Age of Legends

Chapter 330 Pursuit
“What am I now? Everyone’s laughing at me…” In the villa, Wu Yue complained to Liu Qi, her eyes red with tears. She couldn’t accept the contrast between her sudden fall from grace, which was a star in the city (even if it’s not exactly famous).

"Nobody listens to me, and sometimes they even talk to me coldly. I told my aunt, and even she doesn't like me anymore! She said that she's being watched by the propaganda department too! Tell me, how did Jiang Rong manage to get ahead? Is Huang Huifen's son some kind of monster?"

This villa is located in the mountains and forests. It is an old-fashioned building with little natural light. Combined with the American-style interior decoration, it has a somewhat gloomy feel.

Wu Yue, with her hair disheveled and eyes bloodshot, and the pine trees behind her with their claws bared at the window, along with her words, made Liu Qi, who was holding a cigar, pause for a moment.

"Alright, I'm not blaming you. If that's the case, why don't you take a vacation and go to Europe for a week? I'll buy you the tickets," Liu Qi said casually.

Then he frowned, "You said your aunt Meng Lihui couldn't do anything about it, and that's true. She's only a deputy now. Once the publicity department sets the tone, she can't really force it. At least the program hasn't gone wrong, and once it's gained traction, there's nothing she can do about it. So, it's not entirely her fault. What surprised me was the publicity department's involvement. This is most likely Huang Huifen's doing—no, she didn't think of that. It's probably Chen Xuran's doing. This Chen Xuran is quite something..."

Sometimes Liu Qi didn't know what to say. He could manipulate Zhao Tao at will because he knew the weaknesses and habits of that group. He could also deceive Huang Huifen by using a pretext, because Huang Huifen was indeed brainless. But then, several capable people appeared around Huang Huifen. Her son, still a high school student, was already showing promise in program planning. Chen Xuran, on the other hand, had her political background and could smooth over many social and official issues for her.

Liu Qi's support for Wu Yue was also partly intended to mold her into another Chen Xuran, because at Chen Xuran's level, many things could be accomplished with ease.

All of that aside, Liu Qi himself wasn't afraid of trouble; in fact, he was someone who excelled at solving it. Trouble had long been ingrained in him as a habit. A life without challenges would be as stagnant as a pool of still water for him. On the contrary, the more challenges and stronger opponents he faced, the more eager he became to try. Otherwise, someone like Zhao Tao would be avoided by most people, but only Liu Qi, wanting a change of leadership in the underworld, actively provoked him to take his place.

What truly cast a shadow over Liu Qi was the fact that he had already seized Huang Huifen's textile factory site. Logically, Huang Huifen's good fortune had been taken advantage of by him, so she should now be enjoying smooth sailing, completely dominating the provincial television station, easily crushing Wu Yue's programs, and rapidly rising to prominence as he planned and orchestrated, accumulating political and influential capital, including Meng Lihui, so that Liu Qi could truly gain control of the media industry.

But why... did Jiang Rong's show resurface?
The first two episodes showed some promise, but as the series progressed, it became increasingly stable.

This is not reasonable.

Shouldn't I be on the hidden path of the Emperor Star now, thus advancing smoothly all the way? How could the provincial TV station produce such a program, interrupting my plans and forcefully completing the blockade?

This gloomy feeling made Liu Qi very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, he was never one to let things get worse.

He immediately made several phone calls and made the decision to push Yipin Real Estate forward.

"Stop counting down the days, time waits for no one. Get the engineering department moving, work overtime, and start construction immediately!"

He wants to launch the initial prototype of the property as quickly as possible to capture market attention. The attention generated by the "king of the buildings" is still ongoing; he simply needs to capitalize on that.

After making one call after another, feeling the urgency of the people on the other end of the line, Liu Qi said to Wu Yue, "Do me a favor, spend some money. I want to buy all the prominent headlines in all the well-known real estate DM magazines and newspapers in Rongcheng, and hype up the 'Rongcheng No. 1' housing project near the textile factory."

Yes, Rongcheng No. 1. That's the name Liu Qi gave to the housing development on that plot of land. The addition of "No. 1" to the name of the "King of Buildings" was enough to make a strong first impression.

He will have the public relations and advertising departments promote the following concept: This is the first truly high-end community in Fuzhou, which will introduce gimmicks such as "European-style landscape design", renowned architects, and "fully enclosed property management". It is conceivable that when it opens for sale, it will be the highest market price in the city, causing all kinds of heated discussions.

This has drawn criticism, but that doesn't matter. Amidst the criticism, the newly rich in Fuzhou, those eager to flaunt their wealth, will obediently come to pay the bill and hand over their money.

This will bring unprecedented profits. On the other hand, Liu Qi finally made up his mind and called several institutions. These financial institutions will transfer the funds that Liu Qi could finally use through various means to help him start construction and invest in development, and help him fight this big battle.

……

Jiang Rong called to celebrate, "The response has been very good. Advertising is going very smoothly. Teacher Wang is involved in the advertising campaign. Because of the contract with the TV station, they can't make decisions on their own and need Teacher Wang to be present. After we split the revenue with the station, we may be able to receive 350 million yuan in advertising revenue after the first season airs."

“We split the revenue 50/50 with the TV station. It’s 3.5 million, so that’s 7 million in advertising fees. How was it calculated?” Zhang Chen asked.

Jiang Rong's crisp voice came from the other end of the phone: "The number of commercial breaks has now increased to 20,000 to 30,000 yuan each. If there are ten commercial breaks per episode, the cost could be 300,000 yuan."

"Wait, didn't our contract stipulate that there shouldn't be more than five commercial breaks?" Zhang Chen said.

“That’s true, but nobody knew it would be this popular. Advertisers are lining up with money, and the provincial TV station said they wouldn’t refuse money that’s practically being offered to them. Teacher Wang thinks so too… Do you… have any objections?” Jiang Rong’s tone suddenly paused.

"Won't this get me criticized?" Zhang Chen's initial advertising agreement was precisely to ensure viewers would get tired of the ads, so he added this clause. Now, it does seem a bit idealistic. But there's no way around it; reborn individuals are prone to idealism.

"Not necessarily. 'The Grand Mansion Gate' airs with twelve commercial breaks. We haven't reached that point yet..." Jiang Rong's voice became somewhat cautious again. "So, you mean, you want to reduce it?"

"Oh, so there are even more outrageous ones. Well then, let's just leave it at that."

Zhang Chen despised himself for so easily yielding to money.

However, it's worth noting that viewers here are quite patient these days. Oh no, I mean, those future TV programs, with their insanely popular ad-supported segments, will still be watched and criticized by viewers, and even VIP members will have to unlock exclusive VIP ads.

So it all comes down to this: making money is nothing to be ashamed of.

As long as the audience doesn't file lawsuits to the death, how could advertisers refuse the money that's practically handed to them?

Even reborn individuals can be without principles.

"The current price for product placement is 30 yuan per ad, with two ads allowed per episode."

"The naming rights are 150 million per season. There are four special sponsorship slots, ranging from 30 to 50 per company. This is an overall estimate, and the actual revenue might be around this amount, but as the bids increase, the revenue will be even higher. In addition, there will be derivative revenue from secondary broadcasts in the future, so overall, it will continue to generate income..."

As she spoke, Jiang Rong's tone on the other end of the phone seemed to ease again, "Finally, I can see a decent return..."

"After all, you've already invested almost a million in the initial equipment and editing workstations for this show."

Ultimately, she wasn't materialistic, but her relentless pursuit of income stemmed from her fear that his investment wouldn't yield a substantial return.

(End of this chapter)