It’s my first time seeing a ML being a guest role.
Zhao Jin Mai and Wei Da Xun's drama "Shine on Me", Yang Zi and Hu Ge's "Born To Be Alive", and Tan Jian Ci and Jin Shi Jia's "Under The Skin 2". Wei Da Xun, Hu Ge, and Jin Shi Jia are all Special Guest Stars as leads.
xk incident is still under investigation but it seems you already convicted him, do you feel great? :)i would…
When you can't refute the content, you whine that you don't like who is posting it. Who is your source? Where are your receipts?
Yes, "boomerang" is meant to mock ya. It's because her fans have been trashing others and are getting the same back to them. Except it's not the same. No one has threatened her with death. I guess it's not a perfect 1:1. You win! Congrats! 👋🏻
So much drama already. Chinese fandoms are so toxic. I'm not going to judge based on Zhou Ye or Wang Zi Qi's or…
Why is it concerning for that he is a guest role? He gets no credit for this drama's success. Doesn't this mean that he doesn't care about billing? He wasn't interested in this project, publicly declined, was wooed back by production, and is now focused only on acting.
As for source of him being personally slandered by her fans, everything has been cited below. Your defense is: We can refute the evidence, because there's too much of it.
ml fans should stop playing the victim here, you guys started attacking zy and the drama when he first rejected…
Have you seen the terrible things her fans say? They curse others with death. Regarding, WXY's drama, her big fans say "Anyone who takes this drama, will die immediately". That not only means him but any other actress. And s*xual insults against other women. "LBB stripped n*ked in front of YZ"
As a passerby, I don't pay attention to him, but it was difficult to miss the nastiness regurgitated by them. It's not difficult to understand why no one wants to work with fans like that. Here are just a few screenshots.
ML fans need to learn how to comment. Ain’t no one got time to read your novels about him.
Hahahaha. Never seen anyone admit that they are too ignorant to read. "Better to not speak and let people think you are dumb, than speak and remove all doubt."
If you can't even make it through a post of her fans slandering him for almost 2 months, imagine your ire if you had to watch that daily.
ml fans should stop playing the victim here, you guys started attacking zy and the drama when he first rejected…
WZQ Timeline. Posted below. Her fans went into his Supertopic and cursed him with death + many other insults, saying he vilifies a soldier's image, lying that he can't pass the military review, slandering his education and emasculating him with “heroine's pendant". His fans got angry.
"I hope your project flops" vs "I hope you die"
There's a significant difference here. Screenshots of just some of nastiness levied against him.
the guy has a close relationship with a marketing account lol and he song paying marketing accounts to tarnish…
What marketing account? If he has close ties to marketing accounts, why all these responses saying they don't know him?
His own drama, The Embers, had 3 hot searches. THREE. That's the marketing provided for an artist whose contract is expiring.
If he had marketing, his 3 breakthrough roles would have been blown up to the sky now, capitalizing on the characters' popularity.
He focuses on acting. His WB posts are so infrequent that fans were staring at a photo of dumplings for months.
Otoh, he has had tons of black marketing against him. Again, here are the screenshots. You frequent Chinese social media, you should recognize these? If not, what do you think if your girl was subjected to these?
xk incident is still under investigation but it seems you already convicted him, do you feel great? :)i would…
Excuse me, no one is talking about XK. The boomerang is in regards to ZY and her fans fighting with WXY's fans but shamelessly using the same words of WZQ's fans. They tried to copy the homework but don't have the guts to actually follow the details.
This post has the screenshots of everything I said above. This is only a small sampling of the insult barrage.…
Plot summary:
In the summer of 1974, sixteen-year-old Lin Xuefan was about to graduate from junior high school. The prestigious 28th Workers' Corps of the People's Liberation Army was recruiting students in Shanghai. This news was like an atomic bomb in the high school world, sending countless young people, passionate about dance and hoping to change their lives, to apply. Xuefan was a standout among them. Her exceptional dancing skills earned her top scorer in her major, but she was rejected due to her family background and overseas connections. Heartbroken, Xuefan buried her red dancing shoes and, out of spite, stopped dancing.
Xuefan was sent to work in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, and was once deeply depressed. However, the military leaders valued her talent and constantly sought opportunities for her. Her classmate, Ma Xiaodong, also provided constant encouragement and support. This gave her immense strength amidst this difficult situation, and her love for dance was rekindled.
