Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 282 Nasdaq rings the bell!

Xiao Liu came with high hopes but left disappointed, and left Shanghai by plane in the afternoon.

She has to go back to Peking to shoot a commercial and continue filming the second season of "Zhu Xian". The working girl's schedule is very tight.

However, the employer, Boss Lu, already felt something was wrong.

The erotic gossip about me in Cannes had already spread, so why didn't this little girl cry, make a fuss, or even try to hang herself like she did before?
Shouldn't he just attack with a machete in hand?

We've met several times, and he never mentioned anything wrong, and he just honestly went to work and earn money for himself. . .

There is a saying that goes, if a child is quiet, he must be up to something.

Lu Kuan had a sudden sense of foreboding, and her birthday was coming up in two months...

Boss Lu thought about it and took out his cell phone, trying to fool people for a while.

"Hello? Lu?"

"Leo, when you pursue Victoria's Secret Angels, do you give them sports cars or bags?"

Leonardo seemed to have heard a joke: "I just need a dinner or a kiss, that's all."

"grass!"

"what?"

"It's okay. I said it's great. Then can you help me find your car dealer friend to order a supercar? Any recommendations?"

Leonardo smirked, "A car suitable for ladies? When do you want it?"

"Oh! It's for Crystal. It has to arrive before August 8th."

"Bro, haven't your talent and looks impressed her yet? This isn't your level."

Little Leo's arrogant attitude, which was full of superiority, made Boss Lu feel helpless.

Although the process was slightly different from what he said, the result was no different.

Even if she was eighteen years old, he would not be able to touch her until the "fundamental contradiction" raised by Concubine Liu Yi several times was resolved.

Boss Lu was both greedy and helpless.

"You don't understand. Crystal is a rose with thorns. You need a little patience."

It takes a little patience to cheat, sneak attack, and CPU.

"Okay, I can recommend you some of the latest models, all available now."

"The Bugatti Veyron 16.4, a model released this year, has an 8.0L W16 quad-turbocharged engine, a maximum power of 736kW, and can accelerate from 2.5 to km/h in seconds."

"Ferrari Enzo, 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated engine, maximum power 660 horsepower, 3.6- acceleration in seconds."

"Lamborghini Murciélago, tubular steel structure and carbon fiber materials, 6.2-liter engine, 3.9- acceleration in seconds."

(from top to bottom)
Although Lu Kuan didn't know much about the business, he was no fool. "Why are all the recommendations you made to me over $100 million?"

"What about the Porsche Carrera GT, which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars? What about the Koenigsegg CCR? What about the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren?"

Leonardo sneered, "Are you so stingy even with your own women? I thought you were only stingy with the crew!"

"grass!"

Boss Lu cursed again and said helplessly, "Let's just take the three expensive ones. Based on your taste, which one do you think Crystal would like?"

"Ferrari Enzo."

"How can you be so sure?"

Leonardo's tone was full of anger: "She often talked about this with the stunt driver when she was filming the racing scenes in "Alien". Lu, you are so stupid."

No wonder Leonardo DiCaprio’s skill in picking up girls is at the top level, there must be some trick to it.

Boss Lu ignored his teasing and asked, "How much?"

"I'd have to ask, about £100 million, but I suggest you go to Europe to buy it."

One million pounds is about 100 million yuan at this moment. Boss Lu calculated in his head for a few seconds and regretted rejecting the endorsement contracts offered to Liu Yifei by several advertisers last month.

The washing machine didn't even think about the fact that Xiao Liu was already too busy to take pictures of that thing.

"Okay, I'll talk to Luc Besson."

Due to import tariffs, transportation costs, and the United States' environmental regulations and related tax rates that far exceed those in Europe, Ferraris are much more expensive in North America than in Europe.

Lu Kuan made a few phone calls to settle the matter, and began to speculate whether he could use this car to trick the adult Xiao Liu into giving it to him. Obviously, it was a bit difficult.

But it should be possible to fool people for a while and maintain stability.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Ah Fei drove his boss and Bingbing to No. 51 Jiangning Road, JA District, Shanghai. He got out of the car with gifts and walked into the alley. This was the residence of film master Xie Jin.

