Chapter Ninety-Five: Damn, the Fans Really Don’t Want Lin Xing to Die (Extra Chapter with 500 Monthly Tickets)

At 8:00 PM, the official social media account for *Crushing the Dark Wave* released a "behind-the-scenes" featurette.

The official post used the tagline, "Greeting the role with a genuine face," and focused on highlighting how dedicated the production of *Crushing the Dark Wave* was. It concluded with the text: "January 1, 2024. See you at the start of the year."

The other actors reposted it one after another. Everyone had their own unique captions, but Lin Xing simply reposted it and wrote, "See you at the start of the year."

That was it. Lin Xing had deleted all the other potential captions. He knew exactly what audiences despised most. If you’re doing a job, isn’t it expected that you do it well? More importantly, considering how much money people in the entertainment industry make, what’s with all the talk about hardship and exhaustion?

Furthermore, in the past, actors truly risked their lives, so it was understandable when they talked about the difficulty of the job. Many stunt performers, for instance, were literally putting their lives on the line. Many action stars would frequently end up with broken bones; in those cases, the audience was sympathetic. But later, due to the rise of special effects, fight scenes became computer-generated. When "little fresh meat" idols tried to play the victim, it triggered mockery. More importantly, the public had become immune to celebrities complaining about how hard they have it.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

That was the current prevailing mindset. If veteran actors spoke about the difficulty of being professional, the public might give them some respect. But if a traffic idol dared to whine about hardship, the public would only say, "You don't have to do it."

Lin Xing had finally built up some goodwill with the public, and he didn't want to destroy it all with one misstep. Besides, he genuinely didn't feel it was that hard. Compared to farming, this kind of exhaustion was nothing. So, he simply used the four words provided by the official account: "See you at the start of the year."

Afterward, he finally watched the featurette.

"This doesn't look authentic. This table is too new; this shop has been open for years. The table shouldn't look like this."
"Your chef’s coat isn't worn enough. This won't do. We need realism. Only by being authentic can we convince the audience."
"Don't overact. A good actor isn't defined by how loudly they roar or how ferocious their expression is."
"That's not right. How could you reflexively look at the camera after being slapped?"

The first minute of the video featured the director, Zu Ming, and Lin Xing had been present for some of those moments. To be fair, Zu Ming was truly meticulous; he paid close attention to every detail during filming. Details decide success or failure.

During the script reading sessions, Zu Ming required every actor to fully immerse themselves in the production and to truly inhabit their roles. Because of this, during breaks, Lin Xing would stay by himself. This was especially true for the KTV scenes. Fifty-five percent of his character Zhou Bo’s evil deeds—forcing women into prostitution, murder, and the like—took place there.

Of course, there were also scenes where Zhou Bo got beaten up. In one, he was brutally thrashed by the husband of a victim. Because the extra actor was too nervous, he messed up twice: the first time he didn't dare to hit Lin Xing, and the second time he hit him too lightly, which Zu Ming felt looked fake even with camera angles. On the third attempt, the extra used too much force, and Lin Xing was knocked to the ground. Zu Ming took the opportunity to finish the rest of the scene right then and there. The footage shown in the featurette was exactly that moment.

Beyond that, there was a clip of Lin Xing filming a night scene until 4:00 AM.

After watching it, Lin Xing understood. If you only looked at this featurette, the promotional copy made sense. The video was eight minutes long: the director took up one minute, Lin Xing took up four, and the other actors took up three.

Good grief. Someone who didn't know better would think Lin Xing was the lead actor. They were certainly giving him a lot of face. Lin Xing thought to himself that he probably had that guy, Old Wang, to thank. That fellow had been jumping around, claiming that Lin Xing’s scenes in *Crushing the Dark Wave* had been cut, and even had the nerve to say it was all thanks to him. Now, the production team had released this featurette, making it clear who the real clown was.

...

Online, the discussion grew more intense. Many people had previously been celebrating the idea that Lin Xing’s scenes were deleted, only for the production team to drop this featurette. What was more, Lin Xing occupied half of it. What did that mean? Many felt the *Crushing the Dark Wave* team was being quite rebellious.

In response, a commentator named Old Zhong posted: "When *Crushing the Dark Wave* first announced the cast and people were cursing Lin Xing for being a 'capital-backed' hire, Director Zu Ming stood up to support him. Clearly, Zu Ming approves of Lin Xing. Now, with Lin Xing taking up a large portion of this 'Authentic Featurette,' this should finally shut some people up."

