CH 32

Chapter 32: Follow on Weibo

Next to him, Lu Lingxuan summarized the profiles: “Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi are artists in our company. Even though they aren’t as popular as you are, the three of you will go to the show together. Primarily, they are there to highlight and support you. Yu Ruize and Wang Chen are from Tianyue Media and I guess Yu Ruize is Wang Chen’s support.”

Yin Chang: “The three of us are representing our company?”

Lu Lingxuan smiled and said: “Yes. Three to two. We don’t have to be afraid of them.”

Yin Chang was amused by her metaphor. She said it wasn’t a game and yet, it was three to two.

Lu Lingxuan added: “To get acquainted with one another, I will make arrangements for you to meet Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi in two days.”

Yin Chang nodded: “No problem.”

At home resting on the couch, Yin Chang looked over the information that Lu Lingxuan gave him. Like an encyclopedia, there were notes about height, weight, birthday, blood type, hobbies, etc.… Without an in-depth description, a persons’ true character wouldn’t be understood from such statistics. As a result, Yin Chang turned to the internet and searched Weibo for their respective social media accounts.

Among the four, Wang Chen had the most fans, even more so than Yin Chang. Since his Weibo account only posted very official statements about his activities and advertisements,  his account was likely managed by his agent.

At the top of his Weibo page, the short watch advertisement he shot for VI not long ago was running. Yin Chang sighed when it was over. After all of the production involved in creating the commercial such as the lighting, the makeup, the set…. Yin Chang doesn’t even know if the person in the commercial was the same Wang Chen he had met.

He recalled something Yao Manhuai said about ‘Idols rely on packaging’, but he didn’t know what that meant at the time. After watching the video, he completely understood how the entertainment industry has the means to make ordinary people sparkle.

Yu Ruize had the second-highest fan base but even so, from tens of millions to only a million, it was nearly a 10-fold magnitude difference between them.

According to the information, Yu Ruize was an actor in a successful drama last year.  Even though the cast consisted of new actors, the drama won several awards. In the past, Yu Ruize often participated in activities with the other members of the cast but recently, several of them have moved on to newer works.

Tianyue Media, where Yu Ruize and Wang Chen work, was a large company with deep pockets and plentiful resources. Like Yin Chang, Yu Ruize was also in the magazine ‘New People’. Going by what Yin Chang saw on Yu Ruize’s Weibo pages, it seems like he was filming a new TV drama.

Next, he wanted to look at Nova Entertainment’s Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi. The difference between the numbers of fans was surprising. Their fan base was much less. Together, they barely managed to scrape up 900,000 fans.

Moreover, the person with the least number of fans posted the most on Weibo. Yin Chang browsed through them. Jia Siqi posted more than 4000 statements about his daily life such as his activities and places he visited. The documentary style painted a colorful self-portrait of a young man at the peak of his youth.

Interestingly, he frequently referenced Bai Xiaozhi.  Almost half of Jia Siqi posts were directed at him. Even so, Bai Xiaozhi rarely ever replied. That’s right. Out of ten Weibo comments by Jia Siqi, nine of them were directed at Bai Xiaozhi.

Under a picture of food and beer was the comment: “Happily out tonight with Bai Xiaozhi !”

– Bai Xiaozhi replied: “Says the guy who can’t even pour himself a glass.”

– Fan replied: “Ha-ha-ha-ha. Are you even old enough to drink?”

Below a photo of them together at the restaurant was a statement: “Our agents say we are like a couple. What do you think?”

– Fans having fun: “Ahhhhh! To be together…… Love it!”

– Bai Xiaozhi replied: “Fuck off.”

– Fans laughing wildly: “Today, we are also abandoned by Xiaozhi!”

An image of a blue Porsche sports car with Jia Siqi’s comment: “A birthday gift from my mother! I love my mother!”

– Fans: “Wow! So rich!”

– Bai Xiaozhi commented: “Did you get your driver’s license?”

Many Fans laughed and poked fun. While some copy-pasted Bo Xiaozhi’s comment, others asked if he was old enough to drive.”

With a cropped photo of just someone’s legs on exercise equipment: “If the words ‘give up’ come to mind, you must simply tell yourself you have nothing. If you have nothing, then there is no reason to give up!”

