Chapter 71: Gao Qunshu: How Can the Gap Between People Be So Huge

Since selling the rights to "Conquest" to Seeing Yan Li, with someone to back him up, Gao Qunshu's pressure dropped significantly.

But he wasn't fully at ease either—Seeing Yan Li had only paid him 500,000, and Gao Qunshu feared Seeing Yan Li might not sell it, leaving him stuck with the drama and unable to pay the remaining installments.

If he couldn't get the money, even owning the rights to "Conquest" jointly with Seeing Yan Li two years later would be useless.

A right that could be turned into cash was a good right; one that couldn't was just a pile of paper…

So Gao Lao's peaceful days didn't last long before he was back to wringing his hands in anxiety.

Liu Weiwei watched him suffer: "Why don't you just call Xiao Yan directly?"

"It wouldn't help."

Gao Qunshu counted the days and shook his chubby head: "It's not even half a month yet—he hasn't even gotten his feet wet. He's probably panicking inside. I'd better not add to his troubles."

Liu Weiwei thought that made sense, but soon came up with another idea: "Why don't you ask Jiang Shan if she can help?"

Gao Qunshu looked confused: "Didn't we already ask? She couldn't do anything."

"You asking? Of course she couldn't."

Liu Weiwei smiled mysteriously: "But if you say you're asking on Xiao Yan's behalf, maybe she could."

Gao Qunshu sighed: "Don't go believing rumors—Jiang Shan and Seeing Yan Li are decades apart in age. How could there be anything between them?"

"Says you—you're ten years older than me."

Liu Weiwei rolled her eyes, then added a teasing tone: "I didn't say anything. Haven't you noticed how they call each other 'big sister' and 'little brother' on set? When the little brother's in trouble, isn't it natural for the big sister to help?"

Gao Qunshu was swayed, but still hesitated: "Would she really help?"

They'd been close on set, but plenty of people stopped contacting each other after filming ended—he wasn't sure Jiang Shan would take the bait.

"Just try and see."

Liu Weiwei still had some confidence—during the filming of "Conquest," she and Jiang Shan had been close, so she knew a bit about Jiang Shan's marital situation and sensed her unusual concern for Seeing Yan Li.

Think about it—Seeing Yan Li, so handsome, strong, and considerate—a young brother like him—could Jiang Shan, with her troubled marriage, really just forget him?

Liu Weiwei pulled out her phone and dialed: "Hello, Sister Shan…"

"Alright, I'll wait for your update."

After about five minutes, Liu Weiwei hung up. Gao Qunshu caught the gist but remained uncertain.

"Did she agree to help?"

"She didn't promise, but as soon as she heard Seeing Yan Li's name, she asked a lot of questions about 'Conquest.' Way more enthusiastic than when you begged her."

"Tch."

Gao Qunshu felt a pang of bitterness, patted his belly, and muttered sourly: "Good-looking boys have it so easy."

Liu Weiwei smirked beside him—Gao Qunshu and Jiang Shan had some history, otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to lend her name to such a low-budget drama.

But compared to Seeing Yan Li, the difference was enough to break your heart.

Yet what broke Gao Lao's heart wasn't just Jiang Shan—less than half an hour later, Seeing Yan Li called.

"Sister Wei, did you contact Sister Shan?"

"Yeah, did she reach out to you?"

Liu Weiwei asked, then learned that Jiang Shan had just called Seeing Yan Li, saying she'd arranged dinner with a few friends at CCTV that evening—Seeing Yan Li only found out it was Liu Weiwei who'd asked for the favor.

This efficiency was insane!

Beside her, Gao Qunshu's fingers trembled with rage—he'd tried and failed to get Jiang Shan to dinner, and she'd brushed him off with two calls.

Yet Seeing Yan Li? In under half an hour, she'd already arranged a dinner with CCTV contacts for him?!

Liu Weiwei ignored Gao Qunshu's look of utter despair and continued chatting with Seeing Yan Li.

"Sister Shan's famous, has lots of connections—her help is way better than you running around alone. Remember, use your strengths—be sweeter, work harder…"

What strengths are you talking about?

On the other end of the line, Seeing Yan Li's face darkened and cut off Liu Weiwei's wolfish advice.

"Sister Wei, this is my fault—I forgot to tell you—the drama's been sold."

"Sold?!"

Liu Weiwei's voice shot up sharply; Gao Qunshu, who'd been slumped beside her, instantly perked up.

"Already? Where to?"

"Tianjin TV's cultural channel, and two municipal stations in Lang City and Cang City, Hebei Province. I'm currently in Jin Ling, Jiangsu, negotiating with Jin Ling TV—eight or nine out of ten it'll go through. After that, I'll head to Hunan, Zhejiang, and Shaanxi."

Gao Qunshu and Liu Weiwei exchanged glances, sinking into eerie silence.

