Chapter 92: A One-Word Review.
[Another show with over 13,000 in popularity score—Lu Xu really is at the top of the drama world!]
[Ever since When I Was 18 aired, its popularity hasn’t dropped below 10,000, right? His star power is incredible.]
[Quick question here: is When I Was 18 good? It doesn’t seem like my kind of genre, so I haven’t watched it.]
[Go watch it! You absolutely won’t regret it—it’s one of those heartwarming, gentle shows that warms you to the core. It’s amazing!]
On drama forums, discussions about When I Was 18 were particularly lively. Some talked about the plot itself, while others focused on Lu Xu’s acting skills. No matter which version of Huang Luning Lu Xu portrayed—at any age—viewers couldn’t find even the slightest hint of inconsistency in his performance.
[I’ll bet a bag of wasabi chips that Lu Xu will win the Stellar Awards for Best Actor with this show.]
[Me too… There was a reason Yu Yi didn’t win for The Path of Bones, but if Huang Luning doesn’t win, I can’t think of any reason why.]
[+1, +1.]
The discussions about When I Was 18 weren’t limited to what the forums covered—
[My mom is obsessed with this show. She says the Huang Luning in the drama looks exactly like my uncle when he was young.]
[+1. She usually loves those dramatic family drama series, but she can’t stop watching this one.]
[I think they see a reflection of themselves in Huang Luning. Life isn’t full of twists and turns, after all. When I Was 18 portrays the lives of ordinary people.]
The audience for When I Was 18 spanned a much wider age range than the creators had initially imagined.
After the first ten episodes aired, a drama critic wrote a review, stating that the reason for the show’s success was its ability to capture the essence of “the present moment.”
No one could truly go back to being 18.
Everyone’s life was filled with regrets.
Huang Luning returned to the past, changing himself, the atmosphere in his family, and even the destinies of those around him. Yet, the message of the drama was never about going back to the past—it was about living in the present.
“There’s no need to return to the past to make a change. Changing now is still possible.”
Audiences discussed all kinds of details related to the show. While When I Was 18 wasn’t as tightly plotted as Voice of the Dead, its portrayal of characters and attention to detail were exceptional.
The cityscape when Huang Luning was 18, the transformations in his neighborhood—these were slowly revealed through the camera.
It might not have been the childhood of young viewers, but for some, it certainly was.
Whether it was the crowded buses, the vendors shouting outside selling roasted sweet potatoes, or the cold soda enjoyed on a summer day, these were memories of a bygone life for many people.
Though these things had vanished in the present, they had once existed in many lives.
…
Wei Yi watched as the popularity score of When I Was 18 climbed smoothly from over 13,000 to over 14,000, with the clear potential to become the next big hit of the year.
“Potential?” Zheng Xiao scoffed at her conclusion. “Voice of the Dead and The Path of Bones were last year’s shows.”
It was only then that Wei Yi realized that, despite just emerging from a bustling summer, When I Was 18 had already taken the crown as the most popular show of the year.
This was despite the industry initially categorizing it as “a slightly above-average slice-of-life drama” before its release.
As someone who had been following When I Was 18 from the beginning, Wei Yi guessed the reason for its success: Huang Luning’s warmth was simply irresistible.
Warm yet resilient.
Huang Luning understood the root of his regrets in his previous life, which was why he worked so hard to change them in this one.
Who wouldn’t like Huang Luning?
Even though he was an unremarkable, ordinary person, a closer look would reveal that his character was covered in labels. Yet, the labels boiled down to just two words: you and me.
Huang Luning was everyman. Huang Luning was you and me.
It was precisely this touch of reality in life that made When I Was 18, a drama so different from Voice of the Dead and The Path of Bones, equally captivating.
When Wei Yi saw the moment the little girl was rescued by Huang Luning, she was so excited that she jumped out of her seat.
Her mother, sitting beside her, sighed, “If he hadn’t saved her, how would this family go on?”
A once-happy family of four had been tragically reduced to just one elderly grandmother, her eyes blinded from crying too much after losing her loved ones one by one.
Wei Yi couldn’t bear to imagine the scene where the playful and lively little dog was k*lled and made into dog m*at. Humans might have some inkling of their impending death, but the little dog, bounding happily toward its food bowl, would never have known that not all humans were kind.
Because it loved its owners and the children in the family so much, the dog naively assumed all humans would love it too.
And then, unknowingly, it stepped into death.
This was the fate that Huang Luning changed.
But that death had once been real.
[How wonderful it is to be able to change things!!] Wei Yi couldn’t help but post her thoughts on social media that day.
Zheng Xiao was the first to like her post, followed by a few close friends from her circle. [Sister, are you watching When I Was 18?]
[+1 +1 +1.]
In The Path of Bones, Yu Yi couldn’t change the fate of his teammates, even though he ultimately avenged them.
In Voice of the Dead, Jiang Lin and Su Yang successfully identified the murderer, bringing the truth to light. Yet, the deaths remained unchanged.
Though going back to the past was impossible, the storyline offered a glimpse of hope.
Huang Luning only made small efforts. He didn’t change the world order, stop a war, or conquer the globe. He continued living his ordinary life.
He felt like someone real—a passerby who could exist in anyone’s life.
