Chapter 99 099 A Slow-paced Variety Show

Chapter 99 099 A Slow-paced Variety Show

Since Lu Xu's presence on Su Zhao's homepage was more frequent than on his own, the moment the trending topic surfaced, his remarks immediately drew attention.

"Zhao Zhao is adorable."

"It's such a blessing to be in the same company as your idol. Our 'Puppy Squad' finally has an insider."

"The character Lu Xu played to break into the market is named Qin Zhao, and Su Zhao also has 'Zhao' in his name. Isn't that destiny?"

Many fans call Lu Xu 'Lu Xiao Gou.' He doesn't have an official fan name. Initially, many fans called themselves the 'Paparazzi Squad,' a nod to a joke on Lu Xu's Weibo. Later, it morphed into the 'Puppy Squad.'

However, the 'Puppy Squad' is a loosely knit group because there isn't much for fans to do regarding Lu Xu. Even if fans argue with others, they just need to showcase his achievements, and no matter how they do it, Lu Xu effortlessly outshines them.

Most actors with more impressive achievements than him are from the middle generation, and among those with similar experience, no one can surpass his achievements.

No one questioned Su Zhao's 'success in chasing his star,' as there were photos to prove it, and he was indeed signed with Feiyang Entertainment. It's perfectly normal to leverage Lu Xu's fame for promotion.

This is standard practice among talent agencies.

...

After a long time, Lu Xu finally put a face to Su Zhao's name.

He was no stranger to the entertainment industry and knew such things were common.

However, Xu Wen was furious: "He didn't even say hello before launching his own marketing campaign."

Lu Xu poured his agent a cup of soothing tea: "Don't be upset. Was it the agent's idea or his own?"

Xu Wen gave Lu Xu a knowing look: "His own idea."

Feiyang Entertainment generally discourages its artists from excessive hype. Typically, after an artist has starred in a few decent projects and their status stabilizes, the company will invest more in their promotion.

"Didn't the agent intervene?"

"Before joining our company, his career was managed by his family." Xu Wen gestured to Lu Xu, "His agent is Peng Xi, the tall, chubby guy I introduced to you the other day. He was livid and vented to me all night."

According to Xu Wen, Su Zhao hadn't made a name for himself in the entertainment industry yet, but his desire for fame was sky-high.

"He probably thinks that being in the same company as you makes it easier to ride on your coattails."

Feiyang Entertainment has many artists and agents, and there is some level of competition among them. However, the agents now get along somewhat with Xu Wen on the surface, after all, Lu Xu is popular enough to bring external resources to Feiyang Entertainment, and other stars can also benefit from it.

The agents don't want to offend Xu Wen.

Even if someone wants to ride on Lu Xu's popularity, they would inform Xu Wen first.

"Peng Xi asked him to delete the Weibo post and remove the trending topic, but he refused, saying he was admiring you as a fan." Xu Wen sighed, "The company did remove the trending topic, but..."

Su Zhao did manage to ride on this wave of popularity.

At least after this incident, many netizens knew that Feiyang Entertainment had signed a new artist named Su Zhao, and that the new artist had a "good relationship" with Lu Xu.

"Peng Xi suggested you step forward to explain, just to give him a small lesson."

Xu Wen and Peng Xi have a good relationship, and Peng Xi didn't want to make things too difficult for him.

However, Peng Xi doesn't have any decent artists under his management now, and the possibility of temporarily replacing an artist is also low.

Lu Xu nodded and said, "I get it."

So, during the hectic year-end period, Lu Xu specially set aside a weekend to participate in a variety show called "Me and My Friends" on Yuewan TV, bringing along Shao Yao and Zheng Xiao.

It's a laid-back variety show, focusing on the fun, everyday lives of celebrities. In the show, celebrities bring along their friends to eat, drink, and have fun, showing sides of themselves they don't usually reveal.

