Jiaxin sold the adaptation rights for Shui Mingyue’s drama to Hunan Satellite TV.
No sooner had the two parties signed the contract than Producer Xu from Oriental TV came knocking.
Clearly, Oriental TV had far more business dealings with Jiaxin. Why sell the broadcast rights to Hunan Satellite TV?
Even setting aside professional ties, Producer Xu’s personal connections with the Jiaxin side should have been stronger.
If it was because Oriental TV’s offer was unsatisfactory, Jiaxin could simply have raised the issue. Everyone could sit down and negotiate further.
Faced with Producer Xu’s questions, Jiang Youjia remained composed as he lied. “Of course we would have preferred to sell to your station. We have collaborated so many times and built a deep emotional foundation. But…”
“But what?”
“We had no choice but to respect the original author’s opinion.”
Jiang Youjia’s words left Producer Xu bewildered. “Does the original author have that much authority?”
Jiang Youjia looked solemn. “In other places, perhaps not. At Jiaxin, it is essential. If we do not grant original authors sufficient authority, how can we attract high-quality content creators?”
The concept of “high-quality content creators” had recently become popular, largely sparked by Wen Ying’s statement that “film scripts would not be sold for less than five million”.
Public opinion is never unanimous.
No matter how Ran Keqing tried to steer the narrative against Wen Ying, Wen Ying enjoyed high popularity online. Her readers had been fiercely defending her.
Teenagers are the most energetic, the main force in voting for idols and fighting online battles.
After the controversy had fermented for so long, the readers had actually achieved something. They coined the term “high-quality content creator” and bestowed it upon Wen Ying.
Ordinary people could not withstand the combat power of Wen Ying’s readers. Whoever opposed the concept would be cursed. Producer Xu felt a toothache just hearing the phrase.
“I never expected Mr Jiang to be so in tune with trends.”
Jiang Youjia said he had no choice.
From his personal standpoint, he had no desire to grant original authors any authority or allow them to interfere with adaptations.
“Everything is for the company’s benefit. My personal preferences do not matter.”
Jiang Youjia repurposed Director Fan’s words on the spot.
Producer Xu racked his brains recalling Shui Mingyue’s demeanour in past interviews. He felt she had a very gentle personality.
“Whether to listen to the original author’s opinion probably depends on the person, does it not?”
Someone like “Reverse Flow Fish”, who frequently sued others and had a forceful personality backed by a large readership, no film company would dare ignore her views.
Someone with Shui Mingyue’s gentle, accommodating temperament would likely compromise if Jiaxin insisted.
Producer Xu could not be blamed for judging people differently. It is how every industry works.
Jiang Youjia hesitated as if wanting to speak but holding back. “You are a veteran in the industry. With so many varied stars and artists around, how many have you seen who truly match their words with actions?”
Producer Xu frowned.
What did that mean?
Was he saying Shui Mingyue’s gentleness was merely a fabricated persona?
And how did Jiang Youjia know? Had he already suffered at Shui Mingyue’s hands… Oh dear, these young girls are all so cunning.
Producer Xu suddenly felt sympathy for Jiang Youjia. “Mr Jiang, it is not easy for you either.”
Jiang Youjia sighed deeply and forced a smile.
Producer Xu understood Jiaxin’s difficulties. Failing to secure the broadcast rights would not affect future cooperation.
Producer Xu left, carrying the belief that “Shui Mingyue is not to be trifled with”.
In the crew of “God’s Capital: Youth Journey”, Shui Mingyue sneezed repeatedly. She almost thought she had caught a cold.
Yet after the sneezing fit, she felt perfectly fine.
Shui Mingyue blinked innocently.
Was someone speaking ill of her behind her back?
The innocent Shui Mingyue could never have imagined that Jiang Youjia had saddled her with a very heavy black mark.
By coincidence, a couple of days later, Producer Xu overheard gossip about Shui Mingyue at a dinner gathering. Someone claimed she had some romantic entanglement with Luo Hao, the newcomer heavily promoted by Huanyu.
The gossiper described Shui Mingyue as a gullible little rich woman.
Producer Xu scoffed. “Who is fooling whom is not certain.”
