There was nothing shameful about buying a spot on the trending searches, but doing it too often could seriously wear down casual viewers' goodwill. They would start saying things like, "Buying trending searches every day is so damn annoying," and "Why am I getting pushed this person again? Can I block them?"
Most of the people saying that, however, had intentionally or unintentionally clicked on promotional posts about the celebrity from marketing accounts. Some had only clicked on one without thinking, but Weibo would assume they liked the celebrity and keep pushing them more content.
That was the situation Xie Jianyuan had faced when he first debuted. The company had spent a fortune promoting its crown prince and accidentally gone overboard, ruining a good deal of the public's goodwill toward him. Although the works released afterward had enjoyed good reviews and popularity, winning some of it back, people still saw him as a little fresh meat.
Xie Jianyuan's traffic was real enough, though. His posts received impressive numbers of reposts, likes, and comments, none of them inflated by company manipulation. He could land on the trending searches without even trying, all because his fans worked themselves to exhaustion adding tags and boosting his popularity. That was how he became a trending-search magnet.
At the mention of trending searches, Su Li recalled something that had happened online recently and smiled. "Didn't something happen to Xie Jianyuan not long ago because of that?"
"What happened?"
"When his fans went to meet him at the airport, one of them got too excited and approached him, and a bodyguard hit the fan on the head. I heard it seemed pretty serious in the end. The fan squatted down on the spot, and after it came out, the public backlash was pretty severe. Everyone accused him of being cold."
"But his team stepped in at the end, issuing a statement in which they took responsibility for the medical bills and arranged for the fan to go to the hospital. On top of that, the forces behind Xie Jianyuan suppressed the trending searches and controlled public opinion. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have ended so easily."
Xu Chun vaguely remembered this happening in his previous life, but at the time he had had no idea Xie Jianyuan was the person Jiang Xiuyan liked. He hadn't paid any attention to Xie Jianyuan's affairs, so he didn't know much about what had happened.
He took out his phone, opened Weibo, and found the video from the airport. The moment he played it, he heard deafening screams, even more frenzied than the ones he got.
The footage on the screen was a little blurry. Xu Chun watched intently and saw Xie Jianyuan walking at the front in sunglasses. The bodyguard who hit the fan was several meters behind him, while Xie Jianyuan walked straight ahead with his head down, completely unaware of what was happening behind him.
Xu Chun froze, then looked up. "This... He didn't see it at all."
He wasn't saying that to defend Xie Jianyuan. It was simply the truth. With all the screaming there, there was no way anyone would notice the commotion behind them.
Su Li smiled. "Do you think the trolls care about that?"
Xu Chun looked down and watched the video a few more times, then suddenly frowned in confusion. "There's something odd about this fan."
After watching it, Su Li said, "I noticed it at the time. How could a hit that light be so serious? He only gave the fan a tap on the head, so how did the fan end up squatting down on the spot? Besides, fans don't want to make their idols look bad, but this one acted as if Xie Jianyuan wasn't getting enough hate. In the videos filmed afterward, the fan kept clutching their head and crying out in pain."
A chill ran down Xu Chun's back, and he couldn't help drawing a sharp breath. "You mean..."
Su Li gave him a meaningful smile. "There's a lot you need to know about this circle. Even with a powerful background, you still can't guard against underhanded tricks from petty people who are jealous of you."
Xu Chun stared at his phone in a thoughtful daze, saying nothing.
Just as Su Li had expected, the incident of Xu Chun helping the fan made the trending searches. The comments beneath it were full of praise for him.
"I'm going to hype up my dd to the skies! Anyone passing by, open wide and have a taste of this recommendation. You definitely won't regret stanning him."
"55556 my handsome boy, he's way too gentle 8. Sisters, I want to marry him."
But there were also plenty of comments ready to pick a fight.
"Compared to that little fresh meat from before, Xu Chun's actions really made me a fan."
"Exactly. XJY didn't even look at the bodyguard who hit his fan before, and his fans are still desperately whitewashing it. It's disgusting to watch."
"Xu Chun's not only a better actor than Xie Jianyuan, he's a much better person too."
"Sister upstairs, I'd advise you to delete his name. His fans' fighting power is downright incredible. You'll get countless DMs insulting you in a minute."
"There's something seriously wrong with the people in the comments putting one down to praise the other. Don't compare my Brother Yuan to some washed-up nobody. Your master's been sitting at home picking his feet for more than half a year. What, he went on one variety show with him and now he's stuck to him like taffy?"
The comments beneath the most popular Weibo post were an absolute mess. Seeing the attention it was getting, marketing accounts swarmed in and started comparing the two in every respect.
They compared everything from their red-carpet outfits and acting credits to their height and looks. The farce reached its peak when one marketing account made a video comparing the incident of Xie Jianyuan's fan being hit with that of Xu Chun's fan falling.
For a time, rumors flew everywhere. Some even claimed that "Xie Jianyuan and Xu Chun have been at odds for a long time," and began spinning conspiracy theories about Xie Jianyuan's friendly overtures on the variety show.
Now Xu Chun got a headache whenever he saw Weibo. Su Li wasn't very satisfied with the outcome either, though it had its pros and cons. The benefit, naturally, was that Xu Chun's reputation had improved and the public's goodwill toward him had increased greatly. As for the drawbacks, they went without saying.
After attending another dinner engagement, Su Li dropped him off downstairs at his residential complex. Xu Chun's phone rang again while he was in the elevator.
He had been unable to refuse and had reluctantly taken a few sips of alcohol at dinner. His head was swimming now, and he didn't check the caller ID, assuming it was Su Li calling to tell him he had left something behind.
"Hello." There was a moment of silence on the other end after he answered, then a man's voice suddenly came through, tinged with amusement.
"Mr. Xu, you're a busy man. You finally answered your phone."
Xu Chun blinked. The moment he heard the man's voice, his sluggish mind sobered up. He deliberately lowered his voice. "I'm Brother Xu's assistant. He's working right now. I'll ask him to call you back later."
As soon as he finished, he promptly hung up and switched off his phone, all in one smooth motion.
When the elevator doors opened, Xu Chun stepped out.
His home was right next to Xie Jianyuan's, so he had to pass Xie Jianyuan's door to reach his own after getting out of the elevator.