Chapter 325: Sister Fei

"Director Zang, don't worry so much. This isn't filming a movie, when it comes to singing, doesn't everyone know how Chen Nuo sings?"

"Exactly, Director Zang, Chen Nuo himself said he has no confidence in singing."

"And wasn't it said before that the reaction after the rehearsal wasn't good."

"No one is omnipotent. I always have a feeling that Sina miscalculated this time."

"I have this feeling too, many people on the internet say the program is too boring, and they've already gone out to set off fireworks. It's useless no matter who comes."

Zang Tao looked at the chattering messages in the QQ group and typed: "Everyone makes sense. But I still hope everyone works hard, persist until Chen Nuo comes out, and see the situation before deciding. I'll treat everyone to a meal after work in the new year."

After the message was sent, the QQ group was silent for at least ten seconds, and no one spoke.

Afterwards.

"No problem."

"OK."

"Okay, Director Zang."

"Fine."

"Persist."

Zang Tao nodded with a smile when he saw this.

Although he knew that at this very moment, these people who were saying "OK no problem" must be greeting his whole family with the people beside them.

But so what?

A leader who doesn't get scolded is not a good leader.

Time passed minute by minute.

Finally, at 22:43, after the two Spring Festival Gala aces Zhu Jun and Dong Qing finished reporting the program.

The words *Hawthorn Flower* appeared in the lower right corner of the TV screen.

Then the protagonist appeared.

More than three minutes after appearing.

Zang Tao frowned, and a kind of ominous premonition hidden in his heart.

His son was standing by the sofa, holding a mineral water bottle, shaking his head and humming a tune that no one could hear clearly.

His daughter shook her mother's arm hard, excitedly saying: "Mom, Chen Nuo sings so well, and he's so handsome too. Mom, don't you think so?"

"..."

"Don't you think so?"

"Yes, yes, yes~"

"Isn't he especially handsome?"

"Yes, especially handsome."

Zang Tao got up and went into the study.

Opened the computer, put the phone on the table, and officially entered work mode.

And his QQ group, messages were jumping constantly.

"Is Chen Nuo singing?"

"Definitely not, holy shit, he's clearly acting a one-man show."

"Cheating, absolutely cheating."

"How can it be like this? Didn't they say he was going to sing tonight? Liars!"

"See that close-up at the end? Even crying scenes were added, too shameless."

Zang Tao felt like a big stone was pressing on his heart, and typed quickly: "Alright, stop chatting. See how the situation on the internet is."

As soon as he spoke, everyone became quiet again.

Not long after, bad news gathered from all directions.

Zang Tao saw that whether it was Tianya, Maopu, blogs, or Weibo in various places, a large number of posts appeared, discussing Chen Nuo's stage this time. Regardless of whether it was praise or criticism, what was undoubtedly true was that the heat was really up.

The most terrifying thing was that about ten minutes after Chen Nuo finished singing, Sina Weibo experienced a short period of downtime.

What this meant, as professionals doing internet products, it went without saying.

Even if they didn't really understand, there was the number of followers on Chen Nuo's Weibo, and the visible growth in the number of comments that could be used as evidence.

In the hour and a half between 10:30 and 12:00, from the time Zang Tao walked into the study and opened his laptop, to the time his wife came into the study to ask him to go out for the countdown.

Right under Zang Tao's nose, the number of likes on a Weibo post of Chen Nuo's Spring Festival Gala performance video increased by dozens every second, exceeding 300,000 in a short time, the number of forwards exceeded 100,000, and the number of replies was an astonishing 250,000.

The number of account followers also increased from the initial 3.81 million to 4.04 million, an increase of a full 230,000.

In just an hour and a half, this degree of growth, plus the situation of the registration page going down.

Connecting the two together, Zang Tao couldn't understand what happened, then he didn't deserve his annual salary of ten million.

"Fine, wait, I'm coming out immediately."

His wife looked at his expression and asked cautiously: "What's wrong? Is it about Weibo?"

"Hmm."

"I just went to the girl's room to check, she actually went to register one, saying that many people in her classmate group have gone to register now..."

