Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 362: "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" ratings plummet! "The Return of the Condor Heroes" wins without lifting a finger! Ma Xun secures a 2 million yuan deal with Golden Harvest!
"I think Mr. Hu's portrayal of Qiao Feng is quite successful, especially since he himself is truly tall and imposing..."

The Wang brothers weren't together at the moment, but they were both watching TV.

This sudden connection between Mr. Jin Yong and the "Tell It Like It Is" program caught them completely off guard.

It wasn't just the two of them; the other bosses were in a similar situation.

They all felt like they had been suddenly attacked.

So, whenever he didn't have anything urgent to do, he would sit in front of the television.

We must take a good look at what Jin Yong said!

This will definitely affect the great battle between "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

Fortunately, so far, what Jin Yong has told us is still alright.

After all, the person who writes the novel is a smart person with high emotional intelligence.

Moreover, this is a flagship program of CCTV, and Jin Yong would certainly not criticize a particular TV series too harshly on such a program.

Even so, these bosses were still uneasy.

In fact, they were very clear about the problems with the play "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

That is, although this film seems to be 'meticulously' produced, with gimmicks like filming across the country, in reality, the actual production time is not long at all.

But of course, these things can't be mentioned now.

That's exactly what they needed Zhang Da Hu Zi to do.

Competing with Zhejiang TV for the opening drama of the year, creating a battle with "The Return of the Condor Heroes" at the start of the year, is itself a fantastic marketing gimmick.

So, just keep it to yourself and don't say it out loud.

And now, Jin Yong... thankfully, thankfully.

Not only did they not say our "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was bad, but they also praised some aspects of it.

Our Xiao Feng in this series does have some merits, doesn't he?

In fact, Xiao Feng in Jin Yong's novels is quite tall, and Huang Rihua is indeed somewhat lacking in this aspect. So, the TVB version came up with a solution.

I got him a thick headscarf, which also serves as a hat, to help him grow taller.

It's said that this thing can also hold a lot of snacks during filming, so it can be considered a two-in-one product.

The "Tell It Like It Is" program is not over yet, but the interview with Jin Yong has ended.

Next, Dong Qing started talking to everyone about martial arts during the video call.

Wuxia (martial arts) is a very popular topic right now.

Her starting point was simple: she asked everyone what the first martial arts novel they ever read was.

Wow, the audience reacted very enthusiastically.

With a show like this... of course the bosses won't continue watching, so let's all start chatting.

"It seems fine."

"There's no problem."

"Yes, Jin Yong is a good man to get along with; he knows how to talk."

"All my worries were for nothing."

"We can't let our guard down."

After exchanging ideas, everyone realized that their opinions were quite similar.

I can finally get a good night's sleep, because there's really nothing to it.

However, the Wang brothers still felt something was off.

"At least Jin Yong didn't undermine it."

"But I still feel a little uneasy."

"Stop overthinking it and get to the next step."

"It seems this is the only way."

The two brothers talked for a while, but didn't come to any conclusions.

That's all we can do for now.

Little did they know that something terrible would happen that night.

The next day.

The Wang brothers came to Huayi Company.

They don't usually live together, but they arrived at the company together today.

It's still quite early.

Clearly, they all have something on their minds.

Most likely, I didn't sleep well last night.

But once they got to the company, they just asked each other normal questions.

How was the broadcast last night?

Has the price of "Tianlong" gone up again here?

Quite normal.

But the data provided by their subordinates made their eyes widen in astonishment!

The ratings dropped!
It still fell by more than 3 percentage points!

……

"According to the latest data, the ratings for the new version of 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' are gradually declining."

"The novel 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' has gained widespread popularity, with netizens offering a constant stream of witty comments..."

"The battle between 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' and 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' at the start of the year has already been decided!"

Ma Xun still hasn't left Hong Kong, but he no longer needs to stay in his mansion all the time.

But the bad news is that Annie went back to the United States.

These days... Ma Xun couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to part with this beautiful woman with thick hair.

It has nothing to do with being emotional; it's mainly because they get along very well.

Anne Hathaway is only 20 years old this year. Although she is an American 20-year-old girl, she has definitely experienced everything that is expected.

However, their knowledge base was still not as broad as Ma Xun's, so they studied together to increase their knowledge.

However, they left after the quarantine ended... So it seems that this was not quarantine at all, but rather the opposite of quarantine: integration.

