Chapter 140: Absence Reveals True Worth, Broadcasting While Filming

In the evening, "Portrait Crime" welcomed its grand finale.

Tonight, Penguin Video invested S-plus resources into "Portrait Crime," a drama that was originally rated as A-plus.

Of course, the current "Portrait Crime" truly deserved those S-plus resources.

A series that everyone initially thought was destined to bomb managed to achieve a minor breakout within the first few days of broadcast thanks to organic word-of-mouth, eventually sparking widespread public discussion and a frenzy on the internet. This was no easy feat.

Before tonight's finale, everyone's biggest worry was the final two episodes—what if it messed up the ending?

As many detective and suspense dramas typically ruined their endings.

No matter how stunning and captivating the beginning and middle parts were, a botched ending always left viewers cursing in frustration.

Fortunately, the finale of "Portrait Crime" did not disappoint.

"I really love this kind of drama that leaves you wanting more. I hope 'Portrait Crime' gets a second season."

"About 13 cases across 20 episodes is really impressive. Counting the main arc, that makes 14 cases in total."

"After finishing it, I'm genuinely craving more. I strongly recommend this drama."

"Personally, I think 'Portrait Crime' is at most a 6.5-point show, but because it was contrasted by 'The Correct Way to Open Independence,' I'm giving it a 7.5."

"Right now, I feel an 8-point rating for 'Portrait Crime' is a bit too high. Lately, 8-point dramas feel slightly inflated, but when I look at 'The Correct Way to Open Independence,' giving it an 8 seems fine after all."

...

"The current 'Portrait Crime' reminds me of dramas from twenty years ago—both around 20 episodes long, and both leaving you yearning for more."

"That's the truth. So what does it matter if it's a web drama or not? I think the web drama 'Portrait Crime' crushes many high-end television series."

"Indeed. It's not really that 'Portrait Crime' is so exceptionally good, but rather that other shows make it look good by comparison."

"We don't even need other shows; just look at 'The Correct Way to Open Independence.'"

...

The bullet comment section of "Portrait Crime" was the scene of a very lively discussion.

Over on Weibo, "Portrait Crime" monopolized three trending search topics simultaneously.

It really commanded maximum presence.

According to standard promotional procedures, the cast members of "Portrait Crime" were supposed to post reflections or essays today.

Ultimately, however, the PR team posted in the 【Portrait Crime】 group chat: "Feel free to write whatever you want for the finale essays; we won't provide a standardized template for you."

Wei Fei was the first to express approval: "We shouldn't use a unified copy-pasted text. It just looks like everyone copied the same homework. What's the point?"

Naturally, no one else dared to be as bold as Wei Fei.

Everyone simply replied: "Received!"

Thus, as the grand finale aired that evening, the main cast and supporting actors of "Portrait Crime" all posted their personal reflections.

Everyone's underlying motivation was completely unanimous.

That was the hope of using "Portrait Crime" to gain visibility.

Leaving Lin Xing aside, among the main cast of "Portrait Crime," even male lead Zhou Wei had never received too many opportunities in the past; most of the time, he was always the one being chosen.

This time, he and Lin Xing were dual male leads, and as the show blew up, he naturally reaped plenty of the dividends.

No matter what, he was still the male lead.

Not to mention that both Zhou Wei and Lin Xing delivered quite solid acting performances, leading many viewers to even edit them into a romantic pairing (CP).

In the beginning episodes of "Portrait Crime," Zhou Wei's character initially detested Guan Feng, played by Lin Xing, believing that Guan Feng's sketch of his mentor was what ultimately led to his mentor's death.

How should one put it?

Throughout the entire series, the team captain played by Zhou Wei went from initially hating Guan Feng to gradually warming up to him in a classic "true love wins" progression.

As mentioned before, current film and television dramas love creating CP pairings. Not only do fans frequently ship these pairings, but even the stars themselves lean into them, often resulting in fierce fan wars among rival factions.

Lin Xing and Zhou Wei were different, however. Whether during live streams or interviews, the two of them interacted with total openness and ease.

Lin Xing even remarked that viewers could ship them however they liked and edit whatever videos they pleased.

As long as it brought joy to the audience, that was enough.

Compared to some actors who tried desperately to distance themselves right from the start of promotional activities, or those who felt that fan edits were malicious parodies of themselves, and even some who considered suing netizens...

Whether it was Lin Xing or Zhou Wei, their proactive attitude toward shipping was a rarity in the domestic entertainment industry.

