Chapter 175: Ratings Released

The meeting room was dead silent, everyone gripped by a splitting headache.

Chen Qi held a severe prejudice against them; what on earth were they supposed to do about it?

When one thought about it, it made sense. Back when the show was in development, he had personally sought them out, and what had happened? They had turned their noses up at it with every conceivable form of disdain and contempt.

Now, seeing that the show had blown up, they were suddenly back to talk about cooperation. Didn’t that sound just a tiny bit shameless?

Looking at the silently brooding executives, Zhao Qingqing pursed her lips and ultimately decided to keep quiet.

At a time like this, it was truly not her place to say much. It was much safer to simply continue playing the innocent bystander.

Half a minute later, the general manager broke the silence.

"Director Zhao, give me Chen Qi’s phone number. I’ll talk to him myself."

He had decided to negotiate with Chen Qi personally.

Since they were determined to secure this partnership, they had to show sufficient sincerity. Having a senior executive at the general manager level personally reach out and negotiate with Chen Qi was one of the ways to demonstrate that sincerity.

It was enough to prove how much they valued this collaboration.

Zhao Qingqing said nothing; she silently rattled off Chen Qi’s number.

She knew what the general manager was thinking, but...

Recalling what Chen Qi had said over the phone the previous night, she could only offer him a silent, inward sigh of pity.

After obtaining Chen Qi’s number, the general manager did not hesitate. Right there in front of everyone, he dialed the number directly.

Their most urgent task right now was to secure the online broadcasting rights for *Singer*.

In truth, he had also contacted the senior management of Beijing TV last night and received some utterly staggering inside information.

The copyright and everything else concerning the show were entirely in Chen Qi’s hands; even Beijing TV couldn’t meddle in it!

God knows how shocked he had been at the time!

He still couldn't fathom how Chen Qi had managed to pull that off.

"Hello?"

The call was answered almost immediately.

"Hello, Director Chen, I am the general manager of Simple Video..." The general manager rushed to introduce himself.

However, before he could finish, he was interrupted by a chillingly cold voice on the other end.

He didn't want to talk to him, nor did he want to talk to Simple Video.

Then, the line went dead.

"..." Listening to the busy tone coming from the phone, the general manager was stunned.

Did he have to be so rude?

I hadn’t even finished my sentence yet!

Meeting the bitter, disappointed gazes of the gathered executives, the general manager silently put his phone away.

This was precisely why he hated doing business with young people.

They held grudges for too long and acted purely on emotion!

They didn't give a damn about the most basic rules of commerce!

Merchants chased profits—profits, did you understand that or not?!

How did that saying go again? There were no eternal enemies in the world, only eternal interests!

At least let me finish my sentence, would you? At least listen to our offer first! What if our quotation was even higher than Youyou Video's?

Yet, deep down, he could vaguely guess that given the attitude the young man was currently displaying, even if their offer really was higher than the other platforms, he probably still wouldn't cooperate with them.

This young man was far too willful; his actions completely defied conventional logic, doing whatever the hell he wanted on a whim!

He knew that Simple Video had truly missed its chance with *Singer*.

Just as he was about to hopelessly announce the end of the meeting, Zhao Qingqing suddenly stood up.

"Director He, I’d like to try again."

"Huh?" The remark caught everyone off guard.

Try again?

Was there even any point in trying?

"I’m going to find him right now and talk to him face to face." Zhao Qingqing gave the general manager a brief nod and turned straight on her heel to leave.

Time was extremely tight; she could not afford to waste a single second.

Watching Zhao Qingqing’s hurried departure, the executives could not help but feel a twinge of shame!

Look at that!

Look at her dedication! Look at the sacrifices she was making for the company!

Not only had she not uttered a single word of complaint after being wronged for so long, but now, knowing full well there was practically no hope, she was still the first to lower her posture and subject herself to humiliation.

In that instant, the collective image of Zhao Qingqing in the eyes of the executives grew immensely noble.

Even the general manager felt profoundly guilty toward her.

She had truly been treated so unfairly!

***

While Simple Video was consumed by agonizing regret, their old rival, Youyou Video, was equally beside themselves, wishing they could bash their heads against a wall.

When Chen Qi released the final promotional video on Thursday, their procurement department had reached out to him immediately. At that time, Chen Qi’s asking price had been ten million per episode.

The procurement manager had reported the price to the higher-ups back then, but they had rejected it flat out.

Ten million per episode?

Was he out of his mind, or just robbing people?

