CH 85

When news of Gu Qingchi’s marriage had been revealed, the internet had been in an uproar for several days.

Everyone liked to kick a man who was down. Gossip accounts and water armies took advantage of the situation for their own personal gain. News of his marriage made it outside of celebrity news circles. Even many passers-by were watching this piece of gossip. They started digging up anything and everything they could find on Gu Qingchi, trying to dig up more gossip. Ye Li had intercepted all of it regardless of whether it was real or fake. 

Fortunately, Xie Luyu exposed his own marriage, so the public’s attention was diverted.

Gu Qingchi had been very quiet the entire time, so things gradually started to calm down. At this point, the only people still paying attention to this topic were people within celebrity news circles. He also lost a lot of the followers that he’d recently gained.

Generally, whenever a celebrity loses a bunch of followers due to scandal, their team would buy followers for them and pretend as if nothing had happened. Then, they’d wait for the rumors to pass before resuming activities.

However, Gu Qingchi had already informed Ye Li that he intended to retire from the industry. He didn’t really care much about follower counts, so they decided to just let it be. The drop in his follower count truly made for a miserable sight. He even made it onto the tailend of the trending list for this. 

After this incident, Gu Qingchi’s remaining fans spent each and every day scolding the company, and they lived trembling in fear. As soon as Gu Qingchi’s name was mentioned, they would immediately disengage. They didn’t want to risk getting dogpiled.

Wang Chengcheng was one of these fans.

She came to know of Gu Qingchi through Gu Qingchi’s first movie. Her reason for stanning him was crude and simple. She was a deadbeat face-con. She liked to fangirl over gorgeous idols in her spare time.

Moreover, Gu Qingchi’s acting had a lot of feeling to it. However, after she got to know more about him, she felt that a lot of that was due to the character that he was playing. Gu Qingchi wasn’t that much different from the character itself.

The role seemed tailor-made for Gu Qingchi. Still, it didn’t stop her from bragging about her idol’s acting skills.

Moreover, her fangirling mentality was that of a mom fan. She considered herself as the kind of person who doesn’t actually want to raise a kid but loves roleplaying as such online. She was a rather easygoing fan, so she didn’t really care about her idols’ marital status. Although she was fairly young herself, Wang Chengcheng still viewed Gu Qingchi the same way she did her own nephew. Similarly, if he was still single by the time he was in his thirties, she might actually start getting worried.

When news of his divorce first broke, her reaction wasn’t, “Oh no, the sky is falling!” Instead, her reaction was, “Divorce? Why did you get divorced? If it was bad enough for a divorce, then just how bad was it? My baby’s suffered such a huge grievance! Wahhh, I’m so distressed!”

At that time, there’d been a lot of malicious speculation online. Some people claimed that Gu Qingchi had ditched his ex after getting popular. Wang Chengcheng was crying on the one hand and white knighting on the other, shooting back against these anti-fans, water army, who knows what they were. 

She quickly typed out a scathingly sarcastic and beautifully articulate comment as she weeped. Due to how good her writing skills were, Gu Qingchi’s fans started copying and pasting that comment en masse.

Today, Wang Chengcheng had just finished her work. She signed into Gu Qingchi’s super topic just like she always did. Then, she slowly started scrolling through the forums.

As soon as she refreshed the page, she discovered that a post on the home page had once again cued Gu Qingchi.

#XeHlcumtlGfralcfvKbDfUbqeijgCcsYypfmalbcr 

Qjcu Jtfcumtfcu tjv rffc qifcas bo rcjgxs jcv rjgmjralm qbrar ilxf atlr bcf. Vtf mbeiv jiwbra lwjulcf atf glvlmeif lc atf mbwwfcar yfibk.

[Your idol’s already flopped. Get back into whatever hole you crawled out of. Who in their right mind is going to cast him now?]

[Biggest joke of the year.]

[He ditched his ex-wife as soon as he got popular. His public image has already been completely ruined.] 

Qlatbea fnfc ibbxlcu ja atf bglulcji qbra, rtf mtjgufv lcab atf mbwwfcar rfmalbc jcv rajgafv yjculcu jkjs ja tfg xfsybjgv.

