My cousin asked me to go to Wuha, and Hanikezi stuck to me.

Hanikezi closed her eyes after saying this in the car.

She leaned on Chen Yi's shoulder, her breathing even and steady, and didn't wake up all the way to her doorstep.

Chen Yi turned sideways and lifted the person out of the car.

She dazedly wrapped her arms around his neck, mumbling a vague sentence that no one could hear.

Awards season is over, and life has returned to normal.

Spring arrived quietly in my eighth year in the industry.

Chen Yi sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in his studio, flipping through industry journals.

New green buds sprouted from the ginkgo branches outside the window.

Three annual reports from different platforms were spread out on the table in front of me, each a thick stack.

Xiao Fang pushed open the door and entered the room, put down two cups of hot tea, and glanced down at the documents on the table.

"Still pondering market data?"

"Take a look at this set of content."

Chen Yi picked out one of the documents, flipped to the folded-corner page, and pushed it over.

"Last year, 14 out of the top 20 most-watched dramas online were original scripts. Three years ago, that number was only 6."

After scanning the two rows, Xiao Fang sat down in the chair opposite him.

"The trend of adapting big IPs is starting to wane."

"The receding tide is just a superficial phenomenon."

Chen Yi picked up his teacup.

"The core logic is that the audience has changed. Those who chased after traffic stars in previous years are now starting to be picky about the quality of the story. Platforms have no choice but to change their purchasing criteria from 'how many fans the actors bring' to 'how strong the script is'."

"Back then, when you proclaimed 'content is king' in the industry, everyone thought you were just talking big."

"It's not that I predicted it accurately; it's just that the industry was destined to reach this point. A few years ago, people made quick money by relying on traffic, but once the hype died down and the momentum faded, they naturally had to turn back to focusing on content. I simply took a half-step ahead of time."

Xiao Fang blew away the steam rising from the tea.

"After that interview was published last month, several heads of new labels contacted me."

"What are they going to do?"

"They came to learn from us. They were very polite, but their meaning was very straightforward. They assembled a new team, completely following the model of our studio. Two of them, to be frank, simply copied your approach."

Chen Yi sipped his hot tea, his expression calm.

"Learning the methods is fine, just don't follow the wrong path. We went through a lot of trouble in our early years."

"You're being quite lenient now. If this were three years ago, you would have definitely replied, 'Don't try to steal my job once you've learned it.'"

"This would have really happened three years ago."

Chen Yi put down his teacup and tapped his fingertips lightly on the table twice.

"The situation is different now. If the industry is well-developed, everyone will benefit. We don't intend to rely on a monopoly to make a living."

Xiao Fang nodded in agreement.

"Lin Yu's new drama will start filming next month. He sent me a message last night saying that the final draft of the script has been revised in more than thirty details."

"How's the modification?"

He said that after he finished editing the whole thing, even he couldn't see any trace of the original. He asked if you could spare some time to help him out.

"Have him send the notebook over; I'll look through it this weekend."

"There's one more thing. You've agreed to give a speech at next month's industry summit, have you prepared the outline yet?"

"Just getting started."

"The organizers have given you a topic and want you to talk about the core strengths of content creators in the new era."

"The title is rather broad."

"People think you're someone important enough to talk about this, which is why they sent you an invitation. Don't go up there, say a few words, and then leave."

"Whether it should be long or short depends on whether there is a reason for confrontation on the spot; memorizing a long novel by rote is not very useful."

Xiao Fang shook his head helplessly, then got up and tidied up the empty cups on the table.

The summit is scheduled for the last Saturday of the month.

The event was held in the Grand Ballroom of the China World Trade Center. The audience was filled with producers, directors, screenwriters, platform executives, and many young newcomers to the industry.

Chen Yi's speech was scheduled for the second session in the afternoon.

He stepped onto the stage, where nearly four hundred people sat in neat rows.

The overhead light fell directly on him, making him squint.

He was only holding a microphone, without a single page of prepared remarks.

Once on stage, he skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, belting out his song.

