Chapter 432: Rising Status, Utterly Irresponsible

Perhaps it was because she had been still for too long and wanted a change, or perhaps she wanted to experience a different kind of travel, but Liu Yifei ultimately chose to join *Flowers and Youth*.

However, the young lady made a request, hoping that Shu Chang could also participate.

Regarding this, Wei Jin naturally had no objections; after all, the show required five female guests in total, so who wouldn't he promote? Unsurprisingly, when Wei Jin told Zhang Yipei this news, the latter could barely suppress the curve of his mouth.

"President Wei, with the addition of Miss Liu, the ratings for our variety show will climb to a new level, hahaha."

Wei Jin fully agreed with Zhang Yipei's assessment.

Although Liu Yifei did not have much screen time in her daily life, with the bonus of countless classic television dramas, her national popularity among the '85 flowers' was absolutely number one, and her fan count was staggering.

In this regard, even Jing Tian could not compare.

If she participated in the show, the buzz would definitely be off the charts, there was no need to worry about ratings at all, and even negotiations with television stations would be much smoother.

Subsequently, the two began to discuss other guest candidates, but Wei Jin did not expect that Zhang Yipei's ambition was even greater than he had imagined.

"Wait, Director Zhang, are you saying you want to invite Ceng Li to participate?"

Zhang Yipei nodded, his pair of squinting eyes flashing with the light of wisdom.

"That's right, President Wei. Look, our show has five female guests; it's best to have a mix of those born in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I think Teacher Ceng Li is very suitable."

Listening to Zhang Yipei's explanation, Wei Jin admitted that he was somewhat tempted.

On one hand, among the big stars born in the 70s, Ceng Li was definitely top-tier in fame, and she had very little exposure in her daily life, having almost never appeared on variety shows. Once she participated, it would cause a huge reaction and would indeed be a boost for the show.

On the other hand, it could also allow her and Liu Yifei to have more contact in advance, cultivate their relationship, and lay the foundation for a harmonious big family in the future.

However, considering Ceng Li's personality and the show's recording schedule, Wei Jin still shook his head and refused.

"Director Zhang, let's skip Ceng Li for this season; consider others."

As an employee, Zhang Yipei knew how to keep his place and immediately nodded, saying, "Very well, President Wei."

Not long after Zhang Yipei left, Jiang Xuerou walked in with a smile on her face.

"President Wei, the follow-up broadcast rights for *Chuqiaozhuan* have been settled."

Listening to Jiang Xuerou's report, a smile also appeared on Wei Jin's face.

After more than a month of airing, *Chuqiaozhuan* concluded a few days ago.

The peak rating broke 3, the peak audience share reached as high as 11.73, and the average rating remained around 2.3, with an average audience share breaking 10.

This result was slightly worse than *Eastern Palace* from the beginning of the year, but compared to *Heart Surgery*, it was undoubtedly superior.

As of now, it has already locked in a spot in the top three national ratings for this year.

If it were just this, it would be fine; Shanhe Media had produced too many hits over the years, and Wei Jin did not take it to heart.

The key was the results this drama achieved online, which exceeded the imagination of Shanhe Media and even Wei Jin.

Since its debut on the three major satellite channels and two major online platforms in early October, the streaming data for *Chuqiaozhuan* hit new highs repeatedly. As of the day of the finale, it had generated over 4 billion views on online platforms.

Although this data does not seem like much compared to the tens of billions of views that are common in later generations, one must know that in this current era, online streaming data was not inflated and had a very high gold content.

For example, the particularly popular *iPartment 3* this year only had 300 million views on Youku and Tudou over 7 days.

Even after the entire series ended, as of now, three months after the premiere of *iPartment 3*, the view count was still less than 2 billion.

Or take the super hit *Eastern Palace* from the beginning of the year; its view count after ten months has only just broken 10 billion.

In addition, *Chuqiaozhuan* was not only recognized in the domestic market but also successfully entered the sights of audiences in countries like Russia, Japan, and North America, receiving great attention especially on overseas new media platforms like YouTube.

With the support of various data points, *Chuqiaozhuan* was simply so popular it had no friends, to the point that the second and third-round broadcast rights were scrambled for by numerous television stations, selling for a high price of 2.7 million from 9 local television stations cumulatively.

Adding in the online copyright aspect, with Tudou and LeTV paying 800,000 per episode, cumulatively, the price per episode for this drama reached as high as 6.5 million, even more exaggerated than *Zhen Huan Zhuan* back then!

This drama had a total of 60 episodes, achieving a total revenue of 390 million. After deducting production and promotion costs, the profit exceeded 250 million—an absolute killing! More importantly, the effect of this drama in promoting people was truly too strong.

