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

Chapter 408 is now available during prime time.
"Why won't you let me post this?!"

Xiang You was still a bit angry when he called his mother, feeling that his parents were being incredibly inconsiderate by daring to use his number!

"Reorganize your words within three seconds."

"Mommy, is there some deep-seated plan you're considering?"

"hehe."

Xiang Tai chuckled on the other end of the phone, then his face hardened: "You're getting involved in this kind of thing? Now that you're stuck with that unlucky guy Chi Ye, how are you going to get along with other people in the future?"

"what?"

Xiang You hadn't considered these things. He mainly felt that everyone else had already made money, and he wasn't the one to be the first to do it. What was wrong with getting involved in pancreatic cancer in such a "passionate" way?
The important thing is to participate!
But Mrs. Xiang clearly doesn't think so. She believes her child has a mental illness and has been taking steps to help him treat it.

"Stop talking nonsense. You are not allowed to post any comments online about anything related to Ikeno."

"……All right."

Xiang You was somewhat disheartened, then asked curiously, "So, Mom, do you think Chi Ye still won't do well this time?"

After making such a big fuss, is it really going to end in "failure"?
On the other side, Xiang Tai remained silent.

After a long silence, she finally said, "Silly boy, Chi Ye might be 'crazy' for a moment this time, but what about the future? He's offended the penguin, especially in this way. Do you think he'll have a future?"

"The power of capital is immense. Look at the mainland internet now, how many platforms and software are 'banning' him? The bigger the trouble he causes now, the more thoroughly he will disappear in the future."

"Because those businesses won't go bankrupt just because he made a scene like this, that's impossible, do you understand?"

Xiang You listened in silence.

Indeed, the instant response from "Ikeno-kata" this time can be said to have set a new record for the most intense online feuds in the Chinese entertainment industry. Moreover, the participants are all top-tier celebrities with the highest popularity, making it a major event that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The general public and fans undoubtedly sided with Ikeno, because people are always like that, naturally inclined to side with the weaker party, especially since Unicorn's reputation wasn't very good to begin with.

But time is the coldest knife; it will mercilessly destroy everything. Before you know it, things have escalated to this point, and the penguin has not responded at all.

Of course, there were no other substantial measures taken, no increase in pressure on Ikeno, and no lifting of the "soft ban" on Ikeno.

In short, it's like the incident never happened. Ultimately, this isn't a particularly egregious incident that crossed any lines. Unicorns now either have to back down or pretend they don't know anything, a situation commonly known as playing dead.

Are you suggesting they back down? Just for something like this, they're going to back down to Ikeno?
Putting aside the impossibility, even if we were to admit it, how would we do it?
They proactively issued a statement saying that we should not protect XXXXXX, and waited for more than a dozen colleagues and senior executives?
Isn't this like slapping yourself in the face?
They cannot back down, nor can they escalate the situation, because they are currently at the center of a storm. The more they escalate, the greater the backlash will be. To put it bluntly, public attention has already been drawn to them, and they cannot take any further action.

But not taking any action doesn't mean they'll let Ikeno go.

It's not the right time to make any big moves. Everything will gradually come to a stop over time, and when everyone forgets about this matter, that may be the time of Ikeno's true "death".

"He will die mysteriously and silently."

On the 25th, a few days after the incident began to unfold, the level of attention hadn't decreased much, but it was indeed gradually decreasing, according to the senior official in charge of the incident.

"His TV series is about to air."

The secretary asked softly, "Is there anything I need you to do?"

"Do? What to do?"

The higher-ups waved their hands, unconcerned: "It's not advisable to make any big moves now. Let's keep a low profile for a while."

"Should the crowd control measures at Ikeno's location be lifted?"

"No need, keep it as it is."

"it is good."

……

27 number.

Two days before the online broadcast of "Lurking", during the recording of a variety show, a veteran actor from the film industry jokingly said to Chi Ye, "Have you always been this rude since you were a child?"

The reason was that Ikeno had recently made a joke to lighten the mood.

