After filming began for 'Initial D', Yunteng TV also officially launched its promotional campaign for the show.
Major cities across the Great Zhou and online platforms were flooded with publicity, including paid partnerships with well-known critics across multiple channels.
Before long, Jing Yu's fans began picking up on the news.
"'Initial D'? What kind of weird name is that?"
"Looks like it's a racing drama, according to the press release."
"Racing? Why's the genre changing again? Honestly, I wanted to see another romance drama from Jing Yu-sensei."
"Ugh, I was still waiting for Season 3 of 'Hikaru no Go'!"
"Crying… why not a second season of 'Steins;Gate'? Racing sounds so boring—I'd rather just watch a Formula 1 broadcast."
"You dummy. These days, all racing dramas are basically romance shows with a racing theme. Nothing's set in stone until 'Initial D' actually airs."
"But according to what Yunteng TV released, both Yu Youqing and Xia Yining are in the cast. Their fans have been feuding online for half a year now. I really hope Jing Yu-sensei doesn't play favorites again. Every time, Xia Yining's characters end up as the 'losing heroine.' Can't Yu Youqing lose once for a change?"
"Agreed. Jing Yu-sensei is clearly biased."
"But I heard the female lead in this drama isn't either of them. They're playing supporting roles. The lead is being played by Xu Jun."
"Xu Jun? No way. She was downright evil as Li Qi in 'The Bouquet'. I still have PTSD. Sure, she's pretty, but she always plays the villain. As the female lead? Did Jing Yu-sensei really run out of options?"
"Same! In my mind, Xu Jun only plays one of two roles—either a sweet girl who turns dark or a manipulative 'green tea' schemer. All her period dramas have her playing calculating, vicious types. What was Jing Yu-sensei thinking?"
"Sigh, debating it now is pointless. The show's already in production, and Yunteng TV has confirmed it'll air on October 1st at 9 PM. That's less than a month away. Let's just wait and see how it turns out."
"Still, you've got to hand it to Jing Yu-sensei—he's got clout. After Yunteng TV announced 'Initial D' would premiere on October 1st, Sunday at 9 PM, not a single one of the Big Six networks dared to put a flagship drama in the same time slot.
Xingtong TV's winter romance drama 'You in Winter' airs Sunday at 8 PM, as usual.
Huanshi TV's veteran screenwriter Lin Bin is doing the mystery drama 'Arrow', airing Saturday at 8 PM.
Imperial Capital TV's workplace drama 'Passing the Torch' is airing Friday night.
The other three networks also carefully avoided those time slots.
The funniest part? Even non-flagship shows are avoiding that 9 PM Sunday slot."
"And can you blame them? If they go head-to-head with 'Initial D' and Jing Yu-sensei thinks the Big Six are targeting him again, who knows? He might counter-snipe like he did in the summer. No one wants that smoke."
"Yeah, Lin Bin's 'You, Under the Cliff' got totally wrecked. It was poised to be the top summer drama, and then 'Steins;Gate' came along and dragged it down to second place. I laughed so hard. Bet the Big Three didn't expect Jing Yu-sensei to get revenge in the summer after they bullied 'Hikaru no Go's first season in the spring."
"To be fair, though, all three of the Big Three's winter dramas have budgets exceeding 100 million, and the casting is next-level. They were clearly rattled by Jing Yu-sensei's new project and want to redeem themselves this season. Honestly, it's going to be hard for him to outdo them again this time."
"Good! That means this winter's lineup will be a battle worth watching!"
Starting mid-September, Jing Yu's fans were getting fired up. Naturally, this sparked online flame wars with fans of the Big Three TV stations.
Compared to the previous three seasons, every major TV network heavily increased its marketing budgets and promo efforts for winter.
Meanwhile, in the 'Initial D' crew...
A new rumor about Jing Yu began making the rounds again.
"Did you hear? Jing Yu-sensei raced against that pro driver from the Capital—Xiong Yu."
"Seriously? What happened?"
"Total defeat. Xiong Yu's been out of it all day—looks like he didn't sleep at all last night."
"No way. Xiong Yu, Ding Quan, and Qian Lin were all top mountain racers brought in from Modo City and the Capital! Producer Cheng Lie had to call in all kinds of favors to get them as stunt drivers. And they all lost?"
"Classic Jing Yu. Whatever genre he's filming, he becomes the best at it—within the crew at least.
When they were filming 'Your Lie in April' at Jinhui TV, he was the best violinist and pianist on set.
During 'Hikaru no Go', he was the best Go player.
Now in 'Initial D', he's the best racer. No surprise."
"This guy's insane. How many secret skills is Jing Yu hiding from us? Is it even possible for a human to be this good at so many things?"
"Maybe he's not human."
"Could be an alien."
"Let's not overthink it. Ordinary folks like us could never understand a genius. If we could, we'd be the ones making tens of millions a year."
"True. It's just... wow. The gap between people can be bigger than the gap between a person and a cat. The longer I stay on set with Jing Yu-sensei, the more I feel like a complete loser."
"Let's just hope those four drivers aren't too crushed by Jing Yu-sensei's god-tier skills."
"They seem fine. I saw three of them today bowing respectfully to Jing Yu-sensei. Looks like they've accepted his dominance."
In the 'Initial D' crew, rumors about Jing Yu were flying everywhere.
But truthfully, the things he had displayed in front of the team were far beyond what most could even imagine.
On the stretch of mountain road, Jing Yu had chosen to represent Mount Akina in the drama...
Cheng Lie sat in the passenger seat, his face deathly pale.
The winding two-lane mountain road slid past the windows at terrifying speed. He kept darting glances between the cup of water fixed inside the car and the speedometer in front of Jing Yu.
"Hey, Jing Yu—stop! That's 80 km/h already. That's fast enough. Lay off the gas!"
"Seriously, what are you doing?! Didn't I say to take it easy?!"
"100! It's 100 now! Are you crazy? You're still single! Think about your future wife—if you crash off this cliff, she's going to end up having someone else's babies!"
"Okay, that's 110! ENOUGH! Stop hitting the gas!"
The screeching of tires, drifting and scraping the asphalt, echoed through the mountain, mixed with Cheng Lie's panicked cursing all the way down.
A few minutes later, at the bottom of the mountain where the 'Initial D' crew was stationed...
The panda-colored AE86—specially modified by a shop commissioned by Yunteng TV—came to a steady stop.
Jing Yu glanced at Cheng Lie in the passenger seat, his hand still clinging to the overhead grab handle, his whole body frozen in a defensive posture. He probably spent the whole ride thinking: If Jing Yu crashes, can my strong physique survive the fall?
"We're here, Producer Cheng. No need to panic." Jing Yu coughed lightly and turned to the nearby staff members.