Chapter 106 Geng Yue has been dragged into this again! ...

Chapter 106

Sang Zi: "..."

The only thing she was certain of now was that Lin Yuan must belong to the legendary high-energy individuals.

Just how much perseverance does it take to create a table with such detailed content and meticulous attention to detail?

A friend chimed in with a scathing comment: "You know, people aren't afraid of getting tired when they're doing bad things."

Sang Zi: "...That's true."

If she's going to get into a fight, she'll definitely devise a detailed and meticulous plan, aiming to crush the other person in one fell swoop, leaving them no chance to breathe.

The most direct result of Lin Yuan creating the spreadsheet was that—originally only he and Pan Qi were arguing, but now… fans of various celebrities have shown up.

Among the fans are many capable individuals. Everyone keeps a record of who Pan Qi insulted. However, in the past, the lack of a leader and the reliance on fans of one particular group to lead the charge only earned them the label of being brain-dead by Pan Qi.

Now things are different; Lin Yuan is at the forefront.

Pan Qi's remarks from ten years ago have been dug up.

His so-called "film reviews" were also analyzed point by point by his fans who had some artistic knowledge.

"This is supposed to be a film review? It's just foul language."

"...If the basic logic is wrong, how can you say that someone's artistic techniques are correct? Everyone is responsible for the fact that he can make a living in the entertainment industry."

"...Your skill level is so bad! ahhhhhh!"

Ultimately, netizens concluded that Pan Qi's greatest ability is probably to swear; apart from that, he lacks the qualities required of a professional film critic.

In the eyes of his fans, the premise for Pan Qi to be qualified to criticize others is that he is indeed a film critic.

His views are professional and persuasive to audiences who lack knowledge about film.

As it turns out... Pan Qi is a complete fraud.

Who would respect him?

Moreover, there are both old and new grudges piled up.

Fans from all sides immediately rushed to the scene, and all of Pan Qi's past comments were posted and ridiculed.

Pan Qi quickly set the screen to only show posts from the past six months, but the power of his fans exceeded his expectations. He was quick to block them, but his fans were even faster at taking screenshots.

Thus, Pan Qi's enthusiastic praise for "The Sunny Place" was recognized.

To be precise, Pan Qi was not fond of the other actors in "The Sunny Place," but he focused solely on praising Geng Yue.

There's no need to look for extra evidence; just look at Pan Qi's latest post. Underneath his most vehement attack on Lin Yuan, there are Geng Yue's fans cheering him on.

Many netizens commented: "...The most outspoken person in the entertainment industry???"

"I thought his aesthetic sense was so advanced, but it turns out that appreciating Geng Yue is considered advanced? Does he think everyone has never seen 'The Sunny Place'?"

Netizens continued to search for clues.

Next, Pan Qi's past Weibo posts showed praise for "Cloud Alley" and "The Other Shore of Cause and Effect," and these films had one thing in common—Geng Yue starred in them all.

At the time, the marketing materials used the phrase "Geng Yue's transformative work".

"So Pan Qi supported Geng Yue so early on?"

"...I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it."

Seeing Pan Qi's Weibo posts, not to mention entertainment stars who have been in the industry for years, even netizens who love to read gossip can tell that Pan Qi is probably part of Geng Yue's marketing strategy.

This kind of situation is not uncommon in the entertainment industry.

However, Pan Qi is known for his sharp tongue, so netizens generally perceive him as a venomous person and don't care who he praises.

The fans of each celebrity immediately became quite ambivalent.

After all, no matter who it is, they are all destined to be trampled on by Pan Qi, but Geng Yue is the only one who is praised heavily. The fans' first thought is - Geng Yue is really ruthless.

It's common practice for celebrities to spread negative rumors about their rivals. If these rumors are spread by marketing accounts, both their management companies and fans will be somewhat wary.

Pan Qi, despite being a film critic, still maintains a straightforward and outspoken style.

When celebrities try to spread rumors about him, they are always labeled as "lacking acting skills and not humble."

Pan Qi has absolute freedom to curse people, and there's nothing you can do about it once he's cursed you; you still have to maintain a certain level of decorum.

Pan Qi's words are occasionally regarded as gospel by his opponents, appearing in corners where scandals involving certain celebrities are concentrated.

After marveling at Geng Yue's ruthlessness, netizens continued digging and suddenly realized—

The timeline is also quite subtle.

If Pan Qi was simply criticizing everyone else and everyone else suffered, then all the celebrities were victims, and the only word to describe Pan Qi is "despicable".

