Chapter 57: Rural Roots, Short Drama

Once upon a time.

Liu Ping watched short dramas on a paid short-drama app, but Sang Yu's grandma — the Old Lady — caught them for free on Douyin.

Douyin has an XX Theater account that posts free short drama updates.

The Old Lady's absolute favorite: 'The Old Lady Reborn Twenty Years Younger — Time to Split the Family!'

Just from the title you can tell — the lead is a refreshingly unconventional choice: an old woman.

The main plot follows her post-rebirth arc: cutting off every 'vampire' in her life, raising her daughter solo, building a business, and getting rich.

Sang Yu used to wonder — the drama's free, no ads, so how does anyone make money?

After digging into the data, it clicked —

Completion rate;

Creator incentive programs;

Brand integrations and affiliate commissions;

Platform revenue sharing, tiered by view count — hitting A, A+, or S tier pays out way more than anything below B.

You could literally shoot a scene of the reborn Old Lady joining a specific bubble tea brand... and it's organic product placement.

Makes total sense.

The integration doesn't feel awkward — it feels natural. Biking from the village to town to grab a Mixue City cup? Painfully real.

Low risk, too.

Sang Yu kept reading.

The platform's short drama rights center publishes monthly revenue-sharing reports.

The data: in May alone, five dramas crossed 20 million yuan in revenue share, and one crossed 15 million.

Damn — solid upside.

That much in a single month.

The genre spread is wide too — beyond the feel-good rebirth-of-an-old-lady type, there's romance, suspense, mystery.

Seems more diverse than long-form dramas (to be precise: excluding Aurora Entertainment's own titles).

Sang Yu also noticed — not every short drama is that drawn-out, melodramatic kind.

Take the light rom-com sitting at number one: Southern Spud and Northeast Exchange Student.

It's a cross-cultural love story — a southerner who ends up in the northeast, and a Russian exchange student at a northeastern university.

The title's a little cringe, the plot is simple, but people can't stop watching.

It nailed the market's sweet spot — the internet's assigned aesthetic to both sides:

Soft, delicate southern girl — check.

Icy Russian — check.

Every industry has its geniuses, apparently.

So Sang Yu made the call: A Cultivator Becomes a Rural Internet Celebrity in the Modern World is absolutely filmable — fewer constraints in this format.

(Not zero constraints, though — micro short dramas still go through multiple rounds of review.)

With a real-life location as the model, scouting is basically done. The director's team can skip the aerial survey grind.

The vacant house is just sitting there — renting it won't disrupt any locals.

Better for the rural support angle and product tie-ins, too.

The only real challenge? Casting.

The lead is a cultivator who transmigrated, right?

If you've cultivated to that level, can't you just refine your own body? Can't be too bulky — kills the watchability.

Needs to handle physical work and actually look convincing farming — if you don't shoot the lead doing farm labor, where's the immersion?

The audience has to believe: 'This person clearly doesn't look like a farmer, but they're a cultivator, so of course they can farm.'

A name suddenly popped into Sang Yu's head.

— Xuan Leron!

Not so conventionally handsome that he reads as a pretty vase, but great physique — that 'compact and solid' look, with actual presence.

After The Demolition Office aired, his body-scan figure went viral.

And he really did blow up.

Last time, he and Ouyang Changyi showed up at a shopping center near Sang Yu's penthouse for a brand pop-up event.

The crowd was massive.

Sang Yu caught it on the local feed.

Xuan Leron's fan color is red, Ouyang Changyi's is purple — look across the whole venue and it's just a sea of red and purple going head-to-head.

Both sides were going hard.

If Sang Yu hadn't read the source novel for The Demolition Office, he'd have assumed the two were playing rivals, not a couple.

Offline it was already like that — online it was 'today I flood your timeline, tomorrow you flood mine.'

Wild.

— From all this, Sang Yu realized he really didn't understand fan culture. Couldn't figure out why.

Thinking it over, Xuan Leron really does fit the role well — just not sure about his schedule.

·

Schedule?

Ha, like there wouldn't be one.

The moment Xuan Leron heard the news, he didn't hesitate — he scrambled to get ready for the audition.

