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December 25th, the capital of Xiang Province, a certain residential complex.

Luo Xiaobo sat in front of his computer. A piece of paper and a pen lay on the desk. He glanced at the time: 7:20 PM. Ten minutes until Mortuary went live.

Luo Xiaobo was 30 years old, an ordinary employee at a graphic design company in the provincial capital. His monthly salary was only 4200 yuan. When he was single, it was barely enough, but he couldn't save much money. Now that he had a girlfriend, his finances were immediately stretched thin.

Fortunately, his reputation had soared in the past two months, and he was now qualified to earn a living from it.

In fact, besides being a graphic designer, Luo Xiaobo was also an amateur film critic in his spare time.

A few months ago, iQIYI Video's original exclusive production, Coroner, had burst onto the scene. He was one of the earliest viewers. With its excellent production, intricate plot, bizarre cases, and uncanny murder methods, Coroner immediately captured Luo Xiaobo's attention. This ignited an impulse within him – he had to write a film review for Coroner.

He had occasionally written film reviews before, mostly as a hobby. Although he had accumulated several thousand likes, he was far from being able to make a living from it.

Coroner had given him a strong jolt, making him extremely meticulous about that particular review. He wrote it with exceptional seriousness, revising it countless times until 3 AM. Finally, a review of several thousand words was completed.

After uploading the review, he didn't pay much attention to it because he had to work the next day.

Because he had stayed up too late the night before, he felt groggy all day the next day.

He finally got home from work that evening. After hastily eating dinner, he remembered the film review from the previous night. He opened his Dou Miao account and discovered that his backend had exploded.

The review had gone viral. It was reposted everywhere – Weibo, Tieba, WeChat Moments, various forums. People were discussing it everywhere. Even the production team of Coroner had specifically mentioned the review in their online drama promotions.

Almost overnight, he transformed from an obscure graphic designer into a significant figure with considerable influence on an online drama that cost hundreds of millions.

Now, two months later, his life had changed dramatically. Firstly, he had money in his pocket. He was more confident, exuding an unusual aura from the inside out.

Just last month, he officially started dating a girlfriend.

He, a homebody, could even get such a beautiful girlfriend – something he wouldn't have dared to imagine before. But now, it had all come true, and the source of it all was the confidence that review had given him.

Luo Xiaobo cherished everything he had today, so even though he was now qualified to earn a living from film reviews, he never readily accepted payment.

The sister series to Coroner, Mortuary, was about to premiere. For the past half-month, the production team of Mortuary had been contacting him frequently, hoping he would write a review for Mortuary just as he had for Coroner.

Of course, the writing fee was quite substantial.

Mortuary was a sister series to Coroner, and both dramas were produced by the same team with a similar cast. Logically, the probability of such a drama being bad was minimal.

However, Luo Xiaobo still didn't agree immediately. He insisted on watching the online drama himself before deciding whether to accept payment.

Precisely at 7:30 PM.

Luo Xiaobo refreshed the iQIYI Video webpage. The first two episodes of Mortuary were online!

"Honey, what are you watching? I want to watch too!"

Luo Xiaobo's girlfriend, Gong Xiaoxue, leaned over to the computer and pouted.

"Be good, honey. Dad has to work. You go rest first, muah."

"No, I'm not sleepy at all. I want to watch with you."

Half an hour later.

Luo Xiaobo's girlfriend, Gong Xiaoxue, started yawning.

"Be good, go to sleep. Honey might have to stay up late tonight!"

His girlfriend was distracting Luo Xiaobo, making it very likely he would miss important details. He felt slightly annoyed.

Undeniably, Mortuary was good. The production was definitely above standard, and all aspects were commendable. Yet, he just couldn't figure out where to start writing.

Everything that needed to be said, that could be said, had already been said in his review of Coroner.

The plot was as good as ever, but it felt like something new was missing.

The fee promised by the promotional department of Mortuary was too generous. This forced him to write a review, even if he didn't know how to begin.

Coupled with his girlfriend's distraction, he grew increasingly agitated.

"It's not good at all. Why don't we watch a different drama? I heard Uncle Ming's new drama is also premiering today. Let's watch Uncle Ming's drama, okay?"

Although Mortuary was of good quality, the atmosphere was a bit too somber, which didn't quite appeal to Gong Xiaoxue.

"Be good, honey. Dad isn't watching for fun, it's work. Be obedient, go to sleep first."

"Sleep, sleep, sleep. What are you talking about, sleeping? It's still so early!"

"Be obedient. Watch Uncle Ming's new drama on your phone. I'm getting paid to watch Mortuary. If I earn money, I can buy you lots of delicious and fun things!"

