Chapter 52: From Mockery to Applause

The medication produced by the system store was indeed of excellent quality.

From the moment Jiang Yingru took this universal medication, Sang Zhiyi had been closely monitoring her condition, just in case something unexpected happened.

Fortunately, aside from the slightly unpleasant taste at the beginning, it caused no other negative effects on Jiang Yingru.

After drinking all the liquid, Jiang Yingru soon felt a warm current appearing in her left chest, around the area of her stomach and heart, which rapidly and gently spread to her entire body.

As if cold ice had met the high temperature of sunlight, the chronic ailments accumulated in Jiang Yingru’s body over the years all dissolved and evaporated away.

Jiang Yingru: “…!”

Obvious excitement flickered in Jiang Yingru’s usually cool eyes.

From as early as she could remember, she had never felt such lightness throughout her body!

The pain, the heaviness, the weakness and difficulties—they were all truly gone!

To be honest, when Sang Zhiyi took out this medication, Jiang Yingru hadn’t actually held out much hope.

After all, she had fought and coexisted with her illness for nearly thirty years.

Her family’s financial situation was not bad, and after she started working, she was certainly not short of money, but despite seeking medical treatment everywhere for so many years, there had been no effective solution.

Jiang Yingru knew very well how difficult her illness was to treat.

She just knew that Sang Zhiyi, being so meticulous, intelligent, thoughtful, and considerate a person, would not give her this medication without having done considerable preparation.

If Sang Zhiyi didn’t want to talk about something, Jiang Yingru wouldn’t insist on asking.

Who didn’t have their own secrets?

Taking advantage of a good relationship to act recklessly was just low emotional intelligence, and Jiang Yingru wasn’t that kind of person.

Jiang Yingru wouldn’t doubt Sang Zhiyi’s words, but she had thought the best she could hope for was a temporary relief of symptoms, because Sang Zhiyi knew that her condition had been worsening recently, often causing her heart pain.

But the final result was so good?!

It was no exaggeration to say that Jiang Yingru felt as if her entire body had been reborn, given a new lease on life.

Seeing Jiang Yingru, whose complexion had visibly become much rosier, Sang Zhiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Congratulations!”

Sang Zhiyi smiled especially happily and couldn’t help but clap lightly.

“From now on, you can continue to pursue your dream!”

***

If there was one film that had garnered the most audience attention this year, Feast of the Prisoners would undoubtedly be the most frequently mentioned name.

Whether it was Yu Zilin’s uncharacteristic agreement to star, the traffic Sang Zhiyi, the female lead, naturally brought, or the powerful collaboration of Song Ying, Yu Zilin, and Zhu Qing, all of these factors kept the film’s popularity high.

Since the official announcement late last year, half a year had passed, and discussions related to Feast of the Prisoners were still everywhere.

There were those looking forward to the film itself, those wanting to watch the drama, and those with malicious intent waiting to criticize—all kinds.

The production process for Feast of the Prisoners was quite mature.

In late spring and early summer, they began promotional work, announcing that the film would be officially released during the summer blockbuster season.

In the first trailer released by the official account of Feast of the Prisoners, there were scenes of the male and female leads’ first encounter at the bar, the chase, and their dance.

The outstanding costume and makeup design, the excellent post-production, the perfectly matched music, and most importantly—the performances of the two leads—were all powerful responses to the previous doubts.

As a film headlined by Sang Zhiyi, the trailer naturally focused more on the female lead.

Sang Zhiyi completely broke away from Ren Xiaoqian’s previous wooden, stiff performances in film and television dramas.

Chi Jun’s character design was also quite different from the persona Sang Zhiyi had shown to the public, and her expressions and movements under the camera had subtle, layered presentations, exceptionally dazzling.

[???

Are you telling me this is Ren Xiaoqian?!]

[Holy shit, I knew this lineup would be a big production, but I didn’t expect the final result to be this good!

Even just watching the visuals would be worth the ticket price!]

[Such smooth cinematography, such a beautiful male and female lead, such perfect acting!

Oh my god, I’ve seen quite a few of Ren Xiaoqian’s works.

I won’t even mention those early stiff, vase-like performances that were all the same.

I’ve also watched that clip from Feng Chun several times.

Ren Xiaoqian always gave me the impression of being a pitifully beautiful girl, but I didn’t expect her to fit this completely new type so well!]

[Right, right!

Qian Bao’s dazed, drunk look is especially, especially captivating!

So charming, yet so pure, you can’t take your eyes off her!

