Marry a female star at a bargain price

The news that Lin Xiao was about to start a live stream quickly caused a huge uproar online.

This makes sense.

After all, the official version of "Rice Fragrance" was used as the background music for the official promotional video of Nanzhou Province last Sunday, which once again sparked a wave of enthusiasm.

Netizens have been eagerly awaiting this song for half a month.

The song was first performed on the show "Rebirth," where a short segment was played and sung live with only guitar accompaniment and background noise.

But it was breathtakingly beautiful.

What's the impression it gives netizens? Just when they were starting to get interested, that guy pulled up his pants and left.

Netizen:? ? ?
He muttered curses, tore off two tissues, wiped himself clean, and left, then continued cursing.

After two days of criticism without getting the official version of "Rice Fragrance" released, the online sentiment began to subtly shift—netizens started begging for it!
Lin Xiao deliberately refused to release the official version, just to spite netizens.

Who told netizens to criticize him so harshly a while ago?

As a time traveler with the essence of all the entertainment on Earth recorded in his mind, achieving financial freedom is just a matter of writing a few dozen musical scores in one night. Why would he need to cater to netizens' preferences and online trends for money?

What a joke!

He has the leverage to engage in a tug-of-war with netizens, so he sits back leisurely, waiting for all the online haters to apologize to him.

Instead of an apology, the Nanzhou government demanded the official version of the song—it felt like a folk invention being noticed by the authorities.

The people do not fight with the officials!
Moreover, Lin Xiao is already part of this system, and he had previously made a gentleman's agreement with a higher-up leader because of his father-in-law and mother-in-law's matter.

He did not do it for money or fame.

However, she couldn't refuse to give face to the organization and leaders, so Sihua agreed to record the official version of "Rice Fragrance" for use by the higher-ups.

As for getting angry with netizens, I don't care anymore!
Who would have thought that the leaders would also be cunning? After obtaining the official version of "Rice Fragrance," they not only used it themselves but also wanted to use it first, so that Cao Yuanzhi's side would hold onto it for another month before officially releasing it.

As a result, while netizens finally heard the full and official versions of "Rice Fragrance," they still couldn't listen to it as freely as they would on a music streaming app. Instead, they had to listen to it in conjunction with the official promotional video from Nanzhou Province.

If it could be properly appreciated, that would be fine.

At worst, just keep the video on, put your phone down, and listen to music without watching anything.

The problem is, promotional videos definitely have voiceovers; without voiceovers, they're not promotional videos, they're music videos!

The official promotional video for Nanzhou Province cannot be a music video showcasing the scenery of Nanzhou Province.

So, the dubbing in this film is clear and articulate, and the language used is solemn and grand, but the background music... is a bit rap-ish?
The main theme is a mixed style, a hodgepodge!

But it became a hit!

And it's incredibly popular!
If you ask how it became popular, it's definitely because it rode the wave of popularity of "Rice Fragrance". The calls for an official version of this song from netizens have reached the point where almost the entire internet is shouting, and netizens' patience and anticipation have reached a freezing point.

Even if the visuals and voiceover of this promotional video are just the usual setup, if it were accompanied by some horror scenes from The Ring, netizens would rush to download, play, and loop it. Even if it were accompanied by pictures of poop, netizens would still have to taste it!

Therefore, the promotional video went viral, spreading across the entire internet and the whole country, and immediately soared to the top three of the trending searches on major internet platforms.

For an official promotional video, this is unprecedented in terms of viewership.

This is exactly the effect the Nanzhou Propaganda Department wanted; this move is perfect.

Netizens are really in trouble.

The official version of "Rice Fragrance" has finally arrived, but it's mixed with old-fashioned and clichéd promotional videos, giving people the feeling that the ice cream they've been longing for has just been handed to them, but before they even had a chance to lick it, it's fallen to the ground.

Pick it up, it's still edible, and it's quite sweet, but it's disgusting.

Ever since.

Netizens' expectations have reached their absolute peak; they can't go any higher, or they'll falter.

Then, at this critical juncture, a topic called "Begging for the official release of 'Rice Fragrance'" quietly rose to the top of the trending searches.

It's posted under the topic "Promotional video for Nanzhou Province".

Lin Xiao received a voice message from his wife just before he was about to leave work on Monday, and that's when he found out what had happened.

Clicking into the trending topics list made me laugh.

The comments section was just as miserable as the topic's name suggested, filled with netizens' helpless pleas after being thoroughly mocked; it was truly pathetic.

"Please, I just want to listen to a song properly, is that so hard?"

"Rice Fragrance is a good song, but the original singer is not a good person. He insisted on mixing it with shit before letting everyone eat it!"

"Even if you release a VVVIP version and charge ten yuan per download, I'll accept it. But what's with ignoring the demands of netizens and refusing to release the official version? Are you taking revenge on everyone?"

