You Don’t Understand The Pain Of Being Popular - Chapter 185: The 185th day of being popular

As the summer vacation began in early July, the judgment result for Luo Shuai finally came out fresh.

#Luo Shuai’s First Instance Verdict

#Luo Shuai Sentenced to 25 Years

#Luo Shuai’s Exorbitant Breach of Contract Penalty

These few phrases practically dominated the entire internet. Netizens flocked in response, starting a lively gossip session.

“Wow, they’re piling up the charges, sentencing him to a full 25 years in prison. Impressive!”

“Luo Shuai is already in his thirties this year, so theoretically, he won’t be out until he’s 55 years old.”

“Hahaha, it’s so satisfying. The scum deserves to be kicked out of the entertainment circle.”

“Why bother? He could have enjoyed the adoration of fans under the spotlight with a hefty paycheck. Now he’s ruined himself over nothing.”

“Thanks to Yao Bianliang. Who knows when Luo Shuai’s misdeeds would have come to light if it wasn’t for her.”

Netizens were overwhelmingly pleased with this judgment.

But some observant ones noticed, at the bottom of the announcement, an official statement mentioning an investigation with Luo Shuai’s company and the prohibition of any public lewd behavior.

This small print wasn’t particularly prominent, and compared to the entertainment company, the public was more focused on the star himself.

As a result, this information didn’t garner much attention at the moment.

Until a well-known influencer noticed something and posted on Weibo:

“Hey, everyone! I’ve found an extremely accurate prediction thread. All the allegations have been proven true one by one. Yao Xinxin, Lu Yanchen, Luo Shuai… who’s next?

You can check out the details by clicking the webpage link xxxxx.”

As soon as this news broke, many followers scrutinized the thread. Soon, everyone was shocked.

The poster claimed to be an insider at Ansheng Entertainment, and due to dissatisfaction with the company covering up Luo Shuai’s wrongdoing, they had chosen to resign.

They revealed several insider messages in total. While the integrity of the rest remained uncertain, quite a few pieces of information had been verified as true up to that point.

“Oh my, it’s actually true. They mentioned months ago that Luo Shuai had relationship with fans.”

“Who’s the genius behind these predictions? Can’t believe they got it all right.”

“Ladies, I initially clicked to enjoy some juicy gossip, and then I saw my artist in this thread… *stop smiling*”

“Hahaha, forgive me for my lack of empathy, but these artist before must be feeling miserable.”

【Is it true that Lu Group helps its artists evade taxes?】

【Heh, it’s clear that both Lu Group and Ansheng Entertainment are not good commodities. What kind of people can their artists be?】

This thread listed several incidents involving celebrities, including but not limited to tax evasion, prostitution, gambling, rape, being the third party in a relationship, extramarital affairs, and so on, encompassing all types of scandals.

All these celebrities, without exception, are from Ansheng Entertainment.

【Shouldn’t the relevant authorities investigate this?】

【Lu Yanchen is Luo Shuai’s cousin. He has helped Luo Shuai cover up his crimes more than once. Well… this is terrifying upon closer inspection.】

【Birds of a feather flock together, huh?】

【Haha, I am bookmarking this thread and waiting for more juicy updates.】

*****

After waking up, Zhou Fei discovered that his post had gone viral.

“Thousands of likes overnight, what happened?” Zhou Fei was perplexed as he looked at the bright red “999+” notifications.

He clicked on his post, skimmed through the comments, and finally understood the sequence of events.

When he had resigned earlier, he had posted this thread out of frustration. The post hadn’t received any attention at the time, not even a single like or comment. Over time, Zhou Fei had even forgotten he had made the post.

Now, with Luo Shuai in trouble, someone had dug up his old post.

Zhou Fei noticed a legal letter from Ansheng Entertainment among the numerous private messages he received.

Ansheng Entertainment: “Please immediately delete the post, stop spreading rumors, otherwise our company will pursue legal action.”

Looking at these words, Zhou Fei’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

So you also care about the law, huh?

