Chapter 114
Kuang Ming was relieved, but the production team was in a real mess.
"Director, netizens are now calling our production team eunuchs and palace maids..."
"Huh, why are they saying eunuchs and palace maids?"
"Uh, they're insulting us by saying we're only there to serve royalty."
"..."
Everyone fell silent. So, when it comes to insults, it has to be netizens who know how to insult without using any vulgar language.
"Director!" Everyone turned to look at the director in unison.
The director, who was deep in thought, suddenly sighed and said in a deep voice, "Don't call me director, I'm the assistant director now."
The assistant director sitting to the side: ? ? ? You're the assistant director, then who am I?
"Sigh!" The director rubbed his temples, feeling mentally and physically exhausted. He knew from the beginning that Xu Gui was a ticking time bomb, and it was anyone's guess which day he would explode.
And now it's exploded.
However, the other party did indeed bring huge popularity to their program. Even now, their production team is being heavily criticized by netizens, but all things considered, their production team is still not at a loss, after all, this is real popularity.
—In this era where traffic can be monetized, this level of popularity is something other programs can only dream of.
However, the director couldn't let netizens continue to criticize like this; this matter eventually needed to be resolved. If the criticism continued, it would incur public wrath, the director thought, stroking his chin. There was one thing, though: the director genuinely felt their production team was being wronged.
How come Xu Gui is considered a favorite of their production team?
When he first joined their show, he was verbally abused by the Tang and Qiu families. Have people selectively forgotten that? If they haven't forgotten, how can they openly claim that Xu Gui is royalty?
The assistant director felt panicked looking at the online criticism. He looked at the director and said anxiously, "Old Huang, you have to think of something!"
Upon hearing this, the director surnamed Huang merely glanced at the assistant director and calmly said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Let them curse if they want to. Other production teams don't even have anyone to curse them for."
Assistant Director: "..." You're really good at keeping your composure.
The director said, "Keep an eye on the situation online and find someone to control it a bit, so that these netizens don't report things randomly... Several talent agencies have called me."
Speaking of this, the director also felt a bit of a headache.
In the afternoon, netizens were reporting Xu Gui for illegal business operations and tax evasion. However, after Xu Gui's fans joined in, things got completely muddied. It's unclear who is behind those IDs. Now everyone is attacking indiscriminately, reporting anyone they can find. They've probably reported almost everyone in the entertainment industry whose name you can name.
As the "instigator" of all this, Xu Gui was scolded, but the production team was not spared either. Although the director felt wronged, this matter was caused by their program, so from the afternoon until now, the director has been scolded by many people by phone.
Moreover, they were not only criticized by others, but also by netizens, and these netizens were not limited to fans of the guests on their show, but also included fans of other celebrities in the industry.
These fans' thoughts are understandable. After all, it's because of this terrible show that their older brothers and sisters have suffered undeservedly. They were attacked and reported indiscriminately even though it had nothing to do with the show.
So, it's all the fault of the program "360 Trades"!
The director who was criticized: Uh, it seems I really can't deny this.
The director sighed and said to the assistant director, "I remember Xu Gui's agent is here. I'll go talk to him now..."
The assistant director nodded: "Okay."
The director went to talk to Xu Gui's agent, and this night was destined to be a sleepless one. Countless people in the entertainment industry couldn't sleep, but Xu Gui, who was the fuse that ignited all of this, slept very well.
Yes, her sleep quality has always been this good, so when she woke up the next day, her face was as radiant as ever, and with her bright eyes, anyone who saw her could tell that she must have slept very well last night.
Compared to her, the crew members and the other nine guests all had thick dark circles under their eyes, looking as if they had been drained of their life force by a demon the night before.
Xu Gui was somewhat surprised and blurted out, "You guys went to steal last night?"
Others: "..."
Everyone looked at her with resentment, thinking to themselves: Whose fault is this? If it weren't for you, would we have gone to "steal" last night?
Su Ya looked at her and said with a sour tone, "You look like you're in great spirits. You must have slept very well last night, right?"
Xu Gui seemed oblivious to the malice in her words and nodded in agreement, saying, "I did sleep very well last night. The hotel's most luxurious room had a high bed and soft pillows; it was so comfortable."
Upon hearing this, Su Ya's expression twisted in anger. She glared at Xu Gui resentfully and said, "How can you sleep so soundly? You've caused so much trouble for everyone, don't you feel any remorse?"
