Like all college students who are not yet financially independent, Huang Min had no choice but to swallow her anger and get up from the sofa, reluctantly preparing to go back to her bedroom to watch "The White-Haired Xiangjun".
Forget it, it's just the viewership of a TV set, why care so much?
Huang Min had only taken two steps when she heard a sound coming from the television behind her:
"Really dead?"
"Completely dead! One shot to the end, no pain."
Huang Min stopped again.
Is Li Yiming really dead?
How could Li Yiming die?!
Huang Min grew increasingly panicked. Although Ye Chu was the lead actress in this drama, the amount of screen time and importance of a character isn't always solely determined by billing order. Take, for example, Su Ge in "Yun Qing Ji," who was also the lead actress! Did she have even a fraction of Qin Tianye's screen time?
Then I realized that the screenwriter of this drama was none other than that old geezer Zheng Bohan!
Could it be that Zheng Bohan is going to pull that trick again, having Li Yiming die at the beginning and then only appearing in Shi Shan's memories throughout the rest of the story?
Huang Min felt a wave of dizziness. If this was really the case, then what was the difference between "Tianban" and Shi Shan's male-centric dramas? Add to that the production quality, the pacing, and the marketing—it's doomed! Sister Climbing Ivy can brag about it again!
That old bastard Zheng Bohan!
Shi Shan, that shameless drama queen!
Huang Min, clutching her wildly beating heart, returned to the living room once more.
You can watch "The White-Haired Xiangjun" anytime. Tomorrow, Huang Min will be online all day to boost the viewership, so I can watch it ten or twenty times. But confirming whether Li Yiming is really dead or not, and how much screen time Shi Shan actually has, is urgent.
Huang's parents were so engrossed in the plot that they didn't notice Huang Min's return. Huang Min sat in the corner of the sofa, anxiously praying that Li Yiming would come back to life and make Shi Shan's scenes as trivial as ornaments.
Around 2018, Chinese dramas were at their most padded. A single series often stretched to seventy or eighty episodes, like a rag pulled from the sea. Huang Min was prepared for the series to drag on for three to five episodes explaining Li Yiming's death. However, "Half a Sky" was surprisingly fast-paced, packed with information, and contained no unnecessary scenes or unnecessary plot points.
In just one episode, the plot twists and turns, rising and falling several times. Half an episode clearly explains the reasons for Li Yiming's execution, as well as the origins and course of "Operation Cleaner." The second half of the episode takes a sharp turn, revealing that Li Yiming was actually innocent.
When a person was wrongfully killed, Lu Huaizhang, the director of the Ninth Bureau, did not think first about how to exonerate Li Yiming or punish those who gave false testimony, but rather how to suppress the matter.
It turns out that Lu Huaizhang secretly executed Li Yiming because "family scandals should not be aired in public." If officials from opposing factions found out that there was a mole within the Ninth Bureau, Lu Huaizhang, who had failed to properly manage his subordinates, would lose his job. However, what he feared most came to pass: Lu Huaizhang's mortal enemy somehow learned of Li Yiming's death!
Failing to properly manage subordinates and leaking secrets is already a serious crime. To protect one's position, resorting to torture and secretly executing a senior Kuomintang member is an even greater offense. Principal Kou was furious and dispatched an inspection team to thoroughly investigate the matter. Suddenly, Director Lu Huaizhang was filled with worry, a dark cloud hanging over him…
In just a few dozen minutes, the screenwriter and director perfectly sketched a portrait of the KMT's upper echelons, a society rife with infighting and pervasive fear. The film vividly presents the KMT's political ecosystem—a landscape of factionalism, prioritizing personal gain over public duty, and self-serving enrichment at the expense of others—to the audience. The story is logically rigorous, meticulously crafted, and captivating.
Besides the tight and suspenseful plot, the memorable quotes from the characters in the drama also made Huang Min feel uneasy.
"There are two kinds of officials: those who nod and those who pretend to be asleep. Secretary Kim is the one who nods, and Section Chief Baek is the one who pretends to be asleep."
"And what about the Director? What kind of Director is he?"
"The Director is a rare figure! He only knows how to nod and pretend to be asleep when he meets someone."
"The overall situation is a wicker basket, you can put all sorts of messy things into it; stability is a fig leaf, you can't cover your head first, you can cover your ass!"
"You work hard for the people, but the higher-ups are worried about their own jobs."
"We are all scarecrows—we turn whichever way the wind blows, but unlike reeds on a wall, we have a human form..."
"Even if the sky falls, it doesn't matter, we'll have Director Zhang to hold it up!"
"Director Zhang? What can Director Zhang possibly do?"
"The director can lead us into the meeting minutes—saying that we had already discussed this matter, but it just hadn't been implemented!"
"Haha ...
"Whether a position is secure or not depends on how heavy your backside is. Whether someone is reliable or not depends on how stable their backing is."
The first episode focuses on Lu Huaizhang, the director of the Ninth Bureau. Actor Xue Haodong delivers a superb and solid performance, effortlessly evoking empathy from the audience despite playing a villain. While Director Lu scratches his head on screen, viewers are also on the edge of their seats.
What to do? What should the great Director Lu do?
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