Chapter 102 Who Wasn't Invited?
Chapter 102
The direct consequence of the gossip competition was that Lin Yuan discovered that Yu Ying's WeChat nickname had a note added (Artist Version).
Lin Yuan: "?"
Does being able to sing "Tomorrow's Star" make someone an artist?
To be honest, he didn't quite understand.
"Sing something good," Lin Yuan messaged to remind him.
A few days later, Yu Ying began singing "Hibernation".
Feng sent a WeChat message to Lin Yuan, telling him not to make useless reminders.
Lin Yuan: "? How can you blame me? It's not like I forced her to learn it."
"If someone sings my song, they are my fan, and I support all their actions."
Feng Zeng: "..."
#Something's not right with this person#
#Suspected Pervert#
The two agents exchanged tips on dealing with their respective artists, and their relationship gradually improved.
...
During the filming of "Ghost Arts", Lin Yuan stayed on set the whole time. Although there was some gossip about him online, there wasn't much of it. In the entertainment industry, there are all sorts of gossip and rumors. Since Lin Yuan didn't show up, it was hard for him to become the center of gossip.
As the year draws to a close, the competition for New Year's Eve concerts is heating up again.
Last year, the guest list released by Xingyao Video attracted a lot of attention. Although the final result was rather dismal, Xingyao Video did achieve its goal in terms of the amount of attention it received.
During this year, the Wink versions of "Tomorrow's Star" and "I Only Want to Wink at You" repeatedly broke viewership records, becoming one of the most-viewed videos on Xingyao Video.
Even if netizens clicked on it just for fun, it did increase Xingyao Video's traffic significantly.
Under these circumstances, Wink will not be invited to this year's Star Video!
Not just the combined version of Wink, but every single member of Wink—I don't want them!
Wink, who garnered a lot of attention last year, is completely ignored this year.
No one had paid attention to this before, since the video platforms invited too many guests, and it was impossible to keep track of who attended and who didn't.
The problem is that Xingyao Video announced its ownership of Lin Yuan early on.
Xingyao Video not only boasted to the world that Lin Yuan would be coming, but the promotional posters also photoshopped a huge head of Lin Yuan to make his presence stand out.
As the year draws to a close, all video platforms will conduct year-end reviews. Xingyao Video's performance this year has been mediocre, with no particularly popular works. Although the investment did not go down the drain, it did not make much money.
The most prominent product in this year's financial report is "Major Cases". Without "Major Cases", Xingyao Video's losses would probably have been even greater.
That's why Lin Yuan enjoyed the high treatment the platform provided.
When Lin Yuan is mentioned, netizens naturally think of Wink.
Ye Liuchuan and Xie Yu will be highlighted, while Ji Xiaming, Zhang Xiaoyue, and others will be placed in their respective appropriate positions according to the degree to which they were beaten by Lin Yuan.
It's fine if Wink isn't mentioned, but once it is, many netizens have noticed that Wink doesn't seem to have been invited by any platform this year.
"Was it just my imagination? Or did I simply not notice?"
As soon as one netizen mentioned their discovery, other netizens immediately went to look for clues.
Scrolling through Leting Video, then AIR Video, and then to various TV stations, the answer is—there really isn't one.
Not a single one.
By this time, all platforms had basically released their attendance lists. Whether you looked through the guest list from top to bottom or entered the names of the Wink members, the answer was the same.
There isn't one.
"Wow, what's going on? In my memory, Wink members have never missed a New Year's Eve concert, right? Especially in the period before the group disbanded, Wink was a hot commodity for all the platforms."
"...Who would dare to invite them? After watching last year's 'Tomorrow's Star' and 'I Only Want to Wink at You'?"
"Business - n, events - n, film contracts - n, this is basically the current situation of Wink members. I think that it is already a blessing from God that such a group of people have only faded into obscurity after all this time."
Wink fans naturally didn't want to believe this result.
