After taking care of some personal matters, Link continued his concert tour.
In just half a month, he held twelve concerts across Huaxia, from south to north, from east to west, with almost one every day, making for an extremely busy schedule.
His concerts were nearly sold out at every venue, with an average audience size of 52,000 people. Over twelve concerts, he sold more than half a million tickets, outperforming many of Mainland’s top singers in concert ticket sales.
Link’s fame in the country grew larger and his fan base increased even more.
In that half-month, his three albums sold 470,000 copies in Mainland, including three English songs that successively took the top spot on the Pepsi Music Charts, with eighteen songs breaking into the top ten, alongside tracks by artists such as Jay Chou, Lin JJ, Hu Yanbing, and SHE.
The "Southern Metropolis Daily" called him a new force in the Huaxia music scene, with a huge influence on the Mandarin music industry, comparable to first-class domestic singers.
Meanwhile, his image as a playboy received even more coverage by the media, making him somewhat of a controversial figure in the country.
During his tour, he casually shot three commercials, earning more than twelve million US dollars in endorsement fees, including ads for cars, beverages, and insurance companies.
Including performance fees, ticket revenue shares, and other income, he made over forty million US dollars, or approximately 320 million Huaxia currency, including the portions from Hong Kong Island and Taiwan Island.
After paying a considerable amount in taxes, the remaining money was transferred to Hong Kong Island.
He registered an investment company called ’Golden Shell’ on Hong Kong Island and used its name to invest in Wanda Film Industry and Dolphin Bay Talent Agency.
The former is a subsidiary of Wanda Group, specializing in cinema investment, film investing and distribution, television series, and gaming among other businesses.
With a current market value of about 3.2 billion, after officially going public in 2015, it rose through a series of mergers and acquisitions to become Huaxia’s leading cinema stock, peaking at a market value of over 200 billion, making it a project with significant potential.
Link invested thirty million US dollars to acquire about 7.2% of Wanda Film Industry’s shares, joining its board and becoming the third largest individual shareholder.
And under the name of Palm Beach Films, he reached multiple cooperation agreements with Wanda Film Industry. Since he didn’t have time to be in Mainland, Ms. Liu acted as his proxy regarding Wanda Film Industry affairs.
Ms. Liu also registered a movie studio in Capital City, responsible for managing the acting careers of Chris and Shu Chang.
With a registered capital of three million, Golden Shell Investment held 49%, Chris Liu 41%, and Shu Chang 10%.
The second investment was in the Dolphin Bay Talent Agency, with a registered capital of five million, Golden Shell Investment holding 75%, and Emily Yang holding 25%.
The business scope involved actor representation, commercial development for actors, publicity and promotion for actors, as well as for films and television series.
This was the current positioning for Dolphin Bay. If Emily Yang wanted to grow and strengthen the company, she would need to demonstrate more ability and help him make money before Link would continue to invest and support her.
Besides these, he also spent over twenty-two million US dollars on several property acquisitions.
Including a large siheyuan, two luxury apartments in Chaoyang District.
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He also snapped up twelve high-end apartments in a bustling area of Dahai City, under the management of Shell Baby Property Management Company.
Originally, he wanted to invest in companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, but unfortunately, these companies were already public. Investing now would hardly allow him to become a shareholder, and the returns would not be substantial. It was more profitable to invest in American companies.
——
After handling these matters, he arrived at the "Snow Flower Secret Fan" film set located outside Dahai City’s Bund.
Link played a rich, young, and handsome American businessman named Joseph.
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His primary role involved falling in love with the second female lead, Sophia Snowflake, portrayed by Jun Ji-hyun, although Snowflake’s affections were for the first female lead, Nina Lily.
While Sophia Snowflake maintained an intimate relationship with him outwardly, her heart was always with Nina Lily, which led her to terminate the child she carried with Joseph.
Yet Joseph continued to love her, and he was even moved by her and Lily’s love.
This film was adapted from a novel by Chinese-American author Lisha Kuang, titled "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," published in 2005, selling over one million copies, and translated into more than thirty languages, marking it as a best-selling novel.
Wendi Deng, having failed to secure a more significant position at News Corp, turned her attention to the film industry; "Snow Flower Secret Fan" was her first film as a producer and her stepping stone into the realm of cinema.
After Link joined the cast, Wendi Deng often approached him, inquiring about the potential success of the film and whether it could be a box office hit.
Link said he didn’t know.
Wendi Deng didn’t believe him, pointing out that "Scandal Plan," in which he invested, grossed close to 150 million US dollars worldwide in just a month. With an 8 million investment yielding 150 million at the box office and receiving decent reviews, she argued that it demonstrated Link’s acumen in film investment.
Link explained that Palm Beach Films was mainly handled by Catherine, and "Scandal Plan" was a project she secured. He was only responsible for investment; he truly didn’t know about the other aspects.
However, in regards to "Snow Flower Secret Fan," given its gay theme, it wouldn’t be publicly released in Huaxia, and with its Huaxia background, Asian faces, and niche subject matter, it wouldn’t perform well in the Western market either.
If the film turned out well, it might, like "Lust, Caution," win some international awards, but the likelihood of reaching a hundred million dollars in box office sales was slim.
Wendi Deng said she didn’t expect the box office to surpass a hundred million, but if it could make forty or fifty million and win a few awards, that would be sufficient.
Link suggested it was worth a try. He wasn’t aware of the film’s original box office prospects, but with the addition of international movie stars like himself, Alice Lee, and Jun Ji-hyun joining the cast, forty or fifty million should be achievable.
"Mr. Baker, it’s time for you to get ready."