Akasaka Yoshitoki, Ogata Aya, Mei Bihong, and Yu Delan all turned to look at him.
"I believe… both scripts should be greenlit for production."
"But—"
Everyone knew the real point always came after the "but".
"The station's budget this quarter is quite limited. We don't have enough funding to support two B-tier drama productions. Therefore, each of the two projects will be allocated $15 million in funding and greenlit as C-tier productions."
Yoshizaki Shigeyoshi stated plainly.
Akasaka Yoshitoki closed his eyes, fists clenched.
Meanwhile, Ogata Aya, Mei Bihong, and Yu Delan all looked pleased.
Akasaka had thought Kiyota Sanji could secure the B-tier slot based on 'Pure Breeze''s previous performance.
He had calculated the station's budget and was ready to fight for 'Night Sakura' to receive B-tier status and 27 million in funding.
In other words, if not for 'An Ancient Love Song' showing up, 'Night Sakura' would have been almost guaranteed to get that B-tier investment.
But now, that 27 million had been slashed to 15 million.
B-tier downgraded to C-tier.
That was his money—his investment—all of it! Now those three old hags had taken it away and handed it to someone else.
Akasaka was fuming.
But what could he do?
Logically, if 'Night Sakura' was to be greenlit, then 'An Ancient Love Song' had to be as well.
Sure, he could throw a tantrum and sabotage both projects—propose rejecting both 'Night Sakura' and 'An Ancient Love Song' to sink them into the trash and make sure no one benefited.
But rationally, that was a foolish, self-destructive move.
Hurting the enemy by a thousand and yourself by ten thousand? Only an idiot would do that.
As for Ogata Aya's group, they never expected 'An Ancient Love Song' to get B-tier approval to begin with.
And knowing Akasaka's nature, they anticipated him trying to spite them.
So they had intentionally written the proposal as if asking for B-tier, giving the upper management an excuse to slash the budget, making it look like a compromise.
Now, the department head had come down with a precise cut—clean and calculated.
Even better, 'An Ancient Love Song''s budget was practically taken directly from 'Night Sakura's pool.
Last quarter, 'Pure Breeze' had snatched 1.2 million in budget away from 'Rurouni Kenshin'.
Now it had been paid back in full to 'An Ancient Love Song'.
'Night Sakura' had its 27 million reduced to 15 million—a cut of exactly 12 million.
A perfect tenfold return.
"But I do have a proposal…" Akasaka Yoshitoki said after taking a deep breath.
"There's still an open Saturday 10 PM time slot next quarter. I'd like that slot reserved for 'Night Sakura'."
Saturday at 10 PM was a semi-prime-time slot.
That kind of slot was typically only available to B-tier productions.
Which meant… Akasaka wanted 'Night Sakura' to get C-tier funding but enjoy B-tier promotional resources.
"…Approved," Yoshizaki Shigeyoshi nodded.
"And," Akasaka continued, lifting his eyes toward Ogata Aya and the others, "Hasn't the station been wanting to explore a 'Midnight Sunday' slot?"
"Both Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV have aired some fairly successful dramas in that Sunday midnight slot over the past couple of years."
"So, since Director Ogata seems to believe in this young screenwriter named Su Yan… let 'An Ancient Love Song' air during that time slot. See if it can bring some attention to the station's Sunday midnight slot."
Saturday at 10 PM was a prime-ish time—people still watched dramas on the weekends, and 10 PM wasn't late.
But Sunday at midnight? That's after 12 AM.
Who's staying up to chase dramas at midnight on a Sunday, when they have school or work the next day?
That was a dead slot. A "fish market" slot.
It sounded like a generous offer—but it was clearly a slap in the face.
Yoshizaki looked at Akasaka for a couple of seconds, then said calmly:
"…Approved."
Ogata Aya and her group opened their mouths to speak, but Yoshizaki waved a hand, signaling them to stay silent.
They quieted down. After thinking it over, they understood his reasoning.
