Accidental Mark

Chapter 78

The meal ended in this strange atmosphere and Pei Shaoze took the initiative to pay for it. Once he went out, Cheng Yiming frowned and sat beside his son with a depressed expression. “Do you really understand what type of person Pei Shaoze is? Aren’t you afraid he’s just playing with you? After all, he is Tianxuan’s boss. What type of people are there around him? Why are you so devoted to him?”

Jiang Qiong said, “Xia Xia, we’re just worried that you will be fooled by his sweet words.”

Cheng Xia was amused. Brother Pei couldn’t speak sweet words at all. He used action to show his concern for a person. His love for Cheng Xia couldn’t be fake. If Brother Pei could pretend then his acting was too good.

“Mom, Dad, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Cheng Xia spoke seriously. “Time can prove everything. If he’s acting in front of me, he won’t be able to act for the rest of his life, right?”

Cheng Yiming and Jiang Qiong saw their son’s firm expression and found it hard to say anything else.

After the meal, Pei Shaoze personally drove Cheng Xia’s parents back to the hotel. Meanwhile, he himself went to the airport and flew to Rong City. This time, the boss of Little Bear TV made an appointment to meet him in person to discuss with him about the exclusive broadcasting rights of Disappearing Traces.

Pei Shaoze still remembered last time when Mr Chen offered him a buyout price of 3 million yuan for Folding Paper with a disdainful look on his face. This time, they took the initiative to lower their stature and call the big boss President Jiang to come personally. This could be regarded as giving Pei Shaoze enough face.

During the meal, Pei Shaoze simply said, “I’m sorry but I can’t give you the exclusive right to air this drama.”

There was a smile on Mr Chen’s face and his tone was quite kind. “President Pei, last time I had no eyes and didn’t see the huge potential of Folding Paper. Forgive me. This time, we are really sincere and want to cooperate with you. It’s okay to buy it out, do a box office split, or advanced-on-demand. All types of methods can be discussed.”

Pei Shaoze wasn’t a vengeful person. In business, he only talked about interests. The collapse of the last cooperation didn’t mean they wouldn’t cooperate in the future. It was just that he didn’t want to air Disappearing Traces on Little Bear TV alone.

Pei Shaoze calmly took a sip from the teacup. “You should know the fame of Director Zhu. The suspense dramas he has filmed before have always ranked in the top three of the rating list. From my perspective, Disappearing Traces is expected to win first place in the suspense drama genre rating.”

Several executives of Little Bear TV looked at each other.

First place, this wasn’t a joke! Once a drama took first place in a certain genre of TV drama, the audience who liked this theme would follow and watch. Human beings had the psychology of following the crowd. If they opened the suspense drama rankings and saw that Disappearing Traces ranked first, there would be no need to advertise this drama! There would be a steady flow of traffic just relying on word of mouth.

President Jiang’s face immediately became serious. “I believe in Director Zhu’s level and I also believe in President Pei’s vision. Our Little Bear TV is the broadcasting platform with the largest number of members in China. You can open a satisfactory condition and we’ll discuss it.”

Pei Shaoze’s voice was calm. “You don’t understand what I mean. I won’t give Little Bear TV the exclusive broadcasting right, nor will I give any platform the exclusive broadcasting right. I want to play it simultaneously on all platforms.”

Everyone, “……”

Playing it simultaneously across all platforms? This was the treatment for IP dramas and dramas with famous stars. Then what about a 12 episode suspense drama?

Pei Shaoze continued, “Of course, if President Jiang thinks this drama isn’t qualified for the simultaneous platforms broadcasting or you don’t want to get a share of the profits then we can not cooperate. I will talk with other platforms.”

President Jiang, “……”

This young man could really act slyly!

The results of Folding Paper were there and Linghu TV had made a lot of money. The number of new registered members attracted by Folding Paper had increased by several million and the net profit earned by doing nothing had exceeded 100 million. Who would dare underestimate President Pei after knowing this?

President Pei was less than 30 years old and his first investment school drama had earned more than 10 times the income. During the time when Cheng Xia was discredited, he kept silent before appearing three days later to reverse the situation. Such courage shamed the public relations companies in the industry.

Don’t cooperate with him? At that time, other platforms would be playing Disappearing Traces simultaneously while Little Bear TV didn’t have it? In other words, he would have to watch a big piece of fat being divided up by the peers while he couldn’t even drink the meat broth?

