Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

After Lin Ji’s latest series of maneuvers, his fellow screenwriters felt as if their mouths had been sewn shut. Even if they wanted to criticize Secretly in Love with You, they had to weigh their words over and over again.

Lin Ji was a ticking time bomb. No one knew when he would explode, and no one knew who would be caught in the blast.

The peer who had previously trashed Lin Ji spent the entire night frantically writing five thousand words, dedicating every superlative he knew to Lin Ji’s “God-tier” article.

“Little Lin’s inner OS: Is your love only worth five thousand words? Come back when you’ve written ten thousand.”

“Hahahaha, Little Lin usually isn’t a ‘green tea,’ but when he actually starts playing the part, nobody can handle it 23333.”

“Dying of laughter. Qike Video is also working overtime through the night. Secretly in Love with You is finally on the homepage recommendation list.”

If time could turn back to the day of Lin Ji’s interview, Qike Video would have desperately sent someone to gag him. Unfortunately, given their understanding of Lin Ji, if they had actually done that, the consequences would have only worsened.

What else could they do? They could only pump more promotional funds into Secretly in Love with You.

The show was, after all, on Qike Video. As the platform, they didn’t actually want to kill the show; it was just that the conditions offered by other veteran writers were too tempting. Considering their long-term interests, Qike had no choice but to sacrifice it.

But now, Secretly in Love with You clearly couldn’t be suppressed anymore.

Qike Video also had an explanation for the other writers: they could technically continue to blacklist Lin Ji, but since he used the word “they” at the press conference this time, next time it would probably be “Screenwriter Gu,” “Screenwriter Zhao,” or “Screenwriter Yan.”

In fact, Qike Video’s summer schedule was no secret. The traces of Secretly in Love with You being pulled from the summer slot remained. Combined with the hasty broadcast and the initial lack of homepage access, the audience could vaguely guess who was “blacklisting” Lin Ji.

While the audience speculated wildly, Lin Ji wasn’t being idle either. He dug out several alt accounts he hadn’t used in a long time and left comments in the top sections of various marketing posts.

“Industry insider here: just check the list Xiao Cheng exposed and you’ll know.”

“This circle is just like this. Although Xiao Cheng is the one who did the dirty work, Lin Ji is the one who brought it all into the light.”

“I can’t say more. If I reveal any more, this account won’t survive.”

As soon as he posted that, he let the alt account go silent, playing dead. Then he switched to a new alt to stir up trouble under another top comment.

* * *

After making it to the homepage recommendation of Qike Video, the second episode of Secretly in Love with You officially went online.

Following Lin Ji’s flashy maneuvers, the heat of the first episode had already surpassed Currently in Love. Added to the fact that Lin Ji hinted at the press conference that the show was being suppressed, even those with little interest in the genre were happy to take a peek.

An audience might watch a show out of curiosity, but whether they stayed depended on the crew’s ability.

Nie Ou had been camping out for the second episode.

She originally had no hope for the view counts, but the quality of this drama was much harder than she imagined. The word of mouth fermented rapidly. In just five or six days, the view count surpassed Currently in Love by double, essentially hanging the rival show up for a beating.

Yu Muzi’s fans had been bragging about Currently in Love a few days ago, but lately, they couldn’t find anything to boast about.

Looking only at Chaoxing TV’s past performance, the views for Currently in Love were decent. It wasn’t a peak season, so the show had technically broken a small platform record.

But the fans couldn’t bring themselves to brag. In terms of cost, Currently in Love was ten times that of Secretly in Love with You. In terms of lineup, Currently doubled Secretly. Yu Muzi was supposed to be a “pillar” who could carry a show; what kind of carrying was this?

Secretly in Love with You was clearly a tier above, yet it didn’t even brag about anyone carrying the show.

The second episode of Secretly in Love with You continued the atmosphere of the first.

A lively campus, a brown synthetic track, the male and female leads in blue and white school uniforms. Partners working hard to get into their target universities, a school sports meet where everyone fought for first place, and voices screaming until they were hoarse… In moments like these, even the simplest eye contact could make the heartstrings thrum.

Nie Ou felt that the screenwriter was too good at capturing the psychology of adolescent boys and girls. The “sugar” in this show wasn’t forced upon the audience; it was accumulated bit by bit through daily life.

At first glance, it might not seem sweet enough, but the more you savored it, the sweeter it became. Every line of dialogue could be pondered for a long time.

For the university Fang Ming wanted to attend, Ji Ning tucked a photo of it into her textbook, using it to motivate herself to push harder.

The lighting and soundtrack were naturally interspersed throughout the story. The interactions between Ji Ning and Fang Ming were natural and shy. Their seats weren’t adjacent, but as long as there was a crush, the moment she walked past him to hand out homework, the very air felt ambiguous.

So sweet!

Nie Ou rolled around on her bed and went to search for tags related to the second episode.

“Sweet! The sweetness is the kind that layers up bit by bit. It really, really pokes my heart!!”

“I love Ji Ning so much. Who wouldn’t like such a bright younger sister?”

“This show needs to blow up! It’s truly the most, most beautiful kind of youth drama. The screenwriter’s rhythm is superb. It’s clearly about simple daily life, but it’s just so attractive that you have to keep watching!!”

“Came here from God of War Returns Home. Honestly, is Lin Ji an all-rounder? One moment I’m watching his protagonist act like a total badass, and the next he’s here writing sweet moments for a young couple!”