"Why should I feel guilty?" Xu Gui raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over the guests present, and asked with a smile, "You can't beat me, so is it my fault?"
Are you trying to morally blackmail me?
Excuse me, but she's a tortoise, and tortoises don't have human morality.
"I think instead of questioning me, you should reflect on yourselves." Xu Gui was infuriating and knew how to hit people where it hurt: "Reflect on why you are so bad. If you had tried a little harder, your fans wouldn't have broken down like this."
As a surfing expert, she spent half the night in bed browsing Weibo and already knows what happened and what the fans of the other nine guests think.
In summary, the fans were completely overwhelmed because their idols were not only inferior to Xu Gui, but the gap between them was so large.
Xu Gui: Just because I'm too good, you're blaming me?
There's no such logic in this world.
After saying that, Xu Gui glanced at Su Ya lightly and launched his final attack: "However, these things don't really have much to do with you, Su Ya. After all, you were the last guest yesterday."
As soon as Xu Gui finished speaking, someone in the crowd suddenly laughed. Because the atmosphere was very quiet at the moment, the laughter was deafening.
Su Ya's face immediately flushed red, and she glared angrily at Xu Gui.
"Xu Gui, you..." She was furious and suddenly took a step forward, as if she wanted to do something to Xu Gui. However, before she could do anything, a voice suddenly came from the restaurant entrance: "What are you doing?"
Everyone was taken aback and turned around to see the director standing at the restaurant entrance, looking at them with an imposing air.
After that, everyone quieted down, and Su Ya also calmed down.
"Director, is there something you need?" When everyone was quiet, Zhao Yang took the initiative to speak to the director.
The director's gaze swept lightly over Xu Gui and Su Ya, who were standing there. The atmosphere between the two didn't seem too good, but the director didn't say anything. Instead, he answered Zhao Yang's question: "I came here because there's something I want to tell you..."
After the director finished explaining what he wanted to tell everyone, there was an uproar, and the way people looked at the director changed.
"That's how it is," the director said, glancing at Xu Gui without making it obvious. "We've already communicated with your company and agent. Now it's up to you to decide. If you have no objections, we'll pass the word."
Su Ya's mind went blank because of what the director had said. Hearing his words, she instinctively asked, "Why should I?"
The director found it somewhat amusing and said calmly, "There's no other way. The gap between you and Xu Gui is just too great. We had to make this decision. Otherwise, Miss Su, do you have any better ideas?"
Su Ya was speechless, and then her face felt burning hot, a mixture of shame and anger—the director's words showed them no respect whatsoever, practically pointing his finger at her and saying, "Who told you you couldn't compare to Xu Gui?"
At this moment, Zhao Yang shook his head and said, "Director, I have no objection to this."
Since the movie star had spoken, the others exchanged glances and chimed in, "We have no objections either..."
The director nodded and said, "Then it's decided!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Xu Gui seemingly unintentionally. Xu Gui had already found a seat and sat down. He met the director's gaze and gave the director a big smile without any hesitation.
director:"……"
His lips twitched slightly, and the feeling of exhaustion in his heart intensified.
Sigh, he knew it. Xu Gui's monopolistic skill would inevitably lead to this situation sooner or later. After all, she's the only one on the show who can tell fortunes, so she can charge whatever price she wants. And fortune telling has always been popular with the wealthy, since the richer people are, the more superstitious they tend to be.
Those truly skilled feng shui masters, when invited by wealthy people, would easily command prices in the millions or tens of millions. Their abilities might not even match Xu Guiqiang's. So, from the beginning, the director probably already foresaw this situation.
He just didn't expect that Xu Gui would drop such a bombshell right at the start of the show, almost turning their production team's business upside down.
The director muttered to himself, turned and left, leaving the guests, whose emotions were still not calm. At this moment, the guests couldn't help but look at Xu Gui. Xu Gui, who was being watched by everyone, was calm and composed. He didn't forget why he came to the restaurant. He took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and started ordering food.
Yuan Lu, who was standing next to her, felt extremely uncomfortable, as if she were being stabbed in the back by those complicated gazes.
As the eldest among the guests, the movie star Zhao Yang glanced at Xu Gui but didn't say anything and continued eating his breakfast. Since even he, the most senior person, didn't have anything to say about the matter, the others naturally didn't say anything either and dispersed.
Su Ya stood there, seemingly extremely resentful. In the end, she could only glare at Xu Gui before leaving.
As she left, she didn't see Xu Gui's thoughtful gaze, a gaze that held both doubt and seriousness.
