Chapter 273: Holding Liu Yifei to Command Lu Kuan?

In the domestic entertainment industry, the title of the "Four Little Dan Actresses" first appeared at the beginning of the new millennium.

It wasn't until 2002 that the *Southern Metropolis Daily* first referred to the four post-70s actresses—Zhao Little Yanzi, Zhang Zhang Ziyi, Xu Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun—as the Four Little Dan Actresses.

In the selection of mainland female artists at the start of last year, the structure of the "Four Dan, Two Bing, and One Fei" was established.

As time enters April, the new year's official and unofficial ranking activities are currently underway.

Just as listed companies usually publish their annual reports before April 30th, it has become a convention for similar entertainment industry ranking activities to begin every March or April.

This is because, starting in March, the Golden Globe Awards, the Oscars, and the Berlin Film Festival abroad have all more or less concluded.

Furthermore, the Spring Festival Gala—one of the proofs of domestic status and standing—has been over for more than a month, and last year's "Three Golden" awards for Chinese-language films, along with the Magnolia, Golden Eagle, and Feitian awards, can all be used as references.

In view of this, the public relations campaign by Yanda Huayi to elevate Zhang Na-ra's status is also proceeding in order.

First was the broadcast of the Beijing Film Academy tribute drama *Silver Years* on the Tianjin Satellite Channel; the lineup, featuring Zhang Na-ra and guest appearances by Beijing Film Academy star students, Jackie Chan, and Kou Zhenhai, attracted quite a bit of attention.

Immediately following that was Zhang Na-ra's solo concert in Beijing, which took advantage of the momentum to promote her new album *One Sheet*; within a week of its release, it sold over 200,000 copies, including pre-orders.

Finally, there was the open house event at the South Korean Embassy in China on March 14th, where Zhang Na-ra was officially awarded the title of Outstanding Cultural Exchange Ambassador, fully maximizing her public prestige.

There is also the summer release of *Seven Swords*, her participation in Yanda Huayi's newly launched *Red Cliff*, the Xianxia drama *Chinese Paladin 3*, the historical idol drama *My Bratty Princess*...

Although she did not enter the Wenjie agency as hoped, the resources brought by Yanda Huayi are truly not insignificant.

Having already committed herself to Zhou Jun, who is more than ten years her senior, Zhang Na-ra has gradually become complacent, seemingly feeling that she now has the ability to go head-to-head with Liu Liu Yifei.

Zhou Jun and Yanda Huayi launched large-scale "water army" marketing campaigns on internet platforms like Mop, Tianya, Blogcn, and Sina, using their customary methods of bundling, disparaging others, and promoting Korean trends to guide fans and public opinion, which achieved good results.

Especially on Sina, which had played the role of the enemy's public opinion center since the Liu Liu Yifei cyberbullying incident.

This time, even before the ranking activities were announced on websites like Blogcn and Tianya, they released a popularity ranking for domestic female artists in 2005.

Judging from the various advertorials and content creation, they employed a bundling and hype strategy of "Four Dan, Two Bing, and Two Belles."

It is currently quite difficult to smear Liu Liu Yifei; after the last incident, her standing actually rose even higher, with her blog followers exceeding ten million.

Then why not use bundling for hype?

"The Two Belles of China and Korea"—this slogan is not bad.

Soon, the voting section of Sina Entertainment pinned a piece of hype advertorial written by a "passerby," who was actually a member of the water army.

"Liu Liu Yifei's ethereal charm meets Zhang Na-ra's sweet playfulness; the two belles of China and Korea shine in the same frame, blooming with unique starlight together, opening a new chapter of charm in domestic entertainment."

Liu Liu Yifei's fans were naturally unwilling; having been veterans of many battles over the past two years, they immediately swarmed to the bottom of the post to clarify the facts.

"Do you dead Koreans have no shame? You're trying to leech off her when you don't even have a single theatrical film?"

"How you used dirty tricks against Sisi last year, and now you're trying to bundle her directly this year?"

"Get the hell home! And you have the nerve to claim our Ancestral Rites and the Dragon Boat Festival for your heritage! Shameless!"

The comment on the third floor quickly attracted attention; in this day and age, not many people would know about such information unless it was pushed and promoted by interested parties.

"Are you just making things up? Zhang Na-ra seems quite nice; she speaks Chinese wherever she goes, very approachable, right?"

"I'm making things up? Go look at the popular science post by a history blogger on Blogcn; they posted the official webpage from UNESCO as proof."

This was, of course, authorized by Boss Lu.

Although the conditions are not yet ripe to fully launch a slogan of restricting or opposing Korean influence, it is possible to lay the groundwork and whisper in people's ears first.

In 2001, the Koreans successfully registered the Ancestral Rites.

