For the past few days, Ying Shi had been constantly studying the “video streaming platform” feature in the system, poring over it again and again. If the system weren’t virtual, she would have taken it apart to examine it.
Calling it “research” was really just “revenge”—because the system refused to give her a discount or let her pay in installments.
“I work my heart out for you, and you won’t even agree to such a small request!”
Ying Shi sternly condemned the system’s coldness.
【System operation requires basic rules. No spending in advance is one of those fundamental rules.】
Ying Shi was frustrated. She continued flipping through the system’s introduction page—this situation of being able to see the features but not use them was infuriating.
As she read through the features, her gaze landed on the “Trending Charts.” Initially, she thought it was similar to Weibo’s trending list, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was a data analysis chart.
The kind of chart that fans these days especially love to compare against each other.
In that moment, an idea struck Ying Shi: “If I only activate one of these features, wouldn’t I need fewer points?”
【……】
Ying Shi immediately understood—she had been played by the system!
“So you really can redeem modules separately?”
【When new software launches, it is always improved and updated little by little. Therefore, the system allows this feature to be activated module by module.】
“You didn’t tell me that! You misled me into thinking I had to redeem the whole bundle!” Ying Shi was furious.
【The system mentioned it in the feature’s introductory description from the very beginning. This feature is also called ‘Entertainment Interaction Software.’ Initially, it was just a ‘video streaming platform,’ then forum discussions were added. The other functions were all developed gradually over time.】
Ying Shi now realized that when you’re speechless, you feel like laughing. She was about to be laughed out of sheer frustration.
“This is consumer fraud! Not telling the customer that they can buy modules separately—isn’t that just trying to force them into buying the bundle?”
【The system cannot commit fraud against the host. The system operates on a principle of absolute honesty toward the host. The host simply did not ask about the redemption method for this feature.】
Ying Shi was speechless. So in the end, it’s my fault?
【Does the host choose to redeem this feature?】
“Yes,” Ying Shi considered for a moment. “I want to redeem the Trending Charts.”
The system seemed to pause.
【Is the host certain?】
“Yes, I’m certain.” Ying Shi already had a plan.
【The ‘Video Streaming Platform’ has been redeemed. The ‘Trending Charts’ module is temporarily unlocked. This feature will be released in the form of a website. Please enter a website name promptly.】
Ying Shi noticed a small “APP” icon had appeared on her personal panel.
“How about… Wanshi Entertainment [1]Wanshi Entertainment: Stubborn Stone Entertainment jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2028475_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2028475_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?”
【Name confirmed. Website established.】
Ying Shi took out her phone and entered the web address as instructed by the system. The homepage had a clean white background, with the handwritten brush calligraphy of “Wanshi Entertainment” as the prominent title. Beneath the main title were the smaller characters: “Trending Charts.”
She clicked in to take a look. Since the system’s main focus was on film and television, the Trending Charts were divided into four sections: Movies, TV Dramas, Web Dramas, and Short Dramas.
The main chart was the “Daily Trending of Drama Series,” which included both TV dramas and web dramas in the same list, primarily tracking the online viewership of long-form dramas.
In addition to the daily chart, there was also an annual chart. Since the TV drama rankings were based on viewership ratings, their position on the main drama chart served only as a supplementary reference.
Ying Shi glanced through several charts but ultimately focused her attention on the Daily Trending of Drama Series.
The drama “Si Hua Nian,” starring Li Yinan, was ranked fifth on the chart with a trending score of only “30.”
According to the system’s brief introduction, on the Trending Charts, a score of 50 meant average viewership, 70 meant a hit, and 90 meant a massive blockbuster.
A score of “30” was nothing short of ironic.
Ying Shi knew that the trending charts out there were all inflated, but she never imagined the manipulation was this extreme.
“Si Hua Nian” was a flagship drama for Jupiter TV, consistently ranking first or second on the three major charts.
Looking more closely, after removing the three completed dramas in the top five, “Si Hua Nian” was indeed second place.
The other drama currently competing head-to-head with “Si Hua Nian” was “The White Dragon in Humble Guise”—the very drama Ying Shi had once commented had a male lead who needed dubbing and character support to not break immersion.
“The White Dragon in Humble Guise” was at least steady in third place.
