Chapter 291: Do You Regret It

The celebrity guests below the stage clapped fairly enthusiastically, but some were just going through the motions—no need to name names; whenever the camera panned to them, they had their expressions perfectly managed.

Same old saying: take it even if you're unhappy, hold it in even if you can't bear it—the Principal wasn't joking with them.

Weibo Night proceeded as usual, with songs and dance performances popping up now and then, keeping the atmosphere lively. Zhang Jingying sang a song called "Feeling," while Liu Tianxian recorded her on her phone from the audience.

The awards still had a whole group of people going up to receive some generic category—who knows what the point of these awards is, probably just for exposure.

Chen Zhixi got an Annual Extraordinary Figure award; Fa Ge got an Annual Influential Figure; the United Nations got a Special Annual Honor; Pan Jiwen got an Annual Contribution Honor.

Weibo really knows how to stir things up—even giving the United Nations an award, that's insane.

The award ceremony lasted about three hours, and the official accounts posted real-time videos and high-definition photos for Wangyi to enjoy.

"Liu Tianxian is so beautiful, drool!"

Of course there were also clueless Wangyi: "Why is Liu Tianxian getting Guoji Zhang to give up her seat for her? Doesn't she know her own status?"

"That was the host's request, Guoji Zhang wanted to switch seats herself."

"What's wrong with me standing in the middle? I'm the number one female star at the box office, who's as awesome as me? Guoji Zhang only won a few awards."

"Exactly, exactly!"

"Yao Dazui being all coy and timid, not generous at all."

"The entertainment circle is really bored, always ostracizing this one and that one."

This refers to the scene where Liu Tianxian stood in the middle and Yao Dazui gave up her seat for Wang Lihong to switch places—clearly being ostracized.

It wasn't just these cases of ostracization; there was no restriction on celebrities moving around below the stage, and many stars and individuals still came and went freely.

Some took photos, some took souvenirs.

The celebrities' beautiful shots were also uploaded to their own Weibo accounts.

Marketing hype—every year after Weibo Night, everyone does a round of self-promotion, standard practice.

There were tons of these pictures, mostly posted by the various female stars, mostly group shots, for Wangyi to enjoy.

But none of the female stars' group shots included Liu Tianxian.

Yao Dazui had group shots with Li Bailian, Ma Yili, Yaya, Fa Ge, and others; Da Mimi, Da Baobei, Qi Wei, Nini and these people also all posted group shots.

Apart from the photos of Liu Tianxian presenting awards on stage, she wasn't seen in any frame with other female stars.

So Wangyi concluded that Liu Tianxian was being ostracized by the other female stars.

Very normal—if you can't afford to offend them, you can at least avoid them.

And Liu Tianxian didn't care either, just being beautiful on her own, posting her group shot with Zhang Jingying, and her group shot with Chen Zhixi.

"My Fei is smiling so happily, even throwing up a peace sign."

"Building a good relationship with Billion Sister is the right call, it puts her a whole tier above those small fries."

Billion Sister is Chen Zhixi's new nickname.

"There's no real friendship in the entertainment circle, it's all plastic. Da Mimi used to be super close with Xia Jie before."

"It's all small-circle ostracization."

"."

Wangyi comments were lively, and media big Vs were also riding the hype—there wasn't much other news these days anyway.

Weibo Night ended amid all this buzz, giving the internet new material and giving each fandom a new point to argue about.

As for the behind-the-scenes confrontation between Liu Tianxian and the Bona boss, that wouldn't leak out—only known within the circle.

Only Liu Tianxian would dare to act all high and mighty in front of the Bona boss.

On January 15th, "Star You" premiered on Anhui TV.

This TV drama took about a year to make—about a year, Fang Hong couldn't quite remember.

It aired simultaneously on Anhui TV and Bilibili.

The drama had 21 episodes total; the first day aired 2 episodes, then 1 episode per day after that, running for about 20 days, finishing just before the Spring Festival.

The first day's 2 episodes were to hook the audience—"Holy crap holy crap"—once the buzz built up, they slowed down the pace.

