CHAPTER 51

On the morning of September 25th, Duo Miaojiang woke up at 10:30, as usual. She tied her hair up, tore open a piece of Hello Panda chocolate pie, and took a bite while booting up her computer.

Duo Miaojiang had loved watching movies since she was young. In her first year of university, she began posting film reviews online, producing shows, writing articles, and creating her own film appreciation program.

Duo Miaojiang was actually an acting enthusiast. As a girl, she preferred watching films with female perspectives. The quality of domestic films varied greatly, and films focusing on women were even rarer. It was difficult for middle-aged and older actresses to land good roles, while younger actresses often had mediocre skills and mostly developed their careers on smaller screens.

A couple of years ago, she accidentally discovered Xiang Xiaoyuan. In the film "Xiao Wen," she played a village girl who, in order to impress the male lead she liked and make herself look more fashionable, went to the county town's hair salon, got a "kill Matt" hairstyle, dyed in a pink and purple color. The next day, the color faded, which was particularly funny.

Director He Kewen loved shooting in undeveloped places like small mountain villages and towns. Finding a suitable actress for his female lead was very challenging, she couldn't be too young or too beautiful. Therefore, his female leads are usually played by his wife. The female lead needed for this particular film was too young, and there were even rumors that he had been selecting actresses for three months without success.

At first, as Duo Miaojiang watched the young actress go to the barbershop and then feed chickens and pigs with her unappealing hair color, she thought she was just a local amateur. The actress moved with ease and spoke the local dialect fluently, her skin tanned, making her seem like she truly lived in the village.

The more she watched, the more she felt that this young actress was very expressive.

Especially in one scene, right after the village finished butchering a pig, the female lead was waiting. Suddenly, she overheard an uncle passing by saying that the male lead was fighting with someone at the village entrance. She picked up half a board of pork, tied it to the back of her small motorcycle, and rode the bike, roaring straight towards the village entrance.

Director He is a very artistic director who pays great attention to visuals. In his films, even the most ordinary and simple everyday scenes can be filmed with vitality, serving the story and immersing you in a world of light and shadow.

Riding her old, chipped motorcycle, she gripped the handlebars tightly. The wind lifted her blonde hair, and the motorcycle zoomed past, leaving trails of black exhaust in its wake.

Onlookers—uncle watching the commotion, aunties chatting in pairs, and children playing with dirty balls—stopped their activities and turned to look at her.

The unknown little flower by the roadside swayed gently, and the pork hanging from the back of the bike trembled. The young girl's graceful figure faced the wind, her yellow hair flowing with a hint of purple at the tips, her eyes full of determination as she rushed to save her beloved.

This scene, this look, immediately captivated Duo Miaojiang, and she felt willingly drawn into it.

Duo Miaojiang had been following her news and was quite happy when she starred in "Choice."

She had a group chat with dozens of people from the new media industry—some hosted their own shows, some operated public accounts, and others worked in marketing or the film industry. Their shared passion was watching movies and TV shows. Long ago, Duo Miaojiang had recommended Xiaoyuan's two films in the group, declaring her a rising star.

Who would have thought that soon after, this star would disappear from sight?

Without standout works, there was no way to promote her.

Until these past few days, she has been using her online presence to support Xiang Xiaoyuan vigorously, pushing her into the hot searches. Her old friends in the group teased her:

[Miaojiang, you've turned into an actress's fan club leader, hahaha, you're even trending now!]

[Hahaha, listen to my advice, it's fine to show support, but don't get involved in fan circles. Stay closer to the actress's work and away from her private life.]

[Hahaha Luckily, Comrade He Chenying's fans are quite calm and lovable, so they don't mind you using Sister He's name.]

[I think Miaojiang is still sane for now, she's also caught on.]

[Same here, just speaking the truth, if Xiang Xiaoyuan had some background support, she wouldn't have taken so long to gain popularity.]

[Yeah, I analyzed Xiaoyuan's development path a few years ago, it wasn't promising. 'Xiao Wen' was filmed during her university years, and she had a gap of one or two years before filming 'Choice.' After finishing 'Choice,' it seemed like there was another gap before she went on to film web movies. I don't know if there were other reasons, but it really was too reckless and wasteful.]

[However, she's indeed a good seedling. I can't bear to see her about to rise and then get splattered with mud~]

[Exactly, even if she had a mediocre TV drama, it wouldn't be this messy. But I agree with Duo Miaojiang, 'Zui Xiaoyao' is her turning point. Not to mention, Lao Cang really has an eye for talent, she looks stunning in historical costumes. I've also shared it.]

[Thank you, thank you so much! (sobbing)]

These are past chat records. Most of Duo Miaojiang's group friends have a significant number of fans and resources. Through their reposts, a spark was finally ignited and made it to the hot searches.

Since last night, Xiaoyuan had trended again, and this time everyone knew Boyi was using her as a shield for the "Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian" love affair.

Her group knew it, thousands of other small groups knew it, netizens knew it, except for the fans of Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian who were deceiving themselves.

Last night before going to bed, her group friends were all advising her not to get involved.

Her goal of promoting had been achieved, Xiaoyuan's current "black search" [Typically refers to negative or malicious online searches aimed at damaging a person's reputation.] was not so dark anymore. First, everyone knew she had real acting skills. Second, although she was being severely criticized by some comments, many more people felt sympathy for her. Now they just had to wait for "Zui Xiaoyao" to air. They even advised her not to check Weibo or other major social media platforms today—what you don't see won't hurt you.

Duo Miaojiang noticed that Shiyuan Studio had indeed been quiet, and Xiang Xiaoyuan's manager hadn't contacted her again. They handled the situation quite well, knowing when to stop promoting, not overhyping, not playing the victim— they are a team that can stay calm.

