Chapter 63 Touching [VIP]
Chapter Summary: The underlying intentions of optimism and cultivation
It's perfectly normal for viewers to become so engrossed in a drama that they develop a fondness for the actors and even fantasize about real-life couples because of their liking for the on-screen couple.
The show is currently airing and it's impossible to dampen the enthusiasm of the CP fans.
Mu Zhi replied without hesitation, "I think shipping couples is everyone's freedom. As an actor, I am very happy to see everyone's love for 'The Bell Ringer' and for the various characters. It is a recognition of our performance."
A very official yet highly EQ response.
But the reporter wasn't about to let it go so easily and dug a second hole for him.
"So what's your relationship like off-screen? For example, Zhizhi just mentioned that Yao-ge took good care of you during filming. Is it the same off-screen, like an older brother?"
It's starting to veer towards something ambiguous.
For actors, they usually have little contact after filming wraps up.
Because of the recent promotion of the drama, Mu Zhi and Ning Yao have crossed paths again.
Dealing with reporters' interviews is a real skill. You can't pander to the CP fans just to please them, otherwise you might offend the other party's solo fans first.
If the fans of the two sides start fighting, it's not something the artists want to see.
Mu Zhi thought for a moment, and said from the bottom of her heart: "He is my younger brother. After working together several times, I feel that Teacher Ning has a boyish side in private. He is younger than me in terms of mental age, very energetic, and very driven in his work."
When Ning Yao heard the word "younger brother," a fleeting hint of disappointment crossed his face. But when he heard Mu Zhi praising him, his face lit up with a smile, tinged with a touch of helplessness.
He was older than Mu Zhi, and although he didn't want to admit it, he did feel like a younger brother in front of her.
He didn't answer before Mu Zhi, but he was somewhat expectant, wanting to see what Mu Zhi's answer would be.
The result was as he expected.
During the filming of "The Bell Ringer", he did not fall for Tu Qingqing, but he did fall for Mu Zhi.
When filming wrapped up, I thought maybe I had developed feelings for Mu Zhi because of the role, but several months have passed and I still really like her.
It was also clear that Mu Zhi's focus was on her work.
Ning Yao spread his hands and smiled at the camera, saying, "As everyone can see, Teacher Xiaozhi herself is quite similar to Aying in the drama in terms of personality. She is cool and sassy, very opinionated, and very sincere."
In our private interactions, she genuinely treated me like a younger brother, and she was more mature than me in handling certain matters...
Returning to the topic of promotion, "We are very grateful for everyone's love for us because of the characters. We hope you will continue to support 'The Bell Ringer.' The later episodes will be even more exciting, and we guarantee that investing in it will not be a loss!"
The answer "younger brother" suggests a closer relationship than "friend" or "not in much private contact," and can be interpreted as indicating that there is no romantic ambiguity in their private relationship.
After the door-to-door sales event was completed.
Mu Zhi was surfing the internet when she saw how CP fans interpreted "younger brother":
So sweet! He's clearly older than her, but he acts like a younger brother in front of her! I silently imagined a little wolf pretending to be a little puppy, wagging his tail and calling her "sister" all the time to get close to her! Yao-ge, you're really something, aren't you! And Zhizhi's answer, "He's a younger brother," was so doting.
Ahhh, my CP is real, it's so sweet!
Mu Zhi: This... is really outrageous.
Minmin looked unsurprised: "Some CP fans are practically a sugar factory. In their eyes, even a meteorite falling from the sky is evidence of the CP's love. They can interpret anything as a sweet moment to enjoy."
My partner is avoiding suspicion, they must be real!
My co-stars aren't avoiding each other, they must be real!
Actually, if Minmin hadn't been a staff member working for Muzhi, she would have known there was no romance between Muzhi and Ningyao, and she would have wanted to ship them after watching the show.
Today's door-to-door promotional event saw Mu Zhi and Ning Yao first trend on social media for their ancient costume looks, captivating many passersby. Later, the trending topic #MuZhiSaysNingYaoIsMyYoungerBrother# led to an interview video featuring the two of them together.
They can handle any problem.
The two were relaxed and interacted naturally, and their generous business attitude won them a lot of goodwill.
Furthermore, the fact that they've teamed up three times is indeed a rare and precious connection, which has led to an even greater number of netizens shipping this couple.
That evening, the popularity of "The Bell Ringer" on the platform reached a new high, exceeding 9,000 on top of the 8,500 popularity on the day of the update.
