Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Qike Video, having chosen to remain absolutely silent throughout the ordeal: “…”

The reason they hadn’t acted as intermediaries between Lin Ji and Gu Lenian’s group was simple: they didn’t want to invite further humiliation. Since the premiere of God of War Returns Home, when had anyone seen Lin Ji suffer a loss?

Xiao Cheng was now at the absolute bottom of the abyss with no hope of recovery. Yet, occasionally, peers in the screenwriting circle would sigh with emotion: Xiao Cheng truly had some skill back then to actually dig a hole deep enough for Lin Ji to fall into.

Gu Lenian and his cohorts were itching with rage, but they could only let Lin Ji’s passive-aggression slide. They couldn’t afford a direct confrontation. First, they feared Lin Ji’s sudden, shocking outbursts; second, as established names in the industry, there was zero benefit to further entanglement with him.

The broadcast of Secretly in Love with You entered a remarkably peaceful phase.

The plot deepened day by day. The struggle and hard work leading up to the National College Entrance Exam were vividly captured by the lens. The mutual affection between Ji Ning and Fang Ming was the same. Every time Nie Ou saw their interactions, she felt as if happy bubbles were floating in her heart.

She didn’t just love the leads; she loved the depiction of youth itself. It felt like a real young adult novel; Secretly in Love with You was merely recording its existence through the language of film.

Starting from the third episode, the drama officially welcomed a massive explosion in viewership.

Single-episode views surpassed 40 million, shattering the record set by Qike Video’s yearly champion last year: a drama that had received ten times the investment of Secretly in Love with You.

By this point, regardless of any outside suppression, the platform could no longer ignore the show.

Qike Video’s promotional articles were released one after another. The homepage banner was almost entirely dedicated to Secretly in Love with You. Even the search bar and category pages were updated with the faces of the male and female leads.

Wang Ruoqiang, who played Ji Ning, and Cai Chen, who played Fang Ming, were both newcomers. Neither was particularly favored by their respective management agencies. Their companies usually funneled the best resources to their top stars or heavily pushed rookies, letting them get their faces known in big productions. Tian Yao’s new drama was something the agency had just tossed to them: the investment was small, and their salaries were lower than those of supporting actors in other series.

Yet, Secretly in Love with You had exploded.

On Weibo, this drama had the most heated discussions and the highest fan loyalty. With every new episode, Qike Video’s records for the year were broken once again.

The follower counts for Wang Ruoqiang and Cai Chen were also skyrocketing, soaring from the fringes of the fourth tier to the second tier in an instant. Her agency had always felt Wang Ruoqiang wasn’t beautiful enough and lacked value, but the show had unearthed her strengths as an actress. Her chemistry with Cai Chen was palpable, leading the CP charts by a wide margin.

Both were now receiving numerous scripts for youth dramas. After the show’s success, every company had dug out their shelved “sweet pet” scripts, hoping to follow the blueprint and replicate the success of Secretly in Love with You.

Some of these scripts had originally been offered to Yu Muzi first, but now they were being handed to Wang Ruoqiang.

As the heat for Secretly in Love with You continued to soar, the audience had all but forgotten Currently in Love.

Yu Muzi’s fans still worked hard to promote her show, but interest continued to plummet. The strength of a fandom alone was insufficient to sustain a drama’s momentum.

“The quality of the two shows is on completely different levels.”

“+1. Though Lin Ji loves to act out, he really has skill as a screenwriter. In my heart, Secretly in Love with You is the template for youth sweet dramas.”

While fans gathered to discuss the plot, the weekly viewership rankings saw God of War Returns Home and Secretly in Love with You occupying the first and second spots, leaving the third place far behind.

“Lin Ji is so badass!”

“Wait… I just realized God of War Returns Home and Secretly in Love with You have the same screenwriter???”

“Dying of laughter. Last week, God of War even did a crossover with Secretly. When the God of War was teaching his subordinate a lesson, the book he pulled out was the Five-Three prep guide.”

Screenwriters had always received a fair amount of attention, but someone like Lin Ji, who possessed a “blood and storm” constitution, was on another level. Viewership was the source of his confidence: no matter how poorly other writers described him, the audience simply loved his work.

“Suddenly feel like Chaoxing TV is a bit miserable. Both Silken Tresses and Currently in Love were buried.”

“Chaoxing TV: Screenwriter Lin, look at me! I’m just a little video platform, eighteen years old, and I love the drama industry! (I’ll kill you all).”

“Suggest Chaoxing TV asks Lin Ji for advice before launching their next show.”

Chaoxing TV was indeed depressed. Silken Tresses and Currently in Love were both high-budget projects. Losing to God of War Returns Home was one thing (at least Qike Video was in the same boat), but the flop of Currently in Love made them particularly dissatisfied. Since Secretly in Love with You wasn’t even Qike’s key project, Chaoxing TV felt as if they had taken a heavy blow for nothing.

One’s own failure was terrifying, but the rival’s success was even more heartbreaking.

Thus, Chaoxing TV secretly sent an invitation to Lin Ji.

They had originally scheduled Currently in Love to assist Gu Lenian’s group in suppressing Lin Ji, but since the lead general, Qike Video, had surrendered, and the veterans had lowered their heads, why would Chaoxing TV turn away from money?

