Chapter 571: Hua Ying Entertainment

The investment into Hua Ying Entertainment by Group-Buy went smoothly. Lu Zhichuan grabbed the agreement and Dong Wenhao, along with Shi Miaomiao, rushed over.

The executives from both companies warmly shook hands and hugged each other, creating a very harmonious scene.

Afterward, Mr. Xu from Hua Ying led them around for a tour and casually discussed development issues.

“Mr. Dong, is the third Campus Beauty and Campus Handsome Competition currently happening?”

“Yes, the winners who want to enter the entertainment industry afterward can sign with Hua Ying.”

“That’s great. Campus talent shows have been quite interesting these past years. Many directors in the circle like scouting for actors in schools.”

Mr. Xu walked forward in her high heels and then asked, “By the way, Mr. Dong, has President Jiang given any directives about Hua Ying’s development direction?”

Dong Wenhao thought for a moment before responding, “The boss said to maintain the status quo and continue the idol trainee path, signing more beautiful and handsome talents, preferably those with skills.”

“Understood.”

“Also, Miaomiao has several undeveloped copyrights that are popular among students. Did you see ‘Those Years’ recently, Mr. Xu?”

Mr. Xu and Shi Miaomiao shook hands, “I did see it, an excellent film indeed.”

Dong Wenhao nodded, “The boss mentioned that the commercial film sector focussing on youth has started, and if Hua Ying’s performance department has plans to invest, this is a field worth trying to give our artists some exposure.”

“Alright.”

“Miaomiao, show your works to Mr. Xu later.”

As Dong Wenhao spoke, he walked forward to meet Lu Zhichuan and they both returned to the hotel together.

During this time, Lu Zhichuan was perusing the stock agreement in his hands, still perplexed.

Hua Ying Entertainment is only somewhat famous within the industry.

It has a few leading actresses and several second and third-tier male actors. It has invested in filming eight TV and film dramas, but few works are notable.

In recent years, as talent shows have become hugely popular, Hua Ying has also been contemplating a transformation.

Since 2006, their signings have all been idols from talent shows.

The signing requirements are simple: good appearance, complete musical skills, able to sing and dance. Acting ability is optional and not crucial.

So, when the Zhihu Campus Beauty and Handsome Competition became increasingly popular, they immediately took the initiative to sign some of the participants.

It’s a company without much sparkle; no wonder why the boss is interested.

But Dong Wenhao mentioned that the boss showed great interest in this company when he attended a casting event there.

He even wandered around, visited the practice rooms and recording studios, and was caught while learning how female actors shot shower gel ads.

Dong Wenhao is also confused. The boss’s next move after entering the information track was to invest in an entertainment company that has no relevance to the industry.

Like Lu Zhichuan, he couldn’t understand how this company fits into the ecosystem that Jiang Qin is planning.

Zhihu is a traffic pool for the younger generation with strong draw-in capability.

Group-Buy is a retail platform, one of the most promising industries.

Group-Buy’s supply chain provides source supplies, continuously reducing costs and binding customers tighter, also possessing significant profit capability.

Tonight’s Headlines manages public opinion and promotes all products within the Group-Buy system.

But an entertainment company?

Once, while eating in Linchuan University’s cafeteria, Lu Zhichuan specifically asked Jiang Qin if he intended to enter the entertainment industry.

Jiang Qin expressed disinterest, stating this company was just for him to practice.

But as a former manager of Alibaba’s investment department and a veteran investor, practicing wasn’t really necessary.

Both were unclear, so they pondered all the way but still couldn’t understand the underlying logic of investing in Hua Ying Entertainment.

However, just then, Wei Lanlan called to inquire about their progress and, hearing their doubts, provided a kind of answer.

“You should know, the boss doesn’t like doing things in order.”

“In 2009, group-buying websites just started to emerge. No one knew what the future held, but we had already settled third-party payment discussions with Alipay.”

“What was the situation with Alipay back then? Unable to get a payment license on its own, unable to expand independently, everyone thought it would fail.”

“So, have you ever thought that maybe this company could also be very useful in the future?”

“The era is undergoing drastic changes.”

After the call, Lu Zhichuan looked at Dong Wenhao.

Dong Wenhao pondered awhile and then spoke, “Lanlan was the boss’s personal secretary, besides the boss’s wife, she probably understands the boss the best. Perhaps that’s the answer.”

Lu Zhichuan nodded, put away the investment agreement and took out another document for the next target company, Gaode Maps.

Gaode Maps and Group-Buy are old friends. When Group-Buy launched its GIS services, it almost drove Lashou and Dianping websites out of business.

But because of this, many investment institutions started targeting Gaode.

