Chapter 159 Let's Play the QQ Pop-up Game Too

Pazi Wu, the founding pioneer of online literature!

Yu Baimei, a god-tier web novelist and screenwriter!

Mike, a god-tier web novelist and screenwriter!

Ning Caishen, a god-tier web novelist and screenwriter!

Heart of Darkness, founder of the Fantasy Association!

Sword Crazy, founder of the Fantasy Association!

...Qidian is a free creative platform where anyone can publish their works in any form. There are no barriers here. All of you who aspire to struggle, fight, and achieve fame on a brand-new platform can join this big online family called Qidian!...

Right at the launch of Qidian, this very sentence was emblazoned on its homepage, sparking a sudden impulse in the minds of countless netizens who still harbored a shred of dreams—even those with relatively low academic qualifications—an urge to turn what was in their hearts into online text!

Pazi Wu, who doesn't know he is a director? Coupled with those other names apparently being screenwriters, what does this mean? Doesn't it simply tell you that these novels have the potential to be adapted into scripts? And doesn't that mean achieving fame is just around the corner? As for the others like Heart of Darkness and Sword Crazy, well, who even knows who they are?

Fine, their current fame might be lacking, but one has to admit that this pitch possessed extreme seductive power, bound to lure countless people into trying their hand at writing. As for whether they would bomb or abandon their books midway in the future...

Let's not jinx it just yet; there are bound to be a few who manage to ascend to godhood.

The Qidian website was up and running, while Wu Xiang's primary profession remained that of a director. His current main task was the post-production of *Drawing Sword*.

The editing process was relatively straightforward. Because digital cameras were used, Wu Xiang completed the work in a remarkably short time. The speed was fast, but this definitely did not come at the expense of quality. High technology was indeed useful, and Wu Xiang finally got to enjoy its benefits this time around.

As for the other tasks, he already had plenty of experience, so naturally, no problems arose. The dubbing was done via synchronous recording, and for the musical score, Wu Xiang once again turned to Wu Tong. This guy possessed exceptional talent, and his previous work on *Emperor Wu of Han* had truly made people's ears perk up.

Only this time, it wasn't a historical period drama. Could he pull it off?

Wu Xiang had some concerns in this regard, but Wu Tong didn't care in the least. "It's just a television series. Leave it to me."

"This time, we're dealing with an anti-Japanese war drama. What kind of music or instruments are you planning to use?" Wu Xiang didn't quite understand, but he still needed to ask clearly.

"Simple. In war films, the rhythm is mainly fast-paced and passionate, and I'll be using the suona quite a bit. You know this instrument, right? Being from the Northeast, you definitely know it. On one hand, it sounds great with a strong sense of rhythm; on the other hand, it fits the historical background extremely well," Wu Tong gave his answer.

The suona. The moment he heard that instrument, Wu Xiang felt completely at ease, because the moment this thing was brought out, it exuded a rustic charm. Once it sounded, it felt as if one had been transported right back to the Loess Plateau.

Therefore, the musical score was left in Wu Tong's hands. Yet this guy was something else—having felt underpaid for *Emperor Wu of Han*, he demanded two hundred thousand yuan this time!

That was a direct doubling of his previous price, but Wu Xiang agreed anyway.

For no other reason than that Wu Xiang was simply unwilling to shortchange skilled technicians. You might think he drove those big stars mercilessly, but ever since he started directing films, he had never skimped on paying the art directors and musicians. In his view, our industry lacks talent in these areas, so instead of exploiting them, we should vigorously support them...

Besides, it was no big deal—the production cost of this television series had already been recouped long ago, hadn't it?

***

To Wu Xiang's surprise, while he was busy with post-production, rumors began circulating on the internet.

"Did you hear? That guy Wu Xiang is making a television series."

"Are you shitting me? He's the Golden Rooster Best Director, the youngest director around. Making a TV show? He's given up on movies?"

"So what? Not long ago, that thing called *Butterfly Dance at the Ends of the Earth*, that was directed by master director Chen Kaige himself!"

"Oh, give it a rest! Don't even mention that film; it's beyond terrible!"

"Wu, the master historical inventor, has fooled us all! That *Drawing Sword* isn't a movie at all; it's a TV series!"

"I've got first-hand intel: the TV series *Drawing Sword* is going to air in May this year, and it's on Liaoning TV!"

"What the fuck! Where did this news come from?"

"The guy above me is pretty badass!"... "Damn it! I got ninja'd! Above me, you bastard, did you have to post so fast?!"

Wu Xiang, the youngest Golden Rooster Best Director, stopped making films and made a television series instead!

How did this news leak? Wu Xiang's confidentiality measures had been quite solid. His original plan was to give the audience a surprise right around the premiere.

When Wu Xiang saw the uproar flaring up online again, the first person who came to mind was Old Shi, who always looked like an absolute drunkard. That guy definitely had some tricks up his sleeve, and this was something he was entirely capable of pulling off!

This was simply a form of pre-launch promotion and hype—completely normal. If the roles were reversed and Wu Xiang sat in the deputy station chief's chair, he would have done the exact same thing. Thus, it was a perfectly standard commercial tactic, and one could even say it was played rather brilliantly.

