After leaving the esports club, Ye Zhou calmed himself down and found the location of the “Starlight Youth Development Program” according to the address.
What surprised Ye Zhou was that he saw the words “Chenzhou” on the nameplate again. Ye Zhou almost suspected that they had colluded in advance.
However, although Ye Zhou was surprised by this name, he didn’t really object to it. The meaning behind “Chenzhou” was quite good, implying that the project was doomed to fail and lose money badly.
He had to admire the person who came up with this name for such foresight!
In fact, he wasn’t wrong. This name was voted on by the people in charge of the three projects he had invested in after discussing it together.
From the selection to placement to funding, although Jingzhe had unified procedures, the people in charge had clearly told the participants during the second round of evaluations that although they worked in Jingzhe Dream Incubation Building, they did not actually belong to Jingzhe.
Their investor was someone else.
Although Jingzhe distributed the funds uniformly, this money actually came out of Jiang Tingyuan’s own pocket, not through Jingzhe’s accounts.
And when Mr. Jiang took out this capital earlier, he did not use his own name but Ye Zhou’s.
So, the people in charge of the three project groups knew early on that they did not belong to Jingzhe, only to Ye Zhou.
The true meaning of the name “Chenzhou” was completely different from Ye Zhou’s understanding. It came from the idiom “pò fǔ chén zhōu1For those who missed my previous note, “破釜沉舟” (pò fǔ chén zhōu) lit. to break the cauldrons and sink the boats (idiom); fig. to cut off one’s means of retreat / to burn one’s boats”.
In order to live up to Ye Zhou’s trust, the three of them were determined to go all out from the beginning of the project, leaving themselves no way out, and absolutely could not let Ye Zhou lose money.
Of course, at this time, Ye Zhou was completely unaware of the true meaning behind this name. It wasn’t until much, much later that he realized it, and by then, “Chenzhou” had already become a famous brand in the industry for projects that managed to turn from failure to success.
As for Ye Zhou, he naturally became a publicly recognized Midas2Originally “golden touch”, but I changed it to “Midas touch” since everything he touches turns to gold touch in the industry. Although he was tearfully unwilling to acknowledge this title, he still could not stop countless entrepreneurs from pursuing him enthusiastically.
Ye Zhou withdrew his gaze from the sign and knocked lightly on the door.
“Who is it?” A pleasant female voice came from the room.
Along with the voice were approaching footsteps. The door in front of Ye Zhou was opened from the inside.
“Mr. Ye?”
The one who opened the door was Xu Wei, the person in charge of the project. She had a very deep impression of Ye Zhou, this angel investor, and recognized him almost at a glance.
Ye Zhou smiled and was led into the room by Xu Wei.
Compared to the bleakness of Xu Cheng’s esports club, Xu Wei’s place was obviously much livelier. The entire room was divided into different areas by a dozen office desks with partitions.
Everyone sitting at the office desks was busy with enthusiasm, not even noticing the extra person who had entered the office.
Xu Wei wanted to have them pause and introduce Ye Zhou, but Ye Zhou stopped her.
Understanding that he didn’t want to disturb everyone’s work, Xu Wei’s heart warmed. She led Ye Zhou to an office of about five square meters that was separated by transparent glass.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ye, the project is still in the preparation stage, and we’re swamped with work. I didn’t know you would come, so I haven’t prepared many drinks. We only have water at the moment.” As Xu Wei poured water into a cup for Ye Zhou, she apologetically explained.
Ye Zhou didn’t care about that at all. He immediately shook his head, “It’s fine. I just happened to drop by. Don’t be busy, just chat with me for a while, and I’ll leave.”
Xu Wei placed the poured water in front of Ye Zhou, her expression a little nervous, afraid that Ye Zhou would say the next second that after thinking it over for a few months, he had decided to withdraw funding after all.
But she was clearly overthinking things. Not only was Ye Zhou not here today to withdraw funding, but he also wanted to give her more money to spend lavishly.
Although he intended to give money, Ye Zhou also didn’t think it would be right to directly ask “Do you lack money, how much do you need me to give you?” That kind of question would make him sound like a complete sucker.
