Creating History

"Impossible!"

An ordinary show like Young Bao Qingtian was already showing signs of completely surpassing The Coroner? That made the thing Xu Jun had once been proudest of seem utterly commonplace in an instant.

"How many people have rated it?" Xu Jun asked.

If too few people had rated it, a high score wouldn't mean as much.

"Right now, Young Bao Qingtian has 150,000 ratings, while our The Villa has... 140,000." Li Jianxue looked up at Xu Jun. "President Xu, Young Bao Qingtian has already surpassed The Villa in the number of ratings!"

In less than three hours, 150,000 people had rated it, giving it a score of 8.5. Combined with more than 20 million views, the implications were clear to both Xu Jun and Li Jianxue, though neither was quite willing to believe them.

Li Jianxue continued, "President Xu, I've heard for a while that Penguin Video deploys paid commenters to manipulate ratings when a new show first launches, and that they're very good at it. Maybe Penguin Video's PR department deserves more credit for Young Bao Qingtian's high score than the production team does?"

Xu Jun leaned back in his chair without replying.

Li Jianxue went on, "Don't worry, President Xu. Capital can pull this sort of thing off for a while, but it can't keep working forever. As time passes and the number of votes grows, those paid votes from Penguin Video will gradually become less noticeable. Their effect on the score won't be as great as it is right now."

With that, Li Jianxue looked up at the giant screen in the data center.

At that moment, The Villa had 27.8 million views.

Not bad. Its view count was still rising steadily. The Villa was doing well.

Li Jianxue refreshed the Hawkeye data again, and his expression turned uneasy.

"What is it?"

Xu Jun saw Li Jianxue's face and asked.

Li Jianxue stammered, "President Xu, Young Bao Qingtian has now reached... 26.2 million views. It's only 1.6 million behind The Villa!"

Xu Jun suddenly stood up. "I'm going home to sleep. I'm done watching this."

Just moments ago, it had been five million views behind. Now it was only 1.6 million. What about in another hour? Two hours?

"Forget it. I'm going home to sleep!"

Xu Jun no longer had the heart to keep watching the live numbers.

Eight in the morning.

After getting up and washing up, Li Xun fried an egg and cooked a bowl of instant noodles, adding ham and half a tomato. He also took out a carton of milk.

After breakfast, he lay on his bed and picked up his phone. By then, dozens of unread messages had piled up in the Young Bao Qingtian production group.

Yesterday, 10:03 p.m.

Kong Teng: "Young Bao Qingtian has passed 29 million views and topped the real-time view rankings across the entire internet."

Tang Jiahe: "Amazing. I'm speechless. It feels like a dream."

Kong Teng: "Brother Tang, are we famous now?"

Tang Jiahe: "Maybe. The numbers are even better than The Coroner was a few months ago. We'll have to see how the curve develops, but as long as word of mouth doesn't collapse, well... I think it's time to trade up our house. I want a big apartment!"

Kong Teng: "@Yingying, President Dai, President Dai? Brother Tang wants a big apartment. Come talk some sense into him!"

Yingying: "There's a chance. I'll do my best to make it happen."

Kong Teng: "???"

Yingying: "A big apartment in our hometown county!"

Kong Teng: "You scared me. I thought you meant one in the capital."

Yesterday, 11:45 p.m.

Tang Jiahe: "Young Bao Qingtian's real-time views have passed 30 million!"

Kong Teng: "Brother Tang, you're still awake? I've got full-on insomnia. I check the numbers every few minutes, and every time there's another surprise. I'm hooked."

Tang Jiahe: "Yeah, it's ridiculous!"

Kong Teng: "Ridiculous? Wasn't The Coroner's curve like this a few months ago?"

Tang Jiahe: "But that was The Coroner!"

Kong Teng: "What made The Coroner so special? Its final Dou Miao Score was 8.9. It started at 8.2 and gained another 0.7 later. Our Young Bao Qingtian is already at 8.6. It only needs to gain another 0.3 to match The Coroner, and I think it has a great shot. So let's be confident: Young Bao Qingtian is a hit—not just a little hit, but a huge one. A perfect growth curve like The Coroner's is gradually taking shape!"

After reading through the production group's messages, Li Xun opened Dou Miao Network and searched for Young Bao Qingtian.

"It's at 9.1? Not bad. That's 0.7 higher than it scored in my previous life."

Li Xun happily started reading the comments:

"A masterpiece. No explanation needed!"

