Chapter 88: After Wrapping Up Filming

Mu Qian handed Jin Mu a packet of tissues and said, “I really regret not working with Lu Xu earlier.”

Jin Mu nodded lightly.

Back during Rising Sun, there were too many constraints. Unlike now, after their reputations were completely ruined and no one bothered with them, they were instead able to take full control of the script’s direction.

It was just a matter of being a bit poorer, that’s all.

However, When I Was 18 didn’t require elaborate visuals or dazzling special effects. It was enough to simply showcase the everyday lives of ordinary people.

Mu Qian and Jin Mu poured a great deal of effort into the drama. During filming, they also fully considered the opinions of the actors. Perhaps because no one interfered, the final product of When I Was 18 turned out even better than Mu Qian and Jin Mu had expected.

During this period, Lu Xu had a mountain of work piling up, and Xu Wen frequently visited the set. Yet, Lu Xu still insisted on staying with the crew until the day filming wrapped up.

At that moment, Mu Qian finally understood why every director who had worked with Lu Xu sang his praises.

What director wouldn’t like an actor like him?

Lu Xu’s acting seemed effortless, but everyone knew that behind this ease was undoubtedly hard work.

After wrapping up When I Was 18, Lu Xu slept at home for an entire day before diving into the mountain of tasks awaiting him.

Using the term “mountain” wasn’t an exaggeration—these were the jobs Xu Wen had carefully selected for him. Without his manager filtering them first, the invitations Lu Xu received would have been at least ten times more than what he had on hand.

Just the award invitations alone numbered over a dozen.

The platform-hosted awards, locally organized awards, and those with higher prestige were numerous. There were even some bizarre awards that Lu Xu had no courage to accept. For example, he and Shao Yao had recently been voted Best On-Screen Couple in a viewer-voted category. Among stiff competition from various male-female pairings, their votes left the others far behind.

The nominees included My Baby Prince’s female lead Xia Xuewen paired with another male actor. However, Xia Xuewen herself voted for Lu Xu and Shao Yao.

Lu Xu: “…Just you wait.”

Xia Xuewen: ( ̄ˇ ̄)

This wasn’t the only quirky award.

Among the many awards, apart from the prestigious Stellar Awards, the most significant was the Drama Critics’ Association Award. Though relatively new, it focused on recognizing actors under the age of 40, effectively complementing the Stellar Awards.

Lu Xu had previously won Best Supporting Actor for Son of Heaven in the Drama Critics’ Association Award but had been too busy filming to collect the trophy, leaving it to Xu Wen to handle.

This time, he was once again nominated, thanks to his performance in The Path of Bones.

Since the start of the Drama Critics’ Association Award’s promotion, there had been no dispute over who would take the honor—

It had to be Lu Xu.

While the four other nominees delivered outstanding performances, their efforts paled compared to Lu Xu’s work in The Path of Bones. The difference in caliber was evident.

Notably, Zhang Che had also been previously nominated for the Drama Critics’ Association Award, making him one of the most eligible actors under 30 to vie for the Stellar Awards.

Yet, Zhang Che had not yet managed to win the favor of the Stellar Awards jury.

For this year’s Drama Critics’ Association Award, Lu Xu walked the red carpet and personally accepted his trophy.

That evening, G-brand became a topic of discussion online, with people jokingly commenting that “there is no one else in their eyes except Lu Xu”. The official account posted over a dozen entries, all centered around Lu Xu.

However, in the eyes of fans, Lu Xu’s charm shone in every moment: smiling and applauding his competitors at the Stellar Awards was captivating, but holding the trophy with a radiant smile was even more so.

Reckless yet proud, he exuded the boldness of a star at the height of his career.

The performance clip chosen for the Drama Critics’ Association Award featured Yu Yi’s cold and vengeful scene. In this moment, he resembled a machine devoid of self, lost in the euphoric thrill of vengeance.

[Proud of Lu Xu!]

[The moment Lu Puppy stepped onto that stage, I could only think of two words: Well-deserved recognition!]

[Keep climbing higher! I’m already imagining Lu Xu standing on the Stellar Awards stage next year. He’s my star!]

[So amazing!!!]

For Lu Xu, The Path of Bones marked a turning point in his acting career.

It was his first lead role, his first Stellar Awards nomination for Best Actor, and his first significant lead actor award.

As expected, he found more joy in having his acting recognized than in any external accolades.

Following the Drama Critics’ Association Award, Lu Xu landed his first top-tier magazine cover.

In fact, ever since he became a G-brand spokesperson, the company had been working hard to secure him a cover.

At the time, Lu Xu had just been nominated for the Stellar Awards. Though he was the only active male actor nominated that year, the top fashion magazines were notoriously elitist. Their covers were reserved for A-list celebrities and supermodels, leaving someone like Lu Xu—who hadn’t even played a lead role until then—out of consideration.

At best, a top magazine could offer him a feature inside or a secondary cover.

This neither met G-brand’s expectations nor aligned with Xu Wen’s vision for Lu Xu’s career.

In Xu Wen’s plan for Lu Xu’s development, the word “compromise” never existed.

Then The Path of Bones became a massive hit, and the magazines’ stance began to soften.

When Voice of the Dead exploded as well, Lu Xu not only solidified his status but also became the youngest actor in Stellar Awards history to be nominated for Best Actor.

The top-tier magazine began negotiations with G-brand to discuss the theme of Lu Xu’s cover and the timing of its release.

However, Lu Xu was happily entrenched in the When I Was 18 production crew and remained indifferent to the magazine’s pursuit.

Ironically, this only made the magazine even more convinced that Lu Xu was the perfect choice for their cover. They were willing to wait longer for him.

