Why did they lose?!
On the morning of July 5, this bombshell hit Wen Dongrong like a thunderclap. Thinking of the 1,000 yuan about to fly out of his pocket, he lost all motivation to go to work.
He wanted to call and confront his black-hearted daughter, but work kept him unusually busy that day, with one thing after another leaving him no time.
The same question gnawed at Wen Ying.
Today, the final exam results were finally out, and Wen Ying was utterly stunned.
Why did she have to miss the mark by just two places?
102nd place—what was that about?!
Last semester, Xie Qian set her a goal of top 120 in her grade, and she got 127th.
This semester, Xie Qian set a goal of top 100, and she got 102nd.
Missing the target by just two places, Wen Ying even suspected the exam setters were messing with her. This reasoning was so bold it shocked Li Mengjiao.
“You didn’t do well and now you’re blaming others!”
Li Mengjiao blurted out, then realized she misspoke and cautiously asked Wen Ying, “Are you worn out from battling Yu Tianlin and his crew? Don’t worry about not beating their ratings. Your script is so good, our drama will definitely win!”
Her earnest, straightforward comfort was adorable, making Wen Ying blush.
Of course, she couldn’t blame the exam setters.
Wen Ying felt she had hit a learning plateau.
In her past life, her grades at the provincial key school weren’t top-tier. Reborn, her intelligence didn’t magically improve. Even with Xie Qian pulling her along, she might never reach the top. Without his tutoring, juggling multiple tasks, her grades might be worse than in her past life!
Being 102nd or 100th in the grade wasn’t fundamentally different, and Wen Ying could accept it. She was just afraid Xie Qian would be disappointed.
The thought of disappointing him made her uneasy.
Even learning that *Love Cruise*’s premiere ratings beat *Galaxy and You* didn’t faze her, because she knew *Love Cruise*’s lead was temporary, and *Galaxy and You* would overtake it eventually.
Exam results, however, were out of her control.
She worked hard, but so did other students. There were too many top performers at Rongcheng’s provincial key school!
Her only relief was that Xie Qian was in Shanghai, so she didn’t have to tell him her exam results face-to-face. With thousands of kilometers between them, a text message would suffice. By the time Xie Qian returned to Rongcheng, this might blow over.
With this sliver of hope, Wen Ying regained her cheer, laughing at the media’s smug analyses comparing *Love Cruise* and *Galaxy and You*.
“Before the dramas aired, renowned screenwriter Zhang Guangzhen publicly tore into *Love Cruise*, detailing conflicts with the production team in a lengthy post, claiming the original plot was butchered and disowning the aired version. Meanwhile, Zhang Guangzhen praised Tianjiao’s new drama *Galaxy and You* as one of the year’s most anticipated works, predicting the market would deliver the final verdict.”
“*Love Cruise* achieved a 2.99% premiere rating, surpassing last year’s *The Princess’s New Clothes* record, while *Galaxy and You* only reached 2.12%!”
“What’s surprising is the gap in ratings contrasts with audience feedback. Online, *Galaxy and You* has received overwhelming praise for its plot, acting, and theme song, while *Love Cruise* has seen low ratings, with critics noting Yu Tianlin’s stagnant acting, the rookie female lead’s stiff performance, and glaring plot logic flaws after just two episodes.”
“Admittedly, the ratings gap is partly due to the platforms. *Love Cruise* doesn’t seem to meet expectations. Does this indirectly prove Yu Tianlin’s popularity wasn’t heavily impacted by scandals, single-handedly carrying the show? Once *Love Cruise* finishes, will his popularity hit new heights?”
“Zhang Guangzhen’s prediction was off. In an interview with our paper, he stood by his initial claims, slamming *Love Cruise* as the year’s biggest flop, with no regrets for tearing into it!”
At a glance, it seemed well-written, with some substance.
But on closer inspection, it was nonsense.
*Love Cruise*’s premiere ratings were the last gasp of Yu Tianlin and Hu Man’s scandal buzz, bolstered by Hunan Satellite TV’s dominant market share.
Among national provincial TV stations, Hunan Satellite TV ranks first in viewership share.
