Chapter 30: Clashing Schedules

Chapter 30: Clashing Schedules

With just one scene, Lu Xu earned the recognition of everyone on the *The Supreme* crew.

Lu Xu was loaned by the director from the nearby *The Son of Heaven* production. Many people originally thought that the director resorted to this move out of desperation—even if Lu Xu’s portrayal of Ji Xiuya fell short compared to Chen Ye’s version, at least his appearance surpassed Chen Ye’s. When the drama aired, the character of Ji Xiuya might still have some presence and not flop silently.

No one expected that Lu Xu would leave everyone in awe with his very first scene.

The *The Supreme* crew had something to compare against, as many still remembered how Chen Ye performed in this scene.

In terms of performance, Lu Xu truly surpassed Chen Ye by a large margin—it was almost a crushing victory.

"Once the drama airs, are we in for a treat?"

"Chen Ye is always saying how terrible our crew is. No matter how bad our crew is, is his acting any better to watch?"

A comparison of Chen Ye and Lu Xu's appearances went viral. For a male actor in the rising stage of his career, getting outshone in a visual comparison was definitely not a good thing. The images were quickly handled by Chen Ye's agency.

Chen Ye's fans remained deeply frustrated. The comparison was too brutal, and the fans didn’t want to bring it up, otherwise they’d be mocked for being attracted to ugliness. These fans only focused on the two actors' performances—

Lu Xu might have gained popularity with *The Noble Son*, but Chen Ye is a classically trained actor!

If Chen Ye's acting was bad, the *Nine Turns Decree* crew would never have invited him to play an important role.

Regardless of how much Lu Xu bragged, Chen Ye's fans firmly believed that Lu Xu would surely reveal his true, inferior abilities when *The Supreme* aired.

One late night, Chen Ye did a live broadcast, tearfully pouring his heart out to his loyal fans about the hardships he had endured over the years. He said that he had lost too many opportunities in the past, so when a good opportunity came knocking, he would never let it go.

He said that he gave up on the *The Supreme* crew because the character of Ji Xiuya in the script was too exaggerated. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t meet the script’s requirements. He had mentioned his concerns to Jiang Wangshu several times, but Jiang didn’t understand him at all.

In his despair and breakdown, he felt he had no other option but to leave the *The Supreme* production.

Chen Ye had always portrayed an image of strength and resilience to his fans, so his emotional outburst left them heartbroken.

The fans believed that Chen Ye’s decision was absolutely the right one. At the same time, they wondered how Lu Xu could possibly handle the role of Ji Xiuya when even Chen Ye couldn’t manage it.

This time, the *The Supreme* crew didn’t respond to Chen Ye’s emotional outburst.

The reason they posted photos on Weibo before was because the crew was indeed upset about Chen Ye leaving, and there was a sense of resentment.

But now, as Lu Xu continued to showcase increasingly brilliant acting on set, the resentment naturally faded.

Although Chen Ye's fans still flocked to the official crew's Weibo comment section every day to mock Lu Xu and imagine the bleak outcome of *The Supreme* once it aired, only the crew knew how wonderful it was to have Lu Xu play Ji Xiuya!

Chen Ye had left halfway through the production. If he had stayed with the *The Supreme* crew as planned, his scenes would have taken at least another month to shoot—his acting was decent, but not outstanding, and he had a lot of NG takes.

Ji Xiuya was indeed a difficult role to play.

But after Lu Xu took over, the efficiency skyrocketed.

Lu Xu was solely focused on the script, disregarding everything else. As long as it involved his scenes, he delivered beyond-excellent performances every time.

Zheng Xiao and Wei Yi had shot the same scenes twice, but when it came to actual performance, in Director Jiang Wangshu’s opinion, Lu Xu still delivered the stronger performance.

Jiang Wangshu felt that Lu Xu had an undeniable natural talent for acting.

As Lu Xu filmed scene after scene, Ji Wangshu even began to look forward to the moment when the character Ji Xiuyan would meet the audience.

……

Naturally, while Ji Wangshu hoped that Ji Xiuyan’s character would soon meet the audience, it was *The Son of Heaven* that premiered first on Yunxi Film and Television.

Lu Xu was still with *The Supreme* crew, but *The Son of Heaven* was already scheduled to launch on Yunxi Film and Television in February.

Lu Xu didn’t know much about Yunxi Film and Television, but during the airing of *The Noble Son*, Yunxi Film and Television’s *A Piece of Candy's Sweetness* was also one of its competitors. However, after *Watchmen* cooled down, *A Piece of Candy's Sweetness* seemed to fade as well.

Yunxi Film and Television initially aired *A Piece of Candy's Sweetness* to avoid competing directly with *Watchmen* since their genres didn’t conflict. However, Yunxi Film and Television hadn’t expected *The Noble Son* to take off, not only surpassing *Watchmen* but also absorbing the heat from *A Piece of Candy's Sweetness*.

To some extent, both *The Noble Son* and *A Piece of Candy's Sweetness* belonged to the youth romance genre.

Although... Lu Xu thought *The Noble Son* was more like a 'wild ride.'

Lu Xu hadn’t expected that a historical drama like *The Son of Heaven* would actually be released on Yunxi Film and Television.

"It's being released so soon?"

"Not really," Liu Chunfeng said, "Historical dramas are indeed less popular, but Yunxi has too much repetitive content, and their recent performance hasn’t been great. They want to try a different genre."

