CHAPTER 929: CHAPTER 652: BOXING KING CHALLENGE

In mid-May, the film "Green Red" was released domestically.

The movie tells the story of the early 1980s, during a time of significant societal transformation in the country, which also led to a major ideological conflict between the protagonist, Green Red, and her father. Green Red’s father believed that returning to Shanghai was the only path to happiness, while Green Red wanted to stay in the local area to savor youth and love.

Later, due to her father’s unrelenting interference, Green Red’s life took a different course.

This film is an arthouse flick, with a limited audience, and was shown in over two hundred cinemas in cities like the Capital City, the Great Sea, and Guangzhou.

Benefiting from the influence of winning the Cannes Film Festival’s "Jury Prize," the film achieved a box office revenue of 3.5 million RMB in two weeks, and along with over 900,000 US Dollars in international copyright fees, its total earnings reached approximately 10 million RMB.

With a production cost of only 3.5 million RMB, the movie was considered a profitable venture.

Link’s appearance in the film also drew much acclaim from filmmakers, who expressed surprise at his performance, complimenting its natural flair and saying he had the potential to pursue acting.

Such praise didn’t sway Link. At the moment, he was an athlete, and his main job was to compete in boxing and other sporting events.

Only by winning the Golden Belt and gold medals, and securing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in prize money through competitions, could he consider himself truly successful.

After attending the premiere of "Green Red," Link returned to training at the boxing gym. He only occasionally took time to accompany Zhang Zilin on shopping trips, teach her foreign languages, teach Liu Yifei to sing, or go on dates with Princess, Lin Zhilin, and Tang Yan.

The date with Tang Yan happened in late May. During that time, Tang Yan often came to the Dayang Mountain Boxing Ring to watch him train. One time, when he was taking her home, Tang Yan took the initiative to confess and offer herself to him.

Link didn’t refuse and took her on the bed in her small apartment. They continued to date seven or eight more times after that.

He also gave her around 200,000 RMB to improve her living conditions, encouraging her to eat more for quicker development and to buy fashionable clothes and cosmetics to enhance her appearance and demeanor.

Tang Yan initially declined a few times, but under his persuasion, she accepted his financial assistance and made their dates even more attentive.

Outside of training and dating, Link also handled some investment matters during that time.

Since last year, with his substantial funding, JD.com had been developing rapidly in the e-commerce field, expanding from the Capital City to the Great Sea, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other locations by the start of the year.

The company’s expansion required funding, and as an angel investor, Link gradually injected 18 million US Dollars into JD.com through the Hong Kong Island Golden Shell Corporation.

However, Old Liu and JD.com’s growth didn’t disappoint his hard-earned money. Currently, JD.com had become the second-largest e-commerce company domestically, second only to Ali. JD Mall’s daily order volume consistently exceeded 500, and the company’s current valuation had reached 300 million US Dollars.

The JD Shares under Golden Shell Investments were now valued at 100 million US Dollars.

In addition, through Golden Shell Investments, Link continued to buy scattered Tencent Group stocks in the market. The company currently held 3.82% of Tencent shares.

At present, Tencent’s market valuation was still hovering around 9 billion HKD.

The 3.82% stake was worth approximately 300 million HKD.

Meanwhile, in terms of film investments, as the two companies were recently established, all departments were still in the adaptation phase, so it wasn’t suitable to engage in too many investments.

The New World Film and Television Company in Taiwan Island had so far only invested in one film, "A Bright Summer."

However, Lin Zhilin was doing well in the fashion industry, building a decent network. With his support, Lin Zhilin had successively signed five models, preparing to enter the fashion industry. Once the models gained fame, they would move into the film and television industry.

Lin Zhilin also managed, through company channels, to secure significant roles in dramas such as "Liao Zhai 2," "Women’s Way," and "Shepherding Stars."

At Flower Fairy Cultural Entertainment Co., the main work currently involved promoting Liu Yifei and her TV series, helping her establish a foothold in Domestic Entertainment as a top-tier actress while maintaining her reputation in the media to shield her from overt and covert attacks within the industry.

In addition, in May, Flower Fairy also invested in a film, "Crazy Stone."

This film project was introduced by Wang Xiaoshuai. During a meal, Wang Xiaoshuai mentioned that his junior, Ning Hao, had a new project and was seeking investment. Knowing that Link owned a film company, Wang Xiaoshuai asked if he was interested.

After reading the script called "Big Gem," Link had a conversation with Director Ning Hao to discuss his filming plans.

Upon learning that the production cost would only be 3 million RMB, he didn’t hesitate to agree to fully fund the film.

Just out of habit, he requested Ning Hao to draft a proposal and budget statement first, outlining the filming process before kicking off production, to avoid operating chaotically like an unorganized troupe.

By early June, the 17th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards ceremony took place on Taiwan Island. Link, with eight nominations, was invited to attend and eventually won two awards: Best Male Mandarin Singer and Best Lyricist.

In June, after the "Curse of the Golden Flower" film crew was established, Link made time to join the team to meet the leading cast, explore the script, rehearse scenes, try costumes, and shoot promotional photos.

The main cast remained the original lineup, including Zhou Runfa, Gong Li, Liu Ye, Ni Dahong, Qin Junjie, and others.

After Link’s promotional photo shoot, the crew leaked photos of him clad in golden armor online, which were later widely reposted by numerous media outlets.

In the photos, he wore a golden helmet, dazzling armor, and held a heavy black spear. His handsome, stern face, tall and upright figure, and eyes exuded a commanding and kingly aura.