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On April 8th, 9th, and 10th, KGS continued airing episodes 8, 9, and 10 of 'Autumn in My Heart'.
Thanks to the combined promotional push from both KGS and SPG, along with the strong word-of-mouth it had built up earlier, the drama, now more than halfway through its twenty-episode run, successfully broke past the 20% viewership barrier, reaching 22.31%.
This created quite a stir in South Korea!
First of all, among all the imported Chinese dramas shown on Korea's three major television networks, 'Autumn in My Heart' has already climbed to third place in ratings, surpassed only by 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' and 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. Both of those, however, were monumental adaptations filmed in China back in the 1990s.
Within its genre, 'Autumn in My Heart' has unquestionably set a new ratings record for Chinese dramas in Korea, and what's more, it still has room to climb.
For SPG, this was an unexpected windfall. According to its contract with KGS, recouping costs was already guaranteed, and profits were assured. Add in the agency deal with Lu Chen's studio, and the company was making a killing.
Having operated in China for many years, with its China office led by Park Jeong-ho, himself half-Chinese, SPG had an insider's grasp of local psychology. Following his strategy, SPG's official account on Wave Blog not only posted timely updates on 'Autumn in My Heart''s ratings but also shared glowing reviews from Korean media outlets and viewers.
Many Korean newspapers and magazines, including influential ones like The Chosun News, Seoul Daily, and Hanmun Weekly, ran feature articles analyzing the drama's unexpected popularity.
Some tabloids even trumpeted headlines like "The Rise of the Chinese Wave." Although exaggerated and little more than clickbait, it nonetheless reflected the influence 'Autumn in My Heart' was exerting.
Unlike in China, Korea has an extremely high proportion of TV viewers. Dramas and variety shows dominate entertainment consumption, so strong series often hit ratings in the tens of percent.
As for why Korean audiences loved 'Autumn in My Heart', reasons generally fell into two categories. The first was the storyline itself: the twists of fate, the heart-wrenching emotional entanglements, and the exotic foreign setting drew in a huge number of housewives. Lu Chen had deliberately given the characters Koreanized names, which further increased their sense of familiarity.
The second was younger viewers. Lu Chen's tall, handsome looks, Chen Fei'er's pure beauty, and the rest of the attractive cast suddenly revealed to them that the neighboring country's entertainment industry also had its own charming idols.
It's worth noting that Chen Fei'er, who had participated several times in Sino-Korean music galas, already had some recognition in Korea. With 'Autumn in My Heart', her popularity skyrocketed more than tenfold!
And Lu Chen? Needless to say, Korean social media had already sprouted an unofficial fan club for him. Membership exceeded ten thousand, the overwhelming majority being young women.
The most amusing surprise came on the 10th: the drama's theme song Your Eyes, performed by Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er, entered Korea's authoritative Pop Music Chart at #27, despite being sung in Chinese!
Given Korea's hyper-competitive music industry and the fact that the chart accepted both Korean and foreign-language songs, the achievement of even making the list was remarkable.
All these records and honors turned 'Autumn in My Heart' into a small-scale storm in Korea. KGS even used it to go head-to-head with MBC's hit drama The Queen's Power, competing directly for advertising revenue.
Such a scenario would have been unthinkable before, it was entirely earned by the strength of 'Autumn in My Heart'.
SPG, of course, made sure to trumpet all of this on Wave Blog, relaying the good news back to fans of the "Blue" series in China.
The "Blue" fans were overjoyed, this was a matter of national pride.
SPG rode this wave of goodwill, with its blog followers multiplying more than tenfold.
Excited fans of both Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er flooded the blog of the big-name commentator "Entertainment Panorama" with comments:
"Waiting for the blogger to streak through the streets!"
"Blogger, time to show some integrity, go streaking like you promised!"
"22.31% ratings! When are you streaking? We all agreed to come watch!"
"I think the blogger's face is already swollen from the slap. No point sticking around."
"Hehe, what can you say now?"
This commentator had once boldly declared that if 'Autumn in My Heart' ever broke 10% in Korea, he would streak in public. Now, with the drama barely halfway through, it had already doubled that mark, his face was beyond swollen.
The lesson was clear: as a public figure, one must be careful with words. Empty boasts can leave no graceful exit.
