"What do you mean by that? Why are you bringing her in?"
"Isn't that assistant of yours, little fangirl Zhong Xiang, really into you? Lately, she's even been asking questions about racing technique on set… whatever, I'll let it slide."
Cheng Lie continued to pretend he was offering Jing Yu helpful suggestions, as if it was nothing.
"Mhm, your suggestion is solid. Then, Producer Cheng, you go first. After that, let Zhong Xiang take a ride!"
Jing Yu replied, clearly picking up on Cheng Lie's subtext—
He probably got scared the last time he rode shotgun. But hey, that's something you get used to.
"Don't look at me like that. I'll be gentle this time."
"…" Cheng Lie.
Friday — 'Passing the Torch' premieres on Imperial Capital TV.
Since this season, there wasn't a new show from Jing Yu going head-to-head with theirs, the mood was a little lighter.
Now, Jing Yu and the Big Three stations had formed a kind of unspoken agreement.
Instead of dragging each other down and handing the advantage to smaller competitors, it was better to compete fairly and let the quality of the work speak for itself.
Without that added interference, the dramas on smaller or mid-tier networks couldn't pose much threat to the Big Three.
So, this season, not only did Yunteng TV have strong ratings—
The Big Three's flagship dramas also performed well.
'Passing the Torch' premiere rating: 6.11%
By the end of the episode: Average viewership 6.32%
This result was higher than Initial D's first episode (6.23%),
but slightly lower than its second episode (6.39%)
The 'Passing the Torch' production team breathed a collective sigh of relief.
At least now, the execs wouldn't be blaming them.
Saturday — 'Arrow' premieres on Huanshi TV.
Written by veteran screenwriter Lin Bin, 'Arrow' debuted with a 6.22% rating.
By the end of the episode, average viewership hit 6.41% — making it the new frontrunner.
With that, all four major winter-season dramas from Yunteng TV and the Big Three had aired their first episodes.
As expected from one of Great Zhou's top veteran screenwriters, Lin Bin's reputation held strong.
Though his slogan this season had been "Vengeance on Jing Yu this winter," it was too early to tell whether that would come to pass.
But at least for now—
Lin Bin had a slight lead.
Winter Season Week 1 Rankings:
'Arrow' – 6.41%
'Initial D' – 6.39%
'Passing the Torch' – 6.32%
'You in Winter' – 6.14%
Just like in the summer season, Lin Bin's drama took the early lead.
Sunday — the media and fans across Great Zhou flooded online spaces with reviews and commentary.
[Headline]
"The Balance of Power Among the Big Six Networks Has Shifted — Yunteng TV Joins the Top Tier."
"Or rather, genius screenwriter Jing Yu + Yunteng TV = a force equal to the Big Three."
[Media Report]
"Squirrel TV, Aurora TV, and Chenghai TV's flagship dramas remain lukewarm, ranking 5th to 7th, with massive gaps behind the top four."
"Jing Yu's latest drama lives up to the hype — sparking unprecedented buzz across the industry from the moment it aired!"
"Ratings aren't everything, but 'Initial D' is clearly held back by its platform. In this writer's opinion, it's the best drama of the winter season so far. With Jing Yu's contract ending this quarter, will he leave Yunteng TV and join the Big Three in pursuit of higher ratings?"
"'Initial D', a passionate story told from the perspective of mountain racers — will it repeat the success of 'Hikaru no Go' and rise to the top?"
Throughout the day, posts, articles, and heated discussions dominated entertainment forums across Great Zhou.
And online, fans of 'Initial D' and the Big Three's dramas were clashing nonstop.
The drama industry had always been full of drama behind the scenes.
In the past, Jing Yu's shows had low budgets and no big-name actors, so the fans of the Big Three's flagship dramas never considered him a real threat.
They just assumed that even if Jing Yu started strong, he'd lose steam eventually.
But after the summer season?
Nobody dared underestimate him anymore.
Now, fanbases for rival dramas began launching smear campaigns online.
"Seriously? You're making a drama glorifying illegal street racing? What if kids copy it and get into accidents? Can Yunteng TV and this Jing Yu take responsibility?"
"You can already tell from his past works that Jing Yu has a messed-up worldview.
'White Album 2' — the male lead was a total scumbag.
'Hikaru no Go' — the MC Hikaru only wins because of a ghost mentor? That's cheating!
Now 'Initial D' is outright promoting illegal mountain racing—where's the positive messaging?!"
But the counterattacks were even more vicious.
"Where were you when all those violent, bloody shows aired? Oh, right, those are fine. But now 'Initial D' gets popular, and suddenly it's a problem?"
"Oh, look, checked your post history — you're a fan of Zhao Lin, the male lead of 'Passing the Torch'.
Mad because your idol just dropped from #10 to #11 on the male actor rankings after Jing Yu passed him?"
