As the ratings continued to climb, Imperial Capital TV's broadcast drew more and more viewers.
Within Jing Yu's fan group, the chat was already buzzing:
"Teacher Jing Yu will definitely show up, right?"
"Of course! He's been nominated — how could he not come?"
"It's been three weeks since we've seen Teacher Jing Yu… I miss him so much!"
"Such a shame he doesn't have a new drama next season."
"Well, the other networks have decent shows too. But hey, let the man rest — he wrote three dramas this season! If he doesn't take a break, he'll drop dead."
"That's true, but still… there's just something different about his style. Other shows aren't necessarily bad, but they don't have that unique flavor — that sense of being beyond the usual Great Zhou TV format. Now that I'm used to his work, watching other writers feels a little… off."
Soon, the people everyone was waiting to see began appearing on screen.
The producer, screenwriter, and three leads from 'You, Under the Cliff', the female lead of 'Black Cat', the main actor and antagonist from 'Manual', followed by Wu He and Li He from the 'Hikaru no Go' team, and then Jing Yu, Yu Youqing, and Xia Yining.
Fans outside the awards venue went wild, and those watching from home were just as excited.
"Teacher Jing Yu looks so handsome in formalwear!"
"How does he look good in everything he wears? It's a crime he's not into women — if only someone could be his girlfriend…"
"Who said he doesn't like women? That's just rumors!"
"Then how come there's never been any gossip about him dating anyone?"
"You can't just assume someone's orientation like that!"
"But come on — he's worked with Yu Youqing on four or five dramas and still no dating news? That's unreal. If he doesn't even like her, is there any woman out there he could like? I ship them so hard!"
The awards venue was just a standard indoor hall. Although the Silver Dragon Awards were held quarterly, the organizers had still managed to gather a huge crowd, especially during the industry's golden season. The seats were packed.
Familiar faces from TV — well-known critics, stars, directors — were everywhere.
But tonight, Jing Yu was undoubtedly the center of attention.
Everyone knew that if there wasn't any behind-the-scenes manipulation, then 'Hikaru no Go' — based on both ratings and public reception — would definitely take home more than one trophy.
It was Jing Yu's first time attending an event like this. At first, he found it exciting, but after a while, with all the cameras constantly pointed at him, he started to feel like a monkey in a zoo being stared at.
On stage, awards were still being handed out to drama teams ranked between #10 and #30 in the summer season — minor categories, mostly consolation prizes. And even so, an hour had already passed.
"Is it our turn soon?" Jing Yu asked Cheng Lie quietly.
"Almost," Cheng Lie whispered back.
"This is so boring."
"Can't help it. But keep your expression in check. Whatever you do, don't start picking your nose, yawning, or dozing off. You've got at least three cameras filming you at the same time. If you don't want an ugly screenshot going viral, keep that face at a polite 45-degree angle with a smile," Cheng Lie warned.
Jing Yu paused, then nodded.
"Got it. I won't let the Hyogo Smile Tragedy of Cilantro happen to me."
"Huh? What the heck is the 'Hyogo Smile Tragedy'? Are you inventing new terms again?"
"You wouldn't understand — too hard to explain," Jing Yu chuckled.
Of course, that smile was caught on camera, and his fans quickly harvested another screenshot of his charming grin.
Another half-hour passed. After all the winners gave their cliché thank-you speeches — "Thanks to my parents, my family, the network for nurturing me…" — things finally moved on to the real awards.
Best Art Direction went to Huanshi TV's 'You, Under the Cliff'.
Best Cinematography went to Xingtong TV's 'Black Cat'.
Then came the big one.
"As we all know, in any great drama, music is just as important as story and visuals. Among the many series from this summer season, after hundreds of thousands of viewer votes and three rounds of jury evaluation, the award for Best Original Score goes to the theme song 'Our Adventure!' from 'Hikaru no Go'. Composer: Jing Yu. Lyricist: Jing Yu. Vocalist: Xu Qing."
The female host on stage looked toward Jing Yu as the spotlight fell directly on him.
Here it comes.
Jing Yu exhaled slowly and stood up — beside him, Xu Qing, a beautiful woman in her thirties and the song's vocalist, rose as well.
They walked down the aisle together and up onto the stage.
"Hello everyone, I'm Xu Qing."
"Hello everyone, I'm Jing Yu."
As Jing Yu glanced at the crowd around the stage, he couldn't say he felt nothing. No matter how much his mind tried to stay calm, being in the moment made it impossible not to feel emotional.
He'd been in this world for over a year. Six dramas.
And finally, tonight, the camera lens of Great Zhou's entertainment industry was focused directly on him.
But the emotion passed quickly. He launched into his prepared speech:
"I'd like to thank my colleagues, the entire cast and crew of 'Hikaru no Go', and Yunteng TV for their support…"
He used to think those kinds of speeches were boring — but standing on stage now, he realized he wasn't much different from anyone else. Jing Yu wasn't the type to force originality just for the sake of it.
After a brief exchange with the host about the inspiration behind the song, twenty minutes passed. Jing Yu had just returned to his seat, barely had time to settle when—
"Next up: Best Supporting Actor. The winner is… Jing Yu, for his performance as Fujiwara no Sai in 'Hikaru no Go'."
The spotlight hit him again.
"Seriously…" Jing Yu was speechless, but still rose and headed back to the stage.
And so came the second acceptance speech:
"I'd like to thank my colleagues, the entire cast and crew of 'Hikaru no Go', and Yunteng TV for their support…"
Twenty more minutes later, barely seated again:
"The Best Screenplay award goes to… Jing Yu, for 'Steins;Gate'!"
Third award. Third speech.
"I'd like to thank my colleagues, the entire cast and crew of 'Steins;Gate', and Yunteng TV for their support…"
Viewers at home — especially Jing Yu's fans — were delighted.
But others unfamiliar with him were getting confused.
"Wait… is he an actor, a composer, or a writer? How is he doing all of this?"
"So that role everyone online's been raving about — Fujiwara no Sai — that was played by him?"
"This is getting absurd."
"He's on stage for the fourth time now. Best Drama of the Summer… also goes to 'Hikaru no Go'?!"
"Seriously? Is it that good?"
"Why didn't Sun Ling win a single award? And Xu Rong was nominated for Best Actress — how did she lose to Makise from 'Steins;Gate'?"
"Makise had higher online votes than Xu Rong. And the judges' votes were tied — so the public votes tipped it."
Back and forth, all in all, Jing Yu went on stage five times.
His award run was finally complete.
Meanwhile, the screenwriters, directors, and actors from the top six TV stations sat there, stunned.
The Silver Dragon Awards were known to be relatively fair, with very little behind-the-scenes manipulation.
Still — they hadn't expected to come all this way… only to end up as background extras for Jing Yu's victory lap.
Many attendees started looking at Jing Yu with odd expressions.
Even Cheng Lie began feeling uncomfortable.
If 'Hikaru no Go' and 'Steins;Gate' had only taken a few awards, it would've been fine — their success justified recognition.
But this? All of this?
Could it be that the awards committee — often criticized for favoring the top networks — was trying to prove its fairness by deliberately rewarding Yunteng TV, a smaller platform, as a sign of integrity?
Trying to show that the Silver Dragon Awards were all about performance, not power?
If so, then that was good — in theory.
But in practice? A lot of people in the industry were not going to take this well.
They flew all this way hoping to win — and ended up just cheering from the sidelines?
Of course, resentment would build — and all of it would be aimed at Jing Yu.
This was the classic case of "killing with praise."
Even if the committee hadn't meant it, the outcome?
It wasn't much different.