20: Chapter 20 Laying Out Online Novels

For the next few days, Chen Mo stayed with the film crew.

During the day, he watched everyone film. At night, he would first go find Bai Fengjiu, then visit Yang Mi's room. Except for the first day when he didn't hold back, he was extra careful about boundaries afterward.

After all, delaying the filming schedule wouldn't be good. Even if someone noticed something off, without solid proof, who would dare gossip recklessly?

With his status and skills, keeping a lid on any news would be as easy as turning over his hand.

But watching the acting of the three great beauties—Yang Mi, Bai Fengjiu, and Xiao Xue—Chen Mo finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped in personally to offer guidance.

"That's not how you play it. You need to hold back the emotion a bit more. Your eyes need to tell the story."

Chen Mo stood beside Yang Mi, his tone flat.

Yang Mi was taken aback, feeling a bit indignant inside:

"Mr. Chen, are you... joking with us?"

Not just her, even Bai Fengjiu and Xiao Xue looked surprised, thinking it was a bit absurd for an investor to come over and coach their acting.

Without wasting words, Chen Mo directly picked up the script nearby, flipped to a random page, and immersed himself in a character.

His eyes instantly changed. From the composed big shot he was moments ago, he transformed into a restrained yet deeply affectionate male supporting character. A simple line of dialogue, delivered by him, was both intense and not over-the-top. His body movements were natural and fluid, pulling everyone in completely.

The set fell silent instantly.

The three women—Yang Mi, Bai Fengjiu, and Xiao Xue—widened their eyes, their mouths agape enough to fit an egg.

Deng Chao and Hu Ge exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. Director Chen Qiang even hurried over, circling Chen Mo twice.

"Mr. Chen! Your acting skills... Not becoming a star is a Hu Ge loss for the entertainment industry!"

Hu Ge sighed with genuine admiration, while Deng Chao nodded repeatedly in agreement.

They knew perfectly well that with Chen Mo's status, there was no way he'd enter the entertainment industry to endure hardship. Yet, his acting skills were stronger than even veteran actors in the circle.

The film crew staff also buzzed with discussion. Although they didn't know Chen Mo's true identity, they knew he was the investor. Being able to gather people like Yang Mi and Deng Chao meant his family background was certainly substantial. They never expected him to have such hidden talent.

Chen Qiang's eyes shifted, and he sidled up to Chen Mo, lowering his voice:

"Mr. Chen, there's a cameo role in the drama. The original actor can't make it last minute. Would you like to give it a try? Just a few scenes, won't take up much of your time."

It wasn't that the actor couldn't make it; clearly, Chen Qiang had intentionally given him the cold shoulder.

With Mr. Chen's acting skills being so good, he must have wanted to try acting too, but was just too reserved due to his status to say it. By offering this stepping stone now, Chen Qiang could definitely earn some goodwill.

Chen Mo hesitated for a few seconds, feeling a bit tempted inside.

Having a master-level acting skill with nowhere to use it was truly frustrating. Doing a small cameo role could serve as a diversion.

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

"Excellent!"

Chen Qiang's eyes lit up, and he quickly had people prepare the costumes and props, afraid Chen Mo might change his mind.

Chen Mo's scenes were filmed over three days. Every scene was done in one take, his acting overshadowing everyone else's. No one in the entire crew was unconvinced.

Once his scenes were done, it was time for him to leave the crew.

A pile of matters awaited him back at Tianxing Technology, and the battle in the food delivery market hadn't stopped either.

When leaving the film studio, Yang Mi and Bai Fengjiu saw him off at the gate, their eyes filled with reluctance.

Chen Mo patted both their shoulders:

"Film well. When the drama airs, I'll send you red envelopes."

Returning to the company, Zhang Kai immediately handed over the latest report on the food delivery market.

Now that Tencent and Alibaba had entered the arena, the situation was getting more complicated, but Tianxing Takeout still held an absolute advantage.

From May Day to mid-June, over forty days, Tianxing Takeout subsidized 80 million daily, splitting 40 million each for riders and users, forcefully smashing its way to a 75% market share.

"Tencent invested in Meituan, Alibaba acquired Ele.me, and now they're targeting Baidu Waimai and other small companies,"

Zhang Kai reported.

"They didn't dare to confront us head-on. Instead, they're acquiring those small platforms, trying to huddle together for warmth."

