Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The official Weibo account of "Let's Travel Together" immediately updated a post after Su Xingyao's promotional video for Lvshui County finished airing.

It was an explanation about that video.

Let's Travel Together Official Weibo: Hey everyone, isn't the video edited by our Teacher Su super cool! Has anyone not seen it yet? But here at Let's Travel Together, we have something else to share. Our six guests did shoot a lot of footage during the show's recording, but after hearing Mr. Su's ideas, everyone agreed that the phone footage just didn't do justice to the creativity. So after the show was recorded, the guests and the team re-shot scenes across Lvshui County with professional cameras. The reshoot process was also quite fascinating, and the video has been uploaded as a bonus on the Meow Meow website, so don't miss it!

The official Weibo thoughtfully shared the bonus footage for everyone to enjoy.

Having learned from past mistakes, the show's team was proactive this time and took precautions in advance.

As expected, just as they had anticipated.

As soon as the show gained popularity, the critics and skeptics came out of the woodwork.

Soon, dubious accounts popped up, using this to criticize Su Xingyao and the show's team.

They were accused of "faking it for fame."

"Could the guests really capture such stable footage with their phones? Don't lie to me—I may not be well-read, but your show doesn't need to fake something this big just to hype Su Xingyao's image."

"This is so fake—how could Su Xingyao possibly edit this alone? The show is shamelessly chasing clout."

"Are you kidding me? I watched the entire live stream and never saw you go to any flower fields, bamboo forests, or night markets. You're clearly desperate for fame, lying so shamelessly."

"Let's just say, Su Xingyao has been overdoing his persona lately, and the show is taking credit for things they didn't do, not afraid of backlash."

In the past, fans would have tried to explain these comments.

But today, when they saw these orchestrated remarks, they all uniformly responded with laughter.

"Hahaha, don't tell them the show already released the bonus footage explaining it all!"

"Hahaha, don't tell them the guests loved Mr. Su's idea so much they asked for a reshoot!"

"Hahaha, don't tell them the post-production team was blown away by this idea!"

The trolls ignored replies and clarifications; they were just here to do their job.

Even though the show's team had already provided solid evidence, they continued to spread their narrative.

This strange behavior made many people realize something wasn't right.

"Wow, who hired these trolls? Their stubborn, one-track approach is so obvious."

"All using the same script to attack the show and Su Xingyao—definitely trolls."

"LOL, they even went to the wrong place, spamming a travel blogger's page and confusing them."

"Which troll farm is this? The anti-hype is way too obvious."

"Probably from a competing network..."

While fans were busy exposing the trolls, the official Weibo accounts of "Let's Travel Together" and Lvshui County, which had delayed releasing the video clips, finally posted Su Xingyao's edited video for Lvshui County at the same time.

Moreover, the local government of Lvshui County officially announced that they would use Su Xingyao's video as their promotional material.

The local government's sudden announcement took everyone by surprise.

Originally, they thought that filming and editing the video was just a mission task.

They didn’t expect the program team had a deeper purpose behind it.

The video suddenly took on a whole new meaning for netizens.

After the official announcement by Lvshui County, the video was released on several platforms.

The combination of celebrity editing + official collaboration + stunning visual effects further expanded the video's topic popularity and reach.

Netizens even coined a nickname for the video: "Su Xingyao Teaches You How to Shoot a Small County Promo with Blockbuster-Level Quality at the Lowest Cost."

With all the hype, more netizens who hadn't seen the video before came across it and joined the ranks of gushing praise and heated discussions.

At first, the topic of their discussion was: "I can’t believe a star pulled this off in just a few days. Are stars really this talented now?"

Then the discussion turned more technical, delving into how Su Xingyao achieved such effects.

After insiders shared a bunch of knowledge about After Effects (AE) techniques and editing, netizens felt their brains were fried.

So they stopped trying to figure out how Su Xingyao did it. After roughly understanding that it was mind-bending, time-consuming, and required serious technical chops, they had only one thought in mind.

Su Xingyao is a legend!

With the double hype of celebrity influence and magical effects, netizens ultimately returned to the content promoted by the video itself.

Su Xingyao's promotional video highlighted several important scenic spots in Lvshui County.

It included both the sophisticated Xiangshan craftsmanship and various intangible cultural heritages, as well as idyllic landscapes like bamboo groves and flower fields, and night markets and urban scenes close to everyday life.

