Chapter 12: CH 012

TL: Moonlit

The premiere of «Jiuge» was moved up by a day, and Yanshi Film Industry had already prepared hot topics and marketing strategies. As soon as it aired, several hot topics consecutively dominated the trending charts.

#JiugeAiring#

#Qiu Hongguang in Jiuge#

#Qiu Hongguang’s acting skills#

It can be said that they spared no effort in promoting Qiu Hongguang.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Qiu Qiu looks so handsome!! He’s the immortal lord of my dreams!”

“My child is amazing, his acting skills are incredible.”

“The opening scene with the male and female leads mutually killing each other was so thrilling. Even passersby found it captivating.”

“The actors’ performances are excellent, and the production quality is outstanding. «Jiuge» is undoubtedly one of the best TV dramas this year.”

“I’m cheering for Qiu Qiu. He’s amazing. He truly lives up to my expectations. He looks good and has great acting skills.”

“«Sword Immortal» is clearly a low-quality TV drama made for money. How dare they air it at the same time as «Jiuge» Who gave them the courage?”

“It’s a trash production from a small company. The actor specializes in playing villainous supporting roles, and the director is known for web dramas. The overall rating of their show is only around six points. It’s hilarious. Our «Jiuge» doesn’t even want to acknowledge this shameless attention-seeking show.”

“I heard that the male lead of «Sword Immortal» was unreliable on set. He was given a hefty penalty for breaching his contract but still came to our «Jiuge» to play the second male lead.”

“It shows that they have the most basic judgment and can differentiate between reliable and unreliable projects.”

After the premiere of «Jiuge», they relentlessly targeted «Sword Immortal» in their marketing. Fans and internet water armies joined in, criticizing «Sword Immortal» in terms of its production, director, and actors. Even unsuspecting onlookers were influenced and developed biases against «Sword Immortal».

The next day, when «Sword Immortal» aired, «Jiuge» still dominated the trending topics, with its marketing campaign in full swing. The viewership ratings of «Sword Immortal» couldn’t even reach half of «Jiuge»’s ratings. Only a few anchors collecting material sat in front of their TVs, waiting to mock it.

«Sword Immortal» started with a seemingly ordinary small village, where a group of children gathered, laughing and playing.

“Is it just me… but the scenery seems pretty good. It looks like they filmed it on location, very realistic.”

“This is a xianxia drama, not a wuxia drama. Xianxia dramas are supposed to have a sense of ethereal beauty. Do you think it’s a wuxia drama?”

“I’m a prophet. I predict that the male protagonist is one of these children, and this village will be completely destroyed by villains. Then, the male protagonist will be saved by a mysterious immortal, and he will embark on the path of cultivation for revenge.”

“Hahaha, is it that predictable? I believe it.”

Before the barrage of comments could continue, the children who were happily playing suddenly stopped and ran toward a direction. The camera followed their perspective, shaking, and captured a glimpse of a gray robe.

“This should be the protagonist’s father, right?”

“Why don’t you guess that he is the male protagonist? This mysterious aura is a typical trait of male protagonists.”

“This is a xianxia drama! The male protagonist of a xianxia drama shouldn’t be wearing coarse cloth clothes like this. He clearly looks like an ordinary person.”

The next second, a voice with a smile resounded, “What did you bring for me today?”

“Grasshoppers!”

“I brought a candied hawthorn skewer!”

“I caught a cricket…”

The camera shook and focused on the person’s face—eyebrows like flying, eyes shining like cold stars, lips curved with a lazy smile. He looked at the children with gentle eyes but also seemed to carry a hint of cunningness.

“Come, completely different leaves, one for each person.” The man, devoid of the demeanor of peerless beauty, shook his coat pocket and said, “Put the things in.”

“Ran Xing, how did he turn out to be so good-looking? It’s amazing that a face like this isn’t popular.”

“If I’m not mistaken, is he deceiving the children? This protagonist’s character isn’t perfect, huh?”

“It’s intriguing. This drama has caught my attention.”

“Is this drama taking the route of a delinquent’s growth? The imperfect delinquent gradually grow.”

Before the audience could make sense of it, the parents of the children arrived upon hearing the news. They held brooms and drove the deceitful protagonist out of the village. Just as everyone thought the protagonist would seek revenge on the villagers, he sighed, shook his head, and disappeared on the spot.

“?”

“So, the protagonist was an immortal from the beginning, deceiving children. Is that interesting?!”

“This drama is really unconventional…”

«Sword Immortal» aired two episodes in a row. In just those two episodes, the protagonist tricked the children out of their toys, robbed the treasure vault of bandits, successfully infiltrated the team of demonic cultivators after being captured by them, watched the commotion between righteous cultivators and demonic cultivators, and in the end, became targeted by both sides.

After watching it, the audience couldn’t come back to their senses, and some even felt unsatisfied.

“This protagonist is truly unique. He doesn’t have the appearance of an immortal at all.”

“…Although his actions don’t resemble those of an immortal, just look at his face. Can you honestly say he’s not an immortal?”

“This is carefree and unrestrained! This is both righteous and evil! I’ve fallen in love with this carefree and radiant beauty. Ran Xing’s face is worth it!”

In the current era of protagonists tending to be perfect and flawless in film and television, such a protagonist suddenly appeared and captivated the audience.

Hong Tao is a video anchor in the film and television industry who specializes in criticizing bad dramas. He is extremely stubborn, and no amount of capital can silence him. As a result, he became the top streamer on various video platforms, attracting tens of millions of viewers for each live stream.

