PLT | Chapter 16
by _squisheeI Just Like Letting Him Ride
Because the guest had been changed at the last minute before, the publicity plan for The Second Role had been overturned and redone from scratch. Everything had been produced in a frantic rush, so the entire promotional plan was inevitably a little rough, and there was no way to place the promos with that much precision.
On top of that, time was tight. In short, the ratings on the day of the premiere were not especially ideal.
But all beginnings are hard. In the first episode alone, just introducing the three guest pairs participating in the show took a very long time. At most, it only counted as driving in a wedge for the program’s future development.
The buzz online, however, was not low at all.
The reason was simple.
It was all thanks to fanwars.
The other two guest pairs on the show were a Best Actress and a supermodel, and a girl group idol and an esports commentator. Although they were full of talking points, the guests were all uniformly female, and their fandom heat was not especially high either, nowhere near enough to compete with the only male pair.
And so naturally, the heavy task of attracting CP fans fell onto the only male guest pair.
Yet the effect was obviously far from ideal.
Just as Yan Chao had expected, in the first episode, the “Sharp-Tongued Pair” basically spent the whole time sniping at each other.
There was no helping it. The so-called “handing out sugar” segments were, in reality, all yellow waste material, and naturally could not escape the fate of being cut clean in one go. So what remained of their everyday interactions was naturally nothing but bickering.
Although the production team still tried hard to create the slightest illusion that some sugar had come out of all that sniping, those tiny, covert little details were completely crushed beneath the overwhelming force of both sides’ massive solo-fan armies.
At first, the solo fans on both sides were only going wild under Weibo comment sections, using all kinds of pretty edited photos to battle for comment control, and leaving comments like “refuse forced bundling” and “taking my fave away, no thanks.” But when a topic suddenly shot onto the hot search list, that surface calm was finally shattered.
“YanchaoZhouChenyu leaked footage”
“@xxMelonEater: Leaked footage of Yan Chao and Zhou Chenyu recording The Ends of the Earth in Xinjiang has come out. According to the pictures, the filming location was on the grasslands, and the segment involved horseback riding. However, while the other guest pairs all had two horses, the two of them only had one, so the two of them got into an intense argument over who got to ride the horse [sweat]. Judging from the two of them’s performance in tonight’s The Second Role, they probably really don’t get along all that well, right? [melon]”
Attached below the Weibo post were three blurry photos so fuzzy that not even their mothers would recognize them. In the pictures, Yan Chao was on horseback, Zhou Chenyu was standing on the ground, and the two of them seemed to be talking. But both of their hands were gesturing all over the place in the air, making them look extremely animated. On top of that, because their expressions could not be seen clearly, with the marketing account steering things like this, it really did look like they were arguing.
…However, Yan Chao knew very clearly that at the time, it was because the little white horse they had been riding had stopped right there to take a dump, so Zhou Chenyu had no choice but to get off the horse. In these pictures, the two of them were clearly staring at that pile of excrement in speechless disbelief. Zhou Chenyu was laughing his head off, and Yan Chao himself was utterly helpless, okay?
But in these blurry photos, you could not even see the expressions on their faces clearly, let alone that lone piece of physical evidence on the ground.
Yan Chao did not know whether to laugh or cry. He pinched the bridge of his nose and clicked open the comments.
“I don’t think it’s that serious, right? They’re just partners. Would they really start arguing over one horse??? [sweat]”
“For those saying it’s not that serious, I suggest you first go watch tonight’s The Second Role. The two of them really sniped at each other from beginning to end. Sometimes their expressions even made me suspect they were about to start fighting the next second…”
“How is that possible? Don’t they both have good tempers? Yan Chao has high IQ and EQ, and Zhou Chenyu has a cheerful personality. Neither of them seems like the type to argue.”
“There’s no such thing as a ‘good temper’ in this world. It’s just that you haven’t met the one person who can piss you off with a single sentence yet, liao…”
“That’s what I think too. A Peking University top student and a middle school graduate, what common language could they possibly have? This CP was forced together from the start. The actual celebs are probably awkward as hell too.”
