Chapter 112: Unreliable, Magical, and Wrapping Up (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Votes)

On the flight, Lin Xing reviewed the script for *The Evil Kid* in detail once more. His opinion remained unchanged; if anything, his confidence in the project had increased by thirty percent. However, the script had been handed to him without a director or any established core creative team attached, making it difficult to judge the quality of the people behind it.

Because of this, after finishing the script on the plane, Lin Xing looked over several others as well. Often, when actors choose scripts, they have no way of knowing if a project will become a hit. Yet, sometimes there is a certain metaphysical quality to it. Some actors, for instance, turn down every potential blockbuster, choosing only what they personally believe will succeed, only to see their careers fade with every project. Others are backed by countless wealthy investors but simply cannot be made famous.

"Small fame comes from backing; great fame comes from destiny."

Take Lin Xing himself: who could have imagined that after ten years of being a has-been, he would return to the top tier of the entertainment industry? This "top-tier" status certainly had its share of fluff, but it was enough to give him more choices. Setting aside the television drama *Sweeping the Darkness*, even for the web series *Portrait of a Crime*, if Lin Xing hadn't gained recognition for his role as Du Fei in *Only Waiting for You*, or if his sales for the October digital issue of *Fashion Men's Style* hadn't surged, *Portrait of a Crime* might not have sent him a script at all.

But Lin Xing succeeded, so they invited him to act, even going so far as to offer to rewrite scenes specifically for him. The logic is the same in every industry: if you are an ordinary person, they talk to you about principles; but if you have achieved fame and success, principles can be tailor-made for you. Something doesn't fit the rules? Change it!

Lin Xing was the only one who truly respected the script of *Portrait of a Crime*. In fact, he was more worried than anyone else that the production team might mess it up, so from the very first day of shooting, he maintained constant communication with the creative leads. There was director Liu Zhou, of course, as well as screenwriter Wang Yi, and naturally, Ma Wen, who was in charge of the entire production. Since their first dinner meeting on November 17th, the collaboration over the past two months had been quite pleasant.

How should one put it? Although *Portrait of a Crime* was a low-budget web series, the filming process was rigorous. To use an old saying, it was a sparrow, but it had all its internal organs. The filming was now nearing its end. According to expectations, it would wrap up by the end of the month, though the exact date was not set in stone.

Upon arriving in Luda, Lin Xing returned to his hotel to rest. He had Xiaonan inform Sister Dao that he had arrived and reminded her not to forget to look into the matter of the new script.

"I’ve already made contact with them; I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow," Sister Dao told him. "However, I’ve heard from people in the industry that this script is part of a 'cast a wide net' strategy. You should be mentally prepared; it feels like they’re just selling a dream. It’s a test run for Panda Video."

Among the five major video websites currently in the industry, Panda Video’s market share was shrinking. Last year, in particular, the dramas they bet on either saw their leads fall from grace, leading to the projects being shelved, or they turned out to be high-budget flops upon release. When your luck is bad, everything you do is wrong—you might even step in dog droppings just stepping out the door.

Consequently, Panda Video’s strategy for this year was to keep a low profile: cut unnecessary expenses, raise membership fees, and lay off thirty percent of the staff across departments, especially in the content department. Simultaneously, they established a self-production department, preparing to test the waters with self-made short dramas, focusing primarily on the suspense and mystery market.

"That’s essentially the situation," Sister Dao said, shaking her head. "I don’t think Panda Video can be said to be indifferent to this drama, but they aren't exactly prioritizing it either. It’s just a test run. Are you sure you still want to take it?"

"That depends on how you look at it. You could say it's a test run for Panda Video, but you could also say this is Panda Video being the first to eat the crab. Currently, various genres of television dramas are emerging one after another, and suspense and mystery mixed with crime investigation are naturally prone to being liked by audiences..." Lin Xing laughed dismissively. "As long as the screenwriter isn't being deliberately pretentious and the director isn't blindly artistic, there won't be any problems."

