You Don’t Understand The Pain Of Being Popular - Chapter 164: The 164th day of being popular

When her finally faded from the netizen’s view, this person suddenly pulled such a stunt, catching her off guard!

“Who could be so bored and have nothing better to do?”

Could it be the investor of the new drama, Mo Yougan?

It seemed unlikely. Their goals were aligned; only someone with idle time and resources would bother with promotion. So, this possibility could be ruled out first.

Then could it be Mother Yao who had just offered her an olive branch?

This possibility was also small. Firstly, the Yao family didn’t have that much influence. Secondly, she had just blocked Mother Yao; why would she suddenly help her with publicity?

So, could it be that jerk, Lu Yanchen?

But she had already fallen out with Lu Yanchen, and there was no motivation for the Lu family to assist her.

While pondering, a “ding” sound suddenly rang in Yao Bianliang’s mind, followed by the system’s slow broadcast.

[Detected changes in the Host’s current situation; generating a new mission.]

Yao Bianliang’s expression slightly changed as she immediately sat up straight.

After waiting for so long, the system’s new mission finally arrived. However, it came at the most inconvenient time when she was going through rough times.

[Host is requested to play the leading role in a film or TV show, causing the movie or TV show to receive a rating of less than four points on a certain website, flooded with negative reviews. Host’s reputation will plummet, eventually leading to her becoming unpopular.]

[Mission rewards:

Participation Award: 300,000 (obtained by participating)

Completion Award: 100 billion (obtained upon completing the mission)]

“This mission is actually about reputation?” Yao Bianliang was momentarily stunned but soon understood.

Her three previous short dramas had their own strengths and weaknesses, but they all had one thing in common—their reputation was excellent.

As an actress, she secured her place in the entertainment industry with her stellar reputation.

If she wanted to become unpopular, aside from damaging her reputation and breaking her perfect image in the public’s eyes, it seemed there was no other way.

But that would make things even more difficult…

Yao Bianliang looked at the unanimous praise on the internet, feeling a bit conflicted.

After all this time, her reputation showed no sign of declining and was getting even better.

How can she even play along with this?

This system seems to have suddenly emerged to mess with her.

“Ding Dong.”

The phone rang urgently, and Yao Bianliang casually answered the call. It was Zhou Fei’s voice on the other end.

“Sister Liang, have you seen the recent hot posts online?” Zhou Fei asked cautiously, “I feel like the wind is blowing in a strange direction.”

Yao Bianliang responded weakly, “Yes, I’ve seen them.”

If Zhou Fei hadn’t come to find her, she would have taken the initiative to seek him out.

The current public opinion was too positive; she needed the help of the marketing and public relations team to come up with a plan to bring her reputation down.

“What’s wrong? Are you going to congratulate me on my sudden fame again?” Yao Bianliang’s tone carried a hint of resentment. When she mentioned “sudden fame,” there was a hint of gritted teeth.

Zhou Fei naturally sensed Yao Bianliang’s gloomy mood, so he proceeded carefully, “It seems that Sister Liang already knew about this bad news. Do you have any countermeasures?”

Yao Bianliang replied, “What countermeasures do I have…”

Her words halted halfway, and she suddenly paused.

Wait, what did Zhou Fei just say?

He seemed to have called it “bad news”?

Yao Bianliang sat up slightly, and her disheartened expression gradually faded as her brain quickly started working.

To Zhou Fei, this was bad news. That meant it was good news for her!

But right now, the internet was flooded with praise for her. How could this be considered bad news?

Several thoughts flashed through Yao Bianliang’s mind, and then, she seemed to have realized something, and her eyes widened slightly.

“Are you saying someone is secretly supporting me to become famous?”

Yes, if that were the case, everything would make sense!

The other party intentionally raised her fame, even calling her the “Star of China,” the “Hope of the Entertainment Industry,” and the “Most Dedicated Actress in the Entertainment Industry.”

Such high praise was not something anyone could handle.

Once she makes even the slightest mistake or a minor slip-up, she immediately faces overwhelming scrutiny. If she’s not careful, her whole public image could collapse!

Moreover, even if they suspect the other party’s intentions, it isn’t easy to come up with effective countermeasures. If they release negative information, the artist can deny it, but how can they refute a flood of praise and admiration?

The only solution is to spend money to suppress the popularity. However, Yao Bianliang clearly doesn’t have the financial resources of the Lu Group.

This creates a vicious cycle.

Yao Bianliang would have applauded the other party if it weren’t for the bad timing.

“That’s true. I also suspect that someone is trying to promote you,” Zhou Fei said with concern, “May I ask… have you recently offended anyone?”

Yao Bianliang chuckled, “Do you need to ask if I offended someone?”

In this circle, the number of people capable of both promoting her and wanting her to be cold is very small. So it’s evident who’s behind this—

The Lu Group, and Lu Yanchen.

Yao Bianliang couldn’t help feeling a bit happy. She hadn’t expected this brilliant person to come up with such a clever plan suddenly. The scheme this time was truly reliable.

“It’s alright, you don’t need to worry too much about this matter. Let them do as they please,” she said.

