Rain

I’m starting to suspect that Tencent might not be the one holding back the release and that there could be internal production issues. Most dramas that take this long to air end up being underwhelming, and I seriously don’t want CD to turn out that way.

Is that why we’re not getting any promotional materials anymore? Next year will mark two years since CD wrapped filming, and we’re still left uncertain about whether that January release schedule is even true. 😟

I was being dramatic when I said Chasing Dreams would air in 2027, but looks like I wasn’t being dramatic enough. 😭

https://x.com/CdramaBloom/status/2113427068558192936

I agree. I hope more and more people come to appreciate just how good an actor he is. He outdid himself in LTD, proving once again just how much range and talent he has. He deserves far more recognition for his versatility. 🥹

CONGRATULATIONS, YUAN BABY!!!!! 👏😭

LTD WAS SOOO SHORT 😭 It literally feels like just yesterday we were all freaking out because it was finally airing, and now it’s already over??? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN SO FAST 😭💔 It didn’t even take a week for it to end.

MDL ratings have become so unreliable lately. People are review-bombing dramas they haven’t even watched. I’ve noticed the same pattern with LTD, its score drops whenever the number of raters increases, often around the same time. Wouldn’t be surprised if some were using multiple accounts to manipulate the ratings.

He's LTD's executive producer.

You're good at this! 😅 But I think your first theory is more likely, though. 🤔🤔

Alex 张鑫 (Alex Zhang Xin)

Zero advance promotion + zero buzz buildup + sudden next-day release: 《Light the Dark》
On the afternoon of October 14, we received a notification from iQIYI that the first three episodes would be released at 6:00 PM on October 15!!

The moment I heard the news, I was completely stunned. I already knew that we had very few promotional materials prepared, and most of them were still in production or awaiting approval. We hadn't even started any marketing activities to build anticipation before the premiere.

The platform's popularity index was sitting at just 500. The difficulty of launching the drama under these circumstances was like sending an elementary school student to take a university entrance exam.

After receiving the news, my boss, my colleagues, and I rushed back to the company from wherever we were. What awaited us was an endless number of coordination groups and an overwhelming number of requests that we couldn't possibly respond to all at once.

We designed and finalized posters overnight, edited behind-the-scenes footage and highlight clips overnight, and submitted drama trailers and other promotional materials for approval overnight.

Within just 24 minutes, we were added to 67 coordination groups and replied to more than 1,000 messages. We worked around the clock to prepare over 500 pieces of promotional material, all to ensure that the drama could premiere smoothly the following day.

This wasn't the first time Brother Chen had encountered a sudden, emergency release. Although we had already prepared a promotional plan in advance, rushing a drama onto the screen like this puts enormous pressure on the team, especially when it has to premiere the very next day.

At the very least, I believe that even an emergency release should allow us about a week to prepare.

On the first day, the popularity index reached 4,900 and continued to rise steadily into the late hours of the night. I finally felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief.

By tonight, the index had reached 6,000. Normally, this should have been a figure we gradually worked toward before the premiere. Instead, we managed to increase the popularity index by 600% on the drama's second day. It really hasn't been easy.

Seeing so many positive reviews and reactions from genuine viewers on Douban and Xiaohongshu, as well as the tremendous love and support from Brother Chen's fans, has genuinely touched me. As someone working on the production side, I can honestly say that they are incredibly lovely. Thank you, everyone.

Finally, I want to say that this is a story woven around family relationships, revenge, and investigative crime.
This was a script whose storyline I first read when I was 22. I had to wait until I was 25 to finally see it aired. It is also the second project I've worked on as an executive producer.

I hope the drama achieves good results, and I hope everyone enjoys it.
《Light the Dark》, let's do our best tomorrow!

Fan's comment:
As a fan, I was just as confused when I learned that the drama would be released so suddenly.
While we were complaining about the situation, all the Yuanbaos turned our frustration into motivation because we knew that simply complaining about how unfair things were wouldn't help.
Instead, we focused on doing whatever we could to help, whether that meant promoting the drama, recommending it to others, or boosting its numbers and popularity on the platform.
After the drama premiered yesterday, my fellow fans and I...

Alex (Author):
The sudden release was extremely rushed, and we didn't have enough time to purchase promotional packages and secure promotional resources.
We're currently working on getting user-generated content accepted and published, as well as running targeted advertisements. We're also trying our best to push the drama into people's news feeds.
Please be patient a little longer! A new batch of promotional materials will be released tomorrow.
------------

I feel so bad for the entire LTD team. 💔 They worked so hard to create such a wonderful and meaningful drama, only to have their efforts overshadowed and undermined by the way iQiyi handled things. The cast and crew deserved SO much better.

Louder! 😁

No worries. 🙂

It will be available to stream on iQIYI.

Wishing the entire LTD team all the very best, especially our Chen Zheyuan.

I am super duper excited to meet Chen Shan tomorrow!

Exactly! They could drop it tonight, and we’d be ready to show up and support him without a second thought! 😂

I guess we’ll just have to get used to it, especially since he has three dramas with 🥝 lined up for release, possibly next year. Tencent isn’t any better, either, with all the delays for Chasing Dreams. 😩

Anyway, I’m soooo excited to meet Chen Shan tomorrow!

I feel the same way. No matter how unfairly 🥝 treats him, we’ll always stand by him and support him wholeheartedly. Wishing the entire LTD team all the very best, especially our Chen Zheyuan.

https://kisskh.at/people/41105-gia-ge

I think this is her. She plays Zhang Chenguang’s wife. And I agree with you, they look good together.

This is basically just last year’s 🍉 recycled with a different FL. His studio already denied the rumors last year, too, saying he wasn’t in talks for this drama.

This is most likely false. 🤔
This is a female-centric, big-budget drama, and I don’t think the production team or Tencent would wait until the second half of next year for him to be available to film it. Besides, as much as I want to see Yuan every day, I really want him to at least have some time to rest and recharge after filming Echoes.

I honestly expected him to look rough and unpolished in this drama, so his current look is literally EXACTLY how I pictured him. 😭😂 And I LOVE IT. We rarely get rugged, tanned CZY like this, so excuse me while I savor every second of this man. 🤤🤎