After becoming rich overnight, I handed over the system.

Chapter 451 Explosive Fire

Fortunately, just one day before the deadline, Zhou Ziqian's team made a surprising discovery—Lu Yuan, an 18-year-old boy from a small southern town.

He had never received professional training, but he showed amazing talent and camera presence during the audition.

What's even more remarkable is that he has a natural charisma that makes everyone who meets him want to cheer him on.

"That's him!" Zhou Ziqian exclaimed excitedly, watching the audition video. "He's the lead actor we've been looking for!"

Xiao Li frowned: "Brother Zhou, don't you think... he looks a bit like the Lin Yang you described?"

Zhou Ziqian was taken aback: "What Lin Yang?"

"It's the example you gave in your proposal, the trainee who overcame setbacks and achieved a remarkable turnaround," Xiao Li said doubtfully. "You even described his personality and physical characteristics in detail; he's practically identical to this Lu Yuan."

Zhou Ziqian was also stunned. Could this be another case of someone from some TV station leaking the plan, and then capital being injected into the project?

At the proposal meeting that afternoon, the "Idol Birth" plan was unanimously approved.

Even the most conservative senior executives thought this innovation was worth a try.

Deputy Director Liu even proactively suggested increasing the budget to ensure production quality.

"Producer Zhou, I hope you won't let us down." As the meeting adjourned, Liu Ming said meaningfully, "This project is a gamble on your career."

Zhou Ziqian nodded his thanks, but his heart was filled with doubt.

Liu Ming's change of attitude was too sudden; there must be a reason he doesn't know.

But who cares!

The day after the first episode of "The Birth of an Idol" aired, Zhou Ziqian's phone started ringing non-stop from six in the morning.

On social media, topics such as Lu Yuan's comeback, the true story of idols, and tears shed for trainees dominated the top ten trending searches.

The show's official account gained two million followers overnight, and its inbox was flooded with collaboration requests from advertisers.

"Brother Zhou, the station called! They want to add a team and increase the budget for you!" Xiao Li rushed into the office, coffee in hand, his face beaming with excitement. "Deputy Director Liu said this program is going to be the station's flagship program!"

Zhou Ziqian stared at the constantly refreshing data on the computer screen, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Three months of painstaking effort paid off; "The Birth of an Idol" was even more successful than he had anticipated.

The audience was discussing each trainee's performance like crazy, especially Lu Yuan—the boy who was so nervous in the first assessment that he forgot his lines, but in the second assessment, he completed a perfect performance with amazing perseverance, and has become the focus of the whole nation's discussion.

"Notify the team, there's a meeting at 3 PM." Zhou Ziqian rubbed his temples. "The ratings are up now, but the subsequent content needs to be even more refined."

Xiao Li nodded, then turned back before leaving, saying, "By the way, Lu Yuan wants to see you. He said it's important."

Zhou Ziqian raised an eyebrow.

According to the program rules, producers should avoid contacting contestants privately as much as possible to avoid affecting fairness.

But Lu Yuan is indeed an exception—not only because he is the "invisible protagonist" of the show, but also because of that inexplicable coincidence: he is too similar to Lin Yang in the proposal, not only in appearance, but also in his upbringing and personality.

“Tell him it’s 7 p.m., at the usual place,” Zhou Ziqian said.

Their so-called "old spot" was a secluded teahouse near the TV station, where they had a long talk before the show started filming.

The atmosphere at the team meeting in the afternoon was as lively as a festival.

The editor showed a rough cut of the next episode, the writing team proposed a new storyline, and even the usually demanding director of photography was beaming – this show has given the entire team a second spring in their careers.

"Producer Zhou, this is from Deputy Director Liu." The assistant quietly handed over an exquisite gift box containing a Montblanc fountain pen and a card: "Cheers to the new benchmark in television industry—Liu Ming."

Zhou Ziqian picked up the pen, the cold touch of the metal reminding him of the meeting three months ago that almost ruined his career.

The extent of Liu Ming's change in attitude remains a mystery to this day.

After the meeting, Zhou Ziqian remained alone in the empty conference room, flipping through the script for the next episode.

My phone vibrated; it was a message from my wife, Lin Yan: "Our daughter's school parent-teacher meeting has been moved to tomorrow afternoon. Can you go? She really wants you to meet her new teacher."

Zhou Ziqian's finger hovered above the screen. Tomorrow afternoon was the crucial time for the third assessment recording.

He sighed and replied, "I'll try to schedule time to let the team prepare."

This is the third time this week that I've broken my promise to my family.

After the show became a hit, his time was fragmented into minutes, and even sleeping became a luxury.

But compared to the panic he felt three months ago when he was on the verge of unemployment, this busyness made him feel at ease—at least it proved that he still had value.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Zhou Ziqian pushed open the door of the tea room, and Lu Yuan was already sitting in the corner waiting.

Unlike his glamorous image in front of the camera, the boy in front of us was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, with obvious dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were still as bright as stars.

"Producer Zhou!" Lu Yuan stood up, his voice brimming with undisguised excitement, "Our performance video from yesterday has surpassed ten million views!"

Zhou Ziqian gestured for him to sit down and ordered a pot of Longjing tea: "What do you want? You know we shouldn't meet in private."

Lu Yuan's smile faded slightly. He took an envelope from his backpack and pushed it in front of Zhou Ziqian: "Producer Zhou, I want to continue!"

Zhou Ziqian was completely confused.

The script didn't say that Lu Yuan would be eliminated.

"No, what are you doing? Our script didn't say you were going to be eliminated! Besides, with your performance, there's no way we'd abandon you!"

Lu Yuan is currently incredibly popular, so it's a wonder that his station would be so foolish as to try and eliminate him.

“But they said…” Lu Yuan said with some worry.

Zhou Ziqian finally understood; it was those contestants who had said it.

Sigh, he said that you can't escape the capitalists who try to force people into your lives anywhere.

Originally, he thought the contestants being stuffed into the contestants were acceptable, so he turned a blind eye.

These contestants are actually having a good idea. Seeing Lu Yuan become a sensation, they're starting to get the capital behind him to step in, right?

Zhou Ziqian comforted Lu Yuan, "You're the person our program searched for a long time to find, the most suitable one. Don't worry, as long as you keep striving towards your dream, you'll definitely get what you want!"

Isn't that the point of his show? To turn an ordinary person into a star, and to let the audience watch their favorite person become more and more outstanding step by step.