SFBF CH93.2

His appearances in the drama were quite numerous, but he didn’t have many lines.

Every single time, carrying an immortal aura, he would stand remotely at the peak of the mountains; his main theme was simply a fluttering immortal aura and a lack of expression.

Because he himself was already as beautiful as a painting, he didn’t require an excessive amount of expressions and lines to support this character, which happened to make up for the original owner’s shortcoming of not being skilled at acting.

It could be said that this character was truly exceptionally suited for the original owner.

Back then, the original owner had looked forward to the release of this drama every single day, counting on it to turn the tide against the wind.

And Shen Qing also adopted this character and the original owner’s mode at the press conference, being entirely the visual representative, supplemented by an immortal aura and a lack of words.

This was very relaxed for him.

Furthermore, because two years had elapsed, the male lead who was merely a rising star in the entertainment circle back then had long since achieved roaring fame relying on another hit drama. Over half of the camera lenses and questions at the press conference were directed toward the male protagonist and female protagonist, followed by the combination of the second male lead and second female female lead, leaving even fewer people to pay attention to Shen Qing, this third male lead.

Therefore, by the time the press conference concluded, Shen Qing had merely gone through the motions, briefly answering a few questions on the stage. The work difficulty and intensity were half a star, simple to the extent that Shen Qing didn’t even possess the slightest feeling that he had gone out to work.

However, following the conclusion of the press conference and the official airing of the series, the level of discussion regarding him multiplied once more.

The trigger was the discussions carried out by the audience surrounding the series as well as the original owner’s performance in the drama.

The third male lead began appearing from the very first episode. The entire drama crew’s outfits, makeup, and styling were all very meticulous, and coupled with the fact that Shen Qing’s face was indeed capable of holding its ground visually, the moment the first two episodes aired, a massive volume of viewers went online to search for who exactly played this character of the third male lead.

The search results naturally allowed the audience to learn about “Shen Qing,” his nickname of a vase, as well as some of his dark history.

For a period of time, everyone held mixed reviews toward this Shen Qing who acted as an actor.

Some people said his visuals alone were enough, why care whether he possessed other skills or whether his moral character was good; in any case, what they liked was precisely that ethereal and refined master!

Others indicated feeling a great sense of dissonance; while watching the drama, they had thought the master was some peerless handsome man descending to the mortal realm, and that the visuals of the entertainment circle’s new generation were finally saved. However, a single search left them thoroughly disappointed with the person himself…

Yet at this moment, it was still merely reasonable discussion surrounding the drama.

Until the fifth episode aired, the voices of doubt and insults toward “Shen Qing” online suddenly reached a peak.

The trigger was a segment of a fighting scene involving the third male lead in this episode. That originally should have been “Shen Qing’s” highlight moment as the master, but whether due to editing reasons or an excessive use of stunt doubles, there weren’t even a handful of camera angles of the master during that fighting scene at all.

The sole few camera angles even exposed “Shen Qing’s” poor posture——his neck leaning forward, his shoulders shrugging while walking, and other defects.

Some netizens even placed screenshots from the drama online, giving examples to illustrate how he wasn’t immortal enough.

“The master standing motionless at the peak of the mountain possesses an immortal aura, who would have thought that the moment he descends to the mortal realm, he turns into an ordinary person.”

“Shen Vase acting in modern dramas is still fine, but in ancient-costume idol dramas, he truly doesn’t possess that posture. Aura is cultivated through practice; it truly isn’t something that can be mastered just because a face looks good.”

“The first male lead and second male lead both come from professional acting backgrounds after all. Although the second male lead’s face is too square and also unsuited for ancient-costume dramas, they have undergone professional guidance, so at least their style and posture are good, ah. Shen Vase can’t compare to the two of them; it’s not like you become the master just by putting on the costume!”

“This Shen Qing brought funding into the production crew, right? I searched and saw that afterward he seemingly followed and married a wealthy person. Otherwise, for a drama this good, how could they look for him to act! And even act as my white-moonlight master! Calling him a vase in the past was giving him too much credit; he should at least practice his posture and core a little bit! He truly has nothing going for him except his face!”

