AP Chapter 1: Overbearing President

“Breaking news, at 1:10 a.m. today, film star Ye Yi unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack…”

“Rong Cheng Entertainment has confirmed the news that Ye Yi’s long-time girlfriend and also the CEO of Rong Cheng Entertainment, Rong Cheng Yue, has fainted due to excessive grief and is currently receiving treatment at a local hospital in Macau……. Affected by the incident, Rong Cheng Entertainment’s stock has fallen for two consecutive days, and the rising trend of its parent company, Rong Cheng Group, on the U.S. New York Stock Exchange has also been affected……”

Recently, Rong Chengjue, president of Rong Cheng Group, announced at the company’s internal meeting that he will directly manage Rong Cheng Entertainment, and said that due to new business needs, an “IP expansion department” will be established to deal with the current rapidly developing film and television industry. The industry insiders pointed out that shifting the business focus to expanding the content chain of film and television is actually a helpless action by Rong Cheng Entertainment without Ye Yi and its helmsman.

[TL/N: Copyright and intellectual property (IP) sits at the foundation of all film production. It gives creators confidence that they own their work, and that they will be entitled to manage the distribution of the finished product. In this context, it means that they want to own more movies and earn profit by directing those works.]

Maybe it’s because of the media frenzy these days, but on Rong Cheng Entertainment’s recruitment day, the place was extremely popular. The company’s lobby, used for the interviews, was swarming with media, Ye Yi fans, elite interviewees and other busybodies.

“Ye Zhen, 23 years old, Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Master’s in Theoretical Physics from H University. She works in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science of H University and has published a thesis in <<Nature>>…”

Having worked in human resources management for many years, the interviewer, named Sister Mei, always thought she had seen a lot of the world. But after seeing such a resume, she felt a little insecure for no reason. She sat up a little straighter and said to the girl with good looks and temperament, “Ahem, of course, Miss Ye is very welcome to apply to RongCheng Entertainment with such qualifications. But this time, we are only hiring general staff for the trial operations department. The salary is also—”

“I know,” Ye Zhen nodded, “Although I have a good educational background, I don’t know much about the entertainment industry. I need to learn from the ground up, so I hope the interviewer will give me that opportunity.”

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” After hesitating for a moment, Sister Mei still checked her preliminary round, handed her a number plate, and then said, “I have great confidence in Miss Ye’s ability, but according to the procedure, there are still two rounds of interviews. Take the elevator here to the third floor, over there is the second round of the interview. Jiayou to Miss Ye.”

Ye Zhen stood up, took the number plate, bowed halfway, and went to the end of the  corridor.

After seeing her off, Sister Mei picked up her resume again, and the more she looked at it, the more she clicked her tongue. Seeing this, the colleagues around her couldn’t help but look over their shoulders and sighed, “Tsk, this little girl is really awesome. She entered the junior class of H University at the age of thirteen, and after seven years of doing Ph.D, she has won many awards.

“Yeah, she is very intelligent. I don’t know why she would think of doing an interview with our company.

“You say that,” a colleague elbowed Sister Mei sarcastically. “We are at least a famous domestic tyrant company in China. Our boss is handsome and rich, and has even become an Internet celebrity.”

“Pfft–” Sister Mei was amused and was about to continue gossiping when there was a sudden commotion at the entrance. She glanced over and saw that the Internet celebrity boss of their company had appeared at the entrance without informing them in advance. She saw him walking in a white suit and dark sunglasses as the front and the rear bodyguards cleared the way. Amidst screaming girls, the expressionless man entered the elevator. His aura, which resembled that of a young celebrity, did not lose out to the fresh meat of their company, Xi Gu. 

As a matter of fact, our tyrant president Rong Cheng Jue is a lot more attractive than their superstar Xi Gu.WWhy When he first became famous at a young age, a female reporter interviewed him: “Mr. Rong is so handsome, there must be so many girls who want to marry you. What do you think?”

His response at the time was something along the lines of, “Why should I have any regard for a group of women who can’t even get my name right?”

“Ah?”

“What ah? My surname is not Rong. It is Rong Cheng, and my first name is Jue. Seeing that the reporter was looking more and more lost, he simply took out a pen and wrote on his nametag in Pinyin. “Repeat after me, Jue (绝), two jade harmonise and form Jue, do you understand?”

This unique response was captured on video by the Busybodies and quickly rose to the top of Weibo headlines. It made him famous and established his status as the president of “Internet celebrities. Since then, he has been the subject of constant gossip, from rumours of love affairs to sex scandals. Even the paparazzi saw him as a target and followed him everywhere. As a result, the general public didn’t have to worry about having nothing to talk about in their free time or after a meal.

Of course, Ye Zhen did not know that an “Internet celebrity” was downstairs. She was sitting in the rest area with a number plate in her hand, waiting for the interview to start. This interview was conducted in a group of six people. Just now, a staff member came out and informed her group to prepare, and told the topic: Please select a high-quality IP suitable for film and television and analyze it.

