Seeing He Jinnian's attitude, everyone subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
They were all intelligent people. He Jinnian had likely already guessed their purpose for coming, and given that he was showing them considerable goodwill under these circumstances, it indicated a high probability of success for this matter!
Of course, the specifics still needed to be discussed to know for sure.
Xiao Lou poured tea for everyone. Liu Rulan didn't immediately bring up the matter, instead casually chatting with He Jinnian for a few moments first.
After they had drunk about half their tea, Liu Rulan finally got to the main point: "Why haven't we seen Manager He today?"
"He went to handle some matters," He Jinnian said with ambiguous meaning.
Actually, He Wenming had returned to their former agency, Yunheng Entertainment.
He Jinnian was previously an artist under Yunheng Entertainment, and He Wenming was also assigned to him by Yunheng Entertainment. Later, as the two gradually developed and gained more leverage and voice, and because they didn't want to continue being bound by Yunheng Entertainment's "nurturing newcomers" script, He Jinnian and He Wenming eventually left to establish their own studio.
Although on the surface it was still affiliated with Yunheng Entertainment, in reality there wasn't much connection between the two parties anymore, and they had coexisted peacefully these years.
However, due to the massive heat brought by He Jinnian, Banana Video, which was linked to Yunheng Entertainment, also gained enormous traffic from this. Over the years, relying on copyrights of works related to He Jinnian, they had thrived remarkably.
Now that He Jinnian wanted to transition behind the scenes, and their studio currently didn't have any artists for He Wenming to take over, He Wenming planned to first check out Yunheng Entertainment to scout for potential talent.
But now, seeing Shu Han, He Jinnian felt it might not be necessary anymore.
He knew a bit about Shu Han's situation after all. Back in the day, he had only become famous a few years earlier than Shu Han, and they had even been competitors once or twice, until Shu Han went to Hollywood and they completely lost contact.
"Mr. Shu, when did you return?"
"Around before january Festival. I went back to my hometown first for a while."
"Are you planning to leave again?"
"No plans to leave."
"Planning to work independently?"
"Pretty much, though currently considering joining a studio, still thinking it over."
He Jinnian was very clear about Shu Han's abilities and character. He originally wanted to directly invite Shu Han to their studio, but after glancing at Liu Rulan and Xiao He sitting silently nearby, he roughly knew this probably wouldn't be easy.
After all, the connection was made through Liu Rulan's side, so it was basically settled with Linghui Studio.
Still, He Jinnian couldn't help asking: "Then is Teacher Shu interested in our studio? You know He Wenming too, his abilities are very suitable to be your agent."
Shu Han shook his head firmly, politely declining: "Sorry, Brother Jinnian, I currently don't have plans to reside long-term in Beijing."
He Jinnian's studio was in Beijing, and he himself was settled in Beijing. He Wenming was actually from Shanghai, but when establishing the studio, this agent unhesitatingly chose Beijing where He Jinnian was located.
If Shu Han joined He Jinnian's studio, it would mean he might be active primarily in Beijing going forward.
Shu Han preferred Shanghai more; mainly because he knew more people here, and most of his previous connections were basically here.
He Jinnian immediately felt somewhat regretful: "I see, that's quite a pity then."
He Jinnian wasn't planning to dissolve his studio yet—this was his fallback plan for himself.
So no matter how satisfied He Jinnian was with Shu Han, he couldn't possibly let He Wenming go separately to another studio.
This wasn't about whether their relationship was good or not anymore; this was a matter of interests.
He Jinnian couldn't concede.
Fortunately, Liu Rulan had anticipated this and continued speaking to He Jinnian: "I understand Teacher He's concerns, but we genuinely hope Manager He can join our studio. Our studio currently has a simple structure and few artists. If Manager He is willing to come, he would naturally receive the highest treatment, and as for Shu Han's current situation, Mr. He, you should understand—he really needs an agent like He Wenming."
Liu Rulan began deploying her silver tongue.
"Manager He has expanded his connections considerably over the years, but ultimately Shanghai is his home base. Being able to return to Shanghai for development and stay in Shanghai would also be a good thing for him."
It wasn't until Liu Rulan mentioned that He Wenming's family was in Shanghai that He Jinnian's expression finally softened slightly.
He Jinnian felt he owed He Wenming a great deal.
First, when they established the studio, He Wenming chose Beijing for his sake.
Second, when he wanted to transition behind the scenes at the peak of his development, He Wenming bore no resentment, not only not rushing to scout new artists but also using his connections to pave the way early for He Jinnian.
So He Jinnian felt both grateful and guilty toward He Wenming.
Liu Rulan's words had truly struck his death points.
But He Jinnian still shook his head: "Sorry, unless He Wenming is willing, I won't agree."
Liu Rulan sighed inwardly: ...Exactly because you don't agree, he definitely won't agree either! You two are blocking each other from both ends!
As Liu Rulan's mind raced, preparing to approach from another angle, she suddenly heard Xiao He speak up at this moment: "If we wanted to take over the studio in your hands altogether, Brother Jinnian, we wonder if you have any related willingness or plans for that?"
"Take over my studio?"
He Jinnian was stunned for a moment, then laughed dismissively.
"That's even more impossible."
He wouldn't even let go of his agent, why would he merge the entire studio he worked so hard to build with another studio?
He Jinnian wasn't leaving the industry—he needed to keep his fallback option.
"Brother Jinnian's focus will definitely be on behind-the-scenes work going forward. Rather than dividing your energy on these matters, why not directly transfer the pressure to others?" Xiao He said.
"Given Brother Jinnian's current situation, you probably want to use your own funds to invest and launch projects, but this carries enormous risk—no one knows how things will turn out. However, our Linghui Studio is very willing to share risks with you and continuously provide funding and actor support."
Hearing Xiao He's words, He Jinnian's expression changed slightly, and his look at Xiao He carried some scrutiny.
How did he know... his plans?
Pretending not to see He Jinnian's appraisal, Xiao He said leisurely: "Our studio's current financial operations are in excellent condition, fully capable of supporting Brother Jinnian in doing the projects you want, without interference from others."
"I've accumulated quite a bit over the years, so naturally I can launch projects with my own funds without involving the studio," He Jinnian said, staring at Xiao He. "And even if my funds are insufficient, the investors I know in the domestic entertainment industry would be very willing to invest in my projects. Not to mention my former agency Yunheng Entertainment—behind it is an even larger capital group. What makes you think you can both take over my studio and invest in my projects?"
"Yes, Brother Jinnian's connections certainly aren't inferior to ours. But the main purpose of these connections is your value as an actor. No matter how good their relationship with you, they still have to consider costs and profits. As an actor, you naturally don't need to worry about investment. But if you want to become a director, are you sure they'd be willing to unconditionally invest in your projects?"
Xiao He hit the nail on the head with his question.
As an actor, He Jinnian's investment potential was naturally huge.
But if he wanted to switch careers to become a director behind the scenes...
Forget that He Jinnian himself had no directorial experience whatsoever—just his commercial value alone would be enough to make those familiar investors rush to his door. However, these people weren't fools; they wouldn't come forward to make losing deals. So—
Investment is possible, but if it loses money, care to learn about indentured servitude contracts?