In 2005, the Koreans successfully registered the Gangneung Danoje Festival; they claim it originated from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, but there are many differences in the festival's connotation, the objects of commemoration, the time span, and the methods of celebration.

It's just a word game; the goal is to put the two characters "Dragon Boat" into their own pockets and stick them on their own foreheads.

However, this loose popular science thread was quickly occupied by the water army and brain-dead fans of the Korean wave.

"Leeching off who? Zhang Na-ra can sing and dance; isn't she better than your 'Fairy'? A dumpling-faced girl whose interviews are like a mudslide."

"Liu Liu Yifei participates in so many works every year that she doesn't even have time to study at school; can her professional skills be any good?"

"Zhang Na-ra is different; she graduated from a proper Korean acting school, and her father is a veteran actor; her strength is right there."

"Zhang Na-ra acts in *Seven Swords* and *Red Cliff*, which are Chinese martial arts and historical culture; what do you, Liu Liu Yifei, act in? Fighting monsters in Hollywood?"

Whether it was a slip of the finger or not, Zhang Na-ra's verified Sina blog account liked a disparaging comment; although it was quickly unliked, screenshots still leaked out.

Now that the master has made her stance clear, how could the Korean wave puppy fans not go crazy and start biting?

Things like Liu Liu Yifei's immature acting in *The Noble Family*, being criticized by Chen Kun;

Withdrawing from the 2002 Golden Horse Awards because she didn't win;

Having an ambiguous and unclear relationship with a certain international director and washing machine brand before she was even an adult;

Her style is old-fashioned, her casual clothes are unbearable to look at, and her interviews lack the status a female star should have; she doesn't look like a star at all...

In short, if you are determined to condemn someone, you can always find a reason.

April 15th, Beijing Starlight Film and Television Industrial Park, casting office for *My Bratty Princess*.

The production is a project in collaboration between Wu Dun from Taiwan and Deng Yao Jianguo from the mainland; counting the works these two have invested in, almost all of them are hits.

*The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan*, *My Fair Princess*, *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, and so on.

With Su Youpeng, who just became popular again through *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, playing the male lead, this image of a bratty princess is quite brilliant and relatively easy to attract fans.

Mainland talent agencies have inquired many times, and it seems that Yanda Huayi's Zhang Na-ra, who is being hyped as one of the "two belles," has been pre-selected for the role, and today's audition is just a formality.

However, when Zhou Jun accompanied Zhang Na-ra to the scene, he unexpectedly saw a female artist from the Wenjie agency.

Su Chang.

The two sides had no interaction, nor was there any need for hypocritical pleasantries, so they just sat quietly in the room waiting for their turn.

"Here, I had to run quite far to find a small shop."

Su Chang was wondering if it was a bit presumptuous of Lu Yao to ask her to come for an audition.

The ownership of this princess role had already gone viral online; why bother making her ask for leave from school to come here?

The man beside her handed over a bottle of water; he was quite tall, probably around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing sportswear and a baseball cap, seemingly trying to hide his identity.

"Thank you!"

Zhuang Xu had barely sat down on the bench when he unexpectedly discovered that among the other pair of man and woman, there was an opponent who had been dealing with Blogcn quite a bit recently.

Zhou Jun.

He lowered the brim of his hat a little more and glanced at the pure female star he had met at the Wenjie annual meeting.

A fair lady is a gentleman's quest; Zhuang Xu asked himself if he was different from his "lecherous dog" junior brother—he was a proper, honest man.

Honestly studying, honestly taking exams, honestly working, until his 19-year-old junior brother came out of the mountains and completely led him down a path of no return.

"You big CEO, you have time to accompany me to an audition?" Su Chang looked at him prettily, feeling a bit of what Liu Liu Yifei must feel during certain sweet moments.

"Hehe, it just so happens that your Boss Lu Yao is chatting about things in the office, so I just came along, hehe."

Zhuang Xu felt a little awkward; having lived this long, he really hadn't lied many times.

As a former investment banking manager who had once dominated the internet industry, he inexplicably envied some of the "beastly" traits of his junior brother, Boss Lu.

"Su Chang, don't call my name," he cautioned, feeling a bit uneasy, afraid that Zhou Jun, not far away, would notice him.

"Ah? Oh!"

Since the beginning of the year, the two companies have had their financial data and tax audits investigated multiple times through proper procedures.

Recently, a former employee was taken away, and it's unclear what kind of trouble will come of it.

He didn't want Zhou Jun to notice his close relationship with Wenjie, even if it might just be a case of "covering one's ears to steal a bell."

"Miss Zhang Na-ra, please come in."

"I'm going in first."