Fan Xiaopang herself already came with built-in buzz, plus her recent promotional interactions with Chen Xiao had already grabbed plenty of eyeballs.

Once the drama aired, it immediately grabbed a 2.3% viewership rating on Anhui Satellite TV, becoming the current ratings champion—at this point in time, that rating could only be described as terrifyingly awesome.

The Propaganda Department cooperated, and "Star You" streaked across the night sky like a brilliant star, instantly igniting enthusiasm across the entire web.

It swept away all current buzz, including the marketing photos posted by the female stars at Weibo Night, and even the recent Spring Festival buzz and movie buzz—all carried away.

"Star You's" popularity began to skyrocket.

This drama was too novel—an alien time-travel concept, refreshing for viewers, a down-to-earth "goddess"; the plot was average, but the character setup was an absolute bomb.

It hadn't really taken off on Bilibili yet—episodes 1 and 2 only had 3 million views.

This still needed to ferment; no way around it, Bilibili's user base is mostly that otaku and gaming crowd.

Not exactly the target demographic.

But when episodes 3 and 4 aired, with the time-freeze kiss on the cruise ship—

"Aaaaaah!" fairy screams erupted across the internet!

"Fan Xiaopang is just too exquisite, Chen Xiao is just too handsome, I'm shipping it!"

"I'm in love, I'm in love, I can't take it anymore!"

"When I saw this scene I got wet, aaaaaah, I want to see the next episode so bad, why is this damn drama airing so slowly."

"Mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching TV—because I climaxed."

"."

The little fairies' comments were absolutely exploding.

As long as the little fairies loved it, this drama was guaranteed to be a hit; fans also started spontaneously creating topics and spreading them like crazy online.

Anhui Satellite TV's viewership rose to 2.6%—in just a few days, it was on a straight upward trajectory.

Bilibili also promoted the drama through Weibo, Renren, Baidu Tieba, brand zones, and other partnerships, providing more promotional resources for the drama.

Because Bilibili's traffic shot straight up, and the on-demand trend chart also climbed in a straight line.

The Baidu Search index also soared to 2.4 million, and even LeTV's Senior Vice President Gao Fei contacted Chen Zhixi to buy the distribution rights to this drama.

The drama has already aired, so only the distribution rights can be sold.

One hundred thousand per episode — the price is a bit steep, but Jade Rabbit promised not to sell the rights to any other domestic online platforms, so the deal went through at that price.

The TV rights can be sold.

That's 21 million, airing simultaneously on two platforms — only then was "Star You" rolled out.

It made the TV drama even more explosive.

As more and more episodes aired, Fan Xiaopang and Chen Xiao's market value kept climbing, with endless ad deals and event invitations.

Wherever they went, countless simps swarmed them, and girls screamed with excitement.

Additionally, "fried chicken" and "beer" also went viral online.

Even the celebrity Gao Yuanyuan posted a photo in the snow on Weibo, sharing: {Where are the first snow, fried chicken, and beer? }

As it continued to explode, the drama was successively broadcast in Hong Kong, Baodao, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

It set off a ratings frenzy overseas.

These regions launched a few days later because procedures had to be followed and the relevant departments had to review and approve it.

After all, it can't smear us, and it can't smear the other side either. The ancient background in the drama is set in the Ming Dynasty, so there's no problem there.

Once aired, the drama broke a 20% viewership rating in South Korea, setting the all-time highest record for TV drama ratings in South Korea.

Handsome men and beautiful women — South Korean audiences love it!

Ratings in other regions and countries were also climbing one after another. Baodao host Tao Jingying was even more blunt, saying that if "the Professor" came to Baodao, she would definitely scream and cry among the fans.

One can imagine just how huge it was.

For a time it was insanely popular, and the whole world seemed filled with the voices and figures of Fan Xiaopang and Chen Xiao.

This made Fan Xiaopang laugh nonstop during her exclusive interview on Anhui Satellite TV: "At first I wasn't planning to take this drama. I hesitated for a long time. It was the Principal who specifically named me to act in it."

The host asked: "So are you very grateful to the Principal now?"

