Chinese entertainment: Top stars started being pursued by young actresses

Chapter 197, Section 196: A Showdown Between Top Stars (4K)

After its release, the film gained positive word-of-mouth, and more and more people went to the cinema to see "Better Days".

In a shopping mall
Lin Shaobai's die-hard fan Chen Siqi went shopping with several of her girlfriends.
"Hey, have you guys seen any of the recent movies?!"

Chen Siqi brought up the topic herself, as she wanted to show her support for the film "Better Days".

"You're not thinking of 'Shanghai Fortress,' are you?! You like that movie? Are you out of your mind?"

Chen Siqi felt insulted.

He actually said he likes "Shanghai Fortress"?
Is the movie "Shanghai Fortress" even watchable by humans?!

"The Wandering Earth" opened the door to Chinese science fiction films, but this film slammed it shut.

This whole process hasn't taken very long.

"I have no idea why Lu Han wanted to take on this garbage movie. It's supposed to be a sci-fi film, but all the special effects are cheap and the romance is completely nonsensical."

"I think Lu Hancai's acting was terrible. He plays a soldier in the show, and soldiers have long hair? Do you think that's realistic? Doesn't his bangs cover his eyes during combat? And his acting was awful!"

"This is it? And those people are still marketing it and calling it a relay race for domestic science fiction films? Bah!"

"A textbook example of a terrible movie. This director claims it took six years to make. He probably spent those six years picking his toes, didn't he?!"

"It's outrageous. I watched a few clips where the male lead controls a fighter jet with his phone. Isn't that insane?"

"If you ask me, Lin Shaobai is the best actor among the top stars. You just said that Lin Shaobai's recent film, 'Better Days,' is super good."

As the female college students chatted, they finally found something that resonated with Chen Siqi.

From the very beginning, she wanted everyone to talk about "Better Days".

"Better Days is super good! I went to see it with my boyfriend the other day. I recommend you go see it too."

"Hehe, I'll definitely watch it! I'm going to watch it three times!" Chen Siqi happily raised her milk tea: "I'm going to watch all of Lin Shaobai's movies three, four, or even more times! I'm going to help my brother achieve his sales targets!"

Her close friends next to her exchanged bewildered glances.

"After all this time, you still like Lin Shaobai."

"Of course, I've always liked Lin Shaobai, mainly because he's very handsome."

Chen Siqi blinked her starry eyes.

Several of her friends completely agreed with her.

Nobody says Lin Shaobai isn't handsome.

With his handsome face and superb acting skills, he constantly creates hit roles and popular dramas, gaining a huge following in the industry.

"Shao Bai is super handsome."

"Ahem, while you're praising Lin Shaobai, I should also praise the female lead in this drama."

"Zhou Dongyu?"

"Who praised her? I'm talking about Wei Lai."

"But Wei Lai isn't the female lead; she's just the second female lead. And not even a proper second female lead."

"I often see her highlights online, I never thought she wasn't one of them."

"How could they cast such a villain as the female lead? That would make the movie inappropriate."

At this very moment, outside a movie theater in a shopping mall, a group of viewers have just finished watching "Better Days" and are coming out.

"Frog Fun, Lin Shaobai's acting is really good."

"I think Zhou Dongyu acted quite well too. But do you think they ended up together?"

"They should be together now, right? Didn't Lin Shaobai bravely look up at the camera at the end? He used to be too scared to look at the camera, and he would pull his hat down whenever he was in front of it."

"Zhou Dongyu is so pitiful, he was beaten the whole time. And Zhou Ye's character is so evil."

"Although she is very beautiful, she is really bad."

"It's beautiful and beautiful!"

Almost everyone who came out of the theater praised how good the movie was, and there was no situation like "rnm refund".

Coincidentally, the film's release date was moved up, coinciding with the release of "Shanghai Fortress," both of which are summer blockbusters.

Comparisons are inevitable given that one came before the other.

Lu Hanfang's fans and Lin Shaobai's fans started fighting on Weibo!

Two top stars are both filming movies at the same time, both playing the male lead, and their release dates are around the same time. How could they not fight?!
Initially, some marketing accounts put the box office and ratings of the two people's movies on a single chart for comparison.

Have you guys seen the two recent movies, *Shanghai Fortress* and *Better Days*? Personally, I think Lin Shaobai's performance was better.

[The blogger has good taste; Lin Shaobai's acting is far from expressionless.]

