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Belamy20
The London premiere wrapped.
Cassius was back at the hotel fighting jet lag when Rob burst through the door, iPad in hand.
"Cass! You gotta see this!"
#Fast & Furious 5 Promo Tour
It shot straight to the top of Weibo's trending list.
The official movie account had just dropped the full Asia schedule: Beijing and Shanghai were first on the list.
Full cast confirmed—Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Cassius , and Gal Gadot would all be there in person.
The post was only three hours old and already had over a million reposts.
The comment section turned into pure chaos:
"Holy shit, Cass-ge is really coming home?!"
"Beijing! Shanghai! Girls, let's go!"
"Last time The Hunger Games got blocked for teen violence. This time we finally get to see him!"
"Pride of the Chinese people! Oscar nominee! Hollywood star who drives a real Dodge war horse!"
"Wait—does he count as returning home or just visiting? How does the visa even work?"
"Relax, he never renounced his Chinese citizenship like some stars who make money abroad and then sing 'I love the motherland' for clout."
"Anyone organizing airport pickups? I'm in!"
"Already checking ticket scalpers for the Beijing premiere—"
"Shanghai crew +1. Scalpers are jacking prices already."
Someone dug up Cassius's old Weibo from two years ago—the one where he posted a picture of himself eating instant noodles in his tiny Koreatown apartment with the caption: "Heading out. Hope I don't starve in L.A."
That ancient post exploded again, reposts and comments skyrocketing by the hundreds of thousands:
"From instant noodles to Oscar nominee. What kind of novel plot is this?"
"Cass-ge: Back then I only had dreams. Now I only have trophies."
"Someone put this in the textbooks: How an Actor Successfully Conquered Hollywood."
"So how the hell did he actually pull this off? Straight-up cheat code?"
Meanwhile, Wang Feng was in the middle of his concert.
During the emotional ballad segment he suddenly stopped the music and made a long, heartfelt public confession to Zhang Ziyi sitting in the audience.
Zhang Ziyi teared up.
#Wang Feng Concert Confession immediately rocketed up the trending list and was gunning for the top three.
Wang Feng's team went all-in pushing the story—press releases, influencer reposts, everything. Views shot past fifty million.
Then Cassius's return news detonated.
Within thirty minutes #Cassius Returns cracked the top ten.
Two hours later it completely took over.
#Cassius Returns smashed everything aside and claimed the number-one spot.
Wang Feng's topic fought for twenty more minutes before it vanished from the list entirely.
Netizens lost it:
"Wang Feng, sir… again? [doge]"
"Wang Feng: What did I do to deserve this?"
"Pro tip for Wang Feng's team: next time you drop big news, check Cassius's schedule first."
"That trending topic climbed for nothing."
"Wang Feng's Law strikes again: whenever something huge happens, Wang Feng never gets the top spot."
"Last time it was Cassius. This time it's still Cassius. Cassius is literally Wang Feng's kryptonite."
"Publicity budget wasted again. My condolences."
The meaner netizens made side-by-side graphs: Wang Feng's confession heat curve on the left, Cassius's return curve on the right.
The two lines crossed at 11 p.m., then Wang Feng's plummeted off a cliff while Cassius's shot straight up like a rocket.
Caption: "In the face of absolute heat, all confessions are just background noise."
The whole drama poured gasoline on Cassius's return story.
Even people who never followed entertainment started asking: Who the hell is this Cassius guy that keeps stealing Wang Feng's headlines?
Back at the London hotel, Cassius was scrolling through the domestic chaos on his laptop.
Paul and Tyrese were crowded around the same screen, watching the real-time Weibo trending list.
"Who's this Wang Feng dude?" Tyrese asked, confused. "Why does everyone keep calling him pitiful?"
"Famous Chinese rock singer," Cassius explained. "But the guy has terrible timing. Every time he tries to make a big announcement, something massive overshadows it."
Paul nearly spit out his beer laughing. "So this time we're the ones who buried him?"
"Yep." Cassius gave a helpless smile. "Second time, actually. Last time was when I got the Oscar nomination—he announced his divorce the same day. My news took the top spot, his disappeared."
Tyrese raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't he hate you then?"
"Actually his fans are thanking me," Cassius said, scrolling comments. "They say my heat is so high it makes his trending topics look even bigger when they get pushed down."
Paul shook his head. "Your country's entertainment scene is wild. In America, if someone stole my headline I'd at least tweet some shade."
"East-West differences," Cassius said, closing the tab. "Anyway, what are you guys most looking forward to ?"
"Food!" Tyrese answered instantly. "I heard Beijing roast duck is insane. And hotpot! I want the spiciest kind!"