How on earth did he have the nerve to throw out a figure like that?

Did he even understand what that price meant? A price tag like that was an absolute rarity even among the top three satellite television networks, okay?

A rare breed indeed!

At the time, they had treated Chen Qi with utter contempt.

One glance and anyone could tell he was just an inexperienced newcomer—he dared to quote any ridiculous number!

However, after watching the show last night, they panicked—they completely panicked!

If they had known the quality would be this high, let alone ten million, they would have agreed even if he asked for more!

They had also scrambled to contact Chen Qi last night, opening with a lavish bid of twenty million.

Yet, Chen Qi had not agreed...

He said he needed to think about it.

That response sent them into an even deeper panic.

They also knew that Chen Qi had previously cooperated with Simple Video, and they were terrified that he might choose to partner with them this time around.

What drove them to despair was that no matter what they said—whether offering a face-to-face meeting or promising that the price was fully negotiable—Chen Qi simply refused to budge...

***

Beijing Television.

The staff members coming in for work were brimming with excitement.

*Singer* had blown up!

Its explosive popularity far exceeded their wildest expectations. As members of Beijing Television, they felt an overwhelming sense of pride!

What made them even more thrilled was that the moment they arrived at the station, they received word that today was the recording day for the second episode of *Singer*.

Chen Qi had specifically sent word out: spectators were welcome.

At once, the entire broadcasting station was sent into a frenzy.

Having watched the premiere episode last night, they now fully understood why Chen Qi had kept things under such tight wraps before!

Any lingering grievances had long since vanished.

Right now, the looks they cast toward Chen Qi were practically filled with adoration!

It was this very young man who had put Beijing Television firmly on the map nationwide!

***

The recording studio.

The entire production crew was working frantically to prepare for the upcoming rehearsals and recording.

They were bursting with energy now!

They were excited, thrilled, and the way they looked at Chen Qi made it seem as though they were gazing upon a deity.

Right now, they were the kind of people who walked around the station with their heads held high.

The *Singer* production team was currently the envy of the entire building.

***

Backstage.

In the lounge.

Tang Yan of Tiantian Music had just finished signing the contract for the audio copyrights of *Singer* with Chen Qi.

Seeing Chen Qi’s signature on the document, the heavy boulder that had been weighing on Tang Yan’s mind finally dropped to the ground.

When she watched the show last night, she had been stunned beyond measure.

Although she had received a friendly heads-up from Chen Qi beforehand, actually seeing the finished product left her thoroughly blown away.

Upon hearing the second song, the top executives of her company had immediately convened an emergency meeting.

During the meeting, they quickly reached a unanimous consensus: they had to secure the audio copyrights for this show, no matter the cost!

And so, they submitted the highest bid among all the online platforms.

Thirty million per episode!

Looking at Tang Yan, who was now exhaling a massive sigh of relief, Chen Qi couldn't help but chuckle.

Partnering with Tiantian Music had been his intention all along; otherwise, he wouldn't have troubled her to help recruit audience members in the first place.

However, he hadn't expected their bid to be the highest among all the music streaming sites. He had previously been prepared to accept a slightly lower offer from them without a second thought.

Clearly, Tiantian Music—which previously held very little presence among the top five music platforms—was planning to seize this opportunity to challenge the industry leader.

Having already made waves by signing two new songs, *Light Years Away* and *To You*, they had now secured the audio copyrights to *Singer*. It seemed they genuinely had a shot at making a run for the throne of the industry leader.

"Boss, the guests have arrived."

At that moment, Su Xiaoxiao’s voice suddenly chimed through the walkie-talkie.

"Alright, I know." Chen Qi acknowledged the message, exchanged a brief parting word with Tang Yan, and strode briskly toward the recording stage.

***

On set.

Qin Mengxue and the other five singers had all arrived.

They were ecstatic!

The massive success of the premiere episode had startled them immensely. Even though the fervent discussions outside were undeniable, they still felt like they were dreaming.

It felt so surreal!

They had imagined the show might become popular, but they never dreamed it would reach this level of success.

For a moment, they almost couldn't believe it.

Yet, the market's immediate reaction told them it was all real.

Last night, each of them had received commercial performance invitations successively, with offers nearly doubling compared to the day before!

"Director!"

"Director Chen!"

Just then, Chen Qi came into their field of vision.

Everyone rushed over to greet him.

At that moment, the gazes fixed on Chen Qi burned with intensity.

