Chapter 65

Although the production team had made changes, due to time constraints, the ninth and tenth episodes that aired consecutively were still edited using the old footage from previous shoots, with only a slight increase in the proportion of scenes featuring Zhang Chengyuan.

Because there were no major changes, as everyone predicted, the ratings for "The Crown Prince's First Love" continued to decline, while its rival "Full House" saw a steady rise in ratings, reaching over 28%, and was expected to break 30% in the following week, surpassing the former by nearly 10%.

The further decline in ratings and the continued criticism from many media outlets made all the crew members feel very depressed, with the director, screenwriter, and main actors feeling so heavy that they could hardly eat. While Zhang Chengyuan could not care much about whether others were eating enough, he was deeply concerned that after these two weeks, Sung Yuri's body had clearly become much thinner.

Therefore, he forced Sung Yuri to eat enough every day, supervised her drinking the nutritious soup cooked by her mother or Yoo Joo-hyun, and even fed her by hand, using his true qi to regulate her body. When she was depressed, he told her some lame jokes to cheer her up; when she was tired, he massaged her to improve her blood circulation; when she was memorizing and practicing her lines, he acted alongside her. He was extremely considerate and attentive, doing everything possible to help her. When they occasionally gathered together in the evenings, unlike before, Zhang Chengyuan no longer disturbed her when she slept, but quietly held her and acted as a human air conditioner for her.

With Zhang Chengyuan's "Refining Essence into Qi" cultivation at its peak, he was no longer afraid of cold or heat, and for him, regulating his body temperature or even the air temperature within three feet of him was a piece of cake. In the hot summer nights, with him by her side, Sung Yuri felt much cooler and more comfortable, and her sleep quality improved significantly.

After his efforts from multiple fronts, Sung Yuri's physical and mental state improved greatly. However, if the situation with the TV drama continued to worsen, she would likely become worried and thin again. Therefore, Zhang Chengyuan had to work even harder in his acting, hoping to recover some of the ratings. Apart from him, all the crew members were also working very hard, hoping to produce more exciting and satisfying episodes for the audience. However, their goals were different from Zhang Chengyuan's; they did not want their hard work to be criticized and ridiculed.

Another week passed, and the newly aired eleventh and twelfth episodes contained more than half of the newly shot scenes. As a result, the audience made several pleasant discoveries in these two episodes:

The male lead played by Cha Tae-hyun finally stopped acting like a lazy and self-righteous young master and became more respectful, understanding, and responsible.

The male second lead played by Zhang Chengyuan was no longer so cold. Although he still spoke sparingly, he smiled much more, especially when thinking of the female lead, looking like a man who had just fallen in love, which made young female viewers swoon and couldn't get enough of it.

The interaction between Zhang Chengyuan and Sung Yuri increased, and their relationship seemed sweeter. They were a perfect match, and even without any intimate scenes, just holding hands and walking by the sea, occasionally exchanging glances and showing affection, made people feel that this was the true love that many people yearned for.

After these two episodes aired, the cut scenes of Zhang Chengyuan and Sung Yuri's sweet moments were quickly uploaded to the internet, causing a frenzy of downloads.

...

Another surprising discovery for the audience was that at the end of each episode, a few lines of subtitles appeared: "Please choose the person you want to see with the female lead, is it Choi Jianxi (played by Cha Tae-hyun) or Che Chengxian (played by Zhang Chengyuan)? Or neither. We will shoot the corresponding ending based on the majority of the audience's choice. Stay tuned!" This was followed by the voting method and voting time.

After these two episodes aired, they attracted considerable attention. It goes without saying that the love scenes between Zhang Chengyuan and Sung Yuri sparked heated discussions, but the practice of letting the audience vote to decide the ending was enough to draw the public's attention.

Some people believed that this was a way to attract attention, used to break the awkward situation of the sharp decline in ratings for "The Crown Prince's First Love." Although it was effective, making the ratings stop declining and even slightly increase to 21.3% in the twelfth episode, it could not effectively improve the quality of the drama or make a positive contribution to the development of the TV drama industry.

Others thought that although this method could not become a regular way to save TV drama ratings in the future, it was a good strategy to change the situation at present. At least it had attracted the audience's attention again, and if the quality of the drama could be improved at the same time, the drama might not only survive but also achieve good ratings.

Still, some people were neutral, commenting: "From these two episodes, we can see the ambition and sincerity of the 'Crown Prince' production team to bring a beautiful visual experience to the audience. Not only did they increase the screen time of the handsome and popular male second lead, treating him almost like another male lead, but they also made the plot more concise and tight, and the shooting quality more refined and beautiful, providing a feast for the eyes. There were many such changes, but whether they could truly satisfy the audience still needs to be tested by time. However, it is certain that they were very sincere, and such changes, regardless of the outcome, are highly commendable."

Given the attention and discussion these two episodes generated, it was reasonable that the ratings saw a slight recovery, and there was no need to worry too much about the ratings for the next two episodes. The entire crew was very excited by this result, which boosted their confidence and gave them hope for success.

Of course, this did not mean that they could rest easy. No gimmick could maintain the spotlight for long; the key was the quality of the work. The entire crew was well aware of this, as the director, screenwriter, and others had repeatedly emphasized it.

Therefore, everyone remained vigilant and worked even harder. Although they often had to work overtime to catch up with the shooting schedule, which left them both mentally and physically exhausted, almost to their limits, they all persevered, believing that their efforts would definitely pay off.

After several weeks of intense work, the results were as everyone had hoped. The ratings for "The Crown Prince's First Love" episodes 13, 14, 15, and 16 steadily increased, although the increase was minimal, and by episode 16, the ratings were only around 25%. This was far from the grand opening of the drama and could not catch up with the ratings of its rival "Full House." However, everyone felt very satisfied because bringing a drama on the brink of cancellation back to life was already a remarkable achievement! Moreover, due to the competition from "The Crown Prince," "Full House"’s ratings remained around 30%, making it impossible to break 40% and become a national drama at least until "The Crown Prince" finished airing. This could be considered a small revenge against the rival.