The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

My second uncle's affair still became a big joke in the village.

It's not that only city dwellers who become wealthy think about betraying their families.

A man who has lived an honest life in the countryside his whole life, if given the chance to date a young woman, can do things that exceed your expectations.

Old Chen has many relatives; his second uncle is not the first.

It won't be the last.

For many families, a sudden improvement in their living conditions is a double-edged sword.

Chen Pingsheng called his old man at home to inform him of the outcome.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the end of September.

Last year's trainee competition started hastily, but this year the nationwide selection will be held two months earlier.

The main reason is that the show gained popularity. Both Yang Chaoyue, the Phoenix Girl, and Shen Wanning, the Chinese Style Girl, became popular through this show.

A competition made four amateur contestants famous.

This seems like a pretty good platform for creating stars.

Next year's trainee competition will also begin in October with a nationwide online audition for fifty contestants.

It's worth mentioning that most of the trainees eliminated from this program became online celebrities.

They have a particularly high starting point, and their achievements are more valuable than those of ordinary internet celebrities.

After all, she has experience in the entertainment industry.

The trainees eliminated in the next round of the competition will not go to Xinteng Live, but will instead be sent to the Douyin Live platform in Guangzhou.

Xin Teng Live no longer lacks streamer resources; its current focus is on supporting the Douyin platform.

Chen Pingsheng signed several important documents within the group, which also meant that the preliminary selection for the 2017 trainee competition had officially begun.

The trainee competition has now become a landmark event in Tencent Video's transformation into a variety show company.

This also significantly boosted Tencent Entertainment's stock price.

At the end of the month, Zhang Wanyi suddenly suggested to him that they could put together a show to celebrate acting skills.

It's similar to current singing competition shows, with a few established mentors who then critique the current crop of popular young actresses.

The contestants on these shows are all moderately famous celebrities in the entertainment industry.

It should be able to gain a certain amount of attention, especially given Tencent Entertainment's current status spanning movies, TV series, variety shows, and short dramas.

It would be absolutely appropriate to produce such a program.

Chen Pingsheng asked her curiously, "How did you come up with this idea?"

Zhang Wanyi said, "Mainly because I often hear my colleagues say things like, 'So-and-so's acting is so bad,' or 'So-and-so's acting is so bad,' and I thought, 'Could we create a program like this?'"

"Quite intelligent."

Chen Pingsheng nodded and said, "There are business opportunities everywhere in life. Go to the finance department to collect the five million bonus, and also notify Lao Yang, the head of the variety show department of Tencent Entertainment, to start preparing for this program."

"The entertainment industry is full of interpersonal relationships. Being able to play a leading role doesn't mean she has the ability to play that role. You told Lao Yang not to be afraid of offending people. If the mentors we invite to this kind of show don't even dare to speak the truth, then it's meaningless."

Chen Pingsheng felt that this program had great potential just by imagining it.

However, the key is that the mentor must dare to speak the truth.

Don't think this is a simple statement; it's actually not easy to do.

Take, for example, a minor actress with a large following; everyone knows she has poor acting skills.

But does that mean you, as a supervisor, can just scold people at will? No.

Because someone with such terrible acting skills can be a lead actor.

There must be someone behind that.

If you insult her, you're essentially slapping the face of the people behind her.

If that person goes back and acts all cute, your mentor might find it hard to stay in the industry.

If you don't even dare to tell the truth, what's the point of running this show?

It's just a joke. Chen Pingsheng believes that the biggest draw of this kind of show is definitely not how good the actors' acting skills are.

Instead, the worse the performance, the more sensational it becomes, and then the mentors dare to criticize it relentlessly.

This is where things get interesting.

They dare to openly criticize those popular young actresses and the second-generation rich kids who dazzle the audience.

This in itself requires extremely strong background resources.

Tencent Entertainment is that resource.

A mentor who is afraid to speak the truth should definitely not be invited.

Zhang Wanyi relayed Chen Pingsheng's message to Lao Yang, who is a top-notch planner in variety shows.

Previously, I was in charge of variety show planning at Hunan TV.

In China right now, no other TV station can compare to Hunan TV in terms of entertainment and variety shows.

Once Zhang Wanyi finished speaking, Lao Yang naturally understood what the big boss meant.

Isn't the core of an acting awards ceremony just about criticizing those cringeworthy actors?
If people could just criticize whatever they wanted, he'd guarantee the show would be a hit.

However, if the criticism is too harsh, whether anyone will still be willing to participate is a big question.

Fortunately, Tencent Entertainment is a large and powerful company, and it provided several leading roles for female characters or film resources.

Most popular young actresses would flock to it.

Old Yang asked her, "Did the big boss really tell you that you can complain freely?"

“Yes.” Zhang Wanyi nodded. “The big boss said that if we don’t even dare to tell the truth, then there’s no point in us producing this kind of program.”

“Okay.” Old Yang, who was quite old, said happily, “With the big boss’s words, I can guarantee that this show will be a hit.”

Like Chen Pingsheng, Lao Yang also believed that the biggest highlight of this kind of show would definitely be the crazy吐槽 (tu cao, meaning to roast or criticize).

The harsher the insults, the more authentic the show becomes.

A variety show, from planning to confirming recording.

It will take at least a few months; it can't be rushed.

Fortunately, Tencent Video's programs are not broadcast on television at all, but are directly streamed online.

In a sense, this is much faster.

If you want to appear on a TV station, especially one with high viewership, the various approval processes can take several months.

Old Yang and his team worked through the night to study the program; he genuinely wanted to produce a good show.

After all, audiences have suffered greatly from those favored individuals over the years.

It's absolutely an eyesore.

Upon hearing the news, Yang Mi immediately volunteered to be a mentor.

She is definitely qualified in the entertainment industry. Yang Mi wanted to make a big contribution to the group, but Chen Pingsheng scolded her back.

Her acting skills are barely better than those cringeworthy, trendy young actresses.

It has maintained a stable output for many years.

Yang Mi was furious. She hung up the phone and went off to Hong Kong to have some fun.

Chen Pingsheng thought Zhao Liying was quite good; her acting skills were definitely the most underrated among the post-85 generation actresses.

Furthermore, her nickname is Zhao Xiaodao (Zhao the Little Knife), which perfectly reflects his original intention in creating this program.

Currently, Tencent Entertainment remains his most important core resource.

They've started producing their own variety shows, clearly indicating their intention to fully develop their presence in the entertainment industry.

Perhaps in less than a year, Tencent Film & Television could become a film and television company with assets worth hundreds of billions.

If he reaches that point, his status in the industry will truly be unique.

(End of this chapter)