Only true friends, as recognized by the celebrities themselves, get to join in on this show.

Lu Xu seldom appears on variety shows, and when he does, it's usually to promote his dramas. But this time, before the show's team could release any promos, Lu Xu had already snapped a bunch of pics with Shao Yao and Zheng Xiao.

"!!! Puppy's gorgeous pics!"

"...More like puppy's unflattering shots, right?"

"What got into the puppy to make me feel like it's a holiday!!"

"LOL, why is it that every time someone snaps Lu Xu and Shao Yao, they're always eating? And now you're doing it too! (pointing finger)"

Lu Xu hardly ever posts nine full-sized photos on his Weibo feed, including shots of him biking with Shao Yao and Zheng Xiao, fishing together, and a few of them giving despairing eye rolls.

Fans think Lu Xu took these photos himself since there's no sign of editing!

"Handsome, mind your image, okay?"

"LOL, now I know you're real friends."

"I bet if the photos weren't with Shao Yao and the others, Lu Xu wouldn't have bothered posting them, given his personality."

True to form, Zheng Xiao was the first to comment on Lu Xu's post, griping that Lu Xu made him look bad.

Lu Xu: "That's just how you look."

Zheng Xiao: "..."

In a huff, Zheng Xiao posted his take on the group photo, which Lu Xu's fans unanimously praised in the comments.

Shao Yao commented "Not bad," to which Lu Xu replied, "You're a good person."

When a fan asked about Lu Xu's relationship with Su Zhao in the comments, Lu Xu stayed silent.

Fans got the message.

After all—everyone knows that Lu Xu has a good relationship with Shao Yao and Zheng Xiao, but at most, these two would help promote his works by reposting them, and they have never posted photos of themselves with Lu Xu.

Even when they attend events or have new works released, unless reporters actively cue them, they generally don't mention Lu Xu.

They are signed to different companies and have their own ideas about the acting profession. It's already rare for them to become friends, and there's no need to mix in too many other factors.

Whether it's Lu Xu or the other two, they all act very restrained towards each other.

If this is how real friends behave, then it's obvious to anyone with eyes where Su Zhao, who keeps shouting about how much he admires Lu Xu and acts like "Lu Xu values me so much," stands.

At least, apart from the annual meeting of Feiyang Entertainment, there aren't many traces of Lu Xu and Su Zhao interacting online.

However, since Lu Xu didn't explicitly point it out, fans could only infer.

But... Lu Xu himself isn't the dramatic type. Even if he has newcomers he wants to mentor or appreciate, he probably wouldn't make a big fuss about it.

...

Lu Xu, Shao Yao, and Zheng Xiao had a heated exchange online, and not long after, this episode of *Me and My Friends* aired.

Since Lu Xu's set of photos was a complete failure, even fans who are not interested in this type of slow-paced reality show turned their attention to it.

Then fans sincerely believed that the episode featuring Lu Xu and his friends should not be called *Me and My Friends*, but rather *The Big Fool, the Second Fool, and the Third Fool*.

The show reenacted the scene where Zheng Xiao's bicycle was stolen, Shao Yao chased after it, and Lu Xu ran behind.

There was also a time when the three accidentally wandered into a small alley and were confronted by a pack of dogs. Zheng Xiao bolted, while Lu Xu, unable to run anymore, grabbed his jacket, hoping to be saved. The dogs were just inches away from his rear.

Zheng Xiao tried to take off his jacket and give it to Lu Xu, but his necklace got caught, and he couldn't throw it off.

Zheng Xiao was on the verge of tears.

"Aren't you Lu Xiao Gou? Talk to your fellow dogs and tell them not to come!" Zheng Xiao couldn't help but scream.

"I'm human, I'm human!!" Lu Xu gasped for breath but still emphasized the fact that he was human.

Fortunately, Shao Yao knew how to handle dogs and rescued both of them in time.

In addition, fans also discovered that Lu Xu was really unlucky.

