Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

The satellite TV ratings rankings fluctuated wildly during this period. The ratings for Maple Leaf TV’s new drama usually sat between fifth and tenth place, a middling position among the major stations. However, every Tuesday and Friday, the station’s ranking would plummet out of the top ten. As the plot of The Heiress Conceals Her Identity but Gets Dumped hit its stride, the drop for Maple Leaf TV became even more pronounced.

“Does this have to be blamed on Lin Ji? No, the man literally just released a new show.”

“I’m dying of laughter. The official account only dares to silently repost; they don’t have the guts to go online and diss Lin Ji. It’s official: where Little Lin marches, not a blade of grass remains.”

Lin Ji completely ignored the resentment-filled repost from Maple Leaf TV. On the other hand, the Rice Grains Video official account logged in dozens of times a day, arrogantly posting various memes of cats puffing out their chests.

“Rice Grains Video’s status 23333. They used to be the poor little thing getting kicked around by the satellite stations, but now they’ve finally turned the tables.”

“They used to call themselves the third-place platform, but the top two never agreed. Now, they finally have some presence.”

“Dying of laughter. Rice Grains Video is performing a brand new version of ‘the villain gets his way.'”

Rice Grains Video was indeed jubilant. On the weekly viewership charts, God of War Returns Home and The Heiress fought for the first and second spots. During the week, Rice Grains Video held the daily champion position for four whole days.

For the Rice Grains Video of the recent past, this was a scenario beyond their wildest dreams.

These two dramas didn’t just cause a rapid growth in VIP sales or tie the platform to the short drama genre: they expanded the platform’s general public recognition. The latter was something Rice Grains Video valued even more.

At the very least, in the hearts of ordinary viewers, Rice Grains Video was no longer a non-entity.

During this time, the platform had secured many new collaborations. Before the two short dramas aired, projects like sports broadcasts and award ceremonies wouldn’t even consider Rice Grains Video because their viewership base was too low. Many viewers hadn’t even heard of the site. Now, the situation had changed drastically.

The impact Lin Ji brought to Rice Grains Video couldn’t be summarized by the word “profit” alone.

Consequently, the platform’s logic was simple: whoever went against Lin Ji, they would oppose twice as hard. Whoever dared to be sarcastic toward Lin Ji, they would be sarcastic right back, day and night, without rest!

With a full gigabyte of arrogant cat memes in their hard drive, who dared to fight them?

* * *

The viewership of The Heiress Conceals Her Identity but Gets Dumped proved Lin Ji’s strength once again. Previously, peers occasionally mocked Lin Ji for being untalented. However, if the success of God of War Returns Home was an accident, and the popularity of Secretly in Love with You was a side effect of Lin Ji’s “madness,” then Lin Ji had truly done nothing for The Heiress. The vast number of netizens could testify to that.

“The pressure has now shifted to Qike Video and Chaoxing TV. When are those summer blockbusters finally coming out?”

Before Secretly in Love with You aired, Qike Video and Chaoxing TV had announced their summer lineups. Lin Ji’s show was almost buried because of it. But summer vacation had already started, and the new dramas from Gu Lenian and Zhao Jing still hadn’t appeared.

“The Heiress, please reflect on yourself. Did you pull a knife and stop them from releasing their shows?”

“Rice Grains Video, you’ve committed a great sin. Could you not have released it a bit later? Where are the famous screenwriters supposed to put their faces now?”

“The ending of Currently in Love is a warning. Usually, even if a platform sells poorly domestically, they can sell it overseas. But the results were so bad that the overseas buyers specifically asked for Secretly in Love with You instead.”

Gu Lenian and Zhao Jing indeed didn’t want their new shows to collide with Lin Ji. Previously, when their views were lower than God of War, they could preserve their dignity by calling short dramas “low quality.” Unfortunately, Lin Ji also had Secretly in Love with You this year. While the genre was a dime a dozen, both the script Lin Ji wrote and the techniques displayed in the visuals contained innovative elements.

To a certain extent, Lin Ji had led the creative trend for youthful sweet dramas.

In other words, Lin Ji was hard to dismiss.

They couldn’t mock his view counts. If they mocked the quality, the quality of Secretly in Love with You was actually quite good. After thinking it over, they could only mock Lin Ji as a person, but Lin Ji held a “God-tier” article and was one of the victims exploited by Xiao Cheng. There was simply no way to start.

If they truly annoyed Lin Ji, he could act out until everyone was humiliated.

Thinking of Xiao Cheng’s current situation, the screenwriters were speechless.

They deeply suspected Lin Ji was pulling the strings behind the scenes. The rookie screenwriters acted as if they had a schedule: you sue Xiao Cheng today, I’ll sue him tomorrow. Their main goal was to ensure Xiao Cheng didn’t have a single idle day in a month.

Besides that, every few days, a rookie screenwriter would post documents or chat records, revealing Xiao Cheng’s true face to the public. Recently, a screenwriter dug up Xiao Cheng’s private remarks. In the screenshot, Xiao Cheng said quite smugly that once he had enough experience as a writer, he would go to the National Film Academy as a professor, and the school had already offered him an olive branch.

As soon as this evidence appeared, the National Film Academy issued an emergency denial, stating it was Xiao Cheng’s personal thought and had no connection to the school.

The Academy was famous for its high threshold. Teachers required degrees and published papers; not just anyone could enter. In the past, if Xiao Cheng had accumulated enough seniority, he might have had a chance. But now, with his reputation in the gutter, the school almost refused to admit he was an alumnus.