Halfway through his chat with the director, Lu Xu was suddenly asked, "Wasn’t your previous drama a winner over Yunxi Film and Television?"

Lu Xu replied, "...I suppose, but I wasn’t the lead, just a supporting role."

He hadn’t played a lead role yet, only supporting characters.

"That makes sense," Liu Chunfeng mused.

At this point, the annual viewership data from various platforms was released, and the results were astonishing—over a hundred dramas aired throughout the year, and *The Noble Son* actually ranked in the top five in terms of heat!

When *The Son of Heaven* crew negotiated with Yunxi Film and Television, an internal screening was held. A senior executive brought up Lu Xu and asked Liu Chunfeng if the actor playing the crown prince was him.

After confirming that it was, Liu Chunfeng vaguely felt that Yunxi Film and Television’s sincerity in cooperation had increased.

It certainly wasn’t his boxer coach-like appearance that played a role. Liu Chunfeng suspected that Yunxi Film and Television might see something mystical in Lu Xu.

How should he put it?

If someone ever told Liu Chunfeng that a low-budget drama he directed made it to the top five in annual viewership, he’d think they were crazy.

Yet, *The Noble Son* was exactly that kind of drama.

In his first acting role, in his first drama, Lu Xu created such a remarkable miracle.

As a no-name, no-budget, no-star production, *The Noble Son*'s success had to rely on certain unseen factors.

Although *The Son of Heaven* might not have the same luck as *The Noble Son*, but… who knows?

The only connection between the two dramas so far is that Lu Xu is starring in both.

In Liu Chunfeng's view, even without the so-called mystique, Lu Xu is bound to make it big in the entertainment industry.

He possesses all the elements to become a big star, and even his attitude towards filming is something many actors today can hardly match.

……

Soon after *The Son of Heaven* was officially announced for a February release, *Rising Sun* crew also announced that after months of filming, *Rising Sun* would launch on Grape Film and Television in February.

Although they had experienced the failure of *Watchmen*, Grape Film and Television decided to collaborate with Ling Ge Entertainment once again. The two companies had been financially intertwined even before the release of *Watchmen*. The failure of *Watchmen* was indeed a significant setback, but their partnership wouldn't easily fall apart because of it.

Such a collaboration would be far too unstable.

Scheduling *Rising Sun* for a February release was undoubtedly Grape Film and Television throwing down the gauntlet to Yunxi Film and Television.

After the director change storm, Ling Ge Entertainment and Fei Wo Film hired a new director and paid a high price to bring back the scriptwriter Jin Mu. To ensure Gu Sinian's acting wouldn't be the sole weak point in the production, Ling Ge Entertainment hired three acting coaches to be on set, waiting for Gu Sinian to fully transform.

Of course, Ling Ge Entertainment's love for marketing hadn't changed—even before the drama aired, there were already numerous articles about Gu Sinian hiring acting coaches.

At the press conference for *Rising Sun*, a reporter asked if scheduling *Rising Sun* in February was intentional to clash with *The Son of Heaven*, and whether Gu Sinian still had a competitive attitude towards Lu Xu.

Before Gu Sinian could answer, the new director Xiao Bo, invited by the crew, countered, "As far as I know, Lu Xu is only a supporting actor in *The Son of Heaven*. Gu Sinian is the lead in our drama; with different positions, there's no competitive relationship."

Gu Sinian held back from answering. Before the conference, his agent had reminded him not to respond to any questions related to Lu Xu.

Lu Xu's words cut like knives, piercing deeply.

Fortunately, the director had spoken his mind.

Lu Xu hasn't even played a lead role yet! What gives him the right to be compared to me?

The reporter's question made it sound like he was jealous of Lu Xu, but in any case, it should be the other way around, right?

When the reporter asked again, the *Rising Sun* crew clarified that the scheduling overlap was purely coincidental, and that competition exists between several dramas no matter the schedule.

...

Although the scheduling of *Rising Sun* was late, the teaser was released unusually early.

In a season of birdsong and blossoms, a group of young people gathered in the square, loudly proclaiming their patriotic vows.

The scene shifted to dim candlelight, where a young man's vigorous handwriting left deep marks on a white paper—

"To die for the country's cause, to face death as if returning home."

On campus, young people held books in their hands, cherishing every minute, arguing fiercely over a topic until their faces turned red.

Another young man knelt before his mother, tears brimming in his eyes. "Even if I rank first in every subject and am strong enough to join the softball team, they say, 'You are different from others.'"

"What's the difference?"

"We are all flesh-and-blood, independent-thinking individuals!"—A single voice became the voice of many.

Accompanied by soft music, the determination of the young people seemed to resonate across the globe.

This short teaser, though not long, was quite captivating. The shouts of the young people in the footage seemed to transcend space, echoing in every viewer's ear.

Mu Qian slammed the TV off.

His brows furrowed into a shape resembling the character '川', and he felt a faint headache emerging.

He could only say that the actor who replaced You Zichen was indeed better than You Zichen, but not by much. The one-minute-long teaser did try its best to showcase the passion of the youth, but... it seemed the actors hadn't fully grasped the core of the script. Their voices were passionate, but their expressions were cold.

That passion felt superficial.

He hadn't seen the shock and surging emotions that Lu Xu's performance brought.

Although Mu Qian understood that it was unreasonable to expect others to meet the same standards as Lu Xu in portraying the character, he still hoped that *Rising Sun* would garner strong viewership. After all, it was a script that his good friend had carefully polished, and Mu Qian didn't want his friend to be too heartbroken.