Here's Why Chinese Drama Stars Wu Lei and Dilraba Dilmurat Are More Than Meet The Eye

Leo Wu and Dilraba Dilmurat The Long Ballad

For Leidi Fans, today, October 6, is special because it has been 18 months since Wu Lei and Dilraba Dilmurat captured most Chinese drama fans' hearts when they appeared together on Tencent and weibo Livestream (April 6, 2021), and 17 months after the final airing of The Long Ballad.

But it's amusing to think that after all these months, it's still their partnership that most of their fans are hoping to watch in another drama. There's still this undeniable longing to hear another collaboration from these two amazing C-drama stars.

Actually, we always feel guilty doing real person shipping between two drama celebrities because it feels like invading their personal lives, and we're supposed to just limit our fantasy to their drama characters. BUT we can't help doing RPS (real person shipping), especially if the CP (or coupling) captures our hearts. And see something beyond their drama characters when they interact in real life.

Although, I must admit that I was not a Leo-Dilraba CP fan at the beginning of The Long Ballad airing due to a number of reasons: I was shipping Dilraba to another male lead, I thought Wu Lei was better of with Lairena Song, I have not seen Wu Lei acted a mature role in a drama before, etcetera.

BTS The Long Ballad

However, everything changed when I watched the third episode of The Long Ballad, the scene where Li Changge and Ashile Sun bumped into each other in a narrow street of Chang'an and he hid her inside his arm.

Episode 3 of The Long Ballad

That was so magical! There was an instant connection, a spark that lit up the whole street. There was a hidden affection slowly creeping beneath those cold stares. And it really captured my interest to root for their pairing ever since.

Although, yes, it was Changge and Ashile Sun who were interacting in the scene, drama characters are real manifestations of how an actress and an actor set the tone of their on-screen rapport, also known as "chemistry", beyond any misconceptions.

We could tell if the two stars have great chemistry when scenes of them interacting on-screen reduced us into fits of giggle, giving us the thrill to root for them all throughout the airing, and even beyond.

Behind the scene of The Long Ballad

Dilraba Dilmurat and Leo Wu during the live stream

However, the real test of this chemistry hype is when the two stars are no longer in their drama characters and they are interacting in real life, and we start noticing how they treat and look at each other.

Usually, most drama main leads don't manifest the same level of warmth and closeness when they finished filming and start to get back into their real lives.

You could see them being civil with each other during the promo of the drama. They would look at each other with blank stares and you could no longer feel the easiness they once shared during the shooting period.

But Wu Lei and Dilraba were so different! At least in the eye of someone who is not a LeiDi fan at first. Their live stream appearance on April 6, 2021, really hit me! It was the real test of how they treated each other off-camera.

There were moments captured just before they went live that were supposed to be off-camera, but those moments made their way into the internet anyway. And you could see how they acted as themselves, how they genuinely showed affection, how they chatted about personal topics, and how they shared funny anecdotes.

Dilraba bursting into laughter with Wu Lei's hilarious antics (pretending to buy his fake autographs online etcetera) was the most candid moment of her captured online. We could tell she easily laughed at his jokes and teasing.

And Wu Lei, showing his authentic warmth and affection towards Reba, was a revelation. And all those sweet gazes Uggh! It was actually the first time I saw Wu Lei as a man with a pulsating charm, no longer the baby boy I admired in Whirlwind Girl and Nirvana in Fire. He has grown up!

Dilraba has never been so open and chatty about a male lead all throughout her career but it was different during The Long Ballad promo where she gushed over Wu Lei, admiring his fascinating character, and praising him for his protective nature, and why he is an ideal boyfriend. That was so surprising!

Wu Lei and Dilraba Dilmurat The Long Ballad

When you watch all Dilraba's interviews where she talked about her male co-stars, she never really went mushy with those guys, nor overboard with her description beyond professionalism level during filming.

But with Wu Lei, she could talk endlessly about him. Her description of him was beyond his character as Ashile Sun or as her co-star, but it was on a personal level. And she could talk about him on and on and on, without getting tired.

And she would have to mention him further during the live stream to promote The Blue Whisper so you could feel how much Wu Lei left an awesome impression on her. Wu Lei on his part has been vocal in many of his interviews that he looked at Dilraba as a little girl, and often shared his amusement when she shrieked at little insects. He also admitted that he looked more mature than her.

Dilraba during her live stream for The Blue Whisper

You could feel their easiness with each other even beyond the promo of TLB. And if you are a human being with a clear sense of how real living things interact, it would not take any rocket science to explain that he has special eyes for her.

Wu Lei's Eyes

Leo Wu has some of the most expressive and sexiest eyes among drama actors, and he always used them to its great advantage. Sometimes to decode what he feels at the moment.

Whether it was just his expressive eyes or he is a gentleman with an honest nature, Wu Lei seems to be very authentic in the way he interacts with people. And the way he stared at his female co-stars after the filming is over revealed the level of affection he has for them in reality. So it's simply funny to claim he likes this girl co-star or that female lead when his eyes and gaze speak in contradiction.

