On the morning of January 27, Penguin Video headquarters suddenly called an impromptu meeting of senior executives.
By 9 a.m., the large conference room was already packed. CEO Ma Mingyuan sat at the head of the table, beaming. His spirits were so high, he was the very picture of a man enjoying good fortune.
Strangely, though, the meeting still hadn't officially begun.
The executives seated on either side exchanged puzzled looks. Everyone was here, yet the meeting wouldn't start. What was President Ma waiting for?
One thing was certain: whatever they were discussing today, it had to be good news.
Just look at President Ma's grin. It was practically stretching from ear to ear!
After another ten minutes or so, the office door opened. Xiao Zhang, President Ma's secretary, walked in with a bright smile. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear, then placed a few sheets of paper in front of him before stepping back to stand nearby.
President Ma glanced over the documents she'd brought him, then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Sorry to keep you all waiting. Let's get started!"
"President Ma, is there some good news for the company?" one department head finally couldn't help asking.
Ma Mingyuan laughed again. "You could call it a victory at this stage. Today really is a day worth remembering."
"A day worth remembering?" The executives looked at one another, but none of them could think of anything special about the date.
Ma Mingyuan cleared his throat. "Just now, Penguin Video's VIP membership officially passed the 50-million mark!"
"We've passed 50 million?" No one had guessed that this was the good news President Ma had been talking about.
Penguin Video had always been slightly behind iQIYI Video in VIP membership numbers. How had it suddenly passed 50 million? When had iQIYI Video crossed that threshold? Why hadn't they announced it?
Ma Mingyuan continued, "The company's performance over the past year has been excellent, especially over the past month. The group is very pleased. The chairman called me personally this morning and told me not to hesitate to reward the departments that performed exceptionally well this year. So I asked the data department to conduct a thorough analysis."
He picked up the chart in front of him and went on. "Using a range of metrics, the Big Data Center ranked each Penguin Video department by its contribution to the growth in new memberships over the past year. The top three departments will receive generous rewards, and their heads will be given priority for promotion."
Ma Mingyuan paused, then continued. "I won't keep you in suspense. This year's third-place department is the Drama Purchasing Department!"
Everyone turned to look at Gong Cheng, Head of Drama Purchasing Department.
"Congratulations, Director Gong!"
"Congratulations!"
"Director Gong, your leadership has paid off. You're young and accomplished!"
Leaders from the other departments turned to offer Gong Cheng their congratulations.
Gong Cheng's face flushed red.
Making the top three on the annual contribution list was an honor he had dreamed of for years—one he had envied for just as long.
Dai Ying, seated to his left, had climbed the ranks ahead of him by placing on the list several years in a row. She had reached the position of senior vice president before he did.
The Drama Purchasing Department had performed exceptionally well last year, so Gong Cheng had long expected it to make the list this year. But at the end of the year, Young Bao Qingtian had suddenly appeared and left him genuinely worried for a while.
Dai Ying was already a senior vice president at Penguin Video, so whether she made the list didn't mean all that much to her. But for him, the list was extremely important.
At last, the worry that had weighed on him for so long was gone.
After the congratulations died down, Ma Mingyuan continued, "Second place on this year's departmental contribution list goes to the In-House Variety Show Center!"
"The In-House Variety Show Center? How could it be that department?"
Everyone was baffled.
Wouldn't the obvious choice be Penguin Video's Marketing Department?
After all, the In-House Variety Show Center had produced two smash-hit variety shows this year: Produce 101 and National King.
Either one of them had achieved Phenomenon Level success.
Produce 101 in particular had set off a nationwide craze, with everyone getting involved. With two Phenomenon Level hits under its belt, the In-House Variety Show Center should have been a shoo-in for first place. How had it ended up second?
In other words, if even the In-House Variety Show Center had only made second place, who could possibly have taken first?
"Could it be the Marketing Department? I haven't heard of them doing anything major. How did they suddenly come in first?"
"This meeting just keeps getting more interesting!"
Things that had been predictable in previous years had become a mystery this time around.
Seeing the executives' eager eyes fixed on him, Ma Mingyuan didn't drag things out. "This year's top department is the In-House Drama Center, led by President Dai!"
Most of the room was stunned.
"Wasn't the In-House Drama Center supposed to have had a worse year than usual? How did they go from being perennial third place to suddenly taking first?"
"Did the In-House Drama Center produce any hit web dramas this year? I haven't heard of any."
