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

Chapter 352 This Summer: Please Call Me Mrs. Chi! "As You Wish" Debuts

#The Martian: A Representative Chinese Science Fiction Film#
#A blogger with millions of followers reviews "The Martian": The best film of the Spring Festival season#
#Spring Festival Film Pre-sales Status#
#……#
That evening, "The Martian" successfully made it onto the trending topics list. And it truly "got its wish," because this level of popularity was clearly not generated by Ikeno Company, but rather by various competing teams spending money to boost it.

Yes, wouldn't directly criticizing someone seem low-class?
Ikeno has a very good reputation in movies right now, so doing this won't make a difference.

What they want is praise and flowers; they want "The Martian" to be able to "take over" the top spot in Chinese science fiction films.

As for if you can't handle it, and the final product isn't as good as advertised... well, sorry, that's none of our business.
If you dare to market like this, you should be prepared for the backlash that may result.

Is it really that good-looking?

The following day, unable to resist the temptation of the juicy gossip, Sister Shang personally contacted Chi Ye on WeChat, feeling that she too had been tempted to buy tickets, even though she had already planned to book the entire theater to support Chi Ye.

Upon seeing the message, Ikeno replied calmly: "Remove the first four characters and the last character."

So confident?

Shang Jie was shocked, but when she thought about Chi Ye's past glorious achievements, she felt that it was understandable that the other party was so confident.

However, science fiction films are indeed a very painful yet extremely important issue for the entire domestic entertainment industry, and even for China's cultural exports.

After several years of preparation, Ikeno finally officially stepped into this field, and...

What will the results be?

This is his first report card, and it seems to be crucial to his future career.

After thinking for a moment, Sister Shang turned to her assistant and said, "Let's book another venue, please. We'll support you."

"it is good."

"Um... I'll cancel my vacation. Let's contact Ikeno Company and go with them to do some promotional work."

Sister Shang plans to have a beautiful Spring Festival.

What is the meaning of "beautiful"?
Of course, the perfect Spring Festival would be one where you eat until you're stuffed, sleep until your limbs feel numb, and make a few extra trips to the hospital to clear up any blockages in your digestive system.

However, considering the undercurrents in the Chinese entertainment industry and the importance of "The Martian" to Chi Ye, the kind-hearted and talkative Shang Jie felt that temporarily allocating a few days of vacation to Chi Ye was acceptable.

—In "The Martian", Chi Ye brought in many young actresses for cameo roles, including Sister Pliers and Sister Shang. Sister Pliers is currently busy with the Spring Festival Gala, and she will probably help with the publicity and promotion later.

With the addition of Shang Jie and Jin Xia, who has always been by Chi Ye's side, this scene of three kings on the same stage is enough to bring "The Martian" to the peak of attention in the Chinese entertainment industry.

This can be considered as the network of connections that Ikeno has accumulated over the years, but many people are not aware of it now because Sister Shang and Pliers have not appeared yet.

Ikeno himself doesn't have the energy to pay attention to off-stage developments for the time being. "The Martian" will be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Before that, he has done everything he needed to do. His most important task at the moment is to rehearse his second performance with the Empress Dowager on the Spring Festival Gala.

To be precise, this is also a very important publicity opportunity.

After all, no matter how much controversy there has been about the Spring Festival Gala in recent years, it is undeniable that it is still the top-tier gala with the highest viewership and the most attention among all national galas.

It's worth countless hit variety shows and events.

If a performance on the Spring Festival Gala is good enough, it won't even need to wait until the Gala officially ends; as soon as it's past midnight, "The Martian" will receive a huge windfall.

Ikeno had no choice but to put in the effort.

"Your voice is a perfect match for this song."

In the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal room.

Chi Ye leaned back in her chair, listening to the old lady's sweet singing voice through her earpiece. To be fair, the old lady really put in the most effort in this episode so that she could be "worthy" of Chi Ye on the Spring Festival Gala.

Because of her naturally limited vocal range and lack of musical talent, it has become a consensus both inside and outside the industry that Jin Xia is musically inept.

Therefore, even though Ikeno has superb songwriting and composition skills and has created many classic songs, he has never made a single for this summer.

It's not that he's stingy, it's just that the Empress Dowager really can't sing anymore.

This time, she probably sensed something, so she practiced very diligently and as hard as she could. As a result, whenever Chi Ye saw her recently, the melody of that song would spontaneously play in his mind.

