My capital is quite large.

Chapter 264 Each with their own ulterior motives

In mid-September, Tencent's PC game "NBA 2K Online" suddenly received a massive update that caught all players off guard.

For the first time ever, permanent versions of those top-tier historical football player trial cards, which were originally only obtainable through lotteries or limited-time events in the game store, have been made available.

However, in order to make a quick profit before the public beta of Haofeng's "2KOL2", the Penguin technology department rushed to update the code and left a fatal bug in the backend code!

"Holy crap! Guys, log in right now! There's a massive bug!"

"I had a 300+ day trial card for Jordan, and when I logged in after the update, it automatically converted into a permanent star player card!!"

"Really? Holy crap! My Yao Ming image is now permanent too! Tencent has really lost big time this time!"

This bug spread throughout the entire gaming community in just a few hours.

Although Tencent quickly carried out emergency maintenance after discovering the issue, a very small number of lucky players in the entire region still managed to get permanent peak Jordan and Yao Ming figures worth tens of thousands of yuan for free without anyone knowing.

But at this point, Tencent's top management no longer cared about bugs or losses; their only goal was to exploit the resources to the fullest extent possible!

In the second week after the maintenance ended, Tencent started its money-grabbing mode of releasing a new historical football star every week!

Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter (half-man, half-god), Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant at his peak... a series of superstar card packs that represent the youth of countless people are bombarding us!

At the same time, the star player's exclusive privilege skill has been unlocked from the original level 1 to level 5!

Coupled with the newly launched Dynasty Mode, this originally niche sports online game has sparked an unprecedented spending frenzy in internet cafes across the country!

Countless wealthy players have spent thousands of dollars in the game in order to synthesize cheat-like skills such as Level 5 Brawler (which forcibly drains the opponent's stamina) and Master Passer (which greatly increases the teammate's ball-catching accuracy).

Tencent Games, in a manner that was almost self-destructive and exhausted its lifespan, frantically squeezed the last bit of remaining value out of Haofeng's "2KOL2" before its official launch.

……

While Tencent was making a killing in the south, Xu Zheng was toasting several investors with a radiant smile in a private club in Beijing.

Just released during the National Day holiday, the road comedy "Breakup Buddies," starring him, has seen its box office soar, easily surpassing the 1 billion yuan mark!

These two consecutive films grossing over 1 billion yuan not only solidified Xu Zheng's position as the most bankable male star in China, but also gave him unimaginable confidence.

"Big Eyes, this toast is for you! It's been a pleasure working with you!"

Xu Zheng, holding a glass of red wine, laughed heartily at Zhao Daye across from him.

Thanks to Xu Zheng's shrewd business acumen, the investment in the film "Lost in Hong Kong" has been cleverly transferred.

Under the immense pressure of Haofeng Group's massive 18 billion yuan box office bet, Xu Zheng fully demonstrated the art of bullying the weak and fearing the strong!

Faced with the unfathomable Boss Li, he didn't dare to utter a single condition.

But when faced with Zhao Daye, who came to him seeking cooperation, he bared his sharpest fangs!

Erben Films invested a total of 1 million yuan, and Zhao Daye herself lowered her salary and personally played the female lead Cai Bo despite huge controversy.

As a result, Xu Zheng refused to budge an inch at the negotiating table, only giving Erben Film and Television a 25% share of the profits!

He himself only contributed 30 million in cash, and with his own director's fee and lead actor's salary, he still accounted for 25% of the share!

The remaining 50% share is naturally firmly held in the hands of the major investor, Haofeng Films.

"Old Xu, that's a bit unfair of you."

Zhao Daye held his wine glass, looking at him with a half-smile. "Our Second-Tier Film Studio invested a hundred million yuan of real money, and I even lowered my status to be your female lead, and in the end you only give us 25% of the profits? You put in thirty million yourself, and with the director's fee and the male lead's fee, you still get 25%? What kind of business is this?"

"Oh, Big Eyes, you're being too polite."

