Chapter 299 aired
On the day "Friends" aired, at 9 a.m., Beijing and Taiwan suddenly launched a massive publicity campaign.
The internet was flooded with trending topics, media interviews, and promotional content featuring artists with close ties to Beijing and Taiwan.
Lu Yanhe received various publicity cooperation notices from Beijing and Taiwan, but he did not agree to any of them and ignored them all.
At this point, what's the point of propaganda?
Lu Yanhe didn't know why Jingtai's attitude had suddenly changed so drastically, but he didn't want to know.
Hu Siwei and Bai Jingnian both called him specifically to express the hopes of the Beijing-Taiwan high-level officials, asking Lu Yanhe to temporarily put aside the previous conflicts and cooperate with Beijing-Taiwan's publicity efforts to promote "Friends".
In fact, even Hu Siwei and Bai Jingnian themselves felt embarrassed to say such things, but they forced themselves to say them.
If it weren't for their work in Beijing and Taiwan, and their roles as the producer and director of the "Friends" project, they wouldn't have dared to try and negotiate with Lu Yanhe on behalf of Beijing and Taiwan at this time.
Lu Yanhe knew their predicament, so he didn't say anything. He only said that he was very busy and had his own publicity schedule, and refused to cooperate with Beijing and Taiwan in any publicity work.
Yan Liang even came to ask him, "So, are we still going to cooperate? Otherwise, I might as well not participate."
“No need. This is between me and them. You don’t need to have this conflict with them. There are other actors, like Minglan. If they are concerned about my attitude, just tell them to fully cooperate with the publicity on Beijing TV. It will be good for the broadcast of the show.” Lu Yanhe said, “It’s just that I’ve already had such a falling out with them before. If I’m asked to cooperate with their publicity now, then my previous attitude and everyone’s support for me will seem too cheap.”
Yan Liang nodded upon hearing this.
"I see."
Yan Liang said, "I think it's the support everyone has given you over the past two days that has made Beijing and Taiwan a little nervous."
Lu Yanhe: "Isn't it their own fault that things have turned out this way? The most ridiculous thing is that, until now, no one has come to apologize to me. Not even a formal apology, not even a private apology."
Yan Liang: "I can't believe it."
Lu Yanhe: "There's nothing more to say. We'll just have to see how Friends turns out tonight."
Yan Liang: "To be honest, I'm really nervous. You must be even more nervous than me. I had already given up hope. Before, Beijing and Taiwan didn't do any promotion for 'Friends' at all, and there wasn't much buzz online. I didn't expect it to suddenly come back to life."
He glanced at Lu Yanhe and said, "It's good that this happened, Yanhe."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked at Yan Liang with disbelief.
Good?
Yan Liang smiled and said, "After this incident, no TV station will dare to bully you like this again."
Lu Yanhe's demonstrated strength and influence far surpass those of ordinary actors. He isn't the most famous or the highest-ranking actor, and he's only been acting for a short time. However, the power surrounding him extends beyond the entertainment industry and the cultural and artistic sector. If his situation were with another ordinary, popular artist, that artist would have to swallow their anger and suffer in silence. But these industry unspoken rules don't apply to Lu Yanhe.
The Beijing-Taiwan alliance wanted to resolve the matter using the same old methods, and as it turned out, that "ostrich-like" approach was also ineffective.
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Lu Yanhe has stirred up a huge uproar this time.
It was so significant that it completely changed everyone in the entertainment industry's perception of Lu Yanhe.
The understanding is that even if Friends really flops, it won't affect Lu Yanhe anymore.
With such a large group of people supporting Lu Yanhe, he will receive tremendous benefits in any project he participates in.
After talking with Yan Liang, Lu Yanhe returned to school.
This time, the youth association helped him a lot.
Wang Xiao acted as a go-between and did a great deal of work.
The Youth Association is a student organization that almost every college has, and they have a lot of connections with each other.
When Lu Yanhe first joined the Youth Association, he never imagined that he would one day receive such strong support from them.
Lu Yanhe and Wang Xiao went to the cafeteria.
Wang Xiao's dark circles were particularly noticeable. He said, "It's not enough for you to treat me to a meal. Buy me a cup of coffee later too. I've been making calls to all the leaders of the youth associations at hundreds of universities to help you get things done. My throat is almost hoarse from talking so much."
The people from the youth associations of various universities certainly didn't post the Weibo messages out of respect for Lu Yanhe.
None of them knew Lu Yanhe.
The only person who could organize these people was Wang Xiao, who was also in charge of the Youth Association.
Lu Yanhe said, "Buy it. What do you want to eat, senior? Just tell me!"
Wang Xiao shook his head and sighed, "You have no idea how much pressure I was under. I don't know how many teachers called me to tell me to take it easy."
"Oh? Does this affect you?"
"What impact could there be? These are all trivial issues," Wang Xiao said. "I'm a model citizen with impeccable morals, what problems could I possibly have? I'm perfectly upright. I'm just worried about the negative impact. I said, what negative impact could there be? How many years has it taken Zhenhua to produce a genuine, homegrown actor like you? Someone like you would be nothing more than a campus heartthrob at schools like Beijing Arts University, but at Zhenhua, sorry, you're their only one. Shouldn't we protect you a bit?"
