With Wang Jun holding a junior high education and Mrs. Wang a high school diploma, their son Wang Shuang, once a slacker, getting into a 211 university was practically a matter of ancestral pride. Wang Jun had already decided to slaughter a pig to honor the ancestors during the Spring Festival visit to the family graves. Without the ancestors’ blessings and Wang Shuang’s “slacker-to-success” transformation, this wouldn’t have happened. Honoring the ancestors was a psychological comfort, but in reality, it was Xie Qian, who poured immense effort into tutoring Wang Shuang, pulling him out of slacker status, who was the Wang family’s true benefactor!
“When we hold the celebration banquet, Xie Qian must come. I’ll seat him at the head table!”
Wang Jun’s booming voice carried his joy through the phone to everyone present.
“Pfft—”
Wen Ying was the first to burst out laughing.
Mr. Wang was truly over the moon.
Xie Qian, too, was amused despite his frustration.
He had thought Wang Shuang could score over 600, maybe even secure a spot at a better university. But the Wang family’s ambitions were modest, and Wang Shuang himself was clearly satisfied. Getting upset as his tutor would only hurt himself.
Under his father’s wild praise, Wang Shuang’s disappointment vanished.
597 points, and his dad was this thrilled.
If he’d scored 20 points higher, his dad might’ve burst a blood vessel from excitement.
This score was a bit regrettable, but at least his dad was still healthy!
Wang Shuang’s strength was his ability to “make peace with himself.” After a long chat, he urged his dad to book the banquet venue, and Wang Jun reluctantly hung up.
When Wang Shuang sneaked a glance at Xie Qian’s reaction, Xie Qian was already zen. “Go with the school I mentioned. Pick any major; you won’t be relying on it to make a living anyway.”
Plenty of college graduates work in fields unrelated to their majors. Wang Shuang’s future wasn’t Xie Qian’s concern.
With this mindset, Xie Qian felt even more at ease. The living room’s atmosphere lightened instantly. Aunt Liu poked her head in: “Have you decided what to eat?”
“Hotpot!”
Seeing Xie Qian wasn’t mad, Wang Shuang got cheeky again.
597 was a bit of a letdown.
But life without a touch of regret would feel too unreal, right? At least Wang Shuang’s dream of studying in Modu came true!
The dream-chasing Wang Shuang was full of energy, undimmed even when he learned Geng Xiao and Tang Yifeng both scored over 600.
Geng Xiao and Tang Yifeng had always outperformed him!
Besides, at Rongcheng’s provincial key school, scoring over 600 wasn’t rare—mid-to-upper-tier students could manage it. Their consistent good grades made their higher scores unsurprising.
After a hotpot meal at Xie Qian’s, with finals approaching, Wen Ying was making a final push for her “top 100 in the grade” goal. With Tianjiao’s counterattack strategy set, she temporarily set it aside. Wang Shuang, however, dove back into his Tianjiao internship work.
He had to perform well to convince Teacher Yuan to make him the head of the Modu office!
For this goal, Wang Shuang studied blog data, online sentiment, and his mother’s study materials with as much zeal as he had for the entrance exam.
As Liang Dan predicted, public attention shifted for a few days as score systems opened nationwide, coinciding with the end of finals!
Right after leaving the exam room, Wen Ying was whisked to the company by Yuan Fenghui’s people.
“Our chance has come!”
July 1, Saturday, was the regular broadcast time for Hunan Satellite TV’s flagship variety show.
The episode’s teaser had been released, showing intimate interactions between Yu Tianlin and Hu Man. From the teaser alone, Liang Dan was still aggressively fueling their scandal!
July 3 was the premiere date for both *Love Cruise* and *The Galaxy and You*. The July 1 variety show was the last major promotional push for *Love Cruise*’s team and the critical window for *The Galaxy and You* to turn the tables.
After waiting so long, this was the day!
Wen Ying watched the variety show teaser of Yu Tianlin and Hu Man, smiling as she confirmed with Yuan Fenghui: “Teacher Yuan, we’ve got Hu Man’s trailer and Mengjiao’s fire safety PSA ready, right?”
“Not just those!”
Yuan Fenghui was brimming with confidence. “The first print run of 300,000 copies of *The Galaxy and You*’s novel is being packed at the printing factory. The soundtrack album can be distributed nationwide in three days. I’ve also finalized a deal with China Mobile for ringtone services. Everything’s ready for battle!”
In 2006, China Unicom didn’t exist yet; the telecom giants were China Telecom and China Mobile. The ringtone business had taken off in 2003.
Wen Ying recalled an online singer from her past life revealing in an interview that a hit song earned over 100 million yuan through ringtones at its peak, but the singer saw little of it, as Service Providers (SPs) took the lion’s share.
SPs, or Service Providers, were companies operating value-added services within telecom networks, including news portals, games, picture messages, and ringtone downloads. Telecoms provided the platform, while SPs supplied content.
For China Mobile, becoming a ringtone SP required qualifications—company scale, strength, and technology were essential, sometimes with exclusivity clauses barring work with China Telecom. From 2003 to 2006, ringtone SPs made a fortune.