Xu Zheng awkwardly touched his bald head, then chuckled and adopted a matter-of-fact manner:

"What's the most crucial element of a film? Creativity! The director's artistic control! I, Lao Xu, am now a director with over a billion-dollar box office. My director's fee and the intangible assets of the 'Lost in Hong Kong' IP are worth this price! Besides, we're now joining forces. As soon as 'Lost in Hong Kong' starts filming, it will be a huge boon for your Erben Films in the secondary market!"

Zhao Daye sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm.

She couldn't be bothered to argue with Xu Zheng about these details.

She didn't care at all about the extra or less 10% box office revenue share.

What she wanted was for Erben Films to deliver a near-perfect financial report by the end of this year, solidifying Erben Films' restructuring myth in the stock market. Incidentally, she could also get her and the driver to Lao Xu's overseas assets to launder money.

Xu Zheng, sitting opposite Zhao Daye, secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Zhao Daye's calm expression.

How could he dare tell Zhao Daye that he had been ensnared by Boss Li through a betting scheme?

If the box office fails to reach 18 billion, Haofeng's share will automatically increase to 60%, and he will have to pay a licensing fee of 10 million!

He had to use the most extreme methods to transfer all potential risks and costs to others before filming even began!

Although the two were sitting at the same table, exchanging drinks, each of them had their own agenda and were each harboring their own ulterior motives.

"Alright, enough with the fluff. Filming for 'Lost in Hong Kong' is supposed to start at the end of the month. How are your preparations going?" Zhao Daye asked.

"Everything is ready!"

When the topic of filming came up, Xu Zheng immediately perked up.

Driven by an obsession with securing profits, he took the art of "saving money" to its extreme!

The first person he kicked out of the crew was Wang Baobao, the original core member of the Lost in the World series.

After the unprecedented success of "Lost in Thailand", Wang Baobao's agent seemed to lose sight of the situation and demanded a higher salary and box office share during negotiations.

In Xu Zheng's eyes, the industry has no shortage of actors, and no one is truly irreplaceable.

So, without much hesitation, he decided to send Wang Baobao packing and out of the house.

They resold him for a very low price, replacing him with that cheap and obedient Bao Gongzi to play the unlucky brother-in-law.

In addition, the female lead, Zhao Daye, voluntarily set her own schedule and lowered her salary in the contract, and the male lead, Xu Zheng, took on the role himself. Just in terms of actor salaries, the entire production team saved tens of millions of yuan in budget.

As for the original plan to film on location in Hong Kong, in the eyes of the thrifty director Xu, the union fees and location fees in Hong Kong were a bottomless pit, and if they actually went to film there, they would surely bankrupt the investment.

Haofeng Film City also perfectly replicates those iconic Hong Kong street scenes and rooftops on a one-to-one scale.

Filming all the interior scenes and action scenes in Haofeng's studio not only saved them a lot of money in terms of rent, but also saved the crew a lot of travel expenses.

This set of money-saving measures can be described as insane.

From an investment budget of 280 million yuan, Xu Zheng saved 30 million yuan through various losses, equipment rentals, and falsely reporting expenses!

This huge sum of money saved was secretly transferred into his personal pocket through several shell companies under his name in the form of "labor fees" and "director's additional remuneration"!

This means that even if "Lost in Hong Kong" ultimately failed at the box office, causing him to lose the bet that was completely unknown to the outside world, Xu Zheng had actually already recouped all his investment from the day filming began.

They even made a net profit of tens of millions, and were already in an invincible position!

However, amidst the almost harsh budget cuts and reductions, there was one person who enjoyed privileges that surpassed those of top-tier individuals.

Tian Xiwei.

The character Yang Yi in "Lost in Hong Kong" was designed as a decorative figure in the script, and didn't require any profound acting skills.

However, the salary that Xu Zheng offered to Tian Xiwei in the contract far exceeded what she, a newcomer who wasn't even considered a nobody, was entitled to.

A whopping five million for a featured actor's appearance fee!

Amidst the pressure on all actors to lower their pay, Ms. Tian alone received a payment far exceeding the standard.

As for the reason?

That was naturally Xu Guangtou's risk avoidance.