154: The 154th day of being popular
That night, Yao Bianliang couldn't sleep well at all.
She searched the internet for a lot of information about the epidemic, including news, the latest updates, online comments, and the opinions of many experienced individuals regarding this event.
In short, the more she read, the more alarmed she became.
Her chosen theme was really teetering on the edge of danger!!
Currently, the low viewership was simply due to a lack of promotion. Coupled with the sudden onset of the epidemic, many people hadn't recovered from the shock, so nobody had noticed it yet.
Once someone with ulterior motives realized that this drama was closely related to current events, things would be in big trouble!
That night, Yao Bianliang didn't fall asleep until two in the morning, and her sleep was restless.
She had a nightmare.
In the dream, the moonlight was beautiful, lights were flickering, and the square was filled with a sea of people, cheering voices echoing in the sky.
Everyone held glowing support signs, and many people were shouting a name.
At first, Yao Bianliang didn't pay much attention, but when she listened carefully, she recognized her name, Liang Liang, amidst the clamor of cheers.
She swallowed and turned to ask her assistant Chen, who was beside her, "What are they here for?!"
Assistant Chen smiled and said, "Sister Liang, did you forget? They are all audiences who came to watch the drama. Your drama has become popular."
Long Ge and others also smiled and said, "Yes, thanks to several big influencers recommending it, they brought the first batch of viewers."
Yao Bianliang's heart trembled, and she turned her head to look at the dense crowd in disbelief.
She despairingly asked, "How many people have come to watch the drama?!"
This must be an astronomical number!
Zhou Fei approached with a bright smile and said, "Not many, just over four billion people."
Four billion!
In her dream, Yao Bianliang was almost in despair. She asked questions along the way until she arrived at a small computer room.
She found the culprit who had caused her popularity to soar.
The culprit was sitting with his back facing her. Yao Bianliang approached and asked who he was.
"Do you forget me?" The person turned his head, gave a faint smile, and revealed a set of white teeth, saying, "I am Feng Shiyuan."
In the darkness, his face was not clear. Yao Bianliang faintly felt that he was very familiar, so she squinted and approached for a closer look--
Isn't this Feng Shiyuan's face!
With a "click," the lights in the room suddenly turned on.
Yao Bianliang then realized that besides Feng Shiyuan, many other people were sitting in the room.
Zhou Fei, Assistant Chen, Long Guoqing... almost everyone was here, and Yao Bianliang even saw Yao Xinxin.
*****
In the end, Yao Bianliang was abruptly awakened, startled.
"What a terrifying nightmare..."
After waking up, she was still a bit shaken, and it took her a moment to sit up straight.
By now, it was already broad daylight. Yao Bianliang checked her phone for the time and was surprised to see that it was already 9 o'clock in the morning.
"No, my chosen theme is really too dangerous." Yao Bianliang couldn't sit still anymore.
Indeed, in the past few days, her drama had very low viewership and far less attention than other dramas.
But wasn't the previous task extremely smooth during the pre-production phase? However, unexpected events occurred when the critical moment came, and all their previous efforts were in vain.
Yao Bianliang didn't want to repeat the same mistakes.
Thinking of this, the first person she contacted was Zhou Fei.
"Zhou Fei, immediately arrange for the revision of the promotional materials, plot synopsis, and related topics. Make sure to remove any text related to medical personnel."
"Ah? Completely change everything?" Zhou Fei had just woken up and was still a bit groggy.
Upon hearing Yao Bianliang's instructions, he took a moment to react and asked in confusion, "If we don't include these, what should we write about?"
Their drama is based on this theme! How can they just ignore it?
Yao Bianliang said, "Write whatever you want, just try your best not to associate this drama with the current epidemic."
After giving clear instructions to Zhou Fei, Yao Bianliang immediately logged into her Weibo account and modified her profile description.
Any words containing the character "医" (medical) were replaced. Additionally, deleted paragraphs that could easily be linked with the epidemic.
After the entire morning working on it, Yao Bianliang finally relaxed and sat back on the couch.
"I wonder if it's too late to make these changes now..."
She had modified all the relevant terms. When searching for tags like "medical" and "healthcare" on short video platforms, her drama couldn't be found at all.
Not only that, she also had Zhou Fei modify some topics and terms to avoid the public linking the drama to the epidemic.
The drama's viewership remained low, but she had taken the opportunity to make these changes. Hopefully, it was a timely response.
Yao Bianliang browsed through some related web pages and finally felt relieved.
"There are only five days left. Hopefully, we can make it through this time." She silently prayed in her heart.
*****
As time passed, the deadline drew closer and closer.
Due to the epidemic, the whole country was in a state of alert, and people were advised to stay at home and avoid gathering.
In such times, people who couldn't go out had to entertain themselves by listening to music, reading novels, and binge-watching dramas.
