Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 455 Our Sister Meng has stood up!

"Auntie, today's stuff is left at the door for you. The outer seal has been sprayed with alcohol, you can just take it in."

"Okay, okay, thank you for your help. Take care..."

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Li Qin, who was half lying on the table, looked over.

"Mom, are you here to deliver something today?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a middle-aged woman who looked three-quarters like Li Qin walked in from the entrance carrying two large plastic bags.

"you do not say."

Mother Li took the bag into the house and put it away: "Talk to your company. They send these things too frequently. We couldn't finish the ones we got before, and now they sent two big bags."

"If you can't finish it, just put it in the refrigerator. It's not like you can't put it away anyway."

As Li Qin spoke, she walked over lazily and squatted on the ground, then looked through the bag. Suddenly, she felt a chill on her fingers, and looking at the neatly arranged cans of yellow peach yogurt, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, I know you have a big refrigerator."

Mother Li muttered something, then looked at her daughter squatting on the ground with messy hair and shabby clothes, and couldn't help but frowned: "I know you are indoors, but at least dress like a human being."

"Just do whatever is comfortable at home." Li Qin said nonchalantly, "No one will see it anyway."

"I'm not a human? Your father is not a human? No one has seen it yet..."

"I mean no one else saw it."

Li Qin stood up, hugged Mother Li coquettishly, and handed her a can of yogurt: "Here, drink something cold to cool down."

"No, no, just drink it yourself. You're thirty years old, and you still eat these indecent things every day. Your company is the same, they actually send you gifts..."

While mumbling, Mother Li took the things in the bag into the kitchen and put them away.

"Who is thirty? I'm only twenty-nine!"

Li Qin shouted in the back, then returned to the table with her yogurt. After thinking for a while, she picked up her phone and sent a WeChat message.

Li Qin: [I received the yogurt, it tasted good, but my mom saw it and started nagging me.]

After waiting for a while, she saw no reply from the other side. She pouted her lips, but she also knew that the guy must be busy, so she didn't bother him anymore.

Because she will be performing on the Spring Festival Gala this year, Li Qin's parents came to Beijing North to spend the New Year with her.

Unexpectedly, everything was fine when I came here, but after the Chinese New Year I couldn’t go back.

In fact, it's not that they can't go out. Except for Jiangcheng, other places have not been completely closed yet. It's just that it's quite troublesome to go back. It just so happens that Li Qin's schedule has been suspended and she has to rest at home, so Li's parents decided to stay in Beijing for a while.

At first, the old couple was still worried about food and drink. As their daughter is an artist, the refrigerator at home is basically empty. Although the supermarkets outside are not closed, it is a sensitive period after all, and no one wants to squeeze into crowded places.

Unexpectedly, my daughter was not in a hurry at all. She said she just needed to stay at home. If I wanted something, I could tell her and someone would deliver it to me.

The old couple was puzzled at first, after all, takeouts were basically suspended at the moment, so who could deliver the food? Unexpectedly, the next day, someone actually brought a full bag of food to their door.

Upon asking, I found out that it was a staff member of my daughter's company, who was responsible for delivering things.

Of course, this is just an excuse for Li's parents. Li Qin is a self-employed person now, so how can he have a company?

These things were naturally sent by Meng Bai.

Putting down the phone, Li Qin looked down at the clothes she was wearing - well, what her mother said was actually quite right, she was indeed dressed a little too casually.

But it doesn’t matter. As an actor, you have to pay attention to your makeup and manners every day. I finally get to rest at home, but I can’t even relax.

Thinking of this, she ran to the mirror again, took a photo and sent it to Meng Bai.

Li Qin: [Today's photo only accepts compliments! ]

After sending it, she put down her phone, picked up the pad on the table, and continued watching the TV series she had not finished.

"...Everyone, listen carefully. The essay topic for this year's college entrance examination is 'The Crow Drinks Water'. Remember this!"

On the screen, Meng Ziyi, dressed in school uniform, held up a loud speaker and shouted loudly to the classmates who were queuing up to take graduation photos.

Li Qin is watching the new drama "Twinkle Twinkle Star" by Hu Guang. She has been obsessed with it these past two days.

