When Shin Cine's representative director Shin Cheol received an acquisition offer from Shin Asia Entertainment, he didn't take it seriously at first. After all, Shin Asia Entertainment and Shin Cine had nothing in common.

Shenzhe asked his employees, "Why did Song Yi want to acquire our company?"

The employee speculated, "Song Yi knows director Guo Zairong. They worked together on a Samdasu commercial. Last month, Guo Zairong was filming a movie at Yonsei University. Song Yi and Kim Tae-hee went to visit the crew. He invited the crew to have barbecue together. He seems to be interested in Jun Ji-hyun."

"He is interested in Jun Ji-hyun? Didn't you say Kim Tae-hee is his girlfriend? He is interested in other female artists in front of his girlfriend? Is he so brazen?" Shin Cheol was a little suspicious.

An employee recalled, "I remember that day when we were eating barbecue, Song Yi took the opportunity to hug Jun Ji-hyun. Jun Ji-hyun's manager Zheng Shuotuo looked very unhappy at the time."

Shin Cheol sneered, "If he's interested in Jun Ji-hyun, why doesn't he try to acquire SidusHQ? What's the point of keeping an eye on us Shin Cine?"

Song Yi's acquisition offer for Shin Cine was 32 billion won, about 176 million yuan. The offer was not low, and Shin Cheol could use this money to retire peacefully.

Shin Cine has also made several films before, such as "The Promise", in which Jeon Do-yeon and Park Shin-yang once collaborated, directed by Kim Yoo-jin.

Park Shin-yang won the Best Actor award at the 1998 Blue Dragon Film Awards for this film, and Jeon Do-yeon won the Best Actress award at the Baeksang Arts Awards that year.

A movie that produced a Best Actor and Best Actress can't be considered bad, right? However, the box office of this movie was not as good as expected, and Shin Cine almost went bankrupt because of this movie.

Shin Cheol had high hopes for the movie "My Sassy Girl". He could no longer afford first-line directors and actors, so he chose Cha Tae-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun as the male and female protagonists. This was already the best lineup Shin Cheol could get.

Shin-Cheol hopes to make a comeback through "My Sassy Girl". If "My Sassy Girl" is a big hit at the box office, Shin-Cheol will have the confidence to continue his beloved film career. On the contrary, if it fails again at the box office, he will consider closing Shin Cine and entering the real estate industry. The key issue now is whether "My Sassy Girl" can be a big hit at the box office? Shin-Cheol suspects that Song Yi is optimistic about the movie "My Sassy Girl", so he wants to acquire Shin Cine to intercept it. He doesn't believe Song Yi's nonsense that he bought Shin Cine for Jun Ji-hyun.

But the offer of 32 billion won is also very tempting. Shin Cheol will get 20 billion won. He can use this money to buy a villa in Malibu, go fishing and watch the sea.

If "My Sassy Girl" is a big hit, Shin Cine's valuation will definitely rise, and the company's valuation may even double. However, if "My Sassy Girl" does not perform well at the box office, Shin Cine's valuation may only be 10 to 20 billion won, and Shin Cheol will lose tens of billions of won in vain.

Shin Cheol instructed his staff, "Ask Director Kwak Jae-yong if he has finished editing My Sassy Girl. I want to watch the movie again."

Guo Zairong was receiving Song Yi at his home at the time, and Song Yi told Guo Zairong about his plan to acquire Shin Cine.

Guo Zairong was very surprised. "Isn't New Asia Entertainment focused on artist affairs management and artist training? Why did President Song suddenly want to invest in the film industry? Although film companies seem glamorous on the surface, few of them can actually make money."

Song Yi certainly couldn't reveal the truth, saying that he just wanted to defraud Zhong Xiaotong of a loan. His reason was very high-sounding, "I talked with Director Guo about the love trilogy last time, and I did think about bringing these excellent movies to the screen. If Shin Cine can be acquired, "If Love Has Destiny" and "Sassy Sister" will definitely be included in Shin Cine's priorities, and funding and actors will not be a problem."

"Of course, even if New Asia Entertainment cannot acquire Shin Cine this time, we still hope to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Director Guo. We hope you can place your agency contract with New Asia Entertainment."

"We at Xinya Entertainment will provide Director Guo with more professional agency services and help you find better scripts. As long as it is a film project in which Director Guo participates, we at Xinya Entertainment will consider investing. Bringing capital into the team can also help you increase your persuasiveness in winning big-budget films. This is actually a win-win choice for us," Song Yi emphasized.

At this time, Guo Zairong received a notice that Shenzhe wanted to watch the director's cut version of "My Sassy Girl".

