Chapter 49: Screenshot
The following day, the incident involving An Zhiyan had escalated to an intense degree.
The internet, a platform with no thresholds, brings together countless netizens. This place, driven relentlessly by many people, sometimes really fluctuates in a blink of an eye.
What shocked An Zhiyan was that the situation had escalated on its own, without any of their control.
In the whole situation, more and more people began to speak up for Su Jinli.
A competent contestant, good-looking, and a rare promising prospect who is the victim in this situation would naturally gain more protections.
A netizen posted a video, which spontaneously got pushed by netizens to the top of the hot microblogs and top trending searches: Su Jinli's public square version of 'Stubborn'.
Mr. Cai: "I've been following Su Jinli since he started to gain popularity. I'm someone who has watched Su sing live! I'm using this noisy, unedited, and pure live performance of 'Stubborn' to speak for Su Jinli! This represents his true capability. Yes, I even pinched his cheek once! After that, I passed all my exams, I even answered all the questions. Would I lie?! [Video]”
In the comment section of the microblog, many fans nearly tore the blogger to pieces.
Little Boy Foodie: "Move your hand away, let me do it, I also want to pinch Lil Fishy’s face!"
Drunk in Worldly Life: "Really incredible, Su Jinli truly has some magic. I used to always get rejected by clients, but after sharing this, some clients started to contact me. If I can't pinch Su Jinli's face, can I pinch your hand?"
Chen Xiaomi: "Was this before he participated in 'Nation's Idol'? He held his breath really well, sounded great. For a live performance, this level is quite sufficient."
Liu Qing: "Which square is this? I need to go stake it out every day!"
Chilling in the Courtyard said: "He used to sing so well. Listening to the hoarse version really breaks my heart, especially when I see his sad expression, I just want to hug him."
Racing Winds and Waves: "So my idol also goes out and grabs skewers and sings in public squares, which is very down-to-earth. I hope he recovers soon."
Small Pond is Too Tiny: "Anyway, I support Lil Jinli. Even if he always has a raspy voice, I would still vote for him. Don't be afraid, us Fish Ponds will help you cross this obstacle."
That afternoon, someone published another secretly recorded video.
The video showed the third round performance of Su Jinli and An Zhiyan's group, as well as Su Jinli's talent show in the later stage.
Fat Qian'er: "I know it's not right to share private recordings, but I can't help it this time. In the third round of the competition, Su Jinli's falsetto blew everyone away, not to mention his beatboxing skills, he totally captured fans' hearts. After listening to this, you'll definitely feel more sorry for Su Jinli's damaged voice." [Video]
Xiao Hui: "I'm shocked after listening. Such a high-pitched voice absolutely belongs to a powerhouse. He would definitely rank highly in China. This damage to his voice is such a pity. Can the anti-fan who gave him the harmful food just explode on the spot?"
Midnight Blue: "He's superb, so he's been the target of jealousy? Losing this kind of voice would be a loss for the music industry."
Qing Xing: "If I were in his shoes, I would be angrier than An Ziyan. After his voice was damaged, they still want to eliminate Su Jinli? Has the production team apologized? They should give an explanation, shouldn't they?"
The more innocent, the happier: "No acceptance of their apology, has the person who sent the gift been caught?"
In the evening, there was another turn of events.
CCTV has a program named 'National Cultural Treasures' which mainly talks about the traditional culture of the country and many arts and crafts that are on the verge of being lost.
This program has high viewing rates and ratings. It is broadcasted at prime time on CCTV channel one and is considered a highly reputable production.
The host of this program, Yang Zehua, posted a long microblog.
Yang Zehua: "I have seen all the mentions @ in my microblog. I have confirmed the authenticity of the video clip with the production team and even obtained the original video segment."
Yang Zehua: "The segments of beatboxing and playing the pipa were real. I have already applied with the 'National Cultural Treasures' program team who also give it full attention, and they have gotten in touch with the agent of @Su Jinli.
