Chapter 105: The Masterful Use of Maximizing Indicators

A private gathering with BoA was perhaps the most casual and homey type of social engagement for Gu Cheng. Its level of relaxation was second only to cooking instant noodles at home with his cousin.

BoA took the lead, guiding Gu Cheng to a delicious yet hidden noodle shop. They ordered two bowls of Hakata ramen and two bottles of sake. Gu Cheng felt a shiver at the sight of the alcohol; he had already downed a bottle at lunch.

The shop was tiny, with only eight seats. The noodles were exactly as Chinese people imagined Japanese ramen: a thick broth made from pork bones and dried fish, topped with large slices of chashu pork, and surrounded by seaweed, bean sprouts, and shredded wood ear mushrooms.

BoA’s bowl included an extra drizzle of chili oil infused with fried garlic, crushed chili, and white sesame seeds. Gu Cheng, not fond of spicy food, skipped it.

The noodles in the large bowl were sparse—just a few strands that Gu Cheng could finish in a few bites. However, two smaller bowls of noodles were placed on the side.

Gu Cheng had eaten Japanese ramen before, but he had never seen this setup. He pointed at the bowls and asked, "Since there's so little, why not just dump it all in? Why three bowls?"

Having known Gu Cheng for years, it was a rare opportunity for BoA to show off. She explained triumphantly, "After you finish the noodles in the main bowl, you add the second and then the third in order. Hakata ramen turns soggy if left in the boiling broth too long, so you eat it a bit at a time. The firmness of the noodles in these three bowls is calibrated to match the broth as it cools from piping hot to lukewarm."

The boiling broth pairs with the firmest noodles. As the temperature drops slightly, you add the second, medium-firm bowl. Finally, you add the soft noodles to the lukewarm broth.

Gu Cheng felt intrigued. "This way of eating is quite similar to the 'cross-bridge rice noodles' back home."

He ate quickly and finished in no time, sitting back to watch the girl eat. He knew BoA was a noodle fanatic—from ramen to pasta, she loved them all—and she was hell-bent on spicy food. Sometimes, it was hard to reconcile that with her cute image.

He couldn't help himself. "If you keep eating spicy food like this, you'll definitely break out. Then you'll have to use heavy makeup every day, putting more strain on your skin. By the time you're thirty, your face will be ruined."

BoA was incensed. She clenched her chopsticks, unsure whether to hold them or put them down, and finally slammed them onto the vinegar saucer with a "bang." She puffed out her cheeks and said, "You nag more than my brother! I actually thought you were a good person back when Miss An took us to that French restaurant."

Gu Cheng wiped his mouth and teased lightheartedly, "I'm doing this for your own good. Just saying it offhand; ignore it if you don't want to hear it."

"What 'for my own good'—I think you just enjoyed the drama back then. When I was working for President Lee, you didn't care about my 'acting career lifespan.' Now that you own half the company and I'm working for you, you're managing everything!" BoA pouted, looking at him with disdain as she called his bluff. "Don't worry, you saved my life. Even if my face gets ruined, I'll work for you for the rest of my life!"

Gu Cheng was left speechless.

Is the way this girl’s brain jumps around always this intense? Where did that even come from?

Besides, what kind of logic was that? If her face really got ruined, would she be working for him for a lifetime, or would she be leeching off him for a lifetime?

Gu Cheng didn't want to waste effort trying to reason with her, so he quickly changed the subject. "Alright, alright, I won't manage you anymore. By the way, happy birthday. I didn't expect to see you here, so I didn't prepare anything."

The two weren't exactly best friends, but perhaps it was that unspoken bond of shared humble beginnings that made them forget to exchange polite pleasantries whenever they met. They only thought to bring up such hollow formalities when things got awkward and they needed a distraction.

The girl before him would turn fifteen tomorrow—the "age of pinning" in ancient times.