They now possessed an overwhelming enthusiasm for the show, and any lingering nervousness or anxiety they once felt had long since dissolved.

All they wanted now was to showcase their absolute best. They wanted to win; they wanted to stay on this stage.

Just as Chen Qi had told them back then, for every extra episode they performed on this stage, their market value would climb higher.

"Morning."

Chen Qi greeted everyone with a smile, then proceeded to arrange their rehearsal schedules.

Just like last time, each person was allotted one hour of rehearsal time, with the official recording set for three o'clock in the afternoon.

"Anyone whose rehearsal time isn't up can move about freely." Since there were no new guest performers this week, Chen Qi lifted the restriction on their movements.

With the rehearsal times sorted out, Chen Qi went off to busy himself with other matters.

As for the blazing heat in Qin Mengxue and the others' eyes, he understood it completely.

The music scene had been sluggish for so long, and none of them had had an easy time of it lately. Now, having suddenly exploded back into prominence and become the focal point of countless gazes, feeling a bit of emotional turbulence was only natural.

***

At nine o'clock.

Beijing Television received the ratings figures for the previous night.

The premiere ratings for *Singer* hit 0.7%!

It was a result that sent shockwaves of jubilation through the entire station.

Though it fell just a fraction shy of the 1% mark, this figure made it the runaway leader in its time slot by a massive margin.

This was the first time Beijing Television had ever trampled all over its industry peers!

What excited many even more was that the show still had massive room for growth; plenty of people out there still didn't know about it yet. As the show's influence continued to spread, its future numbers would undoubtedly climb even higher.

Chen Qi received the news immediately. Upon hearing it, he merely offered a faint smile, not dwelling on it too much.

Although the premiere hadn't hit the 1% mark, the guarantee he had made was for the average viewership rating, so he wasn't worried.

Of course, not everyone in the station was happy about the news.

Take Vice Station Master Wu downstairs, for instance, or the prominent hosts who had once turned their noses up at the show and slammed the door in its face.

Upon hearing those ratings, those particular hosts genuinely felt like dying of regret...

***

At a little past ten, Zhao Qingqing arrived at Beijing Television.

"Youyou Video's offer to me yesterday was twenty million per episode." As soon as they met, Chen Qi cut straight to the chase.

He didn't ask about what had happened at Simple Video beforehand, nor did he care.

He had helped as much as he could; whether Zhao Qingqing could seize the opportunity or how she planned to handle it depended entirely on her own ingenuity.

"Twenty million?" Zhao Qingqing nodded thoughtfully.

She wasn't particularly surprised by the figure.

Youyou Video had deep pockets; even a higher bid wouldn't have shocked her.

Having learned the price, she pressed no further. Instead, she simply followed Chen Qi with curious eyes, watching him methodically orchestrate task after task.

Half an hour later, the senior executives of Simple Video learned Youyou Video’s initial asking price straight from Zhao Qingqing's mouth.

They also learned from her that Chen Qi had not yet accepted that offer.

On top of that, Zhao Qingqing roughly estimated that Youyou Video’s final counteroffer would likely land around thirty million.

Over the course of the next few hours, Zhao Qingqing intermittently fed updates back to them.

At one point in the middle of the day, Chen Qi even called the general manager in a thoroughly exasperated tone, complaining roughly about whether they could get Director Zhao to stop following him around everywhere.

Upon receiving that piece of intelligence, Simple Video’s executives felt an even heavier wave of guilt wash over them.

They hadn't expected Zhao Qingqing to persistently hound Chen Qi in order to secure the show!

Just how much courage did that take?

For the sake of this program, she had thrown away her pride, her ego, everything...

Zhao Qingqing, of course, was fully aware of that phone call.

Chen Qi had made it right in front of her.

At the time, she had been somewhat amused; she knew Chen Qi was simply returning the favor for her having introduced Vice Station Master Wang to him in the first place.

Ultimately, through Zhao Qingqing's "tireless efforts," the program was finally locked down by Simple Video.

Thirty million per episode.

It matched Youyou Video's final bid.

When that news reached them, Simple Video’s executives were utterly dumbfounded!

She actually secured it?

And at the exact same price as Youyou Video?

How was that possible?

How on earth was that even possible?!

Yet, it was the truth.

Zhao Qingqing had genuinely wrangled the show away for them!

As for how Zhao Qingqing managed to pull off that price tag, they had no idea. But they could easily imagine just how grueling her struggles must have been throughout that single day.