Guo Zairong was in a dilemma. The film had not yet been edited, and the current version was a rough cut. Guo Zairong had originally planned to complete the final edit before May 1 and then send the film to the Image Rating Committee for rating.

There is no political review for Korean films. They established a film rating system in 1998. Movies are divided into 5 levels: universal, over 12 years old, over 15 years old, over 18 years old and restricted screening.

Thanks to President Chung Hyo-tong’s implementation of the film rating system, Korean films have entered a period of rapid prosperity since the late 1990s.

In 1999, Kang Je-kyu's "The Spy" defeated "Titanic" to become the box office champion of Korean movies. This movie also indicated that the Korean local film industry has the potential to compete with Hollywood movies in the future. You must know that in the 1980s and 1990s, Korean movies were defeated by Hollywood and Hong Kong movies.

Song Yi's expression changed. Shin Cheol wanted to watch "My Sassy Girl" again, so the quality of the movie would determine whether he was willing to sell Shin Cine. Song Yi thought for a while and said to Guo Zairong, "Director Guo, can you cut out the clips of Tae Hee and I making cameos and give it to Shin Cheol?"

Guo Zairong was a little confused, "Oh, why? The scene where Tae Hee made a cameo was really good?"

Song Yi didn't explain the reason. "It doesn't matter. Just add this clip before the rating. I just don't want Shen Zhe to think that I have plans for Shin Cine. This might make him raise the purchase price of Shin Cine."

Guo Zairong and Song Yi have a good relationship, and cutting out this small clip will not affect the integrity of the story. Guo Zairong handled it quickly.

Song Yi didn't know whether Guo Zairong, the old fox, had guessed Song Yi's plan, but Guo Zairong still cooperated with Song Yi's suggestions.

In fact, the most outstanding performance in Tae Hee's cameo was not Kim Tae Hee, but Jun Ji Hyun's wonderful performance. If this segment was missing, the overall quality of the movie might change from excellent to good.

Zheng Shuotuo also got the news that Song Yi was going to buy Shin Cine. He was a little furious. "Why is this guy so persistent? He's really annoying!"

Jun Ji-hyun comforted Jung Seok-tak, "OPPA, we have already finished filming the movie. Even if Shin Cine changes its owner, it won't have much impact on us, right?"

Zheng Shuotuo looked at the beautiful and youthful Jun Ji-hyun and said, "Are you really stupid, or are you just pretending to be stupid? The movie hasn't been released yet, and Shin Cine has changed its owner. Does it have a big impact on us? This may be related to the promotion and marketing strategy of the entire movie. Could this guy be buying Shin Cine just for you?"

Jun Ji-hyun recalled the last time Song Yi put his arm around her waist, and felt a little strange. She quickly refuted, "OPPA, what are you talking about? How could President Song buy Shin Cine for me? Buying a film company costs at least hundreds of billions of won. How could he be so frivolous?"

Zheng Shuotuo is a suspicious person by nature. He regards Jun Ji-hyun as his forbidden delicacy. Zheng Shuotuo follows her throughout the whole process, whether she is shooting commercials or movies.

Even if it was a normal kissing scene, he would confirm with the director whether it was necessary, for fear that Jun Ji-hyun would create sparks with the male actor she was working with.

The more Jun Ji-hyun denied, the more Zheng Shuotuo doubted her. "Really? I think Song Yi cares about you a lot. Last time, he said he would take you to China to promote a movie. The box office champion in China last year was only 100 million RMB. My Sassy Girl only made tens of millions in the mainland, and Song Yi got at most 1 million. Why is he so concerned about this 1 million? He just wants to get in touch with you more and try to win you over."

Seeing that Zheng Shuotuo was getting more and more outrageous, Jeon Ji-hyun said, "Oppa, President Song has a girlfriend, haven't you seen her? Kim Tae-hee is as beautiful as me, why would he want to hit on me?"

Zheng Shuotuo thought of Kim Tae-hee and felt even more jealous. How could Song Yi have such a beautiful girlfriend? "Which man would complain about having too many women around him? Ji-hyun, Song Yi is said to have an affair with Song Hye-kyo from their company. You must be careful. Don't be easily fooled by his appearance. Pretty boys are unreliable!" Zheng Shuotuo tried his best to slander Song Yi in front of Jun Ji-hyun.

Jun Ji-hyun didn't take Zheng Shuotuo's words to heart. She recalled the first time she met Song Yi and Kim Tae-hee. Song Yi and Kim Tae-hee came to visit the crew holding hands. It can be seen that Song Yi and Kim Tae-hee have a very sweet relationship. Song Yi also takes care of his girlfriend Kim Tae-hee's feelings at all times.