Ma Xiaodong's father, a military representative sent from Beijing, moved into Xue Fan's former villa. A series of haphazard events had once turned Xue Fan and Ma Xiaodong into bitter rivals, their every move abruptly ending. But during their time in the countryside, the two gradually came to appreciate each other's sincerity, sharing joys and sorrows, life and death together, becoming close friends who supported each other. During a flood rescue operation, Ma Xiaodong was injured while saving Xue Fan from the water. Amidst the hardships, the two sparked a spark of youthful affection and fell in love.
Xuefan was recommended by the commune to teach at the local primary school. She taught the children singing and dancing, and surprisingly, she formed a small dance troupe that even won a prize at the National Day performance. She became known as the "Golden Peacock" of the village and was specially recruited into the military academy as an artistic talent.
During her time at the Military Flag, Xuefan unexpectedly learns that her failure to be selected was due to a report from her best friend Yuelian's mother. Yuelian, knowing this secret, conceals it, putting their friendship to the test. Xuefan struggles to forgive her sister's betrayal, but a year of experience as an educated youth has transformed her, and she ultimately lets go of past grudges and reconciles with Yuelian.
Ma Xiaodong, unable to qualify as a pilot due to scars on his body, enlisted in the army and became a border guard. The conditions at the border post were extremely harsh, but he had no regrets, his only thought being Xue Fan. Being a soldier means sacrifice and dedication, and Ma Xiaodong and Xue Fan are both soldiers. It was the army that gave them both the wealth of life and the steely will.
After the reform and opening up, the country is getting better and better. Ma Xiaodong was transferred to the military region to become a propaganda officer. Xue Fan also had a broader stage. She won many awards in the military flag parade and became one of the top ten artists in the army. Everyone is thriving and making greater achievements in their respective positions. Ma Xiaodong and Xue Fan's love is thriving, and the two held a wedding in the presence of everyone
This post has the screenshots of everything I said above. This is only a small sampling of the insult barrage.…
By the way, this is the description and plot summary (spoilers) of the drama.
"’Red Shoes’ is set in the 1970s and 1980s, a certain military art troupe serves as the backdrop for the story. By describing the different individual destinies of a group of young men and women, the film reflects the transformation of the country, the development of society, and the changes of the times.”
A good drama is the work of hundreds of people and popular ones have well written ensembles. See the recent successes of This Thriving Land and The Alley People. Both period dramas with a strong cast of veterans. Even though Yang Mi is the most well known star, she would not claim to be “Big Female Lead”. It's foolish for anyone to believe that “I, alone, can make this drama succeed”.
ZY fans should protect the drama. Stop all the negativity against your co-star. You have lost their goodwill and continuing to bash him may make your average audience lose interest too. Who wants to watch something where the FL's fans say the ML is a loser?
See the plot summary. Ma Xiao Dong has his own growth line and significance. He supported and saved the FL. The actor needed to pass military review and this is why he needed to be played by someone with experience and a good reputation. Major spoilers, including ending ones.
This post has the screenshots of everything I said above. This is only a small sampling of the insult barrage.…
Her fans were scared that he would be ranked equal to her and said he was trying to steal her rank. Why would he fight for ranking of a project he doesn’t want? He publicly declined. His criteria for choosing a script: Character has an arc Story has good moral values Story impresses him with something new
A producer described WZQ like water. “Water doesn’t compete to be first, it competes to flow continuously”. It’s a classical Chinese philosophy that emphasizes sustainability over short-term wins. Flowing water is adaptable, persistent, and rejects hollow vanity metrics.
Special Guests are not included in data. A drama’s success or failure numbers don't pertain to him. He is no rank. Null value. He doesn’t suppress anyone and no one suppresses him. Think about why someone would be mad about this. Who is being vain?
His fans are happy. He has essentially upended the fandom ranking obsession. Actors speak with their work, not their ranking. He will act his best and let the audience judge the performance. Fans can like or not like, praise or criticize, watch or not watch without worrying about sending repetitive barrages or not fast-forwarding because of some nebulous data system. Be a regular audience member again. No rank restores the original intention of acting, it removes the noise, and makes drama watching much more relaxing and enjoyable.
