Chapter 645 Making Trouble, Three's Company
Ma Zhiyuan is selling products via livestreaming.
His live stream is very popular.
Because he has an assistant who often speaks in the manner and tone of an "industry insider," explaining some of the (unspoken) rules of the entertainment industry, revealing some gossip, and saying some things that seem shocking and eye-catching.
Ma Zhiyuan would not say these things.
However, he has always been there.
He also responded to these remarks.
These reactions alone are enough for the general public to make all sorts of interpretations.
Ma Zhiyuan was, after all, a true top celebrity in the past.
Even though his public image has deteriorated to the point where he can no longer access top-tier resources, the buzz generated by his every move is still top-tier.
His livestream, with its various activities and statements, naturally attracted attention and sparked much discussion.
That evening, the discussion about Lu Yanhe focused on how much of his growth and development was due to his own efforts.
No one expected that Lu Yanhe's topic would generate such a huge controversy.
The controversy lies in the fact that a large number of people believe that even Lu Yanhe would not have had the opportunity to showcase his talent later on if he hadn't gotten off to a good start.
Others believe that Lu Yanhe is the closest among all the celebrities in the entertainment industry to having worked his way up to his current position through sheer hard work.
If Lu Yanhe doesn't count as relying on himself, then who can say that their success is due to themselves?
The online discussion is in full swing.
Chen Ziyan immediately contacted Lu Yanhe.
“The current online public opinion is not going well. No matter which side wins, it will affect your image,” Chen Ziyan said. “You have many fans who like you and support you because they see the value of personal struggle in you and project a lot of their emotions and values onto you. If it becomes that your success is inseparable from the support of your agency and the help of capital, their filter on you will be shattered, and your inspirational and self-reliant image will also be affected.”
“However, in the entertainment industry, all forces and capital absolutely do not want to see you establish an idol persona that you can get to where you are today by relying on yourself alone without relying on anyone,” Chen Ziyan said. “Today, the degree of control that capital has over artists means that almost every well-known young artist has a capital background. If they collectively attack you, you will be hard-pressed to withstand such a massive amount of negative information.”
Lu Yanhe understood what Chen Ziyan meant.
Many celebrities need traffic, trending topics, and exposure.
However, for actors at Lu Yanhe's level, sometimes it's actually better to have less exposure and fewer trending topics.
Two or three months without any news or media exposure doesn't affect his status or commercial value at all. However, every time he reappears in the public eye, it may mean the start of a new uproar.
Lu Yanhe said to Chen Ziyan, "Then I'll respond."
How do you want to respond?
"Let's just tell the truth from my own experience," Lu Yanhe said. "Let's end this discussion as soon as possible and stop it from dragging on."
Five minutes later, Lu Yanhe posted a Weibo message:
I learned a poem when I was a child: "A tall tree adorned with jade, ten thousand green silk ribbons hanging down, who could have cut such delicate leaves? The spring breeze of February is like scissors." A willow tree in spring needs its own vigorous growth, but it also needs the shaping and sculpting of the spring breeze. The willow tree will not say that it is spring itself, nor will the spring breeze say that it brings spring to the willow tree.
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"Yes, this copywriting... even those top-tier PR masters couldn't write it."
Lu Qingzhen breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Lu Yanhe's Weibo post.
"In terms of writing skills, Lu Yanhe can be trusted one hundred percent."
Chen Ziyan, however, did not relax her expression.
“This whole mess was caused by Ma Zhiyuan’s live stream. We can’t let him make money so easily by riding on Yan He’s popularity,” Chen Ziyan said. “I have to call Zhou Ping’an. If Ma Zhiyuan dares to mention Lu Yan He in his live stream again, I’ll hire ten people to keep an eye on his live stream and report him for the slightest mistake!”
Lu Qingzhen was surprised and asked, "Ma Zhiyuan's contract is still in Zhou Ping'an's hands?"
“Yes.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “However, Zhou Pingan basically doesn’t care about him anymore, he just takes a cut.”
"Could Ma Zhiyuan, with his temper, really tolerate this?"
“Ma Zhiyuan doesn’t have the resources to compete with Zhou Pingan right now, so he can only endure it,” Chen Ziyan said. “But as long as Zhou Pingan remains Ma Zhiyuan’s agent, he has to take care of this matter.”
The call went through.
