Chapter 67

How popular is Dragon Slayer?

Originally, Lotus Channel's ratings were not high. When it first started airing, thanks to the publicity built by Jianghu Film and Television in the early stages, the ratings remained at around 2 points, very close to 3.

This is already good news for them.

After all, it's only been the first day of airing.

After the first episode aired, it sparked a huge discussion online, and without buying any trending topics, it managed to climb to the top of Weibo's trending topics.

It's worth noting that "Urban Lawyer," which premiered just one day earlier than "Dragon Slayer," bought a spot on the trending topics list that day, but its popularity remained at fifth place.

After seeing the trending topics, Director Li felt even more confident.

As expected.

When the second episode of "Slaying the Dragon" aired, the ratings climbed to a new level, officially breaking through 3.

It's worth noting that the premiere of "Urban Lawyer" yesterday only barely broke the 3% viewership rating.

That movie was highly anticipated for half a year, and a lot of effort was put into its promotion.

With a viewership rating of 3, it's clear that the TV stations that bought the rights to "Urban Lawyer" had much higher expectations for the series.

The fact that "The Dragon Slayer" aired a day later has reached this level of success must have made many station directors regret their decision immensely.

Li Da chuckled to himself and took a sip of tea.

Li Da couldn't help but laugh when he thought about what Hu Zhenzhen had said about giving priority to TV dramas broadcast on Lianhua TV during prime time within the next two years.

This isn't a condition for losing a bet; it's clearly a reward for the Lotus Platform.

He was enjoying himself, sipping tea while watching the second episode of the TV series with the audience.

Less than two minutes later, his subordinate knocked on the office door.

"Great news, Station Manager! The ratings have surpassed 4!"

What?! It broke through 4 so quickly!

Li Da couldn't hide his smile anymore, his cheekbones puffing out. "Didn't we just break through to level 3?"

"That's right, Director, come and see for yourself, the ratings are still rising!"

Television channels display real-time viewership statistics.

While this result is not as accurate as the final published one, it is still very close to the truth.

Li Da walked very fast, overtaking his subordinates who were leading the way, and entered the office in charge of broadcasting TV dramas ahead of time.

On the large screen in the office, the current viewership ratings are displayed in large letters.

When Li Da saw this, his heart started pounding.

"4.5, does that mean it's going to break 5 today?"

Lotus Channel has never had such high viewership ratings since its establishment.

Forget about a 5% viewership rating, even 4% has already broken the station's historical record.

Li Da immediately announced, "Tell everyone at work today that we're going to open champagne in the cafeteria later!"

The final rating was 4.7, which, although not quite 5, still beat "Urban Lawyer" and "Sword Immortal Lu Li", becoming the biggest dark horse in the autumn prime time slot.

The station director was unusually generous, and everyone was happy about it.

After prime time ended, it was already past 10 p.m.

But the station's employees stayed behind and celebrated with the station manager in the cafeteria.

Lotus Platform has never had much money and rarely holds team-building activities.

This was the first officially funded dinner, and no one wanted to miss it.

The next day, feeling dizzy, Li Da got up from the sofa in his office, his head still throbbing.

Even so, his first reaction upon waking up was to turn on his phone and search for "Dragon Slayer".

I didn't expect that as soon as I opened Weibo, Lotus Platform was trending on the hot search list.

The way it trended on social media was also unusual, as it was linked to F City.

Who says Hu Zhenzhen doesn't love F City!

Although a local television station is also headquartered in City S, the first broadcast rights for "Dragon Slayer" were given to Lotus TV, which is located far away in City F.

I'm so heartbroken!

Although Sister Hu has left F City, she still cherishes old friendships! Otherwise, why would she have given the premiere rights to "The Dragon Slayer" to Lotus TV, whose ratings are usually very low?

[I'm from F city, and I can attest to this. Even we locals rarely watch Lotus Terrace. This is truly an honor for Lotus Terrace.]

Following these comments, more people turned on their TVs and switched to Lotus Channel.

Due to the immense popularity of "Dragon Slayer," Li Da specially added a rerun in the afternoon to provide convenience for viewers who missed the first episode last night.

