Chapter Fifty-Seven: Invitation to Visit the Set, Comedy Must Bring Laughter

“Mr. Lin, aside from participating in one episode of ‘Comedy for Laughs,’ everything else has been declined by Sister Dao. All we need to do now is wait to join the crew…” Xiao Nan said unhurriedly as she glanced at the to-do list on her tablet. “Sister Dao knows you want to focus on acting, so she won’t let anything distract you.”

As Lin Xing’s manager, Sister Dao naturally made it her priority to consider everything from his perspective.

The current online public opinion was already being handled by the PR team at her direction, and overall, she felt optimistic. She had even instructed the fan groups to stay calm and avoid getting caught up in online wars.

After all, how many ordinary people online have the time or energy to spend their days hating on you for no reason? Frankly, eighty percent of the trending negative comments about Lin Xing on Weibo were just orchestrated by anti-fans and certain factions.

And outside of platforms like Weibo, MicroVoice, and B Station, most people simply weren’t interested enough to discuss these matters.

That’s why people often say that the so-called ‘top trending celebrities’ are really just ‘Weibo top trending celebrities.’ Just like many outsiders know the meme “Chicken You’re So Beautiful,” but have no idea what it actually refers to.

Ultimately, whether the public cheers or criticizes you, what truly matters is your professional ability.

If Lin Xing’s performance in “Anti-Black: The Raging Tide” were poor, or if he was overshadowed and crushed by veteran actors like Fu Shu, then he would truly become a target of ridicule.

Right now, even though it seems like he’s being viciously attacked on Weibo, his other statistics are actually on the rise.

Negative fame is still fame.

Of course, there are still plenty of people who doubt, criticize, or dislike Lin Xing, questioning why he should even be cast in a serious drama.

But these people won’t fixate on it forever.

However, if Lin Xing fails to deliver when “Anti-Black: The Raging Tide” premieres, the mockery will be relentless.

On the other hand, if he succeeds, he’ll move up another level.

To the general public, being unattractive isn’t necessarily your fault, but lacking skill is an unforgivable sin.

“Xing, we’re scheduled to record ‘Comedy for Laughs’ on the 8th. The recording will be at the Xiaomi Wenhua building, but we’ll need to do a quick promotional interview with the production crew beforehand—just some behind-the-scenes content…”

“So, Xing, it’s best if you catch up on ‘Comedy for Laughs’ over the next couple of days. That way, you’ll have something to talk about during the interview.”

…

As his assistant, Xiao Nan was dutifully briefing Lin Xing about the variety show.

Lin Xing nodded lightly. “I’ll watch it tomorrow.”

Since he was going to be a guest on ‘Comedy for Laughs,’ he ought to do a little homework.

He couldn’t just show up like a certain judge who knew absolutely nothing, sitting awkwardly and clueless.

Half an hour later, Lin Xing returned to his villa.

The three and a half days of shooting had been exhausting—in fact, even more so than acting in a drama, to be honest.

Although the shoot had a theme, he had to do all sorts of poses and expressions, sometimes switching back and forth.

Soaking in the bathtub, Lin Xing finally allowed himself a rare moment of relaxation.

“Xing, are you busy?”

At that moment, Lin Xing received a message from Guan Peng on WeChat.

He replied, “I’ve been shooting the cover for ‘Men’s Fashion Weekly’ these past few days. We just wrapped up today, so I’m home now.”

Guan Peng sent him a ‘kneeling to the boss’ emoji.

“Wow, the cover of ‘Men’s Fashion Weekly.’ Impressive, impressive.”

Lin Xing couldn’t help but laugh—Guan Peng loved sending memes, and all his emojis were actually his own reaction shots.

Everything from ‘Please, sir, just say it’ to ‘I don’t think this is appropriate,’ ‘Kneeling to the boss,’ ‘Take my palm’—all classic expressions from his acting days.

After chatting for a bit, Guan Peng finally got to the point: he was inviting Lin Xing to visit the set of “Learning Dads, Learning Moms,” since the day after tomorrow would be his wrap-up scene.

Indeed.

Originally, Guan Peng thought he’d only need about 14 days for his part in “Learning Dads, Learning Moms,” but it stretched from 14 to 20, then to 30, and now nearly 40 days.

He’d gone from a special guest to a main actor.

Now the production team wanted to seize on the opportunity of his wrap-up to do some publicity, and if they could invite Lin Xing for a set visit, even better.

“The day after tomorrow?”

By now, Lin Xing was already on the phone with Guan Peng. He shook his head, “Peng, it’s not that I don’t want to go, but I’m scheduled to record ‘Comedy for Laughs’ at the Xiaomi Wenhua building the day after tomorrow. I’m free tomorrow, though.”

Guan Peng laughed, “Tomorrow works too. As long as you can come by, let me ride a bit of your popularity.”

“Alright, just send me the time and address later. I’ll be there on time tomorrow,” Lin Xing agreed with a nod.

The entertainment industry is a circle—sometimes it’s all about mutual support.

Most celebrity set visits are arranged in advance; after all, it’s good for publicity, and a great way to share some buzz.

Right now, Lin Xing was extremely popular, and “Learning Dads, Learning Moms” had entered its mid-to-late filming phase. They naturally needed to start preparing for promotion.

After hanging up, Lin Xing informed Sister Dao about the set visit.

“That’s great! ‘Learning Dads, Learning Moms’ is an S-tier drama with a strong cast. Your visit is a win-win. They get to capitalize on your popularity, and we get to leverage the show’s buzz to divert attention,” Sister Dao chuckled. “I’ll have Xiao Nan go with you tomorrow. I won’t be coming—I’ll handle the publicity arrangements in advance.”

“No need, Sister Dao. I can go myself. It’s just a set visit. If I bring an assistant along, people might think I’m putting on airs,” Lin Xing replied with a wave of his hand.

“Since when is bringing an assistant considered putting on airs? After Li Xingchi became famous, he brought five assistants everywhere, and…”

“Alright, Sister Dao, let’s not compare who’s worse. That’s settled—I’ll just go by myself tomorrow,” Lin Xing said, ending the call after a few more words.

After his bath, Lin Xing opened the Xiaolu Video app and began watching “Comedy for Laughs.”

Just as Sister Dao said, the show had received great reviews this year and was co-produced by Xiaomi Wenhua and Xiaolu Video.

“Comedy for Laughs” mainly featured comedians—not just stand-up, but also stage plays, mime, musicals, and so on—basically, any form of comedy performance. It was a platform for comedians to showcase their talent.

The key issue was that comedy nowadays just wasn’t funny anymore.

Too often, it began with laughter and ended in tears.

As if it wasn’t a good comedy unless it made you cry.

But the slogan of “Comedy for Laughs” was: “Make the purest comedy—so long as you laugh.”

What surprised Lin Xing most was the number of actors participating.

“We mid-level actors just want a shot—a chance to be seen,” was what most of them said.

They had no traffic, no fame, only skill—but the audience didn’t recognize them. They were slightly better off than those at the very bottom, but a single misstep could send them tumbling down.

Most of the time, it was a disadvantage.

That was the plight of mid-level actors.

And on “Comedy for Laughs,” there were even those who didn’t even qualify as mid-level.

Lin Xing watched a few episodes at triple speed, memorizing a few names.

He’d watch more the next day.

What he didn’t know was that he was trending again online.

“Men’s Fashion Weekly” had started its publicity in advance.

…