Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

Chapter 159: Chapter 139: Comedy Duo

Chen Pingsheng naturally didn't give up on expanding the big retail stores.

There were many reasons for this, mainly because the large retail stores were not just supermarkets; they were more like a convergence of traditional department stores.

As for bubble tea, he could do some research when he found some free time.

After chatting with Tong Zelan and her team at Tengying Entertainment for an hour, he then drove home.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

The half-month holiday at Tengying Entertainment had ended, and all the staff returned to the headquarters to work.

Whether it was the online sales managed by Tong Zelan or the production overseen by Hu Ding in Guangdong, both had started to operate.

The official The Legend of Hua Qiangu authorized derivative Taobao store had already completed entering several major e-commerce platforms.

And Zhao Liying, who was busy in Hengdian, Zhejiang with business endorsements and drama shootings, had also been called back by him.

Chen Pingsheng handed her a contract.

"This is a collaboration I discussed a few days ago. It's mainly about developing The Legend of Hua Qiangu-related products. Production and sales are already being handled by others, Liying, you can take a look at it."

Zhao Liying was always busy.

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, she was either shooting or on her way to the next shoot.

A true model of hard work, no doubt.

"Chen, you called me back just for this? You could have made this decision for me!"

"It's not just about this."

Chen Pingsheng stood up and handed her a prospectus from Fei Yangyang regarding their Series C funding round.

"By the end of the year, once The Legend of Hua Qiangu airs, Fei Yangyang will officially start the Series C funding round with a valuation of 1.5 billion. You still have 10.5% of the shares, right? I have some classmates, and if you're willing, you could sell them to them at the original price of 100 million."

Zhao Liying smiled broadly, truly happy.

"Chen, I only invested ten million in Fei Yangyang, and in less than a year, you turned it into a hundred million. Do you think I should sell now?"

"It's up to you," Chen Pingsheng said. "They originally came to me to buy. The Series C valuation of 1.5 billion seems quite high, but it's actually in the mid-range. There will still be the D and E rounds. If these two rounds go smoothly, then the value of your shares could be worth 2 to 3 billion. Of course, there are risks."

"After all, no one can guarantee that Fei Yangyang will definitely complete the D and E funding rounds successfully."

"If you sell now, that will be a real profit of ninety million. It's your choice."

"I trust you, Chen."

Zhao Liying said earnestly, finding the money earned to be quite unexpected.

She never anticipated Fei Yangyang would be so successful at the beginning.

It deterred any potential competitors in the hotpot city market.

The reputation for low prices and high quality also garnered rave reviews from customers.

For her, the endorser, this was a very positive image.

Chen Pingsheng nodded: "Okay, then you can wait and not rush. Once Fei Yangyang goes public smoothly, the gains from cashing out will definitely be bigger then."

"Just take a look at this contract for now. I'm planning to give you a 10% profit share. Once The Legend of Hua Qiangu blows up, it shouldn't be a problem for its derivative products to earn a few hundred million."

Zhao Liying felt that her income at Tengying was really too high.

It far exceeded her actual income as an actress. Going by her current status, she could get at most twelve million in fees for a role.

That was in the best-case scenario. After all, The Legend of Hua Qiangu hadn't aired yet, and she was still in the second-tier status.

But the money she actually made this year was far beyond that of some top-tier stars.

Whether from Fei Yangyang, the twenty million bonus she received earlier, or now this big contract.

Chen never short-changed her when making money.

It had indeed far exceeded her expectations.

"Ding, you've gained one 'Happiness Point' from employee Zhao Liying."

Zhao Liying, without even looking, signed the contract, and Chen Pingsheng arranged for her to go to Magic City.

Tong Zelan was there.

She had to go to Magic City to work with Tong Zelan and shoot promotional videos for various official websites.

The official promotion and distribution of those peripheral products were also her responsibility as the lead.

After all, being a star meant constantly traveling from one place to another.

Taking a flight there wasn't too time-consuming, and it was good to get to know Tong Zelan.

The resources that woman held in her hands were incomparable to anyone in the entertainment industry.

If she agreed to procure international endorsements for Zhao Liying, she could easily bring in several high-end luxury brands.

The woman had that kind of power.

Zhao Liying also left him a script, which was the food-themed TV series that Chen Pingsheng had been thinking about.

He used the entertainment industry analysis function and found it quite good.

With an investment return rate of 250%.

The estimated total investment was 120 million, with three companies having already jointly contributed eighty million, so the last forty million would be provided by him alone.

Zhao Liying, with the funds and contract in hand, immediately went to Magic City.

Once she left, Tengying Entertainment was able to relax again.

"Bai Xin."

He called his secretary over to take care of things, as it was his responsibility as the boss.

"Uncle, I'm here."

Bai Xin came in honestly after knocking on the door.

Chen Pingsheng asked her, "What's going on? Didn't we announce online that we were open to investing in movies? Why hasn't anyone come to us yet?"