Zhou Jun looked up: "Hmm, Wang Wang Xiaolei should have already communicated with Wu Dun; just do what you need to do."

He flipped through the *Beijing Daily* in his hand, pondering how to use Hunan TV and Sina Entertainment to add more fuel to the fire for her.

The audition director was Lai Lai Shuiqing, who had just finished filming *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* in 2002, but seeing Zhang Na-ra walk in confidently, he felt a bit of frustration inside.

Wu Dun, oh Wu Dun, you don't want to reject Zhou Jun and Yanda Huayi directly yourself, so you're making me, the director, take the fall?

That's right, Wu Dun, this old hand in the industry, was unwilling to offend Boss Lu, nor did he want to fall out with Yanda Huayi.

He could only play for time and let the director, Lai Lai Shuiqing, bear the brunt of the trouble first.

What excuse should he find?

Acting skills? Nationality issues?

The key is that this Korean star in front of him was indeed the first choice!

He did approve of Su Chang; her professional ability was excellent among her peers, but after all, she didn't have the current buzz that Zhang Na-ra had.

Looking at it this way, she is a "flower outside the wall" who is about to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Liu Liu Yifei, and her status is still a grade higher than Su Chang's.

However, having been in this industry for a long time, he knew that many deals had already been completed and were not something he, as a director, could interfere with.

"Hehe, Miss Zhang, please sit."

"Tell me about your understanding of the character?"

Lai Lai Shuiqing lowered his head, pretending to look at the materials; after a long while, he didn't hear Zhang Na-ra speak, so he couldn't help but look up at her.

"Director? Is there a mistake?"

With no outsiders present, Zhang Na-ra put away the humble and polite act she showed in public and looked at Lai Lai Shuiqing with a bit of mockery.

Zhou Jun outside the door gave her great confidence.

Lai Lai Shuiqing was stunned by her standard Mandarin: "What?"

"I thought I was here to sign the contract."

"Director Lai Lai Shuiqing."

Old Lai was not very happy; even if Zhang Zhang Manyu or Gong Li were standing here, they wouldn't talk to a director like that, would they?

"If you are not available now, you can go out and rest first and let Su Chang come in for the audition."

The answer to him was the harsh sound of chair legs grinding against the marble floor: "Okay, then I'll wait for you to find me to sign the contract."

Zhang Nara was not worried in the slightest.

Having traveled across the ocean from Korea with great caution, she had seen the power possessed by Zhou Jun and the two Wangs at Yanda Huayi.

Aside from that one person who could still be considered a formidable rival, she did not feel she needed to bow her head to anyone else.

This seemed to be the consistent national character of the Koreans: the doctrine of serving the great.

Zhang Nara felt she could also be as willful as Liu Liu Yifei in her interviews—saying what she wanted to say, and if she didn't want to talk, she could just be a "mudslide" for a bit.

Why was it that only she could do that and still be adored by fans?

She could do it too, and it would be a relief to be so relaxed.

The pairing of the two beauties on Xinlang seemed to give her an illusion, an illusion that she had already donned the Emperor's New Clothes.

"Signed?"

Zhou Jun looked up in a daze and glanced at the time again.

His wife was returning from a business trip tonight, so he definitely had to go home; he dared not be late, and dared not not return.

Even though his own family could be considered prominent, he relied even more on his wife's family.

"Get ready to go."

"No!" Zhang Nara had a look as if she were about to burst into tears.

"The director refuses to sign a contract with me and even said he wants to find that Su Chang from Wenjie to replace me."

Zhou Jun looked with surprise at Su Chang and her companion not far away; he had thought the other party was naive, but now it seemed there was a complication?

"You sit here first, I'll go in and ask."

Zhou Jun stood up with composure; given his status, he would not normally want to deal with these nobodies, but time was a bit tight, and he wanted to handle it quickly and leave.

"You are Zhou Zong, right?"

Lai Lai Shuiqing was no fool; he had long since understood the identity of this behind-the-scenes bigwig of Yanda Huayi who had pushed the door open.

"Welcome, welcome! Haha."

"Director Lai, is there some misunderstanding? Do you need me to give President Wu a call?"

Lai Lai Shuiqing thought to himself, if you can get through to him right now, I'll take your surname.

"Zhou Zong, please be patient; we still have to follow our procedures today, haha."

Drag it out, just drag it out...

Zhou Jun did not have that much patience for such a small character; he raised his eyebrows and was about to flare up when suddenly Lai Lai Shuiqing's female assistant pushed the door open and entered.

"Director, take a look at this!"

Lai Lai Shuiqing had wanted to let the female assistant go out first; she did not know the inside story that the crew had already decided to change the cast, and some things were not convenient to say in front of others.

But his gaze swept over the laptop screen, at the video title from a blogger on Blognet...

