I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

In the early hours of the morning, the hotels in Nanshan, Chongqing, quieted down.

The internet is already in an uproar.

Lu Han sat on the sofa in his room, the light from his phone screen making his eyes bloodshot.

These haters are truly insane.

Previously, it was said that Jiang Che was an amateur behind the scenes and not good enough for Song Yuqi.

As a result, Zhao Mingyuan from Xinghai Music was eliminated.

He issued a copyright ownership statement for three songs overnight, officially certifying Jiang Che as a top composer in China.

Some people say that Jiang Che's singing is auto-tuned.

The videos taken by passersby at the scene were quickly uploaded online, with the audio straight out of the camera and taken from various angles.

That vocal quality completely silenced several marketing accounts that claimed to be professional music critics.

Logically speaking, a normal person would have dispersed long ago after being confronted with irrefutable evidence.

But instead of disbanding, this organized group of haters changed their tactics.

From picking on Jiang Che, she started biting everyone indiscriminately.

"He just got lucky and found a good arranger. Does he really think he's the savior of the music industry?"

"Keeping this scheming man on the show is a bad influence on children. Boycott 'Five Huskies'!"

"Boycott even the sponsors of 'Five Haas'! A certain milk brand actually sponsors this kind of program; I'm going to the supermarket to return it tomorrow!"

Lu Han's fingers swiped the screen harder and harder, and finally she couldn't help but curse.

"Damn, these guys are really brainless."

Any name even remotely related to Jiang Che was affected.

The official account of Jiang Che's small studio had its last post from three years ago, and it was covered by 100,000 abusive comments.

Even the market vendor who sold them side dishes during the day got his short video account doxxed and his comment section was full of profanity because he gave Jiang Che an extra handful of Sichuan peppercorns.

At the same time.

In the temporary meeting room on the third floor of the hotel, the ashtray was already overflowing with cigarette butts.

Wu Zheng stared at the real-time public opinion monitoring chart on the big screen, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

The red negative curve is still rising.

"Director Wu."

The public relations manager pushed open the door, carrying several printed reports, his forehead covered in sweat.

"It can't be contained anymore. This is definitely not just an emotional outburst from ordinary fans; there are at least three PR companies pushing this behind the scenes."

Wu Zheng stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in his hand.

"Is it possible to find out who's behind this?"

"It's too scattered; they're using all overseas proxy IPs and bought troll accounts."

The supervisor pulled out a chair and sat down, lowering his voice.

"Their goal is clear: first, to discredit Jiang Che, and then drag our production team down with them."

Wu Zheng sneered.

The entertainment industry is only so big, and there are only so many opportunities.

Jiang Che's performance tonight went viral, and Song Yuqi's popularity was boosted again. "Five Dogs" became the first hit of the year.

I wonder how many people's interests have been threatened.

Envious people can't stand to see you doing well, so they'll only try to sabotage you.

"Activate the emergency public relations plan."

Wu Zheng placed his hands on the table and lowered his voice.

"Analyze all these online troll accounts, package them up, and hand them over to the platform."

"Contact a few familiar media outlets and release some of the funny clips we recorded earlier to steer the buzz in a positive direction."

"Also, the official Weibo account issued a statement."

"Use stronger language."

"The program team reserves the right to pursue legal action against accounts that engage in unwarranted insults, personal attacks, or spread rumors."

The supervisor nodded as he took notes, but his expression remained grim.

"Director Wu, these are only temporary solutions."

"The biggest problem right now isn't the online trolls, it's the big spenders."

Just as he finished speaking, Wu Zheng's phone rang.

Two words were flashing on the screen.

Mr. Li.

Sponsored by a certain cow.

Wu Zheng looked at the name and ground his back teeth.

What you fear most is what happens.

He picked up his phone, pressed answer, and casually turned on speakerphone.

"Wu Zheng! Look at the mess the internet has made!"

As soon as the call connected, Mr. Li's impatient voice came through the speakerphone.

"Our official flagship store's customer service is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of complaints! Return requests keep piling up!"

Wu Zheng suppressed his anger.

"Mr. Li, please calm down. We are dealing with the situation online. This is a premeditated smear campaign, and we have already activated our public relations plan."

"I don't care what you start!"

Mr. Li interrupted him directly.

"I'm here to invest and make money, not to take the blame for you!"

"The entire internet is now boycotting Jiang Che, and by extension, our products. Who will bear the losses?"

Wu Zheng's expression turned cold.

In all his years of making shows, what he finds most annoying are investors who know nothing normally but give chaotic orders when something goes wrong.