Of course, big-name bloggers tend to have thick skin. After a few days of silence, "Entertainment Panorama" posted again, claiming he would honor his promise once 'Autumn in My Heart' finished airing in Korea.
What made everyone laugh out loud was the official police account "Peaceful Capital City" replying to him: "Exposing private parts in public, including streaking, violates public order regulations and will result in a three-day detention."
This quickly turned into a running joke on Wave Blog.
Domestic media seized the opportunity to join in the buzz. Many mainstream outlets reported on the Korean success of 'Autumn in My Heart', praising the drama for winning honor for Chinese television.
It was true, China's film and TV market was booming like never before, but genuinely outstanding original works were rare. Especially rare were shows that could successfully air on foreign television networks.
If something like this didn't deserve praise, then what did?
Compared to the online clamor and media hype, the reaction within the domestic film and television industry was entirely different. Although there were a few jealous voices, far more people were studying and debating the reasons why Blue could achieve such overwhelming success.
By investment, 'Autumn in My Heart' had a budget of barely ten million.
By star power, aside from Chen Fei'er, the cast had no big names, most of the supporting actors had been complete unknowns.
By production, its producer, Qiande Brothers Media, was a minor player in the industry.
By story, 'Autumn in My Heart' was a tragedy!
And yet this small-budget drama had crushed those grand productions with star-studded casts and budgets of hundreds of millions.
Many production companies grew restless. The success of 'Autumn in My Heart' showed them a golden path: imitation!
Imitating hit projects had long been a trend in the domestic entertainment industry, widely seen as a shortcut to easy money. When one film or drama became popular, countless copycats would inevitably rush in to grab the market.
With 'Autumn in My Heart' so successful, it would have been stranger if no one imitated it. Especially since Lu Chen had already publicly announced there would be no sequel, the situation was like watching a fat piece of meat dropped on the ground.
As a result, many screenwriters in the Capital City circle suddenly received custom commissions. The financiers' demands were the same: write a script modeled after Blue. The closer in structure, the better!
Not only that, several film and television companies had already announced new projects. Reading between the lines of their publicity blurbs, one could spot Blue's shadow everywhere.
But for the tens of thousands of "Morning fans" and "Fei fans," none of that mattered. They had no interest in knock-offs, they only cared about one thing: when would Lu Chen's new drama be released?
After the premiere run of 'Autumn in My Heart' ended, Lu Chen had stated that he would release a new series within the year. It would not be related to 'Autumn in My Heart' and was not a sequel.
This kept fans in eager anticipation. But now, two months had already passed, and Lu Chen's studio had released no news at all. Nor had any production company announced cooperation with him.
Fans' patience was limited. Especially with 'Autumn in My Heart' continuing to deliver good news from Korea, they became even more desperate for Lu Chen to give them a clear answer: how much longer must we wait?
Countless fans flooded Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er's blogs with messages.
The weight of this longing was so powerful that even Lu Chen felt immense pressure, forcing him to speak out.
It wasn't that he was deliberately stringing fans along. The truth was, he had been fully occupied with the most important matter of the year, Chen Fei'er's new album.
For Chen Fei'er, releasing a new album was nothing new, she had already released more than ten. But this one was different. It was her transformation project.
She had long carried the title of "Sweet Song Heavenly Queen," a crown that was both honor and burden. Now, at her current age, and with changes in the market, transformation was no longer optional, it was inevitable.
And whether she succeeded in this transformation would determine the course of her music career. Naturally, she gave it her all.
In this situation, how could Lu Chen, who was responsible for half of the new album, remain uninvolved? As one of its producers, he had no choice but to stay stationed at Flying Stone Records.
Because of how much weight they placed on this project, Chen Fei'er's demands reached the point of being almost harsh. To complete the album to perfection, she turned down numerous appearances and endorsement deals, devoting herself entirely to the recording studio. She polished the songs over and over again, especially in the area of composition, where she pursued absolute refinement. This delayed the schedule significantly.
So by the time the album was finally completed, it was already mid-April.
Fortunately, during this time, Lu Chen had also carved out time to finish writing a brand-new script.
Now he finally had an answer for his fans.
(End of Chapter)