For Su Chi to mention it to him with such solemnity, Xia Rong felt that there must have been something different about that ‘promotional trailer’ . Moreover, judging from his years of experience mixing within this circle, this ‘difference’ was probably quite troublesome .
Sure enough, as soon as he was about to quit WeChat to check Weibo, he saw that Shu Yi had also sent him a message . She was even more straightforward and just directly shared the link of the official microblog, saving Xia Rong from searching for it himself . Yet she did not forget to remind him, “Open it with your small account1, don’t slip up . ”
Xia Rong opened his account ‘Xia Rong Universe’s Most Handsome’ and entered the link, which showed that the official microblog of the program 《Liang Shanbo and Romeo》 consecutively posted two microblogs five minutes ago . The first one was the promotional video of the general program . Xia Rong clicked on it and found that it was only 20-something seconds . Furthermore, the atmosphere in the comments at the bottom were all very appropriate . The problem probably didn’t come from this one .
Taking a look at the second one… In just four or five minutes, it had already collected thousands of comments and hundreds of forwards . Moreover, after reading the contents of the microblogs, one would find that there was more to it than what meets the eye .
【#Liang Shanbo and Romeo# #Liang Shanbo and Romeo have set the record for 5 . 20# Exclusive and exciting first look! @Su Chi ‘sitting on’ a cute, obedient and intimate assistant, @Xia Rong robs what another cherishes? Xia Rong and Su Chi had come to blows? Even the cameraman couldn’t catch up, Su Chi desperately pursued ten kilometers to counterattack! [Liang Shanbo and Romeo’s official blog’s second-frame video]】
This preview video was even longer than the group’s overall promotional video by at least a minute . The clips in the video were all fragments of what really did happen during the program——
The directing team brought in several lively and well-behaved pets while announcing the ownership of each pet one by one . The camera focused on Xia Rong and Su Chi . Su Chi held the folded-ears cat, his eyelashes hanging down and gaze focused . While Xia Rong squatted down and stroked his Shiba Inu, his line of sight headed towards Su Chi’s direction .
The camera shifted; the director had just loudly announced that “The Liang Shanbo team is temporarily behind the Romeo team . ” Another shift and it became Xia Rong holding Little Folded-Ears, saying “Don’t inform Su Chi” and “Let him search . ” The scene then switched to him telling Zhang Xin and Gao Junming, “You two go ahead first . I’ll make use of this cat and drag Su Chi’s hind legs!”
Immediately after, the frame shook violently, appearing chaotic . You could hear a staff member asking, “What about Su Chi?” “Where did Su Chi go?” … “Su Chi went to chase Xia Rong!”
When the camera shot was stable again, Xia Rong and Su Chi were fighting each other on the street, vying for Little Folded-Ears, until Su Chi pushed Xia Rong against the tree trunk, ending the video with this impactful image .
Xia Rong’s first thought after finishing this video was… Headache .
All those things really did happen, but the time and logical order had different degrees of discrepancy . Under the uncanny workmanship of the editing team, this video became a self-consistent ‘Record of Xia Rong’s Robbery’ .
From the beginning, he eyed Su Chi and his cat covetously . After his team fell behind, he immediately came and tried to ‘rob away (Su Chi’s) cherished (cat)2’, so that Su Chi wouldn’t be able to complete the task . In order to complete the task, Su Chi had to leave behind the cameraman and chase him for ten kilometers . Finally, he caught up with him on the side of the street . And after some ‘struggles’, he was finally able to bring his family’s folded-ears back home .
Regarding this, he found that sometimes the subtle camera manipulations could deceive the audience’s eyes . For example, in the last scene of this video, Xia Rong still had an impression of that event . Su Chi didn’t use that much strength when he pressed him onto the tree and had even padded his back with his palm, so Xia Rong had hardly felt any pain .
However, when it appeared in the video, through the contrast of the slow-motion which was almost frame by frame in the early stages, sharply followed by the last image, the two people’s movements suddenly connected, making the scene particularly impactful . Moreover, the scene just happened to freeze and ended at the exact moment Xia Rong’s back bumped into the tree trunk and not a moment later . Then the video was immediately black-screened, leaving people in the dark with an aftertaste, feeling as if they had vaguely observed a life and death struggle .
