Rebirth: Spoiling the Obsessive Film Emperor Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Snatching the Role

Who would have guessed that the two characters in these official stills, who looked completely different, were actually played by the same person?

They would rather believe they were a pair of twins!

Soon, people followed the Weibo link provided by the fans and found Rong Yu's Weibo.

By now, under Sally's direction, Rong Yu had already reposted the three Weibo posts from the official "Blood Mist" account, adding his own captions to the two posts featuring his own stills.

"Hello, Wu Xiaoqing!" Repost from @BloodMistOfficialWeibo: The truth hidden in the darkness is the true essence of discovery—Wu Xiaoqing [Image]

"Hello, Wu Xiaoye!" Repost from @BloodMistOfficialWeibo: Brother, leave the rest to me. [Image]

The arriving book fans began scrolling through Rong Yu's Weibo, and they discovered that the person in the official stills was indeed Rong Yu—both images were of him!

This was such a ridiculous misunderstanding. The OP whose comment was top-ranked quickly posted another comment to apologize.

But this also inadvertently proved Rong Yu's dual roles were convincing.—otherwise, such a misunderstanding wouldn't have occurred.

The promotional effect for "Blood Mist" had been achieved, and the hashtag #RongYuPlaysTwoRoles quickly topped the trending charts.

Controversy was inevitable. After all, a thousand readers had a thousand Hamlets. Many viewers were skeptical of Rong Yu's casting as the male lead. This skepticism was compounded by his origins: he had debuted through a talent show, where his experience was limited to stage performances. No one knew if he could handle a full scripted role.

Critical comments emerged one after another, and comments demanding a change of the male lead only increased.

And right at this time, an entertainment reporter posted a Weibo, heavily smearing Rong Yu, suggesting Rong Yu had obtained this male lead role through improper means.

The reporter's post was worded with sharp, definitive criticism, presenting the narrative—that Rong Yu had unfairly taken the role from the originally cast actor, Liu Huan—as though it were an eyewitness account.

Unbeknownst to the public, Qi Le had chosen to handle Liu Huan's misconduct privately rather than reveal it online. As a result, neither netizens nor Liu Huan’s fans were aware that Liu Huan was connected to Fei Zhengqi's suicide incident.

This entertainment reporter's intention was to stir up trouble, to make the two fan groups tear into each other, thereby boosting his own popularity and traffic.

He chose Liu Huan firstly because he found out Liu Huan had also auditioned, and secondly because most of Liu Huan's fans were young, fervent in their star-chasing, like walking powder kegs that could explode at the slightest spark.

The reporter didn't know Liu Huan had been secretly shelved by his patron, with all his previously accepted jobs cancelled, so he deliberately used Liu Huan's name to stir up conflict.

True to form, Liu Huan's fans arrived swiftly upon hearing the news. Without pausing to verify the Weibo post's accuracy, they immediately directed their outrage toward Rong Yu and his supporters, launching a vehement and full-scale attack.

Rong Yu's fans, who were originally under that reporter's Weibo post criticizing him for deliberately stirring up trouble, found themselves suddenly bombarded by Liu Huan's brainless fans and were instantly speechless.

Couldn't they see this was obvious bait? Couldn't they see this was clearly an attempt to start drama?

If Liu Huan was really the originally chosen male lead, why didn't this confidently worded reporter provide corresponding evidence to prove it? If he could just release a few official stills of Liu Huan as Wu Xiaoye and Wu Xiaoqing, that would suffice. But why didn't he? Because he didn't have any!

Under this reporter's guidance, fans from both sides held their own opinions, arguing in a tangled mess.

Furthermore, Rong Yu getting a big IP male lead role right after his debut indeed made many people jealous, and many rushed in to muddy the waters.

With more people muddying the waters, the comment section began to veer off topic. Thus, the actual quality of "Blood Mist" became unimportant—everyone's focus shifted to why Rong Yu could get such a good resource, and why other members of GCD boy band who debuted around the same time showed no signs of new dramas or works?

Some even took the opportunity to "reveal" that Rong Yu's relationship with the other band members was actually not good, that he didn't fit in and often acted alone, strongly suggesting he wanted to break away solo.

Otherwise, why would he enter a film crew to shoot a drama so soon after forming the band? Didn't GCD boy band have public tours? If Rong Yu joined a film crew, how would he have time to rehearse for performances? Could they let one person delay the entire group?

Just as these skeptical voices were about to flood Rong Yu's Weibo comment section, Sally finally made her move. She personally reposted one of the netizen's skeptical comments and added three question marks.

Caption: "What? Are you questioning my professional ability? Or are you questioning the resource level of our Huansheng Entertainment?"

As a gold-medal agent who had nurtured many A-list stars, Sally had her own fans. Seeing her repost, her fans burst out laughing in the comments below.

Elizabeth V: Hahaha Sister Sally's professional ability is being questioned hahaha! 

