Week five of the spring season.
The competition between 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' and 'The Black Gate' had reached a fever pitch.
The former hit 5.36%, while the latter narrowly overtook it at 5.37%.
Meanwhile, 'South Dreams' began to show signs of fatigue by Episode 5.
Its ratings stalled at 5.28%.
Strictly speaking, the gap between the three shows was still tiny—within 0.10%—but at this level, even a 0.01% increase was extremely difficult.
As a fantasy epic with massive production values and a cast full of big-name stars, 'The Black Gate' stood on one side.
On the other hand was 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', driven by visual effects, worldbuilding, and story.
The sense that these two were the season's true dual powerhouses only grew stronger.
Su Yan, Akasaka Yoshitoki, Sakura TV, Zhongxia TV—all sides were now throwing out every trick they had.
On the promotional front, Su Yan leaned heavily on Zhongxia TV, coordinating marketing closely with them.
In this regard, Zhongxia TV was in no way inferior to Sakura TV.
Otherwise, Su Yan would never have gone to such lengths to cooperate with them.
No matter how good the work was, if the platform and promotional channels were weak, it was useless.
Yes—true masterpieces could slowly rise through word of mouth even on weaker platforms.
But that kind of rise took years.
TV dramas didn't have that luxury.
From premiere to finale was barely three months. If the broadcast platform lacked traffic, the show would end before its reputation even had time to spread.
That would make everything meaningless.
And as 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' continued airing in Zhongxia TV's prime-time slot, Su Yan's fame expanded even further.
At this point, whenever Su Yan attended events, he also began subtly promoting 'The Garden of Words'.
After all, its theatrical release was less than three months away.
📰Week six of the spring season: the battle for the seasonal crown between 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' and 'The Black Gate' grows fiercer—who will become the top drama of the season?
📰Sakura TV's production head, Akasaka Yoshitoki, never imagined that a rookie screenwriter who left the station would one day become his greatest enemy.
📰A feud of grudges! If 'The Black Gate' loses this season to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', Akasaka Yoshitoki's standing at Sakura TV will take a massive hit!
📰Failing to win the seasonal crown with an S-tier drama is already a disaster. If 'The Black Gate' loses specifically to Su Yan's work, Akasaka Yoshitoki will shoulder the full blame for Sakura TV's defeat this season!
📰The genius screenwriter strikes back. 'Your Lie in April' topped ratings last year—but that wasn't enough. If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' tops ratings this season, all of Akasaka Yoshitoki's achievements since taking office will be wiped out!
In his office, Akasaka Yoshitoki stared darkly at the media commentary.
He was furious—but he also understood one thing clearly.
This season, 'The Black Gate' could not lose to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
With an investment exceeding seventy million, failing to win the seasonal crown—and losing to Su Yan on top of that—would destroy his image in the eyes of the station's shareholders.
Even though Episode 5 of 'The Black Gate' had again overtaken 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'—
How could a 0.01% advantage possibly put him at ease?
He had always believed that starting from Episode 4, 'The Black Gate' would skyrocket.
And in fact, it had—at least 'South Dreams' had already been left far behind.
But why was 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' also climbing so fast?
Su Yan.
There was anger in his heart—and regret.
If not for the conflict involving his nephew, if he hadn't fallen out with Su Yan—
Then Su Yan would now be one of his strongest generals.
This season, two S-tier dramas under Sakura TV could have taken first and second place—locking down not just the seasonal crown, but the annual one as well. At next year's awards, Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV wouldn't even get a sip of the soup.
But now—
Even as Akasaka Yoshitoki tried to reassure himself, seeing 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' climb to a 9.4 rating and average over ten million paid streams per episode on ZhongxiaNet made the unease in his chest grow heavier.
Morning.
Su Yan woke up in his villa.
As company chairman, aside from filming, he also had to negotiate partnerships and handle company operations.
His schedule was no longer as casual as it had been back at Sakura TV. His assistant packed his days full.
When he arrived at the company, Shinozaki Ikumi was already seated in his office.
Dressed in a black skirt, hair draped over her shoulders, she looked far more imposing than Su Yan, despite being vice chairwoman.
