CHAPTER 53

"Zui Xiaoyao" was originally Boyi's annual major investment drama. Just the publicity budget alone allocated fifty million to its subsidiary, Li Feng. Unexpectedly, the majority of the funds ended up being spent on the artists' public relations.

The drama's popularity remained high, but the commercial value of its two stars significantly decreased. The worst part was for the managers of Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian.

Never did they imagine that their own artists were secretly engaging in a romantic relationship, and even more shocking was that it was self-directed and self-acted by their own artists. To make matters worse, it was eventually exposed by the opposing party.

Fortunately, the audience didn't know the full story, they were aware that the capital behind the scenes was in conflict but were unaware of how embarrassing it was for Boyi. Luckily, Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian's fans didn't know that Lu Jingnian was the one who instigated the trouble from the start.

Once the company made its decision, Lu Jingnian's manager, Chen, immediately felt defeated, while Fang Hao's manager, Ye, also lost a lot of morale. The two exchanged a glance and sat together in silence.

The company had spent a considerable amount of money on Fang Hao, and they expected him to earn it back. So, while they only warned him, it didn't mean the matter was over.

Manager Ye, Fang Hao's agent, let out a deep sigh. Her phone buzzed, it was a call from the nanny saying the child was crying for her mother.

Manager Chen, Lu Jingnian's agent, was also on the phone, stressed out. "...I know you don't want this either. Please stay calm, it's best not to do anything right now..."

The two hung up their phones in succession and sighed in unison.

After a moment, Manager Chen said, "Xiaolu said Fang Hao is avoiding her."

Manager Ye responded, "You and I both know it's impossible between them."

Manager Chen replied, "But she's still not giving up."

Manager Ye let out a sigh, "They were just colleagues, what do you want me to do?"

Manager Chen suggested, "Let him meet Xiaolu, you know her current situation as well." Lu Jingnian wouldn't be appearing in public for some time. Being over five years older than Fang Hao, her career had stagnated in recent years, with several poorly received movies. Adding this scandal on top, it could be said that the company had given up on her.

"What exactly is going on between them? Let them have a clear understanding. He's a man, he should take some responsibility." Manager Chen remarked.

Manager Ye fell silent for a while before agreeing, "Alright."

After sitting quietly for a while, Manager Ye said, "You know I'm not doing well either, right?"

Manager Chen chuckled, "Are you talking about your private dealings with Li Feng? Of course, you didn't expect it to turn out like this. You just didn't expect others to be on guard against you too."

If Manager Ye hadn't approached Li Feng privately, hadn't charmed them into revealing Zou Yirui's relationship, perhaps Lu Jingnian and Fang Hao wouldn't have been exposed. Tonghua and Boyi could have maintained a superficial peace, smoothly navigating the broadcast of "Zui Xiaoyao," resulting in a win-win situation for everyone. 

Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian wouldn't have faced such a dire situation.

Manager Ye face twitched slightly, resembling a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "I've learned my lesson too, I'm not happy about it either."

Right now, the happiest people at Boyi were the production team of "Zui Xiaoyao."

Manager Chen sighed softly, "Yes, it's airing tonight, right?"

Starting tonight, a new round of marketing hype would begin. Fang Hao had already lost a significant number of casual viewers, and his public image had taken a hit, affecting not only his film resources but also his business opportunities. During this marketing phase, the company would definitely work hard to help him recover.

Manager Ye was also quite anxious. Since returning from maternity leave, she had only been managing Fang Hao. The company had already shown leniency this time, if there were any more slip-ups, there would be no favors left.

Manager Chen turned to her, "I want to sign Xiaoyuan. I've already talked to the director about it."

Lu Jingnian no longer had a future, so she needed to find someone more promising to take her place.

Manager Ye replied, "She's indeed a good seedling..." but now she's in high demand, "I wish you success."

The two sat in silence for a while longer, then got up one after the other and left in opposite directions.

Maintaining the façade requires a great deal of effort behind the scenes. A slight misstep could wash away years of hard work.

"Zui Xiaoyao" began airing on September 30, with simultaneous broadcasts on various platforms and television channels, airing two episodes every night starting at 8 PM.

After nearly ten days of intense PR battles, the premiere attracted widespread attention as soon as it aired.

This time, another team from Li Feng cooperated with the production company for promotions. After discussions and planning, taking into account previous public opinions, they decided to focus on promoting the plot and Fang Hao, while the other two actresses would be managed by their own agencies.

The production team of "Zui Xiaoyao" was experienced, the original story was a well-known IP with a solid fan base, including book fans, drama fans, and many casual viewers. The tight and engaging plot, exciting action scenes, and standout performances quickly made it a trending topic across major platforms that night.

After the first episode aired, four topics made it into the top forty trending searches.

#"Zui Xiaoyao" premiered# was in the fifth place among the well-known trending topics.

#Fang Hao Looks Handsome in Ancient Costume # The video of the marketing account that Li Feng was currently buying started spreading, and fan interactions, retweets, and interactions on the navy square gradually climbed from around thirtieth place.

#Xiang Xiaoyuan is stunning# and #Xiang Xiaoyuan's acting# quickly followed behind at an impressive pace, while "Zou Yirui's white moonlight look" hovered around the fortieth spot.

Li Feng's team observed and adjusted their marketing plan timely, while Feiyi was also watching closely. In the past few days of public opinion battles, Feiyi didn't directly confront Boyi, instead coordinating actions with Duo Miaojiang, engaging in guerrilla tactics, aligning with hot online discussions, and strategically pushing Xiang Xiaoyuan into the trends.

