Gu Yixue: [When did we start having to research the actors and director before even watching a movie?]
Liang Shi: [So when were we photographed?]
Gu Yixue: [Who knows?]
Liang Shi then asked Gu Yixue if she wanted to clarify.
She was used to this kind of thing in the Chinese entertainment industry; she had experienced much harsher things before.
So right now she's acting with the mindset that "anything trending on social media is a money-making opportunity."
I'll jump on any trending topic and ride any hot search list, trying not to spend a single penny on movie promotion. Before, when I was dealing with Chen Liuying, I was thinking of emptying the bottle, but now I'm too lazy to control it at all.
Why do we need online trolls? The real buzz comes from this conflict.
Those film critics and their fans who have seen their movies are their free online army.
Liang Shi had already reported this matter to Xu Qingzhu, and Xu Qingzhu agreed, only asking her to handle it as she saw fit.
But Gu Yixue is also married, so we should also consider Gu Yixue's situation.
Before Gu Yixue could even reply to her, she directly issued a clarification.
@Quella: Married, please do not disturb.
I personally stepped in to refute the rumors.
Liang Shi immediately retweeted her Weibo post:
@Liang Shi: It's not about me, there's no need to make such wild guesses.
The internet finally quieted down for a short while.
Unexpectedly, the third episode of "Let's Go, Now" aired on the same day as the release of "Heart's Journey," just at different times.
"Heart's Journey" is positioned as an art film, so it had very few screenings on the first day.
The first screening was at 9 a.m., without deliberately choosing a meaningful time; it was just shown among many other films.
However, because the subject matter was relatively new, and Liang Shi was good-looking, the posters of the films had an advantage in terms of appearance, so some people went to see them.
The first day received a lukewarm response.
It's nowhere near as good as "Let's Go, Now".
The preview for the last episode blurred Liang Shi's face, but since the show is airing today, Liang Shi naturally needs to be promoted with the topic. The text was sent to her by her agent, and she edited it before sending it. She herself is more concerned about the developments of "Heart Journey".
Unexpectedly, her comment section was flooded with comments as soon as she posted the promotional post.
[Why you? Is there something fishy going on?]
[Get lost, you resource-backed bastard.]
How can you be so shameless?
[...]
Almost no positive reviews. Her pinned post on Weibo is a promotion for "Heart's Journey," and the background image is a set of red dress photos that she liked the most when she became popular.
Despite the criticism from netizens, which propelled her to the top of the trending topics, her fan base continues to grow.
Since nothing was broadcast, Liang Shi had no way to defend himself and could only lie down and let himself be ridiculed.
The film "Heart Journey" has a rating of 9.8 on a certain movie streaming platform.
Netizens were shocked.
[How many online trolls did they hire?]
[Seriously, how can a period romance drama set in the Republican era turn out like this? How long has it been since we've seen a good drama in China?]
[Are two female leads really that appealing? This movie has an excessive number of paid promoters.]
[...]
Nobody believes him.
Even though it was shortlisted for an international film competition.
But for the domestic audience, it's just an art film made by a director for his own self-admiration. What kind of style can it have? An incomprehensible script coupled with psychedelic camerawork, and a bunch of film critics praising it incoherently, is nothing more than self-indulgence.
Works that can resonate with the audience are not something that artsy types can create.
The audience didn't believe Quella from the beginning.
Unexpectedly, because of this psychedelic rating, "Heart's Journey" once again topped the trending searches.
Nobody believed that a bad movie could have such a high rating, so they decided to go to the cinema to see it out of a sense of challenge.
I plan to watch it all before I launch into a well-reasoned and justified critique.
As a result, the tickets for the second day of screenings of "Heart's Journey" were sold out. A blogger who owns a movie theater posted about it and said he was quite shocked.
Netizens were also quite shocked.
Although a variety show aired that night, Liang Shi didn't have many scenes and his performance was average. The only thing that was criticized was that he called Yang Shuyan by her name directly, which was said to be impolite by netizens and Yang Shuyan's fans.
