Chapter 114: The Cruel Entertainment Industry
The plot of Feather of Youth was simple, so filming naturally went quite smoothly. However, for Lu Xu, this was undoubtedly the most exhausting movie he had ever filmed. After shooting, there was a lot of crazy running around, and the physical activity was immense.
That said, Yin Pei was not a difficult character to interpret. He was sincere and straightforward, with no pretense or overly complex personality layers. He was genuinely a bright and sunny “puppy.”
Yin Pei was one of the rare simple roles in Lu Xu’s acting career.
Playing such a character even improved the actor’s mood.
Although—on the day filming wrapped, Lu Xu’s sentiment was: “I won’t be able to eat those delicious burritos for a while.”
“I thought you’d be reluctant to part with me!” Guo Yingyu said, exasperated. “You two ate all the burritos; I barely had a bite, okay?”
It was the last day on set, and yet Lu Xu had still run off with Hu Yan to buy oversized burritos with extra everything.
Hateful!
The Feather of Youth crew had a large group chat and a smaller chat with just three people, mainly used for random banter and sharing memes.
Hu Yan’s nickname in the group was “Random Talk,” Lu Xu’s was “Dog,” and Guo Yingyu’s was “Can’t Speak English.”
Guo Yingyu had been crowned by Lu Xu and Hu Yan as the woman with the most memes in the world, especially her infamous knife-wielding memes. From people to cats to Ultraman, no one escaped her wrath of wildly swinging knives.
Lu Xu even worried about her phone’s storage capacity.
Guo Yingyu: “…Worry about something more sensible, thank you.”
Before filming Feather of Youth, Guo Yingyu had thought of Lu Xu as an untouchable and aloof “visual king” of the entertainment industry. But after getting to know him, she discovered that while he was earnest, diligent, and professional during filming, outside of work—well, his greatest skill was probably arguing.
Very silly.
Guo Yingyu didn’t feel that her admiration for her friend had shattered. On the contrary, after truly interacting with Lu Xu, she admired him even more.
Lu Xu was already immensely popular. His fame, awards, and even the box office of his debut film—all were without weakness. He firmly held his place at the top tier of the industry.
Even so, Lu Xu maintained the same pure passion for acting as when he started.
In fact, one could say that while off-set, Lu Xu was simply good-looking—so much so that he was naturally eye-catching. In an entertainment industry filled with handsome men and beautiful women, he still managed to stand out.
But the moment he stepped into a role, his charm became almost intimidating. His magnetism seemed to amplify infinitely, his alignment with the character reaching 100%. It even gave his co-stars the impression that they might inadvertently be devoured by his performance.
He was just too strong!
Guo Yingyu felt she had learned a great deal during her time in the Feather of Youth production team. After returning home, she decided not to take on any new projects for the time being, wanting to spend more time digesting all that she had absorbed.
Her agency likely had the same idea when they pushed her to join this film.
Even though the filming had wrapped, Guo Yingyu still vividly remembered the moment when Lu Xu had pulled her into the scene. Before she realized it, her own performance had been brought to life as well.
Thinking of this, Guo Yingyu couldn’t help but send a meme of a knife-wielding character, prompting Lu Xu and Hu Yan to wonder what had upset her this time.
…
After returning, Lu Xu took some time to adjust. Having just finished Feather of Youth, Xu Wen hadn’t lined up any new scripts for him.
As an actor, Lu Xu’s filming frequency was already quite high. He was widely recognized as diligent and hardworking. Rumors even circulated that when fans of other male celebrities urged their idols to work harder, they often used Lu Xu as the standard of comparison.
“I really am a man of great sins,” Lu Xu joked.
Xu Wen: “…”
#Don’t You Feel Uncomfortable Saying That#
Even without joining a production temporarily, Lu Xu’s schedule remained packed. His endorsements, some of which had contracts nearing expiration, saw brands eager to renew their collaborations with him. However, as Lu Xu solidified his place at the top tier of the entertainment industry, he and his team gradually gained the upper hand in these partnerships.
His manager filtered out two brands that didn’t align with his style and image.
Lu Xu’s endorsements continued to prioritize quality over quantity. Over the years, he had worked with only a handful of brands, as he spent most of his time on set, making it difficult to attend frequent brand events.
In the gaps between filming, Lu Xu either caught up on brand advertising obligations or attended business events, including some with a philanthropic focus. To him, participating in such activities was no less demanding than acting.
This time, Xu Wen sent him invitations for several variety shows, one of which was an acting-themed program.
“This one’s a no,” Lu Xu said decisively.
He would never participate in an acting-themed variety show.
Firstly, such programs often had scripted elements. As a traditionalist in his craft, Lu Xu believed that acting should be demonstrated through works, judged by the audience’s reception, rather than by a panel of judges sitting high above, offering critiques while the actors, post-show, still struggled to find roles.
Secondly, Lu Xu held that acting had no fixed standards or formulas. Were the judges’ opinions necessarily correct? Some of them might have won numerous awards and enjoyed critical acclaim within the industry, but did that automatically mean they possessed the highest level of acting skills?
Lu Xu didn’t think so.
Even though he had won the Stellar Award and was categorized as having “great acting skills,” Lu Xu felt that acting was a skill with no ceiling.
