One week later, in the chairman's office of Dimensional Pictures.
"'Life Is Strange' will be produced as an A-grade drama. Tentative budget: 40 million. If all goes well, we'll start filming in October and aim for a winter premiere in January."
"'The Garden of Words' will be adapted into a film. With just a handful of characters and most scenes set in a school and a gazebo, even at its largest scale, it shouldn't cost more than 20 million. As for marketing and distribution—those costs can come later."
"As for 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', that one's a true S-grade beast. Effects-heavy, huge-scale, gold-devouring monster. Conservatively estimated, the budget will exceed 60–70 million."
In his office, Su Yan handed over three scripts and the corresponding project proposals to Shinozaki Ikumi—documents his team had carefully prepared.
He deliberately avoided looking at her face.
He knew exactly how interesting her reaction was going to be.
Shinozaki Ikumi silently flipped through the three project proposals, then started reading through the initial drafts of Su Yan's scripts.
"Su Yan, are you messing with me?" she snapped, slapping the table. These combined investments exceed 130 million. Where are we supposed to get that kind of money?!"
"Of course, we can't fork it all over at once," Su Yan replied, smiling calmly. "But productions don't work like that. Budgets are distributed over time. For 'Edgerunners', we can start by outsourcing the VFX—those take the longest anyway. Pay in stages as development progresses."
"In the meantime, 'Life Is Strange' will be airing, right? The revenue from that can help fund marketing and post-production for 'The Garden of Words' and 'Edgerunners'."
"You really think it'll go that smoothly?" Shinozaki Ikumi's tone turned cold. "What if 'Life Is Strange' flops? What if it loses money?"
"Su Yan, do we really need to launch three projects at once? Wouldn't it be better to take things step by step? Start with one A-grade drama, build up our reserves, then maybe go for an S-grade later."
"Trust me," Su Yan interrupted.
Shinozaki Ikumi was caught off guard.
"We're only in our twenties. What are we afraid of? Even if we lose this round—so what?"
"Besides, the moment we announce a new project, you can bet the Big Three networks will work together to suppress us. Playing it safe won't matter—they won't play fair."
"If we make something average, we can't win against their full-on campaigns. But if we make something bold…"
He looked her in the eye.
"Haven't you ever dreamed of producing an S-grade drama that shakes the entire industry?"
Shinozaki Ikumi froze.
She knew this was classic reverse psychology. And yet, she walked straight into it.
She'd left Sakura TV to start fresh with Su Yan—this kind of risk-taking wasn't new to her.
She just felt the company was finally gaining a solid footing. Why risk it all now?
But that didn't mean she lacked courage.
If the majority shareholder wasn't scared, why should she—just a minority one—hesitate?
Taking a deep breath, she let go of her argument for "playing it safe."
"Then we absolutely cannot air an S-grade drama on Aozora TV," she said firmly. "Their ceiling's too low. Even with a top-tier drama, it'll struggle to break 5% in viewership. That's a risk we can't afford."
"Forget Sakura TV. That leaves Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV. We need to strike a deal with one of them."
Clenching her fist, she turned to the 'Edgerunners' script.
"You need to finish this script—completely. From start to finish. No flaws, no gaps. That's the only way we can greenlight this project."
"No problem," Su Yan smiled.
Even though he held majority control and technically didn't need her permission, he respected her deeply—as both a partner and a friend. This wasn't just business.
"For the broadcasting negotiations for 'Edgerunners', I'll go with you."
"Also…"
She glanced at the scripts for 'The Garden of Words' and 'Life Is Strange'.
"If 'Life Is Strange' doesn't perform well, we're in trouble. We don't have enough reserves to promote both 'The Garden of Words' and 'Edgerunners'."
"If it doesn't generate enough profit, we'll have to borrow—either from banks or private investors. And what they'll target is obvious: our company shares."
Su Yan's expression turned serious.
"Understood."
October arrived.
Having aligned their plans, both Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi went into full work mode.
They'd taken less than two weeks off after 'Your Lie in April' ended before diving headfirst into new projects.
First step: negotiating with Hudu TV and Zhongxia TV.
The success of 'Your Lie in April' was undeniable. The Big Three stations may have disliked Su Yan…
But if he was willing to work with them? That changed everything.
Back then, Su Yan was a nobody. Now?
Back when 'Your Lie in April' was just a pitch, Shinozaki Ikumi had approached them—only to be rejected.
But now, when the two of them visited the production departments of Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV, they were received by deputy directors and department heads.
Truth be told, while the Big Three were united in their disdain for Aozora TV—and annoyed that 'April' had broken their seasonal dominance streak—they couldn't ignore profit.
Su Yan had beef with Sakura TV, sure. But he was fair game to the other two.
Still, when news spread that Su Yan's studio was preparing to produce an S-grade drama, both networks were stunned.
Who does this guy think he is?
You just made a bit of money, and now you're going all-in?
But then they remembered—Su Yan had taken a B-grade drama and won Season Champion.
So what could he achieve with an S-grade?
Is he aiming for the Year's Top Drama?
Delusional? Maybe.
But once that thought entered their minds, both networks grew interested.
Hudu TV made the first offer: they wanted equity.
They proposed investing in 'Edgerunners'—with a 30% stake.
That was a deal-breaker for Su Yan. He immediately ruled them out.
Zhongxia TV, on the other hand, seemed more flexible. Knowing Su Yan wouldn't accept outside investors, they aimed elsewhere.
They asked to:
Insert some of their contracted actors into the cast.
Lower the licensing fee for 'Edgerunners'.
And have 'Edgerunners' stream exclusively on their platform, ZhongxiaNet.
Su Yan could mostly accept these terms.
As long as they didn't touch Rebecca or Lucy, they could cast whomever they wanted for the side roles.
After all, it's cyberpunk—the vibe is abstract, stylized, and full of prosthetics. Looks didn't matter. Acting skills did.
One word: [Abstract].
And as for the exclusive online release—fair enough.
ZhongxiaNet was wholly owned by Zhongxia TV. They'd get 50% of streaming revenue.
But Su Yan knew that no matter which of the Four Platforms he used, the split would be the same.
If they were broadcasting during primetime, he had to compromise.
Soon enough, Su Yan and Zhongxia TV reached a preliminary agreement.
During negotiations, Shinozaki Ikumi also proposed airing 'Life Is Strange' on Zhongxia TV.
But unfortunately, their winter prime-time slots were already full—so the proposal was rejected.
Su Yan understood.
"Schedule conflict" was just an excuse.
The truth? They didn't believe 'Life Is Strange' would generate enough revenue to justify using a premium slot.
Since Su Yan refused to share the licensing profits, they'd rather use the slot for one of their own in-house productions.
In other words:
They didn't trust him completely.
They believed 'Your Lie in April' was a one-time miracle.
If they were sure Su Yan's new A-grade drama would win Season Champion, they'd have agreed in a heartbeat. Prime slots meant big ad revenue.
S-grade licensing was different—they bore little risk. Worst-case scenario, they'd lose one quarter of a time slot. But the buzz from collaborating with the hottest name in TV made it worthwhile.
A-grade? Too little upside.
And news like this doesn't stay secret for long in the entertainment industry.
A few days later—
Word of Su Yan's new drama plans began circulating throughout the Xia Nation TV world and fan communities.
Su Yan's fanbase was still emotionally reeling from 'Your Lie in April'.
The media was still singing its praises for revitalizing the national drama scene.
And in that quiet lull…
Su Yan dropped a bomb.
A new drama project?
What kind of show?
What kind of story?