Time returned to seven days ago. "When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella" passed review quickly and sold its copyright to video platforms.
Due to Jiang Ling's recent acquisition of two Golden Magnolia and Golden Peony awards, her value soared. Coupled with the popularity driven by "Phantom Sky," her film achieved a box office of 2.3 billion, breaking the record for niche Chinese-language films.
Consequently, the copyright for "When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella" was sold for over 300 million more than initially estimated, making the investors grin from ear to ear.
Of course, the video platforms were not fools.
The reason for paying such a high price was partly due to Chen Mingzhang's reputation and mostly because of Jiang Ling's current fame and status.
Jiang Ling had transformed a niche film, which was generally not favored, into a dark horse of the National Day film season, grossing over two billion at the box office, proving how terrifying her popularity was.
Spending a few hundred million more to acquire the copyright now might lead to a tenfold return in the future.
Although this carried significant risk, fortune favors the bold. If the gamble failed, it would be a huge loss, but if it paid off, the profits would be astronomical.
As it turned out, the video platforms had indeed gambled correctly.
"When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella" became the drama with the highest popularity and viewership ratings in Jiang Ling's acting career.
This was not only because idol dramas were more appealing to younger audiences than other genres, but also because there were too many mediocre actors in such dramas, and those who wanted to become famous flocked to them.
"When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella" stood out from the crowd, creating a stark contrast with the slew of mediocre films.
The Matthew effect, where the strong get stronger, meant that from then on, any recommendation for an idol drama would feature "When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella" as the primary choice.
After the three major video platforms purchased the copyright, they set a simultaneous release date.
Before the broadcast, the platforms organized a promotional event, inviting the male and female leads and a cast of supporting actors to attend.
For such promotional events, other characters might be absent, but the male lead, female lead, second male lead, and second female lead were indispensable.
Jian Zhou initially did not want to join the fanfare. However, with Jiang Ling hospitalized due to injury, her absence as the female lead already made the event rather sparse.
If the male lead also didn't show up, how could the event proceed?
Jian Zhou knew that Jiang Ling had invested immense effort into the role of Ye Tianyu, even enduring severe pain after her injury to complete the character.
Now that all the filming processes were completed, with only the preliminary promotions left to let the audience see the drama, he couldn't bear for the lack of publicity due to the absence of the male and female leads to affect the drama's reputation and viewership ratings.
After careful consideration, Jian Zhou decided to attend the promotional event.
While filming "When Prince Charming Meets Cinderella," Jian Zhou overheard Jiang Ling telling Sister Sa that his face was too boyish. Although she liked it, it didn't quite resemble a domineering CEO. Fortunately, the audience didn't know what he looked like in private, otherwise, they would easily break character.
With this in mind, Jian Zhou commissioned a custom-made handmade suit.
A black suit, black leather shoes, with his hair slicked back, and his height of over 1.8 meters, he was the perfect domineering CEO.
Jian Zhou attended the promotional event dressed in this attire.
The promotional event attracted many wealthy and leisurely girls who loved watching idol dramas.
Although Jiang Ling's absence due to injury was a bit regrettable, it did not dampen their enthusiasm for seeing their "husbands."
Idol dramas were like this: fans would switch "husbands" for each drama they watched.