CHAPTER 48

Tonghua is known in the industry for being strict with its artists, and it has very few actors under its label. Apart from He Chenying, the only young actress is Zou Yirui. Because the president, Wei Zhuang, dislikes publicity that revolves around scandalous relationships, the film and television business has never engaged in excessive promotion.

Thus, the film and television director and the publicity director held several meetings with the project leader from Boyi and the director from Li Feng, reaching a consensus to avoid using celebrity gossip for promotion.

The promotional plan for the next two to three weeks originally involved the production team occasionally releasing character specials and coordinating with Fang Hao and Zou Yirui's teams to release previously shot magazine covers, keeping the momentum going smoothly until the premiere.

However, unexpectedly, a curveball was thrown in the middle of all this.

The current media emphasize timeliness and explosiveness. On the evening of September 20th, a Friday at nine o'clock, which was prime time for young people online, a Weibo account posted several blurry photos where the overall image was unclear, but the faces were particularly clear, with the title—"Rumored Relationship Between Rising Young Actor and Popular Female Star Exposed."

The photos showed Zou Yirui and Fang Hao standing half-turned at the entrance of a hidden underground bar, appearing almost to be embracing each other.

From certain angles, Fang Hao's lips seemed to be close to Zou Yirui's ear.

His face was clearly captured, looking down and speaking to her with a smile, his eyes appearing very gentle.

As soon as these photos surfaced, Fang Hao's fans were the first to react. He had only transitioned from a singing and dancing idol to an actor in the past two or three years, and his previous two works had not showcased impressive acting skills. He had repeatedly expressed his love for acting and his desire to grow into a good actor, and since his debut, there had never been any rumors about him dating. He had a large number of devoted female fans eagerly awaiting his transformation.

Upon seeing the photos, they exploded in outrage, starting to mock, criticize, and spread negative information about Zou Yirui.

Fang Hao's fans claimed it must be Zou Yirui's doing, leveraging her association with their beloved idol to hype up rumors, riding on the fame of her "brother."

If it wasn't a publicity stunt, then she must like her "brother," seizing the opportunity to create a sensation. How could this woman be worthy of their beloved idol? It was simply outrageous.

Zou Yirui had debuted several years earlier than Fang Hao. After joining Tonghua, she had not had any romantic news since breaking up with her previous boyfriend. Her longtime fans worried daily that without the protection of Tonghua's young boss, she wouldn't be able to stand her ground there, hoping for her to have as many projects as possible. They also knew very well that Tonghua didn't engage in relationship publicity.

Several prominent fans were gritting their teeth, insisting that it was Bo Yi's Fang Hao who was behind this. Who didn't know that Li Feng under Bo Yi loved to stir up publicity? They were known for their aggressive marketing tactics, and it must be Fang Hao's doing!

Thieves calling out thieves, overestimating their own abilities.

In no time, fans of the male and female lead of "Zui Xiaoyao" were at each other's throats, and soon the keywords "Fang Hao, Zou Yirui" were trending on Weibo.

The teams on both sides quickly sprang into action, seeking to understand the situation from their respective artists and managers.

What was going on? They had clearly agreed not to engage in scandalous publicity—were they really together?

The manager in charge of this marketing campaign, Li Feng, video-called the project manager at Boyi that very night, "What's going on? Is it you guys? Tonghua clearly gave us a heads up!"

"It wasn't us! We're being wronged! It really wasn't our doing!"

As he spoke, he exchanged glances with his subordinates, "...Was it really not us?"

The subordinate's head was shaking in confusion, "No, it's not!"

"Since it's already like this, should we give it a push?" Li Feng asked from his end.

"..." The person in charge at Boyi was taken aback, "Hold on, let me ask the boss."

"...Don't rush, it's late, it's not very appropriate to wake the boss up now. Let's discuss it tomorrow. This might be good news for our 'Zui Xiaoyao'!"

"...That's true, but I'm worried about Tonghua's side..."

"Well, since it's not our doing, maybe Zou Yirui has offended someone and it's affecting Fang Hao."

"Are these two really not together?"

"Should we ask Lao Ye?"

Fang Hao was a key artist cultivated by Boyi, and they had high hopes for him. Even an experienced and reputable agent like Lao Ye was assigned to him. Lao Ye joined the video call at this point, "I asked, Fang Hao said he's not in a relationship, they just ran into each other by chance."

"How coincidental. Could he be hiding it from you?"

"He wouldn't dare." Lao Ye was a well-known tough and top-tier manager in the industry, her serious face looking quite intimidating. "He has already told me the truth. Zou Yirui was privately meeting with the young master of the Lu family, and Fang Hao happened to run into them at the bar, helping her out of a situation."

"Alright, let's just wait and see what happens." The project leader sighed in relief.

Li Feng's director smirked, "This situation is to our advantage. Since it's not our doing, we can make good use of it. It doesn't concern us even if it blows up."

This was a heaven-sent opportunity to put Tonghua in their place. If it weren't for their own company's female lead actress being unavailable, it wouldn't have been Zou Yirui from Tonghua playing the female lead role.

On the other side, Zou Yirui's manager had arrived at her home, immediately asking her if she was in a relationship with Fang Hao. Zou Yirui denied it immediately.

She looked at the heated arguments on Weibo, feeling annoyed and frustrated.

The Lu family dealt in jewelry, with an elder brother and sister in the family. The youngest son was basically a rich and idle man, fitting her standards. She wanted to see if there was potential for a relationship.

But since nothing had happened yet, she didn't want her manager to know.

"You're not hiding anything else from me, are you?" her manager asked suspiciously.

