Golden Agent of the Adonis (149)
Another actor, Chen Lifeng, also appeared in a Lunar New Year film, coincidentally a comedy as well. However, the plot of his film was not as interesting as the Case Investigation Adventure and the humor didn’t match the intensity found in the former. Despite both being comedy films, Case Investigation Adventure completely overshadowed Chen Lifeng’s film, earning 30 million yuan on the first day, which was only one-fifth of Case Investigation Adventure’s box office. Moreover, a significant portion of the audience came for Chen Lifeng’s reputation as an award-winning actor.
As time went on, the box office for Case Investigation Adventure continued to rise, while Chen Lifeng’s film struggled to keep up and experienced slow growth, falling far below the initial expectations.
The box office performance has a significant impact on the lead actors. Those who could bring in substantial box office numbers would see their star status rise, while actors with poor box office results would face greater difficulties in securing leading roles in future films. It would become even more challenging to star in successful films.
Only half a year ago, Chen Lifeng received the title of Best Actor, but during this festive season, he lost the aura associated with that title.
Feeling discontent, he chose this particular timing to let marketing accounts expose the news of Zhou Yuan’s pregnancy.
Zhou Yuan, after all, was once a well-known child star whom everyone had watched grow up. The news of her pregnancy sparked considerable discussion, and her unmarried pregnancy raised concerns among many.
When Zhou Yuan saw the news, she exploded in anger and immediately called Chen Lifeng to question him, “Only the two of us knew about my pregnancy. Do you dare to say that you didn’t leak this? How could you expose it without consulting me?”
Chen Lifeng tried his best to placate her, “You’re not in a convenient position to work now. I want to wholeheartedly earn money for our child’s milk formula. If the box office is low, you know how much it will affect us. We’re in this together, so why would I harm you?”
Zhou Yuan felt a sense of being underestimated and deceived, and she trembled with anger. She slapped him and kicked him out of the house. However, she couldn’t do much else as she was carrying their child in her womb, so she could only silently accept his actions.
Chen Lifeng timely spoke out, stating that he had successfully proposed and was preparing for the wedding, hoping to receive everyone’s blessings. Most netizens refrained from making baseless speculations at this time. Since they intended to get married, the majority of comments were filled with well wishes for their lifelong happiness. Those who didn’t like them didn’t want to bring negativity during this time and simply chose not to pay attention.
Indeed, this did bring a slight boost in popularity for the film Chen Lifeng starred in, with a slight increase in box office numbers. However, that slight increase was practically useless in terms of the overall box office performance.
Chen Lifeng confirmed once again that many of his fans had truly left, and his popularity among the general public had also declined significantly. He couldn’t generate enough buzz, and even if he trended for a few hours, he quickly dropped off. He felt a sense of powerlessness and frustration. All of this was brought upon him by Chu Xiang. Back then, when he heartlessly broke up with her, he had unknowingly invited the most ruthless revenge. If he could turn back time, he would never separate from her, no matter what.
In fact, this was a pit that Chu Xiang had dug early on. When she had them appear on Love’s Dream Journey, she knew that the show featured a genuinely sweet couple. In comparison, the relationship between Chen Lifeng and Zhou Yuan, without the refinement that came from time together, exuded an air of false sweetness. Audiences weren’t fools; they could tell who was truly happy and who was pretending. Naturally, their perception of them wasn’t favorable.
They wanted to go on the show to have their fans accept their relationship and perhaps gain a wave of shipper fans. However, the result was disappointment on both sides. Not only did they fail to attract shipper fans, but they also lost the support of fans who had doubts about their relationship.
Fan behavior could not be guided by anyone, but Chu Xiang, who had experienced the entertainment industry and fan circles, knew best how to disappoint a celebrity’s fans. Without Chen Lifeng even realizing it, he stepped into countless traps, repeatedly disappointing his fans, and his popularity gradually declined.
Investing in and personally participating in Case Investigation Adventure was, of course, a way to boost the film’s weight. In the same genre and released simultaneously, a blockbuster naturally suppressed the other, leaving it lackluster and overshadowed.
With the end of the Lunar New Year season, Chen Lifeng’s efforts over the past six months were all in vain. His Best Actor award became meaningless, and he also encountered a downward trend. It could be considered payback for his previous distasteful behavior.
Chen Lifeng’s news about pregnancy and marriage caused a small stir but went unnoticed by most people. It also angered Zhou Yuan, who refused to let him in the house for several days.
At this time, Valentine’s Day arrived, and at 13:14 in the afternoon, Fang Zhenxuan posted on Weibo: “Sweet CP is real~ [Image].”
The attached image showed him and Chu Xiang holding hands tightly, lifted up in the sunlight, giving off a beautiful feeling.
Chu Xiang also shared his Weibo post: “It’s real~ [Heart][Heart][Heart].”
Fans had already noticed their activity in the celebrity dynamics of the trending topics and eagerly awaited what they would post. Finally, when it appeared, a large number of fans immediately shared and commented before even checking the content, and the reaction was…
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