In the current entertainment industry, many directors want audience support on one hand, yet look down on the audience on the other. When they flop, they get defensive and curse the audience for not understanding aesthetics. Lin Xing tried to keep his distance from such directors as much as possible. That was why he needed Sister Dao to meet with the Panda Video team. He needed to be sure about this script, and even more so, he needed to be sure about what would follow.

"Alright, I understand," Sister Dao said, nodding gently. "I'll meet with them in detail tomorrow."

"Good, let’s leave it at that," Lin Xing said, hanging up the phone.

"Brother Xing, I just checked with the crew. We don't need to be there until 4:00 PM," Xiaonan said to Lin Xing at that moment. "You should get some rest; there's a night shoot tonight."

Compared to *Sweeping the Darkness*, although Lin Xing did shoot night scenes, there weren't as many because he wasn't the lead, and his screen time was far less. But *Portrait of a Crime* was different; in this show, Lin Xing was the undisputed male lead. Being the male lead meant having the most screen time. Moreover, one-third of the scenes in *Portrait of a Crime* were night scenes, and Lin Xing had to be present for most of them. As a result, he had essentially been shooting night scenes for the latter half of the project. Lin Xing was used to it.

Even though the crew said to arrive at 4:00 PM, Lin Xing followed his old routine and arrived around 3:00 PM.

"Teacher Lin, you're back."
"Teacher Lin, hello."
"Teacher Lin..."

Many people greeted him immediately upon seeing him. Along the way, everyone treated Lin Xing with both courtesy and respect, and Lin Xing nodded in acknowledgment to each of them. Currently, in the *Portrait of a Crime* crew, Lin Xing was the one with the highest popularity, which gives you an idea of the cast lineup for this crew.

No, to be precise, Lin Xing was not only the most popular, he was also the biggest star. Otherwise, why would Ma Wen offer Lin Xing special treatment? It was an industry convention that the male and female leads should receive extraordinary treatment—why else would they be called the leads? If you don't believe it, just look at Chu Chen and Li Jingjing in *Only Waiting for You*. Both had their own motorhomes, brought assistants to the set, and Li Jingjing even had someone help her put on her shoes while she played on her phone during breaks.

So, when Ma Wen learned that Lin Xing didn't want any special treatment, he was stunned. Lin Xing's professionalism made him stand out from other traffic-based artists. More importantly, Ma Wen never expected that Lin Xing’s level of professionalism in *Portrait of a Crime* would far exceed his expectations. From now on, if anyone dared to say that traffic-based artists weren't professional, Ma Wen would throw Lin Xing’s record in their faces.

But once *Sweeping the Darkness* aired, Ma Wen felt that calling Lin Xing a traffic-based artist felt like an insult to him. Have you ever seen a traffic-based artist with that kind of acting talent?

"A-Xing..." Ma Wen was still on set; he came over as soon as he knew Lin Xing had arrived. "I was just telling Old Liu that you should have taken a day off; you didn't have to rush back like this."

"I'm not that delicate," Lin Xing laughed. "We're at this stage now; better not delay the schedule."

"Alright, I just chatted with Old Liu, and we’ve confirmed that we’ll wrap up on the 28th..." Ma Wen said. "We might need to do some publicity that day."

"The 28th?" Lin Xing thought about the time. "Fine, I’ll say it again: whatever you need me to cooperate with, I will."

"Then thank you, A-Xing. You’re the biggest draw in our crew right now," Ma Wen sighed. "We really will need you to help with the publicity when the time comes."

"Publicity is something I should be doing," Lin Xing shook his head. "Brother Ma, you’re being too formal."

"Hahaha, alright, I won't say it then," Ma Wen laughed heartily. "Work hard for these next few days, and let's have a good drink at the wrap-up party."

It was the same sentiment: some things are "supposed" to be done, but if many stars actually did what they were "supposed" to do, the audience wouldn't complain, and the industry wouldn't criticize them either.

After chatting with Ma Wen for a while longer, Ma Wen went off to prepare for other tasks, and Lin Xing headed to the shooting set.

"A-Xing, you’re here just in time," Liu Zhou said with a smile. "We were just discussing the shooting sequence for this fraud case. Take a look and see if this works?"