– Bai Xiaozhi replied: If it isn’t broken, there is nothing to fix. Who doesn’t know how lavish your house really is! [Hate]

– Fan: “Ha-ha. I’m in pain just looking. Don’t work so hard! Go and be a rich second generation kid instead!”

……

After reading several posts and subsequent comments, Yin Chang laughed out loud. The play between friends, roasting and poking fun, the whole account was cheerful and lively. An image of a cool and collected person paired with a boisterous character came to mind.

The banter was inviting and the positive feelings were contagious. Yin Chang couldn’t help but want to be friends too. However, when he wanted to follow them on Weibo, he realized he was logged-in as an anonymous person.

He enthusiastically launched WeChat and sent a message to Lu Lingxuan: “Can you tell me the login and password of my official Weibo account?”

Lu Lingxuan: “Huh? What are you going to do?”

Yin Chang: “I want to friend and follow both Jia Siqi and Bai Xiaozhi.”

Lu Lingxuan: “Okay. I’ll send it to you! You can also message them privately and make  arrangements to meet them in advance.”

After logging into his account, Yin Chang ignored the tens of thousands of unread private messages and searched directly for Jia Siqi and Bai Xiaozhi on Weibo in order to add them as friends. Little did he realize that they had already been following Yin Chang.

Just now, Jia Siqi posted a new Weibo comment.

Jia Siqi: “My agent just surprised me! I’m about to go on a popular show with Bai Xiaozhi! [Happy] [Happy]

Although his fans aren’t many, they were very active. In just a few minutes, his fans had already begun to make speculations and inundated him with comments already.

– “What show are you going to participate in?”

– “Is it “My Best Friend”?”

“My Best Friend” was a new variety show that was growing in popularity. Even so, it still had a long way to go to match the audience of ‘Idols Face to Face’.  Through their banter, clearly, the fans have a good relationship with their idol.

– Someone replied: “If Jia Siqi is going with Bai Xiaozhi, it must be “My Best Friend”, right? [Har-Har]

– “No, no, no. It should be “Roasting My Best Friend!”

– “Oh, my God! My Best Friend! When? I can’t miss it!”

……

Yin Chang thought the comments were interesting. Not only did the fans give their praise, they also sent comments and emoticons. Unlike the plain and uniform message Yin Chang got on his Weibo account, Jia Siqi’s fans seemed genuine. That’s right, only friends can speak unscrupulously without worrying whether or not the other person will be angry.

After following the two, Yin Chang couldn’t help but give Jia Siqi post a like.

Looking at the time, it was getting pretty late. Yin Chang put down his phone and got ready to go to bed. When he was washing, he thought of Yu Ruize and started feeling bad. Even though he and Wang Chen were in the same company, he hadn’t yet met Yu Ruize. Since they were going to meet eventually on the show Yin Chang went to search for his Weibo.

When he finished brushing his teeth, he searched for Yu Ruize’s Weibo, followed him then turned off his phone and went to bed.

Twenty minutes ago…. In Nova Entertainment’s dormitory, since training was finished for the day, Jia Siqi and Bo Xiaozhi were lying in bed relaxing and playing with their phones.

Two years ago, 16-year-old Jia Siqi and 17-year-old Bai Xiaozhi along with Yang Yan, registered with Nova Entertainment. After one year of training, the three stood out from the pack and formed the YJB boy-band. They debuted together as pop-stars.

However, the road wasn’t so glamorous after their debut as they thought it would be. Their album fell flat and the company had no intention of producing another. In order to grow, they decided to split and seek other avenues for development. Now, Yang Yan was an actor and has achieved some fame through a recent hit drama.

Since Bo Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi were very young, they opted to stay with the company to train further and wait for better opportunities. In fact, because they had the right image and personality, their popularity should have been explosive, but it was not. However, the company continued to invest in their future.

Today, Jia Siqi and Bo Xiaozhi heard from their agent that she had secured them a new opportunity.

When they learned that they were going to participate on the show, Idols Face-to-Face, the two were quite excited. However, when they learned they were only there to support Yin Chang, the two of them had mixed feelings.

On the side, they had been watching Yin Chang account for the last several months and witnessed Yin Chang’s fan base rise from nothing to millions in such a short time.

