Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

Chapter 131 The Unexpected Person

Fang Yuan walked out of the ward, the incandescent lights in the corridor were dazzling.

"Auntie, I'm Xiaoyuan."

"Xiaoyuan, how is your brother Xiaoming?" Aunt Zhang's voice on the other end of the phone was clearly trembling with tears.

"I saw in the newspaper that he was in a serious car accident. I can't get through to him on the phone."

"It's not that serious, Auntie. Xiaoming is fine. The reporters are just making things up. I'm in the hospital now, so don't worry, I'll be discharged soon. It's just a slight neck twist and a few scrapes."

"I'll let Brother Xiaoming answer the phone."

After saying that, he went into the ward, put the phone to Huang Xiaoming's mouth, and said, "It's Auntie's on the phone."

"Mom, it's me... It's okay, don't cry... You don't need to come, Xiaoyuan is here."

It took a while to calm the couple on the other end of the phone down.

Suddenly the ward door was pushed open, and a woman wearing a mask rushed in. When she saw Huang Xiaoming on the bed, she pounced on the bedside.

"Xiaoming, how are you? You scared me to death." As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.

Huang Xiaoming coughed twice. "Why are you here? I'm fine."

Fang Yuan turned his head in surprise, Wang Jinghua looked a little embarrassed, and Wang Zhongjun's expression was not good.

"What's going on?"

Sister Hua gave a wink, and the group left the ward.

"I have something to attend to, so I'll head back now. Let me know if anything comes up with Xiaoming. Mr. Fang, please come to the company for tea sometime."

"Okay, Mr. Wang."

Wang Zhongjun went back first.

"Sister Hua, tell me, who is it? So blatantly."

Sister Hua was a little speechless. "A new girlfriend, what else could it be?"

Wow, Huang Xiaoming, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, no wonder Boss Wang isn't too happy.

"Does Huayi Brothers allow its artists to date?"

"What can we do? What can we do if we run into this guy? Hopefully, it won't get exposed by the media."

"It's definitely going to explode, hahaha."

"You're gloating! You should be more careful; there are so many beautiful women around you."

"Me? I'm not a celebrity, and besides, I have a girlfriend. And our company doesn't forbid employees from dating."

"You have a girlfriend? Who is she? Zeng Li or Dan Chen?"

"Sister Hua, how come I never realized you were such a gossip?"

"Stop talking nonsense, who is it?"

"An outsider, living abroad."

Wang Jinghua looked suspicious.

"Really, I'm not lying to you, Brother Xiaoming knows him and knows him."

"He knew? I didn't expect him to be so tight-lipped."

Li Xinyu appeared in the corridor. "How's Huang Xiaoming?"

"It's nothing serious. Sister Hua, I still have things to do at the company. I'll come see him again tomorrow."

Li Xinyu reported her work to Fang Yuan while driving.

"Director Li Hong has resigned and is currently handling personal matters. She should be able to start work next month."

"Sister Hao Wei is handling the accounts for 'If You Are the One,' Ning Hao is doing post-production, and Dan Chen has a few reshoots."

"Zeng Li's album is basically recorded. The promotional work will begin next month, with a preliminary plan for a global release on February 1st. Let Hao Wei tell you the specific arrangements."

"Three companies have been selected in South Korea, and we're waiting for your final decision. We'll start by producing a movie and a TV series to test the waters and find a suitable partner. The competition is fierce right now, but your script still has a good market there."

"Li Xunhuan and his group have already moved into the park. Xiaomei has been arranged. There are two-bedroom apartments for the newlyweds and three-bedroom apartments for the elderly and children. The family members have also been arranged to work in the logistics department."

"The financial situation under the banyan tree is improving, and the editorial department under Teacher Chen has grown in size, with all staff now being full-time employees."

We worked together to develop a copyright development template. The entire process consisted of three parts: initial review by the Rongshuxia team, second review by Li Xunhuan's scriptwriting department, and a committee established at headquarters, including myself, Sister Hao, Ning Hao, Sister Xing, and Director Li. Finally, the development value of the work's copyright was determined.

"Yes, this model is good. Value must be established before operations or sales can proceed. The author's interests must be protected."

"That's for sure, it's clearly stipulated in the contracts."

"I informed Wu Wenhui that you were back before I went to the hospital. He had been looking for you these past few days."

"Oh? What does he want with me?" Fang Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Wu Wenhui waited for him in the reception room of Fangyuan's office building.

"What brings you here? Please sit down."

Wu Wenhui sat down on the sofa and placed his laptop bag at his feet.

He was wearing a dark jacket with slightly faded cuffs, and he looked thinner than the last time we met, but he seemed to be in good spirits.

Li Xinyu poured him a glass of water, placed it on the coffee table, and sat down next to him.

"Mr. Fang, I'm here today to reimburse you for the one million you lent me last time."

Wu Wenhui took out a folded financial statement from his bag and spread it out on the coffee table. "Server expansion cost 250,000, bandwidth upgrade cost 150,000, and the remaining money is still in the company's account."

Qidian just launched its VIP paid reading system last month, and the revenue in the first month was over 20,000 yuan. It's not a lot, but it at least proves that this path is viable.

Fang Yuan picked up the report and glanced at it. It listed the details of every expenditure, with neat handwriting and clear numbers.

Wu Wenhui continued, "I wasn't sure about the VIP system before it went online."

Whether readers will accept the shift from free to paid online literature remains to be seen.

In the first few days after it launched in early October, the first subscription came out around 11 PM. A reader paid two cents to read a thousand words. I was sitting in front of the server when I saw that payment record, and then went out with a few buddies to buy four bottles of beer.

"We should celebrate, this is a breakthrough," Fang Yuan said with a smile.

Wu Wenhui smiled, but the smile quickly faded as he leaned forward. "President Fang, I'm not here today just to report the accounts. I'd like to invite you to formally invest in Qidian.com."

Fang Yuan did not answer immediately. There was a few seconds of silence in the office.

Wu Wenhui continued, "This money was lent to me by you in an emergency."

When I couldn't afford to rent a server, I went to several people, but no one was willing to invest in online literature.

They felt that this thing had no business model. If readers could read books online for free, how would you make a living?

This million helped Qidian get through the most difficult period. Now that the VIP system is working, I need to consider the company's future.

"I can consider investing. But you need to tell me clearly what Qidian's next steps are," Fang Yuan said.

Wu Wenhui pulled out another document from his bag, which was a table of Qidian's operational data and a handwritten development plan.

"Currently, Qidian has about 200,000 unique visitors per day and more than 400 signed authors."

One month after the VIP paid system was launched, the number of paying users increased by 30%, and readers' acceptance of paying two cents per thousand words increased.

Higher than expected. There are currently three problems.

The first is the author's side. After paying, the author's income is directly linked to the subscription. Authors who write well will see their income increase faster, while those who write averagely will see their income increase more slowly.

This mechanism naturally encourages authors to align with readers' needs, but it also creates a problem—homogenization.

When a topic becomes popular, everyone writes about that topic.

We need an editorial team to guide content creation and to spend money on developing authors, not just subsidizing servers.