"Register Sina Weibo?"

"Hmm... however, husband, I also went to check, Chen Nuo's Weibo forwards and comments are quite many, but most of them are scolding him."

"... You registered too?"

"Ah? Oh right, I just went up to take a look, help you take a look."

"Hehe."

"Really, oh my. I checked, they all say he's singing this kind of song on New Year's Eve, deliberately making everyone feel uncomfortable, and things like that, not good words, husband don't worry."

"Alright, you go out, I'll be out in two minutes, you call the son and daughter, we'll countdown together later."

"Good."

His wife went out, but Zang Tao didn't feel any better.

He didn't want to pursue the fact that his wife didn't register for Tencent Weibo but went to register for Sina Weibo.

In fact, he also checked the comments under Chen Nuo's Weibo just now.

Indeed, it seemed that most of them were not good words.

The comment with the most likes, reaching over 20,000, was a parody of a previous internet meme.

"Chen Nuo, stop singing, your mom is calling you home for dinner."

The comments hanging in second and third place were similar.

"Specially registered a Weibo to scold you, it's New Year's Eve, three out of five in the whole family cried." Over 12,000 likes.

"Others are singing, you are here to act. And even added crying scenes. Can't you not make everyone cry on New Year's Eve?" Over 6,000 likes.

And the high-like comments below were about the same.

Seemingly praise, seemingly criticism.

But so what?

Even if these people's words were sincere, even if the scolding in the comments wasn't teasing, even if Chen Nuo really made the people of the whole country angry.

The popularity brought about by this was really left on Sina Weibo, right?

Do you think those new accounts will delete their accounts after scolding? Impossible.

In just an hour and a half, Chen Nuo gained nearly 300,000 followers.

What will happen later?

Zang Tao even suspected that Peng Peng Shaobing and the others were already opening champagne to celebrate.

He looked at the QQ group, only to see that the group, which was lively and interesting before, was now dead silent, just reporting various summarized news in an orderly manner.

He clicked on the latest one, which was a link from Sina Blog, said to be "meaningful and for reference."

That was a blogger with the username "Blogger President," who posted a blog a few minutes ago.

A grand article of several thousand words, estimated to have started coding immediately after watching the program.

Zang Tao felt that if his subordinates had this work efficiency, why worry about not being able to trample Sina Weibo down.

Similarly, the title of this blog was very deep:

"Behind Chen Nuo's Spring Festival Gala debut: The 'huddled' traffic feast of capital crocodiles."

Zang Tao got excited as soon as he saw it, but immediately had to go out for the countdown, so he could only browse through it at a glance.

"Amidst the cheers of the 'sticky rice' and passersby, it seems that Chen Nuo, the hottest teenage idol in China, and the 23-year-old young man who has received the most attention, appearing on the Spring Festival Gala is to make up for the damage caused to his fans by his second relationship..."

"... Little did they know, such thinking is a big mistake. The author just received news that our star who is always in a rush threw a tantrum at the airport, scolding the fans who came to see him off... from this, it can be seen that Chen Nuo is still that Chen Nuo... he won't shed a tear for his fans... 'The only reason he would come back from Berlin, travel back and forth for 20 hours, and be willing to go on the Spring Festival Gala stage is

"Today, let me reveal the forces behind him."

"First, naturally, is Chen Nuo's well-known new flame, Sina Weibo. His appearance on this year's Spring Festival Gala surely brought it the greatest traffic. This new internet media platform, backed by the nation's largest portal site, is currently facing fierce competition. This prompted them to pay an astronomical signing fee to contract Chen Nuo last year. According to reliable sources, Sina Weibo was the biggest pusher behind Chen Nuo's appearance on the Spring Festival Gala this time..."

"The second biggest beneficiary is New Pictures Film, which is behind Chen Nuo's new film 'Under the Hawthorn Tree', and IDG Capital... As far as the author knows, although the subtitles deliberately avoided this, the entire design of Chen Nuo's stage this time came from Zhang Zhang Yimou's planning... After singing 'Hawthorn Flower', the search volume for 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' increased by 800%..."

