Chapter 22 022 The third phase of filming continues
Chapter Twenty-Two
Xie Yu was so angry that his hands were shaking.
He's been having a lot of bad luck lately. Lin Yuan is trying every possible way to ruin his public image, whether it's digging up dozens of his past romantic relationships or using a bunch of "chosen ones" to accuse him of extortion. These things may seem harmless, but they will affect his future resources.
Under the same conditions, production teams and platforms will give priority to actors with better public reputation.
But these are far less damaging than the massive flop of "A Tear in a Cup".
Both he and Chen Zhuo were counting on this drama to soar to fame, and they were both mentally prepared to become a hot couple in ancient costume dramas, but in the end... "A Tear" actually fizzled out.
Xie Yu's rise from the bottom of Wink's popularity rankings was all thanks to his role as the second male lead in a hit historical romance drama. While the drama itself wasn't a massive hit, the second male lead's character was exceptionally well-developed—Xie Yu reaped even more benefits than the male lead.
He understands all too well the benefits of a hit show.
Xie Yu knew very well that the "Yu Yin Yi Zhuo" CP was destined not to last long. Once the drama's popularity was over, the two sides would inevitably have to break up. But Xie Yu anticipated that even if they broke up, he would be the one to gain more fans.
But Chen Zhuo beat him to it.
Xie Yu held her breath and clicked on the hashtag #ChenZhuoTearsInLiveStream#.
Xie Yu already had a bad feeling when he saw the title of the entry, and after clicking on it, alarm bells went off in his mind—
Chen Zhuo has a sweet and gentle appearance, which makes her seem non-threatening. Viewers can easily develop a liking for her at first glance.
The reason why "A Tear" promoted the "Yu Yin Yi Zhuo" CP in advance is because Chen Zhuo has strong CP chemistry and can be paired with anyone.
Although DA Entertainment also emphasized Xie Yu's qualities when marketing her.
Tonight's live stream featured Chen Zhuo's makeup and styling, which enhanced the softness of her face. Viewers would only see Chen Zhuo as a small, pitiful creature and wouldn't have the heart to hurt her.
And the content of Chen Zhuo's live stream was—
"...I bear a lot of responsibility for the show's lack of popularity with the audience. My co-stars were all excellent actors, and they took good care of me as a newcomer. I don't want to blame anyone; it was my fault. If I could have gotten closer to the character and understood the intentions of my co-stars better, the outcome might have been very different."
Several popular IDs kept popping up in the comments section—
"How could it be Sister Zhuo's fault?! The male lead acted so badly, how could you interpret his intentions?"
"No, we should be glad that Sister Little Peek didn't follow that guy's intentions. If she had, she would have ended up just as bad as him, okay?"
"My heart breaks when Xiaozhu cries. The drama is such a flop, why should Xiaozhu be attacked by his fans and have to come out and apologize?!"
Xie Yu's head was buzzing.
Chen Zhuo's demeanor, actions, lines... even the comments from fans in the comment section, aren't they exactly the same as the scripts he and his agent discussed?
He must have memorized the same lines.
Even Xie Yu had shortcomings, such as the fact that "Xiao Zhuo Jie was besieged by his fans," which was something he and his agent overlooked.
Xie Yu specifically sought out the evidence of "being besieged" that Chen Zhuo's fans emphasized, and then discovered—
Chen Zhuo's comment section has tens of thousands of messages, 99% of which praise her performance in "A Tear". Only one message in a corner, "Xie Yu has worked with so many actresses in dramas, but you have the lowest popularity", was picked out by Chen Zhuo from more than 20,000 messages and replied to.
Xie Yu: "..."
He knows it all too well.
He felt nothing when he did it, but when others used the same trick on him, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
Not long after Chen Zhuo's live stream ended, the number of people kicking Xie Yu while he was down increased. They accused him of being arrogant on the set of "A Tear in the Moonlight," and of having poor acting skills. Some netizens even created a "Xie Yu Acting Awards," specifically picking out unflattering photos of him from the show. Rival fans even posted comparisons of his looks with other male actors.
"Don't even mention comparing him to proper male actors, Xie Yu isn't even as good-looking as Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan is way better looking than him in private, okay?"