Over the years, fandoms have become increasingly more ridiculous about ranking. Dramas are teams. But fandoms expelled supporting actors from a drama’s success, saying it was the ML/FL or top 2 leads. They fight and scream that because A was ranked better than B in some other drama, then C must be better than B because A and C were equal eons ago. Huh? And the goal post keeps shifting. Now a drama’s success is only credited to the 1st rank person. Why don’t you just put on a 1 man show if you want credit that much? This is what happens when someone has no substance and can only cling to rank.
Let’s not bring that ranking toxicity here. It’s exhausting
The production was dead set on having Wang Ziqi because he is one of the only actors of his age group to act both…
This post has the screenshots of everything I said above. This is only a small sampling of the insult barrage. It's a Douban post in a group with lots of ZY fans. ZY's fans can refute, but no one came with any screenshots.
The production was dead set on having Wang Ziqi because he is one of the only actors of his age group to act both in period dramas and military dramas. He played Wu Wanli, war hero of the drama adaptation of the blockbuster movie, The Battle of Lake Changjin. The drama revolves around his journey as a 1950s volunteer soldier. Drama aired on multiple CCTV channels and every web platform and has been replayed on CCTV over 20 times since 2023. The typical viewers of period and war dramas would have an impression of him.
Wang Ziqi is a hardworking actor. Despite not having a big company or marketing, he's been able to film seamlessly for 4 years, acting in diverse genres and roles. He currently has 4 non-idol dramas in stock across all platforms. His improving resources come from good cost/profit performance (B & A investments, no big IP, no popular FLs, but able to perform better than expected), quality acting reputation (since The Imperial Coroner, he's had a drama with a Douban score greater than 7 each year he aired), professional and laid back cooperative personality (he has repeat collaborations with multiple actors, directors and producers). He doesn't care about ranking, evidenced by him choosing to play 3rd ML of The First Shot when he had numerous ML scripts given to him because of his 2nd splashy role in The Love You Give Me. His last 3 FLs were either equal or him as 2nd billing.
Seeing him bashed relentlessly, here is a timeline of how Chunyu Productions warmly welcomed him as the Specially Invited Guest Star in a solo announcement as Ma Xiao Dong. It’s long because he was trashed for almost 2 months.
-July 9th: During the official announcement of his currently filming drama, melon owners spread that Red Dancing Shoes is in contact with him as ML. This took away attention from his own project. Zhou Ye's fans went to HIS Weibo Supertopic and studio to insult him, saying he's not good enough to work with her, that he “vilified the image of a soldier”. They emasculated him saying he's just a “heroine's pendant”. “WZQ will die suddenly if he takes Red Shoes”
-July 24th: His fan liaison posted “In regards to the rumored drama, this has nothing to do with WZQ”. This declination was viewed as some bitter insult by ZY's fans; they attacked him another round. They defamed him saying he failed the military trial (absurd since he played Wu Wanli before), belittled his education by saying he was held back (He took a year off because he was chosen to be ML of Ivy Chen's drama in his freshman year. He's also the ML of their graduation drama that includes Wang Junkai and Hao Fushen as supporting), and cursed him more.
-July 25th: ZY solo announcement as FL. Her fans say the ML doesn't matter, only she does. She is big female lead.
The next few days, many other melon owners said numerous other actors were in contact. One actor immediately posted with big red letters that he wasn't part of Red Dance Shoes. That's another well regarded actor who wants nothing to do with this.
-Aug 9th: Yet another melon owner 🥟 said ML was WZQ. 3rd round of personal insults and mockery. The melon owner who has the best track record 🏆 and proof of truly being in the industry clarified that production went back to WZQ after he publicly declined because they really wanted him. WZQ would likely accept because of pressure from his company (his contract is expiring and he's vulnerable) and Tencent (he still has an unaired drama with them). The negotiations will try to get him as a Special Guest.
🥟 Said he didn't hear about that and used another project (Zhao Jin Mai/Wei Da Xun's) to indirectly undermine the Special Guest claim. Her fans said he's just playing hard to get and licking their project. But does that make sense? Why would he publicly reject it if he wanted to negotiate further? And why would the big famous production company give the little actor an eye? His rejection post was never deleted. Only logic, production wanted him when they couldn’t find anyone more suitable. This is a period drama, not idol where any pretty face can be plugged in.
