A little after 8:00 PM, the first episode progressed to the entrance of the Secret Service Department.
Just as Jiang Yue finished warning the bullet comments not to be afraid, the screen cut, and Zhou Jinnan made his entrance.
A dark pinstripe suit clung to his shoulders, the top button of his shirt undone. His slicked-back side-part cast a greasy, old-Shanghai sheen under the dim lighting, and half a mandarin orange tossed up and down in his palm.
With a sweep of his foot, a student crashed to the ground.
He casually slipped two silver dollars between his fingers, then turned around and uttered some nonsense about selling everyone to Wen Yuchu for five silver dollars, leaving her utterly speechless.
The bullet comments instantly erupted.
【He's so smug, I love it!】
【Is this really Jiang Yue? This rogueish vibe makes him look like a completely different person!】
【Kicking someone away and then pocketing the silver dollars... Captain Zhou, confess honestly, did you use to be a robber?】
Jiang Yue glanced at the bullet comments, tossed a grape into his mouth, and explained to the camera, “Pocketing the silver dollars is purely part of the character setting. In reality, I recommend everyone return lost money to its rightful owner.”
Chen Jiaming, in his small window above, added with a smile, “He indeed doesn't take silver dollars in real life. Instead, he directly walked off with two boxes of premium tea from the set.”
Jiang Yue immediately retorted, “That was specially approved by Director Xu! He said it was to reward me.”
The bullet comments flooded the screen once more.
Immediately after, Lu Cheng made his appearance. The moment he spoke, his protective nature and commanding presence anchored the entire scene.
【Chief Lu is killing me! He makes me feel so safe!】
【Two powerhouses! What beautiful boss-subordinate chemistry is this!】
【Fu Xiao: In the end, I was the one who bore it all.】
As the progress bar of the first episode passed the halfway mark, Jiang Yue aimed for the scheduled cue and held up a handwritten card to the camera.
“Here's a quick announcement. There's a benefit box icon in the bottom right corner. Inside are viewing perks prepared by our promotional team, platform events, and various virtual screenings. Those without a membership can go try your luck, and then we'll continue watching the next few episodes.”
The first batch of fifty thousand viewing perks, including monthly membership cards, movie coupons, and entry tickets for autographed photo raffles, would be distributed in batches over the three days of the watch-along.
Meanwhile, in the platform's backend, Wang Lei of the Tech Department watched the rapidly climbing claim requests with growing excitement, his fingers flying across the keyboard. After all, this was all performance data.
During the office sweep that day, Jiang Yue had casually mentioned boundary protection. The team had subsequently implemented a round of rate-limiting conditions, which actually came in handy tonight. Otherwise, just parsing through the logs would have been enough to keep him stuck at his desk until dawn.
The second episode moved at an even faster pace.
In the Chief's office, Zhou Jinnan reported on the river-sinking mission and pledged his loyalty. As he backed away to the door to leave, the submissiveness on his face vanished within seconds, his peripheral vision sweeping over the document beside Lu Cheng's hand.
This sudden transition from innocent to dark sent a thrill through the bullet comments.
【Holy crap! This face-changing speed is so fast that even a Sichuan opera performer would have to call him master!】
【He was just a loyal dog a second ago. How did he turn into a vicious wolf the moment he walked out!】
【Now this is a real agent! Who says spy dramas can't have satisfying moments!】
As the subsequent episodes progressed, several scenes of Zhou Jinnan using his villainous facade to save people were released one after another.
By the time the six episodes of the premiere night finished airing, the trending topics remained pinned to the hot search list all the way until dawn.
The next evening's watch-along livestream featured an additional window, with Han Song squeezing into the bottom-left corner with a look of tragic indignation.
“Everyone in the audience! You have to help me get justice!”
Han Song immediately cupped his hands to the camera. “I went out to buy a cup of coffee today, and just because I glared at Zhou Jinnan a couple of times in the drama, the security guard at my neighborhood gate insisted on dragging me into a half-hour conversation! Don't you think I've been wronged?!”
He beat his chest, acting with deep sincerity.
“As you watch the show tonight, if you feel bad for Fu Xiao, please type 'I feel bad for the Squad Two Captain' on the screen to give me some moral support, alright?!”
The bullet comments were instantly flooded with 【Hahaha】 and 【I feel bad for the Squad Two Captain】.
The seventh and eighth episodes airing tonight happened to feature Zhou Jinnan's loyalty being tested by Lu Cheng with fake intel. In these scenes, he greedily lined his pockets at 36 Jing'an Road, even using a silk handkerchief to pocket half a piece of cured pork.
On screen, Fu Xiao held a pair of binoculars in the opposite building, swearing up a storm in fury.
In the livestream, Han Song pointed at the screen in accusation.
“Look at this! This guy is absolutely desperate! It's one thing to take a pocket watch, but he even took cured pork! Did he become an agent just to restock his pantry?!”
