Chapter 059

Sister Yun immediately sat up. “What did he post?”

Maomao handed over the phone.

It was a page from a marketing account¹. The post featured three photos: two of Qi Yuanzhou and one of Lu Jianxing. One of the photos was the official character reveal Qi Yuanzhou had just released.

The marketing account mentioned the recent casting controversy, but it didn’t explicitly state that Qi Yuanzhou had stolen the role. Instead, it claimed there had been rumors that Lu Jianxing would be the lead, but the official announcement confirmed Qi Yuanzhou. The wording was highly biased. To an uninformed passerby, it looked more like Lu Jianxing had been greedy for the role and intentionally baited his fans, only to fail in securing the project.

Afterward, it listed a comparison of the two actors’ past works. Qi Yuanzhou had a deep background, and the productions he had participated in featured luxurious lineups. When placed side by side, his record was exceptionally dazzling.

Scrolling further down, the comment section was already overrun by Qi Fans.

[This is hilarious. Lu Jianxing is really good at boosting his own status. Did he think that if he bought enough press releases, this lead role would actually be his?]

[Taking our Zhouzhou away. Zhouzhou is a young master from a wealthy family; what right does some flop have to clout-chase him?]

[I’ve been annoyed with a certain someone for a long time. All he does is market himself, buying hot searches every day to brag. What’s all this about a five-year-old being a Master? Does he think real life is some invincible hero novel? Well, look at him now, he’s crashed and burned. An actor’s track record is what matters most, okay?]

Fans and haters were locked in a fierce battle, and among them were many of Lu Jianxing’s anti-fans who were fishing in troubled waters, taking the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

There were also people speaking up for Lu Jianxing in the comments: [I don’t think Qi Yuanzhou has much of a track record either.]

[Heh, Qi Yuanzhou hasn’t even become popular despite being forced on the public. Isn’t his greatest achievement just “winning the reincarnation lottery”?]

[As a fan of the original book, I’m devastated. I’d rather have Lu Jianxing play the part. Which drama filmed by Qi Yuanzhou doesn’t eventually turn into “The Legend of Yuanzhou”?]

[A friend of mine is an insider, and she told me in secret that the lead was indeed originally set to be Lu Jianxing. I don’t know why it changed to Qi Yuanzhou when the official announcement came out…]

That last comment didn’t make much of a splash. It was quickly drowned out by the remarks of the paid water army², and before long, the comment couldn’t even be found anymore.

Maomao was filled with righteous indignation. In contrast, the others, who had been a bit angry at first, calmly looked away after reading and went back to whatever they were doing.

“Sister Yun, Brother Lu, aren’t you guys angry?” Maomao asked, puzzled.

Sister Yun hesitated. “I was quite angry at first, but Xiao Man said…”

Ever since they heard the results of Xiao Man’s fortune-telling, it felt as if a countdown was hanging over Qi Yuanzhou’s head, ticking away every day. Thinking that Qi Yuanzhou didn’t have many good days left, and that they had gained a blessing in disguise with the opportunity for Director Jin’s movie, a sense of calm naturally arose.

Instead of wasting time on this, it was better to prepare for joining the new production and deliver a performance that would satisfy Director Jin.

Maomao: “…”

He looked down again, seeing the triumphant behavior of the Qi Fans on his phone, and suddenly he calmed down too.

…

The next day, Lu Jianxing signed the contract. Since he was a last-minute replacement, he had no gaps in his schedule and had to pack his bags immediately to head to the set for filming.

Director Jin was a major director, and every movie he started filming received intense media attention. This time, because a supporting actor had been involved in a scandal, the need for an emergency replacement was naturally under the watchful eyes of many. Just after Lu Jianxing signed the contract, someone captured photos of him arriving at the film set with his suitcase.

As soon as the news broke, Lu Jianxing’s fans celebrated as if it were a public holiday, finally feeling vindicated.

Heaven knows, they had been tearing into people for days!