When she first heard that the theme was related to "time travel", combined with the usual style of "arclight drama", she thought it was another drama focusing on thriller and suspense.

But I didn't expect that after watching two episodes, I found that the suspense was still suspense, but there was no reasoning or thriller.

To be precise, this is more like a youth romance drama with suspense elements.

"I didn't realize that this guy, who is usually a straight man, would actually do these things."

Watching the various little interactions between the heroine Lin Beixing and the hero Zhang Wansen in the plot, Li Qin couldn't help but mutter in her heart.

But on second thought, she felt that this was quite reasonable. If that guy didn't know how to do these things, how could he have attracted so many peach blossoms?

snort!
Although she felt sad, Li Qin still liked the drama very much.

I looked at the data below the video frame and the popularity value showed over 9000.

Like the three major platforms, the drama data of Hengshi Video also uses the concept of popularity value. The algorithms between them are similar, so the data is roughly the same.

A popularity value of over 9000 means that this drama is a hit within the platform and is only one step away from becoming a "big hit beyond the circle."

In addition to the popularity value, there is another category in the horizontal video data called "Current number of viewers".

Li Qin took a look and saw that there were “10+” viewers watching the show with her.

Considering it’s morning now and most people either watched the latest episode straight away last night or are still sleeping, this number is not low at all.

In other words, these figures are mainly for ordinary audiences to refer to. For industry insiders like Li Qin, there is a more direct way to test the performance of a drama, which is to look at the number of advertisements in the drama.

The ads here do not refer to the ones in the video opening, but the built-in ads inserted directly in the middle of each episode. And the more popular the drama, the more ads there are.

Unlike ordinary viewers who can be fooled by just looking at the data, advertisers spend real money. So they know best which dramas are popular and which are flopped.

Therefore, in the past two years, fans in the fan circle have also used the number of advertisements as an important criterion when evaluating whether a drama is truly popular or not.

However, this does not apply to "Twinkle, Twinkle Star" because the main feature of the broadcasting platform Hengshou is the "ad-free model" that competes with Netflix.

The entire platform interface looks very clean at first glance, but for viewers who have been immersed in various patches and small windows for many years, it may be a little uncomfortable.

I have to say, it feels really good to watch the drama in such a complete and direct way.

However, Li Qin couldn't help but wonder in her heart, can a streaming platform really be supported by membership fees alone without advertising income?
After thinking for a while, she couldn't help laughing at herself for worrying too much. When it comes to making money, that guy is more than 10,000 times better than her. He won't lose money no matter who loses it. What is there to worry about?

Thinking of this, Li Qin's eyes couldn't help but wander again - he should be very busy now.

……

Just as Li Qin thought, Meng Bai has indeed been very busy recently.

In the past, as a producer, you only need to care about the performance of the drama. Now it is different. The entire platform has its share, so you have to care about the overall data of the platform as well.

“How are the numbers this week?”

"Not bad." Chen Zhixi smiled and handed over the document in his hand. "Since our new drama started airing, the growth rate of new users on the platform has increased by more than half. In just one week, the number of paying users has increased by more than one million."

Meng Bai took the document and flipped through it. Sure enough, after the broadcast of "Twinkle Twinkle Star", the growth curve of the number of users had a significant increase.

“What about the retained figures?”

"It's much more than expected. The fact that there are no ads is enough to make many users stay."

Chen Zhixi was particularly happy to talk about this.

As early as the day when "Twinkle, Twinkle Star" was first broadcast, the issue of the lack of advertisements in horizontal videos became a hot topic among netizens, and even topped the list of hot searches.

[Oh my god, this clean page, this click-to-play video, this complete series without "member-only ads"... Is this still the domestic video platform I'm familiar with? ]

[I thought it was just like Bilibili, but there were still some ads on the page. I didn't expect that it was really just for watching dramas. 】【No, I found myself ptsd by those platforms. Now I always feel lonely without ads on the whole page. 】

[Having said that, just because Netflix can succeed without ads doesn’t mean that other platforms can succeed. Given the willingness of domestic users to pay, can it really support a platform? ]

[The above poster, we who earn 3000 yuan a month don’t need to worry about capital. At most, when the money can’t be burned anymore, we can slowly add patch ads. They are not Bilibili, and they have never said anything like “there will never be ads”. 】

[That's right. I'll enjoy this clean page for a while. Anyway, I paid 398 yuan for an annual membership. It's a pity that there are still a few good dramas and movies now, but it's better than Tencent Video. ]

【…】

It can be seen from the users' comments that everyone has long been troubled by the problem of video platforms inserting advertisements in the middle of each drama.

