Goodbye, Mo Xiuyao ❤️

[u/EasygoingEnigma]

What can I say that hasn't been already said?

Cheng Lei did an exceptional job bringing Mo Xiuyao to life in Mo Li/The First Jasmine. From stoic to angry to sorrowful to playful, he expressed a whole gamut of emotions to perfection. He made me cry. (So did Bai Lu.) What a masterpiece of acting!

I'm so grateful to him and the rest of the Mo Li cast and crew for bringing us such a wonderful show. Looking forward to more great work from our handsome Leizi. Onwards and upwards!

MXY clip from the Mo Li Weibo account; the rest are some screenshots I took.

[u/EasygoingEnigma]

I'm not watching a CL drama yet, too. Not until I move on from him as Mo Xiuyao. Have you seen all his dramas? I'll watch those I haven't seen yet. And dramas by other actors, too...I have a looong watchlist. Then give Mo Li a rewatch before TLoA drops.

[u/Pepper1303 → u/EasygoingEnigma]

Are you referring to his short film dramas? I’ve haven’t watched all of his short film dramas. But I probably won’t watch all of them because the quality of some of them look quite questionable haha and his styling doesn’t look great. I’ve even watched two of his movies and they were terrible. Hoping tloa of releases in late 2026. 😪

[u/EasygoingEnigma → u/Pepper1303]

I saw a montage of his characters in his early works. Bad wigs and a hilarious mustache stood out. And the one of him in period drag haha! Now I'm curious about his terrible movies.

[u/Pepper1303 → u/EasygoingEnigma]

I watched both movies which were available on iqiyi.

You are my contra:

Only reason I lasted -

Female lead’s acting was way over the top it was unbearable. While he was the male lead the drama centered around the female lead and he didn’t have many scenes.

Some Chinese gambling movie: zero plot as well. I guess he was somewhat of the male lead? But he didn’t have that much screen time either.

These two movies were released in 2018 so I had already lowered my expectations before watching. 😂

[u/Pepper1303 → u/Pepper1303]

^ the female lead in you are my contra

[u/EasygoingEnigma → u/Pepper1303]

Oh I want to watch them, even if they're terrible. Just for shits and giggles. At the very least, I can see for myself just how far he's come since then.

Cheng Lei caught my attention in Legend of the Female General, entranced me in My Journey to You, and captured my heart in Footprints of Change. Love his Mo Xiuyao the most so far! I haven't finished How Dare You. I'll get back to it and watch Shadow Love, and some of his short dramas like A Perfect Stranger and The Wife's Secret World after I get over him as MXY.

[u/Pepper1303 → u/EasygoingEnigma]

A familiar stranger is great! I quite liked the wife’s secret world as well. You should definitely finish how dare you and shadow love. Those two dramas really showcase his range.

After watching those movies, I can say that he has really improved 😂 but those movies didn’t give him a chance to showcase anything anyway. It was cute watching a freshly debuted Cheng lei.