Chapter 638: Chapter 466: Between the Lines
"If we really go through with this, it won’t be easy to explain to Zhou Yun’s side."
The assistant director whispered to the director in the "What a Nice Weather" production team.
"They will definitely react very severely, they might even take us to court, what should we do then?" the assistant director asked.
The director waved his hand, appearing somewhat impatient, "You don’t need to worry about this, just be assured, no matter what, someone will take care of Zhou Yun’s side, they won’t sue us. We just need to withstand the initial wave of anger, get it done, and we’ll have one hundred thousand yuan in hand. Someone is paying for it - aren’t you happy?"
The assistant director looked uneasy.
"It’s just that this money feels like hot potato, how could I dare to take it."
The director flatly said, "If you don’t take the money, others will. Remember, your son is about to take the college entrance exams, isn’t it? Doesn’t going to university cost money? Do you plan to have your son work part-time while studying? Without giving him some extra pocket money, he won’t be able to stand tall in front of a girlfriend."
The assistant director’s expression finally changed slightly.
...
The two of them finally came to an agreement and were about to go out when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," said the director.
A staff member opened the door, stood at the threshold, and said, "Director, Director Zhou is here."
Hearing this, the director’s face changed, "Why has Director Zhou suddenly come?"
The staff member shook his head, indicating that he did not know the reason.
Director Zhou was the content director of Chestnut Video. All content uploaded to Chestnut Video technically requires his internal approval and electronic signature to pass.
Although technically that’s the case, realistically, he couldn’t possibly watch every single video himself before signing off. If he tried to do that, even if he had ten clones of himself, he couldn’t watch that sheer volume of videos.
Generally speaking, each section would have a person in charge, and under that person, there would be leaders of various groups.
For a program like "What a Nice Weather," which is Chestnut Video’s original content, it would be reviewed by the person in charge of that section, going through the motions up to Director Zhou. If Director Zhou sees that every step of the review process is complete on paper, he would agree.
The director did not know why Director Zhou would suddenly come over.
"Director Zhou? Why have you come over? Any instructions?" the director asked.
Director Zhou said, "Nothing much. I had some business on this floor and heard that you were editing the latest episode of ’What a Nice Weather’ and even got Zhou Yun to come over, so I came to have a look."
The director thought it was really bad luck. This person who is hardly ever seen once in eight hundred years just had to come over today?
"Yes, but the film isn’t edited yet."
"Hmm. Once it’s done, send me a copy first, I’ll take a look," Director Zhou said, "The boss heard that Zhou Yun participated in this episode and is quite concerned."
The director’s heart skipped a beat.
How could this be?
He had been working on "What a Nice Weather" for so long, and never once before had Director Zhou officially reviewed it before release.
The reason was simple; the program had been running for many years, and it was an established show.
Established shows had their privileges and could bypass a lot of the procedural hassle.
And "What a Nice Weather," while moderately popular and not explosively so like "Geology Talk," had a steady audience. It was not a high-profile variety show that the entire nation was chasing.
Why would Director Zhou suddenly want to review the program for such a show that wasn’t cultural and had no ideological and political risks?
Not only Director Zhou but even the boss wanted to watch?
The director broke out in a cold sweat.
After Director Zhou left, the assistant director immediately said, "Director, we can’t do this anymore. If they’re going to watch, they definitely won’t approve the way we edit it."
"Who said so?" asked the director.
"What?"
"We’ll edit a normal version for them," the director said, gritting his teeth, "Once approved, we’ll upload the real broadcast version."
The assistant director was shocked, "If we do this, won’t it cause a massive problem? Aren’t we deliberately deceiving our superiors?"
"We’ll just say we put the wrong version up by mistake when the time comes."
"No, I won’t do it. I’m out," the assistant director shook his head. "I won’t participate in the editing."
The director looked at him angrily, "Why are you such a coward? Not going to earn the money?"
"What does one hundred thousand yuan count for if I lose my job because of this?"
The director clenched his teeth, "In this case, I’ll talk to the other party again, ask them to increase the offer, otherwise the risk we face is too great, we can’t do it."
...
"More money?"
Xu Siyao didn’t expect the other party to make such a request.
She frowned, "I’ve already agreed to give them five hundred thousand, isn’t that enough?"
"They say that since Zhou Yun is part of this episode’s recording, their higher-ups also demand to see the footage. If we edit the footage according to the direction we agreed on earlier, their higher-ups will certainly not approve of that version. They plan to edit a ’B version’ to pull the wool over their eyes, but this means they’ll face even greater risks once the video goes online."
Xu Siyao hesitated for a long time before saying, "Tell them I can only give them an extra two hundred thousand at most."
...
He Yong came out of his office and saw Yuh Jiangxing walking over from the opposite side.
Over the past two years, having Yuh Jiangxing as Xu Siyao’s agent put He Yong at ease. Yuh Jiangxing was his cousin, and for such a pivotal position, it was most reassuring to have his own kin.
Yuh Jiangxing called out "Cousin" upon seeing him.
"There’s something," he said.
He Yong nodded, "I also have something to ask you, let’s walk and talk."
Yuh Jiangxing nodded.
He Yong asked, "Xu Siyao called me the last time, wanting to have her footage deleted from this episode of ’What a Nice Weather.’ I didn’t agree. What’s the deal?"
Yuh Jiangxing let out a sigh, "That’s exactly what I came to report to you, cousin. I truly think Xu Siyao is too foolish, not worth the company’s investment. Better to give up on her quickly."
He Yong gave him a look, "Right now, apart from Zhou Yun, she’s the most popular and makes the most money for the company."
"Then quickly find another agent for her. Being an agent for such a woman is really a letdown, wastes my time, she definitely won’t go far," Yuh Jiangxing said. "During this episode’s recording, she put on airs at the beginning, which was one thing, but throughout the recording, she kept trying to rub shoulders with Zhou Yun to create some buzz. In the end, she was completely outplayed by Zhou Yun, not at all his match, and she lost face utterly. If this episode were to be aired, Xu Siyao would undoubtedly be ridiculed by the entire net. You’ve never seen anyone more shameless who got exposed for being shameless like her."
Yuh Jiangxing’s words were filled with strong disdain.