"I saved a photo of Lin Yuan and Xie Yu leaving home to buy coffee one after the other during the 'Star of Tomorrow' era. To be honest... Lin Yuan is still more pleasing to the eye, isn't he?"
Xie Yu: "..."
Although Xie Yu knew Lin Yuan didn't have the money to buy trending topics, she was still furious.
When Lin Yuan was so obscure that no one would compare him to Lin Yuan.
For Xie Yu, this was a humiliation.
...
Lin Yuan, who witnessed #SaveTheBeauty# and #ChenZhuoTearsOnLive#, was speechless.
That was thrilling, really thrilling.
To be honest, when these two terms trended on social media, Lin Yuan immediately felt a sense of familiarity.
Zhan Heng said he felt the same way.
The two exchanged a glance; this was the unspoken understanding between victims.
Zhan Heng couldn't stop watching the drama unfold. Seeing Xie Yu enjoying the same treatment as him gave him a subtle sense of satisfaction.
"You think so too, right?" Zhan Heng glanced at Lin Yuan.
Before Lin Yuan could reply, Zhan Heng said leisurely, "Zhang Runyu, Yu Fan, He Zixun, Ye Liuchuan, Liu Qingke, Wei Yangge, Jiang Xue, and Zhang Bieyi... should think so too."
Lin Yuan: "? Why are there so many people?"
He didn't remember any of them.
Zhan Heng gave him a look that said, "You're too naive: Aren't there only a few dozen 'Tomorrow's Star' titles?"
Lin Yuan thought about it and agreed.
"Are you two reciting the menu?" Qin Panyun waved at them. "Have you finished rehearsing your lines? Get ready to film."
Today's scene is a duel between Zhan Heng and Lin Yuan.
Zhan Heng plays the Third Prince, a character who is clever but lacks magnanimity. In the script, he is always led by the nose by Gu Yilou. In front of the Third Prince, Gu Yilou makes no attempt to hide her true nature.
His wickedness suited the Third Prince's temperament perfectly.
But just like with everyone else, Gu Yilou didn't take the Third Prince seriously.
Zhan Heng sighed softly. He knew that Lin Yuan was a good actor after watching Lin Yuan and Li Mobei's scenes together. After they acted together, he felt strongly suppressed by Lin Yuan.
Although in the script, the character of the Third Prince was also overshadowed by Gu Yilou.
But every time Zhan Heng encounters an actor like Lin Yuan or Li Mobei, he feels unwilling, or rather envious—that state of being as if possessed by the character, which actor wouldn't want to have?
One second Lin Yuan was complaining to him, the next second he could quickly switch to Gu Yilou.
In this scene, Gu Yilou is slandering the Third Prince.
Lin Yuan slightly curled his lips, and his entire demeanor changed—Gu Yilou's aloofness faded away, replaced by the submissiveness of a subordinate.
In terms of status, Gu Yilou is naturally the one in a lower position between the Third Prince and Gu Yilou.
However, at this moment, it was Gu Yilou who was strategizing and making decisions.
"Although Qin Zhong is my close friend, I believe that as a subject, his reputation should not surpass that of Your Highness; that would be unwise."
“What’s wrong with what Your Highness has done? Both thunder and rain are acts of imperial favor. If it weren’t for Your Highness’s help, General Qin would probably not have recognized his own worth.”
Lin Yuan completely fawned over Gu Yilou, and Zhan Heng dared not slack off in the slightest, revealing the short-sighted and narrow-minded nature of the Third Prince.
His strongest feeling was that Lin Yuan's lines were excellent.
There's no need for voice acting at all; the rhythm perfectly matches the character's personality, making it both clear and subtly conveying Gu Yilou's emotional changes.
When he slandered someone, his voice seemed to have a unique magic, making people believe him without them even realizing it.
Alongside the lines, Gu Yilou's expression also appeared—
He displayed humility, but he also looked down on the Third Prince.
His expression was obsequious, yet his eyes held a hint of indifference.
The Third Prince was more like his puppet.
The composition of this scene is already evident.
The one looking down appears to be high above, but the collar around his neck is held by the one looking up.
The scene had just started filming, and as soon as he heard Lin Yuan's voice, Zhan Heng was already under the implication that "this is Gu Yilou." Normally, Zhan Heng wouldn't get into character so quickly, but feeling the aura of Gu Yilou emanating from the person next to him, Zhan Heng unconsciously entered the state of the Third Prince.
