Just like in Jing Yu's previous life, similar discussions surrounding the character "Mistress Kazusa" and "Setsuna Bi Chi" emerged again.
However, since "Bi Chi" is the Chinese transliteration of the English word bitch, it didn't appear in the same way as it had in Jing Yu's past life.
But the imagination of the people is boundless. The equivalent slangs and memes were created by 'White Album 2' fans in Da Zhou all on their own—often cruder and more vulgar than ever.
After seeing all this, Jing Yu felt that while Da Zhou's screenwriting was somewhat outdated—always producing shows that felt behind the times—the creativity of its audience was far more impressive.
Thus, it was now common to see the following situation online, at least in the film and television forums:
Whenever someone tried to recommend 'White Album 2', and a fan so much as mentioned the age-old debate—whether Setsuna or Kazusa was better—the thread would instantly devolve into a faction war. Curious bystanders who clicked in would witness an all-out battle where both sides flamed each other without mercy from every conceivable angle.
Mixed into the flame wars were various terms from the "White Album Studies" meme culture—like "proficient," "double happiness," "homewrecker," and "calculating b*tch."
The intensity of these exchanges left spectators amazed—it was more dramatic than market vendors fighting over fake scales.
And this wasn't a one-off incident.
'White Album 2' had already broken a 3% viewership rating. Though it didn't break into the top 10 of the autumn season, it was far from obscure. Wherever there were drama fans, there were 'White Album 2' fans—and with them, endless arguments.
The strange thing about Da Zhou's entertainment scene now was this:
'White Album 2's ratings were still some distance from the top 10, but its online popularity rivaled even the top 3 shows of the season.
Seeing it once or twice might be nothing, but after witnessing five, six, even seven or eight full-blown fan wars, many bystanders began to get curious:
Is this show… really that good?
Just how trashy is the male lead, Haruki Kitahara, that the show ranks 13th in ratings but dead last in fan support?
And how well-written are the two female leads, that one ranks 10th and the other 12th in character popularity across all fall dramas?
"A miracle of the autumn season is unfolding—this week we highly recommend the new drama 'White Album 2' from the writer of 'Your Lie in April'—a sugar-coated tale of heartbreak."
"Dark horse of the autumn season: 'White Album 2', a romance that upends the traditional love triangle."
"Viewer discretion advised: this critic lost their appetite for two meals after watching it—prepare your stomach meds."
"In response to popular demand, I watched 'White Album 2'. Verdict: Setsuna, move over—Kazusa is the true queen!"
"The most polarizing show of the season: 'White Album 2's dual heroines spark massive industry-wide debate."
Naturally, TV critics didn't want to miss out. Many columnists jumped on the hype, publishing reviews that, intentionally or not, served as more promotion for 'White Album 2'.
The six major networks weren't too worried—it wasn't like 'White Album 2' was about to dethrone them. But to Da Zhou's many small-to-mid-sized stations, Jing Yu's meteoric rise over the past half-year felt like a glimpse of a golden formula.
'Your Lie in April' succeeded thanks to its blend of music and emotionally intense romance, managing to reach 19th in the spring ratings.
And now 'White Album 2'?
Again—music and heartbreak.
One successful show could be chalked up to a coincidence. Two, with the same formula? That had people thinking.
By August, the production and operations departments of smaller provincial stations were itching to get in on the trend.
"We're still planning our winter lineup, right? Tell our in-house writers the station has a style requirement this time: music elements + gut-wrenching romance. Yes, gut-wrenching, not feel-good. Who even watches comforting stuff anymore? The audience wants to suffer!"
"Sigh. I don't understand young people these days, but whatever. As someone who's been in the biz for years, I know one thing: the moment you assume the audience is stupid, you're already on your way out. If 'Your Lie in April' and 'White Album 2' can blow up with this formula, then we can just copy it!"
"Love triangle, musical themes—ideally piano, violin, or guitar. Gu zheng? Sure! If others can go viral with foreign instruments, we'll do the opposite—throw in gu zheng, erhu, suona! What do you mean, suona won't work? Have you even tried?!"
"Understand this: for the winter season script, the more painful the story, the better. The more complicated the triangle, the better. Can't write a love triangle? Write a love square or pentagon! Hell, even sunset romances work. Don't worry if the audience can handle it—'White Album 2' gave me a stomachache, and the ratings still hit 3%! What, our station can't do the same? If we can't do original, we can damn well copy and paste!"
Countless small-to-midsize TV stations across Da Zhou began copying the formula after witnessing the explosive success of 'White Album 2'.
Even within the Big Six, one of the weaker players—Squirrel TV—was rumored to have scrapped its planned PR-office romance drama in favor of a cello-themed music romance.
They weren't dumb. If 'White Album 2' could pull over 2.7% ratings on a mid-tier platform like Jinhui TV, then if it aired in a prime slot on a major network like Xing Tong, it might not do worse than their flagship show White Bird, and certainly not worse than Under the Starry Sky, which ranked second in seasonal investment but only pulled a 4.96% average rating.
Though a low-budget production, 'White Album 2' had clearly become a trendsetter in the drama market.
In this industry, there were no stubborn fools.
If the audience wanted something, they made it. The networks that were too proud to adapt had long since been eliminated.
And with the market feeding this information upstream, the name Jing Yu inevitably entered the radar of not just the Big Six, but also other major networks in Da Zhou.
Age: 24. Good looks. A genius screenwriter with great acting chops, a fan following, and professional-level skills in violin, piano, guitar, songwriting, and composition.
Three dramas under Jinhui TV:
– Emergency short drama 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' averaged over 1%, peaked at 1.8%.
– First full-length drama 'Your Lie in April' averaged nearly 2%, peaked at over 3%.
– And now, 'White Album 2', not even halfway through, aired.
A talent like this couldn't be ignored, not even by the Big Six.
Their biggest hits were all created by top-tier writers in Da Zhou, often under short-term or per-episode contracts.
Da Zhou wasn't lacking in writers—it was lacking in talented ones.
And without question, Jing Yu was the real deal.
His contract? Ending in just three months—this coming November.
So now, it wasn't just the small stations fighting to recruit him.
The big players were getting ready to make a move, too.