Traffic Star Development Program

Chapter 36 The Whitewashing Operation

On Wednesday afternoon, Maoyan updated its data, showing that the box office of "Back to 20" had reached 2.34 million yuan.

With daily box office revenue dropping below 900,000, the tail end of the box office contraction is accelerating. At this rate, it will run for at most another week before the final result becomes clear.

Zeng Hao wrote down the numbers without giving them much thought and continued with the tasks at hand.

On Thursday, Xu Wen sent over the progress from Xue Zhijian's side, saying that the arrangement team had received the direction for the rework, and the first draft of the new arrangement of "Ugly Monster" was expected to be completed within two weeks. Xue Zhijian himself had no objection to the direction of the rework, only mentioning one point: he hoped that the melody of a certain section would be retained. The arrangement team said that it could be taken into account within the new framework.

Zeng Hao read the message and replied: "I'll have a first draft within two weeks. Send it to me as soon as it's finished, and I'll listen to it."

Xu Wen: Okay.

Then Xu Wen sent another message saying that the production manager from Hunan TV had sent an email asking about Xue Zhijian and Xu Jiaying's schedules. There was a recording slot for Happy Camp in late December, and they were asking if Sunshine Entertainment could schedule it.

Zeng Hao finished reading the email and mentally calculated the timeline.

Late December, which is a little over a month from now, and Xue Zhijian's re-arranged version hasn't even been released yet, so recording Happy Camp at this time is appropriate. He should first prove himself, and then follow up with the song; the order is right.

He replied to Xu Wen: The schedule for Happy Camp in late December is confirmed. Both Xue Zhijian and Xu Jiaying will be included. The appearance fee will be negotiated at market price, no discounts. He asked Xu Wen to confirm the details with the production manager of Hunan TV and sign the contract this week.

Xu Wen: Understood, I'll contact them today.

The confirmation of the Happy Camp slot marks the first official exposure for Xue Zhijian and Xu Jiaying since joining the company. Their faces will be featured on Happy Camp, generating buzz, and the subsequent arrangement of the music will complement the song release. The logical chain is complete and won't be wasted.

Maoyan's data was updated again at 3 PM on Friday.

2.37 million.

It perfectly matched his estimated range, with a deviation of less than three million, which is within the normal range for a mid-budget theatrical film.

He mentally reviewed the financial data.

The total amount is 2019 million. The monthly revenue from "Go Princess Go" is 50,000 to 80,000. The remaining settlement amount of 7328 million for "Back to 20" will be received monthly. The monthly income from Yang Shanshan and Tian Ai's announcements is about 300,000. The income from Dilireba's eight announcements per month is calculated separately. The licensing fee for the Korean version will be received in a lump sum after the agreement is reached.

This company's current cash flow structure is no longer reliant on a single source of revenue.

Multiple lines are running simultaneously, so the system won't collapse even if any one of them breaks.

"This is what it truly looks like to come alive."

Zeng Hao chuckled, flipped the memo to the annual financial report section, and wrote a line: The year-end financial report is expected to be released at the end of this month, the turnaround to profit will be confirmed, the reputation cleanup operation is about to start, and the key assessment point will be in the latter half of this month.

I paused after writing.

He had thought about cleaning up his reputation more than once, but he had never put it into writing because the time was not right. Now that the financial report is about to be released, the time is approaching.

To clear a company's name, it doesn't need to issue statements or apologize; it needs to let numbers and results speak for themselves, allowing outsiders to draw their own conclusions. This kind of clearing is genuine and sustainable.

The year-end financial report shows the company has gone from debt to profit, which is the best statement in itself.

We'll do one or two more movements then, to coordinate.

Only in this way can we continuously attract more high-quality artists.

He closed the memo, stood up, and walked to the window.

Winter comes early to Qianhu City. The sycamore leaves outside the window have all fallen, leaving only a few. The light from the streetlights shines on the bare branches, casting dense shadows on the ground, like cracks.

