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Chapter 197 0194 [Weibo Takes Its First Step]

10 month 18 day.

CCTV's movie channel has been launched in Hong Kong, meaning Hong Kong residents will now be able to receive the channel.

At the celebration reception, celebrities from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong were invited to offer their congratulations.

Amidst the surprised gazes of a group of entertainment industry bigwigs, Zhang Liangying attended the banquet as a guest and performed a song.

At the same time, CCTV Movie Channel announced on the spot that Zhang Liangying will star in "The Song of the Movie", and will appear in all scenes - a very substantial role!
The media reporters and some celebrities present were stunned.

"Songs of the Cinema" is a musical commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chinese cinema. Directed by Hong Kong Film Awards-winning director Mabel Cheung, with Jonathan Lee serving as the music director, it features a star-studded cast, including Jackie Chan who even squeezed his son into the production.

Rehearsals and ticket sales are just around the corner, and suddenly they're casting a Super Girl contestant in an important role?
Zhang Liangying, whose popularity had been declining, was once again the subject of intense media coverage, with news breaking that she had signed with Huayi Brothers.

Following that, another photo of "celebrity fans" having a meal together was released.

Huang Jianxiang, Wu Sikai, Chen Daoming (former director of Sony Music), Hei Nan (a top music producer), Zeng Ziming (a host on Phoenix TV), Cheng Qingsong (a director and screenwriter)... all claimed to be fans of Zhang Liangying and had dinner together.

They also joined forces with several Chengdu business owners to form Zhang Liangying's Global Fan Club.

Most people don't understand why Zhang Liangying has such a deep network of connections.

It's actually quite simple. Before participating in Super Girl, Zhang Liangying sang at a music venue in Chengdu for three years. Many wealthy people and celebrities frequented that place!

One of the shareholders of the music house, nicknamed "Rolling Iron Hoop," and another IT company owner, known as "Old Wang of Rongcheng," were the behind-the-scenes forces who helped Zhang Liangying build her network of connections.

Zhang Liangying's boyfriend, Feng Ke, was just a minor errand boy at the time.

Without pressure from these people, would Tianyu Media be willing to terminate Zhang Liangying's contract?

Interestingly, the two behind-the-scenes manipulators seem to have genuinely only been helping out.

They don't interfere with Zhang Liangying's management contract, nor do they help her secure commercial collaborations. Aside from occasionally inviting Zhang Liangying to sing at the music house, they don't seem to gain any benefit from it.

Chen Guiliang hired Zhang Liangying as his spokesperson at a low price, and none of them stood up to stop him.

Huayi Brothers, which signed Zhang Liangying to a record deal, is currently going all out to promote her and even plans to send her to perform on Broadway in the United States.

To be honest, Chen Guiliang was also a little confused by this situation.

He never expected to sign such a beloved member.

Just when Zhang Liangying was at the height of her popularity, her advertisement for Kaixin.com was released.

……

"Old Wang of Rongcheng" may not actually be surnamed Wang; his identity has always been shrouded in mystery.

There are only two confirmed pieces of information: First, he is the owner of an IT company; second, he directly contacted the owner of Huayi Brothers to help Zhang Liangying sign with the company.

He is currently the head of the Chengdu region for Zhang Liangying's global fan club.

This fan club is very formal and organized; it has even been officially registered with the Civil Affairs Bureau. It also has its own bylaws, the two most important being: not to violate Zhang Liangying's personal wishes and not to interfere with Zhang Liangying's management affairs.

"Rongcheng Laowang" posted a message in the fan group: "At 8 pm tonight, Jane's first personal endorsement advertisement will be launched on online platforms such as Tudou.com and Sohu Video."

"Roger that!"

"I will always support Sister Zhen."

"Why is it such a small endorsement? They don't even go on TV."

"I shouldn't have accepted this kind of advertisement."

"I heard that Tianyu Entertainment deliberately signed her at a low price to spite Sister Zhen."

"I think we should boycott it!"

"..."

