RPAGF Chapter 26 Unexpectedly Popular, a Blessing from Heaven
Chapter 26 Unexpectedly Popular, a Blessing from Heaven
B&B.
Room 304.
Tian Xiwei lay on the desk, staring blankly at the ballpoint pen spinning around her fingertip.
Keep the "Emotional Choice Card" by your side.
The three options—"A, break up," "B, feel lost," and "C, get back together"—intentionally or unintentionally entered her peripheral vision.
Glug glug~~~
Tian Xiwei was a little hungry. She glanced at the canned yellow peaches on the corner of the table and swallowed slightly.
He specially brought me my favorite canned yellow peaches, and then without saying a word, he just put them on the table to tempt me. What do you mean by that? Are you waiting for me to ask you for them?
Ah!
Do you think I'm a little glutton?
I won't look, I won't look, I won't be hungry if I don't look.
Glug glug~~~
Just one look is enough to fill me up!
She held the can of yellow peaches in her two small hands, sat up straight with her slender waist, and looked at the label and net content with her big eyes.
It's from Shancheng Shop! 1kg!
"Wow~~~" Xiaotian's lips were as red as a full moon.
Footsteps suddenly came from the corridor. She quickly put down the can of yellow peaches and lay back down on the desk.
She twirled the ballpoint pen between her fingers, seemingly lost in thought.
creak.
The door opened.
Li Shen walked into the bedroom, put his laptop on the bed, and casually picked up a flower cake from the bedside table and put it in his mouth.
"Why did you make a whole box, but leave me with two broken ones?" Li Shen complained as he took out a USB drive from his bag.
"Because I'm the one who brought this box of flower cakes back!"
As Tian Xiwei spoke, she secretly poked at the canned yellow peaches with a ballpoint pen, silently pushing the can back into its original position.
He definitely won't find out now!
"Li Shen, thank you for today."
"Reason?" Li Shen turned on his computer, plugged in a USB drive, and entered his birthday, but it showed an incorrect password.
"'Don't bring evil into the world,' that's what I used to say to her. Thank you for not betraying me."
"Tian Xiwei, I can't make up for your emotional debt, but you are my youth. If you need me, I will do my best to protect you until you meet the next person who will protect you."
Tian Xiwei was somewhat moved.
Li Shen frowned: "What the hell am I trying to stir up trouble for? I take back what I just said. Let me say it again: Tian Xiwei, don't worry, if you ever need anything, just come to me, and I'll really be there for you!"
Tian Xiwei: "I also withdraw half of my emotions."
"Tian Xiwei, what's your birthday?"
Tian Xiwei's face turned cold, and the remaining half of her emotion vanished.
She gritted her teeth: "October 14th."
Li Shen entered the password, but it wasn't right. He added the year, but it still wasn't correct. He then entered 918... He tried many numbers, but none of them were the password for the USB drive.
"Tian Xiwei, do we have any other important anniversaries, Tian Xiwei?!"
Li Shen looked up and found that Tian Xiwei had put her big Barbie pink headphones back on her head sometime during the night.
What is the password for this USB drive?
Li Shen had no choice but to unplug the USB drive, go out and return the computer to the staff. When he returned, Tian Xiwei was engrossed in writing in her diary.
Having not slept a wink last night, Li Shen curled up in bed, ready to get a good night's sleep.
Tian Xiwei was writing stroke by stroke when suddenly the pen stopped, and her eyes lit up instantly.
"Roar!"
She realized that the song "Little Baby" was not written for her by Li Shen.
Li Shen turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"
"That song 'Little Baby' wasn't really for me, was it?"
"Of course not. I've always been straightforward in expressing my feelings!"
If I like a girl, I won't make her guess my feelings; I'll just ask her directly. Wasting that time would be pointless—I could have done so much more!
Li Shen's lips had already formed the words, but he forcefully swallowed the last sound, "Ahem, I'm sorry, I was rude. By the time I wasted that time, the child would be crawling all over the floor."
In his past life, Li Shen had a friend who liked a girl in college but didn't dare to confess. Years later, he finally dared to confess, but the girl was about to have her second child.
The girl said she had feelings for him back then.
This is an extremely mediocre story of regret and missed opportunities, yet it is something that commonly happens around everyone.
