Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 355 Xiao Liu, you don’t want to see me smoking all the time, right?
Under the pale blue dome where the remaining stars have not yet faded, the mountain villa that was renovated from the monastery wakes up in the silver-gray morning mist.

It was six o'clock Italian time and Lu Kuan in the living room had been working for nearly two hours.

He was communicating with Zhuang Xu and others from the Beijing Weibo team about the launch date and preparations. It was just 12 noon in Beijing.

After the meeting, one had breakfast and the other had lunch.

Concubine Liu Yi quietly opened the door of her room, which had been closed for more than ten hours, a crack.

The little girl glanced at it for two seconds, then made a little noise as if nothing had happened and walked into the living room.

Lu Kuan, who wanted to go back for a nap, turned around and said with a dignified look, "You're up so early, did you sleep well last night?"

Liu Yifei took out her phone with a look of dissatisfaction: [Did you smoke on the terrace last night? ]

"what?"

【The smell of smoke is very choking! 】

Boss Lu laughed and said, "Oh! Your window is not closed? I didn't know."

In fact, he really wanted to make a rude joke and ask, why didn’t you feel the smell of cigarettes was choking when you were eating yesterday?

Now you're looking for trouble?
Woman, ha!

But this is just something I think about in my mind.

The pure love girl is now in a critical period where she is dragged down by herself. She has a strong sense of self-esteem and there are some things that she can do but cannot mention.

Otherwise, once Xiao Liu loses face, he will probably be beaten up, not to mention that he will never succeed again.

The old devil still has some skills. His boasting is just a temporary pleasure, but...

Boss Lu teased her about business: "Weibo is about to go online, is my cash cow ready?"

White eyes.

Before he could continue his joke, the video conference pop-up window appeared again.

The participants are all core personnel.

Zhuang Xu, President of Blog.com, Wang Xing, Vice President, Dong Shuangqiang, a collaborator from Wenjie, and the Twitter team in North America.

The main topic is to combine the development of Twitter in North America and provide first-mover experience and exchange information with mainland Weibo operations.

Xiao Liu sat down next to him, turned off the local video function with the mouse, and sipped the cup of hand-ground coffee just brought by the waiter carefully.

He looks like a veteran.

Boss Lu gave her a funny look.

Are you going to rule the country from behind the scenes?
There was a rustling sound in the office software, and everyone arrived, and Zhuang Xu presided over the meeting.

"Okay, Mr. Lu, everyone's here now. Let's have a short meeting. Today's topic is competitive product dynamics analysis..."

When everyone saw that the boss didn't turn on the video, they didn't take it seriously.

He travels frequently between Europe and the United States, often holding meetings in bed, on the toilet, in the bathtub, and so on.

But if you think he didn't listen carefully, you are totally wrong.

A small mistake in a detail can lead to a deep investigation and make you piss yourself in the mouth.

"According to reports, the beta version of Penguin Taotao is scheduled to be officially launched in early July. They currently have over 7 million users and can use pop-ups and Penguin Space to quickly acquire users, which is an advantage."

"Alibaba invested 3 million yuan to form a partnership with Myspace, but the tentative direction of the cooperation is to develop a mainland China version of Myspace, not a Weibo-like product. Therefore, the impact and competition are relatively less intense."

"Among the major portal websites..."

Everyone is listening patiently to the trends of competitors so that they can make targeted assessments later, including the width of the road.

However, Liu Yifei, who was sitting next to the man and listening to the meeting with her chin propped up while sipping her espresso, keenly discovered a bright spot!
A tender white hand just flashed across Zhuang Xu's screen, handing him a cup of tea.

That's Su Chang's hand!
His background environment is obviously a private residence, and the detached villa outside the window behind him says it all.

As for why she could recognize it as Su Chang's hand at first glance...

Because she also has the mother-of-pearl hairband wrapped around her hand, which was a souvenir Su Chang bought when he was filming "Those Years" at Xiamen University last year.

Mother-of-pearl has a unique luster and texture, and its surface presents a colorful iridescent effect. It is unique when hand-wrapped on a hairband.

One for each girl.