*Sweeping the Darkness* had a plot involving telecommunications fraud, and *Portrait of a Crime* had the same. However, the types were different. The fraud in *Sweeping the Darkness* involved predatory loans and nude loans, while the fraud in *Portrait of a Crime* focused on the elderly. In recent years, fraud targeting the elderly had become a major disaster area. Why did many children send the sketch *Anti-Fraud Bank* to their parents? Because most of their parents had been scammed.

Fraud targeting the elderly was impossible to guard against. Especially for those whose children were not around, the elderly were already lonely. Suddenly, someone comes along to keep them company, chat with them, and occasionally bring them food and drink. If the elderly person got sick, they would even come to take care of them. These scammers treated the elderly like their own parents—no, even better than their own parents—just to drain them of their money.

In *Portrait of a Crime*, this fraud was even more high-tech. The scammers used AI to synthesize videos of the elderly people's children, using the excuse of being in trouble to demand money from them, even forcing some elderly people to take out high-interest loans to raise funds for their children, eventually leading some to commit suicide due to the immense pressure. The mentor of Guan Feng, the character played by Lin Xing, fell victim to this scam.

According to Liu Zhou, the plan was to shoot the scenes of Guan Feng with his master and mistress first, then shoot the subsequent plot.

"No problem," Lin Xing laughed. "We can shoot according to this tomorrow. We'll just shoot this night scene today, and tomorrow I can get into makeup to look like my seven-years-younger self..."

"Good," Liu Zhou nodded gently.

Lin Xing had already finished most of the scenes from seven years ago, which was why Liu Zhou had consulted with him about tomorrow's schedule. After all, getting into makeup to look like his seven-years-younger self meant he had to maintain a youthful appearance and return to that state of mind. Lin Xing didn't feel there was any issue with that. Some scenes simply couldn't be filmed all at once.

As for this case, the two elderly actors were familiar faces in the film and television circle; one was named Tang Jiang, and the other Wang Shan. They were guest stars in various dramas. It hadn't been easy for Ma Wen to invite them, as they weren't acting for the sake of the paycheck—they weren't short on money; they just genuinely loved acting. Because they were filming on other sets, their schedules had been coordinated for tomorrow.

The next day, Lin Xing met Tang Jiang and Wang Shan.

"Teacher Tang, Teacher Wang," Lin Xing greeted them first.

"You played Zhou Bo well," Tang Jiang suddenly said. "I watched it. You brought layers to the character; it was very good."

"Thank you, Teacher Tang." Lin Xing hadn't expected Tang Jiang to have watched *Sweeping the Darkness*.

Standing nearby, Wang Shan added with a smile, "I saw it on short video apps too. Old Tang isn't just saying polite things—you really acted well, Lin Xing. Much better than my son."

Initially, Lin Xing didn't know what she meant, but after getting to know them better during filming, he learned that Wang Shan’s son was also an actor. Second-generation stars were actually quite common. However, Wang Shan’s son, Wang Lin, was quite low-key. He wasn't a fool like Feng Qing, nor did he go around shouting that he was Wang Shan’s son. Of course, Wang Lin didn't rely much on his mother either. He was forty years old now; he had no shortage of roles, but they were all third-tier roles. Most importantly, he didn't have any standout characters.

Let's put it this way: Wang Lin faced a situation similar to Zhou Wei’s. You see the face, and it looks familiar, but what role did he play? You can't remember. But look at Lin Xing—you see him, he’s incredibly handsome; you think, the domineering CEO he played was damn good; you think again, damn, why was the Zhou Bo he played so evil?

Being remembered by passersby, whether it's your name or your character, means you will have more and more opportunities in the future.

In the afternoon, during a break in filming, Lin Xing received a call from Sister Dao.

"A-Xing, I still think this crew is unreliable. Since you think the script is good, I won't say anything about the screenwriter, but do you know who the director is?" Sister Dao said, sounding somewhat speechless. She didn't even wait for Lin Xing to respond before adding, "It's Lan Lei."

"Who? Lan Lei?" Lin Xing frowned. "Which one is that? I've never heard of him."

