Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

To smooth its landing in Magic City, Water Cloud Space launched a hefty marketing campaign prior to its opening, which was in full swing.

Whether it was inviting three thousand people daily to ride a luxury cruise along The Bund or broadcasting massive advertisements on the screen of Zhendan Building, it all showcased the strength of this new brand.

However,

All the buzz still wasn’t as sensational as the news from the Securities Regulatory Commission on December 12.

After nearly a year, Tengying Entertainment had officially landed on the domestic A-share market.

That day in Magic City, when Tengying Entertainment rang the bell, it was truly a star-studded event.

Zhao Liying, Yang Mi, Bai Lu, Wu Jing, Shen Teng, and other top stars all came together to signal the opening of the market for Tengying Entertainment.

Although there were several film and television companies listed over the years, few had as massive an influence as Tengying Entertainment.

Just like its financial report released the next day, Tengying Entertainment’s annual revenue for 2015 reached a stunning 3.7 billion.

In television, it had huge hits with "Hua Qiangu" and "Three Lives Three Worlds."

In films, it once again proved its impeccable investment foresight with "Charlotte."

The annual net profit soared to 1.2 billion.

Far surpassing many established film and television groups.

It truly stood out in the industry.

The IPO was priced at 25 yuan, and within less than a week,

It hit five consecutive upper limit trading halts, driving the stock price up to around 42 yuan.

Just one week after listing, Tengying Entertainment became a unicorn company with a market value exceeding 20 billion yuan.

It was indeed a blockbuster in the entertainment circle.

People from Huayi came over and felt a profound sense of a looming threat. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

As for Yang Baobei, the newly popular top female star, who rose to fame in less than two years,

She coined more than a few famous sayings in the industry.

She herself felt very vulnerable; didn’t she know it more than anyone else?

When Bobo Milk Tea went public, she had fiercely sabotaged it.

Now, even Tengying had gone public without a hint of going against her.

Either they truly didn’t care, or they were waiting for the right opportunity.

She was no naive fool in the entertainment rule book.

People who could grow their businesses to such a level were definitely not of a kind disposition.

She thought about apologizing proactively, and even considered chatting up late at night if necessary, willing to pay whatever it took.

But the real problem was she couldn’t even secure a meeting with them.

That was quite a dilemma.

...

Capital City, Tengying Group.

The successful listing of Tengying Entertainment adorned the surrounding three-mile area with red celebratory flags.

These were not arranged by him but were put up spontaneously by nearby shop owners and even corporations, a gesture of goodwill from business peers.

They weren’t involved in entertainment or film production, but now that you’ve hit a market value of 20 billion right after listing,

They really had to come congratulate you.

Back when Alibaba went public in Hangcheng, the whole city celebrated Alibaba’s big day.

That was truly a show of real clout.

Compared to that, his three miles of decorations were hardly anything.

In a couple of days, those would have to be taken down.

Chen Pingsheng just continued working as usual inside the group, seemingly unaffected by the IPO of Tengying Entertainment.

But it was understood that with the successful IPO of Tengying Entertainment, his status in the business world soared dramatically.

He could never match the always center-staged "Big Two."

But he could get a ticket that was somewhat closer to theirs.

That "somewhat" translated to tens of meters away.

They spoke on stage, and he clapped in the audience.

At gatherings of tycoons, his role was to serve tea.

If that was the case, there really wasn’t much to boast about.

Getting things done right was the true path to success.

Tengying Entertainment’s listing marked the end of a three-year period; most of his business sectors had to start paying corporate income tax normally.

There was nothing to complain about, having secured a three-year tax exemption was already a big win.

With the successful listing on his side, the mood within the group was jubilant.

Yang Mi brought in a new script; her popularity had skyrocketed after "Three Lives Three Worlds."

The scripts now seeking her involvement were plentiful.

She sifted through them and picked an idol drama.

Investment was 160 million yuan, with a return rate of 180%.

Profitable, but not excessively.

Chen Pingsheng still gave it the green light; he had noticed something else.

Compared to last year, the cost of investing in television dramas had escalated too quickly.

For instance, his previous investment in Zhao Liying’s show, the big production "Hua Qiangu," had cost less than one billion.

Now, those S+ projects typically ranged between two to three billion.

Yang Mi’s 160 million was considered relatively cost-effective.

Mainly because it was a contemporary drama that didn’t require much post-production.

Naturally, it saved on costs.

Looking at the cost analysis for the drama, the budget of 160 million yuan,

Yang Mi alone took a fee of 60 million yuan.

At her level, fees were only going higher.

Even Yang Baobei, known for her poor acting, could demand eighty million.

Not to mention Yang Mi, the queen of TV dramas.

Apart from her, the male lead also accounted for 30% of the budget.

This meant just the fees for the male and female leads consumed about 70% of the budget.

It would be false to say this wasn’t exaggerated; he had the entertainment industry’s analytic capabilities, so of course, he wasn’t afraid of losses.

Those companies without such insights would lose money on at least ninety percent of the dramas under such distorted investment costs.

No wonder the entertainment industry was rife with unspoken rules.

With such high rates of loss, what else were these novice bosses greedy for?

Who would invest otherwise?

If actors’ salaries continued to rise like this, he felt this industry was really just squandering money.

Most of the profits were pocketed by top actors.