She was a little confused. Could Song Yi, who was so good to his girlfriend, be the playboy that Shuotuo Oppa said? If Song Yi really bought Shin Cine for her, how should she get along with him? Women like men to spend a lot of money on them. When King You of Zhou set fire to the city to trick the princes, most people blamed Bao Si for her beauty. But from the perspective of women, don't they want to be Bao Si and hope to meet a King You of Zhou who only has eyes for her?

Jun Ji-hyun couldn't help but compare herself with Kim Tae-hee. After the comparison, Jun Ji-hyun couldn't help but feel discouraged. Apart from having longer legs, she had no advantage in appearance. As for academic qualifications and family background, she was far inferior.

Zheng Shuotuo's face froze. He didn't expect Jun Ji-hyun to take the initiative to ask him to leave. But he didn't want to have a falling out with Jun Ji-hyun yet, after all, Jun Ji-hyun was the rising star of SidusHQ.

The company also invested a lot of resources in the movie "My Sassy Girl". If there were rumors of discord between Zheng Shuotuo and Jun Ji-hyun, other agents at SidusHQ would have wanted to poach Zheng Shuotuo long ago, and Jun Ji-hyun is currently relatively obedient.

Zheng Shuotuo is now worried that Song Yi will contact Jun Ji-hyun alone and encourage Jun Ji-hyun to switch to New Asia Entertainment, and then New Asia Entertainment will pay Jun Ji-hyun's termination compensation. Zheng Shuotuo made up his mind and decided to use monitoring methods on Jun Ji-hyun, "Ji-hyun, don't blame OPPA, OPPA is also for your own good. Now is a sensitive period. When the movie is released, Song Yi will no longer pester you, and OPPA will no longer monitor you. We will just pretend that nothing happened."

Shin-chul got a rough cut of My Sassy Girl and watched the entire movie in the company.

Shen Zhe was confused. He asked his employees, "What do you think of this movie? Can the number of viewers exceed one million?"

Unlike other countries, South Korea generally calculates box office revenue based on the number of people watching movies because Korean cinemas have a uniform ticket price.

The average ticket price for a movie theater from Monday to Friday is 8,000 won, and 9,000 won on weekends. One million people is a watershed, determining whether the movie will be a small hit or a lukewarm one.

Shin-Cheol has calculated that if the number of viewers of "My Sassy Girl" exceeds 1 million, the total box office revenue will be around 7 billion won. The production cost of the movie "My Sassy Girl" is about 3 billion won.

"My Sassy Girl" is a small-budget romance movie. The pay for Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun is not high. The break-even point of this movie is 1.16 million viewers.

What does this mean? If the movie grosses more than 1.16 million viewers, then Shin Cine, the production company, will make a profit, otherwise it will lose money.

If the number of viewers of the movie "My Sassy Girl" exceeds one million, Shin Cine will at least be profitable when overseas distribution and DVD revenue are taken into account, but the payback period will be slower.

As a new film actress, Jun Ji-hyun did not have much box office appeal. In 1999, she starred in "White Valentine's Day", which attracted 120,000 viewers and a break-even point of 500,000, causing the production company to lose money.

In 2000, she starred in "The Unforgettable Lover", which had 680,000 viewers and a break-even point of 1 million, and the production company still lost money. However, Jun Ji-hyun's acting skills were remarkable and she was nominated for the Best Actress at the Grand Bell Awards last year, and there is obvious room for improvement.

SidusHQ wanted to help Jun Ji-hyun achieve transformation through "My Sassy Girl", and also wanted Jun Ji-hyun to achieve both good reputation and box office success, so they took on the movie "My Sassy Girl" for a low salary.

But after Shenzhe watched the entire movie, he began to worry whether the box office performance of "My Sassy Girl" could meet his psychological expectations.

It is actually quite difficult for Korean films to be damaged. For example, only 8 films were damaged in 2022. However, the Korean government attaches great importance to the promotion of Korean films. In 1998, Zhong Xiaotong proposed the strategy of building a cultural nation. If Korean films are released overseas, they can get corresponding government subsidies.

Shen Zhe couldn't make up his mind. In fact, he was already wavering in his heart, so he told his employees, "Please contact Mr. Song from Xinya Entertainment. I want to meet with him and have a chat."

Song Yi waited until Shen Zhe's attitude softened, but he still decided to leave Shen Zhe alone for the time being. After all, it's not a good deal to be the one who chases after others.

Goyang is a satellite city of Seoul. Many small and medium-sized enterprises, like Shin Cine, have their headquarters in Goyang to reduce office costs. Goyang is only 20 kilometers away from Myeongdong, Seoul, and it takes less than half an hour to drive there, so the transportation is quite convenient.

