novellhall Chapter 363 Breaking Records
Chapter 363 Breaking Records
Chapter 362 Breaking Records
"Are you done talking?"
After wiping the glasses, Han Li walked out from behind the bar.
He pulled up a chair and sat opposite the two of them, smoothing out the crumpled "For Rent" sign. He glanced at the rent figures: "This shop is $8000 a month, three months' deposit and one month's rent in advance. Just moving in means you have to pay $32,000 upfront, not including renovations, licenses, and labor. You two have saved up for six months and only $12,000 in total. How are you going to rent it?"
Caroline sighed, her face full of indignation: "But we can't just keep guarding the little cake display case in the restaurant forever, can we?"
"To grow a business, you need a proper storefront. Isn't that how it is in America?"
"Who told you that doing business in the US has to follow this route?"
Han Li looked up at her and asked a question that left Caroline speechless.
He pointed to the failed business plan, directly piercing the veil of pretense that everyone had taken for granted: "You two have failed in your startups more than ten times. Do you really think it's because you're incompetent or not hard enough?"
Max leaned forward, intrigued. "It can't be because I'm slacking off at work, can it?"
A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.
But after laughing for a while, everyone fell silent, staring at Han Li on the camera, waiting for him to continue.
Han Li smiled, picked up a pen, and casually drew a circle on the back of the GG form, then drew a line inside the circle.
"This is called the American bottom cutoff line."
He looked up at the two of them and revealed the cruelest truth: "You two work hard every day, want to start your own business, want to turn your lives around, but why can't you ever escape this circle? It's not that you're lazy, it's not that you're incapable, it's that the rules have drawn this line for you from the very beginning."
"If you want to open a shop, the landlord will charge you high rent. The rent for a good location can eat up 60% of your revenue. Even if you make some money, the tax bureau will deduct taxes, raw material suppliers will raise prices, and even the renovation team can rip you off."
Han Li emphasized the line with the tip of his pen: "Every penny you work so hard to earn goes mostly into other people's pockets. What you actually get is barely enough to survive. The more you struggle, the more you lose. You can never escape this cycle because this cutoff line has already blocked all your paths to advancement."
The moment those words were spoken, the recording studio fell silent.
The laughter from before has completely disappeared.
Only the faint sound of the camera moving remained.
The smiles on the faces of many people in the audience slowly faded, their eyes initially filled with confusion, then turning into sudden realization.
Some people nodded subconsciously, as if struck by those words.
In the booth, Caroline froze, opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.
She used to think that her business failures were due to bad luck, Max's lack of dedication, or various unexpected events. But she never imagined that from the very beginning, the path she chose was a dead end.
Max also dropped his nonchalant expression, putting down the straw he was holding, and pondered the sentence with a look of sudden realization in his eyes.
After a few seconds, she suddenly laughed, slammed her hand on the table, and said to Han Li, "So the reason I'm poor all my life isn't because I slack off and drink beer every day, but because these capitalists drew the line for me long ago?"
"Then I can slack off without feeling guilty, since I can't escape this trap no matter how hard I try."
The audience erupted in laughter, followed by thunderous applause, even more enthusiastic than the cheers at the start, which lasted for more than ten seconds.
This line, delivered with Max's signature sharp wit, both echoes Han Lee's line and cleverly incorporates the harsh reality into a comedic effect.
After everyone finished laughing, they all felt heavy-hearted, because Han Li's words were like a needle piercing the hearts of every ordinary person.
Recording is still ongoing.
Han Li gave the two of them a clear breakdown of the costs and benefits, completely overturning Caroline's plan to rent a shop and open a cake shop, and providing a completely new solution.
Instead of renting a storefront, they use the restaurant's unused kitchen as a production area, incurring zero rental costs.
Specializing in serving Chinese supermarkets, international student communities, and corporate catering in nearby office buildings in Brooklyn, they take orders first and then produce, eliminating inventory risk.
"My father once told me that when doing business in America, you have to survive first before you can talk about getting rich."
Han Li leaned back in his chair, toying with the three coins in his hand. As his fingers flew across the paper, the coins seemed to come alive in his hand: "Taking too big a step will only lead to a fall. First, make the money you can hold in your hands before thinking about what comes next. Otherwise, even if you struggle for another six years, you'll still be stuck in this dead end."