Upon seeing negative comments in the fan group, "Rongcheng Laowang" typed a reminder: "Article 2 of the fan club charter: Fans shall not interfere with Jane's management affairs."

"Okay, I won't boycott it anymore."

"I hope the advertisement can be filmed in a better way."

"Kaixin.com is alright. Ever since Sister Zhen registered a Kaixin.com account, I've become a Kaixin.com user too."

"You fake fans, haven't you followed Sister Zhen on Kaixin001?"

"..."

Not only did fans in Chengdu take action, but fans in other regions also joined in, actively posting everywhere—their goal being to get everyone to see Zhang Liangying's advertisement.

This group is incredibly efficient; whenever they take action, they receive an overwhelming response.

By the end of this year, through meticulous planning and collective action at her fan meeting, Zhang Liangying is poised to surpass all other celebrities across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, becoming Yahoo! Search's "Most Popular Singer of the Year" and the overall champion of NetEase's "China Idol 2005 Online Popularity King" poll.

Rational yet obsessed.

Tan Yutong is a member of the fan club. He graduated from the Computer Science Department of Zhejiang University and is a typical science and engineering guy. He now works as a programmer in a foreign company.

He had never been a fan of any celebrity before, but because he said "Zhang Liangying has the best singing skills among the Super Girls" during an argument on Tianya Forum, someone quickly contacted him, inviting him to join a fan club and providing the rules and benefits for fans.

Tan joined the team somewhat haphazardly, and then found it to be a great team, with everyone acting like brothers and sisters.

Upon receiving the message from the fan group, Tan Yutong impulsively sat in front of his computer, waiting to watch Zhang Liangying's advertisement and leave a comment in support.

When the time came, Tan Yutong repeatedly refreshed the webpage.

After a delay of about one minute, the full advertisement finally appeared on the Tudou.com homepage.

Chen Guiliang produced two versions.

One version is pasted into other videos, with a duration of only 15 seconds. It is mainly used on websites like Sohu Video because users cannot upload their own content, and advertising fees are extremely expensive on these sites.

Each version is a full three minutes long!

Tan Yutong clicked on the three-minute full version on the homepage, and waited for it to buffer for a while before watching it.

The scene begins in darkness, with footsteps approaching from afar. A woman slowly emerges, her silhouette the only visible part, highlighting her beautiful and sensual curves. As the sound effects play, lights illuminate the scene.

Tan Yutong's eyes widened in disbelief; he had never seen Zhang Liangying so beautiful. Her skin was even whiter, her figure even better, and every gesture exuded elegance and charm.

This outfit was designed by Mao Geping's team. Including renting the evening gown and jewelry, Chen Guiliang spent a total of 150,000 yuan!
The scene flashes back abruptly, showing Zhang Liangying as an ordinary person, working at a restaurant. She then sings at a bar, returning listlessly to her rented apartment at night. Next comes her participation in the Super Girl auditions…

During the competition, she was physically and mentally exhausted, and accidentally discovered Kaixin.com and registered.

From zero followers, she gradually grew to ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand... Every time she finished a competition, whether she was excited or aggrieved, she would share it on Kaixin.com.

The video features fans from various professions who share their joys and sorrows with their idols through Kaixin.com.

Then Zhang Liangying activated her Weibo account. She took a selfie on the roadside with her phone and casually posted a Weibo post with the photo.

Fans from all walks of life—some at work, some eating, some on the bus—received text messages and MMS from Zhang Liangying.

The scene then cuts back to Zhang Liangying wearing an evening gown, picking up the microphone and starting to sing.

A voiceover says: "Weibo on your mobile phone, your idol is right beside you!"

Tan Yutong was quite surprised; he never expected it to have such a function.

He has a Kaixin.com account, which he was added to by other fans. Initially, he only followed Zhang Liangying. He also knows about Weibo, but he's too lazy to learn its specific functions.

There are already many comments from fans in the comment section below the video.

"Wow, Sister Jane looks so beautiful in this ad!"