Seeing that the video conference had already started a lively conversation, the bored Liu Yifei took out her cell phone and sent a message to Su Chang.

【What are you doing? 】

Su Chang: [Preparing for the audition for "Secret".]

Xiao Liu was stunned for two seconds before he remembered that the recent collaboration between Jay Chou and Wenjie, "Secret", had been officially launched.

Written and directed by himself, it is aimed at the 2008 Valentine's Day box office.

However, Xue Xiaolu played the role of assistant director and producer, which was actually paving the way for the little superstar.

Ning Hao, another pillar of the commercial film industry, will naturally continue to develop the "Detective Chinatown" series of films and make full use of each IP.

The competition for the female lead in "Secret" is particularly fierce.

Tang Yan from Eagle King, Huang Shengyi and Jiang Yiyan from Chengtian, and Yang Mi from Huayi have all publicly expressed their applications for auditions.

There is also the new Taiwanese artist, Gui Lunmei, whom Jay Chou himself likes.

In fact, logically speaking, the first choice of the industry is naturally Su Chang, who has been firmly at the top of the mainland chick flicks in recent years.

However, this is not a commercial project of Wenjie alone. As far as movies are concerned, we still have to choose the most adaptable and cost-effective female lead.

So this casting event was held under the pretext of auditions but also as a form of publicity.

It is said to last for a month.

Concubine Liu Yi sneered inwardly: [Take a selfie so I can see it. I miss you.]

My best friend felt something was amiss and took the initiative: "Stop it, there are too many people here! There are so many people auditioning."

Where did you go? I asked Aunt Liu, but she didn't tell me.

Xiao Liu evaded the main point: [Oh, just wandering around to relax.]

The news of Concubine Liu Yi's aphasia was known to a small number of people, and she did not hide it from Su Chang.

【one person?】

[Of course not alone, Mia followed. ]

Now it was Su Chang's turn to sneer in her heart. She looked at the faces on the small screen of Zhuang Xu's computer, but did not see her boss's portrait.

However, according to her judgment, Liu Yifei was wandering around outside alone, and she was dancing so happily in the video.

Since Liu Xiaoli is not here, then Boss Lu must be here.

This pair of best friends are testing each other for fun, and there is an information gap between them.

Xiao Liu, who didn't bring a computer with her on this trip, didn't know that her dance video had spread throughout the intranet within 24 hours.

Su Chang, who didn't notice that one of his wrists was out of view, found it difficult to realize that he had been remotely located by Liu Yifei.

So one of them sat on the sofa next to Zhuang Xu, and the other sat close to Lu Kuan, drinking coffee and chatting nonsense with each other.

Liu Yifei was determined to take the initiative: [I'm telling you, your rumored boyfriend is about to be stolen, so hurry up and pay attention.]

Su Chang looked up blankly: [Are you talking about Zhuang Xu? What happened to him?]

[I saw Lu Kuan holding a meeting in the US. A woman appeared in Zhuang Xu's video. She was wearing the same bracelet as you!]

[Be careful, Changchang! She might even wear your pajamas while you're away! What a mean woman!]

[Don't worry, Changchang. I'll tell the washing machine to get Zhuang Xu to kick that woman out!]

Good guy, is it Pinru?

Liu Yifei chuckled as she sent the message, thinking that teasing others was indeed a pleasant feeling.

However, the person being teased became angry and embarrassed:

[Liu Yifei! You really learned bad things from someone! Did you just see me?!]

Seeing her defenses break down, Xiao Liu exclaimed in delight: "Who told you to lie to me? You even auditioned? You thought I didn't know? Tang Yan even told me it's next week."

Su Chang counterattacked: [Shameless! The evil woman complained first, didn't you lie to me? And you're still alone, are you willing to leave me like that?]

Concubine Liu Yi laughed heartily at the sight and continued gossiping: [How come you're living in someone else's house? How far has it gone?]

【Hehe, you confessed, I accept it. 】

Starting from Xiao Liu's 18th birthday, Zhuang Xu and Su Chang had been in love for nearly two years and secretly got married.

Xiao Liu was furious: [That's not nice of you, is it? You didn't even say anything.]

