Bai Lu got scammed, but I became a superstar through e-commerce.

After leaving Huaxia Vision, Qingxiao stood for a moment on the steps at the entrance of the office building.

He took out his phone and looked through the list of projects that hadn't been assigned yet in his notes.

Director Sun's copy hasn't been delivered yet, and Director Zhou is also short of a suitable copy.

He dialed Chen Yu's number: "Director Chen, please inform Director Sun and General Manager Zhou to come to the company tomorrow morning. Also, please print out a copy of the project proposals for 'Peerless Heiress' and 'My Neighbor Can't Sleep' and put them on my desk."

The next morning, Director Sun from Mango TV arrived at the Tianmen Film and Television BJ office first.

When he pushed the door open and came in, Qingxiao was flipping through the scene outline of "Peerless Heiress".

A sweet romance set in ancient times, where a homebody girl is transported into a dating game. The four male leads each have their own unique traits, and the female lead navigates the ancient world with her modern mindset.

Director Sun never underestimates this type of subject matter; the sweeter the drama, the more it tests the density of the dialogue and the control of the rhythm in the script.

"Mr. Sun, come here." Qingxiao pushed the project proposal over, "The Peerless Heiress, a historical romance novel."

Director Sun adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, opened the project proposal to the first page, and didn't speak immediately.

"It's not a large-scale production, but it's a perfect match for Mango TV. Historical romance dramas have the highest success rate in the revenue-sharing genre. The cost is generally controlled at around 10 million per season. It focuses on a specific niche audience and doesn't require big IPs or large productions. As long as you can fully understand and engage female users."

"iQiyi previously aired a similar revenue-sharing drama, which earned over 10 million yuan in revenue within four days of its release and accumulated 66 million yuan in revenue within a year, becoming the top revenue-sharing drama of the year. This is the upper limit of the sweet romance genre—leveraging the highest revenue-sharing returns with the lowest cost."

Director Sun turned to the last page of the project proposal.

The total estimated cost is 12 million. Tianmen Film & Television will contribute its script and production resources as equity, holding 20% ​​of the project's equity. Mango TV will lead the investment.

He went through the numbers in his mind—12 million wasn't a huge sum for Mango TV, but he had really taken to heart the revenue-sharing figures Qingxiao had mentioned earlier.

A historical romance drama without a major IP generated 66 million yuan in revenue in a year, a return rate higher than many big-budget productions.

"Okay. I'll take this project; it'll be a trial run for web series."

He closed the project proposal. "President Qing, last time I said I wanted a larger project, is this one...?"

Before Director Sun could finish speaking, Qingxiao, understanding his meaning, continued, "Director Sun, historical romance dramas are a perfect match for Mango TV's user base. Your platform has a very high percentage of young female users, and they'll love the premise of a homebody girl traveling into a dating game. If it works well, we can make two seasons of 'The Peerless Heiress' and develop it into a series."

"Okay, let's film the first season first. If the data meets expectations after it goes live, the second season will be launched immediately. The revenue sharing model will be the same as the first season, with Tianmen Films responsible for the script and production plan, and Mango TV as the lead investor. The revenue sharing ratio will be fine-tuned based on the actual data after the first season's settlement."

Director Sun nodded in satisfaction and put the project proposal into his briefcase.

The two of them then shook hands in cooperation.

Less than half an hour after Director Sun left, General Manager Zhou arrived.

Qingxiao pushed another project proposal over, the cover of which read "My Neighbor Can't Sleep".

"This is a youth romance drama, targeting the modern urban youth genre. It's a sweet and lighthearted love story about an introverted pianist and a brave girl who heal each other. The production cost is controlled at around eight million. Tianmen Film & Television will contribute the script and production resources at a discounted price, holding a 20% stake. Huaxia Vision is the lead investor."

Mr. Zhou opened the project proposal and read a few pages.

"President Qing, what are your thoughts on the profit prospects for this project?"

"Youthful romance dramas are one of the most stable revenue-sharing genres. The investment is not large, with a production cost of eight million or more, which is equivalent to the budget of a medium-sized online movie for a 24-episode web series. It does not require a big IP or a star-studded cast, but the script is solid and the character design is slightly innovative."

"The protagonist is an autistic genius, not a traditional domineering CEO, and the female lead is proactive and brave but not naive and innocent. This kind of setting hits the emotional pain points of today's young audience. This year, Youku had a similar drama that grossed over 26 million yuan in revenue after its release, ranking first on Youku's A-level drama revenue-sharing list. This is the clearest value verification of the youth romance genre. Huaxia Vision is the lead investor with an 8 million yuan budget. Once the data meets the target, we can immediately start series development."

"Okay. Eight million, not expensive. We'll do it your way." He put the project proposal into his briefcase.

"There's also the campus romance drama 'With You.' We've had preliminary discussions with Youku, and the intention is to co-produce it, with exclusive streaming and partial investment. The cost isn't too high. We can discuss it in more detail when you're interested."

Mr. Zhou nodded, picked up the documents, and left.

In the following days, Qingxiao met with Mr. Lin, the head of Youku's content cooperation department.

In the conference room of Tianmen Film and Television's BJ office, several documents were laid out on the long table—an iQiyi S+ rating for "The Mystic Nine," a co-production agreement for "Story of Yanxi Palace," and a newly printed project proposal for "The Longest Day in Chang'an," with a gold-embossed cover.

Director Lin sat opposite him, his finger pressed on the cover of the project proposal, not yet opened.