In Li Yan's words, they were truly artists of both moral integrity and artistic excellence.

By now, many organic word-of-mouth supporters were preparing to wrap up their campaign.

Among them, Zhao Zi—who had tirelessly acted as an organic promoter—posted her final plot summary.

Ever since her best friend Zeng Li recommended the drama to her, Zhao Zi had binged the first 10 episodes in one sitting and became completely immersed in it.

Before this drama, Zhao Zi did not like domestic productions at all. Even when Zeng Li recommended shows to her, Zhao Zi usually showed very little interest.

Who would have thought that over the next few days, Zhao Zi would turn into a fanatical promoter?

Her output rate was remarkably high, producing four or five long-form plot analyses almost every day. Not only that, but Zhao Zi also managed to carve out time to edit promotional videos.

She possessed an insanely tireless amount of energy.

She literally slept only a few hours a day, to the point where even Zeng Li urged her to get some rest.

Yet that was simply who Zhao Zi was. Whenever she encountered a drama she deemed worthy of promotion, she would push it with fanatical dedication.

She was like this with American dramas, and she was the exact same way with Korean and Japanese dramas.

Prior to this, she hadn't watched a domestic drama in years. Now that there was finally one of this caliber, Zhao Zi naturally wanted to promote it every way she could.

Tonight, after finishing the grand finale of "Portrait Crime," Zhao Zi let out a long sigh of relief, feeling satisfied that the show hadn't botched its ending—a point she considered quite commendable.

Looking at Korean dramas, about eight and a half out of ten suffered from ruined endings.

This was closely related to the live-shoot-and-broadcast format of Korean dramas.

Although domestic dramas didn't currently use the live-broadcast format, they could generally guarantee a certain level of quality. Even so, domestic series around 40 episodes long usually fell apart around episode 25.

This was why many people argued that domestic dramas should just stick to 20 episodes, just like the classic shows of the past.

"I think 'Portrait Crime' has set a record for episodic dramas. From the initial format of two episodes per case, down to less than a 1.5-episode runtime per case later on, I genuinely feel the pacing was fantastic.

As a female viewer, my absolute favorites are 'The Campus Corpse Case,' 'The Butterfly Rape Case,' and 'The Domestic Violence Counter-Kill Case.' These three cases truly captured a major portion of the dilemmas faced by women.

Although I still feel 'Portrait Crime' has a few minor flaws, I still consider it the best detective and mystery drama I've watched in years."

...

Zhao Zi posted a final review of "Portrait Crime," stating that she wasn't a fan of any particular actor; she was simply a female viewer who loved watching good dramas, while also expressing her hope that Lin Xing would continue to produce quality works.

If Zhao Zi's comments were relatively neutral, Lao Zhong couldn't care less about being diplomatic.

She also wrote a review for the web drama "Portrait Crime," adopting a more professional analytical angle. She predicted that web dramas would continue to evolve toward higher quality and refinement.

Because many television series had excessive episode counts and severe padding, web dramas could shorten their lengths, accelerate their pacing, and reclaim the popularity once enjoyed by traditional TV shows.

Lao Zhong also compared "Portrait Crime" with "The Correct Way to Open Independence," arguing that "Portrait Crime" wasn't necessarily a masterpiece; rather, it was made to look exceptional because "The Correct Way to Open Independence" was simply too terrible.

If "The Correct Way to Open Independence" had shortened its episode count to 20, the show at least wouldn't have received such brutal criticism.

On one hand, Lao Zhong used "The Correct Way to Open Independence" as a prime example to thrash, sharing the sentiment held by many others that the widespread praise for "Portrait Crime" owed a huge debt to how poorly its competitors performed.

At the same time, Lao Zhong predicted that future web dramas would only get better, and she concluded by dropping a promotional plug for Lin Xing's upcoming web drama, "Bad Children."

"I believe that through these three dramas—'Only to Wait for You,' 'Anti-Mafia Fury,' and 'Portrait Crime'—everyone can truly trust Lin Xing's ability to pick scripts and roles. Therefore, I think everyone can look forward to Lin Xing's next web drama, 'Bad Children.'"

...

"Damn it, Lao Zhong, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that Lin Xing's next project is also a web drama."

"That's right. I wonder how this 'Bad Children' will turn out? But Lin Xing said in an interview that this drama still carries a very positive energy."

