Chapter 59

Old Bai snorted and said, "Showing off, it's just the bravery of a fool. Even if it's embarrassing, it's the production team that's embarrassed. A newcomer actually dares to take on such a challenge, it's simply reckless."

By doing this, Ye Ming managed to defuse the crisis for "The Story of a Concubine," shifting all the journalists' attention to this incredibly arrogant newcomer.

However, how was Ye Ming going to wrap things up? At this moment, Cheng Hao wouldn't let him off easily.

Sure enough, at this moment, Cheng Hao was almost fuming with anger. This kid was too outrageous.

He said angrily, "You really have the nerve. The younger generation is pushing the older one aside. Are the newbies all so arrogant now? You say that the ratings of 'Rising Tide' aren't even worthy to tie the shoes of 'The Story of a Concubine.' If that's the case, you must be very confident that the ratings of 'The Story of a Concubine' are very high. Since you're so confident, let's make a bet. What do you say? Speak up, don't say I'm bullying a newcomer."

Ye Ming, ignoring Zhao Wei's tugging at his clothes, smiled and said, "Then tell me, what do you think the ratings of 'Rising Tide' will be?"

At this moment, Cheng Hao was being cautious, after all, he was speaking in front of so many journalists. He had to be careful, or he would become a laughingstock in the entertainment news the next day.

After a moment of thought, Cheng Hao considered the ratings of some TV series on the national channel. If it went over ten, it was already time to pop the champagne. Over twelve, it was considered a hit. As for higher ratings...

The ratings of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" were around twenty-eight, and they never went over thirty.

But that was already a classic, a classic that had never been surpassed to this day.

Therefore, at this moment, Cheng Hao was a bit at a loss, but he couldn't delay for too long. Finally, he said, "I still have a lot of confidence in our TV series. An average of over seven, and even over ten is not impossible."

Originally, he wanted to say over ten, but he knew his own TV series well. An average of over ten was almost impossible.

Therefore, at this moment, Cheng Hao hesitated a bit and gave a more conservative number.

But at this moment, Cheng Hao was in a difficult position. He had no intention of letting Ye Ming off. He immediately followed up, "As the lead actor of 'The Story of a Concubine,' what do you think the ratings of your TV series will be? I assume it should be over ten, right?"

At this moment, Cheng Hao looked at Ye Ming with a mocking expression. He wanted Ye Ming to give a higher number. If he said over ten, there would definitely be journalists secretly criticizing Ye Ming for boasting. This was a given. A newcomer, daring to say such things, was unimaginable, a synonym for arrogance and ignorance.

If a veteran actor like Ge You said the ratings of his TV series would be a certain number, it would be more credible, but a newcomer had no such qualifications.

Ye Ming was actually quite smart. He smiled and said, "Predicting ratings is actually the director's job. But since you asked, I can't not answer. Saying it is overstepping my bounds, but not saying it would make you不服气 (unconvinced). Let's put it this way, I won't give a specific number to avoid keeping you up at night. But I can say one thing, the ratings of 'The Story of a Concubine' will be a miracle, a miracle unprecedented. Saying that the ratings of 'Rising Tide' aren't even worthy to tie the shoes of 'The Story of a Concubine' is not an exaggeration."

This wasn't an exaggeration, it was outright arrogant, not putting the entire TV industry in his eyes. An unprecedented rating, what would that mean? It would mean surpassing classics like "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," "The Bund," "The Legend of the White Snake," and "Journey to the West."

Of course, at that time, there was no specific way to measure ratings, but even without knowing the exact numbers, each of these TV series had ratings over twenty.

Cheng Hao laughed in anger, "The ratings of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' are twenty-eight. Are you saying the ratings of 'The Story of a Concubine' will exceed this number?"

Ye Ming wasn't falling for it. He smiled and shrugged, "I didn't say that. I just said 'The Story of a Concubine' will be a TV series that creates a miracle. The ratings will be unprecedented."

In fact, the ratings of "The Story of a Concubine" were not only unprecedented but also unmatched.

But no one would believe that now, especially Cheng Hao. Before coming, Cheng Hao had thoroughly investigated the details of "The Story of a Concubine."

