Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Under normal circumstances, viewers of A-list satellite stations would not pay any attention to the ratings of a bottom-tier channel; after all, the platforms were different, the target audiences were different, and paying attention was ultimately meaningless.

However, due to the subtle relationship between Lin Ji and Gu Lenian, the moment the ratings for Code 11 were released, they were widely reposted by various marketing accounts.

“Emmm… Looking at these ratings, I suggest Lin Ji refrain from writing serious dramas in the future.”

“The crushing defeat is too tragic, I almost want to pity Lin Ji.”

“Before Code 11 aired, I felt it was no match for Code Falcon. Those little tricks Lin Ji likes to play simply don’t work in the circle of serious dramas. Here, you rely on genuine skill.”

“Lin Ji might as well have kept his mouth shut. I’m embarrassed for him. What kind of ratings did Gu Lenian’s first two episodes get? And what about his?”

Qin Yi’s fans, in particular, seized the opportunity to mock Lin Ji.

“This is exactly why Ah Qin didn’t take Code 11. With such poor ratings, the actor would find it humiliating too.”

“Dying of laughter. With a top-four rating in hand, we can watch the bottom-tier station act out its madness.”

“Is someone going to go crazy again? No way, right? Going mad just because you can’t beat someone in ratings; how many times a year can one person go insane?”

Compared to Code Falcon, the ratings for Code 11 were indeed not worth mentioning. However, Lin Ji received a message from a fan trying to comfort him, “This is much stronger than the ratings for Snow in Early May.”

Lin Ji was silent.

That was worse than no comfort at all.

In his view, this opening was indeed not great. However, the staff at Sunrise TV were quite satisfied. The producer whispered to Lin Ji, “Do you not realize? This is actually our best opening of the year.”

Lin Ji stared at him with a shocked expression.

“Truly, the others were just that bad,” the producer remarked with a simple, honest smile. “Didn’t you notice? Even the station director is beaming whenever he sees you.”

“I thought those were just the hypocritical, polite smiles of a leader,” Lin Ji muttered.

“Not at all!” the producer retorted. “Our leader, occasionally, only occasionally…”

Fearing Lin Ji wouldn’t believe him, he even brought over the viewership data for Sunrise TV since the start of the year.

In fact, the producer was being conservative. To be precise, the ratings for the first two episodes of Code 11 weren’t just the best opening; they were the highest ratings Sunrise TV had achieved all year.

“This show is significantly better than the last one. We might even get a bigger bonus.”

Lin Ji was silent.

He was truly moved by the producer’s optimism.

“Take it slow. We must have confidence in the drama we’ve made. It’s only been two episodes, what’s the rush?”

* * *

Seeing the ratings for the first two episodes of Code 11 and comparing them to Maple Leaf TV, which was nipping at the heels of Xingzhou TV, Qin Yi felt completely at ease.

Over a dozen stations were separating Sunrise TV and Maple Leaf TV. The ratings gap was so vast that Qin Yi saw no possibility of his opponent catching up.

On the satellite TV platform, Lin Ji lacked a reputation, and the male lead Cheng Yuan had no drawing power. So what if the script for Code 11 was better?

Without an audience, it was impossible for Lin Ji to win. Television viewers were not web drama viewers, after all; they wouldn’t specifically tune in to his show just for the sake of the online drama.

* * *

While Qin Yi was a picture of composure, Cheng Yuan was suffering from excessive anxiety.

Since taking the lead in Code 11, he had been constantly under fire. Cheng Yuan thought things would improve once the show aired, but the ratings for the first two episodes were mediocre. When he searched his name online, almost no one mentioned him.

Even though Lin Ji and the director kept comforting him, Cheng Yuan still felt a sense of guilt as if he were dragging down the entire crew.

Cheng Yuan couldn’t eat or sleep well. He lay in a daze until morning. It was still early, just after five, when he opened his eyes and picked up his phone. He discovered several new comments on his Weibo.

“Excuse me, are you the lead actor Cheng Yuan from Code 11? Seeing your filming records, I guess this is the real person. I have to tell you, your performance in Code 11 is fantastic!!”

“I love Code 11 so much. I even went to search for Lou Zhi’s story. I really like your portrayal of him!”

Cheng Yuan was instantly wide awake.

After he got up, the messages on his phone kept increasing. Cheng Yuan read those comments over and over, closing and reopening the app, secretly feeling overjoyed.

In this moment, his heart truly found peace.

Taking on his first lead role, especially making the jump directly from an extra, Cheng Yuan’s worry wasn’t so much that he wouldn’t become famous; rather, he feared that because he wasn’t good enough, all the efforts of the rest of the crew would be in vain.

But now, he had received positive feedback. For the first time in his twenty-nine years, he was recognized as an actor.

That morning, Cheng Yuan also received a call from his parents. He hadn’t told them about starring in Code 11, but on the phone, they told him they had known the news long ago.

“You acted very well.”

After hanging up, Cheng Yuan cried quietly.

* * *

Nie Ou also noticed that more and more people were discussing Code 11. Initially, it was just that small circle of fans she was familiar with, but slowly, strangers on her homepage began recommending the show.

Of course, Code 11 had only just started; even if strangers promoted it, it was just a casual mention.

The reason that solidified Nie Ou’s conviction was this: on the second day’s ratings chart, the ranking for Code 11 rose from 19th to 15th.

Although this was still far from Code Falcon, the latter show hadn’t climbed directly to 3rd place as Maple Leaf TV had imagined. Xingzhou TV’s marketing that day was very effective, and Code Falcon remained in 4th.

