Chen Xingting flattered his superiors, saying, "By using the hype generated by the official announcement of our new drama, wouldn't it be a legitimate way to bring it down?"
Zhang Chaohe said, "That won't be necessary. I've already paid to have it removed from the trending topics."
Chen Xingting: You're rich, so you think you're so high and mighty?!
He was racking his brains to come up with new sweet talk to get his sugar daddy's approval when he heard Boss Zhang sigh, "Forget it, just send it."
Consider it contributing to the film crew... after all, no one would turn down money!
Thinking about the cast of "The Golden Hairpin," apart from the low-key TV King Zhang Xijing and the guest star who was a sponsor, not a single actor could generate any buzz or popularity. Zhang Chaohe felt heartbroken when he heard this. In addition, he had peeked at the cast list of the competing drama "Wild Geese Crying" a few days ago, and he was so envious that he almost cried.
Roughly estimating, there are probably only a few actors in the other production crew who don't have their own built-in popularity. He can already imagine the overwhelming fan promotion from the other side when both productions air at the same time...
However, Chen Xingting did not notice Xiao Zhang's low mood. Having received His Majesty's approval, he immediately hung up the phone and prepared for the announcement!
Zhang Chaohe's unusually sensitive thoughts were immediately interrupted by the busy signal on the phone.
Zhang Chaohe: "..."
Assistant Chen had been embroiled in the media battle for some time, vowing to defend Mr. Zhang's innocence. However, the public relations department suddenly called him, sounding quite confused: "Assistant Chen, the trending topic has been removed, but..."
Assistant Chen's voice was cold and unfriendly: "Speak quickly if you have something to say."
"But this trending topic wasn't removed; it was directly censored." The other person was also puzzled: "Now all the posts about General Manager Zhang and General Manager Li are gone."
Normally, removing a trending topic simply means removing the tag from the trending list; however, achieving harmony across the entire internet is different. This cannot be solved simply by throwing money at it; it usually requires the intervention of powerful figures with special backgrounds.
Assistant Chen didn't think too much about it: "It's probably because Chairman Zhang's side made a move."
Upon hearing this, the other person suddenly understood and said with a pang of regret, "That's right! Sigh, I should have known better than to spend this money."
⚹
While everyone in the company was trying to save money for their boss, little did they know that their scoundrel had casually signed off on an invoice for buying new trending topics.
After much deliberation, Zhang Chaohe decided to stop talking nonsense and just spend money to help himself debut!
So just when everyone was still shocked that the unspeakable things between General Manager Zhang and General Manager Li had suddenly disappeared, and could only continue to tease them with "You know who," a trending topic with a shiny border of money suddenly appeared!
#The official cast of "The Golden Hairpin" has been announced#
What the heck... Someone casually clicked on the tag and was immediately shocked, their eyes widening in surprise!
The stills from "The Golden Hairpin" not only focused on creating a unique atmosphere during filming, but also featured high-quality actors with natural expressions and facial features. After post-production processing, they appeared even more antique and elegant.
It looks grand and substantial, and is very comfortable to look at.
Clicking on each individual image reveals even more absurdity: the male lead is actually TV King Zhang Xijing, and the female lead is childhood goddess Jian Xinlan.
Scroll down—wow! Little Zhang himself makes an appearance…wow—
Who is this Chang Xiaoyue?!
Zhang Chaohe spent money to buy a trending topic, and soon gained several trending topics as well.
He was sitting in Cheng Jixue's training room, scrolling through Weibo on his phone and sighing, "Director Chen just said he was going to use a new trending topic to push Li Ye down, but it's completely unnecessary! Anyway, I heard that they took action and directly removed all related entries and posts from the public."
Cheng Jixue was memorizing his lines, holding the script of "Zan Ying" in his hand. The book was a bit curled at the edges, and the pages were covered with colorful plastic memo slips, showing how hard he was working.
He tapped his palm with the rolled-up book tube and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, you've finally gotten rid of Mr. Li's entanglement?"
Zhang Chaohe gave a cool smile, displaying the domineering and uncompromising style of a CEO: "In short, the weather is getting colder and Li Po is gone!"
Cheng Jixue smiled as she looked at his smug expression, her gaze as sweet as honey: "President Zhang is truly amazing."
Meanwhile, his phone was bombarded with WeChat messages.
[Chat log with Xiaoyang]
"Second Uncle has been dealt with!"
"That Li Ye is really ungrateful. I'll have someone keep an eye on him too!"