Su Chang explained: [It was just two days ago... and you were in that state, so how could I tell you? I was planning to go to America to find you after the audition.]

Concubine Liu Yi understood and it seemed to be the case.

I looked like I was dying, so my best friend didn't want to bring up this kind of news, which was a bit embarrassing.

To bring good luck?
[So, you guys are... living together?]

[No! We're all busy, we just get together occasionally, hehe.]

Xiao Liu was extremely envious. How could others be so successful?
How come there is such a huge difference between the two brothers who have lived together since childhood?
Looking at the bastard next to me who had gotten up early and hadn't had time to clean up yet, with a face full of stubble and a ferocious expression, he looked so hateful no matter how you looked at him!

"hiss..."

Lu Kuan was suddenly twisted on the arm by the girl next to him.

Looking at her again in confusion, she had already sat down on the sofa with an expressionless face, typing frantically on her cell phone.

[You are in love, does the world know? ]

[Only Lu Yao from the agency knows about this. Let's keep it a secret for now. I'll take a call first.]

Liu Yifei replied with a "hmm", knowing that Zhuang Xu and Lu Kuan were close friends, and she was happy for her best friend.

The meeting lasted for more than half an hour, and Boss Lu also turned on the microphone.

"Okay, I've received everyone's ideas and reports. Now, let me offer a few suggestions."

"First of all, I hope everyone understands and recognizes that there is still a development gap between this kind of social product at home and abroad."

"This gap is a gap between user habits, online culture, and network infrastructure, especially the last one."

"Last year, when I attended the National Internet Conference, the Ministry of Information Industry clearly stated that 2008G licenses would not be issued until at least 3, so the scale of mobile users in China is still limited."

"Microblog-like products rely on immediacy and fragmented scenarios. China's mobile internet infrastructure is weak, so it will take time for users to develop habits."

Lu Kuan set the tone: "Therefore, for the Weibo project we're launching now, everyone must first understand the macro trends and not rush into anything." "The enemy can run however they want, however far they want. We just need to follow our own path and advance steadily."

"Penguin has 5 million users converted. Don't be afraid. Most of these 5 million users are PC users. Not all of them will necessarily become the main force of their Taotao in the future."

"Besides, Penguin's core advantage lies in its social network of acquaintances, while Weibo's essence is a public forum for public opinion, with different directions and focuses."

"Similarly, among the major portals, apart from Sohu, which has Sohu Video and can interact with Weibo products via URLs, the others are not a concern."

Just as everyone in front of the screen breathed a sigh of relief, they heard the boss give a key reminder.

"But everyone should pay special attention to the rumors of a collaboration between Ali and Myspace."

"Such a social + e-commerce ecosystem will directly compete with our future profit model."

One has to admit that Ma Yun’s skills are very profound.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to invest in Huayi, he stepped into the future blue ocean of entertainment. This move was almost at the critical period before the dawn of the mainland film industry.

The cooperation with Myspace, which has News Corporation as its backing, may also have an impact on Weibo's future profit channels.

It's very simple. If Lu Kuan were in Ma Yun's shoes and wanted to turn the Chinese version of Myspace into a Weibo-like product, there would be many things he could do:
For example, connect Weibo with Taobao and Alipay.

Users can directly jump to the shopping page through Weibo, or realize the closed loop of social e-commerce through the "topic + product" model.

Later, big data is used to analyze user interests, push advertising content in a targeted manner, and attract small and medium-sized businesses to place advertisements.

It may launch interactive games such as "Weibo red envelopes" and combine them with Alipay's payment scenarios to enhance activity.

This is almost the operational direction of the combination of Weibo and e-commerce in later generations.

Later generations of Penguin failed in their Weibo product because it did not fit with their core product attributes and ultimately failed to make it;

But in this life, under the leadership of a far-sighted entrepreneur like Ma Yun, Ali has changed its inherent route by the hurricane stirred up by the butterfly's wings, and may have in-depth cooperation with News Corporation.

This is the helplessness and fate of the time traveler.

All social and commercial behaviors and actions of the time traveler, as long as they go beyond the industry level, will inevitably bring about changes in the original world line.

