How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 374: Unleashing Money Ability

As the final lineup of the girl group from "Super Trainee" was revealed online, it instantly ignited public enthusiasm for discussion, and related topics dominated social media platforms.

Keep in mind that "Super Trainee" has only aired one episode, and the elimination rounds haven't even officially started yet.

As a reality show that promotes itself as a "people's vote", if the girl group members are already determined before the elimination rounds, then what is the point of the audience votes that follow?

Are you playing games with people?

Viewers may accept scripted shows, as it adds to their appeal, but they cannot accept being emotionally manipulated by the show.

In an instant, the online sentiment changed.

During the day, people praised "Super Trainee," but by night, they were all condemning the show's production team.

"I rewatched the first episode and there are indeed many questions. Why do some trainees get a lot of close-up shots while others don't even get one? The elimination rounds haven't even started yet, shouldn't the production team treat everyone equally?"

"Wasn't it said that the trainees' numbers were ranked according to their scores in the selection competition? Why didn't the first place, number 1, even get a close-up shot? Based on this alone, the show is definitely rigged."

"I can't speak for the other trainees, but No. 8, No. 11, and No. 31 really got a lot of screen time. They're definitely the show's favorites. Just like on the Spring Festival Gala, the audience members who get a lot of screen time are definitely those with connections."

"Shameless production team, they tricked me into registering for a membership!"

The production team must come out and explain!

"..."

As the situation escalated, many netizens began sending bullet comments in the first episode.

At the beginning of the show, the screen was filled with comments like "Long-awaited, finally airing!", but now it's become "Come out and explain."

Especially for trainees on girl group rosters, whenever there's a close-up shot, comments like "got in through connections" or "has a sugar daddy" will appear on the screen.

Moreover, as time went on, similar comments increased and even filled the entire screen, making it impossible to see close-up shots.

"Oh!"

Feng Xinghai slammed his phone onto the tea table, shattering the purple clay cup and splashing tea everywhere.

"Who is it? Have you found out yet?"

His forehead veins bulged, his temples throbbed, and his brows were contorted with rage.

Someone actually ruined his plans, they deserve to die.

"Not, not yet," Chen Peng said timidly, his eyes glancing at the phone broken in two at his feet, feeling a pang of heartache.

Suddenly remembering that I had also smashed the assistant director's phone before, I felt a little embarrassed.

Sure enough, whoever's phone gets hurt when it's smashed.

Feng Xinghai was so angry that his face turned red, his chest heaved violently, his breathing was so heavy it was like he was working a bellows, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He exuded coldness and rage all over his body.

It's worth noting that among these nine trainees, apart from Cao Qing, the rest are either daughters of wealthy patrons or girlfriends of CEOs.

If we change the cast, the sponsorship money is already in our pockets; if we don't change the cast, the list has already been leaked.

He is now in a dilemma.

"Damn it, if I find out who leaked this, I'll beat the crap out of him!" Feng Xinghai slammed his fist on the tea table and launched into another tirade of curses, making the teacups on the table rattle loudly.

"Mr. Feng, what should we do now? If we let things continue like this, it will definitely affect the later parts of the program," Chen Peng said with a serious expression, voicing the problem that was troubling him.

As the vice president of Qihoo Video, Feng Xinghai naturally understood this principle.

I've encountered similar situations before. It's not difficult to quell public anger; the challenge lies in explaining things to those bosses.

After thinking it over, for the sake of the show and the company, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

"Issue a statement in the name of the production team denying the list circulating online. Remember to emphasize the fairness and impartiality of the program. Also, contact the platform and pay to remove this trending topic, delete posts and comments that need to be deleted, and then hire more online trolls to post content that is favorable to the program..."

Issuing statements, removing trending topics, and hiring online trolls are the three main tactics for dealing with negative news.

Once these three decisive moves are executed, the matter can be largely resolved.

"Yes, I'll arrange for someone to do it right away. As for the trainees on that list..." Chen Peng's voice trailed off. Although he didn't finish his sentence, his meaning was already quite clear.

Should we continue to promote the original nine trainees, or replace them with nine new trainees?
"Let me think about it. I'll give you a list tomorrow. This time, only the two of us will know it. If it gets leaked again..." At this point, Feng Xinghai narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze filled with murderous intent.

