52: Nominated for the Magnolia Awards? The feeling of being both famous and infamous is too painful.

The Shanghai white magnolia award is highly prestigious and is hailed as one of the "Three Major Awards for Dragon Country TV Dramas."

Lin Pei didn't expect that the whip sounds, such a small-budget and low-cost production, could actually be shortlisted for the white magnolia award.

And Director Zhang seemed to say just now that he was nominated too?

Director Zhang was still rambling on the other end of the phone; he was probably overjoyed.

"Lin Pei, it's really thanks to you that our TV series could be nominated this time."

"It was because you helped modify the plot back then, making the bandits' lives and the killing scenes reasonable and realistic, that the audience could empathize and immerse themselves in our show, and thus grow to like it."

"Moreover, the parts everyone talks about most are almost all the segments you're in; the popularity of this show was brought up by you."

"Audience members commented that every time they watch the Second Boss, it doesn't feel like they're watching a TV series, but rather like they're watching the normal life in a bandit's den."

"With that temperament of yours, you don't even need to act; the character is already halfway to success."

Lin Pei narrowed his eyes.

Is this a compliment?

This praise suddenly made him lose his appetite for lunch.

Director Zhang almost couldn't stop talking.

"It's just that there was a small hiccup during the submission process."

"The genre was categorized as mystery-thriller."

"Hahaha, we explained it later."

"Although our show's cover is a bit scary, we really aren't a horror movie."

Lin Pei became curious.

"Director, what's on the cover? Why is it scary?"

Director Zhang cleared his throat.

"The cover..."

"It's you..."

"..."

Lin Pei was speechless.

Could he really be that terrifying?

Director Zhang smiled.

"By the way, should we call Brother Xiao Chun in a few days and go to the awards ceremony together?"

Lin Pei thought that he had never participated in this kind of event before.

It would definitely be good to have someone lead the way.

"Sure, Director."

...After hanging up the phone, Lin Pei logged into his social media account.

Out of curiosity, he searched for news related to the whip sounds.

Since it received a white magnolia award nomination, the response to the show should be quite good.

Unexpectedly, topics about this show on the platform were still very hot.

Lin Pei looked closely at those topics.

# the whip sounds is so good I can't sleep at night #

# Clearly a period drama, yet it ranks as the TOP 1 horror film #

# Shocking! Even crime documentaries wouldn't dare film it like this. #

# How many characters played by real criminals do you know? #

...The more Lin Pei looked, the more something felt wrong.

Except for the first one being somewhat normal, what are these others?

Are these the kind of topics a good TV series should have?

A moment later, he clicked into the one that looked normal.

# the whip sounds is so good I can't sleep at night #

The post with the most likes and comments had this caption:

"The actors in the whip sounds are quite good-looking, but why is he so scary? I can't sleep at night."

???

Lin Pei narrowed his eyes like an old man on the subway.

Is that what this topic means?

Lin Pei clicked into the comments section.

"The Second Boss's eyes are really terrifying; I was just eating, and when I looked up, he almost scared me to death."

"Seriously, he's both perverted and addictive; I'm a coward but I still want to watch, what should I do?"

"Sigh, my grandma also loved watching it, but she had a heart attack from it; she's still clamoring to watch it every day in the hospital."

"This Second Boss doesn't look like he's acting; I suggest investigating him."

"The cover seems to have been changed to Brother Xiao Chun; after getting used to Brother Lin, Brother Xiao Chun doesn't seem scary at all, and he's even quite approachable."

"I knew there was something wrong with the actor playing the Second Boss; today my mom identified him for me—this actor is actually a Human Trafficker."

"It's a big problem; my dad also said he saw him get arrested, apparently for stealing something."

"You guys upstairs, are you disconnected from the internet? It was explained long ago, okay? He hasn't committed any crimes at all; last time he even helped the police solve a case and was credited for it."

"No, I don't believe it. This actor named Lin Pei is definitely not a good person; what kind of good person could act like this?"

"..."

"Snap."

Lin Pei turned off his phone.

His furrowed brows relaxed, and a mosquito he had just crushed between them fell out.

The director was right; this popularity really did revolve around him.

Nine out of ten comments were about him.

But all nine of them were discussing how fierce and scary he was.

What crimes he had committed, and how many times he had been to the Police Station.

Lin Pei sneered.

Fine, fine, fine.

Suspecting he's a criminal again, are we?

Does he really look that much like a criminal?

A few minutes later, he came to a painful realization.

This is the helplessness of playing a villain.

Whenever a work is aired, the villain is at the center of the storm, in deep water and scorching fire.

Not only does one have to face the suspicion and questioning of relatives and friends.

But one also has to guard against rotten eggs and vegetable leaves from elderly ladies when going out.

Sigh, both are forms of being famous.

Being infamous is just so helpless.

At this moment, he was even more glad that he had just fought for a positive role from Director Lin.

He must play that role well and enjoy the treatment a positive character should have... Taking advantage of the free time these past few days, Lin Pei looked at houses online.

Later, he took a fancy to a villa in the central area of Hengcheng.

The layout, the decoration—he was satisfied no matter how he looked at it.

It's just that the villa was only for sale, not for rent.

The house had no price listed, but with Lin Pei's current savings, he definitely couldn't afford it.

But he just wanted to go take a look.

Do a field inspection first, then when he's saved enough money, he'll take it in one fell swoop.

Before long, Lin Pei arrived outside that villa.

Seeing it in person, the villa was grand and beautiful, no different from the photos online.

Lin Pei was even more tempted.

The owner of the villa came out to meet him from a distance.

As Lin Pei approached, the male owner suddenly looked terrified.

"Se-se..."

Lin Pei paused.

Is he still trying to exchange a secret code?

That's right.

In modern society, everything needs to be verified.

Even if you order hot pot online, the delivery person has to verify the last digits of your phone number or a pickup code with you.

This villa owner is quite interesting.

Instead of names or phone numbers, he's using numbers.

But he didn't remember the other party leaving any secret code during their text communication online.

The male owner was still mumbling.

"Se... se..."

Lin Pei raised an eyebrow and tried to answer.

"Equals four?"

That male owner showed a hint of confusion, and then finally spat out a complete term.

"Se... Second Boss?"

Lin Pei was stunned.

Cough.

So it wasn't a secret code.

He quickly summarized the situation.

This male owner was likely a fan of his show and had a stuttering problem.

Since the man had difficulty speaking, Lin Pei didn't waste words and got straight to the point.

"I've taken a fancy to this villa and want to ask about the price."

He thoughtfully took out a pen and paper from his bag.

"You can just write it on the paper."