Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

I clicked into the trending topics list again.

Tian Xiwei first noticed the trending search terms related to Yang Chaoyue.

It ranked the highest.

It's in 11th place, almost breaking into the top ten.

#Yang Chaoyue, a factory girl's college entrance exam comeback#
Click into the entry.

It was discovered that the post was made by the official Weibo account of "Fighter of the Destiny".

The content consists of a comparison of four photos.

The first picture shows Yang Chaoyue wearing the uniform of Jiaxing Zipper Factory, making a peace sign at the camera on the assembly line.

It was taken by Yang Chaoyue's mother at the time.

His cheeks were round, youthful, and innocent.

The second photo was taken at a textile factory in Shanghai. He was wearing the same factory uniform, but he looked more mature than in the first photo, and he was also taller and had longer legs.

Yang Chaoyue had prepared both of these photos well in advance.

Without Jiang Yang reminding him, he proactively sent it to the film crew.

To cooperate with the publicity.

The third image is a screenshot of an interview I had with a local Yancheng TV station today.

The fourth picture is a still of Yang Chaoyue in the TV series "Fighter of the Destiny".

The caption reads: [She's an actress in "Fighter of the Destiny," and also Yang Chaoyue in real life. These hands, which once toiled on factory assembly lines, have now finished their college entrance exams. Who says those from humble backgrounds can't pursue their dreams!]
Tian Xiwei slid her back down a little from the headboard, bent her knees, and rested her phone on her lap.

The most liked comment was one with a picture.

The original poster shared a photo of their high school desk, covered with clippings of factory job postings, with the caption: "[Chaoyue and I have similar experiences. I also worked in a factory, but she dropped out because she couldn't afford it. My mom arranged for me to work in an electronics factory, saying that girls only needed to know a few words and would get married eventually. I was naive back then. After working for a year, I went back to school. Now I'm a sophomore at a teachers' college. Chaoyue is an actress, and I'll probably be a teacher. Many people online say that studying is useless. Anyway, I think that studying might not guarantee me a lot of money in the future, but it can determine my minimum standard. Good luck, Chaoyue! Good luck to me too!"]
The next item made Tian Xi frown slightly.

The comments were critical of Chao Yue: "[Factory girl chasing her dream? Stop with the nonsense! Nine times out of ten it's just a manufactured drama packaged by capital. It's not even certain if it's real or not. She didn't even post her college entrance exam scores; who knows if she bought her way onto the trending topics?]"
Also: [Taking photos in factory uniforms to gain sympathy; these days celebrities will do anything to become famous, it's so fake.]
Scrolling further down, there was a comment that warmed Tian Xiwei's heart: "[Regardless of whether it's just marketing or not, at least it gave ordinary people like me a glimmer of hope, right? Thank you, Yang Chaoyue!]"
There were praises and criticisms.

Very normal.

Tian Xiwei could understand.

Almost every Weibo post she makes is like this.

Most importantly, Chaoyue's Weibo account did indeed gain more followers and generate buzz.

The next trending topic is related to her.

#Tian Xiwei, Jiang Yang, College Entrance Examination#
Tian Xi was overjoyed to see her name trending on social media.

At the same time, I was also a little annoyed.

It was right below the trending search term "Chaolei" (超跃), ranking twelfth, giving me the feeling of being trampled on by Chaoyue (超跃). I clicked on the entry.

It was discovered that the post was also made by the official Weibo account of "Fighter of the Destiny".

There is a short video of him and Jiang Yang being interviewed.

You could see the nervousness she felt in front of the camera.

There's also a scene in the film where she roughly pulls on Jiang Yang's sleeve.

Tian Xiwei swiped her finger across the screen.

The top-rated comment reads: "[The part where Tian Xiwei talks about her parents saving up to buy dance costumes really touched my heart. My mom used to be like that too; she'd compare prices for ages before buying a T-shirt for herself, but she'd sign me up for extracurricular classes without batting an eye. That's true character!]"
Then there's this: [The key point is that she could have easily said she was an actress to gain exposure, but she held back! Compared to some celebrities using their college entrance exams to elicit sympathy and create buzz, this restraint is truly rare, completely devoid of any greasy, deliberate marketing.]
Looking at this comment, Tian Xi felt a little uneasy.

Because she was actually using the college entrance exam to create buzz.

She didn't try to elicit sympathy; she spoke from the heart.

At the same time, I feel a little relieved.

Fortunately, as Jiang Yang said, he didn't deliberately mention his identity as an actor, but only as an examinee.

As for marketing, that's up to the production team.

It really worked.

[I'm a high school graduate this year. Tian Xiwei's expression, fiddling with her school uniform sleeve, her smile tinged with tears, perfectly captured my feelings. I felt her crying wasn't a rehearsed performance; it was the genuine emotion of a young girl who had just finished her exams and wanted to tell her parents what was on her mind. It was even more moving than the character she was portraying. To be honest, I'm really looking forward to seeing Tian Xiwei in "Fighter of the Destiny."]
[Jiang Yang actually shouted "Buff Yasuo!" at the end, hahaha, that cracked me up! So even a player like Jiang Yang plays League of Legends? Hahaha, that's what young people should be like!]
[The banter between Jiang Yang and Tian Xiwei was just like how I interact with my classmates. They said things like "give me some face," and "you're already getting cocky before the scores are even out." It didn't seem like acting at all. These kinds of genuine, unforced interactions are rare in the Chinese entertainment industry these days. Whether it's a publicity stunt or not, I found it quite enjoyable to watch. It reminded me of my high school days. It really stung this fishmonger; from now on, I'll only sell my dead fish to college students.]
Tian Xiwei read the first few highly-rated comments.

Surprisingly, no one was cursing.

No.

This does not meet Jiang Yang's expectations.

There has to be controversy for it to generate buzz.

Continuing to read, I indeed saw the insults.

Some questioned whether it was a publicity stunt: "[Stop claiming it's real. The video posted by the official Weibo account of 'Fighter of the Destiny' might have been a pre-arranged interview! These days, celebrities always use this 'chance encounter' style of exposure; we're tired of this routine. And to be honest, these two aren't even celebrities. They don't even have a million Weibo followers. At best, they're just obscure actors; they'll never become famous.]"
Some nitpickers commented: "[Wasn't Tian Xi's slight tugging at her sleeve a bit too deliberate? Her expressions shifted between nervous and lively, more smoothly than during filming, giving the impression of overacting.]"
I saw someone criticizing me.

Knowing it will boost popularity, there's definitely some dissatisfaction.

The next comment is: [What did Jiang Yang say besides shouting about games? Speechless. When asked how his exam went, all he could do was joke. There was no substance to his answer. It's definitely the standard rhetoric of an empty-headed actor. I bet Jiang Yang can only get into a vocational college.]
There were also those who criticized Jiang Yang.

She opened Jiang Yang's chat window and screenshotted this comment: ["Jiang Yang, look, you got insulted!"]
Jiang Yang replied: ["It's okay, don't be angry, don't worry about the comments from netizens."]
Tian Xiwei typed: [“Why don’t I care? You got scolded, but I’m happy.”]
Jiang Yang: ["???"]
Tian Xiwei: ["Let's get criticized together, and gain followers together, hehehe."]
Jiang Yang: ["You scared me. Do you have any SM tendencies?"]
Tian Xiwei didn't notice the message because she had opened the emoji list and was staring at the kiss emoji.

I pressed it a few times in a row.

The message had just been sent when it showed that Jiang Yang had retracted it.

What did Jiang Yang withdraw? (End of Chapter)