Chapter 157: First Update

Chapter 157: First Update

Luo Song, Jiang Meiye's husband, was miserable for several days, afraid to go out. He always felt that other people's gazes were filled with scrutiny and mockery, making his old face flush red with embarrassment.

Luo Song quarreled with Jiang Meiye several times over this, and it almost led to a divorce. However, Jiang Meiye still refused to change her writing style, nor would she give up writing.

"If you want a divorce, then let's divorce. The sons will stay with you, and the daughter will stay with me," Jiang Meiye said firmly.

At this point, their sons, knowing how much Jiang Meiye was earning from her manuscripts, were unwilling to leave her. One by one, they clung to Jiang Meiye's legs, saying, "Mom, I'll go with you!"

"I'll go with you, along with my sister!"

"No! Mom, I'll go with you too!"

Jiang Meiye smiled bitterly in her heart. In the past, she had worked hard at home, serving the old and the young, but never earned any praise. Now, as she distanced herself from household chores, everyone praised her, and even her sons preferred to stay with her.

It just goes to show that money is far more reliable than a man.

"You, you, you... Ah, the kids are all grown up now. Let's just muddle through life together."

In the end, Luo Song was still unwilling to divorce Jiang Meiye, and the husband and wife continued to live together, making the best of a bad situation. Jiang Meiye even wrote a short story about it, in which the male protagonist stayed by the female protagonist's side, living a life of pettiness and compromise for money...

Luo Song read it and was so angry that his blood pressure spiked!

And yet, what she wrote was undeniably true.

In the spring of 1981, Qin Yao was preparing to start filming a television series, with a budget of one million yuan. With the economic reforms, a variety of imported appliances started flooding the market, and similarly, foreign production lines were introduced. The domestic television industry also grew rapidly, with each province establishing its own television station, leading to an increasing demand for content, especially television series.

More affluent stations, like the one in Shanghai, directly introduced foreign television series, flaunting their financial power. Meanwhile, the less wealthy ones purchased domestically produced series at lower prices.

In recent years, many households had become "ten-thousand-yuan households" and recognized that producing television series was a hot new venture, all rushing into the industry. By this time, Qin Yao was no longer a pioneer in this field but rather lagging behind.

The cost of producing a television series ran into the hundreds of thousands, which was too expensive for small-time businessmen to afford. However, they could still participate by investing in these projects. Some made huge profits, while others ended up empty-handed, or worse, were cheated and left bankrupt as their partners ran off with the money.

Having experienced the past two years, Qin Yao realized that while there were plenty of opportunities to make money, there were also countless financial risks. She was cautious and did not easily collaborate with those she had not dealt with before.

This time, in preparing to film the television series, she chose to fund it entirely on her own. At this point, Qin Yao owned a blockbuster monthly journal that earned millions and had dividends from the Third Brother Electrical Appliances Company. Even if a project cost one or two million yuan without much success, it wouldn't hurt her financially.

She decided to adapt Jiang Meiye's novel *The Fisherwoman* into a TV series. The story was comparable to the later Mary Sue tales, a tumultuous love story involving the female protagonist and several men.

The female protagonist was very kind and pure, and every man fell in love with her, wanting to help her—except for her own husband, who constantly dragged her down with his infidelity.

As Qin Yao flipped through the script, she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down several times.

Yet, despite the awful script, its ratings were bound to skyrocket, as many audience members at the time loved this kind of story.

The female protagonist was sincere and kind, but tragically, she was married to a worthless man—something that resonated deeply with viewers!

Although she was married to a worthless man, all sorts of young, handsome men entered her life. The neighbor's younger brother liked her, and the childhood sweetheart, a male officer, adored her... But she didn't choose any of them. Even though she loved the childhood sweetheart, she still clung to her worthless husband.

Qin Yao was infuriated. It wasn't until halfway through the series that just after promising to turn over a new leaf, the husband died heroically while saving someone, exiting the story early.

Qin Yao: "..." Alright, the dramatic tension was off the charts.

Afterward, the female protagonist, who had finally found mutual love with a mature man and married him, had her children start causing trouble, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats once more.

In the end, this good man was worn out and died, leaving the children filled with regret.

At this moment, the story took a dramatic turn. The female lead encountered her pure and affectionate childhood friend, who was now an important figure. His wife had just passed away, and the two rekindled their past relationship...

Qin Yao: “...”

It was a plot that made people feel heart-stricken and too absurd to criticize. Yet, the book was extremely popular. Even Gu Cheng couldn’t help but read it cover to cover. After finishing it, he felt as if a piece of candy was stuck in his throat—it was a bit sweet but also stuck, impossible to spit out.

Qiao Jie and Chen Xiaoyun had even more bizarre reactions, especially Chen Xiaoyun. She cried after finishing the story, finding it incredibly touching!

“It’s wonderful! So touching, wow wow wow, the story took a dramatic turn, and they ended up together after all.”

“Xiao Jiang is such an amazing writer.”

The public's reactions were overwhelming, and Qin Yao couldn’t fight against reality. No shame in making money. When making a TV show, you have to create something that people love to watch.

