Page 39

As far as she knew, after seeing the explosive popularity of Dance Miracle, the station had people quietly preparing other kinds of talent shows—singing, acting, hosting... all sorts of them. And it was not just their station. Other television stations, even CCTV, were secretly making plans. Next year's variety show market would surely see a hundred schools of thought contending, with battle smoke everywhere.

So this plan for a celebrity merchandise industry chain would absolutely not lose money. If handled properly, it might even organize these fans' activities effectively, help promote the station, and boost its ratings.

Professionalizing and industrializing the fan economy—this was the core idea behind Tang Shi's proposal.

Although she had not personally read Tang Shi's proposal, Li Mei had spent so many years in the news media industry that she naturally saw the enormous profits hidden within it. She had also discreetly looked into Lu Holdings' background. For now, it appeared to be nothing more than a local, uncultured industrial enterprise, but it had ventured into real estate, grain and oil, antique collecting, and all kinds of profitable fields. In just twenty years, it had expanded smoothly to such a scale. The people controlling Lu Holdings were certainly no ordinary figures. At the very least, they had connections everywhere.

With such a giant backing them, even if its current business areas did not seem particularly related to news media and entertainment, any difficulties or bottlenecks they encountered during development would likely be much easier to resolve.

At the very least, they were not short on money.

And if this matter was handled well, Apple TV Station would gain another publicity channel. For a media industry that considered itself the voice of the public, the significance of that was unquestionable. Even for herself, she did not need to climb any higher. Simply further consolidating her current position would already be good enough.

So after careful consideration, Li Mei submitted the relevant proposal to the station.

After several rounds of meetings and discussions, the station also approved the plan. However, some complications arose during implementation. Because of conflicts of interest, certain station leaders did not want to cooperate with a Lu Holdings subsidiary. They had someone else in mind as their preferred partner.

But after receiving the news, Father Lu personally came to Apple City and spoke with several leaders. In the end, the partnership was smoothly finalized. The television station would be responsible for filming promotional videos, taking promotional photos, producing posters and photo books for the contestants, while Shishang Fengheng Media Co., Ltd., jointly funded by Sugar Juice Duo, would use the various photo and video materials provided by the station as templates to produce signed posters, support T-shirts, badges, phone charms, mugs, light signs, and other celebrity merchandise.

As for matters such as the division of later sales revenue, Father Lu's elite sales management team and the television station would negotiate and resolve them together.

It was worth mentioning that the executive president of Shishang Fengheng Media Co., Ltd. was Cui Yujin's mother, Ms. Shao Mingyu, who had just resigned from a national-level magazine. And Li Mei, as the intermediary who had played a key role throughout the whole affair, invested three hundred thousand and became the third-largest shareholder of Shishang Fengheng Media Co., Ltd., holding 10% of its shares.

Following the practical spirit of plucking every feather from a passing goose, Tang Shi took his first step in commercial development after entering the entertainment industry. That step would also become the crucial foundation several years later when Sugar Juice Duo left Emperor Entertainment, established their own studio, gained a firm foothold in the industry, and developed smoothly.

The Shishang Fengheng Entertainment Group, which would later become renowned and flourish even internationally, was at this moment still so immature that not even the outline of its future form had appeared.

However, Dance Miracle's national thirteen-to-ten competition was about to begin.

When you had things to keep you busy, time always passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, more than two months of summer vacation had passed. Students returned to their classrooms and began studying steadily. Even Cui Yujin had said goodbye to Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi, slung on his backpack, and returned to X City. But Sugar Juice Duo, still in the middle of the competition, could not return to school in time. They could only call their homeroom teacher, Old Yu, to extend their leave. After enduring more than an hour of Old Yu's scolding and lecturing, they finally got their leave approved.

However, the price was that their midterm exam results absolutely could not fall below last semester's grades. Otherwise, none of their future leave requests would be approved.

Old Yu even asked for the address of Apple TV Station's staff dormitory building and mailed the newly issued second-year textbooks there. He demanded that Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi set aside time every day to study. He also told his son Yu Miao to record all the lessons taught by each subject teacher with a camera, then send the videos to the two of them every night.

If Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi encountered anything they did not understand while studying, Old Yu would directly answer their questions through QQ video chat. His meticulous consideration made things even more detailed and convenient than when they had been at school.

The online teaching that would become hugely popular in later years was freshly born through Old Yu's flexible teaching methods.

Setting aside four hours every night to study class material further squeezed their already scarce rest time. As the competition progressed, the remaining contestants became increasingly skilled. In order not to be eliminated in the next round, Sugar Juice Duo's dance practice sessions grew longer and longer.

Combined with managing the newly developed celebrity merchandise industry chain and their new classes after the school term began, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi were so busy they barely had time to breathe. Tang Shi even paused updates for Prosperous Tang Strategy online. However, he did not say it was because of the Dance Miracle competition. He merely said that there were some family matters he needed to deal with and that he would probably return in a month, asking everyone for their understanding.

As for the wails and cries filling the comments section, he had no energy left to comfort them.

Fortunately, Dance Miracle was also nearing its end. On the second Saturday of September, the night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the live broadcast of Dance Miracle's national finals—Night of Kings' Showdown—began.

After the buildup of the previous two months, Dance Miracle's ratings had successfully surpassed ten percent. The previous eight-to-six Qualifier Round had even reached the miraculous rating of 10.98%.