When the classic coin trick was performed, the audience erupted in cheers and applause once again.
Caroline's eyes widened as she looked at the plan Han Lee had presented. Her initial skepticism turned to gleam in her eyes, and finally, she slapped her thigh: "My God! How come we've never thought of doing this before?!"
"Because you're trapped by the idea that only opening a shop counts as starting a business."
Han Li put the coins into his pocket and shrugged: "Everyone here tells you to rent the best shops and do the most glamorous business, but nobody tells you that behind all that glamour lies a bottomless pit."
Throughout the entire filming, the applause on set never stopped.
Not only the audience, but also the directors and screenwriters behind the camera were filled with excitement.
Standing behind the monitor, the head screenwriter couldn't help but exclaim to the person next to him, "Chen Xun is amazing. We wrote several versions of this scene but couldn't capture the same feeling. His revised lines are funny, have a core message, and perfectly fit the character. It's incredible."
After hearing Han Lee's plan, Max scoffed, "So, this feng shui master not only knows how to tell fortunes, but also how to avoid capitalists' traps, right? Then tell me, do you think we'll succeed this time?"
Chen Xun chimed in, tapping his finger on the table with a serious expression: "The divination says that if you follow me and break through this critical line, you'll become rich. If you continue down the old path, you'll lose money and won't even be able to pay this month's rent."
In short, it not only connects to Max's references and echoes Han Lee's classic feng shui persona, but also captures the core theme of this episode.
Kate couldn't help but burst into laughter on the spot, Beth also laughed so hard she bent over, and the audience laughed so hard they almost drowned out the lines.
Instead of calling "cut," the director shouted into the walkie-talkie, "Film it like that! Great! Keep it!"
The entire 40-minute recording was high-energy and packed with laughs, yet it also hit the nail on the head regarding reality.
When the last shot was filmed and the director yelled "Cut!", the applause and cheers in the entire recording studio lasted for a full minute.
The audience all stood up and applauded enthusiastically at Chen Xun, Kate, and Beth on stage, with some shouting, "This episode was amazing!"
"Han Lee yyds!"
Kate turned around and hugged Chen Xun tightly, laughing as she said, "Chen, you're amazing! Just by looking at the audience's reactions during the performance, I knew this episode would be a huge hit."
Beth came over, her eyes full of admiration: "The scene you changed not only saved the show, but also gave these two characters new life. Thank you."
Chen Xun smiled and hugged the two back. Looking at the cheering audience below the stage, he was filled with emotion.
What he wanted was never just a simple return to nostalgia, but for the show to truly leave something behind, even if it's just a few lines that people can remember. That would be more meaningful than repeating old tropes for six years.
A week later, the first episode of the sixth season of "2 Broke Girls" aired simultaneously on CBS and streaming platforms.
The entire North American internet exploded the night it aired.
Nielsen's real-time ratings soared, and within fifteen minutes of airing, the ratings for the core 18-49 age group had surpassed 5.
.2。
When the broadcast ended, the ratings soared to 7.6!
It not only set a new record for the highest viewership of the entire "2 Broke Girls" series, but also broke the record for the highest viewership of a sitcom premiere on CBS in nearly a decade.
On streaming platforms, it garnered over 3000 million views within 24 hours!
The related topic dominated Twitter's global trending topics list.
#2 Broke Girls Cutoff Line#
#HanLee is back#
#The Cutoff Line for the Underclass in the United States#
These three terms firmly occupied the top three spots on the trending searches.
What ignited the entire internet was Han Li's line about the cutoff line at the bottom of society in the drama.
On TikTok, clips of this scene have been shared wildly.
In just one day, the video garnered over 2 million views, with countless netizens creating remakes and fan-made content. Some even made videos to dissect the realistic logic behind the dialogue and analyze the survival plight of ordinary people at the bottom of American society.
In the comments section, countless netizens left their reflections. The most liked comment read: "I've lived for 38 years, worked for others for 20 years, and changed startups three times. I've always lost money and always felt that I wasn't working hard enough or smart enough. But after reading Han's line today, I suddenly woke up. It wasn't my problem after all."
This comment garnered over a million likes and hundreds of thousands of replies in just one day.
