Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 328 Solid Evidence: Ikeno is the Ancestor of Kiwi Fruit

Teacher Shi is very nervous right now.

She had never encountered such a "big scene" before. In China, she usually had people from her studio to help her and Ikeno standing in front of her. But this time, she had a very tight schedule to sing a song while abroad. She was immersed in the excellence of the song and her focus on the performance.

As soon as the performance ended, she received a constant stream of invitations and well-wishes from people who spoke in a lot of gibberish.

This left Stevie, who was not good at interpersonal relationships, feeling quite helpless.

Fortunately, she had her manager, Sister Wang, who had come from her old company, to help her. Sister Wang's smile had almost never disappeared since Shi Daifu finished singing. Although she didn't understand Korean, it didn't matter, she had a translator with her!
"Okay, okay... okay, thank you Producer Park, but Shishi has a lot of song requests... okay, that's all for now, thank you, thank you."

After seeing off a big-name producer at the event, Sister Wang turned to Teacher Shi and said, barely containing her excitement, "Shi Shi! This time, you're really going to become famous internationally!"

Teacher Shi: "...When are we eating?"

"?"

Sister Wang was taken aback: "Hungry again? So soon?"

Teacher Shi paused for a moment before saying, "It's not that you're hungry, it's just that it's time to replenish your protein and carbohydrates."

Sister Wang: "...Let me tell you, you still need to maintain a good relationship with President Chi. Show him more care and concern from time to time. Didn't you always look up recipes to cook for him? I think that's a good thing. See, the results are showing now..."

Teacher Shi unconsciously furrowed her brows, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.

However, she also knew that, in the eyes of many people, her behavior was indeed a deliberate attempt to "please" Ikeno.

Is that right?

Stevie felt there might be some truth to it, but the "pleasing" here had nothing to do with career, but rather with personal feelings...

She's actually quite slow-witted and not very bright. Aside from being strong and being able to sing, she can't really help Ikeno much, so she always subconsciously tries to do something.

"..."

As the two were chatting, Chi Ye walked over and immediately told Shi Daifu to keep working: "Don't accept those external press releases yet. Once the drama airs, your appearance fee should increase several times over."

"By the way, I'll release an album later, a duet, with you as the lead singer. I don't have much time."

"it is good."

Chi Ye glanced at Teacher Shi, who seemed completely oblivious to the concept of rebuttal, and nodded in satisfaction: "No problem, no problem, Teacher Shi, keep up the good work and make my life better and better."

Teacher Shi: “…”

What if I really want to punch him twice?
Meanwhile, Chi Ye had already turned around and said to Xiao Liu, who had followed him, "Tell Coco that we can start...start the publicity campaign according to the procedure. Do everything that needs to be done before 'Goblin' airs."

"Okay, Brother Chi... what's next?"

"And then?"

Ikeno paused for a moment, then said softly, "Let's leave it to fate. I think... it shouldn't be much worse than 'My Love from the Star'."

Everyone had heard Ikeno give his work "high praise" more than once, but each time they felt that Ikeno's confidence was a bit too much. "Goblin" might be an excellent work.

But how can it be compared to "My Love from the Star"?
"My Love from the Star" is a "miracle" monster that can turn someone who is penniless into a top star overnight.

Brother Chi...it seems he really has a lot of confidence in this work.

……

It wasn't just Ikeno; at least after the live version of "Stay With Me" was released, "Goblin," which hadn't been seen in China for a long time, reappeared in the public eye.

Meanwhile, due to the recent turmoil, Ikeno, who had been constantly criticized by the media for a "collapsed career," has also stopped his decline.

But that was all it did stop it from happening.

The core of the song "Stay With Me" lies in the female vocals, and the classic chorus is largely due to the vocals of Stevie Starr. This is why Ikeno chose Stevie Starr to sing a duet with him.

If it were Sister Pliers, wouldn't she be sticking her ass up to the sky?
Who knows, they might even be so audacious as to think they can surpass his work in the future!
The core is Teacher Shi. As the lyricist, composer and vocalist behind "Stay With Me", Ikeno has once again broken into the mainstream due to various accolades. With all three goals achieved through collaboration, this trip to the Blue Dragon Film Festival was definitely worthwhile.

……

Late at night, at the Kiwi Building.

Sheng Ning puffed on a slim cigarette, her long, well-proportioned legs crossed, her stiletto heels tapping the ground habitually—a gesture she made whenever she was thinking. On her computer, a live duet by Chi Ye and Shi Daifu was playing, and her phoenix eyes momentarily drifted.

