Chapter 15
This trending topic must have been bought with a lot of money. Its ranking rose so fast that even the netizens who follow the trend on Weibo hadn't realized it yet, and it had already broken into the top ten!
Zhang Chaohe clicked on the link with trembling hands, and saw that the little girl had not only posted their photo on her homepage, but also captioned it: "Attending a party with Brother Zhang—"
It's impossible to describe Mr. Zhang's feelings at this moment. He finally understood what it meant to "crash and stick." In just ten words, every word was true; he and the other party had indeed attended the same banquet.
But when paired with that intimate photo, the statement takes on a deeper meaning and provokes much thought.
Sure enough, upon opening the comments section, fans and casual observers who found the trending topic inexplicable had already started arguing:
[Take Xiaolin away! My darling is a genuine rich, beautiful, and successful woman. She was just attending a party with friends from her circle. There's no need to overanalyze this, is there?]
[Who is this guy? Can you please stop trying to ride on Lin Bao's popularity? -- Are you blind upstairs? It was your Lin Bao who took the initiative to bring up Mr. Zhang. Don't you know who's riding on whose popularity? (laughs)]
[Uh, still calling her "Brother Zhang"? This rich and beautiful actress is practically begging to ride on the coattails of CEO Zhang; she should just give him a million first! -- LOL, I agree. Does CEO Zhang really need to piggyback on some nobody like her for publicity? I'd take the lead myself if he gave me a million!]
Besides, there were also some strange comments trying to muddy the waters: "[I'm crying, family members, is this really the Iceberg CEO and the Sweet Sun Wife?! It's truly heartbreaking (crying) (crying)]"
—It's so hard not to ship them, sob sob sob—Let's roll out idol dramas like this from now on, even if the plot is terrible, we'll still watch them!
Zhang Chaohe sighed. He contacted Jiang's assistant to handle the situation quickly, but fearing that a direct and forceful crackdown by the public relations team would provoke a backlash from the masses, he specifically instructed him to contact the other party first to refute the rumors and not to escalate the situation further.
Cheng Jixue hurriedly caught up in the gossip and even laughed out loud: "Congratulations to President Zhang on trending on social media!"
Zhang Chaohe secretly rolled his eyes at him, and when he opened his phone again, he was surprised to find that Tan Xiaolin had just liked several of the top comments—including the one about the "iceberg president"!
Zhang Chaohe was speechless.
With things having come to this point, Zhang Chaohe put down his phone with a relieved expression and painfully picked out the overcooked meat slices: "Is this what they mean by 'fame brings trouble'?"
Cheng Jixue casually placed the beef tripe on the table over to him, and didn't forget to praise him enthusiastically: "After all, a president as handsome as you is one of a kind."
Zhang Chaohe, his hair smoothed out, briefly forgot about being used for publicity. During this time, Zhang Fulin and Zhang Yinshan sent their warm greetings. Upon learning that this niece of Fenglian had ruthlessly tied her brother to her name, Zhang Yinshan angrily took action and quickly contacted the studio that was trying to play dead and gain more attention.
When the two of them came out of the hot pot restaurant, Tan Xiaolin had already edited her Weibo post.
@谭筱琳_V: "I apologize for the ambiguity in my previous statement that caused misunderstanding - Mr. Zhang and I are just ordinary friends, and we just happened to meet at the party! Mr. Zhang will also be participating in a variety show soon, so please pay attention! I wish the show great success!"
The accompanying photo was changed from a sweet group photo to a distant view, blurring out the guests holding wine glasses. In the center of the photo, Zhang Chaohe and Xu Shen are talking to the man next to them, one calm and aloof, the other full of youthful vigor.
It was probably taken secretly when Cheng Jixue went to the restroom.
Zhang Chaohe was shocked by this shameless act of fabricating friendships out of thin air, and upon scrolling through the comments section, he found it was a completely different world:
[Everyone can see who's piggybacking on whom, right? (Praying) Hopefully no one has been warned by the Zhang family.]
[Uh, Linbao even mentioned Zhang's show at the end, so Zhang probably asked her to help generate buzz and create hype, right?]
[If President Zhang really wants to ride the coattails of someone's popularity, he might as well ride on Xu Shen's coattails... I really admire some people. It's obvious that President Zhang brought Xu Shen to a party and ran into this woman, and then they forced him to buy a trending topic. Otherwise, how could it have happened so quickly?]
Zhang Chaohe has always been narrow-minded and petty. He stared at the comment for a while, gave it a vicious thumbs-up, then slowly counted to three before unliked it.
You didn't come for tea? Come on!
He didn't pay special attention to the reactions and continued scrolling down, only to find that someone had actually recognized Lu Xun: "Ahhh! The one talking to them is Lu Xun! Is Shenzi going to have a new movie?!"