The marketing accounts were still mocking Lin Ji, but the 15th-place ranking made their laughter a bit quieter. A 15th-place spot was already in the top 50% of satellite stations. If they mocked Sunrise TV too harshly, how would the stations ranked behind it feel?

Moreover, this was Sunrise TV’s best viewership record in nearly three years.

“To some extent, Lin Ji still has some skill.”

“I want to recommend Code 11 to the whole world. Everyone who’s watched it says it’s good; it’s really no worse than Code Falcon.”

“Actually, being able to achieve this kind of result on a small station like Sunrise TV, Lin Ji is truly impressive. What can he do if the foundation is too poor!!”

“I’ll say this quietly: I think the character Lou Zhi is better than Yan Ying. Just discussing the characters, not the acting. Please don’t flame me, actor fans.”

By this day, Code 11 had reached its fourth episode and Code Falcon its sixth. The brilliance of both shows was slowly emerging.

Code 11 felt as though everything was falling into place naturally; the great curtain of the story was slowly being drawn back. Although it wasn’t as instantly dazzling as Code Falcon, the rhythm was tight, not a single plant or payoff was wasted, and the characters’ personalities were revealed to the fullest. Once one grew accustomed to the pacing of Code 11, the urge to keep watching wouldn’t stop.

Nie Ou and her father were practically addicted, staying glued to Sunrise TV.

Nie Ou’s dad wouldn’t even spare Code Falcon a second glance, even though Maple Leaf TV had a partnership with Chaoxing TV and the show would rebroadcast there the next day.

Nie Ou’s dad had gone to Chaoxing TV to watch a replay. After one episode, he couldn’t help but complain to his daughter, “Why does this feel more and more off the further I watch?”

Nie Ou’s dad analyzed that  it was likely because Code 11 was adapted from a real-life prototype. Even though there were fictional components in the plot, those fictions were harmless; instead, they served as a better supplement to the character of Lou Zhi.

The screenwriter hadn’t stuffed Lou Zhi with any so-called “confidantes” and certainly wouldn’t let him conduct romance on the public’s dime.

In contrast, the story of Code Falcon was entirely fictional. Gu Lenian could still restrain the script in the first few episodes, but later on, the “floaty” sense of the plot grew heavier and heavier.

Especially with Code 11 as a comparison, the “manufactured” feel of Code Falcon became even more apparent.

The point that netizens had previously criticized also became prominent as the plot advanced: although Yan Ying was “Code Falcon,” this code name wasn’t reflected in the plot at all.

Code Falcon had clearly changed its name just to latch onto Code 11; there was no washing that clean.

As Nie Ou watched the drama, she kept a constant eye on the viewership dynamics of Code 11.

By the third day of broadcast, the ratings for Code 11 directly broke 1.0, entering the top 10 of the satellite TV ratings chart!!

At this point, Chen Cheng, the most famous among the actors, hadn’t even made her appearance.

Code 11 wasn’t just rising in ratings; more surprising was the magnitude of the increase. The show had been aired for only three days, and each day’s ratings could grow by several tenths of a percentage point over the previous day.

“To summarize: it grows by one Snow in Early May a day.”

“Pitiable Little Lin. The Snow in Early May hurdle is never going to be cleared, is it?”

“I’m a bit curious. How are the ratings for Code 11 rising so fast?”

As one of the viewers who had followed the show from the start, Nie Ou could responsibly answer: quality.

It wasn’t just Code 11; in the first few episodes where the ratings for Code Falcon rose, the quality of that work was also beyond reproach.

But as Gu Lenian gave more and more spotlight to the character Yan Ying and arranged a confidante-like character for him, the plot of Code Falcon was no longer as excellent as it was at the beginning.

The reflection on the ratings chart was most intuitive. Code Falcon remained at 4th, but the gap between it and Xingzhou TV at 3rd grew more obvious, making a reversal difficult to achieve.

Shen Yin, played by Chen Cheng, appeared in the seventh episode.

The moment Chen Cheng appeared, Nie Ou even failed to react. 

Was this her Sister Cheng?

Where was the “unrivaled beauty of countless charms”?

Even when acting opposite those veterans in the show, Chen Cheng didn’t lose out at all, alright?

Nie Ou could almost use the word “metamorphosis” to describe the acting skills Chen Cheng displayed in Code 11. Whether it was the countless charms she used to obtain information with her identity as a woman, or the resolute decisiveness she showed when dealing with the enemy, although she and Lou Zhi did not serve the same organization, after seeing the tragic sight of Yuzhou being bombed and the people displaced, the righteousness in her heart overrode everything else.

This character was resilient and gentle, sharp when necessary, and able to use everything in her hands to obtain intelligence.

In Nie Ou’s impression, Chen Cheng had played characters similar to Shen Yin before, but those characters gave her the feeling of being superficial. This character, however, truly touched her soul.

Perhaps there were many Chen Cheng fans with the same thoughts as Nie Ou, or perhaps the plot had moved more viewers; on this day, the position of Code 11 on the ratings list rose to 8th. Code Falcon was at 5th. The two were separated by only three spots.

Fans like Nie Ou, who watched the charts constantly, weren’t too surprised, but other fans were noticing the ratings of Code 11 for the first time.

How did it climb up there?!!

Of the stations surrounding Sunrise TV, which one wasn’t a famous satellite platform?

Translator’s Note: The gap is closing fast. Enjoy, and drop feedback.

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