Chapter 391: 《Nirvana in Fire》 Premieres

In the time that followed, Luo Mo was constantly busy with the production crew promoting the premiere of *Nirvana in Fire*.

However, after the broadcast of *Happy Weekend*, many people shifted their focus to the romantic subplot between Luo Mo and Xu Chujing within *Nirvana in Fire*.

He could no longer remember how many variety show hosts had asked him with gossipy eyes: "Are there any kissing scenes in this show?"

Normally, this kind of question is actually a standard one for many film and television works.

Many viewers don't even pay much attention to it anymore.

In this day and age, how much of a big deal is a kissing scene, anyway?

Can we talk about topics that adults should be talking about?

Nowadays, street interviews have already reached the level of "Beauty, how would you rate your kissing skills?"

What's more, most Actors have lost count of how many people they have kissed.

But when it comes to Luo Mo and Xu Chujing, this question is capable of triggering nationwide attention.

Because it is not just that Luo Mo has never filmed a kissing scene; Xu Chujing hasn't either.

The dramas she filmed previously were all female-led dramas.

The female leads were all focused on building their careers, so don't talk to them about romance.

It was only in the movie *Cat Demon* that there was a slight hint of it. And that hint was also with Luo Mo.

In an era where melodramatic romance plots run rampant, the serious workplace dramas Xu Chujing filmed were both professional and exciting, leading to success in both viewership and reputation.

Since both of their "firsts" were still intact, this matter became anything but simple.

Quite a few netizens even expressed: "Although I think they have probably kissed countless times in private, if I haven't seen it, it doesn't count!"

Everyone is "shipping" them so intensely they are dying for it; who wouldn't want to see them kiss in public?

However, every time he faced the question, Luo Mo would smile and say: "I confess, I have indeed thought many times about using my position as screenwriter and director to abuse my power for personal gain."

"But, due to the character settings and the needs of the Drama, there are indeed no kissing scenes in this show."

In the entirety of *Nirvana in Fire*, Mei Zhangsu and Princess Nihuang only shared an embrace after their Changting Recognition.

The emotions between the two in the show are actually a form of restrained, profound love.

It is precisely because of this restraint that many viewers are moved, and many find it unforgettable.

Luo Mo did not change this setting, but chose to keep it.

"What kind of real skill is abusing power for personal gain? I want to rely on myself," he said in his heart.

Although Luo Mo, as the director, had clearly stated that there were no kissing scenes between the male and female leads in the entire show, everyone was still delighted.

"Did you hear that? He said he really wanted to abuse his power for personal gain!"

"Abusing power for personal gain, ahhhhh!"

"This is the kind of open and above-board 'sugar' that we adults should be shipping!"

"Exactly, I just love this kind of open and above-board ambiguity between the two!"

At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, the final trailer for *Nirvana in Fire* began uploading across the entire internet.

The entire trailer was not long, only a little over a minute.

The trailer didn't use too many gimmicks, nor did it have too many explosive highlights.

It was unlike the Japanese and Korean versions of the *Nirvana in Fire* trailers, which were truly magical.

—Full of the flavor of Korean and Japanese dramas.

At the same time, the very end of the final trailer also announced the broadcast time for the entire show, set for next Friday.

Friday and Saturday, two episodes updated every day.

After the release date was set, Tencent Video was practically rolling up its sleeves, seizing the time to promote it frantically, striving to win back the face they had lost before.

This year, they had already had several S-Rank and A-Rank projects flop in a row.

Their peers were all watching the joke.

If it weren't for the hit *Sword Immortal: Jingtian Arc* to save face, Cheng Wen might not have been able to have a good New Year this year.

And the scheduling of *Nirvana in Fire* also put immense pressure on two other S-Rank major productions currently airing.

One of these two dramas was another Self-made Web Drama from Pineapple TV following *Lost Sin*, called *Nine Sins*.

The total investment for this drama was 50% higher than the so-called super web drama *Lost Sin*.

*Nine Sins* had a total of 36 episodes, with a major case every 4 episodes; the pacing was very tight, the professionalism was very strong, and it had already reached the second case, with good word-of-mouth and viewership numbers significantly higher than *Lost Sin*.

Pineapple had originally wanted to launch a Suspense Theater for crime dramas after *Lost Sin* became a big hit.

However, *Lost Sin* was directly crushed into the ground by Luo Mo's *Sword Immortal*, and its popularity was far from reaching expectations, so they postponed the plan to launch the Suspense Theater.

Now, *Nine Sins* had achieved gratifying results, the overall growth in viewership was very stable, and its reputation was continuing to ferment, which brought Wang Shisong great confidence.

He felt his health had even improved, and he was already considering whether to hire a new secretary; there was too much work, and two secretaries were not enough to handle it.

"As long as *Nine Sins* stabilizes this momentum, and then, after it concludes, we release another well-received work, then the Suspense Theater will be completely solidified and will become a golden signboard for our Pineapple!"

"In this way, we will have planted our flag in one of the fields of web dramas!" Wang Shisong thought to himself.

However, *Nirvana in Fire* was about to premiere at such an unreasonable speed.

Wang Shisong could never have dreamed that *Nine Sins* would collide with *Nirvana in Fire*.

"Post-production was completed so quickly?"

"And why was its censorship approval speed so fast?"

"Did a donkey kick Cheng Wen in the head? With so many flops this year, has he just given up? Or has this new drama by Luo Mo already been abandoned by Penguin?"

"How long has this even been promoted? This promotion cycle is way too short, directly half of everyone else's! What the hell is this?"

