After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 167 Collective Deception, the Nightmare of Following the Trend...

Pitter-patter, it's raining in Shanghai today. It's been foggy all day. People who don't have to go to work are probably overjoyed by this kind of weather, but for those who need to go out, it's a nightmare...

"Pattering..."

The tea room was filled with the aroma of tea. People are more sensitive to smells on rainy days. President Qin has said more than once that rainy days are the best for drinking tea, so he specially brought out his treasured West Lake Longjing tea to entertain Lin Bei and his friends.

Unfortunately, Lin Bei had no interest in tea at all. His face had been gloomy ever since he arrived at the tea room, just like the sky outside the window, and it seemed unlikely that it would clear up today.

"puff……"

Not far away, Ms. Liu, the woman in the suit, chuckled inexplicably. Her laughter broke the silence in the tea room and triggered a series of chain reactions...

"puff……"

“Heh…ha…”

"cough……"

"Hahaha……"

Both the chubby Mr. Ma and the white-haired Mr. Li couldn't help but chuckle, and then their composure crumbled, almost bursting into laughter.

They are professionally trained and generally don't laugh unless they can't help it...

Even though they had just thought through all the saddest things in their lives, they still couldn't hold back!
Lin Bei: "(╬￣ Pan￣)"

Kill people!

Lin Bei really wanted to kill someone right now, he really wanted to roar, to howl wildly to the sky!
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, we really... pfft... we've been holding back for a long time, please understand us, hahaha..." The woman in the suit, Ms. Liu, couldn't help but speak up to comfort them.

It's really not their fault. They weren't really mocking Lin Bei, but rather the things Lin Bei did...

That's fucking hilarious!

Let me tell you about all the things that happened after Shen Ming'en returned from Beijing...

Ah Ruixing Entertainment bowed its head and offered 91% of the revenue share, but Shen Ming'en refused, and even demanded to terminate the contract.

When Ruixing Entertainment refused, he retaliated by collaborating with marketing accounts to create public opinion and using the brands that had invited him to endorse their products to put pressure on the company, forcing Ruixing Entertainment to give him the endorsement unconditionally.

then!

Just when Ruixing Entertainment thought the crisis was over, Shen Ming'en turned around and chose to endorse two niche brands with the lowest fees and far less fame compared to other "national-level" big brands...

This caused Ruixing Entertainment to completely offend those brand ambassadors, who even declared that they would not consider any of Ruixing Entertainment's artists for many years to come!
Ultimately, not only did they fail to reach a cooperation agreement with Shen Ming'en, they also indirectly offended so many brands, sowing the seeds for future problems...

Just say it!
How hilarious!
Now it seems that the reason Shen Mingen spread the rumor online that he had reached an agreement with the company was to trap Ruixing Entertainment. To put it bluntly, it was a trap set by Shen Mingen for Ruixing Entertainment. It's a wonder that Lin Bei was so stupid as to walk right into it!

What a traitor!
What a terrible victim!

It now appears that Shen Mingen initially intended to use this "method" to force Ruixing Entertainment to terminate his contract.

He's just obsessed with terminating his contract!
Why were President Liu and the others so happy?

Huh~
It's all because those brands that wanted Shen Ming'en to be their spokesperson, after being rejected by Shen Ming'en and feeling "humiliated" by Ruixing Entertainment, all went to their respective companies to invite their own artists to be their spokespeople.

Not only that, but to spite Shen Mingen, they even gave the endorsement fee that was supposed to be given to Shen Mingen to other artists!

It's worth noting that Shen Mingen's endorsement fee is more than double that of other celebrities!

That's it!

you say!

How could they not be happy?!
Ruixing Entertainment and Shen Ming'en are fighting like dogs, while the others are reaping the benefits. It would be strange if they weren't happy.

"Hehehe..."

It's worth mentioning that even Mr. Qin, the tea master, chuckled and didn't comment this time. After all, many of the artists under his company have also profited from this wave of endorsements for personal care products.

It could be said that only Lin Bei's injured world was achieved in the tea room.

But just as Lin Bei, filled with resentment and gritting his teeth, was about to stand up, shout "Goodbye!" and slam the door shut...

"Eh?"

Not far away, Mr. Li, the white-haired man who had just started looking down at his phone, suddenly let out a surprised sound...

The strange noise attracted everyone's attention. Fatty Ma took a sip of tea and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"no……"

Mr. Li, the white-haired man, scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face, and said:
"Shen Ming'en... has started a live stream."

The words fell...

"What???"

Everyone in the tea room was taken aback.

Everyone had a strange, uneasy feeling.