Stay With Me...

This song is nice.

Hmm...it sounds really good. I really don't know how he composed this piece.

Of course, the song is nice, but Sheng Ning is not someone who likes to appreciate music. Compared to appreciating music, she prefers to get more benefits and secure her retirement capital... If she dies early, it will be Chi Ye's legacy.

All things considered, it was quite necessary for "Goblin" to choose to collaborate with kiwifruit in the first place.

This led her to have deeper thoughts about what happened tonight.

What's the public opinion like?

There was a snap.

The laptop was closed, and Sheng Ning looked at one of her partners who had knocked on the door and entered.

Her partner used to be the owner of an entertainment company, which is quite different from her agent. His entertainment company is not large, but it has a deep red background and is one of the most low-profile but potentially powerful figures in the Chinese entertainment industry.

"Hmm... Ikeno is really awesome."

As soon as the partner entered, he exclaimed in surprise, then said with a smile, "Very good. It seems we should have secured the title of best drama of the year, right?"

"...Not necessarily."

Sheng Ning was not blindly optimistic.

In recent years, or even just in the past year, the Chinese entertainment industry has been turbulent.

In the film industry, the market has fully recovered, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Similarly, the drama industry has seen a surge of new forces in short dramas. Fortunately, those who have "gone into the sea" to make short dramas are mostly people like Chicken Claw Zhang, who used to be well-known in the domestic entertainment industry but are now completely forgotten.

However, when it comes to long-running dramas, the drama industry is also full of talented individuals.

Xiao Zhan rose to fame overnight with his role in an ancient costume drama, and his status and popularity are approaching those of Chi Ye. He is expected to become the third generation of top-tier celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Later, a new generation of young actors, including Wang Chuxing, emerged. Not long ago, Wang Chuxing's collaboration with Tan Yue in the comic adaptation of the ancient costume drama "Chu Lan Jue" became a hit. With the added boost of the popular variety show "All the Way to the Flowers", he surpassed Chu Hanzhou.

Well… Lao Chu is in a bad situation now. In recent years, he's gotten older, and his appearance and condition have visibly declined. To make matters worse, he lacks acting skills. His attempt to transition with "Deep Sea" failed, and the various new generation of popular actors in the Chinese entertainment industry are all incredibly talented. The fierce competition has made him want to try his luck in the adult entertainment industry. His most glorious moments were probably when he overshadowed Peng Chen at the Hunan TV New Year's Eve Gala and looked down on Chi Ye before "Deep Sea" aired.

After that, Zhang Yu's professional career became less and less successful.

Even now, he's even losing his title of "Zhang Yu" to another young actor, Wang Yibo.

It's really just a roadside stall.

"The end of the year and the beginning of the new year are the times when major TV dramas are broadcast, so we can't be careless."

Sheng Ning thought for a moment and made up her mind: "Let's increase the publicity budget a bit more, and ask the platform to give us more recommendations."

"It's more than what's written in the contract?"

The partner was surprised: "This isn't like you."

She knew Sheng Ning well; she was strong-willed but with a touch of poverty, and poor but with a kind of tough-talking quality.

In general, they are petty and calculating, which doesn't give the impression of being generous.

Of course... this is only in the business world; in private, she is indeed quite willing to invest.

For example, in this collaboration with Ikeno Corporation, Kiwi gave them a lot of preferential treatment in the original contract for "Goblin" because Ikeno was at the height of its power at the time, and Kiwi wanted to ease tensions, so the plan was approved very quickly.

On top of an already generous contract, one that is even unparalleled in the Chinese entertainment industry, is it... a bit of a loss?

The partner was puzzled.

Sheng Ning didn't explain much, only saying, "If this is another 'My Love from the Star,' then the more we invest, the more we'll earn back, not just in terms of money. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Hmm..." The partner nodded, "I understand that, but... how can it become another 'My Love from the Star'?"

She looked at Sheng Ning and said, "Although I know about your relationship with Chi Ye, I'm afraid the major shareholders will be unhappy with what you're doing, and President Gong might not agree either. After all... we are the only one of the three that needs to be responsible for our own profits and losses."

Kiwifruit, backed by Baidu, is indeed not as "financially powerful" as the other two companies. After all, its financial backer is constantly "forcing" it to make a profit. Therefore, Kiwifruit is the most realistic and performance-oriented of the three major platforms.

