Chapter 159
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Chapter 159: Jiyin Media & Entertainment
Su Ruoxue had already gone around showing the audio recording to the businesspeople present who were interested in the land parcel.
At first, many of them were still hesitant.
But once it became clear that all of Ye Chen’s current business activities were carried out solely in his personal capacity, a lot of the hesitation vanished.
After all, only benefits that are right in front of you are real.
Ye Chen was just some inexperienced kid.
To be honest, many of the major business figures didn’t even take him seriously. What they actually cared about was the Ye family’s stance.
Had they not known the truth and Ye Chen later expressed interest in the land parcel, they would’ve found themselves caught between two difficult choices—offend the Ye family, or give up immediate gains to curry favor.
The recording Ye Xiao provided eliminated many of those concerns in one go.
Still, there were some who remained cautious and conflicted. No matter what, Ye Chen was still a member of the Ye family.
The auction continued.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the next item we’re auctioning is quite different from the previous ones. It’s not jewelry, jade, art pieces, or antiques—it’s the collateral sale of a bankrupt company.
“The first company up for auction is Jiyin Media & Entertainment.”
“I believe everyone here has heard the name before. During the golden age of the Chinese film and television industry, Jiyin was one of the country’s top five media entertainment companies.”
“At its peak, it rivaled platforms like Yihua and Naboo, with a market value once reaching tens of billions.”
“Due to various reasons, Jiyin Media eventually filed for bankruptcy. It’s already been auctioned off once before. Now, the current rights holder is putting the company back up for sale.”
“Starting bid—one million!”
When the auctioneer finished speaking, many people were stunned.
They didn’t expect a company that had once been worth billions to start at just one million yuan?
But then again—it made sense.
Back during the industry’s boom, media companies were raking in money hand over fist.
Investors were throwing cash at them like crazy.
As the saying goes, you can always count on coal bosses for questionable taste and irrational investments.
If a coal boss took a liking to a certain actress and wanted to make her a star, the studio could easily secure hundreds of millions in funding overnight.
But with traditional industries in decline and the economy cooling down—With the tech sector on fire—well, when media companies fell out of favor, they really crashed.
A company that’s been shut down for two or three years? Its artists have long since jumped ship, contracts voided. The only thing of value left might be some outdated film and music copyrights.
Those rights? The previous owner probably sold them all already. The company might be completely worthless.
Worse, it might still carry massive unpaid bank debts.
Whoever takes over the company inherits that debt.
Honestly, aside from the name Jiyin Media & Entertainment, you couldn’t even give the company away.
Nowadays, the media landscape is already locked in.
Yihua, Naboo, Yingzhong, Qianda, and Xianguang have carved up the market into five major territories. Then there are companies like Cehua, CatEye, Xunteng, and LIA, all backed by well-established industry circles with their own solid ecosystems.
Any actor or celebrity with even a bit of name recognition has already been signed by one of the big players.
No average person would dare take over a media company like this.
Even if you had billions in assets, it might not be enough to survive the game.
Especially now that the market is saturated.
If you rush in blindly, you could end up losing your shirt—and everything else.
So when the auctioneer announced a one-million starting bid—
The entire room fell silent. No one made a move.
It felt surreal—this former entertainment titan, once worth billions, now wasn’t even worth as much as a pair of limited-edition signed sneakers.
It was ironic. And painfully realistic.
It wasn’t that people couldn’t afford it—they just knew they couldn’t make it work.
If you wanted to revive it, the money you’d have to burn wasn’t just a few hundred million—it’d be billions, easily.
“One million!”
Ye Xiao glanced around the room.
Since no one was bidding, she might as well offer the opening bid.
She happened to be interested in expanding into the media and entertainment space anyway.
While she’d already set up Yun-Xiao Entertainment online, that company was basically an empty shell—aside from signing Jiang Mengwei, it had nothing going for it.
But Jiyin Media & Entertainment? It was the key to bringing her past life’s works into this world.
That company still carried enormous name recognition in China.
In Ye Xiao’s hands—not to mention restoring its former glory—even making it the number one media giant in the industry wouldn’t be a stretch.
She had too many ready-made, high-quality projects in her repertoire. She had the team to do it.
“Ye Xiao? What are you doing?”
Seeing Ye Xiao place a bid, Su Ruoxue got flustered.
Everyone knew this company was a hot potato.
The profits from Yun-Xiao might not even be enough to fill that sinkhole.
“Eheh, Su-jie is worried about me! Don’t worry. Since I dared to bid on this media company, I definitely have the confidence to handle it.”
Hearing Ye Xiao’s reassurance, Su Ruoxue finally relaxed her furrowed brows.
There was something oddly convincing about Ye Xiao’s words. No one really knew where her confidence came from.
Back when she started making games, no one believed in her either.
But now, her game had been at the top of the China Bestseller Gaming Chart for almost two months straight.
“Alright, Ms. Ye Xiao at Seat No. 19 has bid one million. Is anyone willing to go higher?”
Ye Chen noticed Ye Xiao bidding again, but didn’t compete with her.
He’d already heard about this company back in college—the boss had embezzled billions and fled, never to be seen again. When the dust settled, the company’s account had just 371 yuan left.
It was drowning in debt. Only a sucker would buy it.
“One million once!”
“One million twice!”
“Really, no one wants to go higher? This was a billion-dollar media giant, after all…”
The auctioneer, Mr. Wang Gang, scanned the room, asking one more time.
But other than Ye Xiao, not a single person bid.
“One million—third call. Sold!”
“I declare that Jiyin Media & Entertainment has been successfully purchased by Ms. Ye Xiao for one million yuan. Congratulations to Ms. Ye!”
“Let’s hope Jiyin Media can once again shine under this young lady’s leadership!”
Of course, that was just polite talk. No one really believed a washed-up company could be revived by a girl like her.
Even Wang Gang, the auctioneer, felt a bit sorry.
Everyone assumed Ye Xiao would only realize what she had gotten herself into after she took it home—and by then, she’d regret it.
“Wait, wasn’t Jiang Shuyan one of Jiyin’s signed artists before she got blacklisted?”
Someone whispered among the crowd.
Hearing that, Ye Xiao’s ears twitched. She instinctively turned to glance in Jiang Shuyan’s direction.
Coincidentally, Jiang Shuyan was also looking at Ye Xiao.
Their eyes met briefly in the air—then both turned away without a word.