……

"#Nobody's following Shen Ming'en's lead!#"

While news of Shen Mingen endorsing Crazy Flower hair conditioner and Shanghai sulfur soap was flying everywhere, news also quickly spread that other companies were not following Shen Mingen's "crazy" approach this time.

As Shen Mingen continues his "eccentric" ways, endorsing niche and unconventional brands, while other celebrities rush to endorse various "national-level" personal care products, his maverick approach only draws more attention.

It's worth mentioning that initially, many haters didn't dare to attack Shen Ming'en because other top celebrities had repeatedly followed suit. It wasn't until those other top celebrities confirmed they wouldn't follow suit that they felt relieved and began commenting in the comments section:

Shen Ming'en has always been rather eccentric when it comes to endorsements...

I really don't know what's going on in his head; it seems like he's just trying to get attention.

This person's only thought is how to stay in the spotlight and generate buzz. I hate people like that the most! Ugh!

[My beloved Xue Chen has finally stopped going crazy with him. He's made her hesitant to endorse legitimate brands, which has damaged her reputation...]

Alright, now the Chinese entertainment industry has become a one-man show by Shen Ming'en. Let's just quietly watch this clown dance, hahaha...

……

As a top celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry, Shen Mingen's popularity is currently at its peak. Logically speaking, no one should be able to oppose him in the comments section at this time. Anyone who dares to slander him will be taught a lesson by his fans.

But you also have to consider who you're up against...

Regarding endorsements, because of his consistent "eccentricity," he has always led a group of top celebrities to follow suit, and those top celebrities' fans have long harbored resentment towards Shen Ming'en.

After all, they are a group of top-tier fans. One or two individuals might not be enough for Shen Ming'en to handle, but a group of top-tier fans together is a completely different story.

Therefore, this wave of smearing Shen Mingen is really quite bad.

In fact, even fans don't quite understand why Shen Mingen would choose a few seemingly outrageous endorsements from among so many "national-level" big brands.
Although I'm used to it, it's true that I don't understand it.

It was under these circumstances that...

That evening, Shen Mingen suddenly started a live stream.

……

Splash, splash! There's been a lot of rain all over the country lately. Shen Ming'en, whose head was almost numb from studying all day, took a shower and came out of the bathroom when he saw a huge splash outside the window... oops, a huge splash!
"It's raining really hard..."

After closing the window and moving the daffodils on the balcony to a spot where they wouldn't get wet, Shen Ming'en returned to his phone, which was currently live-streaming.

Having never done a live stream before, Shen Ming'en wasn't quite familiar with many of the features. After fiddling around for a while, he still wasn't sure if his face was actually on when he saw it appear on his phone.

"Can you see it?"

It wasn't until I saw the constantly scrolling comments in the live stream room and the ever-increasing number of viewers online at the same time displayed in the backend that I was certain it was really live.

"Good evening, friends." Shen Ming'en smiled as he dried his wet hair with a towel.

Shen Mingen, who has always presented a serious, upright, and incredibly popular image on screen, is making a rare appearance on camera in such an ordinary manner, which is quite unusual for many viewers.

The comment section was flooded with messages:
[Is Zun Du (or fake Zun Du) my brother?!]

[Holy crap, I can't believe I saw this!]

Shen Ming'en has started live streaming too!

【Ahhh! Bro, I love you! I want to have your babies!】

【Is that you, Thunder Yata Ryan?!】

Why didn't we talk about "driving foreigners to save the country" last week?

……

“Emmm… don’t get excited, take your time, one at a time…” Shen Ming’en took a sip of mineral water from the side, adjusted the air conditioning temperature, and then casually replied, “We didn’t have time last week, so we’ll have to do this next week.”

"Ha, it's the real deal. Don't worry, it's genuine, I'll compensate you tenfold for any fake..."

"Forget about having a monkey, if you want to have one, you can't come to me, you have to go to the zoo to find a monkey."

"..."

Shen Ming'en, a "live and breathing person" in the Chinese entertainment industry, answered many questions casually, making netizens more and more active. As time went on, the number of viewers in the live stream began to increase. After only ten minutes of broadcasting, the number of people online at the same time was close to six million...

Such a terrifying amount of traffic has left the platform completely bewildered. It's like saying, Mr. Ming En, you should at least have reported it beforehand. With such a huge amount of traffic, our servers are afraid they won't be able to handle it!

After a moment of laughter, Shen Ming'en finally got straight to the point:

"I'm here today mainly to talk to you about my recent endorsement..."

Shen Mingen always appears calm and collected. When he was chatting with fans and viewers, he seemed very talkative. Even when talking about his recent endorsement, he spoke in a very casual tone, giving everyone the feeling that he was chatting with a long-lost friend.

