Chapter 520: Cinderella and the Prince

The weather outside was cold, and everyone wore thick clothes outdoors, but inside it was warm like spring, with heating on.

Liu Tianxian felt right at home here; after sweating profusely from dinner, she went upstairs to take a shower, changed into simple clothes, and was again fresh, beautiful, and fragrant.

There were also some of her clothes here, all newly bought.

She saw Fang Hong standing by the window on the phone, guessing he was busy with work, so she didn't disturb him and went downstairs.

Xu Liyun watched TV every day; she was a TV addict, especially fond of urban idol dramas.

"Mom, you're watching TV?" Liu Tianxian sat beside her to watch together.

"I hadn't finished the last one, so I watched a bit before falling asleep. Where's Xiao Fang?" Xu Liyun said.

"He's busy on the phone."

Liu Tianxian said, then looked at the TV: "What's this drama called?"

She thought the production quality was terrible, like a web drama—the male and female leads were both good-looking, and they smirked seductively.

"It's called 'Baiyi Xiao Yu Dazhantui'—it's quite nice," Xu Liyun, utterly engrossed, replied.

Liu Tianxian found it boring—it was just another domineering-CEO-meets-ditzy-heroine love story.

"Is this a web drama?" she asked.

"I don't know if it's a web drama, but it's on TV anyway," Xu Liyun didn't understand the difference between web dramas and regular ones.

When the first episode ended and the second began, Liu Tianxian noticed the word "Jade Rabbit" in the opening credits and asked curiously: "Is this a Jade Rabbit drama?"

"It seems to be produced by Xiao Fang's company," Xu Liyun had also noticed.

"Then it should be streaming on Chang'e Video Platform—I've never seen this video platform before," Liu Tianxian noted the video icon wasn't Chang'e Video's.

She knew well that all Jade Rabbit-produced web dramas aired exclusively on Chang'e Video Platform.

"I don't know—Xiao Fang set it up for me," Xu Liyun said.

"Oh!" Liu Tianxian stopped asking and crossed her legs to watch with her, finding it interesting to watch such web dramas after being used to more profound TV series.

She could watch them critically—like, why are the acting skills so childish? How would she have acted it differently?

This mindset of looking down from above offered a completely different experience—and it was quite good.

Actually, this wasn't Chang'e Video's TV interface—it was another distributor's platform.

As early as September, the broadcasting regulator had summoned all internet video companies and ordered them to remove all TV-end apps they had developed.

That meant TV interfaces no longer displayed app icons for iQIYI, Youku, and Tencent Video—they could only affiliate with enterprises holding internet TV licenses.

These enterprises were all state-owned.

All year long, authorities had cracked down on internet TV, making box manufacturers and internet video companies suffer terribly.

This policy caused iQIYI, LeEco, and other video companies to waste huge investments and resources promoting their own TV-end apps.

Not only did they fail—they got no corpse left, just buried outright.

This was also why the video market competition was unusually quiet this year—everyone was dealing with regulatory rectification; Chang'e Video, which never participated in TV, handled it easily.

From the beginning, Fang Hong had kept Chang'e Video entirely out of the TV interface business—completely abandoned it.

At the time, Zhang Nan had questioned this decision: others were competing in this field, so if they didn't, wouldn't they fall behind?

Now it was clear—the Principal had truly seen far ahead; one had to admire his vision.

She said to Zhang Yiming: "If the Principal hadn't seen so far ahead, we'd have suffered massive losses—so much money and resources poured in, not even a ripple."

"The Principal really saw far," Zhang Yiming said. "When I came, he had already arranged the funding step by step—we just followed the established plan."

Fang Hong's funding to Chang'e Technology had been continuous, never lacking, allowing them to develop without worrying about finances.

Currently, Honor of Kings' monthly revenue has risen to 250 million, and in just three months, the mobile game's growth data remains rapid.

After all, smartphone penetration continues to rise daily, with people abandoning feature phones for smartphones.

Hero Glory continues its glory—on the night of the World Grand Finals, viewership reached 27 million.

That's a 15% drop compared to last year!

Although viewership dropped, concurrent viewers increased from 8.7 million last year to 11.2 million—that is, the number watching simultaneously.

Last year's viewership was higher, but most watched and left immediately; this year, more stayed.

According to statistics, average viewing time per viewer rose from 42 minutes to 67 minutes.

The Grand Finals were held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in South Korea, selling 40,000 tickets—nearly double last year's ticket sales.

Although overall viewership decreased, it was because more people were cutting clips and uploading them.

Overall, the data is better than last year's.

This year's Grand Finals were again won by the South Korean team SSW, claiming the $1 million prize.

China's path to defeating Korea in esports remains long and arduous!

Match revenues came mainly from broadcasting rights, advertising, sponsorships, skin sales promotion, attracting new players, and drawing new sponsorship partners—totaling $300 million.

Direct and indirect economic benefits are incalculable—live streaming platforms, streamers, esports clubs, etc. This year, Hero Glory's sponsors included Samsung, Red Bull, Nike, Mercedes-Benz, Ralph Lauren, HSBC, SteelSeries esports chairs, goalstudio apparel, Hana Bank, and SteelSeries.

