Peninsula: From Water Injection to Stardom

As one of the two most popular boy groups in China during this period, the sudden appearance of an EXO-related entry in the trending searches naturally attracted many people to click and see what it was all about.

Clicking on this trending topic leads to an article written by a prominent marketing account.

[#The Current Status of Chinese Green Card Holders Boycotted Because of EXO# From the four members who returned to China to the present, how difficult is it for Chinese green card holders to survive in South Korea?]

[Early this morning, I came across a replay of former BTS Green Card member Kang Yeon's solo comeback in South Korea.]

[I was originally curious to see how this boy would perform after leaving the group and starting over, but after watching the entire live stream, I was completely speechless.]

[Shortly after the live stream began, the chat section was suddenly flooded with aggressive comments; it was practically a case of cyberbullying!]

[Upon reading this, the editor couldn't help but ponder: Why are Chinese green card holders subjected to such malicious targeting? What are the reasons?]

Let's rewind to the past, when EXO's Chinese members successively terminated their contracts and returned to China, thus beginning the era of the "Four Returned Members".

While there were valid reasons for this, it has indeed caused a crisis of trust and considerable animosity towards "Chinese green cards" among the South Korean public.

The attacks Jiang Yan received during this live stream are merely a microcosm of yet another concentrated outburst of this hostile sentiment.

But I have to ask, is this fair?

Why should someone who came after EXO pay the price for the departure of the original members? Why should someone who came after them suffer the consequences of their actions?

Jiang Yanming hadn't done anything wrong, but even so, those who hurled insults at him still wouldn't let him go.

[I'm not a fan of his, but today I want to say something for this innocent Chinese boy who was dragged into this mess: You've worked hard. If you can't hold on, come home. There will always be people here who want to listen to you sing.]

This article, a few hundred words long, was written with great emotion and even included clips from the live stream below. It also thoughtfully translated some of the unfriendly comments.

This series of combined punches is so powerful that even casual viewers can immediately empathize and relate to the situation.

"Before clicking, I was wondering how outrageous it could be, but after reading it, my blood pressure went up!!"

"Those who left EXO did really bad things, they dug so many pits for the people who came after them."

"He was being bombarded with insults in the chat and he still managed a smile the whole time. His mental fortitude is incredible! If it were me, I would have shut down the stream and cried under the covers..."

"Just because of this mentality, I became a fan."

"After seeing the trending topic, I specifically searched for his live stream replay. To be honest, I became a fan, not because he was in such a bad situation, but because he sings really well."

"No, am I the only one who noticed how amazing his singing was? He didn't seem to need to breathe at all throughout the entire performance; that's definitely professional level!"

"What a handsome guy! He's really pitiful, but his singing ability is also really strong."

"I'm now announcing my investment. Any sisters want to DM me and join me in a group purchase to support this project?"

"..."

The "beautiful, strong, and tragic" persona is a very appealing one, and right now, in the eyes of these casual observers, Jiang Yan embodies this image.

This wave of trending topics was naturally created by Jiang Yan himself last night.

After speaking with Du Hua on the phone, he held an emergency online meeting with Yuehua Entertainment's domestic marketing department to plan the marketing copy for this "beautiful, strong, and tragic" character.

Coupled with the classic "introduction, development, transition, X" rhetoric of later fan circles, the reason why the live broadcast was attacked by Korean men was tied to EXO for marketing purposes.

The copywriting on the marketing account was also written by Jiang Yan himself and sent to the marketing department overnight, which is why he only slept for less than four hours.

However, at this time on Weibo, apart from passersby empathizing with the situation, domestic EXO-Ls felt very wronged and something was amiss after seeing this trending topic.

No, if you're going to blame someone, why not name those who left the group? Why bring up the EXO label?

"What's the meaning of this trending topic? What did EXO do to deserve this? Those who left the group weren't even members of EXO anymore, why should EXO be made to take the blame for what they did?"

"The title directly includes EXO's name; these marketing accounts have no bottom line when it comes to trying to ride the wave of popularity!"

"South Koreans have been xenophobic for a long time, and you're blaming us for all the criticism? Who is Jiang Yan? If you don't know him, don't try to piggyback on my fame."

"As an EXO-L, I'm speechless. Haven't those members leaving the group caused enough damage to EXO? EXO is also a victim, thank you."

Fans argued their case on Weibo, directly blaming the third party.

However, the fighting spirit of the fans of Pao San was not to be underestimated, and a major battle undoubtedly broke out between the two sides.

As a result, several related trending topics appeared on Weibo.

As for Jiang Yan, the beneficiary, she gained a lot of attention and popularity and then made a clean getaway.

Of course, many people have also spoken out, saying that Jiang Yan being criticized during his live stream had nothing to do with the "Run Three" incident, and that it was his own problem.

However, once the public has already determined the direction of public opinion, these words will be directly suppressed and ignored.

Because no one can definitively prove that these two things are completely unrelated.

The negative impact of EXO's departure from the top three is real, and it's also true that the living environment for Chinese green card holders is objectively much worse than before.

Why couldn't the South Koreans who attacked Jiang Yan's live stream have been affected by the "Runaway Three" incident?

This is impossible to explain no matter how you try.

In particular, the general public in China is naturally inclined to favor Jiang Yan, who is a fellow countryman.

……

After the initial recording of "The Champion Show" ended, Jiang Yan, who was sitting in her van after leaving the TV station, observed the situation through her Weibo side account.

Seeing that the public opinion was trending in a direction similar to what he had expected, he closed Weibo with satisfaction.

He turned to look at some unread messages on Kakao, which were sent when his phone wasn't with him during the recording of the stage.

Kim Seolhyun found out about what happened in the live broadcast room in the early morning at some point, but since she knew that Kang Yeon had gone to the TV station, she did not choose to call him, but instead sent many messages of concern.

Besides Kim Seolhyun, Yoo Jeongyeon also sent him a string of messages on Kakao, expressing her indignation on his behalf.

However, what surprised Jiang Yan the most was that Mina also sent him a message.

Even though he had added Kakao as a friend before, the other party rarely sent him messages.

We only got closer last time because we talked about games, and afterwards I would occasionally take the initiative to chat with him on Kakao.

But Jiang Yan wanted to complain a bit. Chatting with Mina was actually quite torturous because no matter what the topic was, she would take a long time to reply.

This way of chatting made him very uncomfortable. After all, as an older Chinese person, typing three sentences per second and replying instantly is the norm.

[Mai Mina: Hiko-san, playing this game can make you feel better www (picture)]

Seeing this message, which seemed to be recommending a game but was actually expressing concern in its own way, Jiang Yan thought for a moment and then edited a line to reply.

[Jiang Yan: Thank you, Mina-san, I'll go have fun. #smileyface]