Jiang Yue leisurely retorted, “It's called making the best use of everything. Besides, the cured pork was later taken by the set crew and stir-fried with garlic sprouts as an extra dish for our boxed lunches. It actually tasted pretty good.”
Chen Jiaming nodded in agreement. “Indeed, I even had a bite. When Jiang Yue took that cured pork, his movements were incredibly natural. I couldn't help but wonder back then, how does this kid usually live his life?”
【I'm dying of laughter, is the production crew really that poor? They actually cooked the cured pork!】
【Zhou Jinnan: I traded intel for cured pork. Sounds reasonable, right?】
【Captain Fu: Should I leave then?】
The end of the eighth episode brought the first major climax since the broadcast began: the execution of Old Ghost.
On the cold, windy plaza, Old Ghost was covered in blood. Zhou Jinnan buried his emotions deep beneath his skin. After the gunshot rang out, only a solitary figure remained standing.
The bullet comments, which had been boisterous just moments ago, gradually quieted down.
There was no overly melodramatic background music, only the sound of heavy breathing and the whistling wind.
Jiang Yue watched himself on screen. The final cut's emotional impact was even stronger than he had anticipated.
【My defense is broken, what kind of god-tier acting is this...】
【The light in Zhou Jinnan's eyes went out, yet he didn't even dare to shed a single tear.】
【Close your eyes, stay alive. This scene is making me cry my eyes out.】
【Jiang Yue really brought Zhou Jinnan to life. He has flesh, blood, and beliefs.】
The livestream room also fell silent.
Chen Jiaming sighed, and Han Song also put away his playful expression.
“We shot this scene for several hours,” Han Song said softly. “Jiang Yue's state at the time pulled so many people on set into the moment.”
Looking at the rows of bullet comments expressing heartbreak for Zhou Jinnan, Jiang Yue adjusted his sitting posture and smiled at the camera. “It's all in the past. Zhou Jinnan caught the spark left behind by Old Ghost.”
Just as the atmosphere in the livestream room began to ease up, Jiang Yue glanced at the time. It was almost time to sign off.
Right at that moment, a bolded bullet comment floated across the top of the screen.
【Brother Yue, do you still remember the meme about how locking up your coworker on stage is bad? It got dug up again on the hot search list today. Can you demonstrate it one more time?】
Han Song's face immediately pressed right against the center of his small window, his hands waving frantically, his entire face screaming: Don't look at me, I'm not here.
Jiang Yue raised an eyebrow and looked at Han Song's small window across the screen, a smile lingering on his lips.
“Brother Han, how about we find an opportunity to try it again? This time, I promise to use slow motion. It'll be absolutely cool and stylish.”
Han Song bounced out of his chair in an exaggerated manner, looking as if he was about to flee from the camera the very next second.
The bullet comments in the livestream flashed by even faster.
【Don't run, Squad Two Captain!】
【Locking up your coworker live on stage is bad, but locking up your coworker remotely is totally fine!】
【Brother Han, even welding your door shut won't help! Zhou Jinnan is already on his way!】
Just then, the Secret Service Department benefit box icon in the bottom right corner turned from red to gray.
A line of small text popped up on the screen: 【This round of benefits has been fully claimed. Membership perks are being credited to accounts.】
Jiang Kaiwen stared at the data dashboard and reminded him from the side, “Bro, the benefit pool is empty.”
Jiang Yue turned his head to look at him.
“The entire quota for today's round is gone?”
Jiang Kaiwen swiped his finger across the screen.
“Gone. And not just the benefits. Right after Old Ghost's scene aired, membership conversions surged within ten minutes. The platform's payment gateway didn't crash, but the peak queue was throttled by risk control. The Operations Department temporarily changed the second round of benefits to a reservation-based raffle to prevent scalper scripts from harvesting the coupons.”
Jiang Yue was slightly taken aback.
The livestream feed remained stable, and the bullet comments were still rolling.
However, next to the grayed-out benefit box, a new reservation button had appeared: 【Reservations for the second round of virtual screening benefits are underway】
The reaction from the bullet comments was even more heated than before.
【??? It was already gone the moment I clicked in?】
【Penguin, don't play dead! Restock quickly!】
【My membership is already renewed until the year after next! Can you at least let me draw Brother Yue's autographed photo first!】
Chen Jiaming slowly took a sip of water. “It seems Fu Xiao isn't the most tragic one tonight.”
Han Song immediately chimed in, “I hereby declare Fu Xiao temporarily safe, because everyone's hatred has shifted to the benefit box.”
Looking at the bullet comments, Jiang Yue comforted them, “Don't worry if you didn't get one. There will be more events later, and there will be autographed photos too.”
Jiang Kaiwen lowered his voice beside him.
“Bro, a message.”
His phone vibrated, and a message from Su Qing popped up.
【The real-time playback market share of 《The Hidden Sentry》 has broken 20%, and its popularity on the Penguin Video platform has surpassed 20,000, setting the record for the fastest to reach 20,000 this year. Lamerd just sent an email; they are preparing to move up the phase evaluation.】
Rate on N.U.
