Chapter 135: Foil, Popularity, and Work

No chance left.

Ding Chunling said with some annoyance, "This Lin Xing has way too much star power. He actually managed to carry an entire web drama all by himself."

Last night, the premiere of *Portrait Searching for the Killer* received widespread praise, but *The Correct Way to Independence* continued to be bombarded with criticism.

Since its premiere on April 1st, the drama had been hyping up a divorce storyline leading to female independence. However, not only did the first eight episodes fail to feature a divorce, but the female lead actually started trying for a second child.

This was immediately followed by viewer skepticism, a slight slump in public opinion, screenwriter Xiao Li's defensive response, and various negative controversies entangling the show.

Yet, driven by the surge in viewership ratings and hype for *The Correct Way to Independence* on April 2nd, combined with some promotional efforts, the slide in word-of-mouth was temporarily halted.

Audiences actually have a lot of patience.

If the pacing is slow, that is fine.

If there is filler, that is also fine.

However, the pacing cannot remain consistently slow, the plot cannot constantly be filler, and there must be at least some narrative progression.

Look at the progression: from the initial eight episodes on April 1st, to episodes 9 and 10 on the 2nd, and then episodes 13 and 14 on the night of the 4th, the plot's advancement essentially remained stuck in the same back-and-forth drama over the divorce.

By the night of the 4th, the audience's patience was completely exhausted.

To reiterate: viewers can give you a chance, but you cannot repeatedly fool and string them along.

Consequently, on the night of the 4th, the public reception of *The Correct Way to Independence* and *Portrait Searching for the Killer* diverged completely.

If the audience still held a shred of patience on the 1st and 2nd, the updates on the night of the 3rd were the final chance they were willing to give *The Correct Way to Independence*.

Unfortunately, the pacing remained as slow as ever, and the two episodes on the night of the 4th were once again bogged down by the divorce tug-of-war. The main focus was simply the female lead acting like she wanted a second child with her husband while secretly gathering evidence.

It was already episode 14, and the plot had not moved forward at all.

Although the drama heavily marketed the concept of "girls helping girls"—with the female lead and the mistress forming some sort of alliance and chanting slogans about female self-reliance—the audience simply wasn't buying it.

Combined with the contrasting brilliance of *Portrait Searching for the Killer*, the situation blew up completely last night.

Today, all the trending searches related to *Portrait Searching for the Killer* were overwhelmingly positive, overshadowed only by various criticisms directed at *The Correct Way to Independence*.

If you looked purely at viewership ratings, *The Correct Way to Independence* still firmly held the top spot.

Yet, in terms of heat and online buzz, the show was utterly crushed by *Portrait Searching for the Killer*.

In other words, a major television broadcast like *The Correct Way to Independence* was completely overshadowed by a web drama.

Not only was its heat suppressed, but its reputation was utterly destroyed in comparison.

What was even more crucial was that *The Correct Way to Independence* billed itself as a "big heroine drama" focusing on "female themes," yet it resorted to every melodramatic cliché imaginable, completely detaching itself from reality.

And what about *Portrait Searching for the Killer*?

It was a dual-male-lead drama, but its first fourteen episodes consistently centered around women's stories, with every episodic case feeling like an expression of the hardships faced by women.

Isn't that ironic?

A supposed "big heroine drama" was completely detached from reality and lacked any genuine voice for women, whereas a dual-male-lead drama actually portrayed women's struggles and gave them a voice.

By now, netizens had shifted the entire focus of their discussions to *Portrait Searching for the Killer*.

Helped entirely by the contrast with *The Correct Way to Independence*, the rating for *Portrait Searching for the Killer* had unexpectedly soared to an 8.0.

Many insiders in the industry felt that Lin Xing's luck was simply astonishing.

Look at the facts: Wu Yao's career collapsed, and Lin Xing made a major comeback.

He participated in a minor, obscure variety show like *Let's Farm*, and somehow managed to break out and go viral.

In *Waiting for You*, everyone else was cursed at and criticized, while Lin Xing reaped all the benefits solely through his role as Du Fei.

In *The Storm of Anti-Blackness*, surrounded by a cast of veteran actors, Lin Xing's portrayal of the villain did not fall behind in the slightest.

And now, in *Portrait Searching for the Killer*, his first time taking on a leading role, everyone initially assumed the web drama was destined to bomb and fail miserably.

Yet who could have predicted that the show would organically catch fire purely through word-of-mouth recommendations from ordinary viewers?

It was completely unexpected.

That was why Ding Chunling remarked that Lin Xing's star power and luck were simply too formidable.

Zhao Yining said with displeasure, "Are we just going to let him step all over us like that? Are we just going to sit here and do nothing?"

