The next day, Li Chu opened her eyes, feeling utterly dejected. She had still gone and “ravaged” Teacher Ning, even if it wasn’t a complete ravage.
Li Chu inwardly cursed her weak willpower. How could she have knocked on the door in the middle of the night? And even recited a menu of dishes!
But honestly, Li Chu was craving food. Although she no longer needed to eat a strict diet, her meals were still mainly light and balanced. She longed for barbecue, fried chicken, icy soda, and milk tea.
But that could only remain a fantasy.
Li Chu was dragged out of bed by Qian Duoduo. She had scenes to film.
Fortunately, Qin Mu’s makeup wasn’t complicated. The focus was on creating a pale look. With a touch of powder, Li Chu’s rosy complexion instantly transformed into a listless one.
Li Chu was filming an interior scene. Teacher Fang Ai, who played Qin Mu’s mother, Qin Zhiyuan, had already arrived.
Fang Ai was a long-haired beta woman with a gentle demeanor. She wasn’t actually that old, in her thirties or forties, and looked quite young, perfect for playing a younger Qin Zhiyuan in flashbacks.
Li Chu greeted her, then whispered to Qian Duoduo while eating breakfast.
“Has Teacher Ning left?”
“She left around six, and Teacher Zhao went too.”
Li Chu felt a sense of relief mixed with an inexplicable melancholy. However, she didn’t have time to dwell on it, as Ji Yun was already calling her. Li Chu quickly finished her breakfast, wiped her mouth, and went into the set to rehearse and block.
Once filming started, there were almost no breaks. Ji Yun was easygoing off-set, but once he started working, he became extremely meticulous and demanding. Tall and imposing at 1.9 meters, when he scowled, he truly resembled a looming dark cloud.
When Qian Duoduo brought Li Chu her dinner, her expression was furious.
“What’s wrong? You look like a little fighting cock. Who upset you?”
“That Zhong Yue! She’s so shameless! Sister Li, just look at the trending topics. It’s all her, bragging about being prettier than you. Your trending topics are completely genuine, but who knows how much water is in hers.”
Qian Duoduo opened the lunchbox, unable to contain her complaints. While Li Chu was working, she had been battling wits with those “intellectuals” on her alternate account. Thinking about Zhong Yue’s true nature made her even more disgusted.
Li Chu had completely forgotten about Zhong Yue. It took her a while to remember who that was. With a touch of amusement, she opened Weibo and checked the trending topics.
#ZhongYue MilkGirl#
The data for this hashtag clearly showed it was bought.
“Sister, here’s what happened…”
Qian Duoduo explained the whole story to Li Chu.
The milk commercial had been released. Based on the distribution of lines, Li Chu’s character was more eye-catching, especially the moment she smiled coyly at the camera. That smile had even made it to the top 20 trending topics, and the upward glance had been turned into a GIF.
Naturally, Zhong Yue wasn’t happy. Her fans went to the brand’s official account to complain, questioning why someone with less clout than their idol had more screen time.
After the “Zhong Yue Milk Girl” hashtag trended, her fans became even more rampant. While praising Zhong Yue, they also trampled on Li Chu, implying unfair treatment by the brand, mocking her for being a nobody with no notable works, and claiming she wasn’t as pretty as Zhong Yue.
Li Chu’s fans, of course, couldn’t tolerate this. Only one or two percent were old fans; over forty percent were fans of her acting, and the remaining half were attracted to her looks and personality. Hearing that Li Chu wasn’t as pretty as Zhong Yue, her appearance-focused fans were enraged. Seeing Zhong Yue’s fans mock Li Chu for having no works, her acting fans were also furious. True, Li Chu didn’t have any representative works besides her debut two years ago and some clips from variety shows, but they felt she was still a thousand times better than Zhong Yue, who had works but no acting skills. The two fandoms clashed.
“What’s even worse is that they’re bullying you because you don’t have as many fans, and your fanbase is newer and less cohesive. They’ve flooded your fan forum.”
Qian Duoduo was about to explode, swearing eternal enmity with Zhong Yue.
“Sister, don’t be angry. Brother Hu said they’re already preparing. They contacted Director Ji and Teacher San Qiu, who said they could post a Weibo message. They’re getting a trending topic ready and letting Zhong Yue jump around a bit longer.”
Ji Yun wasn’t someone who liked publicity before filming was finished, as he preferred to refine his work. Therefore, there hadn’t been any publicity for the start of filming. Black Gold Entertainment followed the same approach, not having Li Chu post anything on Weibo. But now that someone was stepping on their faces and repeatedly jumping around in their own home, they had to retaliate.
“It’s fine, I’m not angry.”