Ahem, let's not talk about her anymore.

After Jin Yong connected with "Tell It Like It Is," the two TV series diverged significantly.

It must be said that, just as Ma Xun predicted, Jin Yong did not actually say that any particular play was bad.

This old man has always been like this; no matter how badly someone adapts his work, or how much it deviates from his original, he generally won't give it a bad review.

Of course, I will also point out some shortcomings, but I will generally give it a good review.

Even Tsui Hark's adaptation of "Swordsman II" completely drastically altered the character of Dongfang Bubai.

However, Jin Yong did not express his dissatisfaction; he simply refused to grant Tsui Hark the adaptation rights in the future.

They're very smart.

However, just as Ma Xun predicted, as long as Jin Yong commented on these two TV series, the current result was bound to occur.

Our "The Return of the Condor Heroes" will surely win!
Now that the results are in, Yu Feihong has called.

"So you had something up your sleeve all along!"

"Tell me, wasn't that a beautiful move?"

"Hmph! It's nothing special."

"Is it so hard for you to admit that others are excellent?"

Ma Xun's words were quite insightful, while Yu Feihong on the other end of the phone was clearly still stubbornly refusing to admit it.

However, Ma Xun was absolutely certain that Fairy Jinghong was definitely suppressing the corners of her mouth from turning up at this moment.

She must have been extremely happy.

However, Ma Xun's move needs to be carefully considered.

Jin Yong's commentary was effective.

For example, there are many beautiful women in "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Although there are many beautiful women in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", he did not say that.

The differences will then arise.

Moreover, don't underestimate this praise; there are so many beautiful women here... many viewers are there just to see the beautiful women.

Moreover, this is a martial arts drama, so there are relatively more male viewers.

Although the audience for TV dramas is mainly female, female viewers also enjoy watching beautiful women.

Jin Yong discussed quite a few such minor differences during the interview.

Of course, even if Jin Yong himself gave it a bad review, the new version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" wouldn't lose much in terms of viewership.

But why did it fall off?
In fact, it's still the same issue: after that incident, the ratings for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" had already reached a point where they should have started to drop!

It's not easy to keep watching a TV series for a long time.

Ma Xun had already determined that Zhang Da Hu Zi's "Tian Long" was definitely problematic and that he was rushing things too much.

Therefore, the actual quality of this show won't be very high. Audiences are already very discerning when it comes to watching dramas, and this show isn't even of high quality.

The reason why the viewership ratings were able to remain relatively high a few days ago was actually due to the pre-release publicity.

Based on Ma Xun's personal experience, many TV dramas that have a very strong pre-release publicity campaign usually see their ratings drop drastically after three or four days of airing.

This pattern was something he summarized himself when he was in his original timeline.

It's actually quite simple; in a decade or so, there will be plenty of dramas like this in our domestic entertainment industry.

They launched a massive pre-launch campaign, putting in a lot of effort and organizing numerous events.

When it aired, it had high initial popularity, but it quickly stalled at a certain point and just couldn't go any higher.

This is especially true for dramas adapted from major IPs; the bigger the IP, the more likely this is to happen.

For example, a TV series adapted from a certain matchmaker.

Before it aired, just looking at the IP and the cast... it was a sure thing!
After it aired... it became incredibly popular at the beginning, and within two days, it was a huge hit.

As for why this is the case, the reason is very simple.

They don't value the content of TV dramas.

They focused all their energy on assembling the cast and how to promote the show, and the plot was completely messed up.

Fans of the original work were dissatisfied, so naturally they couldn't watch it anymore.

Ma Xun already knew that Zhang Dahuzi would definitely make all sorts of changes to "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," such as the plot involving Murong Fu and the plot involving Qiao Feng added at the beginning.

Also, Zhang Dahuzi himself got to experience acting, playing the role of Wang Jiantong, the leader of the Beggars' Sect.

Although there were only two shots, it was still somewhat bizarre.

Not only him, but the director of this film also played the role of the Sweeping Monk.

The director is Zhou Xiaowen, the one who directed "The Emperor's Shadow".

These are indeed minor matters, but the sheer number of such minor matters confirms that this seemingly grand production is actually cunning and deceitful.

Of course, it's not entirely without its highlights, considering how long the series is.

Therefore, Ma Xun was actually certain from the beginning that no matter what Jin Yong said, the ratings for this "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" would drop.