That same evening, at a seminar within the industry, an actor on secondment to the Film and Television Association, who is also one of the very few national-level bigwigs in the current Chinese entertainment circle who has managed to rise to a higher level, bluntly stated: "The development of film and television needs traffic, but we must be wary of traffic and be wary of minors being guided and forming wrong values."

The materials presented at the meeting included recent appeals from Ikeno's fans on various media platforms, as well as screenshots of all the irrational comments that had been collected in the past.

At the platform exchange meeting between KuYing and Tencent, 80% of the industry's key figures were present, and major traffic stars gathered. KuYing's newly appointed CEO, holding the microphone, joked, "Our platform only produces high-quality, conscientious dramas, not traffic-driven dramas."

There are many other occasions and places as well.

After the initial wave of collective hysteria subsided, Tencent did not make any moves on the surface, or rather, they did not need to make any moves.

Before things were exposed, it might just be a contest between "two people," Penguin and Ikeno.

But once this thin veil was pierced, everything changed. Without me saying more, all the circles, forces, and capital within the industry, whether they had previously looked up to Chi Ye or not, began an almost unanimous movement to "oust Chi Ye."

Reputation within an industry is sometimes important, and sometimes not.

Before he officially broke ties with Tencent, Chi Ye was a true prodigy in the industry, with everyone vying for opportunities to work with him, some even to the point of fawning over him.

But the moment you put him and the unicorn together, the scales tip in one direction; it's a choice that doesn't even require a decision.

No matter how powerful Ikeno is, he is only one person. But Unicorn is one of the dominant forces in the entire Chinese entertainment industry. In the past, everyone wanted to climb up but had no chance. Now, why would they miss this rare "position"?
You could say that Chi Ye has several top-tier friends, none of whom are quite mentally unstable, but they dare to go crazy with him. But when it comes to "friends," who has more than a unicorn? And who wouldn't want to be friends with a unicorn?

……

"Uncle Ming probably didn't do it on purpose; he's not that kind of person."

On the 28th, the day before "Lurking" was released online.

Ling Bingbing, Chi Ye, and other members of the "Lurking" cast attended the offline premiere event hosted by Hunan TV.

During the event, Ling Bingbing found an opportunity to speak with Chi Ye and said the following.

Ikeno was taken aback, then nodded: "Indeed, it was intentional."

Ling Bingbing: "..." Uncle Ming is the senior who "named" Chi Ye at the Film Association meeting. He was a big shot in the Beijing circle and became famous very early. Now he has already set up his own business and is doing quite well. He is also a senior big shot with high prestige in the industry.

The other party had worked with Ling Bingbing before and had a good relationship with her. Ling Bingbing did not expect that Uncle Ming would fire the first shot in the industry's "stance" at this critical juncture.

Nevertheless, she felt it necessary to explain: "I... didn't know they would do that, otherwise I would have told you in advance."

Chino glanced at her: "I know."

"you know?"

Ling Bingbing was surprised.

“Yes.” Chi Ye said reasonably, “After all, you tasted the medicine for me, so it’s hard to think too badly of you.”

Ling Bingbing: "..."

thank.

"And this matter is not just my problem."

Chi Ye looked at Ling Bingbing: "Even though this matter has nothing to do with you now, I don't think you'll take the initiative to get involved."

"Your words are really hurtful."

As Ling Bingbing said this, she felt inexplicably relieved. She was afraid that, given Chi Ye's personality, he would mistakenly think that she was also involved when he heard the news.

In fact, since Ling Bingbing chose to cooperate with Chi Ye, she has not appeared at gatherings within the industry for a long time. It should be noted that it is not that she herself was unwilling, but that others tacitly resisted.

In terms of "soft bans," Chi Ye is nothing compared to Ling Bingbing, who has already experienced such soft bans within the industry.

Of course, because it's only within a small circle, its influence isn't that great.

"Today is the launch day. How about it, are you confident?"

At 5 p.m., the event officially ended. To be honest, compared to Chi Ye's previous projects, the treatment of "Lurking" this time was indeed a bit meager, mainly due to the attitudes of other streaming platforms and the industry.

The overwhelming publicity has disappeared. Anything on the platform that mentions him or the TV series "Lurking" is subject to some degree of traffic restriction. Apart from his fans and people who specifically search for him, very few ordinary people will actively come across his publicity and news.

