Chapter 1291: Hope on Chungmu-ro

South Korea is a very special society. To put it bluntly, certain aspects of this country are quite twisted. Chaebols control almost everything in the nation, and the entertainment industry is no exception. There are dark and dirty places beyond people's imagination.

It is said that the entertainment circles in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are flashy and full of scandals, but compared to these Koreans, one can only say that the Koreans really know how to play.

Not to mention anything else, how many trainees in the Korean music and entertainment industry—especially pretty female trainees—have not been sent out as gifts by their companies?

Basically, such female trainees are just playthings for those big shots.

So, those fans who adore Korean stars, worship them like ancestors, and even claim they would love their idols even if they were dog shit—wake up.

At this moment, in the office of SM Entertainment, the two giants of the company, Lee Soo-man and Kim Young-min, sat facing each other.

"Director Lee, this is how things stand. Now we have discovered that someone is secretly acquiring our company's stock on the stock market." Kim Young-min looked at Lee Soo-man and said in a deep voice, "If nothing unexpected happens, I think it's that Chinese man surnamed Zhao causing trouble."

The man across from him had single-handedly built the renowned SM Entertainment. Even though he was now out of the game, he remained the company's artistic director. Because everyone on the board, including Kim Young-min, knew that no one was more suitable than Lee Soo-man when it came to creating idol artists.

It must be remembered that back when HOT had contract renewal issues with the company, Lee Soo-man overruled all objections and directly announced the disbandment of the group at its peak. Even fans openly sitting in protest at the company couldn't change his mind. Then he launched Shinhwa to replace HOT, achieving great success.

Later, when Shinhwa left, Lee Soo-man still did not compromise. He not only announced a blacklist against Shinhwa but subsequently launched TVXQ, quickly capturing the domestic youth idol market.

If it weren't for financial problems that forced him to leave Korea for a time, Kim Young-min admitted to himself that he alone could not have outmaneuvered the former president.

"I've heard about the stock acquisition too." Lee Soo-man glanced at Kim Young-min and said indifferently, "What does this have to do with me? I'm only responsible for the company's artist matters now. The stock issue should be your concern as the representative director, shouldn't it?"

The man in front of him was nearly twenty years younger, but Lee Soo-man dared not underestimate him. When he had entrusted the company to Kim Young-min, he thought Kim would be his most reliable confidant. Unexpectedly, Kim played a game of the cuckoo occupying the nest, and by the time Lee came to his senses, he could only concede defeat.

So, although Kim Young-min seemed indignant, Lee Soo-man suspected that Zhao Fusheng from Future Group might have already reached some agreement with him.

Little did he know, the same thought was also in Kim Young-min's mind at that moment.

After all, Kim had just become the representative director, and Lee Soo-man was surely dissatisfied. Perhaps this Chinese man was someone Lee had brought in from China.

With such thoughts in mind, their conversation naturally lacked substance. Apart from constantly probing each other, not a single useful word was spoken.

In the end, the result was naturally a parting on bad terms.

...

...

Dong Chenxi naturally knew nothing of this. She had arranged for people to acquire SM Entertainment shares on the open market and had quickly reached seven percent.

Because the purchases were scattered, they did not trigger the five percent shareholder notification threshold.

Zhao Fusheng, meanwhile, was quite leisurely during this period. With nothing to do, he wandered around South Korea and even went to Jeju Island to scout locations for taking wedding photos with Fan Baobao.

But when he returned, Zhao Fusheng simply called Fan Baobao and told her that they should take the wedding photos in China instead, as the environment in South Korea wasn't that great.

It wasn't that the scenery of Jeju Island was bad; it was just that Zhao Fusheng didn't like it.

Fan Baobao had no objection to this; she wasn't the type who enjoyed crowds anyway. Going to Jeju Island for wedding photos was just something she said casually. Since Zhao Fusheng opposed it and said he would definitely return to China for the photos, Fan Baobao naturally had no other opinions.

Time passed quickly, and it was the end of May.

Liang Jingyu moved fast, and the recruited staff quickly arrived. In less than a month, the framework of Future Group's Korea branch was formally established.

As for registration and such, there was no need to worry. Liang Jingyu had recruited a group from Chungmuro, several of whom had previously run their own film production companies, so they were familiar with the process.

What surprised Zhao Fusheng even more was that after Liang Jingyu changed his approach, he gave him a huge surprise—the guy actually recruited several directors.

That's right, in Liang Jingyu's words, since they were going into film production, directors were indispensable.

So when Zhao Fusheng saw the name Na Hong-jin, he was startled, and then when he saw Choi Dong-hoon and Kim Yong-hwa, he immediately lost his composure.

There was no helping it; in his memory, these people seemed to be quite famous commercial film directors in Korea.

"Wait, how did you sign these directors?"

Zhao Fusheng hurriedly called Liang Jingyu over and asked in surprise.

"They were either newcomers or had made one or two films before, but their subsequent movies lost everything, and their own film companies all went bankrupt." Liang Jingyu didn't care about that at all and said to Zhao Fusheng, "Chairman, didn't you say to focus on gathering talent from the Korean film industry? I thought about it and signed them."

Blinking his eyes, Zhao Fusheng felt a bit dazed.

Was that even possible?

Looking at Liang Jingyu's utterly nonchalant face, Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt a sense of helplessness.

Others might not know, but as a movie enthusiast, he was well aware that compared to Chinese films, Korean films were undoubtedly more daring, at least in terms of realist themes.

When it came to films exposing the dark side of society, China could never match Korea; even if we refused to admit it, the facts were right before our eyes.

These damn Koreans, though utterly unlikable, were certainly bold when it came to social responsibility—or rather, in the matter of cursing the government.

The most obvious example was the many Korean democratic film actors, led by Song·Pancake Face·Kang-ho, who, after former President Roh Moo-hyun was forced to commit suicide, dared to base a film on his story, making "The Attorney," in which they shouted the slogan: "The nation is its people, and the rights of the people should stand above state power."

Of course, he didn't get off scot-free either; he was blacklisted by the then-president.

Tsk, how terrifying.

"These people must have long contracts, and the penalty clauses must be high," Zhao Fusheng instructed Liang Jingyu seriously. "Don't be afraid of their movies losing money. As long as the script seems good, we can invest."

No kidding—these guys were future standouts among Korea's famous commercial film directors. Unless he was crazy, Zhao Fusheng would never give up this opportunity.

Liang Jingyu nodded at that. He truly admired Zhao Fusheng now. The chairman was right—there were too many people in the Korean film and TV industry trying to make a name for themselves. He had only promoted a bit around Chungmuro and Daehangno, and immediately many people actively contacted him. Recruiting was a piece of cake.

"Manager Dong will be able to officially announce in a few days that our Future Group has become a shareholder in SM Entertainment," Zhao Fusheng said to Liang Jingyu. "Then you'll enter SM as a board member, understand?"

"Huh?" Liang Jingyu was taken aback by Zhao Fusheng's words. "Chairman, aren't we planning to enter the film and TV industry? Why invest so heavily in a company from the music industry?"

He was genuinely baffled. From what Zhao Fusheng had been having him do recently, Future Group was clearly aiming to break into the Korean film and TV industry. But now they were acquiring shares in SM, the top company in the music industry. What exactly did their chairman want to do? Liang Jingyu felt he truly understood less and less.