Chapter 407
Advertising time.
Watching the ratings plummet, Zheng Cheng's hand trembled slightly as he held the water glass. While "The Unparalleled General" was already undisputedly number one in ratings, if it could reach 5%, it would be like witnessing the birth of a new legend.
A 5% audience rating was like a bottomless chasm. At this moment, even the director, who usually prided himself on being aloof and simply striving for excellence, felt a little lost.
In the dark room, only the advertisements on the TV screen and the cell phone on the table glowed. There was a lot of food on the table, but only the glass of mineral water showed any signs of being touched.
On the TV screen at that moment was a commercial filmed by the cast of "The Unparalleled General." Because of the captivating, brainwashing vocabulary and the actors' performances, it has garnered at least tens of thousands of copycats on short video platforms.
At the same time, in a residential complex in Fujian Province.
It was the first time Zheng Jinghua had ever looked at an ad on the screen with some reluctance. Any other time, she would have already picked up her phone and started scrolling. But today, with the words "Grand Finale" prominently displayed on the screen, the ads she had previously disliked began to see a glimmer of meaning.
"Old Zhou, do you think all those people who shoot commercials want to find Ji Shao to shoot them?" Zheng Jinghua pointed at the artificially photoshopped image of Xie Zhengyun in the upper right corner of the commercial, turned around and said to Zhou Chengdong.
"Of course," Zhou Chengdong nodded in agreement, thinking to himself, if that picture was replaced with Huang Xiang's old brother, wouldn't it be directly discouraging people from playing?
Besides, Ji Shao was his daughter's favorite star. Old Zhou thought his daughter had the best taste. As for Ms. Zheng, as the youngsters would say, she was a true drama-absorbent! When she was watching a drama, everyone was considered the best in her eyes.
“By the way, why haven’t you posted the video you took a few days ago on your Moments yet?” When it came to advertisements, Ms. Zheng poked Zhou’s father with her hand.
There were no PZ stores in their city, so the two of them took advantage of their holiday a few days ago to go to the provincial capital to shoot some offline commercials for Zhou Quanli. The reason they traveled so far was, of course, because it was their daughter's work.
"Hehe, shouldn't we keep a low profile?" Old Zhou picked up the tea on the table and just as he was about to drink it, he found that the temperature had dropped, so he fed it directly to the tea pet on the tea tray.
Then he brewed new tea for himself very smoothly, blew it gently, and tasted it carefully. The tea that his daughter specially found for him was fragrant!
Neither Zhou Xiao nor anyone else had publicly announced her professional career in their family group chats. However, every one of her photos appeared on their social media feeds. It was no wonder that even at his age, Zhou Xiao was still being asked by younger colleagues if he was a fan.
Zhou Chengdong usually smiled and didn't refute this. He and his wife were indeed fans of celebrities, but the celebrity they were chasing was their precious daughter.
"Hey, stop talking, the TV is on!" Zhou Chengdong looked at the black screen on the TV and immediately shouted to Ms. Zheng who was holding a cup of tea beside him.
Although he usually watched dramas with Ms. Zheng, "The Unparalleled General" was one of the few dramas that suited his taste. No wonder Ms. Zheng always complained to Zhou Xiao that he loved dramas, but he always used watching dramas with her as a pretext.
"When will Ji Shao star in a spy drama?" Zhou Chengdong thought to himself. If Ji Shao starred in a spy drama, Ms. Zheng would probably be willing to give up those earthy dramas, right?
It's not that Zhou Chengdong doesn't like watching TV, but he doesn't have control of the remote control at home. As for the idea of watching on his phone or computer, he'd definitely shake his head and say he doesn't want to watch on such a small screen. Perhaps he simply prefers enjoying the family atmosphere to watching TV.
…
"It's rising! It's rising again!"
In the conference room, Mao Sifeng didn't care about others at all, and excitedly slammed the table. Looking at the ratings that were slowly climbing up, her face was filled with excitement.
For the first time, she began to feel a little bit of resentment. Why was the final episode less than an hour long? You have to know that the recent ratings increase for "The Unparalleled General" has peaked in the final stages, which almost means that the audience loss is smaller than the new audience entry!
Of course, someone had already figured it out. If the ratings continued to rise at their current rate tonight, breaking 5 wouldn't be a dream.
Tonight, Huayao headquarters was packed with not only their own top executives but also a Blueberry Video executive. Weng Fei was just as excited as Mao Sifeng. Because CCTV and the platform were so mutually reinforcing, she could already foresee Blueberry Video's performance tomorrow.
Weng Fei came to Huayao today to discuss tomorrow night's live broadcast, which was also Huayao's compensation to the platform. Because once the finale was released, it would definitely have an impact on the platform's popularity.
But this isn't unsolvable. After tonight's finale, they'll use the lead actor's livestream as their trump card, which will definitely attract a ton of fans. It can be said that Blueberry Video's KPI for this year was met ahead of schedule thanks to "The Unparalleled General."
