Chapter 46 The Turmoil
The people inside the cabin were completely unaware of the media storm that was brewing in the live stream.
Mu Jiu took out his constantly vibrating phone from his pocket, looked at the name flashing on the screen, then glanced at the people involved in the scene, and hesitated before asking, "Should I answer this call?"
Before Ling Zhao could answer, Deng Minzhou excitedly urged, "Come on! Of course we'll come on!"
Compared to face-to-face conversations, this kind of prank, where someone makes a phone call in front of the entire audience, is another form of "social death." As the atmosphere-setting team, they certainly wouldn't miss out on this segment.
On the other side, after being strongly urged, Mu Jiu reluctantly answered the phone.
"Hello."
"……Hello."
Ling Zhao opened his mouth, glancing at the fortune slip in his hand: "There's something... I've wanted to tell you for a long time."
Mu Jiu blinked and responded cooperatively.
As the entire audience held their breath, their eyes darting back and forth between the two.
Ling Zhao remained silent for a moment before straightening up and speaking solemnly, "Can I borrow five million from you?"
【？？？】
[No, what did you say? Ling Zhao, look me in the eye and tell me, is this the kind of question to ask in this atmosphere?]
[Hahahaha, I laughed so hard! Host Deng wasn't lying to me, the dare was indeed just for 'show effect'!]
Just as the comments section was jumping up and down in shock at this reversal, Mu Jiu, one of the parties involved, calmly maintained his composure with a strong sense of conviction.
After a moment of contemplation, she asked seriously, "Is this much money enough?"
For a moment, not only Ling Zhao, but also the guests present all had question marks on their faces.
This unexpected response caused Ling Zhao to pause noticeably before cautiously asking, "...Do you have one?"
Upon hearing the question, a crack gradually appeared in her expression, and the smile on her lips slowly widened: "Of course not, otherwise how could I record a program with you?"
"..."
[Damn, how do you turn a dating reality show into a comedy program?]
[I was just stabbed in the back, and then this happens? What's the difference between this and someone dying and then being told—hey, he's resurrected!!!]
[LOL, why isn't Mu Jiu playing by the rules?]
Am I the only one who remembers that Ling Zhao was swindled out of money by his company and ended up in debt? He's really short of cash.
...
The adventure segment ended in a way that completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
Time flew by, and it was already midnight.
A misty vapor drifted out through the open door.
As Xiang Wan was removing her makeup, she saw Mu Jiu coming out of the bathroom drying his hair. She finally couldn't help but lower her voice and ask, "By the way... did something happen between you two today?"
Mu Jiu paused in drying his hair, casting a bewildered glance from the edge of the towel.
Xiang Wan: "It's Ling Zhao. His reaction today is different from usual."
Reminded, Mu Jiu recalled for a moment.
Mu Jiu: "...Did I explain the basic skills of actors to him?"
Xiang Wan: ?
——
In the early morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains.
Tan Xi suddenly sat up in shock from his bed and instinctively reached for his phone.
Only when I saw the bright Saturday sign on my phone did I feel relieved and crawl back into my warm blankets.
After resting with her eyes closed for a while, a vibration made her groggily reach for her phone again.
The lock screen is cluttered with push notifications:
#Fang Yucheng's concert photos#
#Fang Yucheng's A cappella performance#
#Fang Yucheng, the Elf Prince#
...
Normally, she would have eagerly opened the notification long ago.
But perhaps due to the aftereffects of staying up all night, she was unusually calm. Even when she opened the stage photo that had gone viral, she calmly zoomed in to examine the pixels in the image.
In the photo, Fang Yucheng has dyed his hair a light ash blonde color, which shimmers with a subtle golden light under the spotlight.
He tilted his head slightly, his brows and eyes revealing a sense of aloofness and coldness under the makeup, yet there was a faint smile on his lips.
Her brother is still incredibly handsome today.
After the thought popped into Tan Xi's mind subconsciously, she habitually saved the high-resolution photo and set it as her screensaver.