Ye Zhou put on an act and said, “How is the progress of the project recently? Have you encountered any problems? If so, just tell me, and we can discuss solutions together.”
Xu Wei was stunned, clearly not expecting Ye Zhou to ask this.
She had worked at many TV stations before and independently planned projects as well, coming into contact with many leaders and investors, but she had never seen one as sincerely nice as Ye Zhou.
He didn’t come asking what results or achievements she had made recently but first asked if she had encountered any difficulties and needed help.
A boss like this…Xu Wei had truly never met one before.
Xu Wei felt warm in her heart. She was not a pretentious person. She rummaged through the information on the table for a while, then took out a thick plan and handed it to Ye Zhou.
From the curled corners of the pages of the plan, you could see traces of frequent flipping. Ye Zhou opened it and glanced through.
Just opening the first page, he discovered that in addition to the printed contents, it was also filled with dense notes written in red and black ink.
To Ye Zhou’s surprise, it wasn’t just the first page. As he flipped through, he found that almost every page was filled with annotations and notes.
Just this sincerity made Ye Zhou unable to keep his joking mood.
Although investing in this project was with the intention of losing money from the start, just now when he received that heavy plan, Ye Zhou suddenly realized that the project he thought was doomed to fail may be the result of the project leader’s hard work and dedication for a long time, the dream they were striving with all their might to complete.
He could disagree with the benefits they could create, but he could not deny the efforts and sincerity they put into it.
Thinking of this, Ye Zhou’s expression gradually became serious. He calmed down and started looking through the plan, trying hard to understand the planner’s intentions.
After about half an hour, Ye Zhou finally finished reading through most of the plan. Even with his extensive experience from his previous life, he had to admit that the plan Xu Wei wrote was really a bit indescribable.
Simply fanciful thinking!
For a plan like this, in Ye Zhou’s experience, there would generally only be two results – either exploding wildly among the public or failing miserably.
Seeing Ye Zhou’s reaction, Xu Wei’s heart tightened. She was very clear on just how whimsical her plan was, so even if Ye Zhou directly told her to rewrite it now, Xu Wei wouldn’t be surprised.
It wasn’t like she didn’t have more standardized, middle-of-the-road plans that were harmless. Xu Wei’s work experience allowed her to clearly know what kind of plans would be able to gain favor from investors and obtain more investment.
If her investor this time was Jingzhe, Xu Wei wouldn’t have taken out this plan. In fact, there was another more conservative plan still in her drawer right now.
But her investor was Ye Zhou.
Even Xu Wei herself didn’t know where she got the confidence to make Ye Zhou believe and agree with her whimsical plan.
But she still did it. She still…couldn’t bear to not at least try.
Xu Wei now was like a criminal waiting for the verdict, so nervous that her face had gone pale.
“According to your idea, ‘Starlight Youth’ does not plan to select trainees from major entertainment companies, but instead prepare the roster through old-fashioned open auditions, and aside from the competition, have no scripts for the rest of the time, leaving everything up to the participants’ free will to decide what to do and how to improve themselves?”
Ye Zhou’s voice was very calm, not revealing any joy or anger.
“Yes.” Xu Wei’s voice was somewhat dry. “What I need are not participants who are already fixed in type or act according to character settings. I want a real audition.”
After decades of constant exploration and innovation, audition programs today have gradually abandoned the open audition method of recruiting the general public.
Compared to open auditions, which require huge investments of effort, resources, and time, audition shows today prefer to directly select trainees signed to major entertainment companies.
They are cheap and have received professional training. Some trainees with a bit of fame even bring their own fans. Whether in ability or skill, they are far superior to participants selected from open auditions.
These trainees pick things up fast, have strong competitive awareness, variety show sense, and clear personal style. They are often only one chance away from becoming popular.
Once they get popular, the benefits brought to the show absolutely cannot be described in just a few words.
Aside from this, more importantly, selecting trainees from other companies often means the trainee’s company will also provide a certain degree of help to the show, whether in resources, connections, or funding to market their own artists.
But open auditions don’t have these kinds of conveniences. As everyone knows, open auditions are notoriously time-consuming, and the participants’ quality is mixed. They also lack backing from capital, so how far they can go depends completely on themselves.
