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

At 9:30 a.m., a black Buick minivan with CCTV license plates drove out of the west gate and headed east.

Sitting in the passenger seat was Lao Sun, a business representative from CCTV's business department. He was in his early forties, dressed in a sharp suit, and holding a stack of stamped letters of introduction.

In the back seat by the window, Chen Yang leaned back with his eyes closed, rhythmically tapping his knees with his fingers.

Chen Xi, standing next to him, was holding a bulging file bag, his back ramrod straight, like a student taking an exam for the first time.

"Director Chen."

Chen Xi lowered his voice.

"Last night I went through all of Post Wave's financial reports for the past three years. The growth rate of traffic to their blog business has been declining since the third quarter of last year, and Google's revenue is also slowing down quarter-on-quarter..."

"Um."

"But the problem is, even if they are anxious, it doesn't mean they will spend money on a TV variety show."

Chen Xi rubbed his fingers together.

"Internet companies spend all their money on product development and user growth. Investing in TV games is like us buying stocks at the market, it's completely unrelated to them."

Chen Yang opened his eyes and glanced at her.

"Who said we went there to sell penises?"

"So what are we going to do?"

"Send the east wind."

Chen Xi looked completely bewildered.

Chen Yang didn't explain further and closed his eyes again.

You'll know when you get there.

At 10:15, the car stopped downstairs at the Ideal International Building.

Post-90s Headquarters.

Old Sun straightened his tie and glanced back at Chen Yang.

"Director Chen, today we're mainly meeting with the Vice President of Marketing at Houlang. I've already spoken to them beforehand."

"No."

Chen Yang pushed open the car door.

"I'm meeting with General Manager Cao today."

Old Sun was stunned.

"Cao...Cao Guowei?"

"right."

"Director Chen, Mr. Cao is the CEO of Houlang! We need to directly contact the CEO to secure sponsorship for one of our variety show projects..."

"It's a date."

Chen Yang patted his suit pocket.

"Chen Xi helped me make the connection. She has connections within the Houlang Group through her network on Tianya, and through that connection, she got in touch with President Cao's secretary."

Old Sun opened his mouth and looked at Chen Xi.

Chen Xi nodded, looking even more nervous than Lao Sun.

"I... I didn't expect to be able to get an appointment. Maybe it's because of CCTV's reputation."

Chen Yang strode towards the entrance of the building.

"Let's go, don't keep them waiting."

The CEO's office area is on the 17th floor of Houlang's headquarters.

When the conference room door opened, Chen Yang immediately saw the man sitting at the head of the long table.

Cao Guowei.

He was in his early forties, wore thin-rimmed glasses, had his hair neatly combed, and buttoned up his shirt cuffs tightly.

A person whose desire for control is ingrained in their very being.

Sitting next to Cao Guowei were two people, a man and a woman. The man was Chen Tong, the vice president of marketing, and the woman was the director of business development.

Upon seeing the letter of introduction and work permit from CCTV, Cao Guowei stood up and offered his hand.

"Welcome, CCTV staff!"

His tone was polite, even warm and overwhelmed with a sense of being flattered.

Being approached by CCTV is a prestigious honor for any company.

But when his gaze fell on Chen Yang's face, he clearly paused for a moment.

"And this is...?"

Old Sun quickly introduced, "President Cao, this is Chen Yang, the chief director of our CCTV Variety Channel's A-level key project, 'Run, China'."

Cao Guowei's smile remained unchanged, but a subtle glint flashed in his eyes.

"Director Chen looks very young."

"Twenty-four."

Chen Yang smiled and took his hand.

"Hello, Mr. Cao."

Cao Guowei loosened his grip slightly.

A 24-year-old CCTV chief director came to him to discuss investment.

He quickly went through it in his mind: CCTV's variety channel has indeed not been doing well in the past two years. Its market share has been suppressed by Hunan TV, and the programs it produces are getting more and more boring.

Now they're sending a 24-year-old greenhorn to solicit sponsorships?

Is CCTV truly out of talent, or is it just testing the waters?

"Please sit down, please sit down."

Cao Guowei sat down again, his attitude changing from warm and friendly to polite and courteous.

Chen Tong, who was standing next to him, handed him a cup of tea. Her gaze towards Chen Yang was even more direct. Who was this kid?

Chen Xi sat behind Chen Yang, her fingers gripping the zipper of the file folder, her heart pounding like a drum.

She secretly glanced at the back of Chen Yang's head.

This guy is incredibly greedy; the person sitting opposite him is the CEO of a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Director Chen, shall we talk first?"

Cao Guowei picked up his teacup and used the lid to stir the tea leaves.

"How exactly do you plan to collaborate with the younger generation on this project?"

The tone was casual, but the emphasis on the phrase "how to cooperate" was very clear.

