Chapter 28 Is He Sick?!

The drama, airing on the weekend prime time slot, had a top-tier male lead and a capable female lead. It was a young audience-friendly ancient xianxia drama, and no matter how you looked at it, it didn’t have the ingredients for failure.

The only exception was Lu Hui, who was a seed for failure in this drama.

In the three dramas that Lu Hui had aired before, whether they were big-budget productions or small-budget ones, they had all flopped terribly. She had contributed nothing but poor acting.

The male lead, Yu Li, had an inherently turbulent vibe, and even the supporting characters had made some ripples in the industry. After the announcement in the afternoon, it immediately made the hot search.

A drama’s premiere always came with the expectation of being criticized and potentially flopping.

“Once I saw Lu Hui’s name on the lead cast list, I felt reassured. The male and female leads’ rivals are also easy to spot—inevitable flop.”

Some held the opposite view, seeing the preview and the latest clips, they didn’t think it would fail.

“You guys are too naive. Don’t be fooled by her dancing and singing on stage. If you’ve watched her previous shows, you wouldn’t believe it’s going to explode.”

Simply put, Lu Hui’s acting was like an inside mole among the colleagues, something to laugh at for her rivals.

On this point, Lu Hui couldn’t refute, but everyone had a period of inexperience. She might not have been a naturally gifted actress, but she was one who grew and improved through effort.

By the time the news broadcast was almost over, the drama hadn’t even aired yet.

Lu Hui had already made it to the hot search, labeled as the “Queen of Bad Dramas,” and earned a notorious reputation.

The director of the drama was initially happy to see it on the hot search, as it still brought heat.

Upon closer inspection of the discussions, something felt off—very off.

When filming, Lu Hui had never hesitated to show her kindness to him, offering delicious food and drinks, always generous and willing to treat others. She was diligent, never flubbing her lines, never asking for leave, and never throwing tantrums. Overall, she was a great actress. The director had a decent relationship with her and even stepped forward to speak on her behalf: “I chose Lu Hui for the role of Qing Ji because I was moved by her performance during the audition. I hope the audience can set aside any prejudices and fully enjoy the performances of these young actors in this drama.”

The director was even speaking out to clear her name—she was truly remarkable.

Some rival fans weren’t buying it, however, and continued to spread negative rumors, practically wanting to stomp her into the ground.

Lu Hui’s fans were smart enough to stay silent. They hadn’t seen the drama and didn’t know how well Little Hui Xiang’s performance turned out, so it wouldn’t be wise to preemptively start defending her. Staying low-key was the smartest move.

At 7:40 PM, just as the audience was eagerly anticipating, the third channel aired the fantasy drama Seeking Immortality at the Edge of Darkness.

Many people, drawn in by the trending topic earlier that afternoon, tuned in with the mindset of “Let’s see just how bad this drama is” or “I want to see how terrible Lu Hui’s acting really is.”

To their surprise, from the very first scene—the opening and the closing track—Lu Hui’s portrayal of a character tragically falling into despair, shedding tears at the edge of a cliff, moved them deeply.

Was the trending topic intentionally trying to lower expectations for false promotion?

Episode one had a real-time viewership of 9%, ranking it fourth in first-day viewership for the third channel’s history.

In the first episode, Lu Hui’s character didn’t even appear yet, but fans were already taking screenshots from the few frames shown and hyping her up.

“When Nüwa was making people, she was so biased, why didn’t she make me like that too?”

“Did you see that? Beautiful and can act, your superstar Hui Hui is here!”

“I knew Little Hui Xiang wouldn’t disappoint us, the 90s’ rising star, you should be trembling!”

The debate between fans and haters seemed endless. Haters mocked her fans for blindly praising her when she hadn’t even appeared in the first episode, accusing them of hyping her up without any real evidence.

However, much to the haters’ disappointment, episode two saw a rise in viewership, increasing by two points.

Lu Hui’s character appeared in the last five minutes, and her unexpectedly brilliant performance was enough to make viewers remember her.

She played the second female lead, a character who devoted herself to the male protagonist, showing an emotional depth that drew the audience into her unrequited love and heartbreak.

Yan Zhao also watched the drama. The TV signal in the old house was unstable, but after tapping on the box a couple of times, the screen cleared up.

Looking at Lu Hui’s eyes on screen, he saw a familiar gaze—one he had once received from her, a gaze full of deep love and heartbreak.

She could look at someone else like that too? What was he to her now?

Yan Zhao’s fingers clenched around the box, causing a large dent. The picture disappeared from the screen.

Furrowing his brows, he asked his pet, “Do you think she ever really loved me?”

The pet didn’t answer.

With a frown, Yan Zhao murmured, “Why could she look at someone else that way? What was I to her?”

The fall from grace had taken its toll, and he muttered, “I need to recover my strength quickly… I need to bring her back.”

