The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 536 War begins

"Why is the name so strange?"

Mihoyo, Lu Yuan silently repeated this tongue-twisting name in his mind.

Zhou Mingyuan replied: "It is said that the latter part (hoyo) comes from the pinyin of the two founders' names, and the 'Mi' is taken from the name of the Japanese virtual idol Hatsune Miku and placed at the beginning."

"At what price will the studio's shares be transferred to you?" Lu Yuan is very sensitive to share prices now.

"It's not much, fifteen thousand."

"13% of the shares for ?" Lu Yuan thought it was too cheap. If converted, the studio would only be worth about .

"Well, the four students haven't graduated yet. The mobile game you just saw is the first game from their studio. It's only available on the Apple Store, priced at 18 yuan per copy, and it has no sales at all. If the second game is still like this, I guess they should disband."

Lu Yuan asked: "Then will you buy it?"

"I'm thinking about it." Although Zhou Mingyuan's salary is not low, he has a family after all, and he needs to improve his quality of life.

He was not sure whether MiHoYo's game model had a future, and its first game was not profitable. He just saw that these people had good skills and wanted to invite them to join, so he paid attention to them.

Lu Yuan didn't care about the money: "Buy it. You just said that these junior students have great skills. Do them a favor. If their studio goes bankrupt one day, you can invite them to join. The possibility will be much greater."

He thought for a moment and added, "Fifteen thousand, in exchange for a few talents joining, this deal is a good deal."

Zhou Mingyuan nodded in agreement.

Lu Yuan stared at him and said, "I can help you with the money."

"That's not necessary, let's split it in half." Zhou Mingyuan hesitated for a moment and agreed.

As he spoke, he stood up and walked to the bedroom. He put his ear to the door and heard a "buzzing" sound coming from inside the room.

It sounded quite familiar, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He hastily turned the door open and looked inside, only to see darkness before his eyes.

孽 孽!
"Zhou Yaoyao!"

Zhou Mingyuan yelled and rushed into the bedroom in a hurry.

At the same time, the sound of footsteps was heard in the house.

Zhou Yaoyao was wearing a pink princess pajamas, with one trouser leg rolled up to her thigh and her hair messy. She ran to the door barefoot. Just as a smile appeared on her face, she was pulled back by a hand that suddenly stretched out. Only Zhou Qi was left, looking back every few steps, and ran out stupidly.

Lu Yuan heard the noise and turned his head to look. He noticed that there was a two-finger-wide and half-finger-long scratch on his nephew's forehead, revealing a bluish-white scalp, as if it had been gnawed by a dog.

"Pfft, hahaha."

He couldn't help laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe: "This hair style is great, who cut it for you?"

"Yes, sister, help me with the shovel, that's it." Zhou Qi stood in front of him, stretched out his hand to gesture towards his head, his mouth humming, and he looked quite happy.

Lu Yuan considered whether to take out his cell phone and take a picture of him.

Soon, Zhou Mingyuan came out of the bedroom with an electric shaver in his hand, looking at him in a dilemma.

This unlucky kid.

Zhou Yaoyao was probably taught a lesson, so she tied her hair into a sloppy braid, hung her head, and followed behind obediently.

"Dudududu." Lu Yuan said in a mean voice.

Zhou Yaoyao looked up and they looked at each other. When she saw her uncle making faces at her, she forgot what had just happened for a moment and grinned.

"Ahem." Lu Yuan reminded his brother-in-law unkindly.

Zhou Mingyuan immediately turned around, glared at his daughter fiercely, grabbed her ears, and cursed: "Still laughing, wait until your mother comes back and see if she will beat you up."

Zhou Yaoyao looked at her hideous bad uncle, pouting and feeling aggrieved.

"Sister, let me tell you, that dress..."

Lu Jing changed his shoes and muttered about the spring coat he saw in the mall, but his cousin did not respond. She stood at the entrance, staring blankly at the living room, motionless.

She took two steps closer in confusion and poked her head out from behind Lu Jia's shoulder.

"Hahaha."

Lu Jia came to her senses and looked at her silly son eating oranges in front of TV. She almost fainted from anger.

"Whoever did it, shaved his head."

Lu Jia fixed her eyes on Lu Yuan. Apart from her brother, no one would do such harm to her son.

Lu Yuan shook his head innocently. It really wasn't him. He just made a suggestion and the specific implementation was left to his brother-in-law.

Zhou Qi walked with his short legs and boasted to his mother, "Mom, my uncle said this is called being extremely smart. People who have this hairstyle are very smart. Do you think I'm smart?"

He tilted his head back, his eyes wide open, and with a bald head, he believed in his uncle's words without a doubt.

"Puff!" Lu Yuan.

"Kukuku." Zhou Mingyuan.

Lu Jia's eyebrows instantly raised and she looked around, trying to find something handy to deal with these two idiots.

Lu Yuan immediately passed the blame on to his brother-in-law: "My brother-in-law did it."