Therefore, the Night of Kings' Showdown finals broadcast that evening became the focus of everyone's attention. To demonstrate how seriously it took the competition, and to attract even more viewers, the station spared no expense in renting Apple City's most luxurious Apple Sports Arena as the venue for Dance Miracle's national finals.

It was an enormous stadium capable of holding eighty thousand people. Yet after Apple TV Station opened advance ticket sales, all eighty thousand tickets were snatched up in just three days. Many viewers who had failed to buy tickets even openly posted online and on Bear Paw Tieba, begging to buy standing-room tickets. A long line of netizens followed suit, agreeing and lining up beneath those posts. This showed just how wildly popular Dance Miracle had become.

Amid the eager anticipation and endless calls of viewers across the country, Dance Miracle's finals—Night of Kings' Showdown—finally began.

After Xiao Hua's opening remarks, delivered like a machine gun, and beneath the thunderous applause of all the viewers, the six finalists and three mentors—a total of thirteen dancers—performed an opening dance onstage.

Standard electronic dance music, passionate and unrestrained melodies, superb dance skills, and dazzling lights came together to create an opening that was fiery and explosive to the extreme. The coolness of street dance, the sensuality of jazz, the noble elegance of ballet, the distinctive flavor of folk dance... Amid the host's impassioned introductions, judges Qiao Lin, Mo Zi, and Zhang Chujie; contestants Three Girls Group, Su Minghe, Lin Zhaoran, Song Lijia, Ming Xiang, Luo Jinfeng, and Sugar Juice Duo stood at the front of the stage, bursting with energy as they displayed their brilliance with all their strength. Many different styles and feelings of dance fused into one blazing opening routine, so spectacular that every audience member screamed.

After the three-minute opening performance, the three mentors walked hand in hand to the judges' table, while the six finalists took their bows and filed off the stage.

The host then remained onstage to introduce that evening's judges, the hundred-member review panel, and the invited guests, before announcing the rules. The six finalists would be divided into Groups A and B for head-to-head PK matches, with the three judges and the hundred-member audience review panel scoring the contestants. Each of the three judges held 20% of the vote, while the hundred audience panelists collectively held 40%.

After the contestants in Groups A and B were scored by the judges and audience review panel, the top three would be selected. Those three contestants would then engage in a rotating battle through improvised dance to the same piece of music, ultimately deciding the champion, runner-up, and third place. Meanwhile, viewers at the venue and in front of their televisions would vote by text message to select the Best Popular Dancer of Dance Miracle's first season.

It was worth mentioning that as long as a contestant had successfully advanced into Dance Miracle's national top twenty, they were eligible to compete for Best Popular Dancer.

This was a suggestion Sugar Juice Duo had made to Li Mei. Naturally, the goal was to draw in more viewers to vote, increase ratings, and raise profits.

After the champion was selected, the contestant signing ceremony would begin. Dancers who had successfully entered the top ten would receive the opportunity to sign with Emperor Entertainment, enter the entertainment industry, and embark on a glittering path to stardom.

The dancers in the first PK match were Su Minghe and Sugar Juice Duo. One was a professional classical dancer, a national lead performer with deep foundations and masterful skills. The other was an unconventional dance group best at blending classical elements with modern street dance to form their own unique style, stunning countless viewers.

Yet today, they stood on the same stage and began a life-or-death PK.

Amid the thunderous applause of the audience below, Su Minghe was the first to step onto the stage. Facing the microphone and the star-studded stage, he began to speak...

"Before coming to Dance Miracle, I was the lead dancer of a national dance troupe, and also the troupe's director. Because classical dance had fallen into decline, I decided to step onto a bigger stage and seek a way forward for it. Coming to compete in Dance Miracle actually put enormous pressure on me, because I was facing more than just dance, and what I had to shoulder was more than just responsibility. There was much, much more."

"So, just as Teacher Mo Zi said, my motives for entering this competition were not pure. I also had no way to immerse myself completely in dance. Perhaps there were distracting thoughts in my dancing... because what I sought was not merely to dance, but to promote the culture of classical dance and let everyone better understand this art form..."

"...I once always felt that classical dance was an art too refined for the masses. I thought it had become unpopular because people had gradually lost the eye to appreciate this kind of beauty. But after I saw Sugar Juice Duo's dancing, their dance style, and how they worked so hard to blend classical art with modern street dance so that the public could better understand and enjoy it... I realized that it was not that viewers could not understand classical dance or appreciate what our ancestors left behind. It was that we had not done nearly enough..."

"But today, I have finally reached the final step and met many, many like-minded friends who love dancing. Perhaps we do not dance the same styles, but our love for dancing is the same. So no matter what today's result is, I will happily finish this dance and enjoy the competition process."

After saying this, Su Minghe nodded toward the judges and audience, then slowly retreated to the center of the stage and struck a classical dance pose.

A gentle and beautiful guzheng melody began to play. Su Minghe slowly raised his arms, pressed his shoulders, lowered his waist, lifted his leg... then swiftly executed a spinning side flip. The crisp, clean movement was stunning, and the judges and audience members spontaneously applauded. In the dance that followed, Su Minghe paid complete attention to rhythm and pacing, combining strength with softness. While precisely and perfectly executing every movement, he also poured all of his emotions into it. This effortless, emotionally charged state was something Su Minghe had never displayed onstage before.