This Toast, to Our Peers Have We Completely Lost Our Humanity

However,

No one here is a fool.

The opponent sneered, "Director Gong, calling you lazy in your duties would be an understatement. I never expected you to be this foolish."

"What do you mean by 'Zhejiang-Satellite TV didn’t gain much'? Are you truly clueless, or are you just pretending?"

"Under the profit-sharing agreement, Zhejiang-Satellite TV may have to give up a portion of their earnings, but they’ve gained unprecedented prestige."

"And even after sharing the profits, there’s still plenty of meat left on the bone."

"If this show had aired on our station, Oriental Tomato TV might have had a shot at becoming the top-rated network this year."

"Especially since this show has a second season, a third, a fourth… and possibly more. It’s a goldmine."

"And yet, you dismissed it with just a few words?"

"I never realized you were so persuasive—twisting facts, turning black into white. Director Gong, you’ve outdone yourself."

"Heh…"

Many others began criticizing Director Gong as well.

The biggest blame for this fiasco fell on Director Gong, who was directly responsible for handling such matters.

It was his decision that pushed The Voice into Zhejiang-Satellite TV’s hands.

If not for him, The Voice would have belonged to their own local station, giving them the leverage to compete head-to-head with Hunan’s "Toilet TV."

The station would have had a flagship show to rely on.

For everyone involved, it would have been a career-defining achievement.

But no—

Director Gong handed it over without a second thought.

Damn it.

The more they thought about it, the angrier they became.

Even Old Director Li’s expression darkened. He remained silent, chain-smoking one cigarette after another…

Unsurprisingly, Director Gong was soon suspended pending investigation.

It was only natural—who knew what shady dealings he had with Tianyu Entertainment or "Toilet TV"?

Otherwise, why would he follow Tianyu’s lead in blacklisting Miracle Media?

Later, Old Director Li made a decisive move, sending envoys to Miracle Media to apologize, make amends, and secure a collaboration.

If possible, they had to bring The Voice back.

If not, they at least couldn’t afford to burn bridges—there would be other shows to work on in the future.

Miracle Media’s success was no flash in the pan.

……

As time passed,

The show’s ratings soared, breaking records.

The initial lukewarm response was due to the lack of brand recognition and limited viewer loyalty.

But as the show progressed, fans began to realize that the superstar mentors were actually hilarious and full of charm.

They grew attached to the contestants, too.

Every contestant became a familiar face—their names, backstories, and even past histories were dug up and discussed.

The Voice gradually turned into The Sob Story.

Every contestant had a heartbreaking tale.

If not for this show, many would still be singing in bars, busking on the streets, or stuck in dead-end jobs.

In short, every contestant was just an ordinary person, making it easy for the audience to empathize.

……

Halfway through the season,

The theme song dropped—Burning Me!

All four mentors and the current contestants performed it together, and the result was nothing short of spectacular.

Another wave of hype followed.

Compared to Super Girl or Happy Girl, most contestants from those shows couldn’t even handle this song—only a handful could pull it off.

But on The Voice, every performance was unique.

Comparison is a killer.

Once you compare, confidence shatters.

It wasn’t just the singers—every metric was crushing the competition.

During the mentor battles, peak live viewership exceeded two million…

Online searches for each episode hit new highs.

Forum and social media discussions? Tens of millions of posts.

The hype was insane, leaving the entire entertainment industry stunned.

This was a monster of a show—one that was nearly impossible to criticize.

Even when so-called "industry insiders" tried to nitpick, they had almost nothing to work with.

Could they attack the mentors?

The stage design?

The live band?

Every aspect was top-tier.

The only possible target was the contestants.

But…

No one cared. Before Young Master Cao even needed to step in, fans had already torn the critics apart.

……

Young Master Cao had been unusually quiet lately.

He rarely made waves online these days.

For the first time, he felt the sheer power of the masses.

Back in Sanjiang, he had organized the "Jiangbei Masses," but their reach was too limited to satisfy his growing ambitions.

Fortunately, The Voice didn’t disappoint.

The flood of fan enthusiasm and positive emotions piled up day after day.

If not for upgrading his storage space twice, he wouldn’t even have room for all the loot he’d drawn.

The storage space initially held 1,000 cubic meters—10 meters in length, width, and height.

Then, from a diamond treasure chest, he pulled two upgrade cards.

Doubling it twice.

Now it was 40 meters in each dimension—64,000 cubic meters total.

Barely enough to fit everything.

Some useless items, like that disgusting green gum, were tossed without a second glance…

……

The overwhelming fan support made Young Master Cao pay extra attention to the show, checking in almost daily.

But he was too lazy to get directly involved. He preferred sipping tea at home, basking in the rising emotional energy.

Enjoying life was still his top priority.

Still,

This windfall gave him even more confidence in his future gaming ventures.

A show like this only aired once a year, with peak engagement during broadcasts.

But games?

They generated energy around the clock.

And during international tournaments? The harvest would be even greater.

Ring ring—

His phone buzzed.

Young Master Cao had set his ringtone to the most generic option, abandoning the trendy hits of the past.

This was called returning to simplicity.

A single word: Classy!

"Hello."

