Chapter 55 Scammer Decides to Be a Good Person 30: I Need to Improve…

Long Haoshu always did a good job with anything he agreed to.

Even though he still did not understand why female audiences were so obsessed with this script, he was willing to put aside his preconceptions and try to understand.

After finishing the script, Long Haoshu reported it to the company and used both company resources and his own connections built up over the years to find a female director willing to take on the shoot. She was not very old, only in her thirties, and loved experimenting with all kinds of new subject matter. Of course, she also liked the script and was willing to give it a try.

But this type of subject matter had never appeared on the market before, so attracting investment was not easy.

Shi Lan kept her original promise. She invested. Having only one investor was actually risky. Even for a low-budget production, it was still far from a small amount of money.

Yang Chong heard about it from who knew where and specially called to say he was willing to invest as well, and that he wanted to play one of the roles. That was naturally a good thing. For someone like him, this counted as taking a role beneath his usual status.

It just so happened that the script had a gifted musician in it, so he could practically play the part as himself. Even though he was a few years older than Du Heng, his face showed no trace of age at all. Playing a student did not feel out of place in the slightest.

The project was officially approved, with the title set as Wind-Blown Sand. It made no real sense, but that was the style of those old-school youth idol dramas¹, wasn’t it?

Before the full cast had even been assembled, Shi Lan was already pushing people nonstop to handle the relevant trademark registrations, copyright filings, and domain name registrations.

As the true mother of this work, Bu Hua clicked her tongue. “President Shi, is that really necessary?”

Shi Lan patted Bu Hua on the shoulder and said seriously, “You need to have confidence in your baby.”

“Baby?”

“Ahem, I mean your work.”

In Wind-Blown Sand, there were seven main male characters in total, each with his own appeal.

Tsk tsk… after reading the script, Shi Lan felt that the female lead could practically summon a dragon².

Aside from Du Heng and Yang Chong, the rest of the roles were either little-known young actors or actual college students.

The male lead was a college student who had basically been talked into it. He had no acting experience, but he was good-looking and fit the male lead’s character perfectly, so he was essentially just playing himself.

Yes, Du Heng was not the male lead.

He was the second male lead, with a fairly heavy amount of screen time. Handsome, with a flawless character setting, the kind of man whose smile could ruin a lifetime. But his love went unreturned, so he often wore a melancholy expression.

This was something Shi Lan had specifically requested.

Yang Chong said, “If my looks suited it, I’d want to steal the male lead role myself. Those scenes are explosive. It’s your first time investing in the entertainment industry, and you’re actually using it to push some nobody.”

Shi Lan smacked him. “Shut up.”

“I’m not wrong, am I? You made Du Heng play the second male lead, so I can only be the third male lead.”

“As if you could play anything else. You were only ever suited to the third male lead. The only truly fixed role was this gifted musician.”

Mischief-loving Yang Chong kept egging Du Heng on.

“Aren’t you going to say something? Your wife is not only investing in and promoting another man, she’s even making you play second fiddle.”

Du Heng said, “Lanlan definitely has her own reasons.”

Yang Chong rolled his eyes.

Shi Lan still explained it to Du Heng. “Don’t look at him as just the second male lead. His screen time isn’t any less than the male lead’s. We’re making this drama to boost popularity. The male lead is good, sure, but he belongs to the female lead. The second male lead is different. He’s such a perfect person, yet the female lead doesn’t choose him. The female audience is going to go crazy. They’ll feel heartbroken for you, then they’ll fall madly in love with you. He belongs to everyone.”

Even though Du Heng did not understand, he did not care.

He pulled Shi Lan onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her, and said, “I’ll listen to you. You’d never hurt me.”

It was a very ordinary sentence, but it still made Shi Lan absurdly happy.

Wind-Blown Sand began filming, and production was in full swing. Shi Lan’s investment was being visibly burned away. Not much was spent on the actors’ pay. Most of it went into costumes, makeup, props, and sets. The luxury cars, mansions, and designer goods they used were all real. Anything that could be rented was rented, and whatever could not be rented had to be bought.

In three months, all forty episodes were finished.

Then distribution became a problem again. Some satellite TV stations³ had previously been invited to visit the set and take a look, but most showed little interest. They thought the whole thing was just a farce.