This was just a test for Zhongjie Company. The company's real focus was on "Tears of Heaven," which was the essence of Qionghua dramas.

"The Story of a Concubine" was somewhat neglected.

If not for this, Cheng Hao wouldn't dare to provoke a Qionghua drama in such a situation.

He even found out that "The Story of a Concubine" almost had to stop production due to a funding issue.

Cheng Hao laughed and said, "Good. Young man, you have guts. An unprecedented rating, that means surpassing 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.' At least over twenty-eight. You're very confident. How do you want to bet? I'll take it."

An unprecedented rating, Cheng Hao snorted, thinking to himself, if you're looking for trouble, don't blame me.

Ye Ming said calmly, "How else would I say your ratings aren't even worthy to tie the shoes of ours? If I lose, I'll stand in front of Tiananmen Square on New Year's Day and shout three times that I'm a pig."

At this moment, Cheng Hao, fearing Ye Ming might back out, immediately said, "That's fine. If I lose, I'll do the same. All the media friends here will be witnesses. If I lose, I'll do the same. But I want to add a condition. Whoever loses must voluntarily leave the entertainment industry and not embarrass themselves."

Cheng Hao was thoroughly resentful of Ye Ming and gave him no chance to turn things around.

Ye Ming agreed without hesitation.

Cheng Hao glanced at Sun Shupeng and said provocatively, "Director Sun, I have a question. I heard your production had a funding issue and almost stopped production. Oh, how careless. Only 1.5 million, what kind of classic can you make? You're too stingy. 1.5 million for a period drama, hah, what's your real investment? 1.2 million at least? Our 'Rising Tide' has 2 million."

This was naturally a way to use the investment issue to attack Ye Ming.

In the industry, there was an unwritten rule: a movie claiming an investment of hundreds of millions might actually have only eighty percent of that.

Generally speaking, a movie claiming an investment of 60 million might actually have only 40 million, definitely not over 50 million.

Therefore, Cheng Hao asked if the real investment was 1.2 million.

This was a wrap party, and despite Cheng Hao's disruption, everyone still drank and ate, and each person drank quite a bit.

Almost everyone in the production team, starting from producer He Xiujun, seemed to have agreed to take turns toasting Ye Ming.

Ye Ming naturally didn't dare to be arrogant and respectfully accepted each toast, drinking them all down in one go.

Everyone understood that without Ye Ming, if a violent incident had occurred, "The Story of a Concubine" would have been banned.

This seemed to be the result Cheng Hao hoped for.

Fan Binbin was right; this TV series was their hard work, and no one had the right to look down on it.

Therefore, everyone deeply thanked Ye Ming for standing up at this critical moment.

Although no one believed Ye Ming's prediction, everyone was very grateful to him.

Fortunately, Ye Ming was well-tested. He might not be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, but he managed to handle this round.

In a moment, Ye Ming felt something was missing. It was Fan Binbin.

Just a moment ago, this little girl was chattering by his side, describing how she would be admired once she became famous, and how she needed to practice her signature to make it presentable.

But in a blink, the little girl was gone.

Ye Ming turned and asked, "Yan, have you seen Binbin? She drank quite a bit. With her drinking capacity, I hope she doesn't get lost."

Zhao Wei also understood that Fan Binbin was a bit of a directionally challenged person. Although it was unlikely she would get lost in the hotel, it wasn't impossible.

Therefore, Zhao Wei said boldly, "She might have gone to the restroom. I'll go look for her."

At this moment, Lin Xinru, slightly tipsy, opened her drowsy eyes and said, "Binbin is missing? I'll go look for her too."

The two princesses almost supported each other as they walked to the restroom, which required going through a staircase. There, Fan Binbin was sitting and crying.

Today, the little girl had performed very well, still looking innocent, as if she was the carefree Fan Binbin from the start of "The Story of a Concubine."

But in a moment, alone, she started to cry.

Zhao Wei walked over and said boldly, "Binbin, what's wrong? Who bullied you? I'll go get even for you, watch me."

Fan Binbin, with tears in her eyes, looked up, her face streaked with tears, and said, "I'm sad. Tomorrow, we'll all go our separate ways. This parting, I don't know when we'll meet again."

