Chapter 66: This Generation’s Netizens Has Too Little Imagination
This translation is originally posted on
Unlike Shen Qingzhi who was feeling hot all over, Gu Jinrong has now taken off her coat and is only wearing a thin shirt, sitting on the sofa, engrossed in looking at her phone.
Even as Shen Qingzhi hums and paces nearby, she still maintains an indifferent demeanor as if no one else is around.
Shen Qingzhi stretched her neck and peeked at the center of the screen, but her eyesight was not very good from a distance.
Normally, she wouldn't have cared much about what information Gu Jinrong would read in private, but at this time, her curiosity was overwhelming.
She reckons that Gu Jinrong hasn't noticed her and becomes even more brazen, standing by the sofa, bending at the waist in an extremely awkward position to get her head closer to the screen.
Just as she was about to get close to a visible distance, Gu Jinrong suddenly turned sideways, as if against her, and the screen suddenly became a lot further away.
She became curious and moved her body closer. As a result, her foot slipped and half of her body fell straight into the sofa.
The leather sofa cushion suddenly smashed into a big pit. Fortunately, the soundproofing in this room is good; otherwise, the noise would have been loud enough to wake up the person sleeping next door.
Gu Jinrong instantly puts down the phone, supporting Shen Qingzhi's arm hanging on the edge of the sofa, gently rubbing it, with her eyes full of concern, "Does it hurt? Come over and sit down quickly."
With Gu Jinrong's support, Shen Qingzhi sits on the sofa cushion, her eyes brimming with tears. Such grievances would have prompted her to wail loudly on ordinary occasions.
But this time, she concealed her intentions to peep and was overly eager, causing herself to fall. It's better to downplay such embarrassing matters.
"It doesn't hurt." She pressed her hand to her waist with a strong look on her face. Seeing that Gu Jinrong's worried expression had not diminished, she explained with three hundred taels of silver.
"I just... felt refreshed after a shower and came over for a stroll. You can continue looking at your phone; you don't need to mind me.”
Who strolls around the sofa?
Ever since Gu Jinrong opened the bathroom door, she quietly paid attention to the movements in the room. At this moment, she didn't expose Shen Qingzhi's clumsy lie.
Instead, she lifted the fabric between her waist, noticing a couple of faint red spots on her snowy skin, it was nothing serious.
Shen Qingzhi only felt a chill, but soon the fabric of her clothes was covered up again. Before she could reprimand someone for indecency, she saw Gu Jinrong handing her the phone she had been secretly trying to peek into.
"We're on the hot search tonight. Would you like to take a look, Qingqing?"
No wonder I was so curious earlier. This news is indeed related to me.
Shen Qingzhi instantly found a valid reason for her previous act of peeping. Naturally, she took the phone, asking Gu Jinrong while letting her unlock the screen.
"I haven't trended in a while. What position am I at this time?"
Since joining the cast of “Heavenly Beings," she hadn't been in the limelight for quite some time. Now, being far away from the H City and feeling bold, she even heard herself trending and found leisure in eating melons.
"Seventeenth place."
Gu Jinrong had already unlocked the screen while speaking. Shen Qingzhi looked at the entry #Gu Jinrong and Shen Qingzhi Seen Holding Hands Late At Night# and her first reaction was, "So low?"
"It seems like you're a bit regretful?" Gu Jinrong teased with a half-smile.
"Not really," Shen Qingzhi said confidently while scrolling through her phone. "The hot searches I've had in the past six months have mostly been guaranteed top ten, with half of them being top five. Although they were mostly negative hot searches."
This translation is originally posted on
https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
Gu Jinrong understood Shen Qingzhi's "illustrious history" better than Shen Qingzhi herself. So, she didn't interrupt and let her explore the hot search.
There was no fixed host for this entry. Initially, it was someone who took a tourist photo where Gu Jinrong and Shen Qingzhi were seen in the background. Even though their faces were in profile, they were quite clear, and quickly recognized by netizens in the comment section. The marketing account then enlarged the photo of Gu Jinrong and Shen Qingzhi from the background, even though the image was blurry, they made efforts to create suggestive captions.
Old Girl Loves Gossip V posted: "A sharp-eyed netizen shared a tourist photo at a famous town. In the background, there were two tourists identified as Gu Jinrong and Shen Qingzhi. They met late at night, holding hands intimately. It's said that Queen Gu, before returning to the country, had no interaction with Shen Qingzhi. Could it be that they fell in love after several months of filming?" [Image]
The marketing account worked overtime in late at night, hastily creating stories based on unclear images, which can be considered quite dedicated. Unfortunately, the netizens weren't buying it.
[This image is so blurry. How can the blogger discern that they were holding hands intimately? Isn't it too far-fetched?]
[Two people were walking openly on the street, How does that turn into a late-night secret meeting?]
[Does the blogger have no normal friends? Can't two people just casually stroll without it being linked to romance?]
[I still don’t believe that Queen Gu would fall in love with Shen Qingzhi, Someone just couldn't keep quiet and started stirring up rumors again.]
[Both beauties are very good, don’t push each other, work together in a friendly manner, please stay tuned for “Heavenly Beings"]
[Welcome to see Young Master Cang [Image 1] [Image 2] [Image 3]]
[Feng Yasong [[Image 1] [Image 2] [Image 3]]
….
If this hot search had emerged a few months earlier and featured both Shen Qingzhi and Gu Jinrong's names together, the online navy might have easily incited a rift between their respective fan bases, resulting in a heated conflict.
But now, with the two collaborating on an upcoming unreleased film—Gu Jinrong's debut as a producer and her first lead role after returning to China, and Shen Qingzhi's first time as a female lead in a movie—the significance for both parties is immense.