Lu Jianxing didn’t lack popularity, especially with his current drama being a hit. Perhaps seeing the buzz surrounding him, Qi Yuanzhou’s fans had been acting like mad dogs, snapping at Lu Jianxing at every turn. The two fanbases had been fighting daily. Qi Yuanzhou had hired an unknown number of water army accounts to stay on the hot search³ rankings for days, until even casual passersby knew the two sides were at odds.

The production crew had been the ones to breach the contract first, yet Lu Jianxing was the one being harassed repeatedly. Sister Yun didn’t hold back either, directly leaking the fact that Qi Yuanzhou had stolen the role. Before the drama even started filming, it was embroiled in controversy. Before he could even benefit from the role, he was already being cursed. For a time, Qi Yuanzhou’s social media page was flooded with criticism.

Qi Yuanzhou’s fans, however, were full of excuses. Why say Qi Yuanzhou stole the role? Maybe it was because Lu Jianxing’s own character was lacking, which made the investors prefer to pay the breach of contract fee just to get rid of him.

After all, Lu Jianxing had just gone through an Internet-wide Smear Campaign!

They claimed Qi Yuanzhou stole the role, but who knew what kind of person Lu Jianxing was in private? Surely no one had forgotten Lu Jianxing’s previous scandals?

This shameless attitude infuriated Lu Jianxing’s fans, who rolled up their sleeves and battled the other side for three days and nights.

Now that the news of Lu Jianxing joining the new set was out, his fans were overjoyed: [That’s right, hahaha! Our Xingxing isn’t going to play that lead role, he’s going to film Director Jin’s movie!]

[Oh dear, if it weren’t for the fact that he happened to have a gap in his schedule, he wouldn’t have been able to help Director Jin out in this emergency.]

[A friend told me that Xiao Man did a fortune-telling for Xingxing and said it was a good thing he didn’t get that lead role. I was wondering about that, but now that I see he’s filming Director Jin’s movie, it really is a great thing!]

[Our Xingxing is someone protected by Baby Xiao Man!]

The tables had turned. In the blink of an eye, marketing accounts began comparing the two actors again.

Qi Yuanzhou clicked on the hot search. Sure enough, under the news of Lu Jianxing participating in Director Jin’s movie, there was a battle between his own fans and the opposing side. The passersby who had been criticizing Lu Jianxing before were now criticizing him.

He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.

Originally, he just wanted to borrow Lu Jianxing’s hype to create some buzz for himself. He didn’t lack resources, but he lacked an opportunity to become a superstar. It was because he saw the potential in this novel adaptation that he had gone to such lengths to snatch it. Who would have thought that while he stole Lu Jianxing’s role, he would end up giving Lu Jianxing the chance to work with Director Jin?

That was Director Jin!

Director Jin never chose people based on investment or background. Qi Yuanzhou had once wanted to be in one of Director Jin’s movies, but he had been rejected bluntly after the audition. Even bringing up his family background hadn’t made Director Jin budge.

Thinking about how his efforts had actually ended up helping Lu Jianxing, Qi Yuanzhou felt utterly miserable.

Did Lu Jianxing have a deeper background than he did?

That shouldn’t be the case. Lu Jianxing was an orphan from an orphanage, so where would he get any backing? It couldn’t possibly be that kid by his side, could it?

While browsing the internet, Qi Yuanzhou had seen some vague comments claiming that the five-year-old had performed a fortune-telling for Lu Jianxing, telling him that having his role stolen was a good thing. Qi Yuanzhou had heard a bit about that child as well. He was supposedly a capable Master who had helped Film Queen Shao find her biological daughter, and both Director Yang and Director Liu held him in high regard.

Could Director Jin also be doing this as a favor to that child?

…Was that kid really that gifted?

Qi Yuanzhou scrolled through his screen, reading the comments one by one.

For some reason, he had become a bit unlucky lately.

Setting aside minor things like choking on water or his accessories breaking, there was the fact that he hadn’t intended for this matter to blow up so much. He had only wanted to release some press releases to make himself look better, but things had spiraled out of control. Instead, he had ended up covered in scandal.

