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

Chapter 375 Want to cry but no tears
1 points in the early hours.

Feng Xinghai had just fallen asleep when his phone, which was on the bedside table, rang.

He reached for his phone, glanced at the number on the screen, and frowned when he saw that it was Chen Peng calling.

Hasn't everything already been explained? Why are you still making phone calls?
"Hello? What's up?" Feng Xinghai answered the phone, his voice tinged with displeasure.

"Mr. Feng, that news is trending again." Chen Peng's anxious voice came through the microphone.

"Which news?" Feng Xinghai asked impatiently, still a little confused and not quite understanding at first.

"It's the news about the leaked list of girl group members," Chen Peng said.

"What?" Feng Xinghai immediately sat up in bed, wondering if he had misheard. He thought to himself: Am I dreaming?
Chen Peng, who hadn't heard Mr. Feng's voice for a long time, asked, "Mr. Feng, Mr. Feng? Are you listening?"

Hearing the voice coming from the microphone, Feng Xinghai finally came to his senses, and his dizzy head was now completely clear.

This is not a dream!

"Wasn't that news story taken down from the trending topics list? Why is it back on?" Feng Xinghai frowned deeply.

He remembered that when he left the company, he deliberately went online to check, and the news article "Suspected final girl group member list of 'Idol Producer' leaked" was indeed gone.

"Yes, Mr. Feng, it was indeed taken down before, but for some reason it came back up," Chen Peng said, frustrated.

"..."

Feng Xinghai opened the news webpage and saw that, just as Chen Peng had said, the missing news had reappeared.

It was previously ranked seventh on the trending topics list, but now it's ranked sixth, having risen one place.

He began to have doubts.

It shouldn’t be!

They clearly paid to trend on social media, so why is it trending again?
Is such a small matter really generating so much buzz?
Even if this matter is very popular, he paid money, so shouldn't he be doing his job to solve the problem?

Feng Xinghai scratched his head, his mind full of question marks.

They've paid to remove trending topics before, but it always worked perfectly. There's never been a case where a topic was removed only to reappear on the trending list a few hours later. What happened this time? Is the person in charge a new employee?

"Have you contacted the website to see if they've made a mistake?" Feng Xinghai asked.

"I asked, and they said there was no mistake," Chen Peng replied, which was also what frustrated him the most.

"Snapped!"

Feng Xinghai slammed his fist hard onto the bed.

Isn't this just taking money and not doing the job?
That's incredibly untrustworthy.

"Mr. Feng, do you think someone might be trying to sabotage us?" Chen Peng asked in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xinghai paused, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Why would you think that?"

"The show 'Super Trainee' is so popular right now, I think there must be some people who are jealous. Maybe this news was deliberately created by someone to smear us," Chen Peng said, expressing his speculation.

Feng Xinghai pondered for a moment and felt that this was highly likely. Perhaps other video platforms were jealous of the explosive popularity of "Super Trainee" and were making underhanded moves behind the scenes. Otherwise, there was really no way to explain this.

“You don’t need to worry about this. I’ll have someone ask around,” Feng Xinghai said.

"Yes, Mr. Feng, then I won't disturb your rest any longer." Chen Peng said and hung up the phone.

At this moment, Feng Xinghai was wide awake. He had to remove the trending topic as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the matter was allowed to escalate, the sponsors would definitely withdraw their investment and remove the advertisements, which could even affect future cooperation.

He opened his contacts, found the phone number of the website's executive, and then dialed the number.

Although making a phone call so late would disturb other people's rest, he didn't care anymore; he was determined to get the trending topic removed, even if it meant getting scolded.

"Beep...beep...beep...click!"

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Hello?" An annoyed voice came through the receiver.

"Mr. Yu, I'm Feng Xinghai from Qiku Video. I'm so sorry to disturb your rest," Feng Xinghai said politely.

As the old saying goes: It's never wrong to be overly polite.

Even if they're unhappy, at least they won't show it to your face.

"Mr. Feng, it's so late, what can I do for you?" Yu Chenfeng's tone softened a bit; after all, they were in the same industry, and he had to give him some face.

"Mr. Yu, this is what happened. Today, a news item about the leaked list of members of the girl group from 'Super Trainee' went viral on your website. We had already paid to remove it before, so why is it back on the trending list?" Feng Xinghai asked.