"OMG, I received a message from Li Ye. He changed seven girlfriends in one month. This even made it to the trending topics, but it was suppressed. Should we post it or not?"
#Xiaoyang patted you#
"Second Uncle, will you get rich?!"
While Zhang Chaohe was still scrolling through the comments section of his official photos, Cheng Jixue glanced at his constantly beeping phone with a dark and unreadable expression—the more gentle and considerate his smile was, the colder and more ruthless his typing hand was.
"Send, send all of them."
"Send whatever you have."
Ji Boyang was overjoyed!
Last time, this bastard tried to rip me off, charging me 20 million for a worthless painting—today, I'll make you pay for this in blood!
However, the goose at the center of the storm was still leisurely paddling along, oblivious to the fact that the "cast of 'The Golden Hairpin'" had just generated a lot of trending topics. In addition to the TV King's fans quickly going out to cheer for Jing Ge and marveling at how beautiful Jian Xinlan has always been, Zhang Chaohe also witnessed the rise of a new trending topic that he single-handedly supported with his good looks!
Okay, it's a beauty that's similar to Cheng Jixue's, but they're not that different.
[Oh my god, is this for real?! Xiao Zhang is playing Commander Gu! My goodness!]
[I always said Xiao Cheng had a bright future. Look at this promotional photo of Chang Xiaoyue, I'm really amazed, the expression is so similar!]
[The imperial concubine who saved our lives is so beautiful, and the commander is so handsome! They're such a perfect match, oh my god!!]
Chang Xiaoyue and Minrong Gege don't seem like a couple at all. Some say Chang Xiaoyue has a cold, almost bewitching aura, and while Lan Jie is pretty, she really can't outshine Cheng's beauty!
[The production team really knows what they're doing; they even made a limited-edition skin version of Gu Chang - (crying)]
When faced with the most popular comment: "With Mr. Zhang's face, I could forgive him even if he just stood there reciting 1234!" Zhang Chaohe secretly vowed that it was absolutely impossible!
Although he hasn't started memorizing the script yet, he believes in loving what he does and will do his best even if he's making a guest appearance without pay!
The timely announcement of "The Golden Hairpin" also served as the best response to the doubts about Cheng Jixue's lack of works. Not only were people very satisfied with his portrayal of Chang Xiaoyue, but the high degree of fidelity to the historical figures of the other characters in the drama also demonstrated the care taken in casting. As a result, everyone expressed their anticipation.
Of course, the recently popular historical drama "Wild Geese Crying" inevitably draws comparisons with it, and some people have even posted comparison photos of different actors playing the same role.
As expected, comparisons are the best way to judge a book. The costume photos of the cast of "Wild Geese Crying" that initially gained popularity with its Morandi color scheme were surprisingly made to look gloomy in an indescribable way. The sense of historical weight they were pursuing was heavily stereotyped, and the fact that most of the actors were idols who were only suitable for covering up their flaws with heavy makeup made the combination of the two factors into a double whammy.
However, the ability of idol fans to control comments should not be underestimated. At this critical moment when the entire group was facing a life-or-death situation, the data workers from each group immediately and orderly mobilized to save face!
Therefore, although "The Golden Hairpin" doesn't have any particularly die-hard fans yet and can't compete with the other side's relentless mockery, the presence of the data-driven female worker has still slightly damaged the public's perception of "Wild Geese Crying".
However, it doesn't matter to director Zhao of "Wild Geese Crying" - he chose a bunch of popular young actresses and veteran actors who are always on the screen just to cultivate a cult!
Seeing the fans' frantic efforts to suppress Chen Xingting's new drama, he was actually quite pleased, because Director Zhao knew perfectly well that, in terms of sheer talent, he was absolutely no match for Chen Xingting.
When he witnessed Chen Xingting's predicament, he had already come up with marketing articles, but then a young CEO named Zhang fell from the sky!
*Smack!* Two hundred million in hand!
I only have 200 million! This includes the exorbitant salaries paid to popular celebrities... Director Zhao felt very sad just thinking about it. As a veteran director, he could tell from the costumes and props in the promotional photos that the production team of "The Golden Hairpin" must be rolling in money!
Not only that, it seems that Chen Xingting, that scoundrel, has also learned to ride the coattails of trending topics... Isn't Little Zhang and that Cheng guy just trying to get on the edge of a CP pairing?
Director Zhao thought it over and decided he couldn't just give up like that. He called over the costume and makeup artists and said, "I see that netizens really like Peking Opera costumes these days. When you do Bai Chen's makeup, make it look like that of a noble concubine, the more luxurious the better!"
