Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

"Chief Care Officer?"

On the other end of the online board meeting, a group of professional managers with annual salaries of tens of millions were stunned.

They looked at each other, completely bewildered.

What kind of position is this?

An internet company known for its rapid expansion and aggressive style has suddenly started talking about humanistic care?

Or is it during a sensitive period when a meeting with officials is imminent?

Gu Ming ignored their reactions.

He watched the video calmly as the girl shed tears.

It became.

Liu Liu's role as "Chief Care Officer" helps stabilize the company's internal situation.

This position does not involve business growth or direction.

Its purpose is to prevent a company from collapsing due to internal problems during rapid expansion.

People's morale has stabilized; now it's time to make money.

After the meeting ended, Gu Ming leaned back on the sofa in his hometown of Hegang and picked up his phone.

The screen displays a popular short video app.

Instead of watching popular song and dance videos, he opened a new channel called "Short Drama".

With a swipe of your finger, one hit short drama after another appears.

The first book is "The Dragon King's Son-in-Law".

A man endured three years of mistreatment of his family. He then made a phone call to the army.

"Seal off the entire city!"

Gu Ming couldn't bear to watch any longer.

The second part is titled "Rebirth: My Life in 1988".

A middle-aged man is reborn and uses his memories to buy lottery tickets and hoard stocks.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a young person's potential!"

Gu Ming thought to himself, "This tactic is too old-fashioned."

The third book is titled "The Sweet Wife of the CEO Who Married in a Flash".

The female lead has a relationship with the CEO, and the CEO gives her a black card.

"I'll give you 100 million, be my woman."

Gu Ming felt that this kind of story was outdated.

Gu Ming scrolled through his phone expressionlessly, but was inwardly very dissatisfied.

What are all these things?

The formula is the same, the characters are stupid, and the acting is exaggerated.

The entire short drama market is filled with outdated content.

However, each of these videos has a very high viewership.

A large number of users are watching these low-quality short dramas.

Platforms and organizations are producing more similar content.

They thought this was a golden opportunity.

Actually, this is a content wasteland.

Gu Ming decided to change this situation.

His eyes changed.

The memories of the reborn person were running through his mind.

He remembers it very clearly.

The first stage of short dramas is characterized by low-quality content, where the competition is based on formulas and update speed.

But users will get tired of the aesthetics.

Within three months, homogenized content will lead to user churn.

Then comes the second stage: vertical segmentation.

When the universally appealing elements fail to deliver, the elements that appeal to specific groups of people will become the mainstream.

For example, there are mother-in-law/daughter-in-law dramas targeting housewives, and code-based comeback dramas targeting programmers.

Finally, the third stage is user co-creation.

The platform provides the stage.

Let users write their own stories and act out their own roles.

We build a content ecosystem using the lives and thoughts of ordinary people.

Right now, everyone is still competing at a low level in the first stage.

"Qingying".

Gu Ming dialed Su Qingying's number.

"A notice is being issued in the name of Star Holdings."

"We are launching a 'Short Drama Partner Program'."

……

This announcement has caused a huge reaction in the internet industry.

[Starry Sky Holdings' "Short Drama Partner Program" Officially Launched!]

1. IP Openness: Starry Sky Holdings' original IP library offers free adaptation rights to all online creators.

2. Resource sharing: All filming resources under Starry Sky Holdings are provided to all partners at cost price.

3. Nationwide Audition: All roles in the partner short drama will be selected through a nationwide audition, giving every ordinary person the opportunity to become a protagonist.

4. Revenue Sharing: Of all revenue generated from co-created short dramas, Starry Sky Holdings will take only 30%, while the remaining 70% will belong to the creator team.

The announcement surprised the entire internet.

Everyone thought Gu Ming had gone mad.

This doesn't feel like doing business; it feels like doing charity.

Why did he open up all his resources?

The owners of MCN agencies held a meeting overnight to discuss the announcement.

"This is a trap. Gu Ming is a shrewd man; he wouldn't do something that loses money."

