Chapter 1940: “Wulin” Premieres

Since he was going to meet a big shot, he naturally had to prepare properly. Besides, the big shot was busy, so Zhao Fusheng was in no hurry.

At that time, the other party was still the top leader in Mingzhu, and Zhao Fusheng could afford to wait.

Xue Yuanfang came just to inform Zhao Fusheng and show his stance.

After staying at the company for a while, Zhao Fusheng left.

When he got home, Fan Baobao had already seen the news online. She frowned slightly and said to Zhao Fusheng, “What’s going on? Is someone deliberately causing trouble?”

She wasn’t stupid; there had to be someone behind this kind of thing.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Zheng Yao is already handling it. Don’t worry.”

“That’s good.”

Fan Baobao breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t care much herself, but she was mainly worried about the impact on the company.

…

…

Zhao Fusheng rested at home for two days. Over at Zheng Yao’s side, action had already begun.

The court accepted the case quickly, and the Commercial News and that reporter soon received subpoenas.

Meanwhile, Dong Guoxiang, following Zhao Fusheng’s instructions, swiftly began investigating the online trolls and making their information public.

All at once, public opinion on the internet shifted.

People are all afraid of power.

If Future Group had kept silent and let them smear, these people would have run rampant.

But conversely, since Zhao Fusheng was so tough, they naturally became afraid.

No one could guarantee they had never done anything wrong in their lives; if it were exposed, they’d be finished.

In the internet age, everyone has their secrets.

People are used to wearing masks online, but if that mask is torn off, they can’t bear it.

“It’s just like you said.”

Zheng Yao called Zhao Fusheng and said with a laugh, “They really did chicken out.”

“Of course they did.”

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. “Did you think they weren’t scared?”

Zheng Yao smiled.

Zhao Fusheng was right. In life, a person must have some backbone and some bottom lines.

A person lives to be a human, not a dog.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the end of May.

The situation in Xichuan gradually stabilized, and earthquake relief work proceeded in an orderly manner.

With nothing much to do, Zhao Fusheng spent most of his time at home accompanying Fan Baobao during her pregnancy.

Seeing her belly grow bigger, Zhao Fusheng simply bought a villa in the suburbs and moved there with Fan Baobao.

In Zhao Fusheng’s view, the city was not a good environment for pregnancy.

Whether in terms of air quality or other aspects, the environment in the capital was getting worse and worse.

Speaking of which, the environment in ancient China was relatively good.

In movies and TV shows, actors often drink from streams, which isn’t just nonsense from screenwriters and directors—it’s true. In the countryside back then, streams and springs were indeed crystal clear.

In ancient times, Chinese people rarely drank boiled water; they drank well water or stream water straight from the source, and they lived as long as they were meant to.

It wasn’t until the Republic of China period, and especially after the founding of the country, that the state began to advocate drinking boiled water.

Moreover, Chinese people like to drink hot boiled water—a custom unique in the world.

Legend has it that hot water cures all ailments.

Certain straight men’s most common phrase to comfort their girlfriends is: “Drink some hot water…”

Come to think of it, Zhao Fusheng used to say that too, but he’d said it less in recent years.

…

…

On June 1st, “Wulin” officially began airing on CCTV-8.

Unexpectedly, the first day’s ratings were only 1.95.

“What do we do? The ratings seem too low.”

Ye Jing came straight to Zhao Fusheng’s house and said helplessly, “The feedback from CCTV isn’t good.”

“Heh, what’s the rush?”

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t mind them. If they have anything to say, tell them to talk to me.”

He was taking the matter directly onto himself.

In Zhao Fusheng’s view, no matter what, this project was his initiative, and the entire plan was carried out under his insistence. Now that difficulties had arisen and criticism was coming, as the boss, he naturally had to stand in front.

But Ye Jing shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”

Then, with a confident expression, he said, “After all these years of cooperation, CCTV will give us some face.”

He paused and added to Zhao Fusheng, “What I’m worried about is the impact on the company’s young actors.”

After all, the company had high hopes for this TV series. If word got out that the first day’s ratings were below two percent, the effect on these actors would be predictable.