In today's terms—

For example, when "The Sunny Place" was competing for the Golden Wing Award, Pan Qi insulted Lin Yuan, but at that time Lin Yuan was not yet famous, so his insults did not attract much attention.

However, the release dates for Geng Yue's "Yunxiang" and "The Other Shore of Cause and Effect" were different.

Pan Qi's fighting ability is exceptionally fierce.

During the release of "Cloud Alley", there was a very important competitor, "Lily's Whispers".

The lead actor in this movie is Lu Chen, who is not very popular now and is considered a second-tier actor. He doesn't usually appear in public.

However, during the release of "Lily's Whispers", Lu Chen was Geng Yue's biggest competitor.

Both of them gained fame through idol dramas. Lu Chen's acting skills are slightly better than Geng Yue's, and he is also slightly more popular, but the gap between them is not that big.

"Lily Whispers" is Lu Chen's transformative work.

"In my memory, wasn't 'Lily Whispers' heavily criticized? I remember that I didn't buy a ticket because I read Pan Qi's review. Later, I bought a ticket for 'Cloud Alley,' but 'Cloud Alley' wasn't that great either."

“I remember now! Pan Qi was criticizing everyone from the director to the lead actor back then, as if ‘Lily’s Whispers’ was some kind of terrible masterpiece. That’s why I didn’t watch it.”

“I remember too.”

"Actually, I later watched 'Lily's Whispers' on a video platform by chance, and I felt that the film was quite artistic and refreshing, not as bad as I thought."

"But the box office seems to be doing quite poorly?"

Many netizens reminisced when "Lily's Whispers" was mentioned.

This film was a huge flop, and what was most memorable was Pan Qi's dislike of it.

At the time, the production team of "Lily's Whispers," including Lu Chen himself, came forward to explain that some film critics' comments were completely fabricated, and that some of the passages he criticized did not exist in "Lily's Whispers."

After the film flopped, Lu Chen lost his position as Geng Yue's rival.

It's worth mentioning that Pan Qi later compiled a list of bad movies, in which he selected 20 movies that he personally considered to be the worst in the last decade—"Lily's Whispers" was not on this list.

In terms of the level of criticism, all 20 of these films combined are no more than "Lily's Whispers".

After Lu Chen failed to be promoted to the front line, Pan Qi seemed to have forgotten about him and never mentioned him again. He also completely forgot about "Lily Whispers".

During the release of "Cloud Alley", "Lily Whispers" and Lu Chen were the ones that received fierce criticism.

However, when "The Other Shore" was released, Chu Honglie and "An Apple" suffered the same treatment.

Chu Honglie was also on the rise at the time, and his popularity was soaring, posing a great threat to Geng Yue.

Pan Qi also thoroughly humiliated "An Apple"—as a well-known film critic, Pan Qi is more likely to trend on social media than his peers.

As a third party, his comments can usually provide reference for the audience.

Pan Qi's evaluation of "An Apple" is:

[If you watch this movie, every time you eat an apple from now on, you'll feel like you're eating shit.]

This was an extremely harsh review, and many viewers believed it.

While "An Apple" didn't perform as poorly at the box office as "Lily's Whispers," it still suffered a significant blow.

Chu Honglie's attempt to rise to power failed as a result. In the competition between "An Apple" and "The Other Shore of Cause and Effect", "The Other Shore of Cause and Effect" emerged victorious.

Netizens hadn't previously connected Pan Qi's comments with Geng Yue, but now they finally realized something was amiss.

Why does Pan Qi always make his comments at such a clever time?

Why does he always target male actors who are competitors with Geng Yue?

Once could be considered a coincidence, but twice?

This was the third time for Lin Yuan.

Those actors all missed their chance to rise to the top. After his competitors failed, Geng Yue's status rose considerably, and his commercial value increased dramatically.

"Geng Yue was ruthless... he really went all out."

"I quite enjoyed watching 'An Apple,' but I never expected that this would happen when the movie was released. Chu Honglie and Lu Chen both suffered quite a bit."

"Could it be described as ruthless? I suddenly feel that Geng Yue's actions in 'Let's Travel' are the episode that best reflects his true nature."

"He's so vicious, so vicious. I used to think Pan Qi attacked indiscriminately, but now I realize that he also picks and chooses his targets."

"No wonder Pan Qi started promoting Lin Yuan's new movie before it even came out; isn't he just going to fight for Geng Yue?"

...

As netizens dug deeper, they discovered that the victims were far more than just Lu Chen and Chu Honglie.

These two still have acting opportunities, but their popularity is far less than before. There are also minor celebrities who offended Geng Yue and lost their chances after being criticized by Pan Qi.