But after completing this series of almost muscle memory movements, the photos filled the phone screen.
She suddenly felt a sense of unease.
After thinking for a few seconds, she suddenly realized the source of this unease.
She felt that the portrait on her phone's screen saver wasn't Fang Yucheng, but Ling Zhao.
The moment this thought crossed Tan Xi's mind, she snapped back to reality: "Am I crazy?"
She rubbed her eyes vigorously while quickly opening Fang Yucheng's concert live stream video.
In the scene, the stage lights poured down like moonlight, casting a soft glow on Fang Yucheng's light flaxen hair.
He sat alone on a high stool, his slender fingers gently caressing the guitar strings, and the entire venue gradually quieted down.
"The inspiration for this song," he said, raising his eyes and gently sweeping his gaze across the audience, "came from a sleepless, rainy night, and from everyone who has always been there for me."
With fingertips plucking the strings, a clear and melodious prelude flowed out.
The moment the music started, Tan Xi, who was rubbing her eyes, paused and looked up abruptly.
This melody...
She felt like she'd heard it before on a talent show about archaeology last night.
Just when Tan Xi thought she was imagining things, the sense of déjà vu became stronger and stronger during the chorus. But at a certain point, she felt that it didn't seem so familiar anymore.
A sudden, inexplicable suspicion made Tan Xi unable to fully enjoy Fang Yucheng's performance as she usually did.
The entire song unfolded as she tugged at her memories, culminating in the final few seconds of the live video.
"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to the concert and allowing me to sing for you face to face."
The video abruptly ended amidst deafening screams.
At the same time, a series of messages flashed rapidly on the phone's pop-up window:
[Leopard Cat Leg Pendant: MG has officially announced that Leopard Cat is the spokesperson for the new product!]
[0909: They even included a stunning double poster! I'm buying it all!]
[A bunch of fans are here: Sisters, if you need them, let's boost sales and show our sponsors the fighting power of our CP fans! For Jiu Jiu and Zhao Zhao!]
Messages kept popping up, and the group was filled with jubilation. You could see that every fan who spoke up was genuinely happy.
As Tan Xi watched the group excitedly discussing information she already knew, her furrowed brows gradually relaxed without her realizing it.
Just then, amidst the jubilation on the screen, an incongruous message popped up:
[Um... I don't mean to spoil the fun, but you'd better take a look at this.]
Screenshot of trending search terms
//#DawnOfficialSpokespersonAnnouncement#
...
#MorningAndDuskCP#
...
...
#Popular Couple Contractual Relationship#//
Upon seeing the last entry, Tan Xi's mood inexplicably sank.
She opened the social media app and quickly found the trending topic.
Within just a few minutes, its popularity began to rise at an unnatural pace.
Clicking on the entry reveals the first Weibo post, a screenshot of an anonymous exposé by a marketing account claiming to be from an "on-site staff member," filled with undisguised resentment:
[Request a thick code.]
I can't take it anymore! As a staff member who was driven to the brink of collapse by a certain popular CP, I really can't stand the self-indulgent euphoria of some CP fans.
As someone who experienced it firsthand, I previously felt that the persona a certain female celebrity cultivated during her live streams across the internet was very fake. But after encountering her in real life, I can only say that one should trust their intuition.
These two are truly extraordinary; their careers have just started to take off, yet they dare to act like divas in front of the brand.
The actor's acting was disastrous. He couldn't even express the most basic emotions in front of the camera. He kept making mistakes in a simple hugging scene, yet he acted like nothing was wrong.
The whole crew stayed up with him until 3 a.m., and he still gave the director a hard time. How can someone with this kind of professional ability be a brand ambassador?
The woman liked to add drama to her own story. Even though the script required intimate interactions, she insisted that she wanted to maintain a single persona and made various excuses to avoid physical contact on set.
He even tried to strike a pose and insisted on adding close-up shots of himself. What does he take professional photography for? Is this some kind of child's play?
The director pointed out, with seemingly logical arguments, that there were problems with the interaction, and then left everyone on set, ostensibly to "build up the mood," but who knows what the two people were actually doing inside.