Li Shen's views on love have always been very direct, so he has never missed any relationship, but he has loved the wrong woman every time.
"Li Shen, do you know how I knew 'Little Baby' wasn't written for me?"
"have no idea."
"Do you want to know?" Tian Xiwei's eyes sparkled.
"I don't want to know."
"Boring~~~"
Tian Xiwei tore out that page of her diary and rewrote it, writing it stroke by stroke as if she were copying a model.
Li Shen lay on his side and fell asleep.
Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, his ear suddenly started to hurt, and he abruptly opened his eyes.
Tian Xiwei pinched his ear: "Quickly tell me what you want to know."
"You go first."
With her hands behind her back, Tian Xiwei began to analyze: "Actually, the clever me has figured it out like this—"
"I don't want to know!" Li Shen interrupted, closed his eyes, and continued to sleep.
Tian Xiwei: "???"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Tian Xiwei, tell me, I'm listening carefully."
Tian Xiwei pulled away from Li Shen's ear and put her hands behind her back again: "Actually, the clever me has figured it out like this—"
"I don't want to know!"
"Li Shen!!!"
"Okay, okay, I won't make a fuss anymore, go ahead and tell me." Li Shen leaned against the headboard, looking at her with a smile.
"Actually, the clever me has figured it out like this—" Tian Xiwei stared intently at Li Shen.
"Say it then!"
"Let me tell you? You want to know?"
Li Shen nodded: "Ah."
"I'm not telling you, huh!"
"boring."
Li Shen closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
The reason Tian Xiwei was able to wake up from the misunderstanding was that Li Shen had never said anything mushy to her. He simply couldn't bring himself to say things like "I love you" or "my little baby."
Given Li Shen's personality, he would never make such a cheesy confession on stage.
Of course, if Li Shen really has amnesia, the Li Shen we are sharing a room with now has a completely new personality, just like he has shown in the past two days.
So, this "new" Li Shen had only known her for two days, yet he stood on stage to sing her a love song and even called her "little baby"...
Ugh... This kind of man is so greasy! And he's so casual about relationships!
Greasy men are definitely not a good match!
She likes guys who are refreshing, straightforward, earnest, and loyal.
Tian Xiwei looked at Li Shen, who was fast asleep, and a smile unconsciously curved her lips.
You're lucky, kid. If you'd said "Little Baby" was sung for me, you'd be dead meat. I'd kick you out of the room!
……
It wasn't until 1 a.m. that the other three groups of guests returned to the guesthouse.
They each returned to their rooms to wash up and rest.
Huang Shengyi, wearing a face mask, lay on the bed and said in a deep voice, "I want to bring Tian Xiwei and Li Shen back together."
"Shengyi, it's really an improvement that you have this idea. Your efforts to bring them back together will only benefit us, not harm us."
Huang Shengyi frowned: "Why is everything you do driven by self-interest? Is your marriage to me also for personal gain?"
"Shengyi, that's an unpleasant thing to say."
Yoko took off her reading glasses, put down her newspaper, and began to give Huang Shengyi long lectures on life's lessons.
……
Another room.
Liang Song and He Meiyan held hands, looking happy.
The biggest takeaway today is that Leung Chung finally got the chance to showcase himself.
At tonight's Friends Concert, Liang Song sang more than 10 songs, showcasing his rapper talent to the fullest.
Li Hangliang sang 6 songs, 4 of which were "Slowly". It's impossible for the program team to repeatedly expose the same song.
As for the performance of Lao Huang's family of three, the production team couldn't possibly include it in the final cut.
Li Shen only had one song, and besides, he left early and didn't get much screen time.
In conclusion, the rapper couple are the biggest winners tonight.
"How about a kiss?"
"Just one kiss, that's all."
The lights went out.
……
Zhang Ruonan lay on the table, diligently writing observation notes.
It wasn't until 2 a.m. that she closed her notebook, yawned, and prepared to go to sleep.
After washing up, the last activity before bed is scrolling through my phone.
Will those four groups of guests forget their phone passwords after the show ends?
It's cruel to ask modern people to disconnect from their phones.
Hahaha!
Open Douyin.
First short video push: Ultraman's AI-generated fan art.
