Chapter 43 Marketing
This vertical video is only one and a half minutes long, and it opens at a wedding venue that looks rather simple.
On either side of the long, high platform covered with a bright red carpet were plastic bouquets covered in dust. Behind the small stage was a low-resolution screen, and on both sides of the stage were inflatable banners. The venue fee here definitely did not exceed ten thousand yuan.
In stark contrast to the rough and simple wedding venue was the emcee on stage—
Although he wasn't wearing makeup and was dressed in an ill-fitting suit, his handsome and rugged appearance, with well-defined features, gave him a reassuring, old-fashioned charm.
The bottom half of the video displays a line of white text: "Back in my hometown for my junior high school classmate's wedding, I unexpectedly discovered a super handsome MC. After the ceremony, I'll ask him if he's open to making up ordinary people."
As those around them began to eat, the camera suddenly shifted, and Qin Yi quickly ran to the emcee's side in the video:
"Hi bro, do you have some time? I'm a short video blogger and I'd like to shoot a magazine spread for you."
The emcee took a wary half-step back, pointing to himself in shock:
"Me? Sorry, I don't have much filming experience. Perhaps you should find someone else..."
Qin Yi stepped forward towards the camera, snapped her fingers, and said, "Take a picture! We're taking pictures of inexperienced amateurs!"
When the camera shifted again, the emcee was already sitting obediently at the makeup table, letting the makeup brush gently sweep across her cheekbones.
This was already a very handsome face, and when the foundation evenly applied the skin tone and the shadows around the eyes were just right, the features of the eyebrows pressing down on the eyes were highlighted even more.
Wherever his gaze falls, it carries a strange depth of emotion; just standing there without saying a word exudes a powerful sexual tension.
"Hey God, don't look at me like that."
Liu Xiaolan couldn't help but speak up from off-camera, warning that if she were stared at by those eyes any longer, her mouth would be stretched to the back of her head in a wide grin.
The look in his eyes seemed to be telling a story all the time, as if a single glance was enough to seal a three-lifetime bond.
The two were very close during the makeup session, and Liu Xiaolan felt as if she had acted in eight hundred episodes of a fantasy drama about love and hate in just one hour.
These are eyes that were born for acting. I wonder how Mr. Fang managed to find someone from some obscure corner.
And for some reason, perhaps it was the psychological effect of being stared at, Liu Xiaolan felt as if she had seen this person before. This time, the makeup process and clothing matching went exceptionally smoothly, as if it had become muscle memory.
She shook her head to dispel the sense of déjà vu, but the other person seemed to have misunderstood her meaning, as if they were somewhat reserved.
"Oh, okay, I'm sorry, I didn't know you can't look at the stylist while getting your makeup done." The emcee's eyes darted away for a moment, then she forced an apologetic smile before obediently turning her face directly towards the camera.
The scene then shifts, and Qin Yi is already on the top floor of "Federal Summit" carrying large and small bags.
The usually crowded top floor was now deserted. The emcee in the video had changed out of the old suit he wore when hosting the wedding and was now wearing a tech-themed ready-to-wear piece that Charent had just released for this fashion week. The silver, form-fitting material shimmered under the blue-purple lights of the top floor.
Under Qin Yi's guidance, the emcee awkwardly but obediently struck poses, constantly adjusting the relationship between the mechanical sword in his hand and the camera lens.
His movements were awkward, and he would subconsciously avoid the camera from time to time, always reflexively turning his left cheek towards the camera. Several times, Qin Yi had to forcibly pull him back.
Unlike other staged videos of chance encounters with ordinary people that are obviously filmed with models, the emcee in this video is clearly not often in the public eye. His small gestures reveal his nervousness and apprehension, as if he were a respectable man being forcibly dragged into the adult entertainment industry.
The video editing is fast-paced and direct; after just a dozen seconds of behind-the-scenes footage, Qin Yi jumps in front of the camera and raises an eyebrow:
Without further ado, enjoy the finished product.
As soon as the words were spoken, the video jumped a few seconds to the simple wedding venue from before, showing a shot of the handsome, young wedding emcee from below, followed by a mournful and grand background sound—
The camera follows the perspective of the longsword, gliding along the glass floor. As the sword flashes, the blade gradually rises to shoulder level.