The others at the table pressed for details. Producer Xu made a throat-slitting gesture.
“This girl is formidable. You only see Reverse Flow Fish making bold statements to the press about high script prices. You do not know that Shui Mingyue long ago packaged and sold adaptation rights for all eleven of her novels to Jiaxin. Reverse Flow Fish gets cursed every day. Who curses Shui Mingyue?”
Producer Xu felt it made sense. Someone like Wen Ying, who earned money while enduring criticism, was not truly formidable. The truly formidable one was someone like Shui Mingyue, who quietly made a fortune.
Some at the table took the chat as mere amusement, but others took it to heart.
One companion had previously heard Shui Mingyue was a naive, easily deceived innocent and had considered profiting from her. After Producer Xu’s words, the companion abandoned the crooked idea. A girl too shrewd was no fun. She would not be easy to deceive.
Jiang Youjia had intended for Shui Mingyue to take the blame, yet he inadvertently established a new persona for her: gentle on the surface, cunning within. This made others far less likely to try deceiving her.
Even when people had the chance to interact with Shui Mingyue and saw her amiable demeanour, they would always recall Producer Xu’s pioneering throat-slitting gesture.
It was fake. The gentleness and agreeableness were all fake.
For a long time, Shui Mingyue unknowingly enjoyed the benefits of her new persona. Apart from a few sneezing fits, she remained completely oblivious to what had happened.
Of course, that is a story for later.
…
After Jiang Youjia finalised the drama broadcast rights and the attached “interview programme” with Director Fan, Zhao Dong happened to release the advertisement featuring diva Hu Man for “Si Lan”.
Zhao Dong had truly splashed out this time.
Hu Man was short of cash, yet her status as a diva remained. Zhao Dong’s endorsement fee alone cost several million to secure her.
The advertisement production and placement cost another large sum.
Spending so much at once drew objections not only from Dai Chenglan but also from Zhuo Chen.
Sara Zhuo did not understand company operations. When Zhuo Chen said this approach would not work, Sara Zhuo looked at “Si Lan”‘s aggressive advertising volume and instead felt Zhao Dong had vision.
“How can we seize the market without increasing promotion?”
Not only did Zhao Dong spend freely on advertising, inspired by He Zhen, he also paid “authoritative figures” to write promotional soft articles for “Si Lan” products.
With this dual approach, the market share He Zhen’s company had just opened was squeezed back.
Pang Jinglong watched the dense advertisements on television and collected a pile of soft articles from authoritative figures promoting “Si Lan”. He was utterly baffled. “That Zhao fellow is far too bold in his boasts. Their company’s products are so poor, yet he still dares to have people promote them as safe. If they were truly safe, how could so many people have allergic reactions?”
Previously, “Si Lan”‘s promotional keywords emphasised outstanding results. Now they added “safe and effective”, clearly aiming to erode the market for He Zhen’s products.
Pang Jinglong was impulsive but not a bad person.
Of course he wanted to make money running a company. As the saying goes, no deceit, no business. Earning high profits with low costs is every businessperson’s dream.
But achieving low costs and high profits at the expense of consumers’ health risks… Earning such immoral money made Pang Jinglong fear his future son would be born without an anus.
Zhao Dong had no such fears.
Zhao Dong accumulated no virtue for his descendants.
He Zhen remained calm. “When heaven wishes to destroy someone, it first drives them mad.”
As if to confirm He Zhen’s words, at the height of “Si Lan”‘s promotional onslaught, negative reviews of “Si Lan” suddenly exploded online.
It began with scattered exposés on various forums.
Negative reviews of this intensity were not particularly damaging. “Si Lan” quickly had people delete the posts.
A few days later, a popular beauty blogger suddenly posted a long article on her blog cursing “Si Lan” products. Fury was evident between the lines, and the article included bare-faced selfies of the blogger.
The beauty blogger had suffered facial damage after using “Si Lan” products.
Moreover, she had noticed that posts on various forums questioning “Si Lan” products’ allergenicity had been deleted.
“All those posts saying ‘Si Lan’ products cause problems have been removed. I will not delete mine. I have already sent my unused products for testing. I am willing to take legal responsibility for my words.”
