Huayu 16: I Became the Dream-Fulfilling Master for Young Actresses

Chapter 104: Did Tian Xiwei and Chen Xingzhou have a puppy love?

[Chen Xingzhou is now a rising star producer in the industry, with excellent resources. If he truly cared for her, why wouldn't he arrange roles for her? To put it bluntly, he doesn't value her.]

[She and Chen Xingzhou were really childhood sweethearts? That's so tragic! Watching Bai Lu and the others living such glamorous lives while she has nothing.]

[What's so tragic about it? If you're not capable, don't try to ride on the coattails of your childhood sweetheart. It's Chen Xingzhou's business who he chooses to promote. If she were truly talented, she wouldn't be unable to even get a supporting role.]

In less than an hour, the group chat became lively.

People kept taking screenshots and forwarding them to the Class of 16 freshman group, with each caption more exaggerated than the last:

[New students beware! There's a girl in the acting department who tried to seduce the director but failed.]

Chen Xingzhou's childhood sweetheart is now nothing.

[She can't even get a supporting role; the "Most Miserable Childhood Sweetheart in the Entertainment Industry" award goes to her.]

Then some people shifted the topic to the popularity of "Dearest":

[But don't you find it strange? Chen Xingzhou has such a good eye for talent, yet he didn't use Tian Xiwei. Doesn't that mean Tian Xiwei is simply not good enough?]

The discussion went from a joke to an analysis post, and then from an analysis post to a gossip post.

Finally, someone pieced together all the screenshots into a nine-square grid and posted it on the Shanghai Theatre Academy's QQ channel.

Title: Why Doesn't Chen Xingzhou Promote His Childhood Sweetheart? In-Depth Analysis of Why Tian Xiwei Never Appears in Chen Xingzhou's Dramas

The number of discussions among the crowd increased rapidly.

No one said anything too harsh. Most people were normal, just ordinary classmates, and no one really wanted to cyberbully anyone.

But curiosity and gossip are themselves a form of subtle manipulation.

Every "I'm just providing an objective analysis" comment is just another way of putting pressure on Tian Xiwei's name.

Tian Xiwei had not yet returned to school, nor had she checked the QQ group, and was completely unaware of these matters.

Chen Xingzhou was still thinking about how to promote "Go Go Squid!" to increase its popularity, and he couldn't possibly be paying attention to QQ.

The incident gradually escalated, and by evening, a major bombshell suddenly dropped on the QQ channel.

[Title]: Shocking! Director Chen Xingzhou and his childhood sweetheart—Tian Xiwei, a 16 student in the Shanghai Theatre Academy's acting department—were accused of bullying classmates together in high school!

【text】:

As fellow townsmen and classmates of Tian Xiwei, Chen Xingzhou and Tian Xiwei are both exceptionally good people!

Many people at our school know that the two of them are not good people.

Everyone knows the names of Tian Taimei and Chen Huangmao!

In high school, Tian Xiwei even used her shoes to hit people in public on the playground. The shoes were track and field spikes!

They only hang out with rich people, and they only date rich people. They look down on poor people. Anyway, a lot of people in our class don't like them.

Moreover, the two of them were in a relationship at a young age. Every time I went to the classroom, I would always see Tian Xiwei pulling Chen Xingzhou's sleeve as they walked towards the classroom.

Figure 1: [A photo of Tian Xiwei pulling on Chen Xingzhou's sleeve from behind; both of their profiles are visible.]

Figure 2: [Tian Xiwei, blushing, clings to Chen Xingzhou's back, being carried by his hips as they walk out of the school.]

Look at this! Is this what childhood sweethearts should look like?! They don't act like students at all!

Yiyezhizhou Cultural Studio.

Chen Xingzhou glanced at the recent promotional plans for "Go Go Squid!", crossed out the ones that were already underway, and then focused his attention on [posting short videos of hand gesture dances on Douyin].

The reason why the hand gesture dance went viral online in the past was because Douyin had already entered the public eye and officially become popular at that time.

Another reason is its connection to the classic interaction scene where Han Shangyan hooks his hand with Tong Nian; viewers are dancing the gestures, their minds filled with the sweet moments from the drama.

Simply put, it's all about shipping couples.

He looked up and waved to Zhou Ye, who was working beside him.

Zhou Ye immediately came to his side and asked, "Senior, what do you want to say?"

"Our accounts are all registered on Douyin, right? Let's get ready to post those videos we filmed before: [Han Shangyan's Hand Gesture Dance] and [CS:GO Highlights]."

"Okay, senior—" Zhou Ye nodded, then looked at him curiously, "Senior, is this trembling really as amazing as you say?"

"Of course," Chen Xingzhou smiled. "By the way, the background music for the hand gesture dance will be 'Milk and Bread.' We also need to communicate with the platform and launch the Han Shangyan hand gesture dance challenge."

"As for CS:GO, we can start a challenge called [#HanShangyanStyleFlickShot#]".

Zhou Ye was taken aback: "Flicking the gun?"

"Yes," Chen Xingzhou said, "Let's not do any fancy rules, let's just record CS:GO first-person perspective."

"Recreate a scene from the drama where Han Shangyan performs a gun-flicking maneuver: pre-aiming, sudden stop, scope in, flicking the gun, and killing, completing the five actions in a continuous sequence within 15 seconds."

