CDJMM – Volume 4 – Chapter 13 Filming in the Interstellar Era (13)

When asked who Liu Yinxiu hates the most right now, he would definitely answer without hesitation: “Old Scenery.”

He had no idea where this newcomer came from, but that guy had stolen countless opportunities from him!

Two months ago, he had already heard from a friend about the Rising Star Program.

In his eyes, this program was practically tailor-made for him.

He had only been on Qijiang Video Network for half a year, yet he already had over two hundred thousand followers on the platform, fifty-plus thousand video comments, and over a hundred thousand followers on Xingbo. Among newcomers, even if he wasn’t the top, he was definitely among the best.

His editor was Qianhe. As far as he knew, Qianhe was a new editor with very few big-name creators under her, so a promising creator like him would naturally be one of her targets. Their relationship was good too—they interacted often, and with his intentional flattery, he was the one who had the best relationship with Qianhe among all the newcomers.

So for this Rising Star Program, whether based on strength or connections, Liu Yinxiu believed Qianhe would surely recommend him.

Feeling confident, he had even hinted in his fan group early on, telling everyone to help promote him when the time came.

But when the official list came out, Liu Yinxiu was completely stunned. He checked the list over and over again from top to bottom—and his name was nowhere to be found!

What on earth was going on?

His fan group exploded too, with fans @-ing him nonstop, asking what happened.

Face dark as iron, he muted the group. They were asking him? Who was he supposed to ask?!

A selection that was supposed to be a sure thing ended up with him failing to get in. Nothing about this made sense! It absolutely reeked of shady business!

He immediately asked around, and eventually his friend leaked some insider info: every editor had three slots for the Rising Star Program. If Liu Yinxiu didn’t get in, that meant someone had taken his slot.

Who on earth was blocking his path?

Cutting off someone’s livelihood is like killing their parents.

Liu Yinxiu was so angry his eyes turned red. He swore he would never let that person go!

After relentless questioning, his friend finally told him the name—Old Scenery.

Liu Yinxiu vaguely recognized the name; he remembered that this guy was a well-known creator in the history section recently. Since Liu made videos in the remix/comedy section, their paths never crossed and they had no conflict of interest, so he never paid attention to him.

He had no past grievances or recent conflicts with Old Scenery—yet that bastard had stabbed him in the back!

Furious, he thoroughly investigated Old Scenery, and became even more convinced that something shady was going on.

Old Scenery wasn’t even a newcomer! He had absolutely no right to join the Rising Star Program!

He’d been posting videos on Qijiang for two years with basically no attention, barely over a hundred followers.

But in July, one of his videos suddenly hit the Xingbo trending list. Then his follower count skyrocketed—thirty thousand in just a month on Qijiang, and another thirty thousand on Xingbo. Who would believe there was nothing suspicious about that?

If Old Scenery made the same kind of viral remix/comedy content as Liu Yinxiu, that would be understandable. After all, the remix section was the hottest area on the site, filled with dark horses rising out of nowhere.

But Old Scenery made history videos! Everyone knew the history section was the coldest, nicknamed “the North Pole.” And he even chose the coldest of the cold—ancient Earth history. And yet he made trending lists? Gained thirty thousand followers? Got millions of views? Got selected for the Rising Star Program?

Liu Yinxiu sneered. If Old Scenery didn’t buy trending spots, buy followers, and buy engagement, he’d eat his keyboard.

Did they think everyone else was an idiot?

He gritted his teeth, forced himself to calm down, and subtly brought up the issue with his editor, Qianhe.

But Qianhe replied: “Old Scenery’s selection complies with the site’s rules. Your numbers are still a bit unstable this year. Work hard, and you’ll definitely get in next year.”

Liu Yinxiu was so angry that he became calm.

He understood now: Qianhe and Old Scenery were in it together. Who knew what their relationship was—relatives? Lovers?

They were just bullying him for not having connections!

He went to his fan group and hinted at his suspicions. As expected, everyone got riled up and agreed with his assessment, believing the entire thing was blatant corruption—that Old Scenery must have engaged in some shady deal with Qijiang’s higher-ups.

Group members said:

Cannon Fodder’s Name: Damn, who does this guy think he is?! Does he think we’re blind?

Friend, do you need APTX4869?: Old Scenery? Who the hell does he think he is?

Cannon Fodder Doesn’t Deserve a Name: You’ve been wronged, we’ll definitely help you get justice!

Liu Yinxiu replied insincerely: Everyone stay calm. He’s got connections high up. A small fry like me can’t afford to offend him…

But then—

I’m giving up on naming them: Actually… Old Scenery’s videos are pretty good. I don’t think his popularity is bought?

Yanxi, chosen because her ID is nice: +1, maybe there’s some misunderstanding?

Liu Yinxiu’s lips curled into a cold smile. He hated Old Scenery even more. That brat was really sneaky—he had planted spies in his fan group so early? And he himself had been oblivious until he got stabbed.