Bingbing led him inside with ease, then turned back and said with a smile, "I used to come here often when I was in school. The teacher's wife cooks delicious food."

Actors of Yanzi and Bingbing's generation have deep memories of veteran directors like Xie Jin.

In 1996, 15-year-old Bingbing applied for Xie Jin's Hengtong Star School. Xie Jin thought he had a good image and directly exempted him from the re-examination and the third examination. He was finally successfully admitted.

While she was in school, Xie Jin recommended her to guest star in the TV series "Strong Woman".

Bingbing, who is good at seizing opportunities, became good friends with the female lead Liu Xuehua, which led to the latter recommending her to the "Return of the Pearl" crew of her employer Qiong Yao.

At the beginning, Bingbing's role was Ziwei, but due to the withdrawal of the original Taiwanese actress Li Tingyi, there was a lack of Hong Kong and Taiwan actors in the co-production.

On the premise that Yanzi firmly holds the role of Xiaoyanzi, Qiongyao had to replace Bingbing with Lin Xinru, and the latter could only settle for the role of Jinsuo.

Due to a series of coincidences, she developed the inner demon that led her to be scornfully called a maid.

Later in 2008, when director Xie Jin passed away, Bingbing, grateful for the old man's care in the past, went to Shanghai to pay tribute to him and even had some unpleasantness with reporters.

The residence of a legendary director is incredibly simple and low-key.

On the fifth floor of an ordinary residential building in a small alley, two people climbed the stairs. The dim building lights illuminated the rust spots on the iron gate.

Bingbing knocked lightly on the iron door, making a creaking sound that made one's teeth ache. The Xie family's old nanny poked her head out with a smile on her face: "Oh, the big star is here, come in quickly."

Bingbing walked in carrying a gift: "Hello, Aunt Zhang, this is Director Lu Kuan. I came here specially to visit Teacher Xie today."

"I know, I know. Director Xie specifically told me that we have a distinguished guest coming today, so I went to the small market to buy fish early in the morning!"

Aunt Zhang is already in her fifties. She has been with Xie Jin and his wife for almost thirty years. Both of them are now in their eighties.

Xie Jin's wife, Xu Dawen, was more agile and came out wearing reading glasses, holding a book in her hands. "Is that Bingbing and Director Lu Kuan?"

"It's me, Master's wife!"

Bingbing excitedly put the gift on the ground, which led to Xu Dawen's repeated reproaches.

"You're going to be scolded by the old man again for bringing so many things."

Boss Lu smiled and said, "I took Director Xie's purple clay teapot yesterday. These can't even be considered a return gift. I'll have Bingbing send it over when I find something good."

In fact, the purple clay teapot was a gift from Xie Jin's nephew, and Bingbing had already paid for it.

But after Lu Kuan said this, it became an elegant gathering and exchange among intellectuals, and it no longer seemed to be a materialistic exchange of courtesy.

Only then did Xie Jin come out of the house with a cane.

"Haha, no need. Good things are only valuable when they are in the hands of people who know what they are doing."

Boss Lu took the initiative to step forward and shake hands: "Hello, Director Xie."

"Lu Kuan, I've seen your movie, it's very exciting!"

Xie Jin has been dealing with movies all his life, and his eyes were full of admiration when he saw this young man who was younger than his grandson.

"I came here this time to seek your advice and listen to your criticism and correction."

"Hahaha, you're a young man in your twenties, but you're talking like a veteran cadre in his forties. That's not good!"

Xie Jin smiled and invited him to sit on the sofa. Bingbing's eyes lingered between the two of them, and he really enjoyed this moment.

Xu Dawen took out Xie Jin's notebook from the house and gestured to the young director.

"Look, Old Xie is old and worried that he won't remember things, so he has to take notes after watching your movie!"

Boss Lu was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Really? Can I take a look?"

"of course."

Lu Kuan flipped through several sheets of paper written with vigorous handwriting. From "The Drummer" to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", there were short comments and words of expectation, like an old teacher correcting homework for the younger generation.

"Thank you, Director, for your kindness."

The young director turned to Bingbing and said, "Please take a picture of this with your phone. I want to take it back and study it carefully."

