Chapter 0941: The Spring Festival of 2003

We often say, do not judge heroes by success or failure, because that seems too rigid.

But in reality, the victor is king and the loser is a bandit, a truth that holds across time and cultures.

The victor is always the writer of history, entitled to enjoy the fruits of victory. As for the loser, leaving behind a few traces is already considered fortunate.

Although Yu Dong and Ma Dajun said they would start over, they both knew that, at least in the first half of this year, Bona would be powerless to cause trouble for Zhao Fusheng and the others.

After all, Ma Dajun's formal departure from Huayi Brothers to sign with Bona had already caused no small stir in this circle.

If it weren't for Yu Dong being one of Han Sanye's men, Huayi might have long begun secretly tripping him up, causing trouble, and slinging mud.

For now, Ma Dajun could only keep a low profile, striving to find a suitable script and waiting for the next opportunity.

Zhao Fusheng, naturally, was very happy. With movie box office rising steadily and everything going smoothly, he could finally take a break. To be precise, he hadn't actually helped much; the main distribution work was done by Huayi, while Future Film and Ye Jingze had put great effort into promotion.

But regardless, being able to rest easy without worrying about the film was something Zhao Fusheng was quite pleased about.

During this time, Wang Zhonglei specially invited Zhao Fusheng to a meal, during which he expressed considerable gratitude to Zhao Fusheng.

The reason was simple: "Cell Phone" had thoroughly beaten "The Missing Gun," which seemed unrelated to Huayi Brothers, but when linked to the news of Ma Dajun leaving Huayi, it was a different story.

At the very least, if "The Missing Gun" had been a great success, it would have meant that Ma Dajun's job change was successful, and Huayi had lost talent.

Conversely, the huge success of "Cell Phone" proved, from another angle, that Huayi was the right platform for Ma Dajun; without Huayi's support, Ma Dajun was nothing.

Zhao Fusheng naturally sneered at this judgment, but he had to admit that many media outlets were now hyping it up—after all, Ma Dajun himself was not living up to expectations.

But regardless, being able to enjoy a leisurely time at home was undoubtedly joyful for Zhao Fusheng.

Except for occasionally being dragged by Fan Baobao to rehearse plays, ahem.

Fortunately, the Spring Festival was just around the corner. Amid the snow and wind, Zhao Fusheng, Fan Baobao, Zhang Qian, and Yang Panpan flew back to Ninghai together.

One misses family more during festivals, especially for someone like Fan Baobao who was away from home all year. On the plane, she was extremely excited, and after landing and leaving the airport, she and Yang Panpan were laughing and joking loudly.

"Are all the matters in the capital taken care of?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Zhang Qian.

Dong Chenxi was supposed to return with them as well, but something came up, so she had to stay in the capital to wait for Zheng Yao and Bai Jie. Besides, there were still a batch of employees under them who were originally from Ninghai and Binzhou. Zhao Fusheng thought about it and simply decided not to have them come along.

After all, as the head of the enterprise, as the Spring Festival approached, he always had to give out red envelopes to the staff below. As the big boss, Zhao Fusheng naturally wouldn't do such things himself; it was up to them to handle it.

"Mm, everything is arranged." Zhang Qian nodded and said in a low voice, "Dong Guoxiang and the development team are working hard. Barring any accidents, they should have the finished product ready by early spring."

"That's good. Keep an eye on this matter at all times." Zhao Fusheng nodded.

The website that Dong Guoxiang and his team were developing was undoubtedly very important to Zhao Fusheng's overall plan. Although he didn't intend to run it long-term, he could still sell it off for a sum once it was done.

Even though he knew that sticking with it in the long run might yield greater returns, the problem was that Zhao Fusheng was well aware that this industry was a money-burning process. What he lacked most right now was precisely capital.

Even though the prospects for Future Advertising and Future Film and Television were good, the film and advertising industry in China was not particularly developed at the time. In the end, the return on investment was too low. Even at Future Advertising's current scale, the net profit for the whole year was at most a few tens of millions.

And the film and television production industry was even less worth mentioning. Although investing in a play might seem to earn millions or even tens of millions, the problem was that the production cycle for a movie or TV series often took several months, plus the release cycle, waiting for the box office settlement from theaters, and so on. If it dragged on, it was common for it to take a year or half a year.

Most importantly, no one could guarantee that every investment in a play would be a sure win without loss.

So all in all, Future Film and Television's current goal was to ensure no losses. And Future Advertising's goal was to strive to expand its scale and gradually form a cultural industry chain layout together with Future Film and Television.

Zhao Fusheng's real profit target was still set on the internet.

Of course, the real estate industry was the most profitable, but Zhao Fusheng didn't plan to get involved because there were too many shady dealings in that industry. He really didn't want to be stabbed in the back by someone one day.

"By the way, contact Old Qian for me. I'll find time to meet him in the next few days." Zhao Fusheng walked as he remembered something and said to Zhang Qian.

Old Qian naturally referred to Qian Dongliu. He was now the head of Glory Technology, which was responsible for the several internet cafes in Ninghai.

Zhang Qian was taken aback, then nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Qian Dongliu was a capable person, but he had always been kept in Ninghai by Zhao Fusheng. Zhang Qian had found it strange, but now it seemed that Zhao Fusheng clearly had other plans.

Actually, he had misunderstood Zhao Fusheng, because regarding Qian Dongliu, Zhao Fusheng initially had no other arrangements. He had kept him because he really didn't have anyone reliable at hand. After going to the capital, he needed someone in Ninghai who could hold the fort at critical moments.

After all, as the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Although Zhao Fusheng wouldn't go that far, he also knew that his foundation was in Ninghai. Although industries like internet cafes and game centers seemed insignificant, the profits they generated each year were considerable. Most importantly, with these industries, even if his development in the capital wasn't going well, he at least had a fallback.

But later, the development of events became increasingly uncontrollable for Zhao Fusheng. Even he hadn't expected that now he didn't need to worry about the profits and losses of these small businesses in Ninghai.

Most importantly, when Zhao Fusheng recalled the news he had gotten from Tan Kaixuan before, he was utterly speechless.

Yes, utterly speechless.

The reason was simple: that guy Tan Kaixuan had finally stirred up trouble.