On Tuesday, Jing Yu held the company's regular morning meeting. He personally signed the startup documents for several games and in-house TV drama projects. Afterward, he issued dismissal and legal action orders for a group of staff who had been caught embezzling from project funds. Only then did his chaotic morning find a brief moment of calm.
He'd always known that as the company grew, all kinds of people would show up. Most had initially joined Bluestar Media because they believed following Jing Yu guaranteed success. But with time, some crossed the line.
Given his status and experience, Jing Yu was well aware that projects worth hundreds of millions would inevitably come with hidden dealings and shady exchanges. But as long as it wasn't excessive — and the people involved were competent — he usually turned a blind eye. After all, as the boss, he was raking in the real profits; letting the team sip a bit of soup wasn't a big deal.
However, things had gotten too out of hand recently. Some were becoming greedy. So for the first time since founding the company, Jing Yu dealt with a large-scale internal purge, from middle managers to long-time staff at the bottom.
"So exhausting," Jing Yu exhaled deeply.
Honestly, juggling the filming of three dramas at once didn't bother him that much. But handling corporate operations? That drained him far more.
"Chairman, here's the revenue report for last quarter's projects, plus the online preorder data for 'Gundam' merchandise," said his assistant — a pretty young woman — as she entered with a thick stack of documents.
"Again?" Jing Yu sighed internally.
He'd barely had twenty minutes of downtime, hadn't even finished his tea — and here came the next pile of work.
"Alright, leave it here," he said.
Despite his inner groan, Jing Yu flipped through the files swiftly and gave prompt responses wherever his signature or approval was needed.
Once finished, his driver arrived to take him to the film set.
At present, both the 'Spirited Away' live-action film and the 'Evangelion' movie are in production. Jing Yu's roles were crucial, so the entire crew basically had to wait for his arrival to roll.
'Spirited Away' was moving along nicely. Though Jing Yu played the male lead, his screen time was far less than Chihiro, the true protagonist.
Today's scene was where Jing Yu, playing Haku, took Chihiro to Yubaba's pigpen to see her parents, who had been turned into pigs and were awaiting slaughter.
And yes — this was being filmed in a real pigsty.
They had partnered with a local pig farm near the capital and dressed it up with props for an afternoon shoot. Jing Yu was fine. But the actress playing Chihiro? She nearly threw up from the smell.
After all, anyone capable of networking into Jing Yu's core team, whose résumé had landed directly on his desk, was no ordinary girl. While her background paled compared to Jing Yu's, her family was still extremely wealthy. Forget pigpens — she might not have even been to a wet market in her life.
So when she had to cry on camera later, the tears came naturally.
"You're quite gentle with her, huh? The way you looked at that little girl during the scene — totally in character," said a familiar voice.
Jing Yu turned. Among the crowd on the sidelines, Yu Youqing was watching him.
"Jealous?" he grinned.
"She's just sixteen!"
"I'm not jealous! I just dropped by because I was bored at the office. But this place... oof. That Chihiro actress held up?"
"She managed. If she can't handle this, how does she expect to be famous? Back in my early acting days, I filmed summer scenes in short sleeves during subzero winters for hours on end," he said, ruffling her hair.
"Stop overthinking."
"Hmph. Back then, I was always your female lead — me or Xia Yining. Now it's teenage girls. And you're so into the role. I've been here an hour, and you just noticed?"
"I asked you to play Chihiro, and you said no. And besides, this is work. I have to take it seriously," Jing Yu rolled his eyes.
Their playful bickering was a scene in itself. The crew knew about their relationship but avoided commenting. It was an open secret in the company — just not public knowledge.
There was no benefit in going public. It would only stir fan drama and online chaos.
By evening, Yu Youqing was driving them home. Jing Yu dozed off in the passenger seat. When he woke up, it was 10 PM — the car was parked in front of their villa.
"How long was I out?"
"Four hours," she said, setting down her phone.
"You should've woken me up!"
"Sleep is sacred. I wouldn't wake someone who's sleeping so soundly."
"But if you're feeling this drained, maybe scale back. Not everything needs your personal attention. Your assistant or execs can handle some of it."
Jing Yu fell silent.
In the past, even juggling multiple shoots was manageable. But now? Four or five movie projects, two major dramas, six or seven game titles — and he was still the core driver behind every one.
He handled:
The VFX quality for 'Gundam SEED.'
The scene pacing and editing rhythm in 'Attack on Titan.'
The sprite art for all the cute creatures in 'Pokémon.'
The complex rule balancing and card set mechanics in 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'
Even with him delegating most side work, this past month had nearly broken him.
"I'd love to just hand off a script and let others handle the rest. But honestly... I don't trust their standards," Jing Yu said with a sigh.