Someone said, "I worked as a waiter in a restaurant for ten years, working 12 hours a day, and I could never afford the rent. I always blamed myself for being incompetent, but now I realize that all the money I earned was squeezed dry by that cut-off line."
Some people said, "This is so true. My friend and I opened a coffee shop. All the money we worked so hard to earn went to the landlord's rent. In the end, we went out of business and we were left with a mountain of debt. Everyone said it was because we mismanaged the business, but nobody said that the rent ate up 70% of our revenue."
Some people said, "This isn't just a sitcom line; it's like tearing down the very fabric of American society. An Asian character in America's most popular sitcom has spoken the truth that no media or politician dares to say. That's incredibly daring."
Not only ordinary viewers, but also many economists and sociologists shared this clip.
One columnist wrote: "A line from '2 Broke Girls' that reveals the most brutal truth about the American underclass is more profound than ten academic papers."
Some media outlets even published articles stating: "A sitcom has sparked a revolution in thinking about class and survival."
The internet in China also saw a frenzy of celebration.
As soon as the first episode aired, the video spread across the entire internet.
Weibo.
#2 Broke Girls Season 6 Premieres#
#Chen Xun's Kill Line#
The entry immediately topped the trending search list.
On Bilibili, thousands of related clips and dialogue analyses appeared overnight, with the most viewed video exceeding ten million views on the same day.
Domestic netizens were also deeply moved by this line.
"Help, what Han Li said isn't just about America, it feels like he's talking about me. I work 996 every day, and half of my earnings go to rent. I've worked hard for years, but I haven't saved a single penny. I always thought it was because I wasn't working hard enough, but now I realize that I'm also trapped in this cutoff line."
"Chen Xun is too daring! This isn't just rewriting a script; it's like stuffing a knife into a comedy and stabbing it right into the sore spot of reality."
"I used to watch '2 Broke Girls' just for fun, to see Max's sharp tongue and Caroline's contrast. But the first episode of this season opened up a whole new world. This is a truly good show. It's funny, but it also makes you think."
Han Li's classic lines have become a new hot topic for internet memes.
The old joke about "being immoral and affecting one's aura" hasn't even faded away yet, and now "the cutoff line for the lower class" has become a new internet buzzword.
Netizens joked: "I was slacking off at work today. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that the cutoff line is right here. No matter how hard I try, I won't make any money, so I might as well just lie down."
"The divination says that if you can't break through the critical point at work today, you might as well take the day off and stay home."
At CBS headquarters, executives were all smiles as they watched the skyrocketing ratings and viewership numbers, along with the overwhelming buzz.
The phone lines at the GG department were ringing off the hook with calls from GG vendors. The price of GG slots, which had already increased, has now doubled again, and it's still impossible to get one.
The person in charge who initially made the decision to fully cooperate with Chen Xun in revising the script was directly praised by the president at an internal meeting.
The entire production team of "2 Broke Girls" was overjoyed.
Meanwhile, on the New York film set, the crew members were all celebrating like it was New Year's Day, watching the online buzz.
Previously, everyone thought this was the last season, and that the production would end after filming. But now CBS has stated that as long as the ratings remain high, renewals for the seventh and eighth seasons are not a problem at all.
"Chen Xun, you truly are our savior!"
The producer saw Chen Xun walk onto the set and immediately went to greet him, excitedly shaking his hand: "Do you know what? The higher-ups at the station just called and said they're going to increase our production budget. They even asked if we wanted more episodes, and a bunch of companies are scrambling to buy the overseas distribution rights!"
Kate and Beth also gathered around, showing Chen Xun the online comments on their phones: "Now the whole internet is calling you a life mentor! Some people are even saying they want to learn how to do business from Boss Han Li."
The phenomenal success of the first episode of the sixth season of "2 Broke Girls" propelled this sitcom, which was originally on the verge of being canceled, to the top of the American entertainment industry.
CBS headquarters was inundated with calls from GamerSky and the media, streaming viewership skyrocketed, Nielsen ratings topped the charts for a week straight, and even viewership for the first five seasons more than tripled. But what both frustrated and excited the production team most was the flood of cameo offers.
Half of Hollywood's artists pull strings to get a chance to appear in the sixth season, even if it's just for a few minutes.
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