Chapter Eighty-Two: Helping Others at One’s Own Expense

For ordinary viewers, they do not really care about acting or not acting. As long as you do not look as if you are acting, that is enough.

If someone performs so badly that it feels like a wooden-faced shamanic trance, how could the audience possibly bear it?

Take Feng Li, for instance. His overdone style of acting naturally drew nothing but ridicule.

It was just like Bian Pengtao’s performances: he did his own thing, forever with no spark at all with the other actors.

But Lin Xing was different. In Anti-Fraud Bank, he blended completely with everyone else. When you watched him, he did not feel out of place at all.

The bank lobby manager Lin Xing played was so convincing that you could not see the faintest trace of Du Fei in him.

"Damn, I’m suddenly kind of becoming a fan of Lin Xing. He really is different from what people outside say."

"Exactly. Compared with the Chong Chong Chong troupe, Lin Xing really does count as a big star, but in the end he was willing to be the supporting green leaf."

"Because he used to be washed up, he understands these middle-tier actors better."

"The line he said in the post-show interview—'This opportunity means a lot to the Chong Chong Chong troupe, so I’m relieved that I didn’t hold them back'—really gives people a good impression."

"Now I feel like having Lin Xing as the support performer for the Chong Chong Chong troupe is actually pretty great."

...

After watching Anti-Fraud Bank, many people changed their opinion of Lin Xing to some degree.

There were also fans of the Chong Chong Chong troupe who flocked together in Lin Xing’s comment section.

Dong Ming: "Didn’t expect Lin Xing to act this well."

Water Otter Pot: "Sorry, I was speaking a little too loudly the other day."

Bird That Fainted: "I really didn’t expect you to support our Two Fierce Generals."

The Prosperity of Star City: "I’m here to apologize. You acted pretty well. You can keep acting next time."

...

Well now.

The comment section was suddenly flooded.

You see, this is public opinion: one moment you may be cursed like a stray dog, and the next you may be lifted to the heavens by everyone.

Of course, there is another possibility as well: one moment you may be cursed like a stray dog, and the next second you may be cursed even harder—dog on top of dog.

Take Feng Li, for example.

At first, Feng Li had wanted Lin Xing to help divert the fire away from him. After all, over the past few months Lin Xing had drawn so much hatred that several fan groups were eager to take him down.

It had to be said that Feng Li really did manage to shift the public’s attention.

But once Anti-Fraud Bank aired, everyone started cursing Feng Li again.

Even more crucially, the promotional articles Feng Li had paid marketing accounts to post also trended.

Those articles had originally been meant to prove that Feng Li had acted quite well, but now they had all turned into material for mocking him.

"Look at how Lin Xing on stage tries his best to promote the Chong Chong Chong troupe, and then look at Feng Li?"

"Not only that, in the interview afterward Feng Li was still acting all aggrieved. Damn it, what on earth are you aggrieved about?"

"Feng Li’s fans are still online harassing the other troupe members. It’s really too much."

...

On the way home, Lin Xing finally took the time to check the news online.

After finishing dinner with Qiu Ke and the others, Lin Xing did not return to the company. Instead, he planned to go home and rest for a while.

Interesting.

Now it was Feng Li who was the one being irritated.

He had spent money to buy a trending topic just to disgust himself.

He had truly made others happy and disgusted himself.

Pretty good.

"Brother Xing, Director Feng’s side is all set," Xiao Nan said with a smile to Lin Xing. "Tomorrow afternoon, once we arrive, we’ll head straight to the recording site for Farming Time."

The final episode of Farming Time was about to be recorded.

Feng Gang’s idea was to have all the guests present.

Guan Peng, Hong Fei, Duan Hai, Ding Yi, and the others would all gather together, which could be considered a perfect ending for the first season.

As the biggest contributor to Farming Time, Lin Xing naturally had to take part in the recording.

It could be said that for this episode, Feng Gang had been waiting for Lin Xing’s schedule all along.

He felt that if the first season of Farming Time ended without Lin Xing in the final closing night, it would be incomplete.

"By the way, is Miaoyin going to Farming Time too?" Lin Xing suddenly asked.

After all, the two of them had joined Farming Time together, and Lin Miaoyin had won over many viewers by being relaxed and unafraid to work on the variety show.

This was mainly thanks to the contrast provided by others.

Sometimes being an entertainer was that easy: as long as you did your job properly, you were already better than ninety percent of entertainers.

At first, viewers did not think much of Lin Miaoyin in Farming Time, but later several popular young actresses joined, and they were so... fake.

In Lin Xing’s view, Lin Miaoyin should also attend this final episode.

After all, taking part in the finale would bring nothing but benefits and no drawbacks.

"Miaoyin probably can’t make it. She had already finished filming The Girls of the Old Li Family, but the second female lead in another drama was reported for tax evasion, so Miaoyin has to go help reshoot some scenes..." Xiao Nan said quickly. "Sister Dao mentioned it. That historical drama doesn’t have many of her scenes, but it still suits Miaoyin pretty well."

"I see."

Lin Xing said no more.

In the entertainment industry, most male stars collapse because of sex, while most female stars fall because of taxes.

After Lin Xing got home, he received a call from Sister Dao.

"Tomorrow, Emperor Film Watch will officially make the announcement. They really are in a hurry, it looks like they can’t wait to cut ties with Qu Shi..." Sister Dao told him about the situation. She sounded in a very good mood. "By the way, did you look at the situation after today’s launch of Comedy Must Make You Laugh?"

Lin Xing said, "I took a look on the way just now. Basically, Feng Li is the one who should be having a headache."

"He deserves it. He paid to get onto the trending list before, so now it’s time for him to pay to get off it," Sister Dao said with some satisfaction. "Let him learn that the more you freeload, the more likely you are to catch fire."

These past few days, Sister Dao had had operations and PR teams watching the online situation.

Keywords like "Lin Xing has no self-awareness," "Lin Xing can’t do comedy," and "Feng Li is actually a little stronger than Lin Xing" had all been bought up in batches.

More importantly, Feng Li had been planning to use Lin Xing as a stepping-stone to clear his name.

And now the bullets Feng Li fired had curved around and struck Feng Li himself.

How could that not feel satisfying?

Even Sister Dao was not idle. She turned his own methods back on him.

If you can do the first day, then I can do the fifteenth.

That night, the screenwriter for Comedy Must Make You Laugh, Ding Bai, added fuel to the fire.

He wrote on social media: "Actually, there was a behind-the-scenes clip that wasn’t released. This work was originally called Fraud Prevention, but it was Lin Xing who suggested changing it to Anti-Fraud Bank. I’d like to thank Teacher Lin Xing here—he really chose a title that fits perfectly."

Ding Bai’s post left everyone a little bewildered.

Lin Xing was capable of that too?

The next day, when Lin Xing got on the high-speed train, he could still see Feng Li’s trending topic hanging there online.

Everyone was not stupid.

Feng Li thought there were many people who hated Lin Xing, but had he stopped to think how many people hated him?

Over the years, how many people had he ridden on, and how many had he stabbed in the back? At a time like this, if no one stepped on him, that would be the real oddity.

In the end, in the entertainment world, besides "if you come out to play, you have to pay it back," there is another saying.

That is... it is not that retribution does not come; the time just has not arrived yet.

...

PS:
1. This book takes place in a parallel world. All celebrities are original creations, have nothing to do with real-life celebrities, and there is absolutely no implication aimed at any real person.
2. With only three days left, this opening act is about to end. On the day of release, I will definitely make sure everyone has a blast, so before the fun begins, I’m asking for some monthly votes to help set the mood. Thank you all for your support.