Only after being reborn did I realize how fascinating the world of the rich is.

After Li Xiaofeng's underhanded maneuvering, Meiyi Media's finances were thoroughly investigated by the tax authorities, uncovering a large number of illegal and irregular activities, and many of Meiyi's big-name artists were also implicated.

Mei Yi not only had to pay a large amount of back taxes, but also suffered heavy penalties from the tax authorities. In addition, many other celebrities were also required to pay back taxes and faced the risk of their careers collapsing.

Originally, this tax investigation was only to be conducted in Shanghai, but seeing how serious the tax problems in the entertainment industry were, the relevant departments directly issued a notice to launch a comprehensive investigation of film and television companies and celebrities across the country.

Therefore, this tax scandal targeting the entertainment industry quickly expanded from Shanghai to the entire country.

Many celebrities have had their careers ruined due to tax issues, leading to the suspension of filming for most production crews as they await the final outcome of this tax scandal.

Unfortunately, filming movies and TV series involves many unpredictable risks. Besides the question of whether it will make money, there are also many issues related to whether it will pass censorship.

In addition to issues related to subject matter and content, the censorship of films and television dramas also involves issues related to the artists themselves. If an artist has a problem, it can prevent the entire film or television drama from passing the censorship, and it may even be taken down after it has been released.

However, because Li Xiaofeng rose to prominence too quickly and had no family background, Dingdian Media of the Li Group was extremely careful not only about paying taxes, but also avoided getting involved in any illegal or disorderly activities.

They were afraid that someone would find a handle against him and bite him hard.

He has retained many memories from his previous life, and now that his business is thriving, making money is still easy for him. There is no need for him to save money by evading taxes.

In this way, the entire Li Group appears very strong, and even if some people within the system come to freeload, they can simply ignore them.

Just like with President Song and his associates, even when they threatened to withdraw loans from the Li Group or withhold loan approvals, Li Xiaofeng withstood the pressure and refused to bribe President Song directly, just to avoid being caught red-handed.

Li Xiaofeng doesn't consider himself a good person, but this situation can be seen as a sign that good people are being rewarded!

Currently, the entire film and television industry is experiencing a huge lull. Dingdian Media is one of the few film and television companies that is unaffected. In addition, the artists currently used by the company are basically all artists under its own management.

"Huiya, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Other film and television companies and crews have already suspended work, waiting for the outcome of this tax scandal."

However, we are aware that our artists have no tax issues. Therefore, the film and television industry will face a short-term lull.

During this lull in competition, the number of films and television dramas competing with us will definitely decrease significantly. This is a golden opportunity, and we must seize it to increase our investment in film and television production.

Fang Huiya smiled wryly and said, "The company does have a few good scripts in reserve. Are we going to use them all this time? If we invest them all at once, we won't have any momentum for future development!"

"Why worry about future development momentum? When it comes to the market, you just have to put in as much effort as you can. As for the script issue, we can solve it by increasing investment."

"Xiaofeng, the investment we at Dingdian have in scripts already far exceeds that of other film and television companies. If we invest any more in them, the efficiency of script production will decrease significantly."

Li Xiaofeng smiled and shook his head: "Huiya, if we, Dingdian, want to be the industry leader, we can't just follow our peers; we should make our peers follow us."

The capital in the market right now is all about making quick money. They just find a script, a few big-name stars, stuff in a few of their mistresses, and then start filming.

This money-making model is not only unsustainable, but also carries significant market risks. Once a reputation is lost, it becomes difficult to make money again, and may even result in huge losses.

We can't do that at Top 10. The script must be polished repeatedly, with multiple editors working on it cross-referenced, and then a comprehensive evaluation conducted at the end. We must strive for perfection.

Fang Huiya smiled wryly again, "I knew you'd have this attitude. Luckily, I was prepared and bought a large number of film and television adaptation rights from various novel websites in advance. Otherwise, I would really be at a loss."

Then, she tentatively suggested, "Hey, Xiaofeng, since we'll need a lot of film and television adaptation rights in the future, have you ever considered starting our own novel website?"

Upon hearing Fang Huiya's suggestion, Li Xiaofeng's eyes lit up, and he excitedly said, "That's right! How could I have forgotten about that? We can create a free novel reading website."

"Free? Aren't all novel websites paid these days? How can they make money if they're free?" Fang Huiya asked, puzzled.

"We can make money by inserting ads into novel chapters, or by offering ad-free memberships. Of course, the most important thing is to accumulate our own film and television copyrights."

Fang Huiya frowned slightly: "Why are we adopting this free model? Wouldn't it be better to use the currently popular paid model in the industry?"

Li Xiaofeng smiled and shook his head: "If I'm going to do something, I either won't do it at all, or I'll do it to the top of the industry. In the online literature industry, we entered the market too late."

Online literature websites, led by a certain website, are now very mature and have already gained an early advantage, forming a strong competitive moat. If we adopt the same model as them, how can we possibly defeat them?

The biggest advantage of free novel websites is their low barrier to entry, allowing them to accumulate readers more quickly and tap into the lower-tier market for online novels, thus achieving market scale in a relatively short period.

"If that's the case, we'll have to burn through a lot of money in the early stages!"

Li Xiaofeng waved his hand magnanimously and said confidently, "Money is not a problem. I, Li, am not short of money right now. More importantly, our Li Group has a top-tier advertising company in the industry."

"To secure advertising contracts, we need greater resource advantages than other companies, which can be seen as a further integration of resources."

"Should this free novel section be a separate category, or should it be integrated into our Top platform?"

Li Xiaofeng thought for a moment and said in a calm tone, "Let's merge it into your Dingdian Media. In the future, Dingdian Media will be integrated into a large cultural and entertainment sector."

After the merger of Free Novel Network and your Top, we can better connect and integrate resources, and it will also be easier to manage them in a unified manner.

"Alright then, let's expand our business again!"