Because of the apology incident involving Le Xuanji, which was still trending and lingering on Douyin's hot charts, when Little Ran's short video was released, it immediately lit the fuse, causing the heat to explode and instantly shoot up the hot search rankings.
Originally, this matter was only circulating among Le Xuanji's fans and within the art circle.
But now, it had expanded beyond those circles, and everyone started to pay attention to it.
Just three hours after the short video was released, it had already soared to the top three on the hot charts.
People were discussing it in droves.
"Oh my god, what's the deal with this Little Ran? Is she trying to retaliate against Le Xuanji? She even called Le Xuanji a joke, but I think she herself is the joke. Le Xuanji is a famous beauty painter and the granddaughter of the renowned Chinese painting master, Le Chang."
"Heh, this Little Ran is probably just trying to hype herself up by riding on Le Xuanji's popularity. She's really desperate for fame!"
"Yes, yes, yes, we can't let this scheming woman leech off our Xuanji's popularity. Quick, go leave comments under Xuanji's video channel telling her not to pay any attention to Little Ran. Let's all ignore Little Ran's videos too. Don't engage with her and see how she can make a fuss all by herself!"
After a while, a new hot search term shot up the charts—"Phoenix Nirvana".
What was this? Why did such a random term suddenly become a hot search topic? It was baffling.
People's curiosity piqued, and when they clicked into it, they discovered it was a short video posted by Little Ran.
Damn, this scheming woman actually paid for a hot search!
Le Xuanji's fans were about to rally everyone to ignore "Phoenix Nirvana", but they found themselves unable to peel their eyes away.
The video began with a beautiful hand casually painting, and Le Xuanji's fans didn't think much of it at first. However, as time passed, a phoenix gradually took shape on the paper, then spread its wings, surrounded by flames, and was reborn from the ashes with a clear cry...
It was as if a real phoenix was undergoing nirvana and rebirth amid the blazing fire before their very eyes.
The fans unconsciously held their breath, not daring to move even an inch, for fear of disturbing the fiery phoenix in its nirvana.
When the three-minute short video ended, they were still immersed in the previous shock, unable to come back to their senses.
After a long while, the fans finally let out a gasp of cool air.
She opened the fans' group chat and frantically shouted: "Ahhh, quick, go watch 'Phoenix Nirvana'! Go watch it now!"
What about Le Xuanji? What about Little Ran? The fans cast aside everything, their minds occupied solely by the fiery phoenix.
Even now, her soul was still trembling.
"I've already watched it. Oh my god, who is this Sister Little Ran? She's too amazing!"
"I was wrong. I need to apologize to her."
"Guys, do you think if I kneel down and apologize now, Sister Little Ran will forgive me?"
...
By this point, the "Phoenix Nirvana" hot search had already soared to number one.
At the same time, the "Le Xuanji is a joke" hot search was also continuously rising. Unlike before when people reacted differently, this time everyone unanimously agreed that Le Xuanji had truly become a joke.
She pretentiously slandered someone else, only to encounter a true master!
At this moment, Le Xuanji was at home, chatting with her grandfather Le Chang, without checking her phone. She only found out about the situation on Douyin after a friend called her.
"Xuanji, Xuanji, you need to go look. Little Ran has retaliated and said you're a joke."
Le Xuanji frowned, not intending to pay any attention to it.
She already knew that Little Ran was actually Zhan Yiran and didn't want to engage with a kid.
In Le Xuanji's eyes, the 18-year-old Zhan Yiran, who was still in university, was just a naive youngster.
"What's wrong?" Le Chang asked, sensing his granddaughter's distraction.
Le Xuanji shook her head, "It's nothing. Little Ran just posted a short video retaliating against me and said I was a joke. But don't worry, Grandpa. I won't act impulsively again. No matter what Little Ran does, I won't pay attention to it."
Hearing this, Le Chang nodded, feeling that his granddaughter had become sensible. However, he was interested in Little Ran's retaliation and felt that young people should be lively and spirited. So he spoke, "Let me see how she retaliated."
"Grandpa—" Le Xuanji frowned, why wasn't her grandfather siding with her?
Le Chang grunted, "You started it first. Now you don't even allow her to retaliate?"
Le Xuanji said, "I've already apologized."
"Just because you apologized, does she have to forgive you? What gives you the right? Your apology was your attitude, but whether she forgives you or not is her own freedom."
After reprimanding his granddaughter, Le Chang took the phone and searched for the video himself.
At first, he was still smiling and watching it with the mindset of observing a child's antics. However, as he continued watching, his expression became more and more serious, and his eyes grew brighter.
By the end of the video, this renowned international Chinese painting master, who had been famous for many years, was so excited that he stumbled over his words, "Xuanji, Xuanji, who is this Sister Little Ran? I must meet her, I absolutely must meet her!"
Le Chang had never been so flustered before. Le Xuanji was shocked and instinctively took the phone to watch the video.
Then, she too stumbled over her words.
"This... this is really Sister Little Ran's work? It's impossible!"
Le Xuanji couldn't, and didn't want to, believe it.
While her grandfather didn't know who Sister Little Ran was, Le Xuanji knew all too well. She had already asked Lawyer Bian and learned that this Sister Little Ran was not Zhan Yiran's sister, but her sister-in-law Gu Nanyan.
A woman who was widely criticized online, cunning and inept at scheming, willing to do anything for fame—how could she possibly have painted such a stunning masterpiece?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Seeing his granddaughter shaking her head and muttering "impossible", lost in her own thoughts, Le Chang decided to find out for himself.
He took out his phone and called Lawyer Bian, saying that he admired the paintings of the Zhan sisters and wanted to meet the Little Ran sisters.
Lawyer Bian was drinking water when he heard Le Chang praising Zhan Yiran's work, and he immediately sprayed the water out of his mouth, coughing and choking.
Was Le Chang mocking him?
Lawyer Bian often handled legal matters for the Zhan family, so he knew a lot about them. Zhan Yiran was clearly just an uneducated young lady who had no proper pursuits and only knew how to chase after men.
For Le Chang to say he admired her paintings, either he had a problem with his hearing, or he had gone mad.
On the other end of the phone, Le Chang waited for a long time without receiving a response from Lawyer Bian, feeling a bit anxious: "Lawyer Bian, why aren't you saying anything? I really want to see Little Ran and her sister. Her sister is very talented, and if she focuses on Chinese painting, she could become renowned for generations to come. Such a once-in-a-century talent cannot be delayed."
He was becoming more and more exaggerated, even saying once-in-a-century.
Lawyer Bian massaged his temples and sighed: "Rest assured, sir, I'll contact the Third Miss right away and have her visit you in person."
"And her sister, most importantly her sister," Le Xuanji quickly emphasized.
Lawyer Bian nodded: "You can count on it."
After hanging up the phone, Lawyer Bian was in a daze for a moment before calming down. He had been too surprised earlier and missed some details. Now that he was calm, Lawyer Bian realized that the talent Le Xuanji admired was not the Third Miss Zhan Yiran, but rather the Third Miss's sister-in-law, Gu Nanyan.
The Third Miss didn't have a sister. The so-called sister was actually her sister-in-law, Gu Nanyan.
Le Xuanji admired Gu Nanyan?
This was even harder to understand.
Driven by curiosity, Lawyer Bian went on Douyin and clicked on Zhan Yiran's short videos.