This director lacks vision.

Chapter 176 The Movie Promotion Begins
Jiang Yifeng was still reluctant to leave after watching the hot and spicy love show depart.

Playing sneaky games occasionally has a unique charm.

Jiang Yifeng could sense that Reba was also very engaged and reacted quite intensely.

This feeling of two-way interaction is the most enjoyable.

As the ancients said, a wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a stolen lover. Indeed, practice makes perfect, and the wisdom of our ancestors is reasonable.

Jiang Yifeng thought he could secretly play this game with Fan Bingbing on the set of "Pacific Rim".

The closer Jing Tian keeps her eyes, the more fun the game becomes.

Fan Bingbing's attitude was quite clear, so Jiang Yifeng didn't need to be polite. He should be brave enough to try new things and experience different kinds of fun. After all, it was just something to do casually.

On December 3rd, the cast and crew of "The Orphan of Zhao" held a premiere event at the Shanghai Grand Cinema.

The movie will be released nationwide tomorrow, and the entire team is in a tense and busy atmosphere.

Because there are promotional activities tomorrow, we didn't have a get-together.

Instead, they ordered takeout and ate a few bites together in the backstage lounge.

Cheng Kaige sat on the largest sofa, eating as he asked, "How's the gossip going?"

Bingbing is very popular right now, so she must be generating a lot of buzz.

Chen Hong said, "Don't worry, I just checked and at least a dozen newspapers and media outlets have followed up with reports."

On the internet, several major portals, including Sohu, Sina, Tencent, and NetEase, featured the scandal on their homepages, attracting widespread attention and discussion among netizens.

If we're talking about who in the entertainment industry most likes to use scandals to promote their movies, it has to be Cheng Kaige.

This guy really loves pairing up people and creating rumors, and he's quite skilled at it, often making the two people's on-screen romances turn into real ones.

When "The Emperor and the Assassin" was released, Gong Li, who was already married at the time, was rumored to be having an affair with Sun Zhou, who played Prince Dan of Yan, causing a public uproar.

In the end, Gong Li did have a relationship with Sun Zhou, and later even starred in Sun Zhou's films "Pretty Mom" ​​and "Zhou Yu's Train".

When "The Promise" was released, the news of Xie Tingfeng's reconciliation with Cecilia Cheung was always the headline in the entertainment section.

In the end, the two did get back together and even got married.

In the future, Cheng Kaige also "matched up" Gao Yuanyuan and Zhao Youting in the movie "Caught in the Web".

Therefore, with the release of "The Orphan of Zhao," rumors had to be arranged as well.

During a film promotion event in Yanjing, Fan Bingbing touched Wang Xueqi's hand across a chair. The two were later photographed holding hands and spending the night together.

"The Orphan of Zhao" was released on December 4th, and the rumors about Fan Bingbing and Wang Xueqi were exposed in early December.

The timing was excellent.

Cheng Kaige took a bite of rice and said proudly, "Green vines lie on soft sand amidst frost, and watermelons are enjoyed everywhere year after year."

Since ancient times, deep affection cannot be retained, but gossip can win people's hearts!
My tactic of using scandals for publicity, though old-fashioned, works wonders!

"Director Cheng has excellent writing skills!"

"The simplest way is the best. Director Cheng, your methods for promoting the film are truly effortless."

"Director Cheng truly deserves to be called a master of film; he's also an expert in publicity."

……

The room was immediately filled with flattery.

The photographer made Cheng Kaige feel very comfortable.

Hai Qing couldn't get a word in edgewise and got a little anxious, so she took out her phone and said, "Director Cheng is brilliant. He loves gossip the most on Weibo."

Right now, Weibo is definitely all about our movie.

She was using the currently popular iPhone 4, and with a tap of the screen, she opened Weibo.

However, a search of the trending topics list revealed no mention of "The Orphan of Zhao".

All of them are related to the finals of the Sisters Who Make Waves competition.

"The final 11-member debut lineup for Sisters Who Make Waves!"

"Qin Lan unexpectedly won the final center position."

Is there any behind-the-scenes manipulation in "Sisters Who Make Waves"?

Is "Little Apple" any good or not?

"Little Apple" is the theme song for the movie "Back to 20".

Hai Qing's smile froze. She tried to take her phone back, but Cheng Kaige took it from her.

Cheng Kaige glanced at it twice, and the smile on his face disappeared.