There’s no way he would delete the post. Zhou Fei had a clear conscience and certainly wouldn’t cover up for Ansheng Entertainment.

However, Zhou Fei still edited some of the post’s content to be cautious.

He removed all the previous “expose” related words and replaced them with “prediction.”

【Zhou Fei: “Here’s a prediction for you. The following events will happen in the future! (This post is purely for entertainment purposes and has no other meaning.)】

In this way, it would be impossible even if Ansheng Entertainment wanted to sue him.

With this justification, Zhou Fei had no more worries. He wrote down everything he knew and immediately added it to the post.

As a result, the post wasn’t deleted; instead, more than ten other revelations were added.

【Wow, what a hardcore thread. More explosive content has been added!】

【Trying to gain attention, right? How could my sister possibly be a third party? This person is so disgusting.】

【Sitting in the front row with popcorn, who knows how many of these things will actually come true within this year.】

*****

On the other side, at Ansheng Entertainment’s headquarters.

Mr. Sheng looked at the mountain of pending tasks in his hand and felt overwhelmed.

“Damn it,” he paced back and forth in his office, “What’s been going on recently? The company has suddenly become so turbulent!”

First, there was the incident with Yao Xinxin and Lu Shao, and now Luo Shuai has caused such a big scandal. For Ansheng Entertainment, this was indeed a troublesome period.

Due to the surge in negative news from various aspects, Ansheng Entertainment’s stocks started to fall, and their daily revenue was different from what it used to be.

There was unrest among the company’s internal staff; it was not an exaggeration to say they faced internal and external troubles. Even more importantly, their finances were visibly strained.

Money was required to invest in film and television productions or carry out promotional activities.

Ansheng Entertainment might be a big player, but expenses were also substantial. Now, during this troublesome period, financial constraints were becoming apparent.

“Mr. Sheng, Wen Xuan is here.” An assistant knocked on the door and whispered.

Mr. Sheng frowned slightly, “Let her in.”

Wen Xuan she had finished acting, so what was she doing here?

A light click sounded as Wen Xuan pushed the door open. She brushed her long hair back and looked at Mr. Sheng, flashing a smile.

“Mr. Sheng, ‘Legend of An Hua’ is premiering tomorrow, you should be aware, right?”

Mr. Sheng was puzzled, slightly impatiently saying, “Of course I know. Regarding publicity matters, you can have your agent contact the marketing department.”

The implication was that such a minor matter didn’t require her to come directly to him.

Mr. Sheng clearly indicated he was in a hurry, but Wen Xuan didn’t seem to mind. She casually found a spot on the couch and sat down.

Looking at Mr. Sheng, she shrugged, “Mr. Sheng, are you worried about the company’s financial situation?”

Mr. Sheng looked at Wen Xuan, his brows furrowing and a clear sense of displeasure in his eyes.

Wen Xuan smiled, “Actually, Mr. Sheng, there’s no need to worry. After the success of ‘Legend of An Hua,’ the funds will naturally flow in, and the company’s financial issues will be resolved.”

She paused for a moment and continued, “However, as of now, the promotional efforts for ‘Legend of An Hua’ are clearly insufficient.”

Filming, promotion, release, and profit-making had formed a complete industry chain.

With inadequate promotion for “Legend of An Hua” it would be difficult to attract sufficient investment afterward. Therefore, they needed to increase their efforts.

Mr. Sheng was well aware of this, which was also why he was so frustrated.

“I understand what you’re saying, but the problem is that we’ve already invested a substantial amount in ‘Legend of An Hua’!”

Even if he wanted to provide additional investment, he didn’t have the funds for it.

Thinking of this, Mr. Sheng couldn’t help but complain, “Why did you use the promotion funds on props and costumes?”

Did the crew not understand whether props and costumes were more important or promotion was more important?

Once the promotion was boosted, who would care whether the props and costumes were good or not? What difference did it make between a five-cent prop and a one-dollar prop?

Wen Xuan said, “Mr. Sheng, don’t be too agitated. As far as I know, Yao Bianliang’s new drama, ‘Spring’s Warmth and Rich Dew,’ is in the same genre as ours. Moreover, it’s scheduled to air at the same time as ours.”

