Chapter 203

At the Liang family’s old residence, the two families were gathered for a meal. Hu Qianqian noticed her son’s expression looked a bit off after he returned from a phone call, so she reached out and affectionately patted his head. “Young people shouldn’t wear a long face all day. You’ll scare away all your good luck. If something is bothering you, tell the family.”

This was indeed something that needed to be discussed with the family.

In the past, Wei Sheng always felt the need to make decisions for his mother. But now, seeing how Ms. Hu’s business empire was expanding day by day, he knew better. Previously, she had to bring her son or husband along for support when negotiating business, but now, Ms. Hu was brave enough to hire a translator and charge into the United States all by herself. Wei Sheng didn’t dare make decisions for CEO Hu anymore. Seeing his mother ask, he immediately sold out Guagua Video.

Hu Qianqian listened seriously to her son’s words, pondered for a moment, and then smiled. “If this CEO Yao keeps his word and truly turns this show into a program that solves employment issues for underprivileged women, I can cooperate with them.”

Grandma Hu looked at her daughter disapprovingly. “You’re already so busy with the factory every day that you can’t even look after the house. If you go on some show, is your husband supposed to stay home all by himself?”

Wei Sheng glanced at his grandmother. He hadn’t expected the old lady to learn how to make a preemptive strike.

Neither Grandpa Hu nor Grandma Hu were conservative in their views; they were both very supportive of their daughter’s entrepreneurship. The reason Grandma Hu said this was likely because she was afraid her in-laws or her son-in-law might have some private grievances about her daughter’s career. By taking the lead to scold her daughter herself, it made it difficult for anyone else to criticize her.

Since his mother-in-law had spoken up, how could Liang Yi, the son-in-law, remain silent? He immediately put down his chopsticks and guaranteed that he absolutely supported Hu Qianqian prioritizing her career.

Grandpa and Grandma Liang also felt that Grandma Hu was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Especially Grandma Liang.

“Our Qianqian being invited by such a big website to do a show is an honor for our family! Other families couldn’t go even if they wanted to. Qianqian, don’t listen to your mother, that old fossil. Go if you want to! When the show airs, I’ll have Liang Yi top up my account to buy those gifts you can tip with. Your father and I will definitely support you!”

Good heavens, this was incredible. Grandma Liang actually knew about buying gifts to tip people on Guagua Video?

“Of course! Didn’t that TV drama Wei Sheng was in have something called ‘Advanced On-Demand^[1]‘ online? For the price of a pound of river shrimp, you could watch all the way to the finale in one go. You didn’t have to stare at the TV every night waiting for it. It was great!”

It was clear that Grandma Liang was definitely a Super VIP user of Guagua Video.

She would rather eat one less pound of shrimp just to pay for a membership. That was true love!

The team at Guagua Video hadn’t expected Hu Qianqian to actually agree, and they were instantly overjoyed.

The current Hu Qianqian was no longer that housewife who had to meticulously budget every thousand yuan of living expenses.

Over the past two years, Hu Qianqian’s online store and livestreaming business had flourished. She owned a garment factory and held stakes in five independent fashion design studios. It was said that her annual revenue from the clothing sector alone reached hundreds of millions of yuan. Combined with the income from several other livestreaming sales lines, the annual earnings of the businesses under her name had firmly left Lawyer Liang’s income several streets behind.

This year, she had even been invited to visit various European and American countries to participate in the China Chic^[2] Culture Tour, gaining immense fame. Guagua Video also had its own financial section and had previously invited Hu Qianqian for an online interview.

CEO Yao hadn’t dared to hope that Hu Qianqian would participate in the show personally. He thought that, at most, she would arrange for a few veteran masters from her staff to serve as mentors, and then they would invite a few celebrities to bolster the lineup, which would make the show very watchable.

He never expected to actually land the boss herself!

This was such a pleasant surprise.

Yao Chunming actually admired Hu Qianqian quite a bit. Perhaps because of his past of being abandoned by his mother in childhood, Yao Chunming particularly loathed the kind of women who only knew how to cry and dump their burdens when faced with difficulties. He preferred someone like Hu Qianqian; no matter how hard or bitter things got, she had protected her son, Wei Sheng, very well.

Although Hu Qianqian said she could go alone, Wei Sheng and Liang Yi’s habit of worrying about her was hard to break. Since they both happened to be free, they simply followed Hu Qianqian and two of her subordinates to Guagua Video.

Seeing Liang Yi and Wei Sheng flanking Hu Qianqian like two guardian door gods, Yao Chunming couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He wasn’t a monster; it wasn’t like he was going to eat Hu Qianqian.

Looking at this formation, could it be that Hu Qianqian’s business was actually run by her husband and son behind the scenes, and she was just a representative pushed to the front?

Yao Chunming frowned. At that moment, the image of Hu Qianqian as an “independent woman” took a slight hit in his mind.

However, he was quickly slapped in the face by his own prejudice.

Once they officially sat down for the meeting, Hu Qianqian shed the gentle-as-water demeanor she had when they first met. Although her tone remained unhurried, Yao Chunming, sitting across from her, couldn’t help but gradually sit up straighter.

This woman was not simple!

Yao Chunming was considered an old bird at the negotiation table. In their line of work, the most fearsome people weren’t those who appeared aggressive at first glance. Instead, it was someone like Hu Qianqian, who seemed gentle and harmless on the surface but would never budge once her mind was made up. This was the truly difficult type to handle.

