Chapter 12

The judges deliberated for a long time, so long that the director eventually went over to speak with them about something. After Qi Linyuan denied that his earlier demeanor had been an act, he fell silent. He stood quietly on stage, waiting for the judges’ final decision.

He knew all three judges present—he’d even worked with one of them in his previous life. Whatever their characters might be, there was no question about their professional competence.

In the first three rounds, his performances had so thoroughly outshone his competitors that the judges held back from criticism, lest they embarrass his opponents further. But this round… If he were to be eliminated, the judges would have to magnify his flaws, and perhaps there were weaknesses he himself had overlooked.

So when he saw the judges looking at him with complicated expressions, Qi Linyuan didn’t feel disappointed. Instead, he found himself a little expectant.

This only made the judges even more uneasy. They exchanged glances, and in the end, the other two turned simultaneously to the one among them with the highest emotional intelligence.

That judge sighed helplessly, cleared his throat, and announced, “In this group, the winner is Lu Luo.”

A burst of cheers erupted from He Ransheng’s direction. Lu Luo also let out a breath of relief.

Since he’d started, the judge decided to finish what he’d begun. He looked at Qi Linyuan and continued, “Strictly speaking, both of you acted very well—even judging purely from a performance standpoint, Linyuan, your acting was superior. However, you have one very obvious shortcoming: your compatibility with the role was not as high as Lu Luo’s.”

He addressed Qi Linyuan directly, and seeing that Qi was neither agitated nor dissatisfied, his tone softened. “You have a harmless appearance. Just standing there, saying nothing and doing nothing, you naturally inspire goodwill. But this character is not like that. The character’s striking looks are only a façade; inside, he’s already rotten. Even in silence, he wouldn’t give people the impression of being upright or pure. If the young general were not a warrior, if he were not deceived by an old acquaintance, he wouldn’t have accepted that waterskin.”

Qi Linyuan listened attentively, coming to understand where the problem lay.

His acting skills had been honed bit by bit in his previous life after his face was disfigured. The presence of that scar had utterly changed his temperament from what it was now. While performing, he had tried to be mindful of this, and in the earlier rounds he had taken advantage of his appearance, but if one were to nitpick, such use could certainly be called out as a flaw.

“But Lu Luo is different. He excels at this kind of role—as we saw in the third round. He merges seamlessly with such characters. In other words, his compatibility with the role surpasses yours. Watching you both perform, it’s easier to believe he is the young general and harder to believe you are the traitor. That’s why sometimes viewers say certain actors are more suited to certain types of roles. Admittedly, this difference can be overcome by acting skill, but when the acting is on par, an actor performing a role that suits him will naturally shine more than if he were playing a less suitable role.”

The judge spoke at length, finally concluding, “So, with both of you successfully completing the performance task—and, in fact, doing even better than the original—we are inclined to choose Lu Luo. I’m sorry.”

As Qi Linyuan listened, he gained a profound appreciation for the art of language.

By their logic, this result wasn’t strictly warranted—if both end products were good and only the degree of role suitability differed, then the one with lesser suitability had actually performed better. But the judges never mentioned this, so on the surface, their reasoning sounded as if Lu Luo’s performance had simply been more natural.

Moreover, they didn’t point out any flaws in Lu Luo’s performance. That didn’t mean there weren’t any, nor that they hadn’t noticed, but by remaining silent, they made it seem to outsiders as though Qi Linyuan was the only one with a shortcoming.

Most importantly, though the judges were critiquing his inadequacies, their words were in fact full of praise. They drew a clear line between him and the villainous role, making it plain that the character was nothing like him and that every bit was his acting. This not only met the show’s needs, but also soothed his feelings—a true two birds with one stone.

Qi Linyuan couldn’t help but inwardly admire their high emotional intelligence. He had long since prepared himself for elimination; the result was hardly disgraceful, and he now understood his greatest weakness at this stage. He bowed respectfully to the three judges. “Thank you for your guidance. I’ll keep working hard.”

With that, he left the stage with perfect composure.

He noticed He Ransheng’s face flush with anger because Qi Linyuan hadn’t lost his composure, while Ji Yuchen’s scrutinizing gaze softened, as if beginning to believe in his innocence and harmlessness. Qi Linyuan’s mood improved a little more.

Le Xi had prepared a whole arsenal of comforting words, but seeing Qi Linyuan like this, he swallowed them all silently.