It is reasonable to say that since the group interview and the preparation time are given, the group members are allowed to discuss beforehand. However, although some people glanced at each other a few times, none of them had the intention to open their mouths, obviously wanting to fight on their own. But this is normal, after all, the question is not difficult. The key is how to use their own views to convince the interviewers, so it is wise to avoid each other.

Sure enough, after Ye Zhen’s group entered the meeting room, a boy with glasses was the first to speak, “Thank you for giving us this opportunity for an interview, I would like to start by expressing my personal opinion.

As we all know, the representative genre of online literature is fantasy, and most of the works in this category are written by young people with hot blood and rich imagination, which is very influential among young people. Therefore, if you want to create a high-quality IP brand, I think you should buy this kind of work, and among them, the most representative is “The Nine Cauldrons” written by an online author, I eat tomatoes..”

Putting her hand to her forehead, Ye Zhen hadn’t expected the idea she had in mind to collide directly with the first person. Well, she didn’t want to be accused of passing off someone else’s wisdom as her own, so she had to change it. While she was thinking about it, the person behind her said, “Youth campus novels also have an advantage among young people, and the investment and production costs are much lower than those of costume dramas such as fantasy. At present, the IP expansion operation is still in the trial stage, so I think we should buy this kind of product first…”

“… I have a different view from the previous two people. Not only novels are called IPs, but also songs. As long as it’s popular and recognized, it can also be called IP. We can use this opportunity to create our own original IP…”

“…”

It can be said that everyone is following the trend and trying to express new ideas. Ye Zhen originally wanted to do this, but on second thought, everyone is just looking for new ideas, and it is kind of repetitive. She might as well talk about something old-fashioned. Old bottles of new wine are not unattractive.

It just so happens that she was prepared for this kind of situation.

After the first five people finished speaking, Ye Zhen said, “In my opinion, the core of IP is not content, but big data. So, choosing high-quality IP is a process of sampling the data collection of various content that has been tested by the market, evaluation and optimization, so as to reduce the risk and difficulty of film and television adaptation, and measure the market purchasing power and fan stickiness.

Based on the above theory, I chose a novel that, well, even if people don’t read it, they will know what it’s about, and the title is called 《The Overbearing President》.”

“Pfft-” the room echoed with bursts of laughter.

Ye Zhen took out her cell phone and displayed the web page as she calmly said, “From Taiwan’s paperbacks in the 1990s to today’s online novels, the overbearing president has been in favor for thirty years and has never declined. In its early years, the overbearing president was synonymous with Taiwan’s small talk, but now it is still the mainstream of online romance. Take Penguin Reading App, which currently holds the largest market share, as an example. 56 of the top 100 bestselling books have male presidents as their main characters, showing the appeal.

The book I recommend is the highest rated book on the site. It mainly tells about a handsome and earth-shattering president whose industry is spread all over Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. During the day he has to work and reject all kinds of celebrities and beauties. At night, he disguises himself as a law enforcer to protect the order of the world. Then he falls in love with the female protagonist, who is a laundress, has a brother who loves to gamble, looks like a passerby, and fails every possible test a heroine should pass. “

“Bang-,” Before she finished speaking, someone suddenly pushed open the door, leaned against the door frame, applauded slowly, and exclaimed, “Not bad, what a good book~”

It is a collection of all kinds of YY, insulting and ridiculing the president. Our RongCheng President easily escaped the siege of the mentally deficient girl*. When we passed by the conference room, we heard this story directly, which made him feel a kind of sympathetic sadness.

[TL/N: I am assuming he is referring to a stalking and delusional fangirl of his.]

Ha ha ha, I’m not happy. It’s cold. King should go bankrupt*…

[TL/N: I do not know what this actually means…^^]

Oh, the line is wrong. It should be… Very well, woman. You have successfully gotten my attention. Rong Cheng Jue took off his sunglasses and walked into the conference room, looking down at Ye Zhen from above.

Ye Zhen inexplicably looked at him and turned her head to the interviewers, wanting to continue discussing her views, but some interviewers quickly stood up and said, “Good afternoon, President.”

Other people responded to the situation one by one. The words “President” rang out one after another.

Someone else insensitively chimed in, “The president likes to read this kind of novel, too?”

For the first time, when Rong Cheng Jue heard others call him “President”, he felt ashamed. And did you not know what irony was? How could he read a romantic novel that did nothing but show off his wealth and play cool, kneeling and licking his girlfriend, huh!

He, however, was a connotative, non-cliché, true three-dimensional president. He tapped his phone on the table to attract Ye Zhen’s attention, then sneered: “How dare you come to the interview at this level?  Girls should read more useful books. If you have a bad brain, you won’t have a future if you don’t work hard. Daydreaming is even more serious. You need to be treated, do you understand?”

Ye Zhen, “…” This is the first time someone has said that she is mentally ill as an adult. This “Internet Celebrity” president is really as ignorant as the rumors say when he gets angry with others.

