The two of them, carrying gifts, entered Sun Xuan's house. Zhao Meizhu reluctantly cooked a few dishes, and the two of them poured themselves two glasses of wine.
Liang Yin wanted to go to the kitchen to help, but Zhao Meizhu pushed her back.
Lin Chudong said, "Brother Sun, isn't your sister-in-law unhappy?"
Sun Xuan said, "Don't pay her any mind. Women are short-sighted."
Lin Chudong said, "Brother Sun, don't quarrel with your sister-in-law. It's all because of me. Otherwise, you'd still be doing well at CCTV."
Sun Xuan waved his hand, "You can't say that. My promotion or demotion has little to do with you. This time, I took the fall for Director Ma, and he owes me a favor."
"There's nothing bad about going to Beijing TV Station. CCTV's programs are too serious; it's not as free as a local station."
Lin Chudong nodded and asked,
"What program are you planning after the New Year, Brother Sun?"
"I'm planning to do a reality show. Reality shows are all the rage right now. The I Can 48 you participated in is a unique reality show. I plan to take a different approach this time and create a lifestyle-focused reality show."
Lin Chudong said, "Brother Sun, I have a plan. Would you like me to be your planner?"
Sun Xuan was the only one who was 'injured' this time at the Spring Festival Gala. Lin Chudong felt bad and wanted to make amends.
Helping Sun Xuan create a hit variety show would be the best way to make amends.
Sun Xuan was taken aback. "You understand variety shows too? Participating in a show and planning a show are completely different."
"Currently, domestic original programs have mostly ended in failure. The ones that can become popular are all buying the rights to overseas hit variety shows."
"For example, the show you participated in, I Can 48, and Super Challenge before that, these are variety shows that have been proven in foreign markets, so people in China dare to invest in them."
"If it's original, it's hard to get ahead."
Zhao Meizhu brought the dishes to the table, listening to Lin Chudong and the others chatting.
Lin Chudong said, "My idea will definitely be a hit. If you trust me, Brother Sun, I'll plan it for you and guarantee you'll turn things around."
Sun Xuan said, "Really? Tell me about it."
Zhao Meizhu frowned. She felt that Da Fei was a bit too boastful. He was an outsider, and although he had some fame now, it was only in the music world.
He was good at making music, but he was far from good at variety shows.
Sun Xuan, on the other hand, had a lot of confidence in Lin Chudong. Da Fei had created too many miracles, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was an all-around talent.
Lin Chudong spoke eloquently, explaining his entire plan.
Sun Xuan's eyes immediately lit up.
"This is a good idea. It's definitely taking a different approach, but will it work?"
Zhao Meizhu said, "Old Sun, I think you should listen to more opinions before deciding. The current variety shows are getting faster and faster. Doing something with a slow-paced, rural lifestyle theme definitely won't work."
Da Fei's idea sounded novel, but the audience definitely wouldn't accept it.
Who would want to watch a few celebrities' rural life? Races with running around are more interesting.
Sun Xuan glared at her and said.
"We'll talk about this after the New Year. Da Fei, if you have free time, come help me."
"Alright, Brother Sun. If this variety show gets approved, I can record a few episodes for free, like I'm sponsoring you."
Sun Xuan smiled. "That's really generous. Hiring big names for a variety show is a hefty expense. Your appearance fee must be in the millions by now, right? If we save that money, the leadership should approve it."
After Lin Chudong left, Zhao Meizhu said,
"Don't put too much faith in Da Fei's words. His plan is too immature; it hasn't been market-tested at all. You haven't even established a firm foothold in Beijing yet. If you put out another bad variety show, you might be finished."
Sun Xuan said, "Don't be so critical of Da Fei. His talent is obvious to everyone. This time, it's not Da Fei who's messing me up; I'm taking the fall for Director Ma. Da Fei's proposal is very good. I'll discuss it with the leadership when I go to work in a few days."
Zhao Meizhu shook her head helplessly. "You overestimate him. If this show really takes off, then I, Zhao Meizhu, will admit I was wrong."
Sun Xuan smiled. "Then just you watch."
...
After Lin Chudong and the others got in the car, Liang Yin said.
"Your sister-in-law will definitely blame you."
Lin Chudong said, "It's understandable that she's blaming me. Brother Sun was indeed implicated by me. If we're really doing the show, I won't take any money, alright?"
Liang Yin shrugged. "I'll listen to you. Brother Sun is your benefactor; not taking money is no problem."
"But, do you really understand variety shows?"
Lin Chudong said, "Of course, this variety show of mine will definitely be a hit."
Liang Yin nodded; she believed everything Da Fei said now.