Almost ten minutes after Old Zhong’s post, "Old Wang Reviews" retorted: "Isn't it obvious? Why increase Lin Xing's screen time in the featurette? Think about it, look closely. I can't say too much, I'm afraid of being sued."

"Hahaha, Old Wang is right. This clearly means Lin Xing doesn't have many scenes in the actual film, so they're giving him a shred of dignity here."
"Exactly, minimize his screen time in the main cut and increase his exposure in the featurette. Old Wang, you nailed it."
"Laughing to death, Lin Xing’s fans are still being stubborn. Seriously, I hope they wake up."

At any given time, "ordinary" netizens inherently despise traffic idols, and they despise their fans even more. In their eyes, fandoms are cesspools. If you're willing to abandon your own parents just to follow a celebrity, what is that if not a cesspool?

The comment section of "Old Wang Reviews" was filled with people who had made a career out of bashing traffic idols. They basically spent all their time attacking fan culture, though they didn't view themselves as another kind of fan group.

Meanwhile, a portion of Lin Xing’s fans were heartbroken. "A friend of mine visited the set and said Lin Xing helps out the crew when he isn't filming. He put so much into this role, but I never imagined it was this hard. I feel so bad for him."

"Look at what it means to be professional. Look at what acting really is. Lin Xing didn't use a stand-in, didn't use voice-over dubbing. He truly is an artist with both integrity and talent."

"Looking at this 'Authentic Featurette' makes me want to cry. Lin Xing hasn't had it easy; he's suffered so much."

Lin Xing, however, didn't feel like it was hard at all. But there is a certain kind of "hardship" that exists only because your fans *think* you are suffering.

He had gone to bed around 9:00 PM after reading the script, as he had an early morning shoot the next day. He didn't know that the online discourse had completely exploded starting at 10:00 PM. Lin Xing had many types of fans now—casual fans, "mom" fans, career-focused fans, true believers, and extremists. It was an inevitable part of being a top-tier celebrity.

Those "mom" fans genuinely felt their "Star" was suffering too much. At 10:00 PM, the topic "#Lin Xing is really too tired#" hit the sixth spot on the trending list. Within the topic, there were praises, but also plenty of mockery.

"Laughing my head off, since when is not using a body double and using your own voice considered 'professional'?"
"I used to have a good impression of Lin Xing, but now this is just a huge turn-off."
"Are you crazy? What on earth are you suffering from?"

In this topic, ordinary netizens jumped into the fray. Many felt that a top-tier traffic idol complaining about hardship was infuriating.

"Filming until 4:00 AM is hard? I invite you to go to the main road at 4:00 AM and see how many people are just getting off work."
"Exactly, the night markets in our city are still bustling at 4:00 AM. People are just getting home."
"What about those delivering food in a storm, or those moving bricks in the scorching sun? I want to ask, are they suffering?"

Most people are just regular folks struggling to make ends meet. Why did that popular streamer, A-Ning, trigger so much rage? It was because he linked effort directly to success. Sometimes, effort is worthless in the face of success. But people still work hard because they have no other choice.

So, when the trending topic "#Lin Xing is really too tired#" appeared, it was no surprise that it became a complete mess.

Lin Xing's agent, Sister Dao, was shouting until her voice went hoarse in their internal group chat. "Lower the heat on the trend, lower the topic, and push all the articles highlighting that Lin Xing doesn't actually think he's suffering! It's already 10:00 PM; the discourse hasn't been fermenting for long, we still have time. Change the keywords immediately and make sure the fan clubs keep their members in check."

Sister Dao had been in a good mood earlier. The featurette was well-made, and Lin Xing had a significant presence. She had established a five-person PR team to work 24/7 for him. She knew that as the broadcast date approached, there would be haters, so she had to monitor the situation. She hadn't been worried about the backlash after the trailer because she knew his scenes hadn't been cut—they had actually been increased.

Everything had been going according to plan. But damn, the fans were going to be the death of him. This trending topic almost made her jump out of her skin. The A-Ning scandal was only a few days old, and he had lost nearly 500,000 followers overnight. His reputation was in ruins, and the topic was still hanging on the trending list. Had they forgotten?

From 10:00 PM onward, Sister Dao had her team working non-stop. They had one night—one night to resolve everything.

Of course, Lin Xing knew nothing about this. When he woke up the next day and saw his assistant, Xiao Nan, looking like a panda with dark circles under his eyes, he asked, "What happened?"