Superstar Aspirations

Translator: Vian

Editor: Shem

18 November, 2042. "Ambush" was officially aired on Tomato Station.

For some weekly dramas, the rating from when they first aired were their highest ratings. After all, if you want to let the audience watch only one episode a week and not have their enthusiasm fade, then the drama itself must be attractive enough to have a high demand.

At ten o'clock in the evening today, many viewers tuned to Tomato Station like usual. Some among them have already prepared a bunch of snacks and were excitedly shouting: "Ahhhhhhhhh!!! When will "Ambush" start!!!" There were also people who didn't know what the station was going to air and just tuned in for a look out of habit.

The entire "Ambush" crew finished shooting at eight, and everyone returned to their their hotel room by ten.

Rong Xu's room was a single room. He tidied up his things and washed up, then hesitated for bit, but still turned on the TV in the end. Seeing his own face on TV was a feeling the Rong Xu had already been long accustomed to, and couldn’t really be considered as a novelty. He watched for a while before turning off the TV and went to bed early.

And of course, he didn't know that at this moment across China, many viewers were excitedly covering their face in front of the TV.

"Ambush" story was very fast-paced. How fast?

In the first episode, Bai Mingde and Liang Linghui had a good impression of each other, but in the next episode, it was already Huo Xi's and Liang Linghui's wedding.

This drama was full of handsome men and beautiful women. Even the little shota that selled the newspaper was very soft and lovely, causing people unable to help but want to reach out and pinch his cheeks.

And the story was so cool!

On the surface, the earnest and intelligent male lead was a very refined and honorable officer, but was secretly an underground party member! The gentle and virtuous teacher looked innocent and very ordinary, but her fiance was actually Ping City's Marshal Huo from the Huo Family!

The great contrast allowed the audience to watch it with relish, so that no matter how they guess, they wouldn't be able to guess what would happen next. In particular, they especially liked it when Huo Xi appeared. He rode a coal-black wild horse and wore a dark military uniform, with his black overcoat lightly fluttering in the wind. The glossy black marten fur wrapped around him, juxtaposed against the snow white and silver garments, bright and dazzling.

He drew his gun, fired and killed!

The actions flowed smoothly as one, like moving clouds and flowing water; graceful and fluid.

The first episode clearly had over forty minutes, but when the episode ended, numerous audience members felt like it was only twenty minutes!

【This drama is soooo exciting ah! My brain can already think up a year soaked dog blood dramatic romance! Seriously speaking, does Marshal Huo actually like Liang Linghui or not? I see that he's very fierce towards Liang Linghui and doesn't like her at all. But then in the trailer, he was hugging Liang Linghui so gently… Don't tell me, this is actually a rotten white lotus Virgin Mary drama?!】

【Hahahaha it's so obvious that Her Majesty Ms. Screenwriter wanted to spray a whole pot of dog blood on me, but I'm still very much looking forward to it ah~】

【Just let the dog blood rain down harder! For the Marshal's face, I'm willing to drink ten pots of dog blood!!!】

【Ten pots aren't enough, I want to drink 100 pots!!!】

【What Marshal? My Rongrong already said it, it's 'very handsome'! Honghonghuohuohuanghuanghuhu, Very Handsome Commander Huo~ what should I do, this name suddenly sounds very affectionate ah, very handsome Commander, very handsome Commander. I suddenly feel that Huo Xi isn't cold at all, but instead veerryy cute!】

Aside from these comments from the general audience, there were also some professional commentators who made a simple evaluation of the drama.

【Huge River Mountain Hiking: All in all, "Ambush" should be a romance film wrapped with an outer layer of a spy and war film. The character setting is very good and the contradicting conflicts are also very intense. It can be expected that next ten episodes are definitely going to be full of dog blood.】

【Stormy Winds First Rays of Dawn: Ever since the beginning, dog blood stuffed TV dramas often have high ratings. For example, that "Mute Husband" from 9 years ago. It was supposed to be low-budget TV drama, but it's ratings unexpectedly managed to break through 3. Although "Ambush" plot is currently only going one way, but from what can be said by observing the characters' relationships, it has a lot of room for development. And it's a weekly drama, the story can be changed at any time. Perhaps it will be the dark horse in this season's weekly dramas.】

The first episode of "Ambush" aired on Saturday caused a great deal of discussion on the internet. However it stood that in this season of weekly dramas, the one that caused the highest degree of discussion wasn't "Ambush".

Baidu Index: "Ambush" 3,035,234, "The Summer's Truth" 9,545,242.

Weibo Index: "Ambush" 1,353,452, "The Summer's Truth" 5,139,524.

The disparity between "Ambush" and "The Summer's Truth" was an entire chasm.

—

A bit after 12pm, the production director of Tomato Station called Director Zheng.

Director Zheng hadn't slept at all. He had been an assistant director and director's assistant for over ten years now. This was the first film he lead in directing, he couldn't fail. He couldn't afford to fail. Although he had said 'I have confidence in our work', reality was, he was anxious all night. When he heard his phone ring, he was scared to jumping off the bed.

