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

Chapter 406 Just a little bit of wind and frost

"If Ikeno were to be nominated for an Oscar, the public opinion in China might just make him achieve his goal."

The most important thing now is to make sure that Chi Ye is gone before targeting Shi Jinwei. Otherwise, Shi Jinwei will have a new place to go and a new backer. The fate of Yue Na is still fresh in our minds. Taiyang has never been a stubborn company.

But when he heard people discussing this topic, Taiyang's vice president smiled slightly: "You guys are taking this nomination too seriously. How could it have such a big impact if it doesn't win an award?"

Do you think Ikeno can win the award?

Everyone shook their heads.

Indeed, not only them, but even Ikeno himself and the distributors who manage him would not have this idea, because from a practical point of view, it is impossible to achieve.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated so many times, for a Chinese-American star like Ikeno to be nominated for the first time is already a breakthrough and progress. To win directly? Unless the earth is destroyed tomorrow.

"Therefore, there is absolutely no need to worry too much about this matter."

The vice president paused, then looked at everyone: "And haven't you all heard?"

Everyone was taken aback: "What did you hear?"

"Ikeno has been silent for so long and shows no sign of letting up on the investigation. Tencent needs to step up its efforts."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Although it was just a short sentence, the fact that such a massive behemoth was going to increase its efforts meant that the pressure on Ikeno's side was likely to rise sharply.

……

The penguin was very unhappy with Ikeno's reaction.

To be precise, they were actually quite "friendly" to Ikeno. From the perspective of those radical leaders, it was Ikeno who kept harassing them, forcing them to give Ikeno a slight warning.

The former head of Tencent Video and several senior executives have already been arrested, but because of their mediation, the matter has not yet escalated. Most of the senior executives have connections and backgrounds at headquarters.

Individually, these people may seem insignificant, but when a group is collectively wiped out like this, the resulting chain reaction and pressure are immense.

Those who were once in charge of killing Ikeno no longer expect to keep their original positions and "retire unscathed." They only want to land safely and, at the same time, not to cause too much damage to the headquarters' image.

But it was precisely this point that Ikeno refused to let them have their way!

By seizing on even the smallest flaw, Ikeno's actions seem petty and difficult for many to truly forgive.

"He hasn't made a move yet?"

That day, the senior executives at headquarters who were in charge of the incident remembered the matter when they saw the entertainment pop-up news on their own website after finishing their morning meeting.

"Uh...no."

The secretary carefully placed the teacup down and stood beside him, explaining in detail, "There are rumors in the entertainment industry that Ikeno is aiming for the Oscars, hoping to find a 'breakthrough' in that endeavor."

"hehe."

Upon hearing this, the higher-ups let out a laugh that was difficult to decipher.

The secretary couldn't help but smile: "He seems a bit stubborn."

"Child."

The senior executive commented casually, then yawned: "Then forget it. This matter has dragged on for too long. President Wang asked about it again at the morning meeting today... We can't delay any longer. Let's put more pressure on him and try to get it done in one go."

"Yes."

The secretary nodded, then asked, "Is it as we agreed before?"

The executive glanced at the pop-up Tencent News and nodded: "You should contact Lao Liu today and tell him it's something I asked him to do personally."

"clear."

The secretary nodded and drifted away.

……

The next morning, Tencent News, which has a huge following in China, suddenly popped up a trending topic about Chi Ye's past scandals.

This trending topic is indeed considered to be a piece of dirt from Ikeno's "past," because it's a short video of Ikeno's predecessor yelling at staff on set before his rebirth.

The video is only about ten seconds long, and according to Coco's recollection, it should be the result of Ikeno being bullied by several crews in the production team, coupled with the daily increase in debt, leading to an emotional breakdown.

But this video is indeed from "ancient times," and it's not one of Ikeno's previous "scandals"—it's all new stuff.

Moreover, and most importantly, the title on the penguin is very interesting. The usual stories of celebrities cursing on set are just ordinary gossip, like when Chi Ye and Ji Heming "hurted insults" on an acting variety show.