He immediately kicked the two “spies” out and posted an announcement saying that any of Old Scenery’s spies would be kicked immediately.

He didn’t forget grudges. He had been looking for a chance to get revenge, and soon the opportunity arrived.

This time, Qijiang held a youth-themed competition—and Old Scenery participated too!

Not just to save face but to get revenge, Liu Yinxiu swore he would defeat Old Scenery fair and square, slap him in the face with results, and expose this hype-buying fraud!

And indeed, the public’s eyes were sharp—trash was trash, completely lacking ability.

He watched Old Scenery’s ranking drop all the way to fifty-something, while he climbed into the top ten with real strength, leaving Old Scenery far behind.

Ha. Facts speak louder than words. What use was being selected for the Rising Star Program? He still crushed him.

Feeling triumphant, Liu Yinxiu posted on Xingbo:

“Some people don’t do real work and only think about shady tricks. Instead of buying trending tags, bots, and views, why not put that effort into making proper content like I do? The audience isn’t blind—they can tell good from bad. This vote shows the truth, doesn’t it? Trash is trash. Hope he’ll honestly focus on creating content from now on.”

He wasn’t satisfied and even tagged Old Scenery publicly in the comments. Secretly, he hoped his fans would take action and curse Old Scenery for him.

But he didn’t expect that the person he replied to was actually Old Scenery’s fan. Not only did they NOT help him—they scolded him back.

But would Liu Yinxiu back down?

In his view, most of Old Times Scenery’s stupid fans were bought—just zombie followers. There were hardly any genuine, emotionally invested fans.

He himself had over two hundred thousand followers—would he be afraid of some washed-up marketing nobody?

So he immediately posted that reader’s comment on Xingbo, letting his own readers see just how disgusting Old Times Scenery’s braindead fans were.

Within minutes, dozens of indignant comments appeared, defending him and calling out the unfairness. Some of his fans even wanted to dox that “braindead fan” to vent his anger for him.

Liu Yinxiu’s eyes curved with pleasure; only now did he finally feel vindicated. The suffocation he had endured over the past month evaporated instantly.

He thought of how Qianhe had said that Old Times Scenery being selected for the Rising Stars Program complied with the platform rules. And now? Wasn’t this a slap in the face?

He took a screenshot of his ranking against Old Times Scenery’s and sent it straight to Qianhe, mocking: “Wow, how strange~ I thought Mr. Scenery, who got into the Rising Stars Program, would at least make it into the top ten~”

A while later, Qianhe replied with one sentence: “Have you ever actually watched Old Times Scenery’s videos?”

Liu Yinxiu curled his lips and answered carelessly: “I’m pretty busy filming my own videos, so I only watch content with real substance.”

Qianhe replied instantly: “Then I recommend you watch Old Times Scenery’s videos. You’ll understand that the voting ranking doesn’t mean much.”

Liu Yinxiu almost laughed out of anger. The facts were right there, and Qianhe was still whitewashing Old Times Scenery? He was seriously suspecting what kind of relationship Old Times Scenery and Qianhe had—was Old Times Scenery his dad or something for him to defend him this hard?

If Old Times Scenery’s content was really that good, how could his ranking be so low? Saying the vote ranking doesn’t matter—ha! If that’s the case, why even hold a competition? Just decide the winners internally!

Since Qianhe and Old Times Scenery were obviously colluding and covering for each other, why should he keep suffering under him?

He contacted other editors and expressed his desire to switch editors. They enthusiastically welcomed him. Liu Yinxiu felt triumphant—if this place didn’t want him, somewhere else would! Qianhe would regret missing out on tomorrow’s superstar!

But as if fate wanted to mock him, everything changed that afternoon.

The first to fall was his Xingbo comment section.

Large numbers of Old Times Scenery’s fans flooded his page demanding an apology. His post, which had only a few hundred comments, shot up to three or four thousand—and the number was still rising. His private messages exploded as well, constantly showing 99+, full of countless netizens claiming to be Old Times Scenery’s fans hurling insults at him.

At this point, Liu Yinxiu could still comfort himself that these were all bots hired by Old Times Scenery.

Apologize? Impossible. He hadn’t said anything wrong! Old Times Scenery was a marketing nobody. These bots only proved he was right!

To avoid seeing these irritating messages, he simply closed his comments and posted another Xingbo, expressing his brave resolve to fight against the “evil forces” to the end:

[Liu Yinxiu]: Since when is telling the truth not allowed? I’m just not afraid, bold, and honest. Old Times Scenery’s dogs, feel free to keep cyberbullying me lolol

After posting, he shut off his light-brain device. He’d been busy campaigning for votes recently and barely slept the night before. He was genuinely tired, so he decided to take a nap.

He didn’t know how long he slept; he was awakened by his phone ringing loudly.

Annoyed, he picked up the call and snapped, “Hello? Who is this?”

“Yinxiu! Something’s happened!”

