Chapter 58: Once Famous, Everything Changes

On Weibo, "Fashion Men's Style" chose to start building hype right after wrapping up the photoshoot.

What they needed was to gauge the market's reaction first, and then adjust their October issue plans according to the feedback.

Currently, there are three celebrities featured in this issue of "Fashion Men's Style." Apart from Lin Xing, who was set as the cover star, the other two were chosen as inside-feature stars.

This was one of the magazine's usual strategies to boost sales—after all, fans are always willing to buy for their idols.

For this reason, "Fashion Men's Style" directly promoted both its cover and inside-feature celebrities in its teasers.

However, knowing how to manage fan sentiment, they focused almost entirely on the cover in their communication.

When the time came, it would all boil down to a quick “3, 2, 1, here’s the link.”

Among these three celebrities, aside from Lin Xing, the other two had also become top trending stars recently.

Indeed.

The term “top trending” had lost its value—whoever shot to popularity overnight would be called that.

At the very least, fans firmly believed their own idol outshone Lin Xing.

“Buy, buy, buy—I have to make this sell out, not for anything else, but to support our Hao Zhi.”

“Supporting Hao Zhi—what level is Lin Xing? How does he deserve the cover of ‘Fashion Men’s Style’ Silver October?”

“I’m backing Hao Zhi. There’s no way Lin Xing doesn’t have powerful backing behind him.”

...

“My heart aches for Xu Han, having to share a cover with Lin Xing.”

“Lin Xing made it to the cover with just one standout role? Are you kidding me?”

“Capital can do whatever it wants, but I only want to support Xu Han.”

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Hao Zhi and Xu Han were both newly minted top stars, each only in their twenties. One had amassed a huge following through a modern idol drama, the other had seen his popularity explode thanks to a period idol show.

Both mainly worked in mainstream web dramas with high viewership.

But with their recent choices diverging, the fan wars hadn’t gotten too out of hand.

However, Hao Zhi’s fans were definitely unhappy with Lin Xing’s. After all, Hao Zhi had become popular last year for his domineering CEO role, and now this year Lin Xing had risen to fame with a similar role. To their fans, this was direct competition.

Now, all three were appearing together in "Fashion Men's Style," with Lin Xing on the main cover. How could the other two fandoms accept that?

Even though "Fashion Men's Style" claimed to treat everyone equally, and even had different covers, Hao Zhi and Xu Han’s fans were still dissatisfied.

“What level is Lin Xing?” became the most repeated phrase.

So, right after the initial teasers, Lin Xing shot up the trending topics.

By the next day, he was still sitting high atop the hot search list.

When Lin Xing woke up and saw the news, he was at a loss for words. He even asked Sister Dao, “Are we sure the company didn’t buy this hot search spot?”

“Of course not, Xingxing—why would the company buy trending topics right now?”

Sister Dao shook her head and said, “We’re still dealing with all the negative trends because of ‘The Black Wave’ incident. There’s no way we’d buy hot search spots at a time like this.”

She paused, then added, “Xingxing, you probably don’t realize just how hot you are right now. With ‘Just Waiting for You’ just having wrapped up, you’re the most popular face in the industry. You’ve ridden the wave of that standout role and reaped all the benefits—otherwise, ‘Fashion Men’s Style’ wouldn’t have given you the main cover. So, it’s only natural for you to be trending during the teasers.”

That was irrefutable.

He was at the peak of his character’s popularity—anything he did would easily shoot him up the trending charts.

Sister Dao gave a wry smile and continued, “Now you see why I sent Xiao Nan to accompany you? You’re visiting Guan Peng on set today, and I guarantee you’ll be trending again.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Even if I didn’t trend, the ‘Parents’ Classroom’ production would make sure I did,” Lin Xing replied with a slight shake of his head. “So really, Xiao Nan doesn’t need to tag along, I—”

“Xiao Nan is probably already waiting outside your villa. I thought it through and still don’t feel comfortable. Better to use the company car—it’s more convenient.”

