WIIAD? Chapter 44: December
It’s unclear which netizen edited this, but the footage is full of Qilin and Laobai looking innocent and then being deceived in various ways.
For viewers with a low laugh threshold, this segment is enough to make them laugh until they can't breathe.
Netizens even took screenshots and made reaction memes out of the two of them, with a line of text below their bewildered expressions: "Where is the basic trust between people?"
Once these memes came out, they spread rapidly among fans, and as the topic gained more traction, the two quickly trended on social media within a day!
Everyone knows Laobai, after all, his sitcom from back then was extremely popular!
But not many people are familiar with Qilin. However, after some investigation, people were almost blown away!
Such a scholarly-looking person actually has so many exaggerated titles!
Wang Xiaohua was also surprised by this trending topic, but she was very good at seizing opportunities and immediately started hiring online promoters to build up Qilin's persona and attract fans!
This time, the growth in Qilin's fan base was astonishing. In just a few days, Qilin's followers on Weibo surpassed two million, and his followers on Douyin exceeded 1.5 million.
These weren't just bots but real, solid numbers!
And the name Qilin was becoming increasingly well-known among netizens.
...
"Cut! Great! Thank you all, take a break!"
After the director shouted cut, the crew instantly became lively.
Li Yue came over with her small makeup bag, checked Qilin's makeup, and then left.
"Hey, Brother Qi, you're really popular online now! So many people are using your reaction memes!"
The actress playing Wang Xiaoya leaned in next to Qilin, showing him his reaction memes on her phone.
Qilin looked at a couple of them and said helplessly, "Why are these memes all ugly? Can't there be a few handsome ones?"
The actor playing Zhao Li also joined them, "Oh come on, reaction memes are meant to be funny, not good-looking."
Among the three, Wang Xiaoya is a complete newcomer!
This is her first time acting in a web drama; in fact, she hasn't even graduated yet, so this counts as her internship.
The actor playing Zhao Li has had a few roles, but they weren't in big productions and he isn't well-known.
Qilin didn’t expect that he would be the one with the most acting experience among the three of them, an 'old-timer'!
But because of this, the crew atmosphere was quite good. With no big-name stars, naturally, no one acted like a diva.
Initially, the two of them were worried that Qilin might be difficult to get along with, especially since he is now 'famous'!
But who would have thought that Qilin was completely unpretentious, always joking around with them and not behaving like a star at all.
Since the biggest 'celebrity' wasn’t putting on airs, the others naturally wouldn’t either.
The three of them were chatting about Qilin's reaction memes when the director, having finished talking to the script supervisor, cleared his throat and said,
"Alright! Everyone, get ready. All departments on set, prepare for 'Ghost Bed' Scene Two! Action!"
"There's one in my house, a female ghost, and my husband raised her,"
In the convenience store, the female lead of this episode slowly began to tell her story.
Because she didn’t like mass-produced designer clothes, after getting married, Qingqing decided to start her own business and opened a boutique custom clothing studio at home.
Influenced by her husband, she became interested in folk art and began collecting materials to enrich her design style.
Since Xia Dongqing didn’t have any lines in this segment, Qilin had a much easier time, only needing to be a listener.
"Soul Ferry" is an anthology series, similar to the style of American TV shows, with almost every episode telling a new story.
Because of this, almost every episode features a new main character.
The current Qingqing, a top graduate from Yan Ying, unfortunately had limited opportunities due to her average looks. Finally, she landed a role in a web drama and poured all her effort into the performance!
The lead actors in the other episodes were in similar situations. Some of them even received the script before Qilin and put in a lot of effort to fully understand their characters.
With such perfect performances, the director immediately approved the take and moved on to filming the next scenes.
This filming process had a significant impact on Qilin because he began to try acting out the roles himself!
This might sound a bit confusing, but it's actually quite simple to explain.
In his previous films, Qilin mostly relied on imitation.
For example, when filming a crying scene, he would mimic Zhang San's crying and use it to portray Li Si's crying scene.
Although his performances were good, they weren't truly his own; he was just copying.
While filming this series, Qilin started to create his own interpretations.
Using the techniques taught by his acting coach and his own innate understanding, he began to portray the characters in the series!
As a result, his acting might have declined a bit, but it gained a new sense of originality!
...
Time quickly passed, and it was now December. Qilin had been filming with the crew for over a month.
Half of the web series was already shot, and as the actors grew more in sync, the filming pace accelerated.
However, one day, Qilin was called away by the "New Liang Zhu" crew for promotional activities.
The "New Liang Zhu" crew had finished filming, and the post-production work was done. The release date was set for New Year's Day, and they were actively promoting it.
Even though Qilin's popularity had waned a bit, they couldn't miss the chance to use him for promotion during this period!
Since it was a film produced by his own company, Qilin couldn't refuse. He asked the director for leave, allowing the crew to film scenes without him.
The promotional activities were simple; Qilin just needed to attend a press conference, while the main cast would handle the subsequent promotions.
Early that morning, Qilin, Wang Xiaohua, and others arrived at the press conference venue.
Qilin wore a tailored black suit sponsored by his brand, as stipulated in his contract.
Whenever Qilin attended important events in the past two years, he had to wear the endorsed suit.
When Qilin arrived, the main actors Han Xue and Hu Zichen had not yet arrived, but Director Wang was already there.
Seeing Qilin, the director laughed heartily and walked over.
"Qilin, long time no see! How have you been these days?"
Qilin shook the director's hand with a smile, "Thanks to you, I've been doing okay."
"Hey, kid, why do you seem so distant after just a few days apart?"
The director patted Qilin's shoulder with a smile and praised him after looking him up and down.
"You're really a natural-born actor! By the way, do you have any availability next year?"
Wang Xiaohua, standing nearby, subtly stepped in front of Qilin and shook hands with the director.
"Oh? Do you have big plans, Director Wang? To be honest, even though my brother doesn't have many works yet, his schedule is quite tight."
...
NEXT