Eleven AM.
Wang Yi arrived at Meiyou Science and Technology Park, where Song Sining was already waiting at the entrance.
Meiyou Science and Technology Park, which was still a construction site last year, has now undergone earth-shattering changes.
Tall buildings have sprung up, all under frenzied construction.
Song Sining smiled sweetly,
"How is it? Doesn't it feel special looking at the Meiyou Science and Technology Park you planned yourself?"
Wang Yi looked at Song Sining and said with a double meaning,
"It does feel special."
Today, Song Sining wore a black overcoat paired with white suit pants, exuding less of her usual gentle demeanor and more of President Song's cool and sharp aura.
Coupled with her straight, long legs over a meter in length, anyone who saw her would be captivated.
Perhaps understanding Wang Yi's implied meaning, Song Sining stared straight at Wang Yi and smiled,
"You'll only know after experiencing it yourself!"
"Alright, then I ask President Song to personally lead me to experience it!"
Wang Yi said with a smile.
"Alright, Chairman, please come this way. I'll personally give you a tour of our Meiyou Science and Technology Park!"
Song Sining opened the car door, invited Wang Yi in, and drove him around Meiyou Science and Technology Park.
While driving, she reported on the project's progress:
"According to your plan, Meiyou Science and Technology Park will have a total of three phases, covering 300 mu. Phases one and two are under simultaneous construction, with multiple construction teams advancing concurrently. Phase three is in preparation and will commence in three days."
"The northernmost area is Phase One, comprising a total of six buildings, Buildings No. 1 to No. 6. They are all super high-rise buildings, 130-200 meters tall with 45-70 floors. The fastest they can be topped out is by the end of the year, and they will be put into use next year."
"The central area is Phase Two, with ten buildings. Among them, Buildings No. 7 to No. 15 are office buildings, 80-130 meters tall with 27 to 45 floors. Buildings No. 13 to No. 15 in the southernmost row are all 27-story office buildings, nearly topped out."
"Further south is Building No. 16, the exhibition building, which has already been completed."
Saying this, Song Sining parked the car at the entrance of the exhibition building, led Wang Yi inside, and introduced each part.
The entire exhibition building is 60 meters tall, approximately 20 stories high, but it only has two basement floors and 14 above-ground floors.
The two basement floors are parking lots for media reporters, exhibition guests, and clients.
The 14 above-ground floors, with ceiling heights of 3 to 6 meters, are all designed as exhibition halls.
The first and second floors are both oversized single conference halls, with one conference hall per floor and a ceiling height of six meters!
The decoration standards are the highest, and they have already been completed.
They will be used for press conferences, media briefings, company employee meetings, and other events.
This new product launch event will be held in the first-floor conference hall.
The third floor is a highly private and high-spec VIP reception hall, equipped with multiple small banquet halls providing catering services.
The fourth floor is divided into several small conference halls, which will be used for small and medium-sized meetings.
From the fifth to the fourteenth floor are the ten major exhibition halls, responsible for showcasing all products of Meiyou Technology and Xingyi Technology.
In the future, various products and new releases from Meiyou, Zhenyou, and Xingyi Technology will all be displayed in the ten major exhibition halls.
Agents, domestic and international clients visiting Meiyou Technology will be guided to the corresponding exhibition halls for on-site viewing, with professional teams providing explanations to facilitate transactions.
Once a transaction intention is reached, they can move to the fourth floor, find an empty small conference hall, and proceed with subsequent detailed negotiations and signing.
Alternatively, they can be led to the third-floor VIP lounge for a banquet reception, and then go to the fourth floor to sign the contract.
Drinking on the third floor, signing on the fourth floor—a one-stop service!
Within the province, these are indispensable.
There's no other way; last year, the "pure desire" style just started, and with its avant-garde design, it launched a dimensionality reduction attack on the 2011 apparel industry.
As a result, Meiyou and Zhenyou products became highly sought after, with demand outstripping supply.
However, this advantage is limited and will significantly diminish in a couple of years.
Meiyou Apparel will also need to attract large clients for bulk purchases, just like other brands.
At that time, these ten major exhibition halls will come in handy.
Don't think the ten major exhibition halls are too many and currently unused, somewhat wasteful.
But soon, they might not be enough.
After all, Meiyou and Zhenyou have so many clothing items, requiring four exhibition halls.