So, compared to unchallenged Hua Ying Entertainment, Lu Zhichuan faced much greater pressure.

Especially since Old Lu knew that his former employer, Alibaba, was also eyeing Gaode, he felt quite stressed.

Everyone knows Alibaba is a major player. Under similar investment conditions, Group-Buy didn’t stand much of a chance.

In fact, Cheng Jun from Gaode was also wrestling with this dilemma.

Choose Alibaba or Group-Buy?

Both offered similar terms for shares, but both wouldn’t allow Gaode to accept investment from the other, clearly intending to force a competition.

Most voices within the company hoped to merge into Alibaba’s ecosystem because Alibaba clearly had a more promising future.

But Cheng Jun had different ideas.

In 2010, Wei Lanlan from Group-Buy had visited Gaode to describe the future as Jiang Qin saw it.

After being a part of the group-buy battles, Group-Buy had built a very comprehensive database. Any street, any store could be found in minutes.

Just two years, and many things once considered “the future” were starting to become a reality.

So, Cheng Jun kept thinking, maybe following Jiang Qin could lead to a brighter future.

Yes, what Cheng Jun considered wasn’t heading towards Alibaba or Group-Buy; he was considering whether to follow Old Ma or Jiang Qin.

“Our cooperation with Group-Buy has always been pretty good, and the users of Gaode Maps have been continuously rising.”

“But Alibaba actually doesn’t rely on map services; we are somewhat an awkward fit in their ecosystem.”

“Heading towards Group-Buy, Gaode might see a broader horizon, while heading towards Alibaba, the future is still uncertain.”

Cheng Jun stated his view at the executive meeting but was quickly opposed.

Those leaning towards Alibaba were company veterans like Zhou Qing: “Group-Buy just started up, not very stable. Choosing them would be quite a gamble.”

“Yes, Zhou is right. Standing under a big tree provides better shade.”

“I think there’s no comparison between Group-Buy and Alibaba. Why hesitate? Definitely choose Alibaba!”

“Rumor has it that Group-Buy even borrowed their headquarters building from the government…”

Amidst the bustling discussions, Lu Zhichuan arrived at Gaode and was invited into the executive meeting room by Cheng Jun’s secretary.

When he entered, the debate was still ongoing with high calls for accepting Alibaba’s investment, which he also heard.

The situation was quite unfavorable for Group-Buy.

But Lu Zhichuan wasn’t panicked. He calmly sat down and with just one sentence, many of the veterans considering Alibaba’s investment had a change of heart.

“Hello everyone, I am Lu Zhichuan, the investment manager at Group-Buy, formerly the investment manager at Alibaba.”

“You all might know me, right? I’m quite well-known.”

“I oversaw the investments in Lashou Network, UC Browser, and Pea Pod, all of which are great companies, just like Gaode, and equally excellent.”

“…”

After he finished, Zhou Qing looked towards Cheng Jun, and Cheng Jun looked back.

Everyone hesitated, unsure which future was more promising, but they overlooked one thing: the reality of what had happened.

Alibaba had bet on Lashou as the leader in group-buying, but it was brutally beaten by Group-Buy and was on the verge of shutting down.

UC Browser was recently very famous but was soon confused by Tonight’s Headlines. Its rank in terms of user numbers had fallen to third, and it was rushing to copy Tonight’s self-media model.

After realizing this, they were somewhat bewildered.

Seeing no one speaking in the meeting room, Lu Zhichuan took a deep breath.

On his way to Gaode, he was still pondering the breakthrough point for the negotiations, then he received a message from Jiang Qin.

It read, “Introduce your Alibaba investment projects to Gaode.”

Seeing the reaction of the crowd in front of him, Lu Zhichuan soon understood why Jiang Qin had brought him into the team.

This was to make every company targeted by Group-Buy think clearly about who would offer a brighter future.

Damn, the boss is too sly. I was used!

The truth is, as a new internet giant, Group-Buy really can’t compare to Alibaba.

Both are developing in several overlapping areas, so encountering each other is not surprising, but currently, Group-Buy clearly has no advantage.

There’s no way around it; they’re just more famous.

But Jiang Qin brought Lu Zhichuan over…

And what Lu represents are those unsuccessful investments by Alibaba…

Whether it’s Lashou or any other project, when they heard “I’m the former investment manager at Alibaba who invested in Lashou,” their hearts must’ve fluttered.

Because Lashou was indeed a bloodbath.

Especially recently, due to financial fraud and copyright infringement, Lashou’s founder Wu Bo was even about to become a defaulter.

Under these circumstances, even though Alibaba has a solid foundation, investors would still worry about the future.