Famous! Ch.85

Chapter 85: Zhang Che’s Frustration

Zhang Che’s fans were furious.

[Why did the treatment for a subsidiary ambassador surpass that of the spokesperson???]

[Is M-brand deliberately targeting our Zhang Che?]

[Three questions for M-brand: First, after signing the spokesperson contract, has Zhang Che ever missed any M-brand-hosted events?

Second, after Zhang Che became the spokesperson, the brand’s quarterly sales increased by 20%—there are financial reports to prove this—so why wasn’t Zhang Che given the fair treatment a spokesperson deserves?

Third, why hasn’t M-brand responded or refuted the fans’ demands?]

The fans were outraged and spent the entire day passionately venting their anger. Left with no choice, M-brand’s official social media account temporarily disabled its comment section.

Ye Hai Agency, sensing that something was amiss, stepped in to calm down some of the fans.

After all, M-brand was a high-end luxury label, and in this partnership, Zhang Che’s side held no significant advantage. Ye Hai Agency didn’t want to strain the relationship too much. This way, even if the partnership with M-brand ended, Zhang Che’s other luxury endorsements wouldn’t be affected.

Unfortunately, the agency’s attempts at appeasement only worked on a portion of the fans. Zhang Che had built his image around being sensitive and prone to emotional struggles, leading his loyal followers to firmly believe that, in any conflict, Zhang Che was inevitably the one being wronged.

The fans were used to fighting on his behalf, and they were unafraid of taking on M-brand, no matter how powerful it was.

Ironically, M-brand’s overwhelming influence—which forced even Ye Hai Agency to intervene—only fueled the fans’ determination to stand their ground, as if facing an army of millions wouldn’t deter them.

When M-brand disabled comments, the fans redirected their outrage elsewhere, ambushing every corner where M-brand had a presence. Even M-brand’s overseas social media accounts were stormed by Zhang Che’s fans.

Ye Hai Agency: “…”

In truth, when M-brand initially downgraded Zhang Che’s treatment in private, Ye Hai Agency had already suspected that something might have gone wrong on Zhang Che’s end.

However, M-brand gave Ye Hai Agency no hints or information, keeping all internal matters tightly under wraps. Despite analyzing the situation thoroughly, the agency remained clueless.

It wasn’t until the opening of the Stellar Awards red carpet that a trending topic at the bottom of the hot search list gave Ye Hai Agency a clue.

This year, the red-carpet jewelry choices among celebrities included brands like C-brand, F-brand, and even some independent designer labels. Yet, almost as if by unspoken agreement, none of them chose M-brand.

It was as if M-brand had vanished entirely from the Stellar Awards red carpet.

Upon further reflection, the cold treatment Zhang Che received seemed to coincide with the time when M-brand’s partnership with the Stellar Awards was officially terminated.

A lightbulb went off in Ye Hai Agency’s collective mind, prompting them to reach out to a few industry insiders who were close to the Stellar Awards.

These insiders were not reluctant to share a few details.

“Just search for the keyword ‘Stellar Awards,’ and you’ll see. Start from the time your guy took on The Swordsman.”

“You’d better search for ‘Lu Xu’ and ‘Zhang Che’ as well.”

With the conversation going this far, Ye Hai Agency naturally caught on.

The agency even went so far as to have staff comb through the social media accounts of several main jurors of the Stellar Awards. Without exception, every account was flooded with Zhang Che’s passionate fans demanding explanations for what they deemed unfair nominations.

The key issue was that Zhang Che’s lack of a nomination had already occurred last year. Yet, his fans had persisted, tirelessly questioning and criticizing the awards committee from last year to this year. Month after month, they continued their campaign of inquiries and insults.

Seeing this unfold, the executives at Ye Hai Agency felt their vision darken.

Was the Stellar Awards something to be trifled with?

No wonder M-brand was so eager to distance itself from Zhang Che. In an environment like the Stellar Awards, if celebrities refused to wear M-brand jewelry, how could the brand survive in the domestic market?

High-end luxury jewelry thrived on exclusivity and prestige. Major stars served as living advertisements, and even for top-tier celebrities, opportunities to wear haute couture paired with high-end jewelry were few and far between. The Stellar Awards were undoubtedly one of the rare occasions where this occurred.

What were the fans doing? Had they lost their minds?

At this point, the higher-ups at Ye Hai Agency had conveniently forgotten their own involvement in the tactics used to solidify Zhang Che’s fanbase. Back then, they had prided themselves on Zhang Che’s loyal and highly active fans, which gave him an edge over other male celebrities of the same caliber when vying for endorsements.

Without further hesitation, Ye Hai Agency hurriedly issued apologies to M-brand and the Stellar Awards organizing committee, expressing their sincerest regret.