Chen Peng was startled and immediately understood what President Feng meant. He quickly assured him, "President Feng, please rest assured, I will absolutely not tell anyone."

Feng Xinghai nodded and said nothing more, but his cold expression sent chills down one's spine.

Chen Peng unconsciously swallowed, then said weakly, "Mr. Feng, if there's nothing else, I'll head out now."

After saying that, he picked up the phone that had broken in two, quickly turned around and left the house, afraid of becoming Mr. Feng's punching bag.

The instant the door closed, he clearly heard the sound of a glass shattering.

Phew, that was close!

Chen Peng breathed a sigh of relief.

……

Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center.

Zhang Wen sat in a classroom, with melodious music playing from the speakers next to him. Zhao Tong, Zhang Jiajia, Cheng Sisi, Chen Silu, and Su Jin were dancing to the rhythm of the music.

Their movements are sometimes powerful, sometimes gentle and graceful, perfectly combining strength and beauty, making the audience's blood boil and completely captivated.

Not long after, the music ended, and the five of them stood together, striking a cool closing pose.

"Clap clap clap!"

Li Yuetong clapped her hands, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Great! If you can maintain this level of performance every time you're on stage, you'll definitely be the most dazzling stars in the entire venue!" Li Yuetong praised loudly.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tong and the others immediately showed expressions of joy, their minds already filled with fantasies of performing on stage.

"Teacher Li, it's mainly because you choreographed it so well," Zhang Jiajia flattered.

As the main dancer, she not only had a lot of room to perform in this dance, but was also the undisputed center, so naturally we have to give a shout-out to the choreographer.

"The main reason is that Principal Zhang's song is so good. The melody is beautiful and rhythmic, making it easier to choreograph." Li Yuetong turned around and attributed the credit to Zhang Wen.

She received her part-time salary last month, which was more than her company salary. This not only helped her say goodbye to living paycheck to paycheck, but also eased the pressure of paying her mortgage.

Now, in her heart, Principal Zhang's position is more important than that of General Manager Li.

You don't have to flatter General Manager Li, but you absolutely must flatter Principal Zhang.

"The singing is good, and the dancing is good too." Zhang Wen stood up with a smile, glanced at the time on his phone, and saw that it was already past 10 p.m. So he said, "That's enough practice for today. Everyone should go home and rest early. Remember not to be late for the music video shoot tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing that they were going to shoot a music video, the five trainees immediately jumped and danced with excitement.

This is their first music video, and just thinking about it is incredibly exciting.

With Teacher Zhang writing songs for them and even filming music videos, this treatment feels much better than participating in "Super Idol".

At this moment, they no longer felt angry about being eliminated from "Super Trainee," but were only grateful.

Thank you to the show's producers for eliminating those five, giving them the opportunity to debut earlier.

"Buzz buzz buzz!" Zhang Wen had just stepped out of the dance studio when his phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen and saw that it was Jiang Xin calling.

Why are you calling so late? Are you trying to curry favor?

However, to be fair, the other party's trending news article was indeed well-written and deserves praise.

With a light swipe of his finger across the screen, Zhang Wen answered the phone.

"Reporter Jiang, I've seen the trending topic. Well done," Zhang Wen said with a smile.

"Teacher Zhang, don't praise me yet. I just received news that the 'Super Trainee' program team has already taken action. They not only issued a clarification announcement but also paid to remove the trending topic." Jiang Xin's voice came through the microphone.

"Oh?"

Zhang Wen was slightly taken aback, and stopped in his tracks.

From the moment it appeared on the trending topics list to its removal, it took approximately 5 hours.

Although it was expected that the "Super Trainee" program team would remove the trending topic, it was unexpected that it would happen so quickly, and it didn't even last half a night.

It seems the production team was in a hurry, otherwise they wouldn't have removed the trending topic so quickly.

"Reporter Jiang, I'll pay you how much it costs to get that news trending again," Zhang Wen said.

He used to watch others use their money power, but today it's finally his turn to use it.

"what?"

Jiang Xin's voice was full of surprise. She didn't expect the other party to visit again so soon, but she couldn't quite understand this behavior.