"Why insist that the platform didn't invite them? Couldn't it be that all of Wink were unavailable? There are so many celebrities who didn't participate in the New Year's Eve concert, why focus on Wink?"
"Ye Liuchuan and Xie Yu are both actors. Please be aware that it is a courtesy, not an obligation, for actors to participate in New Year's Eve concerts."
"Ji Xiaming is having a great time traveling abroad, who cares about that lousy New Year's Eve concert? Since Wink formed, the members are tired of participating in New Year's Eve concerts. It's the same group every year. Can't we give the opportunity to the newcomers?"
"Why not come to Zhang Xiaoyue's 'Flying Over' concert? A god-level stage awaits you. Don't be too possessive of other people's schedules. With my brother's talent, there's no need for him to waste his time on that kind of stage."
Netizens: "..."
Lin Yuan: "..."
"Why do I suddenly feel that participating in this New Year's Eve concert is not a good thing?"
“If you were to sing ‘Tomorrow’s Star,’ that would certainly not be a good thing,” the manager replied.
It's worth mentioning that a clever little idea from Xingyao Video made Lin Yuan want to complain.
One of Lin Yuan's songs for this year's New Year's Eve concert has already been decided, which is "Love and Hate". Another song was originally planned to be "Hibernation" or one of the songs in the Spring Festival medley. At this time, Xingyao Video suddenly contacted him and asked him if he would be willing to sing "Tomorrow's Star".
Lin Yuan: "..."
In that instant, he really wished a bolt of lightning would strike from the sky and split open Xingyao Video to see what these people were thinking.
That's right, Xingyao Video does have the idea of salvaging its reputation and taking the opportunity to boost its traffic.
Lin Yuan naturally refused without hesitation. One can imagine how much attention Xingyao Video would receive if he sang "Tomorrow's Star".
But what about his reputation? Singing "Tomorrow's Star" doesn't do him any good.
To outsiders, his version of "Tomorrow's Star" was better than Wink's version, which meant that he had achieved revenge on Wink, but Lin Yuan himself never thought that way.
There's no such thing as a low-quality revenge.
Besides, Lin Yuan doesn't think he's on the same level as Wink right now. Since his career has already surpassed Wink's, why should he keep getting associated with Wink?
This approach is too rudimentary.
...
Fans, on the other hand, tried their best to cover for the members, emphasizing how not worth going to the New Year's Eve concert.
However, at the height of her popularity, attending the New Year's Eve concert was optional, as even grander events awaited, including her group's concerts. No matter the occasion, Wink was always the most eye-catching person in the crowd.
However, after the flop, the existence of the New Year's Eve concert became crucial.
Everyone knows that if Wink isn't even invited to the New Year's Eve concert, it means he's completely washed up.
New Year's Eve concerts are called concerts, but they're really just gatherings for celebrities. Who would invite a bunch of tone-deaf performers to a concert? It's all because they're popular.
The young actors and actresses either went on stage solo or as a couple, attracting huge crowds of fans. The platform gained the popularity it wanted, and the stars received hefty appearance fees.
If Wink is invited to this event, it at least shows that Wink hasn't faded into obscurity.
Even if the group can no longer reunite, being invited as a solo artist is proof of popularity—Xie Yu and Ye Liuchuan were both invited in previous years.
At that time, they were exceptionally popular and did not stand out at all among a group of rising young actors and actresses.
During the New Year period, Ye Liuchuan and Xie Yu did not stay at home doing nothing. They had one or two events to attend, but those events were far smaller in scale than the New Year's Eve concert, and the guests on the same stage were only of average fame, with some even being newcomers who had just debuted.
Which New Year's Eve concerts attract the most attention?
Even if they only occupy a small corner of the trending topics, it can still fully demonstrate their presence.
But now, the two of them no longer have the right to be picky.
Management companies invest resources based on returns, and they can't afford to spend money on artists without considering the costs. Ye Liuchuan and Xie Yu didn't even want these activities before, and they would have already made excuses to turn them down. They didn't even need to make excuses; they could just refuse whenever they wanted.
