Chapter 35 – Trending at Number One
Du Yan truly lived up to his reputation as a social butterfly—within minutes, he had already become familiar with Lin Ran.
It was late at night, so he couldn’t ask Shi Cha to cook for him. Instead, he ordered a massive spread of takeout and had it delivered.
By the time they were full and satisfied, it was already close to eleven o’clock.
After the meal, Shi Cha got up to help clean up the messy table, but Lin Ran stopped him.
Ever since they confirmed their relationship, Lin Ran hadn’t let Shi Cha lift a finger to do anything.
Du Yan watched as Lin Ran bagged up the trash and stepped out to throw it away, then leaned in closer to Shi Cha.
“Your boyfriend… he’s not bad, I guess.”
For someone who was taking his precious cabbage, “not bad” was already generous.
Shi Cha: “…”
His voice wasn’t loud, but he firmly retorted, “He’s great!”
Du Yan: “…”
“You’ve only been together for a few hours, and you’re already this protective?”
Du Yan dramatically sighed, “As the saying goes, ‘Sons grow up and can’t be kept by your side forever. Try to keep them, and you’ll end up enemies.’ Looks like our little Shi Cha is ready to get married. Sigh.”
Teased like that, Shi Cha immediately clammed up like an oyster, refusing to respond to Du Yan again.
But Du Yan didn’t care at all about his silence. He casually munched on a bag of chips while seriously analyzing Lin Ran.
Even though he had only run into Lin Ran and Shi Cha by chance, he felt that, as Shi Cha’s close friend, it was his duty to do a proper evaluation.
So Du Yan started dissecting Lin Ran from every angle, judging whether or not he was worthy of Shi Cha.
Finally, he reluctantly reached a conclusion: “He barely passes. But hey, you like him, so what can I do?”
Shi Cha turned his head slightly to look at Du Yan sprawled out on the couch and suddenly felt a warm sensation in his heart.
Although he had claimed not to care about the harsh online comments saying he wasn’t good enough, his excellent memory made those painful remarks resurface again and again.
Only Du Yan would say something like, “He barely passes—for you.”
Du Yan continued eating and drinking, making no move to leave. As it approached midnight, he was still lounging there.
Lin Ran was waiting to send Du Yan off so he could spend some alone time with Shi Cha.
Meanwhile, Du Yan was also waiting—waiting for Lin Ran to leave, making sure he wouldn’t stay the night.
Just got together and already thinking about staying over?
No way!
On the surface, the two of them chatted and laughed, but in reality, they were both stalling—until Shi Cha finally said, “It’s getting late, Du Yan, you should head home.”
Inwardly cursing, ‘This kid always sides with outsiders,’ Du Yan still put on a show and glanced at his watch.
“Oh wow, it is getting pretty late. Brother Lin, let’s head out together. I’ll hitch a ride with you.”
Lin Ran began tidying up the table, looking very much like he was ready to usher guests out.
“I didn’t drive—I live next door.”
Du Yan, who was hoping to get rid of Lin Ran at the same time: “…”
It was already past Shi Cha’s usual bedtime. Seeing how drowsy Shi Cha looked, Du Yan quickly chimed in, “He’s sleepy—he needs to rest early. Lin-ge, you must be tired too after flying all day. Come on, time to head home and rest.”
Without waiting for Lin Ran’s reply, Du Yan grabbed his things and half-pushed him toward the door.
After shoving Lin Ran out, Du Yan turned back at the doorway and reminded Shi Cha, “Make sure you lock all the windows and bolt the door tonight. Don’t go opening the door for strangers.”
As he spoke, he shot Shi Cha a meaningful look.
Of course no one would willingly open the door to a thief—Du Yan was clearly insinuating something.
Shi Cha glanced at Lin Ran standing behind Du Yan and nodded. “You should get some rest too.”
He paused, then added, “And… thank you.”
Du Yan was momentarily stunned before realizing Shi Cha was referring to how he’d rushed back just to see him today. He waved it off casually. “No need to thank me. What are friends for? Alright, get back inside—I’m leaving now.”
And with that, he shut the door right in front of Lin Ran, not allowing him to step back inside.
“Brother Lin, I’ve been to Shi Cha’s place so many times, but I’ve never seen your home. I’m feeling a bit bloated after dinner—how about a cup of tea?”
