"Remember that idol drama that started filming around the same time as 'Starry Radiance,' starring Xu Youyou and Ran Yunrui? We were staying at the same hotel back then," Liu Rulan reminded him.
Xiao He suddenly remembered. "Ah, I recall now."
There had been a criminal hiding in Xu Youyou's room back then, and he had helped catch the person.
But Xu Youyou had been acting quite strange at that time... Now so much time had passed in the blink of an eye, and he had no idea what had happened afterward.
"'Clear Light Like Dawn' started filming almost simultaneously with 'Starry Radiance,' and they've just begun their promotional campaign now, with their broadcast date only one day after ours," Liu Rulan continued. "But their production team's tactics are rather baffling - purely annoying."
"Ah? What do you mean?"
Xiao He was somewhat curious.
"You definitely know about the situation between Xu Youyou and Su Shengxi," Liu Rulan said. "Yi Man'er has romantic entanglements with Su Shengxi in the drama, and combined with Su Shengxi's relationship with Xu Youyou, they're now deliberately tying Yi Man'er into the mix, intentionally creating a love triangle buzz while riding on 'Starry Radiance's' popularity."
"Ah?" Xiao He was shocked. "They can do that? Sister Man'er probably wants to tear both of them apart."
"Yes."
Liu Rulan showed Xiao He several headlines -
[Su Shengxi Stolen? Xu Youyou Shifts Affections]
[Xu Youyou Exits Love Whirlpool: Blessing Su Shengxi and Yi Man'er?]
[Is Three People's Love Too Crowded? With Ran Yunrui Added, You Four Should Focus on Living Well Together.]
Xiao He: Swipe Phone?
"What is this?"
Xiao He didn't understand, and was greatly shocked.
"Promotional headlines."
Liu Rulan said with pity in her voice.
Xiao He: "Ah?"
"Haven't you noticed? Nowadays drama promotions don't use character names but directly use actors' names, making it seem like they've officially announced something," Liu Rulan shrugged. "This is their method of driving traffic."
Currently, when platforms promote TV dramas, their titles are deliberately ambiguous.
For example, when it's actually the female lead in the drama who gets unexpectedly pregnant, various platforms insist on using the actress's real name in promotions. This leads to uninformed passersby seeing the pop-up headlines and instinctively thinking the actress herself is unexpectedly pregnant. Then, driven by curiosity and gossip-seeking mentality, they click in, only to find themselves redirected straight to the video app.
This tactic might effectively drive traffic, but it's not particularly friendly to actors, especially many female actors. These traffic-driving headlines will write anything to grab attention and generate clicks, with suggestive gossip topics being particularly common, making people feel like they've swallowed a fly - extremely uncomfortable.
Of course, male actors don't fare much better either - things like [XX Arrested], [XXX Sneaks Into Bedroom at Night], making it seem like male actors might end up on crime investigation channels just from acting.
And the reality is, this situation is mostly actively promoted by production teams and platforms, essentially done by their own people. In many cases, it's even tacitly approved by the actors themselves, since they can't afford to burn bridges with production teams and platforms over such matters.
Thus, this pathological actor traffic phenomenon has gradually developed into its current form.
"But why is Xu Youyou's team trying to ride on our drama's popularity?"
Xiao He asked what puzzled him most.
He had previously looked into 'Clear Light Like Dawn' somewhat.
This work was adapted from a well-known romance novel IP with a certain fanbase. Xu Youyou's fame and status were evident, comparable to Yi Man'er's. While Ran Yunrui might not match Su Shengxi, he was still considered a relatively high-ranking traffic star. An idol drama featuring these two should definitely make some waves regardless, with no worries about traffic.
Why would they come to provoke 'Starry Radiance'? It doesn't make sense!
Liu Rulan then remembered something. "Right, you probably don't know about this yet—"
She picked up her tablet, searched for something, then placed it before Xiao He. "You were busy filming during that period and might not have noticed this news."
Curious, Xiao He picked it up and took a look.
[Xu Youyou Meets New Lover at Night? Sugar Daddy or Real Boyfriend?]
"Tsk—"
Xiao He grew more serious, picking up the tablet for a closer look.
The accompanying images showed several photos: Xu Youyou holding a man's arm while talking, the man leaning close to Xu Youyou to adjust her stray hair near her ear, the man leading Xu Youyou into a black Bentley, the vehicle driving away from the scene.
Below were complete animated images - essentially a dynamic video of Xu Youyou holding the man's arm as they walked out of the hotel and got into the car together.
Xiao He was genuinely surprised this time. "She broke up with Su Shengxi?"
To be honest, since exposing their relationship, Xiao He hadn't paid any attention to whether they had broken up or stayed together. He couldn't exactly spend his days secretly checking other people's chat records, so he had no idea about their current situation.
But judging from this almost confirmed revelation, Xiao He guessed they had most likely broken up.
Though it made sense - someone like Su Shengxi clearly didn't seem like the responsible type. Their relationship was doomed from the moment it was exposed.
Still, Xiao He found this revelation somewhat strange too.
Especially the person walking with Xu Youyou... These photos and videos didn't capture this person's face clearly, so his identity remained unknown. But this car looked somewhat familiar...
Xiao He kept zooming in on the man's photos, when suddenly his gaze stopped on a ring that flashed briefly between the man's fingers - Xiao He remembered.
That traced back to the last day of last year, the New Year's Eve when he rescued people from the fire.
Xiao He had seen Xu Youyou back then, with two bodyguards following her as she got into a Bentley.
The same one from the revelation.
But that was shortly after he had exposed their relationship, wasn't it?
Were they already connected back then?
"Being exposed in relationships twice consecutively has significantly impacted her," Liu Rulan continued explaining, unaware of Xiao He's shock. "As you know, Xu Youyou has maintained a pure, innocent image all these years, usually marketed as the campus goddess, the pure first love. With this incident emerging, it's normal that many people can't accept it."
"Especially since the man she's reportedly dating now is said to be a developer's son from Hong Kong, an ultra-rich tycoon. He's dated both inside and outside the industry before, maintaining a playboy image - wealthy and fond of women. On the surface, he's had no apparent connection with Xu Youyou, so nobody expected Xu Youyou would end up with someone like him."
Under such circumstances, it's hard for the public not to let their imaginations run wild.