Moreover, even if veteran writers were willing to write for video platforms, their main battlefield was still the TV stations. Their works hadn’t been tested in the fires of streaming platforms. If their view counts were inferior to Lin Ji’s, it wouldn’t look good for anyone.

In fact, according to Chaoxing TV’s internal estimates, even if they aired dramas by those A-list screenwriters, the probability of surpassing Lin Ji… was very low.

The audience for TV stations and streaming platforms wasn’t identical. Looking at the recent charts, the streaming audience was primarily composed of younger viewers.

“Lin Ji holds such a grudge. Will he be unwilling to accept the invitation?”

The invitation email had been sent for some time, yet Lin Ji still hadn’t replied. This made the people at Chaoxing TV anxious.

“No way, right? Isn’t the screenwriting circle blacklisting him? He shouldn’t be able to get any decent collaborations, right?”

Chaoxing TV waited and waited, but still no word from Lin Ji. The platform secretly went to investigate.

“Wait… Qike Video and Rice Grains Video, plus Qinglan TV, Dajiang TV, and Xingzhou TV???”

What happened to the blacklist?

What happened to making Lin Ji an outcast in the industry?

Everyone was supposed to be at the same starting line—how were these people all cheating and jumping ahead?

Chaoxing TV discovered a long list of suitors. Even top-tier satellite stations like Qinglan TV were joining the fun.

“…Don’t they have enough writers?”

Top-tier satellite stations were the dream collaborators for National Film Academy graduates. They had resources, and the chance of a writer becoming famous was much higher. Famous screenwriters rarely looked at video platforms; they mostly jumped from one satellite station to another.

Was it easy for a wild genius like Lin Ji to appear?

Rice Grains Video’s God of War Returns Home blew up, and Qike Video’s Secretly in Love with You blew up. Now, it was Chaoxing TV’s turn for some of that luck.

How to move Lin Ji? That was the question.

After much thought, Chaoxing TV could only come up with the simplest, most primitive method: smashing him with money.

No matter what the competitors offered, their price was simple: double.

Chaoxing TV had done the math. If Lin Ji was the writer, even if his fee was double or triple that of a normal writer, the return on investment would still be terrifyingly high. At the very least, they wouldn’t have to spend the entire budget on actor salaries; they could win on plot alone. God of War Returns Home and Secretly in Love with You were proof.

* * *

Lin Ji indeed had a stack of invitations on his desk. Not only from TV stations and video platforms, but also from several talent agencies: they hoped Lin Ji would custom-tailor a drama for their actors.

Secretly in Love with You had made Wang Ruoqiang and Cai Chen famous. The male lead of God of War Returns Home had also become a familiar face to the audience. People said the actors were just random finds, but Lin Ji’s scripts had the power to let actors unleash their maximum charm.

Take Wang Ruoqiang, for example. Her own conditions weren’t considered top-tier, yet the role of Ji Ning had made her the most classic “first love face” in the hearts of the audience. Even if she played other roles in the future, Ji Ning would inevitably be one of the most significant roles of her career.

However, Lin Ji was currently busy writing short drama scripts. Rice Grains Video had already urged him several times for the script about the wealthy heiress face-slapping the manipulative rival. Since the launch of Secretly in Love with You, Lin Ji had picked up his pen.

The project hadn’t officially started yet, so Lin Ji wrote slowly and calmly.

He was always immersed when writing. Since his first short drama became a hit, Rice Grains Video had given him maximum autonomy. Regardless of what he wrote, they would accept it all.

Lin Ji, however, wasn’t the type to be perfunctory. He had written God of War Returns Home very quickly, which made the pacing feel a bit rushed. Because the rhythm of short dramas was so fast, Lin Ji occasionally felt some plot points weren’t polished enough.

Of course, some of the rougher scene breakdowns in God of War were left there intentionally. If it were too refined, it wouldn’t fit the “brainless cool” style of the genre.

Lin Ji stood up to check some references, stretched his neck and shoulders, and then sat back down to think. He immersed himself in the character, imagining their expressions, language, and personality before integrating them into the plot.

It was like spreading a spider web—characters and plot points all fell into their proper places without a single deviation.

Before writing a script, Lin Ji would usually list every possible plot point and mark the parts he estimated the audience would love.

Lin Ji had the real-time feedback for his shows; he had requested this from the platforms. Which segments had higher views, and the audience’s reaction after every episode—he collected it all.

As a screenwriter, Lin Ji would never go against the audience. He would emphasize the elements the audience liked and use them in his next project.

Short dramas like God of War Returns Home weren’t essentially a complete story but fragments of many stories. In short dramas, the elements the audience loved could be repeatedly reinforced to satisfy their desire for a “cool” viewing experience.

Perhaps some screenwriters thought Lin Ji was too accommodating to the audience and lacked his own artistic pursuit. But, in Lin Ji’s view, believing that one’s own artistic taste was necessarily superior to that of the audience—wasn’t that its own kind of arrogance?

NOTES

Five-Three (五三 – Wu San): Short for “Five Years of College Entrance Exams and Three Years of Simulations,” a ubiquitous and legendary set of test prep books in China. It is the nightmare and companion of every high school student.

A kind of arrogance (一种傲慢 – Yi Zhong Ao Man): A direct reference to the elitism found in traditional media industries towards new, “lower” forms of entertainment like short dramas.

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