No one was optimistic about it.

The director and screenwriter Bu Hua were so anxious that fever blisters broke out at the corners of their mouths.

Shi Lan, on the other hand, was the calmest of them all.

She came up with an idea and had the people contacting the TV stations discuss it with them: they would give it away for free and charge nothing.

“President Shi, wouldn’t that mean we worked for nothing?”

Shi Lan gestured for him not to worry. “Not entirely for free. We can sign a contract with them with tiered pricing. It’ll be free within a certain ratings range, and as ratings go up, our per-episode price will rise sharply at each tier. For example, free below 3%, 50,000 per episode at 3%, 100,000 per episode at 4%…”

The staff member was trembling. “Will they buy it? Besides, that still wouldn’t even recover the cost.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Shi Lan said. “Once the ratings rise, our copyright fees will grow exponentially.”

The facts proved it.

Free things really were easier to give away.

Wind-Blown Sand was scheduled in a midnight time slot.

But its ratings left everyone outside the core creative team utterly stunned.

On the third day after its premiere, Wind-Blown Sand was moved up to the 10 p.m. slot.

On the fifth day, Wind-Blown Sand was moved again into prime time, while its midnight slot was retained for a second rebroadcast, and it got a third rebroadcast the following afternoon.

Wind-Blown Sand’s ratings exceeded the free range stated in the contract.

Wind-Blown Sand’s ratings were still climbing.

Wind-Blown Sand’s ratings had the TV station sweating as they held up the contract and checked how much this was going to cost them.

Wind-Blown Sand became a complete hit. The TV station discovered that the drama they would be paying a huge amount for was not under an exclusive contract at all, but by then it was too late for regrets.

Wind-Blown Sand was snapped up by other satellite TV stations competing to buy it.

Wind-Blown Sand merchandise became wildly popular in stationery shops on school campuses across the country, and was often sold out.

Wind-Blown Sand released matching outfits from the show, and young people rushed to buy them.

The related rights holders of Wind-Blown Sand took dozens of counterfeit factories to court and won their rights protection cases.

The explosive popularity of Wind-Blown Sand stirred up foreign TV stations as well, and more than twenty countries and regions in East Asia and Southeast Asia signed copyright agreements to broadcast it.

The finale ratings for Wind-Blown Sand reached as high as 31%. It was only slightly lower than that year’s hit The Real and Fake Princess⁴.

The drama was truly a smash hit, and the entire creative team shot to fame overnight with it.

The previously unknown young screenwriter Bu Hua entered the public eye, and the female director, who had held little status in the industry, became a prized guest on multiple interview programs.

Thanks to Shi Lan’s subtle product placement⁵, her two chain restaurants saw their revenues nearly double at stores across the country.

The stores took the opportunity to launch events featuring exclusive merchandise, and customer traffic exploded.

As for the lead actors, they became so famous it was almost absurd.

The male lead had originally just been an ordinary college student planning to fool around with filming during the holidays, but the sudden fame left him completely dazed. Once school started, he did not even dare go back to campus. Rumor had it that loads of people were waiting in classrooms just to block him and catch a glimpse of him.

Even Yang Chong, who had debuted long ago and already enjoyed a stellar reputation, felt a little at a loss.

The Wind-Blown Sand album had already gone through three additional print runs and still could not meet demand. Streets and alleys everywhere were playing the title track on loop.

Even the albums Yang Chong had released in the past were being reprinted to ride the wave of popularity.

Yang Chong now looked at album sales figures as if they were nothing more than a string of cold, merciless numbers. When they rose at a speed beyond imagination, they really did become just a string of numbers.

He ran a hand through his hair, unable to believe it. “Have they all gone crazy?”

The album sales, plus the film and television copyright fees, plus the merchandise revenue share…

Even Yang Chong, who had been born into wealth, felt this money had come a little too easily.

And even if he retired on the spot right now, this money, along with the long-tail profits that would keep coming in afterward, would be enough for him to squander the rest of his life.

Not to mention Shi Lan, the biggest investor of all.

President Shi had now become President Shi in every sense of the word.

After this drama blew up, the invitations Shi Lan received never stopped.