Huang Xiang's colleagues had gone to negotiate, but Weng Fei saw it as a done deal. After all, Huang Xiang had apologized numerous times, and if he didn't show up for the finale, it would mean a falling out with Blueberry Video.
Of course, everyone in the crew could choose not to come, except Ji Shao. After all, in addition to his good looks, his acting skills were also highly recognized by the public.
"Sister Weng, your coffee." Lin Qianxia pushed a cup of hand-ground coffee to Weng Fei, and sat down next to her.
"Thank you, Xiaoxia." Weng Fei looked at Lin Qianxia, feeling quite satisfied with her. If she could stop being so argumentative during negotiations, she'd probably be more likable. But it was her attitude that made her feel more favorable towards her.
Weng Fei picked up the coffee in her hand but didn't drink it. Instead, she sniffed the aroma of coffee in the air and watched the line representing the ratings climb upwards with her eyes.
Recent events had truly made her feel incredibly lucky. Not only had "The Unparalleled General" achieved such success, but the subsequent investment opportunities for other dramas had also soared. Furthermore, the matter she'd discussed with Fang Xi was now showing some progress. It could be said that things had been moving in a positive direction.
“4.8694!”
The atmosphere in the conference room began to heat up again. This drama not only quickly regained its popularity, but in just a short while, it had already surpassed the number before the commercial break. Furthermore, the current number was a development that no one in the room had expected.
"May it break 5! May it break 5!"
In another corner of the room, Mao Sifeng, who had used countless ancient and modern gods from China and abroad as guarantees, was silent for a moment. At this moment, he was pushing the pressure onto Chen Shenju.
If he could come to the meeting room tonight, he would probably be even more excited than she was. Then she wouldn't have to be so nervous. Maybe she could even comfort him and relieve some of the pressure together.
…
Inside the photography base.
In the living rooms on the second and third floors of the small building, people were watching "The Unparalleled General" on television. Although the content on the upper and lower floors was the same, the atmosphere was completely different.
On the second floor, Qi Sisi was frantically refreshing the link after learning that the ratings might break 5. On the third floor, three people were watching the finale with gusto. It turns out that no matter how nice the boss is, it's better to keep a little distance in private!
From what Shu Nan had inquired about, the second floor didn't look like the place for serious drama watching. Someone was on a voice call with someone, but the noise inside was like the roar of an airplane engine, loud and excited.
"Xiaoxiao, do you... do you think Xiao Shao's first drama will break five stars?" Qi Sisi is now both excited and regretful. She is excited because she sees the ratings rising little by little, but she regrets that she can't even concentrate on watching the drama because of her nervousness!
Zhou Xiao didn't reply, seemingly lost in thought or silence. Qi Sisi didn't expect a reply from Zhou Xiao, and was trembling with fear along with the others in the group chat.
But suddenly, her legs, which had been shaking with excitement all night, were held down. She looked up and saw Zhou Xiao, with a serious look on his face. He said in a very firm tone, "I will definitely do it!" Even if this drama doesn't work, the next one will definitely be fine.
Just now, the long-silent system suddenly exploded, directly giving Zhou Xiao a king bomb -
[Ding! The system automatically detected that Ji Shao's fame value has exceeded 100 million. Due to the host's positive performance, a special reward of Commercial Plaza - Huashang Times Square]
Zhou Xiao had already anticipated Ji Shao's fame value would surpass 100 million. However, the fact that it had already reached that mark tonight showed that she had underestimated the popularity of the finale. After all, her prediction was based on the days following the show's premiere.
Aside from the unexpected surge in fame, the system's rewards were truly significant. Huashang Times Square! It could be said that it was under Zhou Xiao's watch that it gradually grew to its current size.
The silence just now was also due to the generousness of the system, which made Zhou Xiao lose her mind for a moment. The moment she received the reward, she had the urge to inspect the "industry" right away.
However, even though she thought so, after learning from the system that she only needed to wait for the money to be collected and that other matters would be handled by professionals, Zhou Xiao felt that staying in the photography base was pretty good.
Zhou Xiao, who had originally been considering whether to take on more business orders for the studio, had already quickly opened his phone and deleted the information about recruiting business specialists on the platform. He could consider whether to continue recruiting after Zhang Hongyu joined the studio.
“4.9736!”
Qi Sisi's surprised voice echoed in the living room, and the group chat was also particularly lively. Zhou Xiao's expression was also very serious at this moment. Like Qi Sisi, she no longer cared about what was playing on TV.
Every time the ratings were updated, they attracted everyone's attention. Then, the ratings recording platform, always a representative of authority, suffered an online crash due to too many people updating the ratings at the same time.
Like it, thousands of netizens, fans, and officials who were refreshing the ratings and waiting to take screenshots when it broke 5 were devastated. At this critical moment, the "404" that popped up after refreshing again made many people's hearts almost stop.
On Weibo's trending searches, there are already three or four "explosive" trending searches related to "The Unparalleled General" tonight. The latest one is "Ratings Recording Platform Crashes."
Suddenly, platforms of all sizes and sizes rushed in. Just when everyone was overwhelmed and unsure which information was true, someone already had the answer!
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