Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"No, what on earth did you write?"

After a long explanation, Wei Wufeng finally heaved a sigh. He hung his head, seemingly lost in thought, and the atmosphere was silent for quite a while before he raised his head to speak.

"I just remembered something. Didn't you make a phone call a couple of days ago? Did you manage to cheer the girl up?"

"Cheer what up?" Xu Qingyan asked, puzzled.

"She was that upset, and you're telling me you couldn't tell?" Wei Wufeng glanced at him, "If she didn't care about you, I'd eat my meals standing on my head."

"I haven't had time these past days. Our relationship is pretty good. It's just that her brain doesn't work that well." Xu Qingyan said, "Now that you mention it, I should still find time to ask."

"How will you ask?"

"Just ask directly, what else?" Xu Qingyan treated it as idle chit-chat and didn't care much.

"You're bold. If Zhou Mian had half of your ability, he wouldn't have ended up like this." Wei Wufeng uttered sincerely, "Where did you find that kid?"

"His private life is none of my business." Xu Qingyan's expression remained unchanged, "He has to figure it out himself, others talking won't make a difference."

After seeing off Wei Wufeng, Xu Qingyan's expression gradually relaxed.

Only now could his film business be considered on the right track. With people and money, they had finished producing one drama, which brought in a total return of thirty-eight million.

After deducting costs, Xu Qingyan nearly made a pre-tax profit of thirty million. This terrifying five hundred percent rate of return was a good start.

More importantly, although "The Legend of Martial Arts" hadn't been aired yet, Xu Qingyan was confident. The thirty-eight million was just a beginning, and the IP of The Legend of Martial Arts still had potential for further development.

He was always proactive and took the time to give Shen Jinyue a call.

In Xu Qingyan's view, it was just a trivial matter because individuals of the martial arts world didn't sweat the small stuff. They were single, with no sense of guilt. Sometimes her lack of friends was just an honest fact.

"Hello? Why are you calling me?" Shen Jinyue's voice sounded silly.

"No reason, just asking." He got straight to the point, "I called you the other day, and you hung up afterwards. You're not mad, are you?"

At his words, Shen Jinyue was at a loss for words. Who asks like that?

"No."

"Oh, good then." Xu Qingyan followed through, "If that's settled, then I'll hang up first...."

"Wait a minute!" Shen Jinyue instinctively shouted out, stopping him, "You... Are you just going to hang up without any explanation at all?"

"Explain what?" Xu Qingyan asked over the phone.

"Just..."

"Oh, I was playing a game at the time."

"Can't you be more specific? You, you, you!!" Shen Jinyue was so frustrated she felt chest pain, knowing that's just how Xu Qingyan was, but still... it was annoying.

"You're asking so much, could it be that you like me?" he asked.

Buzz!

The words that had reached Shen Jinyue's lips suddenly slid back. In an instant, her mind buzzed; she didn't even know what liking someone meant, but hearing it still made her feel guilty.

"Of course not! You're too full of yourself!"

"There you go then, why ask so much? I'm hanging up, hanging up, and I'll contact you later." Xu Qingyan was quick, and with a snap, he hung up the phone.

At Xinghai University, Shen Jinyue had just finished class and was almost fuming with rage. Any guilt she felt vanished, replaced with seething resentment. She wished she could bite Xu Qingyan to death.

"How can someone be so annoying!" She gritted her teeth, muttering non-stop, "Who would like someone like that, next time I won't reply to his messages!"

Xu Qingyan was unaware that Shen Jinyue had unilaterally given him "the cold shoulder," and even if he knew, he wouldn't care and would just think college students are indeed childish.

Returning to Cicada Sound Studio, Pei Muchan was not around.

Xu Qingyan, as always, sat in front of his computer toying with it, pondering whether to play a game, when he suddenly remembered something.

Lin Wanzhou was arriving in Xinghai the day after tomorrow, and he had promised to go to the seaside.