It seems that after a few years of setbacks, not only has Xiang Xiaoyuan herself grown, but her work team has also matured.

After eating a pack of chocolate pies, she cleared some clutter off her desk, opened WeChat and QQ, and couldn't help but sneak a peek at Weibo's trending topics. Xiaoyuan was still in third place, and the real-time feed was still criticizing her, while all related terms concerning Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian had been cleared.

The Chinese characters didn't work, and the abbreviated pinyin didn't either. Many netizens who rushed to catch the gossip last night found their accounts banned or blocked.

Both sides' fans were actively cleaning up the feed. As soon as they spotted anything suspicious, they began controlling the comments.

Posts about the gossip on other platforms and communities were deleted completely.

Tsk tsk, the power of capital is truly impressive.

Duo Miaojiang huffed and turned to check her QQ chat history.

She found that they had already been discussing it.

One of them, Lao Zhang, is a senior film critic and writer. His way of speaking is similar to writing, [Lao Miao, let me tell you something interesting. I couldn't sleep last night either, so I watched those three web movies of Xiang Xiaoyuan. I found them quite intriguing.]

[I won't comment on the name of ' Hey! My Brother, My Bear.' The director seems to have drawn inspiration from 'My Brother, My Team.' As for the plot and expression, it's not as shallow as expected. A big dream, childhood toys becoming companions. The production is rough, the camera editing is amateurish, but maybe because the director used real people, cough cough, Xiang Xiaoyuan played this bear and it feels quite realistic. The CG effects can be realistic, but they can't convey genuine emotions.]

['Zombie and Charming Taoist' seems to pay homage to the Hong Kong zombie films of the late 80s and 90s...]

[23333 [The term "23333" is a popular expression in Chinese internet culture, often used in online chats and social media to indicate laughter. It's similar to "LOL" or "hahaha" in English.] Lao Zhang types slowly when he talks. I watched it too, and the scene where the Taoist and the zombie dance had me laughing to death. It definitely pays tribute to 'Pulp Fiction.']

[I don't know about you guys, but that film 'I Love You!' reminded me of the fear of being dominated by Qiong Yao's dialogue!]

[Me too, that feeling of 'if you don't love me, I'll die' is quite old-fashioned...]

[Xiang Xiaoyuan looks really good in male attire. The netizens are right, she does resemble Brigitte Lin in 'Peking Opera Blues.']

[She still lacks a bit of heroism, leaning more toward femininity and charm. But her look in 'Zui Xiaoyao' is exceptionally beautiful.]

......

Duo Miaojiang took a sip of coffee, tore open a second piece of chocolate pie and took a bite, freeing her hands to type, [I was actually planning to ignore this, who has so much free time, hahaha!]

[Hahaha, it's because you guys have been discussing my Sister Xiaoyuan all along, I haven't done anything today...]

After typing, she also opened her email, but suddenly her eyes froze, the chocolate pie in her mouth fell down, scattering crumbs all over the table. Her little orange cat at home jumped up,

She stared in disbelief as she scrolled through the mouse, the QQ chat window flashing continuously below.

She downloaded the video, opened it, and after watching for a moment, she was stunned. "...What the hell!"

Lao Zhang continued in the group chat, [Anyway, Miaojiang, I want to post an article on the public account tonight introducing some of Xiaoyuan's films so far.]

Duo Miaojiang took a deep breath, [Hold on, everyone, I just received something anonymously, I'll send it to everyone to see.]

[Sorry, everyone, I take back what I said earlier!!!]

At 8:00 p.m. on September 25th, Duo Miaojiang posted another long Weibo post:

[--- Boyi, you have no conscience! Powerful capital bullies people! Dear viewers, listen to me carefully, there's a video and evidence!

Two years ago, Boyi Investment produced 'Their Little Affairs,' which was also Fang Hao's debut work. Boyi had his own 'daughter,' Lu Jingnian, act in it, and it was during this production that they developed feelings for each other. Attached are screenshots from the video (I won't share more for the sake of the fans' hearts)

 But that's not the point. The real point is, who was the original second female lead of this movie? Xiang Xiaoyuan!

Two years ago, Xiang Xiaoyuan had just finished filming "Choice" produced by Tonghua. She definitely could have access to such resources.

I have a video that lasts over nine hours, which can prove she filmed more than ten episodes. However, the version we all saw did not feature Xiaoyuan. Instead, it starred another actress. This isn't the fault of that actress, although it is said that she was brought into the production with resources. Her performance was decent, and of course, curious audiences can check out the video.

My point is, Boyi, this is not the first time you have targeted Xiang Xiaoyuan. You even paid for articles claiming she has connections, trying to leverage Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian to elevate your status? Isn't that ridiculous?

You also said she markets well and her acting and character setting are good. Do you think the public is blind? Does this really need marketing? If film and television are different, then this nine-hour drama resource is crucial. It's not just TV drama resources, but also behind-the-scenes footage, you can see how many scenes she nailed in one shot!

It seems like you're just picking on soft targets. You're the one who should be ashamed! You've done this kind of thing before, and now you still have the nerve to do it again!

I advise you not to waste money to delete posts or come to attack my account. You should do nothing now, and stop targeting Xiang Xiaoyuan. If she trends again, who knows how many past scandals of yours will be dug up!

The neighboring Tonghua and Warner are both watching you make a fool of yourself, they're laughing so hard their mouths are crooked!

You should just shut up and be quiet as a chicken!

.....

Here's the video resource link, and the cloud storage link is here, please help yourselves~

If you ask where the video came from, I have nothing to hide—an anonymous hero sent it to my email! They wish to remain anonymous, and I can't take credit for their efforts!]

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