However, when it comes to the controversial topic of "endorsements," fans are anything but calm, with comments flooding the comment section:

[Haha... Is the controversy too great? It's forced the person in question to respond.]

My brother is really tough; he responded directly and honestly. He's definitely a real character in the Chinese entertainment industry!

Although I don't quite understand why he chose those two endorsements, I think he must have his reasons...

[Unconditionally believe in IEN!] [Overcome all obstacles to become king, accompany Eren on his voyage!]

[…Seriously sarcastic, bro!]

……

When Shen Mingen said, "Let's talk about endorsements," the popularity in the live stream suddenly surged. This was partly due to the platform's promotion of the stream, and partly because the topic he was discussing was so popular that everyone was paying attention.

However, it wasn't just these fans and haters who received the news and were paying attention to Shen Ming'en's live stream tonight; many companies and rivals in the Chinese entertainment industry also participated.

Besides the BYD group at the teahouse, top influencer Xue Chen and his team, along with his agent Zheng Hua, who previously followed Shen Ming'en's lead in endorsing lowbrow products, and many rivals, are all watching.

When they heard that Shen Mingen wanted to talk about his recent endorsement, everyone's hearts jumped into their throats. Their intuition told them...

Shen Ming'en seems to have something big up his sleeve this time!
And indeed, things turned out just as they expected...

"It's not that there's too much controversy..." In the live stream, Shen Ming'en chuckled helplessly, "I'm afraid of controversy? You've all forgotten what I do..."

Although he's not a fishmonger, he's still an entertainer, and entertainers have to endure these things, so he's definitely not afraid of them.

He was there not because he was afraid of being talked about, but because he was afraid that people would have opinions about the two brands because of him.

Therefore, he simply said:

"To be honest, the two brands I endorse aren't that well-known, nor are they as popular as the common toiletries that are readily available on supermarket shelves, but those two brands..."

When Shen Mingen said this, the rivals who were watching him in the live broadcast room, especially those in the tea room and Zheng Hua and others, all widened their eyes, not daring to breathe, and stared intently at Shen Mingen's face in the live broadcast room.

then!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Shen Ming'en opened his mouth and said:
"But those two brands are domestic products."

As soon as these words came out...

【…】

At first, many people were slightly taken aback.

But then...

【oh!!!】

I understand now!

So my brother only chose to endorse those products because they were domestic brands?!

【Wow... hahaha... as expected of you, Thunder Yata Rayne!】

When it comes to patriotism, my brother says that if the Chinese entertainment industry is second to none, nobody dares to claim first place!

[Damn... I suddenly got teary-eyed. Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time: established domestic brands have had a tough time these past few years. Their market share has been squeezed by foreign brands for years, causing many to not even make it onto supermarket shelves, even though their products are clearly much more effective than many foreign brands, unlike some shampoos that cause hair loss...]

[Hahaha... those top celebrities are really dumbfounded now. The only time they didn't follow Shen Ming'en's lead, they ended up getting completely outmaneuvered by him, hahahaha...]

……

yes……

Idiot.

The top celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry, all those rivals who thought Shen Ming'en was "crazy" and didn't want to make money anymore just for the sake of popularity, including the female boss in the suit Liu, the white-haired male boss Li, the fat boss Ma, the tea-brewing boss Qin, etc. who were mocking Lin Bei in the tea room, were all dumbfounded!

"???"

Over at the tea room.

When Shen Mingen said that the reason he endorsed those two brands was because they were "domestic products", the female CEO in the suit and others had a series of question marks on their faces!

Those who had been mocking Lin Bei immediately dropped their attitude, their smiles gradually stiffening and disappearing in an instant at a visible speed.

It's not that they're naturally averse to smiling, but rather that at this moment, no matter what, they simply can't smile anymore!

no……

no!
Domestic product?

What the hell does that even mean?!

Do you even eat fried dough? What the hell kind of new concept did you come up with for no reason?!

although……

At this moment, whether it was General Manager Liu, General Manager Ma, or General Manager Qin, the tea master, they all had countless complaints they wanted to voice, but one thing they had to admit was...

Shen Mingen's concept of "domestic products" is truly a game-changer!

With a "smack," he threw it onto the card table, making everyone's heads buzz!

They're all industry insiders, all working in the Chinese entertainment sector; there are hardly any who don't understand marketing...

They were well aware that with Shen Mingen's popularity, his concept of "domestic products" would become an instant hit in a very short time after he uttered it!
And this concept...

Indeed, it could bring him immense wealth!
It's important to understand that, perhaps due to historical reasons, the Chinese people have always had very strong feelings about "patriotism," otherwise Shen Ming'en wouldn't have become so popular so quickly through patriotic songs...