The more scenes he acted with the Third Prince, the closer he became to him.
Because Gu Yilou knew very well how to please and use the Third Prince, under his instigation, the Third Prince was molded into the shape he wanted.
Before this, Zhan Heng had never imagined that he could portray the Third Prince with such subtlety.
He admired Lin Yuan even more; clearly, Lin Yuan was the kind of genius who could inspire his co-stars.
“This is talent; it can’t be learned,” Hua Lin said.
"Maybe?" Zhan Heng refused to admit defeat. "Let's learn it and give it a try."
After Zhan Heng and Lin Yuan finished filming this scene, Lin Yuan didn't have many scenes left.
Qin Panyun didn't react at first, but it was the raindrops that reminded him, and he asked in surprise, "So fast?"
The raindrops nodded.
The character Gu Yilou is difficult to portray. It was not easy to find a suitable actress. In Qin Panyun's plan, the scenes related to Gu Yilou will take a long time to film.
As it turns out, Lin Yuan's scenes are almost finished filming now that he's joined the crew.
It took him about half the time he had planned.
Objectively speaking, Qin Panyun is not at all satisfactory. Lin Yuan not only acts well, but also has a perfect understanding of the character.
In "A Thousand Mountains", Gu Yilou's ending is not good, but what makes this character terrifying is that life is just a game to him. He doesn't care about being born or dying.
In the final scene of Gu Yilou's story, Lin Yuan perfectly captured the emptiness in Gu Yilou's heart.
Qin Panyun could only say that, just like the readers' opinions of Gu Yilou after the original novel "Thousand Mountains" was published—although Gu Yilou is a bad guy, he has a rich storyline and a strong presence.
Viewers may dislike Gu Yilou, but "Thousand Mountains" cannot be without Gu Yilou.
That's amazing for an actor.
...
Although his scenes were nearing their end, Lin Yuan remained on set and filmed some more shots at Qin Panyun's request.
Every actor in the crew had a role, but he was the only one with nothing to do and didn't have a decent script yet.
Lin Yuan also didn't want to play roles that would waste his time.
He films during the day and goesssip at night; the blame-shifting battle within the "A Tear in the Night" production team has now entered its third phase.
That's right, it's the third stage.
The second phase mainly focuses on Xie Yu's sincere apology. He publicly apologizes to Xingyao Video and expresses his sincerest apologies to the viewers who have supported him all along.
There were no tears, no shirking of responsibility, but rather a firm acceptance of the outcome of "A Tear".
He didn't attack any of his co-stars from the same drama. If fans hadn't noticed through subtle clues, no one would have known that Xie Yu had been photoshopped into a ghost image by anti-fans.
"That's real responsibility!"
"The difference in their abilities is obvious!! Xie Yu has always been like this. Even if he feels wronged, he doesn't say anything, and there's no need for him to cry and complain, right?"
"A man's responsibility, the last true man in the entertainment industry!! Seriously, compared to the extent to which Xie Yu was criticized, what is the criticism Chen Zhuo received?"
During this phase, the fans of the two lead actors engaged in a fierce battle, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
And so it quickly entered the third stage—
"Is the poor ratings of a drama series solely the actors' fault? Doesn't the production company bear any responsibility? Isn't the pacing issue the screenwriter's fault?"
"The actors were hired by the production team, their scenes were written by the screenwriter, and now the blame is being shifted onto the actors because the show flopped?! Xie Yu isn't here to take the fall!"
"Didn't they change screenwriters for 'A Tear in a Cup'? Doesn't that mean the lead actor has been wronged for a long time? The lead actor has already apologized, shouldn't the screenwriter take the initiative to come forward and give the audience an explanation?"
The four screenwriters of "A Tear" were attacked to varying degrees, especially the one who was the only one different from the one of "The Flower in the Season," who was attacked the most fiercely.
"How could you hurt Xie Yu like this?! I hate it so much, I want to cry!!"
"It was clearly the screenwriter's fault, but in the end, it was Xiaoyu who came out to apologize. Seeing this kid bowing down so earnestly and foolishly, my heart almost broke."
The screenwriter commented: "Yeah, I know, because #XieYuIsKind#"
Lin Yuan: "…………"
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Author's Note: Update~
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