Chapter 2 – Weibo Side Account

Shen Fubai entered the single-person dressing room with a noble, icy demeanor, maintaining a 360-degree radiant beauty and captivating charm that was perfect, holding up under the scrutiny of any camera lens.

The moment he stepped into the room, however, he collapsed onto the reclining chair, covering his face, brimming with existential despair, as he cried out in despair, “AAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

Xiao Lin, who had just entered, was taken aback. “Brother Shen, what kind of dramatic act are you pulling here?”

Shen Fubai had taken on a rather tragic role this time, one filled with scenes that required intense emotional outbursts, and Xiao Lin thought that Shen Fubai was getting into character.

Still, this was a little too realistically pathetic to just be getting into character… Brother Shen’s acting skills were quite good, he thought to himself.

Shen Fubai sighed, setting aside the script resting on his face. His beautiful eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling. “Don’t bother me. I feel like I’m a salted fish right now.”

A salted fish that had entered a contemplative state, hoping that it had only a seven-second memory so it could forget its foolish actions.

Xiao Lin tried to flatter him. “Even if you are a fish, Brother Shen, you’re a mermaid.”

Shen Fubai gave a faint smile, mustering the strength to sit up. “Nicely put, come here.”

Xiao Lin trotted over in anticipation, thinking that his fawning had worked and he was about to receive some praise. However, what he got instead was a smack from Shen Fubai with the script and a soul-wrenching complaint: “Why is Heng drinking watermelon juice?!”

Xiao Lin was baffled. “Huh?”

Shen Fubai slumped back, defeated. “Forget it, it’s all in the past anyway. I couldn’t match the look, and I couldn’t strike up a conversation with Heng. It’s a good day today; I want to go bungee jumping at the seabed.”

Xiao Lin was terrified.

It’s over. Brother Shen’s failed in idol worship and is losing his mind.

“Um, Brother Shen, you should keep it together,” Xiao Lin reminded him gently as he watched his despondent master. “The makeup artist will be coming in to apply makeup on you soon. You can’t let them see you like this.”

“I know, hand me the phone,” Shen Fubai said, listless and lacking spirit.

Xiao Lin handed him the phone.

Shen Fubai opened the front-facing camera, found a death angle without any filters, casually snapped a set of nine consecutive shots, and then edited them to post to Weibo.

Xiao Lin was so terrified that he instantly snatched the phone and protested. “Brother Shen, Brother Shen, Brother Shen, if you fall into a rut because of failed idol worship—don’t think of destruction and derailing your career!”

Other celebrities prioritised their angles when they posted photos, shooting endless numbers of pictures before painstakingly selecting and refining them before they dared to post them. Their lord here, however, didn’t want filters, makeup, beauty, or camera angles. Xiao Lin could only concede that he truly didn’t care.

Shen Fubai seemed unperturbed. “Too late, it’s already posted.”

Xiao Lin quickly checked the Weibo post in a panic. It was a Weibo account with a yellow “V’, bearing Shen Fubai’s name, with 70 million followers, a testament to the prowess of a top-tier star.

The latest Weibo post was the aforementioned set of nine death-defying photos—though this wasn’t exactly the case. Even these raw, candid, unprocessed face shots could still turf the entire entertainment industry on its arse with Shen Fubai’s looks. Each picture in the nine-grid could make a wallpaper.

He was truly flawless from any angle.

Caption: The first day of filming.

Less than a minute after posting the Weibo, there were already hundreds of forwards, thousands of comments, and tens of thousands of likes.

Worldwide Shen Fubai Fans: Fubai is as good-looking as ever today. After filming, you need to work hard. Cheers!

Let’s Drink Till the Cup Runs Over: AAAAAAAA freaking AAAAAAAAA I freaking my-wife fucking looks so stunning, even with his makeup off!!! That god-level face, just asking who else can beat it!

Here’s to Xiao Bai: Bwahaha, this is some unfiltered male photo toing, clearly not having gone through the agent’s approval before posting. Sister Li is probably going crazy. However, this candid face of Fubai’s is worthy of all the bouquets!