After Li Mengjiao’s talent show, General Manager Guan’s company produced her first album, which sold modestly initially. As her popularity grew, so did the album’s sales.
Guan made good money from it, but when Yuan Fenghui renegotiated a better profit split for Li Mengjiao, Guan had to return some earnings. Yuan Fenghui, aware of the ringtone business’s profitability, focused on Li Mengjiao’s first album’s ringtone revenue, only to find it surprisingly low.
Initially suspecting Guan of underreporting, Yuan Fenghui’s investigation revealed that even Guan’s company earned little from ringtones.
The big profits went to ringtone SPs, who provided services to telecoms but shortchanged record companies and artists. Some SPs faked data, frustrating telecoms too.
As the platform provider, telecoms were at the top of the chain.
Dissatisfied, they sought change.
This aligned with Yuan Fenghui’s goals.
If SPs were taking the profits, why not let Tianjiao take them?
Learning that China Mobile was forming a “club” with major record companies, device manufacturers, and SPs to directly manage music content, Yuan Fenghui pulled strings to connect with them. She proactively offered all songs from *The Galaxy and You*’s soundtrack for Mobile’s ringtone platform, cutting out the SPs.
Proud of securing the ringtone deal, Yuan Fenghui said, “If the drama’s ratings explode, the soundtrack could too. Even one hit ringtone could earn Tianjiao a fortune. Your 4 million investment—what returns it’ll bring, you can look forward to it!”
Wen Ying had invested 4 million in *The Galaxy and You* before becoming a Tianjiao shareholder.
The drama’s broadcast rights sold for 95 million, with derivative rights still uncalculated. The novel and soundtrack were derivative rights. Yuan Fenghui had pushed the drama’s budget above 40 million—a risky move—but derivative rights were a steady income stream, unlike one-off broadcast rights, making them more promising if managed well!
“That’s your strength, Teacher Yuan!”
Wen Ying’s praise was heartfelt.
Yu Tianlin’s team focused on ratings, even at the cost of his commercial value. But ratings were just the start. *The Galaxy and You* wasn’t Tianjiao’s tool to spite Yu Tianlin; it was a bold experiment. If successful, it would set a template for Tianjiao’s future projects!
No one dislikes money.
Wen Ying was no exception.
Her investment in *The Galaxy and You* entitled her to derivative rights profits.
As a Tianjiao shareholder, she’d get a share of the company’s profits too.
Double the joy.
To make that joy real, *The Galaxy and You* had to crush *Love Cruise*!
On the night of July 1, the variety show with Yu Tianlin and Hu Man aired, causing a public and media frenzy.
“If those two aren’t dating, I’ll eat my TV!”
“The way they look at each other is different.”
“Yu Tianlin, that playboy, doesn’t deserve Manman.”
“Hu Man, an old woman grazing on young grass—gross! Don’t cling to our Tianlin-gege!”
“I don’t believe Tianlin-gege would like Hu Man…”
Yu Tianlin and Hu Man hit the headlines again!
Newspapers used their show interactions as cover photos, and TV entertainment news dissected their relationship’s authenticity. Yu Tianlin’s and Hu Man’s fans, mutually disdainful, pushed *Love Cruise*’s attention to its peak.
In July 2006’s golden slot, no drama had more buzz than *Love Cruise*.
Industry insiders saw through it, admiring Yu Tianlin’s sacrifice. Winning ratings was one thing, but how do you quantify the loss of commercial value?
On the morning of July 2, Yu Tianlin and others gathered in Liang Dan’s office. With *Love Cruise*’s premiere imminent and *The Galaxy and You*’s buzz far behind, Liang Dan believed *The Galaxy and You* had no chance of overtaking.
Seeing Yu Tianlin’s low spirits, Liang Dan reassured him, “Once our drama airs tomorrow, you and Sister Man can clarify the scandal. I’ve arranged the celebration party with lots of media. You can clear things up publicly then.”
Hu Man gave a half-smile. “What, affected by those fan comments thinking I’m not good enough for you? Tianlin, you can’t just take the benefits and dodge the downsides.”
Yu Tianlin forced a smile, adjusting his mood. “Sister Man, I absolutely don’t think that. I’m just wondering about tomorrow’s premiere ratings.”
Hu Man shrugged. “They’ll definitely be higher than *The Galaxy and You*.”
Despite her 3 million fee, Hu Man had no faith in *The Galaxy and You*’s ratings—a true oddity. The others in the office were used to her bizarre remarks.
Cao Bo was about to say something cheerful to lighten the mood when General Manager Guan burst in.
“*The Galaxy and You* released another trailer!”
Liang Dan thought her man was overreacting. “They’ve already released three trailers. What new trick could they pull?”
Guan was furious. “They did pull a new trick! Yuan Fenghui is shameless. The fourth trailer for *The Galaxy and You* is edited from Sister Man’s perspective, and Yuan Fenghui even sent blessings to Sister Man and Tianlin, wishing them invincible true love, breaking through all shackles and biases!”
