Chapter 133.2: Two Dramas

At this point, people were seriously wondering if Lu Xu’s debuff was too strong, forcing two rival drama crews to unite in self-defense.

[I mean… The Watchers, Book of Nine Revolutions, The Empress, The Swordsman—they’re all cautionary tales.]

[Are we witnessing the birth of the ‘Lu Xu Victims Support Group’?]

[Y’all are trying to make me laugh myself to death so you can inherit my credit debt.]

The more people thought about it, the more it seemed plausible.

There were too many brutal examples—one after another, all of them disasters.

Take The Watchers and Book of Nine Revolutions—before airing, the industry had high hopes for both. They had strong casts, huge budgets, and skilled actors.

Yet in the end, they flopped so hard their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them.

Since dragging Lu Xu’s dramas always led to failure, people figured—why not switch strategies and just get along peacefully?

Lu Xu: “……”

Great. Thanks to him, society had achieved perfect harmony.

Perfect.

He even considerately asked his agent, “Are you buying a lottery ticket today? I can give you an extra buff.”

Xu Wen: “…Appreciate the offer, but have you considered that, given my financial situation, I don’t actually need to buy lottery tickets?”

Lu Xu immediately put on a disgusted ‘ugh, rich people’ face.

Xu Wen: “……”

The irony was Lu Xu himself was filthy rich.

In short, the three drama crews didn’t end up tearing each other apart.

Of course, aside from their confidence in their own productions, it was also because their leads had already outgrown the phase of stirring drama just for extra attention.

Qiao Mengyao didn’t need the extra heat—she was already a top-tier leading actress in the industry. Phantom Realm’s male lead, Rong Xiu, wasn’t the type to chase clout either.

The same went for Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry. Lu Xu had no need for hype, and Shao Yao’s career was doing well. Besides, among the leads in this drama slot, his agency was the weakest, so he didn’t even have the qualifications to start fights with the others.

As for Zheng Xiao, the fact that he chose to take on Flames of War already meant he wasn’t going for the clout-chasing route.

After all, Flames of War’s audience wasn’t the type to eat up marketing drama in the first place.

Following Phantom Realm, the next drama to air was Flames of War, while Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry had the latest premiere date among the three.

Of course, the release dates of these dramas were not far apart—Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry was only two or three days later than Flames of War.

Lu Xu and Shao Yao had both watched Flames of War—once again, due to Zheng Xiao’s strong insistence.

“If I hadn’t insisted, would you two have skipped it? What happened to our friendship, huh? I even stole your bicycle once!”

Lu Xu: “…I’m leaving a bad review.”

“After that incident, my conscience tormented me so much that I decided to compensate my dear friends, Puppy and Shao Yao, with a brand-new bike.”

Over the years, Zheng Xiao had gifted Lu Xu and Shao Yao several bicycles. In a way, Lu Xu had more enthusiasm than skill—his cycling ability was even worse than his badminton skills. But he never minded adding another new bike to his collection.

Flames of War was a war drama that depicted a real chapter of history experienced by the nation.

The first two episodes were, naturally, brutal. It was the ruthless massacre committed by the Country R soldiers on this land—every inch of soil they passed through was left barren.

In the early stages of the war, there was even a belief that the Country R army was invincible.

Fortunately, the people of this country never gave up.

The early episodes of Flames of War were undeniably brutal, to the point of bringing viewers to tears. But as Lu Xu observed the bullet comments, he noticed that no one complained about the cruelty of the storyline—because the real history was even harsher.

Just like Phantom Realm, Flames of War had only aired two episodes, yet the essence of the story was already clear.

Zheng Xiao’s character, Jiang Ziqiang, didn’t appear until the end of the second episode.

At first glance, Lu Xu almost didn’t recognize him.

The last time he collaborated with Zheng Xiao was on Supreme, which had been a long time ago. Since then, Lu Xu had occasionally noticed the premiere of a drama starring Zheng Xiao, but he had never seriously watched one.

—Until Flames of War.

To be honest, after Supreme, Zheng Xiao hadn’t stayed confined to historical dramas. He had tried urban dramas and even professional legal dramas, often playing the role of a workplace elite. But in Flames of War, he portrayed a simple and sincere farm boy.

The first episode opened with the Country R army invading X region, searching house by house and demanding that civilians hand over the wounded. Yet, no matter how brutally they were beaten, no matter how many chickens and ducks the soldiers stole, the local farmers remained silent.

Zheng Xiao’s character, Jiang Ziqiang, was one of them.

He endured the beatings but refused to reveal any information about the wounded soldiers. Even with a gun pressed against his head, he stubbornly maintained his clueless act.

It was the influence of these wounded soldiers recovering in Jiangjia Village that led Jiang Ziqiang onto the path of revolution, eventually becoming a military medic.

[How much weight did you lose?] Shao Yao asked in the group chat.

On screen, Jiang Ziqiang looked gaunt, like a farm boy who barely had enough to eat. Flames of War emphasized historical accuracy, so it was impossible for Jiang Ziqiang to appear with rosy lips and a round, well-fed face.

[I lost quite a bit,] Zheng Xiao admitted. [Started dieting as soon as I took the role. But I’m not as thin as you think—makeup helps a lot.]

[I was pretty worried about this drama at first, especially after finding out it was airing at the same time as Phantom Realm and Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry.]

Phantom Realm and Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry were giants, while Flames of War was just a small fry caught in between—one wrong move, and it could easily become collateral damage in the clash between the two.

However, after watching the first two episodes of Flames of War, Zheng Xiao felt a little more at ease.