"Hey, why bother with so much trouble? It's just something I wrote and drew when I was bored. Don't take it seriously."

Xie Jin glanced helplessly at his nosy wife and said, "To be honest, I just heard from Bingbing that you were coming to Shanghai to participate in an event, and I wanted to meet a young talent like you."

"In the past three years, Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, and Bingbing have all mentioned you when they came to see me. Just consider it as satisfying an old man like me's curiosity!"

Before Boss Lu could respond politely and modestly as a veteran cadre, Xie Jin went straight to the point:

"Lu Kuan, don't listen to Zhu Dake, Huang Shixian, and that Gu Shan guy from your Beijing Film Academy. Just go make your own movie."

Boss Lu was stunned when he heard this, wondering where this abrupt turn came from.

Xie Jin's wife, Mrs. Xu Dawen, sighed, "If it weren't for the critics like Zhu Dake who made such blind accusations, Xie Jin wouldn't have left the film industry so early."

"Kid, I don't know much about movies, but Old Xie really likes your work. He's afraid you'll make the same mistakes he did!"

Xie Jin chuckled and said, "I was worried about this originally, but since I learned that you were going to set up the Pan-Asia Film Academy, I knew that these people would not be able to influence you."

Since his debut in 2002, almost every movie made by Lu Kuan, who carried the banner of commercial films, has been questioned and criticized by older generation literary and art critics such as Zhu Dake, Huang Shixian, and Gu Shan.

Especially after the debate among the seven gentlemen of Beijing Film Academy, Boss Lu almost became the target of criticism from these old stubborn people.

And because Lu Kuan's status and position are getting higher and higher, the group of people eating pickled mustard greens is also growing.

"They criticized me in the 80s, and they criticized Zhang Yimou in the 90s. I think it's your turn to endure their noise now."

He said this lightly, but Lu Kuan knew that the names that came out of his mouth almost ruined his career back then.

There are no masters in Chinese films (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), but there are several people who are close to masters, and Xie Jin is one of them.

If we divide the entire 20th century into two periods and list the most influential people in the cultural and artistic circles in the last fifty years, even if we narrow the list to a minimum, Xie Jin will definitely be on the list.

Xie Jin was born into a scholarly family in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. He moved to Shanghai in the 1930s and became fascinated with movies, embarking on the path of a legendary filmmaker.

Generally speaking, the literary and art circles believe that Zheng Zhengqiu ended a chapter in film history, and the rise of Cai Chusheng was the beginning of another chapter. These are the first and second generations.

And Xie Jin is the well-deserved third-generation successor.

From "The Basketball Player No. 5" to the peak of "Furong Town", Xie Jin gradually stood at the forefront of the spotlight in that era of "the beginning of the thawing of the ice age", just like the shining boss Lu in China now.

This has attracted the covetousness and attempts of people in the literary and art circles and serious critics, because they make a living from this.

Among them, Zhu Dake is the flag bearer.

Xie Jin and his wife were old and hardly ate their dinner. Lu Kuan and Bingbing only had a quick taste and then said goodbye and left without disturbing their rest.

Xie Jin possessed the elegance and indifference of the older generation of literati. It seemed that he just wanted to meet this rising star and would be satisfied with just saying a few words from his heart.

Bingbing sat in the car and raised his doubts: "That Zhu Dake is quite annoying, but it seems like he only talks nonsense to you every time. Why did the teacher's wife just say that he almost ruined Director Xie's career?"

"In this era, he's just talking big, but in that era, he was the real deal."

"When the anti-capitalist movement began in 85, Director Xie Jin's exploration of commercial films gave him a lot of leverage to attack him, forcing him to temporarily halt his efforts in this direction."

Just like Lu Kuan in 2005, who carried the banner of "Chinese learning as the basis, Western learning for practical application", advocating and practicing the industrialized production model of Hollywood films.

This exploration actually began as early as the 80s at the Shanghai Film Studio.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai was the most international city in China. After that group of filmmakers who were influenced by advanced ideas entered the studios, they continued the classic Hollywood narrative style.

In 1980, Shanghai Film Studio produced the first science fiction film in China, "The Death Ray on Coral Island", which caused heated discussion and sensation as soon as it was released, and opened the precedent for domestic science fiction films.

