You Don’t Understand The Pain Of Being Popular

Every word of Zhou Fei's words was comprehensible to Yao Bianliang, but when combined together, it caused her brain to crash.

What does he mean?

What does it mean that her drama "is on TV"?!

Just a second ago, she confidently guaranteed there would be no hope for a comeback unless the drama could be on TV. And now, the drama is on TV the next second?

Is fate playing with her?

Yao Bianliang found it hard to believe such an absurd thing could happen to her.

"No, could there be a mistake somewhere..." Yao Bianliang's fingers trembled as she scrolled down the screen for a long time, finally successfully seeing the rest of the message.

Zhou Fei sounded excited, "Liang Jie, the TV station mentioned your drama while discussing the pandemic. Not only that, but the official account also contacted us, hoping to use our short drama as a promotional video for publicity!"

Yao Bianliang: "..."

Her head was buzzing, and she didn't even have time to reply to Zhou Fei. She quickly opened Weibo.

Sure enough, the top trending topic was solemnly paying tribute to healthcare workers. When she clicked on it, the first hot post was an excerpt from her drama.

The video excerpt featured the final segment of the drama, with the female lead dragging a suitcase and joining her colleagues to provide medical support in a distant place.

An official media account posted the video, removing the slightly sentimental background music and replacing it with a more stirring melody. This combination of music, visual content, and actor lines ignited the viewers' passion.

[So powerful, it makes my heart surge, sob sob sob.]

[Paying tribute to all healthcare workers, they have truly sacrificed too much.]

[This scene is so touching, it reminds me of the doctors, nurses, and experts who went to the frontlines of the pandemic. They truly deserve our respect.]

[The final shot is so beautiful, the hopeful smile on the actress's face, I watched it three times repeatedly. She really acted so well, what's her name?]

[That's Yao Bianliang, her acting skills are truly extraordinary. It's hard to believe she's such a young actress with limited experience.]

[What's the name of this drama? Please guide me, I really want to watch it.]

[The drama is called 'The Physician,' and the quality is truly amazing! It's a pity there was no promotion, and it was buried.]

Yao Bianliang scrolled down and saw a stream of positive reviews.

Moreover, official media accounts also reposted the TV station's news video.

In the video footage, the news anchor smiled as they narrated a series of the latest reports on epidemic prevention and control, and then said, "Among them, some film and television works, led by 'The Physician,' express tribute and praise to healthcare workers, addressing the current hot topics..."

Reposting by official media was not enough, as they also attached a link to Yao Bianliang's short drama below.

As a result, many netizens flocked to the link and discovered this little short drama hidden in a corner.

The number of comments and barrage messages started skyrocketing, creating a lively atmosphere akin to a New Year celebration.

Yao Bianliang: "..."

No, how could this happen? Everything was fine before, how did it suddenly develop to this stage?

It was evident that the official recommendation emphasized the last two segments of the short drama.

After all, the atmosphere in the earlier segments was oppressive, but the content of the last two segments was full of hope. Just by changing to exciting background music, it could easily pass as a promotional video.

"...This works too?" Yao Bianliang stared blankly at the scene, questioning life itself.

Misfortunes never come singly.

This situation alone was already terrible, but soon Yao Bianliang despairingly discovered that her short drama was featured as the top headline on the homepage of the short video platform!

She received a private message notification from the platform.

[Dear user Yao Bianliang, congratulations. Your short drama has been featured as the top headline on the homepage. Please do not change the title and description of the drama during the recommended period. Thank you for your support.]

Yao Bianliang: "..."

I really...

Thank you for the recommendation!

This short video platform is truly something. It stayed silent all this time, but once her drama was recommended by the official channel, they immediately featured and recommended it, as if they did a face-changing act like in Peking Opera.

The view count skyrocketed at a visible speed. As Yao Bianliang watched with fear and anticipation, it climbed step by step.

25 million, 30 million, 35 million...

With each increase, Yao Bianliang's heart twitched forcefully.

She had never felt time passing so torturously. In just three hours, it felt like a century.

Finally, when the clock pointed to 11:55, the view count successfully surpassed the milestone of 50 million.

[Ding, the mission deadline has been reached]

[Current Mission:

Temporary Mission: Sign a contract with an entertainment company or form your own team (completed)

Main Mission: Participate in the "Good Drama PK Competition" variety show finale, with a short drama view count below 50 million (not completed)

[Reward Situation: Participation award + 2 months of rest time]

[Mission Message:

In this mission, the Host has already grasped many rules and tricks, avoiding many risky areas. This is significant progress.