Kudos to You, Social Critic: It’s a vase for a vase. Go ruin showbiz. If you have the time to post selfies, you might as well spend it improving your acting skills. Otherwise, how long will your fans, who are attracted to your looks, continue to like you when you get old? Might as well return to the idol circle to suck up money, don’t come to defile the holy land of art.

There was a flurry of replies from other followers.

Crossing the Mountains and the Ridges: Trending Critic, diagnosed.

You Are Beautiful: Trending Acidic Grapefruit, diagnosed.

As Large as a Giant Tree: The few lines at first made some sense, but the last sentence only proves your narrow-mindedness. What actor didn’t grind their way up their skills? Don’t you have any room for them to transition?

I Am Fubai’s Brainwashed Fan: So what if his acting is bad? I could live off the looks of my wife, Xiao Bai, for a lifetime. Why would you need acting skills when you look that good? Cheers, Fubai!

…

The Weibo comments were overwhelmingly full of compliments, and even when dissonant voices occasionally appeared, they were quickly shut down by fans. After circumspectly checking that there were no significant incidents, Xiao Lin let out a breath of relief.

Shen Fubai’s fanbase was incredibly powerful. Looks were justice, and Fubai was never short of die-hard fans. Once they fell for his looks, it was difficult for them to have second thoughts. Yet from the comments, even his brainwashed fans didn’t hold much hope for his acting skills.

As for the phrase “cheers” that appeared frequently in the comment section, it was a joke between Shen Fubai and his fans. From the “Shuoyuan” (“Anthology of Refined Sayings”) of the Han Dynasty, there was the quote: “A person who drinks but doesn’t empty his cup is given the greatest fine.” It originally meant imposing punishment, but it evolved to refer to the consumption of a full or hearty cup of wine.

Therefore, the nickname for fans of Fubai was “Wine Glass,” drinking the most exquisite wine of all, that of Shen Fubai. When fans supported Shen Fubai, instead of roaring “cheer them on,” they would cry “cheers.”

—

Shen Fubai logged out of the main account with the 70 million followers and switched to a side account called “Did Wine Get Heng’s Attention Today.” He sipped his drink while scrolling through Weibo.

This account had no form of verification and had only a mere few hundred followers, the majority of which were bot fans sent by the platform. The person he followed was only Jiang Heng.

This was Shen Fubai’s sanctum.

From this account, he had posted hundreds of Weibos. Apart from a few venting private emotions, the rest were all retweets of various things related to Jiang Heng. Movies, events, advertisements, promotional posters… a comprehensive archive. The fans following this account were half bots, the other half solely Jiang Heng fans, who frequented this account as if they were Jiang Heng’s die-hard fanbase looking for resources.

Shen Fubai intently stared at the screen, hesitantly typing a line of text.

Did Wine Get Heng’s Attention Today: A fan finally met their idol today and was so excited! AAAAAAAH I was too afraid to speak!

Edit, send.

Ten seconds later, Shen Fubai felt it wasn’t satisfactory enough. How could three ‘AA’s represent the excitement he felt upon seeing his idol?

So he posted another.

Did Wine Get Heng’s Attention Today: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I’M CRAZY BUT I MET HENG!!! BUT I WAS SO SHY I DIDN’T EVEN DARE TO SAY A WORD, WE JUST PASSED BY LIKE THIS, MY LIFE IS A TEARFUL RAIN OF PEAR BLOSSOMS

After sending the message, Shen Fubai felt that he had expressed his emotions properly. he then happily logged out of his account and clicked open a private message from Jiang Heng.

Don’t overthink this. he was always the one sending single-ended messages to Jiang Heng. Jiang Heng, a super famous star with 50 million fans, would never respond to a nobody like him.

Besides, so many people sent messages to stars every day. If Weibo could survive the storm, it was impressive enough; the probability of a star actually seeing the messages was minuscule.

Shen Fubai was entirely aware of this, since he could never finish reading every private message sent by his own fans. Still, he maintained the discipline of daily messages, whether it was greetings, early or late night messages, or even encouraging Jiang Heng to take care of his health and not overwork himself in filming, just like any ordinary fan.

