Chapter 45: World Two [15] Part 2

Shao Qing listened to Jing Ke’s deadpan relaying while dividing her attention to watch for the next question. She also had to manage her facial expressions and suddenly found herself quite busy.

The first five questions had nothing to do with Shao Qing. It wasn’t until the sixth was drawn that a question was directed at her.

“I’d like to ask Shao Qing, why are you so keen on bundling yourself with male artists for publicity hype? Have you no shame left in your pursuit of popularity?” The director read the question with a subtle tone, glancing discreetly at a certain person in the left-side seats.

[Shao Qing, that wasn’t me. That wasn’t the question I prepared.] Jing Ke instinctively explained.

“Don’t worry, I know,” Shao Qing said. Noticing the camera was on her, she showed a polite, faint smile.

“I want to clarify one point. It’s not that I’m keen on bundling myself with male artists for publicity; rather, some people like to bundle themselves with me. I’ve already posted related explanations and clarifications on social media many times, but marketing accounts seem to have minds of their own, treating my clarifications and legal letters like scrap paper.”

Shao Qing spoke slowly, her tone very firm. “I’ve responded to this many times already, and originally didn’t want to say more. But since some viewers are still curious about this question, I’ll explain it once and for all.”

“If you want to know who is actively seeking this kind of bundled publicity, it’s very simple. Just see which side ultimately benefits.”

Shao Qing paused as she spoke, the smile on her face tinged with a hint of disdain, making her features look even sharper and more assertive.

“I won’t name names here, but if you check, you’ll find out. Who had no endorsements before bundling with me, and who, right after the clarification, immediately landed new endorsements or was announced to star in a new role?”

Shao Qing: “Oh, and taking this opportunity during the live stream, I’ll reiterate. Next time, if anyone randomly bundles with me, the legal letter won’t be sent to marketing accounts, but directly to the person paying for the marketing. Don’t say I’m too heartless then.”

After Shao Qing finished, not only was the scene completely silent, but the barrage comments in the live stream also suddenly thinned out significantly.

After a full ten seconds, a flood of barrages erupted, overwhelming the entire screen. Hearing their idol’s powerful, direct statement, Shao Qing’s fans were fired up, all howling that they would crash headfirst into walls for Shao Qing.

Also reacting intensely were a portion of Shao Qing’s die-hard looks fans, spamming lines like “Sister step on me,” “Sister slay me,” “Sister punish me,” acting as if they had no one they cared about on the internet, practically throwing their virtual underwear in the anti-fans’ faces.

[‘(Rushing out) (Ramming other pesky puppies out of the way) (Fighting other puppies) (Returning bruised and battered) (Wagging tail at Wife Qingqing) (Being held in Wife Qingqing’s arms) I declare, from this day forward, I am Sister’s puppy. When will Sister take me home?’]

[‘Wuwuwu, I just knew it was those men deliberately leeching off Qingqing’s popularity. Now that it’s been stated clearly on the live stream, let’s see which shameless man dares to leech again! I’ll bite him to death!’]

[‘So beautiful, so fierce, just as expected of my wife. That’s the spirit! I’ll always support my wife!!’ ‘Hey previous poster, how many peanuts did you eat? How are you drunk enough to be talking nonsense? If you don’t have a wife, go find your own, don’t try to steal mine!’]

Jing Ke recited some of the barrage content verbatim, trying hard to keep any strange emotions out of her tone.

Shao Qing had been somewhat upset. She hadn’t expected the production team to arrange such a pointed question directly targeting her.

If so, what was the difference between the production team and those male artists who bundled themselves with her for hype?

The production team also thought her easy to bully, so they only pursued popularity without any regard for her feelings.

But after hearing Jing Ke reciting those fan comments word for word, most of Shao Qing’s displeasure quickly dissipated.

—

“Ahem, let’s draw the next question then,” the director cleared his throat, wanting to quickly move past this matter.

Shao Qing’s unexpectedly firm stance was something the director hadn’t anticipated. After all, she’d been on a decline for three years. If she positioned herself against those male stars, who all had some fame now, she might well be attacked by their combined fan bases.

“The next fan wants to ask Teacher Shao as well. Let’s see what she wants to ask,” the director looked at the screen and read out this purely randomly selected submission.

“Thank you very much, Teacher Shao, for your sponsorship over the past three years. I’ve been admitted to my ideal university and am now preparing for military training. I have no way to contact you directly, so I can only use this method to see if I can convey my gratitude. Teacher Shao, thank you for changing my destiny. I also hope you won’t be affected by the words of irrelevant people, continue chasing your dreams, and achieve your wishes soon.”

After reading it, the director paused, his feelings suddenly a little complex. “Teacher Shao, this doesn’t seem to be a question exactly. Would you like to respond to it?”