“I can only say that at the time of filming this drama, Shen Vase still possessed a bit of popularity; otherwise, how could a master this good ever fall into his lap! Laughing myself to death, I vaguely remember when this drama was first being filmed, Shen Vase still posted on Weibo every single day saying how hard he worked to film the drama, but the result turned out to be absolute garbage! Looking at it now, it’s truly a waste!”

“I suspect Shen Vase doesn’t even know how to hang from wireworks, Hahaha, laughing myself to death. Others fly back and forth, but his couple of movements are all wobbling back and forth!”

Shen Qing, who watched the drama and incidentally also looked at the bullet-screen comments and reviews: “…”

In fact, speaking objectively, the original owner had practiced hanging from wireworks very seriously, but he indeed possessed a slight deficiency regarding his posture.

Shen Qing hadn’t noticed it previously; it was only after looking at the netizens’ summaries and comparing him with the first and second male leads that he discovered the original owner indeed possessed faults like his neck leaning forward and shrugging his shoulders.

The character of the third male lead was very good.

But it was precisely because the character setup was good that the audience’s level of expectation was even higher; under this kind of circumstance, one needed to perform even better and more flawlessly.

But looking at the current results, one knew the original owner’s performance still hadn’t met the audience’s expectations.

In fact, when filming this drama two years ago, the internal entertainment environment was still dominated by traffic metrics——as long as it was a traffic idol, provided the marketing was in place and the drama could air, a crowd of people would blindly follow the trend to fan the celebrity, and truly no one would look into this.

When the original owner was filming back then, he was simultaneously arranged a massive volume of other work by his original talent agency, leaving his energy depleted.

He had also once wanted to refuse the other activities to focus entirely on preparing for this drama.

But his former manager, Miao Feiyu, used traffic metrics and the attention of fans to terrify him every single time, to the extent that the original owner had no choice but to simultaneously attend other activities to maintain his heat, ultimately resulting in this kind of outcome, which was equivalent to failing to do well on either side.

Yet what couldn’t be denied was that when the original owner was filming this drama, his focus was mostly on fame and traffic metrics instead, and conversely, he wasn’t too focused on the work itself.

He made a wrong decision.

And by today, the internal entertainment environment had already shifted, and the audience members also appeared to have swapped out for a different batch.

The majority of the audience began becoming serious and fastidious; it was no longer an era where marketing plus traffic metrics allowed one to get by everywhere. Lacking acting skills and possessing poor posture would truly earn the disdain of the audience.

Regarding this kind of outcome, Shen Qing, who was no longer “Shen Qing,” could only lie flat and accept the ridicule.

Some of the original owner’s friends in the entertainment circle suggested he look for a public relations team to whitewash himself; even if he couldn’t whitewash it, they could take the opportunity to hype up a wave.

But Shen Qing didn’t intend to do so.

Aside from being a salted fish and not wanting to use this to stir up topics, it was mainly because Shen Qing felt there was nothing worth whitewashing. What the audience insulted were all facts… besides, what they insulted was the original owner; the one who didn’t work hard to prepare for the filming wasn’t himself.

What did it have to do with him?

He had neither done anything wrong, being clear with his own conscience.

Nor did he count on relying on this drama to obtain a better or larger stage; lacking worry and anxiety, it could be said he would absolutely not suffer any impact.

If it were the original owner, by now he would have already been insulted to the point of insomnia, anxiety, and being unable to sleep, and within extreme agony, he would directly retire from the circle, never mentioning matters of the entertainment circle from then on.

Within the original book that Shen Qing had read, it followed roughly this kind of process.

——After the work into which he had placed high hopes aired yet still left him thoroughly discredited, the original owner completely retired from the circle and quit.

In any case, by that time he had already outlasted Gu Huaiyu to death; holding the inheritance of one hundred million, he tormented the two cubs day in and day out, making his days count as “fulfilling.”

But for Shen Qing, this drama as well as the related discussions were merely an exceptionally tiny fragment of his life. He possessed family, possessed money, and even possessed plenty of connections and resources; turning off this television drama, his life would not suffer a single speck of impact.

“If you ask me, Qing-qing, you are still too naive.” Qin Yihan—who was a former colleague from the original owner’s talent agency, came from a modeling background, knew about the original owner’s romantic history, and had taken the original owner to gay bars, thus considering himself to have an excellent relationship with Shen Qing—took the opportunity to speak out.