With this in mind, Xu Qingyan immediately closed the game window. Deciding to work first, he reasoned that any mishaps the day after tomorrow wouldn't have a significant impact.

A week later was the television premiere of The Legend of Martial Arts; this week, his main focus was on preparation. Once the money was in the bank, the next film project would be ready to launch.

Waiting was not an option; there wasn't that much time to waste.

Opening Word, Xu Qingyan typed out a few characters, "The Silent Truth". After pondering for a bit, he deleted them and typed again.

"The Endless Night"

Although he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and produce another situational comedy to finish dining on this genre, one couldn't become fat with just one bite. Taking on another low-budget situational comedy was still cost-effective.
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However, when he came across "Love Apartment", he found its plot had significant similarities with foreign shows like "Friends". Making "Love Apartment" was no better than directly creating "Friends" for the international market.

Love Apartment, although classic, was too risky, with too much plagiarism. So much so, that Xu Qingyan worried not only about the overlap with the drama library in his mind.

But also, upon its release, it could collide with western comedies in this world. For various reasons, the value of this project diminished significantly, making a suspense title a better transition.

Choosing "The Silent Truth" was clearly more cost-effective.

In the afternoon, Pei Muchan returned and seemed surprised to see Xu Qingyan. She dropped her bag on the table and asked with a smile.

"All done?"

"Yeah, everything's settled."

"That wasn't easy, when did you get back?" Pei Muchan sat in the office chair opposite him, stretched lazily, and asked, "How did the negotiations go?"

"Came back at noon. Sold both the TV and internet rights for nearly this amount." Xu Qingyan said, raising four fingers.

Pei Muchan glanced at his hand, first startled, then instantly unsettled.

"Four...."

It couldn't possibly be four million. After all, Pei Muchan was one of the investors. She knew exactly how much The Legend of Martial Arts had cost, with an investment of over six million.

While Pei Muchan would have accepted a sale of four million, considering it was Xu Qingyan's first drama production. Things get easier with experience, and one has to go through a process.

But clearly, Xu Qingyan was not one to accept such a result. If it really was four million, he wouldn't be sitting here so calmly. That only left one possibility.

"Forty million?"

"Yeah, about thirty-eight million." Xu Qingyan's lips curled upward, he shook his palm slightly, and said with a touch of pride, "A great opening, an unbelievable five-fold return on investment."

"Really?" Pei Muchan was astonished.

Apart from being a singer, she was also a laid-back studio boss. But even if she was inactive, she was still sensitive to money—a five-fold return on investment.

What kind of concept was that? It proved that follow-up earnings could easily break fifty million.

For Pei, the cash-savvy hamster, it was as if Xu Qingyan had made a successful trial. With an investment of six million on his first drama production, he had leveraged her assets accumulated over five or six years of hard work.

The total worth of her house and car combined was less than fifty million.

And Xu Qingyan took just... a few months, if the initial preparation work wasn't counted. From fundraising to start shooting, she remembered clearly, it was less than two months.

One and a half months to earn what took her five or six years.

"Is there any doubt? I took photos of the contract, take a look for yourself." Xu Qingyan deliberately waited for this moment and quickly pulled out his phone.

Pei Muchan skeptically took Xu Qingyan's phone and saw the contract in the photo. The numbers were clear, and the company seal was at the bottom.

"It sold just like that?" Pei Muchan still couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, pretty fast." Xu Qingyan propped his chin with his hand and said with a smile, "I also find it incredible, this industry really makes money quick."

Pei Muchan: "..."

What quick money? The film and TV industry is full of failures. Clearly, the success was all because of this drama, but she had not expected a direct sale of forty million.

"By the way, didn't you write another script?" Pei Muchan suddenly asked.

"A red-themed drama, I just took the scriptwriting fee."

"No, I mean…" Pei Muchan's brows furrowed deeply, "The one you mentioned to me half a year ago, what was it called… Immortal Sword… something?"