At the same time, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang and others who began directing on the wave of younger generations also began exploring avant-garde films with the help of Xi'an Film Studio and Guangxi Film Studio.

Boss Lu sighed, "If the course of history hadn't been affected by anti-capitalist sentiment, if Zhu Dake and his gang of literary scoundrels and fraudsters hadn't been accusing and shifting the blame."

"The mainland film industry may also become like Hollywood and New York, moving away from the two major film centers of commercial and artistic significance, with each developing independently and fulfilling different missions."

"Those who win awards will win awards, and those who make money will make money. This will be of great benefit to the overseas expansion of culture and the prosperity of film art."

Bingbing said bitterly, "Isn't Zhu Dake the cultural giant of that era?"

Boss Lu laughed dumbly: "That's about right."

"In 86, he published an article in Shanghai's Wenhui Daily titled "The Flaws in Xie Jin's Film Model," criticizing Xie Jin's films for adhering to outdated narrative principles and possessing an 'outdated aesthetic consciousness that prioritizes sensationalism.'"

"That's not the most important thing."

"The most crucial thing is that Zhu Dake has accused him of both influencing the transformation of Chinese film art and accepting Hollywood's cultural colonization. This is truly fatal."

Just as Lu Kuan just said, the empty talk of a group of serious critics represented by Zhu Dake and Li Jie may be like the buzzing of flies in today's era.

But at that time, it almost destroyed Xie Jin's exploration of the Hollywood model and commercial film path, and destroyed the Shanghai Film Studio, which produced many excellent films.

No one dared to take such a huge risk to their righteousness and continue to advance triumphantly. The mainstream of Chinese films gradually turned to the "talking about the profound" mode of the famous scholars of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

They blindly pursue philosophical ideas, ignore plots, oppose sharp contradictions, and deliberately explore human nature.

Bingbing leaned his head on the shoulder of the man next to him and listened to him tell the history of the "decline of Chinese cinema."

"Why have our audiences rarely gone to the cinema since the 90s?"

"It is precisely because of [storytelling], the simplest and most basic principle of film, that it has been attacked and stigmatized by Zhu Dake and his group of critics."

"Although Chinese films have won numerous awards in the West since then, the mainland film industry has also rapidly collapsed. It wasn't until 1994 that the government was forced to allow Hollywood films to enter the mainland to boost the market and attract audiences."

Bingbing was overwhelmed with emotions after hearing this. This was simply too ironic!

How averse were filmmakers of that era to commercial films and storytelling?

Li Shaohong once mentioned in an interview that in 87, when the Beijing Film Studio was preparing to try its hand at commercial films, famous and big directors avoided the idea, and only this group of young directors came forward to take on the responsibility.

In the end, you pushed it to me and I pushed it to you, and the task fell on Li Shaohong.

In this era, wouldn’t a young director be overjoyed to have the opportunity to make a film?
Li Shaohong went to find the director of the Beijing Film Studio, Hu Qiming, overnight, sat down in front of his house, and burst into tears: "This is too much! You are trying to kill me! Why should I make entertainment films?"

In that era, commercial films were called entertainment films. Compared with the lofty art films, it can be seen how vulgar and stigmatized they were.

Bingbing thought of Li Shaohong throwing a tantrum in front of the Beijing Film Studio's staff housing building and burst out laughing.

She tilted her head to look at the man's angular profile, and couldn't help but scratch his fine stubble with her slender jade fingers: "Chinese cinema is lucky to have you!"

"Ah? That's an exaggeration. I just happened to be there at the right time."

Boss Lu boasts in front of outsiders, but he really doesn't dare to take credit for this: "From Zhang Yimou's 'Hero' in 2002 to Chen Kaige's 'The Promise' this year, these once-avant-garde film directors have all turned back to exploring commercial films." "This isn't a matter of me or anyone else shouting slogans; it's the result of pressure from the audience and the market."

"As long as we don't have that hat on our heads, our Chinese directors' storytelling abilities are no worse than anyone else's. We just need to pick up the wealth accumulated by previous generations of directors."

He had something he didn't say, some directors were able to pick it up, but some directors couldn't.

