Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"So you'll be back tonight?" Gan Wenchang said with disdain, "Or you're letting the girl stay in a hotel, I don't believe a word you say!"

Xu Qingyan gave him a glance, dropped a "I have to work tomorrow," and walked away.

Loitering a bit around, he hummed a tune as he entered the elevator. After he drove off, the sky around had already darkened, about ten or so minutes had passed.

He stopped at a traffic light intersection in an old town area.

While waiting, Xu Qingyan glanced at his phone. He had left plenty of time for airport pickup, he could make it no matter what, plus the drive to the downtown area...

As he was calculating in his mind, the traffic light changed.

As Xu Qingyan drove forward, he glanced around the streets and suddenly recognized the place. It seemed he had been here before, oh... as a designated driver.

That's right, he remembered, he had been here last time when he was doing a gig as a designated driver for Xiao Shujun.

With that thought, Xu Qingyan couldn't help but sigh.

Building connections in reality was not so easy. If just being a designated driver could get him in good with the leadership, then he wouldn't be half bad... he could be the best driver in the world.

The leader with whom he had the best relationship wasn't much of a backer to speak of... If he had to name someone, it would probably be He Guojin, but the man was always indifferent.

Usually, their friendship was proper and detached, hardly any personal relationship at all.

Xu Qingyan wasn't troubled by any insurmountable barriers or unbendable principles. It's just that without finding the right opportunity, there was nothing he could do.
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He had to move forward if he was going to take the film and television company path.

But one can't rush things.

Get the licensing done first; no matter how much he wanted to progress, he at least had to set the stage. He needed to find time to get his TV production license and the broadcasting program distribution license.

These days, even producing online dramas required registration.

The current cinematic winter wasn't favoring quality over quantity. What was exploding weren't sci-fi blockbusters, arthouse films, or popcorn movies.

What was trending were some politically correct movies, their content borrowed from remakes of foreign films.

Born with labels like "Cry for me," "No tears means no mommy," "Disagreeing is discrimination," and then they talk of refusing to be labeled.

A direct silencing blow, leaving you speechless, just munch on your popcorn and watch. Some movies are unbearable, but you can't say they're bad. It really has set a new precedent in Xia Country's film history.

This industry's standards were already low, and now they've gotten even lower.

And there was this famous influencer who once said, "The current market has too many wolves and not enough meat, the top resources are only enough for ten film and TV companies to scrape by."

These days influencers talk almost like barking dogs, you just listen and let it go.

But these people are also reading from the script, and to some extent, they reflect the intense competition in the current film and TV market, with ancient costume dramas often monopolized by companies like Sugar People.

This further narrows the resources and paradoxically leaves no room for subpar productions.

As the state continues to tighten financial conditions, tightening the purse strings also means tightening on capital and intervening in inflation.

Simply put, the salary cap order meant that celebrity sky-high pay has tumbled.

The film industry is no longer solely influenced by capital fluctuations, inserting people and whimsically altering scripts becomes less common, and the audience preferences have become more important.

For Xu Qingyan, a newcomer in the industry, this is both a threshold and an opportunity. In other words, if you have money and a script, you can get on.

The rest, like whether a script review will 404, whether the film will pass the censors, how much to cut, and if it will be flagged after going online...

These are off-stage conversations, and they are what Xu Qingyan is striving to deal with.

Talent isn't always omnipotent.

As he drove, traffic ahead came to a standstill.

Xu Qingyan glanced at the navigation, and without hesitation, turned into another road. Both sides were lined with hardware stores, all small single-story buildings, and the road seemed rough.

In the evening, lights flickered from every corner, with dark alleys stretching out behind the small houses.

He didn't pay much attention and kept driving.

It wasn't until he saw a familiar figure exiting a car by the roadside that Xu Qingyan slowed down a bit. He moved forward slowly while peering in that direction.

A red BMW, who else could it be but Xiao Shujun.

But at the moment, she was hurrying along, followed closely by three dubious characters. Xu Qingyan, with his keen eye, recognized at a glance their unruly air.

Xu Qingyan back in high school had had his fair share of free-style fighting with those kinds of guys.

How should I put it? When faced with danger, just run and you'll be fine, especially against those fearless youngsters. You might laugh seeing them shake, but don't look back when you run.

If you're lucky, you'll encounter someone who has lost their wits, doesn't know how to hold back. You'll see their adrenaline is through the roof, the kind who wouldn't even feel bullets.

If you don't run and you lack fighting experience, you're likely to meet your maker with a smile.

If it were someone else, he might hesitate, since he was busy picking someone up at the airport. But if it was Xiao Shujun, he felt a little delay wouldn't matter.

He parked on the side, slamming the brakes.

There wasn't much in the car to use as a weapon, so he grabbed a long-handled umbrella and got out. He also picked up a bottle of mineral water, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip as he walked.

"Dammit, don't stand in the way of my progress," he muttered.

At a glance, he felt that they were up to no good, but he hoped to avoid an actual fight. Of course, if they were Xiao Shujun's bodyguards, then he would have no choice but to accept his fate.

But that possibility was slim, virtually dismissible.