[Take our Lin Shaobai away! Lin Shaobai is on a completely different level.]

Anyone with eyes can tell who's a better actor, Lin Shaobai or Lu Han.

[With "Better Days" grossing 7 million yuan on its opening day, how can "Shanghai Fortress" even boast about its meager box office?]

Why drag Lin's father into this when Lu Han's movie flopped?

[Even if I'm not a fan, someone's looks alone are nowhere near Lin Shaobai's. Why do they always like to drag others down with them?]

Lu Han's studio is also aware of the online comments about him and Lin Shaobai.

Lu Han is currently filming the TV series "Cross Fire," and his studio staff are furious after seeing the online comments.

But there's nothing you can do if you're angry.

Whenever a marketing account compares the two, the comments are always dominated by Lin Shaobai's fans, while Lu Han's fans' attempts to control the narrative are pushed to the bottom.

Everyone in Lin Shaobai's fan group is always ready for "battle".

[Quick, everyone! Everyone! Get ready to grab the front row!]

[No duplexes allowed! No duplexes allowed! This is important, so I'm saying it three times!]

[Strive to ensure that none of their fans' comments make it to the top of the search results!]

Why are these two movies grouped together?

Staff at Lu Han's studio complained.

"Who knows? That's just how the theaters operate. Summer is a good time because everyone's on vacation."

"Wouldn't it be better to book it for the Spring Festival period?"

"This movie isn't exactly a family-friendly film, so it's not really suitable for the Spring Festival release."

"It doesn't matter who you bump into, why did it have to be Lin Shaobai? Who in the Chinese entertainment industry dares to mess with their fans these days?"

"That's the truth; nobody dares to mess with them."

The studio staff took out their phones and checked the latest data.

"Actually, our movie did quite well on its opening day, grossing 74 million. However, due to poor word-of-mouth, it continued to decline and hasn't broken 100 million yet."

"I don't think the movie's poor performance has anything to do with Lu Han; it's just that the movie is terrible."

The staff at the studio are blatantly lying; they'll protect their artists no matter what.

"Um...actually, it still has a tiny bit of a connection with the protagonist."

"What does it have to do with anything? Didn't you see that our Lu Ge only had 15 minutes in the whole movie?! And it was the director who didn't let Lu Ge cut his hair, so what does it have to do with Lu Ge?"

Lu Han's manager walked into the room and saw the two arguing fiercely. He immediately yelled, "Alright! Stop arguing! When will this end? You're arguing like this over such a trivial matter. Isn't it normal for fans to fight? Don't worry about it."

Lu Han's fan base has decreased, but he still debuted in the Xiao Han boy band.

It's perfectly normal for boy groups and girl groups to have conflicts.

In the past, when a song was released, fans would calculate the number of lines and the amount of time their favorite idols sang in the song. They would use this to judge whether the company was treating their idols unfairly.

It's possible that even just having a few fewer words than other members could cause a company to be completely torn apart.

Phrases such as "overly promoting royalty will incur divine retribution" and "please treat xxx fairly" appeared.

Which group member hasn't experienced fan wars?
Because the three members who returned to China are in the same field, their fans often engage in arguments and comparisons.

In his early years, Zhang Xingxing was often criticized because he didn't have any good works.

Lu Han has never lost when it comes to fan wars.

The first time I ever lost was because of Lin Shaobai's fans.

On Weibo's trending topics, Lu Han's fans lost completely.

The overall data was trampled underfoot by Lin Shaobai's fans, Bai He.

It's so spicy, I can't beat it at all.

After Lu Han finished filming and returned to his RV, he checked the trending topics and found them all filled with unflattering pictures of himself!
"Huh? No, what's going on here? How did the square get massacred?"

His assistant was also shocked.

The once wildly popular internet celebrity has been completely wiped out in the public square at this moment?!
The assistant remained outwardly silent, but inwardly admired the formidable attack power of Lin Shaobai's fans; it truly lived up to its reputation.

Who dares to mess with the Chinese entertainment industry now...?

"It's probably because the two movies are released at the same time, and fans will compare them and then start arguing."

"Oh."

Lu Han chuckled, indicating that he had seen this situation far too many times.

But unexpectedly, their fans failed this time.

"Look at this, look at this. Now they can't even win an argument, and the viewership drops so quickly after making a bad movie."

Lu Han mocked himself.

The agent quickly came over and said, "Do you want to hear the truth?"

"Just tell me directly, there's no need to keep me in suspense."

