For two straight months, the company remained busy working on the various projects it had greenlit the previous year.
New info about sequels to games and dramas was released on the company's official website every few days.
As a result, BlueStar Media's official site saw more traffic than many professional entertainment forums in Great Zhou.
Though Jing Yu hadn't personally directed any shoots like in past years, the company's output had actually increased.
While the in-house productions weren't wildly profitable, they weren't losses either—modest gains overall.
Jing Yu wasn't afraid of risk. As long as a project seemed even remotely promising, he would sign off on it without hesitation.
After all, no matter how much he paid, he could never poach the industry's true top talents—
Those were non-transferable assets to their current companies, often shareholders themselves, and were nearly impossible to recruit.
This was exactly why outsiders often said that BlueStar's self-produced titles never performed as well—
not because the production teams lacked ability,
But because only Jing Yu, with his foresight from a previous life, could handle key aspects like scriptwriting and tone setting at the highest level.
So for the foreseeable future, Jing Yu would continue investing in various projects not to chase profits, but to train his team.
As these in-house dramas aired, many of the projects that had been greenlit last year also began releasing.
The 'Initial D' game launched in early February, just days before the Lunar New Year.
The game closely followed the drama's plot: an immersive racing RPG where players controlled the AE86 and took on the show's famous rivals.
Since it was a game adaptation, some manga-exclusive content was added—like Takumi joining a pro team, breaking up with Natsuki, and dating a wealthy female golf player.
This storyline was teased in the game, and if sales were good, future sequels might explore it in detail.
Then came the sequel to 'Steins;Gate',
a story answering the big unresolved mystery from the original—how the protagonist, from the future, found a way to save Kurisu in the Beta worldline during the first loop.
Thousands of jumps through the Phone Microwave, decades of time travel, all to save one girl—a real man's mission.
These two games had been rumored for three years.
But BlueStar's production schedule was packed the past two years, so they were only now released during Spring Festival.
In the Great Zhou, they did extremely well.
But compared to the likes of 'Pokémon' or 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', the difference was obvious.
Even though both games had global releases, their overseas sales were mediocre, far below those of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! 1 & 2.
Still, thanks to strong domestic sales, both projects managed to hit respectable profits, and the games division was in high spirits.
But once these two titles launched, BlueStar's visibility dipped.
Sure, the company was still producing games and shows monthly—
But as they were mostly employee-originated projects, their results never quite matched up to anything with Jing Yu's name attached.
After Yu Youqing got pregnant, Jing Yu started devoting a significant chunk of time to family life.
While he still had ambitions to make BlueStar the largest entertainment group in Great Zhou, that could never outweigh the importance of family.
He had even stopped personally checking in on 'Slam Dunk' and 'Bleach' filming progress.
Now, unless it was truly important, he rarely even went to the office—he stayed home, focused on making sure Yu Youqing had a smooth pregnancy.
Though he had multiple villas in the Capital, Jing Yu had always disliked having strangers at home.
He never hired live-in help before—just booked cleaning services when needed.
But now, those preferences have changed.
He hired multiple full-time caretakers, making sure Yu Youqing's daily needs were well-covered.
"You really don't have to stay home all day," Yu Youqing said awkwardly, trying to encourage him to return to work.
"The company's at a point now where most operations don't require me directly," Jing Yu replied as he gently styled her hair.
"Aside from projects I personally script, the rest are all handled perfectly well by the staff. I'm just there to review and approve. Nothing critical."
"But from what you've said before, isn't this a key growth period for the company?" she asked.
"True," he nodded. "Outside those dozen or so active projects, 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' are our current flagship IPs.
But again, when it comes to actual operation, I can only provide guidance—the professionals handle the execution."
"As Chairman, my job is only to steer the ship. I don't have the bandwidth for every little detail.
That's exactly why I have time to be home right now. There haven't been any major issues."
Yu Youqing thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Well, fine. If you say there's no problem, then I'll believe you."
"And honestly, it's not a bad thing that development is slowing down a bit. Maybe we grew too fast."
"That's true," Jing Yu agreed.
BlueStar's growth had indeed plateaued.
Of course, they could still double their staff overnight by mass hiring or poaching—
But what would be the point?
Jing Yu was now focused on the upper echelon of the film and game industries.
The biggest profits came from a few top-tier works—
And that realm didn't need quantity.
Blindly expanding would be pointless.
In just over a year, 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' had brought in over two billion yuan in profits.
But for these IPs to reach the legendary status they held in Jing Yu's previous life, it would take time.
At least ten years of annual sequels would be needed to make them truly dominant worldwide.
There was no need to rush.
As it stood, BlueStar had already reached the peak of the drama industry in Great Zhou—
Even on a global scale, its revenue and profit margins were unmatched.