The disadvantages are obvious, but there are also some advantages.
At the very least, compared to directly selecting trainees, the range of operations for open auditions is undoubtedly much smaller. There is no capital intervention behind everyone’s back. Whether they can advance or not depends completely on audience popularity. After the auditions, the ones remaining all have true skills and talents.
Although open auditions are not without advantages, the fact that they could gradually be eliminated by the market and disappear from audition stages clearly shows the disadvantages outweighed the benefits.
Yet Xu Wei just threw out this kind of bomb right from the start. Even Ye Zhou didn’t expect it.
“Do you know what open auditions mean? This requires long production times and huge capital expenditures. It’s very possible the project gets aborted for various reasons before you even finish selecting participants. Have you considered how much risk is involved in this?”
“Aside from open auditions, you also chose to have no scripts, giving the participants absolute freedom.” Ye Zhou’s hands were folded as he leisurely looked at her and gently asked, “Give me a reason.”
Xu Wei pursed her lips. Her long nails sank deeply into her palms. After a long time, she finally softly said, “I’ve considered it.”
“I’ve done market research and looked at audition shows from the past five years. All of their participants, without exception, are packaged amateurs or trainees from major entertainment companies.”
“It’s like an assembly line, mass production. Although there is no lack of outstanding highlights among them, the things that can truly be remembered by the audience are few and far between. The audience has long lost their sense of novelty and can hardly be attracted by these template-like things anymore.”
Xu Wei paused here. Seeing that Ye Zhou didn’t deny it, she continued explaining her viewpoint.
“The selling point of my plan is the word ‘real’. I don’t want the cookie-cutter assembly line, star-making model. What I want is a show that fully belongs to the audience and where contestants with different personalities can flourish.”
“In my show, they can choose their own development direction and use their own methods to improve themselves. I will give them enough freedom and won’t force them to do things a certain way. There may be all kinds of accidents during filming, but it’s precisely these accidents that can bring surprises to the audience.”
Xu Wei was actually not holding out much hope after saying all this. She was very clear on the pros and cons of this plan. Accidents might bring surprises, but they also mean risks.
A show could use formulas and templates and could go without surprises but was not allowed to have risks.
If this plan was treated as a gamble, then looking at it now, the odds of losing were far greater than winning.
Any normal investor hearing this would find it unrealistic because they had no reason to give up on the formal draft that had been well-known and accepted by the audience. Choosing Xu Wei would take huge risks and may end up bankrupting the plan.
Xu Wei took a deep breath, lowered her head, and did not dare to look at Ye Zhou again. She stared at the floor, waiting for the final verdict.
But unexpectedly, the silent Ye Zhou suddenly spoke up, and his words were not denial or blame, but…
“Congratulations, you’ve successfully convinced me.” Ye Zhou tried his best to put on a serious look, imitating Mr. Jiang.
Ye Zhou’s thoughts were actually quite simple.
If his goal was to make money, then he wouldn’t have chosen Xu Wei from the start. Since it wasn’t about making money, and he even wanted to lose money, then what did it matter if he adopted Xu Wei’s plan that looked fanciful and unrealistic to others?
Ye Zhou felt that Xu Wei, Xu Cheng, and He Feiyang were like three dream chasers, while he himself was just like their dream mentor.
If the show failed, the initial investment would be completely wasted, which was precisely Ye Zhou’s intention. Anyway, the money he invested wasn’t meant to be recouped, so if it could help someone achieve their dream, why not do it?
If the show unexpectedly exploded in popularity, Xu Wei would accomplish her dream, and Ye Zhou would gain a large amount of funds to continue investing in the next lucky dream chaser.
Money, as long as one was willing to spend it, would always run out one day!
“I think your plan is worth the risk.” Ye Zhou thought for a moment, then added, “To show my support, I’ve decided to invest an additional 10 million.”
As he spoke, Ye Zhou got up and walked in front of Xu Wei, patting her shoulder and earnestly saying, “Young people should have your kind of daring and enterprising spirit. Don’t feel pressured. Do what you want to do, and I will fully support you.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Wei felt like she was in a dream. She absolutely couldn’t believe this was all really happening.