Their supporters are primarily career fans and although they might not particularly fancy each other, they have to maintain a peaceful facade.
It's just that there will inevitably be secret competition. At this time, the high-praise comments under the popular article are all beautiful pictures of the two of them.
Although Shen Qingzhi has a small number of fans, her die-hard fans and data fans* can go one against ten.
The only advantage is that in this alternative battle, those voices who want to stir up trouble are completely drowned out.
*Data fans are fans who focus more on using statistical data, facts, and figures to support and advocate for their idol.
This hot search is a blend of rumors and overwhelming glamor, a buffed-up mockery, yet surprisingly, Weibo is experiencing an unusual calmness. It feels quite miraculous to Shen Qingzhi.
This should have been a good thing, but as she browsed various real-time comments, she felt very uncomfortable.
The imagination of this generation’s netizens is lacking. In the past, if XX and XXX only met each other during events, without even a photo together, imaginative tales can be concocted.
Now we've been out together for several hours, photos are out, and surprisingly, no one is taking it seriously. And that someone who said, ‘I still don’t believe that Queen Gu would fall in love with Shen Qingzhi'? Well, your Queen Gu just told me today that she wants to pursue me.
….
People's emotions are sometimes very complicated. For example, Shen Qingzhi was always cautious when going out, afraid of being photographed or criticized.
Now, she's been photographed, and nothing has happened, yet she's still unhappy.
Gu Jinrong had just gone through these comments, which seemed harmonious and didn't require any public relations work, but she couldn't help feeling a bit depressed.
Now when she saw Shen Qingzhi holding her phone with a puffed little face, she suddenly felt blessed and her previous little depression disappeared instantly.
She quietly sat beside her, attentively enjoying the variety of expressions unconsciously displayed by Shen Qingzhi. Gu Jinrong regretted not having her phone at hand; otherwise, she could have saved a series of reaction GIFs.
Shen Qingzhi was so focused on surfing that she didn't realize that she was being observed for a long time.
After scrolling through nearly a hundred real-time and popular comments, she felt unspeakable emotions in her heart.
Having kept her head down for a while, thinking to lift it and stretch her neck, she then saw Gu Jinrong's face getting closer.
She was startled, almost feeling like a thief caught in the act. Luckily, she reacted quickly this time. "Why are you still here? Aren't you going to take a shower?"
The sudden high-pitched questioning echoed in the spacious room, carrying a hint of interrogative tone.
Gu Jinrong was not anxious or annoyed and did not feel embarrassed at all about being caught. After all, she was not peeping, she had been openly observing.
"I was actually planning to go wash up, but Qingqing, you're still holding onto my phone."
Gu Jinrong's voice was as gentle as ever, but it made Shen Qingzhi feel even more guilty, "Oh, uh, I'll give it to you, go and wash quickly, don't waste time.”
Shen Qingzhi returned Gu Jinrong's phone hastily, like holding a hot potato. She quickly found her own phone, appearing as though it held some treasure inside, and immersed herself in browsing.
She was a little reluctant to look at Gu Jinrong at the moment, so she could only listen with her ears perked up.
The sound of boxes being opened, clothes being picked up, and the bathroom door closing.
Shen Qingzhi raised her head and let out a breath, but her
fingers blindly typed Gu Jinrong's name on her keyboard.
When she lowered her head again, she had already entered Gu Jinrong's profile.
Although Gu Jinrong and her name were still on the hot search at this late hour, the impact on Gu Jinrong's profile wasn't significant due to the low ranking of the entry.
At 1 AM, quite a few fans were still sharing glamorous pictures under Gu Jinrong's name, clearly sprucing up her profile.
It was just a somewhat blurry picture of holding hands, and the hot search didn't stir up any fuss. It was quite a labor for the fans to engage in profile cleaning late at night. It's evident that Shen Qingzhi isn't exactly in the good graces of these devoted fans.
Shen Qingzhi held her frustration inside, yet she knew it was unreasonable.
There were plenty of people on the internet who didn't favor her. In the current scenario, it was unlikely for Gu Jinrong's fans to hold her in high regard.
She realized her thoughts were foolish, attempting to find anyone who might support or have faith in both of them was akin to dreaming.
Just as she was about to log off Weibo, she suddenly spotted a recommended entry: "Rong Shen Zhi Di."
The entry seemed peculiar, but Shen Qingzhi inexplicably clicked on it. This action felt like opening a new door to the world.
She was using a dedicated account to browse, typically only used to search for herself due to her self-absorbed nature. It was her first time searching for someone else's name. Weibo, being user-friendly, provided intelligent suggestions.
This entry was uncommon due to its odd name, discouraging casual visitors from clicking in.
Even if both sides' devoted fans accidentally stumbled upon it, most would swiftly exit, preferring to remain blissfully unaware. Not actively engaging with the entry was the greatest kindness.
So, the CP between the International Movie Queen and a Traffic Floret was colder* than many Internet pairings.
*Cold CPs are unpopular pairings with only a few shippers.
But because of their smaller fan base, each fan went all out, as long as they didn't take the names separately to their platforms. They were freer than any CP, emphasizing a rumor-making style of interaction.
Shen Qingzhi followed the entry into the Chaohua, seeing a screen full of "Zhishi and Boss Gu are a perfect match, they're heavenly together," finally feeling some comfort after being upset for a while.
Her mood changed from cloudy to clear at this moment, and she happily entered the "Rong Shen Zhi Di" to see the rumors spread by CP fans.
This look turned from initial interest to surprise later.
Someone witnessed them getting registered, revisiting their old school site and even spotted them sneaking around the set... This isn't a rumor; it's clearly real-time news!