My phone vibrated at that moment; it was a message from Xu Wen.

Xu Wen: Mr. Zeng, Studio M just sent an email saying that they have finished their internal discussions and can raise the licensing fee to 800,000 RMB. They asked if we can accept it. If we can, we can arrange formal contract negotiations next week.

Zeng Hao finished reading the message, put down his phone, walked back to his chair, and sat down.

Eight hundred thousand.

It just happened to be right at the bottom of his price range.

He sent Xu Wen a message: Reply to Studio M, we cannot confirm 800,000 for the time being. We need to communicate further and ask them if there is room for this number to increase. You don't need to give a specific number, just ask this question and wait for their reply.

Xu Wen: Okay, I'll reply now.

Zeng Hao put down his phone and let out a soft breath.

800,000 is the starting point of their internal budget, not the end point. They jumped from 500,000 to 800,000, which shows that there is room for maneuver internally. They just wanted to use 800,000 to settle this matter first, and then find ways to save money in other areas during the subsequent production.

But this decision wasn't made by them; it was made by him.

The latest news about Xu Wen arrived that evening.

Studio M received the inquiry, remained silent for nearly two hours, and then replied via email, saying that they would conduct another round of internal evaluation and give a final response by Friday at the latest.

Zeng Hao read the message and replied: Wait, I won't rush you.

Two hours is a slow response time, which means that the other party is having an internal meeting and it's not something that one person can decide on their own. There's a bottleneck at some level where the money is being tied up, and they need to push it up the chain of command. In this situation, urging them will only make them use "internal procedures" as a shield, and the more you urge them, the slower things will get. It's better to let them worry about it on their own.

On Wednesday morning, Peng Bing sent a message saying that the first draft of the arrangement team for "Ugly Monster" was out, three days earlier than expected, and asked if he wanted to send it to Zeng Hao now.

Zeng Hao replied: Send it over.

The file arrived two minutes later. It was a compressed file containing the audio files of the new arrangement and a two-page production manual. The manual explained the rework process, mainly involving thinning out the original electronic base, adding a layer of string music in the middle section, and changing the way the emotional outlet at the end was handled to a crescendo finish instead of the abrupt cutoff in the original.

Zeng Hao plugged in his headphones and turned on the audio.

When the intro comes in, unlike the heavy feel of the original, the new version's opening is much cleaner, with the drumbeats landing more steadily. When Xue Zhijian's voice comes in, the first line is very closely connected with the accompaniment, unlike the original version which has a slightly floating feeling.

He heard the chorus and turned the volume up two notches.

This section opens up the layers, with the strings supporting the lower part, so Xue Zhijian's voice doesn't need to be strained so much, and the emotions come out instead. It's not the tightly clenched burst of the original version, but the kind that flows outward. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, but on a variety show stage, the latter is more suitable. The audience can listen to it without feeling tired.

Zeng Hao listened to the crescendo ending twice. The first time, he felt it was a bit dragged out. The second time, he realized that the drag wasn't a mistake, but a deliberate choice by the production team to leave a breath, so that the emotions would have a place to settle at the end, instead of lingering in the air.

At 4 minutes and 2 seconds, the listening session ended.

Zeng Hao took off his headphones and wrote three lines in his notebook: "The overall direction is correct, the chorus is well-structured, and the breath control at the end is retained." The problem is that there is a transition section before the second verse, where the strings enter four beats too early, slightly conflicting with Xue Zhijian's breathing point. This needs adjustment; the string entry point should be moved back to align with the first syllable after the breath.

He took a picture of the three lines and sent it to Xu Wen, adding: "Forward to the arrangement team, adjust according to the annotations, and send it back to me when it's done. No need to redo it, just change this one part."

Xu Wen: Okay, I'll transfer it now.

Then Xu Wen sent another message, which was sent to Xu Wen by Xue Zhijian himself, and Xu Wen forwarded it verbatim.