Chapter 68 Money Makes the World Go Round
Fearing that Xia Mian might use online trolls to cause trouble, Zhao Wei was closely monitoring public opinion. Upon seeing the sudden and shocking reversal, he couldn't help but call Xia Mian and ask, "Xia, how did you do that?"
"Money can make the devil turn the millstone."
Xia Mian only replied with this one sentence.
In the era of big data, it's incredibly easy to dig up information about a person.
The original footage of the video on the plane was in the hands of the cameraman. Xia Mian used a little trick to find the cameraman's phone number and bought the video that could determine a person's life for six million.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Wei immediately understood: "You didn't use your own IP to upload the video, did you?"
"I had an online army find internet cafes and post it using virtual IPs."
"Well done, kid." Zhao Wei found it quite amusing.
"She's gone too far," Xia Mian said calmly.
“I support your approach. In this circle, those who don’t fight or compete will only end up being slaughtered,” Zhao Wei paused. “There’s one thing to note: although you’ve done it cleanly and the Zhu family can’t find out, they will definitely be able to guess who it is. You’ve now made an enemy of each other.”
"It was already set in stone." It started when Zhu Ziqi decided to scheme against him.
That's right. Zhao Wei has seen it all and doesn't take this little thing to heart at all: "Exactly, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Leave the public relations stuff to me from now on. You can focus on developing your business and concentrate on improving your skills and making money. We haven't made a single penny today; we've already spent it all."
Xia Mian could tell that Zhao Wei was giving him a warning, and she laughed along with him: "I only want to do something as unprofitable as working at my own expense once, and I hope I won't have to do it again in the future."
Zhao Wei assured, "There will be no more cooperation with Dongfang."
The two chatted about other things for a few minutes, tacitly avoiding mentioning the Zhu family and Zhu Ziqi.
What Zhao Wei didn't know was that Xia Mian hadn't actually used any online trolls. Zhu Ziqi had made too many enemies, and as soon as the video was released and made a little splash, the data suddenly started to explode.
Even after the video was exposed, he only allowed online trolls to muddy the waters and release material about "self-directed and self-acted" and "control group" cases; all other negative information was contributed anonymously by well-meaning people.
In short, there are many, many people who want to take her down; they're just waiting for an opportunity.
This also indirectly illustrates the meaning of "you reap what you sow." Our ancestors' careful selection truly revealed the truth!
Public relations is expensive and exhausting. Xia Mian was so tired that she collapsed onto the bed and fainted.
When I woke up again, the world seemed to have changed.
The "insulting the country" incident quickly went viral and reached the highest levels of government. Netizens who were following the matter watched helplessly as Zhu Ziqi's social media accounts disappeared one after another, and all the variety shows she participated in were taken down for rectification.
Including "Infinite Escape," the post-production team worked overtime to cut out what could be cut, and for the parts that couldn't be cut, they blurred out Zhu Ziqi's face with mosaics.
The fate of series that have ended is rather unfortunate, because their screen time is too high, AI face-swapping technology cannot replace them, and even if it could, the technology would not be able to achieve a natural look, so they can only be completely shelved.
But at least the completed dramas garnered some viewership and recouped some of their costs. The worst off are the two web dramas that have already finished filming, are in production, and are waiting to be released.
Both of these are top-tier IPs and productions. The male lead's fans were hoping that their idol could make a name for himself through these dramas, but who knew that the dish was not even finished and was poured down the drain.
Zhu Ziqi was almost verbally abused to death by his fans.
Some people with extreme personalities sent several wreaths to Zhu Ziqi's company with a bunch of curses written on them. When Zhu Ziqi's agent received the goods, he was so scared that he almost jumped out of his skin!
There were also those who threatened to throw paint or dump excrement on Zhu Ziqi's door. Whether they could actually do it or not, they were sure to terrify people and leave them in a state of constant fear.
Now that things have come to this, Zhu Ziqi will definitely not dare to appear in the public eye for a while; everyone's spittle could drown her.
He once boasted that he would ruin other people's careers, but now he's reaping the consequences and ruining his own future. It's quite a sad story.