That hateful big data! And it still claims it doesn't collect users' real-name information?
What are these push notifications for?
The second short video is a video of Li Hangliang singing "Slowly" filmed by a netizen outside a bar.
When a phone camera zooms in several times and then films the singer on stage through the glass window of a bar, this single factor significantly reduces the clarity and detail of the final image.
Moreover, the video quality is even worse due to the complex lighting conditions.
The singer was completely covered up with a mask, sunglasses, and baseball cap, so it was basically impossible to tell who the singer was from their appearance in the short video.
At this moment, the singer's heart-wrenching voice drifted through the window and into the street, touching all the tourists.
The video blogger filmed and commented: "Look at Li Shen's singing skills, his explosive power and infectiousness, isn't he worth becoming a fan...?"
Zhang Ruonan: "???"
After scrolling down two lines, I came across a video of "Slowly".
A female internet celebrity held up her phone, filming from a distance in the direction of the bar, excitedly shouting, "Sisters, I ran into Dog Bro! Dog Bro is singing 'Slowly'!"
Zhang Ruonan: "???"
She quickly typed "slowly" into the search box, and countless live videos immediately popped up, but few were original; most were just copied and pasted.
The video with the highest number of views really got her excited.
Likes: 103 million;
Comments: 45;
Collections: 18;
Forwarded: 115 million;
The title of this video is "Kneeling on the spot to listen to Li Sheng's heartfelt performance of 'Slowly'".
Zhang Ruonan was completely stunned.
Wasn't it sung by Li Hangliang? How did it become sung by Li Shen?
She kept scrolling through other netizens' videos and found that all the videos she had copied were titled "Li Shen".
The misunderstanding by those who reposted the content is understandable. However, among the roughly twenty or thirty original videos, many also bear Li Shen's name.
Moreover, the more popular the short video, the higher the probability that Li Hangliang will be mistaken for Li Shen.
In the comments sections, occasional audience members debunked the rumors online, such as in the post titled "Kneeling to listen to Li Sheng's heartfelt rendition of 'Slowly'":
[He was at the scene, wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a hat, so his face wasn't visible. His build is somewhat similar to Li Shen's; both are tall and thin. But I want to make it clear that he is not Li Shen.]
[To debunk this, it's not Li Shen, it's Li Hangliang.]
[Looking at the legs, it's definitely not Li Shen. Li Shen's long legs are longer than the lives of those spreading rumors.]
……
However, these few online debunking attempts were either not believed by netizens or they simply didn't care.
Aside from the video, there's an undeniable fact: Li Shen sang "Slowly" on a previous program.
So it makes perfect sense that he's performing in a bar tonight.
Some netizens compared and analyzed the voices and concluded that they didn't sound like the same person.
However, the majority of netizens are even less convinced.
Because there is a difference between live broadcast and mobile phone recording, and last night, Li Shen sang "Manman" softly. How do you know what Li Shen's voice will be like when he sings "Manman" in a new way?
Many singers can express different emotions when performing the same song, resulting in a significant contrast in their vocal styles.
Therefore, we cannot deny that Li Shen is a singer simply because his voice is different.
More importantly, in the bar version of "Slowly," the singer's voice is completely different from Li Hangliang's.
Li Hangliang's voice has always been quiet and delicate, but slightly flat and lacks emotional impact...
Take another look at the bar version of "Slowly," that furious, venting voice, that hoarse despair, that powerful emotional impact—it could bring tears to the eyes of a large number of marital victims.
The bar version of "Slowly" could not possibly be by Li Shen, let alone Li Hangliang!
……
Although some netizens refuted the rumors in the comments section of the short video titled "Listening to Li Sheng's heartfelt rendition of 'Slowly' on the spot," the blogger did not correct his mistake.
These few comments debunking the rumors were quickly swallowed up by a massive number of comments praising Li Shen's heartfelt singing.
Zhang Ruonan strode into Liu Qing's room: "Director Liu, did you see that? Overnight, 'Slowly' went viral across the entire internet."
Director Liu nodded excitedly, "Yes, yes."
"Li Shen has also been exposed."
"Yeah, yeah."
"But this was sung by Li Hangliang, it has nothing to do with Li Shen, Li Hangliang didn't explode!"
