Yanjiang Banquet was a restaurant specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. Although it hadn’t earned any Michelin stars, it was quite famous in Zhonghai.
A good number of people were seated inside the private room.
Zheng Jianghe, Han Guangqi, Li Wuyang, Zhou Jin, and a dozen or so others were all there.
"Old Zhou, you went to a lot of trouble to set up this banquet. You must have something to tell us," Zheng Jianghe said, holding a cigarette.
"He’s definitely got something up his sleeve. He was even carrying a bag when he came in, but he wouldn’t say what was in it when I asked," Li Wuyang joked.
"What’s the rush? You save the best for last. I’ve got something to show you."
Zhou Jin opened the bag and took out a script he had prepared earlier.
"A script? You’re going to make a movie?" Zheng Jianghe asked in surprise.
Zhou Jin nodded. "Lin Jiang’s cheerleading competition is offering a huge prize: the winner gets a chance to sign with his media company. That directly caused four teams to drop out of our jazz dance competition, so I came up with this solution."
CLICK. Zhou Jin lit a cigarette.
"I picked this script out of more than twenty submissions. The budget’s a little tight, though—we’re still short about 20 million. The guaranteed box office is around 1.5 to 2 billion. If you’re interested, you can invest a little. But it’s fine if you don’t. You don’t have to give me an answer right now. Think it over."
Seeing that Zhou Jin was looking for investors, the men’s expressions turned a bit more serious.
"What’s the total budget?" Li Wuyang asked.
Right now, Li Wuyang’s thoughts were completely focused on Lin Jiang.
The moment he heard Zhou Jin was making a movie to deal with Lin Jiang, he became more interested than anyone.
"50 million."
"That’s not a huge investment. Are you sure it can pull in 1.5 to 2 billion at the box office?" Han Guangqi asked.
Huipin Group’s strategic plan for the year was to build a commercial complex in Ning’an District, and their biggest rival was Lin Jiang’s Berkeley.
His thinking was simple. ’If we can attack Lin Jiang from multiple angles, we can hasten Berkeley’s demise.’
"It’s a campus-themed film, which also fits the current trend," Zhou Jin said confidently, leaning back in his chair.
"I’ve talked to people in the industry, and this type of film is extremely popular right now. A box office of 1.5 to 2 billion is actually a very conservative estimate. We’re all on the same team here, so when a great opportunity like this comes up, I obviously have to ask you guys first. After all, you have to keep it in the family."
Everyone studied the script seriously. Judging by their expressions, they thought it was pretty good.
"I’ll invest 5 million," Han Guangqi was the first to declare. "But I have one condition. I want to add an actor."
"No problem," Zhou Jin said readily. "It’s our own movie. All it takes is a word from us."
"Look at you," Zheng Jianghe teased. "I bet you’ve already chosen the lead actress and are planning to show her what you’re made of, huh?"
"Hah, that’s just a perk of the job. It’d be a waste not to have some fun."
Holding his cigarette, Zhou Jin made no attempt to hide it.
"To be honest with you guys, ever since word got out, so many actresses have been contacting me. They’re all offering themselves to me, subtly and not-so-subtly. It’s more than I can handle."
"That’s how actresses are. Not a decent one in the bunch," Zheng Jianghe said.
"There’s this one actress, Wang Tongrui. On-screen, she’s the picture of innocence. But after she went to a hotel with me, damn, she was wild. Even prostitutes are classier than her."
"That reminds me of one. An actress who just had a baby couldn’t get any roles after her comeback, so she found me through some connections. On-screen, she’s the perfect wife and mother, but in the hotel room, she was wilder than I am."
"See? That’s just how this industry works. Now that I’m making a movie, I’m going to have my fun when I can. And it’s all free. I don’t even have to spend a dime."
"I’ll throw in 5 million, too. Make this a good movie. Try to get it released at the same time as Lin Jiang’s film and crush it. That’ll be our first major victory."
As he spoke, Zheng Jianghe looked toward Li Wuyang.
"What about your situation? Have you thought of a good plan?"
"I’m preparing to shift my focus. Yong’an can’t beat Mu Xing anymore."
No one else spoke, as they were all aware of the situation with Mu Xing.
The meat quality was genuinely excellent, and most importantly, the price was low. There was simply nothing they could do.
Although shifting focus was a bit demoralizing, it was still a viable strategy.
"So what’s your plan?" Zheng Jianghe asked.
"I’m shifting my operations to the north. There’s a company in Shudong City called Hongyang Pastures. We’re preparing to invest 13 million to further consolidate the city’s resources and expand our industrial scale. That should offset the market share we’ve lost to Mu Xing."
"You’re investing in Hongyang Pastures, too?" Han Guangqi asked, slightly surprised.
"Don’t tell me you are, too?"
Han Guangqi nodded. "We’re planning to invest 15 million. We’ll use their products to supply our major supermarkets in the surrounding provinces and cities."
"Wait a minute."
Zheng Jianghe stopped them. "Are you two sure you can beat Lin Jiang’s Mu Xing?"
"We’ll have a price advantage," Li Wuyang said.
"Mu Xing uses a channel distribution model. Although their own costs haven’t increased, the distributors don’t play by the same rules once the product reaches their channels. They usually mark up the price by 5 to 10. Once we start using products from Hongyang Pastures, we’ll have an even greater price advantage, widening the gap. This will make us more competitive in the low-end market. As for Yong’an, it will focus on the high-end market from now on. We’ll use a two-pronged approach to contain Lin Jiang."
"If you two operate on both fronts, you’ll cut off all his other options. His only way out will be Berkeley," Zheng Jianghe said, his eyes narrowing.
"Berkeley?"

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