When Lu Xu finally reached a deal with NF magazine for a photoshoot, the pictures hadn’t even been released yet when Tan Qi excitedly shared the news with her friends.

[A cover!! Finally, a brand-new cover!!]

[So happy!!]

The two exchanged joyful stickers for a while.

Tan Qi felt that her admiration for Lu Xu gave her a biased view, as if seeing him through a “2.8-meter-tall filter.” Yet, even without the filter, Lu Xu matched her ideal image perfectly—if not exceeded it!

Both in acting and appearance!

Tan Qi checked Weibo and, as expected, other fans who had heard the news were just as thrilled.

Since Lu Xu rose to fame, the amount of material fans could consume felt endless. High-quality fan edits, behind-the-scenes clips from variety shows and red carpets—it was a feast for fans like her.

Lu Xu had previously shot for fashion magazines, but that was back in his Verse days. At the time, Lu Xu was a near-invisible member of the group. While his teammates shone brightly, he often seemed dull and overshadowed.

As Tan Qi scrolled, she suddenly came across several comments that annoyed her in real-time feeds.

When she sent screenshots to her friend, her friend had already sent identical screenshots back.

[What’s there to be proud of about unlocking NF? Others unlocked it ages ago and didn’t make such a big fuss.]

[Srds, just a friendly reminder—Zhang Che shot for NF long before your fave did.]

[Weren’t they always bragging about premium brand deals and being a fashion muse? Why did it take this long to land a cover?]

As fans of Gu Sinian and Chen Ye gradually lost their fighting spirit, Zhang Che’s fans had become the primary rivals of Lu Xu’s fans on Weibo.

[Are you worried that Zhang Che won’t be able to sleep if he gets the cover first? Poor Lu Puppy will get scolded again, huh?]

[And so what? Sure, he got Fashion, but what about NF and Visionary? Did M-brand drop the ball?]

[A title of ‘spokesperson’ with the treatment of a mere ‘ambassador.’ This truly is a first in the entertainment industry.]

Previously, Zhang Che’s fans had raised a ruckus over M-brand’s cold treatment of him, so naturally, other fanbases had taken notice.

When Zhang Che first signed with M-brand, the company arranged for him to shoot covers for three of the big four magazines: NF, Fashion, and Visionary. However, only the earliest, Fashion, was published successfully. The other two, NF and Visionary, were repeatedly delayed, and to this day, the issues featuring Zhang Che’s covers had yet to see the light of day.

This was clearly unusual.

Though a few insiders suspected that M-brand had offended the Stellar Awards committee, there was no concrete evidence. The Stellar Awards hadn’t made any missteps, and M-brand hadn’t left any tangible proof of neglecting Zhang Che.

The magazine covers had been offered, the jewelry deals fulfilled—Zhang Che had received everything he was entitled to. What more could the brand do?

[By the way… is it possible that Lu Xu’s issue will be released before Zhang Che’s?]

[Please, stop dreaming, okay? Zhang Che is still M-brand’s spokesperson, and all those rumors are just baseless speculation.]

[Lu Xu hasn’t even won the Stellar Awards yet, thank you. Maybe wait until he does before you start bragging about his fashion deals.]

The fanbases of the two actors started bickering again.

If magic rituals were possible, both sides would probably set up altars to pray for their idol’s NF issue to be released first.

Evidently, NF heard the prayers of these fans. Not long after the heated arguments broke out, the official NF Weibo account released a teaser for their upcoming cover—

“A Day in the Life of a Small-Town Youth.”

The teaser images showed a young man casually stretching out his leg, kicking pebbles into the river. Ripples spread across the surface, creating a serene scene.

Dressed in a simple blue shirt layered over a T-shirt, his outfit was unremarkable, yet it exuded a natural, effortless charm.

In the next shot, the young man bent down quietly, feeding a fluffy little dog in an area surrounded by moss-covered buildings. The sunlight softened his hair, giving it a gentle, golden glow.

Other images featured him running, leaping, or riding a bicycle. Everything about the scenes felt ordinary, yet the young man blended seamlessly into the environment, turning the mundane into something mesmerizing.

The set consisted of eight photos in total. In each one, Lu Xu appeared completely unthreatening—soft and unassuming—completely different from the persona he displayed in his TV dramas.

This photo series wasn’t particularly innovative in terms of fashion. It was more of a nostalgic homage to places and moments tied to a certain youthful past. NF had chosen this theme for the issue, and the photos happened to align with the life of Huang Luning, the character Lu Xu had recently portrayed in When I Was 18.

Interestingly, the photos were shot on the same set used for the series.

But none of these details were the real highlight. The key revelation was this: NF had released the teaser for Lu Xu’s cover first!

[Uh, this is…]

[A bit awkward, isn’t it? Hasn’t Zhang Che already starred in The Swordsman? What exactly is going on between him and M-brand?]

[How is it that every curse from Zhang Che’s fans comes true? And it’s Lu Xu’s issue of NF that’s published first!]

[These shots feel so warm and comforting. I have to buy this issue!]

[Seriously, G-brand should bow to Lu Xu in gratitude. It’s just a plain shirt and T-shirt combo, but when Lu Puppy wears it, you want to spend money on him!]

[LOL, I want to give him my money too.]

Zhang Che, of course, noticed NF’s teaser. The mocking comments about him made his head spin with frustration.

Zhang Che was stuck in an awkward predicament. He couldn’t rally his fans to take action against M-brand, nor could he complain about the fans who had simultaneously offended both M-brand and the Stellar Awards.

A significant loss of fans was something Zhang Che absolutely could not afford right now.

At least—not until he had firmly established himself in the film industry.

<< _ >>

Related Posts

Leave a Reply