Chapter 448

"Heh, didn't Guo Zhihao want to replace Agent Xu's position? He succeeded, but he doesn't have the ability to sit firmly in that seat."

"This time, I'm curious how he'll handle it. Of all people to promote, he had to insist on promoting Zhou Shishi, who has neither the looks nor the substance. He even said that as long as you have money and connections, you can make even a dead pig famous. I've never seen anyone so arrogant and ignorant..."

The employees outside complained about Guo Zhihao one after another, clearly dissatisfied with his actions since arriving at Qingguo Music.

Meanwhile, Guo Zhihao was throwing his weight around in his office in front of his secretary.

"They're both dual-female-lead dramas, so how could the popularity of the short drama Nie Jingjing and the others filmed exceed ours?"

"Apple Audio-Visual has already declined, and its active users have plummeted. How could the traffic there compare to the Lemon Short Video platform?"

When Guo Zhihao first heard the news, he thought he was dreaming.

This was simply too outrageous!

Even if Nie Jingjing and Murong Xue had a certain fan base, they were still newly popular stars, at most quasi-first-tier. There was still a huge gap between them and those celebrities with high national recognition. No matter what, they shouldn't have such high popularity!

Where exactly did that nearly one hundred million reservation count on the website come from?

It is very difficult to fake reservation numbers on a short video platform. Back then, in order to build momentum for Zhou Shishi, he used his connections and bought a large amount of fake traffic to create the appearance that this short drama was very popular, which attracted many passersby. Coupled with the natural tendency of people to love gossip, that was how the reservation count on Lemon Short Video broke records.

Guo Zhihao couldn't figure out for the life of him how Xu Tian could have the ability to boost the reservation count to one hundred million.

In reality, it couldn't possibly be faked; even he couldn't do it, otherwise he would have arranged it for Zhou Shishi long ago.

But even if he didn't want to accept it, the popularity and reservation count on their side were right there. Unless he found concrete evidence to prove that Apple Audio-Visual was faking it, there was nothing he could do.

"Supervisor Guo... actually, there is one more thing..." The secretary observed Guo Zhihao's expression cautiously, seemingly considering whether or not to speak.

"What is it? Speak up if you have something to say!" Guo Zhihao glared at the secretary impatiently.

"It's just... now the fans online are all calling Shishi a 'white lotus' and a scheming woman..." The secretary steeled their heart and gritted their teeth to say it.

"What? How did this happen?" Guo Zhihao hadn't looked at his phone on the way over; he only knew that the popularity of Apple Audio-Visual had surpassed theirs.

"A short video has been posted online." The secretary wiped the sweat from their forehead: "It's the video from the filming, proving that Nie Jingjing bullying Zhou Shishi was just part of the plot..."

"Who put the video online?" Guo Zhihao was furious: "Wasn't a confidentiality agreement already signed, requiring that the video not be leaked?"

Back then, in order to promote Zhou Shishi, Guo Zhihao had the screenwriters at Lemon add a bullying scene and had Nie Jingjing and Zhou Shishi rehearse it, but it wasn't included during the actual filming.

And after the filming, he had someone anonymously post the rehearsal video online.

He was confident that even if Nie Jingjing explained that it was just acting, once the actual footage came out, fans and netizens wouldn't have seen that part, making it impossible for her to clear her name.

Nie Jingjing would have to suffer in silence and serve as a stepping stone for Zhou Shishi.

His wishful thinking was sound, but he didn't expect that someone would dare to risk being sued to post the entire rehearsal content online.

Once the video was out, Nie Jingjing's fans on Weibo completely exploded.

"This is too much. It was clearly part of the plot, yet they took it out of context and said Jingjing-jie was bullying her. Do they really think our Jingjing-jie is easy to bully?"

"The person who released the video definitely has ulterior motives! All that talk about a senior pushing out a newcomer—it turns out it was all arranged by the crew! What's wrong with our Jingjing filming seriously? The plot required her to slap Zhou Shishi; could she have said, 'We're good sisters, screenwriter, please change the script'? This is work, do you think it's playing house?"

"I've long felt that Zhou Shishi isn't simple; she's good at acting like a 'white lotus' and playing the victim. Otherwise, just based on that snake-spirit influencer face of hers, why would they promote her?"

"Don't misunderstand Zhou Shishi; she didn't post the video."

"Heh, she didn't post it, but couldn't she have explained it? She just watched Nie Jingjing get scolded? If she had come out to explain even once back then, Jingjing wouldn't have been scolded so miserably!"

"That's right, and Murong Xue was also rumored to be bullying Zhou Shishi. Why is Zhou Shishi the most pitiful person in the world, and everyone wants to bully her?"

"If she had posted on Weibo to clarify, where would the popularity come from? During this time, she's gained quite a few fans by stepping on Nie Jingjing and playing the victim!"

"Don't you guys feel that Nie Jingjing has been a bit too quiet this time?"

"Yeah, usually she's on the front lines for any gossip..."

"Could she have been threatened and told not to clarify?"

"Guo Zhihao is truly heartless. Why bully our Jingjing-jie like this?"

Guo Zhihao looked at the comments on Weibo and was so angry he slammed the desk, making it shake.

"Investigate it for me, go investigate it now! Find out who leaked this video!"

"Supervisor Guo, the urgent matter at hand is to think about how to handle the PR, right?" The secretary couldn't help but remind him.

The video has already been posted online; even if they find out who is behind it, at most they can only get some compensation.

Zhou Shishi's reputation cannot be restored with compensation, and if they really sue, once the details of the case are exposed, wouldn't their framing of Nie Jingjing be confirmed?

"Isn't PR supposed to be the PR department's job? Are we paying them just to let them do their work? They can't even handle this little thing!" Guo Zhihao roared at the secretary while panting heavily: "Go notify the PR manager right now; if Zhou Shishi's reputation declines this time, tell him to submit his resignation and leave!"

"Uh... Supervisor, no need." The secretary's eyelid twitched: "The PR manager already resigned yesterday."

Guo Zhihao:...

"And he also posted a thread online." The secretary felt like they were going to faint; they tremblingly handed the tablet in their hand to Guo Zhihao to look at.

"I am the former PR manager of Qingguo Music, and I resigned yesterday. The reason for my resignation is that I cannot adapt to the current atmosphere of the company.

Ever since the newly appointed economic department supervisor came to the company, there hasn't been a single day of peace. Not only does he exercise absolute power in the company and clear out a batch of 'disobedient' employees, but he even forced out some old employees who worked diligently and never took sides.

Nowadays, those who can stay in the company and thrive are basically those who stand on his side and like to flatter and fawn, the two-faced people who know how to please him.

Also, the previous rumors about Nie Jingjing and Murong Xue joining forces to bully Zhou Shishi were all lies; that video was just behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals.

In order to create a pitiful persona for Zhou Shishi, Guo Zhihao deliberately had the screenwriter add scenes for them and had Nie Jingjing rehearse the slapping scene, but during the actual filming, the director didn't include that part.

Afterwards, they even posted the edited video online to guide public opinion and smear Nie Jingjing.

By the way, Xu Tian was also forced to leave the company because he was dissatisfied with how Guo Zhihao treated the artists under him. It wasn't that they wanted to set up their own business and betray the company, but that they were forced to leave!"