Free Web NovelChapter 443: Chapter 247: First Meeting the Mage! Isn’t He a God?
Sujiang TV was located in the Six Dynasties Ancient Capital, a city rich in cultural heritage. It was not only one of the first cities to be designated a National Famous Historical and Cultural City, but had also long served as the economic and cultural hub of the south.
As the region’s leading station, Sujiang TV had the clout to disregard Penguin TV and take in Xue Qian after last year’s incident.
The moment Chen Jincheng and Xue Qian stepped off the plane, they were struck by the unique character of the Six Dynasties Ancient Capital. Even the airport’s design set it apart from other places.
The terminal, shaped like the ’Yangzi River Waves,’ and its ’Phoenix Tree Branches’ interior design immediately brought to mind the poetic line, ’Phoenixes are drawn to phoenix trees; swallows fly with the river’s tide.’
Like any modern person, the first thing they did after deplaning was pull out their phones.
Chen Jincheng saw he had a number of unread WeChat messages, most of them from the girls at Second-Life Star.
Wang Yuan and Ah Pao had also sent him messages.
Wang Yuan had already found three breweries for sale and was in the process of inspecting them. He’d sent over some photos and information.
Furthermore, once they settled on a brewery, they could purchase the ingredients and begin formulating the Soda. Then, it would be time to think about promotion.
His company, Second-Life Star, had plenty of female influencers. Girls like Yinyin and Jiang Xiaobai had backgrounds in the nightclub scene and could easily film promotional videos.
However, he planned to adapt the official commercial for the wildly popular 37.2-degree Soda from the other world.
That would require a ’pure’ girl for the shoot. Not the genuinely innocent type like Zhu Ling, but someone who looked pure, yet could evoke a sense of desire when slightly tipsy from the drink.
The actress had to match the drink’s specific character.
In the other world, the Soda commercial had been filmed by a certain actress during her ’innocent’ phase, before her public image collapsed.
Actresses of that specific type weren’t common.
The problem was, not only did Soda not exist in this world, but that particular actress was also past the right age.
Therefore, without an actress of that type, there was no guarantee the official commercial would become a viral hit like it did in the other world.
With commercials, the feeling they evoke is sometimes crucial. A different star might not produce the same effect.
Take the ’It’s your Extra’ gum commercial, for example. If the star hadn’t been that beautiful young woman with long, straight black hair and an exceptional aura, it wouldn’t have had the same feel. A different person, or even the same woman at a different age, just wouldn’t have worked.
’This was getting frustrating.’
’If all else failed, he’d just have to use Zhu Ling.’
He then checked the photos from Ah Pao. It was information about a bar for sale, also on Feifuxing Road.
’Feichang Bar,’ he thought. ’Isn’t that the place that just opened a while ago and then shut down?’
’I think Crying Bud’s family opened it.’
In one of the photos, there was a promotional poster for a DJ on the bar’s exterior wall. And on it was Crying Bud herself.
’It was a shame, though. In this world, she didn’t have that photographer from the other world to do her photos, so she never became a star.’
Now, her family’s bar had gone bankrupt even earlier than it did in the other world.
Ah Pao’s message suggested that he wanted to take over the bar and run it as a more mainstream venue for Extreme Bar.
’Looks like Ah Pao took his previous instructions to heart and is being quite proactive.’
So, he gave Ah Pao the go-ahead: if the price was right, he could buy it.
Just then, Li Suwan, who was beside him, exclaimed in surprise, "Chen Tongxue, it looks like my videos are getting a lot more traffic! The likes on my older videos had slowed to a crawl, but now they’re picking up again."
Chen Jincheng immediately leaned over to look at her video stats. He watched as she refreshed the page twice, and sure enough, the numbers were climbing.
"Tiao Yin must be boosting your traffic," Chen Jincheng guessed immediately.
’The videos that made the "Dancer-in-law" famous were all classical dances. Tiao Yin probably wants to build her up as that type of influencer. When the official directive about promoting cultural heritage comes down from the top and the National Style trend takes off, she’ll probably get another huge wave of traffic.’
After they exited the arrivals gate, people from Sujiang TV were already there waiting for them.
Their contact was a middle-aged man with shoulder-length hair. After they got into the waiting car, he spoke apologetically. "Teacher Xue, Teacher Chen, I’m so sorry for calling you in at the last minute to bail us out. We’ve already prepared your hotel rooms. Please, rest for a bit first, and then I’ll take you to the venue to get familiar with the setup."
"Producer Hu, you’re being too kind," Xue Qian replied with a smile.
It was only then that Chen Jincheng learned the man’s identity. A producer at a major TV station was no small-time role; they were a key figure in any show’s production.
Still, the man’s words surprised him. It was the first time anyone had ever called him Teacher Chen.
’Felt like my cool factor instantly leveled up.’
It was 2018, and influencers hadn’t quite broken into the mainstream yet. It was still rare to address them as ’teacher.’ Later on, it would be a different story. Whether they were attending events or appearing on variety shows, influencers had to be addressed as ’teacher.’
Anything less was considered disrespectful.
Faced with this honorific, some influencers managed to stay grounded, while others let it go to their heads. Some cover artists, forgetting their own place, would start critiquing the singing or songwriting of established, powerhouse singers like Xiaogang and Xu Song, even attacking them publicly.
In the end, these arrogant influencers would get exposed and canceled by netizens, their careers ending in ruin.
Sujiang TV’s youth music festival was, in fact, a response to a recent government directive to ’Showcase the Style of the Youth.’
A simple directive like that from the higher-ups meant that those below had to spring into action and put on a good show of compliance.
The only difference was in the execution. Some regions held ’Youth Cultural Excursions to Appreciate the Sages,’ while others organized ’Youth Games,’ and so on.
Sujiang TV’s approach was to host a ’Youth-Themed Music Festival.’ The influencers and celebrities invited were all from the younger generation; no veterans were on the list.
