Chapter 848: Expanding Business

Whether the advantage lies with her or not, Luo Quan doesn't know, but she feels that luck is definitely on her side.

Right now, she has a large pile of cash in the bank earning interest, and with the stock market in turmoil, she doesn't dare to invest blindly; however, just leaving it in the bank feels like the returns are too low, so Luo Quan plans to find some other industries to invest in.

As a celebrity, the most common way to invest in the entertainment industry currently is to open a hot pot restaurant.

Hot pot can be said to be the type of cuisine with the least technical content; as long as you have a suitable hot pot base and find a few chefs with decent knife skills, you can open one.

One day of training, and you can open for business the next day.

Moreover, as long as the soup base isn't particularly terrible, there generally won't be any problems.

And when celebrities open shops, they generally need to put some effort into the decor, have the person themselves drop by the shop a couple of times to promote it, and after that, they can just lie back and make money.

Furthermore, what they earn isn't the revenue from the hot pot restaurant itself, but the franchise fees.

The celebrity provides their own fame, and the franchisee borrows that fame to operate it themselves.

However, up to now, while there are many people opening celebrity shops, there aren't particularly many that are truly profitable.

And those celebrities who collect franchise fees have indeed made quite a bit of "rotten money," and some of the celebrities who were the first to make such money have now successively faced scandals, with their reputations taking a nosedive.

But because the contracts signed with franchisees at the very beginning were nested like Russian dolls, the celebrities themselves actually don't need to be held responsible, which is truly frustrating and speechless.

In fact, with Luo Quan's fame and her title as the "Female God of Cooking," if she wanted to open a franchise restaurant, there would definitely be many people willing to join.

However, a restaurant and a hot pot shop are not the same concept; the former requires a skilled head chef to hold down the fort, and the dishes cooked must be delicious for it to survive.

As for the latter, you only need a good bag of hot pot base.

There is certainly no problem with Luo Quan's own skills; if she were willing to open a restaurant and sit in charge personally,

how popular that restaurant she opened in New York was, it would only be ten times more popular in China.

But while preparing three meals a day for her family is fine, staying in the kitchen cooking for several hours, and doing so every single day—that would be better than killing her.

But if she doesn't do it that way, that would be defrauding consumers.

Therefore, even though many companies have tried to pay sky-high prices to invite her to do business in the catering industry, she has never agreed.

This also includes the hot pot restaurant business where she provides her name and lets others franchise.

Although she is not a "gentleman," she still needs to have a bottom line in the way she acquires wealth.

Many people in the entertainment industry will do anything for money; many people are used to it, and even feel that this circle has always been this way.

But is it right just because it has always been this way?

In any case, Luo Quan cannot do it.

Therefore, she has no plans to enter the catering industry; she likes eating hot pot very much, but letting her open a hot pot chain to make money—forget it, that would be overdrawing her hard-earned good reputation.

However, a few days ago on the internet, she did indeed see a few good projects; if operated properly, they could make a lot of money, so Luo Quan is preparing to study them and then decide whether or not to do them.

Just as Luo Quan was filming and studying what business to do, a major event occurred in the domestic entertainment industry.

It happened in Hengdian again, and it was also related to a violent incident.

Because the case involving Zhang Zirong had only just calmed down a couple of days ago, when the hot search appeared, netizens thought that a martial artist in Hengdian had hit someone again.

After looking closely, they realized it was actually a male celebrity in Hengdian who had hit a female celebrity while filming.

The male celebrity is named Ying Xiaotian, a first-tier film star who focuses on TV dramas and usually likes dancing and such, with many fans on Douyin.

And the female celebrity who was hit is named Bian Qing, just a third-tier star, but she has quite a few friends in the circle.

So after the incident came out, many celebrities posted on Weibo to express their support and denounced Ying Xiaotian for not being a man, actually hitting a woman.

And the one leading the scolding of Ying Xiaotian was even one of his "good brothers"; after the incident, his first reaction wasn't to ask what specifically happened, but to post on Weibo:

"Ying Xiaotian, if you are a man, come out voluntarily and apologize to Bian Qing; don't be a coward after acting like scum!"

With someone leading the charge, other celebrities naturally responded one after another on Weibo, among whom were many top-tier first-tier stars.

For a time, Ying Xiaotian became a street rat, shouted at by everyone.

And the Weibo "female boxers" also saw an opportunity to gain presence, jumping out to use Ying Xiaotian as an example to stir up gender opposition, pouring a bucket of oil onto this big fire.

