57. "The Flamebearer" Premiered

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Tonight, when Maran Hua arrived at the academy, it was a good opportunity for Zhang Tan to tell her about the plan to take Xiaobai out. However, he hadn’t figured out how to ease her doubts yet and thought he would explain it the next day.

Early the next morning, Zhang Tan was jogging in the courtyard, sweating profusely, when a woman in an apricot-colored short dress hurried out of the building. She stood on the steps, curiously surveying her surroundings, her gaze falling on West Chang’an Street outside the academy. Seeing a row of bars across the street, she suddenly recalled the events of last night.

Indeed, she had been drunk, so drunk she couldn’t make it home. If it hadn’t been for the kindness of strangers who took her in, she dared not imagine what might have happened to her.

Her complexion fluctuated between pale and flushed as she thought about last night at the bar, gradually piecing it together. She had been set up. People’s hearts are unfathomable—who would have thought her good friend would conspire against her? She wasn’t sure if her drink had been spiked, but her condition last night couldn’t be explained by simply having a low tolerance for alcohol.

She did drink, and her tolerance was pretty good. Last night, because there was a strange man present, she hadn’t drunk much, deliberately keeping control. Yet in the end, she had gotten completely drunk, which was very abnormal.

Her phone, inside her bag, showed numerous missed calls and unread messages. She was about to check them when she suddenly heard footsteps from the small woods on the right side of the yard. Then she saw a man in white athletic wear jogging out, breathing heavily.

They noticed each other at the same moment. She froze for a moment before hastily covering half her face with her hand. She had gotten up without washing her face or brushing her teeth; her face was greasy, her makeup ruined, almost disfigured.

Zhang Tan stopped running and greeted her, “Hello~ Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m... fine, thank you,” she replied.

She was about 165 cm tall, slender with long legs, and a prominent chest. Her exposed eyes looked at Zhang Tan curiously. She said her name was Li Jia, thanked Zhang Tan and his companions, and asked if he could open the door so she could leave.

Her condition was not good. Aside from her ruined makeup and sleepy face, she smelled strongly of sweat, an odor so pungent even she couldn’t stand it. At that moment, she just wanted to leave quickly, put on fresh makeup, and come back later to thank them properly.

Then she thought about the disgraceful state she must have been in after getting drunk last night and how surely everyone had seen it. Sighing, her cheeks flushed red and she avoided looking directly at Zhang Tan.

Zhang Tan kindly said, “Wait here for a moment,” and hurried upstairs. To spare her embarrassment, he searched his room for the academy key, opened the main gate for Li Jia, and saw her off.

“Thank you, thank you all. I’ll come back this afternoon. Thanks again,” Li Jia said gratefully, repeatedly expressing her thanks before hailing a cab and leaving in haste.

After returning home, Zhang Tan washed up and went downstairs to head to work, where he ran into Xiaomi just waking up in the hallway.

The little girl wore pink pajamas that reached her calves, making her look especially small. She was hopping and skipping down the corridor, softly singing to herself.

She seemed to be in a very good mood today, probably having had a wonderful night.

Zhang Tan knew she was shy, so he planned to quietly go upstairs without disturbing her, but the little girl noticed him anyway. Her childish song abruptly stopped; her cheeks reddened with embarrassment, yet she still greeted him warmly.

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“Good morning, uncle~”

During the day, Xiaomi was cared for by the local police station and placed in a nearby kindergarten, then brought back to the academy at night.

“Good morning, Xiaomi. Your pajamas are really cute,” Zhang Tan complimented.

Xiaomi looked down at herself shyly, like a sensitive little plant, then blossomed into a big smile.

Zhang Tan wondered if he could bring Xiaomi along tomorrow. The poor child was alone in Pujiang; her mother was still missing. Bringing her along would give Xiaobai a companion, and it might also ease Xiaobai’s aunt’s worries.

If there were two children, he would need to find another adult to join them—maybe Teacher Xiao Liu?

Teacher Xiao Liu was a good choice. Maran Hua was familiar with her, and having her along would definitely provide peace of mind. Besides, Xiao Liu had a good relationship with Xiaomi and could keep an eye on her.

The more Zhang Tan thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed. Since there wasn’t enough time in the morning, he decided to discuss the details with Teacher Xiao Liu, Xiaomi, and the police officers in the evening.

Traffic was very congested today. Zhang Tan’s car was stuck on Yong’an Street, inching forward step by step. The production studio building was already visible within his sight, only about 40 to 50 meters away, but judging by the situation, it would take at least half an hour to get through.

