Chapter 43: A New Type of Drama
Fans: “…”
Even up until now, Lu Xu had been at the forefront of clapping back at others. People thought he would tone it down after signing with a management company, but it seemed that the word “restraint” didn’t exist in Lu Xu’s vocabulary.
Someone, please get his agent to manage him!
Lu Xu’s comment section had become a riot of laughter.
[So, breaking your contract and letting someone else clean up your mess counts as clout-chasing now?]
[Playing Ji Xiuya is attention-seeking? Who else would even dare take this role?]
[Hey, everyone, spread the word: Chen Ye said he wants to pose n*de for photos.]
[To be honest… I want to see Lu Xu pose n*de instead.]
[Be bold—I want to see it too!]
[Let’s watch together!]
[Who reneges on a contract and then turns around to trample on the role? Does he really think he’s worthy of playing Ji Xiuya?]
The audience was thoroughly enjoying Supreme. If Chen Ye had stayed quiet, people might’ve let it slide, but he just had to jump in like an annoying fly, and this really ticked off the fans.
Supreme had premiered, and there he was, singing and dancing in the spotlight!
Fans of Ji Xiuya’s character were particularly upset. How often did they get an actor as fitting as Lu Xu?
Did he really think every role was lucky enough to land an actor like that?
Fine, Chen Ye didn’t want to play the role—fair enough—but why did he have to stomp on Ji Xiuya while he was at it?
The character’s fans moved quickly. In record time, they dug up all the roles Chen Ye had ever played.
Coincidentally, Chen Ye had once portrayed a character similar to Ji Xiuya—also a villain, also filled with hatred toward the world. But his portrayal of the character fell far short of Lu Xu’s, to the point where the contrast was glaring.
“Not just anyone can handle a villain role well.”
[All I can see is that Chen Ye clearly didn’t respect the roles he played… What’s the point of assigning value to characters?]
[To be honest, I don’t even want to compare him with Ji Xiuya.]
[Same here…]
Chen Ye was so harshly criticized that he ended up disabling the comment section on his Weibo. Unfortunately for him, GIFs of his character began circulating widely online. This character, who had barely made an impression when the show aired, suddenly became the talk of the internet, but only because of Chen Ye’s behavior.
Of course, most of the comments were mocking.
In the end, the director and scriptwriter of that show had to step forward and clarify that when Chen Ye was initially cast for the role, the production team had no intention of using it as a publicity stunt.
[With an actor like that, no wonder a good character like Ji Xiaoyuan got completely ruined.]
Before the adaptation, that show had way more buzz than Supreme. Unfortunately, the script ended up being mediocre, and the performances were equally disappointing. Once the show finished airing, the original novel’s popularity vanished almost instantly.
Ji Xiaoyuan was the main villain in the original novel. His backstory was far more tragic than Ji Xiuya’s, which had drawn in a group of sympathetic fans.
When Chen Ye was cast as Ji Xiaoyuan, fans of the character had protested, arguing that Chen Ye’s image didn’t fit the role at all. But at the time, the novel was hugely popular, and many young actors in the industry were scrambling to play roles in the adaptation. Despite the fans’ objections, they couldn’t sway the investors’ decision.
When the show flopped, the popularity of all the characters from the original novel plummeted, including Ji Xiaoyuan.
Back then, Chen Ye was just one of many actors being criticized for the show’s failure. He wasn’t singled out and managed to avoid much of the fallout.
But now, by openly dissing Ji Xiuya, he had reignited the flames. The stark contrast between Ji Xiuya and Ji Xiaoyuan as characters only made things worse. Fans of Ji Xiaoyuan, still hurt from the earlier disappointment, erupted in anger.
Old grievances and new grudges came flooding back.
How could Chen Ye have the audacity to look down on Ji Xiuya?
Wasn’t Ji Xiaoyuan far more tragic than Ji Xiuya?
The original Supreme novel wasn’t even popular, but Ji Xiuya’s character skyrocketed to fame thanks to Lu Xu’s portrayal. On the other hand, Ji Xiaoyuan faded into obscurity as soon as the show finished airing. Even fans of the original work, eager to extract some “sweet moments” from the character, couldn’t bring themselves to create fan works with Chen Ye’s face as inspiration.