While the guests were having breakfast, the production team had already posted what they had just discussed with the guests online. Because of what happened yesterday, many netizens' first action this morning was to continue their insults on the production team's official Weibo account, so they were among the first to see the announcement.
After seeing it, netizens were like: ? ? What is this thing?
[No, what does this mean? What do you mean, "Considering the fairness of the show, Xu Gui will not participate in the competition with other guests"? I really...]
[My god, this announcement from the production team is practically saying outright that the other nine guests are completely outmatched by Xu Gui, totally outclassed by him. So, to prevent the fans of the other nine guests from getting upset, are they choosing to kick Xu Gui out of the competition? Hahaha, isn't this an insult?]
[And this, what do you mean by saying that after communicating with Teacher Xu, Teacher Xu chose to withdraw from the competition with the other nine guests and instead chose the "earn 100 million" challenge? Isn't this an insult to the other guests?]
In summary, the meaning behind the program's announcement is that the other nine guests are no match for Xu Gui, so Xu Gui is being asked to withdraw from the competition with these nine people and instead take on a more challenging task.
[It's confirmed, the production team has truly gone mad. Are they complaining they're not getting enough criticism, so they want to be criticized even more? This is blatantly implying the other nine guests are less skilled!]
[Ha, I'm so angry I'm laughing! This idiot's show!]
[Actually, I can understand the production team's approach. What else could they do? Xu Gui clearly has an overwhelming advantage right now. She's earned four or five million in a single day. How can the others compare? If you want fairness, you can only remove Xu Gui from the competition with the other guests. But if it's fair to the other guests, it's unfair to Xu Gui. So, the only solution is to compensate Xu Gui a little and put her in a separate competition. That would be fair.]
[Actually, I think this change is unfair to Xu Gui. She's clearly the winner compared to the other nine guests and would definitely get the first-place prize. But now she's been singled out and given the challenge of "earning 100 million." To achieve that, you basically need to earn over 7 million a day. Even if Xu Gui is incredibly talented, she can't possibly do that, right?]
However, the production team also stated that, to ensure fairness for Xu Gui, the final reward would be increased by half if he successfully completes the challenge… In other words, if Xu Gui earns 100 million, he would receive a cash reward of 150 million, plus sponsorships from other brands, so it wouldn't be a loss for him.
But do you really think Xu Gui can complete this challenge?
After reading what you all said, I actually think the production team really tried their best to be fair. You fans shouldn't act like your idols are being insulted by the show. Ask yourselves honestly, can your idols earn money as fast as Xu Gui?
[Actually, the production team is also having a tough time. Is this the first show in history to have to change the rules on the very first day of filming?]
[The main problem is that Xu Gui is just too incredible! Earning over five million in a single day—is that even possible for a human? The production team was really pushed to the limit!]
...
Regarding the program's rules, netizens initially reacted with outrage, but gradually came to accept them.
Seeing that the online comments were gradually improving, the staff who had been monitoring the online sentiment breathed a sigh of relief—it wasn't for nothing that they had hired so many online trolls to guide the public opinion.
That's right, the production team also launched an online marketing campaign, otherwise how could the online opinions have changed so quickly?
"Director, how did you come up with this idea in such a short time?" The assistant director looked at the director with great admiration.
In a short time, the director came up with a solution that ensured the fairness of their show to the greatest extent possible. Well, although it seemed to belittle the other nine guests, their earning power really couldn't compare to Xu Gui's, and they had to admit that fact.
In short, while there are still some aspects of this rule change that are open to criticism, it is currently the best solution that can be devised.
Assistant Director: How come I didn't think of such a great idea! Is it because I'm not as smart as the director that I can only be an assistant director?
What's most remarkable about this is how the director managed to convince the ten guests to agree to it. It was as if the other nine guests were admitting that they were inferior to Xu Gui. And how did Xu Gui agree to take on such an impossible task?
In response to these questions, the director said, "As long as you can offer certain benefits, the other party is not unwilling to compromise on many things."
Moreover, those nine guests clearly didn't want to return to Xu Gui. Even if they didn't change the rules, that's the fact. It's just that the production team did this, laying bare this fact, and the truth is often hard to accept, like bitter medicine.
As for why Xu Gui was willing to agree...
"Our production team gave an extra 50 million on top of the 100 million reward!!" The director's voice trembled as he said this. He really wouldn't have given up such a huge amount of profit if he hadn't had no other choice.
