When will I be the queen

Chapter 479 Popularity
"People like you and me, who come from families with a life of luxury, still often say they are unhappy. So how do those who struggle to make ends meet, those who are seriously ill, and even those living in war view the meaning of happiness? My mother said that what people actually pursue in life is peace of mind, stability, and self-satisfaction."

If Cai Cai were a viewer, she would say the same thing: "As a viewer, after seeing a woman being violently harmed, I hope that after she obeys the law, the perpetrators receive the punishment they deserve, she receives financial compensation and a sincere apology, and she can bravely face life again with hope and still have love for everything. I don't want her to respect and obey the law, only to have her rights not protected, the perpetrators go unpunished, or the perpetrators confess and be brought to justice but still feel proud of their evil deeds and consequences, without any remorse or apology to the victim, only regret for not killing her. She is desperate about life, resentful and disgusted with everything."

But often, many scripts only develop the story later on. It's as if only in this way can social problems be reflected and women be protected.

"If a fictional woman can't be protected even in a fictional story, what about in reality?" Cai Cai has always felt that most realistic scripts are unnecessary. There are tons of documentaries about real-life crimes, and social news reports are updated daily with all sorts of evils. People see far too much of reality, yet they never get a resolution. Many victims die, even their families die, before the perpetrators are caught, and there are still cases unsolved and unpunished. Can't there be a resolution in a script?

"In other words, after creating anxiety, how can the plot provide relief, comfort, and make the audience feel that there is still hope in life and that life is still happy? No one really hates a naive and innocent character; what they hate is when a naive and innocent character makes a fool of themselves, pretending to be happy when they are not, or making a mess of their own lives when they are actually happy."

Cai Cai felt that if the Immortal Lord's standards were applied, then there would be no point in even considering scripts with female themes. Oh, no wonder he wrote the Ninth Princess script; he simply couldn't find a suitable female-themed script. But, the Ninth Princess's plot wasn't exactly refreshingly unconventional, was it? Oh, compared to the numerous other character settings that demand the female lead be beautiful, kind, and innocently beautiful without realizing it, the Ninth Princess was quite unconventional.

"So, there are some stereotypes about independent women. The character's appearance is always tight-fitting, low-cut clothes, exaggerated and gorgeous accessories, red lipstick, pointed high heels, and the persona is that she loves to drink, drives herself, has a good job with a high income, her parents are divorced or from a single-parent family, she is surrounded by handsome men, and as you said, she looks down on men and shows off her feminist consciousness. Isn't that a good character? Absolutely a good character. Moreover, aren't these accumulated stereotypes the audience's impression of independent women? Isn't that great? As soon as the character appears, the audience can remember her."

Cai Cai sometimes feels that there are too many stereotypical characters, but the fundamental reason why there are so many is still the audience's impression.
“Using gender relations to depict women’s awakening and independence is the simplest and easiest way to write. Who is the most famous female character in the Four Great Classical Novels? Pan Jinlian, of course. With a plot revolving around male-female relationships, you can add many other characters, like female supporting character one, female supporting character two, male supporting character one, male supporting character two. Once the framework is built, the script is ready, right? You can use modern, ancient, or even fantasy genres as a framework.” Cai Cai thought this was wonderful.

The immortal sneered, "A woman grows up at home until her twenties without awakening or becoming independent, goes to school for over ten years without awakening or becoming independent, and then meets a man, gets married, and has children, and suddenly she awakens and becomes independent?" Listen to that yourself, even the immortal sneers at the thought of being a resentful woman.
Cai Cai sighed, "So, men are always thinking like beneficiaries and can never sympathize with women."

"..." Your sigh sounds so affected.

Cai Cai did it on purpose, smiling smugly. "Let me tell you why women suddenly awaken to independence after marriage and childbirth. It's because women are in the position of mother. Before a woman becomes a mother, the societal norms for her, though different, basically all advise her to be a good woman—beautiful, confident, intelligent, and gentle. But after becoming a mother, whether from the outside world or within the family, almost everyone advises her to endure one thing: endure. Endure the pain of childbirth, endure the discomfort of breastfeeding, endure the postpartum pain, endure raising the child, endure educating the child, endure the absence of the husband, endure the affairs of the in-laws, and endure the affairs of her own family."

