Chapter 1977: Wang Changtian

The calculations of the Wang brothers, in Zhao Fusheng's view, were really of no consequence.

Even if he knew about them, he wouldn't care.

Simply put, when strength overwhelms, any scheming is futile.

Zhao Fusheng understood this truth, and so did Ye Jing.

Wang Zhongjun was not unaware, but he had no choice. Under these circumstances, if he didn't take a gamble, Huayi would never have a chance to rise again.

At the very least, if they could list on the Growth Enterprise Market and raise substantial funds, it would greatly benefit Huayi's development.

"I heard Huayi is also seeking to go public."

Such matters were hardly a secret in the industry. If you could find out, so could I.

Soon, Ye Jing relayed this news to Zhao Fusheng.

"Heh, Wang Zhongjun certainly has ideas."

Zhao Fusheng smiled, looking unconcerned: "But it doesn't matter. The better they develop, the better it is for us, actually."

"Ah?"

Ye Jing was taken aback, then smiled: "You're quite broad-minded."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "It's not that I'm broad-minded; it's the truth."

No one knew better than him how enormous a cake the future Chinese film and television market would be.

In other words, the Chinese entertainment industry wasn't afraid of people coming to share the cake; it was afraid of a group of people being complacent and not thinking about how to make the market bigger and stronger.

That was the truth.

A large market had its advantages, but if everyone wanted to make quick money by churning out random films and TV shows to fool the audience, they might gain short-term benefits.

But in the long run, that would undoubtedly be suicidal.

Audiences might be fooled for a while, but not forever.

A bad film might achieve good results in a year or two. But as time passed and audiences' appreciation levels rose, they would discern the quality of a film themselves.

When that happened, the producers would face backlash.

The market was the most honest.

Take Da Peng's 'Jian Bing Man,' for example. It seemed to achieve high box office returns, making investors and the director a fortune.

But in reality, overdrawing the credibility of the actors and the production team resulted in Da Peng being labeled.

After 'Jian Bing Man,' most of the films Da Peng participated in performed poorly at the box office.

Whether it was 'Father and Son' or 'City of Rock,' even if the film quality was passable, they were ultimately rejected by audiences. Audiences would even label a film as a bad one just by seeing Da Peng's name as the lead.

Only he himself could know the gains and losses involved.

Under such circumstances, even if investors admired him, they would choose to give up after a few films.

After all, no one would want their films to lose money.

Though film is entertainment, the purpose of entertainment is to make money.

Any film production company makes films with the hope of getting returns.

Future Film was no different.

So, in Zhao Fusheng's view, he didn't mind Huayi developing better; what he minded was having too few peers in the industry and not having a flood of bad films filling the market.

If it really came to a point where ridiculous anti-Japanese dramas and bad films ran rampant, the Chinese entertainment market would go astray again.

"Get ready. Wang Changtian wants to see me, doesn't he?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Ye Jing.

"Wang Changtian?"

Ye Jing was startled, somewhat surprised, then understood. It seemed Zhao Fusheng had set his sights on Enlight Media.

"Okay, I'll contact him right away."

Since Zhao Fusheng had made up his mind, Ye Jing naturally wouldn't object.

Moreover, Enlight's development was indeed good, and it could become an ally of Future Film.

To be honest, even choosing allies required skill. One either chose those with development potential or those with strong strength—that was inevitable.

It was like the Three Kingdoms era; besides the three factions of Sun, Cao, and Liu, the other warlords were simply weaklings.

Just like when Cao Cao and Liu Bei discussed heroes over green plums and wine, their evaluations of those people: Yuan Shu of Huainan, a skeleton in a tomb; Yuan Shao of Jizhou, fierce in appearance but timid at heart, fond of scheming but indecisive, valuing life when doing great deeds but forgetting honor for petty gains...

Of course, even Sun Ce was not considered formidable in Cao Mengde's mouth. A phrase like 'To have a son like Sun Zhongmou' made many think Cao Cao was praising Sun Quan.

But think carefully: this phrase seemed like praise, but actually implied that Sun Quan was like his own son.

The ancients had a knack for insulting people.

Zhao Fusheng didn't intend to be the Cao Mengde of the film industry; he just felt that since he was developing the best, he should naturally have the greatest say.

...

...

A few days later, Zhao Fusheng met Wang Changtian at the Future Group headquarters.

Much like the rumors, Boss Wang looked more like a scholar than a businessman.

In this regard, he was quite similar to Zhao Fusheng himself, who looked more like a student than a boss.

"Chairman Zhao, you're younger than I imagined."

Wang Changtian looked at Zhao Fusheng and said with a smile.

This was the truth. He had originally thought Zhao Fusheng would be older, but now he was stunned.

He was too young.

"Is that so?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed upon hearing this and said to Wang Changtian, "Maybe I just age slowly."

"Haha!"

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, both of them laughed.

Clearly, they were both satisfied with each other.

What satisfied Wang Changtian was that Zhao Fusheng lacked an arrogant demeanor, while what satisfied Zhao Fusheng was that Wang Changtian wisely kept a low profile.

Even among collaborators and allies, there had to be a primary and secondary distinction.

To put it bluntly, what Future Film needed was an ally that would listen, not one that would cause trouble.

If that were the case, why would Zhao Fusheng go through all this trouble?

"President Wang, I really like Enlight's development model."

Zhao Fusheng got straight to the point.

"This..."

Wang Changtian was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to express admiration for Enlight Media at their first meeting.

What did he want?

Looking at Zhao Fusheng's smile, Wang Changtian felt inexplicably nervous.

There was no help for it; this man was too powerful.

He had money, lots of money, very much money.

To put it bluntly, if he wanted, he could even buy Enlight Media outright.

And Wang Changtian could do nothing about it.

That was the gap in hard power.

Although Wang Changtian was confident that Enlight Media's future development would be better than now, he had to admit that no matter how Enlight Media developed, it might never catch up to Future Group.

More importantly, in Wang Changtian's view, Zhao Fusheng's vision certainly wouldn't be limited to the film and television industry.

Future Group was involved in too many industries. In Wang Changtian's mind, Zhao Fusheng's layout in the film and television industry needed an ally like Enlight.

Facts proved that his guess was indeed correct.

Or rather, no wonder in the original timeline, Enlight surpassed Huayi to become the top stock in Chinese film and television.

Vision and boldness were one thing, but more importantly, Wang Changtian was good at reading people's minds.

"Thank you for your appreciation, Chairman Zhao."

Wang Changtian looked at Zhao Fusheng: "I wonder, can Enlight and Future Film cooperate?"

"Heh."

Zhao Fusheng laughed.

This President Wang was quite an interesting person.

Frank and shrewd.

These two traits could be so clearly displayed in the same person.

Interesting.

"Whether we can cooperate specifically depends on the outcome of your talks with President Ye."

Zhao Fusheng smiled at Wang Changtian: "I've always only cared about results. The process isn't important, is it?"

Hearing this, Wang Changtian was taken aback, then understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning.