Chapter 18: The Most Beautiful Woman in East Asia?

November 15, noon—the Cold Clothes Festival.

At a dormitory building of the Beijing Film Academy, Yang Jin hung up the phone with a strange expression and walked outside. One of her female classmates followed, incredulous, and said, “Jin, was she calling you again to shoot another commercial? This is unbelievable. The TV drama you acted in with Chen Kun and Lin Xinru hasn’t even aired yet, so how did you become famous so quickly?”

Since officially starting to build her online celebrity status on the 11th, Yang Jin’s beautiful photos had been spreading across various websites throughout China…

She had suddenly become a sensation!

Those who were out of the loop were still being teased by friends and classmates to go online, gossiping about the campus beauty of Beijing Normal University. Real people were even coming to the campus to find Yang Jin, especially young men from Beijing Normal, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Beijing Jiaotong University.

It was like they were all fired up, to the point that the campus security team at Beijing Normal was almost overwhelmed. There were even some local toughs driving by just to check out the scene. Meanwhile, those in the know were calling nonstop, inviting her to shoot commercials.

The offers were changing every day.

Of course, with over 20 million internet users in China, there were plenty of amateur beauties and handsome guys. Some were unwilling to accept Yang Jin’s upgraded, filter-enhanced beauty, and posted pictures of their own school’s stars.

But under the onslaught of organized online groups, none could compete!

As the two whispered while walking, Che Xiao suddenly rushed over. “Jin, what’s the highest offer you’ve gotten for a commercial?”

Yang Jin paused, gave an awkward smile, and said, “A shampoo commercial—they’re willing to pay me ten thousand yuan.”

Che Xiao fell silent. Zhang Songwen, who had just walked over, was amazed. “Wow, so we can create celebrities like this? A Yu is incredible. We’ve spent some money these past few days, but it’s not that much.”

Their cohorts from the classes of ’99 and ’00 were gradually mobilizing, each leading a segment of the grassroots online armies.

It was noon, and everyone was taking the opportunity during lunch to scout for more online operatives and check if the recruited ones were slacking off.

For context, Pang Bing earned only 1,800 yuan per episode for her role in the classic series "Princess Pearl," making just 36,000 yuan for the entire series. Su Youpeng from the Little Tigers debuted with 2,000 yuan per episode.

In just a few days, Yang Jin had gone from a “newcomer” to earning ten thousand yuan per commercial?

Che Xiao was a bit excited. “So Senior Wen Yu can make anyone famous just like that?”

Che Xiao was either not very greedy or just had time on her hands. While her classmates were stirring up trouble, she decided to join in and try. Her family was well-off; her father had played the Golden Horn King in the 1986 version of "Journey to the West."

She was constantly involved in projects and didn’t lack access to film resources through her mother.

But she never dreamed they could so easily fabricate a “most beautiful campus belle at Beijing Normal” out of thin air.

Zhang Songwen laughed twice, then said, “Are we still going to the internet café to check things out? If so, let’s hurry up. The more people we recruit, the louder the rumor gets. Jin, I bet it won’t be long before you’re getting offers of twenty thousand or even thirty thousand yuan.”

With those words, all of them were ignited with renewed zeal.

……………

That same November 15, noon.

Li Wenyu was on the campus of the Agricultural University, in a secluded yet scenic spot, taking photos of his junior, Huang Shengyi. Huang’s current look was nearly perfect as a mute girl.

This was the most glamorous look Huang would ever have in her life.

After finishing the photoshoot, he told Huang, “Alright, we’re done. You can get ready to become famous. Here’s a tip: if any netizens recognize your real identity and bring up your past, just deny it and bluff your way through.”

Huang nodded, curious. “Senior, what exactly are you up to? It feels all mysterious and strange.”

Huang had only joined the Beijing Film Academy in September this year. Among the freshmen of ’01, there were still quite a few talents. She herself hadn’t yet joined the online army groups led by the ’99 and ’00 classes. But when Senior Li approached her and asked if she wanted to be famous, she nodded.

So she came along.

As for Li Wenyu? She had heard the name occasionally and knew there was a senior in ’99 who looked better and more spirited than Huang Xiaoming and Chen Kun. She had seen him in person just two days ago.