The department head didn't want the two factions fighting further over this. The station only had a fixed number of airing slots each quarter. If not 'An Ancient Love Song', that midnight slot would go to another C-tier drama anyway.
So why not 'An Ancient Love Song'?
It was still giving Su Yan a chance. But it was a very average time slot.
Carrot and stick—both at once.
If Su Yan truly had talent, he'd shine no matter what.
Ogata Aya let out a quiet sigh.
He'd been given an opportunity.
Even with a bad time slot, if his work was strong enough, it could still break through—just like those rare Sunday midnight dramas on Zhongxia TV or Hudu TV that sometimes reached 2% ratings.
Last year, one even shattered a ten-year record in that slot—over 3% viewership.
If Su Yan had the skills, he could defy the odds.
If he didn't, and the show ended up with the usual 0.6–1% ratings, then no one else could be blamed.
Ogata Aya and the other two exchanged glances, then nodded.
That afternoon, the news that 'An Ancient Love Song' and 'Night Sakura' had both been greenlit spread throughout the screenwriting and production departments.
Su Yan and Kiyota Sanji—two writers who had only just debuted as lead screenwriters in the summer quarter—had both received recognition and had their new scripts approved for TV broadcast in the fall.
And these weren't just online dramas anymore.
These were legit, television broadcast dramas.
Talk about starting like winners.
And on top of that, the two clearly didn't get along. Now they were back in direct competition in the new quarter.
It was clear there'd be drama.
A true genius vs. a well-connected insider—what a thrilling narrative.
It was already a hot topic.
Shinozaki Ikumi, upon learning that 'An Ancient Love Song' had officially been greenlit for broadcast on Sakura TV, first did an entire set of radio calisthenics in her office to calm her excitement.
Then she found out that, thanks to Akasaka Yoshitoki, 'An Ancient Love Song' hadn't even managed to secure a standard weekday 10 PM slot—and had been shoved into the Sunday midnight dead zone.
Her radio calisthenics immediately transformed into military combat drills, as she cursed Akasaka's entire lineage with every punch.
But once she calmed down and analyzed the situation, she realized that Su Yan and 'An Ancient Love Song''s unexpected appearance had derailed 'Night Sakura''s momentum, reducing its 27 million investment to 15 million, and the cut 12 million had gone straight to Su Yan's project.
The grudge from last quarter over 'Rurouni Kenshin''s budget being slashed?
Avenged.
"There's gain and loss—don't be too greedy."
Shinozaki Ikumi looked at herself in the office mirror.
Inside, it was a beautiful woman with flowing black hair, clear black eyes, and porcelain-pale skin. She smiled faintly.
"Su Yan really is a creative genius. This kind of difficulty, hopefully, won't stop him. As long as I stick with him and help him produce successful works, one day I'll rise too. And when that day comes—I'll confront that bastard Akasaka head-on."
Back in the office, Su Yan, still working on background music sheets for 'An Ancient Love Song', received a call from Shinozaki Ikumi.
"I see. Got it."
After understanding the full story, Su Yan thought for a moment and chuckled softly.
"Fifteen million in funding—well, compared to the four million it got in my previous life, this is already a win. As for the dead slot…"
In his previous life, 'An Ancient Love Song' had a production budget of only four million. What promotional resources could it possibly have had?
It aired on B Station, a platform filled with anime fans, yet it still found success as a period drama.
Could the midnight Sunday slot at Sakura TV really be worse than that?
In Su Yan's previous world, 'An Ancient Love Song' had amassed over 200 million paid member views and received a 9.9 rating from tens of thousands of viewers.
So in this world…
Su Yan didn't believe that a mere "dead slot" could block this drama's rise to fame.
He muttered softly:
"Let's wait and see."
Authours Note:
(Saw some comments asking why the MC hasn't just quit, and why the antagonist keeps targeting him.)
Just to clarify: the MC isn't part of Akasaka Yoshitoki's faction, so his achievements don't reflect well on Akasaka.