"Let's talk about 'positive messaging,' shall we? Zhao Lin's past roles were worse than anything Jing Yu ever wrote. And don't even get me started on the 'Passing the Torch' female lead—her dad is the company's vice-chairman. That's blatant nepotism. And the 'Arrow' MC had a violent childhood. That's fine, but drifting is suddenly evil?"
"I'm sick of you people crying 'this will corrupt the kids' every time a show has a little blood or edge. Last year, there was a scene of a pig being slaughtered, and you lot had a meltdown about it being 'too violent.'"
With fanbases at each other's throats, the winter season TV market was more chaotic—and more active—than ever.
But while the fans fought, industry insiders focused on the bigger picture.
And it was obvious:
Most of the people defending 'Initial D' were Jing Yu fans.
Although some recent reports ranked him #10 in overall actor influence,
Jing Yu wasn't just an actor.
He was a screenwriter,
a composer and lyricist,
and a cultural icon.
Both 'Hikaru no Go' and 'Steins;Gate' (referred to here as 'Destiny's Gate') featured his original music,
And several of his soundtracks were still in the Top 20 search rankings.
He hadn't even received full royalties yet.
Just the music rights alone could earn him tens of millions annually.
Not to mention his Go-playing fanbase—
To this day, fans were still posting on the Yunteng TV website begging Jing Yu to take the pro Go player exam and enter the national scene.
All these factors combined created a massive traffic funnel around Jing Yu.
Which is exactly why Yunteng TV's ratings shot up the moment Initial D aired.
You could argue that 30–40% of viewers were tuning in solely for Jing Yu.
His fan loyalty was on another level.
Unfortunately…
Despite having so much personal clout, Jing Yu still stayed at Yunteng TV.
His shows consistently had higher quality and viewer ratings than the Big Three,
But the final ratings were always just a little bit lower—because of the platform.
8:00 PM — Episode 2 of 'You in Winter' airs on Xingtong TV.
As the top station in the Modo City region, Xingtong TV was especially sensitive to Yunteng TV's rise.
Fortunately, the network's hardline policies paid off.
Episode 2 ratings: 6.35%
Viewer reception was generally positive.
However, the moment 'You in Winter' ended,
Its ratings dropped sharply—
while Yunteng TV's live ratings surged.
Jing Yu's cliffhanger from last week had left fans in suspense for a full seven days.
Right before the episode aired, fan groups exploded with anticipation—
All focused on one thing:
How did the 86 make it through the five consecutive hairpins?!
In one fan group, Li Yin was furiously typing as everyone went wild:
Meanwhile, the 'Initial D' theme song began playing on TV.
Fan Group Chat:
"LET'S GOOO!"
"Go, 86!"
"Can someone PLEASE tell me how it made that turn last week?!"
"I know the technique... but no spoilers. You'll enjoy the second episode more."
"Normal drivers wouldn't use this kind of move. It's more of a rally racing thing!"
"After watching 'Initial D' last week, I went to watch the local ghost-fire kids race in the hills near my place… Man, they sucked. Watching the show is way better!"
"Today's episode is where the MC destroys that arrogant jerk Nakazato, right? I hated him last week—walked off mid-sentence like a punk!"
"Blame the writer, Jing Yu-sensei! I'm sure Nakazato wanted to finish speaking, but Jing Yu wouldn't let him!"
Theme song ends. Li Yin snaps to attention.
The story picks up right where it left off:
Takumi, representing Akina Mountain's "Speed Star" team,
defeats the Red Suns, led by the Takahashi brothers.
He's cheered on by senior driver Iketani, his buddy Itsuki, and the whole Akina crew.
Meanwhile, Takahashi — seeking answers for his younger brother's shocking defeat — arrives at the scene.
Through his analysis, the audience finally learns how the AE86 managed to drift through a tight hairpin at over 100km/h on the inside line.
Li Yin's eyes widened—
And the fan group exploded.
"Gutter cornering?!"
"That's the secret?!"
"Isn't that some fantasy-level driving? Can that even be done in real life?"
"Of course! Rally drivers use similar techniques!"
"But wouldn't that destroy the car?"
"Drifting wears the car too! Takumi drifts down the mountain every day delivering tofu—who knows if his earnings even cover tire costs. But he still does it! If you nitpick everything unrealistic in a show, you might as well not watch anything in Great Zhou!"
"True enough."
"Still… so freaking cool! I wanna try gutter cornering tomorrow!"
"Hope you're ready to flip your car or wreck your suspension. You think pro drivers can do it, so you can too?"
"Ugh, I really wanna learn to drift now!"
"The dream of all men."
"If a 130-horsepower AE86 can blaze down the mountain like that, I feel like even my mom's grocery-getter has car god potential!"