Chapter 153: Popping Champagne Like Crazy
Even Lu Jingyao, who had been lingering nearby, couldn’t help but give Xie Ran a few more glances at such an astonishing profit.
“Hasn’t your short drama platform only been running for a few months?” Xu Youyou couldn’t quite recall the exact launch date of the platform.
“Three months,” Xie Ran explained.
Earning 800 million in three months—averaging nearly 300 million per month—was an incredible feat, especially considering that the short drama platform was still in its early stages. The potential for future earnings was enormous. While Xu Youyou had made a lot of money before through lucky business opportunities, this kind of rapidly expanding industry was like a literal money tree.
She felt increasingly grateful for her past decision to take Xie Ran in from under that bridge—it was absolutely the right choice. Ever since the Leisure Short Drama platform was successfully built, she hadn’t really paid much attention to it.
Now, casually opening the app, she was immediately greeted by an interface filled with attractive men and women. Almost every short drama she clicked on had an incredibly fast pace. After just a few minutes of watching, if she weren’t surrounded by others, she might have gotten completely hooked!
“There are so many comments under each drama. Do you have an eye for picking only the good ones?” Xu Youyou couldn’t help but ask.
Xie Ran replied, “The top-ranked ones you clicked on were all produced in-house. I’ve developed a formula for profitable short dramas and hired people to shoot them based on this template.”
Xu Youyou: !!!
“Since we produce a lot of in-house dramas, our profit margins are extremely high. At one point, our company was simultaneously shooting ten short dramas a day. This high turnover quickly filled the platform’s video library, attracting other production companies to host their dramas on our platform.”
“The reason we distributed a billion in revenue shares was to attract more creators, as our platform is still new. We offered a higher profit-sharing percentage to lure them in. By next year, once our platform stabilizes, we’ll have stronger bargaining power and can adjust the revenue split. However, I recommend not lowering their cut too much,” Xie Ran added.
Xu Youyou immediately said, “You understand business better than I do. I’ll leave it to you.”
[Congratulations, Host! You’ve completed a jackpot mission and earned the reward: “Dream of the Red Chamber Character Compatibility Card”! The card can be used for 30 days upon activation. Please use it wisely.]
Xu Youyou suddenly felt that her system was very thoughtful. The reward for acquiring Dream of the Red Chamber’s sequel manuscript had been delayed until now—probably to see if she would actually film the drama. If she hadn’t planned to, the system might have rewarded her with something else instead.
“System baby, you’re the most thoughtful treasure in the whole world!” Xu Youyou praised.
The system responded with a prideful hmph.
Since Xie Ran couldn’t see the system interface, he suddenly said, “Boss, you don’t seem to be paying attention to the recent entertainment industry news.”
Xu Youyou had been fully focused on Dream of the Red Chamber and hadn’t been using her phone much. “What happened? Big gossip? Did someone get canceled?”
She found it hard to picture Xie Ran, with his serious demeanor, keeping up with celebrity gossip.
Xie Ran shook his head. “Song Zhibai’s drama aired, and he blew up. He gained over ten million followers in three days.”
Xu Youyou immediately perked up. Her long-awaited top-tier money tree had finally gone viral! Other than thinking I knew it, she also planned to send Song Zhibai a message or call him later to praise him. That way, he’d stay loyal and keep making money for her.
Xie Ran continued, “The drama was sold to two streaming platforms for simultaneous airing. Neither platform had high hopes for it and barely promoted it, instead focusing their marketing on their in-house productions. Ironically, their own dramas flopped, while ours shot to the top of trending charts on the first day. The average view count per episode has already surpassed 50 million.”
Xu Youyou opened a streaming app. Seeing Song Zhibai’s sudden rise to fame, the platform had finally learned its lesson, urgently updating its opening banner to display his drama’s poster. The title, “Jianghu Order”, was prominently displayed.
On the poster, the young swordsman was dressed in white, speckled with crimson bloodstains. His expression was both shattered and resolute, his eyes filled with unwavering determination. Just standing there, he exuded an entire story.
“The two platforms now regret not purchasing exclusive rights. But even with a shared distribution model, they’re making a fortune. Initially, the drama aired ad-free, but now, each episode has ten ads. The viewers are the ones suffering.” Xie Ran sighed.
In online dramas, the more ads there were, the higher the quality—advertisers weren’t stupid. If a drama wasn’t performing well, they’d pull out immediately.
Xu Youyou clicked on an episode and saw the screen flooded with bullet comments:
- “He’s so handsome! I want to have his babies!”
- “Just looking at him is a blessing for my eyes!”
- “How could the female supporting character reject him?! She must be blind!”
In today’s entertainment industry, where attractive male actors were rare, Song Zhibai’s face alone was a golden ticket. Coupled with his acting skills and a drama tailor-made for him, his meteoric rise was inevitable.
Though most of the traffic focused on Song Zhibai, the female lead, Liu Ye, also benefited. Previously a nobody in the industry, she was almost abandoned by her new agency. Now, she had skyrocketed to third-tier status.
Xu Youyou wasn’t entirely pleased with this outcome, but as long as the biggest benefits went to Song Zhibai, she could accept it.
She expressed her joy in the simplest way possible—shouting to her housekeeper: “Aunt Zhang, open another bottle of champagne! I’m in a great mood today!”
The only one who wasn’t thrilled was Lu Jingyao. He still remembered that young man with the dangerously seductive face—Song Zhibai had been after Xu Youyou from the start. Now that he was famous, he’d have even more confidence to compete with him.
Meanwhile, Lu Jingyao’s pursuit of Xu Youyou had dragged on for half a year with almost no progress.
Dinner was a feast despite only having three diners. Since Xu Youyou was in high spirits, she ate heartily. Lu Jingyao, despite his internal turmoil, didn’t want to ruin the mood, so he ate quite a bit too.
Xie Ran, however, was preoccupied with work and left after a few bites.
Before leaving, Lu Jingyao casually said, “Old Master Zhang’s manuscripts could be compiled into a book. His Dream of the Red Chamber research is unmatched in the country.”
Xu Youyou nodded. “I was already considering that.”
As soon as he stepped out of the Xu family’s house, Lu Jingyao made a call to his assistant. “Look into Professor Wang Qianshu. Focus on any misconduct or ethical violations.”
Meanwhile, at the Gu family’s mansion, the atmosphere was the complete opposite.
While Xu Youyou was celebrating victory after victory, the Gu family was drowning in despair.
Gu Jianming was furious. “What the hell were you two thinking?! You spent six hundred billion on a counterfeit!”