Not only the director, but Shao Qing, seeing this text on the screen, was also stunned. “I’ve received your thanks. I hope you can begin a new life at university.”

“Jing Ke, was that submission just now arranged by you?” After the next question was drawn, Shao Qing asked in her mind.

[I only ensured the production team randomly selected that particular submission. The submitter is a student you funded when you were twenty-five. Just now, I briefly looked into the submitter’s info. She got into the best university in her province and chose her favorite major, design.]

“Thank you,” Shao Qing said, somewhat lost in thought.

[There are many like her, people without your contact information who want to express their thanks. They’ve tried leaving messages under your account, but they all sink to the bottom and can’t be seen at the top.]

“I don’t really read comments or private messages. Looking at too many affects my mood,” Shao Qing slowly gathered her emotions.

Thinking that many people, with her help, had been able to return to classrooms and get into their dream universities, Shao Qing instantly stopped caring about the previous question targeting her.

Target her if they wanted. At worst, she’d just be scolded a bit more by those anti-fans. If she just didn’t listen or look, those words couldn’t affect her.

[Would you like me to add a program to your phone? The program can automatically filter out speech from anti-fans and paid trolls. I can bring the content you want to see to the front. That way, next time you open your phone, you can see those people’s messages.]

[Of course, I can also batch-process the comments and private messages, organize the useful ones for you, and then help you reply.]

“Thank you. Wouldn’t that be a lot of trouble?” Shao Qing was somewhat tempted.

[No trouble at all. It’s very simple for me right now. After filming ends, I’ll give you the installation package. You can just install it directly on your phone.]

Jing Ke wasn’t lying. As a higher-dimensional entity, she did have some advantages. Writing a program to filter anti-fans and paid trolls was probably about as difficult for Jing Ke as a college student doing basic arithmetic under a hundred.

When the fifteenth question was drawn, Shao Qing was asked another question, though this one was quite standard, just asking about her future plans and goals.

Shao Qing’s answer was also quite standard. To summarize: improve her skills in all areas; she’d take on any suitable scripts and roles she encountered.

The twenty Q&As took about an hour and a half total. After the live stream ended, the director said goodbye to the guests and let the cameramen rest as well.

But the end of the live stream didn’t mean the discussions online about those twenty questions stopped.

Among them, what drew the most attention from netizens were Shao Qing’s answers. Whether it was the forceful stance in her first answer or the puzzling second submission message, both piqued the netizens’ interest.

In an era where practically every village has internet access, finding something was easy.

Less than half an hour after the live stream ended, Shao Qing’s fans had compiled a complete list of all the male artists who had bundled themselves with her for hype.

With a simple, straightforward timeline and a clear chart, the drama-watching netizens who smelled a story quickly discovered a fact.

Namely, the male artists who bundled with Shao Qing were either freshly debuted or those who had been around for years without making a splash.

And after about half a month of bundled hype, their personal data showed visible improvement. Some got magazine covers, some landed good variety shows, and others secured endorsements with good national recognition.

In stark contrast was Shao Qing, who gained absolutely no benefit and was collectively smeared by those male artists’ fans.

After Shao Qing’s fans presented their evidence, the fans of those other male artists also mobilized upon hearing the news.

Although a portion of more rational fans left their fandoms, there were still many who had been brainwashed and conditioned. The collective force of fans from five or six artists was still formidable.

Within just half an hour of them entering the fray, they pushed their fabricated clarifications to the top of the related trending topics. This confused later-arriving drama-watching netizens, making the situation unclear.

Seeing that those male artists were all starting to buy paid trolls to try and manipulate public opinion, Jing Ke couldn’t sit still.

Noticing Shao Qing was still in the shower, and she currently couldn’t contact her due to privacy concerns, Jing Ke acted on her own. She directly generated many virtual alt accounts and dumped all the evidence she had stored up.

Seeing they still wanted to buy paid trolls, she directly hacked into those male artists’ phones and publicly exposed their conversations with their agents.

With this commotion, the popularity skyrocketed.

But what was pushed to the number one trending spot wasn’t the timeline Jing Ke had painstakingly organized, nor the conversations between the male artists and their agents, but a strange, quirky trending topic.

#Hacker Big Shot Is Actually Shao Qing’s Die-Hard Fan!#

[Wow, isn’t this just ‘Overbearing Big Shot Falls For Me’? This is too awesome. Can they really hack into phones and retrieve records like that?]

[Although this might be illegal, the feeling of getting solid evidence is just too great! This is the kind of simple, clear evidence we need, no more riddles in the domestic entertainment industry!]

Noticing the situation’s direction was somewhat different from what she had anticipated, Jing Ke glanced somewhat guiltily at Shao Qing, who had just finished changing and come out.

Should she tell Shao Qing the news? Would she think Jing Ke had acted on her own and didn’t respect her?