This Girl Forced to Become an Entertainment Company Boss

Chapter 35

After a month, the spotlight once again fell on Random Entertainment.

The company had invested heavily in promoting "21 Heartbeats of Youth", not only engaging Jiang Liuxing's studio but also reaching out to other marketing channels.

Major platforms were already preparing for their own talent shows this year, but they couldn't match Random Entertainment's speed. While others were still screening trainees and planning to launch during the winter break, Random Entertainment had already started uploading videos. This gave Jiang Liuxing and his team an opportunity to capitalize on the hype surrounding the big companies, successfully pushing the survival show into the public eye.

Initially, Jiang Juyou had low expectations for the survival show's viewership. She felt the early stages were too rushed, with virtually no promotion, and since the trainees had no existing fan base, she thought the show would only circulate within their own circle.

But unexpectedly, it suddenly exploded in popularity, catching everyone off guard.

The video that first caught people's attention was made by Jiang Liuxing.

Ye Xing was Random Entertainment's biggest ace. His looks were outstanding enough that even if he debuted now, he could gain a considerable fan base based on his appearance alone.

But besides Ye Xing, the other trainees were also quite impressive. After all, when selecting candidates, they had one main criterion: good looks.

From the profile photos of the sixty-three trainees, Jiang Liuxing picked a few with top-tier appearances, edited corresponding dynamic videos from the first episode, and interspersed them with some of Yao Shuo's earlier direct cam footage.

Viewers were immediately captivated by Ye Xing's opening shot in the video.

"Friends! We finally have a talent show to watch! '21 Heartbeats of Youth' profile photos released, first episode already online on the video platform, no membership required, no ads! Three hours long! Come and see—"

"Check out the trainees' looks, see if you can find your pick!"

The video opened with Ye Xing's poster.

Unlike the typical formal profile photos, theirs were more like artistic photoshoots, perfectly embodying the show's name with a youthful vibe.

The background looked like an old train platform covered in snow. Ye Xing wore a wool coat, a knit hat, and a scarf, hands in his pockets, standing straight and looking ahead with a smile.

One wide shot set the atmosphere, while a close-up showcased his godly features. The Japanese-style sentimental atmosphere of the photo captured Ye Xing's youthful essence, making viewers want to zoom in and scrutinize every detail.

Those who initially intended to swipe past stopped in their tracks, and some who had already swiped away quickly returned to take another look.

The second featured trainee was Pei Luming, crouching next to a snowman. His black hair was dotted with snowflakes, and the hat and scarf that should have been around his neck were on the snowman instead.

He looked like an excited puppy, with rosy cheeks and nose, not from the cold but from playing too long. Pei Luming's photos always seemed the most lively, allowing viewers to imagine what he had been up to before the shot was taken, inevitably bringing a smile to their faces.

The third was Sang Mo, who was quite tall. He wore a black coat that reached his calves, maximizing his height advantage. Sang Mo held a red scarf in one hand, the other in his pocket, tilting his head towards the camera with a mature air completely different from the previous two.

While the first two gave off little brother vibes, this one made people want to call him big brother.

"The face of the first one... He's destined for the center position."

"Finally some fresh blood in the Chinese entertainment industry, I was dying of boredom."

"I'm going to watch it just because it doesn't require membership and has no ads!"

"I'm starting to feel excited!"

"Ahh, who's that third one? It's really important to me, can someone give me some info?"

"The photos are so well done, finally not just a plain white background."

"Isn't the second one the guy from that photo card that was trending a few days ago?"

"They know how to shoot, so many handsome guys, my eyes are finally getting a treat."

"These few all look quite good."

The viral success of this TikTok video prompted many marketing accounts to create similar content, adding fuel to the fire.

In the first 24 hours after the show's launch, it only had about a hundred thousand views. But as the hype grew, the first episode's views broke one million. Coincidentally, the second episode was also released, and the content entered the main track, starting to show the competitive stages of the preliminary performance.

Before this, the photo cards from the preliminary performance had also gone viral, even earlier than the survival show itself. However, most people who attended the performance then were just there out of curiosity and didn't have the habit of collecting photo cards, so many were discarded.

After the show aired, Pei Luming's popularity skyrocketed. People suddenly realized that the trending photo card from earlier was Pei Luming's, causing the price of his photo cards to soar along with his popularity.

Collecting photo cards was originally exclusive to fans of foreign idols, as the Chinese entertainment industry didn't have many idols, making it impossible to establish a card collecting culture. But the emergence of this show directly revitalized the Chinese photo card market, with Random Entertainment's cards accounting for 80% of the market.

As more people started watching the show, more fans began to follow these trainees.

The monthly performances, the photo cards given at the performances, the Galexy World - all of these became crystal clear to the fans, and then the ticket prices for the first public performance went viral.

