2025年3月18日，一部臨時改名、零宣發空降的古裝劇《雁回時》，悄然登陸騰訊視頻。誰也沒想到，這部被貼上“A級劇”標籤的作品，僅用10天便以破竹之勢衝上站內30000熱度，成為平臺年度首部達成此成就的劇集。

Adapted from the novel "The Reborn Noble Girl is Hard to Find", the drama tells the story of the orphan girl Zhuang Hanyan (played by Chen Duling) who went from being abandoned to returning home with revenge, and started a double-strength game with Fu Yunxi (played by Xin Yunlai), a black-bellied minister. On the first day of broadcasting, it sparked heated discussions with its "short drama-style rhythm" and the suffocating house fight of "all the villains", and the retention rate of the first episode was as high as 78%. In the play, famous scenes such as Zhuang Hanyan knocking on the Zhumen with bare feet on the snowy night, and Fu Yunxi burning the layout of the house, were jokingly called "eight-times the speed of the plot, and the pause button is the decoration".

What's even more amazing is that this counterattack almost relies on the audience's "tap water". There is no OST warm-up, no hot search pre-embedding, and even the promotional materials are still being modified on the day of the broadcast, but "When the Goose Returns" relies on "crazy plot, explosive acting, and ruthless details" to break out of the encirclement, making netizens exclaim: "When other dramas are on the table to eat, it directly lifts the table to start a new game!" ”

The explosion of "When the Goose Returns" is essentially a resounding slap in the face to the "bad traffic drama". When "Like Brocade" was ridiculed by the group because of the rebirth of routines and plastic CP in the same period, "When the Wild Goose Returns" used "short drama thinking" to reconstruct the logic of ancient puppets: the heroine started to kill her adoptive parents, the male protagonist burned the layout of the house, and the villain hid a knife in his smile...... There are at least three high-energy reversals in each episode, and the audience doesn't even dare to go to the toilet for fear of missing the key plot.

What's even more rare is that its "fast" is not brainless. Zhuang Hanyan saw through the incense ash calligraphy of forged Buddhist scriptures, and Fu Yunxi's long-shot cooperation in rescuing orphans in the fire, elevating the house fight to a confrontation between conspiracy and criminal investigation. As screenwriter Cao Xiaotian said: "We write about people, not the love between men and women." This kind of narrative that abandons the "love brain" and focuses on the game of women's survival and human nature allows the audience to see another possibility of ancient puppets.

In this drama, Chen Turin is undoubtedly the biggest surprise. The former "wooden beauty" is completely subverted this time: the feeling of brokenness when shouting grievances in the snow, the cruel eyes when pinching the aunt's neck, and the scars on the back of the male protagonist in the dedication scene...... She played Zhuang Hanyan's "weak skin wrapped in steel blade soul" to the fullest. Netizens ridiculed: "She made 'white cut black' colorful black." ”

The old drama bones even contributed "textbook-level acting skills". Ruan Xiwen, the main mother played by Wen Zhengrong, has a micro-expression of being mean on the surface but stealing silver tickets; Wang Yan's Aunt Zhou smiled with a knife gesture when handing over tea; Yu Entai's hypocritical father Zhuang Shiyang's power-playing face...... Each supporting role is like a "wicked guide" that came out of "Dream of Red Mansions", making the audience itch with hatred and can't help but dig deep into the background of human nature.

The popularity of "When the Goose Returns" also stems from the ultimate pursuit of details. The coarse linen skirt worn by the heroine when she first returned home, and the stitches reproduce the brocade of the Li nationality in Danzhou; The house burned down by the male protagonist, the scorched wood grain road corresponds to the real fire direction; The word "home" on the plaque of Zhuangfu "House of Harmony" hides traces of blood, which is interpreted as "the mound of harmony". These details made the audience incarnate "Leeuwenhoek", launched a "detail challenge" in the barrage, and even picked up 26 metaphors.

On the other hand, in the market, too many dramas have spent money on traffic stars and five-cent special effects, but even a bowl of noodles for eating dramas has to use plastic props. "When the Goose Returns" proves with actions: the audience is not blind, and sincerity is more important than hype. The thinking left by this drama to the industry is far more important than the popularity value: when "explosion-proof" becomes the norm in domestic entertainment, and when "data female workers" create false prosperity, why can a drama with zero publicity rely on word-of-mouth to break out of the encirclement? The answer is simple - "the eyes of the audience are the real heat counter".