But who could have expected that factors leading to popularity would include human factors and natural disasters?

The work has once again become popular. This ending is unexpected yet logical.

Indeed, the outcome was already determined when you chose the medical theme from countless script genres.

Of course, we always believe that bad luck is temporary and people will always have moments of good luck.

After a two-month break, the system will issue new missions for the Host.

We hope that within these two months of rest and adjustment, the Host can regroup, make a comeback, and achieve glory!]

Yao Bianliang looked at the mission message provided by the system, finally closed her eyes in despair, and fell on the sofa, tears welling up but unable to be shed.

What on earth is all this!

*****

In the following two days, Yao Bianliang felt utterly desolate. She had no mood to summarize her failed experience or plan her next move.

The blow came too big and too suddenly, and she still couldn't recover from it.

The system couldn't help but comfort her, "Host, let's think about the positive aspects. This time, you were closest to success, so it can still be considered progress, right?"

Yao Bianliang: "..."

Yao Bianliang didn't feel like talking much.

Only three hours! She was just three hours away from success!!

In the end, just at the critical moment, she caused such a mess, which completely ruined her previous achievements.

During this period, Yao Bianliang didn't even want to open her phone. Whenever she saw the continuously increasing view count and the comments from internet users, she felt tight in her chest.

This time, it was not as simple as failing the mission. She had completely exploded and reached a level where almost everyone in the country knew about it.

Although she had been trying to keep a low profile, the curiosity and love from everyone couldn't be stopped.

Even though she hadn't made any public appearances, her popularity continued to soar.

"No... I must pull myself together." Yao Bianliang took a deep breath and sat up straight.

She couldn't continue to be so dejected.

Although the main mission failed, she still had two months of vacation time, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Moreover, when she initially made her plan, Yao Bianliang had set a backup plan for herself.

"From now on, I can't appear in any public occasions, nor participate in any events or shows." Yao Bianliang secretly made up her mind.

The internet has a short memory.

During her two-month break, even though she missed the golden development period, it was still within the rules, and the system couldn't control it.

Following that, she would seriously shoot new work, spending a few months on it, which was not excessive.

Add some post-production, extend it for two or three months, and it seemed reasonable.

Calculating like this, it would have been over half a year when her next film or TV work is released!

Who knows what the entertainment industry will be like in half a year?

Perhaps by that time, her popularity will have faded, and it would be possible for her to smoothly transition to being cold.

With this thought in mind, Yao Bianliang opened her work email to see if there were any invitations during this time.

Previously, she hadn't paid attention to it, after all, she thought she was about to retire and didn't need to bother with such things.

However, things didn't go as planned, and now that she had become popular again, Yao Bianliang had to start looking for her next target.

"Last week, there weren't many offers that came my way. I wonder how the situation is now."

With that in mind, Yao Bianliang opened her email while thinking about it.

As the inbox buzzed with a series of notifications, she finally saw the number of unread emails in her inbox—

328 emails.

Yao Bianliang: "..."

So many invitations?!

This email address should only be known by industry insiders, and in the past, there would only be a few unread emails at most.

But now, in just a few days, the number of unread emails had skyrocketed.

Was this the benefit of being on TV and being recommended by the official channels?

Yao Bianliang didn't know whether this was a blessing or a curse, but the sheer volume of content was overwhelming. She couldn't possibly go through them one by one, and it would take forever.

She had no choice but to call her assistant Chen.

"assistant Chen, could you help me do a preliminary screening of these emails? Hmm, that's right. I don't want any big productions or renowned directors' projects. The more likely they are to flop, the better. After screening, send me the results."

Yao Bianliang could clearly sense the perplexity of assistant Chen, her assistant, on the other end of the phone. He couldn't understand her intentions and remained silent for a while.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Yao Bianliang asked.

"...No problem. I will send you the results by tomorrow." assistant Chen's tone was complex.

After hanging up the call, Yao Bianliang had nothing else to do, so she went online to search for information.

"I wonder if I can find tips on how a star can become cold on Baidu."

Yao Bianliang tried searching and a series of related prompts appeared on the page.

【Recommended search content:】

- How can a D-list star become popular?

- How can a star prevent themselves from becoming cold?

- How miserable is the fate of those who have become D-list stars?

"What are all these things?" Yao Bianliang skipped past the unrelated content directly.