The "betrayal" of these fifth-generation directors also fully proves how deadly the malicious comments of Zhu Dake and others were back then.

From the 1980s to the beginning of the millennium, the exploration process of Chinese commercial films was delayed for 20 years.

The two walked into the hotel suite. Bingbing sat on the young director's legs, put her arms around his neck, and her eyes were full of admiration.

Perhaps the wealthy men who made their fortunes through dirty tricks would scare the female stars away and make them try to get close to them;
But a man like Lu Kuan, who has both means and ideals, and who has spanned a city and a place and a certain industry, and who has used his extremely high vision and mind to create a career and lead the trend of thought, undoubtedly makes the big actresses have a heartfelt admiration for him. This is a gene of admiring the strong that is engraved in their bones.

"I didn't want to bother with them before because they just wanted to take advantage of the popularity. The more I paid attention to them, the more excited they became."

"But I'm really touched by Director Xie's concern today. When Zhu Dake starts bragging online again, I'm going to give him a smackdown!"

Bingbing laughed sweetly and said, "Next time Zhu Dake scolds you, I'll scold him! I'll let you vent your anger!"

Boss Lu's big hands have already begun to gently rub, rub, and pick.

"How can a beautiful woman's mouth be used to curse others?"

Bingbing patted him lightly, annoyed at the vulgarity in his words, and then glanced at him captivatingly: "What's that for?"

Boss Lu laughed: "Yeah!"

The delicate orioles sing sweetly, and fish and dragons dance all night long.

After spending two days in Shanghai, Lu Kuan returned to Tangshan to continue filming and bidding for the Olympic opening ceremony.

The filming progress is steadily advancing, but the Olympic opening ceremony plan has reached the time when it needs to be gradually finalized.

Due to the tedious and complicated preparation of bid documents, the problem facing everyone now is not a lack of creativity, but too much creativity!

For more than two months, Lin Ying complained about the sudden decrease in her hair volume after discussing, verifying, and overturning the ideas day and night, and then repeating the cycle again.

Lu Kuan specifically asked Zhao Fei to take charge of the secondary shots for a day, and concentrate on discussing plans and determining issues in the temporary office of the Olympic team next to the crew.

Once the route and basic plan are determined, we should innovate and improve the existing plan continuously. Otherwise, there will be no first choice and the final draft may not be reached until next year.

Based on the aesthetic judgment ability required by the director, this decision naturally had to be made by Lu Kuan himself.

Assistant Xiao Li used a large rear projection screen to give a rough demonstration of all the program outlines, with more than 50 creative ideas.

Traditional works include Tai Chi, Ink Painting, Moonlight on the Spring River, Sinan Painting, Bronze Art, and Colorful Clothes.

Modern ones include "Ropeway", "Age of Discovery", "The Internet", "Dream of Five Continents", etc.

Everyone looked at Lu Kuan who was in deep thought, waiting for his decision.

The young director slowly spoke, "Everyone, the focus of our discussion today, which is the 50-minute cultural performance, requires us to make a choice regarding the direction and policy."

"These 50-plus programs were developed through discussions among an international team like us, but they can be roughly divided into two categories."

Lukuan holds up two fingers:

“The traditional route, the cultural route, is elegant and unique, but its actual effectiveness is questionable.”

"The visual route, that is, the special effects route and the atmospheric route, uses a lot of high-tech means, and the scenes are grand but without any particularly profound cultural connotations."

All programs have achieved the ultimate in the integration of culture and technology, but they are inevitably biased.

If you want the entire performance program to have a core thread that pulls it together and not be scattered in form and spirit, you must establish a center.

On this issue, Jin Wei, Shen Wei, Guo Qiyong, Yang Liping and others tend to prefer the traditional cultural route, and programs along this route can best express our national spirit and style.

However, foreigners such as Lin Ying, Michel, and Galliano, based on their past experience and international perspective, strongly recommend choosing a romantic and atmospheric technical route.

The young director expressed his opinion: "Chinese culture is broad and profound. Even we ourselves cannot claim to be proficient in even one branch."

"For a short 50-minute performance, I prefer to use the most powerful visual impact to shock people around the world."