For top figures like Ma Huateng and Ma Yun who are standing at the forefront of the times, their open-mindedness may not be as strong as that of time travelers, but their ability to adapt is definitely not bad.

The only way to have endless fun is to continue fighting with others.

After Boss Lu finished his speech, Zhuang Xu brought up the last important matter for communication.

"Regarding Ms. Liu Yifei and Weibo's marketing arrangements, Mr. Lu, please take a look..."

Xiao Liu, who was still chatting with Su Chang on the sofa, looked up confusedly. Did someone cue him just now?

Lu Kuan said, "Yes, while this recent dance video is still popular, let's use it as the first marketing event for the launch of the new Weibo product."

"Pay attention to the direction of public opinion. Don't attack too broadly, but be more targeted."

This is about taking advantage of Concubine Liu Yi's loss of speech to launch a counterattack against the previous despicable right-wing remarks.

A landmark public opinion event must have a certain degree of drama.

Now everyone has first discovered a dance video of Liu Yifei, the first young actress in mainland China and also a famous actress in North America, in Europe.

Then it was discovered that she could not speak.

What is tragedy? It's tearing beautiful things apart and showing them to people.

Xiao Liu’s experience is such a serious “tragedy”.

The role I painstakingly prepared for a year was tragically destroyed by the illegal and criminal acts of an extreme right-wing organization, which caused me a great mental shock.

Even if the culprit has been brought to justice, justice must be sought.

It coincided with Netflix’s approval and the launch of Weibo in China.

Liu Yifei, who has 1500 million followers on Blog.com, has once again become a marketing tool for Boss Lu, the mastermind behind the scenes.

However, the degree of this marketing must be well controlled, and the scope of attack must be precise, targeting only the shameless Japanese right-wing elements.

This is a good thing that kills three birds with one stone:

It brought topics to the Weibo debut, created heat for "The Sky of History", and also warmed up for future publicity and release.

For certain historical reasons, countries must conduct international exchanges based on overall interests.

But this does not mean that we will not support the righteous actions and support of the people and the art community. These are two different things.

As the meeting drew to a close, Boss Lu nonchalantly instructed, "Find a high-definition dance video for promotion, and edit out any irrelevant elements like the shirtless foreigner and the spouting foreign woman..."

"Something like a cripple."

The others didn't know the inside story and were naturally indifferent. They responded and hung up the video conference.

Liu Yifei, who was sitting on the sofa, was almost laughing out loud.

She wants to find a copy of "Lame Brother" to collect and see how clumsy this mainland richest man is who even forgets to be scheming while performing!
These are all the black materials that can be used to make fun of and threaten him in the future!

Lu Kuan had been sitting for several hours and felt his cervical and lumbar vertebrae were extremely stiff. He stood up, relaxed his body for a while, and looked back at Xiao Liu.

"You don't have to wait for me, just go have breakfast first."

Liu Yifei pointed to the coffee cup, indicating that she was not hungry, and took out the map of Florence and shook it.

After a few days, the two had formed a considerable tacit understanding, and some simple body language and eye contact were enough to let them know each other's intentions.

Otherwise, why would there be the concept of trial marriage in later generations? You can tell whether you are suitable for each other by living together for a while.

When you are in love, everyone pretends to be nice to each other, but when you really see each other every day, you will eventually return to your true nature.

However, this kind of relationship doesn't mean much to Lu Kuan and Xiao Liu.

Because neither of them is very good at pretending.

There is no need for Boss Lu to pretend. He is too lazy to pretend in front of the people of the whole country.

As for whether she is a good person or a bad guy, Concubine Liu Yi has a lot of ideas in her mind, so there is no need to say more.

Xiao Liu doesn't like to pretend. He is always frank about everything and never hides anything about himself.

Or perhaps she had nothing to hide - she had been strolling here and there under Lu Kuan's nose all these years.

That means there was a gap of several months in North America.

Boss Lu came over and wanted to say something, but suddenly he started coughing violently. His eyes were a little red and swollen from staying up late. He turned around and took a piece of autumn pear paste to moisten his throat.

