Chapter 105: Such Overwhelming Wealth Should Belong to Someone Else (Hoping for Monthly Votes)

Page 1/3

Today, Lin Xing didn’t feel particularly tired while touring the offices of ZhaLang. Unlike other popular male celebrities who found holding an eighty-kilogram woman burdensome, Lin Xing was very strong—his abs were genuine. More importantly, no one understood the importance of health better than him.

Besides, his visit was partly to promote the drama “Rampage Against Crime,” but mainly, Lin Xing came to learn about ZhaLang’s work environment and the responsibilities of various departments. Though these details might not be immediately useful, they could come in handy when he acted in the future.

Actors need to accumulate experience. Lin Xing firmly believed in this: what you accumulate now might not be useful immediately, but one day—perhaps a year, two years, or even many years later—it could be invaluable. Acting is all about steady accumulation for a sudden breakthrough.

Why do so few child stars achieve lasting success? And why do many male actors only reach their prime around their forties? The logic is roughly the same.

So, Lin Xing approached his visit to ZhaLang with a relaxed mindset. He chatted with everyone like old friends, neither aloof nor insincere. He even reminded them not to drink coffee when working late and to rest as much as possible if they could the next day. After all, workers in the entertainment industry often have little control over their schedules.

Lin Xing understood this deeply.

He never put on a false, aloof front like some stars. Previously, some visiting celebrities envied him, saying, “Your 9-to-9-and-6 schedule is already great. On our shoots, even 9-to-9 is a luxury.” Naturally, those celebrities were harshly criticized online.

What kind of income do they have? What income do we workers have? Why is Lin Xing’s livestream the most effective? Because he’s genuine, emotionally intelligent, and, most importantly, truly understands the working class.

At first, people gathered around Lin Xing at ZhaLang just because of his face and fame, with a few fans among them. But after the livestream, everyone genuinely thought Lin Xing was outstanding—completely different from other flow-driven celebrities.

In the conference room, Lin Xing began signing photographs that had been handed to him. Half an hour passed unknowingly.

“Xiao Liu, do you have more?” Lin Xing rubbed his wrist and asked with a smile.

“Teacher Lin, that’s enough. You really don’t need to sign so many,” Xiao Liu said. “The more you sign, the less valuable your autographs become.”

“Isn’t that perfect?” Lin Xing laughed. “I’ve always followed one principle: the more autograph copies I sign, the harder it is for scalpers to sell them at high prices. You don’t think I tell fans my autographs aren’t valuable just for show, do you?”

“But that means your autographs lose their prestige,” Xiao Liu pointed out. As an insider, he knew that sometimes autographed photos represented a certain level of status. Often, rarity dictated value—if everyone had your autograph, what would be left to collect?

“What prestige do I need?” Lin Xing shook his head, chuckling. “I’m just an actor, no need for all that.”

Just then, his delivery arrived. He ate right there in the conference room while ZhaLang staff continued taking photos of him.

When it was time to leave, Lin Xing took group photos with some of the staff.

“No need to stop them,” Lin Xing smiled, seeing ZhaLang employees trying to block people. “They’re all your people. No need to stop anyone. I won’t have time to take photos with everyone individually. Let’s just take a group shot.”

With the group photo done, Lin Xing finally left ZhaLang’s building.

“Brother Xing, the online news is a bit messy now. Most fans support your words in the livestream, but some think you’re getting arrogant, saying you’ve betrayed fans before even becoming successful,” Xiao Nan said in the car. “Sister Dao knew you were live streaming, so she didn’t want me to tell you.”

“Hmm, not surprising,” Lin Xing nodded softly. “I told Sister Dao yesterday that the sooner we distance ourselves from this, the better.”

“Yes, she agrees,” Xiao Nan nodded. “‘Rampage Against Crime’ has only been airing for five days, and already some fans are attacking the production team. What will happen later?”

Lin Xing said, “Many fans don’t truly like me as a person. They chase the illusions I bring them. Some even want to change me, making me act according to their wishes.”

That was why Lin Xing felt compelled to speak out.

Some fans follow idols who inspire them to become better people.