Of course, as a final act of retaliation, Zhu Ziqi began to attack everyone indiscriminately. Having washed away the stains of "showing off superiority" and "bullying girls," Xia Mian was left with only her "poverty" as grounds for criticism.
Zhu Ziqi's online supporters mocked him for being short of money, saying that accepting Yongying's endorsement was just a way to make easy money.
Upon seeing this, Sun Guodong rolled up his sleeves—regardless of what others thought, he was going to quit!
Sun Guodong immediately notified the operations team to release a statement using the official Yongying Luggage account:
Hello everyone, I am Sun Guodong, the owner of Yongying Luggage.
A few days ago, our company invited @Mr. CottonCottonSummerSleep to be our spokesperson for a fee of 500,000 yuan, with a profit-sharing agreement attached.
Everyone knows the current market conditions; the price we're offering is already very, very low.
Mr. Xia Mian didn't refuse immediately and went to the factory with us. He looked at the production line and design drawings, and finally asked me only one question: If he accepted the endorsement, would Yongying raise the price?
After receiving my negative answer, he immediately signed a cooperation agreement with us.
So when I saw someone slandering him, I was the first to stand up and disagree. I want to ask three questions:
Why is it said that endorsing established domestic brands is "making easy money"?
Second, since Yongying Luggage's official flagship store launched on Taobao, its return rate, repair rate, and negative review rate have all been among the lowest in the industry. Where are we lacking?
Thirdly, where does an artist who is meticulous in their work, responsible to their fans, and even considers their fans' financial needs, fall short in terms of character?
Sun Guodong dressed plainly, but he was a graduate student. In those days, his degree was incredibly valuable; otherwise, the city would never have entrusted the factory to him.
These three soul-searching questions have awakened those who like to follow trends and left even the haters speechless.
Just as Zhu Ziqi was banned, the controversy surrounding the insult to the country had passed its peak, and a new wave of apologies swept across the internet.
Netizens apologized to Xia Mian for their misunderstandings and for following the crowd in the past. Of course, many more were fans who had become fans directly.
Xia Mian was surprised to find that he had an official fan club!
There are still several stations to go!
Chasing Light Station, Rose Station, Firefly Station... the names are all so lovely.
"Finally awake! Your fans are waiting for you to decide on a nickname," Zhao Wei said with a smile as he handed the sushi box to Xia Mian.
"...My fans are going to have names?" Xia Mian jumped up, incredulous.
Zhao Wei nodded: "The fan club has collected several candidates, and the one with the most popularity right now is 'Cotton'."
Cotton is a good name because he looked like a little cotton ball when he was little, so his mother gave him the nickname "Cotton Cotton".
"Then let's call it cotton."
"Okay. Guess how much cotton you have now."
"A little bit from Zhu Ziqi, and a little more from the new fans," Xia Mian tilted her head and asked cautiously, "Four million?"
"wrong."
Five million?
"wrong."
I stayed up too late on Weibo last night and my phone died and shut down automatically. It's plugged into the bedroom to charge right now. Xia Mian frowned slightly and said, "Brother Wei, tell me what's wrong."
Zhao Wei's eyes widened.
Why does this young man speak in such a sweet and coquettish way?
His coquettish voice, if spoken by an ordinary person, would definitely have the intimidating power to make straight men shudder, but paired with that rose-like face, it sounds perfectly normal and pleasant to listen to.
Zhao Wei stopped being mysterious and held up one finger: "Ten million."
Ten million?!
Xia Mian almost jumped up.
Ten million!
"Then guess again, how much of a share Yongying can give you now."
This summer sleeper was truly unexpected; he had a very poor understanding of small amounts of money.
Zhao Wei showed him the sales figures for the exclusive link.
aestivation:"?"
Wow, so much money! We're rich!
Actually, it's not much, only a few hundred thousand. In real life, Xia Mian's trust could earn that much money in just a few days.
But the profit share was earned purely through his work, proving that he was capable of supporting himself, which was much better than asking others for it!
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