After all, Shi Shan is still nominally the male lead of this drama. If the male lead dies in the fifth-to-last episode, what's the point of watching the remaining four episodes?
Purification requires precise timing, and sales require speed. Both are delicate processes. If done too hastily, fans will notice the flaws, easily leading to backlash.
Sister Climbing Ivy is quite adept at this. During the show's airing, she abandoned her usual arrogant style and adopted a very docile demeanor, which actually fooled a large number of casual viewers. Now that Li Ruhui is dead, the entire internet is feeling the most sorry for him, and therefore more tolerant of Shi Shan. Sister Climbing Ivy can once again ride this wave, using the guise of drama fans and casual viewers to launch her attack.
This set of micro-management techniques was quite ingenious and showed remarkable foresight in 2018. Ji Juntao ordered the employees of Qingping Entertainment to memorize this method and keep it for future use by other artists under their management.
Everything is ready except for the final piece of the puzzle. As long as the ratings for "Half a Day" decline as expected, the last piece of the puzzle for the ivy-covered mountain will be complete.
Unfortunately, Sister Climbing Ivy's wish was not fulfilled. After Li Ruhui's death, the ratings of "Half a Sky" did not decline, but instead rose steadily, and the thirty-eighth episode quickly broke through 7.5—another half of an almost unattainable threshold!
This means that even without Li Ruhui's storyline, the audience's enthusiasm for "Tianban" has not diminished in the slightest!
The big posters announcing that the show's ratings had surpassed 7 were already out there; the boast was irreversible. Fortunately, humanity's greatest strength lies in its boundless creativity. The ivy effortlessly employed a second set of excuses:
The reason why the ratings of "Half a Day" did not drop is that everyone is waiting for Li Yiming to avenge Li Ruhui.
Li Yiming owes the entire nation a chance for revenge!
This argument is flawless and extremely shrewd. Having researched the real-life inspiration for Li Yiming, the author knows that Li Yiming would never avenge Li Ruhui. In fact, for the rest of his life, he would have to continue to feign friendship with those who indirectly caused Li Ruhui's death.
Now, by embedding the idea of "avenging Li Ruhui" into the audience's consciousness, when the cowardly finale of "Tianban" airs, it will inevitably trigger a large number of viewers' dissatisfaction with Li Yiming, and in turn arouse their pity for Li Ruhui, thus beautifully reaping the last batch of fans who were tormented.
This logic is sound and flawless. Moreover, a little analysis reveals its immense feasibility.
Encountering an opponent like ivy is a terrible misfortune for any artist.
Although this step was bound to happen sooner or later, no matter how the plot unfolded, Zheng Bohan's remarks undoubtedly accelerated it.
Logically, the ivy shouldn't have made a move so quickly. But Zheng Bohan had already spoken, and if they didn't seize the opportunity, wouldn't they be wasting a golden chance presented by fate?
Zheng Bohan doesn't think he's done anything wrong at all. As a screenwriter, sticking to his firsthand understanding of the characters is instinctive for him. Audiences can freely interpret and even deconstruct his work, but it's absolutely impossible for Zheng Bohan to change his tune.
Zheng Bohan even felt he had already restrained himself considerably. He had originally wanted to say that Li Yiming and Li Ruhui had a brotherly relationship, but Li Yiming was undeniably a woman, a perfect woman he had meticulously crafted, possessing all the virtues of womanhood. Calling it a brotherly relationship seemed rather crude. He also considered saying that Li Yiming and Li Ruhui had a sisterly relationship, but looking at Shi Shan's muscular build and undeniable masculine aura, he felt that the term would be incongruous.
Zheng Bohan even considered themes like "mother-son relationship" and "father-daughter relationship," but ultimately rejected them. Shi Shan was considerably older than Ye Chu, and it would be ridiculous for him to play her son. As for the father-daughter relationship—Zheng Bohan proudly believed that he was Li Yiming's father, a father in the literary sense. Giving that title to Shi Shan or Li Ruhui would be unpleasant.
Shang Yechu had no idea that she had just narrowly escaped death, almost becoming the laughingstock of the Chinese entertainment industry in Zheng Bohan's eyes. But now, the joke she'd made was no small feat!
After filming "Rules Street" for half the night, Shang Yechu had barely returned to her apartment when she received a shocking surprise from Zheng Bohan, along with Ji Juntao's unbridled mockery. Shang Yechu felt that her life was simply one problem after another.
All that hard work in laying the groundwork for hype was given away by Zheng Bohan in just a few words.
In short, both on and off screen, "The Half of Heaven" is in complete chaos.
This wasn't the only thing giving Shang Yechu a headache.
The magazine "Tianban" is extremely popular, with many magazines vying to have Shang Yechu shoot a cover for them. However, Shang Yechu has asked Ji Juntao to turn them all down because she is busy filming.
Who would have thought that the well-known top-tier domestic magazine "Muse" would also extend an olive branch!
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