Chapter 464: Money-making Tool
On January 19th, four days had passed since Song Ci met with the presidents of the four major state-owned banks.
Dusk is falling in Jingyuan’s private residence.
Song Ci had just finished dinner and was planning to go out for a walk with Liu Shishi as usual, but was stopped by her.
"Yi Yi, my new drama 'Silent Shorthand' premieres tonight. Would you mind watching TV with me?"
Song Ci was stunned for a moment, then smiled and asked, "This drama is airing today? This is your first serious drama, of course I have to watch it!"
Liu Shishi nodded, her voice filled with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. "It's being broadcast on CCTV-8's prime time, but I'm not sure if the audience will like it."
Song Ci hugged his wife's slender waist and encouraged her: "You are so popular, and the production standards of Noon Sunshine Company have always been reliable. I think the ratings of "Silent Shorthand" will not be bad."
Liu Shishi turned on the TV and snuggled into her husband's arms, a faint smile between her eyebrows, and said half-jokingly:
"Song Da-sensei is a well-known hit maker. He has never failed before. I am just afraid that if I don't perform well, it will ruin the screenwriter's reputation."
Song Ci gently held his wife's soft hand and said seriously, "Ratings and the like mean nothing to me. As long as you are happy, that's all that matters."
As the couple was being affectionate, a few commercials ended on the TV screen and the theme song of "Silent Shorthand" began.
Scenes of the Republic of China style flashed by, revealing some fragments of the plot, and even Song Ci, the original screenwriter, became interested.
When the main film began, Liu Shishi sat up slightly and carefully appreciated this work for which she had high hopes.
The first scene is set in a mountain city in 1942.
Song Hongling, played by Liu Shishi, is pregnant and attending an important high-level meeting of the Guo Party, working as a stenographer for President Chang.
Seeing his wife dressed like a pregnant woman, Song Ci couldn't help but smile: "This can be considered as letting you experience the feeling of being a mother in advance."
When these words came out, Liu Shishi frowned slightly and asked in a low voice: "Yi Yi, why is my stomach still not moving?"
She had not taken any protective measures when being intimate with Song Ci recently, but her belly had not moved. In addition, there had been some negative news about her infertility on the Internet, which made her feel a little worried.
The Song family has trillions of wealth, and she feels that she must give birth to a child for her husband, otherwise she won't even be able to get through this hurdle.
Song Ci noticed Liu Shishi's nervousness and gently stroked her back to comfort her:
"Why rush? The probability of natural conception for young couples is only about 20% per month. We are both healthy, and you may become pregnant at any time.
Maybe you already have a baby in your belly, but it’s too early and you haven’t reacted yet.”
"Really?" Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi's face instantly revealed a gentle maternal glow, and she subconsciously touched her flat belly.
But she immediately reacted, punched her husband lightly with her little fist, and snorted coquettishly: "You're trying to trick me again. I just had my period. How can I be pregnant?"
"Maybe next month."
Liu Shishi leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and sighed softly: "Yi Yi, if I can't give birth... Wuuwu..."
"Stop." Song Ci quickly covered Liu Shishi's mouth, "I'm in a good mood recently and don't want to hear these disappointing words.
Besides, I'm only 25 years old, so I'm not in a rush about having children. Shishi, stop overthinking it. Just watch TV."
Liu Shishi calmed herself down, stopped thinking about it, and turned her gaze back to the TV screen.
In the play, Song Hongling uses her identity as a pregnant woman as a cover, hides confidential information in the prescription of pregnancy-maintaining medicine, and contacts her superior Lu Chengyu through the opportunity to pick up the medicine.
Lu Chengyu, played by Li Xuejian, is the manager of a department store under the Kong family business. Based on the information provided by Song Hongling, he uses the purchase order of medicinal materials to cover up the content of the intelligence. The plot progresses layer by layer and is closely linked.
Although the spy had some doubts about Song Hongling's identity, he could only monitor her secretly because of her special status.
"This child is the spark of revolution and also my amulet." As Song Hongling recited the lines, the first episode of "Silent Shorthand" came to an end.
"Honey, how was my acting?" Liu Shishi's eyes sparkled.
"Very good." Song Ci nodded slightly, offering a fair review. Liu Shishi's performance in the play has been remarkable so far, and she's not losing out when acting opposite Li Xuejian, clearly putting in a lot of hard work.
After saying that, he seemed to suddenly remember something, chuckled and asked, "By the way, when will I appear?"