"I've been in the industry for eight years. At first, I didn't have any director or producer titles; I was just a newcomer who had gained some fame in front of the camera on variety shows. Back then, the industry regarded the word 'traffic' as the gold standard. The formula for making money was very clear: popularity translates into exposure, exposure brings in sponsorships, and money follows. This method worked in the early days, but everyone knows it has an expiration date."

A soft murmur of approval rippled through the audience.

"After that, I switched to making feature films. My first film took two whole years to prepare, and I was rejected nine times in a row when trying to get sponsorship. The tenth sponsor was willing to sit down and talk, but the first thing they asked was how much box office revenue the star power could support. I handed them the script, and they flipped through two pages and immediately closed it, saying, 'It's a good script, but it's not reliable.'"

He stopped and stood still.

"At that time, I realized something. Most people in the industry aren't blind to good or bad, they're just afraid to take risks. If they invest badly, they'll be held responsible, so it's easier to choose jobs with guaranteed traffic. Is this approach wrong? From a purely business perspective, it's flawless. But if you look at it in the long run, it's actually narrowing the market's appetite more and more."

He didn't use a projection screen, didn't spout long slogans, and spoke in a simple, conversational tone.

Several young screenwriters in front of the stage held pens and scribbled notes on the pages.

"The tide has turned in the last two years. As you can see, original content is increasing while the success rate of remakes is decreasing. Viewers' tastes have improved, and platforms are following suit. Some call this a content revival, but I think that's too strong a term. There's nothing mysterious about it; it's just that objective laws have reached a turning point."

After the speech concluded, we moved on to the Q&A session.

A young man wearing glasses in the front row raised his hand and stood up.

"Director Chen, I just assembled an independent production team last year, and I'd like to ask a more personal question."

Chen Yi nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"You've been working in this industry for eight years, riding the wave of trends and withstanding pressure from investors. Now, what do you consider your core strength? Is it the national attention you've gained from variety shows, or the honed control you've developed over time?"

The audience immediately fell silent.

Chen Yi handed the microphone to his other hand and pondered for a moment.

Neither of these.

The young man who asked the question was somewhat stunned.

"Then what do you think it is?"

"It is about understanding from beginning to end why you stepped through that door."

He moved half a step towards the front of the stage, the overhead light casting a long, slanted shadow at his feet.

"Skills can be honed, popularity will eventually fade, and public opinion will rise and fall—none of these are reliable. The only thing that cannot be changed is the original intention behind doing something. Are you putting on a show to make money, or are you building a stage to express yourself? In good times, these two groups are evenly matched, but when the wind blows, the difference becomes clear. Those who seek profit will change course and retreat when the market tightens, while those who are determined in their original intention will only change their tactics, never change their direction."

He paused for a moment.

"When I first entered this industry, it was purely because someone grabbed me to save the day; I didn't have any grand ambitions. But as I've come this far, I've figured out my roots. I want to present the audience with something real, without any fluff or cutting corners. This intention has never changed since I finished filming my first movie. Whether the outside world praises me or criticizes me, this anchor point has always remained firmly in place."

Applause erupted from the audience.

He finished the job before the applause subsided.

"So if you ask me about the source of my confidence, I'll answer with this: those who stay true to their original aspirations are less likely to be swayed by external influences."

The forum ended close to dusk.

Chen Yi encountered his subordinates in the back passageway.

Xiao Fang was leaning against the wall scrolling through her phone when she saw him walking towards her, so she raised the screen and waved it.

"Your exchange just now has already spread outside."

"Let them pass it on."

"There was an interesting comment that said, 'Finally, we've met someone who doesn't spout empty platitudes and clichés.'"

Chen Yi handed the microphone to the stage manager, took the water bottle from Xiao Fang, unscrewed it, and took a couple of sips.

"It's not that I don't want to maintain the facade, it's just that I'm getting older and I'm too lazy to put in the effort."

"You're only just over thirty, stop acting like an old man all the time."

Chen Yi didn't reply, handed the empty bottle back to Xiao Fang, and walked towards the underground parking garage.

He stopped by the car door and looked back at the still-lit windows of the banquet hall.

Several young people were gathered inside, discussing something, and their voices could be faintly heard through the thick glass.

Xiao Fang stood by the side without urging them on.

"Go back home. My daughter learned a new song at kindergarten this morning and is waiting to sing it for me."