"Korean star Zhang Nara's father, Zhu Zhu Husheng, participates in a domestic variety show and speaks bluntly: Mainland audiences have a low artistic level and are easy to make money from; it's a good place for my daughter to help me improve my poverty."

His sense of public opinion was not very sharp, but for such news to be exposed at this moment...

There had to be some implications, right?

Lai Lai Shuiqing smiled and turned the laptop around, saying to Zhou Jun: "Zhou Zong, please be patient and take a look at this first."

In the video, Zhu Zhu Husheng was answering the host's questions on a program with full confidence.

"President Zhu, the financial difficulties of the theater troupe you run—were they solved by Nara's help?"

"Haha, yes, Nara is truly a cute and motivated child; she hasn't been home to China for a whole year."

The host, who had received a signal from the mastermind of Korean entertainment and a core figure at CJ Entertainment, continued to dig a pit.

"I hear the audiences over there really like the art of our Republic of Korea, is that right? Is it easier to generate income?"

Before the show, because he had a history of alcoholism and had been deliberately taken out to drink for social engagements, Zhu Zhu Husheng spoke without thinking: "Haha, of course!"

"Mainland audiences are very obsessed with actors from our Republic of Korea. Although she doesn't have the popularity of Ahn Jae-wook or Jun Ji-hyun, Nara can still make money very easily."

"I feel very sorry for her not being able to go home in such a place, but my daughter told me that as long as we have no money, we can go to China."

The scale of Korean variety shows was relatively large; although the audience present felt it was slightly inappropriate, they did not think there was anything out of the ordinary.

Just like the Zhang Nara of later generations who spoke without thinking, this Zhu Zhu Husheng, who had sent his daughter to the "gullible and rich" mainland to realize his own theatrical ideals, had completely walked into the trap.

Zhou Jun's heart skipped a beat; he could not spare the time to greet Su Chang, who was walking in for her audition, and after glancing at the somewhat familiar man in the baseball cap, he quickly left with Zhang Nara.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves; the official team of Blognet, the progenitor of internet water armies in this life, combined with the monitoring feedback from the public opinion office, quickly spread the "Money-Grabbing Gate" scandal from their core website to the entire internet.

Among them, many videos were re-created, edited, and subtitled, then uploaded to Wenjie Video, which had already launched a series of short video contests to encourage user-generated content.

Under the deliberate guidance of an invisible hand, it escalated from the original "money-grabbing" to tendencies of contempt and discrimination, and then to a naked display of Korean national superiority, which was then linked to news of the Koreans scrambling to apply for world heritage status.

Zhang Nara, a Korean star who had not yet reached the pinnacle of the "two beauties" and was on par with her imaginary rival Liu Liu Yifei, was already in a precarious situation.

At the Yanda Huayi headquarters building on Xinyuan South Road, Zhang Chaoyang District, Beiping, the conference room was already bustling with people.

"Has the public relations department arrived?"

"Yes, Wang Zong, they are currently coordinating with key personnel at major websites."

"What about Director Yao from Xiangtai? Is it easy to coordinate the 'Happy Camp' program for next week?"

"Wang Zong... next week's recording for Xiangtai is already finished; it's for the 'Judge of the Great Song' crew, we..."

Wang Wang Xiaolei glared: "What is the relationship we maintain usually for? There must be a way to handle this now! Continue communicating!"

"Yes!"

The conference room was in chaos, while the subject of the scandal, Zhang Nara, was sitting in Wang Dajun's office, shedding tears of grievance.

"I... I can't get through to my father's phone... this is just too much... wuwuwu..."

Zhou Jun had been deep in thought without speaking since he entered.

Zhu Zhu Husheng's participation in the program was a voluntary act; no one forced him. Perhaps it was his own loose tongue, or perhaps someone had deliberately guided him.

But no matter how he speculated, he could not think of the role Lu Kuan played in this matter.

Wenjie had no industries or long-term partners in Korea; how could he possibly have reached his hand so far?

"Alright, stop crying."

"When you have time, you must also tell your father not to bite the hand that feeds him."

Zhou Jun suddenly said sternly: "That he could be misled shows that he harbored these thoughts in his daily life."

"A small nation of people who can't even afford cabbage—where does such a strong sense of superiority come from? Hmm?"

Wang Dajun hung up the phone by the window and walked over: "Station Director Ouyang agreed to coordinate the program for us the week after next; let the 'Seven Swords' crew go to Happy Camp for some promotion."

"Polish the script more; show her pro-China, kind, and friendly side."

He turned to Zhang Nara: "By the way, I've contacted some charity activities for you tomorrow; hold a Buddha's foot temporarily."