In the past couple of days, under Li Wenyu’s guidance, they had developed the mute girl look and honed her temperament.

Li Wenyu smiled and shook his head. “I’m not trying to be mysterious. Some things are hard to explain. Let’s go. You can take a cab back to school and wait for your rise to fame.”

“This new post will pit the most beautiful campus belles of the Agricultural University against Beijing Normal University, letting netizens nationwide debate between you two.”

After leaving the Agricultural University campus and parting ways with Huang Shengyi, Li Wenyu got into Pang Bing’s car. Pang Bing eyed him suspiciously. “This whole campus belle rivalry seems to have overshadowed the buzz around 12-22-08.”

Li Wenyu sighed, “It’s no big deal. Those two are just maids compared to you. If only I had enough capital, we could ride this momentum and take off.”

This rivalry could attract a massive online audience to a new platform, a valuable resource. Unfortunately, Tencent had 50 million registered users and a million concurrent online, having just secured financing from South African media.

After some thought, Li Wenyu decided to let it go—the internet bubble was in a cold winter.

His words brought a bright smile to Pang Bing’s face. “I’m not as strong as you say. What’s our next move?”

Li Wenyu lit a cigarette. “We’ll spread the suspected campus belle rivalry from Beijing Normal and Agricultural University to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea. We’ll fan this flame together. The Hong Kong and Macau online armies need to expand massively. We’ll create a beauty pageant event to crown the top new generation beauty of East and Southeast Asia.”

“You’ll take over in early December, and with the online armies deifying the event, you can smoothly push the release of ‘Shatan’!”

During the wild development phase in mainland China, there were fewer rules. Riding on the Beijing Normal and Agricultural University hype was fine, but going overseas meant the online armies had to clearly mark the theme.

Then they’d ride on the beauty queens of Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand!

A direct competition: if you don’t believe it, show your school’s beauty queen. The entire internet would vote with their feet.

The fire was growing hotter. Li Wenyu felt that, combined with the 12-22-08 strategy, they could push ‘Shatan’ to earn over 50 million yuan at the mainland box office.

This was like the internet version of the TVB Miss Hong Kong and ATV Miss Asia beauty pageants!

Online armies would argue fiercely, with the Hong Kong and Macau teams hyping Yang Jin and Huang Shengyi as more beautiful than any beauties from the island nations or South Korea. Eventually, they’d agree to crown Pang Bing as the first new-generation beauty of China in 2001, dominating the island nations and Southeast Asia.

When the verbal battles reached their peak, ‘Shatan’ would premiere. With the calls of Rong Ge and Hua Ge, the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the island nations would be glued to see just how beautiful the number one beauty really was, debating if any island or South Korean beauty could compete with Pang Bing. The topic would be unstoppable.

Of course, when Pang Bing stepped forward and the online armies admitted she was more beautiful than Yang Jin and Huang Shengyi, she could be branded as a “former Beijing Normal University campus belle” for added flair.

He had already emailed all this strategy to Brother Rong.

Brother Rong had also prepared more promotional funds to support the online armies. When assistant Xiao Hu communicated with him, he said Brother Rong was stunned after seeing the sequence of moves, silent for a long time.

Brother Rong even wondered if he had tuned into the wrong channel… Was this film promotion? This was way bigger than the 1980s Miss Hong Kong pageant, and it cost far less!

Even if the investment from filming to promotion rose step by step to ten million Hong Kong dollars, the massive hype and rhythm of the East and Southeast Asian beauty pageant would be fully assigned to ‘Shatan.’ Spending a few more million would surely be a safe bet.

The 12-22-08 campaign had already stirred enough buzz outside, attracting attention. Many netizens remembered that number, and some distributors had already offered two million Hong Kong dollars for distribution rights to ‘Shatan.’

Recently, ‘Shatan’ had just finished its Cantonese dubbing and soundtrack.

Li Wenyu first suggested to Brother Rong to ask for 30 million to avoid losses, but distributors would definitely negotiate. Now Brother Rong was more confident and in no rush.

Before the release, nodding would secure two million—profit guaranteed.

Pang Bing was completely stunned. What kind of bizarre strategy was this?

No matter how confident she was, she wouldn’t dare claim to be the top beauty in East and Southeast Asia. She nervously patted her belly and nodded. “I’ll listen to you.”