Song Yi visited Shin Cine. Although this film company is small, the marketing, planning, market and production departments are relatively well-staffed. However, there are not many filming equipment in the company. It seems that they rent filming equipment or venues from other large film companies when filming.

Shenzhe wanted to get some information. "Mr. Song, there are many film companies in Seoul. Why did you choose Shin Cine?" Shenzhe's meaning was very clear. What advantages does our Shin Cine have that can attract you? Of course, Song Yi couldn't reveal that he was very optimistic about the movie "My Sassy Girl". "It was a coincidence. I worked with Director Guo Zairong on a commercial. He introduced Shin Cine to me. Shin Cine is small but complete. After New Asia Entertainment acquires Shin Cine, I can use this company as a framework and recruit more film talents."

"Representative Song, are you optimistic about the film market in the next few years?" Shen Zhe continued to ask.

"I'm afraid Representative Shin doesn't know that I'm actually a special cultural consultant for the Korean Embassy in China. Last year, I introduced the TV series "Autumn in My Heart" to Mango TV for broadcast."

"The reason why I need to acquire a film company is actually to better recommend Korean films to mainland moviegoers."

"It doesn't matter whether the movie can make money in the Korean market. My main goal is to distribute the movie overseas and get special subsidies from the government. To be honest with Representative Shin, I have always had a good relationship with the relevant departments." Song Yi continued.

Shen Zhe was somewhat envious. He had asked someone to find out about Song Yi's background. Song Yi was a core member of the Hyundai family. He had advertising companies in Seoul and Beijing. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism commissioned Song Yi to help produce a tourism promotional video for the Japan-Korea World Cup.

There are some money that Song Yi can make, but Shen Zhe is destined not to make. Shen Zhe couldn't help but think that the film company was originally a tool for some capital to launder money. Maybe Song Yi's purpose of acquiring Shin Cine is not so simple? Song Yi observed the changes in Shen Zhe's expression. Maybe in Shen Zhe's eyes, Xinya Entertainment is just a complicated background of connections? However, this is good for Song Yi's acquisition of Shin Cine, and he is unwilling to correct Shen Zhe's view.

At this time, Song Yi also received a long-awaited call. "Hello, is this Song Yi, the representative of Xinya Entertainment?"

"Yes, it's me. May I ask who you are?" Song Yi asked.

"My name is Jin Chengguo. I got your contact information from Minister Zheng. I heard that Chairman Zheng of Eshan Group values ​​your opinions very much. I don't know if you have time now. I would like to discuss with you about Zhou Mengxian." The middle-aged man said slowly.

"Okay, I'm in Gaoyang City now, and I'll contact you in Seoul later." Song Yi responded, and the other party hung up the phone.

When Song Yi heard this, he knew that Zhong Xiaotong could no longer sit still. The matter of Zhou Mengxian providing secret funds to the North Korean side had been fermenting for some time, and the Blue House was now under tremendous pressure from public opinion.

Song Yi searched on Naver and found that Jin Chengguo was the chief secretary of the Blue House and was definitely Zhong Xiaotong's close confidant. According to Song Yi's current status, he was not qualified to meet Zhong Xiaotong directly. In the modern family, only Zhou Mengjiu, Zhou Mengzhun and Zhou Mengxian could meet Zhong Xiaotong.

Song Yi said to Shen Zhe, "Shen, I'm sorry. I have something urgent to deal with this afternoon. I have already understood the situation of your company. If Shen is reluctant to sell all of Shin Cine, I personally agree that you can retain at most 5% of the company's shares, and you can also serve as a director in New Asia Entertainment or Shin Cine."

"Once the acquisition is completed, I will buy an office building in Seocho District as the headquarters of Shin Cine. Shin Cine will also purchase its own filming equipment, including a Steadicam camera worth 20 million won. I have left the opportunity to your company and Representative Shin. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer in the next two days." Song Yi said.

"Okay, Representative Song." Shen Zhe has already treated Song Yi like a subordinate.

After Song Yi left Shin Cine, Shen Zhe asked the employee next to him, "Is there a department head named Jin Chengguo in the Blue House?"

The employee was very clever and quickly found out, "Yes, Kim Sung-guk is the chief secretary of the Blue House."

Shen Zhe was thoughtful. "The Secretary-General of the Blue House invited Song Yi to discuss things. It seems that Song Yi's relationship is much deeper than I thought! It seems that Song Yi has given me enough face by letting me retain 5% of the company's shares."

The representative director of a small film company and the director of a large film company, who has a higher status, the result is obvious. Shenzhe's determination to sell Shin Cine has become stronger. "Hey, if Song Yi is willing to increase the purchase price to 40 billion won, then I don't have to worry so much, right?"

I am writing the second chapter and will release it later 　　 　 (this chapter is finished)