It was the admin of his fan group—an old, loyal fan—so Liu Yinxiu toned down his attitude and lazily asked, “What happened?”

“Go check Xingbo—Old Times Scenery bought a trending topic to hit back at you!”

“What?” Liu Yinxiu instantly woke up.

He quickly sat up, opened Xingbo, and clicked through the trending topics one by one. Soon, he found one titled: “The Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action.”

A marketing account with several million followers wrote:

“To prove their idol Old Times Scenery isn’t a nobody, sixty-year-old Grandpa Wang, fifty-five-year-old Granny Liu, and retired Auntie Zhang studied how to vote in fan competitions.”

A short video followed: several elderly folks with silvery hair sitting in a row, listening to a young girl teach them fan-circle voting procedures, nodding seriously and taking notes like elementary school students.

The comments were full of “hahahahahaha”—everyone found the post hilarious.

Some of Old Times Scenery’s fans seized the chance and used the tag “Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action,” explaining the entire situation.

Half-Day Leisure: #Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action# I’m 53 and rarely use Xingbo. My granddaughter told me about this. Old Times Scenery is a good creator—deep, meaningful videos. If such a good creator is considered a nobody, then I truly fear for young people’s aesthetic judgment.

Short-Furred Inkblot: #Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action# This is my first post. My son told me I need to use the tag for people to see it. I hope it worked. I just want to ask… I’m old, I get tired, and my son needs to study, so I don’t have the energy to vote. Is there any kid willing to help auntie vote? Don’t worry, I’ll give pocket money.

White Tiger and Whale: #Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action# Trash Liu Yinxiu get out of Qi Jiang! You’re the real nobody! Don’t think everyone buys bots like you! I haven’t been in fandoms for years, but back in the day I led thousands of girls. You want to be cyberbullied? Come on, I’ll make your wish come true!

Xue Yang’s Little Mo Ci: #Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action# Honestly? Kids today get too little homework. With time to stir up trouble online, they should just do more practice papers. I think I have students who are Liu Yinxiu’s fans… To help them build proper values, I assigned an extra test paper today. pushes up glasses

Little Mountain Ghost Who Loves Reading: #Silver-Haired Elderly Brigade Forced Into Action#  OMG LOL! Old Times Scenery is a national treasure!!! I was just a passerby, but after seeing the trending topic I went to watch his videos—and they’re AMAZING!! I screamed like a groundhog! Please go watch “Young Marquis at Fenglang Juxu”!!! kneels begging

The more Liu Yinxiu read, the darker his expression became. He checked his own page and, unsurprisingly, everything had collapsed. Since his latest post had comments disabled, many netizens dug up his old posts to insult him. The ridicule was endless.

He went to Qi Jiang Video to check Old Times Scenery’s votes—his ranking had jumped from the fifties to fifteenth place. He was only twenty-something thousand votes behind tenth place—behind him!

He was furious.

These keyboard warriors!

What’s so great about Old Times Scenery? Just because he has money? If Old Times Scenery could buy trending topics and bots, so could he!

He angrily entered his fan group, ready to play the victim and get his fans to crowdfund trending topics and votes for him.

However—

Wheatfield and Locusts: Sorry, I’m unfollowing. Old Times Scenery’s work is just better! It’s amazing! Liu Yinxiu’s work is trash! He is the real nobody! (shouting) I’m leaving the group.

Fell Asleep While Writing: Sorry, big bro. My mom is a fan of Old Times Scenery. She’s furious that I follow you and cut off my allowance 1551. Bye, I’m quitting the group.

Today’s Update Is Shorter: My teacher is also a fan of Old Times Scenery… She brought up this situation in class today and said we need proper aesthetic standards (:з」∠) I’m quitting the group.

Tomorrow I’ll Try 6000 Words: Sigh. My grandma begged me today to teach her how to vote for Old Times Scenery… Yinxiu, I’m sorry. You can have countless idols, but you only have one grandma. I’m quitting.

Liu Yinxiu’s face resembled a knocked-over bucket of paint—so colorful it was comical.

Everything had spiraled far beyond what he expected. He never imagined it would reverse on him like this!

The only comfort was that most of the group still supported him. That soothed him a little.

Most people still had brains. Those few brainless idiots could leave if they wanted—he had plenty of fans and didn’t need them!

Them leaving was great—now the group was full of “his people,” and he could discuss plans openly.

Sure enough, several fans came up with a suggestion:

Finished Writing Today: “Have you watched Old Times Scenery’s early videos? Incest between grandfather and granddaughter, human-beast romances, deranged crimes… All kinds of pornographic and violent, morally corrupt content! This kind of creator should be banned!”

See You Tomorrow: “Yes yes! I watched too—absolutely disgusting! Since they bought trending topics, we should buy one exposing all this, let everyone see how twisted the creator they’re defending is!”

See You Tomorrow x2: “Even better—@Renren Daily, Purple Pavilion, and other official media. Let the authorities speak up. Then Old Times Scenery is done for!”