The news spread like wildfire. Xu Shen's fans, upon hearing that Xiao Zhang had been helping their idol secure resources and was the reason for this misfortune, quickly jumped into the fray to defend him: "[It was clearly CEO Zhang who helped Xu Shen get resources, how can some people be so shameless as to try and claim credit for it? -- Who are you calling shameless? Don't drag others into this mess, okay?]"
[Sorry, but they look...really good together! This is way better than that clichéd "Little Sun" ship!!]
Zhang Chaohe: Are you squirrels? You're bumping into everything!
Tan Xiaolin's small fanbase was no match for Xu Shen's data analysis team. By the time Zhang Chaohe and Cheng Jixue had finished their meal and gotten into the car, Tan Xiaolin's comment section had been completely overrun.
The comment that Zhang Chaohe liked in a despicable manner was screenshotted and posted repeatedly by marketing accounts, and the trending topic of the two allegedly dating has naturally disappeared from the trending list through the covert manipulation of the public relations department.
Tan Xiaolin's attempt to steal a chicken backfired, and she subsequently deleted her Weibo account after being warned by her uncle, Li Kelin. However, the internet is not above the law, and every time Tan Xiaolin edited her Weibo posts, screenshots were taken and recorded.
After hearing the whole story, Cheng Xuelan pondered for a moment: "Getting the audition for the second male lead is a great thing, but with Tan Xiaolin's incident today, the public has already prejudicially assumed that the role in Lu Xun's new movie belongs to Xu Shen. If we end up getting the role, it's hard to guarantee that Du Ze won't use this incident to his advantage."
Zhang Chaohe frowned. He had belatedly realized that this matter could at best leave Cheng Jixue with a stain for stealing roles, and at worst, label Cheng Jixue as a "resource-backed actor".
He pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice low: "If I hadn't acted impulsively back then, I wouldn't be in this predicament now."
Zhang Chaohe looked up in annoyance, but his gaze met Cheng Jixue's in the rearview mirror. Cheng Jixue was sitting upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead. It turned out he had been secretly watching him in the rearview mirror. When Zhang Chaohe noticed his gaze, he pursed his lips slightly and gave a standard obedient smile.
Zhang Chaohe could occasionally tell when Cheng Jixue's smile was genuine and when it was just politeness—when Cheng Jixue truly smiled, his eyes would narrow slightly with a hint of pleasure. His eyes were sharp at the corners, not noticeable in normal times, but only when he smiled did they reveal a particularly obvious, fox-like cunning.
For example, right now, Cheng Jixue should be in a pretty good mood.
Enraged, Zhang Chaohe involuntarily sat up straight, trying to intimidate the other party with his arrogant and aloof CEO demeanor: "You seem quite happy?"
Cheng Jixue belatedly realized he had been seen through. He tilted his head and blinked innocently—years of practicing his eyes through opera had made them as clear and bright as some kind of gemstone, and staring at others like that was simply unfair.
Zhang Chaohe's already fragile heart softened instantly. He coughed to cover it up and said, "Never mind... Go back and prepare well for the audition, okay?"
"And then become your money-making tool as soon as possible?" Cheng Jixue suddenly asked.
Zhang Chaohe's expression was strange: "How did you know?"
"Just a guess."
Cheng Jixue thought to herself, "Of course I know. Last time you were drunk, you held my hand and earnestly told me that I was your new money-making tool, and you even advised me that a wise person doesn't fall in love."
At the time, he actually said something along the lines of "Don't let me be injured to death," but since it was a nonsensical statement, Cheng Jixue just assumed he was talking nonsense because he was drunk and didn't take it to heart.
Zhang Chaohe entrusted Cheng Xuelan with handling the aftermath of that night. Within two days, Xu Shen and Cheng Jixue each received parts of the script and a biographical outline for the second male lead. There were a total of six people participating in the audition. Apart from the two of them, all the actors had notable works to their name, and they probably all wanted to get a piece of the pie after hearing about the leading role that was going to be played by Jing Sui.
This situation is very unfavorable for Cheng Jixue. Perhaps because he doesn't believe that Cheng Jixue can stand out in the audition, Du Ze didn't say anything. In the past two days, when they occasionally met at the company, he greeted Zhang Chaohe with a smile as if nothing had happened.
However, Zhang Chaohe had secretly instructed Jiang's assistant to find the person Du Ze had planted in the secretariat, and arranged for three secretaries to monitor this person's movements around the clock. Through browsing the records, Jiang's assistant discovered that the person had used the secretariat's access privileges to view and copy a lot of Jiasheng's confidential data in the past year. It is conceivable that this data eventually became a tool for Du Ze to collude with Xu Shen to harm the company's interests.
