28 Words, to Fight Against the Trough Period

Original Article: http://szb.dlxww.com/epaper/dlwb/pc/pic/202302/17/977d0b0e-f3f4-4008-b9b2-5474c64b3a46.jpg.1
Translator’s note: The article was published in Dalian Evening News on 17 Feb 2023.

Recently, Douyin released the Supertopic Level chart, actor Xiao Zhan was the only “Diamond 3”, his popularity value was the sum of the 2nd and 3rd ranked traffic, his commercial value was also first among Chinese celebrities. As of the end of 2022, Xiao Zhan had as many as 35 various endorsements, he was the Chinese face rarely seen in various major shopping malls in Europe and the United States. This was still during the period where he had no dramas airing, and he was even in a “semi-quiet” state for the past 3 years, with few popular hot searches and rarely participating in variety shows.

Many people more or less knew about the 227 incident. After that, Xiao Zhan, a suddenly popular traffic star, plummeted and fell to the bottom, many endorsements were suspended, and some variety shows and programs that originally planned to invite him had to stop the plans due to the pressure from antis. Even when participating in events, in the final group photo session, he would consciously stand at the furthest position, with some distance from the people next to him, so that he could be cut off later… Faced with such a predicament, as an artist who lived off traffic and popularity, how did he move out of it?

In an interview with “Zhongxin Economic View”, Xiao Zhan used 28 words to describe his state during those few months: “Be serious when working, read when confused, think when alone, sleep when upset.”

This passage was not original by Xiao Zhan. Some would say this is Carnegie’s educational motto, while others would think it was a summary of netizen’s talk. There were many versions, some would be “read when confused, exercise when busy, think when alone”, and “do things when awake, read when confused, sleep when angry, and think when alone”. All these were meant for facing bottleneck periods, trough periods or even the darkest moments of life, career and interpersonal relationships. People should look inward, through learning, exercising, thinking and even sleeping, to return to their original intentions and remember why they set out in the first place, think about could be like at its worst, and then find the answer from the wisdom of predecessors.

This was just like a charging and restarting process. Let the mind quieten down, let the emotions soothe and relax, broaden the vision and landscape. The body was at the lowest, but the spirit would reach the peak, becoming strong and tolerant. Looking back, these previous troubles, hurtful people and past incidents, what could there be that could not be surpassed?

Xiao Zhan made the right choice after 227: he rarely spoke out, because he knew that everything he said would be wrong and would attract overwhelming abuse; he personally disbanded his fan support club, asking everyone to study hard and work hard; he temporarily set aside his work, but I believed he did not stop reading and thinking. Even after the legendary “8 Seconds of Red Sea” in Tencent Star Night in December 2020, he still insisted on staying low-key, and his gaze had changed visibly: some people would say that he was physically weak, so he went to the gym to do weight lifting and developed lovely muscles; some people would say that he did not use his own voice in acting, so he went to act in theaters, using the down-to-earth stage to hone his acting skills, hone his line skills, and learn from outstanding predecessors and peers.

The cyber terrorism then now made him a success instead. Time and time again data showing he was “massively ahead”, staying miles ahead in all kinds of rankings, making it hard for “antis” to continue their actions. 227 is about to celebrate its third anniversary, but his fans are more rational and have a wider age distribution and among them are many talented people who have personally written articles and videos to promote their idol to the world.

In the period where traffic stars are falling from grace one by one, where the Central Media criticizes the phenomenon of “desperate illiteracy”, Xiao Zhan, who has received a formal and complete university education, who knows how to use the 28 words to get through the trough period, defines himself as an “actor”, leading his fans to pursue positive energy, is especially precious. And the story of him moving out of the trough period should inspire more people.