World Hopping: Avenge Our Love
Translator: translationraven
First Published on Chaleuria
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The short film crew concluded filming for the day while Luo Tong was sending people to report Song Yucheng’s posts, and they were wrapping up for the day.
“Qianchen, you punk troublemaker.” Director Yang read a message, swept his gaze over the Weibo headline, and almost burst out laughing; he even slipped back into dialect.
The others, filming with him, took a peek too and were in stitches. Shen Yi also smiled a rare smile.
After they laughed, however, they went along with it. There was no other way, since they were in the same boat. They could only walk down this path with Song Yucheng now, no matter the shame. What else were they to do? They couldn’t let their organiser be banned before their short film got released!
It would be too embarrassing if that happened. Director Yang and the others dropped everything else and got on Weibo to post their responses, following Song Yucheng’s instructions.
If one had to pick what the greatest reversal in the entertainment world for the year was, this event involving Song Yucheng was definitely it.
The various fan groups were slinging insults left and right, but their own idols turned around to slap them in their faces.
The first to respond was the actress who had posted a selfie. She actually replied to Song Yucheng’s comment.
“It really is an awesome film. I am one of the main female leads in the first half.”
The singer for the film wrote: “It really is an awesome film. I sang the songs.”
Li Xuyang: “It really is an awesome film. I am the main lead actor in the second half.”
Director Yang: “It really is an awesome film. I am the director.”
The fans slinging insults fell silent right away. WTF.
“What the hell? What’s with my cool goddess? Why is she going along with this low-grade promotion?”
“No, no, they really are announcing it officially. Didn’t you see the other posts? The director, main actors and actresses, composer, and post-production team have all replied. OMG! This really is an official announcement for a short film.”
“This is just some lousy short film, isn’t it? Why is our great award-winning Xuyang acting in this? What the hell? I don’t believe it!”
The netizens were lost. They couldn’t figure out what was going on. Yuan Yue then wrote his response, and the entire gossip-watching community on Weibo was shocked!
Yuan Yue: “It really is an awesome film. Xie Qianchen is my junior schoolmate.”
Well, damn, man. You didn’t even act in this, so what did it have to do with you? This stiff way of promotion made people want to laugh and cry at the same time.
Right after that, celebrity scriptwriter Wen Ran updated his Weibo page in response to Song Yucheng’s comment. Professional critics were shocked.
Wen Ran: “The short film by Picture Domain really is awesome. I am the scriptwriter.”
Wha… What?! The great god Wen Ran was doing this too?!
All the netizens went silent. They started to wonder just what the hell this short film project that Xie Qianchen organised was about.
A three-time Hundred Flowers award-winning scriptwriter, award-winning actors and actresses, and a capable director made up the cast and crew of this project. It didn’t look like a simple short film no matter how you looked at it. An ensemble like this was rare, even for large productions like the year-end blockbuster films.
But that announcement made by Song Yucheng was staring in their face like a big joke. It was like he was playing house; media sensationalism. This was f*cking dumb.
The insult-slingers were gobsmacked.
And this was where Xie Qianchen’s popularity in the entertainment circles shone. The spectators of this event finally understood his intentions after the cast and crew personally responded to his posts.
He really was trying to drum up interest in the project just like he’d written. Plus, many who were quick to find things out knew that this short film was about public welfare. The theme was heartwarming too. There was definitely no harm in passing the message on.
More importantly, this short film was personally planned by Xie Qianchen, and the cast he had handpicked were definitely going to be popular. It looked like he was using their popularity, but he was actually giving them a chance.
Quite a few people sent private messages to Xie Qianchen, thanking him, and posted his exact same comment on their own Weibo pages.
Weibo was all abuzz now. The line ‘The short film that Picture Domain is shooting now is awesome! Please look forward to it!’ was on the Weibo pages of most of the celebrities almost instantly. There were a few cheeky people who even stickied the comment at the top of their pages.
When night fell, this phenomenon was reported in the Weibo headlines. It was also number one in the hot search terms list, and had been up there since afternoon.
If one had to rank the top three pieces of news on Weibo which made a person want to laugh and cry at the same time, they would be the news pieces about Cao Kun being cucked, Xiao Lun and menthol balm, and Xie Qianchen’s horribly stiff marketing message.