Upon hearing Chen Ziyan's purpose, Zhou Ping'an immediately said, "President Chen, you know I don't care about Ma Zhiyuan at all now. Whatever he does, he won't listen to me. I'm very sorry for the trouble he caused in his live stream today. You should believe me, I'm definitely one of the people in the entertainment industry who least wants Yan He to have any trouble."
Chen Ziyan: "Zhou Ping'an, I only have one thing to say. If you don't find a way to stop Ma Zhiyuan's flirtatious and attention-seeking behavior, I will find a way to make sure that Yan Liang and Cheng Hai can never act in Yan He's projects again."
"President Chen, do you even believe what you're saying? Do you think Yan He will stop cooperating with Yan Liang just because of your words? Haha, if their relationship were so easy to sow discord, I would have done it long ago." Zhou Ping'an spoke frankly.
“No, you’re mistaken. I will tell Yan Liang the truth. Knowing Yan Liang as you do, do you think he will voluntarily withdraw from Yanhe’s project?” Chen Ziyan smiled.
Zhou Ping'an remained silent.
Lu Qingzhen gave Chen Ziyan a thumbs up without saying a word, only mouthing, "You're ruthless."
Zhou Ping'an: "You're ruthless."
“The fact that I’m calling you means I’m still thinking of leaving you some room to maneuver and I don’t intend to push things to the extreme,” Chen Ziyan said. “Otherwise, if Ma Zhiyuan can’t even appear on camera anymore, you won’t be able to get any money from him.”
Zhou Ping'an: "If you can make sure he can never appear on camera again and help me get rid of this problem, I'll pay you out of my own pocket."
Chen Ziyan: "Are you serious?"
Zhou Ping'an: "You have no idea what it's like to have a mentally ill artist working under you."
Chen Ziyan: "...I've never experienced that before. You must have a lot of experience."
Zhou Ping'an: "Seriously, if you have the ability to make sure he can never appear on camera again, then I'll consider it an obligation I owe you."
"You want me to do something underhanded to you?" Chen Ziyan chuckled. "You wish."
In any case, Chen Ziyan will not leave any verbal evidence.
Zhou Ping'an: "But regarding the Spring Festival Gala, I thought you would at least share my stance."
“Even if you bring Lin Suyang along and the three of us form an alliance, you have to recognize one fact,” Chen Ziyan said. “Now that the three of them are in their positions, we are just service workers for them. Don’t even think about controlling them anymore.”
"You make it sound so easy."
“That’s what I did too,” Chen Ziyan said. “So, I’ve always had a good relationship with my artists. Even if we break up, it’s an amicable split. We remain friends and can still work together.”
Zhou Ping'an was speechless.
This alone has made him a laughing stock in the industry.
He certainly can't compare to Chen Ziyan.
Just then, Lu Qingzhen suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god!"
Chen Ziyan looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Lu Qingzhen gestured to her phone, indicating that something new had appeared online.
Chen Ziyan had no choice but to end the call with Zhou Ping'an and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Someone from the crew of 'The Sea, My Pah' revealed that Lu Yanhe came to the set and allowed the director to change the script on the spot, turning the original female lead into a supporting role. The original female lead, Liu Guanxian, cried on the spot and accused the director, and even posted a GIF."
Chen Ziyan: "What the hell? Who leaked this?"
“It’s a marketing account,” Lu Qingzhen said. “It seems that someone was stirring up trouble before, just to set up this.”
In the animated GIF leaked by the marketing account, Liu Guanxian's eyes were red and she was crying as she questioned Wu Chi.
There was no sound, but judging from the lip movements, it matched the message.
Chen Ziyan was taken aback and immediately contacted Lu Yanhe.
Have you seen the gossip from marketing accounts about the script revisions for "The Sea"?
"I just saw it." Lu Yanhe sighed helplessly. "It feels like one problem after another."
“Someone wants to use this incident to smear you and damage your public image,” Chen Ziyan said bluntly. “Just before, we were discussing whether your achievements were due to your own efforts or those of others, but now it’s become that you’re bullying a minor actor.”
Lu Yanhe: "Should I... respond to this matter?"
“It’s inappropriate. This matter involves multiple parties, and it’s not suitable for you to respond personally,” Chen Ziyan said. “The production team needs to come out and deny it immediately. I need to ask, is this rumor true?”