And as the "sharp vanguard for commenting on major entertainment industry events" (one of the many nicknames fans have given Luo Bao), Luo Quan was naturally assigned a task by her fans again, asking her to share her views on this matter.

Luo Quan is certainly quite concerned about such hot-topic events with several "Explosive" suffixes.

However, up to now, it has only been the woman's side of the story; no pictures or videos of what specifically happened at the scene have been leaked, and the truth is likely only known to those at the scene.

Without knowing the full picture, Luo Quan didn't want to jump to conclusions, so she said:

"There are too many reversals in the entertainment industry; it's too early to draw conclusions now, let's let the bullets fly for a while longer.

Don't argue with me; if you argue, you're right. I'm just saying don't blindly follow the crowd, have your own judgment; I didn't say who is right or wrong."

Although her response already showed a strong desire to survive, she still faced criticism.

In the current internet environment, if neutrality isn't absolute, then it's absolutely not neutral.

Now the whole internet is scolding Ying Xiaotian; by saying "don't blindly follow the crowd," aren't you saying netizens are all blind, and also that you think Ying Xiaotian is innocent?

There aren't many celebrities who dare to go against public opinion, and Luo Quan counts as one.

This time, public opinion was finally not on her side, at least not on the surface.

Many people are saying she is shielding the perpetrator and mocking the netizens who spoke up for justice, saying she is truly too arrogant.

However, the slap in the face came faster than anyone imagined.

Just as "Luo Quan's outrageous remarks" hit the hot search, the reversal came.

Ying Xiaotian's Weibo account posted a video from a surveillance-like perspective, in which Bian Qing is seen arguing fiercely with the director of the crew.

Ying Xiaotian came up to break up the fight, but Bian Qing not only didn't appreciate it, she turned around and started scolding Ying Xiaotian.

Ying Xiaotian couldn't take it, so he started arguing back with her.

Ying Xiaotian's image in the eyes of netizens is usually that of a handsome guy who can sing and dance, gentle and elegant, with extremely high quality.

In fact, he is a veteran League of Legends player, has an account in the Zaun region, and is a level 12 user on the "Anti-Pressure and Scapegoat" forum.

Such a person generally doesn't scold people, but if he does start scolding, tsk tsk tsk.

Ying Xiaotian, who was furious, brought out the skills he used to roam the Zaun region, directly spraying Bian Qing's whole family into a spiral ascent.

Then Bian Qing got anxious and started hitting people.

Although Ying Xiaotian scolds people, he is not a violent maniac; facing Bian Qing's attack, he mainly focused on dodging, and when he really couldn't dodge, he held her hands and pushed her back.

During this process, he didn't use much force at all; after being pushed, Bian Qing only took two steps back, and there wasn't even a sign that she was about to fall.

After that, the people around were afraid that the matter would blow up, so they came up in pairs to pull them apart.

This is the so-called "Ying Xiaotian hitting someone" process.

From the scene, it seems the man was the one being hit, and the one who was aggressive all along was the woman.

Soon, the other party involved, Director Wu Jin, also posted on Weibo to explain the situation at the scene:

This was a "bloody case" triggered by a steamed bun.

Because Bian Qing arrived too late, the only thing left in the breakfast the crew bought was steamed buns.

Bian Qing was very unhappy, feeling that the crew didn't give her the treatment she deserved, so she started arguing with the director.

And then, it was those things that happened in the surveillance video.

Originally, the cameras weren't even on early in the morning; Bian Qing thought no one had recorded this scene, so she specifically posted on Weibo to gain sympathy, wanting to hype up some heat.

However, she probably didn't expect the heat to be hyped up so high.

In the past, such a conflict would at most be around the 20th place.

As a result, because of Zhang Zirong, netizens are now extremely sensitive to Hengdian, directly driving the heat to the number one spot.

It even attracted so many celebrities to stand on her side, extending the battlefield to the entire internet, and the heat exploded instantly.

In fact, up to this point, Bian Qing still felt the problem wasn't big.

Because there hadn't been a lack of cases in the entertainment industry where Celebrity A was slandered by Celebrity B.

As long as you package yourself as a victim first, netizens will send the slandered celebrity into the abyss at the peak of the event's heat.

Even if the truth comes out later and the truly innocent celebrity clarifies, not many people will pay attention once the heat passes.

And that celebrity's career has indeed been completely destroyed and can never be restored.

That was Bian Qing's plan.

First hype up the heat, let Ying Xiaotian's reputation rot and stink.

When the truth comes out, at worst, just play dead for a while; once the trend passes, she can still come out to work, and her status might even be raised a bit.

