Because of the start of filming for "Blood Mist," Qin Linlin was unable to attend to other commitments, so the recording of the variety show "Don't Look Back When It Gets Dark" was postponed for a while.

Furthermore, Rong Yu also has the GCD boy band's debut tour. After finishing most of the male lead's storyline, he will have to go and practice the songs and dances for the tour.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who needed to keep track of the progress on both sides. Other team members also had their own companies and received all sorts of invitations and arrangements.

Overall, everyone is busy.

The only difference is that everyone else only gets short-term advertising and music video offers, while Rong Yu is going to act in male lead dramas that require more time and energy.

Ming Qian also recently accepted a script and joined the cast, but she played the second male lead, not the male lead.

Mingqian's agent arranged for him to star in a drama called "The Ends of the Earth," a romance-themed time-travel martial arts drama where the second male lead is a young master from a prestigious family.

As we all know, in the common tropes of romance dramas, the male lead is there to give love to the female lead, while the second male lead is there to make the audience feel sorry for him. In addition, "The Ends of the Earth" is also a relatively popular time-travel novel, so playing the second male lead wouldn't be a bad choice.

But the irony is that the second male lead in "The Ends of the Earth" is also a character with a split personality.

So when the promotional photos and plot of "The Ends of the Earth" appeared on the trending searches, it was inevitable that people would compare Ming Qian and Rong Yu.

After all, both of them took on roles with split personalities and were members of the same team.

The slight difference is that Rong Yu plays a character with two split personalities who fall in love, while Ming Qian's character has two split personalities who both like the female lead.

Initially, these were just small-scale comparisons among fans, but some marketing accounts saw the traffic generated by the controversy and quickly took the pictures, deliberately paired them with highly controversial and suggestive captions, and released them.

Entertainment Cat V: If the first and second place winners of the GCD boy band were to play the same role, who do you think would come out on top? [Images][Images][Images]

The copywriting is clearly designed to provoke conflict; it's practically screaming: "Come on, fans, let's start arguing!"

Even if fans don't want to argue, there will be trolls pretending to be fans and starting a game of fighting between their main accounts and alternate accounts, and they'll fight quite enthusiastically.

There will always be some fans who can't tell the difference and are led astray into flame wars.

Some people compared the two actors' promotional photos, from their appearance to their costumes and makeup, from the actors themselves to the roles they played, from the roles to the entire series, and then to the original work and the author.

Because "Blood Mist" is a modern drama, the requirements for costumes are not high. Ordinary clothes are fine. In addition, Qin Linlin spent most of the budget on renting various beautiful scenic spots and villas in the mountains, as well as hiring photographers, makeup artists and post-production teams. There was really not much budget left for costumes. Therefore, the clothes in the costume photos are relatively weak in visual appeal compared to the bright and flamboyant martial arts style costumes.

Moreover, "The Ends of the Earth" incorporates time-travel and fantasy elements, so the costumes are not as rigorous as those in period dramas. Even if the director puts on the actors wearing clothes that expose their shoulders, waist, and navel, with thin gauze that reveals their flesh, it won't attract too many scrutinists because it's unnecessary.

The clothing that fits modern aesthetics is more attractive to the audience, whether in terms of bright colors or novel styles. In addition, the makeup photos have been refined and retouched in post-production.

The way they edited the photos was so extreme that they turned people's faces and clothes into game models. Almost everyone's face looked like it was copied from the same mold. The deep shadows, the sparkling highlights, the glossy lip gloss—how could it not be exquisite and beautiful?

Comparing these promotional photos with those released for "Blood Mist," where the actors' faces still show rough edges and pores, it's clear that these photos will appear fresher, more ethereal, and more eye-catching.

As the online comparisons escalated, fans couldn't help but join in, denouncing their idols. Sally frowned—years of experience made her keenly aware that something was amiss.

Without someone deliberately guiding the discussion behind the scenes, the public opinion on this topic would definitely not be so unanimous.

The conflict escalated from the actors' personal feud to the characters they portrayed, then to the costumes and props of the production crew, and finally to the plot of the original work.

This is probably no longer just a dispute between Mingqian's fans and Rongyu's fans; it also involves the web series' publicity and public relations efforts to create buzz and generate hype.

Simply put, the PR team of "The Ends of the Earth" is using this controversy to generate buzz for the new drama that hasn't even started filming yet.

"The director of 'The Ends of the Earth' is Liang Ming. That guy's directing skills aren't that great, but his ability to stir up public opinion is top-notch. Plus, the male lead of 'The Ends of the Earth' is Lu Xiaoyang, and his agent, Feng Yu, is no pushover either." Sally said to Yin Chengjue, "Ming Qian's agent wants Ming Qian to use the second male lead's storyline and character to gain audience favor, but the male lead's agent isn't stupid either. They're planning to use Ming Qian's popularity to boost the popularity of 'The Ends of the Earth'."