"I want to see the Great Wall," Paul said seriously. "And the Forbidden City. I've been into Chinese history since I was a kid. Finally getting to see it in person is huge."
Gal pushed the door open, phone in hand. "Just got an invite from Chinese Vogue. They want me for a women's empowerment feature. Cass, how big is the focus on strong female roles in Chinese media?"
"Pretty big," Cassius told her. "You're going to be very popular."
"Perfect." Gal grinned. "I'm ready for my Chinese fans."
Director Justin Lin also sent a message in the group chat: "The leg is the most important part of the entire global tour. Whether we break records at the box office depends on these stops. Everyone bring your A-game."
Vin replied: "For Family."
Paul: "For Family."
Cassius typed back: "For Family."
That simple word carried a lot more weight now.
Back home, fans were already organizing.
Cassius's official Chinese fan club posted a detailed announcement with exact dates, times, and venues for all four stops. They urged everyone: "Chase stars responsibly, stay orderly, show the world what high-quality Chinese fans look like."
The comments flooded in with promises:
"Don't worry, we won't embarrass Cass-ge!"
"Already took time off—Beijing premiere, here I come!"
"Shanghai crew—anyone want to split a hotel?"
"Suggestion: don't mob the airport. Let's give Cass-ge a good first impression."
"We can line the red carpet, but keep it civilized."
What really moved Cassius were the fans who quietly donated books and sports equipment to remote mountain schools in his name.
They posted photos and donation certificates, tagging his account: "Doing positive things together with Cass-ge."
Cassius reposted it with two simple words: "Thank you."
The repost hit a hundred thousand in minutes.
Rob stared at the backend numbers, eyes wide. "Your traffic in right now is bigger than most A-listers. Hell, bigger than almost all of them."
"Heat comes fast and leaves fast," Cassius said calmly. "It all comes down to the work. If Fast 5 flops or my next movie bombs, these fans will disappear just as quick."
"So the pressure's even bigger?"
"It's always been there."
The night before departure, Cassius video-called Kristen in New York.
"You're going back to be a huge star?" she teased, smiling.
"Just going back to work," he said. "How's New York?"
"Cold!" Kristen turned the camera to the rainy night outside her window. "New film talks are almost done. It's an indie, director won at Cannes. Might start shooting next spring."
"Congrats."
"Same to you." She paused. "How are you feeling about going home? Nervous?"
"Yeah," Cassius admitted honestly. "I don't have family there anymore, but going home still hits different. And this time I'm going back as someone who made it. The pressure feels heavier."
They talked a little longer, then hung up.
Cassius stood at the hotel window, watching the London rain finally stop. The streets glistened under the lights.
Tomorrow the Asia tour began—first stop: China.
Cassius's return news had been fermenting for three full days. Different voices were starting to pop up.
The first attacks came from a handful of entertainment marketing accounts. The script was identical: "Question for the class: why is a Chinese actor who works in Hollywood getting this much hype when he comes back? We have plenty of great domestic actors and idols. Shouldn't fans support their own people more? #CulturalConfidence #SupportDomesticFilms"
"Cassius is talented, sure, but some fans are taking the worship-foreign vibe way too far. He makes movies in America, earns dollars in America. Welcome him for promo, but don't crown him the 'Pride of the Chinese People' and forget the actors grinding at home."
The comments filled up fast with fans of other popular young male idols:
"Exactly! My oppa works 300 days a year on set and never gets this kind of treatment!"
"Cassius's fans are hilarious. Their guy makes it big abroad and suddenly he's the national hero?"
"Instead of obsessing over foreign actors, how about supporting domestic work for once?"
"I heard he's actually pretty cold to Chinese fans in private. True or false?"
Cassius's fans tried reasoning at first, but quickly realized the other side wasn't interested in facts.
The big fan-club admins called an emergency online meeting.
"We're not taking this sitting down!" the account manager fumed in the voice chat. "They're calling him a sell-out. Where were these people when Cass-ge was doing charity work?"
"We need receipts," the content lead said, staying cool. "We've got the phone giveaways, the rural film project, the time he fought for Chinese international students—"
"I've got the data right here!"
Half an hour later, the official Cassius fan club dropped a massive long-image post listing every charity project, every fan giveaway, and every time he'd used his platform for good.
At the bottom, bold text: "He proves who he is with real actions. What about you?"
The post hit fifty thousand reposts in ten minutes.
The comment section became a battlefield.
Cassius fans: "This is what a real idol looks like—not someone who just buys trending topics!"
"Domestic idols do nothing but sell CP, push personas, and fleece fans. What else do they offer?"
"He gave away dozens of iPhones! Some idols scalp concert tickets to the moon and call that fan service?"
"Calling him a sell-out while he's out there breaking barriers for Asian actors in Hollywood?"
The other side fired back: "Donating money makes him special? Our oppa does charity too!"
"Giving away phones? Big deal! Our fan club organizes huge charity events!"
"Who knows if the student-rights thing is even real!"
"The roles he plays in Hollywood were written by Americans anyway!"
Things got uglier when one account dropped real dirt.
An entertainment watchdog account posted: "Speaking of 'pampering fans,' sources close to a certain L-list young male idol say his team organizes private 'fan meetups' where they hand-pick attractive female fans. The girls pay their own way and the idol shows up for 'special' time. Is this fan service or something else?"
Though no names were mentioned, the comments immediately zeroed in on several current heartthrobs.
One idol who'd built his whole image on being a "warm, doting boyfriend to fans" was exposed for hosting multiple high-priced private parties that only pretty, fit girls could attend.
That bombshell flipped the narrative.
"So that's how your oppa 'spoils' his fans, huh?"
"No wonder fan-club membership requires submitting photos for approval. Got it."
"You bash Cassius for 'worshipping foreign' while running this kind of operation? Hypocrisy level: expert."
"Might want to check the tax filings on those 'private events.'"
Public opinion started swinging hard in Cassius's favor.
Even neutral big entertainment accounts jumped in:
"@PoisonTongueMovies: Why are we even arguing? Look at the work. Cassius has an Oscar nomination and a global franchise like Fast 5. What do some domestic idols have besides data brushed by fans? The market will decide."
"@EntertainmentCapital: From a professional value standpoint, Cassius is already Hollywood A-list adjacent—ten-million-dollar paychecks. How many actors are at that level? Count them on one hand. Fan wars are pointless. Numbers don't lie."
"@FilmIndustryObserver: The fact that Spielberg personally invited him says everything about his professional standing. The attacks smell a lot like sour grapes from the competition."
The war raged all day.
By evening, several young idols' studios quietly deleted their shady comments.
Their fans dialed it way back.
But Cassius's fans didn't stop.
They put together even more detailed threads:
"How Cassius went from extra to where he is today."
"Why Cassius actually broke the glass ceiling for Asian actors."
"What Cassius has done for Chinese people while working in Hollywood."
"From 2 Broke Girls to Green Lantern—Cassius's real cultural impact."
The posts spread far beyond the fandom. Plenty of casual netizens who had never paid attention to Cassius read the threads and became fans on the spot.
"I only knew he was some Hollywood actor. Didn't realize he'd done all this."
"Quietly doing charity without turning it into ten trending topics? Huge respect."
"Giving away phones to regular students, not just big fans? That's real."
"His grind and breakthroughs in Hollywood are genuinely inspiring."
Cassius saw the whole fight playing out online.
He had been ready to step in and defend his fans himself.
Turns out they didn't need him—their fighting power was off the charts.
They'd already handled it.
He thought for a moment, then posted a simple update:
"Thank you all for the support. See you ."
Attached was a photo he'd taken from his London hotel room.
Netizens reacted instantly:
"While others are still fighting, Cass-ge is already packing for home."
"Can't wait!"
Rob sent him a private message: "Word is a few rival agencies aren't happy. You stole too much spotlight this trip and stepped on their turf. They might try some dirty tricks during the tour—planted reporters asking nasty questions, planted fans causing trouble at events, maybe even safety 'incidents.'"
Cassius read it and stayed quiet for a second.
"I'm ready," he finally replied.
"I know some people don't want me to succeed," he added, staring out at the London rain. "But a lot more people want me to. That's enough."
Rob clapped him on the shoulder. "Then we go straight at them. Universal already added extra security, and our Chinese partners are all-in. As long as you stay steady, nobody can touch you."
"Don't worry," Cassius said. "I've got this."
Finally, departure day.
The moment the plane lifted off the runway, Cassius watched the city lights shrink below and felt a long-tight string in his chest finally loosen.
Next stop: Shanghai.
Paul sat beside him, flipping through a travel guide. He was genuinely excited about Eastern culture and had even asked Cassius to teach him the coin trick.
Once the plane leveled out, the flight attendant brought meals.
Cassius ordered the Chinese set—rice, red-braised pork, stir-fried greens.
It wasn't authentic, but after more than ten hours in the air, that familiar taste made his nose sting.
He remembered the bowl of beef noodles he'd eaten at Capital Airport Terminal 3 the day he left two years earlier.
Sixty-eight yuan. Tasted terrible.
But he'd forced it all down because he didn't know when he'd get a real Chinese meal again.
Now, years later, he was going home.