The script was tailor-made for Tao Yuner.
Thus, the female protagonist's experiences and personality closely matched Tao Yuner's own image.
In the first two episodes, the barrage was almost entirely criticisms of the female lead, sometimes even targeting Tao Yuner herself. Yet, the storyline kept viewers invested and honestly following along, despite their complaints.
Although Xiang QingWei had warned Tao Yuner that the initial episodes would likely draw criticism and advised her not to watch them, Tao Yuner couldn't resist peeking. Seeing the barrage filled with insults, she felt quite upset.
Xiang QingWei seemed to have anticipated Tao Yuner sneaking a look. Right after Tao Yuner had finished crying, Xiang QingWei called.
"Trust me, the people criticizing you now will end up liking you," Xiang QingWei's gentle yet powerful voice reached Tao Yuner's ears through the phone, seemingly transferring that strength and stopping Tao Yuner's tears in their tracks.
"Really?" For the first time, Tao Yuner showed her vulnerability in front of someone else, somewhat skeptical.
Xiang QingWei's voice softened even more: "Yes. Trust me. I already like you a lot, don't I?"
"They just haven't gotten to know the real you yet. Once they do, they'll see your charm, just like the female lead in the drama."
Hearing Xiang QingWei's gentle voice on the phone, Tao Yuner couldn't help thinking that if she were a man, she would have fallen in love with her in that instant.
Tao Yuner didn't fall for Xiang QingWei.
But after that night, she truly started to rely on Xiang QingWei.
Because Xiang QingWei's words never missed the mark.
This time was no exception.
After enduring the criticism of the first and second episodes, the negativity in the barrage decreased significantly by the third and fourth episodes. By the fifth and sixth episodes, the criticism had vanished entirely, with discussions focusing on the plot, and even the female lead's image began to shift.
― Wow! Didn't see that coming.
― The female lead is awesome!
― Is this the most ridiculous female lead ever?
― Feels like Tao Yuner is just playing herself!!!
― Hahahaha
― Wow, Tao Yuner looks so beautiful in this shot!
― Female lead: Ignore me today, and tomorrow you'll be out of my league.
― Male lead, wake up! That's your future wife! Be nice to her!
― A moment of abusing your wife feels good, but chasing her back is a crematorium.
― I think Tao Yuner is kind of cute!
― To the person above, you're not alone. Tao Yuner is really cute in this drama. It's like a character filter!
Seeing the barrage praising her cuteness, Tao Yuner couldn't help but grin foolishly. After finishing the sixth episode, as the ending theme played, she excitedly rolled around on her bed with a pillow, and then impulsively called Xiang QingWei.
At that moment, she just wanted to share her joy with Xiang QingWei.
The drama was a huge success.
Besides the storyline, what mattered even more was the chemistry between the male and female leads.
The icy, sharp-tongued CEO and the proud, talkative female star might not have had standout personas, but the chemistry and spark between Tao Yuner and the male lead, Yin Wei, during their scenes together, and their portrayal of the characters, made both roles incredibly endearing.
Their interactions, thanks to the actors' performances, created a strong couple dynamic that wasn't initially expected, hitting the audience's romantic sweet spot.
This drama was entirely crafted for Tao Yuner by Xiang QingWei.
Xiang QingWei personally selected the script for Tao Yuner's "debut," insisting on perfection. The series had a total of twenty-two episodes, which was concise compared to the typical forty or fifty-episode dramas of the time.
After viewing the pilot episodes, the streaming platform was very satisfied overall but wished there were more episodes due to its short length.
Xiang QingWei refused. She not only insisted on keeping the episode count unchanged but also demanded that the platform broadcast the original version without any edits.
Xiang QingWei's strong stance, coupled with the undeniable appeal of the first six episodes, forced the platform to compromise and air the series exactly as Xiang QingWei requested.
Even the male lead was personally selected by Xiang QingWei. Yin Wei was a male artist managed by another agent in the same company. Xiang QingWei had seen him a few times at the company and had a good impression of him, choosing him from three candidates.
The show was a hit.
Not only did Tao Yuner become popular again because of this drama.
The male lead, Yin Wei, went from being an unknown eighteenth-tier actor to overnight fame. Yin Wei's agent specially took Yin Wei out to thank Xiang QingWei for a meal and even gifted her a bottle of expensive red wine, which now lies in Xiang QingWei's wine cabinet at home.
However, the one who benefited the most from this drama was Tao Yuner. The drama cleverly whitewashed some of her past "blemishes" through its plot, and Tao Yuner's acting skills surprised everyone.
People realized that Tao Yuner could indeed act, and no other actress could have played her role as naturally and appealingly.
A crying scene Tao Yuner performed in the drama deeply touched people's hearts and became a classic in TV drama history. Even a year later, several crying scenes from the drama were often used as classic crying scene tutorials.
Since the drama was tailor-made for her, the fit between her and the character was very high, leading to a high conversion rate of character fans.
From the start to the end of the drama's two-month airing, Tao Yuner's Weibo underwent a complete transformation.
Previously, her Weibo posts barely reached a thousand shares or comments, but now a simple promotional post could garner hundreds of thousands of shares and comments.
