Claiming the Territory of Public Opinion

Si Ming couldn't wait to find someone to confirm it. Considering that the Spirit Transformation expert of the Si Clan had passed away, the only remaining clansman who knew the most about Spirit Transformation experts was his adopted older sister, so he went to visit her early in the morning.

"Sorry, I'm a useless person now. The sun is the enemy of useless people, so don't wake me up before ten o'clock."

Lying on the bed, Si Jingyu spoke weakly, ordering Si Shuiyun to quickly close the doors and windows.

"What the hell! Although your injuries that day were serious, they weren't enough to damage your Foundation, were they?" Si Ming was a little confused.

"The worthlessness of a useless person lies not in their physical body, but in their spirit. It is an incurable decadence, a decay originating from the soul, and a silent indictment of fate."

"What are you talking about? It's just wanting to stay in bed longer, does it really need to be elevated to such a high level?"

"Today, I'm still a complete failure..."

"Get up quickly! Moving around will help with your recovery. Besides, I don't intend to fight you. I just want you to help me probe your strength and see what I'm lacking compared to a true Spirit Transformation expert."

Despite Si Shuiyun's obstruction, Si Ming was ultimately unable to pull Si Jingyu out of bed. It seemed that she really intended to become a useless person, using the excuse of recuperating from her injuries to push the power to handle Lineage affairs to others, while she just rested idly in bed, reading books and magazines when she was bored, as well as the recently popular shoujo manga, with an attitude of "going to work is a loss".

Originally, it was thought that Si Jingyu was just in the mood to play role-playing occasionally. However, for several days in a row, she did not get up until late morning, skipping breakfast and having extra late-night snacks. All three meals a day were brought to the bedroom by Si Shuiyun from the kitchen. She was clearly determined to stay in bed, skip mornings, and rely on takeout for meals.

Then came the day when Si Huaruo participated in the finals. On this day Si Jingyu still did not plan to go out, putting aside her previous words about collective glory.

"Come on, you can do it! Believe in yourselves, believe in the hard work and sweat you've put in over the past ten days, and the crown of the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling will be ours!"

Si Ming was backstage encouraging the members of the Emperor Peak Drama Club. After spending more than ten days together, they had become friends who could joke around with each other, even though the director hadn't even shown them on camera.

Nan Yang long, straight black hair, said coldly, "Participating in a competition is of course about winning; no one will sympathize with the losers."

Zhu Xuanhuai clenched his fist and said, "I was absent from the performance last time and couldn't help everyone. I'm really sorry. So for today's performance, I will definitely work twice as hard. We must win!"

Dong Qian reassured everyone, "The performance should be natural. Trying too hard will backfire. Just take it easy. As long as we can reach the level we practiced, we have a good chance of winning."

Girl A joked, "It's alright if we lose, but if someone loses, it would be a real shame to let down their confidant's great help; they might have to repay him with their body."

There was only one boy in the club Si Ming, and the meaning behind this was obvious.

Si Huaruo spat, "You have no manners! If you make a mistake during the performance, I'll give you a good beating!"

During this time, she gradually shed her facade of being a well-bred young lady, laughing and joking freely, which surprised the group members. At the same time, their relationship with each other became much closer. In the past, the group members would never have dared to joke with her like that.

Girl B whispered, "Team leader, should we confess our feelings right here when we win the award?"

Basically, everyone believes that Si Huaruo's recent changes stem from her love life and that it's all thanks to Si Ming. Everyone is happy to see this happen, so they often encourage Si Huaruo. This atmosphere has also influenced Si Huaruo, which led to the scene where she boldly admitted it to Si Jingyu.

Si Huaruo glanced at Si Ming and, finding he hadn't heard her, reminded the girl, "Tell you what? We're about to go on stage, so concentrate and stop thinking about nonsense."

Si Ming had actually heard it, after all, his five senses were exceptionally sharp, but at this moment he could only pretend he hadn't heard it, acting like a clueless man in a harem. However, he couldn't help but wonder to himself, what if Si Huaruo really confessed to him?

If I don't agree, I'll hurt the girl's feelings.

If I agree, it feels like I'm becoming Chen Shimei a notorious figure in Chinese folklore known for abandoning his wife) – leaving behind his beloved wife to become the son-in-law of a high-ranking official...

