Chinese entertainment industry has been booming since 2008.

With the hit drama "My Love from the Star", the sales of Xuewei Beer experienced an explosive growth, which directly led to the complete sell-out of the stockpiled goods in the factory. Not only that, but many distributors were also frantically urging for more orders.

After hanging up a call from a distributor she was on good terms with, who was trying to elicit sympathy, Zhang Lin took a deep breath, picked up her phone, and her fingertips trembled slightly with excitement as she fiddled with the keys.

After the call connected, before Zhang Yang could even speak, Zhang Lin said impatiently, "Yangyang, I want to thank you for 'persuading' me to sponsor the TV series 'My Love from the Star' back then."

Zhang Lin's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy, to which Zhang Yang responded with a hearty laugh: "Big sister, you don't blame me for camping out at your office door every day anymore?"

Zhang Lin walked to the window and looked down at the bustling factory area: "It's not just strange, you know what? All the products we had stockpiled before have been sold out this time. Not only that, but because the distributors keep urging us to place orders, the production line is already running in three shifts."

She paused, her tone becoming wistful, "To be honest, when you first started promising me things, I thought you were just talking nonsense. But now, seeing the sales figures for Xuewei Beer, I understand your good intentions."

While Zhang Yang and Zhang Lin, the two siblings, were catching up, a tense atmosphere prevailed in the conference room of a well-known cosmetics brand.

Marketing Director Li Wei pointed at the multimedia screen, her face ashen: "Just because we refused the product placement deal with 'My Love from the Star,' our competitors' sales have tripled!"

The marketing manager whispered in defense, "Their asking price was indeed too high at the time, and nobody expected this show to be such a hit..."

"You didn't expect that?" Li Wei slammed her hand on the table. "Right now, all the major shopping malls are playing the theme song from 'My Love from the Star,' and GIFs of our competitors' products featured in the drama are going viral online. Do you know how much market share we've lost?"

A mobile phone brand is also filled with regret. Its marketing vice president lamented in an internal meeting: "Zhang Yang personally came to us, saying that the main cast of 'My Love from the Star' could use our phones, but we actually refused on the grounds of 'incompatible brand positioning'! Now, we've become a laughing stock."

...

Fan Bingbing's popularity skyrocketed, and many fashion brands invited her to be their spokesperson. When Zhang Wangshu said the line "The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death, but when I stand in front of you and you do not know that I come from the stars" in the twelfth episode, the line went viral on the Internet.

Netizens discovered that Zhang Wangshu's lines in the drama, which were both artistic and imbued with a touch of "Xing-style philosophy," perfectly resonated with the current generation of young people's desire for expression and pursuit of uniqueness. Some netizens even started to create humorous interpretations, summarizing his unique language structure as: "The most ____ in this world is not ____, but ____." Some enthusiasts have given this way of speaking an interesting name: Zhang Wangshu Style.

On the Tianya Forum, a question titled "How to express your current state using Zhang Wangshu's style?" has garnered over 20,000 answers.

The most upvoted answer reads: "The hardest wait in the world is not when the subway arrives, but at 4:30 pm on a Friday."

This was like flipping a switch, and netizens started using Zhang Wangshu's style of writing to create memes.

When self-comforting, those who are overly devoted to their partners say, "The most hurtful breakup in the world isn't saying you don't love me anymore, but saying 'You deserve better.'"

Office workers complain: "The longest meeting in the world is not the annual summary, but the ten minutes before leaving get off work."

Some brands also jumped on the bandwagon, such as a coffee brand that directly used the slogan: "The most beautiful encounter in the world is not a long-awaited reunion, but meeting a cup of fragrant latte on a drowsy afternoon." The accompanying picture was a scene from the coffee shop that Zhang Wangshu loved most in the drama.

Even the traffic police department adopted Zhang Wangshu's style of writing: "The furthest distance in the world is not the ends of the earth, but that you are right in front of me, yet you insist on running a red light."

In an interview, Fan Bingbing once joked about Zhang Wangshu's style of writing: "The most wonderful fate in this world is not love at first sight, but that I brought Zhang Wangshu to life, and Zhang Wangshu also made me who I am."

Fan Bingbing's interview went viral online, which made her influence even wider. After all, not everyone watches dramas, but everyone needs to socialize, which led to many people coming into contact with the character Zhang Wangshu, either actively or passively.

In this online linguistic extravaganza, "My Love from the Star" broke through the barriers of the entertainment industry and spread to other circles. Fan Bingbing, with her perfect portrayal of the character Zhang Wangshu, achieved the leap from star to cultural icon.

Fan Bingbing gained such great benefits, and Zhang Yang, as the male protagonist, naturally also reaped many advantages.

Authoritative media outlets even published a special feature analyzing "My Love from the Star": Insights into the "My Love from the Star" Phenomenon: The Way for High-Quality Artistic Works to Break Through to New Heights.

The article devotes considerable space to analyzing the character of "Li Qingyan," praising Li Qingyan's core as the Eastern concept of "subtle influence," and also as a beneficial attempt in creative philosophy—trusting the audience's aesthetic sense and daring to use "restraint" to express "extension."

The fashion world is also going crazy for Zhang Yang. The editor-in-chief of Vogue China released a cover preview a week in advance on his personal social media. Zhang Yang is wearing a custom-made black Armani suit, standing sideways in a halo of light that resembles a galaxy, with a cool gaze. The caption is just three words: "He's here."

This issue of the magazine sold out in just 1 minute and 28 seconds after online pre-sales began, setting a new record for the fastest sales of the year for the magazine.

ELLE magazine came up with a unique concept, creating a double cover for him as a "modern scholar." One cover features Zhang Yang wearing a purple Armani suit, looking down at ancient books among library shelves; the other features him wearing a beige trench coat, in a virtual space where digital code flows. The interview title is: Time Traveler - Zhang Yang.

The article states: "He sits across from you, discussing the character and performance in a calm and steady tone, with clear logic. Occasionally, when he falls into deep thought, his eyes, which have carried a thousand years of loneliness in the drama, will show a penetrating focus, making you instantly understand why 'Li Qingyan' can be so convincing."

Major portal websites have set up special pages for him in their entertainment sections, updating his activities regularly. The number of followers on Baidu Tieba (a Chinese online forum) for Zhang Yang has exceeded 2000 million, and the number of posts has surpassed one million. Within the Tieba, thousands of new analytical posts about his micro-expressions, clothing, and even walking posture are added every day. "Today is another day where I want to be the book on Professor Li's desk" has become a popular check-in phrase.

The emerging field of derivative short videos has also set its sights on "My Love from the Star." Some have drawn parallels between Li Qingyan's waiting and Baoyu's infatuation in "Dream of the Red Chamber," with a video titled "When Divinity Meets Deep Affection: On Li Qingyan's 'Unperturbed Dreams'" sparking a heated discussion about classical aesthetics and modern character portrayal.

In the drama, Li Qingyan's line, "Time is my cage, and you are the only key," has been quoted by countless relationship bloggers and hailed as the best confession of the year.

That's why there were no trending topics; otherwise, Zhang Yang and Fan Bingbing would have really dominated the trending topics list.