What further confirmed Wu Xiang's suspicion was an incoming call from Old Shi himself. Over the phone, the man spoke as follows:

"Oh my! Brother Wu, something terrible has happened! How does the entire internet already know about our new drama *Drawing Sword* airing? This isn't right. What on earth is going on here? Did someone let the cat out of the bag?"

When Wu Xiang heard this explanation, he actually translated Old Shi's words in his head into: "Brother Wu, wonderful news! The whole internet now knows about our new drama *Drawing Sword*, and what's more, it's airing on our Liaoning TV station. This move was brilliant—I was the one who deliberately leaked the news!"...

Very well. Whether Wu Xiang's translation met the standards of 'faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance' remained unknown, but since the man had so brazenly confessed, what more could Wu Xiang do?

It was merely a business tactic. Since things had reached this point, he had no choice but to officially make the matter public.

确实, there was indeed a sense of being pushed along by others, but one could only keep moving forward. What else could be done?

As for traditional media, that went without saying; Old Shi naturally had his connections there. Despite crying poverty day in and day out, a major television station possessed formidable networks and influence. That being the case, Wu Xiang took charge of promoting it online. Naturally, QQ once again began exercising its mighty power.

Pop-up windows!

Yes, precisely this gadget. Not only did they run advertisements on the QQ homepage, but Wu Xiang also came up with the idea of triggering a pop-up window for QQ users—especially those in Liaoning Province.

If this trick were used a dozen years later, it would be considered utterly mundane, so utterly mundane that nearly all of Tencent's products had employed it. But in this era, Ma Huateng was still quite innocent and hadn't yet thought of leveraging the resources of his free user base. For this matter, Wu Xiang even flew to Shenzhen personally to meet with Old Ma.

***

"Will this work? Won't people complain?" Ma Huateng asked with an indignant look on his face. He was genuinely considering things from the perspective of his customers at the moment.

Seeing that expression, Wu Xiang let out an internal sigh. This kid was simply too rigid.

"Old Ma, having this mindset is good, but you need to realize that this is also information. In other words, when people see this is an advertisement, will the vast masses of bored individuals with nothing to watch consider it an annoying ad? You have to understand why they go online in the first place—isn't it because they have nothing better to do? Now you're offering them an option: they can watch television together with their parents. How warm and wonderful is that? Right?"

Undeniably, Wu Xiang was spouting more specious logic, but it managed to stir up Ma Huateng's thoughts.

"That's true! Why didn't I think of that before?" Old Ma finally understood why his previous QQ Show sales hadn't done well—it was because he hadn't advertised to this pool of free users!

It is never too late to mend the fold even after some sheep have been lost, but Old Ma's grand plans would have to wait. Let's first figure out how to handle the pop-up windows for *Drawing Sword*.

Old Ma stated that there was a technical hurdle: they currently found it very difficult to send pop-up windows to users based on specific regions. Since Wu Xiang wanted to send them exclusively to users in Liaoning Province, implementing that would be quite troublesome. If they were going to do it, it would have to go out nationwide all at once.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiang almost burst out laughing. *Damn it, I originally thought targeting a single province would be easier, but you're telling me we have to go big or go home, and small-scale isn't an option?*

There was nothing left to ponder then. Let's just do a nationwide, unified pop-up window!

Matters on the internet were basically settled thusly. Other entertainment websites would follow up with coverage, which was no longer something Wu Xiang needed to worry about. Right now, he still had to attend a few interviews, particularly with Liaoning TV.

"The television series *Drawing Sword*, produced by renowned director Wu Xiang, is adapted from military novelist Du Liang's novel of the same name. Set against the grand historical backdrop of the Anti-Japanese War, this TV show crafts vivid and breathing characters for us one by one. Today, we are fortunate to invite the creative team behind the series. Hello, Director Wu."

"Hello!"

"Hello, Teacher Li Youbin."

"Hello!"

This was a program specially produced for *Drawing Sword*, initiated by Old Shi, who personally invited Wu Xiang and Teacher Li Youbin.

Although if the drama tanked in the ratings, Liaoning TV would win its bet with Wu Xiang and secure nine free secondary broadcast rights, in reality, Old Shi knew very well that he wasn't just acquiring the show to take advantage of that little perk. As long as there were ratings, any amount of money could be discussed.

"Director Wu, could you introduce this drama to our vast audience?"

Wu Xiang was quite eloquent and immediately replied, "I can only say that this is a completely different anti-Japanese war drama. Viewers have definitely never seen anything like it before. I can't say much more, or I'll be spoiling the plot, which wouldn't be good. I think we should let Teacher Li talk about it, because Teacher Li's character is the soul of the entire show."

"Hahaha..." Teacher Li laughed with a faint trace of Li Yunlong's flavor. "As for the protagonist in this story, I dare say that in my acting career, I've never encountered anyone like him before. As for whether I'll ever encounter another one in the future, I wouldn't dare say. Really, it's not that I lack confidence, but this shooting experience is something I will never, ever forget..."

Teacher Li spoke fluently. Of course, he also knew where to draw the line; on a program like this, you couldn't give away spoilers while still needing to hook the audience into watching...

***

**Author's Note:**

Thanks to Brother Orange, Brother Longshao, and Brother Frost Sorcerer for their monthly tickets! Thank you very much! Thanks to Brother Longshao for yet another tip, thank you very much! Three chapters today, starting with the first one. Thanks for everyone's support.