Fortunately, earning 100 million in half a month is basically impossible. Even if Xu Gui is capable, it's impossible for him to earn so much money in such a short time.
The director could only console himself: if Xu Gui failed to complete the challenge, then everything he had promised would be in vain.
However, despite thinking this way, the director felt his eyelids twitching and had a bad feeling about it.
No way, no way, Xu Gui can't be that powerful, right?
The director's inner cry.
Just then, a staff member suddenly said, "Director, Teacher Zhao contacted us. They said..."
*
Meanwhile, Xu Gui and the others had finished breakfast and left the restaurant to prepare for their "work".
As Xu Gui's cameraman, Yang Haolin carried the filming equipment. He hadn't turned it on yet, but looked at Xu Gui hesitantly and asked in a low voice, "Teacher Xu, are you really going to participate in this 100 million challenge? Isn't that too challenging?"
Xu Gui said casually, "Since it's been called a challenge, what kind of challenge is it if it's not challenging?"
Yang Haolin: That makes a lot of sense.
“But what if we can’t finish it?” he said softly.
Xu Gui replied confidently, "I won't fail to complete it!"
Yang Haolin sighed. He didn't understand where Xu Gui's confidence came from. She had only earned about five million yesterday, which was a hundred million away from her goal. She was sure she could win first place if she chose to compete with the other guests, but now she was taking such a big risk to participate in the challenge.
"Isn't there a saying that goes, 'Opportunity and risk go hand in hand'? If I want the best reward, I must naturally bear the corresponding risks!" Xu Gui said calmly.
Last night, after the director discussed this matter with Kuang Ming, Kuang Ming came over to ask Xu Gui for his opinion. After listening, Xu Gui didn't hesitate and immediately chose the director's suggestion.
She was decisive and straightforward, as if she hadn't even thought about it. The director was stunned and couldn't help but ask her, "Don't you want to think about it more?"
Xu Gui said, "Why should we consider it? There's an extra 50 million in reward. I think it's worth doing."
Director: ...You're really confident.
In any case, Xu Gui would not refuse the director's suggestion. It was thanks to this that the director's idea could be successfully implemented. After all, the change of this rule was actually the most disadvantageous to Xu Gui. If the rule had not been changed, Xu Gui would have been able to win first place in the competition with 100% certainty. But now, he had to risk failing the challenge.
Kuang Ming had no objection to Xu Gui's choice. However, unlike Xu Gui's confidence that she could definitely complete the challenge, he felt that even if Xu Gui failed to complete the challenge, it wouldn't be a bad thing for her.
"...Just the gimmick of 'challenge to earn 100 million' will bring you huge attention!" Kuang Ming said at the time. "Many people will be curious about how you will complete this challenge!"
The traffic that this gimmick brought to Xu Gui is already a profit for her. Don't forget, Xu Gui is a newcomer who doesn't even have any works yet. At this time, only by generating the most popularity and buzz can she attract the attention of investors and make them willing to invest money in her.
When Kuang Ming said these words, the way he looked at Xu Gui was incredibly gentle, like the way he looked at a god of wealth.
...
Yang Haolin didn't understand Xu Gui's thoughts, but as a photographer following him, all he could do was support Xu Gui.
"Teacher Xu, I believe you can do it!" He encouraged Xu Gui.
Xu Gui smiled and thanked him.
She was about to go out when Fu Xia arrived, waiting for her in her van—Fu Xia was Xu Gui's biggest connection in making money, and Fu Xia herself was very enthusiastic about this matter, which is why she had arrived early in the morning.
Before leaving the hotel, Xu Gui went to the old lady's house and got a large bottle of plum juice, which the old lady had made herself. Yuan Lu took it and put it in her bag, planning to put it in the small refrigerator in the nanny van when they got there.
After giving the plum juice to Xu Gui, the old woman didn't return to the kitchen. Instead, she looked at Xu Gui with a hesitant expression and said, "You..."
Xu Gui looked at her, her bright eyes calm, as if she understood what the old woman meant. She said, "Don't worry, Auntie, I'm very confident I can complete the challenge! You can trust me!"
The old woman's eyes softened, and she said, "Tell me what you want to eat, and I'll make it for you."
Xu Gui smiled and nodded, saying, "I understand!"
After parting ways with the old lady, Xu Gui and the others went out, but encountered Su Ya and her group at the door. Upon seeing Xu Gui, Su Ya raised her eyebrows, making no attempt to hide her hostility.
Xu Gui frowned when he saw her.
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