“Being a good woman and being a good mother are two completely different states of life. That’s why many women awaken to this after marriage and childbirth.” Cai Cai believes the most direct way to understand this is through adjectives. “Beautiful and gentle can describe a woman, and they can also describe a mother, but when it comes to mothers, the adjective that usually comes to mind is ‘great mother,’ and the word ‘great’ is rarely used to describe women.” Unless the woman has made outstanding contributions and achievements.

Cai Cai pointed to herself, "I only realized this after working for a while, reading so many scripts, and observing the realities of film sets. The entertainment industry is already one of the most women-friendly industries, yet it still can't escape the constraints placed on women." She continued, "When I first heard a crew member say on set, 'You're menstruating, you're dirty, you can't sit here,' I was truly stunned."

Although she had heard rumors about some strange rules for women on set, Cai Cai had never encountered them until she heard with her own ears that her clothes were dirty.
Good grief, "Menstrual blood is real bleeding! Not only is there no medical assistance, but it's also dirty! It's blood, real blood! Why don't you complain about it being dirty when you need a transfusion? Just because it comes from between the legs, it's dirty? Does everyone in the world's menstrual blood come from between women's legs?"

"Hmm," the immortal thought for a moment, "it's not necessarily because they find it dirty, it's just a habit. When I was in school, if a girl got her period and it got on her pants, she would complain that she'd dirtied her pants and the chair."

Cai Cai glared at the Immortal Lord. "What he said about being dirty and what you said about getting your pants dirty are two different things, okay? Why are you siding with the man?"

"I am a man, but I really didn't side with men. I mean, the person who said that is probably just used to saying it, and didn't really mean any harm."

Cai Cai nodded. "I understand, I know. He even meant well, worried that the actress would be criticized. I'm not trying to make a big deal out of it, but this kind of habit is just a long-standing contempt and discipline of women, isn't it? So, it's impossible to expect female characters to have a self-awareness from birth that isn't brainwashed or disciplined. Arranging for women to get married and have children, and then awaken to independence after rich life experiences, makes the plot richer, and the audience gets a sense of psychological satisfaction."

Let's get back to the script.

The Immortal Lord thought to himself, "You don't need to defend that person behind the scenes like that. Maybe he's just using their position to embarrass the actress." But there was no need to say anything more. He nodded, "I only realized the various problems with female-centric themes and characters after I started choosing scripts for you. In my opinion, none of them were good scripts." So he wrote the script for the Ninth Princess himself, and after the screenwriter refined it, the Immortal Lord was quite satisfied. But Cai Cai still found fault with everything he said.
Mei Zhang then came over and said, "Stop talking for now." The live stream was filming you guys, and you've been arguing the whole time; the comments section is also full of arguments.
The Immortal Lord picked up his phone and glanced at it. Cai Cai also took a look. Oh dear, the Celestial Court has entered the fray.
[The Immortal Lord is simply chasing a mouse.]

Cai Cai doesn't appreciate kindness.

It's said that Cai Cai doesn't accept commercial endorsements because it's a rule set by the Immortal Lord.

The immortal lord finds it annoying that he meddles so much.

[Cai Cai gets upset even when a senior actress tries to mentor her.]

[Where did this senior come from?]

[The immortal lord is just bored and has nothing better to do.]

These two really don't have any feelings for each other.

Didn't you say you'd known each other for a long time?

Knowing someone doesn't mean you have a good relationship with them.

[The two don't have a bad relationship, they just argue sometimes, as Cai Cai and Xian Jun have both mentioned before.]

[The Immortal Lord didn't know to give way to Cai Cai?]

【Cai Cai is really domineering】

There were also many comments from the Celestial Court congratulating the Celestial Lord on winning the award, but because there were so many comments from casual viewers, the Celestial Court's comments couldn't be overshadowed.

