Chapter 12 一 Established a Fansite
While waiting for the afternoon filming, Bai Ruogu casually ate a few bites of food before reclining on the sofa in the rental house. He browsed the news on StarNet using his smart brain.
He was using an entertainment platform called “Everyday1,” which was also the main battlefield for actors and celebrities. The platform had all sorts of updates, mainly focusing on entertainment gossip. It was also the fiercest battleground for fan communities.
Bai Ruogu carefully compared it and found that this platform was quite similar to a certain platform in the past, except that it didn’t stand out as much as that platform did. Instead, its influence was on par with other entertainment social platforms.
The hot topic was at the top of the virtual screen, with words scrolling from time to time. Most of them were news about celebrities.
For example, if a certain celebrity had a public spat with another celebrity, who cheated on whom, who dated whom… as long as the popularity was high and the topic was relevant enough, even the smallest details could make it to the hot topic.
Bai Ruogu lay comfortably, lightly shaking his head with a smile as he scrolled through these news, sighing before moving on to the next hot topic.
Actually, this was quite good. It was better to have some trivial things about celebrities trending than to have some major social event become a hot topic.
As he scrolled, he suddenly thought of something and uttered an “Oh,” then curiously clicked on the profile icon.
On the personal homepage was an account named “Grain2” a level-seven account with a three-year history, but it had no posted content. His memory reminded him that this was his small account.
Then what would his main account be like?
Bai Ruogu wondered, driven by curiosity, and clicked on the account. As expected, below the small account was a main account with a diamond badge.
The name of the main account was straightforward: Actor Bai Ruogu, followed by a verification badge.
Bai Ruogu wasn’t afraid of anything, so he directly switched to his main account.
Instantly, there were numerous notification sounds, and the red message indicator in the bottom corner showed 99+.
Bai Ruogu raised his eyebrows slightly, but he was not surprised, as if he had expected it. He calmly opened the homepage, which showed 3.3 million fans.
He continued scrolling through the posts he had posted before. Most of the time, they were a paragraph of text with a few pictures. The pictures included everyday scenery, a few small dishes, or his own selfies or artistic photos.
These posts typically garnered around 10,000 likes, with comments hovering around 2,000, and most shares reaching a few hundred, occasionally just over a thousand.
His thumb brushed over the data in front of his eyes, his brow twitched slightly, and he casually opened the comments section of one post.
First comment: [Ah ah ah, brother looks so handsome, I really like brother!]
Second comment: [First!!!]
Third comment: [I could eat brother’s looks for a lifetime!]
Fourth comment: [Keep it up, forever love you, brother!!]
Bai Ruogu found it both amusing and exasperating.
It seemed that his fans were all fans of his appearance.
He didn’t feel these little fans were shallow at all, instead, he found them quite cute.
In his past life, he also had fans, but most of them were more dignified, and lively ones like these were rarely seen.
He still remembered when he posted, the comments were always so positive.
[Learn from Master Bai, Master Bai is the role model for our whole lives!]
[Took the college entrance exam today, when giving examples, I used Master Bai! In the future, I also want to be a person who contributes to society like Master Bai.]
[Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony; freedom, equality, justice, rule of law; patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendliness.3]
[Thanks to Master Bai for his contributions. Wishing him good health and a long life.]
Bai Ruogu smiled and shook his head, with a hint of joy in his eyes.
He used to enjoy all kinds of comments, whether they were youthful and lively or positive and uplifting, as long as his fans seemed carefree.
Thinking that it had been a long time since he had posted anything, he closed his script, put it on the table, and took a picture of it. Then he opened the app and started editing the content of his new post.
[Actor Bai Ruogu: New film starts shooting, stay tuned (with picture).]
As soon as the post went up, some die-hard fans rushed in. Bai Ruogu refreshed the page, and several comments appeared below.
[First!!!]
[Wow, a new film? Can’t wait!]
[Brother is taking on a new role? Wait, brother is an actor? I just found out!!]
[Wow, brother is so beautiful, I wonder what he looks like in front of the camera! Can’t wait.]
[Cheering for brother, go go go, brother will surely be a box office hit!]
Initially, the first few comments were all from Bai Ruogu’s hardcore fans, and they were blindly confident in him because of his looks.
As more comments poured in, some started to repeat, mostly praising Bai Ruogu’s appearance or expressing anticipation for the new movie.
Bai Ruogu chuckled helplessly, “No wonder they say fans are like parrots.”
As he spoke, he scrolled through the screen, more and more comments with similar meanings appearing before his eyes.
He murmured softly, “The content is so similar, is it really sincere?”
But as the comments increased, there were also some meaningful questions.
[Did brother start filming? What genre is it?]
It wasn’t a question that needed to be kept secret anyway, and Bai Ruogu was bored, so he just treated the fans in front of him as chat partners.
He instinctively wanted to say science fiction, but suddenly realized that this genre was no longer considered science fiction given today’s technology.
[It’s more of a romance film.]
Fans were pleasantly surprised to see the somewhat aloof brother suddenly reply to them, and quickly clamored to confess their love.
Some fans in the comment section spotted Bai Ruogu and sent comments like “Caught my brother in action,” while others took the opportunity to ask questions.
[Is my brother really filming a movie? Which film crew is it? Why hasn’t there been an official announcement? Is my brother the lead actor?]
Bai Ruogu typed with his mind.
[This time it’s a low-key movie, and I’m the lead actor.]