Tonight, "The Dragon Slayer" will premiere on an online platform.

The afternoon rebroadcast also helped Lotus TV boost its daytime viewership and ratings.

"Director, many viewers are dissatisfied, saying that two episodes a day is too few and they hope we can increase the number of episodes!"

His subordinate excitedly came to him to report, "Should we talk to General Manager Hu about changing the number of episodes from two to three per day?"

Is this kid stupid?

Li Da looked at him in confusion, "There's no reason why you can just change things like that."

Having finally found a drama that could support high viewership, Li Da even hoped it would air a little later, and was unwilling to add an extra episode, wanting to end this wave of viewership as soon as possible.

In order to maximize the use of this wave of traffic.

Li Da specifically consulted with Hu Zhenzhen about inviting these lead actors and directors to be guests on Lotus TV's talk show.

Hu Zhenzhen agreed.

Occasionally participating in variety shows can bring actors and directors a lot of exposure and increase their popularity.

Hu Zhenzhen doesn't intend to mold her own child actors into top-tier celebrities.

Therefore, Hu Zhenzhen will not agree to let them participate in long-running variety shows that involve excessive exposure for the time being.

Participating in a few times on a talk show like Lotus Platform, which is mainly about chatting, is not a big deal.

When Lu Ye received Hu Zhenzhen's message, he was discussing with Lei Tao what kind of content they wanted to make for their next movie.

Although the Dragon Slayer series has only just started airing, Lu Ye can already foresee the final outcome.

He should be able to win the bet he made with President Hu.

Lu Ye had dreamed of making a movie with an investment of 1 billion yuan many times.

As that day drew closer, he became even more nervous.

Having already failed several times in the film industry, starting all over again with such a high investment fee, it would be a lie to say Lu Ye wasn't under pressure.

He's been discussing this with Lei Tao for three days now, but they still haven't decided on a theme for their next movie.

"How about crime films? There's a lot of buzz around crime films lately, and several excellent ones have already been made. Audiences should be looking forward to them."

“No,” Lei Tao rejected him. “Most criminal investigation stories have to be based on real-life events. I don’t like writing this kind of story. If I’m going to write something, it has to be something that the audience can’t guess.”

"I've already written about locked-room murder cases, and the same old formula is no longer interesting."

Lei Tao nodded. If a screenwriter keeps writing the same formula all the time, he'll get tired of it too.

"If we're making a movie, we'll switch to a different approach and focus on the script."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, Hu Zhenzhen called.

Having done promotional work for TV programs a few times, I'm quite experienced and can lead this group of complete newbies in variety shows to experience it.

The actors also knew that the path arranged by the company was a legitimate acting career, which actually made the atmosphere even better.

No one deliberately acts crazy or silly on variety shows, and no one stabs someone in the back or tries to stand out by stepping on others.

An interview can proceed smoothly without any drama or conflict, which might be a bit unsettling for viewers accustomed to watching such content.

[Are there really such harmonious teams in the entertainment industry?]

[Is this all an act? Is everyone really this friendly?]

[As expected of Sister Hu's company, even the atmosphere is top-notch!]

However, the company's owner himself had no time to deal with company affairs at the moment.

Jiang Chen has been in school for a while now, and there's a lot more to do at school.

The seeds that Hu Zhenzhen had planted for extracurricular activities, which she had discussed with the principal, were now ready to be harvested.

The students received different seeds; Jiang Chen's class received tomatoes.

Hu Zhenzhen had just checked her son's health the day before yesterday. There were four or five small, still-green tomatoes hanging on the branches, which looked quite festive.

But on the day it was to be taken to the school for inspection, trouble arose.

Jiang Chen took this pot of tomatoes very seriously, always keeping it in the sunniest spot in the house.

If it gets windy or rainy, he immediately moves the seedling to a safe place.

Not only was the care meticulous, but it was also done entirely by hand.

Even when Chen Kai and Liu An wanted to help him, the child refused, insisting on taking care of him personally.

But now—

Hu Zhenzhen's head started to ache when she saw the broken fruit on the ground.

Xiao Chen's luck seems to be a bit bad today.