"You must have heard of the 'Take the Train Band.' When we went to participate in *Comedy Must Laugh*, didn't Xie Ning say he hoped you would record an episode of *Band's Spring*? He mentioned this band before..." Sister Dao said to Lin Xing.

Lin Xing replied, "Yes, indeed. Don't tell me this Lan Lei is related to that band?"

"Yes, he is. Lan Lei is the lead singer of that band..." Sister Dao said, sounding between laughter and tears. "He started the band to make money so he could become a director, but it turns out he hasn't had any opportunities in directing, while the band has become increasingly popular. You tell me, is it reliable for a guy who sings to become a director?"

"Sister Dao, you can't say it like that. There are quite a few singers who have become directors, and many singers who have become actors," Lin Xing said, shaking his head slightly. "Don't be biased."

"No, A-Xing, is it me being biased or you? You’ve only seen one script; how can you be sure they can pull it off?" Sister Dao was becoming increasingly helpless.

"Of course I can't be sure, which is why you need to look into it," Lin Xing said, shaking his head. "I’ll say it again: keep in touch with the creative team, listen to their opinions. I’ll wrap up here on the 28th and return to the capital on the 29th. I’ll chat with them in person then."

"Fine," Sister Dao stopped trying to persuade him. She knew Lin Xing’s temper. But she still felt it was unreliable. Yes, there were actors who became successful directors, and singers who succeeded as directors, but those people had usually paid their dues in the film industry for a long time before that. But what did this Lan Lei have? He was a complete newcomer. No, not quite a newcomer; he had directed a few short films for others. But was that the same as a web series? Sister Dao decided to have someone look into it thoroughly and then find a way to convince Lin Xing on the 29th.

As for Lin Xing, after hanging up with Sister Dao, he went up to Liu Zhou and asked with a smile, "Director Liu, have you heard of Lan Lei?"

"Lan Lei? Who is that?" Liu Zhou was confused. "Is he an actor?"

It was clear Liu Zhou was on a completely different track. He looked at Lin Xing and asked, "A-Xing, do you want him to come in for a few guest scenes? But we don't really have any roles left."

"No, no, Director Liu, you misunderstood. I was just asking if you knew this person; he’s the lead singer of a band," Lin Xing said, waving his hand with a smile.

"Hey, then I definitely don't know him," Liu Zhou said, waving his hand. "I’m not interested in bands."

"Oh," Lin Xing nodded gently but didn't say anything more.

After filming finished for the night, Lin Xing returned home and searched for some news about this Lan Lei. There really wasn't much useful information. It was mostly just introductions stating that Lan Lei was the lead singer of the "Take the Train Band," who had become known through the first season of *Band's Spring*. Other than that, there was almost nothing about his aspirations to be a director. It was no wonder Sister Dao wasn't optimistic.

Lin Xing was also feeling a bit uncertain now. This really did look unreliable. "Forget it, I'll deal with it when I get back to the capital on the 29th," Lin Xing thought.

The next day, Lin Xing continued to immerse himself in the filming of *Portrait of a Crime*. Online, the heat surrounding *Sweeping the Darkness* had gradually begun to wane; after all, it had been a few days since it aired, so it was normal for the buzz to subside. At the same time, other dramas had gradually begun buying their way into the trending topics. *School Dad, School Mom* had surged to the number one trending spot due to its finale, and the debate on Weibo about "parenting" was absolutely ferocious. Online, the more controversial a topic, the more it was discussed. As for marriage and parenting, you can be sure those two topics would lead to a total breakdown in rational discussion.

During the livestream for the finale of *School Dad, School Mom*, the topic of Lin Xing came up. Guan Peng expressed great gratitude toward Lin Xing, saying, "A-Xing really helped me promote it for a long time, so next time I’ll help him promote his drama."

Then someone asked Guan Peng, "So what drama is Teacher Lin filming now?"

"He should still be filming that crime investigation drama," Guan Peng said with a smile. "Everyone should definitely show their support for Teacher Lin's drama when it comes out."

Lin Xing didn't make it to the trending topics from this livestream; after all, if you don't pay for trending topics, it's quite difficult to get there organically. Nowadays, the fans of various major stars seemed to have a tacit agreement: never discuss Lin Xing, don't even give him a shred of attention. Of course, the main reason was that the cast of *Portrait of a Crime* was too average, and there was no topic-driven buzz; apart from Lin Xing, everything else was quiet.

