Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 362 A Lively Summer, The Curtain Falls on a New Era, The First Wife and the Second Wife

The summer TV drama market in 2009 was a veritable gathering of talents.

CCTV launched "My Brother is Shunliu", starring Wang Baoqiang, with his old partner Zhang Guoqiang in a supporting role.

Although the overall quality and reputation of this drama are slightly inferior to its sister series "Soldiers Sortie" and "My Chief and My Regiment", it still achieved excellent results, becoming one of the highest-rated dramas on CCTV this year and a hit on television screens.

Wang Baoqiang's popularity soared thanks to this drama, making him one of the most popular actors today.

When talking about mainland male stars born in the 80s, people always mention Hu Ge and a few other popular young actors, but if we're talking about the most outstanding one right now, it has to be Wang Baoqiang.

Not only is the person popular, but they also have many advantages, which fits the current trend of grassroots rise and makes them extremely popular with the general public.

But so is success, and so is failure.

Wang Baoqiang enjoys high national recognition, but his commercial value and fan base are relatively average. This has led to him being directly classified as a "powerhouse actor," and no one has ever included him among the popular young actors born in the 80s.

Even within Huayi Brothers, his importance ranks after Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Hanyu, Lu Yi, and Su Youpeng. Even Duan Long and Li Chen from "Soldiers Sortie" seem to be more valued than him.

Ultimately, many people still believe that Wang Baoqiang's success today is due to luck, and that he is a functional actor.

Now, thanks to characters like Xu Sanduo, Shunliu, and Shagen, as well as popular grassroots figures, he's doing quite well.

Two years later, when the hype dies down, his image and acting roles will be limited, people will get tired of seeing him, and he will fade into obscurity, his career development will be far less successful than those actors who have both good looks and acting skills.

Not only Huayi Brothers thought so, but Yan Li also once felt the same way.

There have been similar actors in the industry before. Although few have become as popular as Wang Baoqiang, they all follow the same pattern: they are popular for a few years and then fade away. If they are lucky, they may be able to gain a foothold in the industry and continue to have roles, but they can never compare to their peak.

In terms of career, another point is that those who rise from humble beginnings often have a less than ideal character.

The phrase "suddenly rich from poverty" sounds unpleasant, but there's some truth to it.

People acquire wealth that is inconsistent with their own understanding and temperament for various reasons, and often squander it all because of their own understanding and temperament.

Even Yan Li himself broadened his horizons, improved himself, and avoided many pitfalls thanks to the system; otherwise, he might have failed halfway through.

Therefore, even if there are no problems in one's career, personal and life issues may cause trouble, and one's glory may fade away.

There are far too many people in the industry who become famous overnight, become arrogant and reckless, or get targeted, hunted, and deceived, ultimately suffering a major setback.

It wasn't until the system triggered some future intelligence related to Wang Baoqiang that Yan Li began to view him in a different light.

He misjudged; there really is an honest person in the entertainment industry!

Well, "dutiful" isn't quite the right word. Wang Baoqiang isn't the kind of honest man who won't utter a word even if you beat him with a stick. You should say he knows his limits, respects others, keeps his bottom line, and has a relatively high moral standard.

In the glamorous and tempting entertainment industry, it is truly remarkable that a child from a rural area could achieve this.

Yan Li quite admired it. This film, "My Brother is Called Shunliu," was produced by Xiaoma Benteng, with Yi An also participating in the investment and being responsible for distribution.

Besides this drama, Yi An has also invested in and produced other dramas this year.

"Chinese Paladin 3" is a production by Tangren Media, starring Hu Ge and Yang Mi.

"Locking Up the Autumn" is produced by Yu Zheng Studio and stars Yang Rong.

Yi An produced three dramas: "Xue Dingshan's Expedition to the West" and "Little Aunt Duohe".

In addition, Yi An is responsible for distributing three other dramas, including "My Youth, Who Decides?" directed by Zhao Baogang.

In one summer, Yi An invested in and produced six TV series and distributed nine TV series. This is the strength of Yi An in the TV drama field today.

However, when it comes to TV dramas, we can't just look at the quantity; we also need to look at the quality, and Yi An has also excelled in this regard.

"My Brother is Called Shunliu" became a huge hit first, followed by "Locking Up the Autumn" which topped the charts for nearly two weeks, and was once considered the most popular TV series on Hunan TV during the summer.

