The Heiress's Game

Old Zheng has been in the entertainment industry for over twenty years. He's seen all sorts of terrible movies and done all sorts of flop projects.

People in the industry gave him a nickname, "Gold in Shit," meaning that his eye for things was outrageously unique—while others panned for gold, he panned for shit, and even after finding something, he insisted that there was gold in it.

He was the one who signed a certain fantasy drama that was later ridiculed by the entire internet, despite all the opposition. He also made the decision to buy an art film that flopped at the box office and didn't even recoup its marketing costs.

The most outrageous thing is that he spent a lot of money to import a foreign reality show, which was canceled by the platform after only two episodes due to its poor ratings, without even making a splash.

These stories circulated repeatedly within the industry, and whenever someone brought them up at a dinner party, Lao Zheng would just slurp down his drink without offering any explanation.

He had a burning fire inside him that had been raging for years, but he always wore a smile and could put his arm around anyone and call them brothers.

His greatest fear in life is not losing money, but missing out.

He was afraid of missing any potentially successful projects, and afraid that ten years later he would look back and realize that he had personally thrown gold into the trash.

So when the people from Xingyao Media brought him the first draft of "Our Home," he watched it for twenty minutes and then turned it off.

But the refusal was phrased tactfully: "The subject matter is too novel; let's wait and see."

In reality, he knew perfectly well that whoever signed that contract would be doomed—it was all about that quality, that rustic charm, that scene that instantly transported viewers to a county TV special.

Even if he was afraid of missing out, he knew that thing was shit, not gold.

But today is different. Today, he is sitting in his office, watching the latest episode of "Walking with Brilliance" on his computer screen, and has watched it over and over again four times.

The first time I watched it, I watched the whole thing; the second time, I analyzed each scene; the third time, I focused on the editing rhythm; and the fourth time, I didn't think about anything and just watched it as a viewer.

After watching it for the fourth time, he took off his glasses and placed them on the table, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath towards the ceiling.

That opening sequence, that color grading, the texture of the light and shadow on Chen Cui's profile, that slow-motion shot of a family of six on the rooftop with their hair blown around by the wind but laughing without any defenses—this isn't a variety show; it's a variety show made with the quality of a movie.

He recalled the clips of top international variety shows he had seen at the Cannes TV Festival last month, and to put it bluntly, "Walking with Brilliance" would not be intimidated at all on that stage.

This time it's real gold.

He picked up his phone to call Xingyao, but then put it down again.

We had an appointment today; the people from Xingyao will come over this afternoon to discuss the scheduling and promotion plan.

He needs to talk to them in person; there are some things that can't be explained over the phone.

At 2:30 p.m., the people from Xingyao Media arrived on time.

Three people arrived—the professional manager, surnamed Ma, was in his early forties, dressed in a suit and tie, his hair was neatly combed, and when he handed over his business card, his fingers were slightly raised, a typical professional manager demeanor.

Next to him is the marketing director, in his thirties, who looks quite capable;

Following closely behind was Li Chunjing, who was wearing a navy blue suit jacket and carrying a folder. She didn't say much after entering the room.

He simply nodded slightly to Lao Zheng, then quietly sat down at the edge of the conference table.

Old Ma sat down and began to talk at length about the scheduling plan, from the analysis of major platforms to the profile of the target audience.

From the pre-launch topic setup to the trending topics after the launch, a thick stack of PowerPoint presentations was created, with one data chart after another.

He spoke with great enthusiasm, occasionally adding an English word or two to emphasize his professionalism.

But the more Lao Zheng listened, the more something seemed off—every word that this Mr. Ma said sounded like it was copied directly from a marketing textbook. It sounded impressive, but when it came to practical application, it was all empty talk.

He cautiously interrupted Lao Ma: "Mr. Ma, the plan is very comprehensive, but there's one question I'd like to confirm—how are the negotiations with the mainstream platforms going?"

Old Ma's expression froze for a moment, then he quickly adjusted it into an unnatural smile: "Well, it's still in progress."

As you know, major platforms are relatively conservative when it comes to innovative themes, needing time to digest them. But currently, all three mainstream platforms have expressed interest—”

"Expressing interest and signing a contract are two different things." Old Zheng's tone remained polite, but his smile had faded a bit.

