One month into its broadcast, the audience's feelings toward 'Kimi ni Todoke' had shifted—from excited anticipation to mounting impatience.
Its nickname in Jing Yu's past life, "The Show That Drives You Crazy", wasn't earned for nothing.
All across major drama forums in Great Zhou, discussion threads about 'Kimi ni Todoke' were everywhere.
And the most popular discussion topics?
Which episode will they finally hold hands?
Which episode will they finally kiss?
Which episode will they finally confess in!?
Any thread with these questions would instantly rack up hundreds, sometimes thousands, of comments.
Drama media outlets and critics across Great Zhou finally let loose after Episode 4 aired:
"Winter Season Showdown Revealed—Will 'Kimi ni Todoke' Be the Big Winner?"
"Top-tier Screenwriter Liang Hui Faces Crushing Defeat Against Genius Jing Yu. Never Before Seen in Great Zhou's Drama Industry. Since Joining Yunteng TV, Jing Yu Has Written Five Projects Over Five Quarters—Two Took First in Viewership, One Second, and One Third. If 'Kimi ni Todoke' Tops This Season, He'll Set a New Record: Two Years Running, Quarterly Champion!"
"'Kimi ni Todoke' Defies Convention: Four Episodes In, No Kiss! Possibly the Purest, Most Frustrating Drama in History."
"Thousands of 'Confession Soon!' Comments Flood Jing Yu's Qingyun Account. Fans Are Losing Their Minds Over This Show."
"Which Episode Will Feature the Confession? It's the Burning Question Among Fans. Even My 50-Year-Old Father Was Moved to Tears Watching This Drama!"
"Genius Jing Yu Radiates Kingly Aura. If 'Kimi ni Todoke' Tops the Ratings Again, He Could Reach the Pinnacle of Great Zhou's Drama Industry at Just 27 Years Old."
"No Luxury, No Second-Gen Rich Kids, No Clichés—How Is This Simple Romance Drama Dominating Ratings? Has Great Zhou's Audience Taste Changed?"
"The Top Three TV Stations Are Facing Their Worst Crisis in Ten Years. If Only Jing Yu Had a Long-Term Contract with Yunteng TV—With Him, They Might've Become the Big Four!"
The media spared no effort in singing Jing Yu's praises.
Of course, statistically speaking, there were screenwriters in Great Zhou's history who had achieved better numbers than Jing Yu.
But those were veterans with decades of work. Jing Yu? He'd upended the entire industry in just two or three years.
Among the hundreds of TV stations and the many independent screenwriters still active today, only a handful could match Jing Yu in popularity and influence. And most of those top-tier writers were highly selective about projects, sometimes spending years on a single script. This only reinforced the feeling that Jing Yu was unmatched.
And the more unbeatable he seemed, the less others dared to challenge him.
After all, even Liang Hui had been invited out by Huanshi TV to go head-to-head with Jing Yu this season—her strongest genre was romance.
And now? The results spoke for themselves.
It wasn't a total disaster for her—but let's be honest: from start to finish, there had never been a moment where she even looked like she might turn things around.
Scoring 90 points on a test is great. But when your opponent scores 100 every single time?
That's despair.
With Liang Hui's loss still fresh, other well-known writers were starting to hesitate when invited by the six major platforms to challenge Jing Yu. No one wanted to be the next veteran humiliated by a junior.
Early November, Modo City
The weather had turned cold.
Temperatures hovered just a few degrees above freezing, yet the cast was still filming in summer outfits.
That was just how it went—after all, the story took place in summer.
So you'd often see actors looking calm and composed in front of the camera, only to run for their coats the second filming stopped.
Xia Yining sat on a chair with a coat draped over her, reading through the script for Episode 7 of 'Kimi ni Todoke'. Her breath came out in visible puffs as she flipped pages.
"Is she being redeemed?" she muttered.
She was studying how the script handled Kurumizawa Ume's character arc.
After a moment of thought, she closed her eyes.
Not bad, actually.
Even though Kurumizawa was the romantic rival of Sawako, Xia Yining didn't hate her. Especially the scene where Kurumizawa and Sawako tearfully confront each other…
"Hey, Yining-jie, done reading the script? Want to run lines together?"
Kurumizawa's actress, Yin Xiao, plopped down next to her.
"Sure." Xia Yining looked at Yin Xiao's slightly pale face and sighed inwardly.
Not long ago, she was the one calling others "Jie."
Like with Yu Youqing. But now… it was her turn to be the "big sister."
After a brief rehearsal, both actresses weren't quite satisfied—their emotional delivery still felt off.
They hadn't quite captured that delicate balance—Kurumizawa was annoying but also pitiful, and Sawako was kind but not a clueless pushover.
"Yining-jie, how do you think Jing Yu-sensei comes up with this stuff?" Yin Xiao suddenly asked, glancing at Jing Yu performing in front of the camera.
"Every time I read one of his scripts, I'm amazed. He understands girls so well! How does a guy write something from a girl's perspective this convincingly?"
"…I don't know," Xia Yining answered after a pause.
She'd wondered the same thing during filming—how could Jing Yu, a man, so thoroughly understand the inner world of women? Why did the simplest scenes manage to hook viewers so effectively? Why did the ratings keep climbing?
Naturally, it was because of the way he portrayed the psychological depth of both heroine and hero. Even after four episodes without so much as a kiss, viewers were too invested to quit.
And yet, if Jing Yu could write romance this beautifully…
Why was his own love life so cold?
Xia Yining had known him for years now. She and Yu Youqing had both been around him for so long. If he were made of stone, he'd have cracked by now.
Honestly, if one day he told her he was dating Yu Youqing, she might feel a little down—but she'd probably still congratulate Youqing.
