Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

Ma Li put down the phone and leaned back in her chair.

"Manager Fang will bring Zheng Kai over in person first thing tomorrow morning."

Chen Yang hummed in response, said nothing more, and looked down to flip through the department's progress chart on the table.

Ma Li stared at his profile for two seconds, then shook her head.

This guy had the middle manager of Huayi Brothers completely under his thumb with just a few words on the phone, and acted like nothing happened after hanging up.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Chen Yang put the progress chart into a folder.

"Tomorrow morning at 9:30, the meeting room should be ready. Have Zhang Lei arrange for everyone from the scriptwriting center and the camera crew to be in place. Those who need to work overtime should work overtime, and those who need to do their work should do their work."

"Who are we going to show it to tomorrow?"

"Show it to Zheng Kai."

Chen Yang picked up the water glass on the table.

"Let him know that he's not here as a guest, but for an interview."

……

On the same night.

A chain budget hotel in Chaoyang District, Beijing.

The room wasn't big, with a 1.2-meter single bed and an unopened bottle of mineral water on the bedside table. The air conditioner was blowing cold air, and the curtains weren't fully drawn, so the streetlights shone through the gaps, casting a narrow line of light on the ceiling.

Baby leaned against the headboard, her hair loose. She had just taken a shower and was wrapped in a white hotel bathrobe, which still smelled of shower gel.

He was holding a business card in his hand.

White background with black text: CCTV Variety Channel, "Run, China!" program team, chief director, Chen Yang.

The corner of the business card was pinched by her fingertips, leaving a faint crease.

She watched it for the sixth time.

My mind is filled with images from tonight.

The young man stood in the stairwell of the food stall, blocking her way, and said calmly to the thugs, "I've got this girl under my protection!"

Oh no!

It's not a street food stall.

It's the rest area outside that private restaurant.

He sat across from her, with no cigarettes or alcohol in his hand, just looking at her.

His gaze was very direct.

It wasn't the sticky, lingering gaze you get at dinner parties, nor was it a calculating scrutiny.

He looked at her with a very clean and confident gaze, as if he were looking at a piece of unpolished jade, already knowing what it would eventually become.

"I need a girl who isn't afraid to appear on camera without makeup."

"I need a girl who can roll in the mud, run the whole race in the rain, and never give up even when her name tag is ripped off."

Baby flipped the business card over.

There was nothing printed on the back.

Blank.

Just like her current situation.

She has been in mainland China for more than three months.

I submitted more than a dozen resumes and met with more than twenty producers, assistant directors, and mid-level managers of talent agencies.

Someone asked her to audition for a minor role with no lines.

Someone suggested she "have a couple of drinks before we talk."

Some people confidently promised to support her, but then they stopped answering her calls.

That dinner party today was arranged for her by a friend who went through three layers of connections.

She wore her most beautiful dress and the most exquisite makeup, sitting obediently between two middle-aged men, smiling and socializing.

When she drank the liquor, her stomach churned violently, but she gritted her teeth and didn't vomit.

Then Sister Ma pulled her out.

Then that person appeared.

Baby stuck the business card to her chest, turned over, and buried her face in the pillow.

The pillowcase smells of laundry detergent and feels cool.

"Director Chen..."

Her voice was muffled by the pillow, and she could barely hear it herself.

My heart is beating a little fast.

It's not nervousness.

It's something hard to describe, wrapped in worship, gratitude, and a little bit of excitement that I dare not think about too much, stuck in my throat.

She is twenty years old this year.

For the first time in her life, she felt that someone was seriously and equally talking to her about the future.

It is not charity.

It's not an exchange.

He genuinely believed she was capable.

The baby lay on the pillow for a full two minutes, then suddenly rolled over and picked up the Nokia 6300 from the bedside table.

I scrolled through my contacts and found a name.

【Sister Zhou】.

Press the dial key.

It beeped five times.