"Positive energy? And it's a mystery theme again. Could it be similar to 'Portrait Crime'?"

"Still, I think Lao Zhong is right. It's safe to trust Lin Xing's taste."

...

The next day, the online popularity of "Portrait Crime" on Weibo was on the verge of claiming the number one spot.

Naturally, this was the result of Penguin Video throwing its weight around financially.

After all, yesterday "Portrait Crime" visited Sina for a company tour, and today "Portrait Crime" came to Penguin Video for their own tour.

As a drama that Penguin Video originally rated only as A-plus, it had now blown up to S-class status, faintly showing the radiance of an S-plus hit. This left Penguin Video exceptionally satisfied.

More importantly, Easy Video—which had constantly tried to challenge Penguin Video—was left completely red-faced.

Initially, Easy Video had hoped to use "The Correct Way to Open Independence" to capture a larger market share. While the show performed decently in TV ratings on Tan Province Satellite TV, its online streaming views steadily declined.

In the end, its popularity index was utterly crushed by "Portrait Crime."

Not only that, but the public reputation of the show collapsed as well.

All kinds of short video parodies and second-ary creations were filled with mockery.

To put it simply, there was only one clear winner among the dramas premiered in April, and that was "Portrait Crime."

Every other show became mere background decoration.

Yesterday's finale achieved a real-time popularity ranking that firmly held the number one spot.

It left the second-place "Beautiful Life" far behind.

As for "The Correct Way to Open Independence," it had slid all the way down to sixth place.

Consequently, the online buzz surrounding the web drama "Portrait Crime" today was extraordinarily high.

To add to that, the main creators of "Portrait Crime" were scheduled to visit Penguin Video for their promotional tour today, so Penguin Video directly purchased several trending search topics to ensure maximum online engagement.

The visit to Penguin Video was also scheduled for 10 AM, though it wasn't going to be live-streamed on Weibo. After all, Penguin Video needed to drive traffic to its own Weishi app.

Therefore, this time, the promotional tour of "Portrait Crime" was live-streamed exclusively on Weishi.

Penguin Video's official Weibo account was live-streaming.

The official Weishi account was live-streaming.

Penguin Entertainment, Penguin Television, and other subsidiaries were all live-streaming simultaneously.

Compared to Sina, Penguin Video's tour setup on this occasion was much grander, deploying literally all of their matrix video accounts.

The live stream started at 10 AM and lasted all the way until 12 noon.

Zhou Wei, Ning Rong, Lu Quan, and Li Chuang were all present. In addition, female leads from various story units such as Lin Miaoyin, Wu Qing, and Li Fei were also in attendance.

It was truly a bustling scene.

The only issue was that there were simply too many people.

Furthermore, none of the hosts provided by Penguin Video possessed the ability to properly control the crowd and steer the flow.

That resulted in a rather awkward situation.

Putting the audience aside for a moment, and ignoring the Penguin employees for now—since the atmosphere on site was quite lively and many Penguin staff genuinely liked the show—the actors themselves clearly felt a bit awkward.

Among them, Zhou Wei, Ning Rong, and Lin Miaoyin felt this the most deeply.

Previously, whenever they accompanied Lin Xing, they didn't need to worry about much. Whether it was interviews or playing game activities, Lin Xing practically took care of everything for them.

Today, however, without Lin Xing by their side, everyone suddenly felt like something vital was missing.

Being able to keep things smooth and prevent awkwardness was an ability in itself.

Zhou Wei and Ning Rong exchanged glances; at this point, they had no idea what they were supposed to do.

They figured they would just follow Penguin Video's scheduled routine.

"Why does this feel less like a fun celebration and more like a noisy mess?"

"Yeah, this tour feels completely pointless—just loud and chaotic."

"Come to think of it, I always feel like something is missing."

"Do we even need to guess? We're missing Lin Xing, obviously."

...

"Hahaha, we really thought of the exact same thing. We definitely need Lin Xing here."

"Just think about the atmosphere and witty banter during Lin Xing's tour at Sina yesterday, and then look at today?"

"Seriously. It wasn't just yesterday; back when Lin Xing went on a solo tour for 'Anti-Mafia Fury,' I already realized how ridiculously high his emotional intelligence is."

"If you think about how Lin Xing helped bail Wei Fei out of a tight spot yesterday, you'll understand his high EQ."

...

The bullet comments flooded the screen with countless remarks.