Su Jinli was indeed injured, with damage to his voice and some organs, and he has not yet recovered. However, his recovery is going pretty well, and with proper rest, he should be able to fully recover.
Once @Su Jinli has recovered, we will officially invite him to participate in the show as our guest."
2BB commented: "I'm kind of angry, the official statement didn't come from the show crew or the studio, but from the host of another program who treasures talent! Let Su Jinli withdraw from the competition, with his talent he can become popular anywhere."
Go Where: "Thank you, Brother Hua, I feel relieved seeing you say this and also appreciate your attention to our Little Fish."
South Country: "I have been cursing angrily all day. Seeing Brother Hua's post on Weibo, I finally feel a bit relieved. I have been wondering, will I still watch this show in the future? Maybe I will, not because the show is excellent, but I want to see if Su Jinli can recover."
Circle: "Currently, @Su Jinli is still in third place, vote to save this child who was abandoned by the production team, so he can maintain his popularity and not be further affected."
________________________
After the incident broke out for 24 hours, things got hectic for Zhang Heming.
Since a scandal broke out, Sejia Legend no longer helped handle the situation and even added fuel to the fire, leaving the production team in a passive state.
Investors started to flood them with phone calls, and even three had proposed divesting if they didn't quickly handle this situation.
Hesitant, Zhang Heming finally sent a message to Hou Yong.
Zhang Heming: "Do you have any solution?"
Hou Yong: "Admit your mistake and make sure your attitude is upright. It's not too late now, otherwise it will only get worse."
Zhang Heming: "Okay."
Ending his call, Zhang Heming finally reached the operations department to draft a statement. They compiled various versions and released the one that everyone agreed was right.
The statement included several important points. Here are the main takeaways:
- The program group indeed had management negligence, as gifts were given directly to the contestants. They formally apologize for this act.
- The program group has not abandoned Su Jinli. At the time, Qiao Nuo's challenge followed the rules of the competition, which they couldn't prevent.
- Su Jinli is currently undergoing treatment, and there is hope for a full recovery.
- The program group will actively cooperate with the police to assist in the investigation.
As responses to the statement flooded in, criticisms were abundant:
rosyyyyy: "Our demands are very simple: 1. Publicly release the surveillance footage of the gift-giving incident. 2. Make Su Jinli's medical records public. It's not for you to decide if he can recover completely, his organs have been corroded, do you take us for fools? 3. Announce the investigation results as soon as possible."
Milkshake: "A talent selection show that has failed to select outstanding talents but has instead ruined a genius."
Sistafreanos: "What about an apology to An Zhiyan?"
Seven: "If An Zhiyan didn't get angry, were you going to continue concealing this and quietly eliminate Su Jinli, making it seem as if his elimination was because he didn't sing well?"
________________________
That night, likely as a strategy to ease tensions, Su Jinli posted on Weibo.
Su Jinli: "After drinking this cup of bubble milk tea, I suddenly felt full of energy. It won't be long before I can sing for you all again." [Picture]
In the picture, Su Jinli is sipping on his milk tea. His beautiful smiling eyes and chubby cheeks looked surprisingly cute from the selfie angle, truly like a little fish with puffed up cheeks.
Chuyang: "Seeing your cute look, mom feels relieved."
Chuyang: "You must recover soon, I'm waiting to hear you sing!"
Yoyo: "Drinking milk tea isn't good for your vocal cords, restrain yourself for now and drink some light porridge to nourish your body. Wait till you recover then you can have it again, okay? Be a good boy, mommy loves you."
Chenmen: "Those mom-fans in the comments are definitely going overboard. With so many mother-in-laws, it's surely going to be troublesome for me after I marry Lil' Jinli, isn’t it?"
Tang Qi: "I voted for you today, and your sister will vote for you every day."
That night, a new episode of "National Idol" was broadcast.
Not only was the viewership for this episode unaffected, it actually exploded, topping the ratings for its time slot, far surpassing second place.