"Third, the various brands he endorses. First is the King of Diamonds, Harry Winston. Did you notice the brooch on Chen Nuo's lapel? Those interested can look up its price online. That is money that ordinary folks like us couldn't earn even after working hard for a hundred years. Every ray of light it flashes under the stage lights comes from genuine diamonds..."

"Next, Li Ning. What he is wearing on his feet is the latest model from Li Ning for the current season... The author can already imagine the crowds at Li Ning stores tomorrow..."

"Then there are Porsche, Mattel, and Angel, which didn't make a public appearance but will also potentially benefit after Chen Nuo's Spring Festival Gala performance..."

"Fourth, the Hengdian Group... a giant of domestic private capital, spanning multiple fields; its chairman is said to be close friends with Chen Nuo..."

"Fifth, Facebook... Leaving this overseas capital for last is not because it isn't important, but because it is too important. The terms of the contract reached between Chen Nuo and them are still shrouded in darkness. The author guesses that they might actually be the biggest mastermind behind his proactive performance at the Spring Festival Gala this time... It is the first step in FB's strategy to enter China..."

Zang Tao became more interested the more he read, feeling that this blogger not only shared his animosity but also possessed professional-level skills in conspiracy theories.

He originally wanted to finish reading the final conclusion, and if possible, he wouldn't mind sending a private message to recruit them.

His team was currently lacking this kind of flexible, clever, and execution-oriented propaganda talent.

At this moment, his wife pushed the door open again and complained, "Old Zang, it's two minutes to midnight. Are you coming or not?"

Zang Tao had no choice but to suppress his curiosity and replied, "Coming, coming."

Twenty minutes later, after returning from celebrating the New Year, Zang Tao had already made up his mind.

This blogger had clear logic, strong research skills, and the drive to keep typing away on New Year's Eve without playing or resting; they were truly a decent workhorse.

Regardless, it was worth reaching out to them.

Even if he couldn't recruit them, he could still network. If needed in the future, he could pay them to cheerlead.

Now he could slowly finish reading the rest of the blog's content.

It read: "This seemingly star-studded Spring Festival Gala debut is actually a capital game where various forces are intertwined and everyone has their own ulterior motives."

"Chen Nuo is merely a marionette pushed to the front by various capital interests, performing a script meticulously choreographed by others under the spotlight."

"And we, the audience, along with those naive fans, have all become spectators of this feast, or even leeks waiting to be harvested."

"When the New Year's bell rang and everyone was immersed in the joy of the festival, have you ever thought that the truth behind it would be so chilling?"

"The author only hopes that more people can see through all this, stop blindly following, and let the entertainment industry return to pure artistic creation instead of becoming a profit-seeking field for capital."

Good, very well said.

Zang Tao clapped in admiration and, without further hesitation, clicked on the blog's private message function. He clearly wrote down his surname, position, background, and company, expressed his appreciation for the other party, and left his personal QQ number and email address, writing a long message full of sincerity.

After finishing, he clicked send.

"Sorry, the recipient's account does not exist."

Zang Tao didn't think much of it, assuming it was a network glitch, and refreshed the page.

As a result...

Now, it wasn't just that the account didn't exist, but "Sorry, the page you are on does not exist."

He was silent for a few seconds, re-entered the URL, and refreshed again, but the result was the same.

He opened the private message page again, added the account he had just memorized, and sent another message.

Then... "Sorry, the recipient's account does not exist."

No surprise there.

Zang Tao looked at this line of text,

And then looked at the glaring red one-eyed logo in the top right corner of the page and the words "Sina".

Suddenly, he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Talent?

Bullshit talent.

Criticizing capital on a capital-owned platform—what kind of moron is this?

When Chen Nuo landed at Berlin Airport, it was 2:00 AM Berlin time.

At 7:00 PM that same day, their Berlin premiere of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" would take place.

Logically speaking, being able to participate in the main competition section in Berlin is not just an honor for the actors, but should also be a major event for the production team.