President Jiang was silent for a moment before raising his glass with a smile. “President Pei, you’re a really fearless young man.”

This old fox was a dozen years older than Pei Shaoze and Pei Shaoze didn’t want to offend him. He heard this and politely raised his glass in a toast. “Happy cooperation. In the future, I will have the opportunity to continue to cooperate with you for any drama in my hands.”

President Jiang laughed. “Then I’m looking forward to more high-quality products invested in by President Pei!”

The two of them clinked glasses together and agreed on the broadcasting mode for Disappearing Traces. Once Little Bear TV was decided, the other platforms caught wind of it and threw olive branches to Pei Shaoze. Mr Liu of Linghu TV smiled bitterly. “Didn’t you say that you would give priority to us? We can offer the best conditions!”

Pei Shaoze told him, “Sorry, I think that Disappearing Traces is more suitable to take the all platforms broadcasting route. Linghu’s side will also have it on the shelves. You can recommend it more at that time. In any case, each platform will have its own revenue.”

Mr Liu felt helpless. “Then the split this time?”

Pei Shaoze answered gently. “Last time, we were 4:6. This time, how about 3:7?”

Mr Liu paused before soon reacting. “You must be 7 and us 3, right?”

Pei Shaoze nodded. “Mr Liu is right.”

Mr Liu almost coughed up blood. “You’re really an old fox! You’re already so cunning when you’re less than 30 years old. How will you be in the future?”

Due to the broadcast of Folding Paper, the two of them had become very familiar. Mr Liu’s joke got straight to the point. Cunning? What businessman wasn’t cunning? Pei Shaoze would only strive for the best interests for himself when negotiating. As the producer of a drama, it was essential to have a good relationship with the broadcasting platforms. However, if the quality of the drama was excellent then it was he who had the initiative.

Pei Shaoze gently smiled and spoke softly. “Mr Liu is flattering me. It’s a win-win cooperation. Isn’t it good for everyone to make money together?”

“…Fine, I’ll let the legal department go through the contract tomorrow. I hope you can have a good performance for your next drama!”

The bosses of the major broadcasting platforms loved and hated Pei Shaoze. He didn’t give anyone the exclusive broadcasting rights and instead opened it big on all platforms?

Now it was the platform’s turn to be in a dilemma. They needed to vacate a slot for this drama and couldn’t lag behind other platforms! If other platforms did a big push and their recommendation wasn’t powerful enough, then it would be their own problem if their income wasn’t high enough!

This competition mode and win-win broadcast mode injected the major platforms with energy. They started to prepare publicity for the play early.

Director Zhu was a suspense drama director and the quality of his dramas was exquisite. Every episode alone was like a movie. Pei Shaoze found the most excellent music studio in China to tailor the music and theme song of the thriller style for the drama. He also found a first-class editing and special effects team.

There were 12 episodes in the series. It was short, exciting, and full of suspense. Pei Shaoze wasn’t making empty promises when he said that this drama could take the number one spot in the suspense drama genre list. He had seen many suspense dramas in reality and this one was really good.

Cheng Xia’s performance in it was also remarkable. There was no sense of disobedience when he acted like an alpha police officer. His acting skills were much better than the school drama. Pei Shaoze was confident that this drama would achieve better results than Folding Paper.

Summer vacation ended and the competitive season officially ended. In the end, Folding Paper steadily occupied first place in views and sales. The backend sales of Linghu TV exceeded 300 million breaking the revenue record of school-themed online dramas!

Pei Shaoze had invested 10 million yuan for his first investment and made a net profit of 100 million yuan. It had increased by 10 times and became the biggest dark horse in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, several big IP dramas with hundreds of millions of yuan in investments failed to recover their cost. The netizens said, [The eyes of the audience are bright! Money isn’t the only thing that has a say in whether the drama is good or not!]

[I hope there will be more investors like President Pei who make dramas seriously!]

Pei Shaoze’s Weibo followers exceeded 5 million yuan and he was jokingly dubbed by netizens as the most popular president’ and the ‘handsome boss who can make his debut.’

In September after the holidays, Linghu TV involved Folding Paper to a celebration party. All the creators and stars of the crew were present. Cheng Xia and Pei Shaoze hadn’t seen each other for half a month. They met each other at the party and smiled.