The following day, the rankings of "The Bell Ringer" on various lists were as follows:
The TV series ranked No. 1 in popularity across the entire network
TV drama broadcast popularity index ranked 2nd
Ranked #1 in online drama viewership index
No. 1 on the list of drama series with dehydrated viewership
TV Series Character New Media Index (Ah Ying ranked #1)...
The Green Apple platform boasts a popularity index of 9099, ranking 1st on the TV drama surge list, 2nd on the historical drama list, 1st on the trending list, 8th on the must-watch list, and 3rd on the romance list.
This was the first time that a drama outperformed Du Qianqian's.
On Saturday, the update day, the platform's popularity hit a new high of 9,400, and the number of ratings exceeded 100,000.
The rating rose from 8.4 to 8.7.
It still ranked first in all the rankings on Saturday.
Unfortunately, on a non-update day, Du Qianqian's drama was updated, and "The Bell Ringer" dropped in the rankings again.
Minmin: "Sister Zhizhi, our fans and Du Qianqian's fans got into a fight today."
The 48-episode period drama "Huang Quan Bi Luo" starring Du Xixi aired a few days earlier than "Yao Ling Lu". The two dramas clashed head-on and competed against each other until their finale.
Since the premiere of "The Bell Ringer", fans of both shows have been battling it out on Weibo under various charts, and major marketing accounts have frequently compared the two shows.
Previously, "The Bell Ringer" ranked below "The Yellow Springs and the Blue Sky". Du Qianqian has accumulated a fan base over many years. She has a large fan base and ranks high on the list. Mu Zhi's fans can only be ridiculed and mocked.
Now, "The Bell Ringer" has taken the top spot.
Some are happy, some are sad.
Mu Zhi's fans were elated and celebrating, while many of Du Qianqian's fans were sarcastic and even started hurling insults, leading to a heated argument.
Du Xixi's fans' tactics for attacking Mu Zhi:
"Someone's historical romance drama hasn't even broken the platform's popularity mark of 9999, while 'Huang Quan Bi Luo' has 170 million daily views. Get lost, don't try to provoke me! (Angry emoji)"
"You've topped all the charts for a day like you're some kind of genius who's passed the imperial examination. You're so naive. I'll crush you back under my feet tomorrow when the update comes."
"A nobody idol from the 180th tier of the entertainment industry thought he had ascended to a higher status after starring in an ancient costume drama. He has no self-awareness and wants to drag Du Qianqian into this to boost his popularity and elevate his status. Qianqian's fans, don't give a damn about a flop drama."
......
Mu Zhi's fans couldn't win the online battle against Du Qianqian's fans, but their counterattacks targeted the opposing fans' weaknesses:
They mocked Du Qianqian for staying in her comfort zone of historical romance dramas, filming various poorly made, poorly received, and forgotten historical romance IP dramas after they finished airing, without acting in any movies, while Mu Zhi has a movie in the pipeline.
Minmin: "I saw several of Du Qianqian's big fans get involved and stir up trouble. It's probably a 'team building' orchestrated by the team. Otherwise, Du Qianqian's fans wouldn't be shouting 'Don't give it any attention' while simultaneously tearing each other apart."
Since its premiere, "Huang Quan Bi Luo" has been heavily marketed, but apart from two fight scenes that were accused of plagiarism and sparked discussion, its popularity and buzz have been mediocre, and its reputation has been poor.
Du Xixi's dramas in the past two years have received considerable promotion, but their performances have been mediocre, and most importantly, the reviews have been poor, drawing a lot of criticism from fans...
So the team building activity was a real pain for the fans.
The Muzhi team's promotional style focuses on its own products.
If you want to use a feud with Du Qianqian's fans to boost your own status, you could simply reveal that you auditioned for the movie "Back to 17" together.
Once exposed, this will truly break the hearts of Du Xixi's fans.
After listening in silence, Mu Zhi pointed out incisively, "Neither of the two dramas performed very well."
So what if "Huang Quan Bi Luo" beat "Yao Ling Lu"? An S+ rated drama was being compared to an S rated drama; even if it won, the result isn't significant. Moreover, the fatal flaw for Du Qianqian is the poor reputation of her work, which has eroded fans' confidence in her future.
As an S-level drama, "The Bell Ringer" may not even make it into the top 10 of this year's ancient costume dramas based on its current performance. It can only be said that it is the best of the worst among the ancient costume dramas on the Green Apple platform. After adding a few commercials halfway through its run, its performance is still acceptable.
