Chapter 184 Kitchen Killer
After learning Rong Yu's identity, Yin Chengjue realized he now understood one thing more clearly—it was necessary to seriously learn how to communicate with his future father-in-law, mother-in-law, and two brothers-in-law.
Yin Chengjue looked up information on this aspect and bought a bunch of related books in one go.
Before the books had even arrived, Rong Yu needed to pack his bags and head to a small mountain village to participate in the recording of "Wisp of Smoke."
At the same time, the animated version of "Blood Mist" finished updating its first season, ushering in a perfect conclusion.
Other animated series produced by Xinming Animation Company also began appearing on major video streaming apps. Their visual quality, animation smoothness, and fight scene fluidity received unanimous praise from audiences.
Even works that weren't initially major IPs, but merely novels or comics with a few thousand readers, achieved more outstanding results after being adapted into animated series by Xinming's team.
This was because Xinming's promotional efforts for their animated series weren't limited to official announcements or buying those dozen-second ads at the start of videos. Instead, they invested in more fragmented promotional channels, like apps specifically for short videos.
Yin Chengjue redirected the funds that would conventionally be spent on ads entirely into these short video apps. As long as a content creator made a relevant video—such as cosplay makeup tutorials for characters or using music clips from those animated series—and achieved sufficiently high view counts, comments, and likes, they would receive corresponding monetary rewards.
Today's promotion isn't limited to the old standard methods. Those few seconds of ads before online videos had already lost their appeal; viewers found them boring and annoying, no matter how good the ad was, because people just didn't want to wait.
After all, when someone is eagerly waiting to watch a show, anything that forces them to wait is boring and annoying. No matter how well-made the ad is, to someone impatient to watch the show, it's just a nuisance. Seeing them too much doesn't spark curiosity or interest but instead leads to subconscious aversion. Even if encountered elsewhere later, it's hard to muster any interest.
Thus, such promotion can backfire, completely failing its original purpose.
The kind that directly inserts ads in the middle of a video is even more challenging to people's tolerance levels.
So, rather than spending funds in such places, it's better to find another path.
This method proved highly effective.
Last year, Xinming signed the animation production rights for fifty original novels and comics. After producing them and applying this promotional model, the novels and comics quickly gained massive exposure. Consequently, related merchandise, apparel, figurines, and other items sold well.
However, this alone was far from enough. Yin Chengjue planned to invest another sum to create an original comic and novel website. This way, they could bring the upstream industry chain under their umbrella as well.
But the plan was just a beginning. Creating such a website required handling massive daily updates of articles and comics, along with daily maintenance. The current number of employees at Xinming was far from sufficient, so it required careful long-term planning.
On the second day of Rong Yu's departure to the small village to film "Wisp of Smoke," Yin Chengjue received a call from Sally.
As soon as the call connected, Sally asked in a grave tone, "President Yin, may I ask, when you two lived together, who did the cooking?"
Hearing this, Yin Chengjue knew something must have happened there. He hesitated before replying, "Let me put it this way: the paint on my kitchen wall has been patched no less than thirty times, and I've lost count of how many times the kitchenware has been replaced. And that's with me being the cook."
Sally's wail almost pierced through the phone: "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Yin Chengjue: "You never asked."
Sally was frantic: "Do you know what Xiao Yu did on set?!"
Yin Chengjue's tone remained calm: "Just give me a number. How much do we need to compensate?"
Sally said, "So far, with one swing he split a cutting board clean in half and ruined the cleaver at the same time. He burned holes straight through two big cooking pots, made a stove collapse, and broke five bowls and six plates..."
Yin Chengjue: "I told you to quote a price, you don't need to list every item..."
"I know! I'm calculating the total! But they actually don't want us to pay. Because Xiao Yu also carried back three days' worth of firewood for them, chopped and neatly stacked it. He also helped the neighbor uncle lift his plow ox that got stuck in a ditch... In short, any task that doesn't involve the kitchen, he does perfectly well. So now, everyone has unanimously decided to ban Rong Yu from the kitchen." Sally sighed: "If you had told me from the start that Xiao Yu is a kitchen killer, I would have forbidden him from entering the kitchen long ago!"
Yin Chengjue: "If I had told you from the start, would you have believed me? Even if you did, would others?"
Yin Chengjue thought about it and was still curious: "How exactly did he break all those things? I remember the 'Wisp of Smoke' crew arranges for several people to cook together. How could he burn holes through pots with so many eyes on him?"
