MC Bookstore Chapter 18, "Remaining Sins," is now available online.
Chapter 18, "Remaining Sins," is now available online.
A slight commotion arose in the conference room. Several people who had been looking down at their phones looked up.
"A B-level project? 'Yu Zui'?" Manager Liu, who was in charge of purchasing TV series, recalled for a moment.
"Is it that one... full of newcomers, with a script that's a bit 'gray'? It didn't have a high rating back then, and I remember they only gave it a basic spot on the category page for promotion."
"Yes, Manager Liu." Zhao Ming nodded.
"However, existing data indicates that audience acceptance is good. Traffic source analysis shows that direct search and social sharing dominate, indicating that the content itself or related factors attracted spontaneous viewing. The user profile is mainly young men, but the proportion of female viewers rises rapidly after 6 p.m., which may be related to the emotional storyline of the series or the popularity of the female lead."
The head of content operations leaned slightly forward, carefully examining the charts:
"There are cases of songs promoting dramas, but it's rare to see such rapid results and such healthy data, especially for a drama series without any prior fan base. How are user retention and word-of-mouth trends?"
"Based on early comments and bullet screen samples crawled, positive reviews focused on aspects such as 'fast-paced,' 'unique male lead,' 'realistic feel,' and 'good background music.' Negative reviews were fewer, mainly focusing on the slightly rough production."
Zhao Ming pulled up several representative comments, "Currently, the word-of-mouth is initially positive, with signs of spontaneous recommendations."
The director pondered for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "Has the algorithm's recommendation weights been adjusted?"
"Based on real-time data performance, its position in the relevant categories and natural recommendation stream was automatically improved half an hour ago," the technical contact person replied immediately.
"Okay." Director Xu made the decision decisively.
"Marketing team, immediately assess the popularity trend of 'The Light Chaser.' If conditions permit, coordinate with the music channel for light-scale crossover exposure, emphasizing the connection to the series. Content operations, closely monitor data throughout the day, especially performance during the prime time slot of 8 PM to 10 PM tonight. If the data can maintain or even surpass the current trend..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone present: "Prepare a contingency plan. Tomorrow, consider giving them a secondary recommendation on the homepage or a featured section. This case reminds us not to rely too much on initial ratings. Market reactions, especially data from users themselves, are the most reliable indicators."
She looked at Zhao Ming: "Continue to monitor the situation and report key data changes every hour. Meeting adjourned."
The meeting ended, but the discussion about "Yu Zui" did not stop.
This project, which was initially viewed unfavorably by everyone internally, managed to carve out a niche for itself thanks to the unexpected response to an OST and solid user data.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Qi Yue, who had just struggled to wake up from a short sleep, was overwhelmed by Guo Fan's excited voice before he could even check any data:
"Qi Yue! Check the backend! The click count... the click count is about to explode!"
Juli Media, small conference room for senior executives.
Manager Sun from the data department stood in front of the projection screen, a light sweat on his forehead.
The screen displays the explosive data for "Yu Zui" during its first week on iQiyi Video.
He reported each point in detail, and each number he read out felt like an invisible slap in the face to those who had vehemently opposed the project.
Li Lan held a teacup, her eyes lowered, seemingly calmly blowing away non-existent tea leaves on the water's surface.
Only those who know him well can discern the turmoil in his heart from the slight upturn of his lips and the fleeting pleasure in his eyes.
That felt great! That felt so good!
150 million views, an initial rating of 8.5 on Douban, 300 million topic views... These cold statistics sounded like the most beautiful music to him at that moment.
This is not only the success of "Yu Zui", but also the most powerful proof of his vision in adhering to the opinion of Qi Yue's team and this project despite the opposition.
He could almost picture what color He Ming's old face looked right now.
Sure enough, He Ming's face had changed from its initial ashen color to an unnatural stiffness.
He stared intently at the screen, as if trying to find flaws in the graphs.
"Is the data source reliable?" He Ming interrupted Manager Sun, his voice dry. "iQiyi has always liked to manipulate data, especially for new projects that need to generate hype. Is it possible that their promotional methods are rather unusual, or that they simply bought the data?"
Manager Sun seemed to have been prepared, as he pulled up another set of comparison images:
"Mr. He, we compared data from multiple third-party monitoring agencies, and the trends are basically consistent. In addition, we monitored that after the premiere of 'Yu Zui,' the amount of spontaneous discussion and user-generated content on social media platforms such as Weibo, Tieba, and Bilibili showed an exponential increase. This genuine social popularity is difficult to explain simply by promotional resources or data manipulation."
"From a technical perspective, its user behavior data (viewing time, interaction patterns) also conforms to the characteristics of normal viral content."
He Ming refused to give up.
"Even if the data shows it's trending, what about the content? Are there any issues with the values conveyed in this gray-area subject matter? Could it potentially raise regulatory risks? That was the main reason we were cautious in the first place!"
Li Lan finally put down his teacup, his tone calm, yet carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible sharpness:
"Mr. He, with a Douban rating of 8.5 and over 50 core discussions, mainstream public opinion generally praises its 'realistic characters,' 'strong plot tension,' and 'showing the difficulties of undercover police officers.' If there were truly serious issues with values or guidance, official media or regulatory departments would probably have spoken out long ago."
He Ming's cheek muscles twitched, and he wanted to say something, but he was speechless for a moment.
President Xu Yongfeng, who had been observing silently, finally spoke slowly.
His face remained expressionless, but those who knew him well sensed a low pressure.
"Discussing the authenticity of the data and the risks of the content is no longer meaningful." Xu Yongfeng's voice was not loud, but it instantly silenced the meeting room.
"The truth is, Juling Media once had control over this project and even invested initial funds. But due to internal...disagreements and misjudgments..."
His gaze swept over He Ming almost imperceptibly.
"Not only did we fail to capitalize on it, we also handed over the full copyright and a creative team that had proven its potential to become a hit to our competitors in a way that was almost free."
He paused, then tapped his fingers lightly on the smooth tabletop, producing a crisp sound.
"That's unfortunate. And also very... unwise."
He spoke the last few words slowly, with an unquestionable certainty.
He Ming's face turned completely pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He knew that Xu Yongfeng's words practically pinned the responsibility for the project's loss on his initial, most vehemently opposed stance.
Xu Yongfeng stopped looking at him and turned to Li Lan: "President Li, I also bear responsibility for not being able to retain this team back then."
Li Lan bowed slightly. "President Xu, it's normal for everyone to have concerns about the production team of 'Yu Zui,' but it's unclear whether some of them are acting out of self-interest."
These words were almost a direct attack on He Ming, but Vice President He only twitched his lips and refrained from directly retorting.
Li Lan pressed on while the iron was hot: "President Xu, it's pointless to think about who should take the blame now. What we should do is try to learn from this experience and minimize any potential losses."