It fits the setting of the overbearing president. No wonder everyone loves to gossip about him.

But now the object of his dislike is herself, which is very unpleasant, and she is still at the hurdle of the interview. Ye Zhen knew without thinking that if there was no way to turn the situation around, even if someone had heard the intention of her example earlier, they would not risk offending the company’s big boss to speak for herself, let alone accept herself.

Forget it, it seems that the only way she can show off her IQ is in a very public way.

Ye Zhen raised her head and met Rong Cheng Jue with a clear gaze, then her gaze moved down and sized him up once before she spoke, “Did President Rong Cheng have dinner with his mother at home today?”

Rong Cheng Jue’s gaze tightened, “How do you know that?”

“Guess,” Ye Zhen pointed to his collar, “This outfit of yours should be a new line of a certain brand, the blue sweater between the shirt and the suit is a bit nostalgic. It’s a bit cooler today, so I think your mother must have made you wear it before you left the house.”

“Oh, that’s a good guess,” Rong Cheng Jue said with a slightly crooked smile, “To be honest, are you a reporter from some company planning to go undercover in our company?”

“…” She took back what she had just said. This person not only fits the setting of a domineering president, he is simply the embodiment of an overbearing male president.

After taking a deep breath, Ye Zhen said again, “I’m not a reporter, I’m a math student.” She looked at the cell phone Rong Cheng Jue was holding in front of her, “Why don’t you let me guess your phone password?”

Rong Cheng Jue unconsciously turned on the phone screen, then looked at Ye Zhen in disbelief: “Woman, don’t take any chances, my password is hard to guess.”

“Your birthday.”

“The third of March.”

“For you, a special set of numbers.”

“620602.”

Ye Zhen nodded, grabbed Rong Cheng Jue’s phone, switched to the power screen, looked at him, was about to swipe her finger, and suddenly said: “When is Valentine’s Day?”

Rong Cheng Jue unconsciously stared at the screen and said, “It’s the seventh of July,” and then hastily added, “Well, I mean, there’s still the 14th of February.

Ye Zhen’s hand opened the screen at the same time and turned it towards him: “There, it’s unlocked.”

“How did you do that?” Rong Cheng Jue was shocked, “Is there really a formula to deduce the password from the number I reported?”

“Not really, I said that I had studied mathematics just to confuse you, what I was observing was actually where your eyes stopped.”

“…”

“But based on the above two instances, I think I can prove that I am not the ‘girl with a bad brain who does not work hard and daydreams’ in the words of President Rong Cheng, so I hope you can retract your previous statement and give me the opportunity to continue the interview.”

If she had a “bad brain,” wouldn’t she be even worse in the head of the person she was fooling? Rong Cheng Jue said to the interviewer with a dark face, “Bring me her resume.”

After receiving her resume, he turned to Ye Zhen and said, “We pay great attention to education and qualifications in RongCheng’s recruitment. IP expansion is not only important for RongCheng Film and Television, but also one of the core tasks of the group company. The implication was that he was just doing business, not being unreasonable.

Ye Zhen nodded, “Oh.”

Rong Cheng Jue was a little annoyed by her attitude, so he lowered his head and flipped through his resume, then froze and looked up with an aggrieved look.

Ye Zhen read many complex emotions from his eyes, such as, “You really study mathematics,” “You don’t look like it,” “It’s great to get a Ph.D. at the age of twenty, so why are you applying for an ordinary job?” She was just about to express her love and longing for the new position when Rong Cheng Jue suddenly said in a deep voice, “Ye Zhen, it’s you…”

“Pa…” Before Ye Zhen could react, some of the spectators smashed their water glasses in excitement.

This line is definitely not pure ah, President, tell your story!

However, Rong Cheng Jue had already lost interest in the show. He sighed in frustration, shoved her resume back into Ye Zhen’s hand, gave a faint order to the interviewer, “Let her stay,” and walked out.

Ye Zhen, “…”

At eight o’clock that evening, new gossip about the president of the “Internet celebrity” quietly appeared on Weibo.

Gossip Trumpet V: Extra Extra! According to industry insiders, “RongCheng Entertainment” interviewed new employees today. Rong Cheng Jue personally went to the scene and recruited a certain girl to work for the company. I heard that they have known each other for a long time.

The Most Righteous God replied: →_→ Is she hired to be the personal secretary of the president?

Translator ramblings^^

OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF, FUCK THIS SHIT WHY IS THIS SO HARDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Sorry^^ but this chapter was a pain in the ass to translate with such big paragraphs and so many “business” terms-_-. I am not sure if this is the writing style of the author or if it is just the first few chapters where the context is given, but I do REALLY HOPE that the story doesn’t have this big dialogues and paragraphs going forward*_*.

But man, I love both of their personalities like… go girl congrats for being a scandal in your first day of work lmao^^

Also I want to ask your suggestion… I did notice that the chapters are so frickin long, should I split them and make into parts???