She was in the restaurant business, yet her very first cross-industry investment had earned her a fortune.

The people extending olive branches to her included fellow investors, film and television projects looking for funding, and actors who had faith in her ability to make stars.

Some went even further, with male actors actually offering themselves up to her.

Shi Lan: “…”

Never mind their character. Just judging by the photos passed up through assistants, those handsome faces didn’t have even half the presence of her own Du Heng.

Li Wei, Qin Luo, Zhang Bo, and the others who had once been assistants were now all regional heads.

Shi Lan’s current assistant was Yang Dong, who had been with her for nearly two years now. He was also overseeing a new intern assistant, Xiao Zhou.

It was Xiao Zhou who had handed the photos to Shi Lan.

The moment Yang Dong saw them, he sucked in a sharp breath.

Avoiding Du Heng’s line of sight from the other side, he ground his teeth and hissed, “Did you leave your brain at home when you came out? How can you shove any random nonsense in front of President Shi?”

Xiao Zhou was a green newcomer fresh out of school. He had an impressive resume and strong work skills, but sometimes he was missing a screw, so even when he was scolded, he had no idea why. “Huh? Didn’t you send over a batch a couple days ago too?”

Yang Dong’s glare could have killed.

He forced the words out through clenched teeth. “How is that the same? The ones I sent over were actors looking for acting opportunities.”

Xiao Zhou was still confused. “Huh? Isn’t it the same? Aren’t they all actors?”

Yang Dong nearly lost it and dragged Xiao Zhou into a corner. “The actors I submitted all came with resumes and past work. What about yours? Nothing but posed muscle shots and flirtatious glamour photos!”

Xiao Zhou finally seemed to understand. Realization hit him a beat late, and then he looked in horror at the man gradually moving closer behind his boss.

Shi Lan was looking at the photos with disgust when someone suddenly pulled them from her hand.

She looked up and saw that it was her husband.

On the other side, Xiao Zhou let out a short yelp.

Yang Dong, quick-eyed and quick-handed, clapped a hand over his mouth.

Shi Lan knew exactly what they were thinking. Finding it a little funny, she shook her head. “You two can head back first. Once you’ve sorted out the materials, send them to my email.”

Yang Dong hurriedly dragged Xiao Zhou away and made their exit.

Now the unrelated people were gone.

Resting her chin on one hand, Shi Lan looked at the man deep in thought.

“Well? Seen a flower in there yet?”

The stack of photos was casually tossed into the trash. “They were all deliberately posed. Too fake.”

Shi Lan teased him on purpose. “Not all of them, right? I thought a few of them had pretty nice bodies.”

Du Heng bent down, wrapped an arm around her waist, and in one swift motion lifted her off the sofa, pinning her in front of him.

In a light, casual tone, he slowly leaned closer to her. “Really?” He let out a soft laugh. “That only proves your taste still isn’t good enough. I think it’s necessary for me to improve President Shi’s aesthetic standards.”

As he spoke, the man caught her hand in his and guided it inside the hem of his clothes.

Her palm was firmly pressed against warm, smoothly defined muscle.

Nibbling playfully at her lips, he coaxed, “Touch more, look more, and then you’ll know what the real good stuff is.”

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Translator’s Notes

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1. youth idol dramas: A genre of television (偶像剧) focused on young, attractive actors and romanticized storylines, often set in high schools, universities, or trendy urban workplaces. ↩
2. summon a dragon: A reference to the ‘Dragon Ball’ manga/anime, where collecting seven dragon balls allows one to summon a dragon to grant a wish. Here, it humorously refers to the female lead having seven distinct, attractive male suitors. ↩
3. satellite TV stations: In China, provincial-level stations (卫视) that broadcast nationwide via satellite. Securing a slot on a major satellite station is a primary goal for production companies to ensure national reach and high ad revenue. ↩
4. The Real and Fake Princess: Likely an allusion to ‘My Fair Princess’ (Huan Zhu Ge Ge), a 1998 cultural phenomenon in China that achieved unprecedented ratings and launched its cast to superstardom. ↩
5. product placement: The practice of integrating branded products or services into a story. In Chinese dramas (植入广告), this often involves characters visiting specific restaurant chains or using specific apps that exist in the real world. ↩