It is precisely because Chinese people love their country that they are more likely to accept and support the concept of "domestic products". With the massive influx of traffic from Shen Ming'en, who is already incredibly popular, this concept will definitely become a huge hit!
If the concept of domestic products becomes popular, Shen Mingen will gain far more attention than his previous "crazy" days.

Moreover, what he gained from this move will definitely not only be "traffic," but more importantly, "reputation"!

Already incredibly popular and having cultivated a more pronounced patriotic persona than any other artist in the Chinese entertainment industry, his subsequent rise to a "domestic product" trend only amplifies his image in the hearts of Chinese audiences.

How many people in the Chinese entertainment industry can challenge his position?!

Yes, domestic brands are indeed declining, and they can't offer particularly high endorsement fees. But there are far more domestic brands than just those few small ones!

There are so many great brands among domestic products!
If we're strictly talking about the concept of "domestic products," how many industries in our country can be considered "domestic products"?

If the toiletries are all the cheapest available, how many well-known domestic brands are there for home appliances and other household items?!
What if they all sought out Shen Ming'en to endorse their products because they were "domestic brands"?
At that time, the benefits that Shen Ming'en will be able to reap will truly be outrageous!
Although Shen Ming'en only mentioned "domestic products," they were already able to make a lot of connections, and those connections will definitely be realized in the future!
And it was precisely because I thought of these things...

No matter what, President Liu and the others couldn't bring themselves to laugh!
Even Mr. Qin, the tea master, stopped drinking tea and just stared blankly with a twitching mouth.

Who would have thought that behind Shen Ming'en's many "crazy" behaviors, there were actually these things hidden!
At this moment...

Everyone finally realized what was happening!

Many people in Shen Ming'en's live stream were commenting:
[I just remembered! Shen Ming'en previously endorsed Shidan Fertilizer, Xindongfang Chef, and Lanxiang Vocational School—all of which are domestic brands!]

Strictly speaking, those can all be considered domestic products!

[Good grief, so all this time, Harkin, you've been building up to this all along?]

[Pfft... If you put it that way, I might just go and laugh at Xue Chen!]

[Haha... A whole bunch of people who followed Shen Ming'en's lead and endorsed agricultural products before actually endorsed foreign brands...]

[Pfft... This is really going to be interesting!]

……

I'm starting to understand...

Everyone finally realized what was going on!

As time went on, the tea room staff and the viewers in the live stream all realized what was going on!

So……

Have those "top influencers" who previously followed Shen Mingen in endorsing agricultural products, along with their companies and teams, finally realized what was going on?
Jinrui Entertainment.

"Squeak..."

Agent Zheng Hua gritted his teeth, angrily picked up his phone, and dialed Xue Chen's high-ponytail female assistant directly.

"Hua... Sister Hua..."

The female assistant on the other end of the phone didn't dare to breathe. Obviously, she had also been watching Shen Ming'en's live stream and knew about the concept of "domestic products".

At this moment, the female assistant was filled with thoughts of everything.

Why?

Previously, in order to earn more endorsement fees, even though she accepted some low-brow endorsements for Xue Chen according to her agent Zheng Hua's requirements, they were all foreign brands.

just now……

Shen Mingen's introduction of the concept of "domestic products" will definitely make Xue Chen the target of ridicule!

Right now, under videos on Xue Chen's social media account, people are commenting that he's so blindly following trends he doesn't even understand how to keep up...

"...Don't say anything more..." Zheng Hua on the other end of the phone forcibly suppressed his anger and said, "Reject all the brands that Xue Chen has endorsed before, except for top luxury brands, that are not domestic brands! As soon as possible!"

"Ah..." The female assistant was a little reluctant, but considering Zheng Hua's tone...

"Yes...yes." He could only nod.

Similar incidents to those at Jinrui Entertainment were occurring in many other places at the same time...

Previously, many of his rivals, in an attempt to capitalize on Shen Ming'en's popularity, endorsed "rustic" products alongside him.

No one expected Shen Mingen to have such a trump card up his sleeve. No one expected that Shen Mingen had been holding back on promoting "domestic products" all along. Most people endorse foreign products because the endorsement fees are higher...

So now!

Those who "follow the trend" are really going to be ruined by this "original" one!
hate it!

Right now, almost all the top celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry who were badly screwed over and their teams really hate Shen Ming'en!

This guy, single-handedly, has led all the top celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry who followed his lead into his trap!
They've completely fooled me!
it's good now……

Now, it's not Shen Mingen awkwardly performing a solo act while wearing the clown nose anymore...

Now, countless viewers are praising him, but only Shen Ming'en gets to go on stage and enjoy the cheers and applause!
And this is only the very beginning of the situation!
……

(End of this chapter)