Three Variety Shows

"Really gonna pay for this?"

Cao Cheng drowsily glanced at The Fourth lying beside him.

Sleeping in clothes?

Whatever.

Forgive her.

With a rollover, he hugged her like a body pillow.

Cao Cheng’s biological clock was set for after 10 AM—right now, it was only 8... still two hours to go.

The Fourth stayed quiet too, watching the guy right in front of her, listening as his breathing quickly steadied. He must’ve drifted back to sleep.

This guy...

Is he even a man?

With someone like her—a whole-ass bombshell—right next to him.

And he just...?!

If she didn’t already know he was capable, The Fourth would’ve thought he was useless.

And then there was Lin Zhi.

That girl was a real charmer too.

How could he resist?

Actually,

when she’d heard yesterday that Cao Cheng was going on a business trip, The Fourth hadn’t been too concerned. Sure, he usually had a lot of free time, but occasionally, he’d be away for a few days.

But when she heard Lin Zhi was going with him?

That’s when The Fourth lost her cool.

Who was Lin Zhi?

The center stage of the dance troupe, one of the lead dancers.

That figure, that poise, that face, that personality...

Most normal men wouldn’t be able to hold back, let alone in a situation like a business trip—just the two of them, alone. Who knew what could happen?

Especially with "the mountains high and the emperor far away," no one around to keep an eye on things.

The Fourth rushed to find out where Cao Cheng was headed, then drove through the night to catch up.

She made it by morning.

But her feelings were complicated.

On one hand, she was worried—what if she actually caught them in the act? How would she handle it?

On the other, what if she found nothing? Then she’d just look paranoid.

Ugh.

Whatever.

No point overthinking it.

Driving all night had worn her out—over ten hours straight.

She dozed off again.

By noon,

The Fourth woke up groggily to find the bed empty.

She left the room.

Only Lin Zhi was in the suite’s living room, practicing yoga. No sign of Cao Cheng.

Watching Lin Zhi’s tight outfit and curves, The Fourth narrowed her eyes.

This fox.

Doing it on purpose.

What’s there to flaunt?

"Fourth Sister!!"

Lin Zhi heard the door open and saw Ren Yuege emerge. She scrambled to her feet, greeting her with a well-behaved tone.

She seemed nervous.

Hands clasped in front of her waist.

"Yeah."

Ren Yuege acknowledged her. "Where’s that guy?"

Lin Zhi replied, "General Manager Liu and some executives came by earlier. Then Young Master—uh, I mean, CEO Cao—went with them to the hotel meeting room. Probably discussing some new variety show projects."

Young Master?!!

Hah.

Ren Yuege knew the deal. These shameless girls in the dance troupe loved chirping away, calling him "Young Master" this and that, puffing him up like some big shot.

But,

Ren Yuege didn’t dwell on it. Status was status.

She didn’t press further, just said, "Keep at it," then headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

Lin Zhi exhaled quietly, feeling the weight of Fourth Sister’s presence. That gaze of hers felt like it could see right through her, making Lin Zhi uneasy.

I mean...

Nothing even happened, right?

Why should she feel guilty?

......

In the hotel meeting room.

A bunch of network executives had shown up, especially from the variety show department.

But Cao Cheng just looked confused. "What variety shows? What’d I say yesterday? I don’t remember."

"Uh..."

"CEO Cao, you forgot? Last night while drinking, you agreed to collaborate on three variety shows with us."

"Yeah, CEO Cao! One was some parent-child search thing, like... Where Did Dad Go?"

"......"

Everyone started talking over each other, clearly anxious.

The thing was, Cao Cheng hadn’t explained much while drunk—just dropped a name or two.

One was Where Did Dad Go?

Another was Longing for Cuisine.

They’d only remembered bits and pieces after their assistants reminded them at work today.

They’d all been wasted.

As for the last one, it was supposed to be a talent show, something to replace The Voice, guaranteed to be a hit.

But he hadn’t even given it a name.

"Oh..."

Amid the chaos of reminders, Cao Cheng suddenly seemed to realize something.

The executives brightened. "CEO Cao, you remember now?"

Cao Cheng’s face darkened as he shook his head. "Nope."

"......"

"......"

[Ding~ Negative emotions +20002...]

[Ding~]

[Ding!]

A series of multiplied point explosions lit up his system.

Everyone here was a big shot in society—of course they’d trigger crits.

Cao Cheng grinned. "I don’t recall saying any of this last night, but... yeah, I do have these shows in hand. Thing is, I was planning to work with another—well, mainly because the parent-child one isn’t pure entertainment. I was thinking of collaborating with CCTV."

"CEO Cao."

"CEO Cao..."

They were panicking now.

He’d promised them last night!

"Relax, relax."

Cao Cheng smiled, soaking in another wave of crits. "Everyone, I do have these three shows. But launching so many at once? I’m worried your network can’t handle it. These are all large-scale—two outdoor, one indoor."