Zhang Nara nodded aggrievedly, clutching a tissue tightly, with teardrops the size of beans hitting her hands.

Zhou Jun stood up abruptly: "Xiangtai is not enough; I will contact Ambassador Li at the Korean Embassy in China to see if we can organize a temporary China-Korea Cultural Day event."

"See if it's convenient to invite the variety channel of CCTV to participate in the broadcast."

Actually, speaking of which, this was all just copying the public relations tactics Boss Lu used to counter them last time.

He counted the public opinion weapons he could bring out on his fingers: "Xiangtai, the embassy, have all the Yanda Huayi stars speak out."

"By the way, there's also Xinlang; Xinlang must play an important role. I'll go communicate about this."

Zhou Jun slapped his thigh, regained the indifference of a scion of a prominent family, and gently patted Zhang Nara's shoulder.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen."

"What about the scandal on Wenjie Video and Blognet..." Wang Dajun deliberated.

"Send a lawyer's letter to notify them first."

——

After a year, the flames of war between Wenjie and Yanda Huayi showed signs of reigniting.

First, Zhou Jun kept a close eye on Wenjie and Blognet, attempting to ferret out Lu Kuan, the hidden actual controller.

Then, Boss Lu took on the earthquake movie, bid for the opening ceremony, and donated buildings in advance to lay the groundwork for three years later.

As a counterattack, he aimed his first shot at Xiangtai, which was going to air a phenomenal variety show this year, but Zhou Jun also joined the battlefield.

Zhou Jun suddenly chose Zhuang Xu as a breakthrough point, while Lu Kuan went straight for the Korean "little honey" who had backstabbed him.

Amidst the flashing swords and shadows, a moment of carelessness could lead to ruin.

Entering mid-April, there was constant news in the global entertainment industry.

Internationally, the multi-millionaire Britney Spears was pregnant.

Rachel was dissatisfied with Pitt having an affair with Angelina Jolie, rushed to court to file for divorce, and demanded the freezing of their assets.

She insisted that she would not let Pitt take a single cent of what she earned from "Friends," especially the 26 million USD in "Friends" DVD dividends to be earned at the end of the year.

Domestically, the rising young star Zhang Nara's scandal video, once leaked, quickly ignited the entire internet.

Some semi-official blogs' evaluations were based on the stance that national feelings were hurt and the audience was being fooled.

Some senior practitioners from the domestic Directors Association and Actors Association, such as Pu Cunxin, Vice President of the People's Art Theater, believed:

This was a manifestation of a lack of professional ethics; judging from the words and deeds of her father, Zhu Zhu Husheng, Zhang Nara did not possess the qualities and standards of an excellent actor.

In front of the office building of the Tianjin Satellite TV station, which was airing the hit drama "Silver Years," extreme fans burned cheering t-shirts and posters and uploaded them to Wenjie Video.

Ten minutes after posting, the click count exceeded 100,000, and the comment section was filled with curses!

The common people, who had joined the WTO and were currently immersed in the atmosphere of the Olympic opening ceremony proposal collection, could not tolerate this kind of vicious behavior of biting the hand that feeds them!

Comrade Zhang Zhang Huijun, the president of one of the country's only two top-tier performing arts institutions, proposed that there was a major error in the casting of the Beidian "Silver Years" crew, and the original consultant, Gu Shan, had already resigned to take responsibility.

The school would negotiate with Tianjin Satellite TV for an indefinite suspension and rectification.

The comments about the two China-Korea beauties on the homepage of Xinlang Entertainment were even more subjected to malicious venting.

"A small nation with a narrow-minded populace, utterly shameless!"

"Those 'Korea-obsessed' idiots should take a good look—what kind of character do your idols actually have?"

"I strongly demand a ban on Zhang Nara! And CCTV, why on earth are you airing 'Miss Mermaid'?"

Han Han specifically registered an account to hurl insults, and his blog post immediately topped the trending searches:

【How dare the base commoners of a tiny, ugly nation insult the refined ladies of the vast Middle Kingdom?】

Han Han wasn't sucking up to Liu Liu Yifei; he was just a hot-blooded youth who couldn't stand the despicable behavior of the Koreans.

The public opinion dispute was merely the surface, but the impact had already reached the bone.

The Korean star's solo concert in Jinmen next month was forced to be canceled, the momentum for the release of her album "One Sheet" came to an abrupt halt, and she was constantly harassed by paparazzi.

Knowing they could delay no longer, on April 20th, the Xiang Station, Xinlang, and Yanda Huayi held a press conference at the Kunlun Hotel in Beiping.

The theme was the establishment of the three-party joint venture and a solemn statement regarding the false accusations against Miss Zhang Nara.

Domestic media arrived in full force; it was practically a carnival for entertainment reporters and paparazzi.