“We might not have promotion funds, but Yao Bianliang’s investors are generous. They must have prepared a sufficient promotional budget.”

A flicker of interest appeared in Mr. Sheng’s eyes, and he asked, “Are you suggesting?”

“When Yao Bianliang’s new drama airs, her fans and team will undoubtedly put effort into promotion,” a playful smile flashed in Wen Xuan’s eyes. “She’s ridden on our popularity so many times, can’t we also ride on her popularity in return?”

Colliding dramas of the same genre, provocations, and mutual trampling were common marketing strategies.

This type of promotion was very effective and could save them significant money.

Mr. Sheng’s eyes brightened, and he was quite intrigued. However, he thought of something and had some concerns.

“How can you be sure that Yao Bianliang’s new drama won’t outperform ours?” he asked.

Provocation marketing was an excellent strategy, but it was also easy to backfire.

If things went wrong, they might not only fail to promote their own drama successfully but also inadvertently promote another’s.

Yao Bianliang’s dramas had consistently been of good quality, and this time, with “Spring’s Warmth and Rich Dew” its quality might not be worse than “Legend of An Hua”

Therefore, despite knowing this information, Mr. Sheng hadn’t considered this direction before.

Wen Xuan chuckled lightly, “Mr. Sheng, rest assured. I’ve already found out that Yao Bianliang’s new drama has an extremely toxic plot, and it’s unlikely to be well-received!”

Facing Mr. Sheng’s puzzled gaze, Wen Xuan calmly pointed out a few poison points to him.

“In Yao Bianliang’s new drama, the female lead has served many people and her innocence is questionable. Many viewers can’t accept this poison point – that’s the first one.”

“The second point is that the female lead is oppressed whether she’s in the brothel or in the palace. The storyline is full of suffering from start to finish, without any turning point.”

In the midst of Mr. Sheng’s astonished gaze, Wen Xuan paused slightly and then dropped the last bombshell.

“The third point is that, in the end of this drama, the male lead will treat the female lead as a gift and present her to the neighboring lord as a concubine!”

When Mr. Sheng heard the first two poison points, although he was quite surprised, he could still accept them.

It wasn’t until he heard the last poison point that Wen Xuan mentioned that he was utterly shocked. “Giving away the female lead? Isn’t this a terrible ending? Are you sure the information you obtained is correct?”

Wen Xuan nodded, “Mr. Sheng, don’t worry. The information is absolutely reliable.”

A twitch appeared at the corner of Mr. Sheng’s mouth as he was deeply shocked.

Using the male lead gifting the female lead as an ending, could a human being really come up with such a storyline? It was practically like seeking revenge on society.

He even felt that Yao Bianliang must have made this drama specifically to disgust the audience and prepare to face criticism.

“What happens to the female lead after she’s given away?” Mr. Sheng couldn’t help but ask.

“She dies,” Wen Xuan shrugged, “tragically dies at the neighboring lord’s residence. The male lead has no reaction upon hearing this news, as if an inconsequential person had died.”

Mr. Sheng: “…”

Great, this was beyond being described as just “poison.”

It was incredibly toxic, enough to cause heart attacks in an instant.

“In that case, your suggested promotional plan indeed seems feasible,” Mr. Sheng’s eyes were getting brighter and brighter.

One storyline was pleasing, the other was toxic. He could fully imagine how public opinion would develop once both dramas were released together.

In this scenario, it was nearly impossible for their plan to backfire when trampling on the other party.

By doing so, they could save a considerable amount of funds and take revenge for Yao Bianliang, causing both Lu Yanchen and Luo Shuai to leave the entertainment industry!

With these thoughts, Mr. Sheng glanced at the calendar and circled the dates of tomorrow and the day after.

“Our drama will officially premiere tomorrow, and Yao Bianliang’s new drama will also premiere the day after. Our marketing plan will be executed in these two days,” a smile curled at the corner of his lips.