Made it to the top? So what. In front of a summons from Sang Yu, he was still just a shrimp waiting to have its head pulled off.

Without Sang Yu, he'd be nothing.

Ouyang Changyi had already gone to audition for the infinite-stream film earlier — and didn't get it. The fan community had a meltdown for a while.

Huajing tried to spin it with stan accounts — 'a better actor got the role' — but the fans weren't buying it.

That was an Aurora Entertainment project — !

Their artist was already a top-tier star, one step away from the finish line, and Huajing couldn't close the deal. What a waste. What's the point of even signing with them?!

Behind the scenes, there was also an unspoken consensus in the fan community — the shadow of Xi Xingfa's earlier betrayal of Sang Yu still loomed.

The artist got caught in the crossfire.

Fan community unified stance: can't trash Sang Yu, but we can trash the company!

So Huajing Entertainment's official account now gets flooded with @ mentions every day — wall-of-text callouts, fan strikes, the works.

The 'strike' means no streaming, no buying endorsed products, no supporting new projects.

In short, Huajing Entertainment is in hell.

Xuan Leron watched it all with a knot in his stomach.

— He'd filmed with Ouyang Changyi for so long, they had a real working bond. He'd shaken his head more than once — Ouyang Changyi got so unlucky, dragged down by association.

Xuan Leron, though technically a free agent, mostly kept his own house in order — and had been extra careful lately, not daring to let anything collapse.

He'd been auditioning for Aurora Entertainment's new projects, taking his time to be selective — and then the audition notice for the lead in this short drama landed.

Xuan Leron cried.

Actually cried.

Only he knew how much pressure he'd been under — same situation as Ouyang Changyi in one key way — what do you pick after a massive hit?

He'd looked left and right and nothing felt right. He was scared: if he hyped up fan expectations and then couldn't hold the heat, he'd fade out.

His assistant — his older cousin — advised him: 'Little Rong, maybe think it over? A short drama? Your fans will lose their minds.'

In the entertainment industry, there's a prestige food chain: film > TV > web drama.

Short drama?

Not even on the chain.

Completely off the grid.

If he actually did it, the fan fallout was predictable — people would definitely leave, and leave hard.

Maybe every 'ex-fan roast bot' in existence would get flooded with submissions from Xuan Leron's fanbase.

Xuan Leron frowned: 'Bro, you losing it? It's an Aurora project.'

Aurora's reputation right now — need he say more?

His cousin: 'Rong, hear me out — it's still a short drama at the end of the day. Look at the biggest short drama hits — who are the leads? Any A-listers?'

'In Domestic Entertainment, veteran actors and seasoned performers who go do short dramas get called sellouts, slumming it. You hear how that sounds?'

Aurora's short drama is still a short drama.

Going from a proper TV drama actor to a Douyin actor.

Right now Xuan Leron had only just broken through with The Demolition Office — his foundation wasn't solid yet. What he needed most was to lock in his existing fanbase.

Like watching your favorite celebrity suddenly become a Douyin influencer.

Isn't that a downgrade?

This kind of collapse isn't like the cheating scandal type — where big fans and the community can gaslight everyone with 'my husband is straight.'

Once fans decide someone isn't worth following, they leave fast.

Xuan Leron listened to his cousin's breakdown and had to admit he had a point.

Xuan Leron: '...'

He was torn.

After a long silence, he made his call.

'But this time Sang Yu came to me personally — that's him lifting me up to audition. I don't even know if I'll get it. Turning it down in a panic would look terrible. Besides, The Demolition Office was already a chance he gave me.'

'I can't just take the good stuff happily and politely decline the rest. That would make me look like a real piece of work in Sang Yu's eyes.'

He genuinely didn't believe anything Aurora Entertainment produced could be 'bad.'

Xuan Leron took a deep breath: 'Bro, trust me once. I'm going to audition. Losing fans... I've mentally prepared for it.'

Xuan Leron's real baseline was maybe 60 out of 100 — The Demolition Office's character just carried him to a 90.

No matter how many fans left, his count wouldn't hit zero — it'd land somewhere above 60.

Know your floor, prepare for it, and you're good.

Zoom out — this also ties him closer to Aurora Entertainment long-term.