A script might be the soul, but the final product needed flesh and bone.
Take 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' — same script, but Li Ruotong's "fairy sister" version and Chen Yanxi's "steamed bun" version were miles apart in execution.
Jing Yu's works were great — and he knew exactly why. But they needed his direction on-set to make sure they turned out right. Just handing over a script could easily derail everything.
"But you're right — I can't do this forever. Once we wrap 'Spirited Away', I'll start delegating more."
His company was finally running smoothly. Even if he stepped away from frontline tasks, things would stay on track.
"Feels like... I'm not that young anymore," Jing Yu said with a faint smile.
After years of filming day in, day out, he now realized he couldn't keep it up forever. He was no longer just a writer or actor. He was the CEO of Great Zhou's most influential entertainment company.
"Don't get all sentimental! I'm just saying scale back, not retire!" Yu Youqing said quickly, worried her words had discouraged him.
Jing Yu gently took her hand and smiled.
"I'm just stating facts. If the company's going to grow even bigger, I need to focus on more than just making dramas."
"You mean... like the games? You've been especially hands-on with those lately."
"Not just that. Our company has three major arms — games, film, and TV. They're all interconnected. But yes, especially this year, I've poured energy into 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'."
"Those two?" Yu Youqing was surprised.
She didn't know much about those games, only that Jing Yu treated them on par — or even above — projects like 'Gundam' and 'Ultraman'.
"Yeah. I've given each game over $1 billion in budget. We're still hiring more staff even now."
"You knew the budget from the meetings. But here's what you don't know…" Jing Yu looked at her.
"If these new games perform as I expect, this company will be untouchable. Even if I retired tomorrow, Bluestar Media would still dominate."
"You expect that much from them?" she asked, stunned.
Jing Yu didn't answer directly — but it was obvious.
These were S-tier IPs in his past life.
Everything he'd created recently — 'Ultraman', 'Evangelion', 'Pokémon', 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' — had all been part of the global top 50 IPs by revenue in his original world.
While a year or two of airing had only brought in billions in profits, that barely scratched the surface of their true potential.
Limitations came from Bluestar Media's current reach and the time it took to build a fandom. But now that the company had money and manpower, Jing Yu was preparing for deep development.
The games launching next month for 'Attack on Titan', 'Ultraman', and 'Gundam' were just Phase One. More versions were already in development.
It was just like 'Pokémon', which had dozens of versions over time. Why earn once, when you could earn forever?
That's how true world-class IPs worked — not just mass appeal, but sustained monetization from die-hard fans.
Heck, Marvel was already a global juggernaut in his past life. Its highest-grossing film was #1 worldwide.
Yet in terms of total franchise value?
Marvel was only half of what 'Pokémon' was worth.
'Pokémon' has generated over 700 billion yuan in value worldwide. If Jing Yu could replicate even a fraction of that in Great Zhou, Bluestar would become a world-class company built on a single title.
And he still had 'Gundam', 'Ultraman', and more in development.
His vision for Bluestar was clear: to become the undisputed entertainment titan — integrating film, games, and TV under one brand.
"I still don't quite get it," Yu Youqing admitted. "'Pokémon' looks like a kids' toy game to me. And 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' just feels like fancy poker."
She'd already held back from calling it childish or cringey — but Jing Yu had never missed before. So instead, she doubted her own taste.
"It's okay. I know the ceiling for these works. But whether they'll reach it here... that's still a gamble," Jing Yu said.
In his past life, 'Pokémon' was the #1 global IP. But could it do the same in Great Zhou?
That depended on how much support he, as the creator, was willing to give it.
Their late-night chat ended not long after. The two got out of the car and went inside to rest.
A few days later, Episode 2 of 'Attack on Titan' Season 2 aired.
It was another dialogue-heavy episode, mostly setup.
To investigate the link between humans and Titans, the Survey Corps left the safety of the Walls and ventured toward Wall Maria, which had fallen years ago.
Eren didn't do much this episode. Instead, the spotlight went to Reiner, Ymir, Krista, and Bertholdt.
Especially Ymir and Historia (Krista). Compared to the original anime, Jing Yu gave their relationship way more screen time.
In the original, Ymir's bond with Historia felt sudden — mostly revealed through flashbacks. Her self-sacrifice seemed abrupt for someone so selfish.
So Jing Yu rewrote parts to better establish their bond, giving audiences that "Ah-ha!" moment.
"So that's who Ymir really is... She actually feels that way about Historia?"
He also added inner monologues for Reiner and Bertholdt — subtle clues with no spoilers, but rewarding for rewatchers who knew the truth.
The result? Ymir and Historia's popularity skyrocketed.
In this brutal world, their delicate bond stirred something in viewers. Many fans instantly began shipping the two.