However, both M-brand and the Stellar Awards responded with ambiguous attitudes—neither accepting nor outright rejecting the apologies.

M-brand’s notoriously sharp-tongued director even sneered, “I’ve never heard of apologies being delivered by an agency instead of the person involved. Where’s Zhang Che?”

Ye Hai Agency: “…”

The bitter taste of swallowing their pride was hard to bear. M-brand had been the one to deliberately downgrade Zhang Che’s treatment, yet now they demanded he personally apologize.

But Ye Hai Agency had no choice unless Zhang Che planned to give up collaborating with all high-end luxury brands in the future.

Although… judging by the current situation, securing another luxury endorsement for Zhang Che seemed unlikely.

High-end luxury brands had their own methods of evaluating spokespersons, but their arrogance and dominance were universally consistent.

When Zhang Che learned of the events leading up to this situation, he was utterly bewildered.

Still… the facts were undeniable. Because of him, M-brand had been shut out of the Stellar Awards.

His manager tried to console him, saying, “It might not even be your fault. Maybe the Stellar Awards had already planned to sever ties with M-brand and just used this as an excuse.”

“Why me, though? Lu Xu didn’t win a Stellar Award before, and his fans never accused the awards of being rigged?”

“Well, to be fair… they didn’t.”

Ye Hai Agency naturally didn’t want Zhang Che to shoulder the blame alone. They made every effort to dig up dirt on other actors connected to the Stellar Awards.

However, among young actors, only a handful had the qualifications to even aspire to a Stellar Award. After much searching, Ye Hai Agency only identified three or four suitable targets.

The rest were so obscure that nobody cared about them. Buying black hot searches for these individuals would only serve to raise their profiles.

The only exception was Lu Xu.

But Lu Xu’s fans truly had never said anything against the Stellar Awards. The previous year’s Best Supporting Actor winner, Guo Yining, remained in contact with Lu Xu.

It was well-known in the industry that Lu Xu had signed with Feiyang Entertainment thanks to connections facilitated by Cheng Yun and Guo Yining.

“How could they not have?” Zhang Che was deeply frustrated.

Yet now, he couldn’t even vent his feelings on social media. Whether he allowed his fans to continue attacking M-brand or the Stellar Awards, he couldn’t afford to offend either party.

His work on The Swordsman had already left him stewing with anger, and now he couldn’t even release that pent-up frustration.

“Also, you need to rein in your fans. This incident is a major lesson. Be extra cautious next time.”

“I know, I know,” Zhang Che replied impatiently, his irritation apparent.

This time, he even blamed his fans.

Other celebrities’ fans knew how to quietly support their idols, while his fans seemed determined to cause trouble for him.

Zhang Che punched the cushion beside him hard.

With resentment weighing on his mind, the tone of his subsequent social media post came across as cold and blunt, starkly different from his usual gentler style:

[I ask all fans to be mindful of their words and actions. Please avoid making statements that could be easily misunderstood. This will benefit all of us.]

[Baby, what’s wrong?]

[M-brand must have mistreated Zhang Che!]

[Ahhhh, who made our Ache so distant and cold?!!!]

The fans automatically assumed it was M-brand.

Recently, due to the treatment dispute, Zhang Che’s fans had only been targeting M-brand.

And so—M-brand endured another wave of attacks.

When Zhang Che saw the trending topics, he almost cried. After offering heartfelt apologies and plastering on fake smiles until he was mentally and emotionally drained, he felt completely defeated.

The alcohol in his stomach churned violently, and he couldn’t hold it in any longer—he threw up.

That evening, back at the The Swordsman set, Zhang Che repeatedly studied his character. Perhaps it was Zhang Zhizhen’s constant influence, or perhaps the time spent on this film had given him a newfound appreciation for cinematic art, but Zhang Che felt that he was starting to understand his role better.

At this point, his only lifeline was The Swordsman.

As long as the movie became a huge success, all his current troubles could be erased.

Zhang Che opened the Stellar Awards’ official page and stared at the list of nominees for Best Actor for a long time.

The feeling of being trampled on was unbearable, especially the thought of being stepped on by Lu Xu.

…

The M-brand debacle had no impact on the smooth running of the Stellar Awards. Lu Xu had been busy filming with the When I Was 18 crew, but two days before the awards ceremony, Mu Qian kicked him off the set: “We won’t miss you for two days—go already.”

Lu Xu remained composed, maintaining a calm demeanor. However, since the announcement of this year’s Stellar Awards nominees, discussions about him had been nonstop.

The Best Actor category had five nominees in total. The announcement order reflected their vote counts during the preliminary round, with Lu Xu ranking third among them.