Bai Xin gave an embarrassed smile, "Uncle, isn't it because we rejected all the investment requests in the first half of the year? We didn't invest in a single one for over half a year. Who would come to us now?"

"Those were all flops. Of course, I couldn't invest in them."

Chen Pingsheng said, "I don't care. You have three days to bring me some good movie scripts. Your boss, me, I want to invest in movies."

"What?"

Bai Xin was overwhelmed. She was just a junior secretary; where was she supposed to find movie scripts?

But since the boss had given the order, it had to be carried out.

Bai Xin stepped out the door, her head spinning with three big problems.

She had sneakily used her friends circle to post videos, and over the past year or so, she had indeed added quite a few directors from the entertainment industry.

Some were movie directors, and of course, many more were TV drama directors.

Sitting in her secretary's chair, Bai Xin drafted a brief copy.

"Announcement, announcement, recently our boss has too much money and is easy to talk to, anyone with a good movie script that's short on funds for shooting can come to me, there's no cap on investment, what we have is money."

After finishing the copy, she also posted eight of her own beautiful selfies, and finally, topped it off with the big Logo of Tengying Entertainment.

Ten minutes passed, and while there were plenty of likes, there wasn't a single investment inquiry.

Bai Xin wasn't in a hurry.

An hour passed and still nothing; now she was really getting anxious.

Her boss had finally set a task for her, and if she couldn't accomplish anything, wouldn't that make her seem utterly useless?

She decided to go for a mass blast.

The content of the mass message was simple and aggressive.

Heard your movie is short on funds? Well, we at Tengying have plenty of money, just come over.

Ha... She really was quite clever to come up with such a good plan.

Now, there were a lot more responses.

Director Zhang, "Who told you I'm short on money? I wouldn't come to you even if I were."

Director Li, "Your Tengying is just a scam company; so many people have gone to your boss, but I haven't seen him invest in even one."

Director Huang, "Pfft, such a great project as mine, you reject? I wouldn't come back to you Tengying even if I died."

It was a uniform wave of negative reviews.

The consequences of what was sown in the first half of the year were now bound to be swallowed by themselves.

Teng, "You guys are investing in movies? Can you invest in mine where a sketch actor plays the lead role?"

Ha... a lifesaver.

She didn't know if it was a viable investment, but first things first, she had to secure her own job.

Bai Xin knew him; he was a famous sketch actor.

The funny kind.

If she wasn't already sporting the title of president's secretary for Tengying, she wouldn't even have the chance to interact with such first-tier sketch comedy actors.

"Of course, we can, we must! As long as you, Teng, are the main actor, our boss will invest no matter how much."

Focusing on baiting him in first, that was what Bai Xin was thinking.

Teng, "Send me the location, I'll grab a bucket and fly over there tonight."

Ha... Mission accomplished.

Bai Xin laughed loudly.

The next day, Chen Pingsheng met the well-known sketch duo.

Male, Shen Teng; female, Ma Li.

He wasn't aware that they had both been lured in by Bai Xin.

They were influential in the sketch comedy world, but in the film industry, they could only be considered pure newcomers.

"Ah, Brother Chen, the script for our film this time is a rebirth theme. It's about becoming incredibly successful after being reborn, chasing back the first love and then realizing that the wife who shared hardships with oneself is the true love."

"Brother Chen, doesn't this script sound amazing?"

Whether it was amazing or not, Chen himself wouldn't know; he hardly watched more than two movies all year round.

It was his first time using the movie analysis function, and he hoped it would be a promising start.

Chen Pingsheng thought in his modest and unadorned manner.

"Movie Analysis: Charlotte's Troubles."

"Target analysis in progress, please wait."

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed...

A row of golden letters floated before him once again.

"Target analysis completed."

"Movie Name: Charlotte's Troubles."

"Shooting Period: Three months."

"Total Investment: Fifty million."

"Investment Return Rate: 900%."

???

A fifty million investment for a movie was at most considered medium-sized production.

An investment return rate of 900% meant nine times the input.

From the film producer's perspective, they normally take 33% of the total box office revenue.

Which means, this small-budget film could potentially achieve a box office performance between 1.4 to 1.5 billion.

A blockbuster, an absolute blockbuster.

Seeing him silent, Shen Teng suddenly started feeling a bit nervous.

Firstly, he had to admit that he had no box office draw at all.

But as long as one could swallow one's pride, this boss from Tengying was supposed to be quite easy to bluff, right?

"Brother Chen, such a good script is sure to sell for at least one billion at the box office, investing in it would definitely not disappoint you."

"How much money do you want?"

Chen Pingsheng pinched the bridge of his nose; Bai Xin really did bring him a pair of lucky stars.

He would have to reward her later.

Shen Teng was all at sea because of this sudden development.

"Not much, not much, fifty million of investment is enough for this movie. If it's convenient for you, you could invest half of it, and I'll find a way to cover the rest."

"No need, I'll invest the whole fifty million."

"By the way..." Chen Pingsheng asked curiously, "Have you two ever thought about jumping ship to my Tengying Entertainment?"