"Yes, very grateful for his insistence, which kept me from missing out on this drama. Thank you, Principal!" Fan Xiaopang gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

The host asked Chen Xiao beside her: "What about you?"

"I wasn't as lucky as her. The company considered it for a long time before letting me take it," Chen Xiao said.

At the time, Chen Zhixi and Fang Hong did indeed consider it for quite a while before deciding to let Chen Xiao take the role — at first they hadn't planned to have him act in it.

"How could that be? You're a Jade Rabbit artist, aren't you?" the host said.

"When our company picks people to act, we don't simply look at whether someone is a company artist. We look at acting skills, appearance, and whether they fit in every respect. Of course, internal artists definitely have a certain advantage — that's true," Chen Xiao said.

"Pretty rigorous," Fan Xiaopang said on his behalf.

"Yes," Chen Xiao nodded.

"."

Even such an ordinary exclusive interview sparked a huge buzz online.

Fan Xiaopang kept taking on endorsement deals non-stop, and Chen Xiao also kept taking on endorsement deals non-stop, but selectively.

Because his management contract is with Jade Rabbit.

To make money, Jade Rabbit also licensed the two's stills to be made into photobooks, sold online through online stores, bookstores, audio-visual shops, and other shops in China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

Domestically, 88 yuan per copy; overseas, 15 USD per copy. Love it or leave it — if you don't buy, you just don't love your idol.

Initially one million copies — once released, they sold out instantly. Fans were hopping mad, not even enough to fill the cracks in their teeth. The publisher had to frantically rush production — it was simply supply failing to keep up with demand!

Looks like the power of fans is mighty, and their love for their idols is sincere.

Don't doubt it — 70% of the viewers of this drama are women!

From this one million copies, Jade Rabbit made at least 40 million. Jade Rabbit didn't do anything, just licensed it out, and made this much money. The cash came in ridiculously fast.

Of course, that's not the only way to make money — this is just a drop in the bucket. Copyrights, distribution, management, events, ads, endorsements, merchandise, fashion — everything is making money.

At home, Fang Hong put on casual clothes and asked Liu Tianxian, who was straightening the wrinkles on his clothes in front of him: "Do you regret not taking this drama?"

"Regret what? It's not like I haven't been popular before," Liu Tianxian said casually.

Actually, she hadn't expected that TV drama to be so explosively popular. The entire internet was talking about "Star You," and even her own star power had dimmed quite a bit.

Fan Xiaopang's traffic directly surpassed hers!

Of course, even more miserable were the other female stars, the Four Dan and 85 Flowers types. For a time, Fan Xiaopang became an insurmountable mountain pressing down on their heads.

When they read the script back then, the drama was just an idol drama — they didn't see anything special in it.

"You're taking it pretty well!" Fang Hong looked at her.

"Right now I just want to act well in every film, be an actress, and not think about anything else," Liu Tianxian said, patting his chest and picking up her bag.

Today was the "Lost in Thailand" celebration banquet, as well as Jade Rabbit's annual meeting — the two were attending together.

"Not bad, very driven. Not impatient, not flustered, not swayed by momentary fame and fortune, always persistent," Fang Hong praised.

Actually, once "Star You" passed its peak, it passed. The fame is definitely there, and it's huge.

Influence? Nonexistent.

The two had just paired up and were about to head out when they heard Xu Liyun calling from behind: "Son, son."

"What's wrong, Mom?" Fang Hong turned his head.

"Do you have the full set of 'Star You'? Get me a copy," Xu Liyun said, a little embarrassed.

She'd recently been obsessed with "Star You" to an insane degree.

At her age, being obsessed with this kind of idol drama was a bit embarrassing.

"I'll bring it to you, but you can only watch it alone — you can't share it with others," Fang Hong instructed.

He hadn't even earned enough from advertising or pulled in enough traffic yet—if the full collection leaked, the losses would be devastating.

"Don't worry, I absolutely won't show outsiders." Xu Liyun thumped her chest in assurance, her manner carrying a girlish charm.

Liu Tianxian pressed her lips into a smile, never having expected that Xu Liyun had a cute side too, just like many young girls.

(End of Chapter)