Chapter 207 Accidentally trended on social media again.

The two ate while chatting about their respective progress.

“Song Linxin and Yan Liang have already given me the manuscript,” Lu Yanhe said. “We may need to hire a professional editor to help us proofread the manuscript, otherwise we may not be able to spot many typos and grammatical errors.”

“Let’s ask a professional editor for help,” Chen Siqi said. “Don’t you know an editor at Jiangyin Publishing House? See if you can get them to help.”

"Mm." Lu Yanhe nodded.

Chen Siqi said, "I have received three replies from online influencers who are willing to provide us with manuscripts. They are all popular bloggers with many followers. But I have not received any other replies. There is nothing I can do. We do not have any sample books for everyone to refer to right now. Many people think we are just scammers."

"For the first batch of content, we mostly had to rely on friends to help us get enough material," Lu Yanhe said, somewhat amused and exasperated.

“Our current lineup of creators is already quite appealing. Compared to those creators who can attract more readers to our book, we can focus more on articles that move people,” Chen Siqi said. “Next time I meet Xin Zixing, I plan to mention the essay contest on Yemai.com.”

Lu Yanhe nodded.

“The essay contest itself is also a form of publicity to some extent,” Chen Siqi said. “It’s not just open to internal submissions to YeMai.com, but can also be submitted to relevant platforms.”

"That's actually pretty good."

“Yes.” Chen Siqi nodded. “Although Xin Zixing set a target of 50,000 subscribers for us, I still hope to achieve more. Since we’re going to do it, we should do our best to make it the most outstanding Mook.”

"What is your target number of subscribers?" Lu Yanhe asked curiously.

“100,000, 200,000? The more the better.” Chen Siqi said earnestly, “As long as we really make it something that people are willing to read, the number of subscribers will definitely increase. In the past, we would read a magazine for two or three years straight.”

"It sounds like a goal that will take a very long time to achieve," Lu Yanhe nodded. "However, I don't find it impossible to accomplish. Am I getting arrogant?"

"Because we all believe that good content and good promotion will lead to recognition." Chen Siqi smiled proudly. "I still feel a little unreal. I never thought I would actually start making a book like this. I thought this summer vacation would be very boring. Moreover, this is the first time I have ever really done something I wanted to do. Before, whatever I did was either to mess with Liu Wei'an or to prove to my dad that I could do it. But I have never done anything that I really wanted to do. If I hadn't made this book with you, I don't think I would have ever taken any action to do this."

Lu Yanhe did not expect Chen Siqi to suddenly give him such a "heartfelt confession".

“Me too,” Lu Yanhe said immediately. “If it weren’t for you working with me, I wouldn’t have taken any action. I would only have the thought pop into my head occasionally, and then nothing more.”

What Chen Siqi didn't say was that she hoped the first issue would be better than imagined and expected, and that the book could continue to be published. That way, even if she went to Jiangguang and Lu Yanhe stayed in Yuming, even if she was just an ordinary student and Lu Yanhe became more and more famous, they could still stay together because of the book and maintain a long-term and stable connection.

Chen Siqi is not an optimist; she cannot optimistically believe that she and Lu Yanhe can maintain their current relationship after being separated for so long.

Without investing time and effort, the bonds between people will grow weaker and weaker. Even when old friends reunite, they can only reminisce about the past. But the past is the past, and the present is the present.

She doesn't just want the past; she wants the present.

-

After they finished their meal, they found a coffee shop nearby and planned to discuss the editing of the book and other follow-up work together in the afternoon.

"Hey, isn't that Lu Yanhe?" Just as they were about to leave the restaurant, someone suddenly pointed at Lu Yanhe and shouted.

Her voice attracted a lot of attention.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were instantly surrounded by gazes.

He looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"Why is there a girl with him?" some people whispered, saying it directly to the person next to him in front of him.

This "also" is the essence.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Someone asked directly, as if they were old acquaintances of Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe frowned slightly as he looked at the person.

The man was clearly watching a show, looking at him with a mocking expression.