As a result, variety shows like "Good Drama PK Competition" not only didn't lose popularity but actually gained more attention.
Inside the variety show's production studio was an atmosphere of joy and celebration.
"Director, our ratings are really high this time!" The staff members had smiles on their faces.
The director of the show was also pleased with the result. "Good Drama PK Competition" was now in its third season and was originally a program designed to generate revenue and attract viewers. To achieve such good results was a challenging feat.
"Director, I just received some great news—a huge opportunity!"
Suddenly, a voice sounded from outside the door. A short employee hurriedly pushed the door open with a smile.
The director was in a good mood and asked, "What's the good news?"
"During this variety show's final competition, didn't we shoot eight short dramas?" The short employee grinned. "I just got the news. One of the dramas caught the attention of higher-ups! The official department is now preparing to promote this short drama as a positive video."
The director was momentarily stunned, pleasantly surprised, yet somewhat incredulous. "Is it true?"
There had been dramas officially promoted before, but they were rare occurrences. Having worked in the entertainment industry for so many years, the director had never encountered such good fortune.
The employee continued, "The organizers have requested that we ride the wave of this drama's popularity. With official promotion, our variety show will definitely take another step forward!"
The director nodded. When he heard the news, that was also his initial reaction.
Since it was their variety show's production, they had to hold onto this level of popularity no matter what. If he couldn't handle even such a small matter, he would not need to continue as the program director.
"Of course, which group's drama is it?" he asked.
The employee grinned, "It's the one directed by Yao Bianliang, the drama about healthcare workers! During the epidemic, we definitely need this kind of positive storyline."
The director: "..."
Yao Bianliang?!
With this revelation, the room's previously jubilant atmosphere gradually quieted.
It turned out to be Yao Bianliang's group...
But just a few days ago, they had just distanced themselves from her!!
In the silence, the atmosphere became increasingly awkward.
The employee who brought the news was unaware of the situation but sensed something was amiss. He couldn't help scratching his head and hesitated, choosing not to say anything more.
The director's expression turned unpleasant. "Is this news reliable?"
"It's completely reliable. The promotion is scheduled to start tonight at the latest."
Receiving a definite answer, the director's heart began to race.
He instinctively took out his phone, intending to call Lu Yanchen, but to his surprise, the line was continuously busy.
How could Lu Yanchen be unreachable?
The director started to feel a sense of urgency.
This was a big deal. If Yao Bianliang's short drama was officially promoted, her career would continue to thrive. Their efforts to suppress her during this period would become a joke.
Yao Bianliang had always been dissatisfied with the attitude of the "Good Drama PK Competition" production team. They had been suppressing her all along, and she surely held a grudge against them.
As the program director, he had already completely offended Yao Bianliang for the sake of Yao Xinxin and Lu Yanchen!
Once this matter came to light, the organizers' leaders would indeed inquire about it.
If those people were to find out that he deliberately denied Yao Bianliang exposure just to curry favor with Lu's Group, resulting in the program missing such a major selling point, he would definitely face the consequences.
Currently, a top-tier video blogger can increase their view count by several hundred thousand within an hour. This is a figure that 99.99% of video bloggers would look up to.
Even for A-list celebrities, achieving over ten million views within an hour for a short drama video would be difficult, even after extensive marketing and promotion.
Not to mention, her short drama had little promotion and even less traffic.
To expect a comeback in the final three hours would be nothing but wishful thinking.
"Don't worry," Yao Bianliang smiled. "Even if a top-tier celebrity came now, it would be useless. Unless this drama is aired on television, there is absolutely no hope for a comeback!"
With this thought in mind, Yao Bianliang leisurely picked up her phone, preparing to glance at the current data once again.
However, when she saw the numbers clearly, she froze.
Over twenty-one million?
She remembered that the number was slightly over twenty million just a moment ago. How did it suddenly increase by so much?
Could it be... that she remembered wrong?
Yao Bianliang felt a bit perplexed and refreshed the interface.
The numbers jumped again, and this time, there was a visible and significant growth.
"Is my phone glitching?"
Yao Bianliang started to feel a bit uneasy. She exited the app and logged in again.
To her surprise, the view count had risen to twenty-two million this time!
Yao Bianliang's fingers trembled. She began continuously refreshing the interface. And to her despair, the view count continued to climb at an astonishing speed with each refresh.
"What on earth is happening?!" Yao Bianliang was dumbfounded.
The increase was too fast, to the point where it caught her off guard. Even a rocket wouldn't ascend at such an outrageous speed.
Was there something wrong with her phone, or did the app crash?
"Ding dong!"
Just then, WeChat suddenly chimed with a series of notification sounds. Someone had sent a message.
Zhou Fei: "Liang Jie, I have incredible news! Our drama is actually airing on TV!!"
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