"Title: Come in to see unprecedented ticket prices in the Chinese entertainment industry, I bet you'll be surprised."

"I've been watching '21 Heartbeats' recently and became a fan of Pei Luming, so I wanted to go see the first public performance live. Then I saw this... The most expensive inner circle seats are 580 yuan, the back rows are 390 yuan, and the cheapest stands are 89 yuan. Wow, I couldn't get prices this low even for a live house performance."

"This qualifies as a conscientious entrepreneur."

Comments:

"Whose concert is this?"

"The inner circle seats are all sold out, and so are the 89 yuan ones. Only the 199 yuan ones are left. You should try for inner circle seats next time, only those come with photo cards."

"I really recommend going to see it. I've been to all three of their previous performances. The first one only had about a hundred people, I can't believe it's full house now. The live viewing experience is superb, you can see faces clearly even from the last row, it's super close, especially that screen, it's really big!"

"This price is really considerate, and those who bought the 580 yuan tickets are the real winners. Pei Luming's snowman selfie card has been resold for up to a thousand yuan, it's insane."

"Next performance will have Ye Xing's photo cards, they'll probably go crazy with the prices."

"Aren't the photo cards random?"

"No, they're not random. Only those who have solo stages get photo cards. The solo lineup for the first public performance has been decided: Pei Luming, Ye Xing, Gao Xiayu, Sang Mo, Zhao He, Yao Shuo, and Li Yingqi. Pei Luming and Ye Xing's card prices will definitely be high!"

"Forget about Ye Xing, his previous cards didn't even sell well. Is it because his team doesn't want to hype it up? His selfies are just too ugly. Don't know how such a good-looking kid can take such unflattering selfies."

"Guess who got the 580 yuan tickets? I'm not telling! Hehe!"

The Chinese entertainment industry, which had been quiet for half a year, was suddenly revitalized by this show. The show's super topic even squeezed into the top three. While it might not be followed by the entire internet, at least those who had watched talent shows before clicked on this one.

Jiang Juyou felt like she had taken an exam without preparation and unexpectedly scored full marks. To capitalize on this good luck, she watched the show every day while writing her thesis proposal. She wasn't aiming for a perfect score, just passing would be fine.

Halfway through writing, Jiang Juyou opened the financial backend to take a look. Seeing the numbers, she nodded with satisfaction. Currently, the biggest sources of income were still the previous concert and birthday event.

Physical DVDs were rarely released in China anymore, especially concert DVDs. So when she signed these two deals, she also bought the rights for the digital version of the DVD. It had been two weeks since Li Nayou's concert, and during this time, people had been gradually buying the concert DVD, bringing in some profit.

Now that the tickets for the first public performance have all been sold, she has a lot more money in her hands. These days, the first thing Jiang Juyou does when she opens her eyes is to check the financial backend.

She thinks that after nurturing the fan circle a bit more, she can start producing merchandise.

Thinking about this, Jiang Juyou hums a tune as she clicks 'continue playing', planning to watch the show for a while to relax.

The progress bar shows that it's time for Gao Xiayu's group to take the stage. Jiang Juyou promptly opens the danmu (bullet comments), and the screen immediately becomes flooded.

"High energy ahead--"

"High energy ahead!"

"Friendly reminder: Prepare for an explosive stage performance!"

"Rewinding to watch it again!"

"Ahhhhhhhh! They're killing it with their looks!"

"Pei Luming! Pei Luming! Pei Luming!"

"The green-haired clown is Pei Luming!"

"I'm getting goosebumps from how amazing this is! Watching it again!"

She had watched it from the side of the stage at the time, so the viewing experience couldn't compare to what was captured by the multiple camera angles. Seeing the warnings in the comments, Jiang Juyou quickly closes the danmu, puts on her headphones, and prepares to watch the stage performance again more carefully.

Immediately entering serious mode, Jiang Juyou furrows her brow, her eyes fixed on the screen, trying to spot any mistakes.

The opening scene shows Gao Xiayu carrying a gun, his composed demeanor immediately igniting the atmosphere. He chews the beat in his mouth, enunciating clearly while maintaining a distinctive tone. Later, he throws the gun to the ground, raises both hands and retreats, exchanging a smile with Pei Luming as they switch positions. The live audience immediately erupts in screams.

Jiang Juyou raises an eyebrow too. She hadn't noticed this part at all when watching live. This little design element is quite impressive.

When it comes to the group dance part during the chorus, the director cleverly cuts to a full view. The movements of all nine members are perfectly synchronized, even the angles at which they raise their hands are extremely consistent, greatly enhancing the visual appeal of the dance.

"Wow..."

It's even more impressive than watching it live.

Jiang Juyou now understands why there was such an overwhelming flood of comments.