Since the website's employees couldn't provide an explanation, he had no choice but to ask the website's senior management for an answer.

"Is that so? Mr. Feng, please wait a moment, I'll ask around for you." Upon hearing this, Yu Chenfeng immediately changed his attitude, determined to seek justice for the other party.

When things are normal, the two are colleagues, but now that the other party has paid, they are his clients and his patrons, and he must serve them well.

"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Yu," Feng Xinghai replied, and then waited for the other party's response.

The call duration on the phone screen kept changing, and two more minutes passed quickly.

Just as Feng Xinghai was wondering who was behind the "Super Trainee" program, Yu Chenfeng's voice came through the microphone.

"Mr. Feng, I've already asked around, and it's true. After the trending topic was taken down, someone tried to get it back on the trending list."

Feng Xinghai's heart sank.

As expected, someone is planning to create "Super Trainee".

"Mr. Yu, may I ask who this person is?" Feng Xinghai asked.

Only by knowing who the opponent is can we formulate strategies for an effective counterattack.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Feng, this is a matter of user privacy, and I cannot disclose it to you." Yu Chenfeng resolutely refused. This was his professional ethics; he could not betray one client for the sake of another.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yu, it was my oversight. Please remove this trending topic. I'll have my men transfer the money later," Feng Xinghai said, inwardly cursing the other party as a sycophant who would only follow whoever pays him.

“No problem.” Yu Chenfeng agreed, already realizing that the show “Super Trainee” was being targeted, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending so much money to buy trending topics.

This is a good thing for the website, as it can benefit from both sides.

It's best to keep pushing each other and never stop; whoever stops is a coward.

Since it was already late at night, the two didn't talk for long and hung up the phone after finishing their business.

Feng Xinghai kept staring at his phone, refreshing the webpage every minute.

Time passed by minute by minute.

It wasn't until 2 PM that the negative news finally disappeared from the trending topics list.

"call!"

Feng Xinghai breathed a sigh of relief, then placed his phone on the bedside table and lay down to continue sleeping.

One minute……

Two minutes...

ten minutes……

Feng Xinghai suddenly opened his eyes.

Although I was very tired, I couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking about whether that negative news would trend on social media again while I was sleeping.

He could pay to remove a news story from the trending topics, and the other party could pay to put it back on the trending topics, which is exactly what they did. He didn't understand what grudge or resentment they had to smear the "Super Trainee" program like this. Even if they were jealous, was it really necessary to do something like this?

It’s simply heartbreaking!
Does buying trending topics cost money? Do you have money to burn?
He cursed inwardly that this person must be crazy, then picked up his phone again to check the trending topics list.

Thankfully, that negative news story is not around.

Wait, what if the other party hasn't noticed yet?

possible!
Thinking of this, Feng Xinghai got up and left the room. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he made himself a cup of coffee and sat in the living room to wait.

There's a saying that goes, "The more relaxed you are, the more vigilant you should be, and you must thwart the other party's plot as soon as possible."

The minute hand on the clock went round and round.

Feng Xinghai persevered for two hours. Despite drinking coffee, his eyelids felt like they were filled with lead, and his head slowly slumped. He almost fell onto the sofa several times, but he managed to sit up each time.

Persist, you must persist.

He kept reminding himself of this.

However, not long after, its head began to droop again, and after reaching a certain position, it quickly bounced back up.

Up and down, up and down, like a spring, my whole body was tossed back and forth between wakefulness and drowsiness.

Gradually, the sky began to lighten, and the city awoke from the darkness.

The streetlights went out one by one, and the traffic began to flow like thawing ice.

"Aww!"

Feng Xinghai walked into his office yawning. The dark circles under his eyes made him look ten years older, and there were even more wrinkles on his face.

He didn't sleep a wink last night, keeping a close eye on the trending topics list.

I don't know if the person who criticized "Super Trainee" fell asleep, because that negative news never appeared again after 2 a.m.

Feng Xinghai was not too happy about this.

He gave up sleep, ready to fight to the death, but the other party turned around and left, going home to sleep soundly, leaving him waiting for hours for nothing. Wasn't this just playing with him?