"It was Xiaoyuan's idea. And it's not my fault. It was your daughter who took action first." Zhou Mingyuan pulled Yaoyao to his side.

Zhou Yaoyao blinked her eyes and looked blankly to the left, then to the right, feeling so tired.

Lu Jia was about to be pissed off by these people. She glanced at Haodaer and saw him with his hands on his hips, looking quite satisfied. Suddenly, she couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed out loud.

"Pfft, hahaha, why are you so stupid."

"Mom, I'm not stupid, I'm very smart." Zhou Qi defended himself loudly.

Lu Yuan said: "Yes, very smart."

After a while of fussing, Lu Jia simply shaved her son's head, and Zhou Qi cried and expressed his unwillingness.

Zhou Mingyuan talked with his brother-in-law about the studio and game development.

Zhou Mingyuan talked with vivo engineers and learned that the configuration of the new mobile phones at the end of the year would be able to fully support the running of the game he envisioned.

Lu Yuan didn't know much about the game industry. Zhou Mingyuan was the one who talked most of the time, and he listened quietly, from development, story content, character prototypes, fighting design, engine, game promotion and distribution.
"On the basis of the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor, we will also add characters from the Three Kingdoms, and even mythological characters such as Houyi, Nuwa and Mazu, which can also be added slowly in the later stage to keep the game fresh."

On the side, Lu Jing played with Zhou Qi's slippery head and was attracted by the game content described by Zhou Mingyuan. Perhaps because he had formed a water army team in the early days, he naturally thought about the issue of publicity.

"How should we promote the game after it's made? What if a big game company thinks the idea is great and wants to borrow it? After all, we are just a startup studio."

Although she doesn't know much about the gaming community, she is very clear about Tencent's reputation.

Zhou Mingyuan said: "I have considered this issue. In principle, it is best to find a channel partner. Tencent is unlikely to be one of them. For example, NetEase, Perfect World, Shanda and the like are better."

As an insider, he naturally knows that cooperation with agency promotion channels is crucial to the development of the game.

This kind of cooperation can provide more exposure opportunities for the game through advertising, content recommendations, user traffic and other services provided by cooperative channels, thereby attracting more players to participate and consume.

Seeing this, Lu Jing suddenly remembered something and looked at Lu Yuan, thinking: "Brother, what do you think of the promotional effect of inserting game clips into the TV series?"

Lu Yuan let out a light exclamation and was wondering whether the plan was feasible.

Zhou Mingyuan slapped his thigh fiercely: "This method is good. The best target audience is young people. I remember what you call this kind of subject matter in the industry."

"Modern idol drama!" Lu Jing continued.

"Yes, modern idol dramas. We can insert clips of our mobile game into them. If the TV series becomes a big hit after it's aired, like Meteor Garden, and becomes popular all over Asia, then maybe our game will be able to capture the overseas market without any effort."

Zhou Mingyuan became more and more excited as he spoke: "Xiaoyuan, I think there is a way. People in the industry say that you have a good eye for choosing scripts. Find a better script and pick some actors with outstanding acting skills and looks."

"It's a nice thought, and it's popular all over Asia. Do you think it's a cabbage? It's not that easy." Lu Yuan was speechless, but his mind couldn't help but think of the dream he had last year. In the dream, his name was Yu Tu, an aerospace designer.

He does not expect the film to become popular all over Asia, but he thinks it is possible for the film to have a certain impact in China if the script is well-polished and the cast is good.

Lu Jing said, "Brother, you have so many scripts, pick one. I think the story of an alien professor falling in love with a famous star is a good one. The professor is influenced by a popular female star who likes to play games. He starts to learn to play games, but even though he has superpowers and can do anything, his game skills are terrible and he can never beat the female star."

She kept on talking non-stop.

Lu Yuan saw that she started to make up stories that became more and more outrageous. Bloody love triangles, car accidents, and amnesia kept coming out of her mouth.

"Stop, stop, stop. The idea is fine, but forget about adapting the script. A script that was originally pretty good has been changed beyond recognition by you." Lu Yuan felt a headache after hearing this. He raised his hand to interrupt and walked towards the bathroom.

"Xiao Jing, I support you." Zhou Mingyuan thought it was a good idea.

After calming down, he sighed, "Your brother is right. It's not that easy. There are too many factors that make a TV series popular. Now is not the same as in previous years. Good scripts, good actors, and whether they cater to the audience's aesthetic taste are all indispensable."

"Brother-in-law, it may be difficult for others, but do you think my brother can become a big star with his appeal on the small screen?
You may not pay much attention to the TV drama industry, but the quality of this year's opening dramas on major satellite TV stations, including several popular dramas currently on the air, is not terrible, but at least several levels lower than last year.

Now many netizens leave messages on my brother's Weibo every day, hoping that he will return to the small screen and film another TV series to refresh their eyes. Moreover, my brother has not filmed a serious modern urban idol drama since his debut. Netizens are very supportive, and the broadcast will definitely be a phenomenon."

