Chapter 33
Ever since he returned to the Shen family after his rebirth, Shen Mingzheng knew that this road was not so easy to walk, and everyone here was not so simple.
This old man Shen is even more unfathomable. This is not a smooth road, but another thorny bush.
Here, there is no family affection at all. Just look at Shen Huai to see the fate of being abandoned by the family after failure.
Shen Huai's hands are much cleaner than those of Jiang Chenfeng. Many things were not done by him personally, and many pieces of evidence were destroyed by him. Judging from the current situation, Shen Huai is unlikely to go to jail, but his reputation is ruined and his business has failed. In the eyes of the Shen family, he is no longer useful.
After Mr. Shen came to Haicheng, he had someone take him away, saying that he was going abroad to avoid the limelight, but no one knew where he went.
I probably won't see him again forever.
He is said to be the national male god, but it is normal for people to come and go in the entertainment industry. After he left, the audience forgot about him in a few days. It doesn’t matter if there is only one star left, there will be a new one to take his place immediately.
Shen Huai is just a microcosm of the Shen family's unscrupulous style of doing things. Shen Mingzheng does not agree with it, but he has not reached that position, so it is useless to disagree.
He had paid a heavy price for this kind of "disapproval" in his previous life, so this time he pretended and hid, trying hard to climb up, but at this point, disguise seemed useless.
In this environment, persistence is painful.
Shen Mingzheng knew exactly what answer Mr. Shen wanted him to choose, but he couldn't say it.
I promised Su Ning.
He thought.
If I break my promise, what will Su Ning do?
If he lied to Shen Antang and continued to do something secretly at this time, the consequences would only be more serious. However, he had no way to assimilate with the Shen family and went against his conscience and promise.
Even if I have to go against the old man now.
Shen Mingzheng said: "I think..."
But before he could answer, he heard a sudden "bang" from the wall behind him, like something hitting the wall.
Su Ning inside had heard enough, so he hooked his foot on the stool next to him and threw it against the wall, making a sound. Of course, he couldn't hear it while he was talking, but since it had already hit the wall, it would be unreasonable if there was no more noise.
Shen Mingzheng was startled, then he looked at Shen Antang suddenly, and then immediately shut up.
"I think he has something to say," the old man said calmly, and even laughed, "Well, please ask someone to come in. I want to see him, too."
After a while, Su Ning came in.
He was sitting next to Shen Mingzheng, and before he could open his mouth, the old man interrupted him.
"No need to introduce yourself, I know you," Chen Antang said, "Su Ning, Su Honghui's son. When you were a child, I also saw you once at a family dinner. You look even more beautiful now than you did then."
He smiled, as if he was looking at some junior, but the meaning of his next sentence changed.
"I recently heard about you trying to persuade Liang Xiaoliang. You happened to have someone on your side and you hit his weak spot. It was the right time, right place, and right people."
"But Su Ning, I don't buy it. If you want to convince me with words, you are overthinking it."
Su Ning just listened silently. Shen Mingzheng had been nervous since he came in, even more nervous than when he knew that the 400 million was intercepted. Then he heard him say, "Well, you are right."
"So I'm not going to convince you."
Mr. Shen stared at him.
"I'm just stating the facts. Please use the 400 million to invest in streaming media as planned," Su Ning looked at Shen Mingzheng again, "You don't have to consider me."
Is this a step back to advance?
Mr. Shen raised his eyebrows, but didn't take it seriously. Then he heard Su Ning continue, "I have found investment."
He had a cell phone with him all the time, and the group of people did not take it away. When Su Ning took it out, he opened the call interface, and it seemed that it had been opened for a long time.
It has been on since he was admitted to the hospital.
The name of the person on the other side was Liang Xiaoliang. He had been quiet before, but now he started talking.
"Hello, old man. Long time no see." The voice sounded quite respectful. "I'm afraid Mr. Shen doesn't need to worry about the 400 million. Su Ning and I have discussed it. Qilin is planning to pay for it."
Shen Antang really didn't expect this, he frowned and asked, "Why?"
Su Ning explained this matter quickly.
"Sang Le withdrew from the competition."
"Since Shen Huai's accident, his situation has become even more awkward. His support rate has dropped, and he can't debut even if he goes up. It's just that the program team is holding back the news and waiting for the right time to announce it," Su Ning said, "So, the number of people who can be promoted in the replacement competition has been increased from one to two. According to the current vote pattern, it is very likely that Li Chu and Qu Shoubai will be promoted."
Even if Mr. Shen knew about the affairs of these small people, he didn't care. He still didn't quite understand why Liang Xiaoliang would pay 400 million yuan for them.
"If both Li Chu and Qu Shoubai can qualify, it won't be difficult for them to debut together, considering their current popularity. The competition between Qilin and our Guangying Entertainment will not be that strong. I don't plan to delve into the idol market in the future. Having Li Chu alone is enough," Su Ning said. "More importantly, Mr. Liang should have found Li Chu recently and offered a high price to poach him, but Li Chu disagreed."