"Of course, we have to strike a balance in this process. We can't just focus on the eye-catching economy, but we also can't just pursue elegance and make the audience sleepy."

Guo Qiyong shook his head repeatedly after hearing this and couldn't help but persuade him, "Director Lu, we are different from them."

He smiled wryly and gestured to several foreign friends.

"Our plan must take into account the opinions of leaders and the feedback from literary and art critics."

"Just like your movie, even if it has won awards and is a box office hit, there are still frequent noises."

"If the Olympic opening ceremony program blindly pursues visual effects and audiovisual shocks, I'm afraid you'll be under too much pressure, both from the government and the public."

The artists present were all silent. They had to admit that the cultural scholar's analysis made sense, but his perspective was based on Lu Kuan himself.

"We need to consider the leadership's opinions, but that will be after we present the proposals."

"As for the critics, just let them bark and don't pay any attention to them."

Lu Kuan stood up and tapped the table. "From now until the end of the month, we have to come up with a complete set of creative plans, budget plans, and technical plans."

"For these 50-plus programs, we will prioritize technology and special effects. If there are any cultural programs that require targeted modifications, we will test the waters and discuss them."

With someone who sets the tone, the team has a backbone.

The creative team quickly began to adapt and insert programs that tended towards grand culture, grand vision, and grand romance, using harmony between heaven, earth, and man as the main ideological path and logical structure.

Since July, Boss Lu has been working at a pace that is more tiring than a dog.

Filming during the day, discussing Olympic plans at noon, and handling official business at night.

Among them, "Bullfighting", produced by Wenjie and jointly distributed by Shanghai Film Group and Bona Film Group, had a film cost of 700 million yuan, but it was a loss based on the box office data of only 2000 million yuan.

But considering the film's upgraded status after winning the Venice Horizons section and the Golden Horse Awards, as well as the sale of DVD rights, making a small profit is not a problem.

The most eye-catching performance was Xu Zheng's "Crazy Supermarket", which had a total box office of 300 million with a cost of less than 1540 million. It had an extremely good reputation in second- and third-tier cities, and then spread and radiated to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

This is mainly the result of the correct distribution and publicity strategy.

Xu Zheng, Su Chang and Zhang Songwen are all relatively well-known, and supporting actors such as Yang Qing and Zhang Jiayi are also not unknown.

The creative team started their roadshow in second- and third-tier cities, avoiding blockbusters such as "Initial D" that were strong at the same time.

In particular, the carefully edited funny behind-the-scenes footage is played in rotation on the homepage of Wenjie Video, just like the six major Hollywood websites are jealous of Mytube overseas. People in the industry have recognized the role of professional video websites in promoting film distribution.

At the same time, "Bad Genius" and "Seven Swordsmen" invested by Huayi have been officially scheduled to be released in the summer season on August 8, ready to face a head-on battle.

Blog.com, Douban.com, Wenjie Video and Focus Media's publicity channels are fully operational, forming a sniper attack on "Seven Swords".

Although Jang Nara has returned to South Korea to lie dormant, this movie still has investment from Huayi, so it is necessary to step on it.

On July 2005, 7, under the urging of seven or eight calls from Jiang Beichun in one day, Lu Kuan finally handed over all the work for the crew and the Olympic team and flew to the United States.

Focus Media is about to ring the bell.

Since acquiring a stake in Focus Media in 2003, Focus Media has begun its second large-scale expansion in China by leveraging the film and television publicity business of its parent company, Wenjie Media.

At the end of 2004, in view of the future listing plan, it was also to allow Focus Media, which was barely able to break even, to expand its advertising business in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Jiangbeichun accepted the second round of financing on behalf of Lukuan.

Institutions such as Goldman Sachs of the United States and 3i of the United Kingdom invested US$2000 million in the company. At this point, Lukuan's shareholding ratio dropped to 52%, but the actual holding valuation increased significantly.

Focus Media used part of the $2000 million to expand its commercial building network from 1 to 2 buildings.

The other part will be used to establish a hypermarket broadcasting network, striving to occupy 50% to 70% of the market share within half a year.

