Wang Fangfang returned to her dormitory. Seeing how happy she was, her roommates assumed she had found a job and congratulated her one after another. After all, there were no conflicts of interest among them, and they needed to stick together for mutual support.
"No, it's not that easy to find a job in our field. But lately, I've been following Senior Wang Ping around every day, and I've started to get a bit of a clue. At least I'm not bumping around like a headless fly anymore." There were four people in the dorm, and she was the only one who had to retire this year. The others were a bit younger than her, but their results weren't great either. She figured they'd end up in a similar situation eventually.
If she could carve out a path for herself, maybe these junior classmates could follow in her footsteps.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't sad. After all these years of hard work, most of her effort and dedication had gone down the drain. The only silver lining was that she was still in good health, with no serious injuries to show for it.
"Sister Fang, I think I'll have to retire next year too. If you make it big, I'll come and join you," a roommate said.
Sigh, in their line of work, they had to stick together, or it would be too tough. Even so, there were occasionally a few troublemakers, because resources were so scarce—if you had them, someone else didn't.
In the morning, the weather was cool, the lakeside was quiet, and the trees cast a pleasant shade. Zhou You couldn't resist the urge to run. He put on his earphones, grabbed his phone, and headed out for a jog around the lake.
There weren't many residential areas nearby yet, and Emerald Lake wasn't fully developed, so there were very few runners. Zhou You took a slow lap around the lake, finishing in less than an hour.
Lately, he'd been swimming frequently, which had strengthened his leg muscles and lung function. After the slow jog, his whole body felt refreshed.
A sense of self-disciplined pleasure washed over him, and dopamine kicked in.
Wang Fangfang had breakfast, dressed up carefully, and arrived at Emerald Lake.
Usually, Zhou You saw her at the swimming pool, where she rarely wore makeup since the water would wash it off anyway.
When they met, Zhou You was struck by how stunning she looked. She was usually around an 8 out of 10, but now she was a solid 9—radiating youthful charm, lively and adorable.
"You're here. Just listen in by my side and act as my secretary to keep up appearances," he said, since he still needed to play the role of an investor and couldn't just be a naive sucker.
Wang Fangfang casually linked her arm through his. "Sure, but I don't know anything. I'll keep quiet and not mess things up for you."
Zhou You smiled and said nothing, thinking to himself that this girl wasn't dumb at all.
When they arrived at the reserved private room, they found a thin man waiting there, around his 30s, without glasses. As Zhou You entered, the man quickly approached. "Hello, are you President Zhou?"
"Hello, I'm Zhou You. Are you Mr. Zhao?" Zhou You extended his hand.
They chatted briefly. Zhao Yun had originally been a photographer working at a TV station in Shanghai. He wanted to make documentaries, but there were basically no investors in this field, and distribution channels were very narrow. At least he had a job and had used his own resources to shoot a lot of material.
"I was surprised to see the post you put online, so I came in person to see what kind of person would dare to invest in documentaries. Documentaries almost never turn a profit, so investors have gradually disappeared," Zhao Yun said. Documentary filmmakers all had a certain passion and were willing to stick to their principles; otherwise, they couldn't survive in this industry.
Zhou You replied politely, "I'm just a newcomer who doesn't know my limits, plus I'm genuinely interested in this area. Don't call me President Zhou—just call me Teacher Zhou. My day job is as a university lecturer."
Zhao Yun didn't want to deal with pure nouveau riche types or purely profit-driven investors. He was doing this for his own passion, not to make money. It was fine if he met someone with a similar temperament, but dealing with pretentious blowhards was just unpleasant.
"What do you teach, and how did you get interested in this?"
"Library science. Documentaries actually have a lot in common with libraries—both are about preserving materials for society. One focuses on paper, the other on images. Plus, I'm naturally curious about all kinds of industries and people in the world, so I'm very interested in documentaries," Zhou You explained. This was indeed the real reason he liked documentaries.
Zhao Yun was overjoyed. They both felt like they had found a kindred spirit. "Same here! Even though I work at Shanghai TV Station as a photographer, I'm often driven by curiosity. I've worked as a cinematographer on many crews, just wanting to experience more of this world."
"This time, I saw your post on a whim and wanted to come see what kind of person would still be willing—or daring—to invest in documentaries. To be honest, I've managed to scrape together some investment through my connections before, but it never turned a profit. After a while, I felt embarrassed asking around in the circle, and no one dared to invest anymore."
Zhao Yun laughed as he finished speaking.
Zhou You was also delighted. They were both straightforward people. "I don't expect documentaries to make money. Very few do, and the investment for most isn't that huge. This is purely for the love of it. But I'll be upfront: it definitely won't be like investing in movies or TV dramas, where you throw in millions or tens of millions."
Zhao Yun laughed heartily. "Making documentaries is just a personal hobby. How much could it cost? A few hundred thousand at most. It's not like those nature documentaries—those are expensive."
"Recently, CCTV launched a project to shoot some kind of food documentary. They only approved a few million in funding, and it's still tight. I heard they're looking for investors everywhere."
Hearing this, Zhou You suddenly got excited. A documentary project seeking investment now—could it be *A Bite of China*? If he calculated the timing, it seemed like it was being shot around this year and would air next year.
"Is it from the CCTV Documentary Channel? Do you know who the director is, Brother Zhao?" News like this usually only reached insiders or people working within the system.
"It's the Documentary Channel. There are several directors, but the lead director seems to be Chen Xiaoqing," Zhao Yun shared what he knew.
"Even CCTV can't get investment for their documentaries?" Zhou You was very curious.
"Why would they be able to get investment? Only a few departments at CCTV make money; the rest all lose money. They keep losing on investments, can't sell ads, and have low viewership—of course no one invests." Zhao Yun said helplessly, explaining that this was the industry's reality. Even the top players couldn't get funding, let alone the scattered independents.
Wang Fangfang listened, feeling a bit lost but also impressed by how highbrow it all seemed.
As Zhou You listened, he was already calculating how to bring up investing in *A Bite of China*. He didn't know if the documentary made money, but at least it didn't lose any. More importantly, by investing in it, he could establish his reputation and position.
If he succeeded, it would be a win-win—both fame and fortune, and he'd make a name for himself in the small documentary circle.
Keeping up daily updates really isn't easy.