Jin Yong's evaluation will only act as a catalyst.

So... is Jin Yong to blame for the drop in ratings?

This can't be blamed on me, Ma Xun.

Anyway, even if it's my fault, I won't admit it.

As for his relationship with Yu Feihong, Ma Xun certainly wouldn't talk about those things.

As the two were chatting, Ma Xun's phone rang.

"I have a phone call coming in, so let's..."

"Wait a minute, I have another question."

"You want to ask me when I'm returning to Beijing?"

"Who asked you that! Humph!"

The stubborn Fairy Jinghong hung up the phone immediately.

But Ma Xun smiled, because he knew he had guessed correctly.

This woman is stubborn, but she's also quite funny.

And the call that just came in... was from Cherie Chung.

"Mrs. Zhong, would you like to call me when you have time?"

Ma Xun's question prompted Zhong Chuhong to retort irritably, "Am I not allowed to call you?"

"You know what I mean, this timing is interesting."

"You're just asking a question you already know the answer to."

"It's about Jiahe, right?"

"They came to me, hoping I could put in a good word for them."

"Could it be that they've discovered...our relationship?"

Ma Xun is quite mischievous; he deliberately added a special tone to the word 'relationship'.

"We're talking about serious matters!" Zhong Chuhong sounded angry, but Ma Xun could tell from her tone.

This woman is being horny.

"How about I come and talk to you?"

"I'll come find you instead."

"That's not good. Let's arrange a place to talk."

"Could it be..."

"It would be best if the media could capture it."

"You are so smart."

How is it smart to let the media capture it?
The reason is simple: this proves that Cherie Chung is working hard.

Although some gossip may circulate, this gossip actually helps to clear their names.

So, not long after, Ma Xun met Cherie Chung at a high-end restaurant in Hong Kong.

Ma Xun arrived early and found a seat by the window.

That's right, this time we want something that doesn't require carrying people on our backs.

He chose this location to see Hong Kong at this moment.

Ma Xun has been to Hong Kong many times.

But this time it's the most special.

Hong Kong used to be a very lively and bustling city, with people coming and going and cars driving very fast.

But now, the depression is visible to the naked eye.

This restaurant only has two or three tables of customers; in the past, it would have been packed.

Although there was no city lockdown, the impact of the pandemic was everywhere.

Well then... I'd better try to negotiate a good price!
“You really know how to choose!”

When Cherie Chung arrived, she spoke as if she were complaining.

Ma Xun understood what she meant and immediately smiled and said, "Let's talk business first."

We're having a serious discussion.

As for any potential rumors or gossip... we're upright and have nothing to fear!

Chung Chu-hung naturally understood Ma Xun's meaning, and sat down opposite him with a smile on her face.

"I believe I don't need to say more about Jiahe's affairs."

Her opening remarks were exactly what Ma Xun had expected.

But Ma Xun was really not in a hurry.

“I spoke with Lin Jianyue on the phone, and I know exactly what he’s up to, but look at the situation in Hong Kong now.”

Pointing out the window.

Chung Chu-hung didn't even need to look, and slowly said, "Many physical businesses are having a hard time right now, but that Young Master Lin Jianyue isn't a fool, he understands what you mean."

"Understand?"

“He knows you’re stalling for time, so…”

"Alright then, what's his bottom line?"

"Well... as you know, they spent a lot of money acquiring Golden Harvest before."

"Lowest price".

"Two billion."

Chung Chor-hung was very cautious when quoting this price.

Ma Xun smiled and asked, "Are you really willing to pay such a large loss?"

How much did they spend to acquire Golden Harvest?

One billion? Or more than one billion?

It probably won't be a billion or so, since there's not much of value left.

Chung Chor-hung brought up something else, "You haven't forgotten what you promised me, have you?"

Ma Xun smiled and nodded, saying, "The CEO of Golden Harvest, of course."

"So……"

"Two hundred million is the most, and all I want now is theaters."

Chung Chor-hung couldn't help but sigh, "You always go to such lengths."

That sigh... was it just for business?
Ma Xun gently stroked Mrs. Zhong's small hand and said, "The restroom in this restaurant is quite nice."

What does this mean?
Chung Chor-hung immediately retorted, "We're talking business here!"

After saying that, she got up to leave... no, she went to the bathroom.

Ma Xun wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he drank another glass of wine before getting up as well...

(End of this chapter)