Expansion and Investment

As 2004 arrived, some of Wei Jin's plans were gradually put on the agenda.

First came the expansion of the studio's business. Wei Jin intended to venture into television drama investment and production.

Since the 16th National Congress in 2002, the government had explicitly incorporated the cultural industry into the nation's broader development strategy, and the television industry had begun to break the ice.

During this period, the art of television drama was growing increasingly mature. The entertainment value of popular culture and the professionalism of artistic works had begun to coexist, creating a new landscape of diverse domestic television productions. Mainland television dramas were flourishing, and as long as the studio could get involved in a few smash hits early on, that would be enough to gain a foothold in the industry.

Once the studio had gained enough production experience and assembled a seasoned team, Wei Jin could draw on the ideas in his head to lead smash-hit projects himself, make a name for the studio once and for all, and become a rising force in the industry.

The film and television industry was a highly complex and closed circle. Wei Jin was not in the habit of bowing and scraping; he wanted to carve out a faction of his own.

The immediate priority was to recruit film and television talent. Through Teacher Jiang Wei's connections, Wei Jin was introduced to an industry veteran.

His name was Chen Zhiming. Born in 1965, he had parents who both worked at Beiying Film Studio, so he counted as part of the Beiying Film Studio family.

After graduating from high school, he had gone to work at Beiying Film Studio and risen step by step from the bottom. He was quite familiar with the various aspects of the film business and had taken part in many of the studio's projects.

After the state-owned studio was restructured, he joined a private company and started working in television dramas. He had strong connections with major provincial satellite TV stations and a network of his own in Beijing's film and television circles. He was also an easygoing man.

Today was their first meeting. When Wei Jin arrived at the private room in the restaurant where they had agreed to meet, Chen Zhiming was already waiting inside.

Wei Jin raised his wrist and checked his watch. He had arrived ten minutes early, but it seemed Chen Zhiming had come even earlier.

Wei Jin felt a little more assured. His first impression of Chen Zhiming was a good one.

"Mr. Chen, sorry I'm late," Wei Jin said in greeting as he entered.

"You're Wei Jin, right? Come, come, have a seat. You're not late at all. I only just got here myself, haha..."

Smiling, Chen Zhiming rose from his chair and invited Wei Jin to sit.

Once seated, Wei Jin began sizing him up. He was a little over 1.7 meters tall, of medium build, dressed casually, and had a neat head of short hair. His features were refined, and his smile made him seem approachable.

"Don't call me Mr. Chen. Old Chen or Brother Chen will do. No need to stand on ceremony. Your teacher Jiang Wei and I nearly became sworn brothers."

Chen Zhiming smiled as he spoke.

"All right, then I'll call you Old Chen. Let's skip the formalities and order first. We can talk while we eat."

Wei Jin smiled in reply. Both men knew perfectly well what today's meeting was about. They called a waiter, ordered their food, and began exchanging pleasantries.

While they waited for the dishes, Wei Jin gave him a detailed introduction to the studio's main lines of business, its earnings, and its plans for the future.

To retain talent, he had to paint a rosy picture, but he couldn't rely on that alone. Showing the studio's revenue was therefore necessary.

At first, Chen Zhiming had only come out of obligation and hadn't expected a second-year university student to have built much of a business.

But when he learned that Wei Jin's studio had earned more than twenty million in less than six months, he put aside his dismissive attitude and took the meeting seriously.

As their discussion grew more in-depth, Wei Jin came to hold Chen Zhiming's professional expertise in high regard.

Chen Zhiming, in turn, had high praise for Wei Jin's foresight and unique insights into the film and television industry.

After Wei Jin offered him an annual salary of five hundred thousand and project incentives, Chen Zhiming gladly accepted the new job and became a proud wage slave.

"Old Chen, I may need you to come with me to Berlin after the new year."

Once their agreement was settled, Wei Jin got straight to business.

"Is it about the film that was selected?"

Chen Zhiming had heard Jiang Wei mention it before coming. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have agreed to meet.

"Mm, some public relations work needs to be done there. Teacher Jiang Wei is the producer, but he's a teacher at the school, after all, so that sort of work might not come easily to him. Oh, how's your English?"

Wei Jin explained.

"Not bad. I worked on overseas projects before and spent two years abroad."

Having spent so many years in film and television, Chen Zhiming understood what Wei Jin meant. Public relations were important when it came to whether a film could win an award at a festival.

"As for the studio, our main focus for now is still music and the operation of novel copyrights, supplemented by selective investments in television projects."

Wei Jin also began laying out the priorities for the work ahead.

"By the way, can you get in touch with Shanghai Tangren?"

"I should be able to. Are you looking to work with Tangren, President Wei?"

Chen Zhiming slipped smoothly into his new role.

"Here's the thing. I hear they currently have a project adapting a game for the screen. I have high hopes for it and plan to take a share."

"No problem. I'll get it settled as soon as possible."

"You can negotiate the details. The bigger the share, the better. My bottom line is ten percent, and we can pay a premium."

"All right, President Wei. I'll keep you updated on the project's progress."

As this was his first task after joining, Chen Zhiming intended to do a good job of it.

After the meal, the two went to the studio, where Wei Jin began handing over some of the work. Chen Zhiming quickly threw himself into it.

Ever since receiving notice of the film's selection, Wei Jin had been cramming English and German. With his exceptional memory and learning ability, foreign languages were simply too easy for him.

In less than a month, Wei Jin could already converse fluently. Sister Li was so amazed that she even joked that if his films ever flopped, he could still make a living as a translator.

Before the new year, Zeng Li received a call from her mother and hurried home to celebrate.

Wei Jin wasn't used to staying in Beijing alone, so he returned to his hometown as well.

Though they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Wei Xingbang hadn't changed much and was delighted to see his son.

Wei Jin spent several days with his father, chatting about all sorts of family matters. He also gave a brief account of what he had achieved at work, bringing a look of gratification to his elderly father's face.

Afterward, Wei Jin took gifts to visit his eldest uncle, Wei Anguo, who lived alone. His uncle had no children of his own and treated Wei Jin even better than Wei Xingbang did. He kept Wei Jin talking for a long time.

The Spring Festival atmosphere was still strong in those days, and it gave Wei Jin a rare experience.

On the fifth day of the new year, Wei Jin returned to Beijing and began strengthening his connections.

After visiting his teachers at school, Wei Jin shut himself away in 501 to cultivate his typing.

Snowstrider had a little over twenty volumes in total, and he had currently reached the eighth.

Wei Jin had made a pact with Zeng Li and promised to finish it. After all, the novel was a witness to their relationship.

On the tenth day, Chen Zhiming sent word from Shanghai. After several rounds of negotiations, Tangren had agreed to offer a ten percent investment share for three million, which Wei Jin Fengliu Studio would take.

With that, the television drama Chinese Paladin, which would be hailed as a classic in later years, was officially stamped with Wei Jin Fengliu Studio's mark.

In fact, the drama had not been viewed favorably before its broadcast in his previous life, and its overall earnings were not particularly high. It was only during later reruns that it sparked a ratings frenzy.

Wei Jin had two main reasons for investing: one was to plant his flag in the industry, and the other was to set his sights on Tangren's production team.

As a tool in Chinese entertainment novels, Tangren had been fleeced of quite a lot of wool. From its artists to its behind-the-scenes team, and even its boss, Miss Cai herself, virtually everyone had been picked clean.

Wei Jin wasn't quite so ruthless. He only planned to gradually dig up some behind-the-scenes talent and build a production team of his own, step by step.

Shutting himself away to write was a tedious process, and before long, the day came for the crew to gather and leave for Berlin.