……
In fact, Xia Rong could also understand . For the program group to invite them, this group of “little traffic gods” with a high level of controversy, it was precisely to publicize the show through the Internet using ‘hot topics’ and ‘hot searches’ . A lot of variety show editing was like this; the hunt for contradictions and conflicts, the pursuit of explosive points, and if there wasn’t an explosive point, they would create their own .
So when he signed the contract, he had already thought that he would be used to stir up the stir fry, which was nothing new . After all, they were still topics that belonged to him . Therefore, he didn’t feel all that upset towards this preview video that was obviously “blackening” him . What caused his headache was… How his and Su Chi’s fans will start tearing into each other again .
If it was simply just tearing into each other, such a thing was actually still okay . But the main thing was that, nowadays, the fans of popular topic trenders all had extraordinary fighting power . They had long been dissatisfied with just pulling each other’s hair and spitting at each other in the microblog comments; instead, they would also increase their personal attacks against the artists themselves . For example, they would spam ugly pictures that have been edited poorly or had been taken from a bad angle, using language connotations to attack someone’s defects, and would even deliberately photoshop ugly pictures, place curses on them… Xia Rong was lucky to have witnessed such an event once on his small account, it really made his blood run cold .
Just like now, after opening the comments section, he found that it was already filled with his and Su Chi’s fans . Su Chi’s fans occupied the moral high ground and started taunting Xia Rong . Meanwhile, his family’s ‘pompoms’ held on to talk about the last scene, saying that it was just a variety show . Xia Rong did it to create a sensational effect for the program, but Su Chi still shoved him with so much force, just by looking one could tell he didn’t mean well, blabla…3The situation of the two sides intensified . This war of words allowed the comments on this microblog to reach several thousand in a short time . Amidst all of this, there were no shortages of people just watching the excitement, other artists’ fans, and plain passersby, who all watched on with the same expression as ‘Jia Baoyu watching Qingwen tearing the fans4’ . Expressing with schadenfreude: Tear! Tear at it harder!
…Ah, head hurts .
And because of this, Xia Rong chose to reply to Shu Yi first after watching the promotional video and the preview: “Can we suppress it a bit on Weibo?”
Shu Yi’s reply was very clear-cut, “It’s already being suppressed . I’m already communicating with the program crew right now . Just bear with the preview’s blackening, if the main episode is still like this, we’ll just break the contract and stop participating . ”
Xia Rong knew that Shu Yi was half-joking, but seeing her ‘fiercely protecting her child5’ like this, he couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re really not afraid that I would conspire to steal Su Chi’s things?”
“Your IQ isn’t there,” Shu Yi calmly replied .
In fact, Shu Yi knew in her heart it wasn’t that Xia Rong lacked intelligence . Considering it from another perspective, being able to maintain popularity and resources in this competitive entertainment circle, there was no way he was stupid . Xia Rong was born with a good family background, outstanding talent, and a high audience affinity . As a result, he was too lazy to haggle over things and wouldn’t pay too much attention to gains and losses . While such a mentality might not be able to help him to press on in the teeth of difficulties6 to reach the top, but from another perspective, it undoubtedly allowed him to take a “safer” path .
However, at the end of the day, she became Xia Rong’s agent because Father Xia said, “Since this is what the child likes, then just let him have a go at it . We can just focus on giving him protection and support . ” Of her responsibilities, protection and assistance were weighed much more compared to guidance and instruction . Therefore, she would not force Xia Rong to ‘become a king or act like an emperor7’, but rather hoped that he could continue smoothly and happily .
“Then… Should I send out a microblog?” Xia Rong was very accustomed to being hurt by his agent, so without taking it to heart, he seamlessly went on to the next topic .
“You can . First, calm the fans . However…” Shu Yi paused, “Currently, the public opinion is in favor of Su Chi, so the initiative should be in Su Chi’s hands . It would be better for him to take the lead in sending a post then tagging you, that would be better for our situation . Can you contact Su Chi to ask about his intention? Actually, no . Nevermind . It’s safer for me to contact Han Lianghao…”
Xia Rong was just about to say, “I can ask Su Chi! Moreover, he already took the initiative to ask me just now!” when he saw that Shu Yi had sent a line of ellipsis to him .
