Sister Sa nodded heavily. "Understood. If those scumbags mess with you again, they'll have to get past me first."
Jiang Ling dominated three trending topics overnight.
With overwhelming and unstoppable popularity, she announced to the artists in the industry that she, Hu Hansan... cough, cough, the resurgent Jiang Ling, was back.
However, the immense success of "The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber" not only benefited Jiang Ling but also propelled Le Zhengyu to stardom.
Le Zhengyu had been at the bottom of the second-tier artists, his popularity on the verge of slipping into the third tier.
This was precisely why he had dedicated himself to honing his acting skills and pursuing a career transformation.
If he couldn't make a living from fan traffic and didn't undergo a transformation, he would have to change careers or settle for minor, insignificant roles.
Now, by portraying Jin Shiyi, he and Jiang Ling were trending simultaneously.
A single trending topic saw his follower count skyrocket by over seven million overnight, and it was still climbing.
According to the criteria for a second-tier artist's promotion to top-tier in the entertainment industry of the parallel world's Dragon Kingdom.
If a second-tier artist's follower count surged by five million overnight due to a specific role, their path to top-tier status was essentially secured.
Le Zhengyu's seven million fan increase overnight had far surpassed this threshold, making his ascension to top-tier a certainty.
Capital and businesses always had a keen sense for trends.
Just the morning after Le Zhengyu's fan surge, his agency upgraded his contract from a silver-tier for second-tier artists to a gold-tier for first-tier, granting him greater authority and more resource allocation.
Concurrently, endorsement contracts from various major brands poured in, offering him a wide selection.
Wherever Le Zhengyu went now, fan support groups would follow, with adoring, infatuated fans chanting "husband" and "brother" in turns.
Seeing this, Sister Sa said to Jiang Ling with a hint of envy, "As top-tier artists, why did Le Zhengyu become popular so much faster? You had to work tirelessly on three roles just to return to the top tier. Isn't that incredibly unfair?"
Jiang Ling smiled faintly. "There's nothing unfair about it. Most fans in the entertainment industry are women. Like repels like, while opposites attract. Handsome and talented male artists are inherently more likely to become popular than female artists of similar caliber. Look at the top-tier female stars in the industry; none of them became top-tier without starring in several hit productions. It's already a great stroke of luck for me to return with one lead role and two supporting roles."
Sister Sa, hearing this, agreed wholeheartedly. "Indeed, the entertainment industry also favors men. Female artists not only find it harder to become popular but are also more susceptible to exploitation by powerful figures in the industry. Sigh, it's just too difficult to be a woman."
"While a female artist's career path is indeed more challenging than that of a male artist, it's not without its advantages. Male artists rise fast and fall even faster. Rapid, explosive fame in a short period isn't necessarily a good thing for artists. Popularity can lead to arrogance, and men are generally less resistant to temptation than women. Drunk driving accidents, drug use, prostitution, infidelity, cheating – any one of these can cause their careers to collapse overnight. Out of the top-tier artists whose public images have crumbled in recent years, nine out of ten are men."
Jiang Ling had a clear understanding of the differences between male and female celebrities and didn't feel the entertainment industry was biased towards men.
Compared to the rapid rise and equally rapid fall of male stars.
She preferred the slower, more stable progression of other female stars, building a solid foundation step by step to become an evergreen presence in the industry.