“Dumbass Yan fans, late as always but still here. Whether your fave’s Peking University degree is even real is already questionable, so stop mocking us on credit.”
“Yu fans are making fake-degree accusations out of thin air again [hehe]. Just because you don’t have something yourselves, you have to say someone else’s is fake, is that it?”
“Mistress-kept sugar baby, the shame of Huanyu TV’s forced push. Afraid another variety show will flop, so they’re desperately hyping the CP. Taking my Yu away, no thanks.”
“To those xiangsheng fans with mouths full of filthy below-the-belt crap, being invited onto a satellite TV variety show is the network giving you face. If something hadn’t happened to the previous guest, it wouldn’t even have been your gege’s turn to get on TV, xswl.”
…
The more Yan Chao read, the more his head hurt. You solo-fan little sisters, what kind of intelligence do you all have? How are you getting provoked into tearing each other apart the second a marketing account stirs things up?
And where were those CP fans on the forums shouting “ChenyuLuoyan is szd”? The public square needs your rescue!
As he kept reading, Yan Chao suddenly felt that something was a little off.
These days, hot searches, especially celebrity-related ones, are ninety-nine percent paid for. Weibo practically relies on this to make money.
So then the question was, which kindhearted soul was being so generous that, just to stir up the two fandoms, they bought a hot search like this?
Was someone trying to mess with them?
The possibility was really not high. Yan Chao and Zhou Chenyu’s CP had not been hyped up at all yet. Who would have so much free time that they would spend money on the two of them?
Then the only possibility left was that it was for buzz, reverse hype.
The Second Role had only just premiered, and then this hot search appeared. The timing really was precise.
Without another word, Yan Chao dialed the director’s number.
Director Liu Wei seemed to have expected this call from him. With an awkward laugh, he said, “Xiao Yan-laoshi, don’t get angry yet, hear me out. These leaked photos really were first posted by someone on a gossip forum and caused a huge amount of discussion, and only then were they reposted by marketing accounts. The fans were already fighting pretty fiercely before the hot search even happened.”
He paused, then continued, “Who would’ve thought that the second the fans started fighting, our show’s online streaming numbers would immediately start soaring? What do you think that was because of? Obviously all those melon-eating bystanders wanted to see whether the two of you really don’t get along. So we bought a hot search, and then guess what? The online streaming numbers instantly jumped by several points!”
Yan Chao: “…”
What Liu Wei said was logical and well-supported, and for a moment Yan Chao really could not refute him.
Sometimes reverse marketing really was not a bad way to generate hype. After all, there was only one week left before the next episode of The Second Role aired.
During that time, the fans could fight for a few days and nights first. Once they were exhausted from all that fighting, when the next episode aired, the production team could edit in a little more sugar between the two of them, immediately dispelling the rumors that they did not get along. At the same time, there would definitely be a large wave of gossip-loving bystanders drawn in by the two of them’s interactions, becoming the first reserve force of CP fans.
Yan Chao could only say, “Then keep a handle on the degree of it. Don’t let it get too out of hand. If the fans fight too fiercely, then too much is as bad as too little, and it’ll also have a huge impact on the show.”
Only then did Liu Wei let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t worry, my dear Xiao Yan-laoshi, we know what we’re doing.”
Yan Chao had just been about to hang up when he suddenly heard a startled cry from Liu Wei’s side.
“Holy shit!”
Yan Chao: “What’s wrong?”
Liu Wei: “Zhou Chenyu responded?!”
[Entertainment Gossip Forum]
“Hot Search Number One: Zhou Chenyu claps back at a marketing account, what level is this?”
0L
Comment under the marketing account:
“@Zhou Chenyu: I just love letting him ride, what’s it to your peace?”[1]
1L
Love letting him ride?
2L
Love letting him ride??
3L
Love letting him ride???
4L
What is wrong with all of you people above?