Lu Yanhe turned and glanced at Chen Siqi.

Chen Siqi glared at her fiercely, "Who are you? What's it to you?!"

Lu Yanhe panicked, fearing that Chen Siqi would get into a fight in front of everyone, so he quickly pulled her away.

-

This unexpected incident made Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi's departure seem somewhat hasty and hasty.

Chen Siqi was very dissatisfied and said, "Why did you pull me away just now?"

Lu Yanhe answered honestly, "I'm afraid you'll argue with him."

“That guy looked like he had bad intentions, with a shifty, cunning look on his face,” Chen Siqi said. “I’m not going to argue with him.”

Lu Yanhe had a headache and said, "It seems like I'm getting recognized more and more lately."

“It’s not normal that you’re trending on social media every few days and becoming more and more easily recognized,” Chen Siqi said. “I find it strange that you can come out so often, eat and drink coffee like an ordinary person, without being affected much. Aren’t most celebrities restricted from traveling and find it difficult to enjoy a normal life?”

“Unless someone is extremely famous, they wouldn’t be in such a difficult situation. Even Sister Yuqian can go out normally if she disguises herself,” Lu Yanhe said. “It’s not that exaggerated. Li Zhibai is so famous, but as long as he doesn’t go to places where crowds gather, he can still go out with us.”

Chen Siqi: "That's because the people you mentioned are only known to many young people. Try replacing them with Shang Yongzhou and the others."

"That's true."

The two of them ran to the nearby coffee shop, pushed open the door, went inside, and found a corner seat.

They usually find this kind of spot, and then Lu Yanhe sits facing the corner with his back to the other people in the store, so that he is rarely recognized by anyone, at most by the store staff.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I sat down, a voice called out "Lu Yanhe!" from the side.

Lu Yanhe froze, looking at Chen Siqi in disbelief.

Isn't it a bit too frequent for me to be recognized today?

Chen Siqi also turned her head to look over.

They quickly realized they had misunderstood; Lu Yanhe had not been recognized.

Two very stylishly dressed girls sat next to them.

They were each holding their phones, scrolling through things. The shout of "Lu Yanhe" just now came from one of the girls.

"He seemed to have been eating at a restaurant nearby!"

"ah?"

"There happened to be a restaurant review livestreamer doing a livestream at the restaurant, and they ran into him and even filmed him with a girl. That girl had a pretty bad temper."

"What girl?"

"I don't know, he's just average-looking."

Chen Siqi, who thought it was "just so-so," took a deep breath.

Lu Yanhe quickly gestured to her with his eyes to calm down.

The two girls continued talking.

"These idol artists nowadays all seem incredibly innocent on the surface. I knew it! They're handsome, young, and rich. How could they possibly be innocent? Look around us, any good-looking guy has a girlfriend at least once in a while."

"I thought Lu Yanhe was a little different."

"There are also many scumbags among top students."

Lu Yanhe, the "scumbag," stared wide-eyed in shock.

Chen Siqi nodded at him with her eyes, her teasing expression evident.

"Hahaha, that's hilarious! The restaurant owner even said that Lu Yanhe is stingy; when he treated a girl to dinner, he only ordered two dishes and spent 27 yuan!"

"27 yuan?! Holy crap, if any guy treated me to dinner and this was all he served, I'd grab my bag and leave. Seriously, that's outrageous! How can guys be so stingy?"

"I'm speechless."

...

The two girls were completely unaware that the two newcomers were the very people they were talking about.

They waited until they finished their coffee and left the shop, but they didn't notice anything.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi stared at each other, neither of them saying a word.

It's a strange and enjoyable feeling to sit next to others and listen to them talk about you.

After a long pause, Chen Siqi finally said, "Are you okay?"

The two girls were mainly talking about Lu Yanhe, saying he was a womanizer and stingy, which made people lose their minds.

Lu Yanhe was so irritated by the spray that he felt numb.

Chen Siqi laughed uncontrollably and said, "I can only truly understand the kind of environment you usually face when I sit with you."

