Chapter 11 011 What Are You Kneading?

Chapter 11 011 What Are You Kneading?

"How is this possible?"

Gu Sinian refused to believe it, but on the popularity ranking, *My Baby, The Noble Son*, which had been in seventh or eighth place the previous day, had now climbed to fifth. Among all the big-budget prime-time dramas, *The Noble Son* stood out, from its title to its streaming platform.

It should be noted that Chenxi TV, a secondary platform that branched off from Dei Film and Television, rarely saw its dramas break the 7000 threshold in popularity, even if they were heavily promoted by Chenxi TV itself.

A quick glance showed that *The Noble Son* and *Watchmen* were getting closer and closer on the rankings.

"Why?"

Frowning, Gu Sinian searched for reviews related to *Watchmen*.

On Weibo, film and television forums, and drama reviewers... the feedback for *Watchmen* had always been high. In addition, Grape Film and Television and Ling Ge Entertainment had been sparing no effort in promoting *Watchmen*, and the drama still had many trending topics.

Before starring in *Watchmen*, Gu Sinian had full confidence in the drama.

The director and scriptwriter were top-notch in the industry, and Yue Hui and Ren Ningyi’s reputation didn’t need any further mention. In Gu Sinian’s view, this drama would only explode in popularity and had no chance of failure.

Yet, the heat for *Watchmen* had dropped to over 9800, which didn’t meet Gu Sinian’s expectations for the drama.

Based on past experience, an average heat exceeding 10,000 was typical for a hit drama.

The fact that *Watchmen*’s heat had fallen below 10,000 disappointed Gu Sinian a little, but what he couldn’t understand was that *The Noble Son*’s heat had actually exceeded 7000.

"For serious dramas, it’s always at a disadvantage when competing with those unconventional ones," his agent comforted him. "*Watchmen* is focused on word of mouth, and in the long run, the data won’t be bad. *The Noble Son* has a lot of gimmicks right now, and viewers might tune in out of curiosity."

"That’s true," Gu Sinian thought for a moment and accepted the explanation.

He was still somewhat curious about *The Noble Son*. After searching, he found that, as his agent had said, the title "Galloping Noble Son" and those GIFs of Lu Xu had indeed attracted some viewers, but hardly anyone seemed interested in the plot of *The Noble Son*—they were just swooning over how handsome Lu Xu was.

Shallow.

*Watchmen* was different; the audience discussions were mostly about the plot.

"Just wait a little longer," the agent said. "There are people online discussing your acting skills, but those posts are likely bought by competitors, so I’ve already called to have them deleted."

Gu Sinian nodded slightly.

His goal in starring in *Watchmen* was not only to successfully transition from an idol to an actor but also to win an award for his role in the drama.

Ever since *Watchmen* was released, Ling Ge Entertainment had been building hype for this.

Gu Sinian didn’t want any discussions to jeopardize the award he was about to win.

Gu Sinian thought it would be easy, and in his view, the dip in *Watchmen*'s popularity below 10,000 was just temporary. After all, *Watchmen* had a more compelling story, and while it might be a bit difficult for viewers to immerse themselves in the plot at first, they would naturally discover the excellence of the drama if they stuck with it.

However, on the third day of *Watchmen*’s release, the heat had dropped to just over 9200.

In contrast, *The Noble Son*’s heat continued to rise, reaching over 7600 in popularity that day.

*Watchmen* was still in the top spot on the popularity ranking, but *The Noble Son* had climbed to third place!

Gu Sinian couldn’t figure it out.

Had the audience's taste really sunk this low? Were they really not watching high-quality dramas like *Watchmen* and instead chasing after a trashy show?

By the fourth day of "The Noble Son" airing, Tan Qi realized that she had gained more fellow fans.

The barrage of comments was the clearest indicator—at midnight, just as she started the latest episode of "The Noble Son," the screen was flooded with "Here we go" messages, and the heat value at the top of the video was steadily rising.

