📰'A miracle! "An Ancient Love Song" breaks 4% viewership after its finale.'
📰'If "The Gilded One" can't uphold Sakura TV's honor, let "An Ancient Love Song" do it.'
📰'"An Ancient Love Song" becomes the third drama in the autumn season to break 4% in ratings.'
📰'Genius screenwriter Su Yan breaks his own record: from 1.38% to 4.01%—a milestone many writers can't reach in a lifetime, and Su Yan did it in just three months.'
📰'The ending of "An Ancient Love Song" sparks heated debate. Fan opinions on Su Yan are polarized.'
📰'Xia Nation's Best New Screenwriter Award will almost certainly go to Su Yan.'
The media's coverage of Su Yan was filled with dramatic praise.
And as Su Yan's fame surged, past conflicts between him, Akasaka Yoshitoki, and Kiyota Sanji were dug up and leaked online by certain individuals.
Although no solid evidence was presented, the fact that 'An Ancient Love Song' was scheduled for a midnight slot was enough. For many drama viewers, what they believe matters more than facts.
As a result, while the drama soared in popularity, Kiyota Sanji faced a storm of online backlash.
Even those who were angry at Su Yan—
Well, their frustration was directed at the writer, but not the drama itself. Since they loved the show, that affection bled into how they perceived everything around it, making Kiyota Sanji's reputation even worse than last season.
Some people even began organizing campaigns online to boycott whatever new series Kiyota Sanji might release next.
In the 'To the Moon' production team, Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"It's finally over. I'm just glad we didn't end up in the fan-rage and reputation-collapse scenario I was imagining," Shinozaki Ikumi exhaled deeply.
"Of course. I had it under control," Su Yan replied.
"You didn't think 'An Ancient Love Song' would end up like 'Pure Breeze' from last season, did you?"
"Of course I worried! A story like this, done right, becomes a top-tier tragic masterpiece. Done wrong, and it's just creators being edgy for the sake of it."
"You're a genius screenwriter; you make navigating the market look easy. We're just regular people. There's no way to know what kind of reaction a drama will get until it airs. As a producer, I've been anxiously watching the market every week," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a sigh.
But midway through her rant, she fell silent and looked at Su Yan.
"But the truth is, people like me shouldn't be telling you what to do."
"If you'd followed my advice and changed the script, there's no way the final episode would've broken 4%."
"Ahh... honestly, I feel like there's nothing more I could ask for in life," Shinozaki Ikumi said as she glanced at the busy 'To the Moon' set.
"I had the disaster of 'Sakura Island Love Song' at the start of the year, the comeback success of 'Rurouni Kenshin', and now... the peak with 'An Ancient Love Song'. In one year, I've gone through what most producers experience in an entire career."
"So, 'An Ancient Love Song' is your peak?" Su Yan chuckled.
"What about 'To the Moon'? Haven't you thought about it surpassing 'An Ancient Love Song'?"
Surpass it?
Shinozaki Ikumi blinked. Her expression turned uncertain.
"I mean, 'To the Moon' seems more like an artsy script," she said, thinking back to the screenplay Su Yan had given her.
"As long as it averages above 3% across all episodes, it'll already meet the network's expectations."
But as she said this, her voice lowered.
Could Su Yan really settle for average?
Would he ever be content just hitting safe benchmarks?
Shinozaki Ikumi shook her head.
No—that wasn't who he was.
Let's not overthink it.
For a B-grade show, the internal baseline is a 3% rating.
An A-grade shows a target above 4%.
The crazy success of 'An Ancient Love Song' was an outlier. Su Yan's ceiling was high, but not every drama could go supernova.
Sure, he might pull off a breakout hit occasionally, but that couldn't be expected every time.
Just because the writer is Su Yan doesn't mean you should always bet on miracles. Be realistic.
"'To the Moon' has better funding, a better time slot, and finally, some actual fair promotion from the network," she said.
"That's exactly why you should dream bigger! It's got a way better launchpad than 'An Ancient Love Song'. Better performance should be expected," Su Yan replied.
Plenty of dramas had better treatment than 'An Ancient Love Song', but how many had better results?
Shinozaki Ikumi silently complained in her head.
"Do you really think 'To the Moon' will surpass 4.01%?"
Slow-burn dramas usually have slower starts in ratings. But they could hold ground with star power and quality, then climb in later episodes.
That model was common in Xia Nation dramas.
"People need to grow," Su Yan said after a pause.
"Didn't 'An Ancient Love Song' break into the top three? Why should we settle for stagnation—or worse, regression?"
"So... you're hoping 'To the Moon' will hit number two next season?" Shinozaki Ikumi's breath caught slightly.
