The recent brouhaha over “Foundation General Gate” with Zhang Ling He may end up being great for his career. I could be wrong but it’s not actually tanked it. So far he’s been the face of the criticism against period dramas prioritizing visuals aesthetics over proper period realism stemming from Pursuit of Jade, but the SARFT blame is on the production companies and makeup/costume people and not necessarily on the actors being styled to be flower boy generals. While this has been going on for some time, PoJ tipped the balance by their promotions really pushing Zhang Ling He’s General character visuals while claiming the portrayal was really on point thereby angering netizens and entertainment bigwigs. But once any scandal hits the nadir it will wane and everyone moves on to the next hot topic. And now reportedly Zhang Ling He’s next upcoming drama the Republic era romance Overdo with Wang Chu Ran has seen its reservations spike in the last week showing that this so-called negative publicity on him has actually led to more interest in him. I call this losing small and winning big lol.