Brighter than the sword light were those deep and affectionate eyes.
His gaze seemed to penetrate the camera lens, staring intently at everyone watching the video with a hint of unspoken words.
The camera didn't linger on that impeccably handsome face for long before slowly pulling back to reveal the vast city nightscape illuminated by the deep blue light behind the swordsman.
The familiar rooftop building is empty, and the cool color scheme with low saturation creates an atmosphere that feels like the end of the world, full of futuristic science fiction.
With a flick of his wrist, the swordsman stood atop the high platform, his brows slightly furrowed as he surveyed everything. He deftly withstood the blinding blue-purple light from above with his superior bone structure, his brow bone casting deep shadows around his eyes, as if he carried an unspeakable secret.
Accompanied by the majestic sound of a cello, a deep male voice-over rang out, seemingly filled with unspeakable pain: "I will protect you until the last moment of my life."
The glass shattered instantly, and the swordsman was left hanging upside down thousands of feet in the air.
His muscles were clean and sharp, the hurricane high above ruffled his hair, and the entire building behind him was empty, as if he had fought to the last moment in the apocalypse. A single, pale tear slid down his cheek.
The photo is frozen in this frame, the man's eyes seem to hold endless longing, and the teardrop drifts away in the wind, floating just a few centimeters below the corner of his eye, like a tiny, sparkling diamond.
At 8 p.m., the video was just released on the Yinxi platform and attracted millions of likes in a very short time. Countless clips were uploaded to other platforms, and the photo that was considered divine in terms of scene, composition and emotion went viral on everyone's social media platforms.
A little after nine o'clock, when Qin Yi logged into his main StarNet account to check the backend data, he found that tens of thousands of comments had already accumulated under this post.
[I'm going crazy! Does anyone know how many times I've looped this 1.5-minute video?! Ah Yi, you don't deserve to be honored in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!!]
[Wait, this amateur MC's face is way better than any current A-list celebrity! Why wasn't he famous before? It feels like a guy this handsome would have been scouted in school. How could he be hosting a wedding on a remote planet? Is this even real?]
[I've already changed the last picture to my screensaver, that tear was so powerful. This episode perfectly matched Ah Yi's amazing photography skills and the handsome ordinary guy's looks. Thank you for feeding me!]
[Could someone recommend this MC's account? (fingers) (blushing) I'd like to follow it.]
[If a powerful enemy invades a hundred years from now, please play this video beautifully on my grave. I will rise from the ground with weapons in hand, vowing to defend the Satellite Federation and repel the enemy. But before that, could you please replace the front of the Federation flag with this man's photo?]
[This scene looks like the top floor of the Federation Summit... Has it been cleared out? There's no one here.]
[Choking up, I was on the tower last night; they had the whole place to themselves. Our group had just come down when the top three floors were sealed off. If I had known they were filming, I would have stayed a little longer.]
I would call this video a three-way race of financial resources, photography skills, and the model's good looks.
[A new fan of A Yi, I want to ask if the main client is the young lady of which family? Why would she book the entire top floor of the Federation Summit just to take a set of photos? That's a bit too much, seriously!]
[A real new fan has appeared. Scroll down; there are official photos taken by Yi Ge's group of streamers below. The main account has long been acquired by Juyu Entertainment, hmm... how can she not be considered a kind of pampered young lady?]
[If it's Brother Fang behind this, then it's not surprising; all the large expenses suddenly make sense.]
[Wait, is he really an amateur? Isn't he a little too handsome??]
[Can Juyu Entertainment just sign this handsome guy? His eyes are so captivating, it feels like we've already had a hundred romances through the screen. It's such a waste that this face isn't in a TV drama.]
[Sobbing, I've already imagined a 10,000-word backstory. The editing and filming are so good! QAQ]
[So handsome! I was watching the oxen plow the field when I saw this handsome guy, and suddenly I was filled with strength and energy. I mooed and kicked the ox away, then plowed the field ten miles on my own!]
[This guy's behind-the-scenes footage is so-so, he seems inexperienced, but his performance in the final photos is amazing! Is he really not a professional model?]