Yesterday, when «Jiuge» aired, Hong Tao, under pressure from Yanshi Film Industry and Qiu Hongguang’s fans, live-streamed his criticism of the drama. To ordinary viewers, the drama seemed fine, but when he spoke, every aspect seemed flawed.

Perhaps it was the coincidental awkwardness of the protagonist’s encounters, or perhaps the protagonist’s acting skills were nerve-wracking, or maybe the set and props were too fake and lacked realism… Only a few exceptional dramas could receive his praise, and even then, if he found something unsatisfactory, he wouldn’t hesitate to criticize it.

Today, when «Sword Immortal» aired, he fairly chose to live-stream it as well. In the beginning, he lazily sat in his gaming chair, casually criticizing. But as he watched further, he gradually sat up straight.

“Tactical adjustment.”

“Hmm, the previous drama that made Xiao Hong sit up straight has become a legend. This one…”

“I’m an ordinary viewer, so I can’t really tell what’s good or bad. But this drama feels comfortable. It doesn’t treat the audience like fools. The set design and color scheme aren’t flashy either.”

“Is Hong Tao trying to find fault with this drama? This average drama can’t compare to a masterpiece, let alone «Jiuge» next door.”

Hong Tao also noticed the doubts in the barrage. He clicked his tongue and began to speak, “From what I’ve seen so far, this drama has impeccable set design and props. The characters’ roles are logically consistent, and even the acting of any random person meets the passing mark. Even Ran Xing… has successfully portrayed his character.”

“I used to criticize Ran Xing, saying that he only relied on his face to spin around in idol dramas and earn easy money, without any improvement. I thought his acting skills and charisma would fade away sooner or later… Now, I take back those words. Those idol dramas from back then weren’t worthy of his acting skills.”

“I, Hong Tao, declare here that if this drama maintains its logical coherence and doesn’t collapse, it will score at least an eight out of ten.”

His statement quickly spread online as screenshots. After years of sharp criticism, Hong Tao’s judgment was rarely wrong. People flocked to watch «Sword Immortal», and its viewership ratings showed a rising trend, faintly catching up to «Jiuge».

The hot search is still dominated by «Jiuge», but silently and gradually, «Sword Immortal» has crawled up the hot search rankings, occupying a somewhat ambiguous position.

Qiu Hongguang was the first to discover these comments, and he felt a shock in his heart. The feeling of floating on cloud nine, praised by fans and viewers just a moment ago, seemed like a punctured balloon, gradually deflating.

Qiu Hongguang hadn’t seen Yan Weilou for a long time. Ever since he instigated Qiao Qingsheng to go after Ran Xing, and as a result, Qiao Qingsheng was sent to prison by the shameless Ran Xing, he felt a certain unease and didn’t dare to disturb Yan Weilou anymore.

Fortunately, the set of «Jiuge» was right next door, and he could still catch snippets of information about Yan Weilou from the staff next door. However, once filming had wrapped up, he completely lost his source of information.

Qiu Hongguang felt anxious and disoriented. After giving it some thought, during dinner, he cautiously probed, “Uncle, is Brother Lou… not planning to come back?”

The three people at the dining table froze.

Mother Yan put down her knife and fork and elegantly wiped the corners of her mouth, her leisurely actions sharply contrasted with her anxious voice, “This child has become wild while playing outside and doesn’t like coming home anymore… He wasn’t like this before. He used to be obedient, but now he’s so rebellious. I can’t hold my head up in front of my friends because of him.”

There was a hint of dissatisfaction in her eyebrows and eyes, but it was only because her twenty-something-year-old child suddenly became rebellious, causing her to lose face in front of her friends.

Yan Minghui took a sip of red wine and glanced at Qiu Hongguang.

Qiu Hongguang’s heart skipped a beat under his gaze. Yan Weilou’s parents had taken a liking to him, especially Yan Weilou’s mother, but Yan Minghui had always been serious and rarely revealed his preferences. However, his support and resource allocation to Qiu Hongguang couldn’t be faked. Qiu Hongguang assumed that he also had Yan Minghui’s favor, but that one glance made him unsure.

“If he’s so disobedient, if the company is handed over to him in the future, it will eventually be ruined by him. Let him taste some hardships outside, and he’ll know how to be obedient,” Yan Minghui calmly cut his steak and said.

Somehow, Qiu Hongguang felt a chill in his heart.

This pair of parents seemed to not treat their son as a soon-to-be thirty-year-old adult.

“What about Ran Xing…” Qiu Hongguang gritted his teeth and continued.

Compared to Yan Weilou’s parents who “love” him, he detested Ran Xing, who was always by Yan Weilou’s side.

“He’s just an artist,” Yan Minghui said disdainfully, “Without the support of capital, he’s nothing more than a grasshopper after autumn. Your perspective is too narrow.”

Mother Yan became unhappy first. She elegantly rolled her eyes, saying, “What’s wrong with being an artist? Did artists offend you? If you look down on artists, why did you marry me?”

Qiu Hongguang was also taken aback. It was the first time he learned that Mother Yan used to be an artist as well. He thought that he had found the reason why Mother Yan liked him.

However… if it was merely because they were both artists that she saw him in a different light, then Ran Xing was also an artist… This thought suddenly flashed through Qiu Hongguang’s mind, but he didn’t dare to ponder on it. He took a sip of mushroom soup to calm himself down.