Nie Ou’s homepage was full of people chasing Secretly in Love with You. Not long after the second episode was updated, several friends had already changed their avatars to Ji Ning.

Nie Ou began to complain that the updates were too slow. Judging by the preview, it seemed the next episode had even sweeter scenes than this one. It was so sweet, yet she couldn’t watch it now; Nie Ou could only scroll through her feed to scrape for more “sugar.”

After the second episode of Secretly in Love with You aired, the fastest to react were the major marketing accounts.

Secretly in Love with You and Currently in Love aired on the same day with similar themes. After the first episode in which Currently failed to beat Secretly, Yu Muzi’s fans were holding their breath, waiting for the second episode to turn the tables.

The first episode of Currently in Love had broken ten million views. Fans felt that as long as the second episode maintained that momentum, they could definitely battle Secretly in Love with You. Even if the quality of the second episode dropped slightly compared to the first, as long as Yu Muzi was there, the views for Currently in Love would never be too bad.

However, after both shows finished their run, Yu Muzi’s fans could hardly believe their eyes.

If four-million-plus views per episode was something they could barely accept, the opponent’s thirty-million-plus was simply unbelievable. They even suspected that Qike Video had faked the data for Secretly in Love with You.

“How… did it drop so hard?”

“Isn’t it pretty good? The leads’ interactions are very sweet.”

But reality was right in front of them: Currently in Love had been decimated by Secretly in Love with You.

The data for Secretly in Love with You was rising steadily. With every refresh, the view count increased by tens of thousands.

“This gap… It’s a bit large, isn’t it? I remember in the last episode, Currently in Love was still mocking Secretly in Love with You.”

“What’s up with Yu Muzi? The female lead of Secretly in Love with You is a newcomer, right?”

“She’s a newcomer, yes, but I feel Yu Muzi’s performance is a bit more awkward than the newcomer’s. The newcomer is very natural.”

“Isn’t it the screenwriter’s problem? The writer is so used to youth dramas that they’ve formed a path dependency. They just cram every cliché element into the show. The female lead is a ‘dodder flower’ with no mind of her own, and the male lead—this is a youth drama, stop playing the school hunk like a domineering CEO, okay? Having watched both, Secretly in Love with You is much better.”

“Secretly in Love with You didn’t even have a promotion before. It won against Currently in Love just by Lin Ji acting out once. Now that the promotion has caught up, a good show naturally won’t be buried.”

* * *

On the first day of the second episode’s launch, the views for Secretly in Love with You were ten times those of Currently in Love. As the broadcast time extended, the data for Secretly rose higher and higher, far exceeding Qike Video’s expectations.

If the two shows were of different genres, Currently in Love might not have looked so tragic in comparison. Unfortunately, they shared the same genre, and a significant portion of the audience overlapped. The viewers who originally belonged to Currently in Love had all migrated to Secretly in Love with You.

Lin Ji gained another wave of fans. His followers included drama fans and many marketing accounts. The latter monitored Lin Ji’s movements at all times, fearing they would miss any of his “madness.”

Regrettably, since the view count for Secretly in Love with You took off, Lin Ji’s account had been very quiet. He only reposted Qike Video’s promotional posts, looking as if his mental state was perfectly normal.

The marketing accounts thought there would be no more gossip to consume from Lin Ji for a while. However, after Lin Ji promoted Secretly in Love with You, the writers who had supposedly “blacklisted” him—Gu Lenian, Zhao Jing, and others—also reposted his post.

The dramas of these few writers were all in Qike Video’s summer lineup. After Lin Ji hinted that he was being “blacklisted,” reporters immediately came knocking, asking for their views on the matter.

Gu Lenian and Zhao Jing immediately denied it sternly, “There is no such thing. Never happened.”

By promoting Secretly in Love with You this time, they also wanted to dilute the rumors of a blacklist. Because they had been named by Xiao Cheng, their reputations were already worse than before.

As screenwriters, they relied on the audience for a living; reputation was very important.

Gu Lenian and his group felt they were already giving Lin Ji a lot of face. They were industry seniors and currently sought-after A-list screenwriters; it wouldn’t be right for them to lower themselves to personally apologize to Lin Ji.

The fact that they were willing to repost was enough to prove their sincerity.

They wanted this matter to pass quietly. They had even prepared the press releases for their promotion of Lin Ji, just waiting for him to cooperate. After all, Qike Video would at least explain the intricacies to him.

What good would it do Lin Ji to go against the entire circle?

Lin Ji did indeed give them “face” by reposting: 【These teachers are really overthinking it. What blacklist? Do I not know the character of these teachers? [Smile][Smile][Smile]】

Gu Lenian and the others were speechless.

At this moment, they thought of a popular line from God of War Returns Home: He’s about to do the crooked grin! Quick, tear his mouth apart and interrupt the casting!

Someone, please, tear Lin Ji’s mouth apart!

NOTES

Crooked grin (歪嘴 – wai zui): A reference to the “Long Wang” (Dragon King) short drama meme where the protagonist reveals his hidden identity and gives a signature crooked smile before crushing his enemies.

Interrupt the casting (阻断施法 – zu duan shi fa): Gaming/slang term. In this context, it refers to stopping the “God of War” Lin Ji from starting his “face-slapping” routine.

Dodder flower (菟丝花 – tu si hua): A metaphor for a woman who is weak and entirely dependent on others (like a parasitic vine).

23333: Laughter.

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