Because no matter how many concessions you made, if even a single centimeter infringed upon her bottom line, the negotiation was over.

Hu Qianqian’s bottom line was that this show had to truly serve underprivileged women at the grassroots level. It could not turn into a high-fashion showcase for wealthy young ladies who happened to like fashion design, nor could it be a platform for established up-and-coming designers to gain traffic and attention.

Yao Chunming nodded. They had already tasted the sweetness of making niche variety shows. If this were a few years ago, when major platforms made variety shows, they would inevitably invite celebrities with the highest buzz. Ideally, the contestants would also be from wealthy or influential backgrounds, bringing their own resources.

That way, the platform wouldn’t have to lift a finger. They only needed to produce the show according to a script, and the subsequent ratings would naturally be handled by the celebrity fans. Making money would be left to the “sugar daddy” sponsors behind the contestants. They didn’t even need to use their brains; as long as the lineup was flashy enough, it didn’t matter if the show was good or if the audience liked it.

But soon, the major platforms began to suffer the consequences of such laziness.

The scripts they wrote were altered by various “experts” until they were unrecognizable even to their own creator. Post-production editing also had to cater to big-name stars and guests with influential backgrounds. After constant meddling, the resulting shows were a total mess. The audience responded with a wave of criticism, and over time, viewership plummeted. People would rather rewatch old films and variety shows from years ago than tune into the new content they released.

Yao Chunming had identified this fatal flaw long ago and had reported it to the chairman several times. However, the group’s top management was blinded by fake data reports back then. They were solely focused on expanding the group and driving the stock price up. As for the audience’s dissatisfaction? Who did the audience think they were?

But over the past two years, Guagua Video’s membership renewals had taken a nosedive, and various business sectors began to shrink. The traditional formula of “big production plus a star-studded cast” seemed unable to attract ordinary viewers anymore, appealing only to the die-hard fans of the celebrities themselves.

It was only now that the harsh reality finally jolted the group’s executives awake.

If this had been a few years ago, Yao Chunming would never have agreed to Hu Qianqian’s request!

But now, looking at Wei Sheng beside her, CEO Yao gritted his teeth and nodded. “As a platform with a sense of social responsibility, Guagua Video also hopes to produce a show that truly serves underprivileged women. However, there is a potential issue. What if a woman happens to have married into a wealthy family with vast assets, yet she herself has no job or personal income? How should we handle that situation?”

Hu Qianqian looked at Yao Chunming in surprise.

She hadn’t expected that a man like Yao Chunming would be able to consider such a nuanced detail.

Thinking of this, Hu Qianqian couldn’t help but steal a glance at her husband.

In fact, she had encountered this very problem before. As more sisters joined her entrepreneurial journey, some who had lived in luxury since childhood or married into wealth remained quite refined in their vision and taste, even if they had fallen on hard times. They were still far removed from ordinary housewives.

This issue had caused some friction within her team. Later, Liang Yi had given her an idea: split the entire design team into several independent design studios.

Then, she picked a few women willing to lead and let them form their own teams to establish studios, which would then collaborate with Hu Qianqian in the name of the studio. This way, the management pressure on Hu Qianqian’s side was instantly reduced, effectively outsourcing the design portion of the business.

Worried that her control over these studios would weaken after the split, Liang Yi also had her take an equity stake in each studio during the reorganization. This way, Hu Qianqian was both the client and a shareholder. Even if these independent studios wanted to break away, they couldn’t bypass their own shareholder.

Coming back to the present, the issue Yao Chunming mentioned could be handled using the method Liang Yi had taught her.

“Sir, have you heard of the ‘new urban poor’?”

Not every daughter-in-law in a wealthy family is a rich woman in her own right. Since that’s the case, these applicants with special circumstances can be grouped together under this specific category.

Yao Chunming looked at Hu Qianqian in astonishment.

At this moment, he finally believed that Hu Qianqian was indeed Wei Sheng’s biological mother.

How were their brains wired? With just a flick of her eyes, she could come up with a new idea. She was definitely his mother, no doubt about it!

Since this was the first time Guagua Video was attempting a show where everyone from the mentors to the contestants were ordinary people—and where the contestants were exclusively underprivileged women from the grassroots with no background or connections—Yao Chunming didn’t dare guarantee how much support the group could provide.

Unexpectedly, while he was still hesitating on how to broach the subject, Hu Qianqian’s family of three lowered their heads to deliberate for a moment and quickly reached a resolution.

CEO Yao would first go and negotiate with Guagua Video. If Guagua Video didn’t want to commit more funds to support the show, it could be operated this way: Hu Qianqian and Wei Sheng would invest, commissioning Guagua Video to produce the show. Once production was complete, it would be broadcast on Guagua Video.

However, in that scenario, Hu Qianqian’s side would take the lion’s share of the advertising and other revenues.

Yao Chunming looked up at the three members of the family.

At this moment, a completely absurd thought suddenly occurred to him.

If Hu Qianqian hadn’t made this proposal, the group likely wouldn’t have given much investment or attention to this “all-amateur” show.

But now, even the industry’s famous “God of Wealth,” Wei Sheng, wanted to invest in it. Could it be that this show really had the potential to become a massive hit?

That night, the lights stayed on in the executive conference room of Guagua Video.

(End of Chapter)