But now... they have no choice but to go.
This is an opportunity to make a profit for the company.
They were on the verge of being abandoned, and even if they wanted to leave the company, they couldn't find a suitable new job.
Moreover, after Wink debuted, they enjoyed immense popularity, and their standards rose accordingly; they certainly looked down on ordinary entertainment agencies.
Ye Liuchuan was very unwilling to be sent out by the company to make appearances this time, but as soon as he expressed his dissatisfaction, a senior executive of the company dismissed him with a single sentence: "Lin Yuan rose from the county stage, are you not even as good as Lin Yuan?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Liuchuan could only grit his teeth and accept.
He didn't know how Lin Yuan had climbed to where he was now, but in any case, the other party had definitely made the right choice and had that kind of luck. However, he didn't think he had the same good fortune.
If he had Lin Yuan's luck, he should have several hit dramas by now, and he should have won awards in the film category as well.
How did I end up like this?
Ye Liuchuan couldn't understand it no matter what.
In what ways is he inferior to Lin Yuan?
After much thought, Ye Liuchuan could only attribute it to luck.
Before this, he always felt that he was luckier than Lin Yuan.
After all, Lin Yuan didn't even get to debut, but he was really in the limelight for a while.
Besides that, it's probably because Lin Yuan has always acted alone, while the others in Wink... are too much of a hindrance to him.
Ye Liuchuan's situation wouldn't have been so bad originally. If it weren't for that performance last year... he wouldn't be without invitations this year.
Ye Liuchuan seems to have forgotten that "Linlang" flopped first, and "Locking Heart Window" was broadcast as if it hadn't been broadcast at all. He also took the opportunity to stab his fans in the back.
His ability to successfully film dramas is largely due to his status as a member of Wink, as fans are willing to pay for his dramas.
Otherwise, with so many professionally trained actors struggling to find roles, how could he have gradually risen to the position of leading man?
Some actors work their whole lives and still may not get to play a leading role.
Furthermore, his subsequent mutual attacks with Xie Yu completely squandered the goodwill he had built up during the "Tomorrow's Star" period.
Since last year, his situation has been unrelated to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan's drama became a hit, so Lin Yuan became famous.
His drama flopped, so his career declined step by step; the logic is that simple.
However, even today, Ye Liuchuan still blames Lin Yuan for his misfortune.
But crying and complaining is useless now.
When "Locked Heart Window" aired on Xingyao Video, Ye Liuchuan made several surprise appearances in the fan group, urging fans to watch it and taking the opportunity to genuinely express his sympathy.
The fans' attitude was surprisingly indifferent.
One factor involved being betrayed by him.
Other than that... fans aren't used to Ye Liuchuan playing the victim like this.
No actor in the industry who has reached the top has ever resorted to playing the victim.
Even when Ye Liuchuan was popular, he almost never played the victim. He was strong and composed, retaining the confidence of a top boy band member.
There's a saying in the industry: playing the victim will only make things worse.
Ye Liuchuan's attempts to gain sympathy, in the eyes of his fans, show that he is becoming increasingly unworthy of his top status; his demeanor, his speech... everything is drifting further and further away from the fans' expectations.
Moreover, Ye Liuchuan's words also implied a complaint against Lin Yuan.
"It has nothing to do with Lin Yuan, right?"
One day, a fan shared their thoughts.
"Lin Yuan didn't force Lin Yuan to sing 'Tomorrow's Star.' Wasn't 'Lin Lang' in a much better position than 'The Powerful Minister'? When it comes to endorsements, brands definitely have their own considerations, taking into account the popularity of the drama. The return on investment for 'Major Cases' is indeed higher than that for 'Locked Heart Window'..."
The result was a complete package of being blocked, kicked out of the group chat, and subjected to a barrage of insults.
As a result, the fan base became increasingly silent.
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Author's Note: Update! [doge][doge][doge]
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