Eastern TV, lingering at the tail end of the top ten, is far behind. Harshly put, without the hit show *Good Man* this year, Eastern TV wouldn’t even qualify as a rival to Hunan Satellite TV.
With such a gap in audience base, for *Galaxy and You* to achieve a 2.12% rating on the same premiere day as *Love Cruise* was already a remarkable feat!
Even without Wen Ying and Yuan Fenghui fanning the flames, *Galaxy and You* would climb through word-of-mouth. Their efforts only hastened the comeback.
Wen Ying wasn’t anxious, but Old Wen seemed to be.
That morning, Wen Ying went to school to collect her report card and returned home instead of going to Tianjiao. She spent the afternoon immersed in writing her new book in the Jiuding series, *Seeking Yong*. Time flew by during her focused creation, and she didn’t even notice Wen Dongrong coming home until he angrily knocked on the study door, slamming a newspaper in front of her, “Didn’t you say *Love Cruise* was terrible and *Galaxy and You* would win? The premiere ratings are a huge gap. How shameless!”
Wen Ying found Old Wen’s outburst baffling.
Was this a midlife crisis?
“I said we’d win, not that we’d win on the first day. The premiere is just the start of the competition. I’m not anxious, so why are you?”
Why?
Of course, he was anxious about his bet with Old Li. Did he care about his black-hearted daughter’s drama ratings?!
Losing 1,000 yuan hurt Wen Dongrong, but he could afford it.
What really stung was losing to Old Li.
He was handsomer, younger, and had better prospects than Old Li.
His daughter outshone Old Li’s son by miles.
Why should he lose to Old Li?
Wen Dongrong spent the whole day at work plotting how to settle scores with his daughter. Hearing her confident response now, he nearly spat blood.
—So he misunderstood her!
Wen Dongrong wanted to argue more, but Chen Ru returned.
Unlike Wen Dongrong’s frustration, Chen Ru was in high spirits.
Wen Ying, at 102nd in her grade, felt she couldn’t face Xie Qian, but Chen Ru wasn’t Xie Qian and had no clear gauge of Wen Ying’s potential.
Chen Ru only knew Wen Ying was 127th last semester and now 102nd—a 25-place improvement!
At Rongcheng’s provincial key school, advancing 25 places was huge compared to the province-wide competition.
This meant Wen Ying hadn’t neglected her studies despite writing novels and scripts.
With more time, reaching the top 100, or even 80 or 50, wasn’t impossible. Such grades would easily secure admission to a top domestic university.
Chen Ru, in a great mood but hesitant to praise Wen Ying directly to avoid complacency, saw the newspaper on the desk and found a new approach, “Take the newspaper’s analyses lightly. Listening to these ‘experts’ is truly foolish. Stock traders worship experts, buying and selling based on their advice, only to lose everything. Experts don’t compensate for losses.”
Manager Chen was Manager Chen—her example was spot-on.
Was she comforting her?!
Wen Ying was surprised.
Writing novels, scripting dramas, judging essay contests, running a blog—these didn’t align with a student’s duties.
Since Wen Ying’s grades steadily improved, she and Chen Ru reached a tacit agreement: Chen Ru wouldn’t interfere with Wen Ying’s “extracurricular interests” as long as her grades didn’t slip. Chen Ru turned a blind eye to these activities, neither approving nor opposing.
This was the first time Chen Ru offered comfort, telling Wen Ying not to be swayed by newspaper analyses—proof she had already read the reviews!
Seeing the shift in mood, Wen Dongrong coughed, pretending profundity with hands behind his back, “Your mum’s right. Stay level-headed about these gains and losses.”
Old Wen was something else, playing both saint and sinner!
Chen Ru, feeling awkward after her words, left the study.
Wen Ying slowly processed this, a smile creeping up as she thought of Chen Ru’s words.
Why do some spend their lives healing from their family’s wounds? Wen Ying was a prime example. She thought she’d grown strong enough to cut ties with her family, building an iron-clad shell.
But she hadn’t. The wounds from those sharp, cold moments lingered, seemingly healed but festering and painful when prodded.
—Wen Ying craved her parents’ approval.