"Of course not. I am already thinking of a solution."

Ding Chunling told Zhao Yining, "What you need to do right now is to continue promoting *The Correct Way to Independence*. Just as we discussed earlier, we need to extract as much benefit from this traffic as possible."

Zhao Yining shook her head and replied, "What benefits are even left to extract? Netizens are cursing this show left and right. And while nobody is specifically attacking me in batches yet, no one thinks I'm doing a good job either..."

"It has only been four days since the premiere. The current public sentiment is still useful to us. After all, your character is a housewife who has been cheated on—that kind of role naturally garners sympathy."

Ding Chunling motioned for Zhao Yining not to panic. "Besides, *Portrait Searching for the Killer* is about to reach its finale. Won't all the attention and heat naturally flow back to us then?"

At this point, Ding Chunling paused for a moment and added, "Furthermore, the character the audience genuinely dislikes is Xu Tong's role. Public opinion will shift eventually, and when it does, we can easily handle our public relations."

Zhao Yining asked, "And what about right now?"

"Maintain a low profile."

Ding Chunling said calmly, "Biding our time!"

From her perspective, since *Portrait Searching for the Killer* had already exploded today, it would likely be completely unstoppable over the next few days.

"So basically, we're just admitting defeat?"

Zhao Yining retorted irritably, "We shouldn't have taken this drama in the first place. I originally thought it would elevate my reputation to the next level, but look at us now—we've practically become a joke."

Thinking back to when she recorded *Tonight Drama is Fun*, Zhao Yining hadn't even glanced at Lin Xing from start to finish, secretly considering him nothing more than a clown.

Now, looking back at it, *she* was the actual clown.

As for Ding Chunling's claim that *The Correct Way to Independence* would regain its heat after the finale of *Portrait Searching for the Killer*, Zhao Yining didn't believe a single word of it.

They were already forced into hiding and biding their time.

How could a hit drama's heat simply vanish just because it ended?

At the very least, the discussions wouldn't die down for half a month after the finale.

"Jie, there's another problem: we've completely become the foil. Judging by the current discussions among netizens, I'm afraid that in the future, they'll just use our drama as a punching bag while praising *Portrait Searching for the Killer*..."

Zhao Yining analyzed coldly.

Ding Chunling: "???"

She never expected that Zhao Yining could actually be this perceptive.

***

Meanwhile, Lin Xing and Xiaonan had already boarded their flight.

"Brother Xing, you should take this opportunity to get some rest," Xiaonan said. "As soon as we land, we have an interview to attend, followed by a dinner with the creative team of *Portrait Searching for the Killer* tonight. Tomorrow, we have to go do the 'Sina Visiting' tour. The schedule is so tight; you haven't had any time to rest."

"What's so tight about it? Promotion has always been like this. All we need to do is cooperate," Lin Xing said indifferently, adding, "You should get some rest too."

The filming on the set of *Bad Kids* had been quite smooth over the past few days, and Lin Xing didn't feel tired at all because the shooting pace was relaxed.

Shooting high-pressure shows like *The Storm of Anti-Blackness* and *Portrait Searching for the Killer* required working around the clock—that was what truly felt exhausting.

Especially while filming *Portrait Searching for the Killer*, which happened to coincide with the promotional rollout for *The Storm of Anti-Blackness*. Lin Xing had to rush from promotional events straight back to the set to film scenes without a break.

From beginning to end, Lin Xing treated all of this purely as work.

And since it was work, he simply needed to do his best.

Upon landing at the Beijing Capital International Airport, Lin Xing discovered that a group of his fans was already waiting there.

"Ahhhh..."

"Xingxing, Xingxing, I love you!"

"Ahhhh..."

...

Several fans shrieked in excitement, and many whipped out photographs hoping to get Lin Xing's autograph.

There were simply too many people.

The crowd was completely disrupting the order of the airport.

Amidst the screaming fans, curious onlookers gathered around to watch, while professional paparazzi frantically snapped pictures of Lin Xing.

After all, Lin Xing's popularity and visibility had surged once again.

"Please don't push anyone."

"Stop shoving, don't affect the other passengers."

"You want an autograph? If you want an autograph, stay calm."

"Listen to me now, line up in two rows."

...

Lin Xing temporarily assumed the role of a crowd-control leader.

He realized he had still underestimated the persistence of his fans—or rather, even though he had officially disbanded his official fan club, his actual fan base was growing exponentially.

Crucially, many people enjoyed airport pickups simply because they relished the atmosphere of meeting their idol in person.

And the more people there were, the better they liked it.

"Everyone listen to my instructions and wait outside. Today, I promise I will sign autographs for all of you. Don't rush, and please don't inconvenience the passersby..."