Whether they win an award actually has a great bearing on the smoothness of selling the film and the price it sells for.

However, when he saw Zhang Zhang Weiping, who had come to pick him up late at night, he didn't feel that the man was nervous at all. He was smiling and walking quickly toward him from afar, feeling even closer than seeing his own father.

Actually, before this, there might have been a small rift between them, which Chen Nuo himself had felt when they met in Berlin previously.

He knew why.

It was because he had instigated Director Zhang to remove those subtitles.

This made Zhang Zhang Weiping feel a bit uncomfortable, thinking that the two of them—director and actor—were doing things behind his back as the boss.

However, seeing him this time, Zhang Zhang Weiping was surprisingly enthusiastic.

Even though it was 2:00 AM in Berlin, this man over fifty was full of energy, shaking hands, hugging, and personally taking the suitcase from his hand to pull it for him in the airport.

"Director Zhang, this... you are too polite, no, no."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Zhang Zhang Weiping laughed, "I am willing to do things for the great contributor to our film. Hahaha."

"Director Zhang, what do you mean by this?"

"Haha, Nuozi, all of us watched your performance on the Spring Festival Gala from start to finish. Director Zhang said that you practically condensed the entire plot of 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' into those short three minutes. It was truly fantastic."

"And just after you finished singing, IDG's Xiong Xiaoge called me immediately, praising you to the heavens on the phone, hahahaha."

"Just now, my staff back home also called to say that so far, whether on Google or Baidu, the search volume related to our 'Hawthorn Tree' is at the top, and it has pulled a huge distance away from the rest. This has saved us who knows how much manpower and resources for our release in March and April."

"So, I volunteered to pick you up. Today, I am willing to be a humble servant. I am even willing to pull the car for you."

Chen Nuo actually believed Zhang Zhang Weiping's words.

If the song he sang on the Spring Festival Gala stage really achieved such an effect, he believed that Zhang Zhang Weiping wouldn't just pull the car; even if he had to be the car, this film boss who started in real estate would definitely be willing.

After all, he knew exactly what kind of character those in real estate had.

Take this Spring Festival Gala, for example. Even though Li Er was at odds with Qi Yuntian over having children and continuing the family line, she still knew to come to the backstage of the gala to spend a few precious minutes seeing Qi Yuntian, which counted as a reunion.

But as for his own family, according to Chen Chen Bicheng, "Seeing them for a few minutes is worse than not seeing them at all..."

Honestly, hearing this on the phone at the time, if he didn't have potential future needs for them, he would have turned against them on the spot.

Fobbing off Zhang Zhang Weiping, it was already nearly 4:00 AM by the time they returned to the hotel from the airport.

Zhang Zhang Weiping had talked a lot on the way and was a bit tired. After sending Chen Nuo to his room, he took his leave.

Chen Nuo had slept for a full eight or nine hours on the plane and was in high spirits.

Separating from the others, he entered his room alone. After taking a shower, he felt even more refreshed.

He took out his laptop, ready to check the domestic news; he was still in a fog regarding his performance at the gala. He wanted to see for himself how he looked on television.

And FB, he should also post a message wishing everyone a happy Chinese New Year.

However, just after he sent the FB message,

And entered the Sina Weibo URL, waiting for the page to refresh because the 3G network at this time was really too slow,

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

He walked over, looked through the peephole, and then opened the door in surprise, "Sister Fei, are you mistaken? What time is it? Don't you sleep?"

Standing outside the door was his official girlfriend, Liu Qi Yifei.

The girl was wearing pink fuzzy pajamas, no makeup, and had her hair in a messy bun, looking quite disheveled.

Her pretty face was fair and flushed with a natural glow. Hearing this, she hummed, "Who is your Sister Fei? Don't call me that. Isn't it because of you? The sound of you chatting with Director Zhang and the others was so loud it woke me up." After saying this, she ducked under Chen Nuo's arm and slipped into the room.

Chen Nuo turned back in surprise: "What are you doing?"

"Keep it down."

PS:

It's the third day of the New Year.

Can I ask for votes now??

(End of Chapter)