Chapter 327: Meituan’s No. Figure
The left ear is close to the heart, so sweet words should be spoken to the left ear.

——Accompanied by the gorgeous sound effects in the cinema's projection hall, the protagonist spoke the lines that referenced the film's title, "Left Ear." Some viewers shed tears that shone faintly under the bright light of the big screen.

"The news is accurate. Microfilm Times is acquiring and restructuring."

A dark figure walked to the last row with a hunched back, covered his mouth with his hand and reported the situation in a low and solemn voice.

A bald head that was also glowing slightly remained calm and said, "Boss Liu is sincere and will not play psychological warfare with false information."

"Like a maggot attached to the bone!" the dark figure breathed out viciously.

"What about the specifics?"

"The parties involved in their merger and acquisition are summarizing their financial asset status, and the final overall scale may be even larger than what Mr. Liu said."

"Uncle, please stop talking, okay?"

The little girl in the front row who was wiping her tears didn't care that the black figure was Meituan's No. 2 Wang Huiwen and the bald head was No. 1 Wang Xing. She turned around and politely reminded him, and at the same time gave him a look of disdain and lack of culture.

"Let's watch a movie first." Wang Xing nodded calmly and apologized.

Wang Huiwen had no choice but to relax and lean back in his chair, watching the stars on the screen performing their love-hate relationships with all their heart, and a chilling sneer involuntarily escaped his lips.

2013年度国内电影总票房217亿，2014年296亿，今年预期稳稳超过400亿。

The growth rates were as high as 36% and 40% respectively, which are exaggerated growth rates in all industries around the world. Under the guidance of the media, the general public has become accustomed to seeing them as another piece of evidence to inspire pride.

Only when every household strives to be well-off and people have money in their pockets can the entertainment industry flourish. Even children know this!

Correspondingly, the entertainment industry, as the base camp of Mu Yang, stood together with the general public this time. It proudly stated that the ecology of my country's film industry is advancing rapidly towards deep specialization, and the soaring box office total is a matter of course.

At the same time, as the artists involved in the film, a daily salary of 208 million is more reasonable, and they are worth the price!

Amid the mob's excitement, the 2012 box office total of 170 billion yuan and the data showing that in the past two years, Internet giants have spent billions of dollars to repeatedly compete for the online ticketing market have been quietly forgotten.

When the money-burning subsidies stop, and the situation becomes increasingly tense, I wonder how many users who claim to be from well-off families are willing to buy movie tickets at an average price of 80 yuan per ticket.

It is still unknown whether the industry will be in a cold winter with nothing left, or will become prosperous as it is today.

However, in such a market where even if you spend a lot of money, you won't be able to gain fame and is only a bubble, Meituan dared to gamble and introduce a strategic partner at the cost of giving up the actual control of Maoyan, which it created. Xie Jingxing dared to divest the business more thoroughly and hand it over to the strategic partner.

Chasing them with more and more pressure is like a maggot attached to the bone!

"How much is the box office of this movie?" Wang Xing asked after the movie ended.

He seemed to be in a good mood and was observing his surroundings with interest. The lights in the theater came on, and as the exit music played, several young female audience members were so moved by the plot that they sobbed and cried and were unwilling to leave.

"It was released on the 24th of last month. Today is the first day of the May Day holiday, and the box office has risen against the trend. The total box office should be able to exceed million."

This movie was distributed by Enlight Media, which was a good omen. Wang Huiwen perked up and said, "Online sales account for half of the tickets."

"Not bad. We'll give you some publicity and promotion resources later. Are there no good movies during the May Day holiday this year?" Wang Xing said lightly.

Wang Huiwen was slightly stunned, but smiled on the surface: "Our movie is a good one, but other movies released at the same time are definitely not that good."

"We should do our best and not compete with others."

Wang Xing replied modestly, his expression unable to hide his satisfaction.