-Aug 23th: Anonymous “melon owners” (how many are there? Why would people believe random gossip?) said he was rejected by production. 4th round of WZQ being mocked.
-Aug 25th: WZQ's liaison posted that Red Dance Shoes will announce WZQ as Specially Invited Guest Star the next day. The 🏆melon owner and another one confirmed that he will be the Guest Star and that Production has been in contact with him for a year and he was always their 1st choice due to his previous good work. 5th round of WZQ trashing.
-Aug 26th: Red Dance Shoes announced WZQ as Specially Invited Guest Star. “Welcome Ma Xiaodong——Wang Ziqi!”. Zhou Ye's fans flocked to HIS official announcement and insulted him there. They say he's just a supporting role and no credit should be given to him.
Meanwhile and for days later, besides her livid fans, 800 YXH black marketing accounts were also paid to attack him. Industry insiders suspect it was her big company, Hesong, who did it to put in their people and as revenge for not being a pushover. We can't prove who, but someone with big money paid melon owners and marketing accounts to discredit the actor with no company behind him.
WZQ's fanclub posted “We support all choices. Wang Ziqi has worked hard, but in order to avoid unnecessary disputes, the fanclub will not organize data.”
This made her fans even more angry. But why? They said she's big female lead, all the credit of the drama is hers, so now she gets a chance to show that the numbers aren't organized by his side. Seems like a win-win situation to me. But instead, they spread indecent rumors and curse him with death 4️⃣ again. It's just a drama, kids, no need to get that malicious.
Now, people will say, “his side insulted her too”. Yes, they did. But that was in reaction to her fans coming to his Supertopic/Studio first. And they were also sick and tired of people jumping at every melon fart as an excuse to drag him. They were lies to disparage him. His fans didn't throw tantrums in her home or the drama’s official posts. His fans said her acting was bad and that this drama is unlikely to be popular (patriotic war theme, no veterans in sight, Zheng Xiao Long is a figurehead art director). None of these criticisms are new to her or haven't been said by others. These are criticisms of her work (prove people wrong by acting well!), but the attacks on him are personal defamation (military, education, professionalism, looks, various insinuations, etc) and death curses. There is a clear quality difference.
They belittle him as just some unknown loser that begged the director to hire him. He has almost 2 million more Weibo followers than her. His announcement post got 4 times the number of likes than hers. The copywriting of his was warm and welcoming, it included his character's name and his name up top! Chunyu also posted a welcome to him with double the likes of hers. Another announcement mentioned his Imperial Coroner (Douban score of 7.9-8.0 w/ almost 400K reviews) and Ice and Snow Knife Company (Drama version of The Battle of Lake Changjin) dramas. Compare the character descriptions.
“This time she plays the role of the dancing genius girl Lin Xuefan ”
“This time he plays Ma Xiaodong in "Red Shoes". An upright, handsome and responsible boy. From a child of a big courtyard to an educated youth sent to the countryside, then to a border guard and a military propaganda worker secretary. Every stage of his growth and every place he went through was a test and challenge for him, and became an important force for his growth and transformation.”
It’s obvious that he isn’t some unpopular actor that the director reluctantly accepted. Interestingly, through all these attacks, her fans never said he was a bad actor. That speaks volumes. The production crew recognizes his ability and work
But don't worry. Even though he was reluctant to join this drama, he's a professional and once committed, will act his part well.
His fans just want peace, stop the defamation and toxicity. It's just a job, only a couple of months, not worth all the death curses.
http://xhslink.com/o/2qtBIMyBpBP
https://weibo.com/7837682614/Q50Cf0RVU
Yes, "boomerang" is meant to mock ya. It's because her fans have been trashing others and are getting the same back to them. Except it's not the same. No one has threatened her with death. I guess it's not a perfect 1:1. You win! Congrats! 👋🏻
As for source of him being personally slandered by her fans, everything has been cited below. Your defense is: We can refute the evidence, because there's too much of it.
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/335995318/?_spm_id=Mjg5NzQwMzYy&dt_dapp=1&_i=7382347WVX1Ng2,7864253WVX1Ng2
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/335995318/?_spm_id=Mjg5NzQwMzYy&dt_dapp=1&_i=7262303WVX1Ng2,7382347WVX1Ng2
As a passerby, I don't pay attention to him, but it was difficult to miss the nastiness regurgitated by them. It's not difficult to understand why no one wants to work with fans like that. Here are just a few screenshots.
https://www.douban.com/topic/336215131/?_spm_id=Mjg4ODA3MDQ3
If you can't even make it through a post of her fans slandering him for almost 2 months, imagine your ire if you had to watch that daily.