That is to say, in addition to traditional building advertising, emerging airport broadcast networks, golf broadcast networks, hospital broadcast networks, etc. will also be included in the business scope, striving to create new growth points.

The long-term goal is to develop and operate a niche outdoor TV network in China.

If this step is truly achieved, Focus Media will be present wherever there are electronic screens in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Of course, Yu Feng's group has been eyeing the opportunity covetously, having already completed three rounds of financing, and is just waiting to see how the big brother will perform on Nasdaq this time.

Starting from mid-April, Jiang Beichun started his roadshow as CEO, visiting important cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and the last stop was New York.

During the past three months, Jiang Beichun, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston, as underwriters, had been constantly urging this young director, who already had some international fame, to join them, but he declined every time.

First, the main business is busy, and second, professional matters are left to professionals.

However, as the roadshow entered its final stage and the team headed to its last stop in New York, Lu Kuan had no way of escaping.

For underwriters such as Focus Media and Goldman Sachs, such a young director who is already well-known in North America and has an international flair is beneficial to the stock issuance.

Boss Lu, who often joked that he was suffering from "poverty", had no choice but to rush to New York with Ah Fei to give his last bit of money to Focus Media.

On July 7, photos of a roadshow reception held by Focus Media at a hotel in New York were leaked. Once published by domestic financial media, they immediately went viral.

From the financial circle to the entertainment circle...

"Isn't this a washing machine?"

"Is he filming a movie? He's dressed like a real man."

"The boss of Focus Media? A washing machine? Holy crap!"

There are dimensional walls between different fields, and Focus Media is not like Wenjie Video and Wenjie Mall, which are obviously Wenjie-affiliated companies. It is normal that many netizens do not know about this.

However, with the frequent reports in financial magazines and media, washing machines seem to have one more reason to be envied and hated.

"China Financial News": Focus Media, which was founded only two and a half years ago, has now built a commercial building network that covers 1500 million middle- and high-income people daily. It has also opened new hypermarket networks, airport networks, golf courses, hospitals, etc., with monthly advertising revenue of nearly 4000 million yuan.

Caixin Weekly: Even with a conservative estimate, Focus Media's market value will reach more than US$8 million. Since Focus Media's major shareholder Lu Kuan holds a 52% stake in Focus Media, his net worth will be at least US$4 million.

Caijing.com: According to public information, White Horse Outdoor Media, which was listed on the Hong Kong Main Board Market in 2002, currently has a market capitalization of approximately HK$30 billion. As for Focus Media, which has only been in growth for two years, a valuation of around US$8 million is reasonable considering the support provided by its major shareholder Lu Kuan in terms of film and television resources.

"First Financial Channel": According to public information, the well-known domestic director Lu Kuan already owns the Hong Kong-listed company Wenjie Golden Harvest, and currently holds shares with a market value of about HK$8 million. The day after tomorrow, Focus Media will ring the bell, and the assets of the listed companies under his command are expected to earn US$4 million.

The next day, Hurun, the well-known leader of the "Pig Killing List", posted a blog on his official Weibo account, saying that he had noticed this low-key wealthy man from the mainland and would reflect him on the Hurun Rich List to be released in October.

Netizens watched with tears in their eyes, and secretly calculated the value of the washing machine with a pen.

The total assets of the two publicly disclosed listed companies alone amount to RMB 40.68 billion.

Let’s take a look at the 2004 Hurun Pig Killing List:
Huang Guangyu 105 billion, Chen Tianqiao 88 billion, Rong Zhijian 85 billion,
The washing machine’s net worth of 40.68 billion yuan ranks it around 14th!
This does not include his other businesses!
In the past, most of the netizens in the entertainment industry made fun of washing machines, especially fans of Liu Yifei. Since their goddess was very close to her, they were particularly harsh in their comments.

Now, this young man, who is not even 25 years old yet, has already “taken” a place in the top of the rich list…

Spray them all!

Why do you have all the beauty, money and talent to yourself?
There were ridicule, jealousy, and sour remarks, but no one said that he was rich and unkind.

After all, he has been making money by making movies and running companies since he started his career, and has not made huge fortunes from financial markets or energy markets such as coal, iron, and oil.