Originally, netizens were already very interested in Lvshui County after watching the show. Now, seeing more interesting things in the edited highlights, the whole video felt like a massive endorsement.

Many netizens left comments under Lvshui County's official promotion after watching the video, expressing their desire to visit.

"Thanks to Su Xingyao for making my hometown look way too fancy for me."

"Hahaha, I’m totally sold after watching it. I want to go there this weekend."

"Hotel’s booked, I’ll be there tomorrow. PS: Since we're all friends here, I’ll just say it! I’m dying to try the sour and spicy noodles Su Xingyao had!!"

"Sour what spicy what noodles? I’m planning to visit every place Su Xingyao filmed. He’s a genius at editing, every spot is so captivating, wuwu."

"Hey, sis above... you probably can’t go this weekend. Lvshui County hotels are packed."

"?????? How are you all so fast!"

"?????? Su Xingyao is making every place he touches a hit?"

In just one night, this small county with a long history but previously unknown suddenly became popular after the variety show aired.

After this wave of tourism popularity in Lvshui County, the local intangible cultural heritage, Xiangshan, also gained significant attention.

After all, Su Xingyao's two videos both highlighted Xiangshan craftsmanship as a key element, even using vector graphics to create picture-in-picture effects, meticulously showcasing the entire process of Xiangshan making.

Many were moved by the dedication shown in the Xiangshan making process after watching the video.

After learning about the craftsmanship, netizens who developed a great interest in Xiangshan updated their wardrobes with the latest fashion!

Overnight, the hand fans sold in the Xiangshan Guild's online store were completely sold out, and the official channel's message board was flooded with netizens who missed out on the fans urging them to restock quickly.

"Hurry up!! Restock now!!"

The six hand fans Su Xingyao painted for the guests during the filming of the show still left a deep impression on everyone.

There were fans with geography and advanced math designs tailored for students.

There were fans with peacock feather and cat-dog designs perfect for young people.

Even the fans with minimalist text designs favored by middle-aged individuals and the peony fans appealing to a wide age range were all available.

Six hand fans, each catering to different age groups, truly appealing to all.

So after seeing the show aired, when the five guests posted the fan designs painted by Su Xingyao on their personal pages, the netizens had another bold idea.

"The local government has already collaborated with the show crew. Can you also collaborate with Su Xingyao to release replica fans from his show?"

"Agree!! Pleading for a collaboration with Su Xingyao!"

"Pleading for collaboration +1!"

"My best friend, who has cancer, said she wants to own a fan co-branded with Su Xingyao before she passes. Please, I beg you!"

Worried the Xiangshan Guild might miss their messages, the enthusiastic netizens left comments on the local website after posting in the online store.

As a result, their enthusiasm overloaded the website.

However, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

The day after the show aired.

At 8 a.m., the Xiangshan Guild and the show crew suddenly announced the news of a collaborative cultural project between the Xiangshan Guild and Su Xingyao.

Since Su Xingyao's previous Weibo account is no longer in use, the show crew announced it on his behalf.

Fans' initial reaction to the news: ????? Am I dreaming???

But after carefully reading the official announcement, their inner OS became: Su is amazing!!!

After this news was announced, the fans and the audience who had already been inspired by the show shared the news far and wide.

They originally thought this collaborative project would take some time.

But unexpectedly, the Xiangshan Guild was well-prepared and went live at 10 a.m. that same day.

The fans to be sold this time were all the six replica fan designs painted by Su Xingyao that everyone wanted.

The Xiangshan Guild had signed a collaborative cultural project contract with Su Xingyao immediately after filming wrapped up.

But from the end of recording to the show's airing, it was less than a week, so the Guild estimated the situation and only produced six thousand fans.

Some Guild officials were worried about the president's decision, fearing the fans wouldn’t sell out.

But who would have thought, as soon as the link for the fans appeared on the Xiangshan official website, they sold out within seconds.

And in the live broadcast room on another platform.

The president, who had gone with the trend to start a live broadcast for this sales event, was interrupted by the backend team before he could even begin introducing the craftsmanship.

"President... hold off on the introduction, it's... it's gone... we can't put up the link anymore."

The president was totally clueless about what had happened, "What's gone?"

"The official website has already sold out all the fans..."

