Early in the morning, as people gradually woke up and went online, they quickly came across the promotional video for 'Kimi ni Todoke'.
Watching the trailer alone at night did feel a bit scary—but during the daytime, it was somewhat more bearable.
Over the past one or two years, Gu Qingyuan hadn't been as active as Shen Liqian. Her fans had been waiting for this drama for far too long. Even so, quite a few people still felt a little unnerved after watching it.
["Honestly, if someone around me had that kind of aura, I'd definitely keep my distance."]
["Why is it so creepy?! The styling in this show… She actually looks pretty, but you just can't stare too closely."]
["It's mainly the music, the makeup, and that eerie filter working together."]
["On the surface, it looks like a pure romance drama. But honestly? I bet it's like 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'—a few episodes in and the old sadist will reveal his true nature."]
["No need to say more. Which of us veteran fans hasn't been tricked before?"]
["Whatever. Even if it's another depressing masterpiece in July, I'd still rather watch it than the self-produced dramas from the three major TV stations. Those are seriously boring."]
["To be fair, the quality is way better than a few years ago. It's just that they're still in the phase of imitating the old sadist's works—nothing that truly surpasses them yet. But after all these years in the Xia Nation film and TV industry, he's basically a giant catfish stirring everything up. The overall quality of dramas has improved a lot because of him."]
["July 7th… still one more month. Painful."]
["But his last drama was a fantasy battle type. Can he really pull off something romance-focused this time?"]
["Su Yan became famous because of romance dramas in the first place. That's his home turf. Don't let 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', and 'Fate/Zero' mislead you—those just look more successful because they appeal to a wider audience. But honestly, the emotional impact of his earlier works like 'Your Lie in April' and 'To the Moon' hit me way harder."]
["Exactly. Romance works are mostly for younger audiences, but something like 'Fate/Zero' can be watched by all ages—that's why its ratings are so high."]
["Alright, enough talk. See you all on the night of July 7th!
["Just over a month left. I'll go rewatch his older works to get through the wait."]
Even though it was just a trailer, with Su Yan's current popularity, news about 'Kimi ni Todoke' spread across the entire Xia Nation in less than a day.
Since the promotional campaign had begun, Su Yan also actively cooperated with the media over the next few days—fan meetings, press interviews, and various events were all scheduled.
Gu Qingyuan, who hadn't released new work for quite some time and had seen her popularity dip, quickly surged back to become the number one trending actress in the Xia Nation within just a few days.
However, whether it was fans or the media, almost no one took the trailer of 'Kimi ni Todoke' at face value. Instead, everyone unanimously began speculating which episode would feature the inevitable "depressing twist."
After several days of buildup, seeing that the buzz had reached a sufficient level, Su Yan didn't hesitate any longer.
In early June, Dimensional Pictures released the promotional trailer for the movie 'Your Name'.
Although Su Yan wasn't the lead actor in 'Your Name', he did make a cameo appearance.
The trailer revealed the core selling points of the film while carefully avoiding major spoilers.
And—
The female lead of 'Your Name' was also played by Gu Qingyuan.
Within the same month, 'Kimi ni Todoke' would premiere on July 7th.
Then, on July 26th, 'Your Name' would hit theaters during the summer season.
If the Spring Festival season had been dominated by Zhuang Yuxin and Shen Liqian among female stars…
Then, in the summer season, Gu Qingyuan was undoubtedly the absolute lead.
As for the 'Your Name' trailer—
It opened with a close-up of a massive meteor, followed by rapid cuts of a handsome boy and a beautiful girl switching bodies.
It gave off a strong romantic comedy vibe.
["Body swapping between a guy and a girl? What kind of setting is that?"]
["That's actually a thing?"]
["Damn, that's such an interesting setup. If I swapped bodies with a girl, then wouldn't I…"]
["What are you trying to do?"]
["He wants to take advantage of his 'bro'!"]