Quite a number of people who knew the details were definitely caught between laughter and tears. These three headlines were obviously all related to Xie Qianchen.
In the WeChat group conversation:
Director Yang: Qianchen, you really…
Li Xuyang: I’m gonna die laughing!
Ning Lan: I don’t know about you guys but I was so ashamed when I reposted that.
Xie Qianchen: Why? We didn’t have to spend a cent to get it up on the hot search terms list. This is a good thing.
The rest of the group: . . .
It was a good thing. Everyone on Weibo was talking about the first comment snatching incident. The smart smaller celebrities leveraged upon the popularity of the topic and did shoutouts, saying they hoped to see Xie Qianchen get the first comment on their post, or they wouldn’t feel like they were famous!
The System was quite obliging of people like these, and it didn’t pass up the opportunity to comment first.
As for the netizens, they’d gone from feeling rage, to lost, to helpless. They let go of their thoughts in the end, and simply followed Xie Qianchen’s internet footprint to witness him snatching the first comment spots on pages.
There were people putting down bets too, on which celebrity’s Weibo page he would strike next. This one-liner promotional text was sending the entire Weibo into a frenzy. This brainwashed message of Song Yucheng’s even ended up becoming a trend on the internet.
This astounding change upended everyone’s views. Whatever it was, the promotion for the short film was successful and it had brought a lot of entertainment for everyone too.
If a disadvantaged party had to be named, it was the celebrities of Double Universe. They had got ready to fight a battle with Song Yucheng, but their basis for the fight had been torn apart. He had become a national hot topic.
The celebrities under Double Universe management were caught in the middle, and became a very awkward existence. Some people even mocked them, saying that even the big stars of Picture Domain had played along, so what were these smaller fish doing trying to flex their fins in the pond?
And these people became subjects of ridicule.
Luo Tong and the public relations manager of Double Universe sat together in his office, racking their brains over this problem. They got angrier the more they thought about it.
“You guys have to think of a solution! We’re being led by the nose! Look at what’s happening on the internet — look at Picture Domain’s popularity. There’s no need for me to stress how important this is, right?” Luo Tong truly had his panties in a twist.
He’d thought that Xie Qianchen had done it on purpose, to annoy them. He realised that he’d been had when Director Yang and the others stepped forward and went along with the message. And right now, with Xie Qianchen’s ties to the entertainment industry, a large fraction of those in the film industry were taking up the refrain and playing the same beat. There were also those who wanted to ride the trend, advancing wave after wave. All of these highlighted how stupid their mockery and insults were.
They also had this feeling of being left out. The whole country was having fun with it, except Double Universe.
“We really can’t do anything about it. Let’s just wait for their short film to be released.” The public relations manager thought for a long time and felt that this was the only thing they could do.
But Luo Tong’s face twisted with a scowl, and he felt beaten down.
Wait for the short film to be released to deal with Xie Qianchen? How was that any different from daydreaming? The cast that Xie Qianchen had put together were enough for representation overseas! How much would Double Universe have to spend in effort and time to match that?
At that moment, a particular bit of news attracted Luo Tong’s attention. He clicked on it and smiled.
“The Heavens are helping me. Xie Qianchen is digging his own grave!”
“What do you mean?” The public relations manager came over to look at it and his eyes lit up too.
He hadn’t expected it. Xie Qianchen had beaten about the bush, called in all sorts of favours and laid out a brilliant suit of cards, all to prop up his own talent. This was particularly obvious too.
Shen Yi. Who would have thought? The short film had three parts, and the starring role in the third part belonged to Shen Yi.
Xie Qianchen really was flashy in his handling of this business.
Getting the major celebrities to help act as a support for a little celebrity who didn’t even count as a minor celebrity was something only he could do. Of course, there was the possibility that Xie Qianchen had not intended on doing this, but wanted some of the glow of fame to spread to Shen Yi too.
So what if it was? This didn’t stop them from twisting the truth.
Luo Tong thought about it, and he exchanged a look with the public relations manager. They knew what to do now.
It was evening when a new Weibo headline caught the eyes of the netizens.
# True Friendship in the Entertainment Industry — half the industry helping a little no-name make his debut. #
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