Although Jiang Tingyuan could not understand Ye Zhou’s sentiment, this did not stop him from keeping his promise.
After three rounds of voting, the middle-aged man presiding over the meeting projected the twenty selected projects onto the big screen one by one. Based on the reference votes, after another round of intense discussion, the final results were finally determined, and the meeting drew to a close.
Ye Zhou followed behind Jiang Tingyuan back to the office. After the embarrassing conversation earlier, Ye Zhou was no longer his usual lively self, sitting quietly on the couch without a word.
The first thing Boss Jiang did after returning to his office was to ask his secretary to bring a thermometer. Ye Zhou, who had his temperature taken every morning these past two days, instinctively leapt up from the couch, looking at the approaching Jiang Tingyuan with utter horror.
“Jiang-ge, what are you doing?” His voice went up an octave.
It wasn’t that Ye Zhou was afraid of having his temperature taken, it was more that he dreaded having to drink a big glass of vegetable juice afterward.
Jiang Tingyuan ignored him, walked over to his side, pressed Ye Zhou down on the couch, and held the thermometer gun to his forehead. With the domineering aura of the boss enveloping him, Ye Zhou even felt that what was pressed against his head was not a thermometer, but a real gun muzzle!
With a ‘beep’, the thermometer let out a soft chime as it mechanically reported his temperature – thirty-six point five degrees.
Seeing the number on the screen, Jiang Tingyuan’s expression turned even colder as he flatly said, “I’m taking you to get a CT scan later.”
Ye Zhou: “…?”
Just then, a knock sounded on the office door, timely interrupting Ye Zhou’s attempt to defend himself.
After obtaining Jiang Tingyuan’s consent, the door was pushed open from outside.
The middle-aged man who had presided over the meeting earlier came in holding several thick folders. He respectfully said to Jiang Tingyuan, “Mr. Jiang, all the materials for the twenty selected projects are here.”
The man placed the heavy folders on the desk and asked again, “Do you have any other instructions, sir?”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Tingyuan glanced at Ye Zhou sitting upright on the sofa and finally spoke up.
“Bring me the materials for ‘ Starlight Youth Development Program’, the esports club, and…”
“And ‘Tears Behind Bars’,” he added after a slight hesitation that was uncharacteristic for someone as composed as Mr. Jiang when mentioning these three projects.
Although his voice was still flat without any inflection, after months of interaction, Ye Zhou could discern his unease.
Ye Zhou’s face remained impassive, but he was already elated inside.
As a veteran executive of the company, the middle-aged man had long developed the ability to remain calm despite changes.
Hearing such unthinkable words from his boss, the middle-aged man was only slightly surprised. He soon regained his composure, nodded calmly and said, “No problem Mr. Jiang, I’ll bring them up in five minutes.”
After the man left and the office door closed, Ye Zhou could no longer hold back and burst out laughing. The laughter only stopped abruptly when Jiang Tingyuan’s cold gaze swept over.
Glancing left and right, Ye Zhou was finally able to make it to lunchtime. Thinking about the hot pot he would soon be eating, he was extremely excited.
But his excitement lasted less than half an hour. When Jiang Tingyuan’s car stopped at the entrance of the city’s largest hospital, Ye Zhou’s mood plummeted.
He thought the boss was joking, but it turned out he was serious. Jiang Tingyuan forcibly dragged Ye Zhou into the hospital, made him get a CT scan of his brain, and only let him leave after confirming there were no issues.
Fine.
He knew that the three projects he had carefully selected were a bit exaggerated. But if they weren’t so exaggerated, how could they prove that they would definitely penetrate the center of the earth, losing so much money the company would collapse?
If all three projects could make money, Ye Zhou would immediately do a handstand and drink vegetable juice for a whole year.
At this time, Ye Zhou still did not know that things like flags couldn’t be set up randomly.
…
Today was the day Jingzhe Pictures announced the results of the second round of reviews for their Dream Incubation Project.
Xu Wei got up early and picked out her most expensive formal attire from the wardrobe to wear. She sat in front of the mirror and carefully put on a full face of makeup.
Staring at her sophisticated made-up look in the mirror while putting on her earrings, she cheered herself on mentally.
Xu Wei was fully aware that nowadays, there were countless audition shows employing all sorts of gimmicks, causing viewers to suffer from aesthetic fatigue. Such shows were no longer as popular as they were a few years ago.
The audience was already familiar with the tropes of these audition shows and it was difficult to rekindle their former passion and sense of novelty.