The most regrettable thing is that "Meteor Shower" came out of nowhere. Although it was criticized by various media and netizens as a terrible drama, its ratings were incredibly high, and it could almost compete for the hottest drama of this summer.

Its competitor was "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3".

Thanks to Yi An's distribution, this drama skipped local channels and premiered directly on Jiangsu Satellite TV.

In terms of viewership ratings, while "Chinese Paladin 3" did well during the summer season, it wasn't the best. It didn't even manage to crack the top three.

But it's incredibly popular, especially online, with a dramatic increase in popularity compared to other shows in the same period.

For example, several theme songs and background music from this drama have dominated major music streaming platforms and charts, demonstrating their widespread influence.

Its Weibo rating even approached 8.5 at one point. Although it was not the highest-rated TV series during the summer season, it had the most ratings, with nearly 50 reviews. Since the launch of Weibo ratings, it has been among the top-rated shows.

Note that this is a Weibo movie rating; Weibo ratings and Douban ratings are two different things.

The former's size and user base far surpass those of the latter.

Moreover, the mechanisms are different. On Douban, you have to search or use currently popular rating methods, which is more troublesome.

Because Weibo covets the traffic of these popular dramas, it actively encourages users to rate and comment on them in order to promote and attract discussion. It even holds events from time to time to collect ratings.

For example, gather all the movies and TV series from the summer season together, then encourage users to rate them, and at the end of the year, conduct a year-end review and hold a year-end vote and rating event.

In short, the number of people rating on Weibo is simply incomparable to that on Douban.

Unless it's a niche film or TV show that's highly praised on Douban, most films and TV shows have two to three times more ratings on Weibo than on Douban. If it's a popular film or TV show, it's more popular on Weibo, sometimes by several times or even more than ten times.

A large number of voters translates to a large influence, and based on this, Weibo ratings have become more valuable and important than Douban ratings.

Especially when it comes to TV dramas and movies, many people refer to Weibo ratings. Douban has gradually become a platform for recommending niche films and books, as well as some professional film reviews, taking a high-end and professional approach and leaving the general public's opinions to Weibo.

Even so, it wasn't particularly smooth, because some film critics and fans would also post in-depth film reviews on Weibo.

Douban offers small-circle discussions and a pure atmosphere, while Weibo attracts followers and generates revenue through traffic.

It's just a matter of copying and pasting; playing on both platforms won't interfere with anything.

So now Douban is in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Commercialization will change the platform's ecosystem, affect core loyal fans, and eliminate the current core selling points.

However, without commercial development, if the platform continues to operate in this self-contained, isolated manner, how will it profit and survive? Sooner or later, it will become a dead end.

It will be a success!

The success of Weibo has also been accompanied by the decline, mediocrity, and even closure of many other platforms, such as Tianya, Douban, and blogs, which are all "victims".

The number of ratings on Weibo also reflects the popularity of the drama "Chinese Paladin 3" on the platform.

With constant trending topics and numerous discussions, Hu Ge and other lead actors have all seen varying degrees of increase in followers.

However, since most of the cast members in "Meteor Shower" were newcomers who started from scratch, their fan growth seemed more impressive.

Even so, Hu Ge and the others benefited greatly, especially during the second Weibo Male God competition that started this summer. Hu Ge consistently ranked in the top three during the preliminary rounds and easily advanced to the main competition.

If this trend continues, unless Hugo encounters a favorite to win the championship early on, his chances of reaching the semi-finals are not low, and he is not without hope of winning the championship or runner-up.

In comparison, Yang Mi, the female lead, is not as outstanding as the other students, but she has powerful backers.

She already had a certain level of popularity, and Yi An further promoted her. There were even rumors that she and Hu Ge developed feelings for each other while filming, creating a scandal and a romantic pairing that greatly boosted her profile.

Among the four rising stars that Tencent has selected, Yang Mi is practically guaranteed to be one of them. In fact, some people are even starting to try and piggyback on Liu Yifei's fame.

Two beauties born in 85!

Regardless of whether they are a good match or not, the old rule still applies: first, lay the groundwork and create momentum. As long as Yang Mi's career develops well and she becomes well-known, even if they are not a good match, they will be.

