Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

On the night that "Forensic Doctor Qin Ming" premiered, in the girls' dormitory of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Tian Xiwei sat cross-legged on the bed, holding her phone, her big, round eyes staring at the screen.

"Lulu! My idol's drama is airing tonight!"

Xiao Lu, who was looking down at her phone, replied without looking up, "What show?"

"Forensic Doctor Qin Ming!" Tian Xiwei turned her phone screen over to show her, "It's a crime drama about forensic doctors solving cases."

"A crime drama?" Xiao Lu looked disgusted. "What's so interesting about that?"

Despite saying that, she still leaned over to take a look at the screen. On the Sohu Video preview page, Su Yu was wearing a police uniform and standing next to Zhang Ruoyun with a serious expression.

Xiao Lu blinked.

"He actually looks quite handsome in a police uniform."

"That's right!" Tian Xiwei immediately put her phone away, her chin slightly raised, her tone filled with pride. "This is my idol, how could he be anything less than perfect?"

She became a fan of Su Yu back when he was known as the "campus heartthrob of Sichuan University." When those photos of him first appeared on Baidu Tieba and were then posted on Weibo, she was completely captivated.

Su Yu is from Xichuan, so she's practically a fellow townsman of Su Yu. Therefore, Su Yu's fan base is several orders of magnitude larger than that of other fans who are attracted to Su Yu's looks.

Later, I kept an eye on Su Yu and learned that he had signed with a company and filmed "Forensic Doctor Qin Ming".

Furthermore, she was among the most active members of Su Yu's fan community.

"Okay, okay, you're my idol, you're my idol." Xiao Lu picked up the makeup remover pad again. "See for yourself, I'm really not interested in crime dramas."

"Lulu—"

"I won't look."

"Lulu—"

"I won't look."

"Lulu!"

"……Shut up."

It's exactly eight o'clock.

Xiao Lu finally agreed after being persuaded (and pressured) by Xiao Tian.

"Hurry up, it's about to start."

The first episode opens with a case involving gutter oil.

Police pulled a deep-fried unidentified object from a garbage can. When the close-up shot was shown, the potato chips in Xiao Lu's hand were suspended in mid-air.

"Th-that's a hand?" Her voice was a little tense.

"It's just a prop." Tian Xiwei was actually a little scared, but she still forced herself to stay calm. "I heard it's made of pork and silicone, so it's not scary."

"The pork looks so real..."

The next scene shows the corpse being cooked in the kitchen, and the two of them simultaneously shrink further into the bed.

The refrigerator was opened, and inside was a human head.

Xiao Lu immediately closed the bag of potato chips.

"I'm not eating."

"I'm not eating either."

But no one turned off the screen.

The plot moves quickly; Qin Ming is aloof and sarcastic, Li Dabao is clever and stubborn, and Lin Tao adds humor in between.

When Tian Xiwei saw the scene where Lin Tao and Qin Ming were arguing, she leaned forward and gripped the corner of the blanket with both hands.

"So handsome, so handsome, so handsome—"

"Keep your voice down." Xiao Lu patted her.

But when Lin Tao stood silently beside the autopsy table in his police uniform, Xiao Lu couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"...He is indeed handsome."

The uniform-wearing, abstinence-themed style—who could resist that?

Tian Xiwei turned her head, her eyes filled with blatant contempt: "Xiao Lu, if I remember correctly, someone just said they weren't going to watch?"

"When did I say that?" Xiao Lu asked without changing his expression. "I didn't say that."

"You said it."

"Where's the evidence?"

"You fickle, wicked woman! You've fallen for my Su Yushuai the moment you saw him?"

Xiao Lu finally broke down, laughing as she gave her a playful push: "Piggy, how dare you say that to me? Didn't you quite like that actress named Zhu Jian when you watched 'Assassin's Creed'? Haven't you fallen for someone else now?"

"Who? Zhu Jian? Irrelevant!"