Look at Yu Zhitao — after blowing up with The Favored One, she didn't take anything else. She went and auditioned for a supporting role in Kunning Palace.

The female lead is a semi-newcomer.

No name recognition.

If she'd signed with a major label, the fan community would've been screaming about a top star being used as a footstool for a nobody.

But it was the artist's own call — one less layer of noise. (Though plenty of people still accused Aurora Entertainment of calling in favors.)

The industry insiders mostly ignored that fringe discourse.

If you really let public opinion dictate every move, don't be a celebrity — just become someone's custom-made doll.

·

[Garden Group | Never seen anyone go from prestige drama to short drama before — [meat emoji] trying to scrub the influencer-fan image, so this is the move?]

————

[OP]

rt.

Have they lost the plot?!

[Floor 3]

Saw the news and thought I was half-asleep and dreaming

[Floor 7]

Actually going to do a short drama?!

[Floor 12]

Aside from a complete mental breakdown or trying to shed the influencer-fan image, I genuinely can't think of another reason — is it even necessary?!

Used to have a narrow range, sure, suggested branching out — but not like this...

[Floor 18]

Group consensus is aim higher, or at least lateral — like Chen Le doing a male-lead showcase to show off the physique

Not aim lower, help...

[Floor 21]

About to become Domestic Entertainment's fastest-fallen top star — The Demolition Office twin stars

[Floor 25]

In a way, one shines, one falls (lol)

[Floor 31]

The foundation's still there, okay — both their fan bases are basically structured like a danmei fandom (not joking, I'm serious)

The 'top' and 'bottom' solo stans are ready to kill each other, the ship fans are loud and scrappy and super active,

As long as there's no legal or moral scandal (okay fine there are moral gray areas people will still stan through) it can hold for at least three years

[Floor 35]

Danmei adaptations would rather film and distribute across the whole region because they blow up easier — no BG romance needed, one formula fits all

The Demolition Office also gave Domestic Entertainment's investors some ideas

[Floor 39]

Everyone's already saying next year and the year after will be flooded with female-A male-O dramas riding the wave

I can already picture it — the copycats won't capture the essence, otherwise Domestic Entertainment would've done it ages ago

[Floor 43]

Does anyone remember that Starlight Entertainment that was copying Aurora Entertainment? They wrapped filming like a month ago

[Floor 49]

Wait?? That fast —

What's it called, I want to go watch the trainwreck

[Floor 53]

Someone in the group mentioned it before I think — Anlan, the female lead is named Anlan, also based on a classic novel that's getting destroyed if I remember right

[Floor 58]

Time to grab the popcorn

Honestly though, if Anlan's remake turns out decent quality, I'd support it...

Because...

Regardless of the motive, the more capital in Domestic Entertainment that's willing to respect the audience, the better it is for viewers

[Floor 62]

+1

When I watch dramas my first pick is always Aurora — the quality is just that consistent. And it's not just dramas, even that e-sports tournament is the same way,

It's become my go-to mealtime content now, watching it while eating is basically premium brain-off entertainment, they really know how to keep it fun

[Floor 68]

So I'm genuinely hyped for that theme park now...

Honestly I kind of get Da Yu's logic too — because if you can attach yourself to Aurora Entertainment, the upside outweighs the downside for your future

Aurora Entertainment can give you one male-lead drama, and there could be a second — but the scripts you'd get at other companies? Yikes, definitely mid...

[Floor 71]

Maybe it's about goodwill,

He's not even signed to Aurora Entertainment — Aurora doesn't have an artist division — so after it wraps there's nothing to hold against him,

Otherwise it'd look a bit like biting the hand that feeds you

[Floor 76]

The influencer fans are definitely going to lose it — the top star they invested in is about to get downgraded to internet celebrity overnight,

Feels like he's about to get clowned by the female side — she's got a slight downward trend too, but it's not a downgrade, so are the two of them finally about to settle the score?!

[Floor 81]

Influencer fans aren't exactly popular in the group, but I think they genuinely spend money,

Mainly buying the emotional value of 'I stan a top star, I outclass every footstool stan'

[Floor 86]

Go check Weibo —

Da Yu got into it with his fans