"I get it, he wants to use this method to attract creators and then harvest their creativity."

"Yes, we can't fall for it. Send the word that anyone who participates in this plan is going against us."

But they don't understand.

They don't understand how much ordinary creators at the bottom of society yearn for an opportunity.

An opportunity to showcase your talents and gain respect.

The announcement was made in less than 24 hours.

The official email address for the "Short Drama Partner Program" received a large number of emails.

It contains script outlines, story ideas, and actor self-recommendations from all over the country.

A week later, the first co-created short drama project was approved.

The script comes from a barbecue restaurant owner in Northeast China, and it tells the story of him and several other street vendors.

The actors are themselves.

The directors are two recent college graduates.

Star Holdings only provided the equipment and a producer.

Two weeks later, the short drama called "The Legend of the Heroes of the Northeast Night Market" was released online.

The opening of the first episode.

In the evening, Lao Wang, the owner of a barbecue stall, grilled skewers while complaining about customers in Northeastern dialect to the camera.

Brother Li, who sells grilled cold noodles nearby, came over and said something.

"Brother Wang, have you heard? A food critic is coming to town. Whoever satisfies him gets to appear on TV."

At that moment, a man in a suit and glasses walked into the night market surrounded by a group of people.

The number of comments increased rapidly.

"Isn't this just an old trope in short dramas? The domineering CEO going on an incognito visit?"

"It's over. I thought StarCraft had something new, but it's the same as before."

But the plot takes a turn the next second.

The man collapsed in the middle of the road.

The doctor arrived and diagnosed the patient with hypoglycemia.

Old Wang scratched his head, took a skewer of grilled kidneys from the stall, and stuffed it into the man's mouth.

"Hey bro, you're all dressed up, how come you're starving? Here, let me treat you to some kidney skewers to cheer you up."

The man was jolted awake by the kidneys he had swallowed. Looking at the burly man in the vest in front of him, he burst into tears.

"I'm bankrupt, and I haven't eaten for three days."

Upon seeing this, netizens who were ready to criticize were stunned.

What kind of plot is this?

Subverting expectations?

What followed was even more unexpected.

Old Wang took in the bankrupt man and made him his assistant.

Brother Li, who sells grilled cold noodles, is a Tai Chi master; he can use the noodles as a frisbee.

The lady next door who sells spicy hot pot is a relationship expert; she provides psychological counseling to couples who have broken up with their partners every day.

The whole show has an absurd style, but it is also very relatable.

There were no professional actors.

Everyone is playing themselves.

On its first day of release, the first episode garnered over 30 million views.

The next day, it exceeded 50 million.

On the third day, the number of views for a single episode exceeded 100 million.

"The Legend of the Heroes of the Northeast Night Market" was a great success.

The entire internet is discussing the characters and plot of the show.

Many people went to that Northeast night market to check it out, and Lao Wang's barbecue stall was packed with people.

The MCN bosses who had previously boycotted and ridiculed Gu Ming were stunned.

They sat in their office, watching their expensively produced short drama completely outshone by a short drama starring ordinary people that cost less than 100,000 yuan.

They wanted to imitate, but didn't know where to begin.

Because they can copy routines, but they can't copy life.

Beijing, the headquarters of Tencent.

An important strategic meeting is underway.

The head of the short video department was covered in sweat.

"Boss, we've studied Starry Sky Holdings' 'co-creation model.' Its core is using real ordinary people and stories to counter our assembly-line content production. We'll have a hard time dealing with that."

"The entire industry is now imitating them. If we don't take action, the short drama market will belong to them."

The man sitting in the main seat tapped his fingers on the table and remained silent for a long time.

"Since we can't create it ourselves, we'll buy the people who create the standards."

He raised his head, his eyes resolute.

"Send someone to talk to Gu Ming."

"Tell him that Tencent is willing to pay ten million yuan to exclusively buy out his 'Short Drama Partner' model. Our platform's resources will be tilted towards him."

"But there is one condition."

"All user data generated through this model is owned by Tencent."

……