"I haven't either. A few shows did pretty well, but none were Phenomenon Level hits! Was it just Young Bao Qingtian at the end of the year? Only six episodes had been released before the holiday. Surely even if it was a hit, it couldn't have made that much difference to their full-year numbers!"
"Congratulations, President Dai. You've made the rest of us men look bad!"
"President Dai proves that women are every bit as capable as men!"
Looking at the executives, whose faces were practically emblazoned with disbelief, Ma Mingyuan explained, "Last year, the In-House Drama Center under President Dai didn't produce any Phenomenon Level hits. But all the shows it produced independently or helped produce were consistently high quality. So even without a massive hit to lead the way, the center still made an outstanding contribution to the company."
Gong Cheng, who had just taken third place, suddenly felt as though his award wasn't nearly as special.
Ma Mingyuan went on, "The In-House Drama Center was always going to take second place. First place seemed a little out of reach. But no one could have expected Young Bao Qingtian to burst onto the scene at the end of the year. Taken together, all these factors put the In-House Drama Center in first place on Penguin Video's annual departmental contribution list."
Once the executives had absorbed the news, CEO Ma Mingyuan continued, "Yesterday, the head of the Data Center told me that Penguin Video's VIP membership numbers had surged over the past couple of days. After analyzing the data, the center found that the vast majority of these new VIP members had signed up for one of three shows: Palace Scheme, Produce 101, and Young Bao Qingtian. Young Bao Qingtian in particular brought Penguin Video over 500,000 new members in just one day."
"Director Gong, President Liu, President Dai, work out a reward plan together after the meeting. Penguin Video never hesitates to reward excellent shows like these!"
"Understood, President Ma!"
"Got it, President Ma!"
"Will do, President Ma!"
IQIYI Video headquarters.
CEO Zhao Qi had just received the latest figures from the data department.
The daily views of The Legend of Consort Chen on iQIYI Video had passed 60 million, reaching an astonishing 65 million. On Gua Video, its daily views had also topped 40 million. That meant The Legend of Consort Chen had passed 100 million views across all platforms in a single day.
Of course, because of differences in how the platforms counted views, trailers were included and repeat views caused by refreshing a disconnected stream were counted again. This inevitably inflated the numbers. But every major platform counted views that way; it wasn't a problem unique to any one of them.
Regardless, The Legend of Consort Chen passing 100 million views across all platforms in one day was still an achievement worth celebrating.
Yesterday, The Legend of Consort Chen had actually fallen behind Young Bao Qingtian and Palace Scheme in single-platform views. Its numbers across all platforms were still far ahead, but the result was far from perfect.
Now things were looking up. The Legend of Consort Chen's growth had far exceeded expectations. It wasn't just going to be number one in views across all platforms—it was going to take the lead on a single platform, too. If they were going to win, they'd win decisively.
IQIYI Video's VIP membership numbers were rapidly approaching 50 million. At their current rate, they were sure to cross the threshold within two days at most. He'd heard Penguin Video was also close to 50 million, but it didn't matter. IQIYI Video had always been ahead of Penguin Video in membership numbers, and now it had The Legend of Consort Chen, its trump card. Reaching 50 million first was only a matter of time.
Just then, he received a call from one of his subordinates. His expression changed.
He opened WeChat and tapped the message the subordinate had just sent. A news headline caught his eye.
"Penguin Video VIP Membership Officially Passes 50 Million, Marking the Start of the 50-Million-Member Era for Paid Online Video!"
"January 27—Penguin Video has announced its latest VIP membership figures. As of 9:23 a.m. this morning, its VIP membership officially surpassed 50 million, marking the beginning of the 50-million-member era for paid video services in China."
"A department head at Penguin Video told our reporter that even the company itself was somewhat surprised by the milestone. According to previous estimates from the Data Center, Penguin Video probably wouldn't pass the 50-million-member mark until after the Lunar New Year."
"But with a slate of excellent new shows—including Young Bao Qingtian and Palace Scheme—going live, the site's VIP membership numbers immediately began to soar. The release of Young Bao Qingtian's VIP episodes was especially effective: in just one day, it brought Penguin Video 800,000 new members, making it a major contributor to the company's early passage of the 50-million mark!"
Zhao Qi stared at the news link on his phone. His face suddenly turned ashen.
"Young Bao Qingtian. It's Young Bao Qingtian again! How is this show everywhere?"
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