"Kaixin.com spent a staggering 15 yuan to hire a top-tier team to create a custom look for Sister Zhen." (This post is from a paid troll.)
"Kaixin.com is really sincere." (This comment is from a paid troll.)
"This Weibo feature is very interesting, just like Sister Zhen sending us text messages." (This comment is from a paid troll.)
"I just read Sister Zhen's Kaixin.com blog. She said she's very happy with this collaboration and will officially post her first Weibo at 9 PM tonight." (This post is from a paid troll.)
"How much does it cost to activate Weibo functionality? It's too expensive for me."

"Receive SMS messages for 8 yuan per month. Receive MMS messages for 12 yuan per month. You can choose only one. Instructions are as follows..." (This is spam from paid promoters)
"It's a bit expensive, I'm a student."

"This commercial is very inspiring; it really captures the hardships Sister Zhen has faced along the way."

"Support Sister Zhen."

"..."

Xie Yang also sent people to infiltrate Zhang Liangying's fan groups in various regions. At this moment, he is sending messages in the groups: "Support Sister Zhen! I just activated my Weibo account, so I will be able to receive Sister Zhen's text messages from now on!"

"Sister Zhen's Kaixin.com follower count is only a little over 3? She's been surpassed by everyone else! If you don't have a Kaixin.com account yet, you can register one, and we'll make Sister Zhen's follower count number one on the entire site!"

With just a few casual words, many fans, as if injected with adrenaline, flocked to register on Kaixin.com.

They were able to make Zhang Liangying the most popular singer of the year on Yahoo! Search and the most popular online idol on NetEase China. Their strong drive and determination are no joke.

Moreover, he didn't just go by himself, but also brought other fans along.

In just one night, Zhang Liangying's followers on Kaixin.com surged by over 6,000, most of whom were newly registered accounts. And this was just the beginning.

Chengdu, the Music House.

While listening to the resident singer perform, "Old Wang from Rongcheng" chatted with other fans on QQ Mobile. He was curious about activating the Weibo function on his phone, not only to support Zhang Liangying but also to see if it was easy to use.

Because he is the owner of an IT company, he is very interested in new internet products.

"What are you doing?" asked a shareholder of the music house with the online name "Rolling Iron Hoop".

"To activate a service, you have to send a text message to the mobile carrier."

"drink wine!"

"drink."

The atmosphere became even more lively when everyone was half-drunk.

Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his pocket. "Old Wang from Rongcheng" took out his phone and saw that there were indeed text messages and MMS messages coming in.

The MMS message contained a selfie taken by Zhang Liangying backstage at a performance.

The text message read: "Hello everyone, this is Zhang Liangying. I'm about to go on stage at the Super Girl tour concert. I'm a little excited."

"Old Wang from Chengdu" exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it really works!"

"Damn it, you're skipping the drink again. Hurry up and drink!"

The other people around him were all business owners from the Chengdu area. "Old Wang from Chengdu" handed out his phone: "Look at this. As long as you activate mobile Weibo, all your followers will receive text messages."

"Hey, that's interesting."

"How do I do this? Does anyone have Faye Wong's Weibo account?"

"How do I activate it? I'll try it too."

"..."

Tan Yutong was watching videos on Tudou.com; it was the first time he had ever heard of the website.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He quickly picked it up and was quite excited to see Zhang Liangying's text message. He immediately went to the online forum to share it with others.

Fan groups, online forums, video comment sections, Kaixin.com... fans frequently post comments, some are genuine fans, while others are paid trolls.

"Haha, Sister Zhen texted me!"

"Damn it, why isn't the MMS showing?"

"Most of Nokia's new phones from the last two years can display this feature. You should get a new phone."

"It's so interesting. As long as I have my phone with me, I can know what my idol is doing anytime, anywhere."

"How do I send MMS messages to the forum? Other fans definitely haven't received Sister Zhen's latest photos yet, I want to share them with them."

"..."

The advertisement seems to have been a success.

At least, it has been quite successful among Zhang Liangying's fan base.

(End of this chapter)