The pet wagged its tail in agreement.

Yan Zhao’s mood lifted as he petted the animal. “You need to watch over her. Don’t let her escape.”

—

In the face of an audience of millions, fans and haters seemed insignificant.

Fans of the drama were numerous and vocal, filling the comments section.

“The male lead must be blind, how can he not see such a good female supporting character?!”

“I’m dying, CNM, this is the first time I’ve watched a drama and don’t want to root for the official pairing.”

“Anyone know if the second female lead has more screen time? Will we get any sugar in the next episodes?”

The first two episodes had a cliché and melodramatic plot, but it was precisely this drama that kept people hooked.

The male lead had a striking appearance, and the second female lead’s beauty even overshadowed the main lead’s pure and innocent image.

On the first day of airing, the drama already had strong potential to go viral. The female lead’s team tried to stir up a CP with the male lead, but it was immediately shut down.

The female lead’s character was somewhat outdated, portrayed as a weeping, fragile flower, which didn’t endear her to viewers. Outside the drama, she was bombarded with criticism, leaving her feeling upset and reluctant to play second fiddle.

The company tried to promote a CP but only garnered minimal results. Instead, it was Lu Hui and the male lead, Yu Li, whose behind-the-scenes interactions were clipped into a three-minute video and posted online.

The video showed the two of them on set during the autumn-winter shoot after a heavy snowfall. Lu Hui, dressed lightly, sat under a tent, hugging a hand warmer. She pulled out two more warmers, but they were immediately snatched away by the man sitting next to her.

She stood up in a huff to reclaim them.

Yu Li, teasing her, held them out of reach, smiling as he played with her.

Lu Hui seemed to ignore him and sat back down.

Yu Li, full of confidence, pressed the warmers against her, then patted her arm lightly.

With a blank expression, Lu Hui turned away, unwilling to acknowledge him.

Yu Li draped his down jacket over her shoulders and pulled the hood tightly over her head.

After watching the video, the smile on her face just wouldn’t fade.

“Unbelievable, Yu Li’s smile is so charming! Does he not have his own hand warmers? Why does he keep stealing Little Hui Xiang’s?”

---

“Upstairs doesn’t understand, of course, using my wife’s things is more fragrant.”

“Cold, aloof, straight-laced Yu Li turned out to be someone who flirts with women.”

“Before seeing this video, I always assumed Yu Li had renounced worldly desires and had nothing left to pursue. He had killed off enough potential pairings that could have been used for two rounds of mahjong. I didn’t want to be hurt again, but damn, it’s really sweet.”

The behind-the-scenes video from the set sparked more interest, and in the next two episodes aired, Lu Hui’s screen time increased, pushing the ratings even higher than the day before.

Advertisers jumped on the bandwagon, contacting the TV station to place more ads.

Lu Hui’s life had changed significantly—she now had to wear a mask when going out! She was recognized by strangers at the hospital and was complimented for being beautiful and a good actress.

Why was Lu Hui at the hospital? Blame her insane stepbrother, Sheng Zhaoming.

Sheng Zhaoming was acting weird and forcibly took her to the hospital. Lu Hui had a traumatic experience from being dragged into a hospital before—she didn’t want to come in healthy and leave missing limbs.

Sheng Zhaoming said, “Be good today. The foreign doctor has arrived at the hospital. Just cooperate with the treatment and take your medicine, you’ll recover.”

“Huh?” Lu Hui was confused. “What are you talking about?”

Sheng Zhaoming looked down at her. “You don’t have to hide it from me. I heard everything that day.”

“What day?”

“The day you argued with Xie Ran at the door.”

Unfortunately, Lu Hui couldn’t even remember what she had said to Xie Ran that day.

She was hazily pushed into the examination room, X-ray and MRI scans done. While waiting for the results, Sheng Zhaoming still wouldn’t let her leave and threw a tantrum. “Sit down.”

“Ridiculous.”

“I’m doing this for your own good.”

“Can I leave once I get the results?”

“No.”

“What do you want to do? Just because you’re my nominal brother doesn’t mean you can go too far.”

Sheng Zhaoming was in a bad mood and clearly didn’t want to face her medical results.

It wasn’t a good diagnosis, so why bother looking?

Sheng Zhaoming couldn’t bear the thought of her dying.

Soon, the specialist in that field called them into their office.

Sheng Zhaoming told Lu Hui to leave.

Lu Hui, like a stubborn nail, protested, “Why can’t I listen?”

Sheng Zhaoming couldn’t argue with her, waving his hand dismissively.

The doctor communicated with Sheng Zhaoming in English, with a proper British accent. Lu Hui didn’t understand but saw Sheng Zhaoming’s expression change.

The man turned to glare at her with terrifying eyes—dark and cold. He gripped her arm tightly. “You don’t have a terminal illness?!”

Lu Hui: Oh my God! Is he crazy?