["Pfft! You guys are seriously shameless."]
["This is a forum for discussing Su Yan's works, not for you to act crazy. People outside the fandom will think Su Yan fans have no class!"]
["Just kidding. But seriously, why does the 'Your Name' trailer feel like the same routine as 'Kimi ni Todoke'? It totally looks like a pure romance film. Old sadist, stop pretending."]
["You can trust him a bit more when it comes to movies. 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' wasn't depressing at all!"]
["That's because 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' didn't really have romance elements. When I say the old sadist always goes depressing, I mean his works that involve romance! Up to now, has he ever let any CP that fans love actually end up happily together in the main story?"]
["Emmm…"]
["All we can say is… let's look forward to it?"]
["As a middle school student, I've already started saving money. I'm definitely watching it at least three times this summer."]
["You need to save money just to watch a movie?"]
["Can't help it. Student life—only a few bucks a day for allowance. Gotta save up to afford movie tickets!"]
By mid-June, as promotions for 'Your Name' and 'Kimi ni Todoke' went into full swing, the Xia Nation film and television industry heated up once again.
Whenever Su Yan released a new drama, it was no longer surprising for ratings to climb to 6% later in its run. But in any quarter without his new works, ratings would usually cap at around 5%, rarely exceeding it by much.
There was also an interesting phenomenon—
Whenever Su Yan's dramas aired, the performance of other self-produced dramas on the three major TV stations during the same period would also see noticeable improvement.
It was similar to how the Spring Festival movie season worked: when multiple high-quality films were released at the same time, audiences who finished one would go on to watch the next.
The same applied to TV dramas.
People who normally wouldn't follow shows at all would start watching TV after getting hooked on Su Yan's works—and while doing so, they'd also check out competing shows airing in the same time slots.
That's how the market heated up.
Advertisers in the Xia Nation were also sharp enough to notice this trend. During quarters when Su Yan released new dramas, they would significantly increase their advertising investments.
Because of this, Su Yan's industry peers viewed him with a mix of envy, jealousy, and complicated emotions.
But at this point, Su Yan himself didn't pay much attention to such matters.
The promotion of 'Your Name' and 'Kimi ni Todoke' was handled by the operations department.
What he cared about now was the establishment of the company's game division.
The company already had over 2 billion yuan in its accounts last year.
After the revenue from 'Fate/Zero' and the 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' flowed back in, the company's cash reserves increased by another billion-plus.
More money than they could spend—literally.
Although Su Yan's productions required high investment, the returns were equally massive. And so far, none of his works had ever lost money—it was only a matter of how much they earned.
With the capital pool growing larger and larger, Su Yan didn't hold back when building the game division.
He had no patience to train fresh graduates from scratch. Instead, he directly had his team recruit experienced professionals from major game companies and studios, both domestically and internationally.
Project leads, programmers, managers, planners—all were hired from well-known industry figures to quickly assemble a complete team.
At the very least, Su Yan wanted a basic team structure ready before July.
As for the remaining surplus funds, Su Yan also used Dimensional Pictures to purchase shares in major online streaming platforms.
In recent years, the internet industry in the Xia Nation has been booming. A large number of users were paying to watch films and dramas on the four major streaming websites.
If those platforms hadn't been directly controlled by major TV stations—who restricted them to protect their own interests—then the era where streaming platforms flourished, and televisions became mere decorations in living rooms, might have already arrived.
But the tide of the times couldn't be stopped—Su Yan understood this clearly.
Starting such ventures from scratch might be risky for him, but riding the wave? That was something he would definitely plan for.
After all, although the four major streaming platforms were already publicly listed, their stock prices remained low due to the dominance of traditional TV.
Buying now and holding for the future—no way could go wrong.
At the same time as handling all this—
The production of 'Fate/stay night' and the second 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' officially began filming in mid-June.
Su Yan once again entered a new phase of intense busyness.
And just like that, time moved into late June.