He had a cameo appearance in "Silent Shorthand" - when he visited the Jinling crew, he was urged by everyone to appear on the show and play the role of Song Hongling's husband.
This character works at the Donghai Railway Bureau and is also a member of the Red Party underground party. He was separated from his wife due to the war in the early days.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in the middle and late stages, he stayed in Donghai to work, and he and Song Hongling, who returned to Jinling, were still separated for a long time. He could only rely on occasional phone calls and letters to relieve his longing for her.
However, he only has one shot in the whole play, and most of his scenes are dubbed.
Thinking of her husband's guest appearance, Liu Shishi's lips curled up beautifully: "I specifically asked Director Kong, it's still early! You will appear in the last episode, 'Millions of Heroes Crossing the Yangtze River.'"
"Remember to remind me of the finale."
"Mr. Song, can't wait to enjoy your own screen presence?"
Song Ci's smile widened. "After all, this is my first time on camera, so I'm a little excited. Do you think this counts as my official debut?"
"I won't let you debut!" Liu Shishi leaned in close and pressed a strawberry mark on his neck. "If my husband debuts with this face, won't all the girls be fascinated? I'm giving you this stamp. This is my mark!"
Song Ci was both angry and amused. Miss Liu and he were already an old married couple, yet he still got jealous occasionally.
The couple's affection grew stronger as they played and joked, and soon the second episode began.
Lu Xingyao, played by Wan Qian, inadvertently realized that her father might have a special identity, but did not investigate further.
In an accident, Song Hongling and Lu Chengyu's superior sacrificed his life to protect the intelligence, and the two of them lost contact with the organization.
When the Kuomintang officer Jia Zhiqian (played by Wang Kai) was investigating the cause of death of an underground worker, he cast his suspicious eyes on Lu Chengyu, so he deliberately approached Lu Xingyao to extract information from her.
The plot was full of twists and turns and was very gripping. Liu Shishi watched it with great interest: "I didn't feel that way during the filming, but the finished film was really good."
At this moment, she has more confidence in the ratings of "Silent Shorthand" and feels that the show has the potential to be a big hit.
The ending theme song sounded and the first two episodes ended quickly. It was already past nine o'clock in the evening.
Song Ci casually praised the drama for being wonderful, then stood up to stretch his muscles: "I'm going to exercise."
"Yeah!" Liu Shishi responded and took out her mobile phone to go online to check the reviews of the series.
The next second, her eyes suddenly widened, and she exclaimed in surprise, "It became a trending topic right after it aired!"
On the hot search list, the top few terms are prominently displayed:
1. "Silent Shorthand" premiered
"2. Liu Shishi's first drama with a female lead"
"3. Liu Shishi, the pregnant stenographer"
. . .
Seven of the top ten trending searches were in it! The entire list was almost dominated by topics related to "Silent Shorthand"!
Liu Shishi was overjoyed and excitedly clicked on the first topic. The comment section was already bustling with activity:
"Shishi's acting was really good. The maternity look was surprisingly fitting. Beneath her delicate exterior lies a will of steel!"
"'Spy War Rose'! No gunfire, no climbing walls, just a pen and a prescription to transmit intelligence. Silence speaks louder than words. My palms are sweating watching it."
"I love this female perspective! Finally, a show that focuses on those female revolutionaries who quietly dedicated themselves to and even sacrificed their lives in the cracks of history, in special positions! Their intelligence work is just as thrilling and invaluable."
"It's completely different from hardcore male-focused spy dramas like 'Insidious' and 'The Cliff', but it's no less impressive! 'Silent Shorthand' has really broken new ground!"
"The details are exquisite, the plot design is ingenious, Teacher Li Xuejian is as steady as a rock, and Senior Sister Shi's acting skills have also made great breakthroughs. This is a very good drama and it must be rated five stars."
. . .
Most of the comments were positive, with a few criticisms thrown in occasionally, which Liu Shishi automatically ignored - after all, she wasn't a RMB, so how could she please everyone?
At this moment, her heart was filled with emotion. The affirmation of her breakthrough in acting and the praise for the female perspective and unique narrative style in the play were like a warm current, instantly dispelling all her previous anxieties.
At this moment, the cell phone on the coffee table suddenly rang, and the name "Hou Hongliang" popped up on the screen.
Liu Shishi took a deep breath to calm her excitement, swiped the screen and answered: "Hello, Mr. Hou."
"Mr. Liu! 'Silent Shorthand' is a huge hit! It's a huge hit!"
On the other end of the phone, Hou Hongliang's voice was so loud that it almost penetrated the receiver, full of irrepressible ecstasy and excitement.