Sally rested her chin on her hand and calmly analyzed: "Although Mingqian's professional skills are not very good, he is still one of the newly formed GCD boy groups. The fans' novelty has not worn off and they are in the midst of their passionate enthusiasm. In addition, he did not have the awareness to clean up his fans at the beginning and blindly doted on all fans. Therefore, the quality of his fans is relatively low. They are like a group of walking powder kegs, ready to explode at the slightest touch, and once they explode, they will be on the trending topics."

Sally picked up her coffee and took a sip. "With a group of fans like that around, anyone with a little bit of cunning would try to take advantage of it. Such a sharp and convenient tool, why not use it? I guess that's what Feng Yu was thinking too, which is why he pulled this stunt."

Assistant Guan nodded in agreement: "Because just provoking Rong Yu's fans is unlikely to cause any real trouble; they're more laid-back."

Sally: "It's not that I'm laid-back, it's that I don't have much time. I've done some research, and most of Xiaoyu's fans are working professionals who are quite busy and don't have the time to be on Weibo every day to check in and manage the super topic."

"So, what do you think we should do this time?" Yin Chengjue asked.

Sally: "If nothing unexpected happens, they will probably drag the fans of the original novels of both dramas into a fight, and then let 'The End of the World' ride on the popularity that 'Blood Mist' had built up earlier."

Yin Chengjue frowned: "One is a time-traveling martial arts story, and the other is a modern criminal investigation story. They are completely different genres and there is no basis for comparison. How can you criticize them? By forcing a comparison?"

Sally: "Hey, Mr. Yin, you don't know this, do you? Like now, you can criticize the most basic costumes and props, you can criticize whether the web series plot is consistent with the original work, you can criticize whether it is too drastically modified, you can criticize whether the casting is appropriate. If you criticize each other too much, the fans of the original work will definitely be dissatisfied, and then they will come over and start fighting."

Sally: "Book fans are not like fans in the entertainment industry. There are not so many rules and regulations. They just gather together because they have read the book and like it. Of course, I am only talking about the majority."

Assistant Guan suddenly said, "They're here."

On the trending topics list, the hashtag #BloodMistPlagiarizesTianyaZhichi# was pushed to the top.

Sally smiled and said, "See? What did I just say? If you want to step on something, there's nothing you can't step on. Whether you can climb up by stepping on it is one thing, but as long as you step on it, you've made a profit. Whether it's the same type of show as the one being broadcast is not important. That's what those people think."

Before Yin Chengjue could say anything more, Qin Linlin's message popped up in the crew's WeChat group.

Qin Lingling: I'm so angry! Tianchi has such a big face! Who copied it?! Can't they go get their eyes checked? [Salted Fish Sting]

Qin Lingling: You're really desperate to ride the wave of popularity! I plagiarize it? I travel through time to the future and plagiarize a novel that was written a few years later than mine? If I had that ability, what kind of person would I be? Wouldn't it be better to be a fairy who can predict the future?

The actors in the large group spoke up to offer words of comfort, while also expressing their anger.

They are now in the same boat, sharing both glory and disgrace. If the web series they star in is accused of plagiarism, it will also affect their reputation.

Moreover, these are all baseless accusations.

However, if this matter is left unattended, then once the heat of the discussion subsides, the impression left on the general public will be that "Blood Mist" is associated with the word "plagiarism".

Even if the story is false, why would a passerby bother to investigate it?

As the saying goes, it takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them. Even so, no one is willing to listen to the refutations because the more outrageous other people's gossip is, the more appealing it is. Whether it is true or false is irrelevant to the listener.

Before Yin Chengjue could even make a move, Qin Lingling's book fans had already risen up in retaliation. They usually read quietly and didn't pay much attention to these things, but it was only recently, with the start of filming for the TV series "Blood Mist," that they were drawn to Weibo and would occasionally check the official account. Now, suddenly seeing that their favorite book had been accused of plagiarism, and that it was plagiarized from a romance novel that was published three years later than "Blood Mist," they were instantly furious.

What? These days, everything can be linked to plagiarism, right? I know that authors hate this the most, because it's like committing suicide with their pen name. These unscrupulous marketing accounts are still using this to generate buzz. It's simply outrageous. Do they really think their long-time book fans are pushovers?

So, before Yin Chengjue could even figure out a suitable public relations strategy, some book fans had already spontaneously created color palettes for the two books. From the overall story background to the character settings, from the overall structure to the sub-segment structure, from the main plot to the side plots, and even down to the background stories of each secondary couple... etc., there was absolutely no similarity! So how could it be considered plagiarism?

Furthermore, both the publication and completion dates of "Blood Mist" and "The Ends of the Earth" were earlier. If we're really talking about plagiarism, it's the latter that plagiarized the former!