"When I first heard Huang Zhou had turned down a new film by national treasure director Zhao Guocheng to act in a web series, I thought he was an idiot. After watching Young Bao Qingtian... well, turns out I was the idiot. Successful people are never simple. If you haven't seen it, go watch it now. I promise you won't regret it."

"This is hilarious! A mystery series unlike any other. Huang Zhou's Bao Zheng is so guileless, and Teacher Feng Lan is great too. Their mother-son pair is absolutely delightful."

"Listen to the wind, listen to the rain, listen to the sound of students reading; care about the family, the country, the world. Don't ask why I'm kneeling as I write this review. This couplet is my motto from now on."

"Ten mouths and a heart: thinking of you, the country, and the people; eight eyes to admire: flowers, the moon, and Guifang."

"Hey, who's Guifang?"

"My girlfriend!"

"My mom!"

"My aunt!"

"My neighbor, Second Auntie, is called Guifang too."

"Anyone else know someone called Guifang? Check in here."

"Here."

"Me."

"I know at least three."

"My grandma was called Guifang too."

"Are there really that many people in the country called Guifang?"

"Brilliant!"

"Great adaptation!"

"My girlfriend hasn't seen the show yet. I'm going to test her with this couplet, then change the second line to use her name."

"You've got a plan, young man. I'm rooting for you!"

"Does anyone else think this is better than The Coroner?"

"Nothing but praise in the comments. So fake. I don't want to watch it. They're obviously paid commenters!"

"Finally, someone said it! I scrolled through over a hundred short reviews, and every single one was glowing. Some of them were... embarrassingly over the top. So fake. Not interested."

"The Coroner will always be the greatest show in my heart. Any paid commenter using 'better than The Coroner' to promote a show has crossed my line. I'll never watch this series."

"Count me in. I'm not watching either. Penguin Video's paid commenters really are famous for a reason!"

"If it were just a little worse than The Villa, I might watch it. But now it's way better than The Villa, and its score is even higher than The Coroner's? Could it be any more ridiculous?"

"It broke 9? All right, the production team has big ambitions! But have you considered the audience's intelligence? A domestic web series scoring over 9? Does anyone really believe that?"

"Why are so many people calling it trash without even watching an episode, just based on their own assumptions?"

"Too many middle schoolers here. Can't you just watch it for yourselves?"

"To those calling everyone paid commenters and saying you won't watch it: maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe years from now, you'll watch the whole series by accident. And when that day comes, you'll realize just how foolish you were today!"

"This is exactly how a mystery series should be done."

"Filming and airing at the same time—now we'll have to wait in suspense."

"Does anyone else think Ren Yi's Gongsun Ce is insanely handsome?"

"Finally, someone mentioned Gongsun Ce! I love him. He's a little arrogant, too!"

Li Xun was engrossed in the comments when a WeChat notification chimed. He picked up his phone and saw that director Kong Teng had tagged everyone in the production group.

Kong Teng: "@everyone, Young Bao Qingtian has officially broken 9, reaching an astonishing 9.2! Brothers, our Young Bao Qingtian has achieved an unprecedented result!"

Tang Jiahe: "I've already had over a hundred calls this morning, all congratulating me. I knew the series would do well, but I never thought it would become this big a hit."

Kong Teng: "I feel like after making this show, I can retire in peace. This is the kind of credential that'll feed me for the rest of my life."

Li Xun couldn't help replying, "An unprecedented result? Retire? Isn't that a bit much? A score of 9.2 is great, sure, but it's not the highest score out there, is it?"

Kong Teng: "???"

Tang Jiahe: "???"

Li Xun: "I mean, there should be plenty of shows rated higher than 9.2, right?"

Kong Teng sent Li Xun a link. Li Xun opened it and found a news article that had just been posted that morning.

The headline read:

"Stunning: First Chinese TV Series to Score Above 9 on Dou Miao—Young Bao Qingtian Makes a Sensation! Bao Heitan Emerges as the Undisputed Dark Horse!"

Li Xun was a little confused. The first domestic series to score above 9? But...

A string of TV series flashed through Li Xun's mind.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, rated 9.5; Dream of the Red Chamber, rated 9.7; Journey to the West, rated 9.6; Ming Dynasty 1566, rated 9.7. Weren't all of these domestic series rated above 9?

"Wait?"

"Ming Dynasty 1566?"

"Where did this world's Ming Dynasty come from? Had I gotten my timelines mixed up again?"

"Young Bao Qingtian really had made history—the first domestic series to score above 9 on Dou Miao!"

"Did I accidentally go a little too far?!"