Page 2/3

Others simply chase an imagined version of the idol. If the real person doesn’t meet their expectations, they try every means to reshape the idol.

Lin Xing believed there should be a boundary.

You can dislike me. You can hate me. You can criticize the roles I play. But you cannot use ‘justice’ as an excuse to engage in online bullying.

More crucially, you cannot spread hatred under the guise of ‘doing it for Lin Xing’s own good.’

That was something Lin Xing would never tolerate.

Fans’ misbehavior falling on the idol’s shoulders is an endless cycle in fan circles. Many people call fan circles a cesspool because of this.

Earlier, Lin Xing disbanded his official fan club as the first step. Now, by distancing himself from extreme fans, he was taking the second step.

Before Lin Xing regained recognition through Du Fei’s role, when he was just starting to regain popularity, disbanding his official fan club drew harsh criticism from fan leaders. Some even threatened to teach him a lesson.

But what happened?

Because Lin Xing disbanded the official fan club, his public reputation improved somewhat.

When “Only Waiting for You” aired, Lin Xing’s fans surged thanks to the role of Du Fei, and the previous threats from fan leaders became a joke.

Traffic-driven stars rely on fan circles to maintain visibility; actors rely on their work to speak for themselves.

Currently, “Rampage Against Crime” is Lin Xing’s first serious drama. Strictly speaking, it’s his first work where the industry can truly see his acting skills.

Whether or not he’s the lead doesn’t matter.

Acting doesn’t lie.

Even though the character Zhou Bo in “Rampage Against Crime” has limited screen time, Lin Xing executed the role perfectly, and his explosive power on screen rivals seasoned actors.

There are few flow-driven celebrities with acting skills; even fewer have both acting skills and emotional intelligence; and those who have acting skills, emotional intelligence, and professionalism are extremely rare.

Since the official announcement of “Rampage Against Crime,” Lin Xing had been criticized relentlessly until the show aired. At first, people scolded him for lacking the stature to join such a project. But now, things are different.

His acting has won recognition from the wider audience.

Those who insult him now are extreme fans.

Lin Xing wasn’t bothered by them. He had anticipated the outcome when speaking out in the livestream.

Sure enough.

In the car, Lin Xing scrolled through Weibo’s trending topics while chatting with Xiao Nan.

The tax evasion scandal involving Liang Min and Pang Wei had already disappeared from the trending list, obviously taken down.

Now, Lin Xing was at the top of the trending list.

“Stars who tour ZhaLang usually aren’t interesting, but Lin Xing’s visit was truly impressive,” someone commented.

“Yes, and it wasn’t boring at all. Lin Xing seemed like he was just dropping by a friend’s place.”

“Haha, I felt the same. He even talked about parenting with ZhaLang’s editors. If the staff hadn’t urged him, he might have kept chatting.”

Because Lin Xing’s visit had been promoted in advance, and his livestream viewership broke records, most casual viewers felt it was quite good, except for extreme fans.

Besides, shows Lin Xing mentioned during the livestream—“Study Parents,” “Fishing Operation,” “Comedy Must Laugh,” “Follow the Stars to Aid Poverty”—all trended as well.

Of course, those were paid trends.

Then came various group support efforts.

The entire cast of “Planting the Land” cheered for Lin Xing and Guan Peng.

The whole cast of “Comedy Must Laugh” supported Lin Xing.

The entire team of “Follow the Stars to Aid Poverty” rallied behind Lin Xing.

The cast of “Study Parents” interacted together with the “Rampage Against Crime” actors.

As long as it helped promotion, nothing else mattered.

Many things didn’t happen sequentially but simultaneously.

The trending topics shifted like a stage show, with different factions taking turns.

Meanwhile, Lin Xing’s extreme fans kept bombarding him with criticism.

They felt betrayed.

Some even threatened to unfollow him.

Many shouted, “Lin Xing, remember this—you’ve lost us forever.”

“By the way, Brother Xing, the trending topic ‘Lin Xing Losing Fans’ was probably started by others trying to sabotage us,” Xiao Nan continued. “Sister Dao doesn’t know exactly who, but it’s close enough. Other top stars are waiting for you to slip up so they can absorb your fans. This is a perfect opportunity.”