An actor’s performance quality often depended on the work, the subject matter, and the co-actors. The scripts used in variety shows were relatively mixed, and even the judges couldn’t be expected to excel at every genre.
“Who am I to coach or critique anyone?” Lu Xu muttered as he rubbed his temples. “…Some performances just exhaust me to watch.”
For instance, one of the contestants on that acting-themed variety show was You Zichen.
Lu Xu deeply suspected that the production team’s interest in him stemmed from a desire to rehash old drama from Rising Sun.
Not long ago, Lu Xu had come across a clip from one of You Zichen’s films—it had gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Lu Xu happened to stumble upon it while scrolling online.
In the clip, You Zichen was enthusiastically talking about his dream of being an actor. Yet, his stiff performance and the nonsensical plot left Lu Xu utterly dumbfounded.
Honestly, Lu Xu thought, maybe it would be better if You Zichen didn’t have dreams.
Apart from the acting-themed show, there was also an invitation for a talent competition variety show. This time, however, Lu Xu wasn’t being asked to be the main host but rather a guest for a single episode. His role would involve interacting with contestants, and he could choose whether or not to perform on stage with them.
Lu Xu sighed. “…Why do they keep inviting me? Do they not have a clear grasp of my skillset?”
“The production team really liked your interaction with Let Let,” Xu Wen explained. “That Challenge-style collaboration you did with them broke viewership records, and no one has surpassed it since.”
In other words, the show wanted Lu Xu for his influence.
It hadn’t been long since Lu Xu won the Stellar Award for Best Actor, and the global box office success of Deception had exceeded all expectations. But immediately after, Lu Xu had dived straight into another production, leaving no room for extended discussion within the industry.
“Oh, and here’s the appearance fee.” Xu Wen gestured with his fingers, showing a sizable number. “It’s gone up again.”
Lu Xu blinked. “…That’s so much money.”
“The company higher-ups are hoping you’ll take the offer,” Xu Wen added.
Feiyang Entertainment, being an old-school agency, had struggled with visibility for its talent in the internet age. With Cheng Yun and Guo Yining practically old enough to have grandchildren, sending elderly artists to variety shows felt far too cruel.
Lu Xu ultimately accepted the invitation to appear on the talent competition variety show.
The first reason was that the pay was substantial, and the second reason was… the recent discussions about Verse had resurfaced once again.
It all started with a post on a certain forum.
[Li Tao, wasn’t Lu Xu’s lack of strength during his Verse days really holding the team back?]
[There are videos and gifs to prove this. The original poster isn’t trying to start an argument, just offering an objective analysis.]
[Although Xie Qingyang, Gu Sinian, and Meng Qin’s abilities have all declined recently, during their time in the group, the three of them were much stronger than Lu Xu.]
[Just because Lu Xu is now successful doesn’t mean his performance during Verse was justified. His skills were indeed lacking. Fans always claim he didn’t have enough practice, but he could have chosen not to join Verse in the first place.]
The forum discussion gradually gained traction online, sparking heated debates. Netizens were arguing about how fans of the members who were once in the background of the group would react if those members suddenly became stars, overshadowing their former teammates.
Objectively speaking, even Lu Xu himself knew that during his time in Verse, his skills were not up to par.
Lu Xu didn’t like how his past in Verse was constantly brought up, but there was little he could do to stop it.
The best way to silence a rumor was to drown it out with a new one.
If they were going to say he had no skills, then he would make sure to prove them wrong.
…
Sunset Idol, the variety show, had aired five episodes, and the next episode featured a special guest segment. The guest list was only revealed three days before the broadcast.
Mainly because the leaks had already circulated, and the production team couldn’t keep it under wraps.
The reveal of the other four guest names didn’t cause much of a stir, but when the final name was announced, the comment section of Sunset Idol’s official Weibo exploded with confusion: “???”
[I see who???]
[Ahhhhh, am I seeing this right???]
[…The production team actually invited Lu Xu? I can’t believe it!]
[Although Verse caused a lot of drama, it’s hard to associate Lu Xu with being an idol given his track record, but he is originally an idol.]
[This is amazing.]
The name Sunset Idol already gave off a somewhat negative vibe, but in the sea of idol competition shows, this one stood out—its contestants were all former idol show participants who had failed to debut in the past.
If they didn’t make it this time, their agencies would terminate their contracts.
It was essentially a combination of leftover scraps and battle royale.
What was surprising, though, was that the show had decent ratings. Perhaps because the contestants had failed so many times before, there was a sense of desperation and determination about them. You could see what kind of potential people could unleash under extreme pressure from Sunset Idol.
Lu Xu had a question: “Is there ever a situation where a company is so bad that they terminate the contract and don’t have to pay any penalties?”
Xu Wen nodded. “Of course there is.”
“If the contestants perform well, they still have a shot at debuting. But if they fail again, that’s different from just walking away with their tail between their legs.”
“If they perform well, they could sign with a new company. If they don’t, though, and the old company terminates the contract, the new company might not want to take them in. That would be a pretty bad situation.”
As Xu Wen finished speaking, he noticed Lu Xu had fallen silent for a while.
It then dawned on the manager that this might be the same situation Lu Xu had faced right after leaving Verse.
“I’m perfect for being a guest on this show. I can speak from personal experience.”
Lu Xu couldn’t help but sigh. “The entertainment industry is really brutal.”