Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

Chapter 97 Technological Innovation

He and Chen Cun exchanged a glance.

Chen Cun tapped his fingers lightly on the sofa armrest, his expression complex—

It was as if they were touched by Fang Yuan's idea, or as if they were instinctively resisting this overly radical plan.

"Mr. Fang, you're moving a little too fast."

Chen Cun spoke up, his words slow and deliberate: "With free reading and revenue sharing from GG (Google's advertising platform), can authors support themselves?"

If they can't make a living, they'll go elsewhere to write.

We all know that literature can't be created by traffic algorithms.

Fang Yuan turned around and looked at Chen Cun: "Brother Chen, I respect your judgment."

However, you should also note that the circulation of print literary journals has been declining for five consecutive years.

The combined circulation of major publications like Harvest, October, and Flower City is less than half of what it was ten years ago.

The number of users and reading time for online literature are increasing every year.

Readers have already moved to the internet, and authors will have to come sooner or later.

Whoever builds the platform first controls the entrance.

After he finished speaking, he turned to William Zhu and said, "There is another key point—the technology system."

The current website architecture of Rongshuxia is too outdated and cannot handle large-scale traffic and precise Google Ads.

One-third of the money I invest will be specifically used to rebuild the technology platform, including recommendation algorithms, user profiling, and the Google bidding system.

Simply put, the platform knows what books users read; it recommends books that users might like.

The platform precisely matches readers who want to target their content.

This technology is just starting out in the US; no one has implemented it on the Chinese internet yet.

When Zhu Weilian heard the terms "recommendation algorithm" and "user profile", his eyes lit up.

He is much more sensitive to the evolution of Internet technology than the average person.

"Have you done this model before?" William Zhu asked.

"Actually, some people abroad have already tried it." Fang Yuan put down his pen, walked back to his seat, and said, "We can give it a try too."

Zhu Weilian glanced at Chen Cun, who simply picked up his teacup, took a sip, and kept his gaze fixed on the four large characters on the whiteboard.

Fang Yuan knew that Chen Cun wouldn't be convinced immediately, but that didn't matter.

He doesn't want approval; he wants to make a decision.

The negotiations lasted from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The three continued to discuss the details—equity structure, board seats, timeline for building the technology team, and revenue sharing ratio for copyright operations.

William Zhu made almost no further struggle over equity, but he held firm on operational autonomy, demanding no interference in daily management for three years.

Fang Yuan agreed, on the condition that strategic direction and major investments must be approved by the board of directors.

At 9:30 p.m., both parties signed a letter of intent for investment in the conference room.

As Fang Yuan closed the pen cap, Zhu William let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair, and the fluorescent light on the ceiling clearly illuminated the weariness on his face.

Chen Cun stood up, walked to the whiteboard, looked at the four words Fang Yuan had written, and finally said, "President Fang, I reserve my opinion. But since you've decided to do it, I'll keep an eye on it."

Fang Yuanchong nodded to him: "With Brother Chen around, the quality of the content won't be compromised."

When Zhu Weilian escorted Fang Yuan downstairs, the rain outside had already stopped.

The road was wet, and the light from the streetlights was fragmented.

Standing at the entrance of the office building, Zhu Weilian suddenly said, "Fang Yuan, actually, before you came today, I had already talked with several groups of investors."

But I still want to give you the lion's share, because we're on the same page.

"Don't give me that. I reckon I offered the highest price."

"Haha, looks like I can't hide it from you anymore."

Fang Yuan simply patted him on the shoulder, turned around, and got into the car.

It was almost 11 o'clock when I got back to the hotel.

Fang Yuan had just taken off his coat when his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was an American number.

"Fang," Ellie said, "Lionsgate came to sound them out, asking about 'Insidious'."

Saw 2 had a slightly higher budget of $210 million and grossed $1.13 million at the box office.

The core audience for this series is basically secure.

James Wan has already begun filming "Lurking".

The film's budget is not high, and if it's successful, the studio's profit margin will exceed that of many large production companies.

Chen Xia's side is also progressing smoothly; the transaction plan was completed on schedule, and some stocks have already generated considerable profits.

Fang Yuan suddenly remembered something, and after hanging up the phone, he quickly sent a message to Chen Xia.

"After May, reduce holdings of stocks with profits exceeding 10%, while maintaining a position of 30%-50%. Add more shares at the end of the year depending on the situation."

"receive."

This year's publishing plans have already begun, and this series includes the Divergent trilogy, as well as Lucy, Gravity, and About Time.

Fang Yuan planned to complete and publish all the novels he could remember by 2005.

This includes defining the studio's purpose: to generate sufficient profits from horror films before his graduation, thus laying a solid foundation for the adaptation of these later published works.

This time, he is most optimistic about "Lucy" and "Gravity".

Lucy is a classic example of taking "low budget, high concept" to the extreme.

It packaged the cool concept of B-movies with A-list production and star power, achieving huge success worldwide.

The film tells a wildly imaginative story:

Lucy, an American girl living in Taipei, is unexpectedly caught up in a gang deal and has a mysterious drug called "CPH4" implanted in her body.

A drug leak leads to an unexpected "superpower": the drug packaging ruptures inside Lucy's body, causing her brain to be forcibly developed.

She possesses superpowers such as telepathy, control of electromagnetic waves, instant absorption of knowledge, and even manipulation of other people and objects.

On the "Path to Godhood": As her brain usage skyrockets, Lucy becomes increasingly inhuman.

She contacted Professor Norman, who studies neuroscience, and began an evolutionary race against time, attempting to pass on the meaning of life and the knowledge of the universe before her body disintegrates.

The film cost $4000 million to make and ultimately grossed $4.6 million worldwide.

In Fang Yuan's eyes, this is the best female-centric movie in terms of special effects.

《地心引力》走的是一条近乎极致的艺术片路线。用1亿美元的成本，在全球拿下了超过7.23亿美元的票房，并且在2014年第86届奥斯卡上以10项提名领跑。

It ultimately won seven awards, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Visual Effects, and was a prime example of critical and commercial success that year.

The film's story is extremely concise, a survival drama almost entirely carried by Sandra Bullock.

This story has a strong Chinese flavor. After going through many crises, the lone Stone finally boarded China's "Tiangong" space station and successfully landed on Earth aboard the "Shenzhou" return capsule.

This is also why Fang Yuan values ​​it so much.