Although many platforms seemed to have held numerous audition shows this year, not a single one managed to gain popularity. Naturally, the contestants participating in these shows also quickly faded into obscurity.
Under such circumstances, Xu Wei clearly knew that the chances of her proposed project being approved were close to zero.
But she still didn’t want to give up. She had started planning the show “Starlight Youth” since university. After graduating, in order to continuously improve on the proposal, Xu Wei went from one TV station to another, working on different shows’ planning teams and constantly learning and enhancing herself.
Six months ago, under everyone’s lack of understanding, Xu Wei resigned from her promising job. Bringing her meager savings and the proposal for “Youthful Star”, she decided to gamble on her dreams.
Xu Wei took a deep breath, punched the air in front of the mirror and whispered, “I passed the first round of reviews, the second round will definitely be fine too!”
But such confidence didn’t last long.
Xu Wei smiled bitterly. In today’s depressed environment for audition shows, it was already beyond expectations that “Starlight Youth” could pass Jingzhe’s first round of review.
Audition shows were far from being comparable to ordinary variety shows. To stand out from the many similar programs, meticulous effort was indispensable. Pursuing perfection would inevitably be complicated and costly.
How could Xu Wei not clearly see that a project with an uncertain future like this had little chance of passing the second review?
Xu Wei sighed, smoothed out the wrinkles on her shirt, picked up her bag and locked her house door.
…
In an old residential building next to a restaurant, a young man in his early twenties with a baby face was awkwardly tying his necktie.
The young man had slightly curly hair and sleepy eyes, his whole face radiating impatience.
He kicked the several bodies lying scattered on the floor and snarled, “Stop sleeping, hurry up and get the f**k up! The results of the second review are coming out today and you’re all still sleeping here!”
Following his movements, the ‘corpses’ on the ground slowly came back to life one by one.
“Cheng-ge, I gotta say, if the dogshit proposal you wrote can actually pass, the boss of Jingzhe must’ve been kicked in the head by a donkey.” Corpse No. 1, who was kicked awake, yawned and complained mercilessly.
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone else chimed in agreement.
“Yeah, what Pao Zhang1Means Firecracker, not sure if this is a nickname or a real name, so I am keeping the pinyin said is right. Cheng-ge, you’re too damned honest. So honest I don’t even want to mock you. If we’re forming an esports team, and someone asks what industry you work in, you could at least say you run an internet cafe. That would still relate a bit to esports. But what did you write?”
As soon as Corpse No. 2 finished speaking, a fat guy lying a bit further away immediately picked up, “Cheng-ge wrote that he runs a restaurant with decades of restaurant management experience! Pffft hahahaha…”
The fat guy couldn’t help bursting into muffled laughter before he finished speaking.
The baby-faced young man’s murderous aura grew thicker. He kicked each of their butts in turn.
“Screw you all. Do you understand seeking truth from facts2实事求是 (shí shì qiú shì) lit. to seek truth from facts (idiom) / fig. to be practical and realistic? What’s there to be ashamed of, I hate deception the most in my life.”
“You think I wanted to write it that way? Who the f**k could’ve imagined just sleeping for a bit would lead to transmigration? It’s just freaking insane!”
The baby-faced young man scratched his head in greater annoyance.
But as soon as he finished speaking, another round of muffled laughter broke out in the room.
Just as the baby-faced young man was about to lose his patience and deal with them, the man who had occupied the room’s only sofa and had not participated in their discussion suddenly took off his eye mask.
“No matter what, it’s good that you came back.”
The man’s voice was low and a bit lazy after just waking up, extremely sexy.
Following his words, the muffled laughter gradually ceased, and the room sunk into an indescribable silence.
After a brief silence, the fat guy who was mocking the young man earlier also suddenly fell quiet, “Yeah, Cheng-ge, we can compete together again!”
The other two ‘corpses’ who were lying on the ground also put away their earlier playful expressions, becoming more serious.
As if recalling something, their eyes reddened in unison.
“You’re back, that’s the main thing. You don’t know, on the day you retired, I used up so many tissue boxes that I nearly cried myself blind. I thought we’d never be able to compete together again…”
“Cheng-ge, don’t overthink it. Whether we can get Jingzhe’s investment or not isn’t important. You coming back is already a huge surprise to us. As long as we can compete together, it’ll be a fresh start. We brothers aren’t afraid of that!”
Upon hearing this, the baby-faced young man was stunned for a moment before responding awkwardly, “Don’t be gross!”