Cheng Xia knew that Brother Pei was busy with the production and scheduling of the next drama. Meanwhile, Cheng Xia was busy filming s. Yes, since Folding Paper became popular, advertisers had come to the door one after another. Zhou Yan had been busy recently as she helped Cheng Xia screen out several s that were more in line with his image.

Cheng Xia’s hands were particularly good-looking. He just finished filming a commercial for hand sanitizer a few days ago.

In addition, she helped Cheng Xia pick up a contract to be a long-term spokesman for the car model building block, signing a three-year contract in one go. The model car that Pei Shaoze gave Cheng Xia on his birthday was sent to his Weibo. After the manufacturer knew that Cheng Xia was a loyal fan, he wisely asked Cheng Xia to act as the spokesperson and promised to send one to him the moment a new model was released. This made Cheng Xia very happy!

There were also some magazine covers, television interviews and so on.

Cheng Xia’s recent schedule was very full and he was busy every day. He gradually realized the business and sense of fulfillment of being a star. The back of his neck was bitten by Brother Pei so Cheng Xia had bought a neck protection paste to hide his gland. In any case, it was normal for an omega to hide it and no one could see the teeth marks on his neck. As for his pheromones, he chose to spray his body with light orange perfume to confuse the public.

The two of them were very busy but they still took the time for a video chat every night. Their feelings were becoming closer.

On the night of the celebration party, Pei Shaoze generously gave red envelopes to the creators and actors of the cast through WeChat. The red envelope amount was 880,000 or 660,000 yuan. Director Liu was so excited that he burst out into tears. “I’ve never received such a big red envelope!”

Cheng Xia, Shen Kai, and other actors also filled the group chat with ‘Thank you, Boss!’

No one had been optimistic about Folding Paper from the beginning and the entire Internet questioned it when it aired. Now there was a celebration party for the successful ending. All the staff and actors who participated in the shooting of the drama felt this was the most unforgettable experience of their life.

After the celebration party, Cheng Xia held an 880,000 yuan check and returned to Tianxuan Headquarters. It was the familiar president’s office but this time, the two of them were already a couple.

Pei Shaoze closed the curtains, went over to Cheng Xia, and habitually rubbed his head. Then he asked in a low voice, “Have you been busy recently? You’re getting more and more jobs. Have you become used to it?”

Cheng Xia smiled. “Very good! Doing something every day shows that I’m a famous actor. If I am idle at home then I will worry if I have been forgotten by everyone.”

Young people were always full of vitality. Pei Shaoze held Cheng Xia on the sofa and said, “Zhou Yan’s ability isn’t bad. The s and endorsements she has recently selected for you are very consistent with your image. However, the most important thing for an actor is their works.”

He picked up the folder on the table. “Take a look.”

Cheng Xia sat obediently on Brother Pei’s lap, opened the folder, and looked at it carefully. “…A movie?”

Pei Shaoze nodded and explained. “I have gained evidence of Vice President Cui’s private transfer of company funds. At the end of year meeting of shareholders, I will ask the tax bureau to intervene in the investigation and kick Cui Jue out of Tianxuan. Then I will gradually reform the company. The first step is to set up Tianxuan Records and Tianxuan Movies. We will separate the singers for management and the movie company will invest in movies and expand the theater line…”

Cheng Xia listened carefully. His Brother Pei was so capable that he was even more like an alpha when working. Cheng Xia liked to listen to Pei Shaoze calmly talk about work. This made him feel that Brother Pei didn’t treat him as a child but was willing to let him know the next plan. Pei Shaoze was treating him as a lover he could confide in.

Cheng Xia nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. “Yes, this is good. Today’s Tianxuan Group is too big and chaotic. If you set up Tianxuan Movies to invest in movies then Tianxuan’s artists will have an additional path in the future.”

“Yes, I have a good brother called Qin Rong. His offline theaters are all over the country. I will have a good talk with him about cooperation. When our movies are released, we will have an advantage in the movie layout. After the establishment of Tianxuan Movies next year, I will officially enter it in the movie festivals. If you’re interested, you can also act in the movie.”

Cheng Xia nodded excitedly. “Great! I also want to sit in the movie theater and see myself on the big screen. At that time, I will buy VIP movie tickets and go to watch a private show with my parents!”

Seeing the little guy’s excited expression, Pei Shaoze gently kissed the young man’s forehead and smiled gently.

‘I have you in my future plan. In addition, your future will also have me.’

CG 10K event

Proofreader: Cat