"Forget it, I'll watch Mortuary with you then!"

Unknowingly, the first episode finished. His girlfriend Gong Xiaoxue was yawning beside him, and yawning is contagious. Luo Xiaobo's concentration also wavered. Even now, he still had no idea how to start writing.

"Forget it, if I can't write it, I won't. I didn't explicitly promise the Mortuary promotional team anyway."

"Xiao Xue, wake up. Since you don't like watching Mortuary, I'll watch Uncle Ming's Young Bao Qingtian with you."

Gong Xiaoxue rubbed her eyes and said, "Okay!"

Luo Xiaobo closed iQIYI Video and opened Penguin Video. The most prominent position on the homepage was an advertisement for Young Bao Qingtian.

To be honest, Luo Xiaobo didn't have high hopes for this Young Bao Qingtian. He had seen videos of Chen Minghao's interviews. He felt that Uncle Ming was hyping up the screenwriter for this drama too much.

A genius screenwriter unseen in twenty years?

The best suspense script he had seen in many years?

Truly capable people don't need others to deliberately flatter them. Conversely, only those who lack strength themselves care more about praise, even going to great lengths to beg for it. This is because they know their own strength is insufficient, hence the insecurity!

Undeniably, Chen Minghao's exaggerated praise did bring many people to know Young Bao Qingtian. However, it also successfully caused a significant portion of them to instinctively label Young Bao Qingtian as a likely flop.

And Luo Xiaobo was precisely one of those who instinctively tagged Young Bao Qingtian as a flop.

If his girlfriend hadn't insisted on watching it, perhaps he might have picked it up one day out of sheer boredom and watched a few hours of the show. But when he had other options, he most likely wouldn't have watched this television series.

But what could he do? His girlfriend wanted to watch it.

Luo Xiaobo clicked on the first episode of Young Bao Qingtian.

"A clear sky above, a single belief in my heart..."

His girlfriend, Gong Xiaoxue, sat up straighter and said, "The theme song is really nice!"

Luo Xiaobo nodded.

The theme song was indeed good, and the opening sequence also left a very good first impression.

But as the saying goes?

It's all just a pretty facade!

Then, the first episode began.

The very first scene was Gongsun Ce debating scholars at the Spring Breeze Full Moon Tower.

"Ren Yi is so handsome!"

His girlfriend, Gong Xiaoxue, saw Ren Yi, who played Gongsun Ce, playing chess, solving riddles, and exchanging couplets, all while effortlessly holding his own against three opponents. Her eyes immediately sparkled.

After praising Ren Yi, Gong Xiaoxue, fearing her boyfriend might get jealous, secretly glanced at him.

Luo Xiaobo slowly nodded.

The couplets and riddles the screenwriter chose were quite ingenious. The opening of this show was acceptable!

The plot continued.

Bao Zheng, also known as Bao Heitan, played by Huang Zhou, made his appearance.

"Interrogating a prize-winning fat pig? That's hilarious!" Gong Xiaoxue giggled, gradually getting drawn into the plot.

When Bao Zheng successfully identified the thief with just a bowl of clear water and a bit of oil, Luo Xiaobo finally paid attention.

"The case is small, but Bao Zheng's character is successfully established. Using oil on a copper coin to identify its owner – brilliant! This show seems worth watching!"

Luo Xiaobo looked down at his girlfriend and saw she was sitting upright, her eyes fixed on the computer screen, completely engrossed.

Luo Xiaobo chuckled and shook his head, continuing to watch.

Next was Bao Zheng and his mother solving the case of the master who murdered his wife.

"No wonder Bao Zheng is so good at solving cases; he has such a capable mother."

"It's quite interesting watching the mother and son bicker."

His girlfriend's silvery laughter occasionally rang out.

"Suspense mixed with comedy? Novel!"

Luo Xiaobo silently commented.

When he saw Captain Lu with his mouth full of bulging flatbread, while Bao Zheng was telling his mother not to eat the bread without washing her hands after touching the corpse's vomit, his girlfriend's silvery laughter finally turned into hearty laughter.

"That's too funny, look at Captain Lu's expression, it's killing me!"

His girlfriend laughed until she was bent over.

Luo Xiaobo stared at the computer screen.

"Huang Zhou's acting has improved again, and Feng Lan is truly a veteran actress. The mother and son they portray are full of life, and the comedic timing is superb. And Captain Lu, his acting is also excellent."

Luo Xiaobo finally shed all his condescension.

"Unique style, distinctive approach, excellent acting, and the costumes, props, and set design are definitely conscientious. This Young Bao Qingtian might even be comparable to The Coroner, at least based on what I've seen so far."