Eluta joafg rtf qbrafv tfg gfqis, rtf cbalmfv atf qtbabr jaajmtfv ab atf bglulcji qbra atja tjv yfijafvis ibjvfv lc.

The first photo was from the National Film Association’s official Weibo account. Gu Qingchi was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

The second photo was a screenshot of their popularity rankings. There was absolutely no possibility of faking these votes. This list was the most authoritative ranking of an artist’s popularity. It was like an all-revealing looking glass. One glance was enough to determine whether an artist was popular or not. Many businesses would refer to this ranking when looking for a spokesperson. 

Xie Luyu was ranked number one. He was followed by a few veteran actors and actresses.

Gu Qingchi was ranked near the top, and his votes led by a huge margin. Both the person in front of him and the person behind him were long-time seniors in the industry.

Wang Chengcheng was still in a daze. Someone soon replied to her comment.

[Calm down. You need to upgrade your 2G network or something because you are way behind. Take a look at Weibo before coming back.] 

There were already several comments underneath the original post.

[I am truly convinced. A person’s popularity depends on fate. He really is destined to be popular. He debuted despite not being a formal trainee, he didn’t have very many resources, and his only work was a single movie. His career as an actor was almost like a part-time job or something. He pretty much became popular overnight. At the time, I felt that his popularity was unstable and that he was vulnerable to a mishap. Lo and behold, a mishap did in fact occur. However, I never expected him to make a comeback with the difficulty at max. Plus, it doesn’t seem like he really cares about all the blowback.]

[I’m purely a passer-by. I thought he was already done for. He was scolded so badly online. I actually felt super bad for him because his face was really my type, but it turns out you’re all just a bunch of two-faced assholes.]

[What’s the big deal? I simply voted for him. He really is good-looking, and the movie he’s in really is good. He doesn’t have that many resources, but the ones he does have are all high quality. All the directors that he’s acted for are well-known, and all the roles he’s taken on are very likable. Whoever he’s got backing him must be amazing.] 

[Hey, don’t talk nonsense. He doesn’t have anyone backing him. His agent is the one that’s amazing. Plus, his acting skills have improved a lot. He could go toe-to-toe with those formally trained actors. During that very last scene with Silva, I actually started crying in the movie theater. Slater really knows what he’s doing.]

[Other than his previous marriage, there isn’t actually any dirt on him. Personally, I like him, but I can understand why most fans can’t accept that. Although he’s an actor, he became popular too quickly. Most of his fans came for his face. He’s supposed to be an actor, but his fans are like that of an idol or an influencer.

However, those fans also helped him snag a bunch of brand deals. Overall, there are both advantages and disadvantages. Initially, I thought the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, but, looking at things now, it seems to be the opposite. Still, things shouldn’t have turned out this way for him. He’s definitely being targeted by water army. It looks like they want to prevent him from ever making a comeback.

Frankly, they probably would’ve succeeded. 

First of all, Gu Qingchi got his start on the big screen. It was a multi-million yuan production, and the casting for the movie was very strict. Now that he’s run into trouble, no one’s going to want to cast him anymore. It’s basically the same as stopping his career in its tracks. Second of all, he can’t even film television dramas. If he did, it would be like admitting that he’s flopped. It would probably make it even more difficult for him to get good movie roles.

Ever since that incident, there hadn’t been a whole lot of news about him. This movie really is like timely rain. It instantly brought him back from the brink. He’ll probably have much better resources in the future.]

Wang Chengcheng excitedly finished reading through the thread. As a long-time fan, it was only natural that she knew of Slater’s movie. However, that movie had been promoting for more than half a year. Gu Qingchi ended up running into a mishap halfway through, so she stopped paying attention to it.

She quickly switched over to Weibo. Out of habit, she refreshed the homepage only to find that one of the content creators that she followed had made several new posts. She started going through each and every one of them. 

The first post was a video with a huge amount of reposts and likes. It was a one-person edit of Gu Qingchi.

[Let me introduce everyone to my new husband! (J.K.) P.S. I had a burst of inspiration, so I edited a bit more than usual. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of footage of Chi Chi. Finally, I would like to recommend the movie, Nirvana! Silva, I support you!]

