IPCFS: Chapter 99 Part 1

The start of the Spring Festival holiday meant that ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ starring Ji Yunqi started airing online.

As previously expected, another drama that started at the same time as them was ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ written by Shen Yanda.

The male lead of ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ was later chosen as Wu Yimu, one of the best newcomers at last year’s China Television Awards. The female protagonist was also the popular Shi Meng.

The cooperation between the two of them was very fresh. Previously, ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ was known to everyone due to the confrontation between Ji Li and Shen Yanda before filming began. So from filming to airing, the popularity of the show was very high.

Meanwhile, Ji Yunqi’s ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ was adapted from a popular novel and the adaptation was done by Ji Mingyue herself. The novel was restored both in terms of casting and the plot, so it was acknowledged by a large number of book fans.

It had to be known that costume dramas had always been popular.

Before the two dramas started airing, they spent a crazy amount of money to build momentum. Then, once they were launched, they became very popular. From ratings to fans and Weibo discussions, they almost occupied all the winter holiday TV dramas.

However, if they really needed to compare them, ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ stood slightly above. The reason was very simple.

The heroine Shi Meng was a well-known topic queen, and her team knew marketing best. They didn’t oppose good topics and didn’t resist bad topics. They would do anything as long as it helped raise the drama’s popularity.

Moreover, Shen Yanda’s previous palace fighting dramas had always been the quality assurance that led passersby over.

On the other hand, ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ was almost all starring newcomers. It was actually the first time that Ji Yunqi, the male protagonist, was meeting the public with a formal piece of work.

In terms of popularity and influence, he was inferior to Shi Meng.

However, the ratings trend of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ was very strong. It started with 8.0 points, and after two weeks of airing, it had risen to 8.4 points.

On the other hand, the ratings of ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ dropped from 8.9 points at the beginning to 8.6 points.

The two dramas had been airing for two weeks, and until the day before yesterday, they had been competing with each other.

Seeing the rating of the drama gradually increasing, Ji Yunqi and the crew of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ were very happy. It was just that this joy didn’t last long before it was broken.

The overall score of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ was maliciously hit by a series of low scores. A large number of one star ratings flooded the scoring area.

The drama had just managed to rise to 8.4, but it dropped down to 6.9 in only one day.

Seeing the low scoring comments in the comments area, the ones who opened their mouths and scolded the drama called themselves ‘book fans.’

-Hehe, the beginning was good, but sure enough, it started to experience magical changes after the 8th episode.

-Don’t watch, don’t watch it. This is another terrible adaptation, and it is simply the same routine as ‘Night Detective.’ This year’s detective novels are very miserable.

-How could the first case be changed like this? As a book fan, I am very disappointed!

The first case of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ was a bit too bloody. In order to pass the review, Ji Mingyue and her team made reasonable changes while retaining the core content to a great extent.

Judging from the comments on the official Weibo after it aired, the real book fans could basically accept the changes, and there were no magical changes at all.

It was only on the ratings website that a large number of ‘book fans’ appeared and clamored more than the other.

The accounts of these reviews were all real, but discerning people in the circle could tell the truth with one glance.

A colleague had spent money to hire a water army to secretly lower the rating of ‘Newly Born Master Detective!’

In the same period, there were only two dramas that could compete for the ratings championship. Wasn’t it obvious who was right and who was wrong?

Before the crew of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ could resolve the issue, the situation took an unexpected ‘reversal.’

‘Newly Born Master Detective’, which scored 6.9 the day before yesterday, received a large amount of high scores overnight and shot close to 9.0 points in a straight line.

The ratings website found the abnormality and temporarily locked the score. It announced that it would ‘filter’ and clean up the data to ensure the fairness of the score.

Some marketing accounts noticed this and took the opportunity to post about it on Weibo.

“The popular drama ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ changed the plot and after encountering a low scores boycott from book fans, trolls rushed in overnight to give it high scores. This was recognized by the website as manipulating the points!”

