Early March.
A major piece of news hit the entertainment industry.
#Top star Zhang Qingyun terminates contract with agency, may face astronomical compensation!#
The news was simple: Zhang Qingyun had a falling out with his agency, terminated his contract, and became a free agent.
Although Zhang Qingyun's popularity had waned, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, and he still garnered considerable attention.
Upon the release of this news, Zhang Qingyun instantly captured nationwide attention.
"Zhang Qingyun is a thing of the past, everyone move along."
"Where are those fans who once swore eternal loyalty, why aren't they showing support now?"
"Who would be foolish enough to show support at this time? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"
Since the news broke, his fan base, who had shouted "fans forever," seemed to have vanished.
Occasionally, one or two would appear, but they were quickly flamed and deleted their comments.
And then, at this moment.
A wave of people suddenly appeared.
This group, however, became the dominant force in the comment section.
"Brother Ma finally left that trash company?"
"Congratulations, Brother Ma, though his acting is poor, he hasn't done many bad things. Hope he improves his skills after the contract termination."
"Don't worry, Brother Ma, even though the entertainment industry is cursing you, you'll always be Brother Ma in the meme videos!"
"Look how awesome our anti-fans are, supporting Brother Ma against public opinion."
"This is the true peak creating false support, and dusk witnessing the real apostles!"
"Hahaha, who would have thought that the ones who ended up supporting Brother Ma would be the ones who hated him."
"Admittedly, this is the tragedy of traffic stars; when they are no longer glamorous, they are met with the ruthless abandonment of their fans."
Indeed, no one expected that the ones who ultimately came out to support him would be those who had always blacklisted him.
Although these people were still mocking him, it was evident they held a special affection for Brother Ma.
Even though Zhang Qingyun was no longer a top star, his position as the undisputed king of meme videos remained unshaken.
During this period.
Zhang Qingyun's condition had been poor.
His idol image was gone, he hadn't shaved, and his hair was messy.
Several empty beer bottles lay on the table.
He slowly stood up, rubbing his throbbing temples.
"By this time, news of my contract termination should have spread, right?"
Zhang Qingyun picked up his phone and murmured to himself.
His voice was hoarse from the hangover, so he cleared his throat.
As he browsed his Weibo, he suddenly froze.
Then, his eyes reddened sharply.
"I never expected that the ones who supported me in the end would be them..."
Zhang Qingyun was somewhat choked up. Even though these anti-fans were mocking him, they were at least on his side, and that was enough for Zhang Qingyun.
He then opened his fan group.
The group, which used to have three thousand people, now had less than a thousand.
These were all core fans, requiring a high level of contribution to the idol to join the group.
It had previously been managed by the company, but after the termination, the company gave him the group as Zhang Qingyun voluntarily took on the contract termination losses.
The once bustling group had few people chatting.
However, Zhang Qingyun felt comforted that these people were willing to stay.
"@All members, thank you for your unwavering loyalty!"
He posted in the group.
But to his surprise.
The replies were not as encouraging as he had imagined.
"Huh? I didn't leave the group?"
"Oh dear, I forgot to leave the group. If Brother Yan Zhi found out I wasn't his only fan, it would be bad. Gotta go..."
With just this message.
Another two hundred people left the group.
Zhang Qingyun was initially bewildered, then tears streamed down his face as he cried out, and he never dared to post another word.
...
After Zhang Qingyun's incident, Lin Yanzhi became the biggest winner.
Many of Zhang Qingyun's fans migrated to Lin Yanzhi.
At the same time.
The promotion for "Spirit Fox Legend" was overwhelming.
From subway tunnels and bus stops to the homepages of major entertainment websites, posters for "Spirit Fox Legend" were everywhere.
"Lin Yanzhi has only been back in the country for such a short time, and he already has such high popularity?"
"Heh, I smell money."
"Admittedly, foreign companies are really rich, with promotions all over the place."
"I see Lin Yanzhi's face everywhere I go now, I'm almost sick of it!"
"Actually, there's a very important reason: most of Zhang Qingyun's fans have gone to Lin Yanzhi, so it's a seamless handover."
For this abnormal level of popularity and the ubiquitous advertising, anyone with a bit of industry knowledge would know it was capital-driven promotion.
However, Lin Yanzhi had also gained many loyal fans during this period.
Upon seeing these discussions, they were immediately incensed.
"Some people are just jealous of Brother Yan Zhi's popularity, only knowing how to be sarcastic here."
"Even if he's being promoted, he needs to have the capital to be promoted. Lin Yanzhi can make his company spend money on him, which shows he has the ability."
"I strongly suspect these anti-fans were sent by Zhang Qingyun. He's faded into obscurity himself and can't stand to see others take his top-tier position."
"Let's go, let's go blast Zhang Qingyun's Weibo!"
As the lead actor, Lin Yanzhi's Weibo followers had surged to over seventy million due to such massive exposure.
Various trending topics were everywhere.
Naturally, he had his loyal fans.
And fans naturally had to find a target to defend Lin Yanzhi.
Therefore, Zhang Qingyun naturally became the victim.
"This move is enough to kill Zhang Qingyun."
Lin Yanzhi said contentedly while eating steak and drinking red wine, "Steak and red wine are so comfortable, I can't get used to Chinese food."
"Shall I have the company organize another campaign? Zhang Qingyun still has many fans; completely ruining him will bring us even more fans," his agent said with a smile.
For capital, blackening a star who had lost their backing was incredibly simple.
It was merely a question of whether they wanted to.
"Forget it, let's keep him around. He can take more of the blame for me."
Lin Yanzhi waved his hand.
Now, anyone criticizing him online was labeled as Zhang Qingyun's fan, which helped divert a lot of attention.
The most important thing now was to make "Spirit Fox Legend" a hit in March. Coupled with the hype, he would definitely ascend to the top-tier position, replacing Zhang Qingyun.
Not only that, but after the movie became a massive success, he would leverage the traffic to release an electronic music song. This layered ascent gave Lin Yanzhi a sense of strategic progression.
"Listen to the Rain dominates other charts, but not electronic music, this is the biggest breakthrough. This 'cross-era singer' persona is quite good..."
Lin Yanzhi happily took a sip of red wine. This title was concocted by the company, borrowing from Listen to the Rain.
And they had also found Listen to the Rain's loopholes; since Listen to the Rain hadn't released any electronic music, if Lin Yanzhi were to debut as a singer, he would use electronic music to avoid direct competition with Listen to the Rain, and then the company would hype him up, solidifying this "cross-era" singer persona.
Regardless of whether netizens agreed, as long as the fans recognized it, the reputation would spread over time.
This was a common hype tactic used by many traffic stars.
As Lin Yanzhi was scrolling through Weibo, he suddenly encountered a piece of news that left him stunned.
#Jiangnan's latest film "A Chinese Ghost Story" to be released in three days, with the theme song produced by Listen to the Rain and sung by Zhang Wei, please look forward to it!#
"Pfft!!"
Upon seeing this message, Lin Yanzhi spat a mouthful of red wine onto his phone.
What the hell!
"A Chinese Ghost Story" only started filming over a month ago, and it's about to be released???