"Hey, stop making noise."

Of all the singers and musicians who have collaborated with Ikeno, probably only this summer dares to so directly "control" Ikeno's words and actions. She said aggressively, puffing out her chest, "Teacher Ikeno, you should praise me more. I like it when you praise me. It makes me more confident."

"You really aren't insecure at all."

Ikeno sighed, "That's not like me."

"Ok?"

Just as Jin Xia was about to continue humming a tune, she turned her head and stared at Chi Ye with her beautiful peach blossom eyes.

"Unlike me, who is so arrogant."

This summer: "...Teacher Chi, do you think I should be more 'sensitive' like a normal girl, so that you'll love me more?"

Chino was taken aback, mimicking Jinming's tone: "What makes you say that?"

"I feel like I don't really understand the psychology of inferiority complex... I've heard that men like their partners to be weaker than themselves, because it makes them feel more accomplished and satisfied, and it also easily arouses their protective instincts."

Ikeno remained silent: "It's not that absolute."

This summer, she tilted her head and remained silent.

Chi Ye coughed twice and spread his hands: "If one can be protected, who would want to protect others?"

This summer, I laughed: "This is the first time I've heard someone talk about something so confidently. Teacher Chi, I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, as long as I have food to eat, you'll have a bowl to wash."

"If you stay with me for the rest of your life, you'll suffer. You'll be carrying a π for ages."

Ikeno: "...Could you please stop using such words? It doesn't suit your status."

"What is my identity?"

"Your identity as Mrs. Chi."

"..."

"Hmm?" Chi Ye realized he had once again found the Empress Dowager's Achilles' heel. Looking at Jin Xia, who had fallen silent after just one sentence, he frowned: "Why aren't you saying anything?"

“…Hehe.”

This summer, she hummed a couple of times for no apparent reason, but couldn't stop smiling. She waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, don't disturb my little diva's rehearsal. You give me harmonies, hurry up."

"Harmony is fine, but please respect this contemporary king of the music scene who has won five Golden Melody Awards..."

“This summer, I can respect that, but Mrs. Chi doesn’t need it.”

"..."

……

On the same night, a Spring Festival Gala program list, its authenticity unknown, was widely circulated by various marketing accounts. The program featuring Chi Ye and Jin Xia's performance garnered significant attention and sparked heated discussions and even controversy. This was because, according to the program list, Chi Ye and Jin Xia's second collaboration on stage was a love song.

This gave many teams an opportunity, but it also caused dissatisfaction among Ikeno fans and Jin Xia fans.

Why sing such love songs on the Spring Festival Gala?

"Singing love songs is understandable, after all, someone practically has 'Jin Xia is my wife' written all over their face, but singing this kind of song in front of the whole country, isn't that a bit disrespectful to their fans?"

"I've said it before, this top-tier idol doesn't treat his fans like human beings at all. I really can't understand why so many jerks still follow him. It really proves the saying, 'The character filter is invincible.'"

"Shen Bin and Ma Li's skit was overshadowed by Chi Ye and Jin Xia's love song? Is that too outrageous?"

"To be honest, as a complete bystander, the part I look forward to most on the Spring Festival Gala right now is Shen Bin and Ma Li's skit. After that, I'll change the channel. Is the production team desperate for ratings?"

"The only watchable group on the Spring Festival Gala in recent years has also been overshadowed."

"Love song? Really? Then 'Blue and White Porcelain' is truly a masterpiece. As expected, even Ikeno couldn't write a second one of that level of divine song."

"I was really looking forward to Chi Pan Xia Yu's second appearance on the Spring Festival Gala, but I heard that she won't be a backup dancer this summer, but will also be singing a duet... I can't imagine what it will be like."

"Singing like a spoiled brat, hahaha, it makes me laugh so hard it hurts."

"..."

A love song instantly propelled the ever-present topic of Ikeno back to the top of the charts, and also caused some "internal strife" among his massive fan base.

However, having learned from the painful experience of the last time, Ikeno's team acted quickly this time and took timely measures. In addition, since it was just a marketing account stirring up trouble, they quickly suppressed the situation and got through it peacefully.

But in reality, this measure is only a temporary measure. After all, nothing can be tolerated by facts. The facts are right in front of us, and there is a star like Ikeno who doesn't even want to act. So the "catastrophe" of the top star seems to be a big event that will come sooner or later.