Sheng Ning knew this, of course, so when she heard her partner's words, she knew that bringing this up would probably lead to endless arguments. After thinking for a moment, she said, "He will definitely market the song 'Stay With Me'."

"Let's start with this song, create a collaboration, and everyone will agree, since... they can see the benefits."

"...Sometimes I really think you're not normal."

The partner, upon hearing that Sheng Ning had considered this possibility, shook his head and commented softly, "I don't understand you."

"Sometimes, I don't understand myself either."

Sheng Ning stubbed out her cigarette and suddenly laughed: "But I like money. Money makes me feel safe."

Partner: "...Then it's settled. I'll mention it to you later."

"Thank you."

“Let Ikeno thank me. Since you want him to reach the top again, he should thank me.”

……

That night, the popularity of "Stay With Me" soared to new heights. Later that night, the Blue Dragon Film Awards uploaded a live version of "Stay With Me" to a music platform in South Korea.

Many domestic music platforms, including QQ Music, also uploaded "Stay With Me" simultaneously.

Upon its release, the live version of "Stay With Me" soared to number 3 on the hot song chart overnight, and half a day later, it surpassed a certain catchy TikTok song from the past few months to reach number 1.

Two days later, "Stay With Me" topped the charts on multiple platforms, including South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even a few small countries, achieving an unprecedented "international breakthrough".

This is also the first time in Ikeno's career that he has produced such an "international hit" song.

Even "Blue and White Porcelain," which once became a sensation on the Spring Festival Gala and is still remembered today, has never achieved this due to various political and sensitive factors.

As "Stay With Me" topped the charts on multiple platforms and in multiple regions, trending topics about "Goblin" and Stevie Ikeno also came like a bomb.

Three days after the release of "Stay With Me" on the Kiwi platform, Ikeno and his team returned to Japan. The day before the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala was about to begin, they launched a special feature of "Goblin" and "Stay With Me" on the big screen.

At the same time, the platform also unusually invested a lot of promotional resources, and "Stay With Me" began to be deeply associated with "Goblin", so that "Goblin" had already enjoyed the unprecedented "ancestor" level treatment of Kiwi before it was even broadcast.

The other two platforms, along with various investors and the Peanut team in the drama industry, frowned and cursed Kiwi for being shameless.

"They're really willing to spend money on kiwifruit this time. It's strange, it's not like them at all."

"I heard that Sheng Ning mentioned it several times at the meeting... It seems the gossip was true after all, those two really were having an affair!"

"Sheng Ning has managed to put everyone on the spot this time. This is the first time I've ever seen it. Instead of giving the currently popular TV series a fixed screen, Kiwi is giving it an unreleased work that won't be broadcast for several months."

"They've probably been overwhelmed by complaints these past few days. Fans of the four-character duo and Zhu Yaolin are reporting them every day, haha."

"..."

Kiwifruit's unprecedented move has sparked heated discussions within the industry, and inevitably, the kiwifruit platform has begun to suffer heavy losses.

The promotional treatment they gave to "Goblin" was indeed a bit too extravagant. To put it bluntly, even the so-called "second season" of "Empresses in the Palace" didn't have this kind of hype.

What is the scale of "Empresses in the Palace"?
What is the scale of your "Goblin"?
Even their subject matter doesn't appeal to the same audience; one is for the general public, and the other is an idol drama.

Therefore, this move by kiwifruit is destined to cause great controversy and even debate.

In doing so, they inadvertently offended the drama series, production teams, fans, artists, and investors that were currently airing on their platform.

Put yourself in their shoes: if you were the creator of a currently airing hit drama on iQiyi, only to find that the promotional opportunities you should have were being monopolized by an unreleased idol drama for an extended period, and you might not even have a chance to reclaim them during the drama's run...

This…

That's a fucking breach of contract, isn't it?!
—Useless.

In the current ecosystem of the Chinese entertainment industry, with the exception of a very few special cases, such as Chi Ye's team and company, most, including those with four characters, are dominated by platforms in the drama circle.

There's no doubt about that. That's how the streaming era works. If you're not happy about it, you'll have to swallow your pride. Without platform support, even the biggest stars have to be humbled.

Unless someone can create a nuclear bomb-level masterpiece like "My Love from the Star" like Ikeno.

Suddenly, reports, complaints, public feuds, angry rebukes from investors, artists breaking down, and fans threatening suicide...

The entire Chinese entertainment industry was thrown into chaos because of Chi Ye and Kiwi's actions.

(End of this chapter)