Chapter 83 - Don’t Make Money
Bonus ko-fi chapter
The prizes listed were too tempting. Li Zhao couldn’t help forwarding the lucky draw post of Cangshi watch.
Once the Li fans discovered it, they condemned Li Zhao’s behaviour of grabbing the fan welware and asked him to delete it.
“Hahaha, the black fans are condemning the marketing accounts blackening Li Zhao while the Li fans are asking Li Zhao to delete the lottery blog and to not steal the welfare of the fans.”
“What type of silly idol and fans are these? Not only are the master and fans not normal, even the sunspots are strange.”
“Hahahaha, Li Zhao really deleted the post and then sent a wronged expression. As a result, none of the fans comforted him and instead praised him for doing well. I’ve been under the covers most of the night and the laughter of a pig has filled my room.”
Li Zhao’s team hadn’t expected that Li Zhao would even forward the watch’s lottery post. What wonderful operation was this?
Still, this was a lucky stroke. Now no one would think Li Zhao was a pretty boy plaything raised by others. What pretty boy was so miserable that he wouldn’t even let go of the lottery post from the brand side?
At home, Li Zhao held his mobile phone and sighed while lowering his head. “They won’t even give me a chance to win.”
The fans were so ruthless.
They said they loved him but their behaviour was too honest.
He put away his phone away and gently b.u.mped Yan Ting with his elbow. “These draws, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure. It might be the company’s publicity strategy.” Yan Ting hurriedly denied it.
“You really weren’t the one who arranged for them to help me?” Li Zhao was very suspicious.
“Zhao Zhao, you underestimate your own business value.” Yan Ting opened the comments area. “Strictly speaking, the company is using your popularity and setting a positive image in the hearts of young netizens.”
Li Zhao looked at the comments area under the post. The netizens were joking about the companies under Canghuan, even calling them ‘Cang Cang people.’
“In recent years, the proportion of online sales has become larger and major brands are competing for online consumers. Canghuan is no exception.”
The proportion of online sales was indeed increasing but most of Canghuan’s brands in the industry didn’t need this type of sales methods. Still, Li Zhao didn’t need to know this.
The thing Yan Ting didn’t expect was that in just one hour, the sales of many daily necessities under Canghuan increased sharply. The sales department arranged for staff to deliver the packages overnight but still failed to keep up with the customers’ needs.
The publicity department was in a complicated mood. They had invited Li Zhao to act as the spokesman for Cangshi Watch but hadn’t expected him to ‘endorse’ their other products together.
One employee joked, “Should we send Li Zhao’s side a big red envelope?”
The others, “…”
Who would’ve expected such a windfall?
Qin Xiao heard from the secretariat that the boss had registered a Weibo account and also carried out the certification. This was the rhythm of preparing to look at comments on Weibo. He had the most powerful survival desire and opened his Weibo, which had been useless for ages, to repost Yan Ting’s certified Weibo.
Just as he was feeling relieved, the message that the boss sent him appeared on WeChat.
[Yan Ting: It is possible to spread my relationship with Zhao Zhao outside right?]
Right? This was certainly right. Even if it was wrong, the a.s.sistant had to find a way.
After thinking for a while, he found a few marketing accounts without a company background, hoping they would direct the topic to Li Zhao and the big boss.
Marketing account: brother, this isn’t good. I only earn money for my conscience, not my life. I might not be signed with a company but there are some rules in the industry that can’t be touched. Please understand and don’t hurt me.
Qin Xiao: I can add money.
Marketing account: Don’t add money. Brother, looking at the red envelope you gave me in the beginning, I will give you some advice. If you want to blacken Li Zhao, don’t involve the big boss. Last year, Strawberry Entertainment had a female artist who tried to create speculation that she was a distant relative to hype herself up. Do you see his name this year?”
Qin Xiao, “…”
This thing actually had nothing to do with the boss. The boss didn’t take such things into consideration. The other side speculated too much and the company became scared themselves, directly cutting off the resources of the female artist.
At this junction, it wasn’t easy to say that he was the a.s.sistant of Canghuan’s boss. The purpose was to create gossip about the boss with Li Zhao. If Qin Xiao said this, the boss’ face would be lost.
“Alas.” He sighed. As an excellent a.s.sistant, he never thought he would have to deal with marketing accounts.
No matter how powerful a person, once he entered an area he didn’t understand well, he felt a sense of suffocation at not being able to display his talents. This was especially the case when it couldn’t be left to others and could only be handled secretly.