This is the exclusive secret recipe product of Dr. Xia from Gongjian Hutong.

Liu Yifei stood up and patted him on the back. The more he stayed up late, the more smoke he smelled on his body. She looked at him with some heartache and helplessness.

Please smoke less.

Lu Kuan coughed so hard that tears were about to come out. He picked up the MS cigarette on the table and shook it: "It's okay, I'm not... cough cough... I smoke too much. It's foreign cigarettes that I can't get used to."

"This damn MS tobacco is too rough. The taste is much stronger and spicier."

Xiao Liu raised an eyebrow: [I just know that smoking less won't do any harm.]

She had long wanted to persuade him to quit smoking, so she took this opportunity to start by smoking less and snatched the cigarette box from his hand.

"Why don't you just quit? I think you can do it with such a strong will."

The little girl started to PUA him.

Think about what you're earning so much money for. Drinking less alcohol can help with blood circulation and improve your mood. Smoking really doesn't do any good at all.

[You smoke and still avoid me, which means you know that smoking is bad.]

Boss Lu scratched his head helplessly. In fact, he wanted to quit smoking and drinking in this life.

We had to worry about sudden death in our previous life, so we should cherish the good health we have now.

As for wine, it is a good thing to have a drink occasionally to enjoy yourself, just like drinking some red wine with Xiao Liu these days.

As for heavy drinking and drinking competitions, it is almost impossible for Lu Kuan, who is in his current position, to encounter such things.

At most, when we meet high-level leaders, we will exchange a few pleasantries.

But this cigarette is indeed the fate that most literary and artistic workers cannot escape.

"I've been used to staying up late to write scripts and edit films these past few years. It's tough without cigarettes to keep me awake!"

Lu Kuan played with the cigarette in his hand and said seriously, "Smoking hurts your lungs, and not smoking hurts your heart!"

Liu Yifei looked at him pretending to be a big shot with the expression of an old man on the subway.

What are you sad about?

"Hey, my first kiss was taken away yesterday, and I was even rejected... Hahahaha!"

Old hands like Boss Lu have been professionally trained and generally don't laugh unless they can't help it.

However, seeing Xiao Liu in front of him with a red face in an instant and her teeth clenched as she looked at him, he still felt that teasing a decent girl was quite interesting.

Men all like to lure decent women into sex and persuade beautiful prostitutes to become good women.

The main focus here is a kind of psychological and physiological stimulation called contrast.

Although teasing Xiao Liu is not included in the list, looking at this female star in the domestic entertainment industry who has 1500 million fans and whose cheeks are always flushed and who looks cute and adorable is also another kind of spiritual adjustment.

Apart from anything else, it feels so comfortable to wash your eyes!

Liu Yifei was on the verge of going berserk: [Your first kiss was taken away by a dog a long time ago, right? Do you still have any shame?]

Lu Kuan looked at her with a smile: "My first kiss with you, isn't that also called a first kiss?"

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Xiao Liu finally couldn't help but wanted to punch him, but unexpectedly, the man who was on guard already grabbed her in his arms.

80KG versus less than 50KG, no matter how good you are at fighting, you will be no match for him in close combat!

However, Boss Lu was still somewhat relieved: "It seems that last night's rehabilitation training was effective. Your vowel 'a' is breathing smoothly now!"

Liu Yifei, who was held tightly in his arms, could no longer move. She also had no hands free to type and could only look at the washing machine coldly.

If you dare, you can hold me for life, but if you let go, I’ll beat you!

The old devil naturally came up with a lot of clever tricks: "Xiao Liu, I want to discuss something with you."

"Quitting smoking is a good thing, but you have to know that this heavy smoker has no substitute for smoking when he's thinking about something or is bored..."

"It's hard, girl."

The expression of the girl in Boss Lu's arms changed interestingly from anger to scrutiny, as if she was waiting for him to spit out some ivory.

The old devil showed his true intentions: "How about this, I'll quit smoking from today, but I have to find a substitute, or..."

Liu Yifei looked at him in disbelief as he licked his lower lip which had been bitten last night. The evil look in his eyes said it all.

(End of this chapter)