He looked at Chen Hong and asked, "Didn't we buy Weibo's trending topics? Why can't we see them on the trending list?"

Since the box office success of "Lost in Thailand," film production teams have placed increasing emphasis on online promotional channels.

The same applies to the Orphan of Zhao.

Chen Hong explained, "The trending topics we bought were from Sina Weibo."

Xinlang is cheaper and offers better value for money. I subscribed to a package and got 30 trending topics in half a month.

Upon seeing this, Hai Qing quickly said, "I logged into the wrong account. This is Sohu Weibo. I also have a Sina Weibo account!"

She picked up the phone and opened Sina Weibo.

This is just right.

The top trending topic was "Fan Bingbing and Wang Xueqi holding hands under a chair," followed by the word "hot."

Cheng Kaige nodded in satisfaction, picked up his phone, and clicked on the trending topics.

But something seemed off.

Several bloggers are breaking the news about this scandal, but the data is a bit strange.

The top post in the topic has over 10 likes, but only 17 comments.

The data for the other Weibo posts was even worse.

Cheng Kaige clicked on the Weibo account of Sohu and randomly clicked on the topic "Little Apple is the theme song of the movie Back to 20".

I saw more than a dozen influential bloggers discussing it.

"The song 'Little Apple' has no technical content whatsoever; it's just a pure pop song. Yet Jiang Yifeng performed it on the final stage of the 'Sisters Who Make Waves' competition."

His decision was wrong and lowered the quality of the show "Sisters Who Make Waves".

It can only be said that Jiang Yifeng is also a human being; he also has weaknesses and needs.

In particular, we need to promote the movie.

"Old Boys: Back to 20" is scheduled to be released on January 1st, New Year's Day, and has entered the promotional period.

This year's Lunar New Year film season is incredibly competitive, with films by three directors—Cheng Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, and Jiang Wen—being released simultaneously, along with the Hollywood blockbuster *The Chronicles of Narnia: The Chronicles of Narnia 3*. For a film like *Back to 20* to stand out in such fierce competition will be extremely difficult.

The pressure on Jiang Yifeng is unimaginable.

Thinking about this, I felt relieved.

At least "Little Apple" is a very cheerful song, and "Back to 20" is a movie I always watch.

This Weibo post received 6.7 likes and over 5 comments.

The same thing happened on other influential Weibo users' posts under this topic.

This data is clearly much more normal than that of Sina Weibo; it's all from real people.

Cheng Kaige returned the phone to Hai Qing. He had already realized that the production team's decision to choose Sina Weibo for promotion was a mistake.

However, he couldn't say anything wrong to Chen Hong in front of everyone, so he said, "It's good that it worked. Everyone, hurry back to the hotel to rest after dinner. There are still many activities tomorrow."

After the event ended, Fan Bingbing got into her own van.

She took out her phone to check the information online and found that not many people were paying attention to her scandal.

The final episode of Sisters Who Make Waves aired tonight, and that's where the focus of public attention is.

It's not that Fan Bingbing isn't famous enough, but rather that a single celebrity can't compete with a wildly popular show and the platform behind it.

The show "Sisters Who Make Waves" has already aired 8 episodes, totaling 16 videos, and has lasted for two whole months, accumulating a large audience and a lot of buzz.

The finals naturally attract a lot of attention.

Even Fan Bingbing herself is watching Sisters Who Make Waves.

After all, she's 29 years old, approaching the age of 30, so watching this show makes her feel very connected to it.

Looking at the comments on Weibo, Fan Bingbing realized that the Sisters Who Make Waves finale was very controversial.

The first controversy is about the 11 sisters who debuted.

He Qing, Jia Jingwen, Li Xiaoran, Zhou Huimin, Yuan Li, Qin Lan, Liu Xiaoli, He Saifei, Lin Xiangping, Lin Jing, Chen Zihan.

These 11 people debuted.

Qin Lan, whose overall performance was barely at the A level, unexpectedly had a breakout performance in the finals, scoring the highest and debuting as the center.

Tian Zhen, Zhang Qiang, Li Lingyu, Pan Meichen, and others who had previously achieved excellent results all failed to debut.

This sparked considerable controversy.

Moreover, Tian Zhen and others failed to debut because they sang and danced to "Little Apple".