Some even posted on Weibo: "@Lin Xing, Teacher Lin, please come back. This family cannot survive without you."

This sentiment won agreement from a large number of people.

How did that saying go?

You might not appreciate someone's presence when they are around, but their absence becomes glaringly obvious the moment they leave.

Just like yesterday when "Portrait Crime" did their Sina tour, people only thought Lin Xing had high EQ while the others also seemed to do fine. But today, the contrast was painfully obvious.

Watching the promotional tour provided zero entertainment—it was just noisy and headache-inducing.

Of course, this blame couldn't be pinned on the actors of "Portrait Crime." To be honest, Penguin Video simply lacked experience with these tours and failed to assign a capable host to manage the floor.

Meanwhile, because Lin Xing was busy attending a meeting that morning, he hadn't watched the live stream.

It wasn't until 12:10 PM, when he received a call from Ma Wen, that he learned about what had happened.

Lin Xing chuckled amusedly: "President Ma, please don't flatter me with such high praise. If Penguin Video's internal organization is truly that chaotic, my presence wouldn't have changed the outcome."

Lin Xing still possessed a very clear and realistic self-assessment.

Was he truly so indispensable that nothing could function without him?

Others could say things like that, but if he started believing it himself, his career would probably be finished before long.

After chatting with Ma Wen for a few more minutes and noting the purpose of the call, Lin Xing nodded lightly: "Alright, I'll be there for tonight's live stream on time."

After hanging up, Lin Xing received another call from Zhou Wei.

"Ah-Xing, you have no idea what the situation was like today..."

Clearly, Zhou Wei genuinely felt that the team couldn't get by without Lin Xing.

After chatting for a bit, they agreed to meet up that evening.

Because Penguin Video felt the promotional tour hadn't gone well, they decided to host another live stream session tonight.

This time, Penguin Video arranged for Zhao Fang to host the live stream.

When the entire cast of "Anti-Mafia Fury" did a live stream previously, Zhao Fang had hosted it brilliantly.

Initially, Penguin Video hadn't thought Zhao Fang was necessary for hosting the tour, but who could have anticipated such a blunder? They had grown too careless.

Thus, they decided to let Zhao Fang host tonight's live stream instead.

Since yesterday was the finale night, inviting the main creators to chat tonight still carried plenty of relevant topics.

The live stream was scheduled to take place on Weishi.

Penguin Video was truly doubling down on promoting Weishi.

The last person to call Lin Xing was Wei Fei.

Wei Fei was now thoroughly convinced of her own judgment.

That was, Lin Xing was destined to secure a prominent place in the entertainment industry.

Leaving aside Lin Xing's high emotional intelligence in saving her from criticism yesterday, she had watched the entire live broadcast of Penguin Video's chaotic promotional tour today.

She was convinced that if Lin Xing had been there today, it wouldn't have descended into such a chaotic noise-fest.

If for no other reason, Wei Fei simply believed in Lin Xing's capability.

"Sister Fei, President Ma, Brother Zhou, and the others have already showered me with enough flattery. Please spare me, or I might actually start believing I'm the main character of the universe."

Lin Xing laughed and shook his head.

Now he understood why some actors and artists—who started off quite normal—eventually became completely absorbed in the delusion that they were the greatest singers or the greatest actors alive.

It truly matched what many people said: when you are constantly surrounded by sycophants blowing smoke, you eventually start mistaking those lies for the absolute truth.

"Ah-Xing, I'm really not trying to kill you with flattery; this is genuinely what I think," Wei Fei said, shaking her head over the phone. "Anyway, see you at the celebration banquet in a few days. It's happening soon."

"Right, sounds good."

Lin Xing nodded gently.

The current Lin Xing no longer had any worries about asking for leave from the "Bad Children" production crew.

Yesterday afternoon, when Lin Xing, Wang Shan, and Tang Jiang returned to the "Bad Children" crew in Hong Kong, they didn't immediately resume filming. Instead, everyone gathered for a meeting.

They temporarily adjusted the shooting schedule.

As is commonly known, film and television series are rarely filmed in chronological broadcasting order.

Just like mentioned before, actors might join a crew and be forced to shoot intimate or kissing scenes with co-stars they barely even knew yet.

"Bad Children" had been filming the same way, shooting the later sequences first.

However, the "Bad Children" production crew was now going to switch to shooting in chronological order.

Because Panda Video was preparing to give the entire industry a shock.

That was... broadcasting while shooting.