By October 2022, after watching him did the promo for his two series (after The Long Ballad), we could tell that his gaze on Dilraba was on a different level than for her other female leads. There's something between those lurking eyes.

Watching their April 6 live stream appearance and the pre-recorded May 4 Youth Gala appearance made us think cupid began to play around. The way he threw his stare at Dilraba during those joint appearances, got us some butterflies in our tummies. We knew it was so unique! And special.

Behind the scenes of the May 4 Youth Gala appearance

And we could not help but giggle and chuckle at the sugary cuteness. It was so refreshing to see two co-stars interacting so sweetly after the promo period of their drama ended. And so naturally affectionate with each other despite being surrounded by people. We could not help but be drawn to the sheer affection they both manifested.

Of course, the haters of their CP could not see it because what they always see is the age gap, these haters are still trapped in the old world, in a very patrilineal hierarchy where men should be older than women.

But time has changed. The current civilization would tell us that life is not all about the age gap, life is all about a loving relationship between two human beings who shared common affection, irrespective of status, religion, wealth, age, and social standing.

A man several years older than a woman is not a guarantee of a successful marriage. Think about Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, and Angelababy whose respective husbands were more than 10 years than them, still, they ended up in divorce.

Think about these celebrities who have a huge age gap and yet their marriages are going strong. Aaron Johnson and Sam Taylor-Wood (23 years age gap), Hugh Jackman and Deborah Lee-Furness (13 years age gap), Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr (7 years age gap), Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas (10 years age gap).

Dilraba was born on June 3, 1992, while Wu Lei was born on December 26, 1999, so they only have a seven year-and-a half age gap, which is not bad as it did not reach the one-decade mark.

For LeiDi fans, it's more than just age differences that they saw, it's the warmth between them, the authentic bond they shared, and the affection they manifested for each other. Their rapport transcended time and the way they interacted and talked during the live stream in April, you could tell they still maintain communication.

Having in the same age bracket does not guarantee strong chemistry that can send viewers to seventh heaven. We have seen so many drama stars who are in the same age bracket but never caught our fantasy.

And we have seen drama stars who have a wide age gap and yet were able to sweep us off our feet with their sweet chemistry on-screen, such as Korean stars, Jun Ji-hyun (born in 1981) and Kim Soo-hyun (born in 1988) in My Love From The Stars (2012), Park Min-young (born in 1986) and Seo Kang-joon (born in 1993) in When The Weather is Fine (2020), and Chinese drama stars, Victoria Song (born in 1987) and Song Weilong (born in 1999) in Find Yourself.

Eyes do not lie. It's the best weapon to screen out a person's feelings toward someone. We could stare at someone with cold eyes or dagger looks, we could throw our stares at people without any meaning and it's easy to spot those blank stares.

More than meets the eye

The way to test a man's real affection towards someone is really through the eyes. It's the window to the soul. Eyes manifested the things being screamed at by our subconscious. And the way we put people in our lives is often revealed in the way we looked at them.

Leo Wu and Dilraba Dilmurat's chemistry is one of the most unique that we have ever seen in a drama in recent memory. They shared a common fondness for each other. And you could feel their sweet bond. And familiarity, which made fans realized they are still connecting.

For instance, during the Happy Camp guesting in March 2021 (photo below), yes, LeiDi fans still can't get over Dilraba's correct guess on Leo's 94.4 cycling adventure. And him describing her as like a rainbow in his eyes during the livestream.😂

LeiDi fans called this 94.4 photo

Leo and Dilraba's chemistry did not just confine inside the frame of a typical on-screen romance nor measured by their age gap, it goes beyond the stereotypes of love teams. It transcends to the real world, to who they are as real persons. It's difficult to assume, but we cannot help but swoon hard at how they looked at each other. Especially, Wu Lei. His gaze uggh! There's really more than meets the eye!

May it be GeSun or LeiDi, The Long Ballad main leads are still our ultimate couple goals in C-Drama. No matter what those antis say, Dilireba and Wu Lei are two fascinating drama stars who showed so much authenticity in how they treat each other, and how their on-screen rapport sustains up to the real world. For those who love their coupling, Leo and Dilraba don't just give us a "friends-only vibe".

BTS Weibo Livestream

As with most LeiDi fans, we are hoping they could collaborate again in another drama, perhaps in a modern genre where mainstream romance is a trend. We love the way Wu Lei portrayed the role of Ashile Sun, a cold but affectionate leader of his tribe. We love to see him portray a strong character with Dilraba in another project.

Wu Lei and Dilraba Dilmurat relationship

BTS The Long Ballad

BTS The Long Ballad

Given the right script and roles, there's no reason why they could not work again. It would be an exciting prospect to look forward to. And we're hoping it would come soon! Until then, we could only hope for the best for Wu Lei and Dilraba.

In the meantime, let's be contented with the fact that at times they are using the same venue for a photo shoot or video shoot for their respective brand endorsement. Like in the below photos where they seemed to be using the same venue (although at a different time).