The entertainment industry was such a cruel place. Every year, a new person emerges at the top of the class and was promoted as the next greatest star. In reality, it’s not easy. A super-star was very rare.

Bai Xiaozhi opened Weibo and browsed through Yin Chang’s social media postings. His stats and popularity made him envious: “Hey, some people were born to royalty. No matter how hard we try, a peasant will always be a peasant.”

Nearby, Jia Siqi bitterly said: “Bai Xiaozhi, don’t say it out load. I’m a bit upset.”

Over the past two years they have had many setbacks. It’s frustrating. The dream of becoming a super-star is long past. They know very well that they are simply there as side characters to support Yin Chang.

Depressed, Jia Siqi tried to cheer himself up: “No matter what, it’s good news! This is our biggest exposure in two months! I’m going to tweet to my fans!”

Bai Xiaozhi glanced at him helplessly. He really doesn’t know why he could be so motivated. The amount of energy he spent during the past two years without results was exhausting.

After posting on Weibo, Jia Siqi nudged him and routinely said: “Come on, go retweet!”

Bai Xiaozhi tossed away his mobile phone in annoyance and turned around to think about it.

He was different from Jia Siqi because unlike Jia Siqi’s wealthy family, his was an ordinary middle-class family. From the start, he had trouble getting permission from his parents to let him come and try his hand out in the entertainment industry. If he hasn’t made it by the end of the year, he planned to go back home and study for the college entrance exam. Studying and taking the standardized tests… what a headache!

Ten minutes later, Jia Siqi suddenly exclaimed: “…Ah!”

Bai Xiaozhi ignored him. The kid always made such a fuss.

But then, Jia Siqi continuously cried: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

“What are you doing?” Bai Xiaozhi was so annoyed that he wanted to hit him with a pillow.

Jia Siqi faced him excitedly: “Yin Chang…. He followed me!”

Bai Xiaozhi: “???”

Bai Xiaozhi quickly grabbed his mobile phone and took a look. His eyes widened unbelievably. There was a notification – Yin Chang is now following you.

Jia Siqi: “Ah, ah, Yin Chang also liked my post I just made! I’m gaining followers! I’m gaining followers!!!”

“Maybe he knew we were going to participate on the tv show with him so he paid attention to us.” Bai Xiaozhi looked much calmer than Jia Siqi. Even though he stated it so matter-of-fact, he was also very excited because he witnessed the power of Yin Chang’s comment in an instant.

At the same time, Wang Chen also got a call from his own agent: “Wang Chen, Yin Chang is following the Weibo of the guests who’s going to be on “Idols Face-to-Face” with him including Yu Ruize.”

Wang Chen: “Huh? So what?”

Agent: “I suggest you also look up the other two stars from his company, Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi.”

Wang Chen: “What Weibo? Who are they?”

The agent repeated the names of Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi and also explained their backgrounds.

Wang Chen said in disbelief: “Their resume is so short, why?  I don’t know them!”

Agent: “As soon as the guest list of Idols Face-to-Face is announced tomorrow, fans will know that you are going to be on the show together. Yin Chang is acting so generously and friendly now, I’m afraid if you don’t respond, someone will bad-mouth you and say that you are too arrogant.”

Wang Chen was so angry that he hung up the phone on his agent and anxiously paced in the room. …….What is Yin Chang doing, why does he want to pay attention to Yu Ruize!

After staying up all night thinking about the situation, in order to protect himself, Wang Chen gritted his teeth and followed Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi on Weibo.

On the other side of town, two young men stayed up all night watching the number of Weibo fans rise steadily. When they discovered Wang Chen was one of the new followers, they were completely witless.

____________________

【Vignette】

ONE:

Yin Chang: The entertainment industry really has a way to make ordinary people sparkle!

Wang Chen: What? You said I’m just an ordinary person! ?

Yin Chang: If you aren’t ordinary, are you a fairy?

Wang Chen:…

————

TWO:

Wang Chen: Look what you did!

Yin Chang (innocent): What did I do?

Wang Chen: You forced me to pay attention to two nobodies! And that damn Bo Xiaozhi, he hasn’t even paid attention to me at all!

Yin Chang (touching chin): He seems to be quite cold.

Wang Chen: What qualifications does he have for snubbing me!?  (╯‵□′)╯