This disco-style hit song, though catchy and addictive, wasn't suitable for the sisters to perform, resulting in low scores and most of them being eliminated.

This has sparked new controversies – whether there are behind-the-scenes manipulations in the "Sisters Who Make Waves" competition, and whether the song "Little Apple" is actually any good.

Many netizens are criticizing the "Sisters Who Make Waves" for alleged behind-the-scenes manipulation, saying that Jiang Yifeng deliberately arranged for Tian Zhen and others to perform "Little Apple" in order to promote his movie, which resulted in the elimination of these sisters.

They even specially arranged for Qin Lan to debut in the center position, strongly promoting Qin Lan.

Some netizens countered, saying that these were all the sisters' own choices.

After seeing the controversy, Fan Bingbing was also curious, so she used her phone's 3G network to play a clip of Little Apple's performance.

"I planted a seed, and it has finally grown into fruit. Today is a great day."

I'll pluck the stars from the sky and give them to you, I'll pull down the moon and give it to you, I'll make the sun rise for you every day..."

After listening to the song, Fan Bingbing didn't know how to comment. She felt it was indeed a bit low-brow, but the melody was catchy and the rhythm was dynamic, so it wasn't unpleasant to listen to.

Some of the older women just couldn't dance this abstract and mesmerizing style of dance, and their performances weren't very good.

Back at the hotel, Fan Bingbing watched the entire Sisters Who Make Waves finale video, staying up until 1 a.m. She found it very entertaining with no dull moments.

The song "Little Apple" does have problems, but they are not as serious as netizens say.

Moreover, the final 11 members who debuted were just a formality, and there were no other benefits.

Fan Bingbing didn't understand why there was such a big controversy, and why people were saying it was an inside story.

Unexpectedly, on the second night, after the hype surrounding the Sisters Who Make Waves finale had subsided somewhat, the eliminated sisters began to speak out.

First, Pan Meichen posted a Weibo post.

"When discussing the program, I disagreed with singing 'Little Apple.' The song itself is fine, but it's not suitable for the Sisters Who Make Waves stage."

But someone told me that I must sing this song, as it is the theme song for director Jiang Yifeng's new movie "Old Boys: Back to 20".

"Back to 20" will be released on New Year's Day, and we must support it.

What can I say after he's already said that? After all, Jiang Yifeng organized the Sisters Who Make Waves show.

Regardless, it was a very enjoyable experience to participate in Sisters Who Make Waves, and I gained a lot from this show.

It was my last performance, but it wasn't the performance I wanted, leaving me with a considerable regret.

Pan Meichen's Weibo post went viral, as it implied that she was coerced by the show's producers into singing "Little Apple."

The hashtags "Sisters Who Make Waves Behind the Scenes" and "Singing Little Apple to Promote 'Back to 20'" immediately trended on Weibo, attracting widespread attention across the internet.

If the controversy surrounding the alleged behind-the-scenes manipulation last night was merely a matter of debate, then many people were still speaking up for Jiang Yifeng.

Now, more and more people are supporting the theory that there was a cover-up.

Not long after, Li Lingyu also posted a Weibo post.

"Thanks to the Sisters Who Make Waves program, many young viewers got to know me."

I took every performance of this show seriously, making sure that each performance was worthy of all the audience.

However, for the last performance, I need to apologize to everyone.

I'm not really good at the song "Little Apple," and I can't do the bouncy dance either, which resulted in a less than satisfactory performance.

I hope everyone will forgive my mistake.

This Weibo post was even more damaging than Pan Meichen's.

Netizens began to speculate:
An old artist worked diligently on the show, delivering various wonderful performances, but made a mistake because he was forced to sing and dance to "Little Apple" at the end.

She didn't blame anyone; instead, she took the initiative to apologize to the audience.

She really did! I'm crying my eyes out!
Once this sentiment took hold, the claim that "Jiang Yifeng forced the sisters to sing and dance to 'Little Apple' in order to promote his return to 20" really went viral across the internet.

What was controversial last night has turned into a deluge of criticism tonight.

Besides enthusiastic netizens or casual observers, many of these attacks and smears are from competitors and rivals.

They finally got their chance, so naturally they wanted to intensify their efforts to completely ruin Jiang Yifeng's career.

Even Jiang Yifeng's previous efforts to protect the Crown Girls Group and help the bullies were brought up and repeatedly used by them.

(End of this chapter)