Qi Linyuan was operating on another level—Le Xi had clearly worried too much.

.

Because of the earlier leaks, even more people were waiting for the fourth round of competition. Most of them clicked into the show as soon as it went live, immediately scrubbing forward to the segment featuring Qi Linyuan and Lu Luo.

Just as the judges had said, this was indeed a scene performed even better than the original. If it hadn’t been a competition requiring a winner and loser, perhaps everyone would have taken it more calmly.

But this was precisely a do-or-die round, with the loser eliminated on the spot.

[Am I the only one who didn’t understand what the judges were saying?]

[I think it’s that Lu Luo himself is more like the young general, while Qi Linyuan just isn’t much like that vicious traitor?]

[??? By that logic, doesn’t that mean Qi Linyuan’s acting was actually better? The judges even said earlier that his acting was superior, so how did it end up like this? Isn’t this “Best Actor” after all?]

[True, but haven’t they always judged by the final effect? Then again, by that standard, Qi Linyuan was amazing—I was so angry watching, I wanted to stab him myself.]

[Wanted to stab him myself +1. But if the final effect is what matters, then I can also see why Lu Luo was declared the winner—partly because of that compatibility thing I half-understood, and partly because this villain was such a dog! I do feel a little like blaming the actor.]

[Feels like a murder mystery scenario… Otherwise, how do you explain how the most thankless role in the four rounds went to the most popular contestant, Qi Linyuan? If he hadn’t contrasted so much on and off stage and seemed so genuine in his earlier performances, I’d have thought he was just as low as this role.]

[The showrunners really can’t take it! What happened to the promised script voting? What happened to “your support determines their fate”?]

[Whoever you like, I’ll eliminate—that’s also a kind of “your support decides their fate,” isn’t it? (dog head emoji)]

…

Long before he decided to perform according to the script, Qi Linyuan had already prepared a fallback for himself. But when the plot truly unfolded as he’d foreseen, and he managed to escape completely unscathed from the trap He Ransheng had set for him, the whole thing still felt somewhat unreal.

Having just finished dinner with him, Le Xi and Zhou Siqi were scrolling through their phones and seemed unsurprised.

“Anyone who thinks you’re actually a bad person, or that the role you played is your true nature, must be blind!” Le Xi declared emphatically.

“Absolutely!” Zhou Siqi echoed.

Qi Linyuan was amused by their antics, and the sense of unreality faded away. “It’s good—the show’s ended very well for us.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Zhou Siqi disagreed this time.

He handed over his phone. On the screen, the official account of “Best Actor” had just posted a new update: “Thank you for your support! The voting event for the Free Script will begin tomorrow at noon. The event has three stages: first, candidate selection—vote for the contestant you most want to see, including all competitors since round one; the top eight will earn the right to participate in the Free Script. Second, role nomination—based on stage one’s results, freely nominate roles you hope the top eight will perform. Third, role voting—we’ll select the five most-nominated roles for viewers to vote on, and you’re welcome to suggest specific scenes for us to consider. The role and scene with the most votes and nominations will be discussed with the copyright holders. Of course, if the copyright holders don’t agree, the final role performed may be the second or third most-voted one. (Note: Detailed rules will be announced at noon tomorrow. Stay tuned!)”

This announcement came eight hours after the fourth round went live, perfectly timed to coincide with peak audience emotion.

As soon as the news dropped, viewers’ focus shifted instantly. The intense arguments turned into heated discussion about the Free Script voting event.

Qi Linyuan watched the sudden shift in public sentiment, silent for a moment before he said, “I have an idea…”

Le Xi nodded. “I have an idea too…”

Zhou Siqi came right out with it: “I have a feeling that the whole ‘audience vs. showrunners’ drama was orchestrated by the showrunners themselves.”

After he finished, the three of them exchanged glances and simultaneously sighed at how complicated the entertainment industry was.

Of the three, Zhou Siqi had been eliminated the earliest, and with only eight spots, this had nothing to do with him. Leaning back nonchalantly, he said, “Linyuan, when the voting round comes, I’ll just vote for Le Xi and not for you. After all…”

He deliberately drew out the last word: “Even without the boost from a controversial elimination, you’re the undisputed top favorite on this show. Now that you’ve been eliminated, there’s absolutely no suspense about who’ll be number one!”