Meiyou and Zhenyou beauty products will need another two exhibition halls.
Subsequently, Xingyi phones, Xingyi tablets, Xingyi TVs, Xbuds, and other products will require one exhibition hall.
The remaining smart home products will need two or three exhibition halls.
By then, the ten major exhibition halls might not be enough at all!
Subsequently, Song Sining pointed to the three buildings behind the exhibition hall and introduced them in detail.
Behind the exhibition building are Buildings No. 13-15, all 27-story, 80-meter-tall office buildings.
Building No. 13, located in the southeast corner, has the company canteen on the first and second floors above ground.
Floors 3 to 27 are office spaces for various departments.
Currently, this building is nearly topped out, renovations will begin next month, with completion expected in May and official operation in October.
At that time, the several five or six-story Meiyou buildings Wang Yi bought will all be demolished, and employees will move into Building No. 13.
The first floor of Building No. 14 consists of commercial shops, which have already begun attracting tenants.
Currently, businesses like Starbucks, 7-Eleven convenience stores, gyms, and barbershops are preparing to move in.
Floors above the second are office spaces.
The first floor of Building No. 15 also houses dining options, but instead of a company canteen, it introduces catering brands like KFC, McDonald's, and Chaoyixing, offering employees a variety of choices.
"Chairman, Buildings No. 13, No. 14, and No. 15 can all be renovated by May or June and will be put into use sequentially from October to December."
Song Sining explained in detail,
"At that time, Buildings No. 13 and No. 14 will be for Meiyou Technology, and Building No. 15 will initially serve as Xingyi Technology's Jizhou Headquarters."
"Of course, as industries and departments increase, the number of employees will grow significantly. However, more than a dozen other office buildings will also be delivered and put into use sequentially."
"In addition, Phase Three will also start construction at the end of the month. There are 15 twenty-story office buildings, all of which will be put into use next year and the year after, fully accommodating personnel from Meiyou Technology and Xingyi Technology's Jizhou Headquarters, including future expansion!"
Wang Yi nodded in satisfaction,
"Very good, Sining, you've arranged it exceptionally well."
"With such excellent arrangements, will there be a reward?"
Song Sining spoke alluringly.
Their last meeting was a month ago, in Barcelona.
After such a long time, meeting again, Song Sining had become even more feminine.
Wang Yi thought for a moment,
"Certainly there's a reward: I'll reward you by letting you satiate me!"
Still a double entendre.
Song Sining gave Wang Yi a side-eye, then bowed slightly,
"Chairman, the No. 1 banquet hall on the third floor of the exhibition building is ready for lunch. Please follow me!"
"Wonderful!"
Wang Yi said with a smile, following Song Sining directly to the third floor.
The third floor of the exhibition building consists entirely of banquet suites, varying in size, capable of meeting various banquet needs, and will be used exclusively for entertaining clients in the future.
Of course, for super-large banquets like company annual dinners, hotels would have to be booked; there's no other way.
The two arrived at VIP Room No. 1, where a table full of delicacies was already prepared.
After the chef finished the introduction, he left directly, leaving Wang Yi and Song Sining to enjoy the meal alone.
"Chairman, try our chef's skill!"
Song Sining picked up a large shrimp, peeled it herself, and fed it to Wang Yi.
Wang Yi tasted it,
"Hmm, the taste is excellent, no less than a Michelin-starred chef in the Imperial Capital."
"Of course, our chef was also recruited with a high salary; he used to work at Shark Fin Palace."
"I see."
Wang Yi understood.
The chef from Shark Fin Palace was considered top-tier in Jizhou and also top-tier in Shandong cuisine.
"It must have taken a lot of effort to poach this chef, right?"
Wang Yi said with a smile.
Song Sining picked up another piece of spare rib,
"It was also good luck. Some time ago, there were rumors that Shark Fin Palace had illegal constructions and was facing rectification, so the chef felt his future was uncertain. Coupled with our high salaries for chefs, not much worse than Shark Fin Palace, and no risk of rectification, he brought a few apprentices and came directly."
Wang Yi smiled,
"That's quite a coincidence then."
Such chefs not only look at salary but also at stability and development.
If there hadn't been rumors of illegal construction and rectification, the chef wouldn't have changed jobs.