The Academy’s reputation had already suffered once because of Xiao Cheng. Even if they fired that one teacher, the public’s impression of the connection between the school and Xiao Cheng couldn’t be washed away. This incident only deepened it.

* * *

A week later, Qike Video and Chaoxing TV both quietly launched new dramas.

Unlike the fanfare they displayed when the lineup was first released, this time, both platforms were exceptionally low-key. Especially the former; if viewers hadn’t accidentally seen the poster for Siege Operation on the homepage, they might not have even known the show had started.

Qike Video didn’t promote it outside the platform, but they did give Siege Operation a large space on the homepage banners. The treatment was far better than what Secretly in Love with You had received.

Siege Operation was Gu Lenian’s new drama and his first script to air on a video platform.

Gu Lenian’s ability to handle a story was always recognized by the audience, and the cast for Siege Operation was also quite good. Qike Video had originally planned for this show to be the big summer hit, but its thunder was stolen by The Heiress Conceals Her Identity but Gets Dumped.

Qike Video wanted Siege Operation to beat The Heiress in viewership, but was that even possible? Even a satellite station like Maple Leaf TV was left fuming; what did Siege Operation have to fight with?

Right now, Qike Video only hoped that Siege Operation would slowly build up word-of-mouth and secure a stable audience. A lower view count didn’t matter as long as it won on quality.

According to the platform’s plan, once the reputation stabilized, they would start small-scale marketing and then gradually expand. They would stay in a different lane from The Heiress and avoid direct competition. This would be good for both sides.

It could only be said that their imagination was beautiful.

Just because Qike Video didn’t promote it didn’t mean others wouldn’t promote it for them.

On the night the first two episodes of Siege Operation aired, a senior screenwriter wrote on his Weibo: “A truly good drama needs no marketing. In an era where low-quality short dramas are rampant, Brother Gu’s new show is truly refreshing. Brother Gu is humble and low-key; I only found out about his new drama through word of mouth from friends, unlike some screenwriters today…”

Qike Video was speechless.

Does “some screenwriters” happen to be named Lin Ji?

Are these “senior screenwriters” moles? Why does another one pop up every time one is dealt with!

Qike Video got a headache just seeing these “industry insiders” and “senior screenwriters.” If they couldn’t beat Lin Ji, couldn’t they just stay low and grow?

Why did they have to hand him leverage every single day?

And when they saw the latest post on Lin Ji’s Weibo, Qike Video’s head hurt even more.

Lin Ji: 【Congratulations to Teacher Gu for his new drama entering the top five in viewership! [Confetti][Firecrackers][Celebration]】

Qike Video and Gu Lenian: “…”

The top spot on the chart was God of War Returns Home, the second was The Heiress, and the finished Secretly in Love with You was currently sixth. The viewership for Siege Operation was only slightly higher than Secretly in Love with You.

What about this was worth congratulating?

Objectively speaking, Siege Operation was a serious drama. Among the hits on streaming platforms, the proportion of serious dramas wasn’t high to begin with. Furthermore, compared to Gu Lenian’s previous works, the quality of Siege Operation was indeed only average.

Gu Lenian was determined to deal with Lin Ji, but he didn’t take the rookie writer seriously. He didn’t think much of Qike Video either. His better scripts were always reserved for satellite stations. Qike Video was just an alternative, one he didn’t care about.

By the time the fifth and sixth episodes of Siege Operation aired, the flaws in the plot began to emerge. Episode six featured a spy segment that required the female lead to demonstrate extraordinary intelligence. However, Gu Lenian hadn’t bothered to write this part well. In a romance drama, a dim-witted lead didn’t matter, but a serious drama like Siege Operation was different. Whether the lead was smart was secondary; more importantly, the espionage became a joke, and the foundation supporting the show’s scale ceased to exist.

After this episode aired, the reputation of Siege Operation plummeted. Lin Ji didn’t even need to post the charts; marketing accounts were already buzzing.

And at this moment, Lin Ji leisurely posted a photo.

【Leisurely life.】

The photo featured a table with several books. The light hit the books, seemingly adding a halo of wisdom to them.

“Sharpened Blade, Shadows of War, Top Secret, 70 Years of Espionage… My goodness, I can only say my goodness.”

“Dying of laughter. All the classic spy tropes are in these books. If Gu Lenian had just referred to them for a bit, it would have worked. Why did he have to choose a way that makes the audience look like idiots?”

“The books aren’t the point. The point is: Screenwriter Lin, the high today in C City is 39.5 degrees. With what kind of mindset are you sitting under the sun?”

“Hey, don’t hit the face when you hit someone. Our Little Lin went through so much trouble to pull a flex. Is it easy for the kid?”

“Inflicting a thousand damage while taking two thousand himself. If you don’t love, don’t hurt. If you don’t want to see, don’t expose. Little Lin is destined never to be a ‘literary youth’ 23333.”

Regarding this, Lin Ji expressed: It’s a bit of a butt-scorcher. Not really for me.

NOTES

Villain gets his way (小人得志 – xiao ren de zhi): An idiom describing a person of low character who becomes arrogant after achieving success.

Literary youth (文青 – wenqing): A person who cultivates an aesthetic, intellectual, or artistic persona. Used ironically here for Lin Ji’s failed attempt at a sophisticated photo.

💝 Support the Team

possible odoabuchi

✍️ Translator

☕ Buy Me a Coffee