Even when Guan Peng mentioned it in the livestream, the official Weibo account didn't even think to jump on the bandwagon. It was completely invisible.

"Laughing to death, Lin Xing really made a terrible move."
"Who said it wasn't? I never imagined he would take a web series."
"He must have gone crazy wanting to play the male lead, and it's a dual-lead series at that—damn, what's the point?"
"Exactly, dual leads. I think the female characters are just tools, boring."
"The main thing is the cast isn't interesting. I think it’s not even a question of whether this drama flops; it’s that nobody cares about it at all."

Some passersby were discussing it with interest online. Lin Xing’s fans also didn't join the discussion because they felt that saying anything at this point was meaningless. Everyone’s sentiment was essentially: "Trust Lin Xing."

As for Lin Xing, he continued to film conscientiously. Every day, he would film while discussing the scenes with everyone. More importantly, they discussed the details of the plot. For example, the scenes with the two elderly actors: what was their state of mind after realizing they had been victims of telecommunications fraud? They were intellectuals, people of status and reputation, yet they had been scammed, and for such a huge amount of money that they had even turned to crime to raise funds. If they reported it to the police, would they have any face left? So, not reporting it was the "correct" choice.

Why did many victims of telecommunications fraud refuse to report it? And why did so many victims become so desperate they chose to commit suicide? It was because they couldn't accept the truth of being scammed. Thus, they filmed smoothly, discussing it every day.

Three days later, Tang Jiang and Wang Shan successfully wrapped up their scenes.

"Congratulations to Teacher Tang and Teacher Wang on wrapping up."

The staff had long since prepared flowers for the two seniors. This was partly to express respect and partly to have behind-the-scenes footage for future promotion. Photos were taken, and the staff saw the two teachers off the set. As for Lin Xing and the others, they continued filming.

In the blink of an eye, it was January 28th.

"You've fallen for it," Lin Xing said calmly. "From the beginning, this was a trap. You are smart, but the smarter people are, the more they have one bad habit: they tend not to trust others. If you hadn't changed the password just now, we would never have known..."

"Cut!"

As soon as Lin Xing finished the last line of dialogue, Liu Zhou picked up the megaphone and shouted, "I now announce that *Portrait of a Crime* has wrapped!"

Wrapped.

Lin Xing’s first web series as a male lead had wrapped today. November 18th, Lin Xing joined the crew. January 28th, today, they wrapped. Lin Xing had even spent an unforgettable birthday on the set. After so many days, the wrap-up had finally arrived.

In the evening, the entire crew had a meal together—the wrap-up party. This party was different from the one for *Sweeping the Darkness*. *Sweeping the Darkness* was a large production with deep pockets, so everyone had been called back for the party. But *Portrait of a Crime* was different; it was just the leads celebrating the wrap.

"Thank you for your hard work."
"Everyone worked hard."
"Thank you all for this period."
"I believe our drama will definitely gain the recognition of the audience."

At the wrap-up party, Liu Zhou first said a few words. To put it bluntly, it was a pep talk. After all, the web series *Portrait of a Crime* was given an A+ rating, which meant it was almost completely disregarded. So, as the director, Liu Zhou naturally had to give everyone a pep talk. After Liu Zhou, Ma Wen also started his own pep talk.

"I witnessed this script take shape bit by bit. It’s not just Wang Yi’s child; it can be considered my child too. Now that it’s wrapped, the real challenge has just begun..." Ma Wen said to the crowd. "Let's all continue to work hard and strive to let this child meet the audience as soon as possible."

Truth be told, Ma Wen was the one under the most pressure in the entire crew. From preparation to casting, to site selection, to the start of filming, Ma Wen, as the producer, had to watch over everything. That was not even counting the actor who broke his leg or the actor who was caught soliciting prostitutes in the middle of the project. Aside from that, the crew almost got into a fight because the extras wouldn't give way to each other, nearly leading to a conflict. It was just damn difficult.