"You know how many people an outdoor production requires. No need for me to spell it out, right?"

"Inside the venue, we still need to build a stage, hold auditions, arrange sound effects, stage design, and a band..."

"That's too much."

"I believe in your network's capabilities, but... I'm also worried things might go wrong."

"..."

It all sounded reasonable.

But.

Everyone here needed results.

And Cao Cheng was the guarantee for those results.

Regardless of how popular these three variety shows might be, given Cao Cheng's current reputation—whether in music, variety shows, or TV dramas—anything associated with him would attract free-flowing attention.

Not to mention,

Mango TV wasn’t some pushover either. As a long-standing entertainment powerhouse, their talent pool was vast.

From hosts to directors, camera crews, and production teams—no other network could compare.

So,

even though Cao Cheng made valid points, everyone confidently assured him that manpower wouldn’t be an issue. All they needed was for him to oversee the show’s quality.

In other words, Cao Cheng would be the executive producer.

The top authority on the show.

Other teams—directors, writers, art, music, cinematography, post-production, and talent—could all be provided by Mango TV.

The bottom line: You call the shots. We’ll provide the people and the money.

"This..."

Cao Cheng looked conflicted.

After a long pause,

under the eager gazes of everyone in the room, he sighed and said, "Alright, since I agreed yesterday—whether I was drunk or not—I won’t claim my word is unbreakable, but at least I stand by what I say."

"In business, integrity matters."

"Besides, it wasn’t easy for us to go from rivals to partners. Long story short, since you all trust me, I won’t disrespect your faith in me."

The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly warmed up.

They began discussing the show.

Yesterday’s conversation had been brief.

Today, Cao Cheng revealed a bit more: "It’s not a parent-child search show, but an interactive reality show about parenting. Not 'Where’s Dad?' but 'Where Are We Going, Dad?' The title says it all—celebrity dads traveling with their kids."

"..."

Everyone rolled their eyes. Parent-child search was his idea in the first place.

Then,

Cao Cheng explained the show’s highlights and selling points.

In his dream, the rights to this show belonged to the Koreans.

But in this world, Korea hadn’t produced this kind of variety show yet.

So,

Cao Cheng naturally took it without hesitation.

Even if it existed, it wouldn’t matter—he could just buy the rights.

Cao Cheng already owned plenty of intellectual property.

From novel IPs to game adaptations and variety show formats, many were held by Miracle Media.

Back in 2008, when everyone was short on cash, Cao Cheng had gone on a spending spree.

With IPs, the earlier you buy, the cheaper they are.

...

Aside from this parenting show,

there was also "Back to the Countryside," a slow-paced variety show about cooking.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like it would be a hit.

When Cao Cheng pitched it, the executives exchanged glances, their expressions clearly unimpressed.

What even is this?

Cooking in the countryside? Just chatting?

What’s the appeal?

No real highlights.

The only possible angle was how fast-paced city life had become, making people yearn for rural simplicity—a return to nature and slow living.

The tagline could be: "We’ll set you free."

But they couldn’t outright say that, or it’d invite backlash.

Still,

was this really enough to make the show popular?

Even the head of the variety department seemed skeptical.

Frankly,

if it weren’t Cao Cheng proposing this, they’d have walked out, muttering, "What kind of garbage is this?"

...

Cao Cheng noticed their reactions.

In fact, he’d done it on purpose—pitching the show as boring as possible, because that was the point.

He grinned. "Gentlemen, not feeling this one, huh?"

"Ah... no, no, it’s just that we’re not experts in variety shows. We don’t quite get the appeal. It just sounds a bit... dull!" They chose their words carefully.

No surprise they lacked confidence around Cao Cheng.

The man today was nothing like the pushover he might’ve been in the past.

Not only was he a major investor himself,

but he also controlled countless investments, owned vast IP rights, and had deep industry connections.

That alone made the executives eager to stay on his good side.

Besides,

they couldn’t afford to let him go. To put it bluntly, they had to collaborate on his shows, even if they seemed boring.

Because if one accidentally became a hit elsewhere,

how would they explain that to their bosses?

So,

even at a loss, they had to work with him.

...

"As for the third show,"

"I believe it has explosive potential."

"If the first two—parenting and slow living—could become cultural phenomena, then this last one isn’t just a phenomenon. It could be a massive hit, even sweep across Asia if done right."

"..."

The executives perked up.

"President Cao, care to share your thoughts?"

"Sure, but isn't it about time for lunch? How about we discuss this over a meal?"

The group then moved to a private dining room.

Cao Cheng revealed the title of the third variety show: "Idol Trainees!"

Everyone immediately found it intriguing.

Compared to previous concepts like "Where Are We Going, Dad?"—a family-oriented search show—or "Longing for Cuisine," this was clearly a step up.

Idols.

Trainees.

Nice!

Cao Cheng knew it—the era of "Brother Chicken" was coming.