Chapter 92 092 A Poem of One Word

Chapter 92 092 A Poem of One Word

"Another drama with over 13,000 in popularity, Lu Xu is truly at the top of the drama world!"

"Since 'The Year I Was 18' premiered, its popularity hasn’t dipped below 10,000, has it? His appeal is just incredible."

"Hijacking this thread to ask, is 'The Year I Was 18' good? It doesn’t seem like my kind of show, so I haven’t watched it."

"Go watch it! You won’t regret it, I promise. It’s the kind of warm, gentle drama that touches you to your core, it’s really good!"

On TV drama forums, discussions about 'The Year I Was 18' are particularly lively, with some discussing the plot itself and others discussing Lu Xu’s acting—no matter which version of Huang Luning Lu Xu plays, the audience finds him completely believable.

"I’ll bet a bag of wasabi chips that Lu Xu can win the Starlight Award for Best Actor with this drama."

"Me too... If Yu Yi didn’t win for 'The Path of Bones,' there’s a reason, but if Huang Luning doesn’t win, I can’t think of any reason."

"+1 +1."

All over the internet, discussions about 'The Year I Was 18' are not limited to what’s mentioned on the forums—

"My mom loves this drama; she says the Huang Luning in the drama is exactly like my uncle when he was young."

"+1, she usually loves those over-the-top mother-in-law dramas, but she couldn’t stop watching this one."

"It feels like they see themselves in Huang Luning, life isn’t full of that many twists and turns, is it? 'The Year I Was 18' is a portrayal of ordinary people’s lives."

The age range of 'The Year I Was 18' viewers... is much larger than the creators had anticipated.

A drama critic wrote a review after 'The Year I Was 18' aired ten episodes, saying that the reason 'The Year I Was 18' is a hit is because it captures the essence of 'the present.'

"No one can turn back the clock to 18."

"Everyone’s life is full of regrets."

Huang Luning goes back to the past, changes himself, changes the family dynamic, and also changes the fate of those around him, but the drama isn’t about going back to the past; it’s about living in the present.

"You don’t need to go back to the past to make changes, it’s not too late to make changes now."

The audience discusses various details related to the drama—'The Year I Was 18' may not be as logically tight as 'Voices of the Dead,' but its attention to detail and character development is spot-on.

The cityscape of Huang Luning’s youth, the changes in the community he grew up in, are all gradually revealed in the shots.

It might not be the childhood of younger viewers, but it must be the childhood of some viewers.

Whether it’s the packed buses, the vendors shouting about roasted sweet potatoes, or a cold soda on a summer day, for many people, this is a memory of past life.

Although it has disappeared now, it once appeared in many people’s lives.

...

Wei Yi watched as the popularity of 'The Year I Was 18' steadily climbed from over 13,000 to over 14,000, clearly having the potential to become the next annual hit drama.

"Potential?" Zheng Xiao scoffed at her conclusion, "'Voices of the Dead' and 'The Path of Bones' were last year’s dramas."

Wei Yi then realized that although they had just experienced a lively summer, 'The Year I Was 18' had clearly taken the throne as the annual popularity leader.

—Even before the drama was released, the industry had positioned it as 'a life drama slightly better than the average life drama.'

As one of the viewers who has been following 'The Year I Was 18' until now, Wei Yi guessed that the reason this drama is popular is because Huang Luning in the drama is just too warm.

Both warm and resilient.

He knew what he regretted in his past life, which is why he worked so hard to change it this time.

Who doesn’t like Huang Luning?

Though just an ordinary person, Huang Luning’s character is layered with labels that boil down to two words—you and me.

Huang Luning represents the everyman; he is you and me.

It’s this touch on life that makes *The Year I Was 18*, though different from *Voices of the Dead* and *The Path of Bones*, so captivating.

When Wei Yi saw Huang Luning save the little girl, she leapt up in excitement.

Her mother sighed, "If he hadn’t saved her, how would that family have managed?"

Once a happy family of four, the younger members died one by one, leaving only the elderly grandmother, who cried herself blind.

Wei Yi couldn’t bear to imagine the playful dog being killed for meat.

Humans might foresee their deaths, but the dog, hopping to its bowl, couldn’t know not all humans are kind.

But loving its owner and the kids, the dog naively thought all humans were friendly.

Then, unknowingly, it met its end.

This was the fate Huang Luning altered.

But death had been real.

"It’s amazing it could be changed!!" — That day, Wei Yi shared her thoughts on the show online.

Zheng Xiao liked it first, followed by close friends: "Sis, did you catch *The Year I Was 18*?"

They echoed with '+1+1+1.'

In *The Path of Bones*, Yu Yi avenged his teammates but couldn’t change their fate.

In *Voices of the Dead*, Jiang Lin and Su Yang uncovered the criminals, revealing the truth, but death remained.

