Chapter 119: A Breakthrough?

As expected, the audience’s patience was rewarded. As the song ended, the screen cut to behind the scenes, where young Yifeng was sharing his thoughts. Still speaking in that distinct Cantonese accent, he said, "I have a special technique for recitation. For example, at the beginning of the poem, I pretend to look at the scenery all around..."

As he finished the sentence, Yifeng turned his head to gaze into the distance, feigning an appreciation of the view. The audience watching was nearly hysterical with laughter.

"Pretend to look at the scenery... Haha, that’s savage!"
"I have a special technique for picking up guys."
"You bastards are truly wicked, he’s just a child..."
"So, by all means, don't let him off the hook."
"Great translation, I’m dying of laughter."
"An Oscar-worthy performance!"
"..."

After staring at the scenery for a few seconds, young Yifeng snapped back to reality. He continued in his rhythmic, cadence-heavy Cantonese, "At the final line of the poem, I gaze upon a handsome guy."

After reciting the line, Yifeng paused again, looking around for several seconds before clearing his throat to explain, "Because Xiao Xi is very... she treats you all as friends, so it should be like this."

Before the audience could even finish laughing, the scene cut to the recitation competition judges. The judge in the video was earnestly analyzing young Yifeng’s performance.

"It is not easy to master this poem, as it tells the story of the author waiting for a friend—neither anxious nor complaining, but instead finding appreciation in the scenery of the dusk. The title is quite long, and Student Liang recited it with a strong sense of rhythm, which immediately commands attention. His eye contact and control over the phrasing were quite good..."

It was meant to be a serious, professional analysis in Cantonese, but to the audience, it sounded incredibly bizarre. There was no helping it; the tone had been completely corrupted by the fans.

"Serious nonsense."
"Eye contact and phrasing were good? You mean his acting was good, right?"
"Because it tells the story of the author waiting for a friend."
"Neither anxious, nor complaining."

"Having watched this, I never want to participate in a recitation competition again. It’s too embarrassing."
"Actually, the kid’s Cantonese recitation is quite good; it’s just that his facial expressions are too hilarious..."

Indeed, if it were just the Cantonese misheard lyrics, it wouldn’t be quite so funny. But when combined with those exaggerated expressions and gestures, it became a high-octane spectacle. Fans everywhere declared they had to go watch the original.

Seeing this video go viral again, content creators could only shake their heads and offer a wry smile. Truly, one video had birthed a new internet sensation. It went without saying that the Stardust platform would be flooded with such "ghost-animal" parodies by tomorrow. If this young Yifeng came to the Stardust platform as a streamer, his follower count could easily surpass a million!

It could only be said that the "Ghost-Animal" prowess and influence of the Great Angel were terrifying. The rest of us ordinary folk might as well obediently ride the coattails of his popularity; why bother trying to compete and make life difficult for ourselves?

Of course, with great popularity comes great opposition, and there was no shortage of jealous, green-eyed detractors. In such a short time, the guy had gone from a small-time creator to a platinum-tier streamer—there had to be something shady going on!

However, attacking him directly was out of the question. One only had to look at the Little Angel’s ten-million-plus follower count to know they would be torn to shreds in seconds, with zero impact on his popularity. At the very least, they needed a plausible excuse.

Why now? Because they had been too busy watching the videos to bother with sabotage, but now, the hired trolls began their work.

"The video is entertaining, sure, but isn't it wrong to smear people like this?"
"Vulgar! Look at what you’ve done to my Cantonese!"
"The day before yesterday it was Uncle Long, today it’s Yifeng. How many more people do you intend to smear?"
"How long can popularity built on the back of smearing others really last?"

For a time, not just the bullet comments, but the comment sections themselves began to feature these remarks, with a trend of spreading to other works. Seeing that their efforts were gaining traction, the hired trolls doubled down, attempting to stir up the audience’s emotions.

As long as more people saw these comments and internalized the narrative, they would develop a prejudice. When watching the videos, they would be influenced by the herd mentality and naturally feel a sense of disgust—and that was exactly what the trolls wanted.

But as numerous as the trolls were, they were no match for the sheer numbers of Luo Chen’s fans. Being caught off guard was one thing, but once the fans reacted, the trolls were the ones who collapsed.

"General trolls, when has the Little Angel ever smeared anyone? This video is just a song sung in Cantonese; you’re the ones who misheard the lyrics!"
"Exactly, didn't Uncle Long say he didn't mind? The person involved hasn't said a word, so why are you trolls trying to stir up trouble?"
"The Great Angel smearing people? You don't mean that guy Yuan Ning, do you? He’s already in prison—don't you think he deserved it?"
"His popularity is built on us fans, not you trolls!"

Though the trolls’ offensive was not weak, Luo Chen’s fans were simply too numerous—even a fraction of them numbered in the millions. Fortunately for the trolls, the fans were disorganized, each speaking their own mind, which allowed the trolls to cling to life.

The hired trolls still had some fight left, but they couldn't find any logical counter-arguments. When it came down to it, the fans weren't wrong. The Uncle Long incident would have been the best opening, but since Uncle Long himself said he didn't care, further attacks had little effect.

As for the protagonists of the other videos, Yuan Ning was in jail, which didn't count, and in this latest video, not a single vulgar word was mentioned from beginning to end. The official subtitles were just the lyrics; the misheard meanings were all in the audience’s own heads. Was there truly no way to break through?

No, there was still a way!

Wasn't the second episode of the "Ghost-Animal All-Stars," the love story between Lang Lang and Liang Liang, the perfect opening?

The "Lang-Liang" CP from the Three Kingdoms series started there. It was not only vulgar, but it also poked plenty of fun at the two protagonists. If the actors themselves saw it, how could they not be angry?

And so, the trolls seized this opportunity to launch a counter-attack. "You fans say the Little Angel has never smeared anyone, right?"

"Let’s see how you explain this!"