“The crew’s actions are so lame. They don’t want to do a good job and just want to be opportunistic. The gains aren’t worth the losses!”

Malicious changes were boycotted by book fans, and the purchase of a water army to increase points was discovered by the website… this article with no proof turned into solid evidence.

The content of the marketing account caused uninformed netizens to condemn ‘Newly Born Master Detective.’

In the entertainment industry, there was no shortage of keyboard warriors who followed the trend to abuse others. They had to join in the fun everywhere.

The starring actors were scolded, the screenwriter was scolded, and the crew was scolded. It was completely disgusting.

Ji Yunqi couldn’t hold back and ran to the WeChat group to complain.

“I am really convinced by him. First, he spent money to find people to pretend to be fans and give low scores. Then he hired a water army to give high scores. Who would spend money to mess with their opponent for no reason?”

“Is this what it means by a pot falling from the sky?”

In this way, ordinary netizens wouldn’t suspect the crew of ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty.’ After all, who would spend money to give the opponent high scores for no reason?

“I’m so angry! The other person’s methods are really dirty! I want to tear off the true face of Shen Yanda and the crew on the spot!”

Both dramas were in the rising stage and ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ had fallen into an unfavorable storm of public opinion. Naturally, the audience was attracted to ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty.’

Ji Li listened to Ji Yunqi’s long voice message complaint and looked at Qin Yue. “Shen Yanda is really acting recklessly while relying on his position in the circle.”

Qin Yue’s eyes showed disgust as he commented, “Where did he get his status from? It will soon be tossed away by himself.”

Ji Li raised an eyebrow in agreement.

Yuan Yifei appeared in the group and sent scolding messages, trying to comfort the angry Ji Yunqi.

Seeing this, Ji Li simply opened his contacts and found the contact information he had previously obtained.

“Wait for me.”

“Yes.”

Qin Yue replied before bringing a whole box of fried shrimp in front of him, slowly peeling it for his lover.

Ji Li calmly called the number. Soon, a pleasant female voice was heard on the other end.

“Hello.”

“Sister Mingyue, hello. I am Ji Li.” Ji Li got straight to the point.

“Ji Li?”

Ji Mingyue was obviously surprised, but since he was her brother’s friend, her tone was very friendly. “Are you looking for me for something?”

“I just heard about the situation of your crew from Yunqi. My team has some materials on Shen Yanda. Sister Mingyue, do you need it?”

Ji Mingyue wasn’t only the chief screenwriter of ‘Newly Born Master Detective.’ She was also one of the investors of this drama and the second sister who spoiled and protected Ji Yunqi.

At present, the drama had encountered such an unfavorable situation. It was impossible for her to idly sit by, whether it was for public or private reasons.

There was a momentary silence on the other end of the phone.

“Ji Li, I know that you had an open battle with Shen Yanda last year. Since you have the materials in your hands, why don’t you release it yourself?”

Moreover, in the open and secret fights between the crews, it wasn’t necessarily useful to bring down the screenwriter.

What if they got into trouble?

In the face of Ji Li’s sudden ‘generous gift’, Ji Mingyue didn’t rush to agree.

“Sister Mingyue, don’t worry. I regard Yunqi as a true friend and wouldn’t do anything to harm him.”

Ji Li glanced at the extra shrimp in his bowl and his tone was serious.

“The reason I waited until now was that the timing is just right. This isn’t just related to Shen Yanda, but also the drama in his hands.”

These materials wouldn’t only allow ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ to fight a beautiful turnaround battle. They would also completely kick Shen Yanda, a hypocrite with different appearances, into the abyss.

“In fact, I’ve sorted them out early on. Do you want my team to send it to you?”

Ji Mingyue let out a low laugh and answered, “If it is really as you say, I will personally invite you to dinner another day.”

A glimmer appeared in Ji Li’s eyes and he agreed. “Of course. I will be waiting for Sister Mingyue’s meal.”

