I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

The next day, the morning light peeked in through the gaps in the curtains.

The room was a mess, with clothes scattered all over the floor and an obviously oversized bra hanging precariously in the corner of the bed.

There was still a lingering, indescribable smell in the air.

Yang Mi has woken up.

She lay on her side, the blanket barely covering her chest, one shoulder exposed, gleaming with a delicate sheen.

But she wasn't paying attention to any of that; she just stared blankly at the ceiling, her eyes vacant...

When Jiang Chen came out of the bathroom, he was only wearing a bath towel around his waist.

Yang Mi's gaze unconsciously lingered on it, scanning from top to bottom, lingering on the abs for a moment before slowly moving away, pretending to be nonchalant.

Jiang Chen dried his hair and walked to the bedside. "Honey, were you satisfied last night?"

Yang Mi glared at him, her voice a little hoarse, but she still stubbornly said, "Satisfied with what? It's just so-so, nothing special."

Her back was almost broken.

Being a boy, he's simply inhuman!

She still feels weak in the knees when she thinks about last night's card game.

This guy plays his cards too slowly!

They also like to throw bombs...

One after another, they blew her so hard she almost rolled her eyes back.

He also has a severe addiction to gambling.

After one round, they wanted another. She said she couldn't take it anymore, her back couldn't take it. He said it was the last round, the last round, but then they played three more rounds in the last round.

"I'm going to take a shower."

She threw off the covers and got out of bed, walking barefoot on the carpet. Her back was straight, but her gait was a little off.

The bathroom door wasn't closed properly, and the sound of running water could be heard.

Jiang Chen followed her, pushed open the door, and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

This woman is someone he can't control!

In the mist, her back was pressed against his chest, warm and damp.

He rested his chin on her shoulder: "There's still time, Honey."

Yang Mi froze completely...

"No...no...get out of here!"

"No...didn't you just say you weren't satisfied?"

"I...I...was just kidding..."

"Is it really not working?"

"Okay, good brother, please let your sister go!"

"There are other ways..."

Yang Mi: "???"

"Jiang Chen, you beast!"

……

Jiang Chen originally planned to leave the next day, but ended up staying for the entire National Day holiday.

When Yang Mi finally saw him off, she was so excited she almost cried.

She really cried...

When Jiang Chen returned to Beijing Film Academy, the afterglow of the National Day holiday had not yet faded.

The campus was filled with students dragging their suitcases back, the cafeteria ladies were still complaining about the lack of customers during the holidays and how difficult it was to cook, and the rehearsal hall of the performing arts department was filled with the sounds of lines being recited.

Life went on like this, neither exciting nor dull.

In mid-November, the school organized a mid-term presentation. Jiang Chen submitted a short video assignment. The teacher's evaluation was okay, saying, "You have ideas, but the execution is not stable enough."

In early December, Beijing experienced its first snowfall.

The students from the south were so excited that they shouted and played in the snow on the playground until midnight.

Jiang Chen stood by the dormitory window for a while, then took out his phone, took a picture, and sent it to Yang Mi.

Yang Mi replied with three words: "It's so cold."

He then posted a picture of snow accumulated on the windowsill.

Yang Mi replied, "Are you really that free?"

Jiang Chen smiled but didn't reply.

At the end of December, the school was bustling with activity during the New Year's Eve party.

Jiang Chen didn't join in the fun; instead, he stayed in his dorm and watched movies all night.

I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" and almost missed class the next day.

The final exams were held in early January.

Written test, interview, portfolio – nothing was omitted.

On the afternoon of the day he finished his last exam, Jiang Chen came out of the exam room, stretched at the entrance of the teaching building, and exhaled a puff of white breath.

Winter break has begun.

The winter break at Beijing Film Academy runs from mid-January to late February, which is more than a month in total.

Most students have booked tickets to go home, and the dormitory building is getting emptier every day.

Jiang Chen did not go back.

After a semester, he had saved up all the money he needed.

The teacher's approval, the classmates' trust, the professional confidence, and the dozen or so demos on the laptop!

Now, we've accumulated enough.

Everything is ready to go.

Because "Palace" is about to air.

……

February 2, 2011, the 2th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.

The fourth day since the premiere of "Palace".

The festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival was mingled with the cold wind in Beijing, and the viewership reports from Hunan TV's editorial office were delivered to various departments promptly at 10:00 a.m.

With a CSM25 city rating of over 2.13% and a market share of 9.72%, it has remained the number one TV show in the same time slot nationwide for four consecutive days, surpassing all other opening dramas of the year and becoming the most eye-catching hit drama of the winter vacation.

This wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but it was enough to make the entire film and television industry take notice.

For a historical time-travel drama to achieve this level of success, it is undoubtedly a blockbuster.

The series has become incredibly popular among young people.

The Baidu forum "Palace" gained thousands of new followers in a single day. The posts were filled with female fans who were obsessed with the scenes between Qingchuan and the Eighth Prince. Some were discussing the time-travel plot, while others were complaining about the palace intrigue tropes. Amidst the noise, the posts piled up high.

Related posts on Tianya Entertainment Forum floated on the homepage from morning till night. Those who were watching the show were busy sharing their thoughts, while those who were nitpicking were arguing about the plot logic. Both sides were talking about their own things, which only made the discussion more and more heated.

Before it even went live on Weibo's trending topics list, the hashtag #PalaceLockingHeartJade# quietly climbed to the top of the trending list thanks to the platform's manual recommendations, and the number of discussions skyrocketed.

Students on QQ Space are frantically sharing clips from the drama series, complaining about staying up all night to watch it. When classmates and friends meet, the first thing they usually say is, "Did you watch 'Palace' last night?"

But that's about it.

Most of the middle-aged and elderly people offline, and ordinary passersby on the streets, have not yet paid attention to this 10 pm drama, and it is far from being a hot topic of discussion among the whole nation.

"Palace" has only become a hit among young drama fans, and its popularity is steadily rising. It still needs one last push to become a nationwide phenomenon.

And this favorable wind is none other than the theme song of the drama, "The Power of Love," sung by Yang Mi, which was not officially promoted at all.

From the very first night of the premiere of "Palace," the gentle yet poignant melody at the beginning of the episode captivated countless viewers.

Without any previews or promotional materials from the lead actors, this song has become everyone's biggest longing, relying entirely on the exposure they received while watching the series.

As soon as the series ended, countless people flooded into online forums, Tianya, and QQ groups, frantically asking "What is the name of the song at the beginning of the series?" and "Please provide the full version of the theme song." Requests for the song filled various platforms, even overshadowing discussions about the plot.

Jiang Chen knew the time had come.

He has always held the copyright to this song.

The song was sold to the production team for use as an OST, but the copyright of the lyrics and music and the recording rights belong to Yang Mi. She only owns the performer's rights, that is, the right to sing the song.

He started preparing for the song's release two weeks in advance.

In the digital music market of 2011, QQ Music and Kugou Music were the two largest platforms, but their revenue-sharing models were still very primitive.

There was no "paid single track" feature later on; it was basically all free to stream. The platform made money from GG (Golden Songs) and then shared the revenue with the copyright holders based on the number of plays.