Xiao Ka's foundation in the industry is unstable, making him easy to replace. If he offends Pan Qi, the production company is worried about losing audiences, so they simply replaced him.

Netizens are truly outraged now.

And yet Pan Qi still has the nerve to criticize Lin Yuan? Isn't that just the thief crying "stop thief!"?

He paved the way for Geng Yue's development, but what about the others? Are they just destined to suffer?

Pan Qi originally had some supporters, but after his actions were exposed, his comment section was flooded with angry netizens.

Losing followers is a minor issue. After becoming a well-known film critic, Pan Qi is a frequent guest on many programs. Now, netizens are listing the programs that have invited him and protesting to the program production teams.

Various programs have issued statements saying that they will no longer cooperate with Pan Qi.

Lu Chen and Chu Honglie's fans were especially excited.

Although Lu Chen and his partner have gradually faded from the spotlight and their popularity has waned, they still have a group of loyal fans who know which of their idols' works started to decline. They were just one step away from continuing to rise, but if they couldn't go on, the fans would accept it.

Now, several years later, they realize that their idol's decline in popularity was partly due to manipulation.

Even without Pan Qi's scathing criticism, "An Apple" and "Lily's Whispers" might not have been big hits, and the films' failures might not have been as much related to Pan Qi as one might imagine.

But Pan Qi could have chosen not to step forward.

He could have chosen a gentler approach to criticism.

Moreover, it's now obvious to everyone that Pan Qi and Geng Yue have an intricate connection.

As fans of Lu Chen and Chu Honglie, they wouldn't make excuses for Pan Qi.

It's all Pan Qi's fault!!

The fans of Chu and Lu were not to be trifled with either; that very night, they issued a proclamation demanding an apology from Pan Qi.

Lin Yuan's table only listed the pitiful victims who were attacked by Pan Qi, while the fans of Chu and Lu went even further, directly listing evidence of Pan Qi and Geng Yue's "collusion".

Film critic becomes a henchman: An analysis of Geng Yue's shameful path to power.

The Rise of Geng Yue, a Public Scoundrel in the Entertainment Industry

Be on your guard, everyone! Geng Yue is coming!

Tell me, who have you really hurt?

Originally, Pan Qi was being criticized by fans from various groups, but after fans of Lu Chen and Chu Honglie joined in, Geng Yue also became the center of attention.

Lu Chen and Chu Honglie were, after all, Geng Yue's former rivals, so friction between their fans was inevitable.

Previously, the two sides had fought back and forth, with Geng Yue on the red side and Chu and Lu not far behind.

However, after the box office failures of "Lily Whispers" and "An Apple", Geng Yue's fans went into a frenzy.

Lu Chen and Chu Honglie were ridiculed so much that fans still remember the scene.

Unfortunately, these two films did not perform as well as "The Other Shore" and "Cloud Alley". Geng Yue's career went further, but the two of them stagnated and gradually slowed down.

In the entertainment industry, achievements trump everything. Although they were angry, the fans of Chu and Lu were helpless.

But now they know that there are other factors involved in their idol's decline in popularity.

How could the fans possibly accept this?

Although Geng Yue has many fans, their level of anger is far less than that of Lu Chen and Chu Honglie's fans at this moment.

The two fan groups completely overwhelmed Geng Yue's fan page.

Previously, Geng Yue kicked He Xun out of "Let's Travel," but the specific details are unknown. It is unclear what Lu Chen and Chu Honglie's fans did, but videos of Geng Yue's insinuations to the "Let's Travel" production team have been released.

Furthermore, all the bad things Geng Yue had done in the past, including acting like a diva and bullying newcomers, were also revealed in one go.

The day was incredibly popular on Weibo, and Geng Yue's name never left the trending topics list.

The most dissatisfied fans were those of Lu Chen and Chu Honglie, but fans of other celebrities who had been heavily criticized by Pan Qi also had their own opinions.

They were all colleagues in the industry. Geng Yue addressed a few of them politely as "seniors," but then turned around and let Pan Qi rant and rave about them.

Spreading negative information and hiring online trolls are standard practices, but what Geng Yue did... is just too much.

...

When Pan Qi criticized Lin Yuan, Geng Yue felt somewhat smug.

Pan Qi sent him a WeChat message, saying that she disliked Lin Yuan and wanted to teach Lin Yuan a lesson.

Geng Yue did not reply openly, but waited silently in the shadows.

He also felt that Lin Yuan's life had been too smooth.

He disliked Lin Yuan and wanted him to suffer more.

As Pan Qi had predicted, his post was indeed harsh, but it also contained some objective elements. This way, when "Ghost Arts" was released, the audience would naturally stay away.

