Chapter 63

The cast of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" entered a state of "peaceful tranquility."

Because "the gathering engine" Meng Zi Yi had gone quiet, the girls no longer clustered together chattering all day, as if they had all suddenly shifted into a phase of intense preparation for filming.

Yet the impact of "The God of War Zhao Zilong" continuing to trend remained.

The actors who were viciously attacked sweated profusely.

At this point, Lin Genxin even felt a twinge of envy toward Lin Xueren's poor progress in learning Chinese—after all, she couldn't even understand the exaggerated online rants here.

He could understand them!

"Why does Lin Genxin's mouth muscles look so strange when he delivers his lines?"

"What kind of plot is this? I want to curse every minute. The female lead's acting is bad enough—she should train for thirty more years before trying to make money!"

"It's just terrible—Zhao Zilong is portrayed like this?!"

"Lin Genxin turned Zhao Zilong into an idiot!"

"......."

Netizens' attacking power was truly maxed out; luckily, Lin Genxin was used to getting yelled at while gaming, so he'd trained for this.

But even so, he still couldn't bring himself to laugh.

However, Meng Zi Yi's team pulled off a black PR stunt, and the backlash they received wasn't much less than Lin Genxin's—though it was concentrated mainly on Weibo.

On platforms like Douban, people criticizing the drama wouldn't even mention her.

What does this drama have to do with a maid?

The goal had been achieved: aside from the backlash from Lin Xueren's fans, the current outcome matched the original plan.

On one hand, the drama was mocked endlessly and received abysmal ratings; on the other hand... the viewership ratings kept rising!

According to CSM52 urban network ratings, after airing about ten episodes, "The God of War Zhao Zilong" became the undisputed number one in its time slot!

It even made a significant "leap," jumping from a viewership rate of just 0.8 to over 1.0.

This left people utterly stunned.

How could it get more popular the more it was criticized?

Naturally, online platform streaming numbers also skyrocketed in tandem; Tencent Video alone had over a billion views...

Looking at this, by the finale, the total cumulative views across all platforms might even hit ten billion.

The sudden spike in viewership naturally prompted people to investigate the reason.

Coincidentally, the exact moment viewership surged was the episode featuring Bai Liang and Naza embracing on horseback amid the sea of flowers.

Many viewers called it "the most beautiful episode."

Leaving aside the plot, just the composition, colors, lighting of that scene—the veteran cinematographer said this might be the peak of his entire career.

A masterpiece arises naturally; brilliance comes by chance.

Even the director couldn't bear to cut even a single second during editing.

So even if you can't fully credit them, they're at least partly responsible.

After all, Mango TV's "professionals" reached this conclusion, since this CP received the least criticism and the most praise.

It couldn't possibly be Lin Genxin and Lin Xueren boosting the ratings—those two clearly had zero chemistry.

They didn't have Hong Shixian's acting skill.

Online fans of the Lu Bu and Diaochan CP began surfacing in large numbers, though how much of this was orchestrated by Tang Ren's team remains unclear.

"This kid just got a free wave of hype..." Cai Yinong muttered, displeased.

This brat had turned Tang Ren's world upside down, nearly making Cai Yinong want to "destroy what I can't have"—and now her own company had to help promote him?

Dammit, Bai Liang didn't spend a single cent! All the money came from Tang Ren!

Cai Yinong: My money!

Naza: Hehehe~

She'd even changed her phone wallpaper to the scene of them embracing in the flower sea.

Just as she was gloating, Cai Yinong shot her a sharp glance: "Naza, you need to contact Bai Liang. Marketing isn't just our job—has he really gone completely silent?"

"He doesn't even have a company—just one agent, no assistant, no money..." Naza counted off on her fingers, logically.

"Alright, alright, no need to explain further."

Cai Yinong was thoroughly exasperated—no wonder this kid aced the civil service exam; he's a "proletarian," right?

He's like a copper pea—unboilable, unsteamed, unflattened, unroasted... resoundingly indestructible.

"He won't go far in this industry like this—he'll eventually have to sign with a company. Is there another fool out there willing to give him 'selfless support' like Tang Ren does?" Cai Yinong sneered.

Naza's face showed a hint of thought—indeed! Bai Liang was far too casual about his career path, with zero ambition.

This was, so far, the biggest flaw she'd found in him.

Perhaps the only one?

Just as Tang Ren was "selflessly" pushing for Bai Liang, Lin Genxin's team suddenly reached out to Bai Liang.

Yes, officially.

This time, they didn't let Lin Genxin and Bai Liang chat directly—they contacted Sister Yanzi.

Lin Genxin's agent was also afraid to let these two get together and chat recklessly—it was too unreliable.

Actually, Sister Yanzi was just a rookie agent, but she had a bold, fiery demeanor and didn't flinch when facing Lin Genxin's team's "negotiations."

After the discussion ended, she dashed over to Bai Liang: "Brother Dou Xiao Bai, they want us to cooperate with some hype."

"Huh? We can't hype a CP together... that's just weird."

"Not a CP—hype the brotherly bond."

"How do you even hype that?" Bai Liang asked curiously.

"They said you just need to spare some time tomorrow night to play games with Lin Genxin." Sister Yanzi looked equally puzzled—she'd never seen hype done this way.

Is it that simple?

Bai Liang would of course not refuse; he was always easygoing.

Not just because he was close to Lin Gexin—even if anyone else came over begging, he'd likely agree right away.

As long as it wasn't too absurd... like staging a fake romance with a guy.

It was a bit strange—why didn't Lin Gexin just tell him directly?

Playing games... they often teamed up to play together.

After both sides' "teams" reached an agreement, Lin Gexin personally came to clarify things.

"It's not that complicated. Tomorrow night I'm going live—it's basically to support Prince Wang's livestreaming site. He'll be there too. We'll just do it like last time."

"Aren't you trying to promote some 'brotherly bond'? Should I come up with some special lines?" Bai Liang instinctively thought of some anime-style nonsense, eager to try them out.

"No, no." Lin Gexin thought for a moment. "Stay normal! My agents analyzed it—your natural demeanor as a calm, sunny guy is exactly what draws fans. I'm just riding your coattails this time, shifting the focus."

Calm, sunny guy?

After the nickname "Great Immortal," Bai Liang gained another strange title.