The first-place drama was a female-centric workplace drama. The cast were all seasoned actors—both leads and supporting characters ranged from thirty to forty years old. The characters weren’t perfect: the female lead was ambitious and selfish, the male lead had a chauvinistic streak, and neither took their romantic involvement seriously—it was just “playing around” for both. In the end, the female lead chose her career over her relationship with the male lead, and the series concluded with her getting a promotion and a raise.
For female audiences, this drama was an utterly joyful ending.
The second-place drama was a period piece that aired on television. It told the story of four generations of a family growing and changing over time. Its viewership ratings were very high during its broadcast.
When these two dramas aired, the various streaming platforms were all showing either dramas with no big names or mediocre production quality. This created the illusion that the top two dramas were only popular because there was no strong competition.
Once all the traffic-star dramas were released, these already-finished series would slowly fade from the charts.
“System, can you add a line on the Trending Charts page that says ‘Rankings are subjective and for reference only’?” Ying Shi was already smiling to herself.
【Yes.】
With everything in place, Ying Shi notified her company employees to apply for an account under the name “Wanshi Trending,” then sent them the website link. She instructed them to form a “Wanshi Team” responsible primarily for promoting this chart.
Fang Ying was a drama fan of Ji Dai. Whenever Ji Dai starred in a drama, she would watch it. To say she was a die-hard fan, though, wouldn’t be entirely accurate.
But personally, she felt that Ji Dai’s acting wasn’t exceptionally outstanding—yet it wasn’t nearly as bad as people made it out to be.
Recently, Ji Dai’s new drama “The White Dragon in Humble Guise” had been airing, going head-to-head with Jupiter TV’s “Si Hua Nian.”
The two dramas were locked in a fierce battle, with “Si Hua Nian” gradually gaining the upper hand in momentum.
The direct consequence of this was that Ji Dai had been targeted by Li Yinan’s fans.
Fang Ying was absolutely furious. Li Yinan had already been voted onto the “Four Ugly Men” list, and yet he was still trying to drag Ji Dai down, relentlessly pushing the narrative that Ji Dai’s looks couldn’t compare to Li Yinan’s.
It was true that Ji Dai relied heavily on makeup and styling to highlight his strengths and hide his flaws—but that was no reason for Li Yinan to try to ride his coattails.
But the lack of buzz around the new drama was a real disadvantage. As ugly as Li Yinan was, he had a lot of fans, and Ji Dai’s fanbase simply couldn’t compete.
Lately, whenever Fang Ying opened Weibo, she was bombarded with recommended posts about “Si Hua Nian.” Clicking “not interested” didn’t help at all.
Trash Weibo.
After getting home from work, she opened Fruit TV as usual to watch the latest episode of “The White Dragon in Humble Guise,” when a Weibo private message notification popped up.
Seeing that the message was from “Dai Ying Lian Mian”—a fellow drama-watching friend—Fang Ying paused the episode.
[Dai Ying Lian Mian: Check this out! New drama!]
[Dai Ying Lian Mian: Link sharing…]
Fang Ying clicked the link and was taken to a Weibo page.
[Wanshi Trending: Congratulations to “Irregular Code” @IrregularCode, “Memories of Qingshi Street” @DramaMemoriesOfQingshiStreet, and “The White Dragon in Humble Guise” @WebDramaTheWhiteDragonInHumbleGuise for ranking in the top three of today’s trending chart.]
A screenshot of the drama trending chart was also attached, currently only listing dramas that aired this year.
Fang Ying was full of question marks. She clicked into the comments section and saw a flood of Li Yinan’s fans going berserk.
[No one actually believes this random chart, right? It was made by that Guanjun just to smear Nan Ge!]
[Si Hua Nian is trending number one. The best hit drama of the year, Si Hua Nian, is on Jupiter TV!]
[Ugh, they’re like locusts—you can’t shake them off. They just won’t stop latching onto Nan Ge for clout!]
[So after all this, Guanjun is actually a Ji Dai fan? White Dragon in third place? Seriously?]
[It says right on the homepage—rankings are subjective. She just arranges them however she feels like.]
Fang Ying was utterly baffled. She knew about Guanjun—she had been at the forefront of the campaign against Li Yinan lately.
It was understandable—anyone who’d been stabbed would be furious, especially when Li Yinan acted so high and mighty.