Wang Huiwen sighed inwardly. This year, the only films in the May Day schedule were "The Left Ear", which was distributed by Light Media and Maoyan was the main online ticketing channel partner; and "Everything Grows", which was distributed by the entertainment circle and Beijing Circle and Xinda E was the main online ticketing channel partner.

The latter is a total flop that relied entirely on celebrity gossip to hype up the film. Fan Bingbing said that if the box office exceeded 1 billion, Han Geng would announce their relationship, and Han Geng said that if the box office exceeded 1 billion, Fan Bingbing would get married and have children.

The two of them have been hyping up their movie, and it has been half a month since it was released, but the box office has not yet exceeded 100 million. They are struggling frantically to survive, fearing that they will be cheated and killed by the new big star.

Wang Huiwen could never have imagined that one day Brother Xing would care about such trivial gains and losses in the business world, and his emotional outbursts had reached the point where he could no longer control himself.

All I can say is that Xie Jingxing pushed him too hard.

"A movie like 'Fast and Furious' that breaks box office records deserves collaboration. Breaking through the market ceiling is everyone's common responsibility."

Wang Xing had enough of gloating, and he restrained his attitude and said meaningfully: "From the small to the big, whether it is online ticketing or the entire local life field, for us, cooperation and competition do not conflict."

"Okay, I'll inform Maoyan to allocate more publicity and promotion resources later." Wang Huiwen clenched his hands hanging at his sides.

Wang Xing opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he just smiled and swallowed his words: "I have just stolen a little time off from my busy life. I have to go back to the company and work overtime to make up for the time."

"Let's go together." Wang Huiwen adjusted the legs of his glasses.

"Didn't your child ask you to accompany him to Shidu for rafting?"

"Don't delay, go back to the company to deal with some documents first."

"Your division has been working so hard recently. Take a break for two days and spend time with your family."

Wang Xing kept chattering and Wang Huiwen occasionally said a few words. The two, who had been roommates in the upper and lower bunks in the Tsinghua University dormitory and have now walked side by side through ups and downs for 18 years, were old friends at this moment.

"Hey, uncle, are you guys in the entertainment industry?" The two walked into the elevator while talking. A clear female voice came from behind them. It was the little girl who was wiping her tears while sitting in the front row of the screening room.

She blinked her curious eyes and explained, "I heard you guys keep talking about box office and mergers and acquisitions. It seems like it's very impressive."

“Just chatting.” Wang Xing answered ambiguously.

The little girl smiled lively and joked, "I heard you guys say you're going to use resources to promote this movie. Is your boss Xie Jing Xing? I'm his fan, we're a family."

"We are not, don't talk nonsense." Wang Huiwen quickly denied it.

The more he hesitated to admit it, the more the little girl thought she had guessed it right and said to herself: "Don't cover up for Xie Jingxing. I know he is still dating Concubine Pei. I won't tell anyone else."

"Is this movie related to Xie Jingxing?" Wang Xing took over the conversation in a warm and gentle voice.

"Chen Duling is the heroine of this movie. She is an artist of Pei Fei Studio. You two just said that you would use resources to promote this movie. You wouldn't do something good for no reason, right?"

The little girl nodded vigorously and analyzed: "So don't pretend, you must be Xie Jingxing's subordinates, take care of your boss's secret girlfriend!"

"Ding."

The sound of the elevator door opening and closing drowned out the little girl's joyful and endless analysis. On the way back to the company from the cinema, Wang Huiwen felt a damn "ding" echoing in his head, like tinnitus.

Or there's tinnitus, a sharp, piercing sound that makes you dizzy.

"Huiwen, Huiwen, what's wrong with you?"

A familiar voice broke the buzzing in his ears. Wang Huiwen pressed his ears and shook his head, swallowing his saliva to suppress the nausea in his stomach.

He held onto the desk and said, "I'm fine. I might have been a little tired recently and my old illness came back."

