90: Chapter 90 The Question is About Brotherhood

The pilot release of the first episode of "destined lover" led to something no one expected: in just one night, the vibe had gone completely off the rails.

First of all, since Lu Qingyu's look was indeed beautiful, it was only natural for everyone to be glued to their screens admiring him.

The first episode was 62 minutes long. According to the progress bar data, there were three peak points: the first was when Lu Qingyu first appeared, the second was when he watched the Male Lead One and female lead together and acted jealous, and the third was the confrontation between him and the male lead.

The vibe went off track during those last two peak points.

It wasn't that no one was shipping the childhood sweetheart CP, but the general reaction after watching the first episode was:

[Do we really need a female lead?]

[Can't Male Lead One and male lead two be together?]

[Are we sure male lead two is jealous of the male lead and not the female lead?]

[Omo omo, that look in Lu Qingyu's eyes, I really don't know who he's looking at.]

[I feel like the next second after their confrontation, the younger brother will push the male lead against the wall and the male lead will ask him, 'Are you crazy?']

[The buttons on the white shirt are about to pop; the younger brother could use a little more force.]

Some netizens edited the main storyline of Male Lead One and male lead two overnight, and the view count exceeded five hundred thousand in one night after people clicked on the video.

No problem, this should be the correct plot.

After the first episode of "destined lover" finished airing, Wang Ning, the director, and all the performers nervously watched the reaction.

This concerned their future work because if the data wasn't good, the original 16 episodes might be cut to 12.

The director had also taken to checking online comments lately, and as soon as he went online, he immediately saw the netizens' comments and videos.

He picked a few popular videos to watch, and after finishing them, the director was stunned.

??? What's going on? Did the editor mess up the cut?

The director immediately went to check the original footage; no, the editing was perfectly normal!

Since Wang Ning used to be in the short drama circle, he had a high tolerance for unspeakable plots and the obscure CPs that netizens shipped, but even he hadn't expected the Male Lead One and male lead two CP to become so popular.

Looking at the keywords on the hot search topics, Wang Ning hesitated for a moment.

It was a good thing that "destined lover" was a hit. This production belonged to Qingcheng Entertainment; if it was a hit, Qingcheng Entertainment made money. Lu Qingyu was not only the boss but also an actor; if the work was a hit, he would gain both wealth and fame. Since that was the case, sorry, Boss.

Wang Ning picked up the phone and called the Marketing Group: "Boost the popularity of the Male Lead One and male lead two CP."

Wang Ning: Boss, I know you won't mind.

Lu Qingyu suddenly sneezed twice.

He hadn't checked the results of "destined lover" yet when his phone buzzed. Lu Qingyu opened it and was surprised to see a message from Lou Qingran.

Lou Qingran was resting at home today, and while scrolling through her phone, she happened to see that one of Lu Qingyu's works had been released.

Having been on the show together for so long, she hadn't known Lu Qingyu could act. Out of curiosity, Lou Qingran went to watch the first episode.

After watching it, Lou Qingran screamed and sent a message to Lu Qingyu.

"Qingyu, tell me secretly, do Gu Shi and Mo Sheng end up together in the end?"

Lu Qingyu looked at WeChat: ??? What on earth?

Lou Qingran sent another message: "I checked; the Scriptwriter Teacher for your show used to write BL novels. I knew my guess was right."

Lu Qingyu: ???

"No, Sister Lou, calm down, you might have misunderstood."

Lou Qingran: "No need to give me spoilers, I know what's going on. If it were filmed normally, it definitely wouldn't be allowed to air, right? So you guys can only do it secretly—"

"Heavens, I'm so excited just thinking about it. Qingyu, I'll stop talking now, you go ahead and film well."

Lu Qingyu: !!!

Su Jixing also saw the online reaction. He was prepared for Lu Qingyu to be shipped, but he really hadn't expected the support for Male Lead One and male lead two to be higher than that of Male Lead One and the female lead.

Well, wouldn't it be a disservice to Lu Qingyu not to add some hype?

So, Su Jixing also had the Marketing Group boost the popularity.

In just one night, Lu Qingyu and Zhou Fang were pushed to the third spot on the hot search topics.

Zhou Fang also didn't expect to become popular overnight, although this popularity was a bit different from what he had imagined.

He gained 170,000 followers overnight, and the number of emails and Weibo comments was more than he had received in the past six or seven years combined.

Zhou Fang was quite excited; he felt like he was finally making it.

The next day, everyone went to film as usual.

The actors' scripts had been given to them before filming started, and unless something unexpected happened, they would follow the script. But they were a little special.

The crew was filming and airing simultaneously, and the Scriptwriter Teacher was always with the crew. After seeing the comments on the first episode, the director specifically asked the Scriptwriter Teacher to tweak the plot.

When Lu Qingyu got the script the next day, he felt something was a bit off. According to the previous plot, his affection for the female lead was quite obvious, with several scenes having lines that clearly showed his love for her, but now they had been changed to more obscure emotions.

And the originally firm confrontational stance with the male lead now had lines that were a bit unclear.

Lu Qingyu found it hard to grasp the emotions in some parts. Since the Scriptwriter Teacher was there, he asked a few questions.

"Teacher, in this scene, male lead two uses his status to steal the male lead's project. When the male lead comes to confront him, male lead two tells him this is a lesson—if he doesn't leave the female lead, he will continue to do this. I have no questions about this plot, but I don't quite understand male lead two's emotions in this scene."

The Scriptwriter Teacher took a look at the content she had changed overnight under the director's instructions.

In the original script, the description of male lead two's expression was: 'The moment the male lead rushes up to confront him, male lead two's eyes are full of disdain, as if crushing the male lead is as simple as crushing an ant.'

But the revised content was: 'male lead two's gaze at the male lead is ambiguous; facing the angry male lead, he is calm with a hint of anticipation.'

Lu Qingyu: "Teacher, what does 'ambiguous' mean here? What emotion should I be showing?"

The Scriptwriter Teacher adjusted her glasses with a restrained smile on her face. Looking into Lu Qingyu's clear eyes, she said, "Didi, when you confront the male lead, you need to have a sense of curiosity and inquiry."

Lu Qingyu: ??? "Why? Shouldn't it be jealousy and hatred?"

Lu Qingyu didn't understand.

The Scriptwriter Teacher truly lived up to her title. she continued, "Think about it, the character of male lead two is handsome and rich. Shouldn't such a person be extremely self-confident in life?"

Lu Qingyu thought about himself: "True."

The Scriptwriter Teacher: "Would a confident person be jealous of or hate someone who isn't as handsome or wealthy as they are?"

Lu Qingyu: "Uh, I guess not."

The Scriptwriter Teacher: "So, his gaze at the male lead should have a sense of inquiry, like 'I want to understand you; why are you so poor yet the female lead still likes you? What exactly does she like about you?'"

Lu Qingyu suddenly understood: "I get it now that you put it that way, Teacher."

Lu Qingyu went back to filming, and the Scriptwriter Teacher wiped the sweat from her forehead: "This lady is a professional Scriptwriter Teacher after all."