Yanda Huayi had arranged "transportation fees" in advance and instructed several friendly magazine media outlets to provide supportive questions when the time came.

At two in the afternoon, the press conference officially began.

After the host gave a brief introduction, first to take the stage were Yanda Huayi Wang Zong Dajun, Xinlang Vice President Wu Zheng, and Wang Peng, Chairman of Tianyu Media, a subsidiary of the Xiang Station.

Wang Peng was the creator and architect of the later "Super Girl" brand and held a prominent position at the Xiang Station.

Wu Zheng was the founder of Sunshine Culture and a director of Xinlang; the latter was currently the largest shareholder of Xinlang Net and the husband of the famous talk show host Yang Lan.

"Alright, distinguished guests, let's get straight to the point."

"Today, the domestic private film and television enterprise Yanda Huayi, the internet portal leader Xinlang, and Tianyu Media under the Xiang Station have gathered here."

"The three parties have jointly established New New Huayu Culture and Media, and will engage in in-depth cooperation in areas such as film and television production, variety show production, cultural event planning and execution, and social media marketing!"

Warm applause erupted from the audience, half of which came from extras hired for twenty yuan a day.

Nonsense—with a meeting decided on such short notice, where would they find so many people and invite so many guests?

Not to mention anything else, just the fact that Tianyu Media was participating as a shareholder meant it had to go through layers of approval due to the nature of its parent company, the Xiang Station.

Today was merely about signing a memorandum of understanding to quickly boost their image and build some momentum.

A reporter from the "Wang Jinghua Times" asked: "May I ask what the business focus of New New Huayu is compared to the previous Zhonghua Heng Film and Television Company?"

"Zhonghua Heng is a company established by us, Yanda Huayi, Hengdian, Warner, and China Film, with film production and distribution as its leading business; it focuses primarily on the film industry."

"New New Huayu, however, will focus on artist training, variety show production, and internet marketing, sharing resources to achieve synergistic development online and offline."

Suddenly, an abrupt interview voice came from the crowd.

"Wang Zong, is this so urgent because you are using the platforms of the Xiang Station and Xinlang to conduct crisis PR for Miss Zhang Nara?"

Discussions broke out in the audience.

"Which media outlet is this? They must have been given too little in transportation fees."

"Slapping them in the face in public—that's ruthless!"

A tall reporter took a look.

Heh, it was Wenjie Video; they were specifically here to pick a fight!

Wang Peng knew that Wang Dajun's position made it inconvenient for him to speak for himself, so he took the initiative to resolve the situation: "My friend from Wenjie, the term 'crisis PR' seems a bit inappropriate."

"Since coming to the mainland to develop, Miss Zhang Nara has always maintained a humble and friendly attitude and image."

"Not to mention anything else, just look at her work on 'Base Camp' and 'Fast Girl' in cooperation with our Xiang Station; she has been very professional and dedicated."

"This incident is clearly a case of malicious slander and framing; even if she is defending herself, it should be called a clarification, not PR."

This young reporter from Wenjie Video seemed to have become interested in Wang Peng.

"This Wang Zong, I wonder if you have seen the news about one of the top 20 contestants in the latest 'Fast Girl' Xiang Province division, a girl named Tang Xiao, who slapped an armed police soldier?"

"What?"

"When did this happen?"

"This is bad. Still helping others? The backyard is on fire!"

Wang Peng's face darkened on stage, but he remained calm and composed: "It has not been verified; please do not spread rumors."

After saying this, he whispered a few words to Wang Dajun beside him and left the stage first.

On the side, Xinlang Vice President Wu Zheng watched and secretly laughed; how could they lack even this bit of composure?

The reporter from Wenjie Video was, of course, not shooting without a target.

In fact, their editorial teams scattered across various competition divisions had been looking for "material" for a long time.

As mentioned earlier, this iteration of "Fast Girl," in order to quickly ignite public opinion and make a name for itself, had adopted a model of sensationalism and scripted drama.

It was similar to the various re-shoots and staged performances in the recently popular Xiang Station variety show "See You Again."

The incident started when a top 20 "Fast Girl" contestant did not wear her work pass while entering or leaving the Xiang Station Radio and Television Building.

The on-duty armed police soldier was performing his duties and did not let her pass; the Fast Girl contestant, Tang, lost her temper in anger, slapped the soldier, and caused a disturbance. (Note 1)

It happened two hours ago, and there were already hundreds of secondary creations on Wenjie Video...

The reason Wang Peng left the stage regardless of the occasion was that Ouyang Ouyang Changqing had already emphasized at the internal meeting earlier: no more emphasizing!

They must pay attention to maintaining stability and influence, and not leave any handles for rival stations to exploit.

