Huayu 2021: Isn’t he in the technology field?

Chapter 149 The Cruelty of Capital's Star-Making Game

1:30 PM, Shanghai Metropolitan Convention and Exhibition Center.

As the inner stage suddenly lit up, eleven pairs of silver boots appeared in the center of the stage, shattering the light and shadow in unison.

A loud, rhythmic beat rang out, and dynamic light effects dazzled the eyes.

"See that? The girl in the center is Yang Chaoyue. To her left and right are Wu Xuanyi and Meng Meiqi, who are also artists of Mr. Du behind us. These three are the most popular in this group."

Offstage, Yang Wei gave Jiang Qing a science lesson.

"You used to be just loafing around doing nothing, so why are you spouting nonsense now?"

Jiang Qing suddenly realized something was wrong and looked at Yang Wei beside her.

How come this guy is talking about these things so knowledgeably now?
Yang Wei grinned and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, it's all thanks to you that I'm being given an important position by the company. When you're in this position, you always have to keep learning and improving!"

He raised an eyebrow smugly.

"And the old man said he'd give me a yacht at the end of the year if I did well, hehe!"

Jiang Qing smiled. So that's what happened. He had been wondering how this guy could change his ways so suddenly.

Actually, Yang Wei is quite capable. The fact that he was able to get into USTC on his own proves a lot. It's just that he's too lazy and comes from a well-off family, so he can never muster any interest in doing anything.

However, it now seems to be doing things quite well.

After his reflection, he turned his gaze back to the stage, and his eyes narrowed slightly at the corner of his eye.

Yang Chaoyue's movement of raising her hand to put on the earpiece was noticeably a beat slow. As she turned around, the pink and purple highlighted wig swished onto Wu Xuanyi's face. The latter caught the unexpected move perfectly and used her fingertips to flick the wig in a beautiful parabola.

These two seem like they're not a good match in terms of their professional skills.

Meng Meiqi's high notes were extremely penetrating, precisely hitting the gaps in the electronic reverberation. The rhythm of her black leather gloves tapping the microphone drew the attention of several people in the front row.

"Did you see Meng Meiqi's diamond waist chain?"

Yang Wei covered his mouth with the flowchart.

“We at Penguin just spent 800,000 yuan on her personal styling.”

He pointed to Fu Jing, who was making a wave motion.

"That microphone stand, studded with rhinestones, was also made at great expense, but unfortunately they didn't live up to expectations. We spent more than two years trying to make them stand out."

Yang Wei smacked his lips.

Jiang Qing noticed that Wu Xuanyi always aimed precisely at the spotlight, her facial expressions were exceptionally well-managed, and the alluring charm in her eyes was captivating.

Meng Meiqi's high kick was perfectly executed, but the investors in the front row were all looking down at their stock trading software. He could vaguely hear the bald investor discussing Liu Yifei's new jewelry endorsement with the person next to him.

"Last year, we spent money on three variety shows and seven film and television OSTs for their group."

Yang Wei took out his phone and brought up the data interface.

"And what happened? They lost a fortune! Before Liu Yifei's 'Dream of Splendor' even started filming, advertisers were already lining up with cash in hand. Can you believe it? We gave them a chance, but they were useless!"

He gestured with his chin towards Dilraba, who was touching up her makeup in the front row.

"That woman's GMV exceeded 2 billion last year, and now investors are chasing after her to feed her. Unlike these people on stage, they can't even become popular even if you feed them dragon meat."

Jiang Qing nodded gently as she looked at his disgusted expression.

From an investment perspective, it's frustrating when the input and return are disproportionate.

As purple smoke exploded on stage, Yang Chaoyue suddenly forgot her lines.

Jiang Qing saw her visibly flustered expression, while Meng Meiqi had subtly taken a half-step, trying to shield her teammate from her mistake with her body.

However, few people in the audience were watching their performance, and no one cared about the mistake.

