Huayu Entertainment: The Birth of a Succubus Top Star

The discussion about whether Gu Zhiyan is a superstar didn't last long before it was overshadowed by another topic.

At this point, anything that can steal Gu Zhiyan's thunder must be extraordinary.

Being able to suppress Gu Zhiyan's popularity would probably make anyone else ecstatic.

But the person involved in this matter is unlikely to be laughing.

Because the person in question is named Zhai Tianlin.

During a live stream a couple of days ago, Zhai Tianlin blurted out a question from a viewer: "What is CNKI?"

This statement instantly ignited a public outcry.

As a PhD and postdoctoral fellow, the fact that he was unaware of CNKI, China's most important academic literature database, raises serious questions about the authenticity of his academic background and the quality of his doctoral degree.

Following the public outcry, the Beijing Film Academy and Peking University quickly established an investigation team, and the investigation results confirmed that Zhai Tianlin had committed serious academic misconduct.

The incident concluded with the serious handling of the matter by the two universities and Zhai Tianlin's public apology, and his acting career has essentially come to a standstill.

If the incident ended here, it might just be one of many celebrity scandals.

However, the Zhai Tianlin incident is unique in that it accurately hit the pain points of Chinese higher education, especially the graduation thesis review process, and generated a "chain reaction" that has lasted for many years.

Thesis review is more stringent than ever before, plagiarism standards have been drastically lowered, and blind and external reviews are much stricter...

The college students who were initially just watching the drama unfold later found themselves unable to laugh anymore, feeling a deep sense of pain and experiencing complex emotions.

Hehe, or not?

In the first year of Tianlin, the harsh winter was approaching.

Since then, every graduation season, Dr. Zhai's Weibo comment section has been flooded with "greetings" from graduating students.

He was thanked "very strongly" for "single-handedly promoting the standardization of Chinese scholarship".

This matter has also become related to Gu Zhiyan.

Because someone actually went and examined his graduation thesis, and found no problems.

Whether this was done by idle netizens or by someone with ulterior motives, there's no need to delve into it.

As an artist who has been known as an academic star since her debut and is now one of the most popular celebrities, Gu Zhiyan had long anticipated this.

Go ahead and dig deep, the more you dig, the more solid his academic genius persona will become.

Just as Dr. Zhai suppressed his previous trending topic, the other party immediately gave him another trending topic. That's pretty good.

During this time, Gu Zhiyan also received a phone call from Xin Zhilei.

The other party asked him if he had any good solutions to this problem, and it was clear that Xin Zhilei was very anxious.

Gu Zhiyan told him the truth, there was nothing she could do.

This incident has had a huge impact; leaving the industry is inevitable.

However, it's still better than those who go to work as sewing machines and face huge compensation. Although Dr. Zhai can no longer work in the entertainment industry, his life is definitely a hundred times better than that of ordinary people.

Xin Zhilei was desperate and grasped at straws. She probably had already anticipated this outcome. In the end, she made an appointment with Gu Zhiyan to have dinner together when she had time, and then ended the call.

……

After finishing their fashion magazine shoot and brand endorsement work, Gu Zhiyan and Nazha met up and headed to Hunan Province together.

"Go Go Squid!" will be broadcast soon.

They were going to attend the press conference for the premiere of the TV series.

Due to Gu Zhiyan's schedule, he was unable to participate in offline promotional activities.

The importance of "Go Go Squid!" definitely ranks after "The Wandering Earth".

Therefore, the promotion of "Go Go Squid!" before its premiere was mainly conducted online.

Hunan TV expressed its regret but also its understanding regarding Gu Zhiyan's inability to participate in offline promotions.

However, whether Gu Zhiyan participates in offline promotions or not is not that important. As long as the "Gu Zhiyan starring" label is used, there will be no shortage of popularity.

Moreover, riding the wave of record-breaking box office success of "The Wandering Earth," the effect was even more phenomenal.

Short video platforms such as Weibo and Douyin have become the main battleground for online promotion.

The official Weibo account continues to release trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, and stills, and launches topics such as "Go Go Squid!"

Gu Zhiyan also actively cooperated, interacting and sharing with Na Zha and the supporting cast, using her personal influence to drive traffic to the series.

Gu Zhiyan's connections are naturally beyond question. As soon as he posted on Weibo, it immediately attracted a large number of celebrities to forward and promote it. It can be said that most of the entertainment industry was promoting his new drama.

At the same time, a large number of sweet, funny, and exciting plot clips were released on short video platforms such as Douyin, such as "Han Shangyan's killer gaze" and "Tong Nian's drunkenness".

By leveraging the viral nature of short videos, multiple potential viral moments were created before the broadcast even began.

The focus of the TV series' promotion is naturally Gu Zhiyan and his "Tongyan CP" with Nazha.

Naza is very happy lately.

Hmph, once this TV series airs, Dilraba will definitely be pinned down by her.

She has faith in Brother Xiaoyan!

Nazha's fans have been very active and excited lately. They may lack confidence in their idol, but like Nazha, they have confidence in Gu Zhiyan.

Many fans were already popping champagne halfway through the event, as if their idols had already achieved a major upgrade.

Furthermore, they even went to show off in front of their old rival Dilraba's fans.

This naturally sparked another major battle.

Although this drama has nothing to do with Dilraba, this whole commotion has boosted her popularity quite a bit.

This is also one of the reasons why Gu Zhiyan told Nazha and Reba last time that the battle could not stop.

If you benefit from my example, and I benefit from yours, we can all improve together.

……

Excited, Nazha worked extra hard today, only stopping when he was completely exhausted.

"Brother Xiaoyan, do you think our drama will be a hit?" Nazha nestled in Gu Zhiyan's arms and asked softly.

Although she had confidence in Xiao Yan, she was still a little nervous because the TV series was going to air tomorrow.

I don't know when I'll be able to work with Brother Xiaoyan again; this is a do-or-die situation.

If you succeed, you'll be promoted to the top tier; if you fail, you'll continue to rely on your looks to stay in the second tier.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely become a top star after this drama airs." Gu Zhiyan rubbed Na Zha's head.

"Mmm." Nazha nodded vigorously.

Since Brother Xiaoyan said so, then there's definitely no problem!

The situation after "Go Go Squid!" aired made Nazha smile from ear to ear every day.

"Go Go Squid!" premiered on Hunan TV's Golden Eagle Independent Broadcast Theater and was simultaneously launched on iQiyi and Tencent Video.

The show achieved a viewership rating of over 1 on its premiere night. With its sweet and exciting storyline and the lead actors' performances, word-of-mouth quickly spread on social media, showing its potential to become a hit.

As the romantic storyline between the "Tong Yan CP" deepened and the competition plot unfolded, the viewership ratings surged past 2% and continued to climb, firmly occupying the top spot in its time slot and achieving true "nationwide drama-watching".

On online streaming platforms, it became the fastest drama to break 10,000 views on Taobao, and its peak popularity on the platform remained at the top.

It is also one of the fastest-growing dramas on Tencent Video, consistently ranking first on the "TV Series Popularity Chart" and breaking multiple popularity records on the platform.

Netizens and media alike exclaimed in surprise, "Gu Zhiyan's move is truly extraordinary!"