bl_love_at_first_sight:DonLive:
Thank You for this. I have no idea how i missed this. Very much appreciated. Thank you again.
You are welcome! I am happy you liked that sweet romance. Enjoy what you watch and what you listen to!
Actors and actresses don't have it easy in C-entertainment. That they have good earnings is irrelevant: to being able to portray their characters, they do work a lot and need to have nerves of steel to withstand the hurtful negative pressure from productions and from "water armies" in the never ending fan wars.
Zhao Lusi is in my opinion a multi-talented artist, also skilled in makeup to transform others and herself. I liked the way she brought out beauty in doing a make-over for two ordinary fans in a recent vlog. She sings pleasingly although she was not trained in the art, and her songs are now a mix of good hits and lesser items. I appreciate that she loves and knows how to play the guzheng, which is not an easy instrument ; that she is a genuine animal lover always with a pet near her, and that she has been willing to reach out to underprivileged kids and young people in the mountains, or to advertise spontaneously farmers produce aside from her paid jobs as fashion ambassador to several brands. She has a sweet tooth for some cakes like French canelés and once launched a pastry shop in Hengdian Film city. Yet she has suffered from bullying not only from anti-fans. Pressure caused her to suffer a nervous collapse in December 2024, so serious that she had to be rescued in hospital and had trouble getting back to walk and eat again for months. The latest drama she was filming after "Love's ambition" likely never will be completed and aired since it was interrupted by her health accident and it was clear she could not come back for months. Now, time bringing healing, it's in the past: she has broken with the company which was bloodsucking her with no concern for her health and not defending her against cyberbullies. She set up her own company to manage her career. She is still on "semi sabbatical", doing fashion related work or appearing on stage to sing despite the way she does it is not a good money earner. She is almost totally recovered and will perhaps take up more roles in dramas in the future (she said she did not feel right as a movie actress: that's her limits then. I had pleasure watching almost all her dramas, especially my favorites HL and "Love Like The Galaxy". Rumors go that she is considering getting back into acting end of 2026, so perhaps a new work might rejoice us in 2027). ---You can check out some more about her in this Profile (it's from 2022, shortly after she renamed her fandom "keluli") and in the special MDL fan nook called "The Rose Pavilion" (the page I link has some interesting info about HL!). Oh yes, "Rose" because her chosen international name is Rosy Zhao (not Lucy).
Chen Zheyuan was already known to many who had discovered his early roles since for instance "Hello Dear Ancestors" (a science fiction series), or "All About Secrets" (his first romance drama). Yet, he had actually started as a member of a boy band in spite of his laughable rendition of one famous song and an almost parody like take on Exo's "Growl" choregraphy (since I had a soft spot for Z.Tao who was in that dance and group, I laughed too when I saw the footage of Yuan Ge trying to imitate the moves) ; I liked that CZY readily admitted to interviewers that he had joined the band "to look handsome". Not only: he did add a comedic streak that can be found in many of his dramas. He transferred his comedic streak into "Detective Chinatown" in which he first played with rocker Victor Ma, who became a friend. And... he is among the few whose attempts at singing despite I am quite sure he is tone deaf, do not make me want to bash him, but instead to defend him. He strives to do better in everything he does, and sometimes he is quite excellent: he won a gold medal in archery! (The footage of that competition also shows him crossing paths for the first time with Zhao Lusi although they didn't talk to each other yet). His acting skills may not agree with everybody, but can't be denied in "Hidden Love" or "Our Secret", "Mr.Bad", "The Princess and the Werewolf", "Dark Night and Dawn" and even the PTSD and war drama "The White Olive Tree" which is the most uncharacteristic role for him, in which he chose to challenge himself. He has stayed faithful despite a not altogether easy relationship with Gramarie/iQiyi company which manages his career and also got into productions that fell totally under censorship axe ("Winner Is King" which may be shelved forever) and others which got in trouble because financial backers suddenly pulled away ("Royal Betrothal", currently airing, which visibly suffered from lack of funds and worries.)
--- I once did a lengthy "Profile" about him where you can find links and infos about his filmography and more, from my point of view.(I need to update it soon, since several of his "upcoming" projects at the time have now been aired , but much info there is still valid and reflects the perception of the "emergent superstar" at the time or shortly after Hidden Love). There is also a more condensed MDL "official" Superfan article that was posted in 2025, written by two yuanbao fans who wrote they got together on that project already at the time of HL I was not aware of an upcoming other profile at the time : Chen Zheyuan was only just breaking through and other actors or actresses had "superfan articles" about them much later after they broke through ; I was enthused by HL enough to write about it then, and started my Profile of the actor simultaneously to airing, independently, with a view to carry it forward in the drama pages of his upcoming work, to sum up infos and news that might be of interest.
(MDL takes a lot of time to approve such biography and filmography features, but once posted, the authors unfortunately can't change anything, so some mistakes still stand, addressed in comments. I found it amusing that they used many images and gif that I had found or cut too! But I won't pursue who was first author there, because all data eventually leads to internet and actor's social media sources, anyway I don't mind if what I do is reused or quoted elsewhere even beyond MDL. I linked the originals at the time, although many links are now unfortunately obsolete, and chose to post what I did in the relevant Discussions section instead of offering to take part in an "article" because I preferred the flexibility and responsibility to research on my own, to be able to modify and spellcheck without time constraints, with an unforeseeable delay to publish.... The bizarre re-routing of the HL and some other "pieces"mis-attributing them to other dramas or movies certainly was a reason why those who turn to Drama pages were not aware of their existence: I have corrected some mis-attributions, and left a note like here, when it would take too much time to "move" all the data again, now, and just feel tickled that looking up what I do now may sometimes be like digging for hidden treasure. But finding the key to the right path is easy: it is on my Profile page in "custom lists").
Nevertheless, Profiles and Companion pieces take a lot of time to research and to write, so despite I have made some more in 'this list', I think I now will only go back to check and refresh links to illustrations or other on those listed, while perhaps going back to some that I left not totally completed. Besides, I also like music, so my Profile page links a lot of songs and music pieces for "samples" of my eclectic tastes. If you are curious, you can check some of those links.