Sally grew more animated as she explained: "A lot of people? What difference did that make? Take that poor cutting board—it was a good ten inches thick, something the family had used for years and the show's regular guests had been using just fine. It was solid! Everyone saw how easily Xiao Yu handled and chopped firewood, so they thought, 'He's strong, he can mince this pork for dumplings.' But who knew he'd use the exact same force? One downstroke, and the pork and the cutting board both split right in half. The cleaver slammed into the stone countertop and the blade chipped. Thank goodness the counter was stone with tile on top—if it had been just tile, he might have cracked that, too!"
Yin Chengjue imagined the scene and suddenly felt a flicker of gratitude for the cutting board at home that still hadn't been replaced.
Oh cutting board! Thankfully I never let him chop vegetables, or you wouldn't be the longest-lasting kitchenware in our kitchen.
Sally continued: "After he smashed the cutting board, the resident guests at the time just thought he used too much force. They joked it off and had him boil water for the dumplings. So he went. But he put in too little water, the fire was too strong, and he didn't check the pot, so he burned a hole right through it..."
Yin Chengjue: "So, did they end up eating the dumplings?"
Sally: "They did. Soon after they kicked him out of the kitchen. Though there was a minor mishap while fetching the bowls and chopsticks."
Yin Chengjue asked, "They actually sent Xiao Yu to fetch the bowls and chopsticks?”
"Seems breaking dishes isn’t exactly new for him," Sally replied flatly.
Yin Chengjue silently looked up at the sky.
Sally sighed: "Other than that, things are fine. Xiao Yu really knows how to talk, always charming the uncles and aunties, making them happy and willing to lend him anything. It’s just hard to say how the show’s editors will handle this in the final cut. When I asked, the director just said it’s confidential."
Sally thought for a moment, then added: "I'm not very familiar with the director of 'Wisp of Smoke.' I chose this variety show firstly for its viewership and fanbase, secondly because their edits tend to be relatively authentic, and thirdly because the resident guests are lively and really good at getting the energy up. I thought Xiao Yu's personality would fit well with them and he could learn a bit."
"But you know, it's not just Xiao Yu coming, the whole boy group is coming. Those other managers aren't pushovers. Seeing Xiao Yu being so 'outstanding' in every aspect now, the editors will definitely include it, so his screen time probably won't be little. But the other members' managers likely won't be too pleased. Judging by my years of experience, they'll definitely find other ways to highlight their own artists. And among these methods, there's a high likelihood most will be related to Xiao Yu."
Yin Chengjue summed up the gist from Sally's roundabout explanation: "You're worried that 'the gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out,' and Xiao Yu's performance will become fodder for others to pull him down?"
[枪打出头鸟 (qiāng dǎ chū tóu niǎo): lit. the gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out; fig. those who stand out or deviate from the group will be criticized or punished].
Sally: "Exactly. So I want to pre-allocate some funds to prepare for PR in advance." Sally sighed: "Ah, I'm really worrying myself sick."
Yin Chengjue: "Funds can be allocated. But first, send me what I want."
Sally didn't react immediately: "Huh?"
Yin Chengjue, holding the phone in one hand and coffee in the other, leaned back in his chair: "What 'huh'? Send over Xiao Yu's photos. You've been with him this long; don't tell me you haven't taken any."
Sally was speechless for a moment before starting to scroll through her phone, sending photos to Yin Chengjue's WeChat while grumbling: "Are you a stalker? He's only been gone for a short while, and you're already asking for photos."
Listening to Sally's muttering, Yin Chengjue thought to himself: I don't mind. He then quietly downloaded all the photos she sent, making sure to save each one in its original, high quality.
During Rong Yu's filming for "Wisp of Smoke," Qin Linlin came to see Yin Chengjue once. She wanted to do the final episode of this season's "Don’t Look Back in the Dark," the concluding battle.
"Don’t Look Back in the Dark" had released twenty episodes, each drawing impressive viewership and lively discussion. Yin Chengjue, however, had only taken part in the trial episode and the first official recording. For the rest, he had rotated artists from Huansheng Entertainment into the show—which also conveniently allowed for subtle promotion of Yin Group products, with the cast sometimes giving verbal shout‑outs during gameplay.
Qin Linlin's purpose in coming was simple—this was the final episode of the first season, the grand finale. She asked Yin Chengjue if he could make time to appear in the last episode, to give the show a proper, full‑circle ending.
"Oh, and the young masters who came to play in the trial episode have also agreed to come experience the finale," Qin Linlin said with a grin.
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