But with this wave of rumors, no matter when it would be demolished, the chef would feel that Shark Fin Palace was precarious and might close down at any time.
Meiyou Technology, on the other hand, is thriving, with boundless prospects, and salaries are as high as Shark Fin Palace.
It's also a VIP private kitchen, so he doesn't have to work himself to death every day like at Shark Fin Palace.
Why even ask how to choose?
It's worth mentioning that all these undertakings at Meiyou Science and Technology Park were personally planned by Song Sining.
Initially, Wang Yi only drew simple planning sketches, which the design institute then perfected and produced construction drawings.
Finally, how each building was arranged, including the VIP restaurant and the chef from Shark Fin Palace, all these were planned and arranged by Song Sining herself.
Wang Yi couldn't help but give a thumbs-up for this, truly worthy of being a right-hand woman.
"Oh, by the way, our No. 1 VIP room also comes with a wine cellar, stocked with various wines. What would you like to drink?"
Song Sining said, pushing aside the screen behind her to reveal a hidden wine cellar inside.
An entire wall was filled with treasured famous wines.
A sofa and a table were also placed nearby!
Wang Yi was a little surprised,
"Is every banquet hall here equipped with such a wine cellar?"
Song Sining waved her hand,
"Of course not. Other private rooms don't have wine cellars. Different wines are arranged before a banquet based on different guests and business progress. This is all regulated internally by the company."
To put it plainly, important VIPs and S-grade major clients require high-end liquor, at least Wuliangye.
As for ordinary small clients, with not many orders, Maotai isn't necessary; a few bottles of 34-degree Baotuquan will suffice.
There are also some special clients who get Baotuquan, but whether it contains Maotai or Wuliangye is hard to say.
In business, one must act according to the situation and live within their means.
Wang Yi nodded,
"I still have work this afternoon, let's just have a small drink."
"Okay!" Song Sining took a bottle of red wine, sat next to Wang Yi, "Chairman, I've been corrupt once."
"How so?"
Wang Yi became interested.
Song Sining poured the wine and said,
"This No. 1 VIP room is not open to the public. I specifically arranged this private room so that when we both have time, we can have a meal and a drink together. It can be considered a bit of corruption."
Wang Yi understood that from now on, this No. 1 VIP room would be his and Song Sining's private place.
Even when Song Sining missed Wang Yi but he was far away in the Imperial Capital, she would come here alone for a small drink.
Wang Yi chuckled, stood up, and hugged Song Sining,
"How is this considered corruption?"
Song Sining was a little surprised,
"You don't blame me for being so mischievous?"
Wang Yi smiled,
"This isn't mischievousness; it's clearly the most rational use of funds. Sining, you should have done this sooner!"
As he spoke, Wang Yi kissed Song Sining.
Then he picked her up by the waist and walked towards the sofa at the back.
Song Sining's expression changed slightly, and she sighed inwardly: Sure enough, after feeding him, she still had to satiate him!
Red wine, a beautiful woman—simply wonderful.
That night, a piece of news soared to the top of trending searches!
["Empresses in the Palace" Premieres, Ratings Break Records!]
This news was like a bombshell, causing a sensation across the entire internet:
"'Empresses in the Palace' is finally out! I finished two episodes, but it's not enough; all I can say is it's good, truly good!"
"As expected of an S-grade blockbuster, the plot, acting, costumes, makeup, props, and pacing are all impeccable—it's simply the pinnacle of palace intrigue dramas!"
"It has to be the pinnacle; not watching this drama is a loss."
"Oh no, I have a social engagement tonight and missed the first two live episodes. By the way, where can I catch up?"
"That's easy to say, Xingyi Video has exclusive online streaming. Get a membership and watch as you please!"
"Exactly, who among young people watches live TV these days? Everyone watches Xingyi Video."
"That's right, live TV has commercials, no fast forward/rewind, and no speed adjustment. How great is Xingyi Video? Get a membership to skip ads directly, watch at 1.5x speed, anytime, anywhere, and there are bullet comments to discuss the plot, totally satisfying."
"Xingyi Video is really good, I'm going to get a membership now."
"For 'Empresses in the Palace', my first ever VIP membership goes to Xingyi Video."
"You just got it? I got it a long time ago. I got an annual membership to watch 'Xia Lan'."
"I got mine to watch 'Beijing Love Story'."