Lilisa V: Everyone in the circle knows my Sister Sally's ability to secure resources is top-tier. Which celebrity she brings doesn't have good resources? Now someone actually questions if there's something shady about her artist having too good resources? How ridiculous. If your artist doesn't have good resources, isn't it because their agent's business skills are lacking? Or because... hiss, I dare not say more, afraid my DMs will get blown up. 

Brother Mo replied @Lilisa V: Sigh! It's just that Sister Sally hasn't brought anyone for too long. Now that she's back, people have forgotten how powerful she was back then.

Lilisa V: Not to mention anything else, based on what I know, the screenwriter for "Blood Mist" is the original author, so the original author must know about the casting, even participated in it personally. Since the original creator herself has approved Rong Yu, what else is there to question? What? Does Liu Huan have to succeed every time he auditions for a role? Otherwise, there's something shady with the crew, he's been bullied, been pulled down?

Elizabeth V: Hey! Don't even mention it, their fans really think so. I've already seen their fans compiling Liu Huan's schedule from those days, proving Liu Huan did indeed participate in the "Blood Mist" audition. 

Brother Mo V: Just get used to it. Didn't their family last time say Brother Dong relied on his senior status to bully their idol? Said Brother Dong snatched their idol's role, made a huge fuss. Too bad Brother Dong's fans didn't even bother with them. They directly released Brother Dong's official stills for that role. Goodness, that image was so domineering, us looks-focused fans were blown away! Compared to the role official stills Liu Huan's fans photoshopped for Liu Huan, it looked bland and tasteless no matter how you saw it, utterly overshadowed like a grey sparrow.

Liu Huan's fans who were lurking saw these comments and instantly jumped in anger. They dragged out that incident from back then, trying hard to prove that initially their Liu Huan had gotten the role first, but it was snatched away by the film emperor Dong Huang Qingyan.

It was a period drama, the role was an emperor. Although not the male lead, his appearance rate was very high, and he was an emperor draped in dragon robes. Even if not the male lead, it was eye-catching enough.

Liu Huan's fans presented all sorts of evidence, trying hard to prove that Liu Huan had gotten the role first back then, making many netizens who didn't know the whole story express sympathy and feel indignant about Liu Huan's experience.

Liu Huan's fans seized the chance to play the victim, self-deprecatingly stating that their idol getting his role snatched by a senior was one thing, but now even juniors were bullying them.

Some Liu Huan fans subtly mocked: "Sigh! It's just that our Huanhuan disdains to engage in those improper relationships, unlike some people who take the wrong path right after debut. Also unlike some people who choose an extremely cringey stage name, it feels awkward every time I see it! Unlike our Huanhuan, whatever name is on his ID card is the name he uses. Our Huanhuan is truly a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry!"

The fans of Dong Huang Qingyan, who found themselves eating the drama that landed on them, were instantly unhappy.

Brother Dong Is Forever God V: Liu Huan's fans, do you think the internet has no memory? What actually happened back then is clear at a glance for anyone who searches carefully. If your hands are crippled and you can't search, sisters don't mind giving you a fast track, link attached. 

Brother Dong's Little Fan: Passersby, don't miss out. Here's how that incident started and ended back then. Liu Huan did get the role, even signed the contract. But during filming, he complained about not having enough screen time, found the director too demanding, and made all sorts of demands for the screenwriter to change the script to increase his scenes. He turned a good conspiracy/political intrigue drama into a brainless drama about a customer of sex workers in dragon robes playing around with the large harem of the imperial palace. Finally, because leaked set photos leaked out, the original book fans saw the situation was wrong and protested for three days and three nights, blasting the drama's official Weibo comments to 5 million, forcing the crew's official Weibo to issue an apology statement and reshoot. 

Brother Dong's Little Fan: Reshooting meant deleting a large amount of extra scenes, most of which were Liu Huan's. Liu Huan was unhappy and started striking. So the director simply paid Liu Huan the penalty for breach of contract and invited Brother Dong, who had just returned from his honeymoon, to save the day.

Brother Dong's Little Fan: Brother Dong agreed without a second word. He had just gotten off the plane then, worried about being late and making the crew wait, so he brought sister-in-law and children along. 

Brother Dong's Little Fan: If this is what Liu Huan's fans consider Brother Dong throwing his weight around, then I have nothing to say. I'm not on the same intellectual level as brainless people, so it's normal we can't communicate. I believe everyone can understand. (By the way, Brother Dong can choose whatever stage name he wants, who are you to control what name he takes?) 

Dong Huang Sama: Sister upstairs, I remember Brother Dong's wife doesn't like us calling her 'sister-in-law'. To prevent Brother Dong from having to kneel on durian shells when he gets home, shouldn't we respectfully call him Lord Xi?

Brother Dong's Little Fan: Don't worry! Lord Xi probably won't be browsing Weibo at this time. By the time he comes to look, the comments will have been buried long ago. 

Dong Huang Sama: You really are a clever little devil!