"Beginners can participate, and it doesn't have to be an expert."

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away."

After watching Zhou Ye walk away, Chen Xingzhou lowered his head again to look at his phone.

The calendar shows September 8th.

Two more days —

For Yu Zheng, this was a big surprise on the set of "Story of Yanxi Palace" in Hengdian.

Filming for the TV series "Story of Yanxi Palace" began on June 16, 2017, in Hengdian, at which point filming was already halfway through.

In the hotel room of the film crew, Zheng had just finished his official duties for the day when he received a call from his assistant, whose voice was hurried and excited.

"Boss! Boss! I... I've found a huge scoop!!"

-

Yu Zheng pinched the bridge of his nose and said slowly, "What's the rush? Speak slowly."

"I found someone on the Shanghai Theatre Academy's QQ channel that Tian Xiwei is Chen Xingzhou's childhood sweetheart, and that the two of them bullied classmates in high school. I don't know if it's true or not. It's a topic that started to spread last night."

"Are you serious?!" Yu Zheng stood up, the veins on the back of his hand holding the phone bulging.

"Really! Boss, check your phone! I've sent you the post link and a screenshot on WeChat!"

Yu Zheng hung up the phone and clicked on the link sent by his assistant.

The first thing that catches the eye is this post titled "Shocking".

He pressed his finger on the screen, slowly sliding it across, his grin widening.

He was just thinking about how to deal with Chen Xingzhou, and now someone has already handed him a knife.

And it seems that Chen Xingzhou's new drama is about to air?

That would be even better. With the promotion of Chen Xingzhou's new drama, if he stirs up this post, wouldn't Chen Xingzhou's reputation be completely ruined?

He glanced again at the posts on the screen titled "Why Doesn't Chen Xingzhou Support His Childhood Sweetheart Tian Xiwei?" and "Chen Xingzhou and His Childhood Sweetheart Bully Classmates Together," and burst out laughing.

He doesn't need to verify whether the post is true or false.

Whether it's true or false doesn't matter. What matters is that some people believed it, some people forwarded it, and some people have already started calling Chen Huangmao (a derogatory term for a certain type of person) in the comments section.

All he needs to do is pour oil on this flame, making it burn even brighter, ideally like in the drama "Go Go Squid!"

They became popular at the same time.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to his assistant:

[If someone reposts that post from the Shanghai Theatre Academy to Weibo, just repost it verbatim, without changing a single word.]

[It would be best to find some real information about Chen Xingzhou from high school, such as the names of his classmates. This sense of ambiguity would make it more believable.]

Assistant: [Received! It'll most likely be trending on social media by midnight tonight!]

That evening, the hashtags #ChenXingzhouTianXiweiBullyingClassmates#, #TianXiweiNailedShoes#, and #ChenXingzhouChenYellowHair# had already climbed to the top of Weibo's trending topics.

The comments section under the Weibo post hyped up by Yu Zheng's faction is full of comments boycotting Chen Xingzhou.

The most liked post was flooded with comments from paid trolls, exceeding 10,000 likes in just half an hour.

-

Anonymous user:

I was in the 2013 class at Tongliang Middle School, in the same class as Cao Sen and Zhang Heng, so I'm somewhat of an insider.

Cao Sen did pursue Tian Xiwei relentlessly, bringing her breakfast and gifts every day. However, Tian Xiwei threw them on the ground in public and scolded him, calling him a "poor scumbag, ugly, and asking if he's even worthy of her."

Moreover, Tian Xiwei, a freshman, and Chen Xingzhou, a senior, were very close. At that time, there were rumors in the school that the two of them bullied a girl in Tian Xiwei's class.

The girl was cornered in the bathroom and yelled at, and later transferred schools. The specific details are unclear, but many people say so, so there can't be no smoke without fire, right?

Immediately afterwards, the online trolls downstairs took turns stirring up trouble, with each comment becoming more and more offensive, quickly building up to thousands of comments:

[My God! Tian Xiwei looks so innocent and gentle, I never expected her to be so vicious, hitting people with a spiked shoe? You really can't judge a book by its cover!]

[Chen Xingzhou actually bullied her with her? No wonder he doesn't promote her; is he afraid she'll say something inappropriate and ruin his show?]

[The entertainment industry really is a breeding ground for losers; even someone who bullies classmates can get in and become famous.]

-

Many fans of the Bai Mengyan and Chen Xingzhou pairing also took the opportunity to defend their respective idols while simultaneously attacking Tian Xiwei:

[Help! "Go Go Squid!" is about to air, don't let this kind of person ruin my sweet romance drama! Chen Xingzhou! Come out and say something!]

So it turns out Tian Xiwei isn't lacking resources, but rather her character is so bad that even Chen Xingzhou doesn't dare to promote her? Haha, that's truly gratifying!

]

[CP fans are ecstatic! Thankfully, Chen Xingzhou was sensible enough not to include this bully in the drama, otherwise Tong Nian and Han Shangyan's CP would have been ruined.]

It's ruined!

[I suggest Tian Xiwei stop trying to ride the coattails of her childhood sweetheart relationship and just drop out of school. Don't embarrass the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and don't drag my beloved "Tong Yan Couple" down with her!]