"You said… ho-how much?" Director Zheng's hand trembled when he heard the number the other person said, and asked again.

The other person answered with a smile: "The first episode got a 0.7 rating, greatly exceeding our expectations. The average was 0.7 and the highest was 0.9. For newcomers like you, this is already really good. Especially since you guys only have a Han Yanghao to bring over his fans." The production director paused for a second before continuing: "Ah, oh yes. There is also that second male lead… He's called Rong Xu, right? Discussion about him on the internet is also very high. The station is planning on using these two for round of publicity on the internet, can you have them cooperate together for a bit?"

Director Zheng quickly nodded: "Yes! Of course! We definitely can!"

The production director helplessly said: "Actually our ratings could be even higher, but it's a pity. I didn't expect "The Summer's Truth" to suddenly change gears. I hope that we can break through 1 by the time we finish. But still, congratulations, Old Zheng!"

Yes, the nationwide ratings were announced the next day. For the ten o'clock prime time weekly dramas on the weekend——

First place, "The Summer's Truth", 1.5!

Second place, "Ambush", 0.7!

First place' ratings doubled more than the ratings of the second place, this was essentially a high wall that could not be jumped over!

For any other weekly drama, 0.7 would not be considered as falling onto streets. If you wanted to have an audience rating of at least 1, then you need to have a famous actor or have big-name Director, or otherwise have the drama be a big IP. And in this cases, "The Summer's Truth" have the whole set while "Ambush" didn’t have even one.

Some people within the industry emotionally expressed: " "Summer" having this result was a matter of course. However, the rating near the end of the first episode lowered slightly and ended up only as a 1.3. But "Ambush" really let people be surprised ah. Although it should not be able to break through 1, but maybe it could stay above 0.5."

On the internet, the discussion of the two dramas was also extremely intense.

The "Ambush" viewers excitedly discussed the following development, opening countless brain holes. So much that in only one night, there was someone already making fanart of the drama.

The beautiful and elegant Marshal rode on top of the huge horse, his gaze indifferently looking down at you. The back was a boundless, snowy winter night, the wind and snow incapable of sullying his beautiful countenance. He was surrounded by the army of a thousands men and a thousands horses, bringing about an unattainable illusion.

This drawing was the most shared on the internet, and was even forwarded by several marketing businesses, letting it receive ten of thousands forwards.

In reality though, this was a marketing tool by the television station and crew. After researching the audiences' comments, they found out that they all especially like scenes that had Huo Xi's appearance. So they released a 'fanart' drawing, attracting the attention of passersby.

On the other hand, there was Han Yanghao's and Zhang Tongtong's CP marketing. They were officially given the CP name called the 'Spy Couple'. By pairing these two up together and stirring the CP fire, it also brought in a lot of publicity.

Regardless of the result of the broadcast, on this side, a new day arrived and the crew began busily filming again.

Presently, there were a total of five episodes that crew sent to the television station. Next, they need to film five more episodes, moreover, it needs to be done within a month. So in the next month, it was a complete Asura purgatory everyday from seven o'clock in the morning to twelve o'clock in the evening, and even before dawn!

No one dared to speak any nonsense during the period. There was one time when Han Yanghao complained and Director Zheng angrily rebuked him, yelling at him to pay close attention to his contract. When the contract was signed, it was explained that they could only guarantee that each actor would have about six hours of sleeping time.

Half a month quickly passed. Only two more episodes were filmed, but today, the third episode of "Ambush" was finally ushered in.

"Ambush" had a rating of 0.7 for the first episode as predicted by the TV station, and thanks to the good reputation of the first episode plus their presence on the internet and various marketing promotions in real life, the second episode's rating did not drop but instead rose to 0.8! The production director even joked with his subordinates and said: "Who knows? Maybe when the drama's over, there's really hope for it to get 1."

…Only when it ends it can get 1?

Absolutely no need!

At the end of the second episode, the preview of the third episode was shown. It was an edited scene: A romantic scene between Huo Xi and Liang Linghui.

That's right, it was exactly that 'nearly telling you my true feeling after getting drunk' scene shown in the trailer!

After this preview was shown, the internet exploded. In "Ambush" web forum, super thread, discussion forum, the netizens who were discussing Huo Xi's and Liang Linghui's scene was visible everywhere. At the same time, they also discussed what kind of ending will the love triangle between these three have.

The TV station didn't notice this momentum, and the crew due to rushing to keep to schedule, also didn’t noticed. And for this hot topic that was discussed the whole week, when the third episode of "Ambush" was aired, there was a huge turnabout!

The next day at twelve am, the nationwide ratings were announced!

First place, "Ambush", 1.12!

Second place, "The Summer's Truth", 0.97!

The third episode, by just the third episode. Compared to the gradually declining ratings of "The Summer's Truth", "Ambush" ratings took everyone by surprise. Who would dare to believe that within the weekly dramas' nightmarish 'Three Laws', there was actually a drama that would advance by leaps and bounds on the third episode, and obtained first place in the nationwide weekly broadcast ratings!