"...I'm not." Zou Yirui swallowed nervously.

The manager nodded, then turned to call the publicity director, informing them about Zou Yirui's situation.

Manager: "Boyi says it's not them. So, who could it be?"

Publicity Director: "We had an agreement with Boyi. Logically speaking, they wouldn't suddenly pull a stunt like this right before the premiere."

Manager: "Who benefits from this situation after it's out will tell us who's behind it."

The Publicity Director turned to his team and said, "Look into the company behind Xiang Xiaoyuan."

Zou Yirui, overhearing their conversation, started to worry, "Could it really be that guy?"

That night, Weibo was ablaze with arguments, with the fans of the male and female lead of "Zui Xiaoyao" engaged in a fierce online battle.

All parties were watching the situation unfold, including Feiyi.

Xiang Zhishi and Cai Juan were also paying attention.

On the Feiyi side, a WeChat voice call was on speaker, "The situation is as follows: the information we've gathered matches what Miss Xiang said—they are not in a relationship."

Cai Juan stroked his chin, "...It shouldn't concern us, let them argue it out. But I have a bad feeling about this..."

Xiaoyuan asked, "Why is that?"

Xiang Zhishi pondered, "...You might very well get dragged into this."

Feiyi chimed in, "It's still uncertain which side is behind this news. If neither party is responsible, then it's easy for suspicion to fall on us."

Xiaoyuan exclaimed, "No way? I didn't do anything! I wasn't even in the photos!"

Xiang Zhishi nodded and addressed Feiyi, "We need to prepare a response plan, just in case."

At 11:30 PM that night, both Fang Hao and Zou Yirui issued statements, with similar meanings. In summary, they said, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Fang Hao and Miss Zou Yirui are just ordinary friends, not in a romantic relationship. The photos are purely a matter of angles, and we reserve the right to pursue legal action against any rumors."

With these statements released, the fans on both sides calmed down a bit. Although there was an unpleasant impression left, they all felt a bit frustrated. The previous harmonious and complimentary atmosphere between the two sides was no longer present.

After midnight, the intense back-and-forth subsided for the time being.

The next day, the aftermath was still lingering, with many discussions ongoing. Besides the fans of both parties whose popularity was not doing well, the book fans were particularly discontented.

[Celebrity hype is such a hassle, can't they just promote things seriously without all this nonsense?]

[It's really strange, so sudden! It feels like both teams were caught off guard, and they released statements overnight, practically wanting to stamp 'We have no relationship' on their foreheads, hhhhh.]

[Fang Hao's female fans are so aggressive. A little flower like Zou Yirui wouldn't engage in scandalous promotions either, especially at Tonghua. When have you ever seen Tonghua's artists engage in relationship hype? So if it's not a real relationship exposed, there must be a third party involved.]

[So who could this third party be? Warner? Trying to instigate conflict between Tonghua and Boyi? To boost their own show's ratings a bit?]

[Haha, that's impossible. The target audiences are clearly different. Warner wouldn't be that foolish.]

[I have a bold guess, with the male and female lead of 'Zui Xiaoyao' already so famous, except for the second female lead, I guess it's a case of when the two parties fight, a third party benefits?]

[Yes, I think so too. The first male and female lead don't need any hype, they come with their own audience. But forgive me for saying this, I really haven't heard of this second female lead.]

"..."

These discussions quickly escalated, especially giving the fans of Fang Hao and Zou Yirui a way to vent their frustrations.

By the time Xiaoyuan was having brunch the next day, rumors about her had already spread across the entire internet.

She scrolled through Weibo, unable to even drink her milk, "I didn't do anything..."

Cai Juan comforted her, "They're just talking nonsense."

Xiaoyuan's eyes turned red, "They even brought up stuff from my previous project 'Choice,' saying that I don't get along with Zou Yirui, so I'm scheming against her..."

"They said I'm malicious, causing discord between the male lead and female lead, so I can benefit from it."

"They even said I must have had plastic surgery to look like this."

"They said I was flirting around in college, and that's why I have a bad reputation..."

Xiaoyuan felt incredibly wronged, "Since I graduated, I haven't landed any lucrative projects, how could I afford plastic surgery? This is just how I look, and also I've..."

"Alright, alright, stop looking at your phone, and stop checking your Weibo." Cai Juan took her phone away, exchanging a helpless glance with Xiang Zhishi.

"...I've only dated one guy." Xiaoyuan choked up as she finished her sentence.

"Well, the power of their fans combined is indeed quite strong." Cai Juan muttered as he scrolled through his phone.

"I need to release a statement!" Xiaoyuan said angrily, "I can't let others tarnish my reputation!"

Xiang Zhishi said gently, "Hold on a moment. You need to stay calm. Issuing a statement now won't stop them."

His phone's speaker was on, and Feiyi's voice came through, "Actually, if you look at it from a different perspective, Miss Xiang's discussion level is currently very high."

Xiaoyuan huffed in grievance, "Of course, I'm even on the hot search! For the first time in my life!"

Cai Juan and Xiang Zhishi both chuckled.

Cai Juan comforted her, "If you think about it this way, you're getting this publicity for free, turning it into profit."

Xiaoyuan replied, "...But this is negative publicity, I don't want it."

Xiang Zhishi patted her head, "In this industry, you'll inevitably face situations like this. You need to adapt, and remember, we're not ignoring it, we are observing and waiting for changes."

Cai Juan chuckled, "That's right, sometimes you have to adapt when others try to bring you down. "

The more they criticize you now, the more they'll suffer the consequences later on.  

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