At this point, whether we admit it or not, the drawbacks of the fan circle emerge. Compared to the national audience, the fan circle is actually very small, and Chi Ye is someone with an extremely large gap in popularity and traffic data.

However, this inherent disadvantage cannot be avoided.

Fortunately, they had just gone crazy together not long ago, and the four young actresses took the initiative to help cheer them on. They were also attracted a lot of attention and popularity by this shocking scandal. If it weren't for this incident, the start of "Lurking" might have been even worse.

From this perspective, Chi Ye should actually thank Tencent and others. At least a few days ago, without them, "Lurking" would have been even more difficult.

"Relax, we've all seen the full episodes of 'Lurking,' and it's pretty good."

Teacher He is one of the few people in the industry who has not taken advantage of Chi Ye's misfortune to this day. He has maintained his friendly attitude as always, whether Chi Ye was in obscurity or not.

Even his words of comfort were spoken so gently, as if he was afraid that too many words would upset Ikeno.

Chi Ye felt that Teacher He was overthinking things. He had never questioned the quality of "Lurking," even though there were rumors that he wasn't involved in writing the script... and that was indeed the case.

But how can we underestimate the heroes of the world?

Teacher Yu has been struggling for almost ten years. His most famous work in recent years is still "Deep Sea," which caused a joke about the order of billing in the script. But Chi Ye thinks that Teacher Yu is talented, but he was just born at the wrong time and has been wasting his time until now.

"Lurking" is undoubtedly a masterpiece, a work worthy of being remembered in the history of Chinese television.

Because of its unique subject matter and content, it is sure to spark heated discussions across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

He's not worried about the quality of the film now, but rather that a film, like a Golden Globe nomination, might not be of much help to him anymore.

Yes, when Grandpa Jin was alive, Ikeno didn't actually realize it, and felt that everything seemed to be what he deserved.

Whether it was the rise of "Full Power" and "Dragon Scales" on "Singer", or the special attention given to films such as "The Martian" and "Flu" by the authorities, they even became the "face" of the industry for a period of time.

He felt that the quality of these works was enough to justify the establishment, and that although he was a bit lucky, it was something he truly deserved.

But after the old man passed away, he realized in a daze that perhaps his previous judgment was right, but also wrong.

In any circle, without that big tree, how many people will see you?

The premise that the quality is not a problem is that it needs to be seen by others. This is like an ancient general going to war and achieving great military exploits. Without someone close to the emperor to sing his praises, he can only become a familiar face at most, and that's it.

To truly obtain something of equal value, you need your own people.

Can "Lurking" achieve this?

Ikeno felt that he should do it regardless of whether he could succeed or not. Even if he couldn't, it would be better than his current situation. Besides, the Oscars would start after the New Year's Eve celebrations, which Ikeno felt was an opportunity to work out.

Now, he is also having doubts about his idea of ​​retiring in the next two years.

If this is allowed to end like this, it will undoubtedly be a major blow to the development of coconut culture. With so much capital tied up, even if there is content to start over, it is not a good idea to "retire" in the short term.

He couldn't keep the promise he made to the Empress Dowager either; perhaps that's what Chi Ye cared about most in his heart.

In short, amidst the chaos and turmoil surrounding Chi Ye and the outside world, the 29th arrived, and "Lurking" finally came to its release.

On this day, Ikeno continued filming "My Sassy Girl". Although a screening was held yesterday, for well-known reasons, only one comment was circulated in a small circle: "It's good".

It did not generate much buzz or stir up any further discussion.

But Ikeno's fans were already incredibly excited—others might "not see" it for various reasons, and passersby might "not see" it because they couldn't scroll through the page, but they wouldn't.

Ling Han is also a fan of Chi Ye, and is also Ling Bingbing's younger sister.

After 7:30 p.m., the prime time slot on Mango TV arrived, and Ling Han, unusually, turned on the TV, preparing to quietly wait for the broadcast of the drama in which Chi Ye and her sister collaborated for the first time.

As for why she doesn't watch it online using Mango TV... she doesn't have a membership, and Mango TV is a total rip-off.

(End of this chapter)