Even though he was already wealthy, Chen Yan still maintained a prudent habit: he was always cautious.

So, when he encountered issues he didn't understand, he humbly sought advice from professionals.

He wouldn't admit that he was just looking for an excuse to chat with Yang Rou...

Upon arriving at Yang Rou's office, Yang Rou was busy handling official duties.

Chen Yan didn't disturb her; instead, he made himself comfortable on the sofa, his gaze wandering over Yang Rou.

Maybe it was the "nourishment" of "love," but Yang Rou seemed to radiate the charm of a mature woman more than ever.

Not only did she apply younger or more vibrant makeup, but her attire was no longer limited to the formal suits she used to wear.

Today was no exception.

She was wearing a beautiful dress. Its cinched waist design accentuated her figure beautifully.

And there was her ponytail.

She looked a good seven or eight years younger.

Chen Yan's eyes lingered on her, a bit enviously.

It's always like this with men: the things they can't have always seem the best, and they keep longing for them.

After busying herself with some work for a while, Yang Rou put down her pen, tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and turned to Chen Yan, asking, "Director Chen, is there something you need from me?"

Chen Yan looked at her, "Can't I visit without a reason?"

The corners of Yang Rou's mouth curved up slightly, almost imperceptibly unless one was paying close attention.

But she glanced at the time and said, "If there's nothing, of course you can."

"But... You pay me a salary, not really to chat with you, right?"

"If it's not urgent, we can talk after work."

Chen Yan retorted, "Are you inviting me to dinner?"

Yang Rou spread her hands, "What if I say no..."

Chen Yan, "Then I wouldn't believe you."

They stared at each other.

There seemed to be quite a few sparks in the air.

After a moment, Chen Yan concluded decisively, "Then after work, I'll come to pick you up. I recently found a Western Border restaurant. It's really good. Let's go there together."

Yang Rou smiled, not saying a word.

This silent understanding, this pushing and pulling, and the ambiguity had become their habitual daily interaction.

Yang Rou was enjoying it.

Honestly, Chen Yan enjoyed it too.

What is ambiguity?

It's knowing you like me, and I know you like you, but we just don't pierce that layer of paper. Ah, it's just playing.

If you take a step forward, then I'll step back.

If you step back, then I'll move forward.

Always maintaining just the right balance, neither too distant nor too close.

Enjoying this faint, heartbeat-inducing feeling...

Having made plans with Yang Rou, Chen Yan also asked about the purpose of his visit today.

After hearing Chen Yan's question, Yang Rou wasn't surprised.

Clearly, she had already assumed certain methods by the Xu brothers.

She came from behind the desk, pulled out two documents, handed them to Chen Yan, and said, "Director Chen, these are recent documents on the Xu brothers' projects that I compiled. I think you should take a look."

Chen Yan took the documents and started reading.

As he read, he could not help expressing his surprise.

"$200,000 a day in fees? Taking 170 million for a single TV show?"

Chen Yan said, "Are the prices for top actors always this high?"

Since Chenlu Film had always started with smaller projects and used either minor or self-trained actors, their expenses for fees had always been low.

Therefore, Chen Yan was surprised to see such exorbitant fees.

Yang Rou said, "Because it's likely money laundering."

She explained, "I showed you before, evidence of tax evasion and fraud by the Xu brothers and their affiliated artists. This is actually a complete 'industrial chain'."

"The film industry, because of its huge profits, often attracts a lot of capital from other sectors."

"How foolish would it be to seriously produce films with all that hot money coming in?"

"So, after studying for a long time, the Xu brothers finally devised an industrial chain of money laundering and tax evasion."

"They start by gathering well-known actors and directors into a project, then leverage this project to secure financing from outside capital, planning to invest billions of yuan to produce a TV show or film."

"Then, they allocate over half of these funds as fees to the actors."

"Or by using dual contracts to launder the money."

"And the actors register a studio in a place with tax havens or lower tax rates."

"Afterward, the money is split between them."

"As for the film projects, if well-received they make money, and if not, they flop."

"Anyway, the industry is high-risk, so failure is quite normal."

Hearing Yang Rou's explanation, Chen Yan silently nodded.

These things, in fact, had been mentioned by Yang Rou when discussing plans against the Xu brothers, but not in detail.

Moreover, plans are just plans, witnessing them brings a different kind of shock.

After Chen Yan had absorbed this information, Yang Rou took out a second document and handed it to him.

It was still an internal document. It included evaluations and promotional plans for "Magic City Fortress."

Chen Yan read through it quickly, and finally understood what the Xu brothers were really doing!

Because "Magic City Fortress" had such substantial investment, a lot of money remained after completing the film.

This money would normally be returned to the investors, so the Xu brothers thought of a method.

That was to increase spending and invest this part of the money.

Of course... not all of it. Still laundering money.

Businesses in the media and advertising often have multiple pricing systems like "listed prices" and "internal prices."