"We at Tencent gave the female lead role in 'Douluo Continent' to Wu Xuanyi, but the audience is all criticizing the cheap special effects and her poor acting."

Yang Wei sipped his oolong tea with a loud, slurping sound.

"That drama even aired on CCTV, and the ratings were pretty good. However, after it finished airing, this actress not only didn't rise in status, but she also completely lost the possibility of playing the lead role in a big-budget production again. As for Yang Chaoyue..."

He smiled and shook his head, feeling disgusted even to say another word.

The so-called "lucky koi" has indeed brought her good fortune, earning her a lot of money in the past two years, but it has also caused a huge blunder for the platform and the production company.

"If any of them could carry a drama like Liu Yifei, or have Dilraba's ability to sell products, this crappy stage wouldn't even have enough people to go solo, they should have already gone solo."

Yang Wei summarized, and Jiang Ting could tell that Penguin was clearly disappointed with their combination.

When the eleven people on stage struck their ending pose, scattered applause rang out from below the stage. A representative from an advertising company in the front row didn't even look up the whole time, constantly turning back to chat with Dilraba about something, laughing in a completely worthless way.

"Did you see the jade bracelet on Liu Yifei's wrist?"

Yang Wei gestured towards the second row.

"When the brand heard that she had worn it, they immediately put a multi-million dollar endorsement contract into her van."

He opened his phone's photo album.

"Dilraba's studio released photos of her look this morning. The tassel earrings she's wearing have already sold over 100,000 units on e-commerce platforms. That's what makes her worthy of being a darling of investors."

Jiang Qing glanced at Liu Yifei, who was adjusting her earrings. She simply raised her hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, and three cameras immediately followed, illuminating the eager smile of the vice president of Huace Media next to her.

Meanwhile, the girls on stage were bowing to take their bows, their eleven shadows shrinking into blurry gray spots in the closing lights.

"The internet's star-making process is like raising a venomous insect."

Yang Wei rolled up the process booklet into a tube and tapped it against his palm as he spoke eloquently. “Every year, Tencent promotes new young actresses and actors. For example, we will provide resources to outstanding supporting actresses and actors in a certain drama, and give them some B-level and A-level productions as leads to test the waters. If the feedback is good, we will invest in several larger productions in succession to see if we can create a top star, and then deeply bind them to us to maximize our profits.”

He paused here, glancing at the Rocket Girls who were walking down the side of the stage.

"This is called buying stocks, and it's obvious that this group is a case of failed stock buying. From now on, they can only get some second-rate resources. However, compared to most artists, they are already relatively lucky. At least they have experienced the joy of being showered with money."

Jiang Qing gave a soft "hmm," and after listening, he understood the current internet star-making model.

It has to be said, it's cruel and realistic.

Even if Yang Wei hadn't said anything, because of Dudu and Xiaoye, he had recently taken the time to research the current state of the entertainment industry.

In people's minds, early superstars all became famous through hard work and struggle. Because the efficiency of information dissemination was too low, they could only slowly build their fame through a large number of works.

Later, the popularity of talent shows provided an unprecedented shortcut for ordinary people to realize their dreams of becoming stars. However, due to the limitations of the frequency of broadcasts and the viewing patterns of the audience, the path for ordinary people to become stars became a "single-plank bridge for thousands of troops".

In today's era of mass entertainment, everyone can receive entertainment content anytime every day. This not only greatly reduces the time cost for ordinary people to become stars, but also makes it not difficult to become a superstar or internet celebrity in a certain sense, as long as one has personalized content.

In terms of earning power, they are no less than so-called celebrities, and may even be better.

For example, the live-streaming e-commerce boom that emerged in the last two years due to the pandemic has produced top-tier live-streaming hosts like Li Jiaqi and Viya, whose earning power is even more exaggerated than that of many ordinary listed companies.

And it's the same in any industry: the top players dominate.

Look at the Rocket Girls who were ignored just now, and then look at Liu Yifei and Dilraba who were surrounded by stars in the audience. That's the difference.

