Xiao He smiled awkwardly and took the initiative to walk over to break the silence: "Uh, I think it's getting late, how about we go get some food together?"

"Eat?" Liu Rulan sneered. "Go back and write a thousand-word self-criticism first! Let's see if that person dares to rush into the fire again next time."

"Well--"

Xiao He's gaze darted around guiltily, then he coughed lightly and said very seriously, "Sister Liu, we've been through so many ups and downs, I thought you were already used to it. Do we still need to go through this process?"

Liu Rulan: ...

The woman didn't say a word, but glared at Xiao He, then turned and walked towards the police station exit: "Let's go back."

Xiao He: "Okay, Sister Liu."

Xiao He then nodded slightly to Tong Junhui and followed Liu Rulan's steps.

Tong Junhui stood there, watching the two figures gradually disappear. His eyes held both nostalgia and self-mockery. Finally, he gave a soft sneer, turned around, and walked into the police station.

-

The next day, preparations were officially underway for the first preview screening of "Law of the Jungle".

After packing his things, Xiao He prepared to go out for a hair and makeup session.

As soon as he arrived at the studio, Xiao He received a phone call.

Seeing the name in the contact's name, Xiao He answered with some surprise: "Hello?"

"Old Xiao, that's not fair of you. You gave He Junhao a preview screening ticket, but you didn't give me one?"

Zhai Zhipeng quipped on the phone with a hint of resentment.

Xiao He blushed and awkwardly tried to make amends: "Uh, of course I'll save a spot for you, my good brother! You can come anytime, I'll have my assistant take you straight backstage."

Zhai Zhipeng sighed: "I'm at work, so I'm just saying whatever comes to mind."

Zhai Zhipeng, like He Junhao, was Xiao He's roommate in college. However, unlike He Junhao, who continued to be an online blogger after graduation, Zhai Zhipeng found a job after graduation and has now successfully entered the headquarters of a certain company, where he happens to be in charge of the work related to maintaining trending topics.

These guys in the dorm usually chat in the group chat from time to time, posting random things. Yesterday, He Junhao excitedly announced in the group that he would be attending the preview screening of "Law of the Jungle," which earned him "Don't swallow your mouth and shut up" emojis from his other two roommates.

Dai Bai is busy with his postgraduate studies, and Zhai Zhipeng, who is also a working stiff, also let out a cry from the depths of his soul.

However, all he could do was go to work as usual, sit in his old office chair, and wistfully become a soon-to-be bald man.

However, Zhai Maluo's work today is a little different.

Today, the team leader instructed them to closely monitor the trending topics around 9:00 AM, be ready to maintain backend data at any time, and ensure the platform's traffic runs normally.

Having worked here for almost a year, Zhai Zhipeng already knew what this meant.

In short, there might be a big scandal around 9 PM, but it won't be pushed through normal traffic. Instead, it'll be generated by fake accounts creating hype. The platform already knows about this in advance and will cooperate with the trending topics to push it up, ensuring that the corresponding "trending topic" dominates the rankings. At the same time, it will push the information to all users "normally," ensuring the platform's traffic operates normally while converting this fake hype data into real user engagement.

This is already standard practice within their organization, nothing unusual, and Zhai Zhipeng is used to it.

However, as the team leader's current "confidant," he still took advantage of the meeting's end to sneak up next to the team leader, grinning and gossiping: "Team leader, why so sudden this time? Can you give me a heads-up?"

Normally, it definitely shouldn't be transparent.

But rules are rigid, while people are flexible. In this industry, there are no secrets; things have been passed down by word of mouth for a long time.

"There was a film screening today, but the rival team sniped it."

The team leader winked at Zhai Zhipeng, subtly hinting at something.

"Wow, wow, these people are crazy—hmm?"

Zhai Zhipeng nodded repeatedly, about to offer some comments and criticisms along with his team leader's words, but suddenly stopped.

Uh, wait a minute, something seems off?