Netizens not only left messages, but also spread the word and called on their friends to invite others to come.

Although some users have already subscribed to memberships on other platforms, they signed up without hesitation when they saw the offer of "one dollar for half a year" on Heng Video.

Who knows how long we will have to stay at home? There are only a few good dramas on one platform, so it’s never a bad thing to have one more in reserve. It only costs one dollar anyway.

Looking at the data of the platform in the file in his hand, Meng Bai said as he flipped through it: "Did Zhou Cheng say anything about this increase?"

"What else can I say? Of course I'm very happy." Chen Zhixi said, "It just so happens that the first quarter financial report will be released in just over a month. Isn't this all good news?"

Meng Bai also smiled when he heard this. Indeed, this year's first quarter report was the first time that Hengten Network's performance was made public after its acquisition of Ruyi Pictures, and many people were waiting to see it.

Now that there are such excellent figures, it is estimated that there will be another round of increase.

"My only worry now is that the money is being burned very quickly. If Evergrande is affected too much, there may be some problems with subsequent funding," said Chen Zhixi.

"Let's burn it first, and burn it as long as it can." Meng Bai said nonchalantly: "Given Evergrande's size, even if it is really affected, it will be fine for a year or two. By that time, we should have some foundation, and we won't need to spend so much money."

Chen Zhixi thought about it and felt that what he said made sense, so he stopped worrying about it for the time being.

From the beginning to the end, the two were not interested in whether Evergrande itself was dead or alive.

After looking at the overall situation of the platform, Meng Bai and Chen Zhixi returned to the topic of the drama itself.

According to the current comprehensive real-time popularity of third-party platforms, the first place is Tencent Video's "Three Lives Three Worlds, The Pillow Book".

It has to be said that although Reba's popularity has declined in the past two years, she is still one of the top-tier traffic stars. Coupled with the fame of the previous work and Jiaxing Media's consistent publicity and promotion efforts, it is not an exaggeration to say that the popularity is so high.

As for Arc Light's "Twinkle, Twinkle Star", it is currently ranked second, mainly due to the lack of users on the platform.

But even so, the gap between them and the first place is very small, and they may overtake it at any time.

Next on the list are "Love Apartment 5" on Qiyi TV and "Three Thousand Crows" on Mango TV. These two shows are much more different from the previous ones, and unless something unexpected happens, it will be difficult for them to move up.

As for Youku's "Human Fireworks Flower Chef", it fell behind from the beginning. Although it was suspected of riding on the popularity, the quality was surprisingly good. It's a pity that it was a small production and the starring cast didn't have much traffic, so the overall popularity was more than a little bit lower.

The performance of "Twinkle Twinkle Star" was expected for Arc Light, but it was truly a great gift for the two leading actors, Meng Ziyi and Qu Chuxiao.

Especially Meng Ziyi, because of the previous "The Untamed" incident, she has been criticized for more than half a year. Compared with the number of black fans, her own fans seem to be very weak and often have their defenses broken.

However, with the launch of "Twinkle Twinkle Star", the lively, cheerful and quirky "Lin Beixing" instantly attracted a lot of viewers.

Many of these people were ordinary passers-by before, and their understanding of Meng Ziyi was limited to "a resourceful person with a background who is often scolded."

For most ordinary audiences, this is actually not a good label, and it even has a hint of dislike.

After all, we have been poisoned by various "resource guys" in recent years, so when we see this label, our impression will be deducted three points.

Before the show was broadcast, the black fans also seized on the point of "resourceful celebrity" and posted a lot of attacking and slanderous messages, some of which were even posted directly under the girl's promotional Weibo.

Meng Ziyi naturally also saw these remarks, but fortunately, after half a year of attacks, she has become somewhat desensitized, so she simply ignored them.

