Huayu: Starting with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

Chen Mo did not concern himself with what happened after Wang Bao.

Xu Zhinian's production team will naturally handle it properly.

Moreover, it wouldn't be good for him to interfere too much in the affairs of the film crew, as it might cause unnecessary trouble.

He hasn't had much to do these past few days. The dubbing schedule for "The Bright Moon Over the Mountains" hasn't been finalized yet, so he's been staying in Hengdian, running, reading, and observing passersby every day. He's living a very quiet life.

But the internet is not peaceful.

After the news of the completion of filming for "The Bright Moon Over the Mountains and Rivers" spread, the discussion about the drama continued to rise on various platforms. The names of several leading actors took turns appearing on the trending topics list. Among them, the most frequently mentioned, besides veteran actors such as Wang Xueqi and Liang Guanhua, was Chen Mo.

the reason is simple.

With Xiang Yu achieving legendary status and Meng Chuan breaking into new territory, a newcomer actor has delivered two strong performances in succession, raising audience expectations for his performance in "The Legend of Ming Dynasty" to a very high level.

Expectations generate traffic, and traffic makes people restless.

Ji Yu couldn't sit still any longer.

Ji Yu is a top-tier celebrity heavily promoted by Star Entertainment. When casting for "Legend of Chu and Han", the company put a lot of effort into getting Ji Yu to play the role of Xiang Yu, but director Gao hope replaced him with Chen Mo on the spot.

Later, Chen Mo became a legend with his role as Xiang Yu and won the Huabiao Award for Best Newcomer with his role as Meng Chuan. His popularity continued to rise. On the other hand, Ji Yu's reputation declined due to several assembly-line idol dramas. Although he still had fans, his public image deteriorated.

With one side gaining and the other losing, Ji Yu's anxiety was almost overflowing.

Once "The Legend of Ming Dynasty" airs, Chen Mo will likely reach another level, and at that time the gap between the two will not only be in reputation, but also in commercial value.

Ji Yu cannot wait until that time.

He has to take action before it airs.

The entertainment industry, to put it bluntly, is all about vying for attention.

Whoever generates more buzz will attract the attention of brands and investors.

Although Chen Mo did not offend him openly, many people have been comparing him to Chen Mo since the casting incident was exposed.

The better Chen Mo did, the worse he seemed.

Simply put, Chen Mo was blocking his way.

That afternoon.

Several entertainment marketing accounts posted similar content at almost the same time, with different titles, but pointing to the same core message.

"An insider revealed: A certain up-and-coming actor acted like a diva on the set of 'The Legend of Ming Dynasty,' demanding a private dressing room and refusing to eat at the same table as the extras."

"Shocking! A Huabiao Award winner was putting on airs on set, even the director couldn't stand it anymore?"

"From a stoic general to a rising star? The true face of a certain actor is shocking."

Although no names were directly named, the keywords were clear enough.

"New Generation," "Huabiao Award," "Emotionally Stiff General"—anyone who follows the entertainment industry even slightly will immediately recognize who they're referring to.

The details in the post were fabricated in a very detailed and convincing manner.

What? "Requires the assistant to prepare five kinds of mineral water every day."

What? "He was refused a photo with an extra and was met with a cold attitude."

What do you mean, "He gave the director feedback in person and immediately turned his back on him"?

Each of these points hits the sore spot that the public finds most offensive: "celebrities acting like divas."

The comments section quickly became lively.

Some believed, some did not; some waited for the melons, some protected the Lord—it was all in chaos.

Chen Mo saw it when he was scrolling through his phone after his evening run.

He leaned against the headboard, swiped his thumb across the screen twice, and read through several posts from beginning to end, his expression unchanged.

He's an expert on this tactic.

After the TV series "Legend of Chu and Han" aired, he saw similar smear articles more than once. The wording was almost the same, just a few templates with different variations, such as "acting like a big shot," "difficult to get along with," and "having connections." It seemed that the vocabulary for smearing people in the entertainment industry was only twenty or thirty words, which could be rearranged and combined to create a new article.

He tossed his phone aside without responding.

Shen Yu called ten minutes later.

"Did you see those press releases?"

"I saw it."