[This is obviously a publicity stunt. Who would believe that such a handsome guy would stoop to being a wedding emcee...?]
[Although the video planner is a bit of a jerk, I really like it, and I'm choosing to blindly indulge in it.]
Qin Yi had originally filmed another makeover video featuring an ordinary person in the same series to highlight the authenticity of Cen Yanhuai's short video, but this single video went viral, and her private messages were popping up every second with business inquiries from other agencies, making her personal computer practically unusable.
She rolled over in bed and made a snap decision to go downstairs to buy a cup of milk tea. While drinking it, she would take the spaceship to the company, intending to send out the remaining modification video on the company's huge, high-performance desktop computer.
The protagonist of another makeover video was personally selected by Qin Yi from the list of applicants for the second phase of the Juyu livestreamer recruitment project. He was also a guy who had never managed any platform before, so he could take advantage of this opportunity to do some marketing.
When I arrived at the company, it was already 10 p.m., and the light in Mr. Fang's office was still on.
Several staff members responsible for promoting the content were searching for high-value updates about Cen Yanhuai in the square and moving these updates to the large screen in the center at any time.
Fang Zhuo sat on the sofa directly in front of the big screen and marked one of the posts with a laser pointer: "Buy this post 800,000 views."
The staff who push the stream work in shifts, but Fang is always online 24/7.
Qin Yi felt that if she worked at the same intensity as her boss, she would definitely collapse within the first week of starting work.
She tiptoed to the side and sat down, when she heard Manager Fang ask, "Why are you working overtime so late? Remember to clock in and calculate your overtime pay."
"Once the mall's leasing process is complete, the staff dormitories will be moved in together. Don't come to the company so late these next few days; nothing is more important than your personal safety."
Fang Zhuo briefly looked away from the big screen and said to Cen Yanhuai sitting next to him, "Take care of Qin Yi back to her dormitory later."
Cen Yanhuai quickly waved his hand, feeling flattered by the other party's politeness: "It's not hard work at all, it's all what I should do."
Seeing Qin Yi turn on the desktop computer, Fang Zhuo continued, "If you need one, I can get you one."
Qin Yi's eyes widened. This high-performance, standalone physical computer, as big as an office desk, seemed to cost nearly a million yuan.
Although she knew the boss was rich, Fang's money-spending mentality, which treated money like game currency, always gave her a jolt.
"No, no, no, that won't be necessary, Mr. Fang."
Qin Yi has already opened the account backend and posted another makeover video of an ordinary person:
"It's not about saving you money, it's just that I really don't want to keep such a big thing in my dorm. Seeing office tools at home makes me feel miserable."
Although Fang Zhuo did not understand why he was so unfortunate, he expressed his respect.
On the big screen, the post that had previously garnered 800,000 views quickly climbed to the top of the trending topics list, and the hashtag #AmateurWeddingMC# dominated the trending topics list on various platforms with the support of multiple sources of traffic.
[@CheeseMilkKitten: #WeddingMCAmateur##AmateurMakeoverSeries#]
Riding the wave of public attention, seeing everyone questioning whether the emcee on a certain blogger's account is a complete novice, I'll share a video I recorded three years ago at my sister's wedding. It's the first time I've been so close to a hot topic.
Star 894 is a small, remote star with a population lower than that of the main city of the main star. The small hotel where this wedding was held has a good reputation in our area. I asked my parents, and they said that the emcee has been working at the hotel for at least six years. Please stop criticizing, he is indeed a layman.
Please don't follow my account; this is just a personal account, and I won't be posting anything related to the entertainment industry anymore. However, I will continue to support the young men from my hometown.
Finally, Star 894 boasts a vast and beautiful desert landscape; everyone is welcome to visit!
[Wow, he was already this handsome three years ago! What were the talent scouts from Desheng, Baisheng, and Lexing doing?]
[It turns out that only remote planets can truly hide handsome men. If you want to find handsome men, go to remote planets. Take notes!]
[In hindsight, the MC was clearly an ordinary person, and for some reason, he seemed a bit insecure in the behind-the-scenes footage, always avoiding the camera. I don't care about ordinary handsome guys, but an insecure handsome guy like him? I'll just kiss him right away!]