The biggest difference between young actors and seasoned ones is that these young people haven’t experienced many setbacks. If they can’t handle this situation and their mentality collapses, it would be a huge blow to their acting careers.

Zhao Fusheng laughed at this and waved his hand. “It’s fine. If they can’t withstand a little storm like this, how will they survive in the entertainment industry?”

That was the truth. In the entertainment world, you have to endure as much criticism as praise. Zhao Fusheng knew that well.

The company had many young actors he had his eye on, but that didn’t mean Zhao Fusheng would coddle them. A nanny-style agency might appeal to many, but it wasn’t the kind of film company Zhao Fusheng wanted to build.

“Alright.”

Ye Jing nodded. If the boss himself said so, what more could he say?

After a moment’s thought, Ye Jing asked, “Should we do some follow-up promotion?”

In his view, the poor performance of the series was largely due to flaws in promotion. If they could ramp up promotion, they might salvage the ratings.

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng laughed.

“What? Is that wrong?” Ye Jing asked, puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. “It’s only the first day. Why are we in such a hurry?”

“Huh?”

Ye Jing was taken aback, then understood Zhao Fusheng’s meaning.

Clearly, Zhao Fusheng was still full of confidence in this series.

“Then let’s wait and see tomorrow.”

After thinking it over, Ye Jing finally agreed with Zhao Fusheng’s opinion.

After all, since the series had already aired, they might as well wait and see, just as Zhao Fusheng said.

As it turned out, Zhao Fusheng’s choice was correct.

The next day, “Wulin”’s ratings climbed to 4.26%, surpassing the same-period ratings of “Moment in Peking,” which had the highest ratings on CCTV in 2007, and becoming the top-rated drama among those premiering in the same period.

Within ten days of airing, the ratings reached 9.5%.

Thereafter, the ratings stabilized at around 5%. According to an online survey, the audience追捧 the series was concentrated in the 15 to 35 age group.

During this time, Ye Jing was grinning from ear to ear.

There was no helping it; the media was full of praise for “Wulin.”

“In this series, tradition and modernity, East and West, humor and warmth, postmodern deconstruction and realist instruction, parody of wuxia and promotion of chivalry are all wonderfully mixed, along with internet slang, pop songs, ad slogans, variety show segments, current news, fashion trends, and so on.”

“One of the two greatest peaks in the history of Chinese sitcoms.”

“What ‘Wulin’ really wants to talk about is not the martial world, nor the rivers and lakes. It uses a period comedy format, under the guise of a wuxia drama and sitcom, in a whimsical world, to heighten the contrast with real life, avoid the constraints of reality, and under the dominant ideology, unconstrainedly satirize reality, portraying modern people’s trivial lives and emotions, creating a powerful comedic tension. The use of postmodern packaging also narrows the emotional distance with many young viewers and provides new topics for cultural researchers.”

“The key to ‘Wulin’ successfully making it to the mainstream is its precise handling of parody. It deconstructs and satirizes wuxia without subverting chivalry; it playfully mimics life without falling into negativity.”

“In terms of form, ‘Wulin’ is indeed avant-garde and trendy, employing techniques like collage, satire, and parody, unbound by time and space, regardless of genre, freely drawing from dialects, jokes, games, advertising language, film and TV culture, pop music, and so on, with a strong postmodern tendency. But the series carefully controls the degree of parody, using satire to touch on various aspects of contemporary life, vividly mimicking a state of life after the loss of ideals.”

Of course, there were dissenting voices. Some bluntly said, “High ratings don’t necessarily mean good drama. ‘Wulin’ may be popular, but it’s only amusing, not an excellent work.”

To such people, Ye Jing and Zhao Fusheng chose to ignore them.

The reason was simple: only competitors would say such things.

Sour grapes.

Only those green with envy would talk like that.

“I plan to take this opportunity to create a stage play of ‘Wulin,’” Ye Jing said seriously, looking at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged. “Up to you. How are the talks with Happy Twist going?”

“Not bad. The founders aren’t opposed to selling equity, but they hope we can invest,” Ye Jing said with a smile. “Those people are still confident in their work.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Then let Future Investment and Future Film jointly set up an investment company to take a stake and finance it.”

This was a potential goldmine; they had to get their hands on it no matter what.