Fans always express their preferences in the most straightforward way. If Chen Ye looked down on Supreme, then they would make sure the data for Supreme outperformed Book of Nine Revolutions.
…
The Book of Nine Revolutions was scheduled for a summer release, but its broadcast dates overlapped with the final ten episodes of Supreme, putting the two shows in direct competition for a few days.
Industry insiders were naturally more optimistic about Book of Nine Revolutions.
With renowned actress Wei Fangfei and mid-career actor Chu Tianshu returning to the TV drama scene after years, the show had a significant investment behind it. Although not on the scale of the blockbuster series The Watchers, the budget was still impressive enough to attract attention.
While Wei Fangfei and Chu Tianshu had turned to TV dramas because of their struggles in the film industry, their previous iconic TV roles gave them an edge over other movie actors who lacked the same connection with the TV audience.
For better or worse, Wei Fangfei and Chu Tianshu were the main selling points of Book of Nine Revolutions.
Wei Fangfei herself was full of confidence.
Back when she was active in the film industry, she carried herself with a lofty attitude, rarely posting promotional material for TV dramas and outright dismissing any invitations from TV production teams. Wei Fangfei wouldn’t even glance at a TV drama offer.
In the entertainment industry, the lines between movie and TV actors were sharply drawn; they operated in entirely different worlds.
But times had changed. After three consecutive box-office flops, no matter how dignified Wei Fangfei tried to remain, the film industry had mercilessly discarded her.
High-end endorsements and her past reputation alone couldn’t sustain her former glory. The entertainment world thrives on lifting some up while stepping on others. As soon as Wei Fangfei showed signs of decline, others were quick to step in and claim her luxury endorsements. Coupled with failed investments over the past few years, her financial situation had taken a sharp downturn.
For Wei Fangfei, the invitation from Book of Nine Revolutions production team was nothing short of a lifeline.
Wei Fangfei unapologetically claimed half of the show’s budget for her salary. She had no idea how much Chu Tianshu was being paid, but it certainly wouldn’t be a small amount either.
Despite her high salary, Wei Fangfei had no intention of lowering her standards for the production. She demanded a quality script and outstanding supporting actors. As for whether the remaining budget after her payday was enough for the production to function properly, that wasn’t her concern.
She was an actress, after all, and her only responsibility was to focus on acting.
Wei Fangfei was confident that Book of Nine Revolutions would perform well.
She had acted seriously, and so had Chu Tianshu. After spending so many years in the film industry, handling something as “small” as TV roles should be a breeze for them.
Overly confident in herself, Wei Fangfei only reposted a single promotional post for Book of Nine Revolutions.
News of her role in the show had already been everywhere. Given her status, who in the industry wouldn’t have heard of Book of Nine Revolutions by now?
In the days leading up to the show’s premiere, Wei Fangfei didn’t even bother to check its performance metrics.
As a top-tier actress, she had plenty on her plate. She was still strategizing a comeback to the film industry, which meant she needed to maintain all her connections, big or small, within that world.
Just because she had temporarily shifted to television didn’t mean she could neglect the network she had painstakingly built over the years in the film industry.
The TV industry was merely a pit stop—her roots were still firmly planted in film.
Wei Fangfei skipped the first promotional event for Book of Nine Revolutions. Chu Tianshu took the lead, handling everything on his own. Her plan was to wait until the show gained traction before stepping forward to make her presence as the leading lady known to the media and the audience.
After all, there were plenty of promotional events. Missing one wouldn’t make a difference.
Wei Fangfei’s plans sounded flawless in her mind.
However, about five days after the premiere of Book of Nine Revolutions, she still hadn’t received a single congratulatory message.
No junior colleagues called her with that mix of envy and subtle sourness in their tone. Nor did any familiar directors from the film industry reach out, hinting at future collaborations. Everything was eerily silent—too quiet.
Her agent had reminded her to cooperate with Book of Nine Revolutions production team for promotion.
But after spending years rooted in the entertainment industry, Wei Fangfei had always been in the driver’s seat when it came to her relationship with her agent.