Ma Wen raised his glass and said, "I toast everyone with this drink. Thank you for your cooperation all along. Tonight, let’s drink until we drop."

That night, Lin Xing got drunk again. There was no helping it. After Liu Zhou toasted, Wang Yi toasted; after Wang Yi, Ma Wen toasted; after Ma Wen, Zhou Wei toasted; after Zhou Wei, Wei Fei toasted... Lin Xing even felt like they were trying to force-feed him alcohol.

"A-Xing, there are many people I admire, but among those I admire, I have to add you today..." Wei Fei was still as straightforward as ever. "I don't know if our drama will succeed, but based on your attitude, you will definitely make it in the entertainment industry."

"I'm still standing right here," Liu Zhou said, sounding somewhat speechless. "It’s a wrap-up party; can’t you say something auspicious?"

"Isn't this auspicious enough?" Wei Fei raised her glass and said, "I won't say any more. I hope everyone will keep themselves clean from today on and strictly abide by the law. As long as *Portrait of a Crime* can air smoothly, that is a victory."

Good grief. Although Wei Fei’s words were blunt, they were so damn correct. Indeed, many dramas were shelved at the drop of a hat, so often, don't even talk about whether the drama flops or not—just being able to air smoothly is a success. Moreover, *Portrait of a Crime* was just a web series; basically, as long as it could air on the video website, it was a success. But as creative staff, as producers, directors, writers, and actors, who among them only wanted this drama to just "air"?

"I hope our drama has a good result," Liu Zhou said at the end.

Lin Xing had to be carried to the hotel by the staff. This was probably the most he had ever drunk. For one thing, there were just too many people drinking with him, and for another, Lin Xing’s own emotions were a little stirred. But fortunately, no matter how much he drank, Lin Xing remained clear-headed. After returning to the hotel, he drank a glass of water and, seeing a call coming in, answered it.

"A-Xing, are you okay?" Sister Dao asked with concern. "You didn't drink too much, did you?"

"I drank a bit too much, but I'm fine," Lin Xing said with a smile. "I've already returned to the hotel; the staff carried me back, but Xiaonan was with me the whole time, so it's fine."

"Good. Whatever you do, don't open the door for anyone tonight," Sister Dao thought for a moment and said. "I'm mainly worried that some actress will come knocking on your door."

"Don't worry, they won't," Lin Xing said, waving his hand slightly. "We've all gotten to know each other during this period; there are basically no actresses..."

"In that case, don't open it for male actors either," Sister Dao said upon hearing Lin Xing's words. "Often, male actors are more dangerous than actresses. You aren't what you used to be; your traffic is at its peak right now, and many people are dying to manufacture some scandal with you."

"Yeah, I know," Lin Xing nodded gently.

Because his head was aching so much, Lin Xing hung up after chatting with Sister Dao for a bit. He took a hot shower and went to sleep. In his drowsy state, Lin Xing did indeed feel like he heard a knock at the door, but he didn't check who it was and simply ignored it.

The next day, Lin Xing and Xiaonan returned to the capital.

"Brother Xing, Ma Wen’s side hopes we can post some promotional copy today to celebrate the wrap-up. They are preparing for the first wave of publicity..." Xiaonan said to Lin Xing on the way. "Oh right, there's also an event for [Dima Electric Vehicles] in the afternoon. We need to attend; it's just five minutes, just show your face."

"Fine," Lin Xing rubbed his head and asked, "Anything else?"

"No," Xiaonan shook his head slightly.

"Huh?" Lin Xing frowned. "Didn't I say I wanted to meet with the people from Panda Video? Did Sister Dao not arrange it?"

"Because it conflicted with the [Dima Electric Vehicles] event, Sister Dao scheduled it for tomorrow," Xiaonan said with a smile. "And Sister Dao said that side is just a bunch of scammers, and told you not to get your hopes up."

"Fine then," Lin Xing didn't say anything more. Whether they were scammers or not, he would know after meeting them.

"Everyone, hurry up and repost the official Weibo account. We’re starting publicity today. I’m counting on you, teachers."