She fiercely pinched her arm. The intense pain quickly brought her to her senses. She heard herself say in a trembling voice, “No…no need, the funds are still enough to use for now…”
Ye Zhou frowned and sternly said, “You have to know that our show is taking a very unorthodox path. We must be prepared with sufficient funds. We must spend the money we should spend, and we must not save it. Do you understand?”
Xu Wei: “Mr. Ye…really, it’s enough…”
In the end, Ye Zhou’s money still didn’t get gifted out. When leaving, disappointment was written all over his face. Even when he was already at the door, he didn’t forget to remind, “If you’re lacking funds, be sure to contact me!”
Xu Wei was moved to the point of tears in her eyes. Before Ye Zhou could react, she deeply bowed to him. Her voice choked up, “Th…Thank you, Mr. Ye! I definitely won’t let you down!”
“Oh.” Ye Zhou was choked up by these words. He awkwardly laughed, “It’s nothing, just do what you want to do, don’t feel too much pressure.”
It did not matter even if you lose it all, it would be best if you lose everything.
If he didn’t say this it would’ve been fine, but as soon as he said it, Xu Wei was even more moved. The tears that had gathered in her eyes endured again and again, but upon hearing these words, they rolled down uncontrollably.
A good person like Mr. Ye, if he really lost money because of her project, Xu Wei wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.
Many years later, Xu Wei, who had become the country’s top variety show planner, was giving an interview. Whenever she mentioned her patron, Mr. Ye Zhou, she choked up several times, unable to speak, tears falling like rain: “If not for Mr. Ye’s support that year, there would be no ‘Starlight Youth’ and no present me. Mr. Ye really is the best person in the world!”
After leaving Xu Wei, Ye Zhou had originally planned to go take a look at “Tears Behind Bars” as well, but when he went over, he found the door locked shut. After knocking for a long time with no response.
He called Director He Feiyang and found out they were looking for suitable filming locations and were not at the Incubation Building.
The two were about to rush back as soon as they heard Ye Zhou was here, but he declined.
The shocks Ye Zhou had received today were already quite a lot. He probably needed some time to digest them first. No need to come back. Let him take a break first.
After hanging up, Ye Zhou looked at the time and saw it was almost when he had agreed to meet with Boss Jiang. He simply went downstairs directly to find Boss Jiang.
When Ye Zhou went down, Jiang Tingyuan was probably still busy. After wandering around downstairs for a while without finding him, he simply sat down in the lounge area.
Just when Ye Zhou was bored enough to almost finish leafing through all the magazines on the table, Boss Jiang finally appeared.
Ye Zhou immediately jumped up from the stool and ran to Jiang Tingyuan’s side, “Are we going back now?”
Feeling Ye Zhou getting close, Jiang Tingyuan’s expression unconsciously softened a bit. He reached out to tidy up his somewhat disheveled hair, “Is there anywhere else you want to go? If not, then we’ll head home.”
Ye Zhou shook his head. The aftereffects of his hangover had left him uncomfortable all day today. Now, he just wanted to hurry home, eat dinner, take a hot bath, and sleep early.
After getting in the car, Ye Zhou leaned his head on the window and took a nap.
Seeing him looking so listless, Jiang Tingyuan sighed and took out the blanket in the car, spreading it over him, “No more drinking alcohol from now on.”
Ye Zhou obediently nodded, “Mm-hmm.”
Do whatever the boss says and resolutely obey all the boss’s orders.
But right after agreeing, it was as if Ye Zhou suddenly recalled something. He abruptly opened his eyes and belatedly asked, “Uh, Jiang-ge, I didn’t make a fool of myself last night, did I?”
Right after saying this, Ye Zhou saw Mr. Jiang, who had been sitting upright and proper, seemed to unnaturally stiffen for a moment.
But the speed was so fast that it was so fleeting, making Ye Zhou wonder if he was seeing things.
He waited for a very long time without getting a response from Boss Jiang. Ye Zhou thought he really must have done something stupid last night. Shrinking back timidly, he leaned against the window again, not daring to ask anymore.
He just happened to miss the extremely out-of-place, subtle…
Shyness on Mr. Jiang’s face.
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