"Mr. Li, you haven't looked at the program's data yet, have you?"

Wu Zheng tried his best to suppress the fire.

"Today's live stream saw all the data reach all-time highs."

"What's the use of data! If your reputation is terrible, even high numbers are a disaster!"

Mr. Li slammed his fist on the table over there.

"Wu Zheng, I'm putting my words here."

"Either you stop broadcasting immediately for rectification, cut out all content related to Jiang Che, and re-record it."

"Or you could just kick him out of the show."

"Otherwise, we'll withdraw our investment tomorrow!"

The meeting room fell silent.

The PR manager even held his breath.

Withdrawal of investment.

The withdrawal of sponsorship is a major problem for any variety show.

This is tantamount to announcing to the outside world that there are problems with the program and the sponsor has run away first.

Subsequent business development and broadcasting will be affected.

Wu Zheng sat in the chair without saying a word.

Mr. Li on the other end of the phone thought he was scared, so his tone softened a bit, but still carried a condescending air.

"Old Wu, it's not that I'm trying to make things difficult for you."

"So what if Jiang Che is just a nobody behind the scenes, even if he's written a few songs?"

"He caused such a huge problem that the entire team shouldn't be dragged down with him."

"Make a decision quickly and find someone else to take over, so we can continue to work together."

Wu Zheng glanced at the clock on the wall.

2:30 a.m.

He took a cigarette from the pack, lit it, and took a drag.

"Mr. Li."

Wu Zheng's voice, however, became flat.

"You should withdraw your investment."

The call got stuck on the other end.

A few seconds later, Mr. Li's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"What did you say? Wu Zheng, are you crazy?!"

"I'm not crazy, I'm perfectly sober."

Wu Zheng flicked his cigarette ash.

"Since Mr. Li has no confidence in our program and thinks Jiang Che is a problem, then this deal really can't be done."

"The penalty for breach of contract will be handled according to the contract."

"How do you want to withdraw? Send your legal counsel over tomorrow morning to discuss it."

The PR manager was frantically trying to signal to Wu Zheng with his eyes.

That's the title sponsor.

Tens of millions of real money.

Are we just going to let them go like that?

Wu Zheng didn't look at him and continued speaking into the phone.

"However, Mr. Li, before you withdraw your investment, could you please have those people under you who only look at negative reviews and not reports pull out today's final data for 'Five Ha' and take a look?"

He grabbed a document from the table and read it aloud.

"This afternoon in Shancheng Lane, during the ten minutes Jiang Che sang, the peak number of concurrent viewers in the live stream exceeded 60 million."

"Today, the total number of views for related trending topics across the internet reached 1.8 billion."

"The soaring return rate you mentioned is due to online trolls manipulating the system by placing fake orders."

"What you didn't see was that the purchase link for a certain brand of cows in the bottom right corner of the live stream sold out 200,000 cases of inventory in just one hour."

"Our sales figures are higher than your entire sales for the previous month."

With each word Wu Zheng spoke, his voice grew deeper.

"I've been making TV shows for so many years, and I've never seen data like this before."

"You want me to fire Jiang Che?"

"Do you know how many platforms are vying for him right now?"

"Let me tell you, Jiang Che will not only stay, I'm going to give him more screen time and pay him more to keep him here."

Mr. Li on the other end of the phone was stunned by this string of numbers.

It took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence.

"Is this data accurate?"

Wu Zheng sneered.

"It's fake, I made it up to fool you."

Believe it or not, it's up to you.

"You're withdrawing your investment, are you? Go ahead."

"To be honest with you, the brands that came to inquire about sponsorship schedules tonight are already booked until next week."

"Your spot will be filled by noon tomorrow at the latest."

After saying that, Wu Zheng didn't give the other party a chance to continue arguing and hung up immediately.

He threw the phone back onto the table with a crisp sound.

No one spoke in the meeting room.

The PR manager swallowed hard and gave a thumbs up.

"Director Wu, you've got guts."

He paused, then asked cautiously.

"But do we really have that many potential investors?"

Wu Zheng leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

"Of course."

"Jiang Che is now a walking traffic magnet."

"Song Yuqi's crush of ten years can write, sing, and generate buzz."

"Only a blind person wouldn't see the commercial value in this kind of person."

"Those troublemakers won't be around for long."

He turned to look at his supervisor.

"Go and do what I asked you to do."

"Investigate thoroughly with your online trolls; dig up as much of the source as you can."

"I want to show these people that Wuha is not a pushover they can just bully."