Rebirth from the Ashes

Fans of “The Smiling Nation” were excited. Whether on the road, on buses, in schools, there were always people watching the show on their phones.

The international class was walking on sunshine. They used the projector to play “The Smiling Nation” in class.

The classmates who placed a bet were rekindled with a fighting chance and hope. Going past 10% in TV ratings was close at hand if “The Smiling Nation” maintained the pace and continued its climb.

In the next two days, the international class held their heads high, chests puffed out, and walked with a swagger, it was as though they had won the lottery!

Song Wenye even organized a trip to the temple for blessings on Saturday to pray that ratings of “The Smiling Nation” would continue to climb!

Shen Xi was pleased, but was it a good idea for them to be so cocky?

With a new beau in mind, Song Wenye was a true fan and wanted to compile a video montage of He Pei. To her dismay, He Pei was only a newbie who had just made his debut. Hence, except the first two episodes of the TV show, there were no videos of him to be found on the web.

“I strongly demand that “The Smiling Nation” be a daily broadcast!” Tearful, Song Wenye was dying for more video and information on Hei Pei. Oh, how she yearned to ogle Hei Pei’s handsome face.

Sadly, “The Smiling Nation” was a weekly release. It was filmed and released as they went and each episode was around an hour long. The episodes were updated every Friday and Saturday.

In the first two episodes, around an hour and a half was about the protagonist’s childhood. With the scene between male and female leads less than half an hour long, countless fans who were waiting for the magic to happen just could not have enough of it.

The girlfriends in Song Wenye’s class shared the same sentiments. Why was it a weekly release? Would it not be better if it was daily? It was torturous for them to wait for a new episode. They longed for an update day and night, growing thin from the inability to eat and sleep well. It was driving them nuts!

Shen Xi unlocked her phone and took a glance at the numbers Yuan Yu sent her. Following the release of only two episodes of “The Smiling Nation”, the actors’ Weibo showed a sudden increase in their fanbase. The fastest growing belonged to He Pei, who now had 5 million new followers.

It went from zero to 5 million in just two days. The impact of “The Smiling Nation” was plain to see.

The female lead, Shen Ruoning, gained over 3 million in followers.

Gao Meng came as a huge surprise, attracting fans faster than the female lead herself. With already a hundred thousand subscribers to her name, her account swiftly climbed up to past 4 million followers.

Yuan Yu had plans for the actors to join his own short-video platform and post daily videos to draw in new account signups and increase traffic.

Shen Xi knew that working together with her brother was the best decision. He had more connections than she could imagine.

The short-video platform she mentioned was beta-tested last month and would be in the software market in a few days.

With “The Smiling Nation” gaining momentum, the rising actors began to advocate for the video platform, bringing it to the public eye and the mainstream scene.

…

There was no school on a Sunday afternoon.

As the viewership of “The Smiling Nation” broke through 3%, Shen Xi personally went to the market to buy the freshest ingredients to cook for the big boss. She locked herself in the kitchen upon her return and worked on it all day.

Yun Jinping had made up her mind to go for her career and do what she loved while fulfilling her dreams. She was also helping her daughter build a personal brand and was learning from Jiang Yin every day.

The pair went to look at a venue for an office today. Having decided on a venue, Yun Jinping returned home as Jiang Yin had other business to attend to.

It never crossed her mind that a loud bang would be heard in the kitchen upon her return shortly thereafter. Scared out of her wits, Yun Jinping rushed over in a flurry. “Xixi!”