Traffic Star Development Program

Chapter 53 Restriction on Ancient Texts

"Xu Wen bought it," Zeng Hao said. "Why are you asking about this?"

"It's nothing," Zhang Tianai pulled his legs back on the chair, his coat still draped over the back of the chair next to him. "It's just that your company has a bit of a smoky, greasy vibe. It smelled like braised food last time I came here too."

"Last time it was pig's trotters, this time it's duck necks," Zeng Hao said. "They're different."

Zhang Tianai chuckled, "You remember so clearly."

"I need to sign Xu Wen's expense report."

Her smile faltered for a moment, then widened to a more natural one. The silver chain swayed under the light. She rested her wrist on her knee. "Next time I'll bring something else, so you don't have to sign too many."

Zeng Hao didn't respond to that sentence. He flipped the script of "Three Lives Three Worlds" on the table to scene 30, found the part he had read halfway through, and continued reading.

Zhang Tianai watched him flip through the script without saying a word. He just sat there, picked up a USB drive from the table, spun it around a couple of times, and then put it back down.

"Is 'Diamond Lover' almost finished filming?" she said.

"Eight days left."

"Eight days," she repeated the number, not immediately saying the next sentence. She gently stroked the silver chain on her wrist with her other hand. "Um... about the period drama," she said, "you said before that we'd talk about it after filming wrapped. I just wanted to know if you were really considering it or just saying it casually."

Zeng Hao closed the script and looked up at her.

She looked back at him, her eyes serious, with a hint of caution she herself might not have realized.

He went through it in his mind.

For the period drama category, there is still a three-year window from 2016 to 2019.

The restriction on ancient costumes was only issued in 2019, so he had already calculated the room for maneuver in between.

Zhang Tianai's face is suitable for period dramas, and her distinctiveness can be amplified in this field.

Moreover, she's currently on a three-year contract, which is very secure. Giving her a vague promise would cost nothing, while not giving it would be a waste of a usable card.

"I've been thinking about this these past few days," he said, "but not now. After 'Diamond Lover' wraps up filming, I'll sort out my other projects and then give you an answer."

Zhang Tianai loosened the silver chain. "What do you mean by 'several projects'? Are there already period dramas being promoted?"

"There's a script framework," he said, "but we're not at the stage of discussing it yet."

This is not a lie.

He did push for the revision of "Three Lives Three Worlds," but it wasn't for her. He just didn't specify which script it was, and she took it personally.

She looked up at him, didn't ask any more questions, took her coat off the back of the chair, put it on her lap, and paused for a moment on the button of her cuff.

The office lights were white, and the light on her face was flat, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Then she stood up, draped her coat over her arm, and said, "I'll wait for your message. I'm leaving now."

The light cast a short shadow on the floor as she stood up. She walked to the door, pushing it open very gently. The door opened a crack, letting in a narrow sliver of orange hallway light. Then she went out, closing the door behind her with a barely audible sound.

Zeng Hao reopened the script, turned to scene 30, and continued reading.

The promise he made was, in reality, nothing at all.

"Consider" is not the same as "agree".

"Sorting out a few projects" is not a promise.

"I'll give you an answer later" completely shifts the timeline to his own side.

She probably felt she had gained something when she left.

He watched the thirtieth episode but couldn't find any problems, so he turned to the thirty-first episode.

My phone vibrated.

Peng Bing's daily report: The filming location is stable today, and no intervention is needed. It is estimated that the shoot will conclude normally in eight days.

After reading the daily newspaper, he casually flipped his phone over to the back.

Eight days to go.

After filming of "Diamond Lover" wrapped up, there will be a third batch of payments totaling 238 million yuan, which will arrive within 15 working days.

The book value will exceed 3300 million by then.

He went through the number in his mind, but didn't feel anything special; it was just a number.

There was a knock on the door, then two knocks. Xu Wen pushed the door open and came in, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "I found it."

He placed the paper on the table, sat down opposite him, and pointed to the line of text with his finger: "Yiwang and iQiyi had a joint promotion framework agreement last month. It's this report, take a look."

Zeng Hao took the paper over.

A brief news report from an industry media outlet, consisting of four lines, stated that YiNet had reached an agreement with a leading video platform for joint content promotion.

The specific collaborative projects involve music copyrights derived from variety shows.

The source of the information is an anonymous industry insider, and the release date is the 23rd of last month.

"I love variety shows," Zeng Hao said. "What kind of shows do you think I mean?"

"I guess it's a talent show," Xu Wen said. "iQiyi was in contact with production companies in Korea last year. If it's a talent show, the music copyrights involved are huge, and NetEase wants to get those."

Zeng Hao put the paper down. "You guessed right."

Xu Wen was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"iQiyi's foray into talent shows isn't new," Zeng Hao said. "The two most valuable things they negotiated with NetEase for joint promotion were: exclusive singles for the contestants after their debut and the show's theme song. If NetEase gets both of these, Tencent Music definitely won't sit idly by. If their schedules clash, it'll be a platform-level battle for resources."

Xu Wen processed this in his mind for a moment, "Then for us..."

"For us, this means that YiNet now needs to establish a position in the talent show content arena," Zeng Hao said. "It's one way for them to negotiate with iQiyi, and it's another way to negotiate with us, but they haven't secured iQiyi's path yet, and they need to give us an answer this Friday." He pushed the paper back, "Go and revise the draft of the supplementary terms, and add a line to the scope of the priority negotiation rights: including the music copyrights derived from variety shows featuring Xu Jiaying and Xue Zhijian."

"Variety show spin-off?" Xu Wen read the three words aloud. "President Zeng, do we have any variety show projects right now?"

"Not now," Zeng Hao said, "but if this clause is included, either YiNet will accept it, or we'll renegotiate. If they accept it, it's like we've secured a spot for them in the music talent show arena in advance."

Xu Wen picked up the paper and looked at it again. "So, if they ask us what variety show plans we have..."

"Let them ask," Zeng Hao said. "If they ask, it means the clause is valuable to them, and only valuable clauses are worth discussing."

Xu Wen muttered those two sentences to himself, then slowly nodded, stood up, and said, "Okay, I'll go revise it."

He walked to the door, paused on the threshold, and said, "Mr. Zeng, after we finish making the changes, should we also send a copy to Tencent Music so they know we're talking to NetEase?"

Zeng Hao looked up at him and said, "You've improved."

Xu Wen paused for about a second, then realized he had said something quite insightful. He was a little unsure of what to do with his expression, but finally pretended to be nonchalant and walked away.

The door closed.

Zeng Hao placed the script for "Three Lives Three Worlds" on the table, leaned back in his chair, and watched as the orange-yellow lights of the parking lot outside the window cast short shadows on several cars.

The inclusion of a clause regarding music copyright derived from variety shows could change the course of events in YiNet's response window this Friday.

They need to reassess internally. The longer the assessment period, the higher the actual value of the priority negotiation right will be, until it reaches a certain level.

The additional terms have changed from "bonus points" to "standard".

Whether it's YiNet begging for a fortune slip or they begging for one, that's another story.