There were only two possible outcomes from this promotion: either she would fall from a great height and suffer a disastrous failure, or her actual talent matched the fame and she would truly be praised.

But she certainly didn’t deserve such a high reputation!

She was thinking about her recent drama “Spring Warmth, Dew, and Splendor” which was full of poisonous plotlines and had a poor ending. Such a drama was bound to receive criticism; there’s no way it would generate such a positive reputation.

Just imagine the Lu Group spent heaps of money promoting her, and the entire internet was filled with praises, and everyone had high expectations for her new drama.

But when the new drama was finally released, they would be shocked to find that it was a highly toxic drama that could poison people!

Wouldn’t that lead to a backlash?

As the saying goes, the deeper the love, the stronger the hate. They had praised her so much, but when they saw the new drama, they would curse her with equal intensity.

Yao Bianliang could already imagine how many people would scold her. Countless negative reviews and ridicule would come like a tidal wave, knocking her down. Her reputation would be thoroughly ruined, and there would be no possibility of a comeback.

Just thinking about such a scene made her feel incredibly delightful.

Yao Bianliang’s lips curled slightly as if she could already see the beautiful future of becoming “凉” (cold).

“Zhou Fei, you don’t need to suppress the popularity. Instead, you can appropriately fan the flames,” Yao Bianliang said casually.

Lu Yanchen had done her such a favor; she couldn’t just sit back and not help him.

However, upon hearing this, Zhou Fei became anxious, “Sister Liang, this… How can we do that? Maybe your new drama is very powerful and can win the audience. But even so, the promotion from the other side is still not beneficial for us!”

“If this new drama doesn’t fail, what about the next time? The time after that?”

“If you are promoted too highly, any slight misstep will lead to a disastrous fall!”

Zhou Fei was genuinely concerned.

He knew that his artist usually didn’t care about marketing and publicity; she just wanted to focus on acting. But public opinion could be deadly.

If she had such an indifferent attitude, it could lead to irreversible consequences.

At first, Yao Bianliang didn’t think much of it, but her eyes shone brighter after hearing Zhou Fei’s words.

Yes, even if Lu Yanchen’s plan doesn’t work this time, what about the next time? The time after that?

She was bound to have a downfall eventually.

As long as she made even the slightest mistake, she would immediately face endless questioning and ridicule. This matter was not only beneficial in the present but also would have a lasting impact!

Thinking this way, Yao Bianliang’s mood instantly improved.

She comforted Zhou Fei, “Hmm, of course, I understand the importance of public opinion. Just follow my instructions; I have a plan for this.”

If you asked her what the plan was, that was, of course, about being cold.

Yao Bianliang was fully prepared for her reputation to crumble!

“… Alright, I’ll go make arrangements then.” Zhou Fei hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t say anything else, just agreeing.

Although Yao Bianliang said she had a plan, Zhou Fei still felt uneasy.

If they let things run their course or even fan the flames, wouldn’t they just be allowing them to promote her?

“Feige, what did Sister Liang say?”

Seeing Zhou Fei end the call, the other employees immediately looked over.

Upon learning about the matter, they were all eager and ready, waiting for Yao Bianliang’s command to charge forward immediately.

Then, they heard Zhou Fei speak with bitterness, “Sister Liang doesn’t want us to take any action… she even wants us to fan the flames.”

By the time Zhou Fei finished speaking, he looked so troubled that it seemed like he was about to lose his hair.

Everyone: “??”

After this statement, the group stood still in disbelief, finding it hard to comprehend.

Even if Sister Liang had confidence in her new drama, they couldn’t be this ostentatious.

Initially, as long as the new drama’s performance wasn’t too bad, the audience and fans would support it.

But after this excessive promotion, they might be bombarded with countless taunts and ridicule if the new drama didn’t become a massive hit.

By then, her reputation would crumble, and her image would collapse. How would she be able to make a comeback?

Zhou Fei added, facing everyone’s questioning gaze, “Sister Liang also said she has a plan for this matter, and she wants us not to worry about it.”

However, Zhou Fei couldn’t understand what kind of plan Sister Liang had to deal with such a difficult situation.

Marketing and public relations are time-sensitive matters.

Once Lu Yanchen and his team had actively engaged for a few days and raised the expectations of most netizens for Yao Bianliang, even if they came up with other strategies later, it would be too late!

“Could it be that Sister Liang foresaw today’s situation and made corresponding arrangements in advance?” someone couldn’t help but speculate.

That seemed to be the only reasonable explanation.

If Yao Bianliang had made arrangements in advance and had prepared countermeasures, there was no need to worry.

Zhou Fei sighed, “But Sister Liang doesn’t seem to have done anything besides acting in her usual days.”

As the group worriedly furrowed their brows, Xiao Pang, standing on the side, looked at the computer screen and suddenly said, “Feige, someone is looking for you.”

Zhou Fei was taken aback, and he reluctantly returned to reality from his thoughts, turning to look at his computer.

Sure enough, there was an unread message on the WeChat interface, and in the contact list, it said “Feng Shiyuan.”

[Feng Shiyuan has shared a video file with you]

[Feng Shiyuan: Feige, the criticism video targeting Yao Bianliang is ready. Take a look to see if there’s anything that needs to be changed?]