Liu Shishi couldn't contain her anxiety and asked, "The ratings are out?"
Hou Hongliang's voice suddenly rose. "Fresh out! The average premiere of the two episodes exceeded 3%! The peak reached 3.4%! The audience share is 16%, firmly securing the national prime-time ratings championship!"
Liu Shishi was ecstatic – the ratings were 3%, which was the best statistic for a drama to start the year! A phenomenal start indeed!
When she first saw the trending searches, she guessed the premiere would be good, but she never expected it to be this good! This is almost one of the best results for a prime-time premiere on CCTV in the past three years.
Hou Hongliang's voice was a little hoarse with excitement, but he still spoke quickly: "The data from Toutiao Video hasn't come out yet, but the online playback volume has exploded! The word of mouth has completely exploded!
Have you read the reviews? They're all praising our unique perspective, the vivid portrayal of the female revolutionaries, the clever and fast-paced plot, and the entire cast!
Especially you, Mr. Liu! You nailed the role of Song Hongling! The audience praised you very highly, saying your acting has improved tremendously, with layers and depth!
He continued to report the good news like a machine gun: "The leaders at the station are so happy, the advertisers' phones are almost blowing up, all asking for more investment!
Mr. Liu, your first serious drama is off to a roaring success!
"Okay, okay!" Liu Shishi held her phone, a mixture of emotions in her heart. All the previous efforts, anxiety and expectations turned into huge joy and satisfaction in this moment.
She couldn't help but feel a little proud - after Long Kui, Ruoxi and Yu'er, now she had another masterpiece!
With this drama as a foundation, she is truly the top actress on the small screen. Let's see how her rival fans will continue to insinuate that she only acts in costume dramas.
No words were spoken that night.
The next morning, Song Ci went to the company to work overtime.
Inside the office, Jiang Yuwei, President of the Mobile Games Department, was busy reporting on his work: "...Mr. Song, the above is the latest operating status of the two mobile games, Puzzle & Dragons and Temple Run."
Song Ci listened to the data and nodded with satisfaction.
It is worthy of being a well-known money-making game in the industry, with a monthly turnover of up to 50 million US dollars, which is indeed a considerable profit.
"Oh, by the way," he suddenly remembered something, "Did you get any results on the thing I asked you to do last time?"
Jiang Yuwei's expression straightened, and he replied hesitantly, "Sorry, Mr. Song, they completed their financing last January and are not currently short of funds. Besides..."
Before he could finish his words, Song Ci's brows furrowed as he hurriedly asked, "MiHoYo has raised funds? How is that possible?"
He remembered clearly that miHoYo was upgraded from a studio to a game company only in February 2012, and the sales of "Honkai Impact 3rd" launched in October of the same year were mediocre.
According to the timeline, they should be developing "Honkai Gakuen 2" at this moment, which is a stage where they are short of funds and struggling.
"Mr. Song, MiHoYo has indeed raised funds, and the investor is your wife." Jiang Yuwei secretly glanced at the chairman.
I muttered to myself: This couple is really interesting. They both have their eyes on the same game company and are vying for investment, but they haven't even communicated with each other.
Song Ci was stunned when he heard this, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Shishi invested in miHoYo?"
He suddenly recalled that his wife did mention investing in a game studio last year. He didn't pay much attention to it at the time, and never expected that it would be the future famous miHoYo.
He then looked strange - although his wife's fortune was an accident, she had invested in Pop Mart and MiHoYo successively, so her future net worth would certainly not be underestimated, and would probably be second only to his own.
He collected his thoughts and continued, "Since it was Shishi who submitted the application, you don't have to worry about it. Take a look at these documents first."
As he spoke, he handed several documents on the desk to his subordinates.
Jiang Yuwei took it with both hands and immediately began to flip through it. "Clash of Clans," "Monster Strike," "Onmyoji," and "Fate Designated"—four game plans.
After Jiang Yuwei finished reading it, Song Ci instructed: "The mobile game department can set up four studios to develop these games."
The four games he handed over to Jiang Yuwei were all well-known money-making masterpieces in his previous life, and they have always been at the top of the global mobile game revenue list.
Now that he has gotten there first, it will naturally add fuel to Tenda Technology's profits.
"Okay, Mr. Song." Jiang Yuwei gently stroked the cover of the plan, as if touching a priceless treasure.
The game that the chairman takes so seriously must undoubtedly have the potential to be a hit like "Puzzle & Dragons" and "Temple Run".
(End of this chapter)
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