“Teacher Zhang, I don’t think it’s necessary to trend on social media again. Even if it does, the other party will just pay to take it down. Doing this is just killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own,” Jiang Xin kindly advised.

"It's alright, they've lost more than me anyway. It would be best if this trended on social media late at night, keeping them up at night," Zhang Wen said with a faint smile.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xin's lips twitched involuntarily.

That's really being rich and willful.

"Teacher Zhang, are you sure? Your opponent is the 'Super Trainee' program team, which is backed by Qiku Video," Jiang Xin reminded her again.

Qiku Video is one of the largest video websites in China, and it's also a listed company with a market value of over 10 billion yuan. Is it necessary to compete with such a behemoth?

"Don't worry, this little bit of money is just a drop in the ocean for me," Zhang Wen said casually.

He also knew that Qiku Video was a listed company, but a market value of over 10 billion yuan did not mean it had over 10 billion yuan in cash. It might not even be able to come up with a few hundred million yuan in cash.

He has several hundred million in cash.

Let alone buying a trending topic once or twice, he has the ability to keep the show "Super Trainee" trending every day.

“Okay, Teacher Zhang, I’ll listen to you. But what if they pay to remove the trending topic again? Will you still follow suit?” Jiang Xin asked.

Actually, there's no need for "what ifs," this is something that was bound to happen.

"I'm not going anymore," Zhang Wen said.

"Okay," Jiang Xin replied.

"From now on, once a day is fine. I'll stop whenever I say so, and it's best to make it trend on social media around noon."

Zhang Wen had already planned it out: he would keep this trending topic up for half a month to maintain its popularity, and then, once Zhao Tong and the others were eliminated, he would definitely be able to bring a lot of traffic to the group by leveraging this popularity.

"what?"

Jiang Xin was completely stunned.

I thought Teacher Zhang would give up, but he actually went even further.

once a day?
It's worth noting that the cost of trending on social media once is around 100,000 yuan, and the cost of trending again after it's been removed almost doubles.

It seems that Teacher Zhang is truly a hidden talent!

……

QiKoo Building.

"Mr. Fan, I'm truly sorry this time. It was our fault. I will definitely apologize to you another day..."

Feng Xinghai apologized repeatedly, his voice humble to the core.

He could only grit his teeth and listen to the sarcasm coming from the microphone. It was unbelievable that the vice president of Qihoo Video was being scolded like a grandson.

He only put down his phone after hearing the disconnection sound from the receiver.

"call!"

Feng Xinghai breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

This was his fifth phone call, and also his last call of the night.

Of the nine trainees, five have been replaced. That should shut everyone up.

He opened the drawer and pulled out more than a dozen business cards, which were given to him by sponsors eager to cooperate during the "Super Trainee" selection competition.

Behind every business card is a trainee.

We just removed five, and now we need to select five more from these candidates to make up for the previous losses.

He neatly laid out the business cards on the table and then searched online for the companies listed on them.

Since we're choosing again, we should naturally select sponsors with strong financial backing, because the stronger the sponsors, the more willing they are to spend money.

"Number 4 is suitable; he has the resources, and his family is in the real estate business..."

"Number 12 could also be considered..."

"Number 21 seems to be the young girlfriend of the heir of Huanyu Entertainment. We could collaborate..."

"The 30th won't work; our company is too small and can't afford much sponsorship..."

"..."

By using the process of elimination, only five business cards were left on the table in no time.

Feng Xinghai picked up his phone, intending to make a call immediately, but when he looked at the screen, he realized it was already 11 p.m. Calling someone at this hour would surely disturb their sweet dreams.

Thinking of this, he put down his phone and put the five business cards on the table into his pocket.

Anyway, the first episode has just aired, and the elimination round won't start until tomorrow, so it's not too late to contact them again.

Feng Xinghai stood up, stretched his arms, and yawned. He was getting old, and his buttocks were a little sore from sitting for so long.

Go home and sleep.

He picked up his briefcase and strolled out of the office.

While riding the elevator, Feng Xinghai took out his phone again, logged onto the website, and checked the trending topics.

Seeing that the news about the "suspected final girl group member list of 'Idol Producer' leaked" had disappeared from the rankings, a smile appeared on his face.

……

(End of this chapter)