Geng Yue originally thought that Lin Yuan's fans would rush forward because of this, and then be judged by netizens who didn't know the truth as "Is there any difference between those who follow Lin Yuan and those who are brainless?"

Don't underestimate the impact of the term "brainless"; many celebrities have had their public image ruined this way.

When celebrities are popular, ordinary people can't compete with their fans and can only secretly hold their breath.

But once a celebrity fades into obscurity, or a work of theirs flops, these casual observers will rush to mock them. In addition, they will avoid any work by that celebrity and will never watch it no matter what.

When fans become brainless, they will do absurd things, such as buying multiple tickets to lock in a show, forging invoices, or pretending to be rich, which will make a lot of jokes and affect the commercial value of the celebrity.

Even if some celebrities aren't very popular or famous, they can still get good endorsements because of their charisma.

If a celebrity's fan base has a poor image, major brands won't easily extend an invitation—brands that primarily target wealthy women won't choose celebrities who are perceived as low-class by the general public.

All I can say is that Geng Yue's plan was very shrewd.

He forgot that Lin Yuan was someone who never played by the rules.

When Geng Yue reopened Weibo, he found that Lin Yuan had compiled a list of 189 celebrities.

Geng Yue: "..."

When Shi Nai'an wrote "Water Margin", he probably didn't even mention this many people.

Lin Yuan pointed it out and even added a note about it.

With that kind of energy, what couldn't you do?

Geng Yue was also impressed.

In his view, Lin Yuan's actions were no different from those of a madman; even madmen were more normal than him.

However, he quickly realized that Lin Yuan's move was a classic case of using someone else to drive away others; he had dragged everyone into the mess.

Pan Qi can offend Lin Yuan, but he can't offend so many people at the same time.

At this time, Geng Yue could not speak.

Once he speaks out, people will discover that he has a collaboration with Pan Qi.

It would be best to focus the conflict between Lin Yuan and Pan Qi.

Geng Yue's imagination was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

Pan Qi has criticized nearly two hundred celebrities. Under such circumstances, being criticized by him is the norm, and to some extent, it is proof of one's status. However, being praised by him is very rare.

There was only one person who was praised by him repeatedly and to the skies.

Will netizens miss this great discovery?

Obviously not.

Geng Yue thus came into the public eye.

As we all know, when netizens focus on digging into something, their senses become exceptionally sharp, especially since they have extensive experience in exposing cheating men.

When it comes to infidelity, the most important piece of evidence is the timeline.

When it comes to Geng Yue, netizens haven't missed the timeline either.

Thus, the names of Chu Honglie and Lu Chen appeared.

Things took a dramatic turn in a direction that Geng Yue had never expected.

By the time Geng Yue realized things had gotten out of hand, he had already lost control.

Geng Yue's agency urgently issued a statement saying that the netizens' speculations were just wishful thinking and "caused great damage to Geng Yue's personal reputation."

But netizens completely ignored it.

"Why does Pan Qi think so highly of Geng Yue? Is Geng Yue his biological father?"

"A neighbor who lives in the same building as Pan Qi said that Pan Qi never brought his father to live with them, and we have never met his father. Pan Qi is much more filial to Geng Yue than to his own father."

"Oh, right, right, the two of them weren't having any flirting. Pan Qi just genuinely admires Geng Yue's acting skills. Does anyone believe me just because of what I said?"

"His reputation won't be affected by this little bit of damage. He does things that harm others for his own benefit every day. What kind of reputation does he have?"

At the TV drama awards ceremony, Geng Yue's seat was in the second row, which already indicated that his popularity was declining.

This time, Geng Yue encountered an even greater shock.

First, fans of the celebrities who had been criticized by Pan Qi spontaneously boycotted Geng Yue's collaboration with their idols.

"They cooperated one day, and the next day Pan Qi started cursing them. Isn't that just plain stupid?"

"We can't afford to associate with them. They have Pan Qi as their backer, and we dare not offend them. Isn't Lin Yuan a prime example? The movie hasn't even been released yet, and he's already being heavily criticized."

For Geng Yue, this impact was undoubtedly the greatest.

Secondly, fans from various groups began to boycott Geng Yue's commercial activities.

Geng Yue's business achievements are quite impressive, covering high, medium and low-end brands. Although no merchants have requested to terminate their contracts yet, it is expected that all brands are watching and waiting to see how things develop.

Finally, there's the endless stream of negative information about Geng Yue.

Netizens firmly believe that since Geng Yue could harm Lu Chen, Chu Honglie, and Lin Yuan, he must have done even more bad things elsewhere.