The 'Three Laws' were default rules tacitly agreed on in and out of the circle.

Weekly dramas only released one episode a week. No matter how attractive the story was, there would certainly be some viewers who would abandon the drama. In this situation, many people found that most of the weekly dramas have a nearly iron-clad rule: Starting from the first episode, the ratings would decline and hit the lowest by the third episode, then it would rise again!

In short, the third episode generally should have the lowest ratings for weekly dramas when aired.

But now, "Ambush" third episode suddenly broke through 1, and was even the only one that broke 1 among the other weekly dramas!

All of at once, all eyes were on this drama. Tomato Station was ecstatic, the production director even excitedly slapped his thighs: "Bonuses are doubled! This time, everyone's bonuses are doubled!"

However over at Mango Station, there was a dark cloud looming over.

The ratings of "The Summer's Truth" continued to hit a new low, and now has even fallen below 1. It's reputation was also getting worse and worse. Many people scolded the drama for having no logic, scolded the female lead for her bad acting, only knowing how to stand there and blink. And while the male lead was handsome and was a popular young star, his performance did not show the original male lead's black-belliness at all, but instead an arrogant prick!

It could be said that "Ambush" sharply increasing ratings inevitably grabbed the market share of other weekly dramas broadcasted in the same time period, and a large part of the declining ratings of "The Summer's Truth" were definitely taken away by "Ambush"!

At Mango Station, the production director was gnashing his teeth in rage: "Let the crew change the story based on the audiences' feedback! Immediately change!" A second passed and he yelled again: "Go, closely watch Tomato Station. We definitely can't let "Ambush" ratings rise again, we must pull them down!"

As for the "Ambush" crew, they were completely unaware of these things.

There were only a dozen or so scenes needed to be filmed this morning since Director Zheng wanted to hold a meeting with the screenwriter. They got together to analyze all of the audiences' comments since the third episode. At the end of the meeting, Director Zheng earnestly declared: "May we can get not just higher ratings, but also raise our popularity!"

That very same evening, Rong Xu received another new script. The changes in the script weren't too many, but they had change a very central part, enough to bring in another surprising part to the whole drama!

Translator's Addition:

After all, if you want to let the audience watch only one episode a week and not have their enthusiasm fade, then the drama itself must be attractive enough to have a high demand.

Vian: *Coughs up blood* Yes?

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Tomato Station – Shanghai Oriental TV or Shanghai Radio and Television Taiwan Oriental TV Channel was launched on October 1, 1998 and is a provincial satellite TV channel under the Shanghai Radio and Television Station. The domestic channel is over all the provinces in mainland China. It is China's most influential and biggest TV channel.

And yes, China does have a whole bunch of these , actually some of these aren’t even fruits.

So cool – [酸爽 – Suān shuǎng] This came from an ad for instant noodles. It was the slogan and was used to express the tempting ecstasy of instant noodles. It's now used to express an unexpected feeling of ecstasy, refreshingness or slightly ridiculous.

Honghonghuohuohuanghuanghuhu – [紅紅火火恍恍惚惚] Means the person is absent-minded after encountering a major event and is at a loss of what to do.

The official meaning on Baike.baidu was just ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha though…

Very Handsome Commander Huo – Very handsome Huo just sounds silly, Commander [大帅 – Dà shuài] trans. to big handsome too so why not?

Falling onto the streets – [撲街 – Pū jiē] It's basically cursing someone to fall to their death when walking. Also means knocked-out a.k.a KO.

IP – Intellectual property. It is a pre-existing story or concept that can be developed into a film or drama. A lot of IP works are made from novels and games.

Brain holes – [腦洞 – Nǎo dòng] Extremely rich imagination; the bigger the hole, the more ridicules the imagination

CP – Couple pairing

Asura – Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods with good or bad qualities. The good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna(a Vedic deity associated with sky, and later with waters, justice and truth) , while the malevolent ones are called Danavas and are led by Vritra(a serpent or dragon which is the the personification of drought and adversary of Indra, the king of the Heavens)

In the earliest layer of the Vedic texts, Agni(Vedic fire god), Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of them being “lords” of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, these benevolent gods are called Devas (meaning heavenly, divine, anything of excellence; females are called Devi), while malevolent Asuras compete against these Devas and are considered “evil spirits, demons and enemy of the gods”.

Super thread – [超級話題 – Chāojí huàtí] An interest-discussing community based on common topics on Weibo. It creates a precise and controllable audience community, let ordinary users can get more opportunities to communicate with each other, and give high-quality info.

It's actually quite amazing. It's hosted by many admins; they would recruit fans, encourage fans to be active, determine team operations methods(aka war tactics), regularly host some fan welfare activities, organizing topic discussions, activities, promote and increase their topics's exposure, and create a clean community and fun atmosphere for the fans.

All info was taken from Weibo's Super Thread Guide

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