"I checked several accounts, and they are all matrix accounts under the same public relations company. This company has done several rounds of advertising for Xingchen Entertainment before, and the traces are very obvious."

"Um."

What's your attitude?

Chen Mo thought for a moment and then said something.

"ignore."

Shen Yu didn't respond immediately, but spoke after a couple of seconds.

"That's what I mean too. Responding now would just help them gain more attention. No matter what you say, it will be taken out of context, making things worse and trapping you in a self-justification trap."

"But that doesn't mean we're doing nothing. I had my team take screenshots of the posting times, content similarities, and associated accounts of these marketing accounts and archive them. We're also checking the backend data. Once we can lock down the payment records of the advertisers, this batch of data will be evidence."

"Okay, you can arrange it."

"There's one more thing,"

Shen Yu paused for a moment.

"I've spoken with the crew of 'The Legend of Ming Dynasty'. Director Luo Yifeng and several key members of the production team know what the real situation on set is like. I asked Director Luo if he wanted to say something, and he said he didn't want to get involved in too much of this mess. But if you need him to come forward and clarify things, he's willing to do that."

Chen Mo nodded.

Director Luo shared the same idea as him.

If you're going to act, just act. Keep it simple. Dragging in these trending topics for hype is exhausting.

If all that energy gets taken up by these trivial matters, how will you be able to play your role well?

"Let's just let it cool down; I don't want to get too involved with them."

"Okay, but be careful these next few days. Don't give anyone any leverage. Watch your words and actions in public. These people are already watching you and are just waiting for you to make a mistake so they can exaggerate it."

"I know."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Mo lay on the bed staring at the ceiling.

He knew the purpose of these smear articles and who was behind them, but he had no urge to step forward and prove his innocence.

Firstly, self-proof is ineffective. If you say you didn't act like a diva, someone in the comments section will immediately jump out and say, "Just because you say you didn't doesn't mean you didn't," "That's like protesting too much," or "Do you really need to explain if you didn't act like a diva?" You lose no matter what you say.

Secondly, he has something even more substantial than a statement.

The film.

Actors are only responsible to the audience.

He's not a celebrity, yet he still has to market himself to a fan base, cultivate an image of ambition, create scandals, and connect with his on-screen girlfriends, etc.

Those were not his audience.

Some people just criticize for the sake of criticizing.

He can't please everyone, and he's not a perfect person; that's called a saint.

He was just an ordinary person.

I aspire to be a good actor, an ordinary person who will be remembered.

Reputation is earned through performance, not through declaration.

He believed this statement for five years and never wavered.

The next morning, he went out for a run as usual.

On his way back from the run, he passed by that milk tea shop, went in and bought a hot one. The seat by the window was still empty, so he sat down and continued watching the people on the street.

My phone rang; it was a message from Xu Zhinian.

"Have you seen those things online?"

"I've seen it."

Are you alright?

"fine."

"Do you need me to say a few words for you? I know a few entertainment reporters who can leak some real information about what's happening on set."

"No need, just focus on your filming and don't worry about it."

"Alright, I have some good news for you. Wang Bao filmed his first dialogue scene today, and guess what?"

"What's wrong?"

"Surprisingly, he didn't mess up. Although his lines were still a bit stiff, they were much better than the audition day. Director Zhao said they were barely usable, and with some post-production dubbing, there shouldn't be any major problems. The most important thing is that this kid has one advantage: he's not afraid of retakes. If the first take wasn't good, he would ask to do another one. He didn't show any frustration on his face. He was all smiles, like he was practicing kung fu at Shaolin Temple. If one take wasn't enough, he would do it twice. If two takes weren't enough, he would do it three times. His mentality was frighteningly stable."

Chen Mo smiled as he read the passage.

He recalled how Wang Bao practiced his lines in the park yesterday, repeating the same lines five or six times without getting annoyed, and doing it seriously every time.

This kind of person won't go fast, but they also won't collapse.

"Then remember to treat me to a meal later."

Xu Zhinian posted another message.

"No problem, if Brother Mo asks for food, I'll give you a treat!"

"...That sounds weird, damn it!"

Chen Mo replied with a middle finger emoji.