Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

While "A Love So Beautiful" was enjoying its run, a bombshell news story broke in the entertainment industry.

At 9:00 AM on September 5th, Daylight Entertainment released an official announcement on Weibo, declaring the cancellation of its artist management business.

The announcement was concise and to the point: "After thorough communication with all the company's artists and with everyone's understanding and support, the company has made the following decision: Effective immediately, Daylight Entertainment will adjust its business segments, cancel the artist management business, and will focus more on content creation in the future."

Subsequently, Wang Kai, Liu Mintao, Qiao Xin, and other artists formerly under Daylight Entertainment also reposted the statement, expressing their blessings to their former employer. Of course, Su Yu also reposted it.

This caused quite a stir. In recent years, Daylight Entertainment has accumulated a high level of goodwill among the general public with hit dramas such as "Nirvana in Fire", "The Disguiser" and "Ode to Joy", and has always presented itself as a "conscientious production company".

This sudden announcement of the disbandment of the artist department is tantamount to voluntarily giving up the management contracts of a number of popular artists under its wing, including Wang Kai, Jin Dong, Su Yu, Liu Mintao, and Qiao Xin.

There are many different opinions about Zhengwu's motives.

However, the first to be stunned were Su Yu's fans.

"No way, my SuSu just became famous, and now our family is gone???"

"They won't give us any resources; Su Su has to earn the money. Su Su finally made it big, and you guys at Noon just turn around and sell him off? Are you even human?"

"I just want to ask one question: When has Daylight Entertainment ever cared about SuSu? He found the drama himself, and he wrote the song himself. What have you done besides taking a cut? Now that the group has disbanded, you haven't even given us an explanation?"

Some longtime fans who know Su Yu's situation have always been dissatisfied with Noon Sun's actions. Now that Noon Sun has directly disbanded its artist department, it has stirred up a hornet's nest.

So they not only went directly to the comment section under Noon Sunshine's statement to attack, but also explained Su Yu's previous experiences at Noon Sunshine to those new fans who couldn't understand.

Then the new fans also started flocking to the comment section of Noon Sunshine's announcement Weibo post, just like the old fans.

Those with a bit of manners would ask questions one by one, while those with a bit less manners would just start insulting their parents.

Many radical fans went to the supertopics of other Noon Sunshine artists to recruit others to join the battle. In no time, the comment section under Noon Sunshine's statement became a chaotic mess, with all kinds of questions and insults being sent out at lightning speed.

Neither Noon Sunshine nor Su Yu's team expected the fans' reaction to be so intense.

In an effort to quell the situation, Su Yu's personal studio account, "Sky: Children of the Light Studio," urgently posted its first Weibo message on the afternoon of September 5.

"In the past year, Noon Sunshine has been home, a starting point, and a constant support. Now we have chosen a new way to continue our journey together. The future is long, and we will continue to walk together like family."

Su Yu himself then reposted this Weibo post, adding a brief caption: "A new beginning, keep going."

The official Weibo account of Daylight Entertainment also reposted Su Yu's studio's statement, and other artists under Daylight Entertainment also spoke out one after another, which gradually calmed down the storm.

Huo Xiaolan leaned back in her office chair. She had just hung up the phone with Hou Hongliang, who had half-jokingly questioned her on the other end: "Is your studio doing some kind of fan-abusing marketing? My comments section is flooded with them. You should tell your people to take it down."

Huo Xiaolan knew, of course, that Hou Hongliang wasn't really angry; he was just somewhat amused and exasperated by the sudden outburst of anger from his fans.

"I didn't expect you to have learned how to manipulate fans." Huo Xiaolan looked up at Su Yu sitting on the sofa. "But isn't this a bit unethical towards your former employer? President Hou just called me to ask if we were behind it."

Su Yu looked up at her, completely bewildered: "Huh? Manipulating fans? Shameless? I didn't do anything."

He really didn't do this; it was purely a fan-organized protest, and he has absolutely nothing to do with it. He's completely innocent.

Huo Xiaolan stared at him for a moment, and when she confirmed that the blank look on his face didn't seem like he was acting, her doubts disappeared.

After all, Su Yu is usually quite indifferent to his fans, and doesn't seem like the type of person who would do something like this.

"Alright, I'll let President Hou know again." Huo Xiaolan turned her phone over and placed it on the table, changing the subject.