In other words, how much do you want, and is it worth the price?

Old Sun glanced at Chen Yang subconsciously. According to the usual procedure, at this point, he should have opened the PPT, started by talking about the program's positioning, and then presented the ratings forecast, audience profile, brand exposure, etc.

Chen Xi also subconsciously reached for the zipper of the document bag.

Chen Yang reached out and gently pressed the back of her hand under the table.

Don't move.

Chen Xi's hand froze in place.

"President Cao."

Chen Yang didn't open any documents, nor did he even touch the tea on the table.

He leaned back in his chair, speaking as if he were having a casual conversation.

Before we talk about the show, I'd like to talk to you about something else.

Cao Guowei raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to talk about?"

Let's talk about how the younger generation will live their lives from now on.

The meeting room fell silent for a second.

Chen Tong's expression changed slightly.

Cao Guowei didn't move, but simply put down his teacup.

"Director Chen is joking. The younger generation is doing quite well."

"It's pretty good."

Chen Yang nodded.

"The leading portal, it ranks first in the country in news reporting, and its blog is also an industry benchmark."

He paused for a moment.

"But Mr. Cao should know better than I do that the growth rate of blog traffic has been declining since Q3 of last year."

Cao Guowei's fingers clenched slightly.

Chen Tong and the business director exchanged a glance.

This data is correct.

"The ceiling for portal sites has been reached."

Chen Yang spoke slowly, but every word hit the mark.

"Sohu and NetEase are catching up, and the homogenization of everyone's content is becoming more and more serious. The centralized distribution model that relies on editor recommendations has reached a bottleneck."

"At the same time, 3G licenses were issued in January this year, and the door to mobile internet has been opened."

"Mr. Cao, do you think users' attention will remain on PCs or shift to mobile phones in the next three years?"

Cao Guowei stared at Chen Yang for three seconds.

He didn't answer, but he didn't interrupt either.

The reaction itself is the answer.

"If users' attention shifts from PCs to mobile phones, what will happen to the traffic of portal websites? Will people still read long-form blog content on mobile phones?"

Chen Yang smiled as he said this.

"So the younger generation needs something new."

"A lightweight content platform that can run on mobile phones and is based on users' social relationships."

He drew a circle on the table with his finger.

"I once devised a software model myself, which limits the number of characters, for example, about a hundred characters; supports images and short videos; uses a follow and forward mechanism for viral spread; and each user is both a content consumer and a content producer."

"It's somewhat like a streamlined version of a blog, but the core is completely different. A blog is media, while this is social."

He looked up at Cao Guowei.

"Of course, this is just something I thought of casually, and it may not be correct."

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop two degrees suddenly.

Cao Guowei's glasses reflected the light, obscuring his eyes, but his right hand, resting on the table, was clenched into a fist.

Chen Tong's mouth was slightly open, and she forgot to close it.

Chen Xi sat in the back row, as if she were nailed to the chair.

She didn't quite understand the technical details, but she could understand Cao Guowei's reaction.

That's not a "you're right" response.

That's a "How did you know?" reaction.

The silence lasted for a full five seconds.

Cao Guowei forcefully took off his glasses, wiped the lenses, and put them back on.

"Director Chen."

His voice was lowered by half a tone.

"The model you just mentioned..."

"Just something I thought of." Chen Yang waved his hand. "I'm a TV program producer, I'm a complete novice when it comes to the internet, just dabbling in it."

Cao Guowei gave him a deep look.

Then he did something that surprised everyone.

He turned to Chen Tong and said, "Go and close the meeting room door."

Chen Tong paused for a moment, then got up and closed the door tightly.

Cao Guowei sat up straight again and placed his hands on the table, crossed.

"Director Chen, I have something to tell you."

"What you just described wasn't just wild speculation."

"The younger generation is working on it internally."

He paused.

"V-Bo is scheduled to launch its internal testing phase in August."

Chen Yang's eyes widened.

"real?"

After all, I've studied the self-discipline of an actor.

"Mr. Cao, are you saying that Houlang is already developing this kind of product?"

His tone carried just the right amount of shock, and a hint of excitement at having his ideas recognized.

Cao Guowei chuckled at his reaction; a 24-year-old television director was actually thinking on the same path as him.

This feeling of "great minds think alike" is more effective than any flattery.

"Yes, the core logic is almost exactly the same as what you said."

Cao Guowei's tone was noticeably more relaxed, no longer displaying the condescending politeness he had just displayed.

"Character limit, follow mechanism, viral sharing, support for multimedia... we've been developing these internally for over half a year."

He pushed up his glasses.

"But there is one problem, which is also my biggest headache."

Chen Yang took over the conversation, speaking at just the right pace, not interrupting, but precise.

"Product launch."