Chapter 197: The Living Buddha Who Saved My Life

(To thank 'Crooked Mouth War God', 'Always Calm An Shimin', 'Really Something's Wrong', and 'Second Best' for their support and love, an extra chapter is added today!)
As Rod spoke, he secretly observed the young chairman who held the power of life and death.
No matter how grand his vision of the future was, Su Hao remained unfazed, his face expressionless.
Occasionally, he would doodle in his notebook, looking more like he was idly doodling.
Even stranger, Su Hao subconsciously frowned several times when he looked at him.
What was going on?
Was it because he had just gotten off the plane and looked too disheveled, making him unpleasant?
Rhodes' heart sank, his spirits sinking.
It's over, this trip was a waste!
Just as he was feeling disheartened and preparing to hastily conclude the story, Su Hao suddenly spoke.
“Netflix’s expected investment is one billion US dollars…right?”
“…Yes.” Rhodes answered weakly, lowering his head.
However, an unexpected sentence floated out of Su Hao’s mouth.
“We’ll invest three billion.”
“…?”
Rhodes instantly doubted his ears.
Three billion? US dollars? Not Zimbabwean dollars?
Not just him, but his executives and the people behind Su Hao all stared wide-eyed, like a group of startled groundhogs.
“Three, three billion US dollars?! Did I hear that right?”
“You heard right,” Su Hao’s tone remained calm, “It’s three billion US dollars.”
“!?”
It wasn’t a hallucination.
This excessively young Eastern boss had no hint of a joke on his face.
Rhodes’s brain froze on the spot, completely blank.
This amount of money was beyond his imagination.
To be honest, Su Hao hadn't heard a single word of Rod's grand vision today.
From the moment Rod entered, his attention was completely drawn to that face.
That face wasn't just simple gold; it was practically crafted from pure gold, polished to a gleaming shine!
During the handshake, a powerful intuition surged through him like an electric current.
Because of this, he hadn't dared to look directly at the other's face the entire time.
However, his intuition was pounding wildly in his mind, telling him a precise investment figure:
Three billion US dollars!
"The conditions will be as you just mentioned: a private placement of shares, plus preferred stock," Su Hao continued.
"Of course! Of course!" Rod agreed incoherently.
Three billion US dollars! That's roughly more than 35% of Netflix's shares!
This means Fanghuan Investment will become the largest shareholder.
Not to mention, he'd even offered up "preferred stock," akin to a contract of servitude.
In a sense, Netflix was now working for Fang Huan's investment.
But so what!
Three billion US dollars!
Most importantly, this money would save the company!
"Also, I have one more condition."
"Ah, please go ahead!"
"From what you just said, Netflix seems to be planning to spread its marketing resources across several shows?"
"Yes. After all, we don't know what the audience likes, so we're casting a wide net to catch as many fish as possible."
"I hope you'll put all your marketing resources into this one film," Rod explained.
"I want you to put all your marketing resources into this one film."
Su Hao pointed to a show on the PowerPoint presentation—Stranger Things.
This show has received mixed reviews within Netflix.
The drama is good, and well-made, but the subject matter is rather niche; many people think that today's young people simply don't appreciate it.
But this Chairman Su, why did he take a liking to it?
Moreover, why give up all other projects and stake his entire fortune on this one drama?
That's incredibly risky!
However, now is not the time to be picky.
The man before them was a living saint willing to spend three billion US dollars to save their company!
“Great! No problem! We’ll go back and adjust the plan, concentrating all marketing resources on *Stranger Things*!”
Rhodes agreed without hesitation.
Before leaving, Rhodes gripped Su Hao’s hands tightly, his voice trembling slightly with extreme excitement.
“Really…really thank you so much! Chairman Su, you are Netflix’s savior!”
After seeing off the Netflix team who were practically worshipping him, the conference room door slowly closed, shutting out the jubilation outside.
Inside, only Su Hao and the pale-faced Vice Chairman, Lin Fan, remained.
Three billion US dollars.
This number stunned not only Rhodes but also Lin Fan.
When Su Hao casually dropped that number, Lin Fan felt a wave of dizziness. His heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost suffocating him.
He opened his mouth, wanting to dissuade him, wanting to question him, but ultimately said nothing.
Because he knew his young chairman too well; once he made a decision, nothing could change it.
But this was three billion US dollars! That's over two hundred billion RMB!
That's practically the market capitalization of a medium-sized company!
"Huff—!"
Lin Fan practically fled back to his office, plopping down in front of his computer.
He forced himself to calm down and had his assistant send over a sample of *Stranger Things*, the show Su Hao had personally selected, from Netflix.
"Chairman Su definitely hasn't seen this movie," Lin Fan thought to himself.
"Risking 20 billion based solely on a story outline and a vague intuition? That's just reckless!"
He admitted that while Chairman Su's previous investment decisions had all been profitable, each one felt like walking a tightrope, each one filled him with trepidation.
But this time, it was just too damn outrageous, too damn unbelievable!
Following the final duty of a vice chairman—if this show was truly beyond redemption, he would absolutely have to include numerous safeguards in the supplementary clauses of the contract, even if it was a belated attempt to salvage some of the company's losses!
He opened the video file with prejudice.
The screen lit up, a retro color scheme and eerie background music began.
"A contrived attempt to create mystery."
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, adopting the posture of the most critical film critic, mentally condemning the show.
He planned to watch for ten minutes, find ten fatal flaws, and then write a 10,000-word report, vehemently denouncing the enormous risks of this investment.
Twenty minutes later, he adjusted his posture and said, "Hmph, so-so."
The first episode had just ended, and he instinctively moved the mouse to the next one.
"...Hmm, the pacing is alright."
The second episode...is interesting.
The third episode...the suspense is cleverly set up.
The fourth episode...Holy crap, so that's how it is!
He had originally planned to pause at any moment to get a glass of water, but that damned progress bar, as if under the most vicious spell, firmly held his gaze!
His body leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the screen, his breathing becoming rapid with the plot's ups and downs.
His brain had completely forgotten what risk was, what financial reports were, leaving only an endless "What's next? What will happen next?!"
Until a sliver of light pierced through the window, accompanied by the clear chirping of birds, it abruptly pulled him out of that bizarre world.
"...!?"
Lin Fan stiffly turned his head and saw the sky outside the window, already turning white.
"Holy crap?! It's...it's dawn?!"
He'd stayed up all night watching a show, not sleeping a wink, until the next day?!
This was unprecedented, utterly absurd, in his disciplined and rigid life!
Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he practically threw himself at the screen, staring intently at the time in the bottom right corner.
"Holy shit? That's it?! That's it?!"
The cold white words "Season 1 End" on the screen were like a sharp knife, piercing his heart, which had been pounding with anxiety over the plot.
"Damn production company! They had to end the story here!"
Lin Fan was so angry he almost smashed his keyboard.
"Damn it! Where's season 2?! Where's season 2?!
We're the big spenders who invested 3 billion!
I don't care! They have to make season 2 right now!"