If there was even the slightest chance of survival in the competition against Phantom Realm and Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry, it had to be Flames of War’s outstanding quality.

Zheng Xiao hadn’t lost hope.

Since the three dramas belonged to different genres with distinct audiences, as long as Flames of War was good enough, it would find viewers who appreciated it.

And perhaps—there wouldn’t be just a few of them.

[It’s really good.]

Seeing Lu Xu’s message in the group chat, Zheng Xiao silently smiled and replied, [Right?]

[Right.] Shao Yao sent a thumbs-up emoji.

On the other end of the screen, Zheng Xiao visibly relaxed, voicing his honest thoughts: [Honestly… knowing you two are my competition actually put me at ease.]

Even though competing against dramas starring Lu Xu and Shao Yao meant that Flames of War might not achieve the success he had hoped for, Zheng Xiao understood them well. Both were dedicated actors—no matter what, they would deliver outstanding performances.

Not to mention that Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry was a collaboration between Liu Chunfeng and Qin Yu, the golden duo of historical dramas.

Zheng Xiao had already prepared himself for Flames of War to have less hype than Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry.

At the same time, he knew that Flames of War wouldn’t be mercilessly dragged down, and as the lead actor, he wouldn’t be relentlessly criticized for his acting, personality, looks, or fashion sense.

Zheng Xiao had indeed gone through such an experience.

It was after Supreme aired. Supreme had at least gained some modest popularity, and he had received several male lead offers. One of the dramas, he had actually beaten a highly popular competitor to land the role.

Then, he ended up facing that same competitor in another drama.

Looking back now, Zheng Xiao realized that the opponent’s fanbase wasn’t nearly as fierce as Zhang Che’s, but unfortunately, he didn’t have Lu Xu’s way with words, nor did he have the opportunity like Shao Yao to take lessons from Lu Xu.

So… he ended up experiencing the most tragic moment of his acting career.

The incident where he “stole” Lu Xu’s mountain bike was exaggerated to the point that he was portrayed as a thief, jealous of the better quality of Lu Xu’s bike, sneaking off with it, and purposely making Lu Xu chase after him.

Zheng Xiao: “……”

In reality, his bike was actually more expensive than Lu Xu’s.

Oh, and they even claimed he had tried to ride on Lu Xu’s coattails after seeing Lu Xu’s rise to fame. During the Supreme days, he hadn’t even looked at Lu Xu properly and had even rolled his eyes at him.

Zheng Xiao: “……”

He replayed the moment in his mind countless times before finally recalling that he had actually been suffering from rhinitis and had sneezed three times in a row.

Excuse me!

A sincere question!

Who can maintain an elegant image while sneezing three times in a row?

It was his real nose, not some fake one!

In short, Zheng Xiao had been heavily criticized to the point of absurdity. When he wore a wig for a role, some people even claimed he was bald. Even when he held a press conference and adjusted his hair, there were still those who said “Xiu Tianguang was just wearing a sturdy wig.”

In his hometown dialect, ” Xiu Tianguang” (showing the light of the sky) meant bald man.

He was devastated!!!

But now that Flames of War was competing against Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry, Zheng Xiao didn’t have to worry about being dragged down by negative comments. Lu Xu and Shao Yao were not the types to resort to underhanded tactics. Both cared deeply about their craft and maintained a genuine respect for acting as a profession.

Even with competition, Lu Xu and Shao Yao would face it with integrity, competing on equal footing.

When filming Supreme, Zheng Xiao had made the decision to become an actor who would win the audience over with his acting after seeing Lu Xu’s dedication to his craft.

Unfortunately, while Lu Xu had this mindset and worked hard with it, not everyone shared the same approach.

The premiere of Flames of War had a weaker performance compared to Phantom Realm, but its popularity score exceeded the expectations of the Flames of War crew.

The first two episodes of the premiere had a popularity score that surpassed 9,000, reaching over 9,300.

This result surprised the industry.

[Flames of War can be this impressive?]

[9,300, not bad. After all, Phantom Realm is also airing, and its heat for the day reached over 13,000. For Flames of War to achieve this, it’s impressive.]

[In my opinion, isn’t this one of Zheng Xiao’s best-performing dramas?]

The Flames of War crew was just as surprised.

Without a doubt, among the three dramas airing in the same time slot, Flames of War was the least impressive in terms of investment, subject matter, and the creative team. Whether it was more or less cold than Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry was hard to determine.

Yet, the results exceeded expectations.

Naturally, the Flames of War crew quickly found an answer:

[The quality is great! Very touching!]

[It’s rare to see such harmony between dramas airing in the same period. Since Lu Puppy supports this drama, I, of course, have to support it too.]

[Hehehe, support +1.]

Zheng Xiao: “……”

All in all, he was grateful to Shao Yao and Lu Xu for promoting the drama.

Even though they were friends, in the entertainment industry, it wasn’t uncommon for even friends to not help promote each other’s work. Especially since Flames of War and Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry were competitors in the same time slot.

Zheng Xiao saw comments from people saying that Lu Xu and Shao Yao were promoting for him and that they should be careful not to end up in a situation where the popularity of Flames of War overtakes Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry.

But these two didn’t care at all. In fact, they said that if Lives Beyond Death the Chivalry didn’t perform well, it must be because the drama’s quality wasn’t good enough.

Zheng Xiao felt both touched and moved.

In his future acting career, he too aimed to be dignified and magnanimous.

Because he had been helped by people who were dignified and magnanimous.

<< _ >>

**TN

Just finished translating a no-romance supernatural action-filled novel – LINK

Related Posts

Leave a Reply