In addition, the former CEO was used to turning a blind eye and allowing corrupt officials to erode the company's structure, which ultimately led to the current sluggish situation where Gain Capital is too big to be controlled.
Initially, Zhang Chaohe hadn't made up his mind to take action against Du Ze. He originally intended to wait until Cheng Jixue and her group of newcomers had established themselves before cleaning up their ranks. However, the Tan Xiaolin incident served as a wake-up call. Rather than taking excessive precautions, it was better to cut off one's own tail first, and then proceed cautiously.
The company's artists clearly sensed that General Manager Zhang had been very busy lately. They often saw him and Assistant Jiang talking in hushed tones with serious expressions, their figures rushing through the corridor in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the company had launched several new recruitment interviews and contract termination reviews, and several high-quality IP film projects with copyrights held by Jiasheng had been successfully approved and were ready to be put into operation.
Two months after being assigned to Jiasheng, General Manager Zhang finally began to eradicate the company's ills, revealing the cruel fangs of a capitalist.
Suddenly, everyone in the company was on edge – a flurry of personnel changes were being announced from the president's secretariat, and everyone felt the urgency of the situation. They all worked diligently and in their best condition, fearing that one day a personnel notice would land on their desks.
Zhang Chaohe not only recited a list of blockbuster film and television works mentioned in the original text from memory and handed it to Assistant Jiang to seek investment opportunities, but also cut several investments that the company was in contact with that were both commercially and critically unsuccessful. Assistant Jiang had gotten used to his crazy style of doing things these past few days, but he never expected that CEO Zhang would have such boldness, managing to almost completely overhaul Jiasheng in one fell swoop.
His big move not only caught the attention of several other leading entertainment companies, but also attracted the attention of Zhang Fulin. Zhang Fulin specially asked him to come home for a long talk. Zhang Chaohe recalled that the original owner had once said that he had chosen Jiasheng only because he was interested, and felt that it was really fate playing tricks on him.
Zhang Chaohe now wants more than just to avoid the mindless ending of being crushed by hype; he wants Jiasheng to become a truly excellent entertainment company and completely break free from the empty shell situation of merely relying on individual artists to survive on the economic dividends of talent shows.
Just as Zhang Chaohe was sharpening his knives at Du Ze, the official broadcast date for the sixth episode of "Dream Training Camp" was quietly approaching. The production team specifically communicated with Assistant Jiang, hoping that President Zhang would cooperate with the program's promotion. Zhang Chaohe thought for a moment and casually said, "Then let's take another million."
@Zhang Chaohe_V: Tune in to iFlytek Video's "Dream Training Camp" at 8 PM on Friday, April 22nd. One hundred lucky winners will be randomly selected from those who retweet this post to share one million RMB in cash.
A note from the author:
Previously, Xiao Cheng said: "If you dare to have ill intentions towards your father, I'll send you to get some fresh air under the car."
Xiao Cheng now: Oh no, it seems he really only cares about making money.
Chapter 16
[I'd call Little Zhang "Zhang the Millionaire"—friends, look at these reposts, comments, and likes! Aren't they more authentic than the older brothers' numbers?]
[Little Zhang, don't worry, if anyone tries to stop me from watching "Concentration Camp" on Friday, I'll get really angry!!]
Zhang Chaohe's follower count skyrocketed after he posted a giveaway on Weibo. After all, who wouldn't like a generous CEO brother? Especially since the CEO brother seems to be a little bit petty.
This kind of handsome guy with a charmingly unexpected personality is absolutely captivating and dancing passionately in the hearts of netizens.
Zhang Chaohe single-handedly raked in millions of yuan in publicity and promotion costs, making the CEOs of several other companies who hadn't even had a chance to appear on the show grit their teeth in envy. With such a lavish promotional campaign, the sixth episode of "Dream Training Camp" was destined to be the most watched and talked-about episode of the entire season.
At 7:50 p.m., a large number of viewers flooded into iFlytek Video. Although the sixth episode had been uploaded, it was not yet updated. However, viewers could still chat passionately using bullet comments on the black screen.
At the Zhang family home, Zhang Fulin and Ms. Zhao were already seated, awaiting their youngest son's screen debut. However, the frequent appearance of the phrase "million-dollar wife" in the comments left Mr. Zhang, a 2G internet user in the entertainment industry, puzzled. He found it difficult to understand the meaning of this unusual phrase composed of four common characters.
Ms. Zhao keeps a close eye on her youngest son's latest activities and stays up-to-date with all the entertainment news. She immediately explained with pride, "Because every time Dian Dian posts on Weibo, he wins a million-dollar prize, so now Dian Dian is known as Zhang the Millionaire, and his fans call him 'Millionaire Wife'!"
Chairman Zhang: "..."