Besides Hu Yang, Liu Shishi and Tang Yan, who also performed well, received widespread attention.

Yi'an wasn't the only one eager to discover new talent; everyone had similar thoughts, though the intensity and pace varied.

However, Liu Shishi is very difficult to recruit; Mr. Cai from Tangren Media looks at her like she's his own eyeball.

In the beginning of "Chinese Paladin 3", she considered promoting Liu Shishi, and later thought about Tang Yan. Yi An took action and Yang Mi was brought in.

President Cai knows what's going on. Yi An isn't Rong Xinda, and she absolutely can't poach Yang Mi. It's already quite considerate that she's not trying to poach Liu Shishi instead.

Tang Yan is no pushover either. She signed with Orange Sky Entertainment early on and is now famous. It's rumored that she's going to lead a team to form the so-called "Orange Sky Seven Princesses".

Orange Sky is a force to be reckoned with, but it depends on who you compare it to. In any case, Tangren can't steal talent from you.

Therefore, President Cai took a lot of care about Liu Shishi, and after the hit broadcast of "Chinese Paladin 3", he basically decided to make Liu the leading lady of Tangren Media.

With Tangren's top male and female stars, Yang Mi and Tang Yan, who are both rising stars promoted by Yi An and Orange Sky Entertainment, and the second male lead Huo Jianhua, a popular actor in Taiwan, "Chinese Paladin 3" is definitely a top-notch star-making and star-raising force.

In addition, because "Locking Up the Autumn" was well-received, Yang Rong, who had previously won the annual TV ratings championship with "The Difficult Love of a Diamond Bachelor," also became one of the most popular young actresses.

However, he is very low-key. Because of Yan Li, he doesn't accept any events or endorsements, and only acts in movies and plays, or goes on vacation.

Such exposure is definitely unhealthy for celebrities.

This has resulted in Yang Rong having a decent reputation, but her popularity and current status are somewhat lacking compared to other artists of the same level, though Yang Rong doesn't seem to care too much about it.

She even turned down a major drama role that Yu Zheng wanted to give her while the iron was hot, and went to rehearse a play with the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center instead.

Putting everything else aside, Yu Zheng, as the studio owner and old classmate, treated Yang Rong quite well; if she wanted to film, she could, and if she didn't, so be it.

Of course, the fact that Boss Yan had given instructions was also an important reason.

"Xue Dingshan's Expedition to the West" and "Little Aunt Duohe" performed relatively poorly. They had some influence and achievements, but they weren't very popular. They were just average.

The released drama "My Youth, My Choice" was alright, but there were too many competitive dramas during the summer season, so it didn't stand out much.

Lu Yi, the male lead who signed with Huayi Brothers and was poised to compete with Huang Xiaoming for the top spot, has already visibly started to fall behind.

Other popular mainland actors born in the 70s include Nie Yuan and Yin Xiaotian from Ciwen Media, who are also showing promise. Zhou Jie from Orange Sky Entertainment is in a mess due to a car accident and other reasons. Ren Quan seems to be just drifting along. Huang Haibing's momentum has also faded.

Currently, the four top leaders that Yi An and his team initially promoted are still steadily improving.

The two most threatening ones following closely behind are Rong Xinda's Chen Kun and Yi An's Qiao Zhenyu.

With the rise to fame or emergence of post-80s actors such as Wang Baoqiang, Hu Ge, Wen Zhang, and Du Chun, and the influx of young actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the mainland, their time is running out.

...

But Yan Li has plenty of time.

Throughout the summer season, Yan Li Yi'an was constantly on the go between Weibo and her work. Yi'an's dramas and movies boosted Weibo's traffic, and Weibo's traffic, in turn, supported Yi'an's film and television productions.

According to Yi An, Weibo is like an outsourced publicity department, and Weibo also regards Yi An as an unofficial content department.

Yan Li was the direct link between the two parties. During the first summer after the share swap between Weibo and Yi An, he personally contacted and coordinated the cooperation between the two parties, and then explored and formulated some fixed cooperation models.

Besides Weibo and Yi'an, Tudou.com, which also underwent a share swap, is also within the scope of the discussion.

However, because Tudou.com is not under Yan Li's control and the current TV drama market is still dominated by TV stations, Tudou.com's presence is not very high.

But Yan Li still values ​​Tudou.com very much.