And then there was…

His phone rang. He answered it, and a family member warned him sternly, “Keep a low profile lately. Don’t stand out too much.”

Qi Yuanzhou was annoyed. “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Just do as you’re told. Didn’t you want to be in Director Gao’s movie? In a little while, we’ll get you the lead role for Director Gao.”

Director Gao was also a major director in the film and television industry who had won many awards. A lead role in his work carried a lot of weight, and it was no worse than a supporting role in a movie by Director Jin.

Only then did Qi Yuanzhou reluctantly agree.

He restrained his fans, telling them not to go looking for trouble with Lu Jianxing. But this time, the situation was beyond his control. The fans had been on the front lines for days and were already fuming with anger. Consequently, just as Qi Yuanzhou finished packing his bags to join his production, he took out his phone during a break after filming a scene and saw his name on the hot search list again.

He clicked on it. It was a video set in an airport. A familiar child was sitting on a high luggage cart while someone chased after him with a phone.

The assistant, Maomao, was blocking them from the side. “Everyone, please make way. Don’t rush, be careful not to crowd anyone.”

“Xiao Man!” someone in the crowd shouted a sharp question. “Did you tell Lu Jianxing’s fortune? Is that why you had him give up that role?”

The child held onto the handle of the luggage cart, sitting steadily. Only when he heard Lu Jianxing’s name did he look over, his clear, dark eyes coming into the camera’s range.

He admitted it frankly, “That’s right. I cast a hexagram, and it was greatly ominous⁴!”

“Greatly ominous?!”

“Very, very ominous! There will be big trouble!”

The video cut off abruptly.

The comments section below, however, exploded.

[!!!!]

[What? What do you mean ‘greatly ominous’?!]

[Is he talking about that drama?]

[Since Master Xiao Man said it’s bad luck… wait, Qi Yuanzhou is the one filming that role now, which means…]

Master Xiao Man was a real Master. Since he said there was a problem, then…

For a moment, everyone was caught between belief and doubt.

The Qi Fans almost went crazy.

[No, are you sick in the head??]

[Just because you didn’t get the role, you have to curse others?]

[Lu Jianxing’s character is trash. He’s so jealous of others that he says they’ll have bad luck. Heh, does anyone really believe a kid can tell fortunes?]

[Qi Yuanzhou’s new drama is guaranteed to be a massive hit. How can a minor background role in a Director Jin movie be better than an S-tier lead role? What could possibly be ‘greatly ominous’?]

Qiao Man knew nothing about these online disputes.

Director Jin’s movie was being filmed in a small northern city. After joining the production, all the actors entered a state of intense filming. Director Jin’s requirements were extremely strict, and the actors didn’t even have free time to go online. Even Qiao Man, who had come along to accompany Xingxing during filming, was affected by the atmosphere. While on set, he didn’t even dare to watch cartoons, let alone know what kind of storm he had stirred up on the internet.

After all, the one he had judged to be facing a great misfortune wasn’t just Qi Yuanzhou alone, but the entire production crew.

Forget Qi Yuanzhou; everyone in that crew was now on edge.

When Qiao Man’s social media status was updated, the Qi Fans rushed over to look.

@XiaoManXiaoMan: [Repost this Wealth-Attracting Talisman to improve your financial luck! (Wealth-Attracting Talisman.jpg)]

Qi Fans: [???]

Qi Fans: [….]

What? A Wealth-Attracting Talisman? Whatever, let’s just repost it and see.

While pressing the repost button, the Qi Fans grumbled, [No way, right? No way someone actually believes in metaphysics in this world, right?]

A few days later, Qi Yuanzhou’s name hit the hot searches again.

The investor had been arrested for involvement in financial fraud!

Qi Yuanzhou and his entire family were arrested too!

The entire drama went down the drain!

The people responsible for investigating the case stated that, for some reason, the investigation process had been exceptionally smooth this time.

Translator’s Notes