Mr. Su was shocked.

Other team members from the union in the live broadcast room were also stunned.

Although they had already seen the purchasing power of netizens last night.

But the official website's inventory was limited, only a few hundred fans, so selling out was no surprise.

But these six thousand fans, which seemed like a huge number, were gone in an instant...

The powerful purchasing power and enthusiasm of netizens completely overwhelmed the president.

Netizens who missed out on the fans flooded the live stream to vent their frustration.

"Ughhh, my payment froze for a second, and when I refreshed, they were gone??!"

"Are you robots? What kind of hand speed is that!! Gone in a second???"

"I clicked, and it was already sold out... I’m dead serious."

"Thankfully, my concert ticket-buying skills came in handy. My five friends and I camped online and snagged a cat-and-dog fan, hahaha!"

"OP, this unexpected fan skill is so useful..."

"Waaah, Mr. Su, please restock! I really want one too!"

Mr. Su looked at the barrage of everyone urging for inventory, equal parts amused and exasperated.

"But we only made six thousand... we can’t just magically make more."

Netizens couldn't buy and were anxious, so they immediately gave him advice.

"Then do a pre-sale!!"

"Pre-sale, yes!"

After figuring out how pre-sales work, Mr. Su consulted his team and, seeing the overwhelming demand, agreed to a pre-sale.

The team quickly set up six pre-sale links.

Once that was done, Mr. Su picked up the fan in his hand, ready to continue explaining the craftsmanship to netizens.

But then the backend team interrupted again.

Because the pre-sale link sold fifty thousand units right away...

The numbers kept climbing, quickly hitting two hundred thousand...

Seeing the numbers, Mr. Su panicked and told the team to shut down the pre-sale.

The live stream had to stop, and Xiang Fan’s official channels scrambled to post updates urging fans to calm down.

The fan design was generously provided by Mr. Su, and we’re incredibly thankful to him and all our supporters for their love of Xiang Fan. But this overwhelming demand has exceeded our capacity, so we’re pausing the pre-sale for now. QWQ Please, everyone, shop responsibly!

"Hahahaha, other companies would be thrilled to sell more, but you guys are begging netizens to stop buying because you've sold too much."

"This little mouse is all about rebellion, just want to spend wildly today."

"What's the difference between 200,000 and 300,000 (smirk)? Why not open another 100,000 links?"

"Seriously though, even if you open another 100,000 pre-sales, can you guarantee you'll get one?"

"That's a hard truth, my friend..."

A show successfully promoted Lushui County and its local culture.

Netizens who couldn't get the fans or book hotels could only relive the experience online.

Then they suddenly realized that Qingshan City had used the same strategy last time.

"It's the same story: last time it was Qingshan City, this time it's Lushui County."

"Seriously, Su Xingyao, you might as well switch careers and become a tourism ambassador, wherever you go, it becomes popular."

"Although it sounds a bit magical, the key is Su Xingyao's own talent, the special effects videos and fan painting skills are not something just anyone has."

"OMG, Mr. Su, please consider coming to my hometown!"

"Mr. Su, please, next time take a look at our small county too, our children's hometown also wants to be seen, sob sob."

Suddenly realizing Su Xingyao's ability to boost tourism, netizens started making memes and videos, initiating a challenge to invite Su Xingyao to record shows in their local areas.

Such meme challenges spread quickly on short video platforms, and soon many influencers and netizens jumped on the bandwagon.

For a while, almost the entire internet was buzzing with #SuXingyaoPleaseLookAtMyHometown.

Online trends come and go, and after this wave, the online viewership of "Let's Travel Together" surpassed 100 million views.

Even the rerun ratings of this episode on TV during the day outperformed all other channels.

"A Relaxing Weekend" had done so much preparation to sabotage and tie itself to "Let's Travel Together," but in the end, it couldn't withstand the good reputation and buzz of "Let's Travel Together."

Before the show aired, and with various promotional collaborations with Lushui County officials, the "Let's Travel Together" team had been tolerating the sabotage and plagiarism from "A Relaxing Weekend."

Now, after the post-viral chaos, the "Let's Travel Together" team, having handled all matters of this episode, directly posted a lawyer's letter on their official Weibo.

They filed a lawsuit against the relevant personnel of the "A Relaxing Weekend" team, accusing them of copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property.