[Help! Ah Yi's account just posted about a super handsome college student. Although he's not as handsome as the MC, he's so young and fresh-faced.]
[So many new concubines have suddenly arrived in the palace; I can hardly favor them all!]
[@Fang Zhuo, Brother Fang, could you sign them all? I believe you have the ability QAQ. Could you make a new short drama for them? Just this once, as a way of spoiling me.]
[I feel like ants are crawling all over me if I can't see the MC's new drama. I will check in every day on the official Juyu account until filming begins.]
[Where did Ah Yi find so many handsome guys? Is it too late to send my brother to Linhai Road to bump into her?]
Upon seeing this comment, Qin Yi guiltily touched his head.
Tonight, we've really made this makeover series a household name. Even the other video we just posted has garnered millions of likes and tens of thousands of comments on the Yinxi platform.
Her personal account on Xingwang gained over 100,000 followers overnight, and now her follower count is approaching one million.
Although you used to not see handsome men on the streets, starting today, there might actually be handsome men repeatedly lingering on the street where they record videos in hopes of becoming an overnight sensation.
The backend was still flooded with various business cooperation messages, so Qin Yi directly blocked the messages that expressed the desire to sign Cen Yanhuai and made a list of the rest.
Looking at the list of collaboration projects that had sent invitations, Qin Yi couldn't help but feel a sense of surrealism.
Who would have thought that just over a month ago, she was still worried about whether to find a job or take the postgraduate entrance exam?
The beautiful dream I had while sleeping at my desk back then actually took root, sprouted, blossomed, and came true in a very short time.
She really entered the entertainment industry and filmed countless celebrities. Some people cheered for the music videos she edited, while others repeatedly watched her makeover series.
She singled out a photoshoot invitation from one of the top four entertainment magazines and carefully said to President Fang:
"Boss, CQ magazine invited me to shoot the cover for their September issue. Can I go?"
Fang Zhuo: "Of course, it depends on you. You signed an employment contract with the company, not a slave contract."
If I remember correctly, in the original novel "Brilliant", after Qin Yi was brought into the entertainment industry by Tong Qinglu, he immediately entered her studio and later became the go-to photographer for many young actresses to take red carpet photos.
The experience of working with a CQ magazine cover photographer is clearly much more valuable than that of a red carpet departure photo. Qin Yi has already gone much further and faster than described in the book, a speed of development that Fang Zhuo did not anticipate when he invested in her.
Seeing Qin Yi's expression as if she was about to launch into a long thank-you essay, Fang Zhuo briefly interrupted her:
"The fact that you've been noticed by the industry shows that you have value, and I'm happy for you."
Qin Yi had already turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, he hurriedly jogged back and bowed deeply to Fang Zhuo.
As two videos in the "makeover" series quickly went viral on the StarNet, the system issued a broadcast in the middle of the night—
[Congratulations, host! You have obtained the common title 'Fake Marketing']
[You are the mastermind behind the scenes, the magician manipulating the black box of truth and falsehood. This title is awarded when the company successfully orchestrates a marketing campaign with fabricated content and achieves millions of views.]
[Company's current reputation value: 35, matching the title 'Dark Horse Rise']
[The conditions have been met, and the scale of the company's various buildings has been initially increased.]
The maximum total capacity of the staff dormitory has been increased from 176 to 200, and the dormitory will be divided into two buildings, each with a capacity of 100 people.
[Basic Information: Two elevators serving four units per floor; net floor area per unit increased from 85 square meters to 95 square meters; unit type: two bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom]
[Note: During the upgrade period, the original dormitory and the new dormitory can coexist temporarily, and the host can redeploy them at any time.]
The footprint of the residential building module has been increased from 1500㎡ to 2000㎡, including a 1000㎡ main building and a 1000㎡ garden.
Fang Zhuo clicked on his backpack and got two more blind boxes. With four more blind boxes left, he could open another ten-pull and increase his stamina in no time.
Meanwhile, the system balance was refreshed to show a cashback of over 600,000 yuan, which should be because Qin Yi had just signed a cover shoot invitation with CQ.
Having successfully brought Cen Yanhuai into the public eye, the next step for the series is to find a suitable screenwriter for the project.