BoA’s fair face flushed slightly, and she waved her hand magnanimously. "Forget it, why be so polite? If you really want to give me a gift, how about you make a guest appearance at my concert next week to support me?"

Gu Cheng was embarrassed. "Are you joking? I've never been on stage at a concert. Besides, you've already held six, why are you still getting stage fright?"

BoA pouted playfully. "Those earlier ones in the first half of the year were with Koda Kumi and Matsuura Aya. Since I just released my new album, *No.1*, the company scheduled my first solo concert. Just thinking about it makes me a little nervous."

Having started his own talent agency, Gu Cheng understood the industry nuances: typically, a new singer needs at least two years of buildup before a solo concert, because a rookie doesn't have enough tracks to sustain a show.

BoA had only debuted a year and three months ago; this was incredibly fast.

He nodded, showing natural concern. "By the way, how is your new album doing? Wasn't the lead single supposed to be 'Atlantis Princess'? Why did you change it to 'No.1'?"

*No.1* was originally the album BoA released during the 2002 World Cup, with *Atlantis Princess* coming later. It wasn't that she couldn't handle the tracks; it was just that SM and Avex's original songwriting capabilities weren't strong, so they padded rookie albums with filler.

Perhaps due to Gu Cheng’s "butterfly effect," BoA had found her direction early and spent less time idling. SM and Avex went all out, giving her the best composers, naturally resulting in pure quality.

BoA drank her sake and said proudly, "It’s going well. Almost 300,000 copies in the first week, hitting the top of the Oricon charts. Avex says at this rate, it could hit 3 million in annual sales. Maybe I'll even make it to the Kohaku Uta Gassen next month!"

The Kohaku Uta Gassen was the NHK year-end extravaganza, equivalent to China's Spring Festival Gala. For a 15-year-old foreign girl to perform in her first year would be a significant achievement. The success of *No.1* was evident.

Gu Cheng’s mind raced. After a quick calculation, he smiled. "Then I must congratulate you. 3 million in sales is enough for President Lee to pay off the loans he took to launch you. You've fulfilled your debt of gratitude."

"Gratitude isn't calculated like that," BoA said modestly. "Though, if it weren't for helping the President pay off those debts, I really wouldn't want to cooperate with their promotions this time. It's too pretentious."

"How so?"

"The PR team even released behind-the-scenes footage of me nearly falling into the sea when a helicopter blew me over during the MV shoot, just to make people pity me... It's so embarrassing. I went to argue with them, but those people were righteous about it, saying thanks to that clip, the record sold at least 700,000 or 800,000 more copies."

"What's wrong with that? It's not your fault," Gu Cheng comforted her, thinking to himself that she hadn't seen the "sob story kings" of future talent shows. If your parents weren't dead or you didn't have a terminal illness, you were almost too embarrassed to take the stage.

BoA calmed down and sighed helplessly. "Sigh, I know it's out of my hands. When the album was being promoted, once that clip was released, my popularity on Yahoo spiked several levels. Then, when the first-week sales came out, people from Sunrise Inc. immediately came knocking, asking me to record the ending themes for two hit anime—they were originally going to look for Ayumi Hamasaki."

Gu Cheng’s interest was piqued. "What are the titles? I'm producing a TV drama back home, and the regulators have given me a quota to import one Korean drama and one Japanese anime. I'm currently looking for suitable titles."

BoA answered without hesitation, "*Inuyasha*. The ending themes are 'Every Heart' and 'Dearest'."

*Inuyasha* was a hit Japanese anime running from 2000 to 2004, and the producers put a lot of effort into the music, changing the ending theme every 20 episodes or so. Originally, Ayumi Hamasaki was slated for the third season, and the then-rookie BoA for the fourth. Naturally, her early rise in this timeline caused Sunrise to skip Hamasaki.

Even Gu Cheng, from the future, vaguely remembered this anime—not because it was objectively superior to other works of that era, but because it left a mark on the history of Japanese anime imports.