She'd even be happy to count the money if she were sold off.
Three days later.
An operator found Liang Yin.
Liang Yin quickly called Yao Qiang and Da Fei over.
"Quick, another operator called. I don't understand what they're saying, I don't know how to negotiate."
Yao Qiang answered the phone and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Hello, I'm the person in charge of Audition."
"Hello, I'm from the operations team at the Horizon Games Forum, and I'd like to discuss a collaboration with you. We can promote your game, and we use a tiered revenue-sharing model. The percentage will be based on your active users and recharge rate."
Yao Qiang said, "Our three-day active users are forty thousand, and our recharge rate is close to thirty percent. These numbers are still climbing; the seven-day data will definitely be much higher. The tiered revenue-sharing model might not be the best deal for us right now."
The person on the other end thought for a moment and said, "I'll send you the tiered revenue-sharing details. We can adjust it accordingly. We can also base it on your projected seven-day data."
"Alright, send it over, and I'll take a look."
After hanging up the phone, Liang Yin asked, "Yao Qiang, is this Horizon Games Forum a big website?"
Yao Qiang nodded. "It's currently the largest online game forum. It's very influential."
"Then why were you so assertive in the negotiations? Will that work?"
Yao Qiang smiled. "Our data is great, and the heat is so high. You can tell the data isn't fake just by looking at it."
"With good data, you've got confidence. Haha, when I was making those two games before, I wanted to lower the profit sharing ratio as much as possible, but they wouldn't even look at me."
Lin Chudong didn't understand this aspect, so he let Yao Qiang handle it.
"How long until we recoup our investment?"
Yao Qiang said, "We should recoup our investment quickly. After all, the sponsors gave us ten million. That solves a large portion of the cost. The rest, we'll recoup in about three months."
"Of course, if we get more sponsors during this time, we could recoup our investment instantly. Sponsors pay faster than players."
Lin Chudong nodded. "Understood. You handle it. I'll give you the rest. If you need money, come to me."
Liang Yin said, "Isn't the second episode of I Can 48 airing tonight?"
"Yeah."
In the evening, only Liang Yin and Su Yulin remained in the potato chip group.
Lin Chudong looked at Su Yulin with some surprise, "Why did you come back so early?"
Su Yulin said, "It's boring, you're on fire now, taking over the Spring Festival Gala."
"Ugh, it's a long story, this Spring Festival Gala has been quite a bumpy road."
Liang Yin also nodded in agreement, "Da Fei is right, it's really bumpy."
The group sat in front of the TV, and the second episode of I Can 48 began to air.
The last episode left things hanging, and this one started with the selection process again. It was over in a few minutes, and all six teams were assembled.
Then they moved into the dorms, and Zhen Rufeng announced the next round of the competition.
"Chinese Chess!"
Seeing this, Liang Yin's eyes widened. "Da Fei, this is right up your alley!"
Liang Yin knew Da Fei's chess skills. Old Chen was considered a chess master in the industry, but he always lost to Da Fei.
Old Chen had said that Da Fei's level could almost compete with the professionals. Participating in this show, he would definitely shine again.
Lin Chudong smiled. "It's not that simple."
"This show is messing with us. They gathered all these athletes, and now they want us to play chess? Are they serious?"
As soon as they heard about chess, everyone was surprised and immediately started whispering among themselves.
Luo Jia asked in a low voice, "Da Fei, do you know how to play chess?"
Lin Chudong nodded, "A little."
The host, Zhen Rufeng, gave each team a chess set, then arranged their dorms and reminded them of one thing.
"The early bird catches the worm."
Everyone took their chessboards and went back to their respective rooms to study.
Da Fei brought his Harem to a small conference room downstairs, and all six girls looked bewildered.
"Fei-ge, what do we do? Do you know how to play chess?"
Lin Chudong nodded. "A little."
"That's great, none of us do."
There were fewer girls who knew how to play Chinese chess. The other teams started getting ready, with one or two people in each team who knew how to play, and they began teaching the others.
Lu Wenwen asked, "Fei-ge, what should we do now? Should we learn Chinese chess?"
Lin Chudong shrugged. "I don't think it's useful. You can't learn Chinese chess overnight. Just knowing the basic rules is enough."
"Then what do we do now?"
Lin Chudong said, "Let's find some entertainment. This pole dancing girl…"
The pole dancer walked over with a shy expression, "Brother Fei, I'm Wang Yuting."
Lin Chudong said, "That's right, Wang Yuting. The long night is really boring. Show us your special skill."
Everyone immediately started clamoring, "Show us! Show us! Show us!"
Wang Yuting said a little shyly.
