As Xiao He's performance on "Daily Happiness" gained attention, discussions about "Starry Radiance" skyrocketed.
Some people even edited his segments into videos and posted them on Bilibili to help promote "Starry Radiance."
Xiao He could tell at a glance that Sister Liu was definitely behind these operations.
But it was actually quite good - starting with some promotion first, then when his character appeared later and inevitably received criticism, these early efforts would provide some cushioning to prevent people from attacking him along with the role.
Just as this popularity wave continued to rise, "Starry Radiance" finally began its official broadcast.
The story started by detailing the historical background of that era.
At that time, Shanghai had completely fallen and become an enemy-occupied area under puppet regime control. They implemented invasion policies across political, cultural, economic, and various other fields, attempting to infiltrate people's national consciousness and culture, beautify their aggressive actions, and further encroach upon Chinese territory.
Under such circumstances, Li Shuo's superiors prepared to temporarily withdraw from the area, while underground agents like Li Shuo continued to accumulate strength, waiting for opportunities, and planning to resume further communication and infiltration missions after the organization stabilized.
However, arrests and purges never ceased. Even though most comrades had evacuated, a small number were still forced to remain in Shanghai, constantly at risk of being captured by special agents. Li Shuo needed to help these comrades safely evacuate while ensuring his own security.
The opening scene showed a group of people in a gunfight confrontation at a small alley entrance.
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By the time Li Shuo received the message and arrived, the battle was nearly over.
"Section Chief Li, what brings you here?"
A short, stocky middle-aged police officer approached with an obsequious smile.
"What's going on here? Don't you know we're holding a 'cultural propaganda event' over there? If you keep making trouble like this, what kind of impression will it leave when the important guests arrive?"
Li Shuo scolded sternly with a dark expression.
"Sorry, sorry." The officer could only apologize repeatedly. "We didn't know about this. We just heard there might be bandits spotted in Ping'an Alley, so..."
"So you came here to disturb everyone else?" Li Shuo raised his hand and slapped the officer's police cap. "Quickly tell them to clear that route! Hurry up!"
"Yes, yes!"
The officers quickly dispersed, and the previously noisy alley entrance instantly quieted down.
Li Shuo turned and walked to the street intersection behind him, his stern expression immediately vanishing as he approached a parked black car with a smile: "My apologies, President Yamada. My subordinates were being ignorant and caused a minor disturbance."
President Yamada was a man with a small bowler hat, a mustache, and round-framed glasses. Hearing Li Shuo's words, he pretentiously stroked his mustache and said in stiff Japanese-accented Chinese: "It's fine. However, this Greater East Asia Cultural Exchange Conference represents an important form of friendly exchange between our two nations. I hope Section Chief Li will pay more attention going forward and ensure such incidents don't happen again. Otherwise, affecting the conference means affecting the friendly relations between our two countries - a responsibility neither of us can bear."
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right..."
The car finally started slowly. Li Shuo stood watching the gradually receding vehicle, his smile fading slightly as his eyes grew exceptionally sharp.
"Starry Radiance" moved at a fast pace with almost no unnecessary shots. After establishing the basic background and character relationships, it quickly advanced the plot.
Li Shuo's current mission was to help cover an elderly gentleman's escape from Shanghai.
This senior colleague appeared to be a school teacher on the surface, but secretly dedicated himself to writing about enemy army atrocities, using historical allusions to promote national culture, transmit beliefs and faith, and combat cultural invasion and mental brainwashing with his pen.
In turbulent times, a scholar like him might not accomplish much practically, but the words he wrote and the spirit he conveyed continuously inspired people to strengthen their faith, maintain their positions, and fearlessly participate in the struggle.
Therefore, this elderly man himself became a symbol of spiritual resistance.
But simultaneously, the puppet regime deeply hated such scholars, not only extensively arresting and persecuting them but also organizing some nonsense " Asia Cultural Exchange Conference" in schools to openly promote their ideologies and invasive culture.
Thus, a covertly turbulent "cultural exchange conference" unfolded in this tense and serious atmosphere...
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After watching the first two episodes, everyone's feedback was quite positive.
[To be honest, I usually don't like watching these kinds of shows because they make me feel really depressed, but now I can't help wanting to watch.]
[I think this drama is pretty good. The actors who've appeared so far all have decent acting skills, the plot doesn't have major issues, the pacing is fast, and it's quite interesting to watch. Hope they update quickly.]
[Looking at the preview, it seems like the main actors will appear in the next episode, especially Yi Man'er, Su Shengxi, and Xiao He. Not sure how they'll perform.]
[Honestly, I'm a bit afraid of those three appearing. The veteran actors so far have performed excellently, raising the baseline standard quite high. If those three young actors perform poorly, everything built up so far could collapse.]
[Worried +1. Yi Man'er is actually okay since she's acted in several movies and has some skills. But Su Shengxi and Xiao He - I'm genuinely concerned.]
[? What does this have to do with our Xiao He? Suggest checking out his performances as Mu Ze and Shen Jue - his acting is really good.]
[What acting skills does Xiao He have? His Mu Ze acted like someone having a chuunibyou episode, and Shen Jue had a wooden expression throughout. Where do you see acting skills?]
[?? You're completely ignoring Zhu Third Brother.]
[Wasn't Zhu Third Brother wearing a prosthetic face? What acting could you see from that? I just think that makeup artist was really amazing - she gave someone work-related injuries from the makeup.]
[Hahaha, Xiao He, you've really made it - people are starting to drag you down to lift others up, haha.]
[Suddenly feeling gratified. Brother Xiao getting dragged along by certain fans to share the heat makes me somewhat happy and somewhat schadenfreude.]
[Can't be helped. As everyone knows, Xiao He is Su Shengxi's "good~buddy~" after all!]
[Hahaha, true, true. My assessment is that Xiao He isn't as good as Su Shengxi. Welcome everyone to judge for yourselves tomorrow.]
[Don't panic, we'll find out tomorrow. Whoever performs worse will be embarrassed.]
[Front row seats for the drama.]
Debates about acting skills quickly spread throughout "Starry Radiance" related topics.
Liu Rulan and Xiao He also arrived on the scene immediately.
Looking at the arguments in the comments section, Xiao He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Seriously, what's there to argue about? We're all in the same show. Isn't this comparison and dragging each other down kind of inappropriate?"
If it were two different shows, that would be one thing since there's competition involved. But arguing about who's better within the same show just makes things awkward.
Liu Rulan didn't seem to mind: "These are all methods to maintain popularity. Let them discuss it however they want - you definitely won't be the one suffering in the end anyway."
Xiao He shrugged: "That's true."
"But there's another situation now—"
Liu Rulan swiped her phone to another topic: "You should remember the drama 'Clear Light Like Dawn,' right? That idol drama airing in the same time slot as us."
Xiao He looked somewhat confused: "Huh?"