He looked at his watch—it was 7:40 a.m., the usual time he arrived at the company. Normally, traffic was smooth then; he didn’t understand why it was so jammed today.

It wasn’t until 8:10 that Zhang Tan reached the company. He hurried through the lobby and, while waiting for the elevator, someone joined him and they entered together.

Zhang Tan pressed for the ninth floor and asked the person, “Which floor?”

“Fifth floor, thank you,” came a clear male voice.

Zhang Tan looked toward the voice and thought the face was familiar. When they got off the elevator, a sudden flash of recognition came—this was Wang Yifan!

He was the lead actor in the web drama produced by the live-action department of the studio. The drama was called “Manager Jin,” or so he recalled.

Just yesterday, Jiang Rong had mentioned that the third season of “Manager Jin” was in preparation. Jiang Rong was gossiping about it because this series was one of the few popular dramas from the studio. The director was being replaced; the previous director, who had helmed the first two seasons, was reportedly removed due to creative differences with the lead actor. The new director hadn’t been decided yet.

Back in his office, everyone had arrived except for Zhang Tan. After greeting them, he quickly rushed off to lead the “Unlucky Bear” project meeting.

When the meeting ended, Zhang Tan was walking and chatting with the director when a staff member outside called out, “Mr. Zhang, please wait a moment.”

The director left first, and Zhang Tan stayed behind. The staff member seemed familiar—he was from the “The Lantern Bearer” project.

“‘The Lantern Bearer’ aired its first episode yesterday. There’s an analysis meeting at 9:30. The director asked me to check if you can attend?”

Zhang Tan suddenly remembered that “The Lantern Bearer” had premiered last night on the studio’s streaming platform, Langchao Video Network, and the results should be out by now.

“Of course I’ll attend. Which meeting room?” Zhang Tan asked.

Although he was no longer part of the “The Lantern Bearer” project team, technically he was still the screenwriter. His stage of work was done, so he was free to focus on other tasks.

“The first meeting room on the eighth floor.”

They took the elevator to the eighth floor. Upon opening the door, Zhang Tan’s eyes immediately landed on the director and then on a pair of bright, sparkling eyes beside the director.

It was Song Wen, the adorable young author of “The Lantern Bearer.”

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“Zhang Tan is here; sit here,” the director invited, gesturing for him to take the seat to his left.

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting,” Zhang Tan said as he sat down, smiling warmly at Song Wen. “Long time no see.”

They hadn’t met since he left the project team.

Song Wen’s face lit up; her eyes were full of joy.

“Yes,” she replied.

Zhang Tan smiled, “Seeing you, I’m guessing the premiere’s performance was pretty good.”

Everyone turned to look at the director upon hearing this.

The director cleared his throat and said, “Everyone’s here, let’s start. Our first episode of ‘The Lantern Bearer’ anime officially premiered at 7 p.m. last night. The results are already in…”

“The Lantern Bearer” releases one episode weekly. The team is currently working on the third episode, producing it as they air.

The manga had completed its first season and was quite popular, but Zhang Tan wasn’t fully aware of the details. Fortunately, the director addressed this.

“The ‘The Lantern Bearer’ manga has been online for exactly 80 days. So far, it has accumulated 1 billion views.”

Everyone congratulated Song Wen. That was an impressive achievement; otherwise, the studio wouldn’t have paid so much to adapt it into an anime.

While accepting congratulations, Song Wen frequently glanced at Zhang Tan, who also congratulated her.

“Thank you. The views are good, but compared to other excellent works, there’s still a big gap,” Song Wen said modestly.

The director added, “Currently, among all online manga, ‘The Lantern Bearer’ ranks 40th.”

That meant there was still significant room for improvement. The top manga had already surpassed 10 billion views, heading toward 20 billion.

After this, the director spoke about the anime’s performance.

“Our first episode had 1.8 million views in a single day, ranking 25th across all platforms.”

Zhang Tan thought this was decent but somewhat low compared to the studio’s expectations.

Seeing that the director and Song Wen’s expressions remained unchanged, he patiently continued listening.

“The overall online popularity score is 20.”

The popularity score measured online search interest, with 100 being the maximum. A score of 20 was not good; to break into the top ten, a score of at least 50 was essential.

The director clearly understood this issue, so he explained, “A score of 20 isn’t great, but remember, we are currently not airing across all platforms—only on our official website. The popularity hasn’t fully risen yet. At noon today, the first episode will be released simultaneously on other streaming sites, which will naturally boost popularity and viewing numbers.”

It seemed they saw potential and decided to increase the promotional efforts.

Someone smiled and said, “Let’s work hard together and aim for the top ten!”