"There really is a pole."
The pole was supporting the ceiling, and it wasn't clear if it was for support or specifically designed for her.
Judging by Director Yan Ming's tendencies, it was definitely for this athlete's performance.
Wang Yuting bowed to everyone, "Then I'll make a fool of myself and liven up the atmosphere for everyone."
Wang Yuting took out her phone and played a song. With one hand gripping the pole, she jumped lightly and began to spin.
Lin Chudong and the others immediately clapped and cheered.
Outside, the other teams were still exchanging ideas, each of them at a loss, pondering how to play the chess competition, and going through a long analysis that left them with a headache.
The second team captain, Sima Peng, heard the cheers and asked, "What's Team 1 doing?"
"I don't know, it sounds like there's music. Let's go take a look."
Several burly men walked over and came to the door of Team 1, secretly pulling open the curtain.
They saw Lin Chudong sitting in a chair inside, with girls on both his left and right sides, while a professional pole dancer was performing in front of them.
The expressions on their faces immediately became interesting.
The TV screen instantly drew a line, creating a stark contrast between Da Fei's room and the tension outside.
"Hahaha, Da Fei really knows how to enjoy life. Everyone else is studying tactics outside, and he's watching a dance. The Harem is for this purpose, right?"
"Come and pay respects to the ancestor! Others are lecherous but try to be discreet. Da Fei just throws caution to the wind. I'm impressed by this move."
"The Director really knows how to stir things up, putting a stripper pole here. Isn't this tempting Da Fei?"
"Da Fei is just like a debauched monarch, but unfortunately, he'll lose his kingdom tomorrow in the competition."
"It's okay to enjoy the last day. This is how a captain should be. Look at teams 2 and 3, they're so miserable."
"…"
Sima Peng and the others also made some complaints, but they didn't barge in. They wanted to secretly work hard while Da Fei and the others were playing, striving to eliminate them.
Lin Chudong and the others laughed and talked for a while, and when it was almost time, they all went to bed.
Liang Yin and Su Yulin glared at Lin Chudong unhappily.
"Is this the persona the program team gave you? You're acting quite well."
Lin Chudong smiled, "Not bad, my acting is pretty good."
"Just playing yourself, huh!"
In the program, the next day they woke up.
Suddenly, a female athlete from Team 6 noticed something strange: there was a particularly unfamiliar person mixed into their team.
The woman chased after him and asked, "What event are you an athlete in?"
The stranger with glasses said, "I'm a chess player."
The woman was immediately overjoyed, as if she'd made a huge discovery. A professional chess player? She quickly followed him, and called for Team 6's captain to tag along. The TV then broadcast the background of the man with glasses.
He was a chess player specifically arranged by the director for this. This time, the chess competition was a residual game, just like the one Lin Chudong had invited Old Chen to play previously.
This man with glasses was a professional chess player. The director had specified that he could play three guidance games. With his guidance, they would have a significant advantage.
At this moment, everyone in Team 6 was extremely excited. Was this the meaning of "the early bird catches the worm"? Team 6's captain personally went in and played a guidance game with the man with glasses, wanting to memorize every single move the chess player made.
Downstairs, Sima Peng also noticed the anomaly. He gathered all the members of Team 2 and also came to the man with glasses's room.
"You're a chess player, right?"
The man with glasses nodded. "Correct."
"Can you teach us?"
"I can."
Downstairs, Lin Chudong sat in the room, with Lu Wenwen and Lu Jingjing on either side of him, massaging his shoulders. He was explaining the basic rules of Chinese chess to the girls, and the atmosphere was very relaxed, completely different from the tension in the other groups.
If it weren't for the fact that they had to play Chinese chess, it would probably have turned into a fan-chasing scene long ago.
The most relaxed captain of these six teams was Da Fei.
Suddenly, Wang Yuting, the pole dancer, walked in and said.
"Brother Fei, I've discovered a secret."
Ten minutes later, Lin Chudong walked into the glasses-wearing man's room and smiled slightly.
"You're a chess player?"
The glasses-wearing man nodded. "Yes."
"Let's play a game!"
This was the first time Lin Chudong had encountered a real opponent since becoming a chess master. He was actually a little excited!
"Damn, is Brother Fei mistaken? The guy said he wanted a tutorial, to ask for guidance, not to compete."
"Da Fei doesn't really think he can beat a professional athlete at chess, does he? He should hurry up and ask for some pointers. Isn't he wasting the last game of the coaching session?"
"Is it possible that Da Fei is actually better than this athlete?"
"Haha, don't be ridiculous. Don't let your hobbies challenge someone's livelihood."
-----------------------
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