He had just picked up the pot of carefully grown tomatoes when he bumped into the leg of the sofa.

The potted plant fell completely upside down on the ground, and all the few fruits it had were smashed.

Jiang Chen immediately fell silent, pursed his lips, and squatted down to pick up the flowerpot again.

If he cries or makes a fuss, Hu Zhenzhen can take the opportunity to coax him.

Unfortunately, my own child doesn't like to cry or fuss; no matter how upset he is inside, he can always keep it on his face.

Hu Zhenzhen had a headache because of this.

She squatted down and patted the dirt off Jiang Chen's body.

"Xiao Chen, are you hurt anywhere?"

Jiang Chen shook his head and remained silent.

The way he's acting clearly shows that he cares deeply, but he won't say it.

Jiang Chen developed a habit of never crying or making a fuss during his time in the Jiang family. Even though Hu Zhenzhen treated him very well, it was difficult to make up for the damage caused by his past life.

The child instinctively didn't dare to cry or make a fuss with her.

Hu Zhenzhen helped him straighten the tomato seedling that had been leaning, and said to Chen Kai, "Go find a bigger flowerpot and put this small one inside."

Jiang Chen thought Hu Zhenzhen wanted to change his tomato bowl, so he said, "Mom, no need."

He lovingly touched the broken tomato leaf, "It's been repotted, so it's no longer one I planted myself."

"I'm not going to replace your tomatoes."

Hu Zhenzhen picked up the smashed tomatoes from the ground and patiently explained to him, "You should find a basin to take the small tomatoes from the ground to show the teacher."

The tomatoes on the ground were broken, but not so rotten that they were unrecognizable.

Compared to good tomatoes, these were a bit shriveled, and a lot of juice had been squeezed out.

When Chen Kai brought over a large flowerpot, Hu Zhenzhen took the small flowerpot from Jiang Chen's arms and put it in the large flowerpot, then placed the broken tomatoes on top of it.

He carried it in his arms and walked it to the car.

"Come on, Xiao Chen, let's go to school and let the teacher see how many tomatoes you've grown!"

Her smile made Jiang Chen feel less upset. He jogged a few steps to catch up with Hu Zhenzhen.

"But Mom, the tomatoes are all ruined."

"It's okay, Xiao Chen was just a little careless. He didn't break the tomato on purpose. When the teacher sees the tomato, he'll know how hard Xiao Chen took care of it during the holidays!"

Upon hearing Hu Zhenzhen's words, Jiang Chen finally relaxed his pursed lower lip.

He glanced at Hu Zhenzhen secretly and sat close to his mother in the car.

Jiang Chen has reached the age where he is beginning to understand many things.

He knew that relatives were not obligated to be good to each other, and he also knew that many people were bad to their families.

His aunt had never treated him well before, and Jiang Chen had come from a period of oppression, so he never knew what true family affection was.

Until his mother raised him.

These past six months have felt like a dream.

Jiang Chen helped Hu Zhenzhen tidy up the tomato seedlings on the foot mat, and at the end, he took the opportunity to link arms with Hu Zhenzhen.

He often saw other classmates do this, but had never tried it himself.

When he took her arm, Hu Zhenzhen was also taken aback.

In just a second, she realized what was happening, and her smile widened.

"Our Xiao Chen has produced so many cherry tomatoes; who knows, she might even have a talent for growing them. Next time, I'll have to ask you to take care of Mom's camellias."

"good!"

Jiang Chen agreed quickly, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He suddenly became very happy.

It wasn't because of the tomatoes, but because of Hu Zhenzhen's attention and care.

Is this what it feels like to be pampered by your mother?

Jiang Chen felt a sweet warmth in his heart and didn't want to let go of Hu Zhenzhen's arm.

[Congratulations, host!]

Xiao Jin, who hadn't appeared for a long time, suddenly reappeared.

Hu Zhenzhen was now used to its sudden appearance. Her expression remained unchanged as she listened attentively to the system's rewards.

[Family Affection Points +4, Host gains four chances to draw a prize!]

Four times!

Xiao Chen is becoming more and more generous!