She firmly believed that her success was the result of her own efforts and had little to do with her agent.
She listened to the reminder but didn’t fully act on it.
Wei Fangfei trusted her instincts and timing to find the perfect moment to promote.
Truthfully, she wasn’t particularly willing to promote Book of Nine Revolutions.
Top actresses had their own circles and a certain stature to maintain. Others were still thriving in the film industry, and here she was—pouring too much effort into promoting a TV show? That felt like lowering her status.
Just as Wei Fangfei was about to discuss the situation with her agent, her phone suddenly rang.
She glanced at the screen and saw a number she hadn’t contacted in ages.
The call was from another top actress, someone who had once been on par with her.
Back when they were younger, the two had gotten along well. Since they didn’t compete for similar roles or endorsement styles, they had supported each other during their early days in the film industry.
But the circle of leading actresses was small, and over time, as they both became popular with luxury brands and high-profile projects, their relationship cooled. Eventually, a bitter rivalry over a role caused them to fall out completely.
At the time, Wei Fangfei had come out on top, securing her status as a leading actress.
However, her rival later made a strong comeback, earning accolades and surpassing Wei Fangfei in terms of awards. From then on, she steadily built her own place among the top actresses.
Wei Fangfei wasn’t sure why this woman was contacting her after such a long silence. Suspicious of her intentions, Wei Fangfei chose not to answer and declined the call.
A sudden sense of foreboding crept into Wei Fangfei’s heart.
Moments later, a text message arrived from the other actress:
[Second on the trending charts—congratulations, you’ve still got it!]
Second place?
Not long after, her agent filled her in on the details—Book of Nine Revolutions was indeed second on the trending charts, but it was far from a respectable second place.
On its premiere day, Book of Nine Revolutions had broken 10,000 in popularity scores but was still overshadowed by Supreme, which boasted over 12,000.
By the next day, Book of Nine Revolutions couldn’t even maintain its initial heat, dropping below 10,000, while Supreme consistently stayed above 12,000.
In other words, despite featuring top-tier stars and having a much larger budget than Supreme, the gap between the two dramas only widened.
And that wasn’t even the most embarrassing part for Book of Nine Revolutions team.
The most humiliating detail was that even after Supreme had already concluded, its daily average popularity scores continued to surpass those of Book of Nine Revolutions for several consecutive days.
Although the difference wasn’t substantial, every night, Supreme managed to edge out Book of Nine Revolutions by just a little.
As for reviews—Supreme didn’t achieve the long-term acclaim of heavyweights like Son of Heaven, but audience feedback was generally positive.
The storyline was cohesive, and while the production was undeniably low-budget, it didn’t falter during pivotal scenes. The set designs and visual effects, especially during critical fight sequences, held up admirably, with some of the action sequences even being deemed exceptional.
One particularly impactful moment was the death of He Ziqing, which left many viewers “howling” with tears multiple times. The actor Zheng Xiao gained considerable popularity because of his performance in that scene.
Even several days after its finale, Supreme still maintained a rating above 9.0 on reputable drama review platforms.
In contrast, Book of Nine Revolutions faced backlash within just a few days of its release. Many viewers complained that they had been deceived, dismissing it as a “cringeworthy drama” and ridiculing it as a vanity project for middle-aged actors indulging in public-funded Mary Sue fantasies.
Yes, the eccentricity of My Baby Prince was the kind that audiences found delightfully entertaining.
But the eccentricity of Book of Nine Revolutions? It was… indescribable.
In the third episode, the male lead played by Chu Tianshu invited the female lead to admire his toned chest muscles and boldly declared, “Woman, are you captivated by me yet?”
One moment, it was Chu Tianshu’s over-the-top “Jack Sue” energy; the next, it was Wei Fangfei’s indulgent “Mary Sue” moments. Viewers even began speculating that the two actors had brought their own scripts to the set, each vying to craft a perfect persona for themselves, desperate not to be outshined by the other.
[This feels like something written by a mentally ill patient.]
[I’ve lost my vision.]
[Captivated? My foot! Somebody save me!]
The drama’s attempts at romantic tension quickly became the subject of widespread ridicule online.