Each of the five nominees had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Zheng Yeping, for instance, had already won two Stellar Best Actor trophies. If he were to win another, he would undeniably become the first in Stellar Awards history to achieve such a feat.

This outcome might not have been what the Stellar Awards wanted to see.

Yue Hui’s performance in Unpredictable was outstanding, but his role was that of a pure villain. If such a character were to win Best Actor, it would conflict with the Stellar Awards’ usual preferences.

As for Lu Xu—his main drawback was his youth.

In addition, this year was a particularly competitive one for the Stellar Awards. While The Path of Bones garnered significant popularity, it was only nominated in the Best Actor category and no others.

This was partly due to the constraints of the show’s subject matter and partly because The Path of Bones focused heavily on Yu Yi’s character.

Typically, actors rely on the strength of their works, and Best Actor or Best Actress awards are usually given to those from productions that are also nominated for Best Long-Form Drama.

As for Xia Zhirong and Liu Fang, although both had previously won Stellar Awards, their initial votes in this year’s preliminary round were even lower than Lu Xu’s. This suggested that their performances in their respective dramas were not the pinnacle of their careers.

Most likely, the winner would be one of Zheng Yeping, Yue Hui, or Lu Xu.

For Lu Xu, being nominated for Best Actor was already a significant affirmation of his talent from the industry.

When he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Son of Heaven, skeptics could dismiss it as luck or as the Stellar Awards’ way of encouraging young actors. However, a Best Actor nomination was no mere stroke of fortune.

Among this year’s nominees, many actors who possessed both fame and skill had been left out.

Lu Xu’s nomination drew no complaints or dissent from his peers in the industry—his performance in The Path of Bones was plain for all to see.

While it was unrealistic to claim the Stellar Awards were 100% fair, the awards had developed over decades. It was clear that they operated under a relatively fair set of rules and processes.

[Good luck! Give it your all and win!!]

[Victory!!]

These were the messages Shao Yao and Zheng Xiao sent to Lu Xu.

One kept spamming puppy emojis, while the other bombarded him with memes of “Ji Xiuya’s devilish smirk.”

Lu Xu: “…”

Taking ugly screenshots of someone on purpose is too much!

He didn’t quite understand why Ji Xiuya had suddenly become an abstract joke on the internet. It was probably because overworked and frustrated workers found a connection to his character—Ji Xiuya’s mindset seemed to align perfectly with theirs: when the world was good, he wanted to destroy it; when the world wasn’t good, he also wanted to destroy it. In short, destruction was always on the table.

Lu Xu and Zheng Xiao had hit it off while filming Supreme, and after Lu Xu helped promote Let Let, their conversations had only grown more frequent.

The Voice of the Dead wasn’t eligible for this year’s Stellar Awards. The submission deadline was in late September, so it would have to wait until next year for consideration.

Lu Xu and Shao Yao both felt their chances for individual acting nominations were slim, though the series might have a shot at the script or drama awards. The likelihood of acting nominations, however, was close to zero.

But Lu Xu had never pursued acting solely for awards, and Shao Yao shared the same philosophy. For actors, the most important thing was to give their all to every role. When the timing was right, the accolades would come naturally.

…

This was Lu Xu’s second time walking the Stellar Awards red carpet. The last time, he had been accompanied by the massive Son of Heaven cast, but this time, only Lei Ai was there to walk with him.

“You should be thanking me. Without me, there’d be no one from our team to back you up,” the director teased with a grin. “I even invited Kong Le, but he refused to come.”

Lei Ai wasn’t the least bit upset about not being nominated for Best Director. The unexpected success of The Path of Bones was already a pleasant surprise, and Lu Xu’s Best Actor nomination was the cherry on top.

Kong Le had shaken off the gloom from Undercover’s lackluster reception. With Lu Xu’s nomination for the Stellar Awards, Kong Le became the most active member of The Path of Bones crew, tirelessly sharing posts and seemingly wishing the whole world could see how impressive Lu Xu was.

In fact, Lu Xu’s nomination had sparked a chain reaction. From the cast and crew of his earliest work, My Baby Prince, to the team of his current project, When I Was 18, directors were enthusiastically reposting the announcement of his nomination.

[Feels like a sneaky way of showing off that they once worked with Lu Xu.]

[LOL, so true!]

[Who even started the rumor that Lu Xu has a bad temper? His network clearly loves him!]

[Even Grape Film joined the fun. Tsk tsk, their smugness is off the charts.]

[My smile is already out of control.]

Lu Xu and Lei Ai were chatting and laughing the whole ride. When the car pulled up to the red carpet entrance, both stepped out at the same time.

The next moment, Lu Xu was greeted by a deafening wave of cheers.

—They were all shouting his name.

<< _ >>

**TN

I sometimes update 3x a day. Check the date just in case you miss the 3rd update. 😀