In Jing Yu's fan group:
"I watched tonight's variety show… but it feels like I didn't."
"What exactly did Teacher Jing Yu mean when he said he'd be creating two highly talked-about female leads in this drama?"
"I watched a full hour of the show, but there was zero plot reveal about White Album 2. The host even asked three times on behalf of us, Kaori fans, whether this time the character played by Yu Youqing would finally get a happy ending, but Teacher Jing Yu kept dodging the question."
"Don't tell me it's going to be another depressing, heart-wrenching show. I'm scared. I don't want to see Yu Youqing's character suffer again."
"That won't happen. Didn't Jing Yu say on the show that this time it's a simple romance drama? No superpowers, no deadly plot twists—just an ordinary love story. No one dies. No crazy 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'-style settings. It should be safe to watch. I mean, it's just a love triangle. What's the worst that could happen? One of the girls ends up alone while the other two get married and post cute couple pics? Child's play!"
"Yeah, I thought the same… but bro, you're jinxing all of us."
"Honestly, as long as Jing Yu and Yu Youqing's characters get together, I don't care how it happens. From 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' to 'Your Lie in April', and now to 'White Album' — I need to see them finally get a happy ending."
"You're obsessed, man."
Just one ordinary variety show episode, featuring the main cast of White Album 2, was enough to nearly double its ratings from the previous week. That sent a ripple of unease through the other TV stations in Lan Province.
Since 'Your Lie in April', it had already been a quiet, unspoken consensus among these stations:
Jing Yu was a walking cheat code in the local drama scene.
Unless he tanked three to five shows in a row and burned out his fanbase, no other locally produced drama would be able to compete with anything he wrote.
Still, this latest surge in popularity was unsettling.
There's only so much audience to go around in a given time slot. If just a variety appearance from Jing Yu and Yu Youqing could draw this kind of response, then what would happen when the actual drama started airing?
Facing the heat, many rival stations began shifting their flagship fall dramas from Sunday to Saturday.
They weren't going to fight him head-on.
Because honestly? They knew they'd lose.
And lose hard.
It was just like when 'Your Lie in April' aired. In its final stretch, rival stations' dramas airing at the same time saw their provincial viewership dip below 3%. That was prime-time—Friday at 8 PM! Absolutely brutal.
The other three major Lan Province networks were all secretly praying:
"Please, someone—anyone from the big six national stations—just hire this guy already. Let him go disrupt their schedule instead."
"This guy made a 3% peak-rated show on Jinhui TV. And he's still hanging around here playing 'local screenwriter'? This is sabotage!"
Late June.
Episode 1 of White Album 2 wrapped filming, and the production team immediately moved on to shoot Episode 2.
Meanwhile, post-production on the first episode began, and Jinhui TV's editors were rushed into cutting together the first trailer.
After all, this was the network's flagship fall drama—the sooner the promos went out, the better.
June 23rd.
After more than a month of eager anticipation, fans finally saw the first official teaser for White Album 2 on Jinhui TV.
It was just over a minute long.
Mostly school settings.
Some light character introductions.
Yu Youqing's portrayal of "Setsuna Ogiso " earned immediate praise.
After all, she wore a school uniform for most of 'Your Lie in April' as Miyazono Kaori, and now she was back in the same attire—it gave many viewers a strange, nostalgic sense that Kaori had returned.
In fan groups, many commented with teary-eyed emojis.
But then the questions started:
"Wait… isn't this supposed to be a dual-heroine drama? So where's Xia Yining?"
"Why isn't she shown at all in the trailer?"
"Where is Xia Yining?"
Fans with sharp ears, especially those of Xia Yining, noticed a small detail—
At the very end, during a black screen, a female voice filled with anguish cried out:
"Why are you so good at this...?!"
It was Xia Yining's voice.
This was one of White Album 2's most iconic lines, and Jing Yu had included it in the trailer as a teaser. He had even made Xia Yining record this line early just for the promo.
