Jing Yu's fan group:
"I'm still completely immersed in the emotions from 'Love Letter', and now Teacher Jing Yu already has a new drama coming!"
"Wuwuwu... I'm so touched. Teacher Jing Yu is returning for the winter season! Finally, a new drama!"
"It hasn't even been that long, has it? 'Dragon Zakura' ended just three months ago."
"Exactly! Two dramas and two films in a single year. And you guys act like he's been slacking off."
"It's different! Think about it—during his time at Jinhui TV, he had 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', 'Your Lie in April', and 'White Album 2' airing consecutively across two seasons. Even after moving to Yunteng TV, he gave us 'Hikaru no Go' seasons one and two, 'Steins;Gate', 'Another', and 'Initial D'. But this year? Only two dramas? Who is that supposed to satisfy?"
"Right? Without Teacher Jing Yu's shows in the spring and fall seasons, I'm honestly fed up. The stuff from the Big Six TV stations has been awful. Aurora TV's 'Time Doctor' this year was a knockoff of 'Steins;Gate'—an insultingly bad one. Plot holes everywhere. The writers clearly lacked basic science knowledge. And that 'Death Driver' show from Huanshi TV this fall? Please. If I hadn't watched 'Initial D', I might've given it a 7.5. But because 'Initial D' is a 10, giving this a 7.5 feels like a personal insult. The story, pacing, cinematography, and the protagonist's driving skills were all trash."
"You know why Jing Yu's popularity is so high? Because his works can only be made by him. Only he can write them. Those who imitate fail. Those who plagiarize flop. Audiences aren't stupid—they don't buy cheap knockoffs or diluted copies."
"Anyway, I'm all in on this winter season. Hyped to the max!"
"Even just hearing the title 'Kimi ni Todoke' makes me excited. It's been ages since he did a romance drama."
"Honestly though… I'm a bit worried. Strictly speaking, aren't all of his romance stories… kinda tragic?"
"Let's not even talk about 'Love Letter'. The male lead dies right at the beginning—but we only fully realize it after falling for his character. At least that one gave us time to brace for it. But 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal'? I bawled in the theater."
"Don't remind me. My stomach still hurts. 'Trust & Betrayal' was his most heart-wrenching work."
"Have you even watched 'Your Lie in April'?"
"No."
"You must. Here, I'll send you the official Jinhui TV link. Buy the DVD and watch it at home. Treat your heartbreak with more heartbreak—like cures like."
Jing Yu's confirmed return for the winter season had sent waves of pressure rippling through Great Zhou's TV industry.
Especially at the Top Three networks.
Because ever since Jing Yu started collaborating with Yunteng TV, every season in which he had a show airing, it was basically guaranteed to be in the top three for ratings.
Which meant…
One of the Top Three networks would inevitably get pushed out.
Since Jing Yu's breakout last year and solidification this year, industry insiders had already given him a nickname:
"Top Three Slayer."
A name that truly fits. Every time he released a new work, the seemingly unbeatable dominance of the Top Three networks was shaken to its core.
That reputation alone was already hurting the networks.
For example, advertising rates during primetime—Yunteng TV, when airing one of Jing Yu's shows, could now charge more than the Big Three. Corporations had begun to question the reliability of the Top Three's ratings.
If Jing Yu could spend half the year making movies, then return and still crush their headline dramas?
The Top Three execs were visibly tense these days.
Whether for face or for survival, they had to treat this winter season very seriously.
There's something known as the catfish effect—when you put a catfish in a tank of passive fish, the whole group becomes more active.
Jing Yu, it seemed, was Great Zhou's catfish.
Since his debut, he'd stirred up an industry that had been stagnant for years and brought it back to life.
September 3rd –
Auditions for 'Kimi ni Todoke'
Jing Yu, under the name of BlueStar Media & Film Company, rented a venue for open auditions.
Actors from all over the industry—famous, unknown, experienced, fresh—over a hundred people showed up.
All of them were young, beautiful women and handsome men.
Each was assigned an audition number by the staff and waited in the designated area for the session to begin.
Inside the main hall, Cheng Lie sat staring at the script in his hands, slightly dazed—his eyes faintly red.
It was the script for '5 Centimeters per Second'.
Just from reading Jing Yu's written words, he could feel the overwhelming sadness within.
"The speed at which cherry blossoms fall… is five centimeters per second."
"Even if we exchange a thousand messages, our hearts won't be one centimeter closer."
"At what speed must I travel… to be able to meet you?"
"We gaze at the same sky… but look in different directions."
These lines alone had Cheng Lie's heart tightening with each word.
And at the end of the script, when the city train passed by, and the narration described the space on the other side…
"Jing Yu… you've been in love before, haven't you?" Cheng Lie closed the script.
"Of course. Just not in recent years. Why?" Jing Yu replied, smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt.
He was about to serve as the lead judge at the auditions. His appearance needed to be flawless—he had to project the authority of a screenwriter and command respect from all the actors.
"Do you… have a pessimistic view of love?" Cheng Lie's voice carried emotion.
"In nearly all your works, love is portrayed in such a bleak way. I really thought 'Kimi ni Todoke' was a turning point. A signal of change, maybe even a shift in your mindset."
"But this script for '5 Centimeters per Second'? It blew me away."
"You've got to move on, man. Be positive. Be sunny. Cheer up." Cheng Lie sighed deeply, as if offering heartfelt life advice.
"Huh?" Jing Yu gave him a baffled look.
Cheng Lie knew the backstory.
Before Yunteng TV had hired Jing Yu, they'd done a background check and learned that he'd been dumped by his mysterious girlfriend while at Jinhui TV.
A failed relationship can either destroy a man or awaken him.
In Jing Yu's case, it was the latter—he rose from being an assistant screenwriter to one of the most celebrated names in Great Zhou.
But… it seemed he'd also lost faith in love.
Otherwise, how could someone write such soul-crushing stories again and again?
No wonder, Cheng Lie thought, that despite having two amazing women—Yu Youqing and Xia Yining—at his side, Jing Yu remained happily buried in his video games.
He looked over at Jing Yu, eyes full of concern for a comrade caught in emotional quicksand.