Lin Ran understood Du Yan wanted to talk privately, so he nodded. “Sure.”
…
After Lin Ran’s surprise announcement of their relationship, the previous accusations claiming Shi Cha was a heartless player who deceived others vanished completely.
However, none of the people who had made those accusations came forward to apologize.
The ones most thrilled by the announcement were the two major CP fandoms. No longer at odds with one another, they instead began sharing content and “sugar” (sweet moments) from each other’s sides.
Thanks to Lin Ran publicly standing by Shi Cha, the few fans Shi Cha had finally found the courage to speak up and support their idol.
Overnight, Shi Cha’s Weibo—previously at zero followers—skyrocketed, gaining over a million fans. Among them were Shi Cha’s new fans, both CP fandoms, and even some of Lin Ran’s devoted supporters.
To Lin Ran’s die-hard fans, if this was the person their “big brother” had chosen, then of course they would give their blessing.
Under the post where Shi Cha announced he had a boyfriend, tens of thousands of comments poured in within just a few hours.
Even in this situation, there were still some people who jumped out to criticize Shi Cha, claiming he must have used some underhanded methods—after all, how could someone so unknown and insignificant become the boyfriend of someone as top-tier as Lin Ran?
Some even began to slander Lin Ran, saying that ever since his retirement, he hadn’t produced any noteworthy work, and this relationship was just a publicity stunt to regain attention before he faded into obscurity.
It looked like another round of internet drama was about to erupt.
But early the next morning, a piece of news hit the top of the entertainment headlines:
#Domestic animated film Divine Dragon nominated for Cannes International Animation Film Festival#
The Cannes International Animation Film Festival, organized by the International Animated Film Association, is the largest and most prestigious animation film festival in the world—an event of major significance in the animation industry.
Until now, no Chinese animated film had ever been nominated at this festival, let alone won an award.
This lack of nominations had long been a source of embarrassment, leading Chinese animation to be mocked by international filmmakers.
Now, with Divine Dragon receiving multiple nominations at the festival, it was like a fire had been lit in the hearts of the Chinese public.
If—just if—it could win an award, Chinese animated films would finally gain the recognition they deserved on the international stage!
The news rocketed to the top of the trending search list.
Just as everyone was eagerly trying to find out who was behind the film and what nominations it had received, Huashi—China’s official media outlet—posted on Weibo, publicly praising the core creative team of Divine Dragon. The post also listed the eight nominations the film had earned at the festival.
Unlike regular films, animated films don’t have categories for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, or Best Supporting Actress, so naturally, there are fewer awards overall.
Even so, Divine Dragon’s eight nominations covered half of all the award categories at the festival.
Netizens were ecstatic. This wasn’t just about restoring dignity—this meant Chinese animation was on the verge of claiming a place on the world stage.
While the nation celebrated, some people were hit hard with reality.
First in line were those who had mocked Lin Ran, saying he had no representative work and was just a pretty face occupying a top spot in the industry without real talent.
Because the director, producer, and screenwriter of Divine Dragon…
…were all the same person—Lin Ran.
And Lin Ran himself had been nominated for multiple awards, including Best Director and Best Screenwriter.
Who would dare say now that Lin Ran had no accomplishments besides his esports championship—that he was just a pretty face?
The things said last night were proven wrong by morning. Those who had bashed Lin Ran online were now desperate to time-travel back to yesterday and slap themselves in the face. “Serves you right for talking nonsense!”
Within a short time, people were scrambling to delete their inappropriate comments. For posts that couldn’t be deleted, they quickly reposted new ones to clarify their stance.
The second group to get publicly embarrassed? The haters who claimed Shi Cha was just a pretty face and completely unworthy of Lin Ran.
Animated films differ from live-action ones in another key aspect: all the characters need to be voiced by professional voice actors. Because of that, animation film festivals often include a category for Best Voice Acting—a category not typically found in traditional film festivals.
Divine Dragon had also received a nomination for Best Voice Acting.
Usually, this award is listed under the film’s title, and the prize is given to the voice acting team, since no one person can voice an entire film.
But Divine Dragon was an exception.
Its credits were long—but after every character name, there was only one name listed.
That name was: Shi Cha.
So the official nomination for Best Voice Acting at the Cannes International Animation Film Festival was:
—Divine Dragon, Shi Cha.