Flipping through the report, a cold smile tugged at the corner of Chen Mo's mouth.

He had known about these small companies all along, like Ele.me, founded in 2008, which had been operating on a small scale and never gained momentum.

Tencent and Alibaba entered too late and could only rely on acquisitions to make up for their shortcomings. As for Baidu Waimai, it was purely a profit-forgetting entity, not even worth worrying about.

Previously, he made over 60 billion from forex trading. Later, he secretly went again and fished out over 30 billion more from the forex market.

Thank goodness Chen Mo was in China. If he were abroad, who knows how many times he'd have been assassinated by those capitalists!

Promoting Fetion and acquiring League of Heroes cost nearly 50 billion;

Building the chip factory required an initial investment of 15 billion;

Tianxing Takeout subsidies cost over 5 billion;

Plus, the monthly profit from Fetion and League of Heroes was 1.7 billion;

Now, he probably had less than 30 billion left on hand;

Chen Mo smiled. He didn't care about money at all. If it ran out, he could just go fish for more in the forex market.

Tencent and Alibaba had capital and banks backing them, but that capital was all for making money. Unlike him—Tianxing Technology was his own; he could burn money however he pleased.

"Ding! This month's lottery draw count has been refreshed. Host, would you like to start the draw?"

The system prompt suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Start."

Chen Mo responded in his heart.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on drawing the Master-level Art Skill!"

Looking at the newly added Master-level Art Skill in his skill list, Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. It wasn't a Hu Ge surprise, but it was quite practical.

He now had an AI program. Making movie and animation special effects was a breeze. But the program had no aesthetic sense; it couldn't design good characters or scenes. With the Master-level Art Skill, he could exactly fill this gap.

"We can do original animations in the future,"

Chen Mo calculated in his mind. Tianxing Live couldn't rely solely on game streaming; it needed to enrich its content. Animation was a good direction. It could also avoid vulgar content, becoming a platform focused on domestic original animations, competing differently from Bilibili.

Half a month later, the food delivery market landscape changed again.

Tencent and Alibaba joined forces to clear out all the small fry. Meituan and Ele.me each held about a 12% market share, Baidu Waimai had 10% left, and Tianxing Takeout's share dropped to 65%.

"Mr. Chen, they still don't dare to fight us head-on. They're just dragging it out like this,"

Zhang Kai was a bit anxious.

But Chen Mo looked disappointed. He had originally wanted to have a bloody fight with Tencent and Alibaba, making them lose until they vomited blood. He never expected them to chicken out directly.

"Looks like we need to add some spice to make them bolder,"

He still had nearly 30 billion in cash on hand, plus a monthly profit of 1.7 billion. He wasn't afraid of burning money at all.

But he didn't want to waste more money on food delivery. He needed to find a new track, one that could both make money and cut off Tencent and Alibaba's future revenue streams.

After pondering for a long time, Chen Mo thought of an industry:

Online novels.

Tencent's future big entertainment empire started with A Certain Point novels. Countless IPs were developed into TV dramas, movies, and animations, making them pots full of money and also misleading many young people.

Currently, A Certain Point was still in Shanda's hands. Tencent had long wanted to acquire it but was scared off by Chen Tianqiao's asking price of 800 million USD.

"Zhang Kai, contact Chen Tianqiao at Shanda,"

Chen Mo instructed.

"Tell them our Tianxing Technology wants to acquire A Certain Point and all the novel websites under Shanda. The price is as they ask, with only one requirement: a one-time payment in full."

Zhang Kai was stunned:

"Mr. Chen, 800 million USD is no small amount. And acquiring novel websites..."

"Don't worry, it's useful,"

Chen Mo interrupted him.

"We want to make animations. What we lack most are scripts. These online novels are perfect material. Besides, cutting off Tencent's hopes and making them lose one revenue stream isn't a bad thing, is it?"

Zhang Kai immediately understood and hurried off to contact Chen Tianqiao.

He knew Mr. Chen was digging another pit for Tencent and Alibaba on the entertainment track, making sure they had no chance to catch up with Tianxing Technology's pace.

As for Chen Tianqiao, upon receiving Tianxing Technology's acquisition intent, he immediately agreed on the spot.

800 million USD paid in full at once, without having to bargain with Tencent—such a good deal, he wouldn't miss it.

After all, everyone knew that Mr. Chen of Tianxing Technology was least lacking in money.