Television stations remain the main players in the market, but the rise of video websites is already becoming increasingly apparent.

Yan Li, holding Yi An's distribution data, has clearly seen that the online broadcasting rights are rising rapidly.

Two or three years ago, a popular TV series only cost a few thousand yuan per episode, and very few cost over ten thousand yuan.

Even with the intentional hype to break records, blockbuster dramas like "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" were only priced at 100 million yuan for the entire series, which is about 2 to 3 yuan per episode.

Although this situation is rather unique, it has stimulated the online streaming copyright market to some extent.

Meanwhile, Yan Li's Yi'an Media and LeTV's aggressive acquisition of copyrights forced websites like Youku and Tudou to enter the fray, which also influenced price trends to some extent.

This has led to a more than tenfold increase in the current online streaming market compared to the previous two years.

The average price is over 3 per episode, with popular dramas starting at 5 per episode, and some particularly popular or high-performing dramas costing 8 to 10 per episode.

This figure is incomparable to the hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan per episode charged by television stations.

But don't forget, just two or three years ago, an episode only cost a few thousand yuan. At this rate of development, video websites will soon be charging hundreds of thousands of yuan per episode.

Tudou.com and Youku can't afford to burn money right now, so they are relatively restrained, spending only tens of millions or hundreds of millions of yuan on copyright purchases each year.

However, both companies are currently preparing for an IPO. If the IPO is successful and they raise enough funds, coupled with the increasingly stringent copyright policies, it will inevitably be a fierce, money-burning battle.

The market follows money; whoever provides the most money is the boss.

When video websites offer higher prices than television stations, the entire film and television industry will likely side with them.
Even for Weibo, which requires a large number of film and television stars, Tudou.com's importance increased significantly at that time.

It can be said that the era of internet streaming media replacing traditional television stations has already begun.

If you can keep up, you can continue to enjoy the good life.

If you can't keep up, you're doomed.

While Yi An's TV drama department and distribution department were basking in the glory of this year's summer season, and were feeling quite pleased with their film department and cinema department, little did they know that Yan Li had already been considering a restructuring plan for the two departments.

The TV drama department is fine for now; there's no need for major changes. Even with the rise of video websites, there will still be a need for drama production to provide content.

The distribution department, especially the TV drama distribution staff, had to plan ahead.

With the large-scale decline of television stations in the future, there will only be a few platforms left, and they will most likely prioritize cooperating with Tudou.com, so there's absolutely no need to use so many distribution staff. Yan Li felt that the people in the distribution department had made contributions to the company, and he didn't want to just fire them when the time came.

Therefore, we will start planning now to continuously reorganize and weaken the distribution department, and send some of its key personnel to film distribution or advertising departments, so that we can more smoothly and peacefully embrace the changes of the times.

In August, Yan Li attended the premiere of "Nightclub".
Compared to her overwhelming success in the television drama field, Yi An has been relatively low-key during this year's summer movie season.

The main focus was on the National Day holiday season, and several blockbuster films took up a lot of energy and money. The integration of Yi'an with the cinema department also caused a lot of delays.

So this summer, only two movies were released, both of which were low-budget films.

"Nightclub" is one of them, and there is also a Hong Kong crime film called "The Chase" starring Julian Cheung, Qiao Zhenyu, Zhou Yiwei, and Wang Ou.

The latter is an original screenplay by Yi An, and the director is Dante Lam, who was recommended to Yan Li by the intelligence system.

The movie's story isn't complicated. Julian Cheung plays a policeman, Wang Ou is Cheung's superior, Qiao Zhenyu plays a refined villain, Zhou Yiwei is an undercover agent, and there's a group of veteran actors.

In the story, it was originally a police-catching-thief, cat-and-mouse game, but then the situation reversed. Wang Ou was actually the bad guy, Zhou Yiwei was killed, and Zhang Zhilin was framed. The situation became a mouse-and-cat game, but the protagonist still managed to turn the tables and win in the end.

The biggest highlight of this movie is the plot twist, with the hunter and the hunted switching places, and some emotional scenes interspersed throughout.

With an investment of approximately 15 million yuan, the film was released in July and has currently grossed nearly 35 million yuan at the box office. It is expected to gross over 45 million yuan.

Taking other benefits into account, you definitely won't lose money, but you also won't make much money.

