Something a little different. Vlog of XZ’s visits for his charity work. Nice to see and hear him. Pity the mask is still a mainstay in our lives! LOL.

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    🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
    He’s been pretty quiet lately and has even been very much on the dl despite attending quite a few charity events lately… He’s been so quiet that it actually seems intentional, despite everything that he’s still doing 🧐🧐
    He attended 1-2 charity events that helped to kickstart the reopening and rebuilding of the economy of Hubei
    Province (where Wuhan is located), then he quietly attended a few charity events that worked towards promoting Chinese culture, focusing a lot on a lot of almost-lost agricultural and textile arts like paper-cutting, etc.

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      Might be a extra low key comeback strategy. Hopefully he’s getting good advice as to what to do. I felt that he looked extra young in this video. No need for makeup, costume and accessories, he still looked great, and even looked like a fresh faced kid. 😍 😆

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        His company/agency (whatever you want to call it) is useless… I believe what he’s doing now— choosing to keep a low profile and focusing on his charity work— is his own choice 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 The only useful thing of his agency (Xiao Zhan Studio) right now is that they are listening to him and letting him have input in what he does, for work and for how he wants to deal with all the defamation that he’s been going thru, because that’s the main purpose of a personal work studio/workshop format for an agency of an entertainer— their sole focus and purpose is for the ONE person they are named under (like Deng Lun Studio or Charmaine [Sheh]’s Workshop)— but other than that, they’ve been pretty useless this entire time, especially the PR department and how they’ve chosen to protect him 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

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          Poor boy! He’s been on his own so much, never getting support or being sufficiently promoted. Still we have confidence that he’ll keep going and growing. 😉

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            Yea 🙁 The only reason Xiao Zhan Studio (but still under his agency) actually exists is because Xiao Zhan actually had to sue his agency for better treatment, better pay, and for fair pay. The lawsuit ended with an out-of-court agreement, and part of the agreement was for Xiao Zhan studio to be established… All of that happened during the same time Xiao Zhan was working on “Joy Of Life” and preparing for “The Untamed”. Xiao Zhan actually had to argue against his agency and to help himself to get the role of Wei Ying for “The Untamed” because his agency kept telling him that he ‘wasn’t good enough’ and actually put steps out to try to stop him from auditioning, but thankfully Xiao Zhan got the role just based off of a photo that was shown to the director of “The Untamed” from one of the staff of “The Untamed”

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            @bebeswtz Yes, I heard a bit about this. Thanks for giving me more of the details. 😃

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        He looks happy ☺️ He looks calm and not stressed out from the pace of the bigger city or the rush of the work in the city surrounding

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        What I love most about this appearance is that he’s wearing his own charity $13 t shirt, no make up, no jewelry (except the red charm bracelet tha his mom gave to him), no expensive brand, and he’s still shining like the brightest star and breaking all the hot topics and social media trends

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          Agreed!!
          That’s actually the first thing o noticed about him from this vid— unfiltered (no makeup), simple (not wearing brand names, just his own t-shirt), and true to himself (the bracelet his mother gave him ❤️)

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          I’ve always liked his natural boyish look and how he’s happy as himself. No need to put on a show or create an image. Being authentic in the crazy world of entertainment is quite a feat. Kudos to him for keeping true. 😃

          I’ve just started watching the cdrama, ‘We are All Alone’ about the drama/entertainment industry and it will be pretty stark and not too far from the truth, I believe. 😣 Not a peaceful sort of workplace at all! 😀

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            Agreed!! I am happy that he is happy with himself through and through 🙂

            Here’s a pretty good “First Impressions” review of “We Are All Alone” by AvenueX, and she actually says that the drama’s depiction of the entertainment industry in China is actually quite accurate, as AvenueX is someone who used to work in the Chinese entertainment industry:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OtDkRULGR8

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      He will shine like the bright sun whatever he does. This young man is so well grounded.

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    Hi folks! *waves* to @growingbeautifully @bebeswtz @stpauligurl @persianrose @marites59! How are you untameables? Hope you’ve been keeping well.

    Just saw clips of XZ’s recent interview, my heart aches for him.

    The industry is super competitive, stressful and nasty. For every success story, there are hundreds or maybe thousands of failure. Then when one becomes successful, it’s still such a tough life. Since Untamed, I’ve been watching mostly C dramas. There is a big pool of actors, more than in Kdramas. Many are good looking, young and talented but sadly limited good scripts, good production and thus few opportunities. I’m watching We Are All Alone after Ave X had it in her video, I wanted to understand more about the industry. It’s certainly interesting and surprising to know some of these things that happen behind the scenes.

    Xiao Zhan and Yibo were extremely lucky to catch their break with The Untamed. I just hope the fame they have achieved will allow them to pursue their dreams instead of being an obstacle in their lives. Xiao Zhan is more popular but also has a harder time than Yibo. This is just my observation. I guess the more popular you are, the more antis you attract and the more people there are who want to displace you. In XZ’s case, it’s not always those who are against him, his own fanatic fans have contributed to his woes.

    I only hope he will find more happiness in this cray cray world.

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      Hey @outofthisworld friend!!!!