He loved doing these kinds of mysterious "you'll get it later" hints. He'd done the same with 'Your Lie in April's trailer.
Fans were thoroughly confused.
The trailer hinted at school life, music, piano, guitar, a mysterious girl singing on a rooftop…
And that haunting line:
"Why are you so good at this?"
In fan chats:
"Good at what? Piano?"
"Jing Yu being good at piano isn't surprising…"
"But why did that voice sound so heartbreaking?"
"I don't get it. This is supposed to be a dual-heroine story, but Xia Yining wasn't shown even once. Did they change the script?"
"Maybe fan pressure forced a rewrite. If one female lead is clearly way more popular than the other, then what's the point of a dual-heroine plot? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they just made it a solo lead for Yu Youqing. After all, he wouldn't want to piss off Kaori's fanbase."
"Nooo, I really like Xia Yining…"
"Honestly, the trailer didn't wow me. Maybe I expected too much because of 'Your Lie in April'. The new show feels very generic—school life, romance, nothing unique."
"Agreed. If this were like 'Your Lie in April', using music as a narrative tool, then okay. But if it's just a regular campus romance? There are tons of those in Da Zhou. It might not stand out at all. I'm worried about the ratings."
"The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are. Remember how 'Your Lie in April' got mocked before airing? People said, 'Who wants to watch a drama with classical music in it?' And then look what happened—instant classic."
"I still believe in Jing Yu. I hope this time, he gives Yu Youqing's character a happy ending—one that makes her as beloved as Kaori."
"Let's hope."
"+1."
"Same here."
After the teaser aired, discussion exploded across fan groups.
Xia Yining's fans were especially furious that she didn't get even a single shot in the teaser, and they flooded Jinhui's official site with complaints.
Meanwhile, Yu Youqing's fans were delighted. Many genuinely believed that the script had been rewritten—that White Album 2 was now focused solely on her character's romance arc.
They thought Jing Yu had finally decided to give her a sweet, complete love story.
But among Jing Yu's long-time fans, reactions were more measured.
Because 'Your Lie in April' had set the bar so high, expectations were enormous.
And honestly, most of them thought the trailer felt… underwhelming.
So what was this show really?
Just another school romance with nothing special?
Or was there something bigger brewing beneath the surface?
They'd have to wait for the premiere to find out.
As late June approached, the entire White Album 2 production grew tense.
Across Da Zhou, every TV station was going all-out to promote their flagship fall dramas.
And in this sea of titles, White Album 2… didn't seem to have much advantage.
The top three national networks—Xingtong TV, Imperial Capital TV, and Huanshi TV—almost always dominated the top 10 slots in seasonal ratings.
Then from #11 to #25, it was typically a mix of:
Slightly weaker national stations like Chenghai TV, Squirrel TV, and AuroraTV.
And the non-flagship shows from the big three.
This was why—if a show not produced by these Big 6 networks managed to crack the seasonal top 20—
That meant the writer and director had proven themselves in the national spotlight.
It was like a race where one person had two legs (ratings platform + script quality), and another was hopping on one foot—but still keeping up.
In the drama industry, the "two legs" metaphor meant:
One leg = the TV station platform
The other = the show's own quality
So yes—it was hard.
But not impossible.
Occasionally, a breakout hit or dark horse drama could defy the odds.
Any writer or director who managed to achieve this kind of success on a non-Big 6 station would immediately land on the radar of the national networks.
But there was rarely anyone who managed to pull it off twice in a row.
That said, whenever a talented new screenwriter emerged, the press loved to latch onto that narrative:
"Can they do it again?"
This year's rising star: Jing Yu.
His 'Your Lie in April' ranked #18 in spring season average viewership.
Its DVD and merch sales placed in the Top 10.
The female lead, Kaori, stayed in the Top 10 most popular characters across all dramas for months.
Now the question was:
Can his new drama replicate—or even surpass—that success in the fall season?
Jing Yu's fans were watching.
Critics were watching.
Are the national networks hoping to sign him after his contract ends? Definitely watching.