Yi An was somewhat disappointed with the result, but it was still acceptable, since it was more of a trial run.

Judging from the film's performance, Julian Cheung, Wang Ou, and Qiao Zhenyu's box office carrying ability is only average, and the casting was somewhat flawed, with too many mainland actors in the lead roles, which made some viewers who came for Hong Kong films feel out of place.

At the same time, director Dante Lam is capable, but it's unclear whether he hasn't fully matured yet or lacks experience.

At least in commercial films, he hasn't yet reached the level that the system recommended to Yan Li.

However, Dante Lam is quite good at training actors. His previous film "The Witness" earned Nick Cheung the Best Actor award at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, and he is also a strong contender for the Golden Horse Award.

Julian Cheung gave a commendable performance in "The Fugitive," while Wang Ou and Qiao Zhenyu also received considerable positive feedback.

In comparison, the preview screenings of "Nightclub" received higher ratings, and Yan Li attended the premiere when he had time.

Well, another reason is that the female lead in "Nightclub" is Yang Mi.

With the immense popularity of "Chinese Paladin 3", her status rose accordingly, and many people came to support her.

Four members of the Teddy Sisters group came, led by Qin Lan herself. Dong Xuan also came, along with Guan Yue and several of Yang Mi's classmates to cheer them on. Yan Li came over to check on them just in case.

Yan Li arrived a little early, so he talked with director Yang Qing and lead actor Xu Zheng while observing the scene.

Dong Xuan appeared first, Yan Li didn't move, and Yang Mi went straight to greet them: "Sister Xuan, Teacher Guan, Shanshan, Xiaofei, welcome, welcome."

"Congratulations, Mimi! I wish you great box office success."

Dong Xuan's smile looked somewhat forced, for a simple reason: she still wasn't pregnant.

Everything is still normal; it's just bad luck, or maybe it's due to a lot of stress.

While both were trying to conceive, Qin Lan was already showing signs of pregnancy, but Dong Xuan hadn't seen any signs of pregnancy, so she was getting a little anxious.

But the more this is the case, the more important it is not to lose face. That's why she came here specifically to congratulate Yang Mi. Otherwise, Qin Lan would not only gain favor, but might also think that she was afraid and become even more arrogant.

In addition, she had a small matter she wanted to ask Qin Lan in person.

Yang Mi arranged for Dong Xuan and the others to sit down, and after exchanging a few words, Qin Lan and the others arrived.

Dong Xuan, who hadn't even warmed her seat, stood up and strode over, causing Yang Mi to hurriedly look at Yan Li.

The two of them only met today because of her. If something happens, I won't be able to avoid it.

To her relief, Yan Li was clearly prepared, probably having arranged for someone at the entrance. As soon as Qin Lan and the others entered, Yan Li was nearby.

Qin Lan also saw Yan Li, but before she could speak, she caught sight of Dong Xuan walking quickly over and took a step back without making a sound.

Zhao Ke and Liu Yun, the two henchmen beside him, stood guard on either side of him. Li Xiaolu and Dong Xuan had a good relationship, so Li Xiaolu went up to greet them and probe the situation.

Having already gained the upper hand, Qin Lan did not want to clash with Dong Xuan, as evidenced by today's arrangements.

Huo Siyan, who is usually Dong Xuan's biggest lackey and also at odds with her, did not show up. Instead, she brought Li Xiaolu, an acquaintance of Dong Xuan.

Zhao Ke has a good temper and doesn't make enemies. Even her artists are highly loyal. Liu Yun is even more so; he's very righteous. Neither of them has any conflicts with Dong Xuan, and if anything happens, they'll come out to protect her.

In fact, Qin Lan felt that with Yan Li here today, the two of them wouldn't have a fight, and nothing excessive would happen.

But a daughter of a wealthy family shouldn't sit under a dangerous roof. If Dong Xuan gets jealous and throws her head against her stomach without thinking, it would be a huge loss. It's better to be careful.

Qin Lan is clearly suffering from paranoia and overthinking things. Dong Xuan is anxious, but she's not that crazy.

She actually wanted to ask Qin Lan something: "The movie's over, shall I treat you to dinner?"

"Uh……"

Qin Lan was taken aback, and the Teddy Sisters also looked confused.