Even as she spoke, Sister Dao was making arrangements. “Alright, Xingxing, I’m busy, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hello?” Lin Xing still had more to say, but Sister Dao had already hung up.

Ten minutes later, Lin Feng left the house and got into the company’s business van.

“So, what else did Sister Dao tell you?” Lin Xing asked Xiao Nan, rubbing his temples.

Xiao Nan quickly replied, “She told me to order 200 servings of milk tea and coffee. By the time we get to the ‘Parents’ Classroom’ set, they should have arrived.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Lin Xing said with a laugh. “I thought she’d told you to keep reminding me to stay safe.”

“In fact, she did. She said I have to stick with you the whole time,” Xiao Nan continued. “She said you’re too popular right now, and there are bound to be artists in the crew hoping to catch some of your spotlight.”

Lin Xing understood this completely.

Don’t think the serious actors don’t know how to stir up hype.

Just look at how Zheng Nantian was ruined by Dai Linghui before.

That’s precisely why Sister Dao wouldn’t let Lin Xing visit the set alone.

What if some actress tried to leech off Lin Xing’s popularity? What if, by “coincidence,” she was photographed while Lin Xing was helping her up? Or if they exchanged a few words in private? And what if the actress later claimed, “Guys, Lin Xing actually tried to pitch a role to me in person”? Even if bystanders didn’t fully believe it, at the very least, it would irreparably muddy his reputation.

All these scenarios, Sister Dao had to anticipate.

There’d been incidents in the past during set visits. There was even a time when a fan visiting an artist was nearly assaulted by someone else.

In short, no matter if people called her overly cautious or accused her of paranoia, Sister Dao was determined to protect Lin Xing.

All the more so because of Lin Xing’s stunningly handsome face—and the fact that the "Parents’ Classroom" cast included an award-winning actress famous for her looks.

That was the one thing Sister Dao insisted Xiao Nan relay to Lin Xing: “Keep your distance from Ning Shuyan during the visit.”

As they neared the set, Xiao Nan turned to Lin Xing, “Sister Dao said you should stay away from her as much as possible.”

Lin Xing was taken aback, then laughed. “Sister Dao is overthinking this.”

But Xiao Nan replied, “Brother Xing, she says there’s no harm in being careful.”

“What’s there to be careful about? Sure, Ning Shuyan likes to collect young actors, and her boyfriends have been getting younger every year, but I’m not that young anymore,” Lin Xing said with a dismissive wave. “Besides, what are we saying, that a best actress is some kind of predator? Let’s not talk like that.”

Ten minutes later, Lin Xing arrived at the "Parents’ Classroom" set.

By then, plenty of people were already taking photos and videos. Lin Xing had the staff distribute the milk tea and coffee.

“Are you joining the cast soon?” Guan Peng asked with a smile.

“Soon, but I have a variety show to do first, then I’ll join,” Lin Xing replied. They’d discussed this in advance.

He then greeted the main cast of "Parents’ Classroom" one by one—screenwriter, lead actor, producer Zheng Zhou, his on-screen wife Tang Yu, and several other well-known actors.

He also met Ning Shuyan.

But Sister Dao’s concerns were clearly unnecessary.

“Lin Xing, your performance in ‘Just Waiting for You’ was excellent. I hope you keep up the good work,” Ning Shuyan said politely during introductions, and that was the extent of their interaction.

Which was perfectly normal. After all, this wasn’t a novel—real life isn’t so dramatic.

The visit couldn’t last too long. After less than twenty minutes, Lin Xing took his leave, and everyone had been very courteous.

That’s what being popular gets you.

Lin Xing still remembered having met Zheng Zhou once, six years ago. Back then, Zheng Zhou had been distant, almost unapproachable.

Now, he was exceptionally polite.

Just as they say: when you’re hot, everything changes.

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