Chapter 90: 090 Magical Events x2

Chapter 90: 090 Magical Events x2

The crew of "Deceit" hasn't been set up yet, but since Lu Xu has already agreed to Yue Hui, he naturally wouldn't jump ship to another crew.

Xu Wen didn't assign him any extra work, as the agent doesn't approve of Lu Xu being overly exposed. As an actor, a bit of mystery is still essential.

Lu Xu suddenly found himself with nothing to do.

Fortunately, there are people in the world who are just as idle as him.

When Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao appeared downstairs in his neighborhood on their bikes, Lu Xu thought the three of them looked like spies meeting up.

An old lady throwing out trash glanced at them several times, clearly unable to accept their appearance, wrapped up like ugly rice dumplings.

Lu Xu: "...Didn't you say you were here to pick me up?"

Zheng Xiao casually patted the back seat of his bike: "This is the transportation."

Lu Xu decided to pass.

As far as he knew, Zheng Xiao had recently taken a tumble into a stinky ditch because of his obsession with biking. Fortunately, he wasn't caught by the paparazzi, or his reputation would have been ruined.

Considering safety, Lu Xu would never hop on Zheng Xiao's bike.

He had to pull out his own bike.

The three of them were bored out of their minds, with no filming and no activities to attend. Making the most of the beautiful spring weather, they decided to go out for some exercise.

After riding around the park and watching a movie at the mall, what they thought were perfect disguises were destroyed by a loud yell of "Lu Xu!"

Zheng Xiao couldn't help but complain: "It's all your fault for being so popular."

Among the three, Lu Xu is clearly the most popular right now.

Lu Xu: "...Isn't it because I'm just too good-looking?"

Hearing this, Zheng Xiao had an indescribable expression, and even the usually quiet Shao Yao showed disapproval.

Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao met because of Lu Xu. The three of them are about the same age, and although there is competition between them, they get along like a house on fire.

Lu Xu doesn't like playing games, but Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao occasionally team up for a game.

Of course, both of them have learned the art of speaking from Lu Xu.

Shao Yao has made leaps and bounds, so much so that when his agent occasionally meets Lu Xu, Lu Xu can practically hear the "you've corrupted my kid" in the agent's eyes.

Sorry sorry.

After "Voices of the Dead" ended, Shao Yao went back to the serious dramas he's known for. With his talent and the vindication from "Nan Xiangzi," his reputation just kept getting better and better.

Subtly, fans discovered his goofy nature, realizing that while he is serious when filming, he is a total goofball off-screen. Since then, fans no longer believe any black rumors about Shao Yao.

Zheng Xiao got a boost in popularity from "The Supreme." His acting range isn't very broad, and his audience appeal is slightly less compared to Lu Xu and Shao Yao. However, he has steadily carved out a name for himself in the industry.

This time, when they finally got together for some fun, it was ruined by Lu Xu. Zheng Xiao couldn't help but give Lu Xu a big eye roll: "How are you going to make it up to us?"

Even Shao Yao encouraged from behind, hinting that Lu Xu should treat them to KFC.

Lu Xu & Zheng Xiao: "..."

Can’t we aim a bit higher?

Shao Yao expressed that since Lu Xu was treating, Lu Xu was entirely to blame for the KFC. Even if his agent scolded him, he could pin it all on Lu Xu.

Zheng Xiao gave a thumbs-up.

Lu Xu could only sigh silently: "You’ve really turned into a jerk, it’s heartbreaking."

They still ate the fast food, and Lu Xu stated that he would take the heat for this.

Unfortunately, the KFC was packed, increasing their chances of being discovered. As the surrounding gazes became more blatant, the three could only grab a box of fried chicken and make a hasty escape.

"Entertainment Company Turns Out to Be a Sweatshop, Busy Star Still Finds Time for Fried Chicken"

"Get the Celebrity Look!"

Seeing these two headlines, Lu Xu, Zheng Xiao, and Shao Yao couldn’t help but cringe.

To prevent Shao Yao from throwing him under the bus, Lu Xu had already sent a message to his agent in advance: "Shao Yao couldn’t stop eating!"

Shao Yao: "?"

What happened to the bond from the "Voices of the Dead" set?

Lu Xu shrugged: "Poof, gone."

After leaving the mall, they encountered another incident—Zheng Xiao’s bike got swiped.

The three bikes were parked side by side, but only Zheng Xiao’s was stolen. Not only that, the thief had just made off with it and was brazenly pedaling away towards the right intersection.

Zheng Xiao was fuming mad and immediately jumped on Lu Xu’s bike to give chase.

Lu Xu: "?"

Shao Yao’s bike didn’t have a backseat, so the current situation was—Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao were riding their bikes in front, while he was running like a lunatic behind them.

Lu Xu thought that Zheng Xiao shouldn’t have ridden his bike; he should have ridden Shao Yao’s instead. With Shao Yao’s build, he looked like he could run a marathon.

Unfortunately, Zheng Xiao didn’t catch the thief, and neither did Shao Yao. However, this whole fiasco got posted online.

"Is this... what we get as A-listers?"

"How dare they do this to Lu Xu, the Starlight Award’s youngest nominee / 16k+ drama heat / rap-dance king?"

"Lu Xu says, how many IDs does he need to check into a hotel?"

"I’m laughing so hard, are you insane? Running with fried chicken isn’t your peak ridiculousness?"

"I cry, I weep, I can’t sleep at night, why... is only the little dog running, fainting, crawling..."