Qin Xiao was about to talk to the marketing account again when he found that he had been blacklisted by the other side. As a qualified a.s.sistant, even if there were difficulties ahead, he had to face them. Qin Xiao paid for two Weibo accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers.
[For Li Zhao’s sake, all of Canghuan’s brands came forward. It seems that he isn’t related to the a.s.sistant of Canghuan’s boss but the big boss of Canghuan itself.]
[I also think that Li Zhao might have a good relationship with Canghuan’s boss. Otherwise, so many of Canghuan’s products wouldn’t come forward.]
These two were posted and someone soon noticed Qin Xiao, but it didn’t seem to be the result he wanted.
“If Li Zhao can really catch Canghuan’s boss then why act?”
“A sunspot should know the basic rules. Fist Qin Xiao and now the boss of Canghuan? Why don’t you say that all of Canghuan is obsessed with him?”
“Don’t dance, no one will believe this.”
“I swear, I’m really a Li fan but for this type of sunspot, I can’t get angry at all. It is because my sympathy for his IQ has surpa.s.sed my hatred of him.”
“The Li fans are really kind and tolerant. They can actually treat this intellectually disabled person with tolerance.”
Qin Xiao, “…”
Sir, I really tried.
On the side of Li Zhao’s team, Luo Rong saw that someone was tying LI Zhao to the boss of Canghuan. He had always been calm but now he was so scared his expression changed. He quickly had the studio contact the other party to delete the false rumours or they would be prosecuted using legal means.
Qin Xiao who received a warning letter from Li Zhao’s team, “……”
Forget it. It was better to give up this type of thing earlier.
The next morning, Qin Xiao saw the boss come to the company in high spirits and knew that Mr Li wasn’t angry because the boss concealed his ident.i.ty. He barely had time to sigh with relief when he heard the boss ask, “Is there anyone on the Internet discussing my relationship with Zhao Zhao?”
Qin Xiao was silent for a few seconds. “Mr Li’s fans are all rational fans and won’t suspect Mr Li because of what others say.”
“No one believed it.” Yan Ting seemed a bit lost but then he was relieved. “This is also good. It can reduce Zhao Zhao’s troubles.”
“In fact, it isn’t that no one is discussing it. Some netizens on the Internet still support the CP of the demolition tyrant and Mr LI.” Qin Xiao tried to save the atmosphere.
Yan Ting’s expression was even uglier.
“If this is seen by Zhao Zhao then it is equivalent to reminding him that I deceived him.” Yan Ting shook his head. “This CP isn’t good. Spend money to seal this topic.”
Qin Xiao, “…”
The boss who had never been capricious, once he did something then it caused a headache. Okay, life was always about a bit of fun. He would work on Li Zhao’s CP every day!
Yan Ting had just arranged Qin Xiao’s side when President Sun of Strawberry Entertainment’s call was received.
“Mr Ting, there was a marketing account on the Internet last night who deliberately hyped up your relationship with Zhao Zhao. I know you are low-key so I’ve arranged for the legal department to contact the other party to delete this.”
Yan Ting, “…”
“This definitely wasn’t something done by our company. I have seen your sincere friendship with Zhao Zhao with my own eyes. I will never let rumours on the Internet taint this true feeling.”
Yan Ting was silent for a long time. “En.”
“You can understand. I’m afraid the Internet’s messy rumours will affect your friendship…”
“Don’t care about online comments too much.” Yan Ting spoke calmly. “If netizens link Zhao Zhao with me in the future, you don’t need to care too much or deliberately suppress it. Only solve it if the joke is too excessive and affects Zhao Zhao’s career development.”
President Sun hung up the phone in a complicated mood. He turned to his a.s.sistant and said, “Cao Jia, we should treat Li Zhao better.”
Yan Ting was willing to let them use him to hype up Li Zhao. How touching was this… friendship.
Cao Jia conveyed President Sun’s meaning to Luo Rong.
“Don’t care?” Luo Rong was a bit dissatisfied. He thought the top management had read the rumours on the Internet and was going to abandon Li Zhao. “a.s.sistant Cao, it’s not that I want to control it but if Canghuan is dissatisfied then I’m worried it will affect Li Zhao’s follow-up development.”
“You don’t have to worry about this.” Cao Jia laughed. “President Sun naturally talked to Mr Ting before daring to say this.”
Luo Rong hung up the phone and frowned.
