Huayu: This director is so eager to improve.

Chapter 2: The Web Series "Yu Zui"

You might think you're having a serious academic exchange during your graduation defense, but in reality, in the eyes of the professors, your defense is like a kindergarten "talent show."

The classroom was well-air-conditioned. On stage, Qi Yue spoke eloquently about his "The Rise Path of Web Series and the Possibility of Industrial Restructuring" under the projector.

Below the stage, five teachers, mostly familiar professors from the department, looked relaxed; some were even looking at their phones.

Qi Yue's presentation was fluent and steady, and several teachers took turns asking some trivial questions.

The process is complete, and the defense is finished.

Just as he thought he could bow and leave the stage, Wang Hongwei, the department head sitting in the center, pushed up his glasses and suddenly spoke.

"Qi Yue, at the end of your thesis you wrote that the future of web dramas will completely surpass traditional television production. How many years do you think it will take for this 'complete surpassing' to happen?"

The classroom fell silent for a moment. The other teachers also looked up at Qi Yue.

Qi Yue met Wang Hongwei's gaze. This department head was usually a man of few words, but he had a keen eye and was recognized in the college as a "pragmatist." For example, he had been involved in Ning Hao's two key works, "Green Grassland" and "Crazy Stone."

"Five years might not be enough," Qi Yue replied without hesitation.

"Oh?" Wang Hongwei leaned forward slightly. "Isn't this too radical? TV dramas are still the mainstream right now, and it will be difficult for web dramas to catch up with the purchasing power and coverage of satellite TV stations in a short period of time."

"It's not a question of whether we can catch up or not, it's that the track changes." Qi Yue said calmly, as if stating a fact that had already happened.

"Traditional TV dramas are viewed passively and disseminated linearly, while web dramas, born from the internet, are products of active selection, real-time interaction, and social dissemination."

"The advantage of web series lies not in production costs, although they are still not comparable to traditional TV dramas. But their advantage lies in precision and dissemination efficiency. In the future, web series will explore a set of survival rules completely different from those of current TV dramas: based on data, interaction, and social interaction, they will achieve rapid iteration. At that time, they will no longer be a supplement to television, but will devour the most future audience of television—young people. And young people are the future market itself."

Wang Hongwei looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded without asking any further questions.

"Okay, defense complete. Passed."

The morning passed quickly. After the event ended, Qi Yue was packing up to leave when Wang Hongwei walked over from the front row.

"Qi Yue, wait a minute."

Qi Yue turned around, "Teacher Wang."

"The paper is well done. It includes research and judgment, and it's rare to find something that's not vague." Wang Hongwei patted him on the shoulder and looked at him with great interest.

"I heard you even wrote a script for a web series yourself?"

Qi Yue's heart skipped a beat.

An opportunity. This is an opportunity.

As someone once said, those seemingly ordinary teachers you meet in college might very well be the most amazing people you'll ever meet in your life.

Moreover, in a film academy, which professor of any caliber doesn't have access to a vast amount of resources?

"Yes, Teacher Wang," Qi Yue took out the well-worn script from his bag and handed it over with both hands.

"Yu Zui is a script I wrote for a web series, and I wanted to test the waters."

Wang Hongwei took it, casually flipped through a couple of pages, and paused his gaze on a few lines of dialogue.

"A police officer going undercover in the underworld... Are you trying to imitate the 'Infernal Affairs' formula?"

"Not entirely." Qi Yue tried his best to express his thoughts in the most concise way possible.

"Yu Zui is not a tragic hero like Chen Yongren. He is mercenary, cunning, and a smooth talker, with a roguish air about him. He doesn't want to be a good cop; his purpose in becoming a cop is simply to support his father's fruit stand, even though his family's fruit is always underweight. In the end, pushed by fate, Yu Zui realizes his mission and has no choice but to become a good cop—this is the kind of character that young people today can empathize with."

Wang Hongwei didn't speak, his gaze returning to the script, this time lingering on it for even longer.

"The dialogue is well-written," he pointed to a spot, "'Good people can't be police officers, because kindness is the first thing to die in front of criminals.' You wouldn't dare write something like that in a TV series."

"Web series are fine," Qi Yue replied quickly. "The audience for web series is a different generation from that of television viewers. They hate preaching and like reality, even if the reality is gray."

"Gray..." Wang Hongwei chewed on the word, then suddenly closed the script and looked sharply at Qi Yue.

"Do you know that these 'gray' topics are the easiest to cross the line? What if there's censorship? What if the platform approves it?"

"So that's the biggest hidden advantage of web series," Qi Yue laughed. "As a new phenomenon, it's much more lenient in terms of censorship than regular TV dramas. Besides, the theme of Yu Zui is good—justice triumphs over evil—it's just that the methods are a bit unusual, and nobody can really say much about that."

Wang Hongwei looked at him and smiled: "Young people should be adventurous, having drive is a good thing... but filming requires money, have you raised it?"

Qi Yue immediately tensed up.

"It's still a bit short," he said honestly. "Currently, I have a personal investment, plus money raised by my classmate mortgaging the photo studio, which amounts to about one million. But as you know, even for a web series, we'll need at least another two million."

Wang Hongwei didn't speak, but tapped his finger lightly on the script cover.

Students walked by in the corridor, laughing and joking, while the faint chirping of cicadas drifted in from outside the window. Time seemed to stretch out.

"Alright," Wang Hongwei finally spoke, "leave the script here, I'll take a look. Also, I'm having a small project presentation at my house next week, mainly with people from the platform and a few production companies. Would you like to come?"

Qi Yue's pupils contracted slightly.

"Yes," he answered quickly. "Thank you, Teacher Wang."

"Don't thank me yet." Wang Hongwei waved his hand. "Even if you meet those people, whether it will work out in the end depends on your own abilities. Don't be too confident, and don't show any weakness. Those shrewd people can tell at a glance whether you have the confidence or not."

"clear."

Wang Hongwei turned to leave, then stopped. "By the way, there's a character in your script—that villain named 'Fu Guosheng'—it's quite interesting. If you were to make a film about him, who would you cast?"

Qi Yue was stunned. They hadn't even raised the money yet, and there was no sign of any actors.

"It's not decided yet, but the actor playing 'Fu Guosheng' must be a skilled actor, preferably a veteran actor."

Wang Hongwei really left this time. "Okay, when your film is confirmed to start shooting, I'll recommend one to you."

Qi Yue stood there, watching Wang Hongwei's figure disappear around the corner of the corridor. He quickly took out his phone and sent a message to Guo Fan.

"Brother Fan, our investment has a chance!"