She had dealt with Qingxiao several times, and had been following Tianmen Film and Television ever since the online movie "Huangquan" was released.

She knew that Qingxiao had invited her here not to discuss small projects.

"President Lin, the reason I invited you here today is to discuss 'The Longest Day in Chang'an'." Qingxiao pushed the project proposal over.

"The Longest Day in Chang'an, adapted from Ma Boyong's novel, will be directed by Cao Dun. The total investment is expected to be nearly 600 million yuan, exceeding the 300 million yuan cost of 'Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy.' The project planning and art team will build a 70-acre Tang Dynasty city in Xiangshan Film and Television City, recreating the orderly 108 wards of Chang'an from the novel. The investment in set construction alone is expected to be 50 million yuan. The costumes, props, and sets will all be up to film-level standards."

He pushed aside the production agreements for "The Mystic Nine" and "Story of Yanxi Palace"—these two documents were the most important stepping stones today.

"Before 'The Mystic Nine' was released, iQiyi gave it an S+ rating, and it was broadcast simultaneously on Dragon TV's weekly drama slot. 'Story of Yanxi Palace' is a Qing Dynasty female-centric drama, with Huanyu Entertainment as the lead investor, Tianmen Film & Television contributing its script and production resources as equity, and iQiyi as a co-producer. Among Tianmen Film & Television's productions, 'The Mystic Nine' and 'Story of Yanxi Palace' are among the most anticipated top-tier dramas in the industry. Today, I want to bring 'The Longest Day in Chang'an' to Youku for exclusive streaming, targeting the Tang Dynasty historical suspense genre."

Director Lin opened the project proposal and paused for a moment when he reached the section on production scale and budget.

"Six hundred million. Mr. Qing, that's a considerable sum. Currently, the largest historical fantasy dramas in the film and television industry have budgets of 500 million for *Novoland: Eagle Flag*, 500 million for *Ever Night*, and 300 million for *Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy*. *The Longest Day in Chang'an*, with its 600 million budget, is basically the ceiling for film and television investment in my country. The Tang Dynasty city set alone cost 50 million." She looked up at Qing Xiao. "With such a large budget, is there any chance of success?"

This is also the main reason why Qingxiao brought out "The Longest Day in Chang'an".

The investment was huge, 600 million yuan, but the return was even more astonishing, with a total profit of 1 billion yuan.

Such projects can only be outsourced and a stake can be acquired.

"It all depends on how ambitious Youku is."

After nearly two months of negotiations, a result was finally reached.

Qingxiao pulled out a page from the project proposal, which contained Youku's estimated procurement plan.

The purchase price per episode is 12.2 million. Based on the expected number of episodes, the total copyright purchase price is over 500 million, which can cover most of the production costs.

As both the producer and the platform, Youku can adopt a model of shared revenue and shared risks.

Youku first bids to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights, covering the bulk of the production costs. Later, it shares the revenue with the production companies through new member acquisitions and GG revenue from the show.

With this agreement in place, the "The Longest Day in Chang'an" project was finally put on the agenda.

"President Qing, you've put together 'The Mystic Nine' and 'Story of Yanxi Palace' as a production team, and I knew you were no ordinary person. 'The Longest Day in Chang'an' has an investment of nearly 600 million yuan and a record purchase price of 12.2 million yuan per episode. This is not an ordinary drama; it is the web drama with the largest investment in the entire video industry this year."

President Lin showed admiration, took a sip of water, and continued, "These three series will make Tianmen Film and Television a leader in online dramas. President Qing is so young, yet his ambition and ability are astonishing."

"I am where I am today because of the support of my friends."

Qingxiao laughed and continued, "So it's never been just a matter for Tianmen Films alone. Youku, as the platform, takes the lead in broadcasting, Liubai Films mainly controls the production, and Tianmen Films provides the script and content control. Multiple companies jointly produce and work together to establish the business."

Mr. Lin extended his hand: "Youku is very grateful to Mr. Qing for providing the opportunity for Youku to become a major producer."

"I'll invite Director Cao Dun, Xu Kang from Liubai Films, and General Manager Lin from Yuyue Culture over for a project launch meeting. We'll discuss the final draft of the script, the plan for building the Xiangshan Tang City set, and the revenue-sharing framework among the various parties. Also—the per-episode purchase price, let's stick to this figure. After internal approval, we'll coordinate with the project launch as soon as possible and strive to start filming as soon as possible."

The two sides bid each other farewell.

Qingxiao leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

After two months of hard work, the biggest challenge of "The Longest Day in Chang'an" has finally been overcome.

Tianmen Films doesn't need to shoulder the 600 million yuan investment itself; it only needs to bring Youku in, use exclusive broadcasting rights to cover the bulk of the costs, and then let the co-producers share the rest.

Tianmen Films, its own subsidiary, is waiting to receive a share of the profits.

The reason Youku dared to take on this project was because it had the industry endorsement of two S+ level projects, "The Mystic Nine" and "Story of Yanxi Palace," on its table, and they had already started filming, which was more convincing than any business plan.

There are still a few projects left on the project list on the desktop that haven't been distributed yet.

"With You," a campus youth drama, has a low budget. Youku has initially communicated with the company and expressed its intention to co-produce it, with exclusive broadcasting and partial investment. Further developments will follow.

"Day and Night," a suspenseful crime thriller, is a future benchmark for critical acclaim with a 9-point rating on Douban and is still seeking suitable investors.

"The Hidden Corner" is a suspenseful short drama series with twelve episodes. The script is already written, and it is waiting for investors.