In addition to the charitable donation of the Wenjie Teaching Building a few months ago, his previous cultural output, and his humorous and confident image in the Western media, Lu Kuan has won a lot of favor among the people.

2005:7 am, July 13, 9.

A beautiful blonde in a dress walked up to the Focus Media team and said, "Gentlemen, please prepare to send a representative to ring the city bell."

Jiang Beichun was standing there in a daze. Once upon a time, did this self-made advertising and media practitioner dare to imagine that he could get to this point?
"Lao Jiang, let's go together."

Boss Lu patted Focus Media’s CEO.

Jiang Beichun's face lit up with joy, but he quickly declined: "Boss Lu, you should go. I'm so happy that my legs are shaking!"

"Focus Media was your idea and you built it all by yourself. I just provided the funds for expansion and some of the business."

"Old Jiang, you are more qualified than me to ring the city bell."

Jiang Beichun looked at the sincere young director and was speechless, his throat rolling. It would be a lie to say that he was not moved.

At the beginning, he invested all his fortune of 2000 million into the bottomless pit of expanded reproduction. He found the distribution business of "Thief" out of desperation and took every possible job.

I didn't expect to be attacked so accurately by the person in front of me. He took advantage of the opportunity and lost the controlling stake. It was really a helpless move.

But since then, in addition to providing great support in the advertising business, the young director has indeed not interfered with the operation of his own company, and has become an excellent boss.

"Let's go together! Mr. Lu!"

"it is good."

Amid the cheers of Nasdaq, Lu Kuan and Jiang Beichun rang the city bell together.

Boss Lu did not refuse the routine listing speech. It was time for him to use his international reputation and confidence to boost the new stock issuance.

"Today, Focus Media stands on the Nasdaq stage, marking a new starting point for a journey full of challenges and hard work."

"We see a future of limitless possibilities. In this era of information explosion, Focus Media is committed to precisely reaching every audience, maximizing the value of advertising, and weaving a unique communication network between buildings and where people gather."

"We come here with innovative ideas and fearless courage. We are willing to work together with global investors and partners to write a glorious chapter for Focus Media in this capital market full of opportunities!"

The audience burst into thunderous applause, and the photos of Boss Lu looking so cool and unrestrained killed the film of the reporters present and became the headlines of major domestic websites!

Overnight, the market value predicted by all financial media and bloggers came true.

CCTV Finance Channel Column Program:

美国东部时间7月13日17:00(北平时间7月14日5:00)消息。

Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) saw a strong rise in its share price on its first day of listing on the Nasdaq in the United States, closing at US$20.20, US$17 higher than the issue price of US$3.2, and an increase of nearly 19 percentage points on the day.

Netizen: ??? Just tell me how much the washing machine shares are worth?

Of course, there are popular science posts. It is similar to what the financial media predicted. According to the closing price on the first day, the 52% stake held by Lu Kuan is worth as much as 4.1 million US dollars!
No matter how many predictions, how much hype, or how many descriptions there are, none of them are as intuitive and shocking as this number.

Boss Lu kept receiving calls, and his phone memory was almost full of congratulatory text messages.

Whether friend or foe, no one can help but pay attention to the young director in the next one or two days, but everyone has different thoughts.

Bingbing was of course filled with joy, and was so excited that he almost wanted to find an excuse to fly to the United States to sacrifice himself to celebrate for him.

But looking at Xiao Liu from the "Zhu Xian" crew and the Shangxinqiao teapot in her hand, the actress couldn't help but feel a little lustful again...

What can I do?

Xiao Liu was somewhat indifferent because she knew almost all the unknowns about the washing machine, including the ownership of the blog website.

She knew that if all of his assets were dried out in the sun, the total amount would be staggering.

The employees and artists of Wenjie are all proud of it. Even though they have known the boss's ability for a long time, this large-scale breakthrough still makes everyone proud.

As the boss of Wenjie Holdings, Lu Kuan himself is the biggest IP and resource. This reputation as a business tycoon is beneficial to the business operations of other branches and subsidiaries.

Of course, there were also two forces with complicated expressions.

One side is naturally Zhou Jun and Hua Yi, the other side...

It was Wendi Deng who had already learned the identity of the boss behind Mytube!

(End of this chapter)