Top stars are competitive too. After all, the pool of fans is limited—if you harvest them, I have fewer left.

Over the past six months, Lin Xing’s resurgence had put pressure on others. At first, when Lin Xing was gaining popularity, others tried to block him but failed. Later, with “Only Waiting for You,” Lin Xing fully capitalized on the role’s popularity.

Page 3/3

Then many flow-driven celebrities truly took notice when Lin Xing’s digital sales for “Fashion Men’s Style” soared.

Though just digital magazines, it proved his popularity was genuine.

Because of this, many hoped Lin Xing would fail. When he joined “Rampage Against Crime,” others thought he had no standing and would surely crash.

Who would have thought he’d actually become a serious actor?

A flow-driven star working hard to become a serious actor? Crazy!

Among them, the top stars Li Xingchi, Xu Han, and Hao Zhi were the most upset. They dreamed of Lin Xing’s downfall, but he just kept getting better.

“Clearly, he has no self-awareness,” Li Xingchi laughed loudly when seeing Lin Xing’s remarks in the livestream.

He hated Lin Xing deeply.

He quickly instructed his agent to try stirring up trouble.

Li Xingchi believed he was no worse than Lin Xing. Lin Xing didn’t cherish his fans, but Li Xingchi did.

Others like Xu Han and Hao Zhi felt the same way.

Extreme fans were a burden for Lin Xing but fresh fodder for other top stars.

Thus, under the hashtag #LinXingLosingFans, other camps tried to lure fans.

“Come support Xingchi! Our Xingchi truly cherishes us.”

“Come on, support Hanhan! Only Hanhan respects us.”

“Hilarious, Lin Xing is truly digging his own grave. Without these true fans, who would boost his numbers?”

“I won’t support Lin Xing anymore. He doesn’t deserve such wealth.”

Lin Xing watched the online discussions and relaxed.

He hoped those fans would follow through.

He really didn’t care about losing fans.

Such immense fortune could belong to others.

Back at the company, Sister Dao smiled at Lin Xing.

“Ah Xing, today’s livestream was great. In just a short while, several parties have invited you to their livestream events.”

Lin Xing shook his head.

“Forget about product endorsements. Promoting ‘Rampage Against Crime’ is my job, but I don’t see the need for other sales livestreams.”

“It’s not all endorsements. We’ll see after you finish this web drama,” Sister Dao said. “I’ve been negotiating scripts lately. With your role as Zhou Bo in ‘Rampage Against Crime’ as a foundation, you’ll have more options for your next project.”

Before “Rampage Against Crime” aired, Sister Dao only received scripts for domineering CEO roles—modern, ancient, even fantasy dramas. No one considered Lin Xing for serious roles.

Now, it’s different.

Five days after airing, Lin Xing’s portrayal of Zhou Bo has been ‘going wild’—meaning the character has gone all out in the drama.

Having gained industry recognition, Sister Dao naturally felt Lin Xing’s range and options were vastly different now.

Even in “Portrait of a Murderer,” where Lin Xing played Guan Feng, the role leaned more toward a flow-driven type.

“Oh, there’s one more thing,” Sister Dao said. “Bangkok wants to invite you to be their tourism ambassador. Not just you—they’ve invited several other top stars to film a travel promo together.”

“Did you accept?” Lin Xing frowned slightly.

“No. Many tourists visited Bangkok in previous years, but recently, fewer want to go. Some are concerned about telecom scams there,” Sister Dao explained. “But it’s still a chance to boost your influence, so I’m considering it.”

“No need to consider,” Lin Xing shook his head. “Just politely decline. Things have changed. Didn’t you notice telecom scam dramas have increased since last year? Hong Fei’s ‘Fishing Operation’ is about that.”

To put it bluntly, if someone later made a fake video saying, “Guys, I only went to Bangkok because of Lin Xing’s promo, and I got scammed,” no one would believe it.

You’d be left with nowhere to turn.

…

(End of chapter)