Scripts and endorsements piled up on Xiang QingWei's desk like snowflakes.
Two months after the drama aired, Tao Yuner was sent by Xiang QingWei to participate in a roast talk show.
She responded to her past "blemishes" in a satirical and humorous manner.
The so-called talk show was just a label; for such programs, the guests' roast lines were written by professionals. Xiang QingWei, after reading their drafts, wasn't satisfied.
Her comment was: "Not harsh enough."
The staff liaising with the show were dumbfounded. The show had been running for two seasons, and it was common for guests to request edits to the script if they felt the roasting was too harsh or excessive.
However, this was the first time a guest's agent, after reviewing the initial draft, requested edits because it wasn't harsh enough.
This program was known for its harsh and satisfying roasts, and now someone was saying it wasn't harsh enough?
This was a challenge to their dignity!
After reporting the guest's feedback, the scriptwriters were shocked. Not harsh enough? This was a tough customer! Since that was the case, they didn't hold back and, after making edits, were satisfied with the draft and submitted it again for Xiang QingWei's review.
Xiang QingWei, after reading the revised draft, was overall satisfied but had one question: "Why wasn't the incident from a few years ago, when Yun'er argued with someone on Weibo, mentioned?"
The staff relayed Xiang QingWei's feedback with trepidation, and the scriptwriters were truly shocked this time.
Was this person Tao Yuner's agent or her enemy? Why make it so harsh?
But since it was requested, they certainly couldn't refuse and immediately added it.
They had a feeling that if this script was used for the episode, the show's impact would be explosive!
After reviewing the twice-revised draft, Xiang QingWei was finally satisfied. However, she didn't use the corresponding response draft they provided but instead handed it over to the company's PR team to write the corresponding script.
The PR team at Hua Ying was overwhelmed. Was Xiang QingWei too harsh? She must have a grudge either against Tao Yuner or them!
After two all-nighters, they presented the initial draft to Xiang QingWei for review. Xiang QingWei was not satisfied and gave three points of feedback: the response was too official, the counterattack wasn't strong enough, and it lacked humor and satire.
The PR team retrieved the rejected drafts and, following Xiang QingWei's guidance, went through another round of revisions. After altering the document four times and nearly losing all their hair in the process, they finally got a reluctant nod from Xiang QingWei.
Xiang QingWei received the drafts from the team in the waiting lounge, downloaded them, and made some further modifications on the plane, smoothing out some of the dialogue that seemed a bit stiff based on her understanding of Tao Yuner.
She then handed both versions of the drafts to Tao Yuner. When Tao Yuner read the draft full of snarky comments, she was almost fuming with anger, but after reading the response draft, she felt incredibly relieved and exhilarated!
Xiang QingWei instructed her to memorize these two drafts even better than the script itself. They rehearsed them over and over, just like running lines, until Tao Yuner became completely desensitized to the aggressive jibes and could respond with ease.
Tao Yuner's roast comedy show turned out to be a huge success. After the broadcast, it received rave reviews.
#TaoYunerRoast shot up to the number one spot on Weibo's real-time trending searches.
— Hurry up and watch this episode of "Roast"!!! It's like finding the vibe of the first few episodes of the first season! Huge scale! The roasting is so satisfying!!! Tao Yuner's comebacks are awesome!!! Super thrilling!
— I became a fan of Tao Yuner after watching this episode of "Roast".
— Who is the genius behind Tao Yuner's script? The effect is too awesome!
— Tao Yuner's "Roast" this time won me over.
— The rhythm and scale of Tao Yuner's performance is what "Roast" is all about! The guests in the second season are so boring.
— Did Tao Yuner change her management team? The new team is incredible!
The industry finally caught on, albeit belatedly.
A question popped into everyone's minds: who is managing Tao Yuner now?
Everyone knew Tao Yuner had signed with Hua Ying, but it was unclear which agent she was with.
When they discovered the name Xiang QingWei, everyone was a bit shocked.
Xiang QingWei was no stranger in the industry.
However, her fame at the time wasn't due to her professional skills but because of a certain someone.
If Tao Yuner was represented by Xiang QingWei, it could mean there was someone influential behind the scenes.
Just when everyone thought Tao Yuner's "resurrection" was an anomaly, Tao Yuner's career hit a new peak in the second half of the same year, and Ling Jia Yi made a dramatic entrance!
And behind Ling Jia Yi was the same name.
— Xiang QingWei.
In just one year, Xiang QingWei managed to make a name for herself in the industry twice, and this time, she wasn't an attachment to someone else. She stormed into everyone's field of vision with her professional capability, under her name, Xiang QingWei.
The industry had to set aside their previous biases and start reevaluating this name.
————————————————————————
The entire book has been translated, with a total of 414K words and more than 1,200 pages.
If you want to finish reading this novel in advance, you can click the link below to buy the e-book of this novel. The original price is $4.99, and now it only costs $1.99.
There are two versions, pdf and docx, which can be easily read on mobile phones, computers and Kindle.
You can also choose to wait for updates on this blog. This novel is expected to be fully updated in November 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment