Tang Li looked at the two characters "季某" and inexplicably, her eyes twitched.
Somehow, she thought of Ji Ming, possibly because he was the only Ji she knew who had free access to the Ministry of Finance.
However, Ji Ming usually appeared cold and serious, not the type to engage in such matters.
Tang Li felt it was a coincidence.
Soon after, the drama version of "Original Sin" released a 30-second video clip of a scene where Tang Li, playing Ying Xuaner, was practicing dance in a dance studio.
Unlike the film version’s official blog which insinuated and provoked, the drama’s official blog just released the video without commenting on the controversies online.
In the video, Tang Li had her hair in a half bun, dressed in white slim-fit pants and a cotton vest, layered with a light blue semi-transparent cardigan. The background music was soothing, capturing the moment the girl leapt up, her rotating silhouette, and precise hand movements. Her medium-long hair fluttered, leading to a slow-motion shot where the girl’s fair and cool features appeared on the screen.
Compared to the delicate and fragile Lai Yuan’er, Tang Li’s portrayal of Ying Xuaner seemed less approachable.
Fan Xin, striving for authenticity in filming, never used skin-smoothing techniques on actors, which meant any physical flaws on Tang Li were easily exposed in the video.
The video of Tang Li dancing quickly trended on social media.
Particularly at the end of the video, when Tang Li suddenly looked up at the camera and smiled faintly, like an iceberg melting, adding a bit of mischievous charm, thus softening her initially aloof impression.
Feng Qi, having seen Tang Li’s performance on set before, knew she performed well in this TV series. Now seeing this 30-second "finished film" still left him silently impressed for a long time. Qi Liang’s remark that Tang Li had more potential than Liang Jincheng was not a mere jest.
"Why don’t we also hire some internet trolls?" Wu Xuehan suggested. "Ah Li is clearly performing well; we can’t let them keep bullying her ."
But Feng Qi said, "No need, the situation is already in our favor."
Wu Xuehan didn’t understand.
How could it be in their favor when there were so many people online scolding Ah Li?
Tang Li already understood Feng Qi’s intent; as a newcomer, rashly confronting Yang Ning and others, even if she was justified, would appear to most netizens as overly arrogant and pompous.
Now, with the official blog releasing the video, it was evidently more effective than hiring internet trolls.
Shortly after, [Guan Xiao V] retweeted the video: "A real actor speaks through their performance, looking forward."
Guan Xiao’s many fans commented: "Haven’t seen Lai Yuaner’s portrayal of Ying Xuaner, but the lady indeed did well."
"The lady was with Xiao at the National Drama Festival last time and hasn’t used Xiao for hype since. If Yang Ning hadn’t subtly criticized her on Weibo, I’d almost have forgotten about the lady. [laugh cry emoji]"
Then, a dance teacher commented under the drama version of "Original Sin" official blog, noting that Tang Li probably hadn’t systematically learned ballet and lacked dance fundamentals, yet performing to this level was quite commendable as it showed the actress seriously underwent dance training.
In less than half an hour, the direction of discourse on Weibo changed.
At 10:12 PM, the author of "Original Sin," [Xu Yuan V], retweeted the video: "[laughing emoji][laughing emoji][laughing emoji] Worthy of being my choice, well done!"
Yang Ning and Lai Yuaner’s Weibos had gone quiet long ago.
Then Deng Xian suddenly threw his hat into the ring by liking the video of Tang Li dancing under the drama version of "Original Sin" official blog.
This caused another wave of online team support controversy.