The professional makeup artist patiently explained to the client's excessive demands: "Their makeup was modified and absolutely does not conform to the rules. We shouldn't make any changes, as it might have a negative impact later on..."
Director Zhao sneered: "Just do as I tell you to do—I see the reaction to their costume photos is pretty good!"
The makeup artist considered Bai Chen's face and felt it was still feasible, so she reluctantly compromised: "Okay."
"What about Bai Chen—" Director Zhao thought of the demonized relationship between Gu Chang and Gu Chang over the years and decided to add industrial saccharin to the drama as well!
Mr. Zhang is an investor, after all. He can't possibly stoop to selling his face with some nobody, can he?
It's okay! We'll do the things you're too embarrassed to do. As long as we're bolder than them, even a love substitute can take down the real "white moonlight"!
Bai Chen has now been basically blacklisted across the internet. Although his fans firmly believe that the lack of recent schedules and announcements is due to the studio's inaction in not securing good resources for him, only he himself knows the truth.
It wasn't that he didn't want it, but that he simply couldn't get it... Suddenly, the sycophantic He Guangyin seemed to have had his head split open and water poured out, not only taking away all of his resources but also causing him to be dismissed from the provincial Peking Opera troupe. He was already worried about his future, and now Director Zhao actually wanted him to imitate those two plague gods?
Bai Chen had no way to express his suffering... In addition, Xiao Zhang had gone crazy before and threatened him that he had to finish filming this movie, which meant that he absolutely could not disobey Director Zhao's orders; but Director Zhao was not listening to advice at all and insisted on creating a "heavy oil and heavy salt" version of meal replacement to attract customers.
His face was filled with a dilemma. Bai Chen returned to the filming location dejectedly. While resting, he glanced at the trending topics and almost had a heart attack on the spot.
#QiuyueCP# Boiling!
He hurriedly clicked into the tag, and what he saw was a stunning high-definition image that was a visual feast—in the hazy shadow, the commander was slightly pursing his lips, carefully holding that soft, boneless jade hand to apply nail polish to the concubine; while the concubine's gaze was tender and affectionate, seemingly silent, yet more powerful than a thousand words.
A tiger lowers its head to gently sniff a rose; this is the essence of the saying.
Bai Chen: How are we supposed to work on meal replacements? Meal replacements made with gutter oil?
⚹
Coincidentally, another person involved, Mr. Zhang, also felt like he had a heart attack after seeing the trending topic.
Besides this candid photo, the newly released official photos are also flying around in the tags - netizens are making rapid progress, and have even helped to Photoshop the background of the Civil Affairs Bureau!
Zhang Chaohe's head was buzzing. He dialed Chen Xingting's number and questioned, "Is this the good way you said to suppress trending topics?"
Chen Xingting, unaware that his head was already lying horizontally under the guillotine, was smugly boasting, "That's right! The best way to defeat one couple is to become a fan of another couple!"
Zhang Chaohe gave a sinister sneer: "You seem to know quite a lot."
Chen Xingting said optimistically, "Oh, Mr. Zhang, keeping up with the times, keeping up with the times!"
Zhang Chaohe was almost speechless with anger—the top-tier sixth brother was right next to me!
A note from the author:
Ahhh, I almost wrote about launching a heavy blow against Li Ye!!
Actually, my initial idea for this character was a greasy, arrogant, womanizing CEO. His so-called liking for his son was just because he was "very suitable," "I should find the best partner," and "You are very interesting and have attracted my attention."
Evil people will be punished by evil people. Sorry, Li Gou, you're facing the powerful forces of the Goose! Prepare for a beating from multiple sides!!
Thank you for your support, my little darling! Time to get back to writing!
Chapter 44
Just when Zhang Chaohe thought his father and elder brother were still unaware of his antics and was frantically trying to clean things up, Ms. Zhao took the initiative to strike, carrying the instructions of Chairman Zhang and General Manager Zhang.
Of course, she wasn't looking for Li Ye... If a son is a scoundrel, then the parents should be held accountable. Ms. Zhao went straight to Li Ye's mother's house. Mrs. Li thought it was her future in-laws visiting, so she gave them a warm welcome.
However, Ms. Zhao pulled out a document directly from her Birkin bag—which not only detailed Li Ye's recent crazy behavior, but also listed irrefutable evidence that he had hired online trolls to spread rumors about his relationship with Zhang Chaohe.
There was also a check for 2 million tucked in at the very end.