Qin Yihan: “They say your posture is bad and you used stunt doubles; who doesn’t use stunt doubles when filming? Wasn’t that all decided by the director anyway, all for the sake of rushing the progress! Besides, you didn’t perform very poorly in this drama either; your posture might be bad, but you possess visuals, ah. I feel it’s quite close to the character, and actors who performed far worse than you are everywhere; have you never thought about why you alone are being blackened this miserably?”

Shen Qing: “…”

It wasn’t that Shen Qing didn’t understand his meaning.

The original owner indeed possessed areas where his performance didn’t meet expectations, but the drama had merely aired a few episodes, yet he began being exposed on such a large scale and having his posture deficiencies picked apart by so many eagle-eyed netizens to blacken him across the entire network; this wave of being blackened was indeed very bizarre.

He was merely the third male lead after all; the vast majority of the audience still watched the plot and the interactions between the male and female leads.

Having finished watching these, they should also focus their attention on the story between the second male lead and second female lead; no matter what, it shouldn’t be his turn to be exposed this deeply.

In dramas that were far worse than this ancient-costume idol drama, no actor who performed even worse was insulted this miserably.

This was very obviously someone pulling and stepping on him.

Blackening him was in order to step on him to rise.

And generally in this kind of situation, who did it was also clear at a glance.

Sure enough, after another day passed, aside from topics related to the first male lead on the trending searches, a few topics praising the second male lead were added.

When the series first aired, many people said the second male lead possessed a square face, was unsuited for ancient-costume dramas, and was so ugly it pulled them out of the scene.

But by today, this kind of speech had already vanished; in an instant, the entire network was praising the second male lead for coming from a professional acting background, possessing good posture, possessing excellent aura, and having fierce fighting scenes, etc.

And in order to prove these points, the third male lead played by Shen Qing was naturally hauled out to serve as a contrast.

In this manner, Fang Hanyi—the second male lead who was masculine and upright in modern dramas, and merely unsuited for ancient-costume styling, yet possessed strength and possessed good posture—was obviously far more capable of gathering fans than Shen Qing, who possessed only a face, lacked aura, and slacked off in strength.

Regarding this kind of situation, Shen Qing couldn’t help but sigh: Impressive.

When participating in a related event for the second time, Shen Qing put on a set of ancient costume.

Although many media outlets would also be present at this event, the event content was a drama-fan meeting possessing the nature of a minor variety show. The actors’ appearances also needed to be as close to their styling in the drama as possible, which was why every single actor was required to wear their costumes from the drama to appear on screen; it wasn’t that Shen Qing deliberately did it to be eye-catching.

Yet as he appeared on the stage clad in a white long-robe, it carried a completely different kind of elegance.

…In terms of form, Shen Qing’s figure was slender, his waist was thin, his shoulders were slightly dropped, and he walked like the wind.

Looking solely at his face, it was in turn regular and handsome, his skin was smooth and delicate, and his eyes were bright as if dotted with lacquer, making him exceptionally clear-cut and eye-catching.

The media outlets who had originally come aimed at several other main leads turned their lenses the moment Shen Qing made his appearance, frantically filming toward him.

The fans who had originally come to support other actors still couldn’t resist raising their cameras or phones toward him from the moment Shen Qing walked onto the stage.

“This is the master?!”

“Holy crap, the master is so beautiful, as expected he truly possesses a divine visage!!”

“…Even though I came here to support my own Han-yi, before coming, I was also curious to see what kind of cowardly state Shen Qing would be in on the stage. I never expected…”

“Teacher Shen’s posture isn’t bad at all! Ah, ah, ah, the way he lifted his robe with one hand to walk onto the stage—his movements were so neat, crisp, and so cool!”

“It’s not just his posture; his bearing and the look in his eyes are also exactly like the master in the drama… No, he is exactly like the master in my imagination! Proper, abstinent, and gentle!”

“Ah, ah, ah, his bearing really strikes a chord with me. Isn’t this the master himself? I’ve watched other dramas by this Shen Qing; back then, his expressions and bearing were still very exaggerated, so for this fan meeting, I didn’t count on him being able to bring me any surprises at all…”

“Me too, but this is simply too much of a surprise! A deity descending to the mortal realm!”

Originally, as the last main actor to appear, the host should have commenced the next segment after introducing Shen Qing.