After 2006, the regulators banned Japanese anime on television entirely, and *Inuyasha* and *Detective Conan* were the classic "last train" examples. In that sense, the content of these shows had been "battle-tested" by history, so there was no fear of them being censored or cut after importation.

In other words, if Gu Cheng had forced an import of *One Piece*, he couldn't guarantee whether he would ruin the livelihood of his peers or trigger a total ban on Japanese anime years ahead of schedule.

Moreover, Gu Cheng quickly thought of a new path: when importing foreign shows, he could promote the theme song artist alongside them. This was a rare opportunity for exposure in China for singers who didn't produce Chinese albums.

Back in the 90s, almost no one in China had heard of Japanese singers, but *Saint Seiya* and *Slam Dunk* had millions of people grinding through Japanese lyrics written in romanization just to sing along.

With that thought settled, Gu Cheng immediately picked up his phone at the table and called Lin Zhiling to ask about the progress of the import permits.

The phone rang twice before Lin Zhiling answered. Gu Cheng asked straight to the point, "Sister Zhiling, let me ask you something. In the batch of shows you sent to the officials for private viewing, was *Inuyasha* included?"

Lin Zhiling thought for a moment and replied in her sweet, high-pitched voice, "Yes, it is. Since it's a hit in Japan right now, I naturally sent it for their private pre-screening."

Gu Cheng felt a surge of joy. "Did they say anything?"

Lin Zhiling confirmed efficiently, "They don't see any issues. If you are certain you want to import it, we can probably finish the screening process by April next year."

Gu Cheng calculated the time and knew that the progress Lin Zhiling reported was quite fast. After all, he hadn't officially received the quota yet, and Japanese anime were more sensitive than Korean dramas.

Gu Cheng was satisfied, but added one more question. "What about the Korean drama? Did you send any?"

Lin Zhiling thought, "I sent a few. The one most likely to be a hit and which the officials also find 'harmonious' is *Autumn in My Heart*. However, I heard that the original production team is preparing a sequel, *Winter Sonata*. Should we wait and see which one becomes a bigger hit before deciding?"

Gu Cheng deliberated. "*Autumn in My Heart* is getting a sequel? Don't wait! If the first one is acceptable, import it directly. This kind of show is perfect for winter anyway. Hurry it up and don't miss the window."

Lin Zhiling agreed readily, saying she would go talk to KBS2 in the next few days. (KBS2 was the direct investor and producer of *Autumn in My Heart*.)

After hanging up, Gu Cheng suddenly felt a rush of inspiration. This meal had sparked several new business promotion ideas.

Ignoring the need to explain to BoA, he picked up the phone and dialed the young starlet Moon Geun-young.

Moon Geun-young was pleasantly surprised to receive Gu Cheng’s call and couldn't help but ask about her sister. Gu Cheng gave a vague response, saying her sister was doing well and had sparked a connection with a department head—a man who wasn't handsome but was mature and responsible.

After that, Gu Cheng asked Moon Geun-young for the contact information of the producer of *Autumn in My Heart*.

Moon Geun-young had played the teenage version of the protagonist Song Hye-kyo in the show and was one of the main actors, so she naturally had the production team's contact info.

Gu Cheng made the call, explained his credentials and the quota he held, and proposed an additional condition for the deal.

Ten minutes later, the deal was done.

When Gu Cheng hung up the phone, BoA, who had been left aside for quite a while, looked proud and annoyed. "You spent half an hour on the phone while out to dinner with me."

Gu Cheng triumphantly stroked BoA’s long, straight hair and said warmly, "I was preparing your birthday gift—I’ve decided what to give you. I’m going to write a song for you called 'Winter Love.' KBS2 has already agreed; *Winter Sonata* will use this song as its theme, and the version of *Autumn in My Heart* that I import to China will also use this song as its theme."

After all, Gu Cheng held the keys to what lay behind the curtain of "harmony."