The thumbnail was Gu Qingchi. The camera was pulled in very, very close. A red mark could be seen on his neck. What would have been an incredibly unflattering angle for the average person became incredibly eye-catching for Gu Qingchi. He sat on the sofa, head bowed, cigarette in his mouth. The fingers with which he was holding the cigarette were pale and defined. The drifting smoke lent an ambiguous atmosphere to the picture. This was Gu Qingchi’s Silva.

She clicked on the video. This content creator liked to use music that had a clear rhythm and was full of energy. This video was no exception. The images on the screen flicked by in time with the music. Scattered within the video were clips of Gu Qingchi’s variety show appearance. There were even a few seconds of Gu Qingchi’s time on the runway. His walk was imposing, and the backdrop was also clean. It integrated remarkably well with the rest of the video. The content creator’s technique was superb. The transitions were seamless. It wasn’t awkward at all. 

The last bit of the video was a clip from the movie. Silva was being harassed by a group of thugs. Silva broke away from the thugs and ran before finally being trapped in an alley and beaten up. Eventually, they left, leaving only him behind.

In the video, Gu Qingchi laid slumped in that alley, wearing a white shirt and a coat. The coat was a little too big for him, but this only seemed to highlight his youth. He maintained a curled up position, holding his head in his hands. It was a position of self-protection. The coat upon his body was covered with footprints. He looked like a mess.

There were a few pebbles scattered on the ground. Glaring red wounds covered his chin, his mouth, his neck. The camera was pulled in very close. Slater had a penchant for using the close-up shots that most actors loathed. It was zoomed in so far that each and every minute movement on an actor’s face could be seen crystal clear.

The camera moved slowly, starting at his collarbone before finally focusing on his face. He opened and closed his mouth, no sound coming out. At first, it was only a soft whine. However, it slowly grew into a muffled sobbing. The audio must’ve been amplified. Not even the music was able to cover it up. 

Everyone in the comment barrage was screaming.

All of the comments were glowing.

[Ahhh! Why are you hitting him!? Quick, get behind me!]

[Nooo! Mom will give you a hug! Don’t cry!] 

[I might get beaten up for saying this, but I have to say it. He’s so fucking sexy! OP, be bold! Keep going! Edit more!]

[How is he still so sexy even when he’s completely covered up? His waist is absolutely amazing. I’m definitely going to go watch this movie. I’ve already booked my ticket. See y’all in the theater. Even if it was a documentary, I would watch the whole way through just for that face.]

All of the replies to this comment were begging for tickets.

A little further down in the comments, there were fans of Gu Qingchi who were cautiously trying to promote Gu Qingchi. 

[Come check out my idol! He doesn’t say much, so I won’t say too much either. Here’s a photo of him.]

[The person in the video is Gu Qingchi. Even his cat is handsome as hell. I’m linking some fanart. This artist’s art style is godly.]

Wang Chengcheng almost burst into tears when she saw this. She happily pulled out her cell phone to book a movie ticket. She wanted to support her idol. However, even after half an hour, she still wasn’t able to get a ticket for Nirvana.

Her idol was really too reassuring! 

⁂

Ye Li also knew about all of these happenings online. However, he wasn’t as fiery and ambitious as he used to be. His attitude became a lot more laidback. It had a bit to do with Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi wasn’t very interested in this stuff. He also had intentions to withdraw from the entertainment industry. He’d told Ye Li that he wanted to go back to school. He wanted to attend a music conservatory. He was currently preparing for entrance exams.

This was actually the first time that Ye Li had seen Gu Qingchi be so proactive about something. He could spend a whole day in the piano room and still have enough energy to keep playing. 

Therefore, Ye Li simply informed Gu Qingchi that the movie had hit theaters and that it was well received. The movie had also received a nomination. Although it wasn’t guaranteed, he may be asked to attend the award ceremony later. Ye Li didn’t say much more after that.

As for the company’s hints for Ye Li to renew the contract with Gu Qingchi as soon as possible, Ye Li ignored them as well.