      The last couple of months (especially this last month) has had its ups and downs during my country & city’s stay-at-home order due to COVID, but I’m hanging in there 💪🏻💪🏻

      I have also not been able to move on from Chinese dramas since completing “The Untamed” last year (it’s almost the 1-year anniversary of the airing of Episode 1!!!!), and have watched a couple of Chinese dramas here and there since then, a few BL ones, too, but found myself not really going back to Korean dramas 🤨🤨

      The industry is definitely really competitive, and it may be different levels of intensity as well, depending on the direction an artist goes down… I know that the Chinese film & drama industry is super competitive just from the mere fact of its population and just how many actors and actresses make up the Chinese entertainment industry 🥺🥺

      In terms of Xiao Zhan, I’m in no way happy about what’s happened to him, especially since he really didn’t do anything and was basically collateral damage for the actions of others, but—in a way— I’m happy for what it has brought him in terms of a slower pace in his work (it was not fun having to worry about his health all the time last year when all the craziness from “The Untamed” happened on top of him filming 2-3 dramas back-to-back 😰😰😰) and how much stronger he has become when resuming his work after, not just the scandal, but also from being forced to take time off and stay at home—because of COVID— to think things through and reflect. It’s also somewhat comforting to know that he’s okay and understands the other side of things and that he’s okay with it, too— he may not like it and it’s really unfortunate, but he understands why his endorsements dropped him so he’s not going to say or hint at anything bad towards those brands or companies, he understands that when he is so loved that he will most likely also have (an equal amount or more) people who dislike him— he’s always said that, and by doing so, I think he’s also always prepared himself for the day that the antis and haters would end up doing something 🤷🏻‍♀️ And here we are…
      But Xiao Zhan has a pretty high EQ, and I trust and know that he knows how to face and how to deal with everything ☺️☺️☺️

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      Hi @outofthisworld! Glad to read ya!

      What a coincidence. I too watched Avenue X and decided to pick up We Are All Alone to find out more about the tough c-ent industry. Just started and can’t say I could grasp it all but it does give us the hard-as-nails attitude that one has to have to get in and go through it.

      I have never watched Godfrey Gao before, but knowing what happened to him and seeing him on screen, actually affects me. I find it saddening that someone young and with so much potential, had his life cut short.

      I’m thinking of starting the light The Romance of Tiger and Rose, since Avenue X reviewed it highly, and it sounds fun.

      I deplored what happened to XZ. I believe that whatever he chose to do, to respond or not to all the furor, would still have found critics. We have faith that he has weathered the worst of it and will continue to get through it well, and likely stronger.

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        Hi @growingbeautifully

        I am at ep 12 now. I almost skipped the show because I thought it would be too sad to watch GG, knowing that he’s no longer around. I’ve not watched any of his shows but heard of his name as he’s been around and posthumously, read good things about him. What a loss! Unfortunately, I am skipping his scenes because the romance just doesn’t work for me. Nothing bad but it’s boring. I am watching to understand the C industry.

        Tiger and Rose was absolutely fun and I’ve discovered more talented actors in Ryan Ding and Zhao Lusi. If you enjoy ROTR, do try out the short drama Reset Life which Ryan is in, it’s just 5 eps and a good watch.

        It might be a long stretch but I find some similarities between what happened to XZ and WWX. Of course, XZ’s character is totally opposite to WWX. It’s more about how fast and hard the public opinion can turn against you. They can praise you sky high and then drag you to the lowest next. XZ still has a large fanbase and support so it’s not that bad. However, these incidents show how volatile it can be. I like the lyrics of Yibo’s song which went along this line- I am not as good as you say(fans) I am or as bad as you think(antis). People forget they are humans.

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          Thanks for the quick reviews @outofthisworld. I was rooting around for cdramas to watch and your recommendations are just in time! I’m also going to test watch It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (kdrama). If it works out that’s fine but nowadays, I don’t have as much time and bandwidth to watch.

          Yes, the similarities of how opinion turned against XZ and WWX did occur to me. It was comforting to know, that in one of his interviews, XZ already sounded like he knew what to expect. He knew that fame came and went easily and that he had no control over public opinions. He was able to accept that even early on in his career and hopefully remembers what he himself has said. On the whole, he has taken everything in his stride and is at least no longer silent or invisible.

          You are obviously still a great fan of WYB. I haven’t been searching out the latest news on the boys of TU, but if I happen on Star News, I get to hear bits and pieces about both WYB and XZ. It seems WYB still prefers his sports and work and eschews mixing with any ladies. Wise young man!

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        hi there ms @outofthisworld

        happy to see you posted after such a long time.
        what happened to XZ was really crazy. C-ent i think is crazier comparing to K-ent, maybe because of the huge population. from XZ’s latest interview though, he looked much better and his smile is much brighter comparing to his first interview, which made me a lot happier as his fan.
        hope all of you ladies are fine and well considering that the virus is still around us.
        once again,thank you @outofthisworld for remembering us here.
        cheers!!!

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          Hi @marites59!

          I am well, thank you! Hope everything is fine with you too!

          I’m on discord C(chinese drama) channel these days. Not good at being in multi places so I tend to stick to just one.

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            that’s why we don’t get to see you much around here. am glad that you’re ok. been missing you and your posts. i’m also on tweeter most of the time, just come here to check if somebody’s posted anything about WangXian/TU, from time to time.

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        yes, i have faith in XZ that he will be able to weather this storm and make a smashing comeback.

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      Hi @outofthisworld long time no see! I truly missed you.
      Yeah, the c entertainment industry seems very scary, and the most scary parts are fanatic fans… they seems to be the one feeding the anti and haters with their misbehavior… I heard Yibo also received so 1000s of hate letters and treats, but his agency acted better by taking legal act against the few main people involved… I don’t know who in their right mind can hate such talented artists… this is too sad… I just hope Xiao Zhan can stay strong through this stom and this is not the end of his career

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        Hi @persianrose! I miss you too! Great to see you at discord the other day.

        The C ent industry is scary alright. I do notice that C artists are more vocal and likely to take action than K ones. They need to otherwise it would be terrible for them. For XZ’s case, it’s very unfortunate. He shot to tremendous fame overnight and his fanbase exploded. His fans were seen as bullies to other fandoms although fanwars aren’t uncommon. They ‘offended’ many and the AO3 thing had far more reaching consequences than they imagined. His agency did not handle it well.

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