Feiyi is a talent agency established only three years ago, not very large in scale. The main person in charge used to be a well-known star agent in the industry. After this PR battle, the main person in charge decisively shifted her focus to the company's key projects.

By the time the second episode of "Zui Xiaoyao" ended, Xiang Xiaoyuan's popularity surged, and with the support of Feiyi, two of her topics climbed to second and third place in trending searches.

The first place was Fang Hao.

The tenth place was Zou Yirui.

That night marked the beginning of "Zui Xiaoyao" drama crew dominating the screens and hot search rankings.

Throughout October, the hottest drama on the entire web was "Zui Xiaoyao," overshadowing any other shows airing during the same time slot—youth idol dramas, family dramas, and period dramas had little discussion. It even surpassed any movies airing during the National Day period.

The audience for "Zui Xiaoyao" spanned all age groups. With its excellent production, beautiful set design, thrilling plot, action scenes, emotional storylines, and good-looking cast, it became a daily topic of discussion.

Every day brought new hot discussion points:

Are the action scenes real or staged? Which actor used the most stunt doubles? Whose action scenes look the most realistic and impressive?

Which scenes were shot on-location and which used special effects?

Is male lead Jiang Xiaoyao going to choose Song Yunshan or Ling Yao? Who is more beautiful, Song Yunshan or Ling Yao? Who does the male lead love more? The romantic relationships among the martial arts characters are truly romantic, everyone loves Miss Ling Yao, and so on.

What was the original work's ending like?

......

A hit drama is something you can hardly avoid. It's a hot topic on TV, discussed on every social media platform, flooded with promotional images and video clips. People on social platforms, chat apps, and various groups are all discussing the plot. Even if you intentionally try to avoid it, you'll still know where the story has progressed to.

The immense attention "Zui Xiaoyao" garnered was not only due to its high quality but also because of the previous public opinion battles. The main actors had already gained popularity before, and with the drama's success, their popularity soared.

Zou Yirui and Fang Hao also received a lot of positive reviews. Zou Yirui was praised for her breakthrough and beauty, while for Fang Hao, this was his first work where people noticed improvement in his acting, where he was seen as delivering lines rather than just reciting them, and his action scenes were also praised.

However, they couldn't compare to Xiang Xiaoyuan. From appearance to acting skills to action scenes, she received unanimous praise and was the center of attention.

Netizens jokingly referred to her arrival in the "Zui Xiaoyao" production as "acting poverty alleviation," with countless mentions of her past struggles and hardships, establishing her as an embodiment of positive messages like "real talent is the strongest asset" and "hardworking actors deserve success." Numerous self-media outlets used her story to inspire countless discussions and articles.

How did Xiang Xiaoyuan realize she had become famous?

When she opened the internet, there were countless videos about her. Taking Bilibili as an example, there were clips of her acting skills, solo clips, fan-made clips, and analyses of her acting skills in the film and television section.

In the beauty section, there were makeup tutorials inspired by her looks.

In the lifestyle section, there were discussions about her—one of the funniest trends being #Names that sound beautiful#.

In the parody section, there were edits of several web dramas she starred in with added music.

In the fashion section, there were analyses of her outfits in TV dramas, as she was being photographed more frequently, along with videos on how to dress like her in daily life.

Not only did she have female fans, but there were also male fans. She charged into the Tiger Pupil Goddess Zone and made it to the top three.

More intuitively, many film and television resources and business opportunities quickly came her way. New media publications and magazines invited her for shoots, and brand events contacted Feiyi to inquire about quotes, hoping to collaborate during the drama's peak airing period.

Starting from November 1, she secured two brand endorsements—Lay's potato chips and Xinxiangyin tissues—not to mention that she had two films and three TV dramas waiting for her selection.

This feeling was beyond incredible.

It was as if she had been walking in darkness for a long time, and now the long-awaited fireworks suddenly erupted above her head.

She looked up, dazzled and somewhat overwhelmed, feeling a sense of unreality as if she were dreaming.

Fortunately, everything was real.

The phenomenally popular drama brought her huge profits. Her schedule for November was almost fully booked. She shot two endorsements in the first week, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the second week.

The airing of "Zui Xiaoyao" was nearing its end, with just four episodes left. It had achieved remarkable results, accumulating 3 billion views across major mainstream media, and its ratings on television exceeded three. South Korea, Japan, and Thailand had already purchased overseas broadcast rights, with several other countries in negotiations.

Such dazzling achievements were worth celebrating. Boyi, along with Penguin Platform, therefore organized a celebration banquet, inviting all the key creators and many media outlets to attend. The event was scheduled for the Thursday of the second week of November.

This was Xiang Xiaoyuan's first public appearance at such a grand event, so she had to dress up for the occasion.

On Thursday morning, Cai Juan had already begun discussing the evening's arrangements with the business agent from Feiyi—makeup, hair, clothing, shoes, jewelry, and so on.

The makeup and styling would be handled by a newly signed makeup artist, and they would choose clothing and shoes from brands willing to lend them outfits. Jewelry pieces would need to be specifically selected.

As Cai Juan participated in the discussion, he suddenly thought back to the past when not a single fashion brand was willing to lend them anything. Compared to other female stars, Xiaoyuan's wardrobe had been pitifully small.

Now everything had changed, he had finally waited for this day. He quietly wiped away tears and turned to see Xiaoyuan sitting in her pajamas on a bean bag chair, engrossed in her script, looking like she was saying, "You all can fuss as much as you want, I just want to choose my script."

Cai Juan felt both emotional and amused.

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