At the same time, the show's planner also revealed the initial draft and timeline of the team's plan.

Netizens, who had been left in the dark, finally understood after seeing this.

"Wow, I wondered how two shows could have such similar processes and themes, turns out the other side poached their planner and stole their plan."

"So there's no such thing as identical, just someone playing the thief behind the scenes."

"It's such a pity, we could have seen the guests selling fans live, but it was hijacked by copycats."

"LOL, did your team specialize in thievery in some country?"

After this firm response from "Let's Travel Together," netizens looked back at the recent actions of "A Relaxing Weekend" and understood many things that previously didn't make sense.

"Stolen plans, no wonder they were in such a hurry to rush to air."

"They stole the plan, no wonder they posted so many hit pieces."

"The rival show has been smearing 'Travel' as monotonous, saying the production team didn’t effectively promote the local area and contributed nothing, unlike them, who did a live broadcast to boost the local GDP..."

"Hilarious, but the show you smeared collaborated with the local government to shoot promotional videos and had already partnered with the Xiangfan Guild for cultural creations. Now Lushui County has entered the top ten hottest tourist cities nationwide, and Xiangfan fans are sold out at 200,000... This is what you call not promoting with heart? This is what you call contributing nothing to the local area?"

"They stole their format and content, even snatched their live broadcast idea, but ended up doing worse than them. Who's the clown here? I won’t name names."

"Speaking of which, Su Xingyao is truly impressive. If it weren’t for his two videos turning the tide, our humble travel show would have been screwed by them."

With the comparison of this show, netizens finally understood how hard the production team and guests had worked when they watched this episode.

They also finally realized why Su Xingyao had to put so much effort into creating such challenging videos.

Although the final result was very good, even surpassing the original plan’s impact, this doesn’t mean everyone will tolerate such malicious competition.

So, after all the efforts of 'A Relaxing Weekend', before they could even enjoy the benefits for a day, their reputation took a nosedive with the audience.

Netizens went to the official website to demand that the person in charge come forward and explain, while also spreading the word about their despicable actions everywhere, urging everyone to boycott such a shameless show.

"Guys, this disgusting show also hired a bunch of trolls to smear, and fans have already dug out that they bought articles about Su Xingyao and Jiang Xunche."

"So disgusting, what a trashy show? Not focusing on content, just scheming and plotting, huh?"

"Stole the plan, maliciously smeared, trolls defamed, no way no way? Such a nightmare, and people are still watching it?"

As the incident fermented, all the underhanded tactics of 'A Relaxing Weekend' were dug up by everyone, and the newly released rating was also bombarded with one-star reviews by netizens.

After being roasted all day, under huge public pressure, the official Weibo of 'A Relaxing Weekend' finally issued an apology statement, announcing that all involved staff had been let go.

The TV station also issued a follow-up announcement, saying they would clean up and rectify properly.

But these were not the most fatal for the production team.

The most devastating blow to them was that after only one episode aired, the investors who had invested in them withdrew their funds overnight, and some even sued them for compensation.

Without investors, and with their reputation completely collapsed, this vile variety show had no chance of continuing.

When Su Xingyao woke up, these things had already been fermented and dealt with.

*

In the days after his birthday, in order to finish the promotional video for Lushui County and the vector graphics of the Xiangfan process before the show aired, he didn’t go anywhere, locking himself in his room.

Such a huge project, he hardly slept well these days.

Staying up late until the afternoon before the broadcast, finally finishing everything and sending it to post-production, he fell into bed and slept all day.

By the time he woke up again, it was already the next day.

When Su Xingyao went downstairs, he found Lu Jiuxu fiddling with his phone.

"Mr. Lu, good morning."

Seeing him up, Lu Jiuxu got up and handed him a cup of hot milk.

Looking at the dark circles under Su Xingyao’s eyes that hadn’t disappeared, Lu Jiuxu teased him.

"Su Cat, you’ve turned into a Su Panda now."

He spoke in a joking tone, but there was not a trace of a smile on Lu Jiuxu's face.

Instead, Su Xingyao smiled, took a sip of the warm milk, and casually pointed to his own face, asking, "Is it really that bad?"

His fingertips lightly brushed under his eyes.

Lu Jiuxu nodded gravely.

"Very much so."

"This time was a bit tight, so I overworked myself a little."