"It's true that the script was revised, but it's false that the female lead was changed to the second female lead. The GIF of her crying online is real, but the actual situation is that Liu Guanxian heard the rumors and misunderstood."
"Then let the production team quickly issue a denial statement." Chen Ziyan was somewhat speechless. "And then, that marketing account will have to sue."
"good."
Chen Ziyan: "We need to find out who leaked the information in the crew and kick them out!"
Lu Yanhe: "Hmm."
The movie "Pah! The Sea" is a low-budget film, but it ended up trending on social media for free because of this trivial matter.
In the comments section of Lu Yanhe's Weibo post, someone asked whether the online revelations were true or false.
Lu Yanhe replied: Do you really think it's true?
Then someone asked: What is the real situation?
Lu Yanhe: The production team will make a statement later. I just went to visit the set. I am not the director, I am not the screenwriter, and I did not choose the actors. I was inexplicably linked to them.
Lu Yanhe quickly refuted the rumors.
Someone else asked: Why do you keep making low-budget films?
Lu Yanhe saw it but didn't reply.
About half an hour later, the production team of "The Sea, My Pah" issued a statement explaining the truth behind the rumors circulating online.
The main point was to explain that Director Wu Chi did make some changes to the script, but the changes did not involve the female lead. Instead, they modified the character of the second female lead. As a result, someone in the production team maliciously spread rumors and sold the false information to marketing accounts.
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“You have to post on Weibo. You absolutely have to post on Weibo now,” Shen Yicheng said to Jiang Yue. “This is a great opportunity to let everyone know you, after all, you are also a party involved.”
Jiang Yue said, "But when Director Li Chao came over before, didn't he advise me not to make any responses online?"
Shen Yicheng: "He also said it was just a suggestion, not a request. In addition, Lu Yanhe was slandered in this matter. If you stand up to clarify the truth at this time, Lu Yanhe will have a better impression of you."
Jiang Yue was persuaded by Chen Yicheng to take out her phone and edited it several times, but she was never satisfied with what she had written.
Shen Yicheng said, "Don't be awkward at this time. You have such an opportunity to let everyone know you, why don't you seize it? Usually, you spend hundreds of thousands of yuan to get on the trending topics and you only get a ripple."
Jiang Yue: "...I'm worried that doing this might affect the production team's clarification, and then they might have a problem with me."
Shen Yicheng: "You just need to simply say that you joined the group as the second female lead and that you got the script. Whether it was before or after the revisions, you are still the second female lead. Just make a clarification. How could they have a problem with you? Once you post this Weibo, you will gain at least 100,000 followers."
Jiang Yue: "..."
“You might not even gain 100,000 followers after this movie is released,” Shen Yicheng added.
Jiang Yue: "..."
She gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, I'll send it."
She made the changes as Shen Yicheng had suggested and sent it.
She was stunned when she refreshed the homepage again.
?
A minute ago, Kong Fanyu posted on Weibo: "I never expected someone to spread rumors that Lu Yanhe bullied us small actors. It's insane! If it weren't for Lu Yanhe's investment and production, who among us small actors would have the opportunity to star in a movie? Over the past two years, I've auditioned for hundreds of productions, and only 'The Sea, My Pah!' firmly chose me as the male lead, without any hesitation or change of heart. From the audition to signing the contract, only five days passed. I just want to say to those marketing accounts, I'm ashamed of you! To earn a little traffic, you blatantly lie!"
Jiang Yue stared wide-eyed in shock.
Refreshing the homepage again, Liu Guanxian also posted on Weibo: "I believed the rumors and thought my scenes had been cut, which is why I saw the sad and upset expression in that GIF. But the director immediately told me it was fake. Since they had already filmed that scene, why didn't they release the complete video? It's embarrassing, but the next second I was slapped in the face. I'm very sorry that my immature and irrational actions caused so much trouble for the production team."
Shen Yicheng glared at Jiang Yue.
“Look, the three of you posted one after the other, and everyone’s attention is diverted.” Shen Yicheng said helplessly, “You might have gained 100,000 followers before, but now you’ll only get 30,000 at most. Everyone’s attention is on the male and female leads.”
Jiang Yue: "..."
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After following the drama unfolding these past few days, I can't help but think, what's so special about the petty squabbles and melodramas I've written about?
Stop calling me melodramatic.
I recommend the new book "The Demon-Slaying Sword".
(End of this chapter)
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