From the start of the drama until now, in just over a month, Zhao Liying's Weibo follower count increased by over 3 million, and the data was still skyrocketing.

She went directly from an unknown small artist to a firmly second-tier actress, even barely stepping into the ranks of quasi-first-tier.

As for Qiao Zhenyu, who played the male lead, the boost he received was also significant. Although his fan count did not increase much, his salary for television dramas was skyrocketing.

Currently, Qiao Zhenyu's external quote has reached 700,000 per episode, much higher than Huang Xiaoming and Deng Chao, making him the number one person in the country.

Of course, this was not just the result of one drama, but rather that with the influx of hot money, actors' salaries also ushered in a rapid rise.

The era of sky-high salaries was getting closer and closer!

Halfway through November, just two days after *Chuqiaozhuan* concluded, another new drama from Shanhe Media, which was also the last television drama of 2012, began filming, and there was no shortage of related media reports.

"Jointly produced by Shanhe Media and Jiaxing Entertainment Studio, the 50-million-investment urban National Martial Arts drama *Dragon Snake* began filming in Chongqing today.

The drama is adapted from the work of the same name by online novelist Meng Ru Shenji, starring Starry Sky Culture's popular young actor Zhu Yilong and the rising female artist Wang Zixuan, with numerous action actors passionately joining the cast, telling the story of..."

This novel promoted the National Martial Arts genre and was regarded as the masterpiece of the new generation of National Martial Arts novels. Since it began serialization in 2008, no similar work has surpassed it to this day.

Therefore, the original novel had many fans. When the filming photos, character stills, and media reports were released, many book fans expressed their anticipation.

At the same time, after lasting more than eighty days, *Dearest* finally wrapped up filming.

As a film with a realistic theme about anti-child trafficking, its previous buzz was extremely high, so as soon as Cao Baoping and his group came out of the airport, they were surrounded by media who had heard the news.

"May I ask Director Cao, when will the film meet the audience?"

"Currently, post-production work has not yet begun, and it is unclear when the final cut will be ready. It is too early to discuss the release schedule now..."

Looking at Cao Baoping, who did not want to say more and even seemed a bit exhausted, the media turned their microphones toward the female lead, Zhou Xun.

"May I ask Young Master Zhou, this is your second collaboration with Director Cao; how do you think it compares to *The Equation of Love and Death*?"

Zhou Xun had been in the industry for many years and was well-versed in facing interviews.

"The genres of the two films are completely different and cannot be discussed in the same breath, but I think this is the most meaningful film I have shot so far. I also call on all sectors of society again: without buying and selling, there is no harm."

Subsequently, the media targeted Huang Bai; after all, he was a Golden Horse Best Actor and still had some status.

"May I ask, Mr. Huang Bai, what are your expectations for the film's box office results?"

"I believe that with the script from Shanhe Media and with Director Cao and so many big names, the box office will definitely not be bad. However, I hope even more that through this film, we can help those families who have lost their children..."

Although the cast members of *Dearest* wrapped up filming one after another, Wei Jin still arranged a wrap party for everyone.

As a member of the crew, Ceng Li also rarely accompanied Wei Jin to attend.

After some pleasantries, everyone took their seats one after another. "Teacher Cao, thank you for your hard work. There's no rush for the post-production this time, so you should take a break for a while first."

Cao Baoping was already nearly 60 years old, and after several months, the exhaustion on his face was hard to hide. Wei Jin truly couldn't bear to overwork him, especially since the release schedule wasn't urgent.

"Hmm, that sounds good."

Cao Baoping nodded, following the suggestion, and then began chatting with Wei Jin about *The Distinguished Citizen*.

This film started shooting at the end of last month, and according to Tian Zhuangzhuang's plan, the shooting time would be about three months.

However, because the filming location was quite far away, Wei Jin hadn't been able to go to the set.

"By the way, Teacher Cao, I don't quite understand why you insisted on going to Jilin Province to film?"

Cao Baoping sighed: "It was a special time. Your teacher went to the countryside there, and later served as a soldier for a few years. Perhaps he wanted to say a final goodbye to the past."

Once these words were spoken, Wei Jin suddenly thought of his own uncle; perhaps people of that generation all had things in their hearts they couldn't let go of.

"By the way, Wei Jin, there is something I need to discuss with you."

"Hmm, Teacher Cao, go ahead."

Cao Baoping put down his chopsticks, deliberated for a moment, and then explained: "It's like this, the prototype, Mr. Sun, made a request to me when filming wrapped up. He hopes to add his phone number at the end of the film, in case there is any news about his child, people can contact him."