Lu Jiuxu chuckled, "Yeah, just a tiny bit."

As soon as Su Xingyao finished speaking, he noticed Lu Jiuxu's alarm vibrating.

Lu Jiuxu swiped open his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, and then helplessly turned it around to show Su Xingyao.

"It sold out the moment I opened it."

Su Xingyao looked closely and realized that the page Lu Jiuxu had been checking earlier was the official website for the scented fans.

Seeing the "sold out" sign, he recalled the alarm Lu Jiuxu had set.

Su Xingyao realized belatedly, "Mr. Lu, did you set an alarm just to buy a scented fan?"

Lu Jiuxu didn't answer directly but instead pulled up the link to the cat and dog fan designed by Su Xingyao.

"I wanted to get this one."

He added, "But it's too popular." Lu Jiuxu smiled helplessly, "I couldn't snag one."

Su Xingyao looked at the man who had set an alarm specifically to buy a fan of his own design and, without thinking, spoke up.

"Mr. Lu, if it's not too much trouble..."

"I can just draw one for you..."

Lu Jiuxu lowered his head and locked his phone.

But the corner of his mouth curled up slightly where Su Xingyao couldn't see.

"Then I'll have to trouble Teacher Su."

After promising Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao felt that drawing the same design as the one in the show would be too casual, so he quickly added, "Mr. Lu, do you have a favorite painting? I'll create a special one for you."

Hearing this, Lu Jiuxu's narrow eyes slightly narrowed, revealing a glimmer of light.

Lu Jiuxu looked at Su Xingyao, his voice gentle and slow.

"I love everything you draw."

After agreeing to draw a fan for Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao made a mental note of it.

But due to the aftereffects of staying up late, even though he had caught up on sleep, his mind was still hazy, so he didn't rush to start drawing while he wasn't feeling his best.

After dinner, Su Xingyao returned to his room.

His body was exhausted, but his mind was unusually sharp.

Lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, he took out his phone and started scrolling through videos.

The first video recommended by the short video platform was the topic #Su Xingyao, please take a look at my hometown# by netizens.

The platform recommended a video from a small influencer with over 700,000 likes.

The influencer filmed many scenes of their hometown and lavished all sorts of flattering praise on Su Xingyao.

Su Xingyao, who had no idea what was going on, initially wanted to open the comments to see what was happening.

The top comment was:

Official brand of a certain mosquito coil: Begging on our knees, Mr. Su, please collaborate with us. We don’t need tens of millions in special effects, just a million will do.

Second top comment:

A well-known cosmetics brand: Mr. Su, please look at us. We don’t need a million in special effects, just your presence.

Third top comment:

A domestic milk powder brand: Mr. Su, we don’t need your presence, just give us your contact information.

Netizens also left comments below with photos.

Mr. Su, please take a look at our small, humble city.

Mr. Su, please take a look at our small, humble county.

Mr. Su, please take a look at our small, humble village.

Su Xingyao read through the comments line by line, completely baffled: ????

Wow, everyone is just playing along with the awkwardness, right?

*

Su Xingyao frantically scrolled through the incomprehensible comments from netizens.

On the other hand, after the show's mishap, Jiang Xunche, who was tied to the announcement, was also dragged out and harshly criticized by everyone.

Not only him, but also Chu Zian, who was deeply in love, was similarly criticized.

The incident was so big that even Chu Zian, who was practicing in a temple in a Southeast Asian country, heard about it.

When he found out that his downfall and criticism were related to Su Xingyao, and that Su Xingyao's video had ruined his boyfriend's show, Chu Zian, who had just managed to stabilize his mental state, was terrified.

He quickly took out his phone and called Jiang Xunche, stammering as he spoke.

"Honey..."

"Is... is Su Xingyao... is he coming back to take revenge on us?"

Jiang Xunche, who was busy with public relations, was extremely annoyed, "What are you talking about?"

He noticed that since Chu Zian finished recording the show with Su Xingyao, he had become increasingly paranoid.

On the other end of the phone, Chu Zian seemed to be frightened by something, unable to articulate clearly, and kept repeating one sentence.

"It's... Su... he, he must be coming back to take revenge on me."

Hearing Chu Zian's eerie voice, Jiang Xunche, who had no idea what he was talking about, impatiently hung up the phone.

"You're crazy."