When an author’s concept becomes text, it often differs greatly from what was imagined; similarly, when adapting a novel into a TV series, the final product might also turn out very differently from expectations.
Huang Sibo actually didn’t have much strong confidence in the first three episodes of “The Successor.”
On one hand, “The Successor” itself was a satirical subject, and many of its plot developments might seem unreasonable to people, making it difficult to evaluate by traditional standards;
On the other hand, the first three episodes were probably the least enjoyable episodes of “The Successor.”
Phil, as the protagonist, was manhandled by a burly man right from his first appearance, kneeling and begging with tears streaming down his face on the rooftop, making a complete fool of himself.
In the subsequent plot, he beat his maid and butler to vent his anger and displayed impotent rage, which would definitely make viewers uncomfortable.
The segment where Phil went to investigate superhero talent shows was a necessary foundation—without this part, the later plot couldn’t be established—but its connection to the main storyline was relatively weak.
The later episodes all had some grand scenes, whether it was contestants competing against each other in the talent show, or the final series of public safety incidents where superheroes stepped forward to show off special effects—all of these were at least exciting to watch.
Only the first three episodes had no exciting action scenes at all.
In summary, this series might have been unconventional from the start, not catering to popular taste, and the first three episodes were all about laying groundwork, completely lacking any satisfying moments.
Although Huang Sibo had also read the original novel, he had read it with adaptation in mind. Moreover, when reading a book, one could skim through these plots quickly, so he didn’t feel the problem was so serious at that time.
Now that the finished product was out, he suddenly became worried: would these three episodes be heavily criticized when released?
Forget the audience—Huang Sibo himself could find many points to criticize.
But strictly speaking, these points of criticism weren’t really criticisms; it all depended on how one understood the story. Content that was completely unacceptable to some viewers might be seen as the essence of the story by others.
This made Huang Sibo very conflicted and unprecedentedly uncertain.
If this drama had been a low-budget mini-series, that would have been fine, but the key was that it had a large investment!
If it failed terribly, could Fei Huang Studio’s reputation be preserved?
However, what Huang Sibo didn’t expect was that Mr. Pei actually nodded slightly, showing a satisfied smile on his face: “Hmm, very good! Excellent!”
Pei Qian felt similar to Huang Sibo—after watching these first three episodes, the plot was quite unlikable!
Of course, the details of this show were very good, the actors’ performances were on point, various details were maximized, and the filming techniques were mature—it was completely a high-quality series.
Lu Zhiyao, Zhang Zuting, and Lin Jiaqiang had all made cameo appearances in the drama.
Among them, Lu Zhiyao played a Chinese-American superhero with relatively more screen time;
Zhang Zuting played a judge on the talent show, as he was indeed a professional in that role;
Lin Jiaqiang played a bystander with more scenes, representing the ordinary people who were completely trapped in Phil’s information cocoon and manipulated.
In addition, several old friends of Zhang Zuting and even the crew members had made brief cameo appearances, playing bystanders.
This drama had indeed well-represented the core of the original “The Successor,” but the problem was that the original wasn’t that great either!
It was ultimately a series that didn’t conform to mainstream aesthetics. Phil’s character and his actions were inherently repulsive. This was manageable in a novel, but when actually portrayed visually, this level of disgust was amplified.
The drama was shot in America with a considerable investment, yet it was released only in China and entirely in English, which naturally had a deterrent effect.
Once these three episodes were released, wouldn’t they have a grand opening—no, a disastrous opening?
Well, at least there was finally some good news!
Pei Qian even thought about commending Zhu Xiaocai and letting him out of his suffering travel early.
But on second thought, he temporarily dismissed the idea.
First, the series hadn’t been released yet, so whether it would be popular or not was uncertain. Initially, “Beautiful Tomorrow” was also thought unlikely to succeed, but who could have imagined what happened?
Second, merits couldn’t offset faults. Zhu Xiaocai was currently suffering because of the box office earnings from his previous films. Even if “The Successor” truly suffered a terrible loss, any reward would be a matter for later.
Seeing Mr. Pei’s satisfied expression, Huang Sibo couldn’t help but doubt his own judgment.
Mr. Pei was so optimistic about it?
Then obviously I was too lacking in confidence!
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense—”The Successor” was a copyright adaptation project personally approved by Mr. Pei, so he naturally highly endorsed this story. Now that Zhu Xiaocai had completely captured the essence of the original work, what was there to worry about?
“Eternal Cycle” had already become a hit as the first work in the Terminal Chinese Network adaptation plan, proving the precision of Mr. Pei’s vision.
So “The Successor” would definitely be fine too!
Pei Qian looked at Meng Chang: “How about it, this subject should be easy to work with, right?”
With such a messy start, wouldn’t it be easy to get a high commission with minimal effort?
Meng Chang nodded: “Yes, the difficulty is moderate. I’ll do my best.”
In his view, this drama indeed aligned with the tone of the Pei-style promotion method, and the approach was very clear.
But he didn’t have much experience with TV dramas. While getting a commission might be relatively easy, achieving a final turnaround to make it wildly popular might not be so simple.
Now, Meng Chang was no longer satisfied with just earning a commission. In his view, the true perfection was both earning a commission and perfectly implementing the Pei-style promotion method to make the project ultimately explode in popularity.
So, he considered this project of moderate difficulty—not very hard, but still requiring some careful thought.