All were well-known enterprises and brands.

Swan Castle will allocate 50% of esports revenue—from sponsorships and broadcast media—roughly $100 million—to global event development and regional league infrastructure.

These funds will create a global revenue pool, distributing 50% of the pool to Tier-One teams—those qualified to compete.

Another 35% is competitive division: split into two parts—one based on regional league rankings, the other on international tournament performance;

The remaining 15% is distributed by team popularity, to support emerging esports teams.

Such heavy investment aims for healthy esports development—fresh blood and continuous funding ensure ongoing growth.

Honor of Kings follows the same model, emulating Hero Glory's success—this year it will prepare for its Spring Tournament.

Tournaments still strongly promote games—they're highly entertaining.

Liu Tianxian watched idol dramas with Xu Liyun, growing more and more interested, and without realizing it, watched several episodes—several hours.

These idol dramas, oddly enough, are quite captivating—their Love Story of "the Cinderella and the Prince" is still engagingly drawn out.

After watching this last episode, Liu Tianxian yawned: "Mom, I'm a bit sleepy, I'll go up and sleep first."

"Alright, I'm going to sleep too, we'll watch again tomorrow." Xu Liyun picked up a remote and turned off the TV.

"Call me when you watch tomorrow, it's actually pretty good." Liu Tianxian looked at her.

"Right? You like watching it too." Xu Liyun seemed to have found a kindred spirit, a smile on her face.

"I like watching it, the plot's not bad." Liu Tianxian stood up.

"Alright then, I'll call you tomorrow, hurry up and go to sleep." Xu Liyun smiled and gestured.

It was rare for her daughter-in-law to enjoy watching the same TV series as her — before, she'd always watch with her on the first day, then disappear the next day.

Liu Tianxian went upstairs back to the room, saw Fang Hong had already lain down on the bed, she jumped onto the bed in one leap, the bed was very soft, bouncing nonstop.

Fang Hong didn't move, opened his eyes and saw Liu Tianxian crawling on her knees to him, both hands propped on either side of him, leaning down to look at him: "You didn't even wait for me, just went to sleep on your own."

"I saw you were so absorbed watching TV, so I didn't disturb you." Fang Hong lowered his gaze slightly, and immediately saw a different, beautiful view.

Mainly because Liu Tianxian was dressed too loosely — in that pose the neckline was completely open, though she was still wearing undergarments inside.

Even though it was at home, being seen by elders with obvious bumps would still be a bad look.

She was quite particular about this, and quite conservative.

"Did you go downstairs?" Liu Tianxian said.

"I took a look from upstairs, saw you all watching TV so I didn't go down." Fang Hong reached out, pulled her into the blanket and tucked her in.

Liu Tianxian in the covers, took the chance to press close to him: "Hey, I only just realized, that kind of idol drama is actually pretty good."

"A subject that endures and always has a market proves that the plot and setup are appealing." Fang Hong turned off the lights, leaving only the ambient lights.

The light in the room dimmed, and it was very quiet, only the sound of the two of them talking.

"Then do you like watching this kind?" Liu Tianxian asked.

"I like watching it, if the plot draws me in I like watching it, it's just that this kind of TV drama takes too much time — dragging on for dozens of episodes, all that life-and-death drama, I just can't keep watching." Fang Hong said softly.

"You're not picky about what you watch either." Liu Tianxian said.

"We're directors, we have to look at everything — books, all kinds of films and TV shows, understand?" Fang Hong said.

"I don't understand, and I don't want to understand."

Liu Tianxian let out a mischievous laugh, glanced up at him, kissed him on the lips, and asked again: "Hey, who were you on the phone with just now?"

"Gao Zhun, from Chang'e Technology's finance department, I had her oversee the acquisition of the Rabbit Ticket shares from Enlight Media." Fang Hong held her tighter, kissing her forehead, then moving down to her eyes, her little mouth.

"Oh, accompany me to the Golden Horse Awards in a few days." Liu Tianxian responded, her fresh breath spraying onto the man's face.

Her film had been shortlisted for the Golden Horse, and she was nominated for Best Actress again — this seemed to be her fifth Golden Horse nomination.

Anyway, nominated every year, never won the award!

"You've already won an award, it's hard to win again." Fang Hong moved on top of her, starting to undress her.

That film won a Golden Goblet, so it's hard to say the Golden Horse would give her the award again.

"I know, but it's a nomination, right? I definitely have that little hope — what if I win?" Liu Tianxian cooperated.

She was only wearing one garment, easy to take off, her skin smooth and delicate, glowing white even under the dim lights.

Generally, once you've won one of these mainstream awards, it's hard to win a second, unless your performance is super good, beyond dispute.

"Fine, I'll go with you." Fang Hong said.

"I just knew my dear husband is the best." Liu Tianxian's lotus-root-white slender arms wrapped around Fang Hong's neck.

"Lift your butt up a bit." Fang Hong pulled off her pants.

Liu Tianxian cooperated and lifted her butt: "Be gentle with me, don't get so caught up once you start that you become rough."

(End of chapter)