Lu Yanhe: "...Senior, what you said gave me goosebumps. It's too cheesy."
"Get lost, you don't appreciate kindness," Wang Xiao cursed.
Lu Yanhe laughed.
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Joking aside, Lu Yanhe clearly knew this time that too many people had helped him and given him their strongest support.
Whether it's the Youth Association led by Wang Xiao or "Jump Up" led by Chen Siqi, it's truly remarkable that everyone is willing to stand up for him at this time and support him with their own strength.
After having coffee with Wang Xiao, Lu Yanhe went back to his dormitory and didn't come out again.
Chen Ziyan messaged him: "Today alone, I received thirteen scripts."
Lu Yanhe: ? So many, too many.
Chen Ziyan: This time you've done a pretty good job turning things around. Nobody expected you to have the power to challenge Beijing and Taiwan. It's shocked everyone.
Lu Yanhe: Actually, I didn't. It was all thanks to my friends.
Chen Ziyan: How would they know the specifics of what happened? They only look at the results. Besides, the fact that you have so many people helping you is a kind of energy in itself. Xiao Lu, I never expected this.
Lu Yanhe: I didn't expect it myself. Originally, only senior Wang Xiao told me that he would ask many universities to help me promote the show the day before it aired, but I didn't expect that the print media circle and the author of "Jump Up" would also help me promote the show.
Chen Ziyan: Next up, let's watch Friends tonight.
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Around 6 p.m., a number of self-media outlets suddenly started mentioning "Friends" which was airing on Beijing TV that evening.
Some people say, "It's been a long time since I've watched a domestic sitcom. Has anyone watched one? After you've watched it, please share your thoughts on its quality and whether it's worth watching."
Some people say, "It's been a long time since I've seen the film and television industry this lively. Even when 'Phoenix Terrace' was popular before, people were only discussing the plot and gossip about the actors. This time, it's generating a lot of buzz even before filming has started. I want to see how many articles I'll write about this show during its broadcast. Seriously, I don't know if it will be well-received, but I can already foresee that it will definitely be a huge hit. The buzz will double. Remember to watch the premiere. It's not broadcast online. If you don't watch it, and everyone around you is talking about it, but you can't join the discussion, then you're out of luck."
...
At first, Lu Yanhe thought this wave of voices from independent media was arranged by Beijing and Taiwan.
But upon closer inspection, most of these influential self-media outlets looked familiar; they had all praised him before… Lu Yanhe realized that this must have been arranged by Chen Ziyan.
It wasn't just him and his friends who were trying to come up with ideas for the show; Chen Ziyan was doing the same.
She used the most direct, but perhaps most effective, method to leverage the influence of these social media platforms to transform "Friends" into a topical social product, attracting fans to watch it.
At this point, the popularity of "Friends" has directly surpassed the peak of this year's TV dramas, and its online search volume has reached its annual peak.
"With this level of popularity, if this show were to be broadcast simultaneously on TV and online, wouldn't it be an explosion?"
"If it had been broadcast simultaneously on TV and online, this show wouldn't have the popularity it has now."
"Putting everything else aside, the various marketing topics surrounding this drama from before filming began until its broadcast today—whether it was intentional or unintentional on the part of the production team—will undoubtedly become a model for other film and television dramas to learn from for a long time to come. I have never seen a drama generate so much discussion before its official premiere."
"Lu Yanhe's first leading role drama, judging from the current popularity, his ability to carry a drama doesn't need to be proven by the ratings. If the ratings are not good, it only means that the TV station's exclusive broadcast method can be declared dead, not that he can't carry the ratings."
...
Lu Yanhe scrolled through the online posts and discussions in his dormitory, silently calculating how many were paid trolls arranged by Sister Ziyan and how many were spontaneous comments from netizens.
At 8:30, Mao Jiayang rushed back to the dormitory. When he saw Lu Yanhe there, he was stunned and asked in surprise, "Why are you still in the dormitory?"
"Then where should I be?" Lu Yanhe asked, puzzled.
Mao Jiayang said, "The cafeteria, do you know how many people are in each cafeteria now?"
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Mao Jiayang asked, "Has no one messaged you?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head.
Indeed, it's strange; as the broadcast date approaches, fewer people are sending him messages.
Mao Jiayang took out his phone, opened a photo, and handed it to Lu Yanhe: "Look, this is what Xiao Jing just sent me."
Lu Yanhe received the photo and saw a picture of the cafeteria.
Even though it was past lunchtime, every seat in the cafeteria was occupied, with many people still engrossed in reading and studying. Those without seats stood in the empty spaces.
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Mao Jiayang said, "Many classmates are waiting to watch 'Friends' at nine o'clock. Xiaoxiao saved a seat for me. I'm going now. Are you going?"
Lu Yanhe paused for a moment and said, "I...I'm not going. You go. I'm inexplicably nervous right now."
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I've been thinking about applying for the unbanning to be lifted, so I'm a bit out of it, hence this shorter chapter. There will be another update today.
(End of this chapter)
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