Mr. Liang on the other end of the phone was a little embarrassed when he mentioned this matter, and said, "Let's not talk about it."
In fact, he secretly found Li Chu in the training camp of the program team, explained his purpose and offered a high price, but the other party glared at him and said, "I will never leave the young master, so get out of here."
The little kid kept talking about death, but it was enough to show Li Chu's attitude.
It's not about the money.
Liang Xiaoliang roughly knew what had happened to him. When he heard this, he realized that no matter what people said outside, Li Chu would never leave Guangying Entertainment, or in other words, would not leave Su Ning.
A contract alone cannot completely bind this "natural idol", but feelings can, and this kind of feeling cannot be replicated.
And Liang Xiaoliang still underestimated Li Chu.
Especially after the two replacement matches, a top-level idol will bring about huge changes to the entire industry and even reshape the rules. How profitable is the current thriving idol industry?
Liang Xiaoliang knows it better than anyone else.
If he hadn't paid the 500,000 yuan at that time, he would have really missed this person.
The domestic market alone is huge, not to mention the overseas market. As far as he knows, an overseas luxury brand has expressed interest in Li Chu after seeing the performance clips posted online by the Outu4 program team.
Lively and moving stage performances are common all over the world. Moreover, Li Chu is still young and has a long blooming period. The money he can earn from him is unknown, which is many times more than 400 million yuan. No matter how you calculate it, it will not be a loss.
But more importantly, it is Su Ning.
In fact, he had met Su Ning several times in the past few days with different trainees, including the group that Qilin was going to promote next. Every time he met him, he knew more deeply that it was not just a fluke that Su Ning found Li Chu.
He felt that this kind of thing would continue to happen in the future.
Compared with Su Ning, Li Chu seems less important.
"Qilin's is not a loan, and I don't plan to take the money back," Liang Xiaoliang said. "After a period of operation, it will become shares held by Qilin."
"We plan to formally start long-term cooperation with Guangying Entertainment in the form of formal equity participation."
At that time, Su Ning knew that Su Hongda would say that it was enough after raising 150 million yuan, because this was exactly what he was thinking about.
It is normal for Guangying Entertainment to have new shareholders coming in now that it is so short of money. Liang Xiaoliang is a good partner, but Su Ning will not let them take away the right to speak. The evidence will still be the deciding factor.
There are still many things Liang Xiaoliang didn't say.
Su Ning had hinted to him about this matter early on, starting from the dinner after he came out of the program crew that day.
Liang Xiaoliang has been watching, watching Jiang Chenfeng and Shen Huai fail, Li Chu become popular, watching the cooperation between Su Ning and Shen Mingzheng become more and more stable, watching Shen Mingzheng really pay out 200 million yuan, and even after Mr. Shen made a move, he still persisted until now and did not violate the agreement with Su Ning.
The two people themselves might not be able to see it, but Liang Xiaoliang saw it.
——Just wait, the way they are doing together means they will get married sooner or later. It is obvious that this is not just an ordinary friendship.
You know what, these two people seemed to be a good match from the beginning.
Liang Xiaoliang still remembers the plate of yam cake, and he had been thinking about it since then.
The Shen family is such a large family, Liang Xiaoliang certainly would not go against Mr. Shen's wishes just to make some money, but from his point of view, this matter may not be irreversible.
After all, the old man is old, and he will retire sooner or later. Just look at the fierce competition for the successor and you will know that many people are betting on him, such as Jianghai Media, which is equivalent to betting on Shen Huai.
And he, Liang Xiaoliang, wanted to arrest Shen Mingzheng.
Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk. Now that he is middle-aged, he wants to continue to gamble like the young people.
On the surface, he supported Li Chu, but in fact, he followed Su Ning and Shen Mingzheng, the future heir of the Shen family.
Then these 400 million are totally worth it.
As long as, as long as I can get through this period, it will be fine.
After the story was told, the tea room fell into silence for a while, and then Mr. Shen finally broke the silence.
He took a cup from the tray in front of him and placed it in front of Su Ning, then signaled the assistant standing next to him to pour tea for Su Ning, and the clear tea was poured into the cup.
The situation in this place seems to have changed as well.
"Okay, that's interesting," he said. "You should have thought about it before. If you have a conflict with other investments, you might not be the best choice for the Shen family, right? So you started preparing a long time ago."
"Why, you don't trust our Shen family?"
Su Ning shook his head and said, "No. I know the Shen family doesn't need this money, let alone 400 million, even 4 billion."
The main thing is that Shen Mingzheng did not give the final answer that the old man wanted about the things behind the investment.
In fact, Liang Xiaoliang had mentioned the layout of Haicheng before.
"In recent years, Haicheng's entertainment industry has developed rapidly. Given time, it will surely become the industry leader, but now there are many competitors and the situation is constantly changing. It is unknown who will have the final say," Su Ning said. "The media industry has always favored Jianghai Media, but Jianghai Media has recently shut down. After the reorganization of Shen's Film Industry, if it swallows up Guangying Entertainment and reaches out to the media industry, it will have a good chance of becoming the unshakable leader in Haicheng in the future."