If the big boss really gave such face then the company’s female artist last year wouldn’t be so bad.
He vaguely thought things were a bit strange and even had an absurd idea in his heart. Maybe… Zhao Zhao had a relationship with the boss of Canghuan?
No no no, how could he have such a bold idea?
“Brother Luo.” Li Zhao wearing an ordinary t-shirt and a cap walked in. He carried a large bag of nutritious meals in his hand and distributed it to the team’s publicity staff. “Last night, everyone worked hard doing overtime.”
“Zhao Zhao, you actually remember that we worked overtime all night.” A staff member opened the lunch box and sat up. “I thought you only had forwarding the lottery in your heart.”
Li Zhao smiled. “The prizes were too tempting that I couldn’t hold back for a while.”
Luo Rong, “……”
He thought that Li Zhao deliberately forwarded the lottery post to make things active. He hadn’t expected Li Zhao to really want the Canghuan prizes.
Wasn’t he embarra.s.sed as a popular new traffic actor?
Luo Rong ate the breakfast delivered by Li Zhao and let the night shift take a holiday, leaving two colleagues who weren’t working overtime last night. Then Luo Rong said to Li Zhao, “Zhao Zhao, Cangshi isn’t dissatisfied with you because of last night’s incident and even sent you the latest summer and autumn watches. Wait for me to give them to you.”
“Thank you, Brother Luo.” Li Zhao took off the cap and sat on the sofa. “Are there any good scripts recently?”
“The company’s side wants to arrange for you to shoot a movie with Lu Hao. The screenwriter and director are top-notch in the industry but Lu Hao’s position will be ahead of you.” Luo Rong handed a script to Li Zhao. “This movie doesn’t start until one month later so I helped you pick up the male supporting role in Liu Fen’s new movie.”
Then Luo Rong handed a script to Li Zhao.
The first script was a patriotic war movie. Both Li Zhao and Lu Hao’s roles had outstanding personalities. As long as the team was reliable, there would be a basic popularity after the movie was released.
Liu Fen’s new movie was called ‘Seven Boyfriends.’ Liu Fen played an elite unmarried woman. After she saved a cat, the cat forcibly gave her seven boyfriends with different styles.
Li Zhao’s role was a big, sticky wolf dog. He made various domineering declarations toward the female lead. The female lead had a moment of temptation but in the end, she felt the two of them were inappropriate and rejected him.
“There is a lot of compet.i.tion in the circle and gossip isn’t comparable to a new work.” Luo Rong was worried that Li Zhao didn’t want to take this role and persuaded him. “Liu Fen is very popular and the box office is also good. This role is excellent and can help you attract a lot of female fans.”
“This role is very interesting. I’ll take it.” Li Zhao smiled at Luo Rong. “Thank you, Brother Luo.”
They finished discussing this and Luo Rong took Li Zhao to the company’s cafeteria for a meal. The employees of Strawberry Entertainment ate healthy food but most artists didn’t have time to return to the company to eat.
In the cafeteria, there were only employees and some trainees who hadn’t officially debuted. No actors could be seen at all. Thus, Li Zhao’s appearance attracted the attention of the trainees. They looked at Li Zhao with envy and longing. There were too many artists in the entertainment industry. It was difficult to be highly praised by the company and the audience like Li Zhao.
Li Zhao held a plate and went to the food area to grab some found. Li Zhao found a fashionably dressed boy next to him, watching the food on his plate with horror.
Li Zhao laughed. “I’m sorry, I’ve never been fat since I was born.”
The boy’s eyes changed from horror to jealousy. In order to show a good appearance in front of the camera, he became so hungry that he couldn’t sleep. Yet Li Zhao was born with a physique that didn’t get fat and even his skin was good. Was G.o.d biased when he made people?
After seeing the food on Li Zhao’s plate, Luo Rong wanted to remind Li Zhao of his diet. Then he was reminded of Li Zhao’s physique and swallowed back his words. The food at the company’s cafeteria could be considered healthy, with less oil and salt. It was okay but Luo Rong still watched Li Zhao cleanly eat all the food on the plate.
Then he recalled Li Zhao’s childhood experience and he softened. “In the afternoon, go back early and rest. The filming of Seven Boyfriends has almost started. You will enter the crew the day after tomorrow. The shooting location is in Beijing so it will be convenient to eat and live.”
Li Zhao nodded.
“By the way, someone on the Internet said you have a relationship with the boss of Canghuan. The team has dealt with it cleanly.” Luo Rong observed Li Zhao’s expression.
