Chapter 758 - 378: Going Head-to-Head with an Industry Leader

Chapter 758: Chapter 378: Going Head-to-Head with an Industry Leader

After helping Li Suwan shoot another video at the scenic area, the two found a hotel to stay in. But that evening, just after they had enjoyed some private time, he heard Li Suwan exclaim, "Chen Tongxue, we’re trending!"

"???" Chen Jincheng was stunned.

He had been very low-key these past few days, just accompanying Li Suwan to shoot videos in various places. He was trying to stay out of the spotlight.

The hype from Jinglan City and the Hanfu event had already died down. ’How could we be trending again?’

When he saw the video, he was dumbfounded. Someone had filmed him, Li Suwan, and Ximeng in a lingerie store and uploaded it online.

"Explosive! This Guy Is Too Damn Lucky!"

Fortunately, it was just security footage. The video was blurry, and the aspect ratio stretched their figures, making them look wider. Plus, he, the mature teacher, and the green-tea secretary were all wearing masks and baseball caps, so there was no fear of being recognized.

Yet, someone in the comments for the trending video still brought him up.

"Damn, I feel like this dude is even more of a badass than Chen Jincheng. Chen Jincheng and his Miss Chengs might mess around in secret, but would they ever dare to be this brazen out in the open? You can’t see their faces, but these two girls have killer bodies. They’ve gotta be on par with his Miss Chengs, right?"

"@ the user above, are you joking, or are you just underestimating Chen Jincheng? If he wanted to fool around, he wouldn’t just openly take two girls out. He’d flaunt their relationship in your face, have them call him ’Hubby,’ and after it’s all over, he’d just tell you it was for a video and ’Hubby’ was in the script."

"Exactly. Now *that’s* the real Chen Jincheng. This guy in the video is completely covered up. How can he even compare?"

Reading this, Chen Jincheng could only think that these people had a very high opinion of him.

’Honestly,’ he thought, ’when it comes to stuff between men and women, as long as you keep it private, it doesn’t matter how much of a player you are. No one cares.’

’But daring to do it in public? That’s just crass.’

’He wasn’t stupid enough to be that high-profile. These people really were giving him too much credit.’

Ximeng couldn’t help but laugh. "Boss, they’re still arguing and making comparisons. They have no idea they’re talking about the same person."

Time passed playfully. After Li Suwan returned to Ganjiang City, December arrived in the blink of an eye, marking the final month of 2018.

However, the month did not get off to a good start for Second-Life Star. iQiyi and Penguin Film and Television, which had previously maintained a tacit agreement to block content from the Second Life Star Film and Television Network, had finally decided to make their move.

They were about to go head-to-head with the industry giants for the first time.

A Lamborghini sped down a street in Coastal City, soon pulling up in front of a skyscraper. On the roof, numerous workers were busy with construction, welding a large frame.

This was, of course, the headquarters building that Second-Life Star had purchased for one billion yuan. The welded frame was meant to support the Second-Life Star sign.

When he entered, he saw that many workers were already busy with interior renovations as well.

For now, only one department from Second-Life Star had moved in: the film and television department, which had settled onto the 12th floor.

When he arrived, Sister Hong was already there, along with Sun Ji and the former managers and employees from the LeTV Film and Television division.

They had been waiting for him for some time. Upon seeing him enter, they all rose to their feet as a sign of respect.

Everyone knew why they had been summoned for a meeting today.

The film and television network division had suffered a setback; they were being targeted by two of the industry’s leading platforms.

"Please, be seated," Chen Jincheng said to the group.

"Boss!" Sister Hong and Sun Ji stepped forward to greet him.

Chen Jincheng turned to Sun Ji. "Give me the rundown."

Sun Ji immediately began his report. "Boss, our team from the Second Life Star Film and Television Network’s copyright department went to negotiate for three series, and we were ambushed on all of them. President Zhao, why don’t you take it from here."

President Zhao, the vice president in charge of the film and television network, immediately explained, "We were in negotiations for three shows and were just about to finalize the deals when people from iQiyi and Penguin Film and Television interfered. They offered 5% more and walked away with the copyrights."

"Only 5%?" Hearing this, Chen Jincheng couldn’t help but laugh. "I was wondering just how much they were willing to raise the price."

He sounded completely relaxed, because Second-Life Star was indeed flush with cash. The profits from the Hanfu e-commerce videos and *Damn, I’m Surrounded by Beauties!* were still sitting in the bank.

Other than the loan for the headquarters, Second-Life Star had no other debts to pay and no other major projects running. The money just sitting in their account was nothing more than a string of digits.