The production team was like a temporary family, and gatherings and dispersals were common.

But for a newcomer like Fan Binbin, this farewell was particularly cruel.

Zhao Wei and Lin Xinru, also not very strong, felt a faint sadness with the alcohol.

The three flowers of "The Story of a Concubine" sat on the stairs, hugging each other and crying.

Their cries were so pure, so clear, and so free of any ulterior motives.

At this moment, all their grievances and fatigue turned into tears, and their reluctance to part flew through the air.

The next day, the entire entertainment industry was in an uproar.

Almost all the media supported Cheng Hao.

Ye Ming, a newcomer, was too arrogant and disrespectful.

The headline of "Star and Moon Entertainment" was "Lead Actor of 'The Story of a Concubine' Talks Nonsense, Predicts Ratings."

"Entertainment Morning News" was more objective, with Yu Guo writing, "Newcomer Impatient, Lead Actor of 'The Story of a Concubine' Breaks the Stalemate."

This article didn't criticize Ye Ming but carefully analyzed his purpose.

Although Yu Guo didn't agree with Ye Ming's prediction of an unprecedented rating, he wrote about Cheng Hao's ulterior motives, hinting that he hoped for a violent incident in the "The Story of a Concubine" production, leading to a ban.

This explained why Ye Ming acted as he did.

However, not everyone was as lenient as Yu Guo. Many journalists harshly criticized Ye Ming's arrogance.

The old Bai from "Southern Weekend" was particularly harsh, saying, "Ye Ming is talking nonsense, a newcomer's arrogance is boundless."

He criticized Ye Ming mercilessly, especially pointing out that "The Story of a Concubine" had an investment of only 1.5 million.

At this moment, Sun Shupeng, reading the newspaper, was very worried. He was supposed to go to Taiwan to edit "The Story of a Concubine," but because of this issue, he had to stay to handle it.

He threw the newspaper and said, "Manager He, this can't go on. What should we do? If it continues, the journalists will just stir up more trouble."

He Xiujun smiled and said, "This is quite common in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It's not a big deal. Let them talk."

Sun Shupeng was a bit anxious and said, "I know the paparazzi there are very aggressive. But if this continues, what if it affects our ratings? Ye Ming, this kid, is like a thousand enemies for a hundred losses. It's unbelievable."

He Xiujun said generously, "Mainland China is different. It's not a big deal. Don't worry about them. If Ye Ming hadn't said anything, it might have turned into a physical fight. Ye Ming did this with a purpose, to save the production. A violent incident would have led to a ban, which would have been worse. We should thank Ye Ming."

At the airport, Ye Ming, Zhao Wei, and Fan Binbin had tears in their eyes. The moment of farewell had finally arrived.

Su Youpeng and Lin Xinru, dragging their heavy luggage, said goodbye to Ye Ming.

Su Youpeng, still joking, said, "We might not necessarily never see each other again. If 'The Story of a Concubine' is as successful as you say, we'll have a chance to meet during the promotion. I have to say, what you did yesterday was very brave. I admire your courage."

Lin Xinru also understood what a violent incident would mean. Even in Taiwan and Hong Kong, a violent incident could lead to a ban. In the mainland, it was certain.

Therefore, Lin Xinru said optimistically, "It's not certain. Maybe Ye Ming is right, and our TV series will create a miracle. If that happens, when you three come to Taiwan for promotion, I'll take you to the night market and eat seafood. Taipei has some great seafood places."

The young people, carefree in their youth, didn't know that when they met again, they would be standing at the top of the entertainment industry, looking down on everything.

"The Story of a Concubine," an eternal classic.

Outside the window, the snow was still falling, the scenery enchanting.

Su Youpeng and Lin Xinru turned and couldn't stop the tears from falling.

But they walked firmly into the passage, and when their figures disappeared, Lin Xinru finally couldn't hold back her tears.

In the afternoon, Hong Fei called Ye Ming over and scolded him, saying he was showing off and being too competitive. "So many people, what are you showing off for? You have the nerve, but you only talk. Creating a miracle,