Su Yang sat at the piano placed in the first floor lobby while staff brought a guitar for Qin Wei. Once everything was ready, the two started playing.
As the music sounded, everyone in the building quieted down. Qiao Sixiao sang the theme song of Star Ablaze—Heart Fire.
Gu Minghua, Daniel, and Chen Chen co-wrote the song which Chen Chen also performed. The three jointly completed this song.
At that time, public opinion regarding the incident where Qin Wei was hit had pushed her into the limelight. Whoever publicly supported her would suffer internet violence. Most friends couldn’t take it and also worried that things would escalate, so they stopped speaking up.
But these three were exceptionally steadfast. Not only did they openly support Qin Wei on their platforms, they also proactively wrote and performed this song for her drama for free. However, they were inundated with scolding at that time, and the song was drowned out.
[With a calm heart, why fear the future]
Listening now, everyone feels it’s not only good to hear but also quite fitting.
The nice song echoed in the company lobby. When it finished, everyone still lingered, reluctant for it to end, but it was already over. They waved goodbye to them.
Fortunately, the TV series would air soon, so they could hear Chen Chen’s version of the theme song again, then watch the show.
...
With the event over, Qin Wei let Li Liang and the others go back first since she and Qiao Sixiao lived along the same route, so she chose to hitch a ride back with her.
“Sis, we need to engage in social media promotions during the publicity period. For the first three days of the airing, the leads have to interact on Weibo. After that, the production company has no requirements, but there also needs to be simple promotions around the episodes when Jiang Xin appears...”
Xiao Wang sat in the passenger seat, turning back to conduct a simple briefing on subsequent work arrangements with Qiao Sixiao.
Qiao Sixiao listened without responding. Xiao Wang was used to it and kept talking about the plans ahead, but Hong Dou couldn’t stand it further, mainly because he didn’t understand a word.
“Can you stop talking?”
Hong Dou asked Xiao Wang directly, not hiding his dissatisfaction. He tilted his head staring at Xiao Wang.
“You keep talking. I can’t even chat with Qin Wei.”
Xiao Wang immediately cowered, letting Brother Dou speak as he wished while moving his own matters back.
“Qin Wei...”
Hong Dou looked at Qin Wei, calling her softly in a sticky-sweet voice. As he spoke, tears swirled in his eyes before rolling down his cheeks.
Qiao Sixiao ignored his distress, reminding him with eyes closed:
“Call her Auntie Qin. Be polite.”
Qin Wei didn’t care about these petty details. She reached out to wipe his tears and asked:
“What’s wrong, Brother Dou?”
“If one day I’m gone, will you forget me? Will you like someone else? Wah-wah...”
As Hong Dou spoke, he got more and more distressed until he broke down crying.
Qin Wei: “???”
She was so nervous that he suddenly brought this up seriously. If he didn’t have to sit in a child safety seat, Qin Wei would’ve hugged him and asked what was going on.
Hong Dou wept inconsolably. Qin Wei anxiously comforted him.
No wonder he’d been so clingy with her recently. Could it be...he had underlying grievances???
Ah no! What kind of silly TV drama plot was this!?
Qin Wei desperately suppressed herself to avoid overthinking.
He cried and sniffled nonstop, annoying Qiao Sixiao:
“He’s starting kindergarten tomorrow.”
Qin Wei: “......”
“Oh.”
Qin Wei took out a tissue to wipe Hong Dou’s snot, then told him,
“Every kid has to go to kindergarten. Kindergarten is good. You get fruit every day and don’t have to learn advanced math...”
Hong Dou: “Will you wait for me? I like you! Don’t like anyone else!”
Qin Wei perfunctorily agreed: “Mm-hmm, okay okay...”
Qiao Sixiao opened her eyes and looked at her weeping nephew:
“How old are you? Saying you like Auntie Qin all day. Do you know what ‘like’ means? You’re a boy. Don’t casually say you like people...”
Hong Dou looked confused, tilting his head at his auntie and speaking with some lingering sniffles:
“You’re a grown-up and still don’t know what ‘like’ is?
Like is when I’m very happy seeing her and miss her when I don’t.
It’s when I can give up candy but will definitely let her have some if I have any.
It’s...I was very sad today but she hugged me and I felt better...
Auntie, that’s so weird. What does age or me being a boy have to do with liking? Liking is liking.”
Qin Wei clapped:
“Hong Dou is still a poet. This time Teacher Qiao was narrow-minded. Hong Dou is open-minded and victorious!”
Qiao Sixiao: “......”
...
When they got home, the TV series was airing. They opened the projector, curled up on the sofa, watched the drama, and browsed social media for real-time hot searches:
#Star Ablaze Premieres#
#Heart Fire Sounds Good#
#Star Ablaze’s Tough Life#
#Does on-Location Filming Cost a Lot?#
Comments:
【Shabby Star Ablaze but still visually appealing】
【Seeing Brother Kai’s hurt, grieved eyes makes my heart ache...】
【Ah! Brother Kai appeared! So handsome riding a horse, shooting arrows!】
【Turns out it’s Brother Kai playing Da Zhu who saved Star Ablaze. They even rode the same horse! Do they have more scenes together later?】
【Northern nomadic tribal leader x southern royal “little jujube” (//∇//)】
【Watched one episode. Where’s the female lead?】
...
Three episodes aired in a row the first three days, followed by two episodes daily since the production side did sufficient preheating and the leads were already quite well-known. The premiere went smoothly.
After three aired episodes, related staff tallied the online click-through rate and social media discussion heat across the entire web, both exceeding expectations.
If this momentum persisted, the drama’s viewership could justify their efforts.
But the direction of trending topics changed the next morning:
#Where's the Female Lead After 3 Episodes#
#Star Ablaze Doesn't Ablaze and Very Repressed#
#Star Ablaze is Bad#
Comments:
【I couldn't sleep well last night after watching 3 episodes. I was already very distressed that the male lead got captured at the start. I kept waiting for him to escape but he didn't. Not only that, his family got killed and he didn't avenge them, just kept crying. I'm outta here.】
【I'm leaving too. Jeez, I was waiting for the female lead to show up. She didn't appear at all in 3 episodes, so who am I watching for? I also don't like Su Yang and am not interested in history either. I just want to see the actresses but none appeared.】
【You guys dare diss Su Yang. But I also think it's bad. Male lead at the start: I must escape, get revenge! What happened? Aside from crying, I didn't see him do anything. Avenge them, won't you!】
【I thought it'd be a dopamine booster. Clicked in and this is what I get? Such a slow pace like a tapeworm. On the other channel, the male lead turns the tables in one episode and enters the palace after three episodes. This has no drive at all, it blocked me.】
【I also quit. Jeez, when will Douban ratings open? I wanna give this bad low ratings with ten accounts. If I feel a drama is bad, it doesn't deserve high ratings.】
【Upstairs is right! As the public, if I think it's not good, it must be vote manipulation making the ratings high!】
【You can watch Counterattack next door. Quiet premiere, no marketing, all fans are organic. The click-through is lower than here but...it's actually really good...】
【The Queen's Counterattack tonight: Dopamine trigger—male and female leads ally to scheme, male lead officially starts his revenge arc. Female lead kills left and right, are you ready?】
