Thank you for sharing and explaining this. I’m so glad to hear that Douban has a way to fix this mayhem ‘cuz…
it's why Douban won't report a score until the ratings look stable unlike MDL; however, water armies at work makes their job hard to calibrate it accurately too. I have no idea how they can tell which ratings are real. Right now this drama is getting bombarded with 1 stars, but hopefully Douban can weed it out. If it gets Douban above 6, then that's pretty good given how chaotic ratings can be. If you take a random sample everyday , you get a pretty good idea.
You see the low drop rating of 1.82. That should go up over time, if not, probably means more 1 star attacks. That is probably where the 1‑stars are hiding. Later, they will move their 1‑stars to the completed score when it counts more, but they won’t move them all at once; it’s done strategically. But it looks like at least Bai Lu has a large enough fan base to raise the score back up to 8.3 and dilute it, because the swings are erratic from day to day. It’s harder to impact a score with 1’s when there are thousands of ratings.
The same thing is happening on Douban. There were a ton of 1‑stars the first day; now it’s settled into 20% 1‑stars and 65% 5‑stars, so the 5‑stars are winning. It’s a bizarre war between 1’s, 3’s, and 5’s. They’ll use 3’s to bring down a rating when the number of user ratings is low; ultimately, the one with the most 5’s will win because Douban, though they do erase 1’s, can’t erase all 5’s, and they tend to leave 3’s alone. Comparing scores within some error margin is the best way to look at these scores.
woah, I just did a random count over on Douban and there were 39% 1 stars and only 26% 5 stars. It's constantly changing but it shows 1 stars are heavy at work over there.
I hope she leaves that agency. Her and xu Kai need to get away from that man.
I have a feeling both of them have already given their notice not to renew. Neither of them has taken on new project for many months and both are coy in interviews about their next project. Agencies don't wait until the expiration date. I read it is common agencies negotiate one to two years before the contract expires to try to get the artist to extend the contract for another two years or more. They don't want to rewrite a contract. The old terms usually benefit the agency. So, the past two years, I think they have been under pressure and Yu Zheng milking what he can before they leave. That's why they put pressure on them 1 to 2 years in advance.
My theory is that Xu Kai had signal first to his agency he will not renew so he got attack first in Aug 2025 with a fake scandal or else they attack him to put pressure on him. Yu Zheng needed Bai Lu to finish filming Unveil:Jadewind because he wanted to take advantage of Wang Xing Yue breakthrough in The Double. Then of course, she had to film The First Jasmine in 2025 and has been out for past 8 months with no confirmed project to-date. Xu Kai also came back strong with a strong performance in Eight Hundred that will help him with future projects that don't rely on big agencies like Huanyu to manage risks. Yu Zheng already got his final benefit with Xu Kai pairing with Zhou Ye which he had promised Hesong as far back as 2022.
Song Weilong also had a falling out with Yu Zheng and it took him some time to recover from it. He now has his own Song Weilong Studio. But his situation is different. He tried to get out of his contract years before it expired. And before that there was Chen Xiao who also left Huanyu to pursue better opportunities. I think he did not break his contract but his relationship with Huanyu had already soured. He also has his own studio called Chen Xiao Studio.
If anything, Bai Lu and Xu Kai have been his two most lucrative (cash cows) and loyal artists for Huanyu. They've both were at the right place right time for Huanyu (established in 2012 and recruited them in 2016), and also, it was 2015–2016 there was a streaming explosion. The Chinese entertainment landscape underwent a historic, structural shift from traditional satellite TV to online platforms.
They have worked incredibly hard and deserves to carve their own career, instead of tied down to an agency who specializes in historical costume idol romance dramas. Well, Yu Zheng did finally produce a xianxia drama, Feud.
And Yu Zheng has a new generation of artists to replace them, in particular, Wang Xing Yue and Zhao Qing, but they are not at their level yet. He probably like nothing more than to keep Bai Lu and Xu Kai for at least another two years but these two are now 31 and soon turning 32, and really, they should focus on their career, not be cash cow for Huanyu. Time files, why should they stay. Other artists career has stalled under Huanyu, they are not in the business of careers but profits.
There's an ongoing smear campaign going on against the actress. Lots of delulu bs every day, some of the crazies…
Of course Yu Zheng is behind the recent attacks on her. These tactics aren’t new in the industry when an artist severs ties — especially with someone like Yu Zheng, you can expect it to be worse. Yu Zheng knows which part of her image is the most effective to attack. He's probably got an attack plan on each of his artists.
@baifan, I think you're right, to get more popularity, he shouldn't reject that genre. I would argue if he were…
Not every project is trying to be a massive blockbuster. Fire Investigator or Eight Hundred are positioned as more dramatic/serious roles to stretch his range (crime, intensity, character depth). They might not explode the same way a fluffy romance does internationally, but they can still be strong for his career and for fans who want to see him in grittier stuff.