Fortunately, her "Lin Beixing" really captured the hearts of many viewers. After being attracted by the character, many of these passers-by went to learn more about the actor, including the ins and outs of various rumors.

Only after this glance did I realize that I seemed to have misunderstood this girl before.

She doesn't have any black spots at all. She was just bombarded by fans because she starred in a gay drama and was too close to two popular leading actors.

As for the claims of "changing the script" and "adding scenes resulting in injuries to crew members", these are just one-sided statements from the black fans. Both sides have their own opinions.

In comparison, passers-by obviously have a stronger dislike for fans in the fan club and all stand on Meng Ziyi's side.

Now the haters are a bit helpless. Different from the marketing hype of traffic artists, the way actors use their roles to attract fans and then convert them into passers-by is considered a "royal strategy" in the entertainment industry.

As we all know, "open conspiracy" is unsolvable in most cases.

The haters want to use the opponent's performance to suppress her, but the problem is that the only qualified opponent is Reba. Putting Meng Ziyi together with the opponent is not called suppression, it is called a disguised promotion.

You may want to criticize her acting skills, but Meng Ziyi's performance in this drama is very good, and the role of "Lin Beixing" is also remarkable. If you try to criticize her too harshly, it won't be very strong.

It doesn’t make much sense to continue talking about “resourceful people”. After all, for most ordinary audiences, what they care about is never who has the background, but whether they can act well.

At this point, the fans in the fan circle began to show their powerlessness. They don't play marketing or fan circle with you, but directly focus on actual performance, which is completely unbeatable.

Coupled with Meng Bai’s previous “instigation”, the black fans themselves are now full of conflicts, so their attack power is getting weaker and weaker, and the public opinion on the Internet is beginning to turn to Meng Ziyi’s side.

Her fans were cheering and running around to tell others - our Sister Meng has finally stood up!
Seeing this result, Meng Ziyi was surprised and excited.

It was not until this moment that she finally understood why Meng Bai had said that as long as the actors performed well, everything else would be fine.

During this period, Meng Ziyi would search his own name on the Internet when he had nothing to do, and then he would laugh foolishly when he saw the various praises from fans and audiences.

At the same time, her feelings towards her uncle Meng Bai could no longer be simply described as gratitude.

If the control outside wasn't so strict right now, she would definitely fly to Beijing North and give her uncle a hug in person.

In response, Meng Bai only told her to stay at home and be good. Don't look back, there's nothing to do outside and you can start filming a new drama, otherwise you will be infected again.

……

After a busy day, Meng Bai didn't see the WeChat message Li Qin sent him until the afternoon.

Looking at the girl's ugly clothes, he chuckled and called her back.

Come to think of it, although they are both in northern Beijing, the two have hardly seen each other since the Spring Festival.

There was no way out. Li Qin's parents had been staying here, and they also knew a little about the relationship between their daughter and Meng Bai, as well as the messy scandals about the other party on the Internet.

How to put it? In Li Qin's words, it's a bit like "sharpening the knife".

Faced with this situation, Meng Bai naturally would not be so shameless as to go ahead with it.

In addition to Li Qin, Li Yitong also stayed in Beijing North, but she stayed here on her own.

So during this period of time, apart from work, Meng Bai spent most of his time at her place.

It's better to have a girl accompany you than to stay alone in the villa.

It was the same today. After Meng Bai finished his phone call with Li Qin, he went to Li Yitong's place as if he was familiar with the place.

"You're going out tomorrow?"

While eating, Meng Bai asked curiously, "What are you going to do?"

"Didn't Daxi sign up for your talent show? She's been practicing recently. I'll go check on her."

Meng Bai was immediately interested when he heard this: "It just so happens that I have nothing to do tomorrow, so I'll go with you."

Li Yitong glanced at him sideways, tapped his chest and said, "Why, are you so excited when you hear about my best friend?"

"No, how could that be." Meng Bai said calmly, "I've always heard that she dances very well, but I've never seen her, so I went to see her. I was just curious."

"Really?"

"Of course, everyone in the martial arts world knows that President Meng has always been honest and reliable."

"Haha, you better be."

(End of this chapter)