"Great God Lin Xiao, if it's because I insulted you before, then I apologize to you, isn't an apology enough!"

"Lin Xiao, you have one day to release the official version. If you can't, then pretend I didn't say anything!"

"Just release the audio, don't force me to kneel down and beg you!"

"..."

Lin Xiao found it increasingly amusing.

What's going on?

When he was angry with netizens before, they all stood up straight and not only didn't give him a nice look, but also said even more nasty things.

Now that I've given up, I'm preparing to release the official version.

Surprisingly, netizens backed down instead.

He thought it was hilarious.

However, upon closer examination, the logic behind the absurd and unexpected appearance is quite clear.

From a market perspective, singers and actors are no different from sales clerks at department store counters; they are all promoting the products they sell, making them typical service industry professionals.

Netizens are customers, and customers are God.

Expecting God to apologize to the bank teller? That's impossible, absolutely impossible!
Of course, the relationship between celebrities and netizens is more complicated. After all, even if celebrities are just sales clerks, they are also high-level members. Under the operation of capital, they can even manipulate fans as easily as playing with dogs.

Therefore, the relationship between service personnel and God is not so easily explained.

However, even in terms of popularity, Lin Xiao is definitely not a qualified top influencer.

When "Rice Fragrance" first appeared in the second episode of "Longing for Married Life," he was being relentlessly criticized online because of his macho image in the first episode and previous negative news.

Of course, this also involves other popular celebrities and the capital behind them.

After all, the market share of traffic is only so big.

The sudden popularity of Lin Xiao and Han Xixi has threatened the interests of many people.

When you're popular and have a good reputation, people are busy spreading rumors about you and buying dirt on you. When you're embroiled in scandals and your reputation declines, your rivals will naturally seize the opportunity to kick you while you're down and buy tons of negative trending topics about you.

To my partner: It's nothing, don't be shy!
Under the manipulation of the market and capital, Lin Xiao's reputation was infamous at that time. In fact, he hadn't done anything wrong. Many of his scandals were fabricated and exaggerated upon closer examination.

With this kind of persona and reputation.

Wanting self-righteous netizens to apologize to him for a song? Absolutely not.

So what has he apologized for now?

The reason is simple: by the fourth episode of "Rebirth," his reputation had reversed.

In the first episode, he was criticized by the entire internet for his male chauvinism. In addition, the fact that he, as a public official, went on variety shows to make money naturally made him a target of ridicule.

However, the later episodes aired.

Netizens discovered that Lin Xiao and Han Xixi's interactions were actually very natural, and neither of them seemed to be acting at all.

This is quite rare, especially compared to the other two groups of guests, making it all the more precious. They are so genuine, just like an ordinary couple in real life, except that they moved to a small house in the countryside, but they are still living their lives in a down-to-earth manner.

Since it's about living life, there shouldn't be so much male chauvinism and pampered wife literature.

As a couple, the main thing is to support each other and help each other out. Whoever is less tired does the housework, and if both are tired, they just leave it to each other.

If you cook, I have to wash the dishes; if you do the laundry, I have to mop the floor.

This is not a matter of mutual respect.

This is insane!

There is no absolute fairness in married life; what exists is that you can see my efforts and I can understand your hardships!

This simple philosophy of marriage was fully demonstrated in the later episodes, in the daily interactions between Lin Xiao and Han Xixi.

Netizens then realized: Lin Xiao seemed so repulsive in the first episode not because he wasn't a man worth entrusting your life to, but simply because he wasn't pretending.

Then his reputation suddenly reversed.

In addition, in the third episode, the couple went to a primary school to hold a class meeting. Han Xixi was praised by the whole network for her seriousness, dedication and responsibility. Lin Xiao, the "good wife", also benefited from the praise and was completely corrected by netizens.

After all, Han Xixi is such a good person, the husband she chooses shouldn't be too bad.

As a result, Lin Xiao's reputation suddenly reversed. It seemed inexplicable, but in fact, there were clues to it.

That's why we're in this situation now, with netizens suddenly changing their attitudes, starting this topic on their own, and lining up to apologize in the comments section.

There is a type of fan online called "guilt fans".

This refers to a celebrity being attacked online for something, but later clarifying that it was a misunderstanding, and then becoming a fan because of the guilt felt by casual netizens.

There are still quite a few fans like this.

Lin Xiao has written so many songs, each one a hit, yet he hasn't accumulated many die-hard fans; instead, he has far more haters than die-hards.

Unexpectedly, appearing on a variety show and benefiting from his wife's fame attracted a huge number of fans who felt guilty.

This is not just outrageous, it's downright bizarre.

Lin Xiao: We've caught a good time!