Great Zhou wasn't like the world Jing Yu came from—
It was one of the cultural centers of the world.
What became popular in the Great Zhou defined global trends.
As for film, Jing Yu's record-setting box office numbers still hadn't been surpassed.
It would be years before anyone could beat the domestic box office record set by 'Spirited Away'.
In games, every single one of the last five games written by Jing Yu had sold over 10 million copies.
The BlueStar Games division might not yet have the legacy of a top-tier global publisher,
But in terms of performance?
They were elite among elites.
All three of BlueStar's core divisions ranked top 10 globally in their respective industries—
And overall, the company was now a world-class entertainment powerhouse.
At this point, growth wouldn't depend on Jing Yu's next big idea,
But on whether the market itself had room to expand.
Once the internet boom fully hit, BlueStar would go all-in.
Jing Yu planned to grow BlueStar's divisions into global titans—like Nintendo or the Big Eight Hollywood Studios from his past life.
"Bored, aren't you?" Yu Youqing teased.
"You debuted and went straight to the top. You've been undefeated since. Not a single rival has ever truly challenged you."
"To be honest, that's just natural," Jing Yu said, smiling.
"If there was someone who could match me in both quantity and quality of work…
They wouldn't be an ordinary human."
Only another reincarnator could match him.
Genius creators definitely existed, but to consistently outperform Jing Yu, armed with a lifetime of hit titles from another world?
That would require someone with the same advantage.
Even the original creators of his adapted works only had one or two breakout hits in their whole careers.
"But yeah, I've thought about it—what if someone like me exists out there?
So far though… It's just a theory.
Right now, I really do seem to be one of a kind."
"So full of yourself," Yu Youqing teased, rolling her eyes.
"That confidence of yours knows no bounds."
Jing Yu just smiled.
Yu Youqing had gotten pregnant in early December,
So the due date was expected between September and October.
Until then, Jing Yu had no plans to overwork or take on massive new projects.
To his fans, it suddenly felt like Jing Yu had gone completely silent.
"Still no news from Old Thief?"
"All we know is that 'Slam Dunk' will air in the fall, and 'Bleach' in the winter.
Everything else seems to be projects from last year still in development."
"I need 'Pokémon 3' now. I'm down bad—I've got Pokémon addiction."
"I just want the next 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' game! Give me more cards!"
"Has anyone counted how many cards are in 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' now? I want to collect everyone in real life…"
"Probably over two or three thousand. It's way too many."
"Honestly, props to Old Thief. He actually made that many cards. Insane."
"Some are way too OP. You can't tell in the show or games, but in real-life duels, Pot of Greed and Monster Reborn are busted."
"The official rulebook banned both. They were designed strictly for plot use. Not allowed in real duels."
"That's what makes Old Thief great. He just bans anything that's broken.
Sometimes I didn't even understand why a card was banned—
Then I used it and realized, yeah… fair enough."
"Cut him some slack. He's still human.
For someone who created an entire dueling system with so few flaws, that's already impressive."
"Ugh. So it really looks like Old Thief isn't planning any big moves this year. Guess we'll have to wait till next."
"It's only March, and I'm already dead inside.
Just want fall and winter to come already so I can binge-watch 'Slam Dunk' and 'Bleach'."
Jing Yu remained out of the spotlight—
But discussions about him never faded in the industry.
As spring ended and summer arrived, Great Zhou's internet industry hit a boom.
Thanks to infrastructure improvements, new sectors were exploding left and right.
Just like in Jing Yu's previous world, food delivery apps, ride-sharing, e-commerce, and more were popping up like mushrooms after the rain.
Naturally, Jing Yu didn't just sit back.
He wasn't some expert investor—so he used the dumb method: spray-and-pray.
As long as the startup was in a field that boomed in his past life, he would invest a little, as long as they let him in.
Most founders didn't want to give up control anyway, so they only ever got a few percent of the shares.
Still, if just one of those startups ended up dominating the sector, the return would be massive.
He avoided messier areas like bike-sharing, power banks, e-scooters, finance, or lending—the waters were too murky.
Besides, he valued his reputation and wouldn't even touch those.
His main career was still in entertainment.
He dabbled in investment for fun, not obsession.
Even if he lost everything, he didn't care.
During the summer months, he stayed home and had conversations with friends in the industry about various investment opportunities.
Then summer passed.
Autumn arrived.
Half a year had flown by.
Yu Youqing's belly was now clearly showing, her pregnancy symptoms worsening.
The due date was just a month or two away.
Her health and mood were fine, though.
As for Jing Yu, after half a year of chill, he finally turned his attention back to company projects.
And just like that—
In two days, 'Slam Dunk' would officially premiere.