"Feed? Baby?"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded sleepy, yet tinged with a hint of alertness.

It's almost 11 o'clock in Hong Kong.

"Sister Zhou, you're still awake, aren't you?"

"I just lay down," Zhou Yougen's voice was muffled. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"No problem."

Baby sat up straight, her voice lowered, but she spoke twice as fast as usual.

"Sister Zhou, I met someone today."

"Who?"

"A director from CCTV."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"CCTV?"

"Yes, the chief director of CCTV's variety channel has a new program called 'Run, China!' It's an A-level key project that will be broadcast during prime time."

Baby recounted everything that happened tonight in one breath.

From Ma Li saving the day at the dinner party, to Chen Yang rushing over for a face-to-face meeting, to that approval document, those three conditions, and that letter of intent.

Not a single word was missed.

Zhou Yougen was wide awake when he heard the words "CCTV prime time".

After Baby finished speaking, there was a full five seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Baby".

"Um."

"Have you seen that approval document?"

"Yes, I saw it. It was an official document with the official seal of CCTV and the director's signature."

"How old is the chief director?"

"Around twenty-four or twenty-five years old."

Zhou Yougen's voice rose.

"Twenty-four?!"

"Sister Zhou, I know you find it unbelievable, but he really is different."

Baby held the business card tightly in her hand, her voice unconsciously carrying a sense of certainty.

"He is unlike any other producer or director I have ever met from mainland China."

"When he looked at me, there was no uncomfortable look in his eyes."

"He just told me directly, 'You're capable, I'll give you a chance, are you coming or not?'"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Zhou Yougen has been a broker in Hong Kong for over a decade; he's seen all kinds of swindlers.

She knew all too well how deep the waters were in the mainland.

"Baby, don't get excited."

Her tone calmed down.

"I've heard those words: CCTV, prime time, A-level. But I can't make a judgment based on just a business card and a copy of an approval document."

"I'll call and check right now."

After hanging up with Baby, Zhou Yougen sat up in bed and walked barefoot to the study.

She opened her contacts and dialed a number in Beijing.

The other party was an old acquaintance she had known in mainland China for eight years, a senior producer at a certain TV station, the kind who was the most well-informed in the industry.

"Old Zhao, help me look up someone."

"Who?"

"Chen Yang, CCTV Variety Channel."

"Chen Yang?" The other person paused. "Wait a minute, that name sounds familiar..."

Three minutes later, the phone rang back.

"I found it." The other person's tone changed. "Why are you suddenly asking about this person?"

"My artist ran into him in mainland China, and he said he wanted to sign my baby to be a regular MC."

"Then hurry up and sign it."

Zhou Yougen frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Sister Zhou, to tell you the truth," the other person lowered their voice. "The name Chen Yang has been spreading throughout the industry recently."

"He jumped from Anhui TV to CCTV in less than a year and single-handedly created a brand new variety show project, which was directly approved by the station's editorial board and rated A."

"Do you know what this means? In the entire year of 2008, CCTV's variety channel had very few projects rated A or above."

"His producer is Sun Bin."

Zhou Yougen's fingers stopped.

Sun Bin.

The significance of this name in the broadcasting industry needs no explanation.

"Sister Zhou, let me put it this way," the other person's voice lowered. "I've been in this industry for over ten years, and this is the first time I've seen a 24-year-old CCTV variety show director, the first time I've seen a newcomer get an A-level license."

"No matter how this show turns out, just the fact that your baby is on CCTV's prime-time broadcast platform means you're making a profit."

"What if the show really becomes a hit..."

The other party didn't finish speaking.

Zhou Yougen didn't need him to finish speaking.

She stood in the study for ten seconds.

Then I went to the living room, opened my laptop, and logged into Ctrip.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be flying from Hong Kong to Beijing on the earliest flight.

Two plane tickets.

She and the company's legal counsel.

With Baby waiting in Beijing, we have enough people.