"Teacher Cao, but if we do that, I'm afraid many people will cause trouble, or even scammers might show up, right?"

"Sigh, I said the same thing to him, but Mr. Sun's exact words were that he isn't afraid of scammers; he's only afraid that no one will call him."

Once Cao Baoping said this, the whole table fell silent. Ceng Li, being a mother herself, had reddened eyes.

"Alright, Teacher Cao, then let's add the information. Either at the beginning or the end of the film is fine; you see where it fits best."

"Good."

Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere was a bit heavy, Huang Bai began to crack jokes.

"Young Master Zhou, you and Huang Xiaoming are on good terms, right? What about that business of his?"

Zhou Xun instantly got the source of the gossip and showed a look of disdain.

"Heh, it's just a case of the pot calling the kettle black. When we were filming *The Deer and the Cauldron*, it wasn't this current one. I can only say, men, hah."

"Hey, hey, hey, Young Master Zhou, don't paint everyone with the same brush. I'm a responsible man."

Wei Jin was caught in the crossfire while lying down and was speechless. This matter was actually Yang Ying's fault.

He didn't know what that woman was thinking all day, but she actually publicly stated in front of the media that Li Fei'er was the third party between Huang Xiaoming and her.

The key was that Huang Xiaoming was a bit cowardly this time and didn't actually stand up to correct it.

As a result, his ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend had been tearing each other apart online for the past two days.

"I can testify to this point. Old Wei is still responsible. Li, right? Haha."

Huang Bai laughed and teased. Among those present, he had known Ceng Li the longest and knew the story of Ceng Li and Wei Jin the best.

From his perspective, Wei Jin might be a flirt, but he had never abandoned anyone after starting a relationship; he was indeed very responsible.

Facing his old friend's teasing, Ceng Li rolled her eyes after calming her emotions.

"Brother Bai, you should drink less tonight. Xiao Ou isn't here."

"Hahaha."

Wei Jin laughed as soon as he heard this, remembering the funny story of the first time he had dinner with Huang Bai and his wife.

"Hey, hey, Old Wei, don't just laugh, tell us the details, tell us."

Not only was Zhou Xun curious, but Zhang Yi, Zhang Songwen, and the others were all looking at Wei Jin, not hiding their desire for gossip at all.

"It's nothing much. It was just seven or eight years ago, Old Huang dragged me out for barbecue and beer. The result, of course, goes without saying—I was dead to the world, but he still wasn't convinced, claiming the beer was too bloating."

"So the second time he brought his wife to meet me, he switched to hard liquor. I taught him a lesson that time. If Xiao Ou hadn't been there that night, he would have definitely slept in the private room."

Wei Jin bragged faintly, hiding his merit and fame deep within.

"Hahaha."

Zhou Xun laughed until she was leaning back and forth. "Old Huang, didn't you know Old Wei can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk? You really are stubborn."

"We had just met back then, how was I supposed to know he could drink that much?"

Huang Bai waved his hand dismissively, then added with a sigh: "You guys don't know, over a dozen shots of Erguotou, and Old Wei was completely fine. It's truly bizarre."

"Hmm, Old Wei's drinking capacity is indeed monstrous. Back when we were filming *The Message*..."

Zhou Xun also began to share stories of drinking with Wei Jin, and gave the latter a look that implied he should understand what she meant.

She couldn't forget the back of Yang Rong leaving with Wei Jin that night. This dog of a man really played too wildly, it was a pity he didn't let her have a taste too.

The people at the table didn't know Zhou Xun's inner monologue. At this moment, everyone's chatter seemed to have opened up, and they began to reminisce about the past one after another.

It just so happened that almost everyone present had known Wei Jin for quite a long time, and there were many stories.

As the saying goes, stories go with wine; the more you drink, the more you have. The atmosphere at the scene became increasingly lively and harmonious.

As they chatted, they talked about the upcoming Golden Horse Awards.

Coincidentally, among those present, Ceng Li and Zhou Xun both attended the Golden Horse Awards with Wei Jin six years ago.

And Huang Bai and Zhang Songwen would also be attending with Wei Jin this time.

"By the way, Old Wei, when are you leaving?"

"Probably three or four days before the awards ceremony."

Upon hearing this, Huang Bai wilted. "Sigh, I was hoping to enjoy your private jet. Now that's out of the question."

Wei Jin smiled. As the host, Huang Bai had to arrive before the opening ceremony, which was indeed a pity, so he raised his glass to toast him.

"It doesn't matter, we can go together on the way back."

"Hey, right, that sounds great. Haozi has been showing off to me ever since he came back from the Cannes Film Festival. This time I have to enjoy it properly, haha."

(End of this chapter)