I can’t wait for summer vacation, I really want to see more of Qian Bao on the big screen, boo hoo!]

[So many surprises.

What I was most worried about—Ren Xiaoqian’s acting skills—has instead become what I’m most pleasantly surprised by!

She can act opposite Best Actor Yu without any disconnect, and since she’s the lead, in the clips released so far, Ren Xiaoqian is actually more dominant.

A woman who can outshine Best Actor Yu in the camera—she is terrifying!]

Of course, many of Yu Zilin’s fans were dissatisfied with him playing second fiddle, but since the news had been out for so long and Yu Zilin himself had never expressed any displeasure, the fans had mostly come to terms with it.

This trailer also greatly reassured Yu Zilin’s fans.

[I didn’t dare breathe when I clicked on the video, afraid I’d see Zilin accommodating an internet celebrity with bad acting…

But that’s not the case at all!

Although Zilin isn’t the first lead, his presence is not diminished in the slightest.

I have to say, Ren Xiaoqian’s skills are really up to par, and her compatibility with Zilin is surprisingly good.

The two of them acting together is a strong clash, complementing each other.

I’m really looking forward to the full film!]

[Really, I feel like just standing side by side, Best Actor Yu and the mermaid sister have great chemistry!

Our “Mermaid” CP isn’t just limited to the dating show; they’re also incredibly well-matched on the big screen, locked in all the way!]

[Speaking of which, official account, shake yourself!

Release more trailers and clips!

I’m so anxious, I want to see more sugar from the “Mermaid” CP right now!]

Almost overnight, all the mockery and doubts toward Sang Zhiyi shifted direction.

Like a spring bouncing back from being compressed.

This was also one of Sang Zhiyi’s strategies.

Earlier, when the entire internet was attacking and spreading rumors about her for co-starring with Yu Zilin in Feast of the Prisoners, Sang Zhiyi did not step in to clarify.

She let public opinion ferment, even though she knew that many interested parties were taking the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.

Sang Zhiyi still held back.

At that time, even the usually carefree Zhongli Miaomiao couldn’t bear to watch and wanted to buy bots to intervene.

In the end, Sang Zhiyi had to personally calm her down, stopping this thankless behavior.

Precisely because public opinion had belittled Sang Zhiyi to the lowest possible point, leading many ordinary viewers to believe she was an actress with no acting skills who was being heavily promoted, and that even Best Actor Yu would be dragged down by her, the contrast became especially huge when substantial evidence finally appeared.

When casual viewers clicked on the video, thinking “isn’t this that resource-sponge internet celebrity woman,” and were ready to criticize how bad the female lead’s acting could be, they were instead stunned by how stunning her actual performance was.

The lower people’s expectations were for Sang Zhiyi, the more likely they were to be won over by her actual talent.

Other materials for Feast of the Prisoners were also released one after another, proving that this was not, as some sour grapes claimed, “the entire crew racking their brains to cut all the watchable parts of Ren Xiaoqian into these one or two minutes,” but rather that the entire film maintained this stable level of quality.

Only then did Sang Zhiyi choose to act, guiding public opinion to smooth over any remaining doubts.

For example, why had her acting been so terrible, at the bottom of the entertainment industry, only to suddenly become this good?

It was because when she first debuted, she didn’t know anything, and worked at an extremely high intensity without enough time to learn and improve.

But after accumulating enough experience, through two years of diligent accumulation, she finally “got it.”

This was evidenced by the dense work schedules Lou Yanchen had pushed on Ren Xiaoqian back then, and also by the fact that she hadn’t acted in any dramas or attended any events for nearly half a year before joining Love of a Limited Season, proving that she had indeed gone through a period of diligent reflection and consolidation.

These doubts might not have had a significant impact, but Sang Zhiyi was willing to take a little time to smooth them over.

***

Finally, in August, Feast of the Prisoners officially hit theaters.

Just on the first day of release, it broke the domestic box office record.

After that, relying on its far-above-average quality, Feast of the Prisoners achieved both box office success and critical acclaim, going viral across the entire internet with unstoppable momentum.

The more excessively people had insulted Sang Zhiyi back then, the harder they were now slapped in the face.

Unsurprisingly, Feast of the Prisoners received nominations for numerous awards that year, and Sang Zhiyi, riding on this film, jumped into the ranks of top-tier talented actresses.

Sang Zhiyi had already gained considerable traffic from the highly popular variety show Love of a Limited Season, and now she officially became a recognized top-tier star.

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