“…………”Xia Rong: “?”
Shu Yi: “Su Chi already posted on Weibo . ”
Su Chi’s microblog was very simple:
【Su Chi: A journey, a group of friends . [image] [image] [image]】
He attached three photos . The first was the night view of S city taken from the sightseeing elevator, beautifully gilded . The second was a group photo of the six of them going to grab a midnight snack together after the shooting had finished . After the day of hard work, their desire to eat was finally satisfied . The six smiling faces around the dining table were particularly bright and sincere . As for the last one, Xia Rong didn’t even remember when it was taken . This picture only had the two of them . Xia Rong should have just been playing with his mobile phone when he was called . He raised his head with surprise and bewilderment still in his eyes . While Su Chi held up his mobile phone with a slight smile beside him, successfully capturing the two people in the picture .
Three photos, the main point was the last one . The two people did not deliberately act intimate, try to be wacky, or appear they would die to be conjoined, they did not even have any physical contact . However, from what could be imagined from seeing that photo, no matter if it was the atmosphere or the bearings of the two people, there was a self-evident intimacy .
The caption also appeared very plain, only eight simple characters . The message he wished to convey was very straightforward, such that even those with even a little relevant background knowledge could understand it at a glance – Xia Rong is my friend .
As the ‘victim’ of the event had already so clearly expressed his protection, the other righteous comments that were condemning Xia Rong immediately fell by more than half . No wonder Shu Yi would send an ellipsis to Xia Rong . As Xia Rong’s agent, it wasn’t that she didn’t know Su Chi’s relationship with Xia Rong was only a little more familiar than that of strangers . But who knew, after participating in a variety show together, Su Chi suddenly became a good brother who would ‘speak out from a sense of justice’ . It really was difficult not to think crooked thoughts from this .
Although there were still some people struggling on Weibo: “Su Chi is a good person, doing this for the overall situation” or “Su Chi is doing this to protect the harmony of the program . ” But there were also sensible fans who began to say that Chengzi Satellite TV had a history of magically editing the previews and loved to make gimmicks to guide the hype . Therefore, before the main episode came out, nothing could be concluded .
Xia Rong changed to his main account and forwarded Su Chi’s post: “[Erha]8 5 . 20, we’ll wait for you on Chengzi Satellite TV . //Su Chi: A journey, a group of friends . ”
This should be regarded as the unprecedented, first interaction between Xia Rong and Su Chi . Although it was for the purpose of program’s publicity and to deal with the series of disturbances brought about by the preview, but it quickly attracted even more melon eaters9 than usual【*** What did I just see?! 】
【Another group photo to commemorate! Eggplant10! 】
【Can I secretly say that this was within my remaining lifetime? 】
【Emerging from the bottom of a lake 111, the third one really caused my heart to tremble~ won’t say anymore! In a bit, I’ll be caught and seized by the surrounding fans of both sides! Continue to sink back down ~gurgle gurgle~】
……
Of course, the main force in the comments was still the chicken-blooded12 ‘pompoms13’ . There were still some Su Chi fans who criticized Xia Rong, but they were soon suppressed by the ‘pompoms’ .
Xia Rong’s mind wandered while still staring at Weibo on his screen, until he saw a WeChat notification about a new message, before he finally remembered he had not replied to Su Chi .
Su Chi: “Did you watch it yet?”
His question still remained at the point in time of ‘whether Xia Rong saw or not’, which made Xia Rong a little embarrassed . So he went onto a certain-Bao14 and searched for a screenshot of ‘Royal Cat Food’: “I saw it, I saw it! You didn’t see it that I even forwarded your Weibo already? Thank you ah . Next time, I’ll feed you this~ [image]”
Su Chi: “…Don’t want . ”
Xia Rong: “Ah? You don’t like this brand? Haven’t tried it before?”
Su Chi: “…”
Su Chi: “giving_you_a_look_for_you_to_try_it_yourself . jpg