On December 6th in Lancheng, the snowfall had grown even heavier.
After the first episode of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', I'll Date Yesterday's You aired and achieved a rating of 1.24, Jing Yu finally received a portion of his scriptwriting and acting fees in his account.
It was around 30,000 yuan. But thanks to the financial pit his old man had left him in, that amount was just enough to cover his remaining debts.
Free of debt, Jing Yu felt much lighter. After settling everything, he had a little over a thousand yuan left. He treated himself to a spicy beef hotpot for lunch, paid off his overdue rent, and was left with just a few hundred yuan.
Still, Jing Yu wasn't worried in the slightest. The first episode had already done so well — there was no reason for the second episode to perform any worse. The performance metrics Chu You had requested were essentially guaranteed now. There would be no problem with him receiving the rest of his fees.
More importantly...
Jing Yu turned his gaze to the system's exchange panel.
Fan Value: 618,543
He still didn't fully understand how this metric was generated, but he figured it represented the viewers who genuinely loved the show. Every time someone became emotionally invested in the story, a sliver of their willpower would be collected by this system interface.
Based on the show's viewership ratings, he estimated that roughly one out of every twenty to thirty viewers would contribute one fan value point.
Which made sense — just like how tons of people watched Cai Xukun's Basketball Boy video, but how many actually became real fans? A lot of people thought 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' was good and worth watching, but that didn't mean they were emotionally attached enough to become die-hard fans.
Jing Yu didn't linger on the panel too long. If he remembered correctly, he'd originally used fragments of the body's original soul to offset the cost of redeeming over 700,000 fan value for this drama. With the current numbers, even after the first episode aired, he hadn't quite broken even.
He wasn't sure how much fan value the second episode would bring, but it had to be more than the first.
Letting out a long breath, Jing Yu looked up at the snowflakes falling along the street.
What were Yu Youqing and Gao Wencang doing now? What about Liu Neng?
After being busy for so long — pulling late nights, filming every day — he used to think that being a writer and actor was exhausting. But now that things had quieted down, he actually felt a bit... out of place.
"That show last night was so good! Shou Aimei is so beautiful, and Gao Shan is so handsome! That plot twist almost blew my mind. The screenwriter's amazing."
"The screenwriter is the actor playing Gao Shan."
"Seriously?"
Passing by a small group of chatting pedestrians, Jing Yu was pulled back to reality.
He smiled to himself.
Seems like... both he and the show were starting to gain some recognition.
A small sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
At Jin Hui TV Headquarters, in the meeting room.
The three heads of the production department sat on opposite sides of the long table. Chu You, Xu You, and Ke Xiao were each flipping through the documents in front of them, while Director Shi Teng — a man in his sixties — lifted his teacup calmly.
It was Monday. Time for the routine weekly meeting.
All producers with active shows were present.
Before the meeting officially started, everyone was talking about the same show:
'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'.
Even Chu You himself was surprised by the ratings, and the other producers looked like their eyes were about to pop out of their heads.
Originally slotted in as a stopgap drama to fill the gap left by White Lover, the best it could hope for was something around Jin Hui TV's average 0.7 rating for prime-time dramas.
But instead, its first episode hit a staggering 1.24.
In the meeting room, Xu You sat with a dark expression, while Chu You couldn't stop grinning.
A TV station couldn't possibly produce all its content 24/7 — the investment required was too massive. Typically, they only air in-house productions during prime time. For less critical time slots, they purchase broadcasting rights for dramas made by other provincial stations.
And since most high-quality dramas would've already been seen through other platforms, rebroadcast ratings were generally low, far below in-house productions.
So, for the longest time, the only hit drama on Jin Hui TV had been White Lover.
The channel's prime-time 8 PM dramas typically hovered around 0.7 in viewership. But White Lover had soared to 1.38, with a provincial share of 16.7% — making it a certified in-house hit. Xu You had been basking in the glory for months, speaking louder and strutting prouder at the station.
By comparison, the drama Chu You was responsible for, airing Saturday at 8 PM, had only managed 0.83, with a provincial share of 8.1% — nowhere near White Lover.
But all that changed last night.
'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday's You scored a peak of 1.24 and a provincial share nearing 16.
Even if it was a "fire-fighting" drama created because of White Lover's temporary production halt, the results were results. Ratings were king — no one cared under what circumstances the show had been greenlit.
TV dramas, like people, weren't judged by their origin once their strength was undeniable.
So that morning, Chu You had scarfed down two extra steamed buns for breakfast out of pure joy.
He was riding high.
He and Xu You were both department heads, but they'd never gotten along. After being suppressed by Xu You for so long, he'd finally pulled off a sneaky win — filling a time slot left empty by Xu You's team and managing to turn that opportunity into something incredible.
"As expected of Jing Liang's son. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" Chu You felt incredibly smug about his decision to appoint Jing Yu as both screenwriter and lead actor.
Back in the day, Chu You had worked with Jing Yu's father, Jing Liang, on several hit dramas as a producer. That partnership had helped him rise through the ranks at the station.
Jing Liang had been the benefactor of his early career. And now, looking at Jing Yu's work — maybe the kid wasn't so bad after all.
But in the next moment, his smugness evaporated thanks to a single sentence from his old rival, Xu You, who had just started his routine remarks.
"Director Shi, although White Lover was initially scheduled to pause for two weeks, Tang Yidong — the female lead — has recovered from her injuries much faster than expected. The production progress hasn't been impacted as badly as we thought."
"To reduce trouble for the station and minimize losses, I propose we resume White Lover's broadcast this coming Sunday, after just one week instead of two."
Xu You shot a glance at Chu You as he spoke.
The room went silent for a few seconds. Then—chaos.
What the hell?
If White Lover resumed airing this Sunday, then what about 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'? How would episode two even air?
Chu You's blood pressure spiked. He immediately understood what Xu You was up to.
He saw 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' as a threat.
All that talk about minimizing losses for the station? Nonsense.
Before 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', the only drama with over 1.0 national ratings and over 10% provincial share was White Lover.
But now there was a new contender — and worse, it had only come about because of White Lover's production accident. Chu You was reveling in his unexpected success, while Xu You must've been stewing in frustration.
This old bastard… what kind of man was this?
Threatened by a short, stopgap mini-drama? And he was resorting to these underhanded tactics?
"I object!" Chu You didn't hesitate for a second. He stood up and shouted.
He was the lead producer of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'. How could he possibly let a rising gem be strangled in its crib after just one episode?