At 11:00 AM, in the *Portrait of a Crime* group, a staff member sent a message: "The copy has been sent privately to all teachers. Everyone, remember to delete the words in the brackets when you post." This was something every publicity staff member had to repeat. Because some artists were truly so lazy that they would copy whatever you sent them, and they wouldn't even bother to look at the content. After that, the group was flooded with a series of emojis from Wei Fei.

Lin Xing replied, "Received!"

He opened Weibo. The official *Portrait of a Crime* account posted a nine-grid image, accompanied by the wrap-up copy, and tagged Lin Xing, Zhou Wei, and several other leads. Even the leads for the unit dramas were tagged. Lin Miaoyin was naturally tagged as well.

Lin Xing reposted the official account’s post and wrote: "#PortraitofaCrimeWrapped# Hello everyone, I am Guan Feng. Looking forward to meeting you all soon."

That’s right. Lin Xing didn't use the copy provided by the staff again. How should one put it? It was just too formal. That kind of copy—if you didn't know better, you’d think it was written by AI. It was better to be simple and direct.

"Wow, is this the domineering CEO back?"
"Hahaha, this time he won't be a villain, right?"
"Definitely not, didn't they say he's a portrait artist!"
"Looking forward to it, looking forward to it!"

These were fans. Fans basically just engage in mindless praise, and that’s that. Apart from fans, passersby were still the same regarding *Portrait of a Crime*: not interested. People thought they had seen too many crime investigation dramas, and no matter how good this one was, could it be better than the crime dramas from twenty years ago? There was another key point: the actors in this drama, if not all newcomers, mostly had no drawing power or market recognition. Because of this, many passersby weren't buying it.

Why were the actors in many dramas familiar faces? Because the audience liked watching them. If you make a drama with an all-new cast, believe it or not, no matter how good your script is, you won't get everyone’s recognition in the early stages, unless it relies on word-of-mouth in the end. But relying on word-of-mouth for a comeback is truly too difficult.

"I think if it weren't for Lin Xing, I’m afraid nobody would even want to discuss this drama."
"Yeah, look at what kind of actors these are. Who are these people?"
"Heh, even with Lin Xing, I’m not interested. I thought Lin Xing was moving toward being an acting-focused star? Turns out he’s back to being an idol."
"Exactly, an idol in a crime investigation drama? What for? To look cool?"
"I’ll put it here: this drama is doomed to flop. If it doesn't, I’ll do a handstand and poop."
"The person above, there's no need for that, right? How much hatred do you have for Lin Xing?"
"To the person above the person above, I’ve noted your ID, 'Trash Star'."

Well then. The attitude of some passersby toward *Portrait of a Crime* was quite subtle. This subtlety lay in the fact that they didn't even want to roast the drama. Because the actors had no recognition, apart from Lin Xing, there was only Zhou Wei, but Zhou Wei was usually just an invisible person; he only had 800,000 followers on Weibo. So, they could only roast Lin Xing. But Lin Xing had just become popular due to his role as Zhou Bo in *Sweeping the Darkness*, and there were many videos on Bilibili remixing Lin Xing’s work. So, when Lin Xing suddenly went off to film a web series, even if it was the male lead, everyone felt it was meaningless.

Consequently, the online sentiment wasn't a unified mockery or questioning. If it were, there would at least be traffic. Currently, the online attitude was: "Oh, it wrapped? Hey, whatever." That was awkward. *Portrait of a Crime* could only buy two trending topics itself. Everyone else was ignored.

Ma Wen was already quite satisfied with this scene. Fortunately, they invited Lin Xing, who could contribute some traffic; otherwise, their drama would be even more invisible.

At this moment, Lin Xing had arrived at the [Dima Electric Vehicles] event site in the capital. It was basically a walk-through, taking a few photos with everyone, and saying hello to the audience, and then it was over. In total, it took less than half an hour. That was only because Lin Xing stayed extra to take photos with the audience; otherwise, it would have ended even faster. But even so, [Dima Electric Vehicles] was already quite satisfied.

[Dima Electric Vehicles] did want to invite Lin Xing to dinner, but Lin Xing declined because he had a dinner party that evening. Lin Xing had promised to attend this dinner a long time ago.