Li Chu didn’t consider Zhong Yue to be on the same level as herself and didn’t take such provocations seriously. She knew she had the strength to surpass her opponent, and that was enough.
Li Chu ignored her phone and ate her dinner.
Halfway through, Qian Duoduo’s sudden roar almost made her drop her chopsticks.
“I’m so angry!”
Li Chu clutched her chopsticks, her heart still pounding. “What happened?”
Qian Duoduo: “《Cheese-Flavored Love》announced its cast and released stills. It’s trending now. Zhong Yue just got off the trending list, the timing is perfect, isn’t it? Her fans are even more arrogant now.”
“It’s fine, this is perfect.”
Li Chu bit her chopsticks and smiled. The more Zhong Yue stepped on her now, the more spectacular the comeback would be.
Li Chu was almost full. She clicked on the trending topic. The latest ones were Zhong Yue’s fans hounding her, even invading her Super Topic forum.
@YueYueZi’sStrawberry: No way, no way, is there really anyone who thinks LC is prettier than my sister? My sister’s stills are truly stunning. Fans of a certain nobody with no works, please don’t try to ride on her coattails, okay?
@WishMeLikeChu: No way, no way, are there really blind people these days? I can accept different aesthetics, but stepping on one to praise another, and starting the fight first, just proves you’re blind. Li Chu is clearly more than a level prettier than your idol. Your sister is almost thirty and still acting in campus idol dramas. The retouchers must have worked hard on those stills.
@YueYueDaBaoBei: Hehehe, the nobody’s fans are raging, aren’t they? Your idol just has no works and is a flop. Go be sour somewhere else.
@Yan: My sister has good acting skills and doesn’t lack offers. Your idol has been playing the same type of idol drama for ten years. You have the nerve to bring up her works? Speechless. Get out of our Super Topic, okay?
Zhong Yue had debuted earlier and had more fans with stronger fighting power. Li Chu found that in her own Super Topic forum, Zhong Yue’s fans were openly celebrating, posting pictures of Zhong Yue, showering her with praise, and making snide remarks. Her own fans were trying to post new threads and argue with them, and the Super Topic moderators were busy deleting posts, but they couldn’t keep up with the influx of new ones.
The other side kept harping on Li Chu’s lack of well-known works, leaving her fans speechless.
Qian Duoduo, who was deleting posts with her alternate account, suddenly felt a chill and looked up to see Li Chu’s expressionless face.
“S-Sister… C-Calm down!”
Qian Duoduo thought Li Chu looked too much like the serial killer in the drama, her eyes clear and chilling.
The beauty before her moved her red lips and uttered three words.
“Son of a bitch.”
Li Chu was angry! She hadn’t been angry before, because she didn’t take Zhong Yue seriously at all. But seeing Zhong Yue’s fans trashing her own fans made her furious! Thinking about how her fans were still fighting for her but were being chased and scolded because the other side had overwhelming numbers made her even angrier!
If the situation allowed, Li Chu really wanted to post on Weibo and call Zhong Yue an old hag trying to look young!
Earlier, it was Li Chu telling Qian Duoduo to calm down. Now, it was Qian Duoduo holding Li Chu back, preventing her from acting impulsively, because her expression really looked like she was about to grab a kitchen knife and go chop someone up!
Zhao Zhichun finished filming his scenes for the day. He also saw the trending topics and exclaimed, “Wow!”
“Sister Ning, look…”
Since losing the pheromone duel last time, Zhao Zhichun had switched to calling her Sister Ning.
Ning Manqing glanced at the screen full of Zhong Yue’s pictures and frowned in displeasure. Just as she was about to look away, she heard Zhao Zhichun say, “This is Li Zi’s Super Topic.”
Ning Manqing’s expression instantly turned cold. She took her phone from her assistant, looked at it for a while, and then walked towards Ji Yun. Zhao Zhichun followed.
“Hey, am I that kind of disloyal person? Even if you didn’t come to me, I was planning to tell you. Her company has already discussed it with me. I’ll post on Weibo, tag you guys, and you can repost it.”
Ji Yun’s voice reached Li Chu before he did.
Seeing Ning Manqing and Zhao Zhichun behind him, Li Chu knew what they were talking about.
Zhao Zhichun patted his chest. “Li Zi, although I just came back and don’t have many fans, I can ask my friends to help.”
“I can also contact some people.”
Ning Manqing’s initial instinct was to handle it herself, but after a moment’s thought, she realized Black Gold Entertainment wouldn’t be inactive, so she changed her mind and came to find Ji Yun. She also realized she wasn’t reliant on fan economy and her Weibo posts wouldn’t generate much traffic, so she had already decided who to contact. Who knew Zhao Zhichun would speak up first.
Zhao Zhichun felt a sudden chill on the back of his head. When he looked back, he saw nothing and rubbed his head in confusion.