The two short drama scripts I got from the blind box last time have been completely used up, and I still have one domestic drama material pack left.
The theme of domestic power struggles can only produce conventional TV dramas in the hands of mediocre screenwriters, but in the hands of genius screenwriters, it can create effects that break through the limits of the genre.
There aren't many outstanding screenwriters in the original novel "Brilliance," and only two have outstanding original abilities—one is Ning Li, a genius writer who can write both divine and demonic works, and the other is Xu Pingtang, a screenwriter who excels at writing about social issues.
Like Cen Yanhuai, these two people simply disappeared without a trace in the current Star Federation.
Ironically, this did not prevent their works from becoming a hit in the market, and the content of the works was even adapted in a more ingenious way.
Depending on the cast, these dramas also specially customized many plots for new actors that fit seamlessly with the original ones.
It was nearly 11 p.m. when Fang Zhuo returned to the villa. He took an energy pill and spent a few hours skimming through the dramas that had already aired.
These so-called seamless adaptations, if they were to directly plagiarize the previous life's work like the one used against Qiao Ankuang, would certainly not have been able to blend so well with the original work after airing.
Moreover, the content of these TV series and movies differs subtly from the original works they wrote in their previous lives. It doesn't seem like someone wrote it from memory, but rather like the original author unknowingly rewrote their previous life's work with prompts from others.
As the wind gradually picked up at night, Fang Zhuo stood by the French windows, watching the grass outside being gently swayed by the wind.
What were the original authors' states of mind when they wrote their painstaking works, and then willingly handed over the finished product to others?
He carefully examined the production companies of these dramas. They were all produced by different companies. Two of them were produced by Xinghan itself, while the other five were developed by various different platforms or entertainment companies.
What they have in common is that the screenwriting team for these seven TV series or movies is very consistent, all of them having the same screenwriter – Liang Xinyuan.
Fang Zhuo wasn't foolish enough to directly message Liang Xinyuan's account to ask for a meeting. Instead, she searched for the projects Liang Xinyuan was currently filming.
It was a period film set in the late ancient world of Blue Star called "Many Things in the Alley," which happened to be one of Xu Pingtang's representative works from his later period.
To facilitate script adjustments at any time, major dramas on streaming platforms now generally require employees from the main screenwriter's studio to be on set throughout the entire production. If Xu Pingtang is indeed ghostwriting for Liang Xinyuan in her studio, then he will definitely be there.
At six o'clock in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, the alarm clock set on the personal terminal suddenly went off.
Xu Pingtang wasn't the only one awakened inside; two other newcomers from their studio were also awakened as well.
"Brother Ping, turn off the alarm clock first. I'm definitely not going to sleep in today. If it rings again in five minutes, my heart will explode."
Ning Li rolled over on the damp bed in the town hotel, and when she groggily opened her eyes, she still had two huge dark circles under her eyes.
He really resented his cousin Ping for insisting on writing a period drama, which forced them to film on such a remote and underdeveloped planet.
This shabby room doesn't even have a fresh air system installed, and the bed is so wet every day that you can wring water droplets off it.
Unlike the pampered leading actors in the production crew, the conditions for these junior screenwriters who were on set were even worse, with three of them having to squeeze into one room.
In modern poetry, the oak tree can share the mist, the flowing clouds, and the rainbow, while these three grown men can only share snoring, teeth grinding, and sleep talking.
The new, up-and-coming actor in the "Many Things in the Alley" crew was incredibly difficult to please. Not only did he demand more scenes every day, but he also insisted that the scenes couldn't be frustrating; they had to be cool, slapping others in the face.
Judging from this arrogant attitude of playing big with small cards, Ning Lizhu said to the person opposite him, "You're always waiting to be blown up."
He has been recruited by Liang Xinyuan's studio for more than two years. It is rare for a newcomer who has just made his mark in the industry to be recruited by a top screenwriter, but he received this honor when his first suspense work became a minor hit online.
Along with him came a rich second-generation kid who was full of artistic ideals. He always had an inexplicable amount of energy and worked on the set until midnight every day, revising the script tirelessly.
Above Ning Li is Xu Pingtang, a senior colleague who has been with the studio for over six years. Xu Pingtang is extremely loyal to Liang Bian and has taken on the task of mentoring newcomers, essentially acting as the studio's head nanny.