This is not enough to attract everyone's attention.

What truly resonated with everyone was the story of Ikeno making things difficult for ordinary working-class people.

Workers, working spirit, workers are the best.

As we all know, the term "working class" is the most common self-deprecating expression used by netizens in recent years. When celebrities make things difficult for working class, coupled with the T0 buff in this version, it's no less dramatic than a celebrity's real downfall.

Its power has increased many times over, and its destructive power is also exceptionally high.

—The sheer volume of news from headquarters is enormous; even a small section of a daily news column is enough to kill a person.

Now, everyone in the industry, including Chi Ye, can sense that this time it's no joke, and they're going to get serious.

To be honest, the pressure is immense, because this is just the news that's been suppressed. These kinds of things, where celebrities publicly criticize others, can be big or small. No matter how serious it is, as long as it doesn't cross any bottom lines, Chi Ye can easily get through it with his current influence.

The fear is that if the penguins continue to escalate their attacks, it will be a full-scale siege, and Ikeno alone will have no chance of surviving it.

Unless the higher-ups will intervene, but here's the problem: everything posted is based on real events, and there's no fabrication. Besides, Tencent has done this kind of thing before, so what's the problem?
Background, funding, connections, and even manpower are not even comparable in terms of competition.

That day, Ling Bingbing called again.

"No...please give in."

She was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and her health has almost fully recovered, as the premiere of "Lurking" is just around the corner.

As one of the few TV dramas she has worked on since giving up her career, Ling Bingbing would like to participate in the publicity and promotion work as much as possible if she can.

Of course, whether there was any intention to help their partner is unknown.

After all, Ling Bingbing herself knew that this kind of confrontation was not something she could participate in. If it were her, with her proud and stubborn nature, she might have chosen to compromise in the end.

In fact, compromise is the choice most people will make, even if the other party has done many things that cross the line, and even if they feel wronged...

Chi Ye doesn't seem like a normal person. Now, besides trying to persuade him, Ling Bingbing is also quite certain in her heart that she admires Chi Ye a little. She also sees in him a kind of temperament that she used to have but has long since lost.

"Let go? That's not a good idea. You can't just let go of this stuff, or it'll leak when you eat." Ling Bingbing: "..."

"Haha, you were discharged from the hospital yesterday, right? When are you planning to come over for the promotion?"

Ikeno immediately changed the subject.

He's been doing quite well lately. The news from the overseas publisher is good, and his father-in-law finally sent a message. Although he didn't say much, Chi Ye understood what he meant.

Finally, he didn't actually have any real dirt on him. Tencent wasn't run by one person alone. As far as he knew, the high-level executives targeting him all had intricate connections with the video company.

That's why we're in such a hurry.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

"Are you... really not affected at all?"

Ling Bingbing was now curious: "Does he have a plan in mind?"

"No."

"Then why are you so calm?"

"Calm down."

"..."

Ling Bingbing sighed, "Awesome."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I've gotten through so many things before, haven't I?"

Seeing that the other person genuinely cared about him, Chi Ye said something quite sensible: "It's just a little hardship."

Ling Bingbing opened her mouth, then nodded: "Indeed."

Looking back at the various incidents Chi Ye has experienced since entering the entertainment industry, none of them were minor incidents. He has appeared on legal programs (Ge Shuang, Shen Qingyu, Jiang Mou, Ji Heming, Yue Na) countless times.

Not to mention the various scandals and controversies that followed. If we were to rank the mental fortitude and resilience of celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry, Chi Ye's mental fortitude and resilience would definitely be at a level that perfectly matches his current status.

Compared to him, others are indeed sometimes as fragile as children, and they often need to rest.

"Alright, we'll wait for you to come. We've been really busy these past few days and can't get any work done. We need you as the leading lady."

Chi Ye made a joke, chatted with Ling Bingbing for a while, and then hung up the phone to continue changing her makeup and styling in preparation for appearing on Hunan TV's promotional program.