Do you not see the surging public opinion since the meeting?

The topic of "Beware of the Over-Entertainment of Talent Shows," personally planned by Boss Lu himself, was still hanging high on the blog site's trending searches!

Wang Dajun knew the severity of the situation; he turned his head and glanced at Zhou Jun standing backstage, who had already taken out his phone to inquire about the specific situation.

And Zhang Nara, sitting on the stage with a gloomy face, had already fallen into an uncontrollable panic.

Why?

Why could the Xiang Station, Yanda Huayi, Zhou Jun, and Xinlang combined not stop that person from finding every opportunity to strike?

What made her toss and turn in fear these past few days was how Lu Kuan had managed to lure her father into the trap and concoct this earth-shattering scandal.

Zhang Nara couldn't help but recall the first time her father brought her to meet him, after the press conference for "Exotic Lands."

And that girl beside him was clearly much luckier than herself.

She was now just personally experiencing what that girl had gone through a few months ago.

The only difference was that the man behind her was that young director.

Zhang Nara gave a miserable smile, deeply moved by the disparities in life; just thinking about it made one almost mad with jealousy.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down. Next, I invite Miss Zhang Nara to speak."

The chaos at the scene lasted only a few minutes, and the various print and online media outlets, having received their transportation fees, cooperated to set things right and return to the current topic.

Zhang Nara pulled herself together, expressed her innocence and helplessness with tears in her eyes, and at the end of her sobbing, she knelt directly on the stage!

"Holy crap! Isn't this a bit much?"

"Sigh, she does look quite pitiful."

"Why did she kneel? She's just a girl in her twenties; it's hard to watch."

"Get up, don't do this!"

The media reporters at the scene snapped photos rapidly; this would clearly be the headline news in all major sections tomorrow.

In fact, examples of Korean business people performing the kneeling kowtow ceremony in international settings were not uncommon.

Take Samsung, for example; since entering the international market, news of them kneeling to customers had been reported many times.

The most recent one was the 2016 International Zhuang ordering conference.

After the Note 7 explosion incident, because distributors still supported many Samsung product orders, Samsung's Korean executives immediately knelt to the distributors to "perform the great ceremony," and the China-region executives followed suit.

A tiny, fickle nation that changes its allegiances like the morning clouds and evening rain does not seem to consider personal integrity a very important matter.

Wang Dajun nodded secretly on the side; Korean female stars were still willing to go to great lengths.

Kneeling to apologize was not part of the PR procedure discussed by everyone beforehand.

It was just that an unexpected incident originating from their staunch ally, the Xiang Station, had completely shattered Zhang Nara's psychological defense.

She now only wanted to do whatever it took to restore her reputation, and if that young director were willing, she would even...

But in the eyes of Zhou Jun, who was standing backstage with a livid face, this kneeling wasn't Zhang Nara—it was him!

Public opinion could never withstand guidance; the vicious incident fermented rapidly just hours after it occurred, and the phones and official blogs of the relevant departments were almost being bombarded.

This incident fully confirmed the dangers of the over-entertainment of talent shows, accurately corresponding to the warnings and suggestions given by Boss Lu at the previous meeting.

How did a delinquent girl, who couldn't even be called an actress, dare to lay a hand on our most beloved people?

Who gave you the guts? The Xiang Station?

Countless organized and spontaneous conspiracy theories and dirt were flooding the internet; the old station head had locked himself in his office for a very, very long time.

At nine in the evening, Yao Jia carried the rice noodles the old station head liked to eat and knocked on the door.

After a hoarse "come in," what met her eyes was the old leader's bald forehead and deeply drooping eye bags.

"Haven't gone back yet? How are the kids at home? Is your spouse taking care of them?"

"Yes, I came to bring you dinner."

"Leave it there, I'll eat in a while."

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing wrote tirelessly, quickly reviewing documents to make up for the work delayed in the afternoon.

Throughout the afternoon, the entire station had been mobilized to carry out self-inspection and self-correction.

The contestant involved, Tang, had been expelled, and the Xiang Station and Tang went together to the Changsha General Corps to visit the soldier and express their apologies.

To Ouyang Ouyang Changqing, Tang, who was tearful in front of the camera, was nothing more than a scapegoat for Zhang Nara—

If it weren't for Lu Kuan's desire to strike at the convergence of the Xiang Station and Yanda Huayi, this matter could have been resolved in a more gentle way.

But then again, Tang was a scapegoat, but was the Xiang Station not one too?

Looking at Ouyang Ouyang Changqing's face, which had clearly aged over the past two years, Yao Jia could not help but ask.

"Station Chief, how exactly did we end up at this point with Wenjie and Lu Kuan?"

She truly could not fathom it.