The online views of the episode were even more impressive. At one point, the site server nearly crashed due to the inability to process membership subscriptions due to high traffic. It was only resolved after some repairs.
The episode's content included Songkran festival activities, followed by lead dancer selection for the theme song, MV recording, vote tally announcement, contestant elimination, and song-grabbing segment. The end also featured a teaser for the next episode's content.
In the teaser, Su Jinli's high note was showcased. The audio quality was far superior to the fan-recorded version complete with screams, allowing everyone to hear his vocals more clearly.
The barrage of comments on this day was quite a spectacle. Whenever Su Jinli appeared, so-called "bullet comments" would dominate the screen, with a few phrases recurrently flashing on the screen.
【This koi is under my protection】.
【Came because of his fame. The Great Koi is so cute】.
【Su Jinli, you're the sexiest fish I've ever seen!】
【I heard that giving bullet comments to Su Jinli brings good luck.】
【Jinli, the Great Koi, help me pass Level 4】
________________________
An Zhiyan is filming 'National Idol' nowadays, so he's usually shooting in the studio well into the early morning.
He was in his nanny car, on his way back from the shoot when he watched the latest episode.
Being in the entertainment industry for a while now, after all, he debuted as a child star. This was the first time he saw a show being critiqued so harshly, only to see its ratings and clicks grow exponentially.
'National Idol' created two marvels.
A third-tier production team, for a prospect not promising programme, staged a comeback.
After the problems cropped up, even more people discovered the show. Although... many people came to see this genius contestant, Su Jinli.
Holding his phone, An Zhiyan watched the new episode. When he saw comments in the bullet screen criticizing him and his 'brother' for bullying Su Jinli, he sighed uncontrollably: "Why does he have so many 'mom-fans'?"
Jiang Pingqiu, who was driving, calmly replied, "Girls like the idea of having a son – old yet well-behaved and handsome – without giving birth."
"Damn, just splashing him with a water gun and chasing Su Jinli for a bit had us all over the internet getting blamed. But when Su Jinli retaliated against us, they were actually excited and were all over saying the boy is growing up. Why such double standards?" An Zhiyan continued to vent his dissatisfaction.
Sitting in the car, he watched for a while longer, and then came the segment where Su Jinli danced seductively to fight for the song. He suddenly fell silent, held his phone and just stared at the screen.
After this segment, he switched off the barrage and watched it again.
After watching it three times, he awkwardly tried to figure how to take a screenshot. He fumbled around for ages, and still didn't figure out how to create a short video clip or GIF.
Being engrossed in trying to make a video, An Zhiyan didn't notice that they'd already arrived at their destination. Jiang Pingqiu parked and waited for him to get out of the car.
Seeing him struggle, Jiang Pingqiu asked voluntarily, "Need my help?"
"Uh..." An Zhiyan was startled for a moment, and then coughed lightly, and responded calmly, "I just think this segment is interesting."
"Hmm."
An Zhiyan handed his phone to Jiang Pingqiu. Jiang Pingqiu took the phone and confirmed with An Zhiyan, "Is it the part where Su Jinli is dancing?"
"Ah... yes, I... just think it's amusing," An Zhiyan explained again, rather uneasily.
"Alright, it's done."
An Zhiyan took his phone back and saw a GIF, as well as a video clip. He nodded his head, "Okay."
"Shall we get off the car?" Jiang Pingqiu asked.
However, An Zhiyan started to drag the video back and told Jiang Pingqiu, "Please capture the part where he sticks out his tongue as well."
"Fine..." Jiang Pingqiu took the phone back. Through the rearview mirror, he saw An Zhiyan trying to act calm but also looking a little excited. He couldn't help but prepare himself mentally.
Should he start preparing for a PR strategy related to a celebrity's romance?
"Do you want the part where Second Young Master is taking pictures with Su Jinli?" Jiang Pingqiu asked.
"Maybe."
"Second Young Master moved too quickly, it's hard to capture a good shot."
"I'm not watching for him!" He said distastefully.
"Oh."
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