"Shouldn't a project like this have at least one or two months of pre-heating?"

Wang Shisong felt that all of this was very unreasonable.

He had originally even thought that after *Nine Sins* finished airing, he would use its huge inherent advantage to let the next suspense web drama go head-to-head with *Nirvana in Fire*.

"Do you have any idea how much time it took for me to muster up the courage?" Wang Shisong was speechless.

Luo Mo's undefeated Myth was too terrifying, and Pineapple was the entity that had suffered defeat under his hands the most times.

Even though "Nine Sins" had the potential to become a hit, Wang Shisong had struggled for a long time before gritting his teeth, thinking of taking a gamble to fight Luo Mo with the next web drama of the same type, and to win back his standing and Face.

And the result?

After all that mental preparation, it suddenly turned into: I haven't even gone to attack you yet, and you've already come knocking at my door!

I spent all this time building up my strength, and it was so hard to finally fill up my courage meter.

"I am very passive!" — Wang Shisong.

As for the other major drama currently airing, it was "Jade Pearl City," which was being broadcast on Green Lemon Video.

This was a female-led drama, and the main protagonist of the entire show was the female lead, played by Li Yang, the head of the Four Little Dan.

The story background of the drama was leaning towards fantasy, adapted from a hit web novel on a female-oriented platform; it was said that the copyright fee for the novel's film and television adaptation alone reached 26 million.

Before this drama, Li Yang had already filmed two IP dramas, and both had become hits.

Although there had always been controversy surrounding her, she seemed to have a "husband-prospering" constitution.

As long as male Actors acted alongside her, they would also become popular and their careers would reach new heights.

Li Yang and Green Lemon Video both had great ambitions for this "Jade Pearl City."

Because the original novel was written as a trilogy in one go, it was an entire series.

If "Jade Pearl City" reached its expected performance, then the other two parts could be launched smoothly.

At the same time, Li Yang's partner in this drama was Liang Qiu, who had won the 【Best Actor】 honor twice.

Her drama was not just aiming to be a hit. This ambitious woman wanted the crown of 【Best Actress】!

Li Yang was no longer satisfied with the title of 【Head of the Four Little Dan】.

She had always felt that the other three of the Four Little Dan, like Tang Shiyu, were not worthy of being ranked alongside her.

I'm not playing with you all anymore; I'm going to jump to the next level!

But the sudden emergence of "Nirvana in Fire" halfway through made Li Yang feel incredibly uncomfortable.

It is worth mentioning that for this "Jade Pearl City," the production team had proactively contacted Luo Mo long before filming began.

At that time, Luo Mo had only just begun to make a name for himself in the movie "Cat Demon," proving that he still had some acting skills.

An S-Rank major production, with the female lead being Li Yang, who had always been known as "husband-prospering"—logically speaking, most men who wanted to develop in the film and television industry would have no reason not to be tempted.

However, the side at Luo Mo Studio refused with extreme decisiveness.

The reason was still that Luo Mo wanted to direct and act in his own work.

After Li Yang received the news, she laughed until she nearly peed on the spot.

Still directing and acting himself?

Do young people nowadays all have such big mouths?

Then, both "Chinese Paladin" dramas became hits.

If it weren't for "Jade Pearl City" successfully hiring 【Best Actor】 Liang Qiu in the end, Li Yang would definitely have regretted it immensely, feeling that she should have tried harder back then to get Luo Mo to participate.

In fact, "Jade Pearl City" had also been full of twists and turns during the filming process; first, the third male lead was arrested for breaking the law, causing a portion of the content to need to be remade.

Then the third female lead cheated and also engaged in tax evasion.

Good heavens, a couple in the show, both had to be replaced.

You could say that if these two had their incidents at the same time, it would have saved some effort.

But it ended up being two months apart.

It was hard enough to finish patching up the third male lead's scenes, and then it had to be redone!

It was simply mentally exhausting.

As luck would have it, this delay actually caused it to clash with Luo Mo's new drama, "Nirvana in Fire."

"What a real nemesis," Li Yang couldn't help but sigh.

The most interesting thing was that Tang Shiyu, one of the Four Little Dan, had even gone to be a supporting actress in "Nirvana in Fire."

This action of hers made Li Yang feel that being ranked as one of the Four Little Dan alongside her had indirectly caused her own status to drop!

If you were going to be the second female lead for Xu Chujing, then there would be nothing to say.

But look at your own billing; you didn't even rank as the second female lead!

The most ridiculous thing was that after this person went to the "Nirvana in Fire" crew and debased herself, she even declared to the public: "I don't want to be some so-called Four Little Dan anymore; I want to become a powerful Actor in everyone's hearts."

Li Yang: "Are you possessed?"

How many powerful female Actors earn more than us and live more comfortably than us?

She seriously suspected that Luo Mo had given Tang Shiyu an extremely low salary, and she was afraid of losing face after it was exposed, which would affect the prices of some of her subsequent commercial collaborations, so she said that to the public in advance.

As for Luo Mo's side...

"'Jade Pearl City'? Why does it sound a bit familiar?" He couldn't quite remember.

"Seems like they invited me to participate?" He had a slight impression.

The number of acting offers sent to the studio back then was simply too many, at least ten a day.

Once the quantity was high, memories easily became confused.

Later on, he just had the studio uniformly refuse them all.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

"Nirvana in Fire" began airing.

(PS: Second update, the last few days of the month, asking for monthly tickets.)

(End of this chapter)