As it turns out, this idea was not wrong.

No detail of what Geng Yue did before and during the years leading up to his debut has been overlooked.

In this industry, no celebrity can withstand scrutiny, and Geng Yue is no exception.

He began to lose a large number of followers.

Whenever a marketing account speaks well of Geng Yue, the comments section is filled with "They must have been paid off."

The marketing accounts subsequently fell silent.

Even the boldest and most daring marketing accounts that mock celebrities can only handle the fans of two or three celebrities at the same time. Not many can handle multiple celebrities at the same time.

Geng Yue's agency was also heavily criticized.

Everyone knows that whatever Geng Yue did, his agency was involved.

Geng Yue's agency tried to salvage his reputation, but unfortunately, no one bought into it.

Besides, those celebrities who had the honor of being harshly criticized by Pan Qi have probably finished eating their gossip and have started to speak out now.

Lin Yuan kept speaking without stopping.

What did I do wrong... to be hurt like this? My heart is so cold.

I will never forgive this cold-hearted person!

Geng Yue: "..."

Are you sick in the head?

As for other celebrities, some posted, "I thought I acted well at the time, and I was wondering why I was criticized so much. Now I know why." Others posted, "I am honored to be called out." There were countless comments like, "So this is what it feels like to misjudge someone."

Geng Yue was on pins and needles, almost racking his brains, not knowing how to get through this crisis.

Pan Qi used to be his voice, but now Pan Qi is no longer suitable to speak.

He thought it over and over, but still felt it was all Lin Yuan's fault.

"You don't need to go to that movie directed by Jia; he said he's canceling the collaboration."

Geng Yue frowned, adopting a gloomy expression.

"You forgot, 'An Apple' is directed by Jia Zhangke."

Geng Yue almost forgot.

"And Director Zhou, Xingyao Video also said that you shouldn't go to report for the time being..."

As time ticked by, Geng Yue received more and more bad news.

Cutting ties with Pan Qi now is no longer very effective; everyone believes that there are some unknown deals between him and Pan Qi.

It does exist.

Geng Yue could not refute it.

He couldn't guarantee that if he and Pan Qi cut ties too successfully, Pan Qi wouldn't retaliate.

Since cooperation exists, there must be evidence of it.

"How about we play the emotional card?" Geng Yue suggested. "Since we've been denying it anyway, why don't we talk to Lu Chen and Chu Honglie's agencies and ask them to give up some resources?"

Geng Yue's idea was to use money and resources to appease the most vocal troublemakers.

The agent looked at him with a helpless expression: "You used to try every means to squeeze Lu Chen and Chu Honglie out."

"As you wish, their era is over."

"Now... what they want is for you to be squeezed out as well."

Geng Yue's career had already shown signs of decline, but because he had many fans, his decline wasn't as rapid.

He will eventually follow the same path as Lu Chen and Chu Honglie.

To some extent, the people who are most looking forward to Geng Yue continuing his journey are not Lu Chen and Chu Honglie.

Geng Yue is finished. At most, the two of them may feel a sense of revenge, but it cannot change the fact that they are both on the decline.

But Geng Yue has firmly blocked the path of those young people who are eager to rise in society.

This includes some of his colleagues.

While the agency could certainly do public relations for Geng Yue, it wouldn't be worthwhile to spend too much money on him now, especially since Geng Yue's situation is difficult to salvage.

"Who does the company plan to promote?" Geng Yue's gaze seemed to be venomous. "Besides me, is there anyone else to promote right now?"

"Qin Xiaoyang, Wang Chen?"

As he uttered those two names, Geng Yue kept his eyes fixed on his agent. The moment he mentioned Qin Xiaoyang, the agent's gaze remained unchanged, but when he mentioned Wang Chen, the agent's gaze shifted slightly.

"I'm the one who brought him on the show," Geng Yue said through gritted teeth.

Because the company wanted to promote Wang Chen, and he happened to be dissatisfied with He Xun, he had the "Let's Travel" program team kick He Xun out and put Wang Chen in.

As a result, Geng Yue was heavily criticized, and his popularity suffered a significant loss.

All the benefits went to Wang Chen. When Geng Yue was being criticized, he disappeared and even used the rumors that Geng Yue was suspected of being arrogant and bullying others to make himself a "poor little bully" and gain attention.

Although Wang Chen joined "Let's Travel," he was essentially a slave to Geng Yue, and the child suffered greatly.

Geng Yue's dissatisfaction was about to erupt at this moment.

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Author's Note: Update! [doge][doge][doge]