Chapter 122: Be More Confident, Remove the "Maybe"

Su Chen certainly understood what a 3.8% viewership rating signified. However, everything was well within his expectations. Or perhaps, he had simply grown accustomed to not pinning all his hopes on a single endeavor. Although he possessed a vast reservoir of resources from his past life, he never assumed that anything he brought over would inevitably become a hit.

As Ji Lin suspected, there was a certain element of "metaphysics" involved in these things. They had done their absolute best, and that was enough. Regardless of whether the outcome was good or bad, he could accept it. He had done his part and left the rest to fate. If it didn't work out, he would just move on to the next project. This mindset was somewhat reminiscent of the quotes from "scumbags" in his previous life: when you own one fish and it dies, you grieve for a long time; when you own an entire tank, you wouldn't even notice which one was gone. While the analogy wasn't perfect, the underlying logic held true in certain respects. For Ji Lin, "The Voice of China" was his only fish, but for Su Chen, he had many other irons in the fire. At least in terms of mentality, the two were worlds apart.

[Su Chen: The viewership ratings are out. It peaked at 3.8%.]

After the last recording session, Lu Yuanqing had added the mentors and Su Chen to a group chat to make organizing meals easier. They would occasionally chat about trivial life matters. For convenience, Su Chen posted the news directly to the group to keep everyone updated.

[Jiang Yan: My god, if I remember correctly, the record for Mango TV is 4.2%. That’s only a 0.4% gap!]

[Lu Yuanqing: Exactly! By that calculation, is it possible our show ranks second? Does anyone remember which other shows had higher ratings?]

[Su Chen: Be confident, drop the word "possible"! It’s the second-highest in history!]

Su Chen's reply immediately caused a stir in the group.

[Qin Pei: That’s incredible, Teacher Su! It feels like a dream!]

[Zhu Qingmei: Thank you, Su Chen! You let an old lady like me experience what it’s like to be a hit again!]

Although it was the rating for ZJTV, everyone involved felt a sense of pride. Moreover, high ratings meant high exposure. For a singer like Zhu Qingmei, who had been nearly forgotten by the public, a comeback was no longer an impossibility.

[Lu Yuanqing: I have a premonition that "The Voice of China" will reignite the music-variety industry.]

Lu Yuanqing’s comment was immediately echoed by the others. Aside from the production team, they were the ones most deeply involved, so they understood the show's value best. They didn't find his words exaggerated at all. If the music-variety genre were to become popular again, this was likely the closest chance they had.

[Jiang Yan: Our show has 12 episodes in total, and this was only the first. What do you think the ratings will be for the next one?]

Jiang Yan’s question made the hearts of those in the group skip a beat. They all understood what she meant. The peak rating for Mango TV’s show was 4.2%. If the ratings for "The Voice of China" continued to climb in the next episode, bridging that 0.4% gap should be relatively easy. Furthermore, according to the typical patterns of such programs, high-quality shows usually see their ratings rise towards the later episodes. Even if the data stagnated, a bit of marketing could easily give it a boost in the short term. Mango TV had used similar tactics to reach their peak back in the day. In short, hitting the top of the charts was a real possibility! If they broke the record... that would mean becoming legendary. It was unimaginable!

[Lu Yuanqing: If we really hit our goal, Su Chen must treat everyone to a huge feast!]

[Su Chen: Haha, still thinking about that? No problem!]

During this time, other TV stations had been watching from the sidelines. Although they were acting like spectators, as competitors, studying each other's shows was a mandatory course. Thus, when the first episode of "The Voice of China" aired, other provincial stations were also analyzing it. However, just from the opening, they already had a bad premonition. The theme was too fresh and innovative. The branding was very grounded, capable of capturing the grassroots audience. Crucially, the mentor team was incredibly strong, featuring not only A-list stars but also popular trending singers and veterans with genuine substance. Any one of them could carry a show on their own!

By the time they finished watching and saw the ratings, they were in disbelief. "I never imagined we’d be so wrong about this!" "ZJTV has pulled off a comeback!" "And a beautiful one at that!" "From now on, the rest of us provincial stations will be suppressed by ZJTV for a long time!" "Objectively speaking, the concept of 'The Voice of China' is truly brilliant! At least among current provincial programming, there is nothing that can rival it!" "Why did ZJTV's style change so suddenly? Did they replace the production team?" "Go investigate!"

The impact of the first episode of "The Voice of China" continued to ripple through the variety industry. There were countless supporters online, and the occasional dissenting voice was immediately drowned out by the mainstream opinion.

*Ding!*

A crisp notification sound rang out. Su Chen was resting at his hotel, planning his next steps, when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw it was a message from Wang Yan.

"Su Chen, the organizing committee for the 33rd China Golden Melody Awards just sent an invitation for you to attend the ceremony. Do you have time to go?"

Hmm? The annual Golden Melody Awards? He hadn't really looked into that. After a moment of thought, he politely declined Wang Yan's invitation. "I think I’ll pass."

The identity of "Tang Guo" was currently known only to Star Orange Entertainment and a few others. He didn't intend to make this identity public yet. Ever since he became a Gold-level composer, Star Orange Entertainment no longer had any leverage over him. Now, the two parties had a partnership-like relationship, so the company wouldn't force anything on him. For events like award ceremonies, they communicated with him in a consultative tone. If he didn't want to go, they couldn't force him. Seeing Su Chen’s reply, Wang Yan felt a bit disappointed but didn't dare say anything.

"However, you can send a representative in my place!"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Wang Yan beamed. Based on last year's achievements, Tang Guo had a high chance of winning an award in the composition category. If he didn't attend, it might offend the committee, which could negatively impact Star Orange Entertainment. Fortunately, no one knew who Tang Guo was. Sending someone to attend on his behalf would likely be interpreted by others as Star Orange Entertainment protecting Tang Guo's privacy. Perfect! That would work.

Putting down the phone, Su Chen couldn't help but frown. Tang Guo had received an invitation. But what about the two classic songs he wrote for Jiang Yan under his own name, Su Chen? Would he receive an invitation for those as well? If he did, should he attend?