"Good, very good…"

"Sister Ali, spread this news to all our… friends in the industry!"

Young Master Cao sat up straight.

……

Two days later,

A bombshell shook the entertainment world.

Miracle Media announced:

"Our company has signed format licensing agreements with America’s L Corp, Henan’s T Corp, Canada’s M Corp… authorizing the production of The Voice Global in these territories."

In short,

The Voice’s format had been sold—and to three countries at once.

This was a display of soft power.

The first time a Chinese entertainment format had been exported internationally.

In this era, it was nothing short of earth-shattering.

Even state media jumped in, lavishing praise on The Voice, recognizing Miracle Media’s achievements, commending Young Master Cao personally, and expressing high hopes for the domestic entertainment industry…

"……"

Other companies were speechless.

Bro, please—don’t expect too much. We can’t sell anything.

We’re the ones trying to buy formats just to keep up with Miracle Media.

Now that you’ve said this, what are we supposed to do?

In the end, Young Master Cao had pulled off the ultimate flex.

As Young Master Cao once said: "Elevating national confidence, reshaping the country's image, and promoting our homeland... these are the missions of those in the entertainment industry."

We can’t just focus on entertainment!

Our vision must be far-reaching, aiming for the stars and the seas.

This sentiment was also spread by those who amplified his words, and for the first time, fans realized how deeply Young Master Cao cared for the world.

"Exactly, only my husband Cao Cheng has such a noble heart, which is why he can produce such an outstanding show."

"He’s my husband, you homewrecker!"

"No wonder I love this show—my taste is impeccable. I knew from the first episode that it was top-tier. Seems like there are plenty of smart people abroad too."

"Compared to this, what even is Super Girl?"

"Still beating a dead horse? There’s no comparison. Don’t even try—it just lowers our standards. We should be comparing it to national-level variety shows."

"Absolutely."

"..."

The buzz went viral.

By the eleventh episode, the ratings skyrocketed to 10.3!

Breaking the 10 barrier in one go...

Zhejiang TV popped open champagne.

Even though, due to the bet agreement, their revenue share was less than 20%, with the majority going to Miracle Media, Zhejiang TV still threw a grand celebration.

There would be more collaborations in the future.

The first bet didn’t bring in much profit, but from here on, they’d avoid such agreements—perhaps just negotiating a higher revenue split.

And then there were the copyright matters.

In any case, the station wouldn’t lose. Riding this wave of success, everyone’s performance records looked exceptionally impressive.

That was worth more than any amount of money.

From top to bottom, Zhejiang TV’s staff couldn’t stop grinning, no matter how hard they tried.

Meanwhile, other TV stations were drowning in gloom.

Lower-ranked stations didn’t care much—they were unaffected.

But the top-tier ones, like Shanghai’s Tomato TV and Hunan’s Toilet TV (Hunan TV), were shrouded in despair.

Even Super Girl had two major mishaps, with everyone distracted and off their game.

At the celebration banquet, Young Master Cao made an appearance.

He clinked glasses with the station’s top brass.

When asked about future collaborations, Young Master Cao responded, "As for the second season, I already have plans. Of course, we’ll continue working with your station—after all, our partnership has been so smooth, right?"

With that one sentence, the executives around him beamed with delight.

"This station is, in a way, Miracle Media’s first partner—almost like family. When you thrive, we thrive, everyone thrives."

"So, barring any surprises, future seasons of The Voice will remain with Zhejiang TV."

"But..."

His tone shifted.

"We’ll need to discuss the revenue split carefully."

The executives nodded.

Director Li smiled. "Naturally, we wouldn’t want Mr. Cao to lose out."

Cao Cheng chuckled and waved it off. "I’m not too concerned about money. As you all know, I have a modest fortune to my name."

The room filled with envious glances, accompanied by flattering smiles and praises.

Holding his glass, Cao Cheng continued, "Our show follows a production-broadcast separation model—your station has no involvement in production. My only worry is that someday, someone might get ideas and try to interfere. That could ruin our collaboration."

"Never! The contract is clear—production-broadcast separation means exactly that. We won’t meddle in your company’s operations or production. At most, we’ll send a few cameramen and directors to learn, maybe steal a trick or two!" Director Li laughed.

Cao Cheng burst into laughter. "Director Li, you’re too witty."

Then he added, "Let’s be frank upfront. Too often, conflicts arise once profits roll in. I’d hate for that to happen. I hope you understand my concerns—this show is your political achievement, my reputation. It benefits us all."

"So, we should be transparent and work together to protect this program, not let petty interests breed ulterior motives..."

This subtle warning had its effect.

Soon after, Zhejiang TV held an internal meeting regarding The Voice. Director Li issued a strict order: no interference, no scheming.

Meanwhile, another piece of news spread.

During the station’s celebration, Cao Cheng gave a humble speech about the show’s record-breaking ratings.

The entire message boiled down to one point:

"The show’s success is the result of Miracle Media’s entire team. We knew it would be good, but we never expected this level of popularity."

"What does this prove?"

"It doesn’t prove how talented we are—it just proves... we owe it all to our competitors’ lackluster performance."

"This toast is to them!"

...

What a savage move.

When the news broke, many were seething with rage.