So, in a price war, as long as he avoided buying garbage dramas like *New Myths of the Gods*, *Pusher*, the new *New Legend of the White Snake*, and other flops, he wouldn’t suffer any losses. He was more worried that iQiyi and Penguin Film and Television were the ones who couldn’t afford to play.

As long as the parent Penguin Group didn’t step in, he was confident that he had more cash on hand than any single one of their subsidiary platforms.

But he had no intention of buying those flops. As long as he avoided any show that hadn’t existed in his past life, he was practically guaranteed to succeed.

With that thought, he asked Sun Ji, "How are the investment negotiations for *The Untamed* coming along?"

Sun Ji replied instantly, "We’ve finalized the deal. We’re putting in 50 million yuan to join the production, alongside Penguin and three other production companies, for a total budget of 250 million. We also secured the right to bid against Penguin for the broadcast rights."

"Penguin didn’t object. They don’t seem to think much of the show, either. Online sentiment is overwhelmingly negative, especially from the original novel’s fanbase."

’In truth, he also felt the investment was a bit hasty. He had wanted to advise against it, at least while things were so uncertain.’

’However, after he learned one key detail, he kept his mouth shut.’

’The boss had them sign an actress named Meng Ziyi. She was gorgeous, with a great body and an elegant air—she seemed to have a lot of potential. Of course, that wasn’t the most important part. What was important was that the boss himself had personally given the order to sign her.’

’So, it was highly likely the boss was using this investment to get with Meng Ziyi. He probably didn’t care what happened to the show itself.’

’Just imagine: a minor actress who’d been stuck in supporting roles for years suddenly gets to join a production with a 50 million yuan investment backing her. The director even promised to rewrite the script to expand her character’s role and add more plotlines for her.’

’How would a virtual unknown react to a whirlwind like that?’

’If she didn’t get a hotel room, clean herself up, and wait for the boss to pay a visit, she’d be a fool.’

’If he wasn’t mistaken, the boss would probably even accompany her to the film set to, well, take care of business.’

’Having been in the entertainment industry for so long, he could see through these things at a glance. He would have to go to the set to liaise with the production team anyway. He’d better start thinking about how to arrange things to make sure the boss had a good time.’

Chen Jincheng was relieved to hear the matter was settled.

’This show is destined to be a massive hit. When the time comes, I can give Penguin a huge slap in the face and make them regret it so much they cough up blood.’

However, that was a matter for later. Since iQiyi and Penguin had made their move, he believed in not letting a grudge go cold. He turned back to Sun Ji. "Have you figured out which shows iQiyi and Penguin are trying to acquire right now?"

"Yes, we have." Sun Ji nodded, immediately turning on a projector. A list of show titles appeared on the screen.

The list showed a number of shows that were set to be released soon. ’I’ve seen some of these in my past life,’ he thought, ’but I have no memory of the others. It’s not that they didn’t exist back then; they just must not have made any waves.’

Furthermore, he didn’t see any of the massive hits from his past life on this list.

So he asked, "Is that all?"

Seeing his reaction, Sun Ji knew his boss wasn’t impressed. He thought for a moment before adding, "There is one other show. I heard it was nominated for the Magnolia Award for Best Television Series, but we won’t know if it actually won until the awards are announced in June."

"However, the production company’s asking price is ridiculously high. They want 500 million for the online streaming rights. The main issue is that it doesn’t have any A-list celebrities; the most famous cast members are Guo Jingfei and that one actress known for her big mouth. It’s also an urban drama, so the probability of it becoming a massive hit is low. Because of all that, both iQiyi and Penguin Film and Television are dragging their feet, unwilling to cough up that much cash."

"But on the other hand, since it might win an award, its quality must be solid. To hedge their bets on that award, the two platforms will likely follow convention, split the cost, and buy the broadcasting rights jointly."

This sounded familiar to Chen Jincheng. He quickly asked, "What’s the name of the show?"

"*All is Well!*" Sun Ji replied.

"Holy shit. This is the one." Chen Jincheng slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, startling everyone in the room. All eyes snapped to him.

A now-famous line from the show instantly surfaced in Chen Jincheng’s mind: ’What am I supposed to like about you? That you’re old? That you don’t shower?’

’This is the goddamn king of all dramas.’

’In terms of ratings, it blew *Go Go Squid!* out of the water. In terms of online view count, *The Untamed* couldn’t even compare.’

’And yet, before its release, the show’s marketing, market reception, and even the reactions from platforms like Penguin were all completely lackluster. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so hesitant to shell out the money for exclusive rights.’

’This show was a bombshell that no one saw coming.’

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