Hu Zhenzhen couldn't help but squint her eyes to hide the surprise in them.

It seems that the value of family affection is something that develops gradually.

Since she and Xiao Chen got along well, Xiao Chen has become more and more generous.

Hu Zhenzhen gently squeezed her son's little hand, which was nestled in her arm, and prepared to draw the prize immediately.

Such an opportunity to draw four times at once is rare, so of course it should be cherished.

[Xiao Jin, start the prize draw!]

Hu Zhenzhen is no longer as lacking in resources and money as she was at the beginning.

Driven by her businesses, even City S has become much more prosperous than before.

Many new businesses have also shifted their first choice from major cities to City S.

With the involvement of businesses, the development of City S in the past six months can only be described as rapid.

The establishment of the film and television base has, to some extent, boosted the previously impoverished economy of eastern S City.

Seeing that Hu Zhenzhen had successfully developed that wasteland, many people began to covet the surrounding land.

Hu Zhenzhen has already won quite a few good things from the lottery.

For a moment, she thought about it and realized that she felt rather indifferent and didn't know what she was lacking.

But that feeling quickly disappeared after the prize was drawn.

[Congratulations, host! You have drawn 5 large venues!]

This was the first time Hu Zhenzhen had ever drawn out something like this, and she immediately became interested.

Jiang Chen arrived at the destination just then.

Hu Zhenzhen asked Chen Kai to help carry the large flowerpot into Jiang Chen's classroom, while she stayed in the car alone to study the prize.

"Xiao Chen, remember to explain your reasons to your teacher!"

She gave him a word of advice, and only after Jiang Chen had walked away did she focus all her attention on the system.

Xiao Jin cooperated by displaying the detailed interface of the gift.

Seeing the picture, Hu Zhenzhen realized what this large venue was referring to.

It is a large outdoor venue capable of hosting both sporting events and concerts.

All five venues are oval-shaped and arranged neatly together, looking like five henhouses that lay golden eggs.

Hu Zhenzhen couldn't help but exclaim "Wow!"

Liu An, who was in the front row, turned around and asked, "Boss, what's wrong?"

“It’s nothing, cough,” Hu Zhenzhen glanced outside, “That little girl’s tomatoes are too big.”

That's true.

Hu Zhenzhen glanced outside and immediately spotted the little girl's tomato in the crowd.

While other people's tomatoes were only the size of a child's fist, the little girl's was bigger than an adult man's fist; such a sight would be rare even in the market.

Liu An's attention was successfully diverted.

Hu Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief and asked Xiao Jin, "Can these five venues be rented out?"

If we could rent it out, even just for a celebrity concert, the monthly income would be equivalent to half a year's hard work at Baihua Ranch.

Yes, the host can freely dispose of the buildings that already belong to you.

Having received Xiao Jin's affirmation, Hu Zhenzhen quickly sent Chen Kaifa a text message, asking him to handle the matter later.

Alternatively, perhaps Jianghu Film & Television could set up a branch company specifically for music production.

With so many venues, it would be a real shame not to hold their own concert tour.

Hu Zhenzhen glanced at it and saw that these venues were distributed from south to north, forming a straight line on the map.

“Great, let’s call the new company Jianghu Yixian.”

"Oh? Boss, are you setting up a new company?"

Liu An, who was in the front row, turned around and asked a question.

"Yes, what do you think of this name? Is it suitable for a music company?"

Hu Zhenzhen genuinely wanted to ask, after all, it was just a name she had casually come up with.

However, Liu An seemed to have misjudged the situation, answering very quickly.

"Of course, boss! The name of our company sounds grand and imposing, evoking the image of life and death entanglements in the martial arts world—it's so evocative!"

Hu Zhenzhen looked at the line on the map, too embarrassed to explain, and gave an awkward laugh.

"Haha, you're quite perceptive."

"It's all thanks to the boss's guidance. I used to dislike reading, but under your influence, I've started reading martial arts novels now. That's a huge improvement!"

It turns out that under her influence, he was reading mostly unrelated books.

Hu Zhenzhen reflected deeply for a second and decided to give the employee appropriate criticism for this behavior.