Lin Xing directed the two rows of fans to move outside in an orderly fashion.

"Xiaonan, have the car wait for me for a moment," Lin Xing instructed via WeChat before heading outside the terminal to start signing autographs.

This signing session lasted nearly an hour.

The longer he signed, the more people gathered.

"Who's that up front?"

"Lin Xing."

"Which Lin Xing?"

"Zhou博 from *The Storm of Anti-Blackness*, you know him, right? That's him."

"Oh, you mean Guan Feng from *Portrait Searching for the Killer*."

...

Many passersby passing by heard the chatter and simply decided to join the back of the queue as well.

In short, it was all about the sense of participation.

"Sister Dao, should we say something to Brother Xing?"

In the distance, Xiaonan said with a worried expression, "Brother Xing has been signing for nearly an hour now. He must be exhausted."

"You still don't know your Brother Xing? Since he decided to sign, he has to finish signing for everyone before he leaves," Sister Dao said with a wry smile. "Let's just wait a bit longer."

Twenty minutes later, Lin Xing stopped signing autographs. Instead, he took a group photo with everyone and announced, "That's it for today. I hope you'll all spread the word back home: please don't come to airport pickups anymore. I really don't wish for anyone to come pick me up at the airport. If anyone comes to pick me up in the future, I will strictly refuse all autographs and photos..."

Rather than waiting for an airport pickup to spark a major chaotic incident later, it was much better to make his stance completely clear right now.

Some traffic-driven idols craved this kind of grand spectacle; they practically begged fans to pick them up at airports as a way to flaunt their popularity.

Lin Xing, however, had no need for such gimmicks.

More importantly, if airport pickups were encouraged, at best the fans would be thrilled, but if they became increasingly frequent and chaotic, ordinary passersby would develop an extreme aversion to him.

To repeat: what Lin Xing truly needed was a solid reputation.

Above all, fans required proper guidance.

Upon returning to the car, Lin Xing let out a long sigh of relief and told Sister Dao, "Handle the situation from today with some proper public guidance. Especially since there was nearly a commotion at the airport, we need to make our stance crystal clear right away."

Sister Dao nodded gently. "Got it, I'll take care of it right now."

"Good. Rather than waiting for some gossip blogger to clip a video out of context to farm traffic or smear us, I think it's much better to lay the facts out in the open first," Lin Xing said. "Not only do fans need guidance, but the general public needs it too."

Sister Dao nodded softly and handed Lin Xing a bottle of water. "Drink some water first. The crew from *Star Entertainment* is already waiting for the interview."

Lin Xing's throat indeed felt a bit dry.

Managing the crowd, signing autographs, and taking photos for over an hour had genuinely tired him out.

Upon returning to the company, a makeup artist quickly touched up Lin Xing's light makeup, and he then proceeded directly to the conference room.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I was delayed at the airport for over an hour," Lin Xing apologized to the editor from *Star Entertainment*.

The editor hurriedly shook her head to indicate it was no trouble at all, handing a document to Lin Xing. "Teacher Lin, this is our interview outline. Please take a look."

"No need."

Lin Xing tossed the outline aside and said, "Let's just start directly."

"Very well."

The editor wasn't particularly surprised; she had already done her homework before coming.

Indeed, Lin Xing didn't need advance preparation for interviews, and even his manager didn't put up much obstruction, merely glancing over the interview outline beforehand.

*Star Entertainment* was a subsidiary of Tencent Video, and their primary reason for interviewing Lin Xing was to promote *Portrait Searching for the Killer*.

The interview was split into two parts: a text-based Q&A and a ten-minute rapid-fire video segment.

An hour later, the interview officially concluded.

"Teacher Lin, this feature will be published this Sunday afternoon," the editor said to Lin Xing as she was leaving. "Before it goes live, we'll let you review it first. If you have no issues with the content, we'll publish it immediately."

"Sounds good."

Lin Xing nodded gently. "Thank you for your hard work!"

"It's no trouble at all, it's just our job. Rather, thank you for being so cooperative with the promotion."

The editor quickly replied.

In her heart, she couldn't help but marvel that the rumors were indeed true.

Lin Xing was remarkably cooperative during interviews.

Not only was he cooperative, but sometimes he would even proactively ask if they needed to do another take.

Thinking of other celebrities she had interviewed in the past—without dragging anyone specific down—truly none of them were as cooperative as Lin Xing.

"It's no trouble," Lin Xing said with a smile. "This is my job as well."

"Brother Xing, we're trending on search engines again."

As soon as the people from *Star Entertainment* left, Xiaonan hurried over and said.

Lin Xing wasn't surprised at all. "Is it because of the airport incident?"

...

...

(End of this chapter)