Chapter 44

Title: Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang: A Comparison of Their Achievements Over the Past Ten Years

Content: 1. Film and television achievements: Xie Ran excelled in both film and television and won Best Actor at the Golden Continent Awards; Fang Huiwang was the leading man of idol dramas and had no awards. Xie Ran won.

2. Studio investments: Meng Feixuan, developed through Xie Ran's investment, was currently the highest-valued virtual idol, with limitless potential; Nangong Xu, jointly produced by Ambition Studio and Black Star, had no valuation information available. Xie Ran won.

3. Personal ability: As could be seen from Somewhere Else with You, Fang Huiwang performed much as he always had, with no obvious improvement; meanwhile, Xie Ran had made clear progress in languages, investment, and other areas. Xie Ran won.

4. Commercial resources: Previously, Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's industry rates had been roughly on par. However, after the show aired, Xie Ran's price had continued to rise and had now surpassed Fang Huiwang's.

In addition, industry rumors said Fang Huiwang had originally been in close talks with the luxury brand Lansi. But due to his recent decline in popularity and unsuccessful transition, Lansi had not been very willing to cooperate, and this resource was currently on hold.

From this, it was clear that in terms of their individual careers, Xie Ran had undoubtedly taken a comprehensive lead over Fang Huiwang.

1F: I'm shocked. I never noticed before, but looking at it this way, isn't the gap between Fang Huiwang and Xie Ran way too huge?

2F: Same shock here. Wangan and Xie Ran had been compared together ever since their debuts, right? In my memory, they always seemed about the same. How had the gap grown this wide without anyone noticing?

10F: Putting everything else aside, Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's interactions on the show were so awkward they made my scalp tingle. How were CP fans even able to ship them?

15F: Hahaha, I'm more curious about this: their relationship was already like that, so why did they still go on a show together? How much did Snowball TV pay them??

20F: Seriously, I'd rather ship Meng Feixuan and Xie Ran. A 2D character would never break up with you—wasn't that better than real people?

55F: This thread's comparison and smear campaign was so obvious. Did you really think no one could tell? Xie Ran just got lucky buying profitable stocks, and now he was selling an elite persona?

Don't forget that my brother still had the highest work income among the other guests, and he truly earned it through his own efforts. Wasn't that better than speculation?

57F: Wasn't 55F the one suffering from selective

amnesia

here? Let me remind you: Xie Ran had once published his own analysis of several jobs, with detailed data, and the final results proved that his analyses were correct. So using that to prove Fang Huiwang was more grounded and hardworking than Xie Ran simply didn't hold water. It could only show that Xie Ran had the ability to make better choices. If anything, Fang Huiwang should have been the one inspired by Xie Ran.

190F: I finished reading the thread. To sum up, Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's achievements really had grown apart now. Even if Wangan had truly been real ten years ago, they weren't on the same level anymore. No wonder Xie Ran didn't care to pay Fang Huiwang much attention on the show.

This post became incredibly popular and immediately dragged Fang Huiwang's public image to rock bottom. Fang Huiwang's fans were frantic, but to everyone's surprise, Ambition Studio—usually aggressive in style and highly attentive to fan sentiment—suddenly kept a low profile this time. No matter how heated the internet became, it remained silent from beginning to end.

Amid Ambition Studio's silence and the fans' questioning, the second episode of Somewhere Else with You aired.

Boosted by the buzz from the first episode, viewership for the second episode reached another record high.

In the second episode, Xie Ran not only made huge profits in the stock market again, proving that his stock picks on the first day had not been luck, but the mystery of who had photographed the New and Old Xi filming location—which netizens had speculated about for so long—was finally revealed.

This episode undoubtedly added more fuel to Xie Ran's already surging momentum.

That night, the post comparing Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's personal achievements was pushed to the front page again. Netizens sighed that Xie Ran had truly surpassed Fang Huiwang in every respect, even in artistic taste.

For a time, Fang Huiwang's reputation fell to its lowest point since his debut.

Just then, Ambition Studio, which had been silent for so long, finally spoke up and reposted a Weibo post.

Ambition Studio: Stay steadfast and go far; forge ahead through hardship. Let us join hands and use our strength to walk through the next decade. //@Lence Lansi official: Ten years of starlight, never failing our youth. Congratulations to renowned musician, singing-and-dancing idol, and actor @Fang Huiwang on becoming a Lansi brand ambassador.

Soon after, Fang Huiwang also logged onto Weibo and reposted Lansi's official announcement.

Fang Huiwang V: Hard work will not be buried. Looking forward to the next decade. //@Lence Lansi official: Ten years of starlight, never failing our youth...

The moment the news came out, the entire internet erupted. To the fans, this was undoubtedly the best response to the online mockery and ridicule of the past several days.

In no time at all, Lansi's original post had been reposted hundreds of thousands of times and rapidly climbed the trending list. In the comments, fans felt thoroughly vindicated:

[Ahhh, I knew my brother wouldn't let us down!]

[Do the haters' faces hurt? Who didn't know they were stepping on my brother to promote someone else? And they swore Lansi didn't want to work with him. Too bad brands have sharp eyes!]

[This is wonderful, wonderful. We'll walk through the next decade together with our brother.]

[Some washed-up loser had been jealous of my brother's luxury endorsement for who knew how long. The purpose behind those recent publicity articles couldn't have been more obvious. Too bad a top star was still a top star. A washed-up loser went on one show and thought he could ride my brother's coattails? How ridiculous. Don't think my brother was easy to bully just because he didn't say anything. We always slap people in the face with real strength, okay?!]

If Lansi's ambassador announcement could only prove that Fang Huiwang's commercial resources remained top-tier, then another message released by Ambition Studio immediately afterward was a truly powerful rebuttal to the online doubts of this period.

Ambition Studio: Ambition Studio's new-generation singing-and-dancing idol @Nangong Xu official releases his first solo EP. Joining hands with @Black Star Studio and @Heavenly Sound Idol Studio to begin a journey toward the stars and the sea. Click to watch the MV jointly created by Nangong Xu and @Fang Huiwang [Link]

This Weibo post genuinely took netizens by surprise, for a simple reason: Heavenly Sound Idol Studio was a studio under tech giant Quest Technology. Before this, there had been widespread rumors online that Quest Technology had offered Xie Ran Studio an astronomical price in hopes of obtaining joint operating rights for Meng Feixuan.

Although Heavenly Sound Idol Studio was technically only a project division of Quest Technology, would one company really purchase two virtual idols at once just to pit them against each other?