Chapter 330: 330 content

Chen Xu had hung out with Fang Zhiyuan for a few days and soon lost interest. Wealthy life soon revolved around women and alcohol. Fang Zhiyuan didn’t smoke cigarettes; he smoked cigars. He also liked to gamble a little.

It was a degenerate and corrupt life, purely seeking thrills, somewhat boring.

After taking a cruise out to sea that day, he no longer wanted to go out with Fang Zhiyuan. The next day, he said he was going to meet a friend and went out alone.

These past few days, his driver had been staying at a nearby hotel. Chen Xu had sent him a message last night, and early this morning, the driver was already waiting.

Chen Xu did have someone to meet; his old friend Chen Chao was running a company nearby. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and now that he had some free time, he had called to arrange a meeting today.

He went directly to Chen Chao’s company; after parking the car downstairs, he gave Chen Chao a call.

A few minutes later, Chen Chao came down to meet him. Seeing Chen Xu get out of the car, his eyes widened in shock, “It hasn’t been long since we last met, and you’re driving a Maybach now?”

Chen Xu smiled, “How about that, not a bad car, right?”

“More than not bad.” Chen Chao circled the car, his eyes gleaming, “This has always been my dream.”

Chen Xu knew he loved cars. The first year he made some money with his company, he spent it on a car instead of a house, a decision his wife had nagged him about for years.

He said, “Want to take it for a spin?”

“Really?” Chen Chao’s eyes lit up.

“Sure.”

Chen Chao drove the car around the neighborhood a couple of times, getting a feel for the handling. When he got out of the car, he praised, “Driving a car worth millions really is different, much better than mine.”

“Yes,” Chen Xu agreed.

Actually, he had never really driven the car since buying it. Every time he went out, he was chauffeured. It wasn’t entirely for show; he mainly felt that he spent too much time on the road. Having a driver meant he could get some work done while traveling.

Chen Chao led him upstairs.

This was his first visit to Chen Chao’s company. The office wasn’t very large, and the staff, not too many, were quite young. They were gathered in small groups, engaged in lively discussions.

Both men entered Chen Chao’s office.

Chen Xu said, “You guys seem busy; did I come at a bad time?”

“Hey, we rarely get to see each other; why mention that?” Chen Chao sat down beside a sofa, started washing a teacup, preparing to make tea.

“How’s your wife?” Chen Xu asked. The couple had started the business together, and his wife had played a crucial role in growing it to its current size.

Chen Chao said, “She’s pregnant with our second child, so I told her to rest at home.”

“That’s wonderful, congratulations.”

“What’s there to congratulate? The pressure is enormous,” said Chen Chao as he finished making the tea, “Here, have some tea.”

He handed a cup to Chen Xu, who, curious, said, “I heard from family a couple of months back that you made a fortune in business, what kind of business are you into?”

“I started a noodle shop, then later set up an IT company.”

“I heard about the noodle shop. What does the IT company do?”

“Input methods and translation software. They’re called ‘Future Voice’ and ‘Future Translator.'”

“Let me check.” Chen Chao pulled out his phone, downloaded the apps from the app store, “In IT, the most important thing is funding, how much investment have you pulled in?”

“One hundred million.”

Chen Chao couldn’t help but comment, “I’ve been in business for several years and my revenue hasn’t even reached a tenth of that.”

“That’s investors’ money, not mine.”

Chen Xu laughed, then suddenly asked, “Have you heard about a type of VR glasses called ‘Future Vision’?”

“Heard of them, they were all over the news a while ago. They are said to perform ten times better than other VR glasses on the market, though I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration.”

“Exaggeration is certain, but its performance truly is much stronger than other VR devices,” Chen Xu said, “Not to hide from you, this product was developed by my girlfriend’s company.”

“Your girlfriend’s company?”

Chen Chao looked surprised, then recalled something and asked, “Which girlfriend?”

Chen Xu had met both Yang Jinxia and Luo Xiyun, so he needed to clarify.

Chen Xu replied, “The one you met later. As you know, to promote VR devices, there needs to be high-quality content, mainly games and videos. Your company does special effects, right? I was thinking of asking your opinion.”

“You’ve come to the right person then. I’m not familiar with games, but I know quite a bit about video,” Chen Chao said. He was an industry insider, and his company had started by making CG animations, later upgrading to TV and movie special effects.

“These past few years, domestic animated movies have been getting better and better. I’m looking to find a reliable director and team to shoot an animated film. But I’m afraid of not finding the right people. Wasting money is one thing; I’m more worried about wasting time. You’re in this industry, so you must know which teams are just bluffing and which are genuinely working.”

Chen Chao frowned slightly and said, “Investing in an animated film would require at least tens of millions, and with several animated films having been a hit lately, I’ve heard that many movie companies have new animation projects lined up, which means the production budgets will definitely go up, potentially reaching hundreds of millions. If you’re planning to use it for VR, I fear you might not make your money back.”

Chen Xu smiled, “I’ve considered that. When shooting, we’ll make two versions: one that can be released in cinemas and one for VR. It can also recoup costs through box office revenues.”

Actually, the VR camera developed by Luo Xiyun could save content in 2D, 3D, and VR formats. Yunxu Company would definitely market this camera to major movie companies in the future.

By then, simply by purchasing the rights for VR, they could access a large amount of high-quality content. For movie companies, having an additional revenue channel would definitely encourage them to push forward. It was a win-win choice.

Chen Chao thought for a moment and actually gave him several names.

His company worked on special effects and was in direct contact with production teams. He knew exactly which teams were just going through the motions and which were serious about their work. Even if he hadn’t worked with some of them, he could find out about them from his peers.

Currently, domestic special effects companies were quite small; some specialized in one area, others in another. There were very few companies that could handle an entire movie’s special effects project on their own; typically, the work would be subcontracted with each company handling a part. There was frequent contact between them.

Chen Xu took a look at the list and said, “I’ll need your help introducing me to them later, don’t let them take me for a fool.”

Chen Chao thought that made sense; the movie industry was indeed rather tricky, exploiting investors was common practice. He said, “Okay, I’ll help you reach out to them when the time comes.”