Cai Cai was a little confused, "Why is it that when I'm just talking normally with the Immortal Lord, it's seen as arguing?"

Gu Sheng handed the tablet to Xianjun and explained the question, "Because neither of you are talkative people." Xianjun's silence is a consensus both inside and outside the industry, and Cai Cai's silence is a well-known fact. Even though Cai Cai is quite talkative in interviews, she is clearly a girl who is not good at expressing herself.

Fine.

"So why do celebrities go to so much trouble to create a persona? It's all seen through by the discerning eyes of the audience."

"A persona can be acted out and hyped, but a real personality can't be hyped." Because a real personality is generally not popular. "What the audience wants is the persona they see for themselves, whether that persona is real or fake." Some artists are shrewd, some are too lazy to hide it, and some can't hide it at all.

Then, Cai Cai glanced at Si Chen, who had been quietly pretending to be invisible but was actually quite conspicuous, and asked, "Why isn't anyone talking about you?"

That hurts.

Si Chen glared at Cai Cai, "Even ten of me combined wouldn't be enough to take you two by now. Who would discuss a grain of sand in front of a mountain?"

"..." Cai Cai felt sorry for Si Chen. "I'm sorry," she said, "but you can't be sand, can you?"

"I'm just a rock, there's no difference, not much bigger." Cai Cai quickly grabbed his arm. "That's why I've been feeding you resources so you can mooch off me. You're the one who had to be so picky."

"You look thick-skinned but are actually as fragile as paper. How could I possibly try to touch you? You're not a celestial being. What if I don't manage to touch you and you get burned, and then I get dragged down with you?"

Cai Cai punched Si Chen, "You think you're all talk, huh?!"
Si Chen gently cupped Cai Cai's fist. "Even though it doesn't hurt me, it's still a hassle if your hand hurts. Look at you, you can't stand me telling the truth, okay, okay, I'll just brush against you."

"Don't worry about it, you're going to trouble yourself!" Cai Cai was really getting angry at Si Chen. He was definitely one of her own, knowing exactly how to annoy her.

Just then, a staff member came over and told Cai Cai to get ready; she was about to receive her award. And sure enough, it was still the most popular artist of the year. Cai Cai ranked third; excluding Xian Jun and Cheng Yinzhu, she had the highest popularity. Just like before, if it weren't for Cheng Yinzhu, she would have been the most popular female artist.

Sigh. It would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed, but the popularity data is real, so there's nothing to regret.

“Cao Xin is ranked fourth. His fans say that Cao Xin is having a run of bad luck this year,” Si Chen said.

"." Cao Xin's life seems to be free of the word "bad luck," right? Her fans are so considerate.

After another performance, Zhou Haoran immediately announced that the "Most Popular Artist of the Year" award would be presented. The big screen displayed the popularity data, which was constantly changing, but the top ten were already decided before the event even took place at Huamei. In other words, before the awards were finalized, the top twelve, excluding the male and female popularity winners, were guaranteed to receive the "Most Popular Artist of the Year" award. The reason for the limited award title this year is that Huamei twice locked in a one-year timeframe.

In other words, regardless of which of these ten artists falls out of the top ten after the initial selection, it won't affect their chances of winning an award. As long as they're in the top ten, they'll receive an award. However, whether someone who falls out of the top ten after the initial selection but still wins an award will be ridiculed, embarrassing, or feel fortunate is another matter entirely.

It's certain that artists will fall out of the rankings. It happens every year. The top five are generally secure, but the bottom five face a significant risk of dropping out. This is because popularity is unpredictable; nobody knows where the audience's attention will go.

"This year is even worse. Besides the Immortal Lord and that female artist from H country, there are also you and Cao Xin. All eight of them have fallen out of favor," Si Chen shared gossip with Cai Cai.

Cai Cai was genuinely unaware of this. Looking at the big screen, she saw that the popularity data for each artist was very high.

"It only shows the data of the award winners, not the real-time top ten data of the trending list." That's a way of saving face.

Cai Cai said it was quite humane.

"No, because the data on the trending list is publicly available. Everyone can easily compare and see who has fallen off."