He means riding a horse… what are you all thinking, oh my god orz
5L
“@xxMelonEater: Leaked footage of Yan Chao and Zhou Chenyu recording The Ends of the Earth in Xinjiang has come out. According to the pictures, the filming location was on the grasslands, and the segment involved horseback riding. However, while the other guest pairs all had two horses, the two of them only had one, so the two of them got into an intense argument over who got to ride the horse [sweat]. Judging from the two of them’s performance in tonight’s The Second Role, they probably really don’t get along all that well, right? [melon]”
This is the marketing account’s original post. You guys are seriously too much…
6L
Oh, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
7L
bhys, I didn’t see the earlier context, scared me half to death.
8L
I thought Zhou Chenyu was admitting this quickly that he was the one on the bottom…
9L
Holy shit, he personally stepped in to clap back at a marketing account? That’s kind of fierce!
10L
And he even said he was the one who gave the horse to Yan Chao! I’m crying!
11L
See? I told you the rumors that they don’t get along were fake!
12L
Trash yxh! ChenyuLuoyan is szd!
13L
Oh my god, I’m just a passerby and now I want in… this is way too rio.
14L
His fans were trying so hard to suppress the CP before it blew up, desperately fighting with Yan fans, and then the actual celeb personally stepped in and locked it down. The toxic solo fans are going to die of anger, hahahahahaha.
15L
Who told the toxic solo fans to be brainless? The two of them still have a variety show to record together for a long time. What good does fighting a work partner do for their gege?
Too stupid, I can’t even be bothered to mock them.
16L
Other celebs reject bundling. His celeb personally stepped in to bundle himself, xswl.
17L
yjgj, he’s at least a guest on a satellite TV variety show now, so behavior like this really isn’t great, right…
Why not just let the marketing account say whatever it wants? I’ve never seen a celebrity casually step in to clap back at a marketing account.
The show just started airing and he’s already acting like this. People will mock him for being low and for selling CP, and it’ll really hurt the cf’s feelings.
18L
Passerby upstairs, no need to worry on my fave’s behalf. Speaking as a non-toxic Yu solo fan, my gege is a xiangsheng performer, not a traffic star. He has always said whatever he wants. Fans can’t control him, and don’t want to. The marketing account fabricated facts, so getting clapped back at was well deserved. If some xxj wants to unstan because of this, then it’s better they leave sooner.
…
301L
The hot search is still number one? Kind of amazing. The show team bought it, right?
302L
For it to hold first place this long, the buzz really isn’t low.
303L
I took a look, and suddenly there are a whole lot more CP fans…
304L
Pfft, what did I just see? The ChenyuLuoyan supertopic has already been created?
305L
The Second Role’s online streaming numbers are surging. The show team is rnb.
306L
Place your bets. I feel like this CP, ChenyuLuoyan, is going to blow up.
307L
It has to blow up! ChenyuLuoyan is szd!
Footnotes:
[1] The joke hinges on the double meaning of 骑, “to ride.” In context, Zhou Chenyu means “I like letting him ride the horse,” but the phrasing also sounds sexually suggestive, which is why the forum commenters immediately start joking about top/bottom dynamics. “关你peace” is internet slang replacing “关你屁事” with the English word “peace,” creating a jokey, censored version of “none of your damn business.”
[2] “发糖” literally means “handing out sugar,” fandom slang for giving sweet romantic moments. Here the narrator says what they were actually “handing out” was 黄色废料, literally “yellow trash material,” meaning dirty, sexually suggestive content that could never make it past broadcast censorship.
[3] “辰鱼落雁” is a CP name built from the characters in Zhou Chenyu’s name and the idiom 沉鱼落雁, “fish sink and geese fall,” a classic phrase used to describe overwhelming beauty. It is a punning ship name rather than a literal phrase.
cf = pure fan
cpf = CP fan
yxh = marketing account
bhys = sorry / embarrassed to say
yjgj = speaking honestly
rnb = really fking awesome
xxj = elementary-schooler, immature fan