office.

Originally, Han Sanping had intended to support younger generations by inviting Yang Muyi to come.

After a conversation, Han Sanping completely gave up on that idea.

If Yang Muyi really plans to make a theatrical film, China Film Group will definitely not invest in it.

At most, he'll be in charge of film distribution because of Du Qiong's family connections.

Young people nowadays always think that the internet is omnipotent, and that they can only truly learn a lesson after making a mistake.

(End of this chapter)