As a result, even though the show made it clear from the start that Huang Luning had returned to being 18, it felt more authentic than many dramas that claimed to be grounded in realism.
Halfway through its run, When I Was 18 still maintained a popularity rating of over 14,000. Unlike Voice of the Dead, where each case conclusion spiked its popularity, the influence of When I Was 18 surpassed any of Lu Xu’s previous works.
The collaboration between Lu Xu, Han Xiao, and Zhou Lin was another hot topic among industry insiders and audiences.
According to some professionals, Lu Xu’s acting in When I Was 18 was understated.
He reined in the sharpness he displayed in The Path of Bones, making Huang Luning appear as an utterly ordinary character. But precisely because of this, the audience found it easier to immerse themselves in his story.
Lu Xu’s portrayal of Jiang Lin in Voice of the Dead shared a similar subtlety. With Huang Luning, however, his performance had reached a state of perfection.
…
Before When I Was 18 premiered, no one in the production team anticipated that it would have any impact on the release of The Swordsman.
The Swordsman had been building anticipation in cinemas for months. Zhang Che’s flawless profile shot in the trailer had been chosen as profile pictures by countless fans, and one of Zhang Che’s most dedicated fans even changed their username to “XX Days Until The Swordsman Releases,” providing daily countdown updates.
The timing couldn’t have been more coincidental—The Swordsman premiered just as When I Was 18 began airing.
In the drama, Lu Xu’s styling was neither handsome nor glamorous, just plain and ordinary. Compared to the “prestigious” movie The Swordsman, When I Was 18 was merely a “cheap” TV drama.
“Cheap” was the exact word used by Zhang Che’s fans.
Adding to this, Mu Qian and Jin Mu combined couldn’t compare to even a tenth of Zhang Zhizhen’s standing in the film industry, which led to When I Was 18 being mocked even further.
Criticisms like “no future prospects” and “stuck in the TV drama scene” were phrases Lu Xu had heard enough of to be tired of them.
Even after Lu Xu joined the cast of Deception, the situation didn’t improve.
His decision to take on Deception was also interpreted by Zhang Che’s fans as stemming from a “sense of crisis caused by Zhang Che starring in a film by a famous director” and “a clumsy attempt to imitate and chase after Zhang Che.”
Lu Xu: “?”
“Learn to come up with better insults, please.”
Fortunately, the debut of When I Was 18 garnered over 10,000 in popularity score, later stabilizing above 14,000. This gave Lu Xu a much-needed boost to his reputation.
Lu Xu didn’t even feel like commenting on it anymore.
Even Xu Wen, a middle-aged man who usually avoided expressing opinions about fandom conflicts, couldn’t help but complain to Lu Xu after seeing these comments: “Being the top show of the year only barely redeems your reputation? How high are their standards?”
“They’re just holding me to a higher standard.”
All in all, Zhang Che’s fans were eagerly hoping for The Swordsman to become a massive hit—ideally, a breakout success that would allow Zhang Che to reclaim the top spot among leading young actors, a position they felt Lu Xu had taken from him.
Zhang Zhizhen’s network in the film industry remained strong. With the summer season coming to an end and a limited selection of major films from other studios, The Swordsman managed to secure a solid number of screenings.
On the Friday when The Swordsman hit theaters nationwide, its competition consisted of only two other new releases: a suspense film and a comedy, both debut works by rookie directors with modest casts that couldn’t compare to The Swordsman.
In terms of investment, cast, and theater distribution, The Swordsman was poised for victory.
The investors clearly had high expectations for the film. Even before its release, it dominated trending topics with headlines like “Zhang Che Finds His Defining Shot”, “The Director Who Shoots Handsome Men Best”, and “The Last Glow of Wuxia” being thrown around as if they were free promotional tags.
Lu Xu started to wonder aloud, “Do you think Zhang Zhizhen might have made major changes to the script?”
His manager shook his head lightly. “Knowing his temperament, he wouldn’t.”
Directors like Zhang Zhizhen were as stubborn as they were skilled.
Based on the film’s current screening numbers, Lu Xu guessed that if The Swordsman stuck to its original script, it would at least manage to pull in some box office revenue during its opening weekend.
After all, Zhang Che’s fans would undoubtedly show up to support the film, and Zhang Zhizhen still had some loyal moviegoers from his earlier days. Even if his current abilities didn’t quite match his past reputation, a portion of his audience might still give the movie a chance.
But reality proved that Lu Xu had overestimated both The Swordsman and the audience’s tolerance.
[…Am I the only one watching this movie while questioning my own intelligence?]
[I gave up a lovely Friday night at home to watch When I Was 18 and instead came to the theater to support ‘The Last Glow of Wuxia.’ What, do I have the word sucker written on my face?]
[What am I even watching? What is this??]
[…I used a voucher and only spent five bucks on the ticket, but now I think even that was a waste. They should be paying me to watch this!]
The drama critic who had previously reviewed When I Was 18 summarized it bluntly: “Trash.”
A One-Word Review.
Every word was meticulously chosen.
And the essence was distilled into a single word: “Trash.”
That evening, the trending topics exploded.
The number one trending topic read simply: “Trash.”
It was reminiscent of the infamous “Terrible” review that mysteriously appeared after every singing show.