Because of this topic, Lin Xiao unilaterally "reconciled" with netizens. To show his sincerity, he is actually quite willing to release the official version of "Rice Fragrance" as soon as possible.

But now, it's no longer up to him to decide.

After all, this song was the theme song for the official promotional video of Nanzhou Province, so it was of such a high standard and carried such a heavy imprint that even he himself had lost control of it.

So now, faced with the sincere apologies from the entire internet, he can only shrug and say that he can't help them.

To show sincerity.

Lin Xiao picked the comment with the most likes and replied below:
[This Thursday at 8 PM, I'll be singing a song live for you all in the "Handsome Man from the Deep Mountains" livestream room. Pretty cool, right? [witty]]

This comment immediately ignited the anger of netizens who were already lamenting the situation.

He received numerous replies, all of them showering him with flowers and kisses, and some even inexplicably gave him the nickname "Boss Lin".

Lin Xiao found it all very strange.

No, this sounds so江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), how am I supposed to work within the system in the future?
He was both amused and exasperated, sometimes finding netizens quite endearing, despite their shamelessness!

……

With Lin Xiao taking the opportunity to advertise, Chen Dong's account "Handsome Man in the Deep Mountains" saw its follower count skyrocket.

In the early stages, his hometown of "Starlight Town" was discovered by fans, and his fan base skyrocketed from 40 to over one million in just a few months.

In the past few days, the live streams have already announced that Lin Xiao would be a guest, and the number of fans has increased again, reaching 200 million.

Now, the real deal is personally endorsing and advertising it.

This time, the traffic was even more extraordinary, instantly pushing Chen Dong's account to the top of Douyin. In just one night, his followers soared to 5 million, and by 3:18 pm on Thursday, his follower count officially exceeded 10 million.

Chen Dong was dumbfounded.

A few months ago, he was just a minor internet celebrity who became famous by making funny and contrasting transformation videos. His popularity was extremely unstable, and his new videos only got a few hundred likes, and it was difficult to even get a thousand.

Unexpectedly, he hadn't done anything lately, and hadn't even updated his videos for over a month because he was helping his fellow villagers sell oranges via livestream.

But inexplicably, by some strange twist of fate... he became a multi-millionaire internet celebrity?

Chen Dong has been an internet celebrity for two or three years.

But only now did he truly understand the power of the internet and the terror of internet traffic.

He finally understood why celebrities and internet influencers would do so many eye-catching and shameless things for traffic and popularity.

At the moment, Chen Dong has no time to reflect on these things, nor is he interested in adapting to the life of a multi-millionaire internet celebrity.

His attention was focused on tonight's live broadcast.

To make it easier for him to sell oranges, Xingguang Town prepared a clean room for him in Chenjia Village Committee, which was specially used as a live broadcast room.

At 7:30 p.m., Comrade Lin Xiao, the first guest in the live broadcast, arrived at the village committee.

At 8:00 sharp, the live broadcast started on time.

As soon as the live stream was opened, more than 3 people flooded in within a minute, and that number is still skyrocketing.

Chen Dong had never seen anything like this before.

He is actually quite introverted. When he first started live streaming, he stammered and couldn't even speak fluently.

After practicing for a while, I've finally mastered the skill and can now stream smoothly and steadily for more than two hours. Sometimes, I can even crack a few witty remarks when replying to netizens' comments.

But today, he was completely dumbfounded.

The comments section scrolled by so quickly that he couldn't even see them clearly; they just flashed by in a flash.

The live stream was still flooded with various gifts, even high-end gifts worth thousands of dollars.

If this happened in an island nation or South Korea, the anchor would be kneeling down and crying for his father!

However, when it came to Chen Dong, the anchor remained completely expressionless.

Because I was completely terrified.

Fortunately, he is literate and was able to notice that the most frequently appearing word in the comments section was "Lin Xiao".

Netizens are going crazy, all for Lin Xiao.

Chen Dong slowly came to his senses. After forcefully promoting the navel oranges of Xingguang Town, he announced loudly, "I can see everyone's anticipation and enthusiasm, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Let's welcome our mayor of Xingguang Town, the famous singer and musician—Teacher Lin Xiao, with the warmest cheers!!!"

Chen Dong's shouts were so exciting that even he felt his blood boiling.

The live stream interface was even more frenzied.

The comments section exploded even more wildly, with netizens acting as if they had collectively gone into a frenzy, showering the comments with exclamation marks and cheers, while gifts in the live stream were being sent in like crazy.

It's just a small screen.

But at this moment, it somehow evoked the feeling of extravagant spending and decadent indulgence found in the world of celestial pleasures.

Amidst great anticipation, Lin Xiao's voice was heard before he appeared in person.

After a few chirps of insects, a familiar and melodious tune began to play.

"If you have too many complaints about this world..." (End of Chapter)