What the hell!
Is that all you've got?

But that's it!

Coward!

As Feng Xinghai looked at the trending topics list, he cursed inwardly, displaying the arrogant declaration of a victor. If he didn't not know who that person was, he would have gone to their door and slapped them hard across the face a few times.

He only stopped venting when an employee came to his door and began working methodically.

I was yawning a lot, and I was so sleepy that my eyes were watering.

Feng Xinghai's job today was very simple: to call the five bosses selected last night and discuss investing in the program.

He took out five business cards from his pocket, arranged them on his desk, and then picked up his phone to dial the number on one of the business cards.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Hey?"

"Hello, Mr. Yang. I am Feng Xinghai, the vice president of Qiyi Video, and also the person in charge of the program 'Super Trainee'. We have met before." Feng Xinghai introduced himself directly.

"Ok?"

The person on the other end was visibly taken aback after hearing this, and then smiled and said, "Oh, it's President Feng. Hello, hello. What can I do for you? Did Yang Mengqing not perform well?"

Yang Mengqing is trainee number 4.

"Yang Mengqing performed well; not only did she sing well, but she also danced very well." After praising her for a moment, Feng Xinghai got down to business, "President Yang, do you remember what you said when we last met? I wonder if you still have that thought?"

"Yes, there is, but didn't you say before that the show would remain fair and impartial, and that the choice would be in the hands of the audience? Now this is..."

An embarrassed expression appeared on Feng Xinghai's face. Fortunately, he was on the phone and the other party wouldn't see it.

"Well, it's mainly because I was moved by your sincerity, Mr. Yang. There's a saying, 'Having more friends means having more paths to take.' I really want to be friends with you, Mr. Yang," Feng Xinghai said without hesitation.

As long as he is not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.

Yang Zicheng, on the other end of the phone, sneered. If it weren't for the fact that his daughter had participated in the show "Super Trainee" and he had been following the news about the show, he would have almost believed the other party's nonsense.

Sincerity?

make friends?
Shit!

Isn't it just that the girl group roster was leaked in advance, forcing them to reselect members and start looking for backup options to make up for the losses?
They are all thousand-year-old foxes, what kind of fairy tales are they playing?
Of course, for his daughter's sake, he wouldn't reveal the truth, after all, he was the beneficiary of this situation.

If he finds out who leaked the list, I'll definitely send them a banner to express my gratitude.

“I would also like to be friends with President Feng,” Yang Zicheng said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xinghai knew that the other party's "original intention remained unchanged," so he picked up a pen and wrote down the number 4 on a piece of paper, thus confirming a spot for a girl group member.

The two chatted for a while longer and finally arranged a time to meet, but the specific details would need to be discussed in person.

Goodbye, Mr. Yang.

Feng Xinghai hung up the phone, a smug smile on his face.

He thought to himself: You may have your brilliant strategies, but I have my own. So what if the list is exposed? I still have backup plans.

Because they had a 'hostage' in hand, the next few phone calls went very smoothly, and all of them expressed their willingness to sponsor.

Before we knew it, it was noon.

Feng Xinghai ate something simple at the company cafeteria and then went to a nearby hotel.

I'm so tired, I really can't stay awake any longer.

He needs to take a nap to catch up on his sleep.

Upon entering the room, Feng Xinghai lay down on the bed without even taking off his clothes, and within ten counts, snoring filled the room.

"Ring ring ring!"

Feng Xinghai was suddenly awakened from his deep sleep by the ringing of his cell phone, as if he had just had a nightmare.

He glanced at his watch; he had only slept for less than five minutes.

I just want to get some sleep, why is that so difficult?
After expressing his feelings, he turned over and picked up his phone. When he saw that it was director Chen Peng calling again, he was immediately furious.

Damn it, can't a person get any sleep?

"Hey, what's up?" Feng Xinghai asked irritably.

"Mr. Feng, that negative news is trending again," Chen Peng said anxiously.

"what?"

Feng Xinghai was startled. He was initially angry and wanted to curse, but then he was replaced by helplessness.

Again?

Is it over yet?
This is so exhausting!
Feng Xinghai sat blankly on the bed. He had been so sleepy that he had even shed tears before, but now he felt like crying but had no tears left.

……

(End of this chapter)