Is this surrender?
Yan Li, who was standing next to her, roughly understood what Dong Xuan wanted to do. She probably wanted to ask Qin Lan if there was any secret to getting pregnant.

The same seed worked for Qin Lan but not for her, which means Yan Li is not the problem; the problem lies with herself.

Although Yan Li had imitated or even fabricated several poses to show that they were the same as Qin Lan's, Dong Xuan did not believe him because they were ineffective, and even suspected that Qin Lan had secretly found a secret technique.

It's not appropriate to discuss this over the phone, so Dong Xuan wanted to arrange a private meeting with Qin Lan.

As a result, Qin Lan was wary of her and ignored her usual invitations, fearing that Dong Xuan was deliberately coming to ambush Qin Lan this time.

He even changed his seat to sit next to Qin Lan because he was afraid she would run away, which scared Yang Mi so much that she pulled Li Xiaolu, who was close to both of them, to stay by her side.

However, Qin Lan realized that Dong Xuan's attitude was relatively calm and she was not so nervous. The two even chatted and laughed while discussing the Weibo male god voting.

Yan Li has made it to the top four in this year's Weibo Male God competition, facing off against Zhou Jielun, Hu Ge, and Andy Lau.

Considering Yan Li's popularity on Weibo and his various special auras, and given that this isn't the first time he's won, his chances of winning are actually quite high.

If Yan Li manages to snag the Weibo heartthrob before Fan Xiaopang does, that sly fox will be utterly humiliated.

Although Qin and Dong are allies, they each have their own agendas. One of the topics that allows them to get along harmoniously is to mock Fan Xiaopang together.

At the beginning of the year, Weibo goddess Fan Xiaopang lost to Xiao Yanzi, and Qin Dong smiled much better than those four actresses and two soldiers.

After all, while they were gloating over Fan Xiaopang's misfortune, they were also unhappy that Xiaoyanzi had won first place, while Chairman Qin and his wife were simply happy.

Once "Nightclub" premiered, the two focused on watching the movie and occasionally discussed the plot.

The plot of "Nightclub" is a typical example of using identity mismatch to create comedic effect. The jokes and highlights mainly come from Xu Zheng and a few other funny characters, while Yang Mi and the male lead don't have much presence.

However, as the only pretty female character, Yang Mi possesses a pure and beautiful image, which makes her somewhat memorable.

Bang bang bang~
After the movie ended, the guests and audience members applauded and cheered, and some guests even gave speeches in support.

After a while, the premiere ended. Some people went out to dinner and get together with the cast and crew, while others left early.

Qin Lan and Dong Xuan were both leaving. They said goodbye to Yang Mi and left the venue one after the other, but then they got a little awkward in the parking lot.

Dong Xuan wanted to talk to Qin Lan privately, but Qin Lan hesitated, and Liu Yun was also worried.

Just as they were facing off, Yan Li appeared and said, "You guys go first, I'll take them both home."

With Yan Li personally accompanying me, there's nothing to worry about; worrying won't change anything.

After dismissing the driver, Yan Li drove himself, with Qin Lan and Dong Xuan sitting in the back.

"Would you two like to talk now, or find a place to eat and talk?"

The Maybach 62 has a partition in the middle, with electrically controlled windows and a television to separate the driver's cabin from the passenger area, providing privacy and relative sound insulation.

If Dong Xuan didn't want Yan Li to hear anything, she would control the partition, turn on the TV, and lower the volume of their conversation, making it almost impossible for Yan Li to hear anything clearly.

"Let's talk here."

Qin Lan was still a little nervous and didn't plan to stay with Dong Xuan for long. Dong Xuan didn't waste any words either, and at the same time, she didn't avoid Yan Li and asked directly.

"..."

Qin Lan then understood what was going on, and said with a hint of pride, "I don't have any secret, it's just that the land is good."

Yan Li added, "Seeds are fine too."

Dong Xuan was heartbroken and didn't want to talk. So, you two are a match made in heaven, but I'm not good enough for you?

Seeing her like this, Qin Lan, who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, advised her: "It's only been less than two months, it's normal not to get pregnant yet. It's just not meant to be, take it slow."

Yan Li also advised, "I told you, it's just a matter of luck. Keep a calm mindset. If you keep thinking about it every day, the pressure will be too much and it will actually have a real impact."