The idea was very beautiful, and the success probability was not low at 90%.

It's just that she didn't expect that there would actually be surveillance on the set.

Bian Qing clearly remembered that there was originally no surveillance in that place!

As a result, there was actually a video of the scene now; when Ying Xiaotian posted the video, Bian Qing only felt the world spinning.

In fact, all of this was still Zhang Zirong's fault.

The violent case in Hengdian previously made all crews in Hengdian raise their safety awareness; those with the conditions basically set up security and surveillance cameras on the set.

The crew Bian Qing was in had just installed the cameras that morning.

And not long after, she arrived.

It can only be said that it's a coincidence.

Bian Qing has now trapped herself, lifting a rock only to drop it on her own feet.

Even after Ying Xiaotian posted the clarification video, she immediately cleared her Weibo, but her previous act of slandering Ying Xiaotian could not be cleared; it was all remembered clearly by netizens.

After the truth came out, the heat of the event was actually not as high as before.

Of course, Bian Qing's reputation is definitely ruined, and it will probably be difficult for her to mix in the entertainment industry in the future.

And Ying Xiaotian, because he was wronged for no reason, gained quite a few fans from passersby.

And because the reversal came relatively quickly, the endorsement manufacturers hadn't terminated their contracts with him yet, so he didn't suffer too much loss, which can be considered a blessing in disguise.

As for those celebrities who spoke for Bian Qing, they are all deleting their posts and playing dead now.

The years are quiet and good; there isn't a single hot search with an "Explosive" suffix after the clarification Weibo, which shows that the heat of this event has truly gone down.

However, is Luo Quan the one who suffered the grievance?

Many people want the heat of this event to go down, including celebrities and netizens who wronged Ying Xiaotian.

They, either because of competitive relationships or simply wanting to scold people, made incorrect judgments when they didn't know the full picture.

Now that the truth is out, how many people have apologized?

There should be some, but Luo Quan hasn't seen many.

Others want to handle it coldly and lower the heat, but she just wants to fan the flames tonight, so at 8:00 PM, she posted a Weibo:

"This incident has taught us two lessons.

One: Surface-level brothers cannot be made; you think he can stab himself for you, but in fact, he is more willing to stab you twice at a critical moment.

Two: No one cares how many bowls of rice Liu Zi actually ate; people just want to see Liu Zi pull open his own intestines, want to see blood.

Finally, I remembered a sentence that feels quite appropriate:

The gun went off; did you see who fired the shot?

I can't see clearly; he is standing on the moral high ground, he is in the sunlight."

After posting the Weibo, Luo Quan posted another update on Bilibili: "Fans, it's time to show your combat power; go to Weibo and like my latest Weibo to maintain the heat."

Luo Quan rarely calls for support from fans on Bilibili.

This should be the first time this year she has used this tone.

The fans are quite clear about the process of the incident and were thinking about how to vent for their wife who suffered a grievance, and as a result, their wife started it herself.

Consequently, all of Luo Quan's fans who saw this update on Bilibili ran to Weibo to like it.

And Luo Quan, relying on her own strength, or rather the strength of her fans, made her Weibo post exceed 2 million likes, with the number of comments reaching 200,000.

In the comment section, the formation was quite consistent; the vast majority were: "From Bilibili, giving Luo Bao a like."

Such appeal simply made a crowd of celebrities who had nothing to do with it marvel.

With such heat, Weibo's hot search couldn't suppress it either, directly arranging an "Explosive" tag.

In such an atmosphere, celebrities and netizens certainly couldn't play dead anymore.

Those who should apologize apologized, and those who should come out to speak the truth spoke the truth.

In short, Luo Quan suffered a grievance, and if she doesn't let her anger subside, this matter won't be over.

And Ying Xiaotian also quickly replied in the comment section:

"I have never met Miss Luo Quan before, yet I can get your support; it is truly my luck.

At the same time, I also thank those who have spoken for me; thank you for not standing on the moral high ground, but choosing wit."

The two sang in harmony, and I don't know how many people blushed and felt ashamed in secret.

After this incident, for a short time, if anyone wants to stir up trouble on the internet again and slander people through time differences to earn traffic, the difficulty coefficient will not be ordinary.

For the impetuous internet era, this is actually a good thing.

Too many people follow blindly; some things still need to be seen clearly and distinguished rationally.

Luo Quan feels she has done a good deed, but those celebrities who were implied probably won't think so.

However, what can they do to her? ===== CHAPTER 849 =====