In just a few short minutes, this entry had already reached the top of the hot search rankings, with comments rapidly piling up underneath.
It's worth noting that as a widely known cinematic work, if there wasn't someone behind the scenes preventing it, 'Seeking Enjoyment' should have been subjected to the torment of being remade long ago.
This is also why, over all these years, although Tan Ruo's fans couldn't stand Ji Mochen, they never black-balled him.
For Tan Ruo's fans, the drama 'Seeking Enjoyment' could be considered their last lingering wish for the actress. Although their idol passed away while filming this production, but...
The work is innocent, just as Tan Ruo posted before shooting 'Seeking Enjoyment':
[This is a very meaningful piece, and as an actress, I am grateful to the director for giving me this opportunity, and I also hope that I can do justice to this role.]
And she did indeed bring this character to life, just as she had hoped, even influencing countless people through this film.
Now, over twenty years since her passing, most of Tan Ruo's fans from back then are married with children, and quite a number of them have even become Ji Ruochu's "mother fans," naturally having a different mindset compared to those years.
As a result, while frantically digging up classic clips of Tan Ruo in 'Seeking Enjoyment,' the "Ruo" family fans have remained completely silent.
The core management group of Ji Ruochu's fan club has fallen into a hush, until finally, the group admin resurfaced.
[What should we do?]
[...]
[I don't know.]
[Let's wait for more news, the lead actress hasn't been confirmed yet, right?]
[What if she is confirmed? Should we make a fuss?]
As soon as this question was raised, the group fell silent once again.
[How do we make a fuss?]
[Yeah, it's a double-edged sword.]
One is the long-departed Bright Moon, while the other is their own baby girl they've nurtured post by post, data point by data point - how to choose?
On one side, the veteran fans remained quiet, while on the other, the new fans were both anxious and hopeful.
[But this is 'Seeking Enjoyment'! Ruochu is just one film away from becoming the youngest Grand Slam Best Actress in history!]
[But... can she pull it off? I just rewatched Actress Tan's version, and I got the impression that she was force-fed acting skills by the heavens themselves.]
[Also, if it really is Ruochu acting in it, will we still contribute to the box office like before?]
It's worth noting that in previous years, Ji Ruochu's films have almost always been sold out, with her consistently being a box office leader.
Apart from friends and family booking out entire showings, fans have even nearly come to blows just to get their hands on tickets.
But this time... several of the major fans and admins haven't resurfaced in a while.
If it really is Ji Ruochu acting, their primary concern would be their own people tearing each other apart first, which would just be too much trouble.
[Let's just wait and see, the lead actress hasn't even been announced yet, it could be some other actress and the team behind it is just marketing.]
The next second, an admin who had been silent all this while finally spoke up:
[Then I'll just dig up all the dirt on "them."]
[Tear "them" apart]
[knife.jpg]
The rest of the semi-new, semi-old fans: ...
So, do you guys hope it's Ruochu acting, or do you hope it's not Ruochu?
Veteran fans: ...
Don't ask, the answer is a contradiction - they both hope it's not their precious Ruochu, because the Bright Moon will always have that significance in their hearts.
But the thought of it being some other actress...
Then they might as well have it be their Ruochu, they'll just... watch only her fox-like eyes then.
Perhaps sensing the sentiments of the fans, the 'Seeking Enjoyment' official operations team struck while the iron was hot and announced the cast.
Very soon, the top hot search was updated again.
#'Seeking Enjoyment' Lead Actress - Ji Ruochu#
Three minutes later, social media platforms successfully crashed.
Everyone: ...
Well, that's another confirmation of Ji Ruochu's popularity.
In the past, it was usually explosive news like celebrity scandals, divorces, shotgun weddings, pregnancies or childbirths that would cause software crashes, this was the first time an official casting announcement for a film caused the platforms to be overwhelmed.
An hour later, after the programmers' efforts, the platforms were back up and running, but by then, the number of comments under this hot search had reached terrifying levels.
Coupled with the previous leak, netizens remarked that the earlier hot search was likely the production team pre-heating the topic, giving everyone some mental preparation.
Of course, the main purpose was probably to give Ji Ruochu and Tan Ruo's fans some time to prepare themselves.
Fans of both actresses: ... Thanks.
[Hahaha, this is the first time I've seen platforms crash because of a film's casting announcement.]
[The investors have totally won big with this, getting the highest exposure with the lowest cost.]
[You've got to admit, the timing for this is perfect - a portion of Tan Ruo's fans are already Ji Ruochu's fans, the rest are either too old to care, or have moved on, so there likely won't be too much opposition.]
[Yeah, that's right, I haven't seen any major opposing hot posts yet, where are Tan Ruo's fans? Aren't they going to voice any opposition?]
To this, Tan Ruo's fans said... thanks for the invitation, but they'll pass this time.
As for the reason, one of Tan Ruo's die-hard fans put it this way:
[To be honest, when I first heard about this, I did want to make a post, but some of the old sisters told me to wait, so I held back.
After that, I don't know who it was, but someone kept sending me photos and clips of Ji Ruochu's works in the backend.
I still have 99+ unread messages in my backend, I really can't get through them all.
Later, a few of us veteran fans discussed it, and decided to give Sister Ji a break, after all, over all these years, they're the ones who stopped all those unreliable remake plans.
All these years, they've done us favors as well as hard work, plus that girl's acting skills, we've seen it, it's really not bad, we hope she can present an even better 'Seeking Enjoyment.'
Finally, I want to say to Ji Ruochu's fans, us few old sisters can no longer keep up with the stars, so please, stop sending me her beautiful photos.]
Soon, this post became a hot topic, with the number of likes rising rapidly, and a string of Ji Ruochu's fans expressing their gratitude in the comments below.
[Uwu, thank you sisters, our Ruochu definitely won't let you down!]
[I knew it, all "Ruo" fans are one family!]
Of course, these were just the more rational fans, there were even more who were against the 'Seeking Enjoyment' remake and doubted it.
Some said Ji Ruochu can't get any good scripts these days, so she's setting her sights on 'Seeking Enjoyment' instead.
Even though some netizens felt that Ji Ruochu's acting skills were top-notch, they were quickly shut down by others saying, "Can anyone match Tan Ruo who has seven Best Actress awards under her belt?"
It couldn't be helped, although Ji Ruochu's individual abilities have long been recognized, she still paled in comparison to Tan Ruo, the actress from twenty years ago. After all... this was 'Seeking Enjoyment.'
It was Tan Ruo's seventh small golden statuette, and even though she had passed away, the impact of 'Seeking Enjoyment' was still astonishing.