"The main reason for your drop in popularity is that you announced Guan Xiaotong's relationship without my consent. Very few top celebrities announce their girlfriends like you do."

Lu Han came from a Korean idol group, and dating is explicitly prohibited in the Korean idol industry.

The reason he gained so many fans was largely based on their fantasies.

In 2017, when he officially announced that his girlfriend was Guan Xiaotong, he lost a large number of fans.

Fans might think, "You already have a girlfriend, why are we still chasing after you?"
You are no longer our partner.

You are Guan Xiaotong's private property.

In the past, the public was very resistant to idols dating!
I became a little more accepting of it after 2019.

Agent: "I have no idea what was wrong with your brain back then, that you actually thought of announcing Guan Xiaotong on Weibo. Is your brain full of bubbles when you're in love?"

Lu Han remained silent.

"So what if I stop being a fan? Anyway... anyway, I've switched to acting after returning to China, and actors can date."

"But all your previous fans were fans you accumulated as an idol. If you make this official announcement, you'll lose those old fans."

"...Alright, you've told me this so many times already, there's no need to say it again. I'm sick of hearing it. Anyway, the fan wars will be over in a few days, so I won't log on to Weibo for the next few days to avoid getting upset."

Lu Han turned off her phone and continued reading the script.

……

The movie "Better Days" has so far benefited the male lead Lin Shaobai and the female supporting actress Zhou Ye the most.

Zhou Ye's fan base has grown exponentially, making him the second most popular celebrity after Lin Shaobai recently.

A whole bunch of major beauty brands came to her asking her to do promotions.

However, most of these were short-term collaborations and promotional activities, and Lin Shaobai secured a long-term deal for her.

[Shiseido brand skincare ambassador].

Knowing Zhou Ye's rising popularity, the brand happily agreed to Lin Shaobai's request.

One endorsement and promotional event after another kept Zhou Ye so happy that he couldn't sleep well at night.

When the weekend came, representatives from Shiseido came to Lin Shaobai's company to discuss cooperation.

They also agreed on a time to shoot the endorsement photos.

After the brand representative left, Zhou Ye jumped up and down happily.

When my senior sister smiles, her eyes crinkle into a line, making her look as cute as an adorable Samoyed.

Lin Shaobai felt that if Zhou Ye had to be described with an animal, a Samoyed would be the most suitable.

Many people online also say that her smile is as cute as a Samoyed's.

How did such an adorable Samoyed manage to portray a villain like Wei Lai?
"Thank you, Mr. Lin."

Zhou Ye smiled.

Lin Shaobai leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at his senior sister standing in the distance: "There's another luxury brand endorsement coming up, but it will take some time."

Thank you. Really, thank you.

"You're welcome..." Lin Shaobai sat back in his chair and tapped the table with his hand: "Senior sister, are you interested in travel variety shows?"

"Travel variety show?"

Zhou Ye was taken aback.

"To be precise, it's a variety show about cultural tourism exploration. Senior, you've just gained some popularity, so I think going on a variety show would be good for you."

What's the name of the variety show?

Zhou Ye sat opposite Lin Shaobai, blinking his big eyes at him.

After joining the company, Zhou Ye was not as wary of Lin Shaobai as before.

Sometimes I forget what happened before.

"Zhejiang TV has a variety show called 'Youth Travel Notes,' and they're starting to select regular guests for the second season. The current confirmed guests are Jia Lin, Zhou Shen, Yang Di, and Lang Lang; they're still missing one female guest. I discussed it with the people there, and if you like this kind of show, you can give it a try."

"Of course I can!"

You can make money by appearing on variety shows.

Zhou Ye is currently focused on his career, and besides, travel variety shows offer both fun and financial opportunities—why not take advantage of it?
"If you have no further questions, then it's settled. Just be prepared to go makeup-free for this show. In my experience, these kinds of shows usually film you without makeup."

"Completely bare-faced, what's there to be afraid of?"

Zhou Ye tossed her long hair: "The thing I fear least in my life is going makeup-free. I can still stand in front of the camera and show my face without washing it!"

Lin Shaobai couldn't help but laugh out loud at her serious expression.

"Huh? What are you laughing at? Do you think what I said is wrong?"

Zhou Ye got angry.

My natural beauty is being questioned?!
funny!

"Yes, of course you're right. Senior sister, everything you say is correct. Senior sister is most beautiful without makeup."

Lin Shaobai quickly compromised.

(End of this chapter)