Ji Li hung up the phone, and there was a hint of expectations in his eyes.

After waiting for so long, he could finally let go of his original anger completely.

He was just thinking this when he glimpsed Qin Yue eating some shrimp. Ji Li recovered from the sense of anticipation and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you allergic to shrimp? Why are you still eating it?”

“……”

Qin Yue was silent for a moment.

He stuffed the peeled shrimp into his lover’s hand, trying not to change his face and his heart rate. “I am helping you taste it. It is quite delicious.”

“Really?” Ji Li raised his eyebrow and suddenly understood something. He saw through it but didn’t say anything.

“Baby, I was wrong.”

***

At 9 o’clock in the evening, in a high-end private box, the smell of alcohol and smoke were intertwined.

Shen Yanda was red from drinking, and he teased the female assistant beside him from time to time.

“Come, Teacher Shen. I’ll toast you again. Thanks to the strategy you came up with, we took down our biggest rival in just two days.”

Sun Changjiang toasted him with a smile. He was the main person in charge of producing ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty.’

“I originally thought that Teacher Shen only focused on screenwriting. I didn’t expect that you would be so powerful in terms of marketing in the circle. It is amazing.” Sun Changjiang’s assistant followed suit.

Flattery entering his eyes was always comfortable to listen to.

Shen Yanda’s eyes showed arrogant complacency, and he raised a glass of alcohol. “Who am I? Just wait and see. Last year, ‘Schemes of the Great Zong Dynasty Youth’ won the crown, but our drama will be better!”

Sun Changjiang poured him a glass of wine again. “That’s good! Teacher Shen has a long-term vision. Chairman Fang of Tianming Investments was blind and actually temporarily withdrew his investment…”

“Fortunately, Teacher Shen provided the money yourself, and our crew was able to start filming smoothly.”

The assistant continued to flatter him. “Yes, the real-time ratings of tonight’s episode of ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ is higher again. Once the final dividends are paid, Teacher Shen can make a lot of money!”

“It depended on everyone. If I can earn a profit, then you will definitely have a share.” Shen Yanda laughed while already fantasizing about making a lot of money.

The leader of the publicity team was worried. “We bought a water army to deal with ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ in secret. Will the other person stand up and attack us in the future?”

“What is there to be afraid of? If they really dare to oppose us, I will guide the netizens. Their crew isn’t as good as ours, so they want to find trouble with our crew.”

In the entertainment industry, they had to leave a bit of face for each other in public. It didn’t matter if they fought in private.

Openly accusing them? Shen Yanda didn’t believe that the crew of ‘Newly Born Master Detective’ had this ability.

After all, none of the actors in the crew had the popularity to fight him.

“Come, drink, drink.” Shen Yanda changed the topic.

Seeing this, everyone followed his wishes.

Shen Yanda took advantage of his drunkenness to touch his female assistant’s white and tender thighs once in a while.

The harassed female assistant smiled reluctantly and instinctively moved to the side. “Teacher Shen, I…”

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Yanda grabbed her shoulders and dragged her back.

Shen Yanda’s eyes showed dissatisfaction and he warned her ‘kindly’, “This child, why are you so ignorant? You are just starting your career and should adapt to the wine table culture!”

Sun Changjiang and his assistant exchanged looks and pretended not to see Shen Yanda’s physical harassment of his female assistant.

The eyes of the female assistant were a bit red. Seeing that Shen Yanda’s hands were about to reach into the hem of her skirt, she finally stood up. “Teachers, I’m not feeling well. I’ll go first!”

Without waiting for Shen Yanda’s reaction, she grabbed her bag and ran out of the room.


TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure

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yuu
yuu
1 year ago

Thank you for the chapter ❤️

ke.
ke.
1 year ago

thanks for the chapter! i wonder how ji mingyue and ji li will interact, i think it will be fun

Middy
Middy
6 months ago

Wtf? No wonder his wife divorced him! Eww!