"I got mine to watch 'The Cliff'."
"I'm a 'Qin's Moon' fan, I got an annual membership for the remastered version of 'Qin's Moon'."
"My girlfriends and I all got it to watch 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation'."
"Oh my god, Xingyi Video has so many hit dramas, getting a membership is really worth it!"
"Yeah, just get an annual membership, no explanation needed. Absolutely great value."
...
Without any surprise, with the broadcast of "Empresses in the Palace", the number of new members for Xingyi Video saw a new surge.
Taoyuan Community.
Wang Yi and Song Sining snuggled on the sofa, watching "Empresses in the Palace" together.
Song Sining was in a great mood:
"The quality of this drama is truly excellent; new members are going to explode again!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"Indeed, I just don't know how many new members it will add."
"I guess two million!"
Song Sining said with a smile.
Wang Yi shook his head.
"What? Guessed too high? Could it be that it won't increase by two million?"
Song Sining was full of curiosity.
Wang Yi continued to shake his head:
"You guessed too low. 'Empresses in the Palace' has the potential to add four million, or even five million members!"
"That many?" Song Sining was incredulous, "With 'Xia Lan', 'Beijing Love Story', 'The Cliff', 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation', and the recently remastered 'Qin's Moon', our Xingyi Video's paid member count has already exceeded 25 million!"
"Plus the annual memberships given away with xphone 1 and xphone 1 Pro, and Xingyi tablets, even after removing overlapping members, there are over 30 million!"
There's no other way; in four months since its launch, sales of the xphone 1 membership package have exceeded 20 million.
xphone 1 Pro began full payment pre-orders on the first, and as of the 26th, over five million units had been shipped.
Xingyi Tablets X1 and X1 Pro have shipped over 13 million units globally.
All combined, a total of 38 million units, all come with two-year memberships.
Even if there are many overlapping users, the number of memberships given away exceeds 30 million.
Coupled with 25 million paid members, the total number of members surpassing 55 million is terrifying.
Song Sining continued,
"With such a large base, the number of new members will also significantly decrease."
Wang Yi, however, dismissed it:
"This is just the beginning. The bottleneck won't be reached until the number of paid members rises to 50 million! Moreover, the power of 'Empresses in the Palace' is truly formidable."
These days, there aren't many smartphones, but everyone uses laptops and desktops to watch dramas.
Especially university students, they all use laptops and tablets.
After all, phone screens are so small; how can they compare to the viewing pleasure of a laptop?
Therefore, those who should get a membership still will; the number of members won't drastically decrease just because smartphones aren't widespread.
As for adults, they are accustomed to watching TV or purchasing TV boxes that can install apps.
Although TV boxes these days aren't smart enough, common video apps like Xingyi Video TV version can still be installed.
To watch "Empresses in the Palace", one still needs a membership.
In the previous life, iQiyi's paid member count exceeded 112 million.
Tencent Video's member count was nearly 120 million.
Other platforms like Youku, Mango TV, Bilibili, were slightly less, but also had tens of millions of paid members.
It shows that the scale of VIP paid users on long-form video platforms exceeded 400 million.
As for now, even if the paid user group is only one-third of what it will be in ten years, it still amounts to 130 million.
However, currently, video platforms like iQiyi, Mango TV, Bilibili, and Leshi have very few members.
At most, they have only twenty to thirty million, some only a few million, or are even completely free.
It can be said that in ten years, Tencent and iQiyi will compete for first place, and Youku, Mango TV, and Bilibili combined will also be formidable.
But in 2012, Xingyi Video had no rivals at all; the quality and quantity of exclusive dramas from its competitors were far inferior to Xingyi Video.
Therefore, users subscribing for memberships would almost always choose Xingyi Video.
Calculating this way, the upper limit for Xingyi Video's paid members is definitely not 25 million, but 50 million, or even more.
Adding the gifted memberships, a total of 100 million would be roughly the upper limit.
Therefore, "Empresses in the Palace" still has enormous potential for bringing in new members to Xingyi Video.
In the previous life, the hit drama "The Knockout" brought 17 million new members to iQiyi, increasing iQiyi's member count from 112 million to a record-breaking 129 million that month!
One drama alone added a staggering 17 million new members.
And this was an additional surge of 17 million on top of iQiyi's existing 112 million members.
It can only be described as incredible.