Dong Xuan understood, but this wasn't something that could be easily resolved.

Now it's her turn to get pregnant, and Qin Lan isn't. See if Qin Lan is worried. If neither of them gets pregnant, then Yan Li will start to doubt himself.

"Could you help me recall the specific circumstances of that day? I'll give you my opinion."

Unwilling to give up, Dong Xuan inquired about the details, which made Qin Lan restless. She looked at Qin Lan as if she were a lunatic.

"Are you OK?"

Dong Xuan waved her hand defiantly: "What are you afraid of? It's not like we haven't seen this before."

The two had been tricked quite a bit in Hong Kong before, and during the Spring Festival, they even played mahjong with Fan Xiaopang, making it a four-person game.

What haven't we seen? What don't we know? We've even been intimate with each other; there's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

Qin Lan was still a little awkward, saying one thing and meaning another.

Back then, everyone was the same, not caring about losing face. Now, it's her talking and Dong Xuan listening, and the feeling is completely different.

"Go ask Yan Li."

Yan Li stopped the car and waited for the red light at the intersection without turning his head: "You think she didn't ask me? I told her, but she didn't believe me."

Dong Xuan said that Yan Li is a rough man, while Qin Lan is more sensitive. Moreover, as a woman, she can talk about deeper feelings and give her some ideas.

Qin Lan really couldn't hold back anymore. She couldn't just describe it plainly; she also had to express her feelings, which she simply couldn't do.

Therefore, Yan Li suggested, "Why don't we send Qin Lan to your place so she can personally give one-on-one guidance?"

"Pooh."

Qin Lan couldn't help but spit on Li: "You can even come up with such a terrible idea? Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. No way."

Dong Xuan was genuinely anxious and even started to consider the feasibility, thinking that it wasn't impossible to give it a try.

"Crazy, really crazy."

Qin Lan couldn't help but mutter. In the past, the one of the three of them who resisted being together the most was Dong Xuan, but now, in order to get pregnant, they actually put up with this.

"Well, I can't say it out loud. I'll text you later. If it works out, great; if not, you'll have to figure it out yourself."

Qin Lan took a step back and decided to communicate via text. Although it was still embarrassing, it was better than talking face-to-face.

"Thank you."

Dong Xuan expressed her sincere gratitude. Although the two were allies, they did not cooperate on everything.

Qin Lan could have easily stood by and done nothing, which would have benefited her and allowed her to make a fool of herself. However, Qin Lan still endured her discomfort and helped her.

"It's alright, the eldest son's wife should help the second son's wife."

Qin Lan was willing to help, partly because she was a good person, but also because she had calculated that, regardless of whether it would be helpful or not, even if it did help, the time interval between their pregnancies would be almost two months.

Even if Dong Xuan were to give birth prematurely, she wouldn't be able to catch up with this interval, so she might as well help her out and do a good deed for herself and her child.

Upon hearing this, Dong Xuan's lips twitched slightly for a moment, but she held back.

Qin Lan wanted to laugh when she saw this. Although Fan Xiaopang was strong, the newcomer was doomed.

Even Fan Xiaopang herself acknowledges this, but she only acknowledges the order of events, not that Chairman Qin is above her or what kind of "official wife" she is.

Even now, Mr. Qin and Mr. Dong still disagree on who is the real "original wife".

Qin Lan believed that Dong Xuan and Yan Li had broken up, and that she had successfully taken over, therefore she was Yan Li's rightful girlfriend.
Dong Xuan believes that her breakup with Yan Li was just a joke, and that they had already gotten back together by then. Qin Lan, Fan Xiaopang, and others were just later additions to the group.

Even though the two have formed an alliance, they still hold differing views on this issue, and it remains temporarily shelved.

Today, Qin Lan seized the opportunity and, half-jokingly, brought two wives, a first wife and a second wife, truly taking advantage of the situation.

Yan Li couldn't stand it anymore and coughed, "What first wife and second wife? They're all feudal remnants."

Qin Lan blinked, looking somewhat innocent, and said, "I was talking about the children. When they get married in the future, won't they be the first wife or the second wife?"

Having the firstborn is great; you can play word games with it—it can mean being the first wife or the eldest daughter-in-law…

　My condition is a bit off; yesterday it was 2000, I'll have to do better tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)