Even though the number of his main account followers was 20 million more than Jiang Heng’s, he remained hopelessly devoted as an idol fan.

Shen Fubai typed out a message in the chat: Today you’ve started shooting “Pear Blossoms.” Best of luck! What do you think of your partner, Shen Fubai?

After finishing his writing, Shen Fubai was apprehensive about how obvious his question was. So he deleted and revised it again, rewriting it into: You have started shooting “Pear Blossoms” today, best of luck! I heard that your partner is a fresh meat, I wonder what he’s like?

Then he clicked send with great trepidation.

As always, the message vanished into the depths of the sea, without result.

Accommodating the silence, Shen Fubai already received several comments, left by Jiang Heng’s fans who followed this account.

Vows of Love for Jiang Heng: Wine glass Wine went to the “Tree Droplets” filming set today, living the dream.

The Neighbor’s Eldest Son’s Son: Hahaha, meeting the idol is like this. The last time I saw Heng at the airport, even though I was just a few steps away, I still didn’t dare to say a word.

In the Broad Circumstance: Don’t be afraid, Sister Wine. Heng is very gentle. The last time I mustered the courage to approach him for an autograph, not only did Heng sign it, but he also asked me if I was in the third year of junior high, which, during the high school entrance exam, he wrote a note of encouragement for me!

By the way, the account information for Shen Fubai’s account indicated the profile was female, and everyone thought the account owner was female. When Shen Fubai had initially created the side account, he was afraid it would be uncovered, so he had even changed his gender.

Shen Fubai responded to each comment and switched back to the main account.

The moment he went online, he was bombarded with a flood of messages, clearly showing the continuous impact of the nine-square picture. When Shen Fubai checked the main page, oh, he was back on the hot search list.

#Shen Fubai Makeup-Free Snapshots#

Hot search number one, glaringly apparent.

#Shen Fubai Playing A Big Shot On Set Arriving Two Hours Late#

This was hot search number two.

#Tree Droplets Set Inauguration#

This was hot search number three.

Shen Fubai ignored the first one without a care. Hot searches and the like were of no great concern after experiencing them for so long, especially for someone like him, who could easily shoot to the top of the trend for sneezing. If his name wasn’t on the search list one day, the general public might even be uneasy.

While Shen Fubai didn’t like the life of having every move, every meal, and every drink scrutinised, he loved money.

Shen Fubai clicked on the second one, sparing a scathing thought for the clickbait title.

It was clearly twenty minutes, but how could it be two hours now? Were they rounding up? Shen Fubai was used to the baseless lies from certain unscrupulous media outlets and didn’t get too angry at the title. he clicked in indifferently, but his expression froze in the next moment.

Sassless Fresh Meat Bolds in Treating A-list with Indifference? Lead unconvinced?

Unconvinced?

Shen Fubai meticulously enlarged and reviewed the image. This picture was clearly taken by one of the media’s paparazzi. In the picture, Shen Fubai faced away from Jiang Heng, with a haughty posture and a cold expression, while Jiang Heng turned slightly, glancing at Shen Fubai’s back with a subtle frown and eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

The photo portrayed them as a pair of feuding rivals. No, enemies. Enemies, indeed.

Shen Fubai’s heart sank.

So, when he dared not turn around, Heng looked at him like this?

It’s over. An enormous misunderstanding has occurred. What can he do now?

“I’m not called Fubai, maybe I should change it to White Silk after all.” Shen Fubai fell back on the reclining chair, the greatest sorrow was the death of the heart.

“Brother Shen, what happened again?” Xiao Lin asked carefully.

Shen Fubai held up his hand pathetically. “Drain this last cup of poisoned wine, walk down the road of the afterlife together. Don’t the drinks in your hands look like the color of blood? That’s my dried tears.”

Xiao Lin: “…Your mango juice and my watermelon juice.”

Shen Fubai took a long sip from his mango juice, mournfully lamenting, “I’m going to die. I surrender; quickly unplug the life support.”

Xiao Lin said earnestly, “Brother Shen, others don’t believe it, but I believe you can definitely do well in this drama.”

This person is simply an overdramatic monster, huh?