The three were fishing by the same river. Both Zheng Xiao and Shao Yao caught fish, but Lu Xu caught nothing.

He didn't believe it and swapped places with Shao Yao. Shao Yao stood in his original spot and caught another fish, while Lu Xu still caught nothing. When he excitedly felt a tug on the fishing line, he ended up... catching a flip-flop.

"LOL, why do I feel like Lu Xu suddenly turned into a comedian?"

"Thankfully, this isn't S City's central lake. The main characters Jiang Lin and Su Yang are all here."

"How to say it? Even though Lu Xu is unlucky, he can eat! The restaurant they went to, I bet Lu Xu and Shao Yao must have been there before. It must be delicious!"

"+1, as a local, I can vouch that every place Shao Yao took Lu Xu to was delicious. No misses."

*Me and My Friends* didn't try to show off their friendship; it simply showcased the daily interactions between Lu Xu, Shao Yao, and Zheng Xiao.

When you're with friends, you don't need to make up jokes. Just standing there, the three of them were a comedy goldmine.

In front of fans, Lu Xu always seems perfect, but in *Me and My Friends*, all his flaws were exposed.

But for fans, this made Lu Xu seem even more genuine.

"I just find Lu Xu amazing. He's so carefree in life, yet he can portray different roles so vividly. So strong!"

"+1+1+1, so cute!"

To early Verse fans who followed Lu Xu, the Lu Xu on *Me and My Friends* seemed to have shed the gloom of his group days and found true friends.

"It feels like Lu Xu smiled more in this episode than he did in several years with Verse!"

"He's such a sunny little dog. It's great that he has good friends now!"

...

This episode of *Me and My Friends* got quite impressive ratings. In this show, celebrities are already very open, but Lu Xu, Zheng Xiao, and Shao Yao were even more natural than fans imagined.

Whether it was riding bikes in the wind or teasing each other, they were no different from ordinary young people in their 20s.

Lu Xu and the others were also very real under the camera. The weather that day was great, with bright and soft light, paired with gentle music, making everyone feel at ease.

It felt like stepping into the real-life setting of "The Year I Was 18," where they might bump into Huang Luning around some corner.

"Can Lu Xiao Gou be in more episodes of this kind of show?"

"Ah, I've always felt that a part of Lu Xu's personality is somewhat similar to Huang Luning."

Shortly after the broadcast of "Me and My Friends," an attendee of the Feiyang Annual Gala secretly released a video, along with photos he took there.

Lu Xu was indeed in the video, but probably because there weren't many familiar faces in the company, he seemed a bit uncomfortable.

But Lu Xu never turned down a photo request.

Su Zhao snapped a photo with Lu Xu during this period, and it was clear from the video that there was little interaction between the two, not even much conversation—at least, Lu Xu's communication time with Su Zhao wasn't longer than with others from Feiyang Entertainment.

Su Zhao's claims of Lu Xu's gentle encouragement... were likely just made up.

"Just trying to piggyback?"

"Emmm... it's pretty obvious, so why buy a trending topic?"

"Seriously, am I the only one who cares? Su Zhao debuted early but never gained much fame. I remember he didn't used to be called Su Zhao; he likely changed his name to Su Zhao after 'The Son of Heaven' blew up."

"...So the trending topic #Su Zhao Qin Zhao# was intentional? Really necessary?"

"I've seen people trying to piggyback, but not to this extent."

"!!!! Changed his name?!!"

Fans looked it up and found several Qin Zhao videos on a video platform, such as "A Thousand Years Later, Same Name Different Surname." After the desperate face of Prince Qin Zhao, there was a shot of Su Zhao looking radiant on some stage.

Fans: "..."

They might as well have just posted Huang Luning.

Can't you have a little self-awareness about your looks? Just a bit?

Switching from Qin Zhao's face to Su Zhao's, when you look closely, feels almost cruel.