Though time travel isn’t real, the show’s plot offered hope.

Huang Luning made small efforts. He didn’t reshape the world, stop wars, or conquer it. He just lived his ordinary life.

He felt real, like someone you’d pass by on the street.

Though the show revealed Huang Luning’s return to 18 early on, it felt more real than so-called realistic dramas.

Midway through *The Year I Was 18*, its popularity held at 14000+. Unlike *Voices of the Dead*, which spiked with case resolutions, *The Year I Was 18* outshone any of Lu Xu’s previous shows in influence.

The dynamic between Lu Xu and Han Xiao was a hot topic among insiders and fans.

Professionals noted Lu Xu’s subtle acting in *The Year I Was 18*.

He dialed back the intensity from *The Path of Bones*, making Huang Luning ordinary yet deeply relatable.

In *Voices of the Dead*, Lu Xu’s Jiang Lin was similar, but with Huang Luning, he 'hit perfection.'

Before *The Year I Was 18* aired, the team never thought it would affect *The Swordsman*’s release.

"The Swordsman" had an early cinema promotion campaign, and Zhang Che's flawless side profile in the trailer was chosen as an avatar by countless fans. One of Zhang Che's biggest fans even changed their nickname to "XX days until 'The Swordsman' is released," keeping a daily countdown.

Coincidentally, "The Year I Was 18" premiered just before "The Swordsman" officially hit theaters.

Lu Xu's appearance in the series was neither strikingly handsome nor particularly beautiful, just ordinary and plain. Compared to the noble film "The Swordsman," "The Year I Was 18" was just a "low-budget" TV drama.

"Low-budget" was the exact word used by Zhang Che's fans.

On top of that, Mu Qian and Jin Mu together couldn't even match a tenth of Zhang Zhizhen's status in the industry, so "The Year I Was 18" was inevitably mocked again.

In short, terms like "no future prospects" and "stuck in the TV world" were thrown around, and Lu Xu had grown tired of hearing them.

Even though Lu Xu had already started filming "Deception," the situation remained unchanged.

His decision to join "Deception" was summarized by Zhang Che's fans as "a crisis of confidence due to Zhang Che's role in a major director's film" and "a poor imitation and chase of Zhang Che."

Lu Xu: "?"

Take some good advice, thanks.

Fortunately, "The Year I Was 18" had a premiere viewership of over 10,000 and held steady at over 14,000+, which helped salvage Lu Xu's reputation.

Lu Xu had already had enough of complaining.

Xu Wen, a middle-aged man who usually avoided commenting on fan culture, couldn't help but vent to Lu Xu: "Topping the annual viewership charts is hardly redeeming. How high are their standards?"

"They just hold me to a higher standard."

In any case, Zhang Che's fans were eagerly hoping "The Swordsman" would be a blockbuster, reclaiming Zhang Che's position as the top young actor, which they felt Lu Xu had taken.

Zhang Zhizhen's connections in the film industry were still strong, and with the summer season nearing its end, the major film companies had limited releases, so "The Swordsman" managed to secure a decent screening schedule.

On the Friday "The Swordsman" premiered in major theaters, the only new releases were a mystery film and a comedy, both first-time directors with average casts, far from matching "The Swordsman."

In terms of investment, cast, and screening schedule, "The Swordsman" was a guaranteed success.

The investors clearly had high hopes for "The Swordsman." Even before its release, it trended on social media repeatedly: "Zhang Che found his life-defining shot," "The director who knows how to film handsome men," "The last glow of martial arts films," all lavished on "The Swordsman."

Lu Xu began to wonder: "Did Zhang Zhizhen heavily revise the script?"

His agent gently shook his head: "Given his personality, he wouldn't."

Zhang Zhizhen and his peers were as temperamental as they were talented.

Lu Xu estimated that if "The Swordsman" maintained its original script, given its current screening schedule, it could at least pull in some box office revenue during its first weekend.

After all, Zhang Che's fans would definitely support "The Swordsman" in theaters, and Zhang Zhizhen had some fan base from his previous works. Even if his skills weren't what they used to be, some fans would still support him.

But as it turned out, he overestimated "The Swordsman" and the audience's tolerance.

"...Watching the movie while questioning my IQ, am I the only one?"

"On a beautiful Friday night, instead of staying home to watch 'The Year I Was 18,' I came to the cinema to support 'The last glow of martial arts films.' What, do I have 'sucker' written on my face?"

"What am I watching? What is this??"

"...Used a voucher, only spent 5 yuan. Now I think even that 5 yuan was a waste. They should be paying me!"

The drama critic who reviewed "The Year I Was 18" was more direct: "A total flop."

A poem of a single word.

Each word is meticulously chosen.

The essence is all in the word "history."

That night, the trending searches went wild.

The top trending search—"History."

It’s like the inevitable "bad" that pops up after every singing show.