But what did that have to do with Guanjun? And what did it have to do with Ji Dai? Guanjun hadn’t gone easy on Ji Dai in her reviews either…
She read through more comments, then went back to look at the trending chart screenshot.
Fang Ying: “…”
3rd place: “The White Dragon in Humble Guise” — trending score 45.
5th place: “Si Hua Nian” — trending score 32.
And the highest trending drama, “Irregular Code,” had a score of 55.
And Procrastinating Drama Watcher had also reposted Wanshi Trending’s Weibo post.
[Procrastinating Drama Watcher: Trending score 50 = average viewership, 70 = hit, 80 = small blockbuster, 90 = massive blockbuster // @WanshiTrending: ...]
In Guanjun’s eyes, “The White Dragon in Humble Guise” hadn’t even reached average viewership—how could anyone claim Guanjun was a Ji Dai fan?
Fang Ying clicked into the comments—
[Cat Doesn’t Eat Fish: “Irregular Code” is currently maintaining the number one trending spot in viewership on Red Leaf Video. “Memories of Qingshi Street” is also a ratings champion. Now that it’s finished airing on TV, it’s perfectly normal for viewers to switch to streaming platforms, right?]
There was an immediate reply to this comment.
[Maybe hide your fan badge first? The way you’re fighting for your master is just ridiculous!]
[Two completed dramas topping the daily trending chart? That’s hilarious.]
There were also rational netizens.
[It really is strange. “Irregular Code” and “Memories of Qingshi Street” both dropped the day after they finished, and by the third day they were out of the top fifteen. But back then, there weren’t any competing traffic-star dramas, so everyone just thought the overall market was cold. Nobody paid much attention.]
[I just looked at Wanshi Trending’s annual chart. The average trending score for both of those dramas is around 80. Meanwhile, “Si Hua Nian” has aired two-thirds of its run and its average score is only 33. That’s hilarious—it’s not even half of theirs. No wonder no traffic-star dramas were airing at the same time. They were afraid of being exposed.]
Fang Ying saw the netizens defending her and felt a complex mix of emotions. Because “The White Dragon in Humble Guise” had also aired two-thirds of its run, and its average trending score was only 42—barely half of the top one or two dramas’ scores…
But what she didn’t expect was that Guanjun also replied—not to her, but to Li Yinan’s fans in her comment section.
[Procrastinating Drama Watcher replied @Nan Gua Sheng Nan Guo: Why can’t completed dramas top the trending chart? If an ongoing drama can’t outperform a completed one, it only means the ongoing drama really isn’t good to watch.]
Guanjun replied to several more comments, all with the same central message—”Si Hua Nian” simply had low trending scores.
Thanks to Guanjun’s controversial and attention-grabbing nature, “Wanshi Trending” quickly got pushed onto the trending search list. Once it trended, the comment section was no longer dominated solely by Li Yinan’s fans. Netizens from all sides joined the fray, and fans of various celebrities started fighting among themselves.
Some marketing accounts that specialize in compiling trending data began reposting the trend curve charts provided by Wanshi Trending. After analysis, most of these accounts gave fair and balanced evaluations.
Even if Wanshi Trending’s rankings were subjective, the trending charts still aligned well with actual viewership patterns.
There were also some neutral netizens who stayed out of the battles and asked the essential question—
Isn’t Ying Shi Entertainment supposed to be producing TV dramas? Why did they suddenly come out with a trending chart?
[She’s afraid others won’t let her play, so she just flip the table and throw her own party (dog head)]
[Haven’t people been saying all along that the current charts are all inflated? Especially Jupiter TV’s dramas—they’re the most heavily inflated. Take “Si Hua Nian,” for example. It doesn’t have nearly that much discussion, yet it’s still number one every day.]
[I’ve heard a bit about that. Jupiter might as well be called ‘Washed Star’ TV now.]
[So Guanjun plans to isolate everyone first, that way she doesn’t have to worry about being isolated by others (laughs hard)]
Ying Shi watched the online discussions about Wanshi Trending and felt very pleased.
It would still be some time before “Little Sweetheart” finished post-production and passed review. In the meantime, she wanted to build Wanshi’s reputation.
Wanshi Trending itself didn’t require registration or purchasing a membership—users could directly view detailed data and related analyses. Even if people called it a rigged chart, as long as enough people paid attention to it, when the film and television section was unlocked later, plenty of netizens would still be happy to come and watch the spectacle.
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