"Don't force yourself. Go home and rest. Never mind. I'll drive you."

Wang Xing put down the work at hand, stood up and walked closer, and his expression was slightly stunned when he saw the content on the computer screen.

It was a financing plan that was being prepared and designed as early as the beginning of the year. At that time, investors required them to achieve 6000 million daily active users in order to match the valuation quotation.

Therefore, Meituan packaged and integrated many sub-businesses of the two platforms, group buying and food delivery, into one software to increase the overall daily active data. At the same time, it restarted the money-burning competition when Xindashi was listed on the Consumer Association's blacklist in March.

Then Xie Jingxing counterattacked with the momentum of a decisive battle, and Meituan passively followed suit, and Baidu joined in the fun.

Now all investors in the market no longer ask for their daily activity data, they only ask whether they have the hope of merging with New Big Hungry in the future...

"Brother Xing, we can't find investors."

Wang Huiwen's soft voice sounded loud against the silence of the environment. His fingers trembled as he gripped the mouse and closed the financing plan document.

Wang Xing patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go home and have a rest early. Don't think too much. I'll take care of the money. Alibaba has agreed to provide us with 100 billion yuan in debt financing for emergency situations."

"Shen Nanpeng, Zhang Lei, all our shareholders have been contacting me these days."

Wang Huiwen lowered his head and held his forehead with his hand, his expression hidden in the shadows and could not be seen clearly: "It is true that Liu Chih-ping said that Xie Jingxing was running Microfilm Times, and it is also true that he has 500 billion in cash to buy out our shareholders."

"You've been under too much pressure recently. Take a few days off and have a good rest." Wang Xingqiang forced a smile.

Wang Huiwen began to hear the buzzing sound in his ears again. This was indeed his old problem.

From campus network to Meituan, from group buying to food delivery, people in the circle joked that in every important battle fought by Wang Xing, the frontline with the most intense gunfire must be where he, Wang Huiwen, is!

The pressure was beyond words, and he suffered from autonomic nervous system tinnitus and dizziness. He laughed and said it was caused by the artillery fire, while Wang Xing said it was a medal of honor.

"Yes, all shareholders are against us, but we still have Alibaba, which supports us and will fight Tencent till the end of time."

Wang Huiwen clenched his fists and hammered on the desk again and again: "But our original intention was not to take sides. We just wanted to do our own business well, right?!"

"If I'm wrong, then I'll apply for a long vacation." He slumped his spine weakly and buried his face in his arms, feeling suppressed and determined.

Wang Xing was speechless. After a long silence, he suddenly smiled and said, "You are right. Our original intention was just to run a good business. I think so now. But Huiwen, we have no choice now. Alibaba will not agree to our merger with New DAE."

"Last year, when Ele.me and Dianping merged, Xie Jingxing asked Shen Nanpeng to be the middleman to pass the message. It was you who took the initiative to choose Alibaba!" Wang Huiwen retorted hoarsely.

Wang Xing turned around abruptly and said, “So, we have persisted for a year but it is all in vain, and we are finally back to the same point as last year?”

"We are stronger this year, and so is Xie Jingxing. If Alibaba refuses the acquisition, then we should break up peacefully and ask them to leave the Meituan board of directors!" Wang Huiwen gave a firm answer.

Wang Xing resisted and shook his head: "You think things are too simple. How will we deal with Maoyan and Weying Times after the merger? Will Enlight Media and Wanda want these two platforms to merge? There are other tripartite cooperation projects..."

"You are deceiving yourself and are unwilling to let the business philosophy you believe in lose for the second time to a young opponent who seems to only know how to burn money."

Wang Huiwen interrupted directly: "Brother Xing, I know you too well."

"The meeting jointly led by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Commerce must be attended by you and Xie Jingxing in person. Go and talk to him in person." He paused for a moment, fumbled to take out a note with the address on it, and gently placed it on the table.

(End of this chapter)