Chapter 140: Without Money, What Ideals Can You Talk About?

After hearing what her agency had to say, Zhang Yuan did not change her behavior at all. She continued to treat Zhou Ran exactly as she had before, and their interactions remained unchanged. As for her gratitude for Zhou Ran’s help, she kept it buried in her heart; she knew how she felt, and there was no need to express it artificially.

What Zhang Yuan didn’t realize was that if she had actually followed her agency’s advice—deliberately currying favor with Zhou Ran by taking him out to dinner or giving him gifts—Zhou Ran would have been quite repulsed by such gestures. He did not want his relationship with Zhang Yuan to be tainted by transactional interests; it was best to keep things simple. Besides, if he truly wanted to pursue profit, he could have chosen to work with high-paying companies instead. After all, if he really wanted to make money now, he had plenty of ways to do so.

Furthermore, since Zhang Yuan’s company had already paid him and provided the compensation he was due, their relationship going forward should naturally be handled as one between friends.

If Zhang Yuan had truly acted according to her agency's instructions, Zhou Ran would still have helped her, but after this collaboration ended, their relationship would have cooled. It was far better to have a dynamic like the one he shared with Zhang Xiaofeng: joking around when there was nothing to do, and being serious and professional when it came time to get down to business.

Zhou Ran’s philosophy was simple: he just wanted to do his work purely, without mixing in too much profit-seeking. He was well aware of how interest exchanges worked, but he simply chose not to engage in them. He had lived such a miserable life in his past existence that he wanted to live more freely this time around, unburdened by the petty schemes and sycophancy required to survive. If he needed money, he had countless ways to get it—there were plenty of easy, trashy films he could make if he really wanted to.

Money could be earned, but one had to maintain a baseline of integrity. Of course, if you were struggling to put food on the table, you could treat your principles as worthless; all foundations of morality are built upon the premise that one’s basic survival is secured. As one artist once said quite bluntly on a show, people go into acting to make money—there is nothing wrong with saying that. If you weren't making money in the entertainment industry, would anyone choose to be a philanthropist?

The day after the broadcast of "Sounds of Nature," Zhou Ran and Zhang Yuan were set to record the third episode.

In the lounge, most of the singers arrived with smiles on their faces. The broadcast of the previous day’s episode had brought them all varying degrees of growth in their fan bases. The one with the most significant increase was, without question, Zhang Yuan, who had won the first episode. However, the other singers had also received considerable attention. Lou Yi, for instance, had received numerous contract offers from brands and invitations from companies for commercial events after the show aired, leading to a significant improvement in his overall status.

Even Li Si, who had been subjected to various criticisms on the show, saw a surge in engagement. Topics discussing his vocal technique even climbed into the top ten on the Weibo trending list. Even if the comments weren't entirely positive, for Li Si, as long as there was buzz, it was enough. As long as he performed well later to flip the narrative, he could gain a massive wave of new fans.

After this episode aired, many people began to take the show seriously. Privately, they had all been reminded by their agencies to perform well and, if possible, to get on good terms with Zhang Yuan and Zhou Ran.

According to the analytical data from the agencies, they had concluded that as long as Zhou Ran was involved, there would at least be a baseline level of popularity. In other words, the show would never lack viewers as long as Zhou Ran was there, even if he was just a music producer and not performing on stage himself.

When they entered the lounge, wanting to strike up a conversation with Zhou Ran, they found him sprawled out on the sofa, pulling a pillow over his head and pretending to sleep. He gave no one a chance to engage. Zhou Ran had anticipated this, and to save himself the trouble, he simply ignored everyone. It was the most efficient way to handle things. Although some might gossip about it, Zhou Ran didn't care much about such things anymore. Besides, the production team of "Sounds of Nature" would never include footage that painted him in a bad light; he was their cash cow, and they certainly wouldn't sabotage themselves by airing those moments.

Even the director, Wang Chong, would peek in to see what Zhou Ran and Zhang Yuan were doing before he felt at ease. Today, Wang Chong entered with a broad smile. The results after yesterday's broadcast had exceeded all expectations; the show had ranked first in its time slot across all metrics, and by a significant margin. He had even received praise from his superiors.

Furthermore, some advertisers had directly increased their investments just to secure more ad slots during the broadcast. They were so afraid Wang Chong wouldn't accept that they simply wired the money into the production account before even speaking to him, leaving him no room to refuse.

With this influx of capital, Wang Chong could upgrade his equipment and enhance the show's production value. To a director, every show is like their own child, and Wang Chong naturally wanted this one to succeed as much as possible, as his own interests were tied directly to its success.

Wang Chong knew that the show's success was largely thanks to Zhou Ran—the popularity he brought and the song "Later," which he had written, had elevated the show's profile by several levels. Without his help, "Sounds of Nature" would have had to endure several episodes of struggle and hardship before finding its footing; Zhou Ran’s involvement had simply bypassed that entire process.

Because of this, Wang Chong looked at Zhou Ran with the same satisfaction a mother-in-law feels toward a son-in-law. Under the same conditions, Wang Chong would do everything in his power to help Zhou Ran avoid trouble, which was, in turn, helping his own show avoid trouble. Moreover, he was eagerly looking forward to Zhou Ran bringing out more original songs to help boost the show's popularity even further.