But because the reaction at the venue was intense, the host received instructions and did not rush into the next segment.

After the series aired, the “master”—who originally should have been the person responsible for positive topics—had unexpectedly become the person who was blackened across the entire network in the first wave, and the preset topic heat had also failed to meet expectations, leaving the drama production crew ready to give up on him.

After all, today was different from the past; by now, the male lead and female lead were both big-name stars with immense status, carrying their own traffic metrics, so the drama crew naturally directed a greater portion of the publicity toward the male and female leads.

But now, Shen Qing clad in a set of ancient costume amazed the entire venue, surpassing all imagination, directly making it impossible for the audience members to shift their eyes away.

The drama crew instinctively didn’t want to let go of this wave of topic traffic. Mainly, the PD underneath who planned this event was thoroughly amazed themselves, and thus wanted to let the camera lenses and lights linger on Shen Qing a bit longer.

Fortunately, the host was richly experienced; upon receiving the intent, they naturally rounded over to Shen Qing’s side, asking him a few questions as if enlivening the atmosphere.

They were all minor questions that could be used to joke around. For instance, why he was so handsome today, whether he usually exercised, and everyone said he had gained a bit of weight, but his bodily proportions had become more uniform, just like being deliberately controlled and sculpted by someone—how he managed to achieve this kind of control.

Shen Qing answered one by one.

His bearing and demeanor still carried the feeling of the ethereal master; the young man with his hair bound in an ancient costume possessed a clear voice, distinct articulation, and spoke neither hurriedly nor anxiously, occasionally still cracking a few jokes.

Cracking jokes didn’t break the master’s form either.

Instead, it made people feel the master was just like this, and even more vivid!

The cameras and photographic devices still operated without stopping; the more Shen Qing spoke, the more it made people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.

This fan meeting was originally broadcast live across the entire network as well. Not only were the discussion voices underneath the stage very loud, but even the bullet-screen comments in the live-broadcast room hadn’t ceased ever since Shen Qing emerged, becoming unprecedentedly lively.

Influenced by the shooting techniques, viewing the live-broadcast room wasn’t as direct and intuitive as being at the venue, and Shen Qing wasn’t that astonishingly beautiful at the very beginning.

The moment he appeared, sounds of insults were continuous on the bullet-screen comments.

But without anyone realizing when it began, the people praising him grew more and more numerous.

And as the audience and media outlets at the venue continuously updated their statuses and raw photos, a stream of praise also began in the live-broadcast room, lauding Shen Qing’s excellent posture and great aura, leaving people amazed.

During this period, the second male lead, Fang Han-yi, who stood right beside Shen Qing, attempted to join the conversation.

The first time was when he rushed to provide an answer after the host asked a question, intending to pull the topic onto himself.

But at that time, everyone hadn’t had their fill of looking at Shen Qing; aside from Fang Han-yi’s hardcore fans, others—including the media outlets—didn’t hold a high level of focus toward him, so his rushed answer didn’t play much of a role.

The second time was after Shen Qing finished answering a question; he pretended to be very familiar with Shen Qing, exposing a minor joke that Shen Qing had caused inside the drama crew toward the media outlets and fans.

But because of the filter Shen Qing had brought to everyone prior to this, at this moment, the media outlets and audience underneath not only failed to feel that was an embarrassing matter, but instead felt that a master like this was so cute.

In addition to the fact that Shen Qing generously admitted it without the slightest concealment, it made people feel even more that he possessed a good personality and could take a joke, and the topic was pulled back onto Shen Qing once more.

The bullet-screen comments swiped more and more, and in the area where the audience voted to raise questions to the actors, the number of votes wishing to question Shen Qing also sharply increased.

If not for taking into consideration the subsequent event arrangements, the host would have really liked to ask a few more questions.

Afterward, the fan meeting officially commenced, and the actors took their seats one after another, beginning to conduct interactions and communication according to the pre-established procedure.

Here, the topic was still mostly unfolded around the male and female leads; Shen Qing sat quietly on the side listening, just like during the first press conference.

The vast majority of camera lenses were also given to the male and female leads, as well as the second male lead and second female lead, leaving the viewers in the live-broadcast room rarely able to see Shen Qing anymore.

Only when the camera lens pulled far away could one see that a young man clad in white with an immortal aura sat in the outermost corner, steady and quiet.