After the door-to-door promotion, Mu Zhi, as the lead actress, only needed to post one promotional Weibo post per week, and there was no other promotional schedule required from the production team.
The next new drama, "The Edge of the Blade," will begin filming in mid-September.
She needs to start preparing for her new role...
The third week of airing of "The Bell Ringer".
The platform's popularity peaked at over 9500.
If the show wants to reach even greater heights, it's not enough for the lead actors' fans to keep pushing it up; it also needs a constant influx of new viewers and more people to watch it.
Mu Zhi recalled that the climax of "The Bell Ringer" was in the fourth week, so they would have to wait and see how the show was received next week.
As an actor, after finishing a drama, I actively cooperated with all the promotional efforts of the production team.
As a newcomer to Lanxing Media, and for her first work, the company, agent, and team have already put a lot of effort into promoting it since its premiere.
Even in the original world, with Mu Zhi's status and the professional team she had, she was still just an artist. The promotion and distribution of a drama should focus on the platform and the production company.
There are limits to what actors can do.
That day, Mu Zhi received a call from her agent asking her to come to the company.
He mentioned that he had recently received several endorsement deals, filmed an advertisement for Yao Nai'er Cosmetics, and did a makeup test for the movie "The Edge of the Blade."
The performance of "The Bell Ringer" was not outstanding for Mu Zhi, but it was still much better than the performance of some ancient costume dramas made by actors who were hovering in the third or fourth tier. As the lead actress in a female-centric drama, it was enough to make Mu Zhi, a newcomer, stand out.
Lanxing Media.
Mu Zhi arrived at the company in the afternoon. Just as she reached the elevator, her boss, He Zhiyue, and his assistant, Lu Ke, happened to come out of the elevator.
Mu Zhi doesn't come to the company often; she can count the number of times she's run into the boss on one hand.
This is the second time the two have met since their audition for "The Edge of the Blade".
Remembering her help last time, Mu Zhi thanked He Zhiyue: "President He, thank you for the audition."
Upon hearing Mu Zhi mention the previous incident, a hint of embarrassment flashed across He Zhiyue's face. He nodded almost imperceptibly, unwilling to elaborate further.
However, a smile appeared on his lips as he congratulated Mu Zhi: "Your performance in 'The Bell Ringer' was excellent, congratulations."
Mu Zhi smiled and said, "Thank you, President He."
After saying hello, it was time to get into the elevator car.
He Zhiyue stopped her: "By the way, Teacher Mu, could we add each other on WeChat?"
The company owner will definitely want to get the contact information of the artists he values.
This is a very common operation.
Mu Zhi: "Okay."
The two immediately added each other as WeChat friends.
After finishing the call, He Zhiyue left with her special assistant.
Mu Zhi took the elevator up and arrived at the director of brokerage's office.
Ji Binghe is not here.
"Director Ji has gone to the restroom and will be back soon."
The assistant led Mu Zhi into the office and onto the sofa.
Would Muzhi like tea or coffee?
"Coffee, thank you."
As soon as the assistant left, Ji Binghe returned. Without even speaking to Mu Zhi, she grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the small refrigerator and gulped down a third of it in one go.
She walked over and sat down on the sofa opposite Mu Zhi.
Before Mu Zhi could ask, Ji Binghe explained, "I had a two-hour meeting with the boss this afternoon, which just ended five minutes ago."
Before discussing work schedules with Mu Zhi.
Ji Binghe first described her meeting with the boss: "President He and I discussed the follow-up promotion of 'The Bell Ringer'..."
Every Monday afternoon, Ji Binghe gives her boss a routine report on the previous week's performance of all the artists.
When talking about Mu Zhi, He Zhiyue took out a data report prepared by Lu Ke.
A very detailed report covering all aspects, including but not limited to the number of views, advertising revenue, and promotional investment of "The Ringing Record" on the Green Apple platform.
Also, since July 21st, how many times has "The Bell Ringer" trended on the overall chart and the entertainment chart? The trending topics are sorted from highest to lowest, along with the readership and discussion volume...
Ji Binghe initially thought the data resembled a big-character poster announcing the final results of the battle.
It wasn't until I saw the data on the investment in promotion and marketing for "Huang Quan Bi Luo" that I realized it was to compare the data of the two dramas.
He Zhiyue asked Ji Binghe what her immediate impressions were after reading it.
Ji Binghe: "The publicity for 'Huangquan Biluo' is very effective, with a huge promotional effort..."
