HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

Unlike Liu Yifei's composure, Yang Mi looked at Liu Yifei on the screen with undisguised envy and jealousy in her eyes, secretly thinking:

"When will I be able to receive such treatment?"

She couldn't help but think of Xu Lang again.

He looked at Xu Lang, his expression becoming even more complicated.

Meanwhile, Xu Lang was holding a laptop, monitoring online viewers' reactions to the new version of "Happy Camp" in real time.

The Happy Camp forum has been buzzing all day long.

Previously, posts were constantly being posted, including official promotional posts as well as discussion posts from viewers.

Before the program aired, the official account pinned a post with pictures and text for a live broadcast.

The post exploded as soon as the show started.

At the very beginning, the show lacked the opening sequence from the old version of Happy Camp, and while many people expressed their nostalgia, they also grumbled:

"You can revamp it, but why did you change the opening sequence? It's full of memories!"

"Yeah, why not just change the content? They even changed the main entrance! They don't want us longtime viewers to come home!"

"It seems this update is quite ruthless."

But as soon as Jane Zhang's voice came on, the forum immediately fell silent.

As soon as Liu Yifei appeared, the online forum exploded again.

"Holy crap, this song is amazing!"

"Behind her is Liu Yifei, who is like a fairy with two immortals."

"This should be Little Dragon Girl, not Zhao Ling'er!"

But soon, the lighting changed, and the song "Sha Po Lang" started playing again.

The same ethereal quality, the same goosebumps.

"Holy crap, what song is this? It's absolutely amazing!"

"I know, this is the theme of 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy', 'Kill the Wolf'."

"One is the theme song from 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' and the other is the theme song from 'Chinese Paladin.' They're absolutely stunning!"

At this moment, Liu Yifei's appearance changed again, transforming from the aloof and distant Little Dragon Girl into the lively and adorable Zhao Ling'er.

"Brother Xiaoyao!"

Zhao Ling'er's shout immediately sent all the fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series into a frenzy.

"This is the Zhao Ling'er I envisioned."

Just as the song was about to end, Liu Yifei descended from the sky again, swooping down towards the screen like a fairy.

Seeing this, everyone got excited, pointing at the constantly changing screen and shouting:

"One person, two immortals!"

Zhang Jizhong, watching on television, was also shocked by what he saw.

He looked at Xu Lang curiously and asked:

"Was this scene filmed on location?"

Hearing this, Xu Lang chuckled and shook his head.

"Producer Zhang, you're a professional. I can't fool you. This was created by combining my previous photo with the video."

On-site, it's impossible to capture the effect of "one person, two immortals" in a single shot.

Xu Lang explained, feeling a little regretful.

At the same time, his heart was filled with both anticipation and doubt.

"Last time, the system prompted that the [Camera] function would be unlocked after another upgrade. I took another [Hall of Fame] photo of Yang Mi before, so why hasn't the system upgraded yet?"

Isn't that enough?

After filming "Happy Camp" this time, Xu Lang has become increasingly excited about the camera function.

On television, the opening segment of "One Person, Two Immortals" ended, but the audience's reaction did not.

All the entertainment forums are flooded with information about "Happy Camp":

"Holy crap, that's amazing!"

"Putting everything else aside, just based on those two songs and Liu Yifei's double talent, the revamp of 'Happy Camp' was a success."

Meanwhile, in the Hunan TV office, Wang Bingwen, Long Hai, Luo Xin, He Ling, and others were also watching the "Happy Camp" program.

Wang Bingwen didn't go home for the New Year's Day holiday, and there was only one reason for it:

Ratings!

Everything else is secondary; only the viewership ratings are real.

Ratings are the lifeline of a program.

High viewership means high earnings for the male lead, and with money comes everything!

"What were the ratings?"

Wang Bingwen's voice trembled slightly with nervousness as he pressed for an answer.

Long Hai sat in front of the computer, his eyes fixed on the monitoring equipment, and said excitedly:

"It has risen from 1.5% at the beginning to 1.9%."

"Very good!"

Upon hearing this news, Luo Xin, He Ling, and the others were all excited.

This figure is more than double the previous value.

Previously, when the ratings hit a new low of 0.98%, and the viewership fell below 1%, the program faced the fate of being canceled.

Now, the opening percentage is 1.9%, a result that is far from the critical point.

After all, in the variety show industry, 1.5% is the average for all variety shows.

With a current rating of 1.9%, it has already far surpassed other variety shows.

Wang Bingwen breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the number, but a hint of disappointment still lingered on his face.

He Ling understood his meaning and leaned closer to say:

"Old Battalion Commander, this is just the beginning, the price will rise further."

And don't forget what day it is today!

"oh?!"

Reminded by He Ling, Wang Bingwen's eyes lit up, and he slapped his forehead, exclaiming in surprise:

"How could I have forgotten about that!"

Today is January 1, 2005, New Year's Day.

CCTV does have a New Year's Eve Gala.

At times like these, provincial satellite TV channels will make way for CCTV.

After all, no one dares to compete with CCTV for popularity; they don't have the capability.

"Look at the ratings for CCTV's New Year's Eve Gala!"

"2.1%"

(This data is close to the actual data. The CCTV New Year's Eve Gala is not the Spring Festival Gala. The normal viewership rating for the CCTV New Year's Eve Gala is between 2.0 and 2.5.)

Upon hearing this number, Wang Bingwen's face, which had just shown some disappointment, immediately lit up with a smile.

"Haha, it's worth it to snatch so much spice from CCTV's mouth!"

Just then, Long Hai cried out in alarm:

"Old Battalion Commander, we're at 2.1 now!"

"What?"

Wang Bingwen stood up abruptly and quickly went to Longhai's surveillance camera.

Ratings are the core data for each TV station, and they are updated every minute.

"Haha, it's on par with CCTV!"

"It's not that it's level, it's that it's overtaken. Look, CCTV's score has dropped, and it's about to break 2."

"Very good!"

The fact that a variety show could surpass CCTV's New Year's Eve Gala in ratings is something Wang Bingwen can boast about for a lifetime.

"Let me see, which program is this?"

Which show is so popular?

Wang Bingwen looked at the program on the TV. The screen was filled with images of Yang Ying, and it was a segment of "Happy Kitchen".

"This little girl is so cute!"

The people present were all worldly-wise and had seen countless beautiful women.

At this moment, even they were captivated by Yang Ying's beauty.

It has to be said that Yang Ying's looks in her early days were absolutely stunning!

They were all like that, and the viewers in front of the television were even more frenzied.

"Holy crap, whose little girl is this? She's so cute!"

"No, I'm in love!"

"I have to admit, I'm attracted to her looks!"

In dormitory 302 at Beijing Film Academy.

Watching Yang Ying, Mao Jian, Jiang Wei, and Zhang Yanbin on TV, they were all about to reach their climax.

"As expected of my favorite Barbie!"

"I can't take it anymore, I need to go to Hunan!"

"It's all the third brother's fault, he took Barbie away when she was perfectly fine."

Just as he was reflecting on this, Zhang Yanbin's phone rang.

"Who's being so annoying on a holiday?"

Zhang Yanbin reluctantly shifted his gaze from the television to his phone, where he saw Kimi, the person in charge of publishing his photobook.

He dared not ignore these business calls.

"Hey, Kimi-nee, Happy New Year..."

Before he could even utter the word "okay," Kimi on the other end of the phone erupted in a frenzied roar:

"You need to reprint Barbie's photobooks right away! 3, no, 5, no, 10!"