Immoral and indecent!
Meanwhile, Zhang Baiwan himself was sitting alone in his office, brooding over his appearance. He pressed two fingers to his temples, anxiously awaiting the program team's public execution of the icy face he had deliberately put on to highlight his domineering CEO persona.
He was genuinely worried about losing his right to surf the internet.
At 8:00 PM sharp, "Dream Training Camp" officially began. The opening trailer showed Zhang Chaohe's domineering gaze coldly fixed on the camera. Zhang Chaohe glanced at it only once and immediately and calmly closed the video window—people should learn to make peace with themselves and not torture themselves.
He was restless in his office, desperately needing someone to share his anxiety. But the moment he opened his phone's contacts, he realized that the original owner of this body had only recently returned to the country and had virtually no social circle; and since he himself had transmigrated, he had been working non-stop, and apart from his frequent contact with Cheng Jixue and the other two for a while, he didn't know anyone else.
So he was so lonely in this world.
Zhang Chaohe stared blankly at the bustling night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window, feeling a little lost for a moment. Does having money really bring happiness?
Ten minutes later, Zhang Chaohe proved the relationship between money and happiness with his actions—he opened a MOBA game, and four top-tier players with sweet voices and steady hands escorted him out of the main city, killing gods and monsters along the way, and fiercely stealing the dragon, with laughter filling the voice chat room.
The players praised the generous boss for his skillful gameplay, deep and sexy voice, and most importantly, his generosity.
After Zhang Chaohe had happily finished his two-hour-plus battle in the Rift, he had basically forgotten that Xunfei Video was still publicly humiliating him. When he opened Weibo on this lonely night, he was slightly shocked by the trending topics.
Of the top ten trending topics, six were from this episode of "Dream Training Camp." The number one trending topic was #Guochao (National Trend) "Alas," the second was #Zhang Xijing, Cheng Jixue, and Wujiapo, and the fourth was surprisingly #How Serious is Boss Zhang When He Works. The seventh and eighth spots were #Jiasheng's Artist Standards and #DreamTraining Episode 6, respectively, with a hidden tenth spot being #How Much Secret Is There About Male Celebrities' Heights.
The huge success of "Alas" was expected, and Zhang Chaohe enthusiastically browsed through the comments from netizens. The praise online was varied, ranging from simply praising the song to marveling that singer-songwriter Li Yimao was a hidden gem, and others expressing curiosity about this unfamiliar guest performer.
After scrolling for a short while, Zhang Chaohe saw a long commentary on Cheng Jixue posted by a verified blogger:
[I'm a student at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, and Cheng Jixue is my senior in the same major, and also the most outstanding student of the recent graduating classes for the leading female role (Da Qingyi)! I can say without exaggeration that he was the shadow of our entire department back then—you can't imagine the feeling of everyone vying for second place when he was around. Moreover, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to policy preferences, opera academies generally didn't recruit transgender actors (male/female roles) unless they were truly blessed with exceptional talent! Under such strict standards, his admission and achievements are truly remarkable! I'm so glad to see him on this stage. Keep it up, senior! You'll definitely get better and better!]
Many people were moved by Cheng Jixue's hard work, and Zhang Xijing's fans were also pleasantly surprised by the performance of this duet. Knowledgeable fans even expressed their gratitude to Cheng Jixue for his help to Zhang Xijing.
But some people replied sarcastically: "The country has spent so much effort to cultivate your talent, and Cheng Moumou doesn't think about how to perform well but only about making money in the entertainment industry. Doesn't he feel ashamed?"
The comment section, as always, was filled with the radiant light of Buddha, immediately attracting countless enthusiastic netizens to beat and kick: "You're no good at your job, but you're number one at moral blackmail?"
On a smaller scale, career choice is someone's freedom; on a larger scale, isn't he also promoting traditional culture? After tonight, many people will definitely be willing to learn about Peking Opera, which is also a way to perform well!
[When Mr. Zhang confronted Fu Ziming, he probably felt the same way... People worship Buddha in temples just for fun; whether it's a true reincarnation of Buddha's relics depends on you.]
Zhang Chaohe blinked, not expecting the production team to include the part where he bravely fought the scheming woman, nor did he expect that even after leaving the show, everyone would still be praising him.
[Mr. Zhang's manners are truly exceptional. Aside from slightly being a bit sharp and telling him to shut up when Ms. Fu kept bringing up topics in the car, he didn't have the condescending, know-it-all attitude of Mr. XX on the show. Although he looks very assertive and somewhat domineering, he is genuinely polite and gentle to others. I finally understand what it means for a good education to cultivate an excellent character.]
[Mr. Zhang is so handsome! I thought it was all thanks to photoshopping, but he's even better looking in person than in the posters!]