On August 14th, 'Full House' concluded its run perfectly on Capital City TV and Zhedong TV.
The four episodes aired in the preceding two days all exceeded a 4% viewership rating. By the grand finale on the evening of the 14th, the combined viewership rating for both channels reached 5.17%, firmly pulling the nationwide average rating for the entire series above 3%. This not only fulfilled Lu Chen's bold pre-premiere promises but even surpassed them.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, 'Full House' achieved a peak viewership rating of 42.72%, with an overall average of 32.56%. Not only did it create a ratings miracle for a domestic program in South Korea, but it also swept away rival Korean dramas during its run, sparking a massive online buzz in South Korean online communities.
Concurrently, Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er's popularity in South Korea skyrocketed, solidifying their status as the most renowned Chinese stars in the country!
Xiangnan TV's 'Vast Seas of Love', which had initially challenged 'Full House''s ratings head-on, was mercilessly crushed into oblivion by the latter's legendary viewership. Despite stubbornly refusing to change its broadcast time out of sheer pride, it became the laughingstock of the industry.
Victory breeds honor, and defeat, ridicule. 'Full House', though its broadcast had concluded, continued to dominate online discussions, its official Film Crew Weibo account amassing over 5 million followers, surpassing the popularity of even Autumn in My Heart.
'Full House' fans remained insatiable. The mere 25 episodes had clearly failed to satisfy their craving, and calls for reruns or a sequel grew increasingly fervent.
Amid this fervor, Capital City TV and Zhedong TV simultaneously announced that they would re-air 'Full House' at the end of August.
Simultaneously, WeChat Video announced that it had secured the online broadcasting rights for 'Full House'.
'Full House' was an undeniable hit, boasting dazzlingly high viewership ratings. Over a dozen television stations had vied for the rebroadcasting rights, each offering tempting financial deals.
However, Capital City TV and Zhedong TV refused to part with this lucrative asset. They were willing to pay a premium to exercise their contractual priority rights and retain the rebroadcasting rights, ensuring the profits remained within their grasp.
Meanwhile, Crown Pictures, one of the co-producers, approached Lu Chen Workshop to purchase the film rights for a big-screen adaptation of 'Full House'.
Since Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er had no intention of shooting a 'Full House' film, and Crown Pictures showed genuine sincerity, the copyright agreement was quickly finalized. The copyright transfer fee was set at 25 million yuan.
Furthermore, the novelization of 'Full House', published by Mountain Sea Publishing House, saw its first printing reach 500,000 copies.
There were also manga adaptations, brand licensing deals, and an original soundtrack.
After professional evaluation and factoring in existing revenue, 'Full House' was projected to bring Lu Chen Workshop a net profit of well over 100 million yuan, after taxes.
This single TV drama alone would be enough to propel Lu Chen Workshop into the ranks of top-tier celebrity workshops!
Beyond profit, there was fame. Lu Chen's blog followers simultaneously surpassed the 20 million mark.
"As an idol star who debuted just over a year ago, Lu Chen is undoubtedly an artist who excels at creating miracles," a prominent blogger wrote on their blog. "His musical prowess is universally acknowledged, and he excels in both screenwriting and acting. His exceptional talent is almost enviable, as if it were a gift from the heavens."
The blogger continued, "We call Lu Chen an idol star because he embodies all the archetypal traits: young, tall, handsome, healthy, and charismatic."
"To merely call him an idol star is clearly unfair. He already possesses the potential to become a true superstar. All he lacks are a few prestigious awards!"
It's worth noting that the Magnolia Awards, one of China's two major TV play awards, will announce its nominations at the end of this month. As one of last year's highest-rated dramas, "Autumn in My Heart," written and starring Lu Chen, is undoubtedly a strong contender.
This naturally heightens anticipation for Lu Chen's performance at the Magnolia Awards, with nominations expected in categories such as Best TV Play, Best Male Lead, Best Screenwriter, Best Music, and Best Original Theme Song.
Amidst all the buzz, Lu Chen announced that his second solo album, "Ordinary Road," would be released at the end of the month. He simultaneously launched a crowdfunding campaign on Zhongchou.com and unveiled a promotional tour across seven major cities nationwide!
Lu Chen's second album was highly anticipated. All ten songs had been recorded, and the final post-production stages were now underway. He chose Hangzhou as the first stop for his promotional tour.
Hangzhou held special significance for Lu Chen. He had spent four years at university there, leaving him with countless cherished, and sometimes bittersweet, memories.
On his first day in Hangzhou, Lu Chen met up with Gao He and Wang Xiaoling, his newlywed former classmates.
Gao He had booked a dinner at Hangzhou's renowned West Lake Hotel, ostensibly to welcome Lu Chen back and "wash off the dust" of his travels.
However, the dinner wasn't the main purpose of their meeting. More importantly, Gao He had resigned from his previous company.
Two months earlier, at their wedding, Lu Chen had proposed investing in a mobile game company, with Lu Chen providing the funding and creative direction, and Gao He managing operations.
Just two months later, Gao He was already eagerly preparing to start his own business. Of course, there were reasons for his impatience.
"It's mainly Xiaoling's family," Gao He explained to Lu Chen with a wry smile, his expression tinged with helplessness.
Wang Xiaoling, meanwhile, looked deeply embarrassed.
It turned out that even though the couple had overcome their families' objections to marry, Gao He's in-laws remained dissatisfied with the marriage, primarily due to the issue of buying a house.
Both worked at the Company, but even with dual incomes, they had no idea when they'd ever be able to afford a house in Hangzhou. Considering their plans to have children in the future, they couldn't keep renting forever, could they? This remained a major point of contention.
His father-in-law and mother-in-law, ever conscious of appearances, felt they'd lose face among friends and relatives if Wang Xiaoling simply "married down" like this. Their constant nagging weighed heavily on Wang Xiaoling.
After enduring countless complaints from her family, Wang Xiaoling couldn't resist bringing up Lu Chen's promise to prove that following Gao He held genuine prospects.
The moment Gao He's in-laws heard this, they immediately spread the news to their friends and relatives, and it even reached Gao He's colleagues.
This created an incredibly awkward situation, leaving Gao He with no choice but to resign from his original company.
Now backed into a corner, he seized the opportunity during Lu Chen's visit to revisit the old promise and discuss his plans for starting his own business.
After hearing the full story, Lu Chen couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and bewilderment.
But none of this really mattered. He hadn't made those promises lightly back then.
Since Gao He had already resigned, they might as well launch the plan ahead of schedule!
Besides, Lu Chen was well-prepared.
(End of Chapter)
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