A Slacker Complains He's Broke

Chapter Four

The audience was briefly taken aback, thinking the script had been changed. After all, things like this had happened before.

Classics were still classics, but times had changed, and the actors had changed too. Nothing stayed the same forever. Beauties and heroes grew old, and old friends rode yellow cranes away.

But the guests present and those with discerning eyes could see it clearly: Jin Yue had been overshadowed. He had failed to catch Li Wenchuan's cue just now and instead let Li Wenchuan continue acting. With that, Li Wenchuan took control of the entire scene, while Jin Yue was pushed out of the audience's focus.

Yet Jin Yue had acted in quite a few productions over the years, large and small. Among the popular young idols, his acting was considered fairly decent. Li Wenchuan had basically just drifted around in low-tier crews. How could someone like him possibly suppress Jin Yue?

For the rest of the scene, Jin Yue responded with extreme caution, afraid that if he lost focus, he would fail to keep up with Li Wenchuan's rhythm. Yet even so, his performance was halting and far from satisfactory. Quite a few viewers began muttering—had Jin Yue's acting gotten worse?

"Is Yueyue not in good form lately? I'm worried."

"Who's the one in red? His acting is so intense."

"Did Li Wenchuan go take acting lessons? This is incredible."

Almost at the same time, an uploader from the film and television section of a well-known danmu website recorded this segment, planning to stay up late editing it tonight.

Li Wenchuan's portrayal of Mu Yuan had everyone's blood boiling, as though that proud young leader of the martial world's youngest sect stood right before them. Some book fans, in particular, were already weeping.

This was Mu Yuan! He had become famous at a young age, yet he had also lost both parents because of Red Maple Manor. For over twenty years, he had relied on himself alone, gritting his teeth and enduring. The elders of the tower had once said his bones were too pure, that he could not shoulder Moon-Treading Tower's future or wield the Mortal Dust Saber.

But he proved to everyone that only he could be the master of Moon-Treading Tower.

Soft sobbing rose from the audience. As the camera swept past, many girls had reddened eyes. They began shouting, "Mu Yuan!" Then those voices became a perfectly synchronized chant of "Li Wenchuan."

Jin Yue looked awful, but he still had to maintain his composed elegance.

Lin Ye went through the motions before yielding the camera to today's guests. You and Me Back Then had three regular guests, who interacted with the actors after the crew's performance.

One of the female guests smiled as she took the microphone. Her gaze was extremely aggressive. "Li Wenchuan, I didn't expect you to steal the scene too."

Zhao Shiyao had come from a professional acting background. Before she even graduated, she had caught the eye of a famous director and joined the then highly controversial classic film Silk Road, successfully winning Best Actress at an international film festival. Her career had started on easy mode.

Ever since her debut, she had always said whatever was on her mind and never held anything back. After all, her starting point was already the finish line for countless others; she had every reason to be proud.

Quite a few people wanted to see Li Wenchuan make a fool of himself and watched the red-clad youth onstage.

After the performance ended, Li Wenchuan returned to his lazy posture, as though the aggressive person from before had not been him. He expertly flicked open his fan and moved it beneath his chin. Facing Zhao Shiyao, he did not back down. "You're pretty good at cutting people off too."

Everyone: ...!!

Wasn't he plainly saying that Zhao Shiyao lacked the seniority yet acted like a big shot?

Indeed, aside from Silk Road, Zhao Shiyao had acted in several films afterward, but none had made much of a splash. Restricted by her highbrow image, she never accepted television dramas. Come to think of it, the other two guests were actually more qualified than Zhao Shiyao.

Before Zhao Shiyao could speak, the male guest beside her smoothly took over. "Little Li, you always remind me of an old friend." He was not making it up; such a person really existed. Both of them carried a distinctly tai chi-like air.

"I heard you rarely accept variety shows," though that was because he could not get any, "so why did you come this time?"

Zhao Shiyao gave a light snort. He could not get invited, yet he made it sound so nice.

Li Wenchuan held the microphone and pondered for a long while. Then he looked up, his eyes suddenly full of deep emotion. Staring straight at the camera, he spoke in a lingering tone, "Because I've been really short on money lately. If Mom and Dad can see this show, could you give me another chance—just send my bank card back to the beginning of the month."

"I'm dying. Why is Li Wenchuan so funny?"

"He's exactly like me when I asked my parents for money in college. Every time, I felt like I could compete for an Oscar."

"Tsk, he's so old and still living off his parents. What a mama's boy."

"Did he eat your rice? Why is your mouth so foul?"

"I don't believe a celebrity can be that poor."

"Doesn't he have a sugar daddy supporting him?"

Very soon, someone dug up a photo taken by paparazzi several years ago: Li Wenchuan stood before a middle-aged man with lowered brows and an obedient expression, then followed him into a Maybach.

Sun Hao silently watched the online discourse ferment, the lenses of his glasses reflecting the icy blue light of the electronic screen.

This show was supposed to build momentum for Jin Yue. How could they let Li Wenchuan take all the spotlight?

But just as the trending topic gradually climbed higher, the page suddenly returned a 404 error. Then Weibo displayed: The content you searched for does not exist. Even the marketing account that had just posted the news had become an empty account when opened.

Sun Hao's pupils shrank slightly. Combined with Li Wenchuan's unusual behavior these past few days, could he really have a sugar daddy?

Inside an office in the administrative building of a Sea City company, two men sat side by side at a desk. A document had been used as a cushion for a tablet, and streams of danmu flew across its screen. Many people were wailing, "Chuanchuan, don't cry! Mommy will vote for you and support you!"

The younger one held a phone in one hand. A sentence automatically generated on the screen before being sent: "Little Chuan is insanely handsome. I hereby declare that from now on, he's my one and only husband."

Then similar sentences kept generating over and over, wildly boosting the danmu all by himself.

Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, he looked up and saw that the middle-aged man across from him had the expression of someone who had just swallowed ten "subway old man looking at phone.jpg" memes.

"Dad, look, this is the new program I wrote. From now on, you won't need to think for yourself when posting danmu." His face clearly said, Hurry up and praise me.

"I sent you to school so you could make this? Nonsense!" the middle-aged man roared. Then he took out his phone and typed manually. Young people were simply not sincere enough; he had always been practical.

The younger man glanced over from the corner of his eye and saw: "Chuanchuan, fly bravely. Dad will always be with you."

Danmu immediately appeared in response, saying there were even dad fans.

The middle-aged man became even angrier. "I am his dad!"

After posting several consecutive comments, he still could not keep up with the netizens' speed. Furious, he handed his phone to his son with a stern expression. "Quick, install that program of yours for me too."

"..." What happened to it being nonsense?

To avoid the awkwardness, the middle-aged man immediately shifted targets. "What about those marketing accounts we just banned? Go sue them for spreading rumors!"

His mouth said one thing, but his actions said another. Li Mingyu clicked his tongue inwardly and sent the assignment to his assistant.

The tablet soon became lively again. This episode's mysterious guest had appeared. Li Mingyu also instructed his assistant to buy some paid commenters. They absolutely could not let this mysterious guest overshadow Li Wenchuan.

The stage lights shifted. Amid the interweaving light and shadow, someone stood tall as a green pine. The curtain outlined his elegant, jade-tree-like figure, inviting endless speculation.

"Our mysterious guest has pressed the button for this pair of actors." He looked at Li Wenchuan and Jin Yue. "Will you accept his challenge?"