Most employees feared her more than him.
After all, when someone messed up, Su Yan would at most gently advise them.
But Shinozaki Ikumi enforced rules strictly—scolding when needed, firing when necessary, never bending for personal relationships.
She understood the hardships of workers, but the company's growth couldn't afford softness.
If rewards and punishments weren't clear, Ciyuan Film & Television wouldn't go far.
So she played the villain.
"The release date for 'The Garden of Words' has been finalized," Shinozaki Ikumi said the moment she saw Su Yan.
"Finalized?" Su Yan's face lit up.
"Yes. The last Friday of July."
"Throughout July, eleven films will be released. Three of them have investments exceeding one hundred million. Those will premiere in the best early- and mid-July slots. As a mid-to-low-budget film, we naturally avoid them. But many others think the same—so in the final week of July, six films will open on the same Friday: four romance films, one military film, and one suspense film, with budgets ranging from ten to fifty million."
Su Yan thought for a moment.
"That's unavoidable. Xia Nation produces too many films every year—every slot has competition. If I were afraid of competition, I wouldn't have made this film at all."
"'The Garden of Words' cost just over twenty million to shoot. With ad placement revenue and overseas rights from 'Life Is Strange', we should have around another twenty million by July."
"Put it all into promotion," Su Yan said without hesitation.
Good work didn't survive by being left to grow wild.
In Su Yan's previous life, 'The Garden of Words' was beloved by fans—often rated higher than 'Weathering With You' and 'Suzume'—yet its commercial value was nowhere near them.
Why?
Because it was an early work, with no capital backing it.
Low production cost didn't mean low potential.
Two million was enough to shoot it beautifully.
But promotion?
That was where Su Yan would never skimp.
"That would push total costs over forty million," Shinozaki Ikumi said. "Even with a higher box-office split, we'd need around ninety million to break even—and at least 150 million for a reasonable return."
Breaking one hundred million wasn't easy—especially for a film debut.
Xia Nation's audiences were rational, not fan-driven.
Ticket prices were low, purchasing power strong, and inflation minimal.
Even a hundred-million investment blockbusters usually topped out around six or seven hundred million.
Annual box-office champions rarely exceeded two billion.
For a mid-budget film like 'The Garden of Words', with limited screen allocation and a late-summer release, passing one hundred million would be a real challenge.
"If I didn't even dare hope for a hundred million, I wouldn't have invested in it," Su Yan smiled.
"Go all in. If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' revenue weren't still pending, I'd double the promo budget without blinking."
"You really don't treat money like money," Shinozaki Ikumi said.
"Money's meant to be spent if you dare earn it," Su Yan replied.
"I trust my judgment. Give 'The Garden of Words' enough exposure—and it will succeed."
She looked at him for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"Fine. I want to complain, but I understand—no risk, no reward."
"Even if it somehow earns zero at the box office, once 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' revenue comes in, we'll still have more than enough capital for future projects."
They reached a consensus.
That afternoon, Shinozaki Ikumi went to negotiate detailed promotion plans with Tianxing Pictures.
Su Yan, meanwhile, drove to the rented on-location set to continue post-production filming for 'The Garden of Words'.
Its most iconic scene—the torrential-rain stairwell confession between his male lead and Gu Qingyuan's female lead—had already been shot for two weeks.
Perfecting it was worth every NG.
Two days later.
Week six of the spring season began.
Friday night, 8 p.m.
'The Black Gate' Episode 6 aired.
That night, fans erupted.
It's the strongest episode yet.
Plot, effects, production, acting—all at their peak.
The next day, ratings were released:
5.42%.
Five-point-four.
Five years ago, 'Northern Kingdom' only reached that level in its eighth week.
Its peak—5.52%—had stood unbroken for five years.
Now, 'The Black Gate' was within striking distance.
The industry took notice.
Media attention immediately shifted.
'The Black Gate' had broken 5.4%.
So what about 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'?
Would Episode 6 deliver a shocking turn?
Would its ratings rise—
Or stall, like 'South Dreams'?
The answer—
Would come next.