"You can't just read martial arts novels; you should also read other types of novels to enrich your spiritual world."

Liu An chuckled twice and immediately said, "Okay! I'll find a fantasy novel to read this afternoon."

After being teased by him for a long time, by the time Chen Kai returned and sat in the passenger seat, Hu Zhenzhen hadn't even had a chance to take the next three shots.

"Boss, I'll head to the company at 2 PM this afternoon and go to the nearest venue with your secretary."

His expression was very cheerful, as if he had encountered something good.

In fact, Chen Kai was indeed happy.

The longer he worked with his boss, the more tasks he would be given.

Does this also mean that Chen Kai is now the boss's confidant?

People on Weibo say that no one can say for sure how many businesses Hu Zhenzhen owns.

Perhaps if he stays under wraps for a few more years, he will become the first person besides the boss to know about it.

Chen Kai was suddenly full of energy.

He had already decided to make being Hu Zhenzhen's housekeeper his lifelong career, and naturally hoped to gain the boss's attention and trust.

For him, nothing is a greater affirmation than his boss being willing to entrust him with tasks.

The more Hu Zhenzhen asked Chen Kai to handle these industries he was previously unaware of, the happier Chen Kai became.

Liu An, who was in the driver's seat, was also very happy.

His reason for being happy was quite simple: it was purely because of their conversation about novels.

He had previously mentioned to his boss that he was reading a novel, so his boss entrusted him with the task of selecting copyrights.

Liu An had long been annoyed by Jiaren Media's underhanded tactics, so he specially found someone to inquire about the copyrights Jiaren was in talks with and bought them all.

To him, Hu Zhenzhen's words were also a form of encouragement.

I'll be entrusting this matter to him again in the future.

The three people in the car each had their own thoughts, but they were all happy, and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious for a moment.

Taking advantage of the quiet moment, Hu Zhenzhen quickly started the next lottery draw.

This time, the result did not disappoint her either.

Previously, she had already extracted a small mountain from the system, and now she had enough to complete the "mountain and water" combination, even including water.

[Congratulations, host, on obtaining the Golden Water Lake!]

Hu Zhenzhen glanced at it quickly; the lake was located quite far away, not even in S City.

It's actually quite close to one of the venues she drew, so with some development, it could be used for sightseeing, tourism, and photography.

I guess I used up all my good luck in the previous lottery draws.

The third lottery draw brought strange prizes once again.

[Congratulations, host, you have drawn a sword-forging workshop.]

Sword Forging House?

How come reality, which was perfectly fine, is starting to veer towards the direction of fantasy and martial arts?

Hu Zhenzhen asked Xiao Jin uncertainly, "Xiao Jin, are you sure there's no cultivation of immortality in our world?"

No, host, we live in a normal modern world.

Hu Zhenzhen glanced at Xiao Jin in the system and felt that this statement was not convincing at all.

She also has a system, which is anything but ordinary in this modern world.

What exactly is this sword-forging workshop?

Xiao Jin's answer was fairly reliable.

[Host, this is a room specifically designed for replicating famous ancient swords. Its existence doubles the probability of attracting master swordsmiths.]

There aren't many people who know how to forge swords these days!

Hu Zhenzhen's company just finished filming a martial arts drama, and she has seen the sword props made by the prop master.

It may look nice, but this fake sword can't compare to the real one.

If there were a chance, it would be pretty cool to see a real sword, a true divine sword, appear in a movie.

There's only one last chance to win the prize.

Hu Zhenzhen, in one go, smoked them all.

This time, the wheel spun several more times than before.

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained a mysterious building! You may choose a one-meter-wide open space to place the building. Once the location is selected, it cannot be changed.]

Mysterious architecture?

This was the first time Hu Zhenzhen had ever seen this thing.

Before a location was chosen, she couldn't see what this so-called mysterious building was, and Xiao Jin refused to tell her.

Hu Zhenzhen was extremely curious, and as soon as she got home, she couldn't wait to go into the back garden.

When it comes to the open space of the Woshan Villa, the first place that comes to mind is a corner of her garden.

[You have placed a mysterious building!]