"The Bell Ringer" aired for three weeks, with a focus on promotion during the second week. On the days subsequent episodes aired, the lead actors would post on Weibo, and the production team and platform would create a few trending topics based on the updated episode content. That was about it.
They're all trending on entertainment news lists.
The positive trending topics for "Huang Quan Bi Luo" are mainly on the overall trending list. Previously, when it was accused of plagiarism and had negative news, it did not make it to the trending list. The drama was bad, but instead of video bloggers complaining about it, some people were paid to praise it blindly. A certain rating platform with declining credibility still managed to give it a score of nearly 7 points.
Both the production team and the platform were willing to spend money to maintain and promote the show. Du Qianqian and another male lead, who is also a popular actor, have considerable influence. Both teams are very good at marketing and have been actively promoting the show.
Therefore, "Huang Quan Bi Luo" became more popular than "Yao Ling Lu" and topped the rankings on various lists.
He Zhiyue: "Although it's not a rating system, as a major producer of ancient costume dramas, the Owl platform has a complete and comprehensive publicity and distribution plan. The publicity and distribution efforts of 'Huangquan Biluo' can only be called regular publicity, which is not enough to be considered as the publicity treatment of a key drama."
In terms of production quality, script, and acting, *The Bell Ringer* surpasses *The Underworld*, and its final result should not be lower than *The Underworld*.
Ji Binghe knew all of this.
She was also helpless about this.
Green Apple platform originally planned to heavily promote "The Bell Ringer" and specially scheduled it for the summer season. However, Owl platform suddenly scheduled "Huangquan Biluo" for release, gaining an advantage by airing it first and investing heavily in promotion.
If Green Apple and Owl go head-to-head in terms of marketing, they'll have to spend more money than usual.
The platform felt it wasn't worthwhile, as they had other dramas to air and couldn't afford to spend all their money on just one period drama. They expressed satisfaction with the current performance of "The Bell Ringer".
The production team is short of money because they've already spent too much on pre-production and post-production for the reshoots. They also have to consider that Pudding Video's period drama is about to be released, so they'll have to tighten their budget for promotion even more.
He Zhiyue: "Lanxing Media is only one of the investors. With a limited investment budget, we cannot afford to cover the entire publicity and distribution work for the entire series. The focus is on our artists."
However, we can collaborate with the production team on promotion; 1+1 can yield better promotional results. A single top-ranking trending topic is better than many low-ranking ones on the trending list.
Lanxing Media invested in "The Bell Ringer's Tale". After the film was edited, He Zhiyue watched the entire series.
Because of his mother and maternal grandfather, he developed a habit of watching dramas from a young age. He has watched quite a few dramas and considers himself to have a certain level of appreciation as a viewer.
Whether a show will become a hit or not is something you can tell.
"The Bell Ringer is missing a highlight, a scene that can go viral."
When asked if she remembered the scene from her previous set visit, Ji Binghe replied, "It was the episode that will air next week, the perfect opportunity."
Lanxing Media invested in this drama, and the lead actors are their own artists. If it weren't for last year's budget overrun and the signing of a performance-based agreement that bound them to others, He Zhiyue would have wanted to go all out.
We need to make Mu Zhi a hit with this drama, even if it flops.
Now we can only spend money wisely and go all out.
Upon hearing her boss's words, Ji Binghe felt a fire ignite within her.
Currently, Mu Zhi has gained a lot of fans with "The Bell Ringer" and has become one of the rising stars. Her performance has met expectations, but she has not yet become a breakout star.
Sometimes the opportunity is in this one show, not the next one.
Ji Binghe fully agreed to do as the boss suggested, and said that after communicating with the production team, she would prepare a publicity plan for He Zhi to review.
Next week will be here in a few days.
I need to communicate with Mu Zhi in the next couple of days so that the team can brainstorm a promotional plan. So I decided to tell Mu Zhi about it today.
After listening to her agent's explanation, Mu Zhi's first reaction was surprise, followed by happiness.
Lanxing Media has 16 artists and invests heavily in their promotion and marketing.
It's extremely rare for a company to value a newcomer's first drama so much and be willing to spend so much money on it.
The underlying optimism and intention to cultivate the relationship touched Mu Zhi somewhat.
"Thanks."
"I will definitely not let you, or President He, down."
She will tell Lanxing Media that she is worth it, and that this is not a risky investment.
[Author's Note]
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 23:44:00 on June 18, 2022 and 23:48:46 on June 19, 2022!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 4545219 (10 bottles); and Xixixixiximi (4 bottles).
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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