“Thank you, Director Ji, Teacher Ning, and Brother Zhao. I’m so grateful.”
Li Chu put her hands together and winked at them.
Ji Yun waved his hand. “No need to thank me. It’s my duty. We should have done the promotion anyway.”
“You call me brother, how can I not protect you? Right, Sister Ning?”
Zhao Zhichun disliked some of the practices in the entertainment industry, so he chose to retreat at the peak of his popularity. He only returned when he saw suitable and interesting projects. He considered Li Chu to be a good person and couldn’t let her be bullied like this.
Ning Manqing, being called out, nodded in agreement. She didn’t say much, hiding her thoughts amidst the others’ voices.
Li Chu met her gaze and smiled sweetly.
At 8:40 pm, Ji Yun posted a Weibo message.
@JiYun: Happy collaboration with my old friend @SanQiuBuWen, the female lead I’ve been searching for @LiChu, and other excellent actors @NingManqing @ZhaoZhichunIsHere [Too many to tag, so that’s it]
It seemed ordinary, but it caused a huge stir. Marketing accounts quickly reposted it, drama and movie fans cheered below, expressing their excitement for new content, and some laughed at Ji Yun’s straightforwardness.
After Ning Manqing reposted it, her Weibo was reposted by two popular celebrities, expressing their anticipation for Teacher Li and Teacher Ning’s new work. After Zhao Zhichun reposted it, the “national husband” reposted, saying his good brother was back to acting, and he had visited the set and confirmed the female lead’s excellent acting skills. At the same time, the water army and marketing accounts prepared by Hu Yi started working.
The traffic exploded, and that night, the trending topics were almost dominated by Li Chu.
@LiChu: Today is also a happy day for a working girl.
Tang Congnan very efficiently organized the fans for promotion and hype. Li Chu’s fans, who had been attacked all day, were feeling indignant and hurt. As soon as Li Chu’s Weibo post appeared, they were instantly energized and immediately counterattacked.
The marketing accounts prepared by Hu Yi and Tang Congnan, along with other bandwagoning accounts, directly fueled the conflict. Since the fans were already at odds, and it was Zhong Yue who started the fight and attacked the Super Topic forum first, Tang Congnan wasn’t planning to be polite. How dare they insult his girl? They were about to be rubbed into the ground!
@YuQuanEGe: Who do you think is more beautiful between these two omega actresses of the same type? [Poll]
[Li Chu 73%]
[Zhong Yue 27%]
@YiQiChiGua: Who do you think has better acting skills in these GIFs? [Poll]
[Li Chu 94%]
[Zhong Yue 6%]
Many of the voters were passersby. Aesthetic preferences varied, but anyone with eyes who knew a little about acting could tell which side was more impressive.
Li Chu’s beautiful face and decent acting skills attracted a large number of new fans. Zhong Yue’s fans were immediately driven out of Li Chu’s Super Topic forum. Under the trending hashtags, Li Chu’s fans held their heads high, confident in their arguments.
@Zowen: Sweet Pears, charge! Sister works so hard, we have to work hard too! Looking forward to Sister’s new drama!
@LiLiChaoJiTian: Director Ji’s handpicked female lead! Are some fans still clamoring about her having no works? Do you know what amazing means? Even before it airs, I know it’ll be ten thousand times better than your idol’s drama. Someone who can only play one type of role shouldn’t brag about acting skills, okay?
@YuYuLvYuLvYuJu: Sister Li is the best! Some fans, instead of wasting time trolling, should photoshop more pictures for your idol. She’s like an old cucumber painted green, trying to compete with a fresh melon.
@TaNianWoRuoWeiQingDi: Hahaha, as a passerby, I’m so happy to see the public opinion turn around. That “Milk Girl” trending topic was really awkward. Li Chu is clearly more beautiful and youthful in the commercial. I’m totally into her looks. I specifically went to watch the variety show clips. She plays different roles, but they all feel very real. She’s a hidden gem!
@WoCongLaiBuHuiTu: Director Ji and San Qiu teaming up guarantees quality. Director Ji is very strict with casting, which means this beautiful sister is really great. Looking forward to the new drama!
And in a mysterious corner, someone excitedly took screenshots and posted.
@WoYouYiKeQingLiShu: Brothers and sisters! Ship them! Sister Li probably doesn’t know those two popular celebrities, they haven’t worked together before. The two celebrities and Sister Qing are classmates, but they specifically mentioned Sister Li’s name in their reposts to divert traffic. Get it?
@QingLiRIO: If this isn’t love! Thanks, I’m hooked!
@ChiQingLiYa: I’m hooked, I’m hooked!
@QingLiChaoJiTian: I’m hooked, I’m hooked!
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