"I hope your project flops" vs "I hope you die"
There's a significant difference here. Screenshots of just some of nastiness levied against him.
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/335451521/?_spm_id=Mjc2MjcwMjEw&start=0&_i=6934407WVX1Ng2,7378727WVX1Ng2
His own drama, The Embers, had 3 hot searches. THREE. That's the marketing provided for an artist whose contract is expiring.
If he had marketing, his 3 breakthrough roles would have been blown up to the sky now, capitalizing on the characters' popularity.
He focuses on acting. His WB posts are so infrequent that fans were staring at a photo of dumplings for months.
Otoh, he has had tons of black marketing against him. Again, here are the screenshots. You frequent Chinese social media, you should recognize these? If not, what do you think if your girl was subjected to these?
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/335451521/?_spm_id=Mjc2MjcwMjEw&start=0&_i=6934407WVX1Ng2,7378727WVX1Ng2
In the summer of 1974, sixteen-year-old Lin Xuefan was about to graduate from junior high school. The prestigious 28th Workers' Corps of the People's Liberation Army was recruiting students in Shanghai. This news was like an atomic bomb in the high school world, sending countless young people, passionate about dance and hoping to change their lives, to apply. Xuefan was a standout among them. Her exceptional dancing skills earned her top scorer in her major, but she was rejected due to her family background and overseas connections. Heartbroken, Xuefan buried her red dancing shoes and, out of spite, stopped dancing.
Xuefan was sent to work in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, and was once deeply depressed. However, the military leaders valued her talent and constantly sought opportunities for her. Her classmate, Ma Xiaodong, also provided constant encouragement and support. This gave her immense strength amidst this difficult situation, and her love for dance was rekindled.
Ma Xiaodong's father, a military representative sent from Beijing, moved into Xue Fan's former villa. A series of haphazard events had once turned Xue Fan and Ma Xiaodong into bitter rivals, their every move abruptly ending. But during their time in the countryside, the two gradually came to appreciate each other's sincerity, sharing joys and sorrows, life and death together, becoming close friends who supported each other. During a flood rescue operation, Ma Xiaodong was injured while saving Xue Fan from the water. Amidst the hardships, the two sparked a spark of youthful affection and fell in love.
Xuefan was recommended by the commune to teach at the local primary school. She taught the children singing and dancing, and surprisingly, she formed a small dance troupe that even won a prize at the National Day performance. She became known as the "Golden Peacock" of the village and was specially recruited into the military academy as an artistic talent.
During her time at the Military Flag, Xuefan unexpectedly learns that her failure to be selected was due to a report from her best friend Yuelian's mother. Yuelian, knowing this secret, conceals it, putting their friendship to the test. Xuefan struggles to forgive her sister's betrayal, but a year of experience as an educated youth has transformed her, and she ultimately lets go of past grudges and reconciles with Yuelian.
Ma Xiaodong, unable to qualify as a pilot due to scars on his body, enlisted in the army and became a border guard. The conditions at the border post were extremely harsh, but he had no regrets, his only thought being Xue Fan. Being a soldier means sacrifice and dedication, and Ma Xiaodong and Xue Fan are both soldiers. It was the army that gave them both the wealth of life and the steely will.
After the reform and opening up, the country is getting better and better. Ma Xiaodong was transferred to the military region to become a propaganda officer. Xue Fan also had a broader stage. She won many awards in the military flag parade and became one of the top ten artists in the army. Everyone is thriving and making greater achievements in their respective positions. Ma Xiaodong and Xue Fan's love is thriving, and the two held a wedding in the presence of everyone
"’Red Shoes’ is set in the 1970s and 1980s, a certain military art troupe serves as the backdrop for the story. By describing the different individual destinies of a group of young men and women, the film reflects the transformation of the country, the development of society, and the changes of the times.”
A good drama is the work of hundreds of people and popular ones have well written ensembles. See the recent successes of This Thriving Land and The Alley People. Both period dramas with a strong cast of veterans. Even though Yang Mi is the most well known star, she would not claim to be “Big Female Lead”. It's foolish for anyone to believe that “I, alone, can make this drama succeed”.