“You’ve really got some nerve to say that! If it wasn’t for your sky-high breach penalties, would I have gone to apply for this dream incubator thing? You say it’s not important? Not important? Who’s supposed to redeem you all if not me? With what am I supposed to redeem you? Don’t tell me you expect the club to magnanimously release you voluntarily? Dream on!”
“Alright, alright, it’s almost time so I’ll head out first. Breakfast is on the table, hurry up and eat it while it’s hot. Eating cold food isn’t good for your stomach.”
Having finally gotten his reluctant necktie neatly in place, the young man waved at the others in the living room and was about to leave when he pressed down the door handle. But then he heard footsteps behind him.
When the young man turned around, he saw that the man who was lying on the sofa earlier was now standing behind him, a bag of hot soy milk still dangling from his mouth.
“What are you doing?” The young man asked, somewhat speechless.
The man smiled, “The team captain is going out, so the vice captain should naturally follow along too.”
Although the young man’s face was full of reluctance, with the man actually following behind him, he didn’t chase him back either.
While waiting for the bus, the baby-faced young man’s gaze slowly lowered to his own hands.
They were beautiful, healthy hands, without any pain…
One day in the future, he would use these hands to return to that familiar, beloved arena with his former teammates.
This really was…too great.
…
In a rather cheap hotel.
“Lao He, are you ready?” The man standing at the door had an upright posture and refined features. His brows and eyes were full of scholarly refinement and kindness. His temperament was gentle and amiable. Just by looking at him, it was very easy to fall in love with him.
The man he called Lao He was packing a backpack. He looked to be in his thirties, tall and sturdily built. His thin shirt not only failed to conceal his muscular physique, but rather added some handsomeness.
“Almost done, almost done!” He Feiyang responded to his old friend while hurriedly packing his things.
Liu Zhao waited left and right, but after nearly ten minutes, He Feiyang still hadn’t come out. Seeing that time was almost up, he could only go into the room to find him himself.
Pushing the door open, he discovered He Feiyang with eyes closed and hands pressed together, mumbling something indistinctly.
Moving closer, Liu Zhao could finally make out what he was saying.
“May the heavens bless Lao He and I to successfully pass the second review.”
“May the heavens bless Lao He and I to successfully pass the second review.”
“May the heavens…”
Sensing Liu Zhao’s footsteps, He Feiyang opened his eyes, a rare hint of embarrassment on his rugged face.
He Feiyang spoke somewhat apprehensively, “Ah Zhao, what are the chances you think our movie has of passing the second review?”
Hearing this question made Liu Zhao want to laugh and cry. He gently patted his old friend’s shoulder and comforted him, “Don’t be nervous. Didn’t we already agree earlier that we’ve done our best in every way possible? So, no matter the outcome, we have to accept it calmly.”
“Just like back then, if that matter happened in front of us again, I believe we would still make the same choice as we did that year. Right, Lao He?”
Staring at Liu Zhao for a long time, He Feiyang finally nodded.
“You’re right. We’ve done our best within our capabilities. No matter the result, we can accept it calmly with a clear conscience.”
Seeing his friend adjust his mentality, Liu Zhao smiled and reached out a hand to pull him up from the bedside.
The atmosphere was no longer as heavy, finally relaxing a bit.
“But Lao He, although I feel our movie itself has no problems and the quality is solid, however…”
When he said this, Liu Zhao’s voice was unusually uncertain.
“However what?” He Feiyang’s actions halted as the strained look that had just eased from his face tensed up again, waiting for his friend to continue speaking.
Liu Zhao hesitated briefly before asking hesitantly after much internal debate, “…However, are you sure there’s no issue with the movie’s name? I feel it’s not quite right.”
Hearing him bring up the movie name, and it not being some huge problem, He Feiyang relaxed and patted his chest, affirming very confidently, “You can rest assured about this. The name absolutely won’t be an issue. Although it sounds heavy, underneath that heaviness is abundant vitality. Reading it aloud feels smooth and resonant. I guarantee it’s eye-catching and unforgettable at first glance!”
Liu Zhao vaguely felt it wasn’t appropriate, but seeing his friend’s confident appearance, he could only silently reassure himself that the name wasn’t important. What was important was the content.
Although the name was a bit ugly, they had inner beauty. It was gold that would eventually shine.
That’s right, exactly.
Author’s note:
Ye Zhou: “If this makes money, I’ll do a handstand and drink vegetable juice for a whole year!”
The Ridiculous Trio: “Drink up, drink big glasses. Will a year be enough, boss?!”
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