“Aren’t they spreading my relationship with Mr Qin? How did they change targets?”
“Those who want to blacken you don’t care.” Luo Rong lowered his head and took a sip of coffee. “Online, it is easy to disperse the evil in human nature. Don’t care about the bad words on the Internet.”
“Thank you Brother Luo, I don’t care.” Li Zhao bent down and whispered, “Brother Luo, in fact, I really know the big boss.”
Luo Rong waved his hand. “Do you know him and he doesn’t know you or is a relationship where you both know each other?”
“It is friendship.” Li Zhao was a bit embarra.s.sed. Do you remember the jewellery I wore to last year’s annual meeting?”
Luo Rong nodded. “Didn’t you borrow those from your demolition tyrant friend?”
Li Zhao smiled with more embarra.s.sment. “Yes, that friend is the boss of Canghuan.”
Luo Rong’s hand shook like the cafeteria aunt handing out the meals and the coffee in the cup was almost fed directly into his nose. “The boss of Canghuan… is the one who lent you the house and jewellery?”
He wronged the marketing account. It turned out that Li Zhao really had a relationship with the boss of Canghuan.
Two buildings were demolished? Yes, the former headquarters of Canghuan was demolished and the current headquarters and branch building on the east side were built. Dozens of stores? There were large and small branches globally. The number was probably more than a few dozen? How could a rich person be so modest and low-key these days?
No wonder why President Sun and a.s.sistant Cao would often call him to have him arrange Li Zhao’s work properly, not letting Li Zhao be tired, not giving him poor resources and not forcing him to do any dramas he didn’t like.
A person who could call the boss of Canghuan a ‘brother’, who in Strawberry Entertainment wouldn’t want to hold onto them?
There was also Liu Fen’s side. Every time there were good resources, she would take the initiative to tell the team and she was so friendly to Li Zhao. She probably had some guesses about Zhao Zhao’s background.
That’s right. This was like Liu Fen’s style of doing things. Otherwise, he would think that Liu Fen was making a move on their Zhao Zhao.
Once Li Zhao left, Luo Rong returned to the office in a faint manner. The staff member responsible for monitoring public opinion on the Internet spoke to Luo Rong. “Brother Luo, there are a few small marketing accounts on the Internet who are implying there is a relationship between Zhao Zhao and the boss of Canghuan.”
“It’s fine.” Luo Rong waved his hand, his eyes showing the vicissitude of life. “Let them go.”
“In case Canghuan…”
“You can rest a.s.sured that there will be no problem from the other side.”
He was stupid, really stupid.
When all the official Weibos of Canghuan’s products jumped out to do a raffle for Li Zhao, why didn’t he feel that anything was wrong?
Probably because… almost everyone agreed that it was impossible for the big boss to have a scandal with anyone.
This mysterious boss was a machine, a statue, a person with no emotions. He had trillions of possessions but the only thing he didn’t have was the emotions of living people.
Prejudice and inherent impressions would deceive people’s eyes, blind people’s brains and make them lose normal judgment. Luo Rong, the gold medal agent, also made a mistake.
***
In a dim room, Xu Bei watched public opinion on the Internet turn to Li Zhao’s side and he was so angry that he smashed everything in the room. No, he had a chance. There was another way to kill Li Zhao.
He found a marketing account.
[Go online and stir up the relationship between Li Zhao and the boss of Canghuan. Say that Li Zhao has a good relationship with the boss of Canghuan and the two of them are friends.
He didn’t believe that the people around Yan Ting would tolerate a little actor trying to rub hype from Yan Ting.
[Marketing account: Are you sick?]
[What do you mean?]
[Marketing account: I have no wrongs with you. Why do you want to hurt me?]
Xu Bei sent a message again only to find he had been blacklisted by the other side. Xu Bei smashed his computer. Why was he still doing something wrong when he was reborn and it was even worse than this previous life?
***
“Boss, here is a list of those who recently had economic exchanges with those marketing accounts who broke the news.” Before work, Qin Xiao put a list in front of Yan Ting.
“There are six people, all entertainers. Four men and two women.”
Yan Ting glanced at the list and finally stopped on the word ‘Xu.’
The author has something to say:
Baby Zhao Zhao secretly dragged a kindergarten child to the corner: I want to tell you a secret. In fact, I’m actually good friends with Baby Ting Ting of our kindergarten.
The child: ???