Entertainment: A whirlwind marriage with a fairy-like mother at the start!

Yu Le walked over and casually pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Director Ha, what a show of authority!" Yu Le unscrewed the lid of his thermos and blew on the goji berries floating on the surface.

Ha Wen's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his businesslike demeanor.

"Mr. Yu is joking. It's necessary for work. The script for the Spring Festival Gala must undergo strict review."

Zhao Benshan sat on the sofa, covered his face with his hands, and sighed heavily.

"Mr. Yu, you be the judge." Zhao Benshan looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. "This skit was the result of three months of hard work and over a dozen revisions by my team. Now, Director Ha has cut all the punchlines with a single sentence. How are we supposed to perform this?"

Yu Le reached out his hand.

"Let me see the notebook."

Zhao Benshan handed over the script covered in red circles.

Yu Le flipped it open and glanced at it.

"Is there a problem with the lack of professionalism among single women living alone?" Yu Le read out this line and burst out laughing.

He threw the script back onto the table.

"Director Ha, are you planning to give a legal education lecture on the Spring Festival Gala stage?"

Ha Wen frowned, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mr. Yu, this is CCTV, this is the Spring Festival Gala. We are facing 1.4 billion viewers across the country, and even overseas Chinese. Every line of dialogue must stand up to scrutiny and cannot have any vulgar or pandering tendencies."

Yu Le leaned back in his chair and twirled the thermos in his hand.

"On New Year's Eve, people have been busy all year, and it's not easy for the whole family to get together to make dumplings and watch TV. What do they want to watch?"

"It's fun."

"It's a down-to-earth joke."

"Not your rigid dogma."

Yu Le stared into Ha Wen's eyes.

"The core of comedy is satire and deconstruction. If you remove all the thorns, what's left is just a bowl of bland, tasteless water. Who wants to drink that?"

Ha Wen did not back down.

"Art can originate from life, but it must transcend life. We have a responsibility to elevate the public's aesthetic appreciation, rather than simply pandering to it."

"Pandering?" Yu Le sneered. "Teacher Zhao has been on the Spring Festival Gala stage for over twenty years. Which of the peasant characters he portrayed wasn't a true reflection of the people's hearts? Now you think he's vulgar?"

Zhao Benshan stood up and waved his hand.

"Mr. Yu, please stop talking."

The old man took off his baseball cap, rubbed it in his hand, and spoke with a deep sense of weariness.

"Director Ha, I can't change this script. The elegance you want is something a half-buried old man from the countryside like me can't pull off."

Ha Wen's face darkened.

"Teacher Zhao, what do you mean by this?"

Zhao Benshan put his hat back on and pulled the brim down.

"It means I'm not performing anymore. I'm withdrawing from this year's Spring Festival Gala."

The lounge fell silent instantly.

Even Liu Qianqian, who was standing at the door, widened her eyes in surprise.

Is Zhao Benshan withdrawing from the Spring Festival Gala?

This is absolutely groundbreaking news that could shake the entire entertainment industry across the country.

Ha Wen took a deep breath, his tone still firm.

"Teacher Zhao, have you thought this through? The Spring Festival Gala stage isn't a place anyone can just walk onto or walk off at will. If you back out, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself."

"I'll take responsibility." Zhao Benshan didn't even turn his head, grabbed his coat from the table, and walked out.

"Wait a minute." Yu Le stood up.

He tightened the lid of the thermos and held it in his hand.

He turned to look at Ha Wen.

"Director Ha, since the Spring Festival Gala has such high standards and so many rules, then we at Xianyu Entertainment will not presume to participate."

Ha Wen was stunned.

"Mr. Yu, what do you mean by that?"

Yu Le pointed to Liu Qianqian behind him.

"Sissi's show has been canceled. We're withdrawing."

Ha Wen's expression changed; Liu Qianqian's influence was now extraordinary.

"Mr. Yu, are you joking?"

"I never joke around," Yu Le said calmly.

After saying that, Yu Le didn't look at Ha Wen's ugly face anymore, turned around and walked out of the lounge.

Liu Qianqian quickly followed.

Zhao Benshan walked very slowly down the corridor.

His back was somewhat hunched.

His more than 20-year career on the Spring Festival Gala ended in such a frustrating way.

The old man felt terrible.

"Teacher Zhao," Yu Le called out to him from behind.

Zhao Benshan stopped, turned around, and forced a smile.

"Mr. Yu, thank you for speaking up for me today. But you don't need to drag Liu Qianqian's program into this for my sake. Offending CCTV will make things difficult for you in the future."

Yu Le stepped forward and patted Zhao Benshan on the shoulder.

"Teacher Zhao, the world is vast, and CCTV is not the only stage."

Zhao Benshan gave a wry smile.

"Besides the Spring Festival Gala, what else can ordinary people watch on New Year's Eve?"

"Watch the online Spring Festival Gala," Yu Le said, throwing out four words.

Zhao Benshan was stunned.

"What the heck?"

Yu Le looked at Zhao Benshan.

"On the eve of Chinese New Year, Xianyu Entertainment is preparing to host its own online Spring Festival Gala, which will be broadcast live simultaneously on Douyin and Tencent Video."

"There are no rules or regulations, and no dogmatic preaching."

"Act however you want. Drop any jokes you want, as long as you don't break the law. Even if you cause a huge uproar, I'll cover for you."

A glint of light flashed in Zhao Benshan's cloudy eyes.

But he still hesitated.

"An online Spring Festival Gala? Will anyone watch that?"

"Penguin's entire product line will be used for pop-up ads to drive traffic, and Douyin will be featured on its splash screen. I'll throw another billion into it to give out red envelopes." Yu Le spoke casually, as if he were talking about what to eat for dinner.

"This viewership is definitely no less than that of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala."

Zhao Benshan gasped.

A billion yuan in red envelopes?

Only China's richest man could pull off such a move.

"Teacher Zhao, come and close for me!" Yu Le stretched out his hand. "Let the whole country see what real comedy is all about."

Zhao Benshan looked at Yu Le's outstretched hand.

There was a silence of about ten seconds.

Suddenly, the old man smiled.

He laughed heartily.

He stretched out his calloused hand and gripped Yu Le's hand tightly.

"Alright! Since Mr. Yu thinks so highly of this old man, then I'll go all out! This Lunar New Year's Eve, let's entertain the whole nation online!"

"That felt good." Yu Le withdrew his hand.

"No need to revise the script, just perform it as you initially suggested. For any actors or props you need, contact the Salty Fish Entertainment team directly. There's no budget limit."

Zhao Benshan nodded repeatedly, his earlier gloom vanishing completely.

"Alright! Alright! I'll go back and gather my apprentices for rehearsals right away!"