When Ning Li first arrived, she was a little unaccustomed to it, but now, perhaps she's been gradually swayed, she finds the income quite acceptable.
After all, it's an unspoken rule in the industry that junior staff in studios ghostwrite for senior screenwriters, and whether a newcomer can get credited for their work depends entirely on the mood of the big boss.
Of course, Boss Liang's mood was never so pleasant.
Ning Li made a fuss at first, but Sister Liang always had her own reasons—either the client wouldn't allow it, or it was a requirement made when the contract was signed. In short, this matter was harder than climbing to heaven.
After the incidents escalated, Sister Liang privately approached him and gave him an extra 3,000 yuan per month, asking him not to tell anyone else in the studio about the raise.
Even if Sister Liang hadn't reminded her, Ning Li wouldn't have told anyone else about it.
The studio had about ten people in total, and the atmosphere was as oppressive as a concentration camp. Colleagues couldn't confide in each other, and their relationships were like those of people poisoned by drugs.
Thanks to Sister Liang's high-pressure, militaristic management, these ten or so people were able to form seven or eight small groups with different populations. If you edited together the videos of them going to work every day, you could make another "Empresses in the Palace".
Although Ning Li had considered changing jobs or going solo, after witnessing firsthand the fate of another newcomer in the studio who angrily posted three rights-defending posts on StarNet to fight for authorship rights, only to be subsequently silenced by the industry, he gradually began to brainwash himself about the extra three thousand yuan.
As a newcomer with the lowest approval rate in the studio and the most criticisms during group meetings, it's already quite good that he can earn a salary of over ten thousand yuan.
Making a scene rarely ends well, since no client or other studio would like a screenwriter who is troublesome and has no work to show for it.
As for publishing other works online to gain popularity, Ning Li had considered it, but he was busy dealing with life every day, and even getting up early to work on set every day was a kind of torture, let alone writing something of his own after get off work.
For someone with low energy like him, being able to clock in on time is already a remarkable feat of willpower.
Ning Li hastily folded the blanket into a messy ball, tugged at her tangled hair that looked like a straw nest, and followed her older brother and another rich kid, wobbling towards the film set.
Photos of his younger siblings checking in on their studies popped up on his personal computer, and he replied with a thumbs-up to each one.
His family was a large one with many members. His father passed away unexpectedly, and his mother raised five children on her own. As the eldest son in the family, Ning Li took the initiative to take on the responsibility of paying for his younger siblings' tuition fees after he started working.
He dared not resign or take a break easily, nor did he dare to change jobs without preparation. In the past six months, he has gradually begun to learn to shut up and listen when Liang Xinyuan criticizes him. Even the most carefree and casual personality in the past has to be worn down in the workplace.
It might be like what they say in the movies: entering society is like entering a public bathhouse. At first, you'll definitely feel resistant and awkward, but you'll gradually find enjoyment in it.
Take his older brother, for example. He's been working here for six years and he seems to enjoy it.
During the lunch break, Ning Li went to the script supervisor as usual to get three boxed lunches and utensils. She then turned around, ran a few steps, and handed the boxed lunches to the eldest brother and the rich second-generation newcomer sitting under the shade of a tree.
"The food today is really bad. There are only three vegetarian dishes. The chef who provides meals for the film crew may have worked part-time at a temple."
After complaining, Ning Li casually put her lunchbox on the ground and said, "I'm going to the restroom. Can you guys watch it for me?"
This lousy film crew's toilets were almost 800 meters apart. He was desperate to hold it in, and the thick stack of scripts in his bag on his lower back was hitting his buttocks as he walked, which only intensified his urgency.
But he had only walked a few hundred meters from the film set, which was boarded up, when he was stopped by someone.
Although the man was dressed in a business style, he had strong muscles under his shirt, which were clearly not from working out in the gym, but rather from years of manual labor.
"Hello, I'd like to ask if you are the screenwriter for the TV series 'Many Things in the Alley'?"
Ning Li was startled. Before he could nod, following the other person's gaze, he saw what appeared to be a man in a casual suit standing by the window on the second floor of a building on the side of the street.
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