105: The company was marginalized

Amidst the clinking of glasses, Meng Wei spotted Wang Ning chatting with the owner of a small entertainment company; the two seemed to be getting along quite well.

The person chatting with Wang Ning was Xu Dalong, who also ran an entertainment company. However, his company was struggling. He used to be counted among the "Eight Small Entertainment" companies, but the only artist his company had successfully promoted was poached by Xiangwan Entertainment. With no artists worth mentioning and poor projects, his company had fallen out of the "Eight Small Entertainment" ranks.

With his company's development in a slump, Xu Dalong had sold many of his own assets over the past six months to cover the deficit, and he even lacked the funds to launch new projects. Just when he thought he was about to go bankrupt, Qingcheng Entertainment happened to make short dramas popular.

short dramas didn't have high requirements in any aspect. Influenced by Qingcheng Entertainment, Xu Dalong mortgaged his house for a loan of one million and, with a "give it a try" attitude, had his company produce short dramas. Once they started, it turned out great—the short drama actually became a minor hit, and after the final settlement, he had earned more than three times the investment.

This amount stunned Xu Dalong; he hadn't expected short dramas to be so profitable.

But thinking about it, it made sense. short dramas weren't picky about directors or actors, didn't have large expenses, didn't even need many extras, and the filming process was like playing house.

Previously, when they set up a filming project, from directors and actors down to stagehands and extras, nothing was ever worry-free. short dramas, however, had none of these problems. Xu Dalong felt that making short dramas was truly blissful.

Xu Dalong reaped the benefits of short dramas. For the past two months, he had basically let everyone in his company film short dramas, and actors who were originally unpopular had actually started to make a name for themselves in the short drama industry.

However, his company lacked scripts. Xu Dalong didn't have the arrogance of those "proper" entertainment companies; he didn't go to screenwriters to buy exorbitantly expensive scripts, but was one of the few who bought novel copyrights online.

It was Xu Dalong who first greeted Wang Ning. Although Wang Ning didn't know him, Qingcheng Entertainment's path of development had given him inspiration and indirectly saved his company. This time, he had come to the banquet mainly to meet Wang Ning, and it would be even better if they could collaborate.

Xu Dalong introduced himself and then struck up a conversation with Wang Ning. After talking for a while, they realized that both were decent people and shared the same understanding of the future development trends of the film and television industry.

Wang Ning had a very good impression of Xu Dalong. He looked to be in his mid-forties, had a very open mind, and had no airs, unlike those executives he had dealt with before who maintained an arrogant, superior attitude, looking down on him and Qingcheng Entertainment's short dramas.

They were having such a cheerful time over there that Meng Wei, hearing the noise, looked over.

As the industry leader, Xiangwan Entertainment had always set the trends for the entertainment industry, but the emergence of short dramas gave them a feeling of losing control. Meng Wei did not like Wang Ning.

Inviting Wang Ning over this time was also a way to test his depth.

Sun Jing, the director of Haoting Entertainment, also looked down on Wang Ning: "Birds of a feather really do flock together; like attracts like."

Hearing Sun Jing's words, everyone did not object, implicitly agreeing.

Meng Wei strongly agreed with Sun Jing: "I heard Qingcheng Entertainment has been making big moves recently."

When this topic came up, everyone became more enthusiastic; they immediately had a common topic of conversation.

Sun Jing: "I don't know what Wang Ning is thinking, spending over 300 million to buy a thousand novels; he's definitely crazy."

Meng Wei: "Young people these days are incredibly arrogant and dare to do anything, completely disregarding how much they are disrupting the market. A company like Qingcheng Entertainment that doesn't respect film and television can only film novels."

Sun Jing echoed: "President Meng is right. Those low-class things like novels are just for fooling children. Who in the proper film and television industry would film those?"

"Only Qingcheng Entertainment would use them to film that trashy short video content."

Meng Wei heard this and smiled slightly, agreeing with Sun Jing's words.

At nine o'clock, everyone at the banquet had arrived, and Meng Wei, as the host, went on stage to say a few words.

Wang Ning and Xu Dalong were standing together. Meng Wei was the host and also a veteran in the industry; the two of them were waiting there for Meng Wei to finish speaking so they could go chat with him.

Wang Ning had another idea. Their company's destined lover was currently performing very well, and this A+ film and television project could be considered very successful. His next step was to plan on filming an S+ drama.

S+ projects required huge investments, and currently in the industry, they were co-invested by two or more film and television companies. Wang Ning didn't have experience in this area and wanted to find a company to collaborate on a project.

Xiangwan Entertainment had recently announced an S+ project, and Wang Ning wanted to vie for it.

After Meng Wei finished speaking on stage and came down, Wang Ning walked up to him: "Hello, President Meng. I am Wang Ning from Qingcheng Entertainment. I have long admired your name, and thank you for inviting me to the banquet."

Meng Wei looked Wang Ning up and down. This gaze made Wang Ning feel uncomfortable, as if he were examining something lowly and poor. Although he didn't say anything, there was a feeling in his eyes that said, "Don't let lowly things touch me casually."

Meng Wei knew Xu Dalong; his company had even had people poached by Xiangwan, so Meng Wei had a deeper impression of him.

After Meng Wei finished speaking, Sun Jing and his group gathered around again, and when they saw Wang Ning had also come over, they snorted coldly.

Really, anyone dares to try and cozy up to him.

Meng Wei: "I know, your Qingcheng Entertainment has been developing very fiercely recently."

Meng Wei's words were barbed. If it had been the old Wang Ning encountering someone speaking to him like this, he would definitely have quit on the spot and walked away; he wouldn't have tolerated it at all.

But the current Wang Ning couldn't do that. He was already the second-in-command at Qingcheng Entertainment. Lu Qingyu trusted him so much; he couldn't let Lu Qingyu down, and he certainly couldn't cause trouble for Qingcheng Entertainment.

Wang Ning didn't want to judge a person based on his own subjective feelings. Xiangwan Entertainment, represented by Meng Wei, was a big company. Even if Wang Ning didn't care about Meng Wei's face, he had to consider Xiangwan Entertainment.

Wang Ning didn't like to dilly-dally when discussing business, so he directly expressed his intention to Meng Wei: "President Meng, I heard that Xiangwan Entertainment is going to develop an S+ project. I wonder if Qingcheng Entertainment might have the honor of collaborating on it?"

Upon hearing Wang Ning's words, the disdain in Meng Wei's eyes intensified. This time, he didn't hide his disgust for Qingcheng Entertainment at all when he spoke, even acting condescendingly due to his seniority.

"Xiangwan Entertainment's lowest-level projects are A+ or above. The project we are releasing recently is S+. You Qingcheng Entertainment started by filming short dramas; that kind of low-level stuff has no quality to speak of in the film and television circle. A company like that still wants to collaborate with us?"

Wang Ning hadn't expected Meng Wei to speak so viciously.

Xiangwan Entertainment was, after all, the leader in the industry. To think its leader was such a short-sighted person, lacking the capacity to tolerate others—Wang Ning was truly disappointed.

"President Meng, that's not right. Although Qingcheng Entertainment started with short dramas, we also pursue quality. Furthermore, we also have film and television works that are A+ or above."

Wang Ning finished speaking, and Sun Jing gave a disdainful smile, continuing: "Just you guys? You aren't talking about that destined lover film and television drama, are you? You have the nerve to bring out just one work?"