ZY fans should protect the drama. Stop all the negativity against your co-star. You have lost their goodwill and continuing to bash him may make your average audience lose interest too. Who wants to watch something where the FL's fans say the ML is a loser?
See the plot summary. Ma Xiao Dong has his own growth line and significance. He supported and saved the FL. The actor needed to pass military review and this is why he needed to be played by someone with experience and a good reputation. Major spoilers, including ending ones.
Character has an arc
Story has good moral values
Story impresses him with something new
A producer described WZQ like water. “Water doesn’t compete to be first, it competes to flow continuously”. It’s a classical Chinese philosophy that emphasizes sustainability over short-term wins. Flowing water is adaptable, persistent, and rejects hollow vanity metrics.
Special Guests are not included in data. A drama’s success or failure numbers don't pertain to him. He is no rank. Null value. He doesn’t suppress anyone and no one suppresses him. Think about why someone would be mad about this. Who is being vain?
His fans are happy. He has essentially upended the fandom ranking obsession. Actors speak with their work, not their ranking. He will act his best and let the audience judge the performance. Fans can like or not like, praise or criticize, watch or not watch without worrying about sending repetitive barrages or not fast-forwarding because of some nebulous data system. Be a regular audience member again. No rank restores the original intention of acting, it removes the noise, and makes drama watching much more relaxing and enjoyable.
Over the years, fandoms have become increasingly more ridiculous about ranking. Dramas are teams. But fandoms expelled supporting actors from a drama’s success, saying it was the ML/FL or top 2 leads. They fight and scream that because A was ranked better than B in some other drama, then C must be better than B because A and C were equal eons ago. Huh? And the goal post keeps shifting. Now a drama’s success is only credited to the 1st rank person. Why don’t you just put on a 1 man show if you want credit that much? This is what happens when someone has no substance and can only cling to rank.
Let’s not bring that ranking toxicity here. It’s exhausting
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/335451521/?_spm_id=Mjc2MjcwMjEw&start=0&_i=6916394WVX1Ng2,6934407WVX1Ng2
Wang Ziqi is a hardworking actor. Despite not having a big company or marketing, he's been able to film seamlessly for 4 years, acting in diverse genres and roles. He currently has 4 non-idol dramas in stock across all platforms. His improving resources come from good cost/profit performance (B & A investments, no big IP, no popular FLs, but able to perform better than expected), quality acting reputation (since The Imperial Coroner, he's had a drama with a Douban score greater than 7 each year he aired), professional and laid back cooperative personality (he has repeat collaborations with multiple actors, directors and producers). He doesn't care about ranking, evidenced by him choosing to play 3rd ML of The First Shot when he had numerous ML scripts given to him because of his 2nd splashy role in The Love You Give Me. His last 3 FLs were either equal or him as 2nd billing.
Seeing him bashed relentlessly, here is a timeline of how Chunyu Productions warmly welcomed him as the Specially Invited Guest Star in a solo announcement as Ma Xiao Dong. It’s long because he was trashed for almost 2 months.
-July 9th: During the official announcement of his currently filming drama, melon owners spread that Red Dancing Shoes is in contact with him as ML. This took away attention from his own project. Zhou Ye's fans went to HIS Weibo Supertopic and studio to insult him, saying he's not good enough to work with her, that he “vilified the image of a soldier”. They emasculated him saying he's just a “heroine's pendant”. “WZQ will die suddenly if he takes Red Shoes”
-July 24th: His fan liaison posted “In regards to the rumored drama, this has nothing to do with WZQ”. This declination was viewed as some bitter insult by ZY's fans; they attacked him another round. They defamed him saying he failed the military trial (absurd since he played Wu Wanli before), belittled his education by saying he was held back (He took a year off because he was chosen to be ML of Ivy Chen's drama in his freshman year. He's also the ML of their graduation drama that includes Wang Junkai and Hao Fushen as supporting), and cursed him more.
-July 25th: ZY solo announcement as FL. Her fans say the ML doesn't matter, only she does. She is big female lead.
The next few days, many other melon owners said numerous other actors were in contact. One actor immediately posted with big red letters that he wasn't part of Red Dance Shoes. That's another well regarded actor who wants nothing to do with this.
