The scene where Xie Xi stood on stage singing opera in costume had already caused a stir in the audience, as many had come specifically for him. When he leaned back in the chair, his long hair scattered, wearing only a white inner robe, and looked over, along with the ragdoll cat with big, watery blue eyes in his arms, everyone present was stunned.
Ye Qiusuo tilted her head slightly to look at the person on the screen. In that moment, she felt an indescribable, complex emotion.
"Holy shit." Sun Jiajia, sitting in the back row, pinched her hand hard. "I would do anything for him."
This 'him', of course, referred to the opera singer played by Xie Xi in the movie.
"No wonder you like Xie Xi," Lin Lu said, shaking his head as he leaned against the back of his chair. "Is he usually like this too?"
For a man... he was a bit too seductive. Every look and expression carried a hint of enticement.
Hearing the word "usually," Sun Jiajia suddenly deflated a bit, because Xie Xi was definitely not like this normally.
Oh no, she liked the Xie Xi in the movie more, that breathtaking feeling.
After a while, the theater gradually calmed down. However, when the male lead, Pei Jinxi, caused the opera singer to be arrested, there was another commotion, only this time, it was mostly indignation.
Ye Qiusuo and Xie Xi didn't have much screen time in the film; the rest of the movie focused entirely on the male and female leads and a few other characters.
"Bullshit!"
A voice suddenly rang out in everyone's ears, and then a girl in the middle got up and left the theater without looking back.
After that, people left one after another, expressing their extreme dissatisfaction with the male lead in the movie.
Ding Hong and Lin Lu both turned to look at Sun Jiajia, afraid that she would also jump up and leave the theater.
"What?" Sun Jiajia was still looking up at the movie. Noticing the strange looks from both sides, she couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
"I thought you were going to leave too," Lin Lu also whispered.
As he spoke, another person silently left.
Sun Jiajia: "...I paid for this movie ticket. It would be a waste not to finish it."
The film was mainly about the male lead, Pei Jinxi's, journey of growth. No matter how passionate young students were, they were bound to have shortcomings. This was also the director's intention: not to create a perfect male lead, but to have him gradually become better.
Logically speaking, the director's approach wasn't wrong, and he handled the plot conflicts and details very well.
However, he underestimated Xie Xi's popularity. The scene where Xie Xi raised his eyes to look over was enough to be called a classic. The audience had just been struck by his beauty and felt immense affection for him, only to see the male lead cause the opera singer to be thrown into prison the very next second, using him as a stepping stone to connect with another faction.
Not only were the fans who came for Xie Xi angry, but even ordinary people couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: what kind of progressive youth was this, sacrificing someone else's life to achieve his own justice?
As soon as the movie ended and the credits rolled, Ye Qiusuo and Xie Xi got up and left, avoiding the crowd.
"That person looked quite like our professor," Lin Lu said to Ding Hong and the others.
"The professor probably wouldn't come to see a movie, let alone with a friend." Ding Hong shook his head. Their professor was always busy and rarely wasted time, not to mention on entertainment.
Sun Jiajia had been looking down to send a message and didn't see the two who had already left, but she chimed in, "The professor even acted in it, so why wouldn't she come to see it? It's her first movie, she'd probably want to watch it."
Lin Lu stroked his chin. "Not necessarily. The professor is different from ordinary people like us."
...
"Brother Xi, over here." Zhang Dong had come out earlier than them and had driven the car to the entrance to wait.
Xie Xi opened the car door and let Ye Qiusuo get in first, placing his hand over the door frame to protect her head. Only after she was seated did he get in himself.
"Lili is a bit bigger than when we were filming," Ye Qiusuo said, watching the window slowly roll up in front of them.
Xie Xi changed his WeChat profile picture every few days, and it was always of Lili. It would be hard for Ye Qiusuo not to know.
Actually, Xie Xi had initially posted pictures of Lili on his WeChat Moments. Then he realized that Ye Qiusuo might not necessarily check Moments, so he simply used his profile picture to live broadcast Lili's status. It seemed to have worked.
"She's grown a bit, but she still doesn't like strangers," Xie Xi feigned composure.
Lili was very strange. His manager, Wei Qi, always said she only looked like a ragdoll cat but actually had the personality of a feral cat.
Normally, this breed of pet cat was easy to take care of, especially affectionate and clingy, making them very lovable. But apart from acting like this towards Xie Xi, Lili was very cold to everyone else and wouldn't let anyone else pet her. He still had no idea how she was chosen by the production crew in the first place.
"That's good." Ye Qiusuo glanced sideways at Xie Xi as she spoke. The neon lights outside the car window flashed by, faintly casting shadows on his face. His long eyelashes drooped slightly, and for a second, she had the illusion that Xie Xi would look over at her just like the person in the movie. "A cat that clings to anyone doesn't really feel like your own cat."
Xie Xi's hand, resting by his leg, twitched slightly. This was the first time she had engaged in casual small talk.
...
No one anticipated the developments following the premiere of The Lake.
The director's initial thoughts were correct. With Xie Xi and You Feibai, plus his directing, the film's premiere box office soared straight up—a prelude to massive success. Not to mention that tickets for the following days were already fully booked. All major theaters were sold out, forcing cinema chains to temporarily add more screenings.
The main creators were already anticipating the public's reaction after the premiere.
Just half an hour after the first screening ended, trending topics were already beginning to surge.
However, the first thing to hit the hot search wasn't anyone in the movie, but a pitch-black video recorded in the theater, with only a little light from the screen in the background.
Trending Topic: The Lake Premiere Fan Argument
Clicking on it revealed a three-minute video posted by a film and television blogger. It showed Xie Xi's fans and You Feibai's fans arguing. The cause was that Xie Xi's fans, upon seeing Pei Jinxi scheme to report the opera singer, had cursed the male lead a few times. Unexpectedly, the people sitting next to them were You Feibai's fans, and so the argument broke out.