"However, there's something I need to make clear to you beforehand: your current popularity is on a completely different level compared to when we were discussing the studio in June. Looking back now, the investment terms we offered before noon were a loss for us."

Su Yu leaned back on the sofa and listened to her continue.

"The terms offered before noon were a 5 million investment for a 20% stake, which was considered a premium at the time. But things are different now. I suggest you take the initiative to talk to Mr. Hou before the funds arrive at noon at the end of the month and adjust your shareholding ratio downwards."

"What setting do you think would be appropriate?"

"Ten to fifteen percent is the most suitable." Huo Xiaolan had obviously already done the math in her mind.

After listening, Su Yu nodded: "Okay, then let's do as you say, Sister Huo. Before the end of the month, you and I will go and talk to President Hou in person."

Huo Xiaolan's interest in Su Yu stemmed not only from her optimism about him, but also from her own interests, since Su Yu had given her 5% of the original shares plus 5% of the profit-sharing rights.

Based on the valuation at the time of the midday investment, this is worth several million.

Moreover, this means that she will receive a percentage of every income Su Yu earns in the future, which will be a considerable sum as Su Yu's popularity continues to rise.

Su Yu offered this price because he valued Huo Xiaolan's abilities and connections. You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Huo Xiaolan is basically in charge of running his studio now.

"Okay, also, the studio staff is mostly complete. For public relations, I hired five people from BlueFocus, all of whom have experience in crisis public relations for artists."

In 2017, BlueFocus ranked first among the top 40 wealthiest companies in China's public relations and communications industry with a revenue of 12.3 billion yuan. In the 2017 Global Top 10 Public Relations Companies ranking released by The Holmes Report, a global authoritative public relations industry consulting firm, BlueFocus once again ranked ninth with its domestic and international public relations businesses, making it the only Chinese domestic marketing company to enter the top ten.

The fact that Huo Xiaolan could recruit people from here speaks volumes about her connections within the industry.

"For marketing, I poached a few from Ogilvy and Xuan Ya; they're all experienced professionals with film and television project promotion experience. In addition, I've hired two new personal assistants for you: one to handle schedule arrangements and accompany you on set, and the other to take care of your daily life and meals. Xiao Zhou is now the general assistant, overseeing all assistants and logistics."

"Assistant to the General Manager?" Su Yu couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this. "Little Zhou got promoted."

"Don't interrupt." Huo Xiaolan ignored him and continued reading from her notebook. "The studio location has been chosen. It's in Chaoyang District, and we've rented a 120-square-meter office space. Office equipment, meeting rooms, a GL8 van for promotions, a nanny van for the artists, etc.—I've already ordered all of these, and they'll be in place by the end of the month."

"In addition, the company's finances are outsourced to a professional accounting firm, and the legal affairs are temporarily handled by the law firm that Noon Law Firm is cooperating with. We will gradually switch over later."

As she said this, she looked up at Su Yu and said with a serious tone, "I did the math. Just the staff salaries, plus the venue, equipment, and vehicles, the fixed expenses each month are nearly 200,000. Your savings of several million won't last long."

Su Yu leaned back on the sofa and nodded silently after listening.

These expenses are indeed considerable, but they are all necessary costs for the normal operation of the studio.

Although the studio is now operational, the funds from Noon have not yet arrived.

He only has a few million in his account, but he has to support so many people in his studio and prepare for the filming of "Someday or One Day," so his finances are indeed tight.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Huo. I'm sorry to have troubled you with all these things." Su Yu leaned back on the sofa, his tone earnest.

He initially pulled Huo Xiaolan out of Noon Sunshine's system to work together on a studio because he valued her connections and efficiency within the industry, and now it seems that this decision was indeed wise.

Huo Xiaolan glanced at him but didn't reply.

This guy treats her like a beast of burden; he just sits there and does nothing.

"By the way, has General Manager Dai replied yet?"

"She has already agreed, but she needs to take care of her internal affairs first. After all, she is a producer of a listed company, and her personal external investments need to be reported to the company. She also needs to confirm that the investment does not constitute a related-party transaction and does not have a conflict of interest."

"Huace has very strict compliance requirements for executives' personal external investments. She needs to report at each level, and it will probably take another week or two to complete the whole process."

After hearing Huo Xiaolan's reply, Su Yu felt that his future was bright. With two major companies serving him, wouldn't he be able to take off?