Despite being a low-budget production with some awkward moments, "The Noble Son" at least had a smooth and coherent plot, with the melodramatic storyline starting to unfold—Pan Lingfeng was suspected to be Zhong Baobei's brother.

"Lovers turning into siblings, huh? Think you can fool me?!"

"For some reason, I keep thinking Yu Wei is actually Zhong Baobei's brother. Isn't he the same age as Pan Lingfeng?"

"All three of them are the same age. I can't stand this absurd setup, but for some reason, I've watched 'The Noble Son' from start to finish and I'm still chasing its updates every day."

"Same here... I can't sleep if I don't watch it, but then I can't sleep after watching either."

"Yu Wei makes me twist like a worm in bed!! He's so handsome!!"

Tan Qi quietly liked every comment that praised Yu Wei.

Although Lu Xu was being heavily criticized on Weibo, Tan Qi genuinely believed that he portrayed Yu Wei's character—a man of suppressed passion and conflicting emotions—perfectly.

Unlike Pan Lingfeng, who is outgoing and direct, he keeps everything bottled up.

In the dramas she'd been following in recent years, there were characters with similar personalities to Yu Wei, but perhaps the actors didn't fully grasp the role, or their acting skills fell short. Those characters only showed restraint—they hid their feelings too well, leaving the audience unable to see their emotions for the female lead.

As a result, the eventual emotional outburst felt abrupt.

But Yu Wei was different.

With his delicate appearance and Lu Xu's expressive face, even a moment of silence exuded melancholy.

The atmosphere was well-built, and Yu Wei used his eyes to convey his emotions.

He would look at Zhong Baobei, who was smiling at Pan Lingfeng from the corner of the student council window, his knuckles turning white, his eyes seemingly empty but able to make people see tears welling up.

He wanted to take a brave step forward but was always held back by family pressure.

For an idol drama to become popular, it's simple—having a character that can deeply move the audience is enough, even if the plot is weak.

Tan Qi understood clearly that in this drama, Zhong Baobei was destined to end up with Pan Lingfeng.

But she couldn't forget the way Yu Wei looked at Zhong Baobei.

Even though "The Noble Son" wasn't a stellar production, she was certain that Lu Xu had thoroughly studied Yu Wei's character. His performance wasn't about using Yu Wei to gain anything; it was about exposing Yu Wei's emotions and presenting them carefully to the audience.

She just couldn't stop watching Yu Wei.

She had been following "The Noble Son" since the first episode, almost witnessing its rise in heat value from over 5000 to over 7000, and now, Tan Qi looked up to see that "The Noble Son" had exceeded 8000 in heat value.

"8000 now!!"

"Yu Wei deserves it! Everyone who has watched 'The Noble Son' should like Yu Wei!"

"I was originally chasing both 'Watchmen' and 'The Noble Son,' but now 'Watchmen' has become so unreasonable, with Gu Sinian appearing more and more frequently, his screen time almost catching up with Yue Hui."

"+1, I've already dropped the show."

"There's one thing that really bothers me—Gu Sinian acts so poorly, yet his fans are always dissing Lu Xu. At least for me, Yu Wei's character is well-done."

"Super love Yu Wei +1+1+1."

Lu Xu had been following *Watchmen* for several days.

Naturally, it wasn't because he wanted to boost Gu Sinian's popularity; he simply had the habit of watching dramas.

As for this drama, Lu Xu could only say that the issues starting in the second episode had become more noticeable by the sixth episode.

Gu Sinian's screen time had cut into Ren Ningyi's, who is one of the two main leads. He suspected that the project was established with the goal of promoting Gu Sinian, hence the excessive additions to his character setup.

The problem was that Gu Sinian couldn't handle such an elaborate setup.

Initially, he was a passionate young man, but now he was portrayed as a heartthrob with numerous emotional entanglements with actresses. However, his expressions were either blank or overly exaggerated, resulting in zero romantic chemistry with the actresses.