With less than half a month until the broadcast of "Lurking", the focus before the New Year is on the airing of "Lurking".

……

Chi Ye thought he could pull through, and Ling Bingbing also felt that his mental fortitude was extraordinary after making the call.

However, the two greatly underestimated the unicorn's capabilities once it truly stopped banging.

Especially in the internet arena, they are invincible. Forget about whether to go online or not, or whether it's excessive or not. They only need a subtle, imperceptible little move to make you disappear without a trace.

Tencent News was just the simplest first step. Since that day, various giants related to the headquarters have also made their moves quietly.

Firstly, regarding Bilibili, Chi Ye was originally very popular on Bilibili. Whether it was his previous parody videos or the various amazing edits after he became famous, they occupied a large part of Bilibili's entertainment section.

According to a data analysis report, Chi Ye's video statistics on Bilibili are the highest in the entire Chinese entertainment industry, without exception.

But on this day, these videos seemed to disappear overnight, as if they had never existed. And those UP (content creator) entertainers who depended on Bilibili for survival, those straightforward bloggers who used to make videos to frantically claim unfair lawsuits, all fell silent.

Most of them are genuinely aware of the situation, but a small number want to try and gain some traffic by "exposing" the matter. However, they can't pass the review process. Once they see the name and face of Chi Ye, they simply won't let you post it.

It's as if Ikeno has vanished from the human world.

No one is talking about it, and no one is posting videos.

But the fans know.

"Why did Coconut's videos on Bilibili disappear today?"

"Really? I saw it on my feed last night."

"It's really gone! [Screenshot][Screenshot], the most popular historical drama clip still has a cover, but when you click on it, it's just blank."

"what's the situation?"

"@CoconutCulture @Chiye, bro!"

"Could the gossip I heard the other day be true? Is some big shot really trying to get my brother?!"

"There have been too many negative trending topics these past few days. A certain news outlet has one every day; anyone with eyes can see it. @TencentNews, have some conscience!"

"..."

Ikeno's fans were among the first to discover this, but before they could fully process it, more "bad news" followed. On other major platforms affiliated with the headquarters, Ikeno's name was treated like a forbidden word, and like Bilibili, it began to be "limited in traffic."

Next are heavyweight short video communities like Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu. Xiaohongshu is a bit better, only with traffic restrictions, while Kuaishou is treated the same as Bilibili.

Eventually, even Douyin (TikTok) started limiting traffic to him, and... a few brands that had initially been very persistent in pursuing Chi Ye suddenly started privately saying they wanted to terminate their contracts with him.

This really blows things up, because anyone who knows anything about the Chinese entertainment industry knows that when a brand terminates a contract, it's practically the end of the artist's career.

After all, brands have a much keener sense of smell than ordinary fans and viewers. Although these brands often change their spokespeople and all have some connection to penguins, their authority is still there.

——Ike Ye is finished?

This is a thought that subconsciously arises in the minds of everyone, both inside and outside the industry.

But why?

A career collapse? They felt that Ikeno had accumulated too many scandals recently. If it were any other celebrity, their career might have truly collapsed.

But Ikeno is different. He has been through so many storms before. Although this time it is very serious, given his current status, he is definitely not going to be wiped out instantly.

If that's not a building collapse, what is it?
Soft blocking.

Yes, this is a soft ban, not a hard ban that simply and brutally eliminates you, because you still have to consider the impact. A soft ban makes you disappear from the public eye quietly. It doesn't take long; in a few years, perhaps no one will remember you.

Ikeno is a bit special; people might remember him for five years, but what about ten? Fifteen?

They had already come up with their reasons: Chi Ye has so many scandals in his professional career. Apart from those that were denied when he had a falling out with Yue Na, how many have been circulating in the last few days?

With such a large amount of traffic and so many bad deeds, the impact on public opinion is extremely negative. If we just limit his traffic, who can say anything about it?
Now that you've lost your biggest backer, who can speak up for you, a small-time artist?
(End of this chapter)