Chapter 18 : The Program Is About to Air
Chapter 18 - The Program Is About to Air
In the car, Zhang Fanzhi focused on driving.
Chen Ran searched online and found that the movie's box office numbers were actually not bad.
Even though the ratings were low and the audience came out cursing, there was still about ten million in box office revenue coming in every day.
This surprised Chen Ran slightly. People knew it was a bad movie yet still contributed to the box office; was it really that bizarre?
He looked more closely and understood what was going on. The movie was trash, but the marketing was excellent.
Pain-point marketing.
Leaving the plot aside, they took the final conversation between the male and female leads in the hospital, added the voiceover, and paired it with sentimental music and copy to promote it on short-video platforms.
The target was young couples—specifically, the women.
Even if the guys knew it was a bad movie, if their girlfriends said they wanted to see it...
Would you give her a lecture on how bad it was and explain the details, or would you just agree to go with her?
Choosing the former would very likely lead to a fight; choosing the latter made the girlfriend happy, and at most, you’d waste an hour and a half.
Generally speaking, there was no choice.
That was why bad movies had poor reputations but respectable box office numbers.
Regarding this, Chen Ran could only say the marketing was pretty damn impressive.
Red light.
Zhang Fanzhi shot a glance at Chen Ran and saw him constantly playing with his phone. Her slender brows furrowed slightly, and she stepped on the brake a bit harder than necessary.
Chen Ran was startled. He looked up and was about to ask what was wrong when he heard Zhang Fanzhi say, "I'll probably go back to work the day after tomorrow."
"Work?"
Chen Ran was slightly stunned.
Only then did he realize something—as a star, how had Zhang Fanzhi managed to stay at home for so long instead of taking on commercials or commercial performances?
Zhang Fanzhi nodded. "I probably won't be back in Lin City very often."
Hearing this, Chen Ran's eyes lit up.
"Does that mean if you're away, Uncle Zhang and the others won't nag you anymore?"
If that were the case, wouldn't they be able to stop being a fake couple?
"Hehe."
Zhang Fanzhi gave a stiff, cold laugh.
"Anyway, when you're off work and with my dad, send me a WeChat. I'll call you whenever I have a moment."
Uh.
Chen Ran’s expression froze. That laugh was a bit ear-piercing. Why did they still have to act even when they weren't together?
He knew it wouldn't be that simple. He let out a sigh.
"Fine, go with peace of mind."
Hearing this, Zhang Fanzhi felt more and more that something was wrong. Her eyes fixed on Chen Ran. What did he mean by "go with peace of mind"? Was he cursing her?
Chen Ran also felt something was off and explained, "I mean, go to work with an easy mind. I’ll do my best not to blow our cover."
Zhang Fanzhi curled her lip and ignored him.
She drove Chen Ran home first. Just as she was about to pull away, she said, "I owe you a favor. If you run into any difficulties, look for me. I'll do my best to help."
Chen Ran gave a perfunctory nod, but in his heart, he thought he didn't really have anything he needed her help with.
Seeing his indifferent expression, Zhang Fanzhi felt a bit angry for some reason and slammed her hand on the horn.
The sudden blast in the dead of night startled Chen Ran.
"What are you doing?!"
Seeing his somewhat panicked expression, Zhang Fanzhi couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth. The frustration in her heart dissipated slightly.
She said calmly, "Nothing. There was a rat in front just now."
"A rat?" Hearing this unreliable answer, Chen Ran seriously suspected she had done it on purpose.
He didn't bother arguing with her and just waved his hand in annoyance.
"Just hurry up and go. Be careful on the road." After saying that, he turned and left.
Zhang Fanzhi pursed her lips. Chen Ran's impatient attitude made her unable to resist honking the horn one more time before she finally drove away.
"Are you crazy?!" Chen Ran turned around and cursed, but he only saw the glow of her taillights. He opened his mouth, furrowed his brows, and said nothing more.
Back at home, Chen Ran lay on his bed, feeling a bit off. His thoughts were a bit of a mess.
……
The next day when Chen Ran was at work, he suddenly received a WeChat message from Zhang Fanzhi.
“I’m at the airport, leaving today.”
Chen Ran was stunned for a moment and asked: “Wasn’t it supposed to be tomorrow?”
After a short while, a reply came back: “Work is a bit urgent.”
Chen Ran typed out a line of text: Around when will you be back?
But after thinking about it, he deleted it and simply replied: “Oh, I wish you success at work and a safe journey.”
There was no further reply from that side.
Chen Ran put down his phone, feeling that his mood today was just average.
During lunch, Director Zhang said: “Zhizhi is a star, so things are bound to be a bit busy. It’ll be better once you two get married; she’ll definitely be family-oriented then. Don’t be so gloomy.”
A literal question mark appeared on Chen Ran's face. Where exactly am I being gloomy?
And as for marriage and whatnot, they were currently in a fake relationship; he didn't even know when they might suddenly break up.
Chen Ran only thought these things in his heart and merely gave Director Zhang an embarrassed smile.
Director Zhang added: “With Zhizhi not at home, your Auntie Yun’s mood is bound to be poor. Come back with me for dinner after work; she’ll feel better when she sees you.”
“Alright, Uncle,” Chen Ran nodded.
When Zhang Fanzhi was home, he felt a bit awkward going to the Zhang house.
Now that she was away for work, he felt much more relaxed. He could go whenever he wanted without any mental burden.
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
Originally, Chen Ran had planned to head home for the weekend, but since he didn't have much money left, he could only abandon the idea and focus entirely on work, waiting until payday at the end of the month to go back.
Zhaonan Focus had been scheduled and would premiere this Friday.
Over the past few days, the promotion had been released on an overwhelming scale; many of the TV station's promotional resources had been set aside for them.
During this period, the news gathered by the reporters had also increased significantly.
As the various news segments were edited into final cuts, the members of the production crew selected them together and then began preparing the scripts for the host.
Director Liu Bing watched the news segments one by one and couldn't help but nod: “I think the response to our program should be quite good.”
Others chimed in in agreement and even started predicting the ratings:
“I feel it should reach 6%.”
“...That’s too conservative. I’m guessing 7%.”
“7%? That’s impossible, right? This is just a news program.”
“I estimate it’ll be between 5% and 7%...”
“You’re hedging your bets too much! Why don’t I just guess between 0.001% and 100%?!”
“There's no use thinking so much now. Let's just focus on making the program well first.”
Seeing that Chen Ran hadn't spoken, Liu Bing asked: “Chen Ran, what do you think?”
Since the core planning and promotion of the program were both based on Chen Ran's ideas, Liu Bing wanted to know his take on it.
Chen Ran smiled and said: “I’m quite optimistic, but as for guessing the ratings, I’ll pass. Our program is very good; its main purpose is to speak for the people. The concept is sound, and the content is interesting. The ratings won't be bad.”
Liu Bing shook his head: “That’s about the same as saying nothing at all.”
Chen Ran smiled but said nothing. If I actually said it, I’m afraid I’d scare you all.
Listening to their discussion just now, most were in line with Director Zhang’s expectations. If he said 10%, wouldn't he just be setting himself up as a laughingstock?
Moreover, he actually considered his estimate of 10% to be quite conservative.
He refrained from saying it because he didn't want people to think he was arrogant; it was better to leave a good impression.
In any case, there wasn't much time left until the broadcast. They would know then.