Cai Cai felt that the organizers couldn't be blamed; it seemed difficult no matter what they did. "This is quite respectable, actually."

"This is just stirring up trouble. Every year, the fans of celebrities who are in the top ten of the trending charts fight fiercely with the fans of celebrities who have fallen out of the top ten."

"." It's all thanks to the fans' love. Cai Cai looked down at Si Chen's phone; they were already arguing.

Zhou Haoran began announcing the list of award winners, introducing each artist's work after each name, including those that had already aired and those that were about to air. On another large screen, videos of the artists' works and trailers for new projects were played, along with artistic and personal photos of the artists. In short, it was a comprehensive showcase, also promoting the artists.

With such impressive viewership and broadcast coverage, this promotion is truly top-notch.

The first person introduced was Cai Cai. Zhou Haoran talked about Cai Cai's works and roles, showing videos of Cai Cai's highlights in her roles—independent, radiant, and mostly visually appealing. The rest showcased her acting skills. Zhou Haoran also showed Cai Cai's homework, emphasizing her new work, "The State." Most of the artistic photos were stills from her dramas, and the photos were mostly red carpet shots with a few everyday photos; there wasn't a single selfie.

Then there's Cao Xin. Cao Xin has even more work than Cai Cai, with her videos being a hodgepodge, and she also has many personal photos, including a large number of selfies. The other artists also have many selfies, both photos and videos. Because some artists don't have many works or new projects to promote, to keep up with the previous ones, and to avoid looking too bad, content from their personal accounts is used.

It was only then that Cai Cai realized that compared to other celebrities, her personal performance was practically nonexistent. She didn't take any selfies. Because she didn't have a phone, nor did she know how to take selfies with a camera or video camera.

None of that really matters. The key point is that Cai Cai felt she was already working very hard to present herself, manage her image, and strive to be a well-rounded artist who openly embraces her private life. But the reality is, she hasn't. Cao Xin, on the other hand, is diligently and seriously managing his image, including his private life. Many of his selfies are taken while eating or working out.

Cai Cai wanted to ask the Immortal Lord, but the timing wasn't right; the staff had already come to fetch her.
Zhou Haoran read out Cai Cai's name on stage and invited her to come up first.

The year's hottest celebrities are announced one by one, then walk alone across a dazzling stage to receive their awards. This is a highlight moment specifically designed for the award-winning artists. And the higher their ranking, the longer they stay on stage.

The most popular artist also enters the stage in the same way, only their solo performance is more dazzling and the stage is longer. From beginning to end, the most popular artist is the only one on stage. For trending artists, as more and more people join, those ranked higher stand in the center position, while those ranked lower stand on the periphery.

It's such a blatant case of differential treatment. Those who are popular and those who aren't, it's immediately obvious.

Immortal Lord and Si Chen stood up with Cai Cai. They could tell that Cai Cai had something to say, or rather, to Immortal Lord, but it wasn't the right time. Immortal Lord met Cai Cai's eyes and gave her a reassuring look, then watched as Si Chen escorted her all the way to the stage.

With Si Chen supporting her, Cai Cai didn't even look down as she walked up the steps; she just looked up, waved, and smiled at the camera.

A huge cheer erupted in the arena. Si Chen waited until Cai Cai stood on the stage before leaving.

Cai Cai glanced back at Si Chen before taking a step forward. A total of stage equipment, including a flying camera, was simultaneously filming, providing a truly 365-degree, no-blind-spot view. Besides the large screen displaying the live broadcast, the entire venue was showing footage from various angles.

Cai Cai smiled at every camera, taking each step with composure.

Cai Cai walks so steadily!
It's that kind of calm and composed steadiness.

[For Cai Cai's age to be able to walk like that, I'm really curious about Cai Cai's family background.]

[They're supposedly just an ordinary family in Beijing.]

Judging from Cai Cai's accent, she's from the inner city of Beijing; she's not an ordinary person.

Even ordinary families have their differences.

[Si Chen's family is wealthy. Cai Cai is related to him, so they can't be from an ordinary family, right?]