Working with various companies, the Xu brothers would use the highest discounts available, but they could account for them at the listed prices.

This way, the difference went back into the pockets of the Xu brothers.

Moreover, the Xu brothers weren't optimistic about the quality of "Magic City Fortress," but they still saw some hope for saving the project.

Nowadays, film projects are half quality and half promotion, sometimes even with promotion playing a larger role in box office sales.

There are many films with big names and average quality, yet they achieve high box office receipts.

Moreover, the Xu brothers were very confident in the popularity of the lead actors of "Magic City Fortress." So, they wanted to take a chance: deceive the audience into theaters with preliminary promotions.

Harvest as much as possible from them.

So, combining these two reasons, the Xu brothers made such a plan.

Chen Yan looked bewildered at Yang Rou, "Is this how everyone in your circle plays the game?"

Yang Rou smiled lightly as she retrieved the documents, evaluating, "Making money, yeah. Nothing crooked about it."

Chen Yan said, "But what you earn is money, what's lost is... damn."

"Money can be earned later, but once mom is gone, she's truly gone."

Hearing Chen Yan's expletive-free swear, Yang Rou couldn't help but laugh and cry.

She said, "I actually despise these unscrupulous methods of making money."

"But... that's how it is inside the circle."

"We can't really help it."

Chen Yan rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment, then said, "Actually, there is a way."

"If we become so powerful that the entire film industry is ours, wouldn't that change the whole scene?"

Yang Rou chuckled slightly, "How big is the film industry?"

Chen Yan said, "Not that big."

He calculated, "I remember, the total industry revenue the year before last was just a few hundred billion."

"Last year there was growth, but it was only a trillion."

"With that scale..."

Chen Yan's words trailed off, but Yang Rou understood his meaning.

She was momentarily stunned.

Because she suddenly realized... the man in front of her was serious.

He really thought the industry was somewhat small and considered tearing it down and rebuilding it entirely, making his company dominant.

Previously, Yang Rou had never considered this possibility.

But now, after Chen Yan brought it up, Yang Rou suddenly saw that... the man in front of her might really be able to upheave the entire industry.

He owned a film company with one of the top three production capabilities in the circle nearly two years ago. He had a rapidly growing talent agency and a continual stream of financial support.

As a senior executive of the entire group, Yang Rou knew many secrets.

Inside the group, the market scale estimation for the new games from the gaming company was over several tens of billions.

And Chen Yan's financial company established in Hong Kong had profits of over tens of billions within a year.

Together with, his investment company gradually establishing massive resources and frightening networks.

And his and their sharp insights into film projects.

If he really took an interest in this industry, maybe... he really could turn the entire industry upside down.

After all, he wasn't an outsider to the film circle, deeply familiar with it. Thus, without wasting money, at two or three times the price, he could monopolize resources.

Then, deploying high-quality TV shows at low prices and sharing revenue, seizing broadcast channels from major TV stations and websites.

With these high exposure rates, mass-producing their own signed artists.

Who in the circle could compete?

No one!

For a moment, Yang Rou felt chills running down her spine.

Because she suddenly realized that all of this really could be achieved.

Could she be thinking too much?

With that thought, Yang Rou couldn't help but review everything once more.

There were no issues.

She looked up at Chen Yan.

At that moment, Chen Yan also looked up at her.

Their eyes met, tingling sensations throughout their bodies.

Because... they both saw in each other's eyes... this wasn't just a joke or a pipe dream.

It was a plan that could be advanced.

Yang Rou tried to calm herself down. She licked her lips, then said, "Chen, Director Chen, let me think about this a bit more."

"You think about it too."

Chen Yan had lost his earlier mood of "teasing" Yang Rou. He nodded, "Hmm," then left Yang Rou's office: he also needed to go back and carefully consider this matter.

Because he also realized... this plan might really have a chance.

The workday quickly passed.

In the evening, as promised, Chen Yan came to pick up Yang Rou for dinner.

However, Yang Rou had completely lost her appetite for eating.

She directly pulled Chen Yan aside, then stifling her excitement, handed him a simple plan, saying, "Director Chen! I think we can really do this!"

Chen Yan was stunned for a moment, saying, "We can really do this now?"

Yang Rou: ?

Yang Rou blinked, feeling that Chen Yan's words sounded a bit strange.

But at that moment, Chen Yan actively reached out and took the file from Yang Rou's hands, then started reading.

There was nothing unusual on Yang Rou's document. It just detailed Chen Yan's plan to "conquer" the entertainment industry.

And it listed out a series of executable strategies and potential issues that might arise.

After reading the document, Chen Yan's initially vague ideas gradually became clear.

He realized... he might really have the capacity to change an entire industry.

Especially since this industry is the source of culture, and involved Lu Man and Yang Rou, two very important people to him.

Since that's the case...

Why not flip this world upside down and create a new realm?

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