They'd struggled for months and accomplished nothing; Seeing Yan Li, in barely half a month, had already sold to nearly four TV stations.

Could this kid have some big-shot relative behind the scenes?!

But they quickly discarded the thought.

If Seeing Yan Li really had such a powerful relative, why would he bother acting in "Conquest" or go through all this trouble? He could get any good project he wanted.

Liu Weiwei thought of another possibility: "You didn't sell it at rock-bottom prices, did you?"

If a drama was sold like cabbage, some TV stations might buy it—but that meant the producer or distributor was gambling, betting the drama would become a hit.

Only if it became popular could they recoup losses elsewhere; if it flopped, it was completely dead, totally stuck in their hands.

Gao Qunshu had had chances like this before, but he'd been too afraid to gamble, so he'd always focused on selling the rights to recoup costs.

"I'm too small-time to have that kind of guts."

Seeing Yan Li's voice was light—he was betting "Conquest" would be a hit, but with his system, he had no intention of selling at a loss.

Of course, since the initiative lay with the TV stations, he'd made some concessions—but overall, he'd still make a profit.

Liu Weiwei still doubted, but Gao Qunshu believed.

After all, he was a director—he understood the situation of certain TV stations.

As for ordinary municipal stations like Lang City and Cang City, their thresholds were low and the room for maneuver was wide.

The Jinmen Cultural Channel is a sub-channel of Jinmen TV, with viewership covering the entire Jinmen region, including Jingcheng and parts of Hebei Province, making it a proper provincial-level station.

Jin Ling TV, as a municipal station at the provincial capital level, also wields considerable influence, equivalent to a half-provincial station.

Stations at the level of these two have ample drama acquisition budgets and their own archives; if they lack suitable new dramas, they'd rather rebroadcast old ones—no low-price strategy can sway them.

He took the phone from Liu Weiwei: "How many sold?"

Seeing Yan Li didn't hide it: "Jinmen offered the highest—32,000 per episode. Jin Ling is still negotiating and might push to 20,000. Those two municipal stations are much lower—combined, they're barely over 10,000 per episode."

Gao Qunshu nodded internally; this price wasn't extremely high, but it was certainly not a low sale.

Over the past two years, provincial sub-channels or municipal stations like Jin Ling have had per-episode prices generally between 10,000 and 100,000.

However, non-popular dramas rarely exceed 50,000 per episode.

Ordinary municipal stations or lower county-level stations have per-episode prices ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands; breaking 10,000 per episode remains a hurdle.

"Conquest" is an unaired new drama; Seeing Yan Li securing this price is already outstanding.

At least, among the few TV stations Gao Qunshu had previously encountered willing to pay, some didn't even reach half of Seeing Yan Li's negotiated rate.

Gao Qunshu calculated the figures for Seeing Yan Li.

"Conquest" totals twenty episodes: 32,000 + 20,000 + 10,000, multiplied by twenty, comes to roughly 1.24 million.

It still seems far from the 5-million contract they signed.

But in reality, Seeing Yan Li sold to four TV stations at once, with more possible later; such widespread broadcast across multiple local stations inevitably generates momentum.

With momentum, Seeing Yan Li can then push "Conquest" to satellite broadcast—that's when the real money comes in.

Currently, satellite TV stations pay between 100,000 and 300,000 per episode for dramas; popular hits go higher, low-budget ones slightly lower.

Taking a midpoint of 150,000 per episode, if Seeing Yan Li can get "Conquest" onto just two satellite stations, he'll earn 6 million.

Once a drama airs on satellite, if it performs well, subsequent rebroadcasts—second and third rounds, plus all local stations—can harvest another wave of revenue.

"Young Yan, you're truly impressive."

Gao Qunshu grew more and more awed as he calculated, shifting his address from "Xiao Yan" to "Director Yan."

"Director Gao, you're teasing me."

Seeing Yan Li wasn't the type to get arrogant after success; instead, he kept heaping praise on Gao Qunshu.

"I'm only benefiting from your genius, Director Gao—your drama is so well-made that I can sell it well."

In the past, Gao Qunshu might have happily accepted such flattery, but this time he chose to return it.

"Even the best wine fears a deep alley—you, Director Yan, have the real talent; otherwise, old Gao would be stuck."

The two exchanged commercial flattery for a long time, their forms of address evolving from hierarchical "Director Gao, Xiao Yan" to formal yet distant "Director Gao, Director Yan," then finally to warm and familiar "Big Brother Gao" and "Little Yan."

Liu Weiwei watched the two chatting enthusiastically and suddenly thought of Jiang Shan, her gaze flickering.

Such a handsome, capable younger brother—there are plenty of young, beautiful girls lining up to snatch him up; old sister fears she can't hold onto him…

(End of Chapter)