"The most important thing here is power, the power to make rules. At this critical juncture, we must seize power first, so Mingzheng cannot invest less money in the media. I know what you want, old man."
“Money and people are nothing more than appendages of power.
Therefore, if you are faced with a dilemma, you should know what to prioritize as the person in that position.
This is the answer that Mr. Shen wants to hear.
Su Ning could see that the old man didn't care how much money Shen Mingzheng wanted to give him, even if 4 billion was just a joke. Among the many reserve heirs trained by the Shen family, many had investment returns of ten or a hundred times, and were willing to spend a fortune for a smile. The Shen family was not short of money.
To be an heir, you must never put the cart before the horse and not know what the most important thing is.
However, he didn't expect that it was Su Ning who said this in the end.
This time, Mr. Shen really looked at him for a long time, and his eyes were very different.
"I think Mingzheng is not unaware of these things. He told me about them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have planned to invest in streaming media so early," Su Ning said. At this point, he glanced at Shen Mingzheng. "He hesitated to make a choice, not because he didn't think it through. He made an intuitive judgment and felt that there were variables."
"I am the variable."
"Old man, do you think someone like me would be willing to be a pawn at the mercy of others? If you can't be my ally, then you'll be my enemy."
"We can try to see who will be in charge of Haicheng in the future."
Su Ning said this lightly, but no one here thought he was trying to scare them.
Nothing he did during this period was simple, and not everyone can get Qilin's 400 million. It is enough to imagine Su Ning's maneuvers and strategies during this period.
"But Mingzheng can't say this to you, it seems like he is making a fuss and seems to be biased towards me," Su Ning said, "So, it's better for me to tell you this with the facts."
His attitude made the assistants standing next to him who were trying to hijack him feel cold sweats and goosebumps, but Mr. Shen was silent for a while after hearing it, and then he clapped his hands and laughed.
"Okay, okay."
"I was blinded by my own shortcomings and underestimated you." He said, "They say that the waves behind push the waves in front. I didn't believe it before, but now I do."
Under such circumstances, someone could get 400 million yuan. Such a person is truly rare.
He looked at Su Ning with a smile in his eyes. Now, the smile was not just superficial, but seemed to be sincere.
"It's like this. I didn't call you here today to discuss these official matters. Money and no money are just trivial matters." Chen Antang said, "Why not talk about serious matters?"
"Our Shen family recognizes your engagement."
"When do you want to get married? I'll ask my people to arrange it."
The old man from the Shen family is really as quick as the wind.
Su Ning had not hung up the phone yet, Liang Xiaoliang was listening there. When he heard these words, he felt like his heart was finally at ease.
But he didn't dare to speak, or even breathe out loudly, so he could only hold it in, sweat already breaking out on his body.
He actually admitted it!
The Shen family has passed this incredibly high threshold!
The person involved, Su Ning, was still quite calm and didn't say anything. The only one who was a little uneasy here was Shen Mingzheng. Previously, he had been forced by the old man without showing any fear, but now his hands were shaking and he almost knocked over the teacup in front of him.
Then, Su Ning held his other hand under the stage. He calmed down instantly and held his hand back, holding it tightly and refusing to let go.
"No rush," Su Ning smiled, "I'll go back and discuss the engagement with Ming Zheng."
Shen Antang did not push him, and replied with a smile: "Well, you young people decide for yourselves, I can't control you. If you need anything, feel free to come to me again."
The matter had been discussed and Mr. Shen did not stay here for long. He quickly left with his people, leaving the two of them here.
But before leaving, he left a message.
"I really like your looks and personality. I originally thought Ming Zheng could match someone better, but I was wrong." He said, "It's a good thing for young people to have ambitions, but I will keep a close eye on who is in charge in the Haicheng circle."
After the old man left, Shen Mingzheng immediately explained: "Su Ning, what I said before was not what I meant, don't misunderstand me."
He was a little anxious and wanted to say that he was not treating Su Ning as a tool, he had never thought of it that way.
"I know," Su Ning glanced at him, "Don't be nervous."
He understood who Shen Mingzheng was.
When judging a person, don’t look at what he says, but what he does. We have been together for so long, he will not misunderstand.
Su Ning contacted Liang Xiaoliang privately because the matter was of great importance, and he had a plan B to leave a way out for both of them. Facts proved that he was right.
This was not because of distrust, but because he knew very well that a stable cooperative relationship required the efforts of both parties to maintain. He did not think that Shen Mingzheng was taking advantage of him. On the contrary, after visiting his place last time, he felt that Shen Mingzheng valued him too much.
Today, it was because of what he and the old man said that Su Ning was really sure that beneath his seemingly cold appearance, he was a pure person, but this kind of person is actually very easy to suffer losses.
A "test" like Shen Antang's would only result in both of them being hurt if both of them were caught off guard. Su Ning was not the kind of person who waited for funding, he was always able to seize the initiative.
"Let's go first." Su Ning said, "This is not the place to talk."
Not to mention Shen Mingzheng, what he said to the old man was not sincere. It was just a reasonable disguise in a hurry.
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