[Just came out of the movie theater. I'm not a fan of either of them, but I have to say, Pei Jinxi's actions were really a bit too much. Although he got better later on, the beginning really ruined my impression of him.]
[Went to see it, didn't finish it. I couldn't stand Pei Jinxi's behavior. Isn't this just being a condescending justice bitch? Harming others to play the hero of justice, I'm going to throw up.]
[I finished watching it, but several people in my screening left halfway through.]
[+1. People in my screening also walked out directly, and they even cursed Pei Jinxi before leaving.]
[Indeed, what Pei Jinxi did wasn't very kind. The opera singer didn't do anything heinous, and he even helped the students once before. Yet Pei Jinxi turned around and ruined him.]
[The male lead is written in the script, why curse You Feibai?]
[? Is the person above toxic? The comments are all talking about Pei Jinxi, who mentioned your idol?]
[The main thing is that Xie Xi's performance in it was absolutely stunning. When he looked over, I felt my bones go soft.]
[Hahahahaha, there were constant gasps in my screening at that moment.]
[Dragged my boyfriend to see it, and he was one of the people gasping.]
The topic in the comments below suddenly shifted and began to polarize. By the time the second screening finished and more people came out, other topics started to heat up.
The subsequent trending topics on the hot search generally met the director's expectations, though the sheer number of people cursing Pei Jinxi deviated slightly from the plan.
"Is Pei Jinxi really a good person", "Xie Xi is breathtaking", "Xie Xi and the cat"
Under these trending hashtags, half of the discussions centered on Pei Jinxi, while the other half focused on Xie Xi.
"I want to know how the director came up with the idea of casting Xie Xi as the opera singer. That single upward glance of his was an invisible killer."
"Especially when the cat in his arms looked over at the exact same time. I was absolutely stunned on the spot, it was just too beautiful."
"That cat looks a bit familiar."
"Isn't that Lili? Baby Xi posted pictures of it on Weibo before. No wonder You Feibai mentioned being on set back then."
By the time the audiences for the third and fourth screenings finished watching, it was already the next day. Someone even started a super topic called "Abandon The Lake".
It listed one hundred and eight sins committed by Pei Jinxi, immediately drawing in a large crowd.
"When I went to see it, I thought the rumors were exaggerating, but my fists were literally clenched by the end. Pei Jinxi is the classic example of someone who will use any means necessary to get what he wants."
"Once Xie Xi's scenes were over, I left. The more I watched, the angrier I got. For the sake of your own health, it is best to leave the theater early."
"I am both angry and proud. Angry at Pei Jinxi, but also thinking about how amazing Baby Xi is. To have this level of skill on his first acting attempt is incredible."
...
Ever since returning yesterday, Xie Xi had been glued to Weibo. He did not care about how the movie was doing; he only wanted to see news related to Ye Qiusuo. Ideally, someone would edit a video of the two of them together. It was such great material, after all.
However, by the next day, not a single person had even mentioned Ye Qiusuo. All the trending attention had been monopolized by him and You Feibai.
Xie Xi had no choice but to personally take matters into his own hands and steer the narrative himself.
He went around leaving comments under the trending topics: "Professor Ye also looks beautiful in it.", "Professor Ye is in The Lake!" ...
However, he failed to make any waves. Using a burner account to comment under trending posts with tens of thousands of replies meant that hardly anyone saw his words.
Later on, Ye Qiusuo did actually make it onto the trending list, just not in the way Xie Xi would have liked.
It was because someone said that Ye Qiusuo and You Feibai were a perfect match.
"Ahhhh! I just got back from watching The Lake. Are none of you shipping You Feibai and Professor Ye? A story about a female professor and a male student, wow! Every time Pei Jinxi obediently listens to the professor, I feel this subtle romantic tension between them. In contrast, the female lead feels a bit too weak."
"Finally, someone said exactly what I was thinking! Every time the professor and Pei Jinxi face off, it feels like the very air changes. When the two of them stand together, it gives off a powerful power-couple vibe."
"I hope the movie gets released on streaming platforms soon. I really want to see the master editors make videos of them!"
Xie Xi: "..."
The great superstar Xie Xi was getting a little angry. Why was no one talking about him and Ye Qiusuo?!
Weren't the female professor and the male student supposed to be Professor Ye and him? Furthermore, was a professor and an opera singer not a good ship? Why was no one stepping up to talk about them?
This time, Xie Xi managed to catch the front row of the trending topic. He used his burner account to share the post and commented: "I would much rather ship the opera singer and the professor. It would be best if it was a story where a male student falls from grace to become an opera singer, and the professor swoops in to rescue him from his fallen state."
The great superstar Xie even wanted to claim the identity of the student. You Feibai was nothing but a fake student in the movie; he was the real one in real life.
People started to like and reply to his comment: "Oh, this idea actually sounds pretty thrilling too."
"If you had not mentioned it, I would not have even remembered! Professor Ye and Baby Xi are the real couple! Sob, it must be because we have had so little content to feed on recently that I almost forgot about the Xie-Ye ship."
"Zhang Dong, how do you get more followers?" Xie Xi asked his assistant with a serious expression. That blogger who posted about the You Feibai and Xie Xi ship only made it to the trending list so quickly because they had a lot of followers.
"Huh?" Zhang Dong was momentarily stunned. "Brother Xi, you already have so many fans. You still want more followers?"
"Not for my main account. I mean for an ordinary account that was only registered recently."
Zhang Dong pondered Xie Xi's words for a moment before replying, "To gain followers quickly, you either have to buy them or get onto the trending list for some reason. If neither of those are options, there is one other way."
"What is it?"
"Host a giveaway."