……

Thousands of miles away, in an apartment building.

Zhu Jian was curled up on the sofa scrolling through her phone when she suddenly sneezed.

He rubbed his nose, feeling a slight itch on the top of his head.

I felt empty inside, as if I had lost something important.

He shook his head, ignoring it, and continued scrolling through his phone.

……

Sohu Video's backend data began to surge after 8 p.m. that evening.

Within two hours of its premiere, the show garnered over five million views; within 24 hours, it surpassed ten million views, with the barrage of comments dominating the screen at one point.

The hashtag #ForensicQinMing# on Sina Weibo garnered over one billion views in its first week, and its Douban rating remained stable at 7.4.

Netizens' comments on this drama are almost entirely focused on three points.

"The props were so well done! I gave up late-night snacks for three days straight because of the fried fingers scene."

"The plot moves quickly and doesn't drag. It's very satisfying to watch a case every two episodes."

"I could watch this trio bickering for a hundred episodes! Qin Ming is aloof and sarcastic, Da Bao is witty, and Lin Tao is responsible for being handsome and funny. Their chemistry is amazing."

Some people criticized: "The process of solving the case is too simple, and the logic cannot stand up to scrutiny."

But such voices were quickly drowned out by more "tap water" (internal support).

One viewer wrote: "It's already quite an achievement for a domestically produced professional drama to reach this level. Forensic themes are inherently difficult to film, and the props team's dedication and the actors' solid performances have exceeded expectations for a web series."

In an interview, the original author, Qin Ming, only made one request: "I hope that forensic professionals who watch this drama will feel that the TV series does not disgrace their profession."

Director Xu Ang kept those words in mind, and the props team certainly lived up to those expectations.

However, as the series continues to gain popularity, controversy has also arisen.

Some viewers felt that certain scenes in the show were too realistic and unsuitable for minors.

Following a barrage of complaints, Sohu took immediate action – starting with the latest episodes, the corpses on the autopsy table were blurred out with mosaics.

In the video, Qin Ming is giving a professional analysis of a completely white "mosaic" image, muttering to himself, "There is no congestion or ash in the trachea," which instantly caused an explosion of comments on the screen.

"I was holding my breath, and this is what you show me?"

"All the hard work the props team put in has been wasted."

"If you don't like it, don't watch it, and don't report it!"

Some viewers expressed their understanding: "The content is indeed quite explicit, so censoring it is unavoidable."

But many more people were indignant: "I feel so sorry for the prop master! All that hard work was cut out!"

Whether or not the images are censored, the show has already become a hit.

Su Yu's personal Weibo account gained a full 500,000 followers on the night of the broadcast.

With the foundation he built during his time as the "Sichuan University heartthrob," his total number of fans has officially surpassed one million.

The comments section under the previously shared preview of the show's premiere has completely changed.

"Ahhh, Lin Tao is so handsome! I love seeing him in uniform!"

"Sisters, stay dry!"

"I can't believe it, I got all wet just seeing him appear!"

"Calm down upstairs."

"I can't calm down, I've been repeatedly rewinding to watch his scenes."

"I've been following him since he was the campus heartthrob at Sichuan University, I never expected him to look so stunning in a police uniform."

Of course, there were also some discordant voices.

"Lin Tao's acting is really bad, thumbs down."

"The acting is really terrible, it's so embarrassing to watch."

"A pure male pretty face, he can only rely on his looks."

"He's too stiff, he has absolutely no acting skills, he's the one dragging the whole thing down."

"As expected, the acting of someone without a professional background is just awkward."

But these comments were quickly drowned out by more screams and adoration.

Su Yu's fans also started fiercely arguing with these haters.

Of course, the sweet girl with the surname Tian whose ID is "Dui Di Tian Bu Tian" is also among them.

Faced with such a hit drama that has garnered both critical acclaim and high viewership, criticism seems remarkably weak.