Pei Qian wasn’t particularly satisfied with Meng Chang’s response.
For such a simple promotional plan, you still say “moderate difficulty”?
Are you still the confident, brilliant Meng Chang?
But thinking about it again, Meng Chang might have become once bitten, twice shy. His previous failures and the painful experience of losing commissions that were almost in hand had made him less confident, which was understandable.
It seemed he would need to encourage him more in the future.
Pei Qian looked at Meng Chang: “You should be more confident in the future. How can such a simple plan be called ‘moderate difficulty’?”
Meng Chang nodded somewhat shamefully: “Yes, Mr. Pei, I’ll definitely work harder in the future.”
Watching Mr. Pei leave, Meng Chang couldn’t help but sigh to himself.
No matter how much he had learned, in front of Mr. Pei, he still felt like an unsatisfactory slow student!
It seemed that this time, he really needed to seriously work on the promotional plan for “The Successor” to show Mr. Pei his progress!
…
Meanwhile, at the Starbird Fitness flagship store.
Che Rong was explaining the next phase expansion plan for Starbird Fitness to Li Shi.
“Mr. Li, I’ve thought about it. Regarding the latest ‘Real Estate Agent Simulator,’ I plan to purchase an additional batch of VR headsets to be placed in the rest area, specifically for viewing houses in the game.”
“There’s no extra charge, but customers must make any amount of purchase in the store on the same day to use them, even if it’s just buying a bottle of mineral water.”
“It’s still the same guiding principle as before: not competing with Tenda’s Sloth Apartments, but developing in a different position.”
“Moreover, I think Starbird Fitness can also expand to other cities outside the province along with Sloth Apartments and Slackin’ Internet Café. As long as we coordinate with Tenda’s industries, development will definitely be smooth!”
Li Shi nodded frequently while drinking his tea.
Since Starbird Fitness had found the right path, it had entered a period of rapid development.
Tenda’s Dream Venture Capital and investors like Mr. Li had all invested in Starbird Fitness. Now Starbird Fitness had ample funds, and its stores were about to cover all major cities in Handong Province.
Che Rong had always adhered to the original guiding principle, which was to compete with Slackin’ Internet Café from a different position.
By opening locations not far from Tenda’s industries, but with core business operations that didn’t conflict with Tenda’s various industries, they could naturally integrate into Tenda’s system.
Branch stores had been opening one after another, all with good performance, but they lacked an opportunity to break out of Handong Province and enter first-tier cities.
After all, the popularity of Doubt VR headsets had somewhat declined recently, and Starbird Fitness relied solely on “Fitness Battle” and smart fitness clothes racks for promotion, which was a bit insufficient.
But now, with the release of “Real Estate Agent Simulator” and the establishment of Chi Xing Studio’s Real Service Department, Starbird Fitness naturally had a new business model!
Che Rong knew that Starbird Fitness definitely needed to seize this opportunity and provide good service for the game “Real Estate Agent Simulator.”
But exactly how to do it still required careful consideration.
In the end, Che Rong decided to differ from Slackin’ Internet Café, emphasizing two different experiences.
Slackin’ Internet Café had a VR game zone that offered a complete, uncut gaming experience. Players could go there to view houses in “Real Estate Agent Simulator,” upload their own house layouts, or experience other content in the game.
Since Slackin’ Internet Café was already doing this, Starbird Fitness shouldn’t do the same.
On one hand, this was because the businesses of the two shouldn’t overlap; on the other hand, it was also because Starbird Fitness ultimately had to focus on fitness as its main business. The complete experience of “Real Estate Agent Simulator” required a large space, which Starbird Fitness stores could hardly spare.
So, Che Rong decided to make use of the rest area that already existed in the stores.
Customers only needed to make any purchase in the store on the same day to use VR headsets in the rest area to view houses, which was an extremely low-cost incentive.
For Starbird Fitness, this was like providing an additional benefit to their customers, while also attracting more people to consume in the store, possibly converting them into clients after a few visits.
For tenants, if they were reluctant to buy VR headsets, coming here to spend a small amount and then putting on VR headsets to look at houses was also an option.
After all, just for viewing houses, VR headsets were sufficient, and they didn’t require much space—one could view while standing or sitting.
If tenants became interested in this game or other game content in the VR headsets, they could also turn left when leaving and go to a nearby Slackin’ Internet Café, or simply order a VR headset online to experience the complete content.
After listening to Che Rong’s explanation, Li Shi nodded with satisfaction.
“Hmm, not bad.”
“You must remember that after receiving investment from Dream Venture Capital, Starbird Fitness has actually started to integrate into Tenda’s industries.”
“As long as you always remember to compete from a different position with Tenda’s existing industries, focus on being the green leaf that complements, and follow Tenda’s consistent style, even just drinking the soup can be very filling.”
“Never be like Zhujia Group, completely opposing the principles of the Tenda Group—that would be terrible.”
“Gentlemen love wealth but acquire it properly. Learn more from Mr. Pei’s business model, or else Mr. Pei can turn a blind eye to let Starbird Fitness grow, but he can also turn on you mercilessly like he did with Zhujia Group.”
Che Rong hurriedly nodded: “Rest assured, Mr. Li, I understand this principle. Starbird Fitness was able to develop thanks to the new opportunities brought by Tenda. Even if I lost my mind, I wouldn’t dare to go against Mr. Pei!”