Capital always chases profits, and only stars who can make money for them are good stars.

Conversely, when capital sees no hope of making money from you, the lucky ones will simply abandon you, while the unlucky ones will make you return double their investment according to some betting agreement.

While Jiang Qing was lost in thought, Han Zijie had already gone on stage to speak at the host's invitation.

Unlike the Rocket Girls, no one played on their phones after he went on stage. Everyone looked at the stage respectfully, smiling and clapping.

Jiang Qing was no exception, and clapped her hands lightly as well.

Soon, Han Zijie got into the zone and began to elaborate on Tencent's series of actions for the second half of the year and even next year.

Han Zijie proposed that starting in August, Tencent Video will launch several new works in the innovation section, such as the sitcom "No. 1, Beiwei Road" in cooperation with Deyun Club. The lead actors Meng Hetang and Zhou Jiuliang also appeared at the event and gave a crosstalk-style recommendation of the series.

The appearance of the two reminded Jiang Qing, who was in the audience, of Guo Qilin. They hadn't met since the recording of the show, and he planned to visit Deyun Club when he had some free time in Beijing next time.

He's lived two lives, and he's never actually heard a crosstalk performance live.

On stage, Han Zijie continued speaking, announcing several projects, including web series, online movies, TV series, and movies.

During his eloquent speech, Jiang Qing noticed that Wu Xuanyi and Meng Meiqi, who had just performed on stage, had changed their outfits and came down to the audience, sitting down with Du Hua and Cheng Xiao.

At this moment, Han Zijie on the stage suddenly mentioned his name.

"In addition, Tencent will be launching two sci-fi masterpieces within a year. Among them, 'The Beginning,' created by the Daylight Entertainment team, has already wrapped up filming yesterday. I believe everyone here has been paying attention to it."

As Han Zijie finished speaking, a murmur of discussion arose in the room, and many people followed his gaze to Jiang Qing's location.

"Haha, yes, I believe many of you have noticed that our lead actress, President Jiang Qing, from 'The Beginning,' is also here today. President Jiang, would you like to say hello to everyone?"

Han Zijie, holding the microphone, smiled and asked Jiang Qing, who was sitting below the stage.

A staff member handed Jiang Qing a microphone at the right moment, which she politely accepted. She stood up amidst the many scrutinizing gazes.

At this moment, Dilraba and Liu Yifei in the front row looked over with interest, while Cheng Xiao and Wu Xuanyi in the back row also huddled together, whispering to each other as they stared at Jiang Qing's back.

The on-site director switched the camera to the scene at the right time, and three cameras clearly recorded Jiang Qing's every move from different angles.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Jiang Qing calmly raised the microphone.

"Hello everyone, I am Jiang Qing from Wuwen Technology, and also a new actor."

He paused at this point, and the audience immediately erupted in enthusiastic applause.

After all, no one sees him as just a new actor.

"I'm sure everyone is familiar with President Jiang. Since you happen to be here today, could you please recommend your work, 'The Beginning'?"

Han Zijie continued to lead the charge.

"No problem at all."

Jiang Qing readily agreed.

"【The Beginning】This work will subvert everyone's previous understanding of science fiction dramas. I believe that it will definitely drive the popularity of infinite flow works after its release. Please wait and see."

He was concise and to the point, without using many words of praise.

"President Jiang seems very confident!"

Seeing that many people at the scene had not yet reacted, Han Zijie smiled and took over the topic.

"Of course, the only flaw in this drama is probably me. As a new actor, please bear with me."

Jiang Qing shrugged and smiled as she spread her hands.

A burst of good-natured laughter immediately erupted at the scene.

To everyone's surprise, this Mr. Jiang was quite humorous.

Cheng Xiao, sitting in the back row, stared blankly at Jiang Qing's profile for a moment.

She wondered how she could be as composed as him.

He did it as easily as drinking water...

(End of this chapter)