The weekend arrived quickly.
In the second week of the winter broadcast season, the flagship dramas from the top three major TV stations were all going head-to-head.
The second episode of 'Passing the Torch' recorded a viewership rating of 6.5%, while the second episode of 'Arrow' reached 6.64%.
When Arrow's ratings came out, many people in the Great Zhou entertainment industry stayed up all night.
Because these ratings also meant that the viewership data for the second week of the winter season across all TV stations was now fully available.
Honestly, these numbers were already impressive. Even among the top three major TV stations, an average flagship drama typically achieves a rating of around 6%. A strong one might hit 7%, a smash hit 8%, and a show with over 10% average ratings? Even among the big three, that's a once-in-several-years occurrence.
But this winter—it wasn't enough!
The third episode of 'Initial D' aired in the second week and achieved a viewership rating of 6.71%.
Just the third episode, in only the second week.
And Initial D had already climbed to the top of the winter season viewership rankings.
This outcome left the big three TV stations completely baffled.
In the spring season, 'Hikaru no Go' Season 1 managed to place third in quarterly viewership rankings for the first time.
In the summer, while 'Hikaru no Go' Season 2 ultimately claimed the top spot in ratings, it was obvious that it only managed to do so because 'Steins;Gate' helped drag down 'You, Under the Cliff'.
But come winter, 'Initial D' was now truly competing on equal footing with the flagship dramas of the big three.
And by just episode 3, it was already number one?
In less than a year, one person had taken Yunteng TV—long ranked seventh among major networks in Great Zhou—and raised it to the point where it could go head-to-head with the flagship dramas of the top three?
The major networks were shocked, but the big three felt a real threat.
With their deep foundations, the big three TV stations shouldn't be shaken so easily by just a few hit dramas from Yunteng TV.
It was foreseeable that the platform advantage would continue to bring traffic to Yunteng TV for a while. But if Jing Yu remained at Yunteng TV, continuing to produce high-quality, high-rating dramas—
Viewers are fickle.
If this trend continued, the big three would see their audiences siphoned away by Yunteng TV.
The top three station executives could all feel the pressure.
However, they didn't have a suitable countermeasure at the time. Dirty tricks? They tried that during the summer season, and Jing Yu struck back hard. They were now hesitant to try again.
Who knows if Jing Yu would go beast mode and launch another counterattack?
Suppressing Jing Yu directly? Yunteng TV might be weaker than the big six, but it's still a major TV network. Not some pushover.
Headache.
For now, all the big three could do was keep urging their drama teams to fight for every rating point.
There wasn't much else they could do.
But outside of that, the media world didn't care.
All through Sunday, newspapers and online headlines were full of articles praising Yunteng TV's rise and claiming the long-standing domination of the six major TV networks was being broken.
Film critics flooded the internet with commentary hyping up Yunteng TV and Jing Yu.
Jing Yu's fans, too, took to the forums to spread the news that 'Initial D' had temporarily taken first place in the second week's ratings.
"Initial D—#1 in viewership, #1 in ratings, written by Jing Yu!" Those words were plastered across TV drama forums on every major website, essentially becoming free advertising.
That night, Yunteng TV's viewership numbers were noticeably higher than the same time the previous week.
'Initial D' Episode 4—ten minutes before the broadcast even began, the ratings had already broken the 6% mark.
All the fan groups, which had gone quiet during the week, exploded with activity.
"I'm so nervous!"
"I've never been this tense watching a drama before!"
"Do you think this week's 'Initial D' will finally wrap up the race between Takumi and Nakazato?"
"Hard to say! The plot of 'Initial D' is gripping, but the pacing is kind of slow."
"It's like 70% buildup and 30% climax. But without the buildup, it wouldn't be as enjoyable!"
"True, but the most frustrating part is exactly that buildup. Last week, Takumi wanted to race Nakazato, but his dad took the car out. I've been on edge for a whole week, wondering if he'll make it up the mountain!"
Soon, Episode 4 of 'Initial D' began airing.
And this episode's pacing was noticeably smoother than Episode 3.
It started with Takumi getting anxious at home as the race time approached. Just as he was about to lose hope, his dad finally returned with the AE86.
Takumi rushed downstairs, snatched the keys from his dad, and jumped into the driver's seat, speeding toward Mt. Akina.
Fans were cracking up.
"LOL! Says he doesn't care about racing, but his body's being super honest!"
"He's just dense! He obviously loves racing, but hasn't realized it yet. Last week, he even said he only drives because he has to deliver tofu and practices out of boredom!"
"It's like falling in love—you don't even realize when it happens, especially with someone you think you hate!"
Then came the buildup to the Akina showdown.
Jing Yu had hired a large number of extras to shoot this scene. Unlike the manga or anime, where there were just a few people watching, this version had crowds.
The extras not only explained some car mechanics and techniques but also helped hype up the atmosphere.
From Takumi's perspective on the climb, every turn on Mt. Akina was packed with people.
And once he reached the summit, it was a sea of luxury cars.
While the cars driven by the main cast were original designs to avoid copyright issues, Jing Yu had placed actual Great Zhou luxury cars in the background for the supporting characters.
It was a clever way to contrast and elevate.
By having the underlings drive luxury cars while key characters like Nakazato and Kei drove custom designs—and through the dialogue praising those custom models—the drama subtly boosted the prestige of fictional cars like the GTR, FD, and FC.
Otherwise, where did all that investment go?
"Damn, that's wild!"
"This scene is so immersive!"
"So that's what real power looks like?"
"Wait—is that Thunder Shadow? Even the underlings of the Night Kid crew are driving high-end cars. The base model alone costs over a million yuan. How awesome is the GTR Nakazato is driving? Is it real? It looks so cool!"
"And just how bad is the AE86? Even randoms driving that little car have the nerve to criticize it. That car's only like 100k+, right? Is the AE86 really worse than that?"
"100k cars aren't bad! Watch your tone!"
"Good for daily driving, but mountain racing? Come on…"
"Is it even possible to beat a luxury sports car with a budget model?"
"That's the point of mountain racing!"
"Anyone can floor it on a straightaway. But on winding roads, skill matters more than raw speed! You can have the best car in the world, but if you can't corner, you're toast!"
At this moment, in the drama—
"The 86 is climbing the mountain!" someone shouts.
And just like that, the hype exploded.