Based on my observations, MDL gradually smooths the scores over time to fit their usual patterns. For dramas that score 8.5 and above, the 'Currently Watching' rating always ends up lower than the 'Completed' rating. I've never seen it the other way around. I knew it would happen, but Pursuit of Jade took an unusually long time to adjust. Sometimes while it's still airing, you can almost predict the final score just by watching how they smooth it.
Now that you mention her, Xiao Xiang Dong Er has an interesting history. Her first adaptation was Princess Agents, a massive 2017 hit, officially the most watched Chinese costume drama of all time in 2017, based on her web novel, though she did not write the actual television script. Her first actual work as a screenwriter was Arsenal Military Academy (March 2018), followed by Love and Destiny as the head screenwriter (July 2018). Although Love and Destiny aired a month earlier in July 2019, Arsenal Military Academy aired in August 2019.
In January 2018, she was sued for plagiarism regarding her Princess Agents novel, and the courts ruled against her, with her losing her final appeals in May 2019. After that, she went by her original name, Zhao Na, though MDL still lists her pen name.
She kept close professional ties with producer Yu Zheng: he produced Arsenal Military Academy in 2018; she wrote Couple of Mirrors, a 12 ep. drama, for his company in 2020 after her lawsuit ended; and Feud which aired 2025, was also produced by him, with her as the screenwriter. Her back‑to‑back successes since 2025, including hits like Feud and The Demon Hunter's Romance, are an impressive professional comeback.
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The same thing is happening on Douban. There were a ton of 1‑stars the first day; now it’s settled into 20% 1‑stars and 65% 5‑stars, so the 5‑stars are winning. It’s a bizarre war between 1’s, 3’s, and 5’s. They’ll use 3’s to bring down a rating when the number of user ratings is low; ultimately, the one with the most 5’s will win because Douban, though they do erase 1’s, can’t erase all 5’s, and they tend to leave 3’s alone. Comparing scores within some error margin is the best way to look at these scores.
woah, I just did a random count over on Douban and there were 39% 1 stars and only 26% 5 stars. It's constantly changing but it shows 1 stars are heavy at work over there.
Agencies don't wait until the expiration date. I read it is common agencies negotiate one to two years before the contract expires to try to get the artist to extend the contract for another two years or more. They don't want to rewrite a contract. The old terms usually benefit the agency. So, the past two years, I think they have been under pressure and Yu Zheng milking what he can before they leave. That's why they put pressure on them 1 to 2 years in advance.
My theory is that Xu Kai had signal first to his agency he will not renew so he got attack first in Aug 2025 with a fake scandal or else they attack him to put pressure on him. Yu Zheng needed Bai Lu to finish filming Unveil:Jadewind because he wanted to take advantage of Wang Xing Yue breakthrough in The Double. Then of course, she had to film The First Jasmine in 2025 and has been out for past 8 months with no confirmed project to-date. Xu Kai also came back strong with a strong performance in Eight Hundred that will help him with future projects that don't rely on big agencies like Huanyu to manage risks. Yu Zheng already got his final benefit with Xu Kai pairing with Zhou Ye which he had promised Hesong as far back as 2022.
Song Weilong also had a falling out with Yu Zheng and it took him some time to recover from it. He now has his own Song Weilong Studio. But his situation is different. He tried to get out of his contract years before it expired. And before that there was Chen Xiao who also left Huanyu to pursue better opportunities. I think he did not break his contract but his relationship with Huanyu had already soured. He also has his own studio called Chen Xiao Studio.
If anything, Bai Lu and Xu Kai have been his two most lucrative (cash cows) and loyal artists for Huanyu. They've both were at the right place right time for Huanyu (established in 2012 and recruited them in 2016), and also, it was 2015–2016 there was a streaming explosion. The Chinese entertainment landscape underwent a historic, structural shift from traditional satellite TV to online platforms.
They have worked incredibly hard and deserves to carve their own career, instead of tied down to an agency who specializes in historical costume idol romance dramas. Well, Yu Zheng did finally produce a xianxia drama, Feud.
And Yu Zheng has a new generation of artists to replace them, in particular, Wang Xing Yue and Zhao Qing, but they are not at their level yet. He probably like nothing more than to keep Bai Lu and Xu Kai for at least another two years but these two are now 31 and soon turning 32, and really, they should focus on their career, not be cash cow for Huanyu. Time files, why should they stay. Other artists career has stalled under Huanyu, they are not in the business of careers but profits.
In January 2018, she was sued for plagiarism regarding her Princess Agents novel, and the courts ruled against her, with her losing her final appeals in May 2019. After that, she went by her original name, Zhao Na, though MDL still lists her pen name.
She kept close professional ties with producer Yu Zheng: he produced Arsenal Military Academy in 2018; she wrote Couple of Mirrors, a 12 ep. drama, for his company in 2020 after her lawsuit ended; and Feud which aired 2025, was also produced by him, with her as the screenwriter. Her back‑to‑back successes since 2025, including hits like Feud and The Demon Hunter's Romance, are an impressive professional comeback.