"This is nuts! Hahaha, only Lu Xu’s actually running, Zheng Xiao rides like a charging bull, Shao Yao wants to chase but is afraid Lu Xu will disappear, hahaha."

The view count of this video even surpassed that of the "Voices of the Dead" finale.

It’s worth mentioning that Zheng Xiao secured a mountain bike endorsement because of this, while Lu Xu did not. Netizens commented, "Why did he run instead of ride?"

Lu Xu: "...Hmph."

He swore he’d never hang out with Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao again.

Even though he backtracked quickly, he soon asked them to catch a movie.

After Zheng Xiao landed the deal, he gifted both Lu Xu and Shao Yao a brand-new, upgraded version of Lu Xu’s old mountain bike, and way pricier.

The first time they hit the movies, there was no trailer for *The Swordsman*. By the second visit, the trailer was already on the big screen.

You’ve got to hand it to Zhang Zhizhen—he’s a pro at capturing scenery. The mist enveloping the screen made it feel like you’d stumbled into a fairyland. Deep mountains, bamboo forests, and a hermit appeared alongside ethereal traditional music, pulling the audience into the mysterious world of martial arts.

"Has *The Swordsman* already finished filming? That was lightning-fast."

"The release date’s pretty early," Zheng Xiao calculated. "If it’s set for September, that means it only took a year from filming to release?"

Quick series production is the standard, with each platform having a mature process for releasing shows. Compared to movies, series are shot at a quicker and rougher pace, while in films, even the smallest details are finely tuned, leaving room for endless imagination.

Lu Xu recalled the script of *The Swordsman*: "It’s... fine, I guess?"

Given his limited knowledge, he couldn’t quite figure out how *The Swordsman* could expand its content to two hours.

He figured the script could be shot in half a month—maybe even 10 days.

Of course, he had heard from Xu Wen that Zhang Zhizhen was a director who’s all about perfection, so it was hard to say what unique insights he might have had for *The Swordsman*.

Catching Lu Xu’s flat tone, Zheng Xiao asked curiously, "Did you check out the script?"

After Lu Xu nodded, he didn’t press further.

When he and Shao Yao chatted privately, they’d talk about Lu Xu’s knack for picking scripts. In this regard, Lu Xu was far superior to them.

However, Lu Xu himself was an actor who could turn trash into treasure. Even with a slightly weaker script, he could still deliver an outstanding performance.

But *The Swordsman*... Lu Xu had rejected it from the start.

You can only imagine how weird the script was.

...

Lu Xu wasn’t optimistic about *The Swordsman*, but Zhang Che’s fans were over the moon after seeing the trailer—Zhang Che looked absolutely stunning in the shots from *The Swordsman*.

His robes fluttered, his black hair tousled by the wind, radiating a beauty that was tough yet tender, almost like a spirit wandering the mountains.

Among all the roles Zhang Che had played, the fleeting glimpse of him in the *The Swordsman* trailer was the most exquisite.

"A top director’s visuals are next-level!"

"Can’t wait for *The Swordsman* to drop in September, and to Zhang Che’s big-screen debut!"

"Ahhhhhhh Che Ge is just too amazing, the god of beauty in my heart!!!"

"*The Swordsman* is definitely going to be a huge hit!!!"

Fans were buzzing with excitement for *The Swordsman*, and Zhang Che had already reposted the trailer early on.

Although he’d been through the wringer on set, the moment he saw the trailer, Zhang Che knew all his efforts had been worth it.

He might not fully understand what Zhang Zhizhen wanted to express with this film, but as long as the audience understood, that was enough.

Zhang Che had also heard about Lu Xu and Yue Hui collaborating on a movie. There were no secrets in the industry, and since he paid special attention to Lu Xu, he kept tabs on anything about him.

After turning down *The Swordsman*, Lu Xu took on *The Year I Was 18*, a series co-starring Mu Qian and Jin Mu. Objectively speaking, this cast was pretty meh, and Zhang Che himself wouldn’t have chosen to work with these two.

He suspected that Lu Xu might have been too used to success, thinking he could change the audience's perception all by himself.

But reality was far from what Lu Xu imagined.

Right now, Lu Xu had never had a flop, but once his series failed, and he got used to it, he would naturally understand.

As for the film "Deception" that Lu Xu was working on with Yue Hui, Yue Hui was a solid partner, but he had inexplicably chosen a director with no clout at all.

There were plenty of directors in the industry to work with, yet he picked an unsuitable one.

"Did he catch it from Lu Xu?"

At first, Zhang Che was nervous. He knew that if Lu Xu really wanted to make a movie, it wouldn’t be hard to find a big-name director to work with. By then, even if he had acted in "The Swordsman," his momentum wouldn’t be much stronger than Lu Xu's.

But now, Lu Xu had shot himself in the foot first.

Too cocky, acting like the rules of the film industry didn’t matter.

If this kept up, he was bound to crash and burn.

...

The release date for "The Swordsman" was just around the corner. By the time Lu Xu started filming "Deception," and "The Year I Was 18" was set to drop in August, "The Swordsman," which had been in the works for months, finally hit theaters nationwide.

September wasn’t a hot month, especially early on, with the holidays coming up, and the box office was pretty dead.

Among the films released during this period, "The Swordsman" was clearly the most well-known.

A film critic predicted that "The Swordsman" would be like "Voices of the Dead," which had sucked the life out of the TV drama market last October—"The Swordsman" would inevitably do the same to the movie market this time around.

However, no one had anticipated it.

This year, some folks actually skipped the movies to catch the finale of a TV show.