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes lit up, but he hesitated: "It's not possible. Your brother is a big shot in the drama circle and has soared on the big screen. Will he agree to come back to film an idol drama?"

Although he doesn't pay much attention to the entertainment industry, he hears a lot of news about his brother-in-law.

In order to support his girlfriend Liu Shishi, Lu Yuan filmed the costume idol drama "Startling by Each Step". Although the drama was a hit, many viewers called it a waste of time.

If there is another idol drama, who knows what the audience will think? I guess he himself won’t agree.

"Just give it a try. How will you know if you don't try?" Lu Jing encouraged himself.

After having lunch at his sister's house, Lu Yuan drove Lu Jing to the company.

"One billion?"

In the car, Lu Jing exclaimed when he learned that Baidu intended to buy back his cousin's shares and the offer price.

"Why, do you think it's high?"

"No." Lu Jing frowned slightly. Although he thought that 10 billion was a large number, considering that the copyright of the blueprint was added together, the total investment was about million. He made billion in two years. This deal was very profitable, but he still shook his head: "This price is too low."

Lu Yuan honked the horn: "Not only that, they also want to buy the blueprints. Together, they offered 20 billion."

"How much? 20 billion, so they think the blueprint is only worth 10 billion. They're daydreaming." Lu Jing couldn't help but swear.

She knew the value of the blueprint better than anyone else, so she was particularly annoyed.

"We hold the copyrights of classic TV series before 2010, such as 'Legend of Swordsman', 'Drawing Sword', 'Soldier Assault' and 'The Hidden Corner'. Without the support of these contents, iQiyi is just an empty shell. How can they be qualified to share the copyright world with LeTV? How can they have the largest market share?"

"It's not number one now. Currently, Youku and Tudou have combined to take the first place with a slight advantage." Lu Yuan reminded.

"Let alone 1 billion, we won't sell it even for 3 billion." Lu Jing said excitedly, "Brother, ignore them. Now, as long as we spread the news that Blueprint and iQiyi will not renew the contract after the cooperation ends, the other video companies on the market will have to welcome us."

After she finished speaking, she saw Lu Yuan lost in thought, and she couldn't help but get nervous. She asked in disbelief, "Brother, you're not really going to sell it, are you?"

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Yuan glanced at her and said in an inexplicable tone: "I have been thinking this morning whether Tencent, Sohu, or Alibaba would be interested in my 18% stake in iQiyi."

Lu Jing was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized.

Yes, two of the three Internet giants have already gone, and Alibaba may not be able to hold back anymore.

If the news were to leak out at this time, even if it was just to cause trouble for Baidu, the capital forces behind the other video websites would definitely be alerted and compete to raise their bids.

Not to mention the 19 billion according to the market valuation, it is not impossible to exceed 20 billion with the promotion of multiple biddings. In contrast, Baidu can only be forced to swallow this bitter pill in order to completely control iQiyi.

"But if this happens, our relationship with Baidu will be completely broken." Lu Yuan sighed.

He didn't believe that Gong Yu didn't consider this when he mentioned the price.

Baidu dared to offer half the price simply because it relied on its huge size and market position, with a market value of 400 billion US dollars and its dominance in the search field. It was sure that he, a person in the entertainment industry, would not easily turn against it.

Lu Jing was no fool, he figured it out quickly and said disapprovingly: "In that case, let's just switch to another company, Tencent, Alibaba, or even LeTV. If Baidu was really capable, it would have dominated the video website industry long ago. With the copyright of the blueprint in hand, there is no one we can't go to."

Lu Yuan pondered.

Lu Jing glanced at him and whispered, "If it doesn't work out, we can sell our shares in iQiyi at a high price, take the billions of funds, and start a video website ourselves.

We have so many scripts on hand, and the quality is pretty good. Let's shoot them one by one. Considering that the video websites are mostly used by young users, you can shoot a modern idol drama, such as the story of an alien professor falling in love with a big star, and broadcast it on our own platform, and promote our own games at the same time, so that iQiyi will regret it."

“Besides, don’t you always say that because of the rush of capital to land, unless the top leaders make changes, the overall decline in the quality of TV dramas will be inevitable.

Then why don’t we build a platform ourselves, formulate rules, strictly control, and only output high-quality dramas, even idol dramas, we should treat them with high standards, select the right actors and directors, and get rid of those video websites and investors who feed the audience shit for the sake of maximizing profits! "

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes: "Did you come up with all this yourself?"

"Hmm." Lu Jing put down his raised fist and muttered, "I was drinking with Sun Peng and Sister Zhi Xi once, and we talked about this topic when we were drunk."

Lu Yuan curled his lips. What a bold idea! It was not that simple. It meant going to war with all the video websites on the market.

But why do I feel my blood boiling?

(End of this chapter)