The fans were excited and followed up with questions: [Who is the director of the movie? Are there any other actors acting alongside my brother? I’m really curious.]
This time Bai Ruogu stopped answering. He glanced sideways at the script on the table, his eyes becoming deep.
Before the start of filming, he had specifically discussed with Li Huai because the crew had Lin Chen, a potential big hit. With his fan base, there was no need to worry about box office losses.
However, considering that most of the cast were newcomers and that both he and Li Huai were controversial figures in the industry, once the lineup was known, especially to Lin Chen’s fans, they would definitely face intense criticism.
So they had initially planned to shoot the film first and then promote it, which could have avoided many unnecessary factors. But just a moment ago, he suddenly changed his mind…
Black and red were still red4. Many people had tried their hardest to get this kind of attention, but they couldn’t. Not to mention their new movie was coming out soon. As long as they controlled the rhythm well, the more attention they got, the better it would be for the box office.
Furthermore, regarding word of mouth, even if there was a lot of criticism before the premiere, once the quality of the film proves to be excellent, impressions can easily be turned around.
Bai Ruogu’s eyes became deeper, and the curve of his smile became more apparent. He conveyed his plan to Li Huai via voice message and then lay on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling, appearing quite relaxed.
Ah, why did he get himself into this kind of situation?
When he thought about public opinion, he transferred another 10 million from his remaining 70 million accounts to Li Huai, with a note to ask for more if necessary.
He believed Li Huai should have his own way of dealing with such matters.
Sometimes, the success or failure of a work depended on marketing. The saying “good wine doesn’t need to be advertised” was not always true. What if the customer got lost on the way? No matter how good the wine was, it was useless. Many good works were unknown due to insufficient publicity, and many mediocre works became well-known because of heavy promotion.
Although many viewers might have criticized the show for not living up to its name, what was the point? No amount of criticism would result in a refund of the capital.
Not all good works could rely solely on word of mouth; those buried deep needed exposure to see the light. Those already famous needed additional embellishment to ascend to a higher level.
Since Bai Ruogu wanted to make a movie popular, he couldn’t afford to lose at the starting line of publicity, no matter how good or bad the movie turned out to be.
At that moment, when Li Huai received Bai Ruogu’s message, he suddenly realized the situation and quickly utilized his previous connections to hastily establish a public relations department.
In addition, he hired several bodyguards with an A rating or above to protect the crew, and he also put the emergency hotline as the first option in the speed dial column.
As the two of them began to get busy, Su Miao, who was standing next to Bai Ruogu, also followed Bai Ruogu’s gaze and looked at the screen.
His eyes flickered with red light, and the words on the screen reflected in his pupils.
[Ah ah ah love you, brother. You looks so handsome.]
[Husband, I’m here, look at me!]
[Ah ah ah , I’m dead. Today is another day of screen licking.]
[Husband, I want to give birth to a monkey for you!5]
The red light in Su Miao’s eyes flickered faster and faster, while the virtual body floating in the air gradually warmed up. There was a noticeable fluctuation in the chest.
The air flowed quickly as Su Miao’s lips tightened into a straight line, and the light in his eyes grew brighter.
Just as the riot was about to spiral out of control, the word “actor” in front of Bai Ruogu’s name suddenly fell into Su Miao’s recognition system…
Everything seemed to come under control, and the hot breath gradually calmed down. However, an unnoticed vortex began to hover in the air, growing deeper and deeper, like a black hole, though it wouldn’t suck in objects.
System analysis in progress—
[Fandom]
[Fans]
[Common quotes]
Gradually, everything returned to calmness, and the virtual person’s eyes narrowed slightly. Su Miao appeared normal on the outside, but no one could see the data in their virtual brain tearing, bouncing, and squeezing frantically.
Amidst the storm raging in the brain, something was straightened out and gradually consolidated into a will.
In a vast, boundless expanse of blue data space, scattered pieces of information were pieced together.
At the same time, a website emerged on StarNet called the ‘Actor Bai Ruogu Fansite,’ which was run by a newly registered user.
Ruogu’s poison is invincible V.
Though seemingly insignificant, this fansite quickly attracted attention, with many accounts becoming members.
The fansite rapidly expanded, gaining 200,000 fans in an instant. Subsequently, seemingly concerned about being noticed, the data began to run slowly.
The website was also the only one among Bai Ruogu’s fansite to have gained popularity.
…The probability of it being him is 21.14%.
- 日际 (Rì jì) ↩︎
- 谷粒 (gǔ lì), 谷 (gǔ) same with 白若谷 (Bái ruògǔ), but the meaning of 谷粒 (gǔ lì) itself is grain. ↩︎
- 二十四字社会主义核心价值观 (Èrshísì zì shèhuì zhǔyì héxīn jiàzhíguān) it’s a twenty-four character socialist core values. It split into eight character for each level. First Level – National Level: Prosperity, Democracy, Civilization, Harmony. Second Level – Social Level: Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law. Third Level – Individual Level: Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, Friendliness. ↩︎
- 黑红也是红 (Hēi hóng yěshì hóng) It is a routine to become famous and popular through black material, causing public controversy or attracting everyone’s attention. ↩︎
- The original text is [老公我要为你生猴子!] (Lǎogōng wǒ yào wèi nǐ shēng hóuzi!). This word is originally a homophonic form of “I want to give you a baby”. It may be because girls who directly say that they have a baby will show that they are not reserved enough , and in addition, giving birth to a monkey would be very funny. It is more in line with Internet culture , so the word became popular on the Internet. ↩︎