Chapter 5 - Rural Themes, How About Taizai!

Chapter 5 Rural Themes, How About Taizai!

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chen continued selecting scripts. Advancing to the next round was certainly important, but obtaining emotional points from the system was just as crucial! After all, without emotional points, one couldn’t spend money to upgrade. Good things were always expensive. For example, extending one’s lifespan by a year required a whopping three million emotional points!

Therefore, selecting a script that could stir up the audience’s emotions was the best standard for Lu Chen. Considering this, rural-themed dramas like Ordinary World were not very advantageous. Of course, it was a good drama, an exceptionally excellent work! There was no doubt about that!

However, just like its title, Ordinary World was like a fine wine, requiring time to appreciate—tasting better the more one savored it. But Lu Chen had limited time! Just a few hours to create.

Who had the time to savor his story? Even if the judges were willing to take their time to enjoy it, would the impatient online viewers? Didn’t get their hopes up. It wouldn’t happen. Without an attention-grabbing hook, the viewers wouldn’t care about what was written, and they wouldn’t even watch.

Moreover, earlier in the large room, other participants had said they wanted to write rural stories, such as rural love themes. If Lu Chen wrote the same, the content would be too homogeneous! This would definitely not help in achieving a good result!

So, considering everything, Lu Chen thought that both Ordinary World and Rural Love weren’t very suitable. One lacked a hook, and the other didn’t evoke strong emotions. Rural Love had a rather ordinary plot. Its massive popularity was mainly due to the outstanding performances of the actors, which gave the show a huge boost. Without Zhao Si, Liu Neng, and Xie Guangkun’s excellent performances, how remarkable could the script be? Probably not much!

So, which drama could quickly stir up emotions? That became Lu Chen’s key criteria!

Happiness to All Families?

The early episodes were indeed fine. Ying Bao, playing He Xingfu, had numerous conflicts with the village chief Wan Shantang and his son, which could really stir emotions. The Wan family father and son, along with Ying Bao’s weak husband, were increasingly frustrating to watch! But from the middle of the show, when He Xingfu moved to the city, the plot’s appeal dropped sharply!

Even later, when He Xingfu started her business and reconciled with the Wan family, the emotional engagement drastically plummeted! The story felt overly fragmented! While a happy ending was typical for domestic dramas, the collapse of the drama’s popularity in the middle clearly indicated a problem. The emotional tension was built up so high in the beginning, only to be released so gently in the end! How could the audience handle that?

So, Pass!

It seemed that choosing a show that could both stir emotions and grab attention was not easy.

Huh, what’s this?

At that moment, Lu Chen noticed a ‘Smart Selection Mode’ in the upper-left corner of the panel.

System, what’s this?

“Host, when the Smart Selection Mode is activated, the system will recommend works based on your preferences. It can help you find a script that suits your needs more quickly!”

Why didn’t you say so earlier?

”

Lu Chen was speechless after hearing this. All this time, he’d been thinking, and there was an intelligent recommendation system right there! He immediately checked the box!

A new page popped up.

[To Live

Recommendation Reason: Contains rural elements, is a classic, timeless work. The level of suffering in the plot is heartbreaking, with rich emotions.

Drawback: It’s an extremely deep work, requiring the audience to appreciate it slowly. This might result in ‘a gem being thrown in the dark’.

Recommendation Score: 3.5 stars.

Breaking Ice

Recommendation Reason: Based on the story of Taizai’s drug village, the plot is tightly connected to the theme, with plenty of suspense and eye-catching elements.

Drawback: The character storylines are quite complex, and predicting the plot in a live-streaming environment is challenging.

Recommendation Score: 4.5 stars.].

…

Breaking Ice?

When this work appeared before Lu Chen’s eyes, his mind immediately buzzed!

Oh my god! How could I have forgotten about this show?

Taizai! Drug village! Damn, a drug village is still a village! This completely fits the show’s theme requirements!

After all, the program didn’t specify that it couldn’t be a rural drug bust story! Plus, this angle was fresh and unique—something even Lu Chen hadn’t thought of. Other participants certainly wouldn’t think of it either. When the content unfolded, it would surely stir emotions!

Moreover, Breaking Ice was undeniably a highly popular drama! It was the benchmark work for this genre. On certain platforms, it had over 300,000 ratings!

When it first aired, the drama’s rating even approached nine! Later, there were rumors that companies had maliciously downvoted it, causing the score to drop. However, the rating was just a reference point, the drama’s quality spoke for itself!

Despite some flaws, such as a somewhat hasty ending, it was still a great show. The entire plot was tightly structured, with constant suspense. The characters representing good and evil were intricately intertwined, making it very enjoyable to watch!

The key was that this drama stood out from other drug-busting themes by successfully introducing the concept of ‘clans’! It cleverly combined the clan dynamics with anti-crime elements—an innovative approach! No previous drama had ever dared to try such a unique angle.

The story of Dong Shu and Taizai became the talk of the town, with some of the lines from the drama turning into internet memes that continue to be passed around! This demonstrated how beloved the show was by the audience!

Additionally, the drama had a high standard, and its storylines were very rich. It was a big-budget production!

Considering all of this, Breaking Ice was undoubtedly the best choice for Lu Chen!

Explosive topic!

Rural theme!

Suspenseful! Emotionally engaging for sure!

Attention-grabbing, can captivate from the start!

High-discussion characters!

These five points alone were enough for Lu Chen to pick it! As for the other two dramas, Happiness to All Families had already been passed over, and To Live…

While it was emotionally rich and a classic, it was just too depressing! Lu Chen was concerned that viewers might not be able to handle it. Even the system admitted that it might lead to a ‘gem being thrown in the dark’.

Moreover, Lu Chen had to think about his current situation. This was only the 32-person qualification round, and there were still the 16-person, 8-person, 4-person, 2-person, and final rounds to go!

If he used a heavy, emotionally intense story like To Live now… What if it went viral and the audience absolutely loved it? It would undoubtedly raise the threshold for both the audience and judges, which would be very unfavorable for him in the upcoming rounds! So, after considering everything, Lu Chen decided against To Live…

If today had been the championship round, Lu Chen would have chosen To Live without hesitation, not Breaking Ice. But since this was the 32-person qualification round, Breaking Ice was more appropriate. It would ensure his progression and still leave ample room for improvement in the next rounds!

With that thought, Lu Chen no longer hesitated. He made up his mind.

—Breaking Ice

Lu Chen believed that this drama would definitely make a stunning impact on the audience!

“

Beep!

Congratulations, Host! You’ve selected the script–Breaking Ice!”

“

Beep!

Since this is your first time exchanging an item in the store, congratulations, Host, for receiving a 5000-point emotional value rebate!”