The most ridiculous thing is that fans are still praising their "eye contact" and "sense of destiny," but in reality, the two didn't interact at all on set and played on their phones during breaks.
It's clearly just a contract couple setup from a variety show, only good for fooling mindless CP fans.
Tag #EntertainmentIndustryTruth #ContractCPFScene #PoorActingSkillsAndUnprofessionalism #EntertainmentIndustryHitchHitch#
The popular comments section is also a chaotic battleground for all sorts of people:
[Was it the two-character pair I guessed? How can they even ship this? I felt embarrassed for them even watching the live stream.]
[Isn't this basically a contractual ex? The show's producers are so obviously forcing a script on her and pushing her too hard.]
[Hilarious! Once they're out of the script for variety shows, all sorts of weirdos suddenly appear. This person's acting is so bad, yet they still want to become famous?]
[However, the man seems to be a singer, right?]
Who knows? :) I just want to ask the production team, do they think the audience is stupid? Can't they just make a decent show instead of always trying to pull off something huge?
This seemingly harmless rant, which omitted keywords and contained vague allusions, only became a trending topic shortly after MG officially announced its perfume spokesperson.
All public opinion trends have a very clear direction and purpose.
This situation could be either MG's rival or the spokesperson's rival.
Tan Xi quickly analyzed the current situation. After seeing the fans in the group whose stances were wavering due to the influence of the trending topic, she almost subconsciously sent a message.
[Sigh: Let's all be rational. The other party didn't name names at all. If this hashtag gets used, we've already lost. The most important thing now is to let more people know that MG's spokesperson has changed to Chaomu.]
[Sigh: In other words, this is also the best time to recommend it to newcomers.]
[Evening Breeze and Stars: But how can we be sure that the leak isn't about Ling Zhao and Mu Jiu? The timing matches, and many things fit together.]
[Evening Breeze and Stars: I never followed celebrities before, I only joined the group because the interactions between Chao and Mu were hilarious. To be blunt, if Ling Zhao and Mu Jiu really had those kinds of personalities, I would have left the group immediately.]
Even when surrounded by others, this suddenly appearing newcomer remained calm and composed, even adopting a rational and objective attitude to preach.
[Evening Breeze and Stars: Doesn't anyone else share my thoughts? Shouldn't we all think independently in this situation?]
...
Upon seeing such comments, Tan Xi couldn't help but frown.
Unlike other artists with similar popularity, Ling Zhao and Mu Jiu have not accumulated a dedicated fanbase willing to spend time and effort on voting for them.
The current CP fan groups are mixed with all sorts of groups, and there may even be people like her who were fans of the opposing side, spying in the group and guiding the trend at the right time.
Most members found it difficult to discern the underlying motives behind these seemingly "objective" comments, making it even harder to mobilize them to control the comments during the prime time and get the onlookers attracted by the tags to take their side.
After thinking for a while, she decisively messaged the group administrator privately.
[Sigh: I feel like that person was probably sent by fans of the rival team to cause trouble.]
[Sigh: But if we silence them now, they might take screenshots and spread the word, accusing us of covering up their mouths and allowing them to spread more "analysis" that is detrimental to Chaomu.]
[Sigh: I want to gather some trustworthy and organized people to check in together on the Chaomu Super Topic, and post more high-quality mashups and story clips to boost the popularity with positive content. Do you have any recommendations?]
[Group Admin: Yes, but is it possible to suppress the hype in time?]
Is it too late?
Tan Xi took a deep breath and typed a reply in the chat box:
[Sigh: ...We don't need to hold back for too long. We just need to wait until the brand releases the full ad and launches a large-scale promotion. The truth will out; the work itself will be the best response then.]
She had clearly seen the two actors' performance on set and knew that once the advertisement was released, these rumors would be dispelled.
The only thing to be careful about is that we must not let anyone with ulterior motives take advantage of this period...
Tan Xi belatedly put down her phone.
Wait, isn't this her rival's fan group?
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