Chapter 53: Stirring the Pot

After waiting and waiting, Lin Xiyue finally received the news: Those Hasty Years would be released in one week.

In fact, the film had already begun its promotional campaign earlier. This time, however, an exact release date was added, and the officially released trailer edits also incorporated the theme song as background music.

Generally speaking, trailers focus more on visuals and character dialogue. The BGM is usually kept relatively low in volume, and with the fragmented editing, it is quite different from listening to the original soundtrack directly. Even so, many viewers were still drawn in by the background music and commented that they would make sure to listen carefully to the full soundtrack once the movie was released.

However, when people took a look at the singers’ names, many of them were somewhat surprised. These two girls were not well-known, yet they had appeared on a production of this caliber.

Previously, through hype on social platforms and various media outlets, Lin Ziyu had been portrayed as the most suitable choice to sing the theme song. The general public had long assumed that Lin Ziyu would secure the performance rights. Who would have thought that in the end, it would be two newcomers instead?

It could only be said that Bai Lulu’s salary from the publicity department was truly well-earned. As soon as she noticed this trend, she immediately opened several accounts and, together with her colleagues from the publicity department, began steering the discussion across various comment sections related to the film.

“I’m just a passerby, but let me explain for everyone—these two are the best newcomers in Rouge Web’s history. Their debut song was Meteor Shower, and they even won the Piggy Music Newcomer Competition. They’re genuinely talented.”

“Yes, yes, I remember now. That Meteor Shower song was really good.”

“Hey, I heard some insider gossip saying that the theme song performance rights this time were actually taken by Lin Xiyue stepping over Lin Ziyu. That alone proves how valuable it is.”

“No way? Our Miss Lin Ziyu is a quasi–first-tier star. In terms of popularity alone, she’s basically already first-tier. How could she lose to a newcomer, and one from a B-level company at that?”

“Exactly. Are you saying Miss Lin Ziyu is so bad that she got stepped on by a newbie? Nonsense! Our Miss Lin Ziyu definitely didn’t submit anything. And even if she really lost, it must have been because the director took some kind of kickback!”

“I don’t know about stepping on heads, but I do know that the whole backstabbing thing is definitely real.”

“Stop it, stop it. Don’t push the ‘ungrateful traitor’ or ‘filial daughter’ narrative! Our Miss Lin Ziyu isn’t that kind of person. I’m getting angry!”

With these accounts singing in harmony, the onlooking passersby gained at least some understanding of Lin Xiyue and Xia Jinnian, realizing that these two girls were not just pretty faces.

The topic of “stepping on Lin Ziyu to get the performance rights” was even more intriguing. As a quasi–first-tier star, Lin Ziyu’s popularity and buzz could even surpass some first-tier celebrities, largely because she was the brightest rising star in the entire entertainment industry of Country C.

Audiences love seeing young prodigies rise out of nowhere and reach the pinnacle. That is a universal preference.

But now, this so-called “king of newcomers,” Lin Ziyu, had supposedly been stepped on by another newcomer?

Naturally, as a quasi–first-tier star, Lin Ziyu had no shortage of loyal fans. Sensing even a hint of smear tactics, they rushed in to defend their idol.

“Nonsense! Our Ziyu never submitted anything to the Those Hasty Years production team!”

“That’s right. As for entering the final selection and then being stepped on by Lin Xiyue, that’s completely absurd!”

Soon after, however, a “kind-hearted passerby” posted a screenshot. Lin Ziyu had released a post a week earlier stating that she was determined to secure the theme song performance rights for Those Hasty Years, though the post had since been deleted.

This instantly changed things. Originally, people still had doubts about the strength of these two newcomers, but with Lin Ziyu serving as a benchmark, their credibility suddenly skyrocketed.

As for claims about bribing the director, no fool would believe that.

Not to mention that Director Li Yibai was famous for his strict standards and high demands, his previous film had also grossed over a billion at the box office. How much of a benefit could a newly debuted artist possibly offer to sway a billion-level project?

Sensing a major scoop, the media began contacting Zhao Entertainment for interviews, but the company declined to comment, refusing to say a single word.

At this point, what could they even say? All they could do was swallow the bitter consequences.

After all, the narrative that “Lin Ziyu is the most suitable for this theme song and will definitely get the performance rights” had been deliberately cultivated by Zhao Entertainment’s own publicity department, essentially pressuring the production team to go with the flow.

Look, everyone agrees that Miss Lin Ziyu should sing this theme song. What are you still hesitating about?

Now that she had been stepped on at the very last moment, admitting it would be tantamount to an official confirmation and would only stir up even more trouble. Denying it would mean admitting that Lin Ziyu hadn’t even made it into the final selection round, which sounded even worse.

However, aside from the “stepping on” gossip, an even bigger piece of gossip seemed to surface.

People began asking what “backstabbing” and “filial daughter” were all about, and once again, a “kind-hearted passerby” posted a link. Clicking it led to a special feature page detailing Lin Ziyu’s story of defecting from Lin Entertainment.

This scared Zhao Entertainment into urgently contacting all major social platforms, spending money to erase all related information before the situation escalated further.

The internet ecosystem in Country C had only just begun to take shape. When this incident happened years ago, it was even more primitive, and suppressing information was not difficult, so the matter had remained relatively hidden.

In the end, all related information was cleared away, but it had already spread across a considerable range. Many of Lin Ziyu’s haters fell into a frenzy, wielding their newfound ammunition to clash fiercely with fans in the comment sections, triggering a large-scale verbal war.

Regardless of who “won” between fans and haters, this objectively brought a surge of attention to the soon-to-be-released film. Everyone was curious whether Lin Xiyue was truly that capable, whether she really had the capital to step on Lin Ziyu. As a result, Lin Xiyue’s follower count on Fanxing skyrocketed.

After orchestrating all of this, the true culprit who ignited the entire flame war—Bai Lulu—had long since quietly deleted all her comments, completely changed her avatar, ID, and bio, wiped all her posts, applied to clear her follower list, and then gracefully vanished from sight.

Once you’ve stirred the pot, you have to run fast. Otherwise, are you waiting for the fans to come after you once they come to their senses?

“Heehee, the trick Lady Xiaoxi taught me really works.”

Closing her computer, Bai Lulu covered her mouth and laughed endlessly.

This little combo move was something Lin Xiyue had casually taught her earlier during idle chatter. Bai Lulu had found it fascinating—so igniting the emotions of two opposing sides could be this simple. Lin Xiyue had even said that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Looks like Lady Xiaoxi has a bit of a dark side too. After all these years, I never noticed it.”