"What I need to know is, how many companies have actually expressed a clear intention to broadcast on our channel?"

Old Ma's lips moved slightly as he glanced at the PR director.

The PR director coughed, opened the folder in his hand, and said something more practical than what Lao Ma had said:

"The current situation is this: we have contacted all three major platforms, but they have all refused to sign exclusive contracts."

Their main concern is that the subject matter has not been verified, and there are no successful precedents for reality shows featuring ordinary people in China.

However, both video websites have already submitted offers, with one willing to offer a featured spot on its homepage on the condition of exclusivity.

Old Zheng nodded, having already figured out the score in his mind.

What does it mean that mainstream platforms refused to sign the contract? It means they don't believe the project can support high viewership, and it means that "Walking with Brilliance" can only rely on video websites' traffic to validate its value.

This is certainly not good news for an S+ production, but Lao Zheng is not worried at all.

He has absolute confidence in the quality of this final product; given a good location, he believes he can turn things around with just a little fanfare.

"How do you plan to manage the publicity and distribution cycle?" Old Zheng asked again.

Just as Lao Ma was about to speak, Li Chunjing, who had been sitting quietly to the side, suddenly spoke up.

She opened the folder in her hand, "The current plan is a three-week warm-up period. The first week will focus on Chen Cui's personal storyline, using 'Erhu Girl's Comeback' as the starting point, and leveraging the social assets accumulated beforehand to create a secondary buzz."

The second week will release materials focusing on the family storyline, featuring a group portrait of siblings, with both visual appeal and story-driven elements running in parallel.

The third week released highlights from the main feature, using the two most conflicting scenes—the rooftop shouting and the argument—as hooks.

In its first week of operation, the platform launched an erhu challenge in conjunction with social media, using a clip from Chen Cui's first erhu performance as background music to lower the barrier to entry for users.

The overall budget remained within the original range and was not exceeded.

After listening, Lao Zheng was silent for two seconds, then turned to look at Lao Ma, his eyes conveying a clear meaning—the people under your command are much more reliable than you.

Old Ma probably sensed it too, and smiled sheepishly, saying that Assistant Li was sent by our boss and that her business skills were indeed strong.

Old Zheng ignored him and turned directly to Li Chunjing, asking a very specific question: "Who came up with the idea of ​​the erhu challenge?"

"Chen Cui brought it up herself. She said she wasn't afraid of being used as a meme, and the more memes were used, the wider they spread."

Old Zheng slammed his hand on the table, his eyes lighting up: "Great! This is the way! I've been in PR for so many years, and what I fear most isn't being criticized, it's being ignored. This Chen Cui—" He paused, choosing a word...

"Transparent".

After the meeting, Lao Ma and the publicity director left first, while Li Chunjing stayed behind to organize the remaining documents.

Old Zheng personally escorted her to the elevator, and while waiting for the elevator, he couldn't help but say a few more words.

"Assistant Li, I'm a straightforward person, please don't mind me. Your CEO Ma is a master at presenting PPTs, but when it comes to implementation—to be honest, I've been dealing with him for a while now, and I'm not entirely at ease with him."

"But you, every time you propose a solution, it's always something concrete and feasible." He paused, lowering his voice slightly.

"You might think I'm trying to sow discord, but I still want to say this—if the boss behind you really wants to make this happen, he should listen to your opinions more and stop letting that old Ma mess things up."

In the entertainment industry, there are ten times more slackers than people who actually do anything worthwhile.

Li Chunjing smiled slightly, neither belittling Lao Ma as he said nor feigning humility to deny her own value. She simply nodded, thanked President Zheng for his trust, and then stepped into the elevator.

Old Zheng returned to his office, sat in his chair, turned around once, and suddenly laughed at the air.

He recalled the colleague who mocked him last year for "finding gold in the shit," and the sarcastic smiles at those dinner parties.

I remember that unwilling voice in my head every time I reluctantly signed those projects that ultimately flopped.

The voice said, "Zheng Dahai, try searching again. Maybe you'll find it if you search one more time."

He'd been searching for gold for twenty years, and finally he found it!