And the quality of "Empresses in the Palace" is even higher than "The Knockout"!
The number of new members will also be terrifying.
Even if fewer people subscribe to memberships these days, one-third of 17 million is still over 5.5 million!
Next month, Xingyi Video's paid member count breaking 30 million will be no problem!
"Just wait and see," Wang Yi smiled faintly, "'Empresses in the Palace' will surprise us."
He then held Song Sining and drifted off to sleep.
But Boss Jia of Leshi was too angry to sleep.
"First day of broadcast ratings break records for the four major satellite TV channels!"
"Xingyi Video's on-demand views also broke records!"
"Damn it! This 'Empresses in the Palace' is actually so popular!"
"How much membership revenue will this bring to Xingyi Video? How much money will they earn?"
"I regret it, I regret it so much!"
His wife gently comforted him,
"It's okay, it's already sold anyway, and it sold for a full 40 million! We bought it for 20 million, sold it to Wang Yi for 40 million, already made a profit of 20 million, which is very good."
"Very good? What's so good about it!" Boss Jia was furious, "We only made a mere 20 million. Do you know how much Wang Yi made?"
"How much?"
Boss Jia was almost grinding his molars:
"The new membership revenue brought by 'Empresses in the Palace' alone will exceed 100 million! Advertising sponsorships and on-demand ad revenue will also be 200 million. Later, second-round copyrights can still be sold! Xingyi Video hit the jackpot with this drama. If you add the exclusive streaming revenue for the next few years, it might be more than 700 million."
"That much!"
His wife was startled.
Boss Jia looked dejected:
"I sold 'Empresses in the Palace', worth 700 million, for a mere 40 million! I was truly foolish!"
His wife nodded,
"You really were foolish!"
Boss Jia's mouth twitched: "..."
His wife also became unhappy:
"Old Jia, what were you thinking back then? Copyright worth 700 million, and you sold it for 40 million? Were you so desperate for that 40 million? Did you lose your mind!"
Boss Jia sighed repeatedly:
"At the time, I didn't think this drama would be so popular. After all, the first-round satellite TV broadcast rights sold quite ordinarily. The four satellite channels combined only offered a unit price of 3.8 million per episode."
His wife fell silent: "..."
"And back then, I wanted to trick Chairman Wang into investing in me, so I played to his preferences and sold the exclusive online broadcast rights for 'Empresses in the Palace' to Chairman Wang."
His wife was speechless: "..."
After a long silence, she sighed,
"So, did Chairman Wang invest?"
Old Jia opened his mouth:
"Alas, Chairman Wang doesn't seem interested in my business and doesn't understand Leshi's super ecosystem. He's shortsighted, lacks vision, and has no future!"
His wife gave a cold laugh:
"Yes, Chairman Wang is shortsighted, and you are a big genius!"
"Your little tricks might fool real estate bosses, but Chairman Wang won't fall for them. Idiot!"
"I..." Old Jia's face turned ashen, and he stubbornly said, "I estimate Chairman Wang just doesn't approve of me for now and is still considering the investment. Maybe he'll invest in me after a while!"
His wife was speechless:
"Idiot, he bought your 'Empresses in the Palace' and then kicked you aside. He never even considered investing in Leshi. After all, he has Xingyi Video, which competes with our Leshi! Wake up, Old Jia!"
"I..."
Old Jia frowned, but he was helpless.
His wife's words, though cruel, were the truth.
That guy Wang Yi didn't fall for it at all!
The more Old Jia thought about it, the angrier he got:
"Damn it, those foolish bosses in the real estate circle are so much easier to trick! They don't have much education but still want to invest in the tech industry, a classic case of being bad at it but highly addicted. Easiest to trick!"
His wife nodded:
"That's right, to trick investments, you have to trick those ignorant outsiders. Insiders are shrewd and won't fall for it!"
Old Jia agreed wholeheartedly:
"Yes, I'll talk to Old Xu from Hengda later and get him to buy shares. And Old Dong from Rongchuang is also a target."
His wife smiled slightly:
"And those celebrity directors in the entertainment industry, most of them aren't very educated, but they're keen on technology and love money—they are also excellent targets!"
Old Jia's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh:
"That's right, these little darlings are the easiest targets. And we have Leshi Pictures and Leshi Video, perfect for starting with them."
(End of chapter)