Lu Yanhe: "Sigh, I suddenly feel that after this lunch, I'm likely to become a terrible guy in many people's eyes."

"They should clarify this quickly," Chen Siqi said. "Judging from what they're saying, I guess a lot of people are already talking about it online."

"What's there to clarify? I don't even know what to clarify," Lu Yanhe said. "It's a fact that we only spent 27 yuan."

“We only ate one eggplant with braised pork and one stir-fried cabbage. How much could that cost? It’s not like we ate at a fancy restaurant. It’s just a place that serves simple, everyday dishes,” Chen Siqi said.

"But that's how it sounds to other people."

“Why don’t you just clarify that I’m not your girlfriend?” Chen Siqi said.

Lu Yanhe: "Then even more people called me a scumbag. Yeah, after being talked about, I even denied that she was my girlfriend."

Chen Siqi sighed.

"Then what should we do?"

“I’ll send a message to Sister Ziyan, it’s fine,” Lu Yanhe said. “At most, I’ll just be laughed at for a couple of days.”

He pretended to be nonchalant, but inside he was actually a little irritable.

Even though it has nothing to do with the facts, the more they explain the facts, the more they are misunderstood. Being a celebrity always presents this situation: the facts aren't important, and explaining too much only makes things worse; it's better to say nothing.

Lu Yanhe has faced this situation several times before.

Chen Ziyan replied: It's a small matter, don't take it to heart.

It was Chen Ziyan's attitude that relieved Lu Yanhe.

It seemed that nothing was a big deal to Chen Ziyan.

-

Chen Ziyan really didn't care about such trivial matters.

For her, she often felt that as long as artists did not break the law or violate regulations, there was nothing that could not be resolved or handled through public relations.

Every crisis is an opportunity—to some extent, Zhou Ping'an's idea is not wrong. Even a bad reputation can still be a good one; a bad reputation can be turned into a good one, and an image crisis can be transformed into an image improvement. The current discussions have at least drawn a lot of attention to Lu Yanhe. If the public relations are handled well, these followers will become positive admirers.

Chen Ziyan directly created a virtual "friend" identity and wrote online: "Seeing that Lu Yanhe and Qiqi are mistaken for a couple by everyone, as their classmate and good friend, I should explain. They are classmates from No. 13 Middle School and have a very good relationship. Several other people often hang out with them, not just the two of them. They often meet and eat together because they are working on a book together, so they often meet to discuss it. Just because a boy and a girl are together doesn't mean they are a couple, okay? Also, as for the 27 yuan, the restaurant they ate at only costs about 12 or 13 yuan per dish on average. It's a restaurant that focuses on affordable prices. We are good friends eating together, and we are all recent high school graduates. Even if it's 27 yuan, it's not cheap, okay?!"

After writing it, find familiar media outlets to repost it, attract traffic, increase popularity, and create buzz.

Under several posts criticizing Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi for being a couple, I posted a screenshot of this content to generate buzz and get it among the top comments.

It's not just trolls and online trolls who know how to manipulate online traffic; public relations responses do the same.

When Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi's phones rang one after another, they realized that this matter and the response arranged by Chen Ziyan had become trending topics.

Many of their friends sent their condolences.

Li Pengfei even created a group chat, named "The School Heartthrobs and Beauties of No. 13 Middle School".

He started chattering away in the group chat.

Lin Yu, Chen Qin, Xu Zijun and the others were all added to the group.

Li Pengfei was very curious about who was responding online, so he tagged everyone and asked if it was them.

Everyone denied it.

Li Pengfei: Then who else is so familiar with Lao Lu and Chen Siqi?

Lu Yanhe replied silently: That ID was arranged by my agent, it's not a real person.

Li Pengfei: I'm going.

Lin Yu: I was wondering why I couldn't figure out who this person was.

Lu Yanhe: An unexpected disaster.

Li Pengfei: That's hilarious.

Chen Qin: This response is so real, I really thought it was written by one of us.

Chen Qin: But, are you working on a book together?

This response marked the first time that the matter of Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi working on a book together was brought up in front of everyone.

(End of this chapter)