She planned to invest one million in the production. Third Sister-in-law Xie Hongni wanted to get involved, but Qin Yao declined her, “With this amount of money, there’s no need, Sister-in-law. However, I can help promote your appliances at the end of the show.”

“How can we do the promotion?”

Qin Yao: “The latter part of the TV show is set in the 1980s. We can place advertisements for the food and items the main characters use.”

“Yaoyao, that’s a great idea!”

At that time, TV shows could only be filmed on location. The money was spent on real things—equipment costs, accommodation, and food for the crew, etc. The actors' salaries were not high, with the highest being 30 episodes, and the pay took up a very small portion of the budget.

Qin Yao also conducted a round of advertising. With the support of her journal and the prestigious reputation of Jiang Meiyeh’s pen name, she secured 1.5 million in advertising fees, making it almost a no-cost production, and she made back the initial investment right from the start.

In the spring of 1982, the TV show *The Fisherwoman* became a huge hit. The streets were deserted as everyone stayed home to talk about this TV show. As the plot unfolded, almost everyone was cursing the male lead's husband. Luo Song felt too embarrassed to go out, as if everyone was cursing him.

*

The neighbors in the family building were also hotly discussing it:

“To be fair, this husband eventually reformed and became quite a good person.”

“Don’t look at me like this, but I actually played two roles in the show. This childhood officer is also me.”

“Pfft—I don’t believe it. It might as well be old Gu.”

“Even if not old Gu, it could be old Meng. I think he looks quite like old Meng.”

...

Luo Song, with a bitter expression, smoked a cigarette and thought about how miserable he was, “Don’t marry any woman, especially one who is educated or can write. Look what she’s done to men! She’s nailed me to the pillar of shame.”

“Serves you right! Look at Xiao Qin, who also writes books. How come old Gu is always portrayed positively?”

“He’s fooling everyone with his looks.”

“What about old Meng then?”

“...”

Qin Yao, however, didn’t care about Luo Song’s pain. This TV show alone earned her tens of millions and was even distributed overseas. No matter how bizarre the plot was, people just loved it.

Qin Yao established her own separate film production company, planning to focus on developing TV shows going forward. The headquarters would be in Yangcheng, with a branch and filming base set up on an island, where many places were suitable for shooting mythological dramas.

With millions in hand, Qin Yao was preparing to open a wildlife zoo on the island. This initiative received strong support from government officials, and she was able to acquire the land at the lowest possible price, with the requirement that it be used for animal conservation purposes.

"What procedures are needed if I want to adopt a giant panda?"

"Adoption is difficult to arrange. However, if you’re lucky enough to encounter a rescue situation, it’s first-come, first-served."

Qin Yao was stunned. "We don’t encounter giant pandas around here."

"That’s not necessarily true. A while back, the customs intercepted two, and they were kept in the province."

She wasn’t aware that many zoos were qualified to rescue wild pandas back then, but pandas were rarely seen. Some people took risks for profit, engaging in illegal activities such as capturing and farming pandas, slaughtering them for their skins, or even smuggling them abroad...

At that time, many people lacked the concept of wildlife protection. For money, even national treasures were slaughtered without hesitation, which shocked Qin Yao to the core.

The idea of opening a zoo came to her in a moment of inspiration, initially for creative purposes, but now she wanted to run it well and provide a comfortable home for the animals.

Life is short, and in the end, you can’t spend all the money you earn. So why not do something meaningful?

*

Gu Cheng didn’t object to his wife’s zoo plans, but he didn’t offer much advice either. "With two baby tigers and a monkey at home, as long as you’re not bothered by the hassle, I’m fine with it."

"You don’t have a choice!"

After completing his training in 1982, Gu Cheng got promoted three times in quick succession. Seeing him in his new military uniform made Qin Yao feel like she was looking at a different man.

The family boarded a boat to return to the island. The two-year-old toddler was very excited, sitting on her father’s shoulders, drooling. Her two older brothers never got this kind of treatment, but she loved being carried by her dad and hated walking.

She was quite different from her two "husky-like" brothers.

The couple reminisced about the past. Around the same time, they had chosen to travel on the same old ship, which, despite its age, was still sailing.

The people hadn’t aged, and neither had the ship. New coats of paint had restored its shine, but the wear and tear inside reminded them of the passage of time.

"Is this really the same ship? It feels different from what I remember."

Gu Cheng: "It’s the real deal."

The detail-oriented Captain Gu began to explain various details to Qin Yao, including ship data and the equipment updates over the years.

Feeling overwhelmed, Qin Yao asked, "Are you really that knowledgeable about fishing boats?"

"Comrade, I remember both of you..."

Qin Yao turned to see two unfamiliar middle-aged people.

Gu Cheng recognized them immediately. "They were educated youths on the ship ten years ago."

"You... are you here for a nostalgia trip?" The person took off their sun hat and fanned themselves. In recent years, "nostalgia trips" had become trendy, with educated youths returning to the places they had been sent to, or some going back to where they had been exiled.

Qin Yao: "Something like that."

"Are you married? You have three children now? I could tell you were a couple back then. Your appearance left a deep impression. Even after ten years, I can’t forget it. I didn’t expect you to look so good after losing weight..."

"Your husband, I remember he was from the fishing company?"

Qin Yao: "...Yes."