"Who cares? We don't have a script, and we don't manipulate public opinion. Whether the guests become famous or not is up to fate, and it all depends on their own abilities."
"That means Li Hangliang sang until his voice cracked, but all his efforts were in vain."
Li Shen slipped away quietly, and ended up winning without lifting a finger?
"You could say that. But since Li Shen wrote the song and Li Hangliang enjoyed singing it, it's a win-win situation for them."
"But why is the misunderstanding so deep?"
Liu Qing patiently explained:
"The reason is actually very simple. If 100 people are recording at the scene, there is a chance that less than 10 people will be able to capture the full body of the singer in the bar. And among those 10 people, maybe only one or two will be willing to share the video on a public platform."
Right? Not all photos are taken to post on Douyin (TikTok).
Zhang Ruonan nodded: "Yes."
"So, I predict that this time, even 30 original videos might not be enough to get the original content that gets streamed to short video platforms."
The other videos are all copied from original content.
Of these 30 original videos, are two or three likely to capture the singer's entire body? The rest are probably of even lower quality. After all, they were all shot through a window using a phone's telephoto lens. Right?
Zhang Ruonan nodded again: "Yes!"
"Let me ask you another question. If you're trying to maximize traffic and you're unsure whether it's Li Shen or Li Hangliang when you share a post, whose name would you prefer to use?"
Zhang Ruonan: "Li Shen."
Of course it's Li Shen. Li Shen is currently at the center of a media storm, while Li Hangliang's popularity is far less than that of his wife, Mai Lin.
"If you knew this person was Li Hangliang, but to maximize traffic, would you choose Li Shen or Li Hangliang? Don't answer, please answer for the professionals who specialize in generating traffic."
"Of course, we choose Li Shen!"
"That's right! Some bloggers genuinely didn't know, since they weren't there, but some bloggers were clearly there, but they just pretended to be clueless."
It's all about generating traffic. Does it matter to them whether it's Li Shen or Li Hangliang? No, it doesn't matter!
Zhang Ruonan: "Huh?"
"Those honest netizens who honestly said they filmed Li Hangliang singing 'Slowly' didn't get much exposure, and in fact, netizens didn't quite believe it."
"what?"
"Don't believe me? Take a look. I'll share a video with you."
Zhang Ruonan opened the video, which was titled "Li Hangliang sang 'Slowly' and made himself cry."
Comment area:
[Isn't "Slowly" sung by Li Shen? When did it become Li Hangliang's? Watch out for lawyer's letters.]
Video creator: [My filming position isn't great, and I can't see inside the bar, but the guy in front of me said the singer is Li Hangliang.]
[The most popular short videos all claim that Li Sheng sang a love song. Blogger, you've been fooled by the guy in the previous video, haha.]
Video creator: [No way, everyone at the scene said it was Li Hangliang!]
[No wonder your videos aren't popular, tell me it's Li Shen, haha.]
……
Zhang Ruonan was completely dumbfounded.
Truth and falsehood, reality and illusion, it's all so confusing.
Li Hangliang worked himself to the bone, even losing his voice, only to have it all come to nothing.
Li Shen, fearing being bogged down by online traffic, quietly ran away. As a result, while he was at home, a windfall fell from the sky!
Tell me, where can I go to reason with this?
Zhang Ruonan: "But that's not the truth."
"The truth? In this world, traffic is the truth!"
Zhang Ruonan: "Please continue."
"This world is absurd in itself. How many of those videos with high traffic are eventually proven to be fake, and how many are misattributions?"
For example, the Ping incident, the truck collision with a Rolex, and a certain online marketplace...
Netizens take sides with this person today and that person tomorrow, but how many times have they been proven wrong?
So what's real? Only after the bullets have been flying for a while will it be real!
Zhang Ruonan clapped her hands: "Wow, brilliant!"
Liu Qing said, "Actually, the truth has always been there, but it's hidden in a corner, unnoticed by anyone. And now, for me, what is the truth?"
Zhang Ruonan: "What?"
"Right now, for me, the real KPIs are the #LiShen'sSlowly" bar performance making it into the top 5 of the entertainment charts and the viral spread of the song 'Slowly' across the internet. Hahaha!"
Zhang Ruonan sighed.
This world is truly a giant makeshift operation!