Just as Si Ming was pondering whether he should emulate the legendary Alto from "Macross" and say, "You are all my wings," he heard a hostile voice interrupt the discussion.

"The atmosphere is really cheerful. They're discussing unrelated topics even before the competition starts. Is it genuine confidence or just blind arrogance?"

Si Ming turned his head and saw that the speaker was wearing a white military uniform. She was his opponent in the finals, the female lead of the Heavenly Dream Drama Troupe. He didn't remember her name, which was not surprising.

I've met that girl surnamed Lu several times, and she even helped me out at the Tea-Tasting Manor, but I still don't know her name. This girl is obviously just a minor character who appears once in the plot, so there's even less need for me to remember her name.

As the troupe leader, Si Huaruo felt obligated to step forward. "Ms. Qin, it's our prerogative to discuss whatever topics we want before the competition. Every theater troupe has its own style, and we're used to releasing pressure this way. Would you perhaps offer some advice based on your experience?"

"I wouldn't call it experience-based advice, but hearing you mention 'more than ten days of effort' just sounds jarring. So I've come to remind you all that the Heavenly Dream Drama Troupe has been preparing for this play for a full six months! Don't think you can snatch the crown from us with such a childish attitude!"

This statement wasn't exactly sarcastic; it was more like a demonstration, and it was well-founded. Although the people felt indignant, they were too embarrassed to bring up their efforts of just over ten days, and they also felt that they were indeed inferior to the other party in this respect.

Seeing this, Si Ming couldn't help but sigh inwardly. After all, they were just a group of students, too straightforward.

He immediately stepped forward and said, "So-and-so, what kind of preparation did you mean by 'preparing for half a year'? Did you give up all your holidays, not participate in any commercial performances, and bury yourself in practice every day?"

"Well... even if we don't reach that level, we still train whenever we have free time, and we definitely train longer than you guys."

The female lead certainly couldn't admit it, and no one would believe her anyway. After all, the film crew needs to eat; how else would they make money without commercial performances?

"Is a long preparation time always a good thing? What's the point of training sporadically? Acting requires focus. After winning the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling Drama Award, how can you, who are only thinking about making money off your fame, compare to us with those of us who have pure hearts?"

Si Ming stepped forward, adopting an aggressive demeanor. "And have you ever heard of the formula? Success equals 99% perspiration plus 1% talent. So what if you've put in more perspiration? This side has that decisive 1%!"

Chapter 307 Occupying the Territory of Public Opinion

The female lead was successfully angered by Si Ming and left, leaving behind the harsh words, "We'll see each other on stage and see who has the last laugh." In Si Ming's view, this was roughly the same as "I hate this feeling," "You wait and see," or "We'll be back," the howling of a stray dog, nothing to worry about.

Once the competition officially began, Si Ming had to leave the backstage area and return to his seat in the audience. As the screenwriter, he did not need to act on stage, so he naturally had no right to stay backstage.

The order was determined by drawing lots, and the result was that the Heavenly Dream Drama Troupe went first, followed by the Emperor Peak Drama Club.

"Heavenly Dream Drama Troupe is really lucky. As long as they perform well and leave a good impression on the judges, they can put pressure on Emperor Peak Drama Club."

"There are only two teams, so it doesn't really matter who goes first or last, right? The team that goes first will also have to bear the pressure of the judges not being in the right mood yet."

"That's not how it works. In previous competitions, the first to perform did have a disadvantage, but today is the final. The atmosphere has already been created, and the judges are already in the zone. Besides, the first to perform faces the pressure of making a strong first impression, meaning that both good and bad impressions will be amplified. In the past, it was one thing for the various drama troupes to have varying levels of skill, but is there any doubt about the Heavenly Dream Drama Troupe's ability? Their works are definitely good. As long as they leave a good first impression on the judges, they will naturally overshadow the Emperor Peak Drama Club, who will perform later."

"None of these are the most important things. Look at the judging panel; four out of the five judges are women. This means that romance plays are more likely to be favored by the judges. Both troupes will definitely choose romance scripts, which leads to thematic homogenization. The later troupe will definitely suffer."

Without a doubt, these enthusiastic spectators who were desperately planting flags were all secretly arranged by Si Ming. He had prepared two sets of speeches in advance. If the Emperor Peak Drama Club was drawn first, he would switch to the other set of speeches. In any case, he was not optimistic about their chances.