The honeymoon period of their first collaboration was still fresh in her memory.

A production of "Sword Fairy," which set the annual viewership record, pioneered the Xianxia genre for national dramas, and both sides had made a fortune.

Fine, even if you, Boss Lu, were the one leading Tourism Satellite TV, with such a massive national market of 400 million television-owning households, was there really a need to fight to the death like this?

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing looked up and glanced at Yao Jia.

"Using tactics against each other in commercial competition has always been the way; there is nothing to discuss."

Yao Jia said anxiously, "But it was they who snatched the 'Super Girl' program first, and they even poached Sister Long, didn't they?"

"Even if there is a rivalry between the two houses, we weren't the ones who made the first move, were we?"

The old Station Chief smiled silently and capped his pen.

"Lu Kuan..."

"He is a person who acts very domineeringly."

The old Station Chief capped his pen: "This matter, if one speaks of it, is my fault."

He let out a long sigh, and in Yao Jia's eyes, Ouyang Ouyang Changqing seemed to transform from a Station Chief who held absolute power into an ordinary old man.

"We shouldn't have gotten involved in the Liu Liu Yifei affair last year."

"At the time, Yang Yang Siwei wanted her to appear on an episode of 'Happy Camp,' and I did not agree."

Yao Jia felt a sense of melancholy; so there had been such an incident.

She could not help but recall the rumors between popular actresses and genius directors that never seemed to fade away.

Could this be a case of "risking everything for a beauty"?

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing suddenly raised his voice: "The competition between Xiang Satellite TV and Tourism Satellite TV is something that cannot be conceded."

"Maintaining our position as the top local station under CCTV is a bottom line that cannot be shaken!"

"However."

"In the future, when it comes to issues involving Liu Liu Yifei, and issues involving the personal conflicts between Wenjie, Yanda Huayi, and Zhou Jun, one must be very cautious."

Yao Jia pondered the subtext of her old leader's words: "Then this joint venture of ours..."

"Heh, I have been thinking about this very question just now."

"Notify Wang Peng, send a formal letter to Yanda Huayi, and have the Provincial Propaganda Department issue an official document rejecting the application for a joint venture between our directly affiliated state-owned enterprise, Tianyu Media, and Sina and Yanda Huayi."

"Furthermore, since we are not taking sides, we must treat everyone equally; Liu Liu Yifei didn't appear on the show last year, so Jang Na-ra shouldn't appear this time either."

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing seemed to have figured something out himself and opened a box of Changde rice noodles with interest.

Yao Jia busied herself adding chili sauce for him, thinking to herself that the old Station Chief was preparing to remain neutral and focus on development.

"Oh, right."

"How is Xie Na performing on 'Happy Camp' now? Can she fill Li Xiang's shoes?"

Yao Jia spoke the truth: "It's a stretch; the audience reaction is very average, and after all, she has only been here for two episodes."

At the end of 2004, the pillar female host of Xiang Satellite TV, Li Xiang, resigned, partly due to her marriage to the wealthy businessman Li Li Houlin and partly due to her own pursuit of other developments.

After she left, Xiang Satellite TV began trying out Xie Na, but at that time, Xie Na was in the midst of a messy breakup with Golden Horse Award Best Actor Liu Ye and could not focus on her work.

This was exactly what Yao Jia had just mentioned—that her current performance was not up to the task of taking over.

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing slurped his rice noodles and suddenly asked: "Does Liu Liu Yifei's studio still have a young girl who was signed from Tangren?"

"Yes, Liu Liu Shishi, a graduate of the Beijing Dance Academy, a little girl who is not yet well-known."

"Yao Jia, I have a task for you."

The old Station Chief smiled: "When this current wave of attention passes, find an opportunity to talk to Liu Liu Yifei and see if she is interested in having Liu Liu Shishi become a host on 'Happy Camp'."

"If she agrees, come up with a plan for deep cooperation between both our sides and let that Liu Liu Shishi give it a try."

Yao Jia did not know how many times she had been surprised today; with her experience, she truly could not understand the intention behind the old Station Chief's move.

"Setting aside whether she is suitable or not, didn't you say... that we aren't taking sides?"

Ouyang Ouyang Changqing shook his head: "Heh, what we practice is a non-aligned policy, maintaining neutrality between Yanda Huayi and Wenjie."

"Then what does that have to do with Liu Liu Yifei? On the surface, she is an independent individual."

Yao Jia blurted out: "But she and Lu Kuan..."

"That is exactly what I want!" Ouyang Ouyang Changqing slapped the desk with vigor!

"What I want is to make this 'Little Hegemon of Jiangdong' hesitate to act!"

Note 1:

The real event happened in 2006, Tang Xiao.

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(End of chapter)