Su Yan was silent for a few seconds.
"No. Number one," he said.
Shinozaki Ikumi was stunned.
"Number one?"
"That's right. Number one. I'm not saying it has to start at number one, but I want it to take that spot before it finishes airing." Su Yan spoke seriously.
He was planning to leave Sakura TV after his contract ended in April next year.
Before then, not only did he need to save up enough to start his own company, he also had to solidify his name— make "Su Yan" a brand.
That number one spot mattered.
"You really think you and I can't beat the rest of next season's competition?" Su Yan asked, seeing her hesitation, and smiling.
"At our age, the things they've achieved... don't even come close."
Shinozaki Ikumi's shoulders trembled slightly.
Belief is the most important thing.
Clearly, she was someone who believed.
Most of the time, our greatest enemy is ourselves. Before any actual challenge shows up, we've already imagined countless fake ones—and quit in our heads.
That kind of mental burnout kills your dreams before they even start.
Alone, she was rational and grounded.
But standing next to Su Yan—seeing his confident face and smile—
She was being pulled in.
Number one.
Those words ignited her ambition.
Dare to dream, and you dare to act.
Dare to act, and you give it your all.
How could a high school student who only aimed for a $3000 monthly salary have the drive to study hard enough to get into Imperial Capital University?
How could a producer who only wanted top 10 ratings ever create a number one drama?
Luck never favors those who lie flat.
Setting a goal before a show airs gives the whole crew something to chase.
No more of that "This is fine," or "It's not like we have to be the best," type of excuse.
Second place? Third place? Not enough.
Only by setting your sights on number one will everyone perform to the limits of their ability and effort.
"Number one?"
"Mm. Number one."
After getting Su Yan's clear answer,
Shinozaki Ikumi instinctively reached out her hand.
Su Yan blinked—then quickly reached out to shake hers.
"And when we actually hit number one?"
"Then what?" she asked.
"Then, in March next year, I'll tell you about my new life plan."
"A new plan? Let me guess—next year you start your journey toward becoming Xia Nation's legendary screenwriter?"
"That's part of it, sure. But not all," Su Yan said with a smile.
December came to an end. New Year's Day arrived.
During the New Year holidays, the online paid viewership of 'An Ancient Love Song' broke 9 million.
This meant the show earned over 120 million yuan from online platforms alone.
Considering its production cost was only 15 million, Sakura TV made a killing.
Meanwhile, a special episode of 'An Ancient Love Song' was also released online.
Told entirely from Lu Yuan's perspective, in forward chronological order, it recounted her life with Shen Buyan.
Within a single day of release, paid viewership surpassed 3 million.
Fans who had just begun to emotionally recover from the main series… were once again devastated.
The comment section was flooded with tens of thousands of posts roasting Su Yan.
And then came the industry side.
The first three days of January were New Year holidays, and each major TV station had its own New Year galas.
During this period, most viewers weren't in the mood for new dramas, so none of the season's shows chose to premiere just yet.
At the same time—
The most prestigious awards ceremony in the Xia Nation television industry, the Xia Flame Awards, began drafting its nomination lists for the year's standout productions and rising stars.
In these lists, names like Su Yan, Shinozaki Ikumi, and Gu Qingyuan appeared repeatedly under categories like Best Producer, Best Screenwriter, and Best New Actor.
Of course, names like Kiyota Sanji and Kanzaki Yusuke also made appearances as references.
'Pure Breeze' may have been torn apart by audiences, but its ratings had been solid.
'Night Sakura' had lost to 'An Ancient Love Song' among Sakura TV's rookie dramas, but being 11th in the season was still a decent achievement.
Other stations like Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV also had promising newcomers.
In the music category, 'An Ancient Love Song's tracks—'Emptiness Awaits' and 'Watching from the Wall'—were fan favorites, and Su Yan was listed as their composer too.
After the three-day New Year break—
TV stations across the Xia Nation sprang into action.
The top three networks began aggressively promoting their four A-grade shows this season:
Sakura TV invested 41 million into the fantasy drama 'The Gate.'
Zhongxia TV invested 35 million into the family drama 'Imperfect Divorce.'
Zhongxia TV also funded the idol romance 'Blue Summer' with 39.5 million.
Hudu TV spent 42 million on the mystery thriller 'The Crimson Magician.'
Their promotional campaigns flooded the airwaves.
And of course—
The 'To the Moon' crew, which hadn't stopped work even over New Year's, finished editing their official trailer and submitted it to the station just in time.
January 6th.
'To the Moon's first preview aired during Sakura TV's golden advertising slot.