A significant portion of Ren Ningyi's screen time had been taken over by him. Yue Hui's screen time stayed intact because he had a lot of scenes with Gu Sinian.

Whenever Yue Hui appeared, Gu Sinian would inevitably show up too.

From the audience's perspective, Yue Hui's performance made Gu Sinian look like a joke, especially since there was also Ren Ningyi in the drama.

The scenes between Yue Hui and Ren Ningyi were harmonious, filled with tension, with every glance and brow movement telling a story.

In contrast, when Gu Sinian shared the screen with Yue Hui, the whole scene quality took a nosedive.

Just when the audience was getting hyped by Yue Hui and Ren Ningyi’s scenes, Gu Sinian would show up and kill the vibe. This repeated cycle of excitement and disappointment became too much for anyone to handle after a while.

Lu Xu thought the writer did a decent job with Gu Sinian’s character, but only if he stuck to a small part of the plot. Gu Sinian insisted on having extensive screen time, hogging all the spotlight for himself.

Was he a heartthrob? Not even close.

Could his acting handle such a rich and diverse character setup? Clearly not.

So, the storyline fell apart.

If Gu Sinian's plotline were removed or reduced to a small part, *Watchmen* would undoubtedly be much better.

Lu Xu, chin in hand, took a screenshot of today's trending chart and posted it on his Weibo page.

Lu Xu: "Watching Verse get closer, at 1589. Will it ever surpass this? [music note] [tear]"

To make sure everyone noticed the 1500-point gap between *Watchmen* and *The Noble Son*, Lu Xu deliberately circled the two dramas in the image.

Gu Sinian: "?"

Gu Sinian's fans: "?"

Lu Xu's actions were no different from a provocation.

In the next second, Lu Xu's comment section was flooded with curses.

"??? How shameless, don't act like the heat of your crappy drama has surpassed *Watchmen* okay?"

"*Watchmen* isn't something you get to comment on, is it? You'll never get to act in a drama with a cast like *Watchmen* in your lifetime."

"Who are you to mention Verse?"

In response, Lu Xu stated, "No matter how much you deny me, I was indeed once a member of Verse. Seeing dramas with both me and Gu Sinian on the same trending list fills me with genuine joy."

People are always flaunting Verse's team spirit. Isn't this also a form of showing off team spirit?

If others can show off, why can't he?

As for comments like "You'll never catch up with the heat of Watchmen," Lu Xu replied, "I can't keep up with how fast it's dropping."

"Is Gu Sinian's new drama's popularity making you that jealous?" — "I'm more jealous that negative comments about him are quickly deleted, while no one bothers to delete the insults directed at me."

"LOL, let’s rumble!"

"Just realized Lu Xu holds serious grudges, man, not a fan of anyone, but — that Weibo post has zero views."

"Same here, later I changed it to praising Gu Sinian, and the view count broke 10,000 in a minute, with a bunch of fans complimenting me on my good taste."

"Why call it holding grudges? He’s just giving back what he got."

"I'm following both Watchmen and The Noble Son. To be honest, The Noble Son's plot convinces me more, whereas Gu Sinian's character in Watchmen, doesn’t it seem like he’s missing the forest for the trees?"

"It's not like they're wrong, this is the first time since Verse broke up that members are on the same leaderboard, right?"

"Gu Sinian’s fans, can you stop mocking The Noble Son already? With Watchmen's configuration, the heat is only about 1600 higher, if I were Gu Sinian, I’d be in tears."

"The gap is down to just 300, and The Noble Son is now in second place!"

"!!!!!!"

While Lu Xu's comment section was buzzing with arguments, the latest heat data was released.

Watchmen was still in first place, but the gap in heat points between it and second place was down to just 319, and more importantly, right behind Watchmen was none other than the much-disdained The Noble Son.

Lu Xu quickly updated with a new image —

"First time I’ve been this close to a Verse member—feeling all warm and fuzzy inside."

#WhatAreYouTouching#