"Does this really work?"

In the capital, another rehearsal room for the Spring Festival Gala.

Si Zi sat comfortably in his chair, not rehearsing. He didn't seem like his good teammates from Berklee, nor was he pursuing a singing career. This year, he was participating in a star-studded skit called "First Encounter at the Photo Studio," and his appearance was at a key moment, making him a top-tier performer.

This minor incident was naturally caused by their team.

But it's not about criticizing Chi Ye; the main issue is still about interests—this year's Spring Festival film season can be described as the most competitive period in the Chinese entertainment industry in the past decade, and now, after more than a month of promotional war, it's almost over.

The Spring Festival Gala is the final "battle" for all teams and interest groups.

After all, the first day of the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival Gala are only "one second" apart. Whoever can gain more recognition and popularity on the Spring Festival Gala is more likely to win the top prize.

It wasn't just them. Although Mahua Film and Television kept it well hidden, I can guarantee that they definitely got involved, or at least played a role in pushing things along.

A friend of a friend is not necessarily a friend, but if interests differ, they are definitely enemies.

Despite his young age, he understands this point very well.

"It's somewhat useful... mainly because, judging from the program list that came out from inside, it really is a love song."

The agent spread his hands innocently, saying, "We didn't lie either."

I didn't lie.

Although the rehearsals for the Spring Festival Gala are always kept strictly confidential, and special programs even adopt a level of confidentiality agreement.

However, given the capabilities of the four-character team, even if they don't know the specific program, coming up with a program name as the Spring Festival Gala approaches shouldn't be a problem for them.

Judging from the program titles of Chino and this summer, this song is a love song, which is why it became a trending topic.

“Ikeno really doesn’t want to, and doesn’t care about, his popularity anymore. He’s probably had enough, and he probably thinks it’s pointless.”

The agent lamented, "But we can't. Although we can't follow his path, we can't give up on it either."

"Yeah, no matter what they're going to perform on the Spring Festival Gala this year, just the fact that he insists on dragging Jin Xia onto the Gala shows that he's really gone crazy."

The four words are a nod.

To those in the industry, Ikeno has indeed gone mad again, and it may be the most mad he's ever been in his career. It's as if he only has eyes for one woman and doesn't care about anything else.

What else could this be but madness?
You'd better be like Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese folklore known for abandoning his lover), you'd better kill off your sweetheart before you can even get ashore.

Do you know that your current position is something many artists would never even dream of?

I bother!

Four feels that he hates Ike no more than because of the conflict of interest and the conflict of interest, but also because the other party "disrespects" everything he desires most, just as he has never respected anyone of lower status than him.

"It'll be soon. Do your best in this skit. This is your first time performing a skit, and it's at such a sensitive time. In any case, the fact that we weren't eliminated from the Spring Festival Gala is already a victory."

The agent instructed: "You don't need to be outstanding in your performance. As long as the skit has an overall impact and generates buzz, it will help the movie."

"Ok, I know."

After a long sigh, Si Zi decided to go back and continue to refine his live performance, striving to leave a good impression on everyone in the New Year!

……

The four-character man originally wanted to maintain his good image, but unfortunately, Ikeno did not allow him to do so.

Two days later, with only three days left until the Spring Festival Gala, the official media of the Spring Festival Gala officially announced the program list and detailed performance times for this year's gala.

The list is not much different from the one that was previously circulated, except that several obviously fake programs by netizens, such as Uncle Zhao, were removed.

Chi Ye and Jin Xia's program schedule remained unchanged, still overshadowing Shen Bin and Ma Li, and the storm that had been brewing for several days finally erupted.

This outburst became even more intense after seeing the song's title—

2028 Spring Festival Gala Program List:
Program (song): "As You Wish".

Vocalist: Chi Ye, Jin Xia.

As You Wish...

It's confirmed! Just by looking at the name, it's definitely a soft, sweet pop love song!

For a moment, even the four characters stopped practicing, and Kuku continued to launch an attack on this controversy. The other parties did not fall behind either, because Ikeno was betting on Shen Bin and Ma Li's skit.

This was something that Mahua was very unhappy about, and coupled with the competition, they decided to just get to work without further ado.

The Spring Festival Gala production team was completely baffled by this scene.

Is "As You Wish" really a love song?

"In a sense, yes."

"Love songs, the feelings of a child are also love."

(End of this chapter)