It was late August, right in the middle of Great Zhou's…
"Hey, I heard from a friend—Jing Yu might be going back to working with 'Yunteng TV'."
"For real? He already grossed over a billion with 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' and 'Love Letter'. Why would he go back to Yunteng TV?"
"Money, duh. Who says no to more? Maybe he's got a solid TV script."
"If I had a good script and already raked in that kind of money, I'd let it rot in my drawer before giving a TV station a chance to squeeze me dry. Writers spend months creating a drama, the station earns hundreds of millions, and the writer gets a few hundred thousand at most."
"Well, he's not exactly 'selling himself' back to Yunteng TV. It's a partnership. I heard he's self-funding his next drama and just selling Yunteng TV the broadcast rights. He keeps all the IP and licensing revenue."
"Huh?"
"Yeah. That kind of deal. Yunteng TV actually agreed to it?"
"What choice do they have? Jing Yu has the upper hand now. Yunteng TV isn't his only option anymore, but for Yunteng TV, his shows guarantee ratings. Haven't you figured it out yet? That weirdo Jing Yu, his unconventional and innovative stories push Yunteng TV's ratings up to 7%, 8%, and even past 10%. No other screenwriter—not even the gold-medal writers from the Big Three stations—can match that. Their work is good, sure, but formulaic. That works on the Big Three, but at Yunteng TV? That formula doesn't always land."
"Damn, he's a model for all of us. Only twenty-seven and already partnering with Yunteng TV on equal footing. And look at me, twenty years at Aurora TV, mostly just supporting others' scripts... sigh."
"Let it go. He's the kind of once-in-decades genius in our field. No point comparing yourself. What baffles me is how trash Jinhui TV must've been. They had a genius like him as an assistant screenwriter for two years, then locked him down with a long-term contract over some internal faction politics."
"Guys, stop blowing smoke. Here's something even crazier—breaking news! Yunteng TV just approved a decision at this morning's meeting: they're giving Jing Yu an interest-free loan of 90 million yuan to kickstart production on his winter season drama."
"Wait. Loan? Interest-free? What does that even mean?"
"It means Yunteng TV gives him money up front to make the show. Then he sells them the broadcast rights. He pays the money back with the proceeds."
"What???"
"Mind blown!!!"
"That's insane..."
"He basically keeps the IP for free?"
"Holy hell. The pride of the screenwriting world! Jing Yu's a freakin' genius. Why would Yunteng TV agree to this? I'm speechless."
Among people working in the TV industry, small social circles formed naturally. Even though the TV stations themselves competed fiercely, their staff often hung out together after hours, grabbing drinks or gossiping.
So by the afternoon, the decision Yunteng TV had made in the morning had spread to all six major stations.
A lot of insiders—especially high-ups from the other networks—were furious when they heard it.
"Does Yunteng TV have any self-respect left?"
"Just for the sake of ratings, you'll stoop this low?"
"Have some backbone, damn it! You're lending him money to shoot a drama, then paying him again to broadcast it? And he keeps all the rights? This is humiliating."
Of course, their outrage mostly stemmed from jealousy. Because now that Yunteng TV had agreed to such an "embarrassing" deal, it only meant one thing:
Jing Yu will be returning in October.
Sure, no one can stay at the top forever. Even Jing Yu is bound to flop someday if he sticks around in the industry long enough.
But no one at the Six Majors was naïve enough to believe his next drama would be that flop.
The Big Three stations were already on high alert.
Xingtong TV and Imperial Capital TV tried to reach out to Jing Yu, hoping to snag the broadcast rights for his upcoming drama. Cutting Yunteng off would mean one less competitor for winter season ratings.
But Jing Yu's reply?
"If you're willing to give me an interest-free loan of 150 million yuan, we can talk."
The execs at Xingtong and Imperial Capital TV were stunned.
"Does he think we're Yunteng TV?!"
"So 90 million is good enough for Yunteng TV, but we have to offer 150 million? Is he looking down on us?"
Well, that ended the conversation quickly.
Yunteng TV might be shameless—but the Big Three still had pride. If they were going to invest 150 million, it would be better to put it into a massive in-house production and beat Jing Yu head-on.
On August 26th, after hours, all production department staff at the Big Three were summoned for a meeting.
Last year, Jing Yu dominated two of the four quarters. This summer, his hit 'Dragon Zakura' had blown up. Tons of students even credited their college entrance exam success to the show, saying it inspired them to cram like crazy for three months. The merchandise on Yunteng TV's official site? People were buying it purely out of gratitude.
It's ridiculous—those were their own achievements, and they credited it to a drama? Tragic.
Still, whether he had technically left Yunteng TV or not, Jing Yu's presence continued to loom large.
"So the most Yunteng TV can lend us is 90 million, right? Got it." Jing Yu gave a small nod.
"If we're going to sign the contracts, I'm free for the next few days. If you're busy, I can bring my lawyer to your office tomorrow. We'll finalize the loan agreement and broadcast deal. Minister Meng—looking forward to working together."
He ended the call with a smile.
"Well? It was Yunteng TV, right?" Cheng Lie poked his oversized head into the room.
"Yep. Exactly as your source at the station said. Yunteng agreed to our 90 million interest-free loan request. The only condition is that it must be used entirely on the co-produced drama," Jing Yu replied.
Of course, that condition was obvious—and Jing Yu had no intention of misusing the funds. He hated being in debt. As soon as the profits from 'Love Letter' and 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' came in, he'd repay them immediately.
"It's already late August... we've got just over a month. Once the contracts are signed, the money should arrive pretty quickly. I'll have to trouble you, Cheng Lie, with assembling the production crew."
"That's no big deal. But... Jing Yu, what's this new drama going to be about? Got it figured out yet?"
"You handle your side. As for the script..." Jing Yu looked over at Cheng Lie.
"You'll see it... in three days."
Three days?
Cheng Lie glanced at the game discs on Jing Yu's desk.
Back in the game world for only a few days, and already found inspiration for a new show?