-Aug 9th: Yet another melon owner 🥟 said ML was WZQ. 3rd round of personal insults and mockery. The melon owner who has the best track record 🏆 and proof of truly being in the industry clarified that production went back to WZQ after he publicly declined because they really wanted him. WZQ would likely accept because of pressure from his company (his contract is expiring and he's vulnerable) and Tencent (he still has an unaired drama with them). The negotiations will try to get him as a Special Guest.
🥟 Said he didn't hear about that and used another project (Zhao Jin Mai/Wei Da Xun's) to indirectly undermine the Special Guest claim. Her fans said he's just playing hard to get and licking their project. But does that make sense? Why would he publicly reject it if he wanted to negotiate further? And why would the big famous production company give the little actor an eye? His rejection post was never deleted. Only logic, production wanted him when they couldn’t find anyone more suitable. This is a period drama, not idol where any pretty face can be plugged in.
-Aug 23th: Anonymous “melon owners” (how many are there? Why would people believe random gossip?) said he was rejected by production. 4th round of WZQ being mocked.
-Aug 25th: WZQ's liaison posted that Red Dance Shoes will announce WZQ as Specially Invited Guest Star the next day. The 🏆melon owner and another one confirmed that he will be the Guest Star and that Production has been in contact with him for a year and he was always their 1st choice due to his previous good work. 5th round of WZQ trashing.
-Aug 26th: Red Dance Shoes announced WZQ as Specially Invited Guest Star. “Welcome Ma Xiaodong——Wang Ziqi!”. Zhou Ye's fans flocked to HIS official announcement and insulted him there. They say he's just a supporting role and no credit should be given to him.
Meanwhile and for days later, besides her livid fans, 800 YXH black marketing accounts were also paid to attack him. Industry insiders suspect it was her big company, Hesong, who did it to put in their people and as revenge for not being a pushover. We can't prove who, but someone with big money paid melon owners and marketing accounts to discredit the actor with no company behind him.
WZQ's fanclub posted “We support all choices. Wang Ziqi has worked hard, but in order to avoid unnecessary disputes, the fanclub will not organize data.”
This made her fans even more angry. But why? They said she's big female lead, all the credit of the drama is hers, so now she gets a chance to show that the numbers aren't organized by his side. Seems like a win-win situation to me. But instead, they spread indecent rumors and curse him with death 4️⃣ again. It's just a drama, kids, no need to get that malicious.
Now, people will say, “his side insulted her too”. Yes, they did. But that was in reaction to her fans coming to his Supertopic/Studio first. And they were also sick and tired of people jumping at every melon fart as an excuse to drag him. They were lies to disparage him. His fans didn't throw tantrums in her home or the drama’s official posts. His fans said her acting was bad and that this drama is unlikely to be popular (patriotic war theme, no veterans in sight, Zheng Xiao Long is a figurehead art director). None of these criticisms are new to her or haven't been said by others. These are criticisms of her work (prove people wrong by acting well!), but the attacks on him are personal defamation (military, education, professionalism, looks, various insinuations, etc) and death curses. There is a clear quality difference.
They belittle him as just some unknown loser that begged the director to hire him. He has almost 2 million more Weibo followers than her. His announcement post got 4 times the number of likes than hers. The copywriting of his was warm and welcoming, it included his character's name and his name up top! Chunyu also posted a welcome to him with double the likes of hers. Another announcement mentioned his Imperial Coroner (Douban score of 7.9-8.0 w/ almost 400K reviews) and Ice and Snow Knife Company (Drama version of The Battle of Lake Changjin) dramas. Compare the character descriptions.
“This time she plays the role of the dancing genius girl Lin Xuefan ”
“This time he plays Ma Xiaodong in "Red Shoes". An upright, handsome and responsible boy. From a child of a big courtyard to an educated youth sent to the countryside, then to a border guard and a military propaganda worker secretary. Every stage of his growth and every place he went through was a test and challenge for him, and became an important force for his growth and transformation.”
It’s obvious that he isn’t some unpopular actor that the director reluctantly accepted. Interestingly, through all these attacks, her fans never said he was a bad actor. That speaks volumes. The production crew recognizes his ability and work
But don't worry. Even though he was reluctant to join this drama, he's a professional and once committed, will act his part well.
His fans just want peace, stop the defamation and toxicity. It's just a job, only a couple of months, not worth all the death curses.