Then they brought up Zhao Ying, saying that someone who could hang out with Zhao Ying couldn't possibly be a good person.
Liang Shi was no longer bothered by it; all she could do was send a message to Zhao Ying apologizing for dragging her into this.
Zhao Ying directly posted on Weibo:
@Zhao Ying: I heard Xiao Liang went to the Human Town? Did you try some delicious taro mochi for me? #Let'sGoNow#
It was tied directly to a ship.
Liang Shi: ...
Zhao Ying's response was, "So many people are criticizing me, a few more of them won't make a difference."
Liang Shi thought that made sense, so he let the netizens do whatever they wanted. Anyway, once the internet cable was unplugged, he couldn't see anything.
That evening, she also chatted with Xu Qingzhu, saying, "This online world is terrifying; you can be cyberbullied at any time."
Xu Qingzhu chuckled: "Then I won't look. Thinking about it carefully has its advantages. As long as I can't see it, they won't be cursing me."
Liang Shi: "...That makes sense!"
However, the next day, the rating for "Heart's Journey" continued to rise, and the rating on a certain platform also continued to increase.
Everyone's feedback has been very positive.
I initially thought it would be a terrible romantic drama, but everyone was moved by it.
[I really underestimated Liang Shi's acting skills. My God, her crying scene at the end broke my heart.]
[And also, Sun Chengcheng's acting is superb! You can't tell at all that they're complete newcomers.]
[I have to say, Quella's reputation as a genius director is well-deserved. The atmosphere, the eye contact during their first encounter, the camera work—it was absolutely breathtaking, it really stunned me!]
[Before entering the theater: I'm curious to see just how good it is! After leaving the theater: Damn! How can this movie be so good!]
[...]
As a result, the screenings were fully booked on the third day as well, so cinemas began to increase the number of screenings.
The insults directed at Liang Shi are gradually disappearing.
There's even a tag online that says, "#Apologize for Liang Shi's beauty and acting skills."
[I'm sorry, I was naive. I thought beautiful women generally couldn't act.]
[I'm totally obsessed! Is she wearing colored contact lenses? Her eyes are so beautiful!]
[You're not just a pretty face, you're a true actress! (Scream!)]
[...]
Because there are so many keywords and trending topics related to Liang Shi, her views and those of Sun Chengcheng have become polarized.
Sun Chengcheng has a good reputation, but her fan base is growing much faster than hers.
In just five days, Liang Shi's fan base had grown to over ten million.
Sun Chengcheng's share is less than a million.
On the first Friday after the premiere of "The Journey of the Heart," a company employee posted a picture of a movie ticket online: "The company gave us these; apparently everyone got one. Is this movie really good? I'm curious."
Others asked: "Are we working at the same company?"
The other party replied: 【No, I'm in Jiahe.】
Wow! I'm in awe! A Fortune 500 company!
Where are you?
I'm at Minghui.
[...]
So there's also the hashtag #WhenCanIGetInJiahe#.
Netizen: [Big companies are great, they even offer free movies.]
That evening, Gu Yixue liked that person's Weibo post on her main account and also posted a Weibo post with that tag.
@Quella: @Jiahe, thank you for your support, Sister Shen. @Shenfenghe's Alternate Account
Liang Shi was stunned by her actions, utterly amazed, and sent her a message: 【Is this the legendary "blind spot under the lamp"?】
Gu Yixue: [Otherwise?]
Liang Shi: [...I've learned something.]
Gu Yixue: [But I don't recommend learning this.]
Liang Shi: [? So what are you doing?]
Gu Yixue: [Playing with fire.]
Liang Shi: [...]
Liang Shi didn't know what Gu Yixue was planning to do, but she did know what Xu Qingzhu had done.
Xu Qingzhu bought many movie tickets to support Liang Shi.
Liang Shi didn't want to expose Xu Qingzhu to the public. To be precise, she didn't want her private life exposed. She didn't want to be publicly judged online about how well or poorly matched the two of them were. She didn't want anyone to cause trouble for Xu Qingzhu when she collaborated with others one day.