But… this guy?
Jing Yu was absurd. How could someone who understood everything about love in scripts be so indifferent to it in real life?
They chatted about Jing Yu for a while, and Xia Yining gradually sensed that this young actress had her own feelings for him.
Which wasn't surprising.
Jing Yu's talents were just that magnetic. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he'd play the violin for the crew. Other times, he'd sit outside the set for half a day, scribbling music for a soundtrack—and it would become a huge hit.
Any normal girl spending time in Jing Yu's crew would inevitably fall for him. The only difference was in how deeply.
In the past, Xia Yining might've been wary. But now?
She'd given up.
She'd been by his side for three years and seen no sign of him catching feelings. As for Yin Xiao… she wasn't worried in the slightest.
Just then, Jing Yu finished his scene and walked out of his office carrying something, heading straight toward Xia Yining.
She spotted the item in his hand.
"Here. It's the first day of winter today. Didn't have time to prep anything, but I saw these in a shop last night and picked up a few. This pair is for you."
He handed her a pair of gloves.
Xia Yining looked surprised.
A gift from Jing Yu?
"…Thank you," she said, taking them with a bit of excitement.
They were clearly cheap, but still—a gift from Jing Yu! It was the second one she'd ever received from him.
"Gloves, huh…" Yin Xiao looked expectantly at the other two pairs in Jing Yu's hand.
"Oh, this pair…" Jing Yu handed another set to Xia Yining. "You live with Yu Youqing, right? Give these to her. I'll be out late at a Qingyun promo event tonight."
Xia Yining froze.
Yu Youqing… also got a pair?
She instantly felt deflated.
And me…?
Yin Xiao blinked.
"Yin Xiao, your upcoming scenes are important. Make sure to stay focused. Especially the confrontation with Sawako—remember, Kurumizawa isn't just a manipulative type. Everything she does is to get closer to Shouta. Without Shouta, she's just a smart, pretty girl."
Jing Yu offered a few words of advice, then walked off without another glance.
As he left, he pulled on the third pair of gloves—his own.
It was cold, after all. He hated the cold.
He left?
Right in front of me, I gave someone else a gift, and even handed out one to pass along to another girl. But none for me?
That's just cruel…
Yin Xiao's face dropped. Her anticipation crumbled in an instant.
Xia Yining glanced over and suddenly felt… much better.
She gently patted Yin Xiao's shoulder.
Give it up.
If you want to date someone, that actor playing "Long" is actually pretty cute.
I might not succeed, but you? You're definitely out of luck.
Feeling confident again, Xia Yining caught up with Jing Yu to chat about the script. Even though he always seemed indifferent, at least he didn't get annoyed by her.
Early November
To promote the upcoming streaming premieres of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' and 'Love Letter' on Qingyun, Jing Yu attended a few fan events.
As expected, the most common question from fans was:
"Will there be a sequel to 'Rurouni Kenshin'?"
Jing Yu stayed vague as always:
"If I want to write one, I can."
That single sentence was enough to send fans into a frenzy of speculation.
Meanwhile, the extended-cut versions of both films were finalized and submitted to Qingyun staff.
"Is Teacher Jing Yu really too busy? We at Qingyun may have only launched this year, but we already have over 16 million users. By next year, we expect that number to triple—or even quintuple."
The project liaison smiled as he made the pitch.
"If you have a new drama and release it on our platform, it'll definitely be worth your while. We can offer a guaranteed minimum revenue—no less than what you'd get from Yunteng TV. We can even fund the production."
In Jing Yu's past life, video platforms retained subscribers in two ways:
By hosting vast archives of old content
By producing their own hit shows
Why invest in original productions?
Because big-name dramas not funded by the platform usually couldn't be streamed exclusively.
Qingyun was still exploring profitability, but they understood this principle well.
"Three to five times growth?" Jing Yu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Think that's too ambitious?" the rep smiled.
"Not impossible. But with the current market, you'd have to become the top streaming platform in the country to pull that off."
"Exactly. That's why we're coming to you, Teacher Jing Yu."
"Relying on TV stations' old content won't build real market power. Viewers might revisit old shows for a bit, but what keeps them is fresh content. That's why we're so eager to work with you."
"Streaming will become mainstream. TV won't vanish, but it won't dominate like it does now."
When he saw Jing Yu fall silent, the rep probed further:
"You don't believe me?"
"No, I actually agree with you," Jing Yu replied. "TV's time is running out. But for now, it's still the best platform to build a reputation. You could match or even exceed Yunteng TV's licensing fees—but you're forgetting one thing."
"What's that?"
"The hidden earnings. If a show becomes a hit on Yunteng TV, the long-tail licensing profits are massive."
He looked straight at the rep.
"So if you want to co-produce with me, I'll be honest—it's not impossible. But I don't need funding. What I do need is a generous, guaranteed income written into the contract. If you can't offer that, I can't commit to releasing a new series on your platform."
'Kimi ni Todoke' had a total production budget of 90 million. Yunteng, which didn't hold the IP rights, paid 56 million purely for streaming.
But they helped the show gain national exposure, so Jing Yu accepted the prize.
Plus, with all the embedded advertising in the series, the production had already broken even. Everything from here on out—licensing, spin-offs, merch—was profit.
The Qingyun rep understood exactly what Jing Yu was saying.
"It's not that I won't be the first to eat the crab," Jing Yu thought, "but it better be a fat, juicy one."
"I'll take this back to the higher-ups," the rep said.
Jing Yu gave a slight nod.
If this world's streaming platforms developed anything like in his past life, Qingyun, Hongbing, and Jixun would soon enter a period of brutal competition—
Fighting over premium content with sky-high bids and reckless investment.
That was the kind of battlefield Jing Yu liked best.