allendalepharm Chapter 597 Sister Zhao Gets Scammed: Publicity Explodes
Chapter 597 Sister Zhao Gets Scammed: Publicity Explodes
……
……
"Little brother, I knew you understood me!!"
Zhao Yingying beamed, spread her legs wide like a miniature koala, hugged Gu Qing, sat on his lap, and pecked him twice.
Her eyebrows were adorned with a gentle smile, and the joy that welled up from the bottom of her heart was impossible to hide. She felt as light as if she had shed all her constraints.
"It's a bit uncomfortable, Sister Liying."
Gu Qing leaned back on the sofa, her hands protecting the petite person on her lap. After their lips parted, the atmosphere became warm and enchanting.
"nonsense!"
Sister Zhao exhaled, her almond-shaped eyes turning pink, her fair face slightly flushed. Upon hearing this, she twisted her delicate body and adjusted her angle.
She playfully scolded him, but her body betrayed her, snuggling even closer into his arms, finding the most comfortable spot to settle down.
"Little brother, why are you improving so quickly?"
"The teacher is very good."
Gu Qing turned her head and reached for the air conditioner remote.
He can't exactly say that he practiced kissing scenes with Yang Mi, can he?
Even once the words are spoken, the person you're holding in your arms will be more than just someone who's uncomfortable.
"Hmph, that's true, but little Gu, you can't be arrogant. You still need to review what you've learned with Teacher Zhao regularly..."
Zhao Liying wrapped her arms around Gu Qing, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She felt weak and powerless all over, tingling and languid, reluctant to leave.
She greedily inhaled his clean scent, a faint aroma of soap mixed with a touch of his own unique crispness.
It reminded her of a warm, cozy quilt that had been aired out in the winter, making her want to bury herself in it and never wake up again.
It's a very strange feeling.
Having been in this industry for a long time, Zhao Liying has long been accustomed to being tense at all times.
You have to watch out for paparazzi taking photos of you, you have to watch out for sabotage from your colleagues, you have to watch out for saying the wrong thing and getting trending on social media and being ridiculed, and you have to watch out for your resources being snatched away by others.
She climbed from a nobody playing minor roles to where she is today, stepping over shards of glass with every single step.
The memory of being universally criticized online in those years is like a brand etched into her bones, forcing her to grow invisible thorns all over her body, curling up like a hedgehog to protect her most vulnerable parts.
But for Gu Qing, all those things seemed to be ineffective.
The anxieties about his career, the exhaustion of not daring to relax, and the pressure of having to stay vigilant at all times in the industry were all like being put on pause.
Zhao Liying doesn't have to worry about which difficult investor she'll face tomorrow, what time she has to get up for her schedule the day after tomorrow, or the endless lines she has to memorize and the packed schedule.
All the weight that made her breathless seemed to be isolated from Gu Qing by an invisible barrier.
This sense of security is so precious.
So precious to him that whenever Zhao Liying lingered on him, she wished she could split her time in half.
She buried her face even deeper into Gu Qing's neck, her eyelashes gently brushing against his skin. She felt as if she were soaking in warm water, her whole body exuding a lazy comfort.
"By the way, Sister Liying, when are you planning to join the crew?"
Gu Qing set the temperature, put down the remote control, and gently brushed her fingertips through the hair near Xiao Zhao's ear.
His fingertips had a thin layer of calluses, and the texture was slightly rough, which was from practicing swordsmanship every day while filming "Three Lives Three Worlds".
When the rough callus brushed against the delicate skin behind her ear, it sent a shiver down Xiao Zhao's spine.
That skin, as smooth and white as jade, was subtly tinged with a faint blush when his fingertips brushed against it.
"It's still early... the film crew won't start work before the new year."
Zhao Liying squinted her eyes contentedly, turned her head to the side, hugged Gu Qing tighter, and rested her head on his shoulder. Her voice was drowsy and lazy, as if she was half asleep, "This is the notebook that Sister Lijun gave me. She said that I liked this project, so she approved it."
"Little brother, do you still remember Sister Lijun?"
“I remember, Ciwen is the producer. They invested in our first drama, ‘The Journey of Flower’.”
Gu Qing had just nodded when a small hand covered her head.
"Hehe, my little brother is so smart! I wish I had your memory. Memorizing lines is always so hard..."
After Zhao Jie had her fill of playing with him, she went limp back into his arms.
As if remembering something, she sighed and complained, her face falling, "Especially 'Princess Agents,' I still have to memorize the lines for three dramas."
"Three parts?"
Gu Qing's eyes held a hint of doubt, and her brows furrowed slightly. "Sister Liying, are you going to film three movies?"
This actually hit a blind spot in his knowledge.
Gu Qing had naturally watched "Princess Agents" in her previous life. It was indeed a hit drama on Huangguo TV back then, with the highest single episode rating reaching 2.86%.
In the era of online dramas, this is absolutely incredible data, ranking among the top in the entire history of TV drama ratings.
"Princess Agents" undoubtedly falls into the category of blockbuster dramas.
However, Gu Qing did not finish watching it.
He watched the first thirty episodes with great interest, but was discouraged by the inexplicable storylines of the supporting characters that followed.
A large number of characters and plots that were not in the original work were crammed in, the main plot progressed at a snail's pace, while the supporting characters' love affairs were performed in a flamboyant manner.
He felt at the time that a perfectly good story had been turned into a bland soup.
From the perspective of current practitioners,
Gu Qing, of course, knew what was going on.
Inflating the number of episodes is a standard practice for film crews, and the industry has long been adept at it.
It's not just about padding the content of the series;
The viewership data for "Princess Agents" is even more outrageous, like a flood.
If Gu Qing remembered correctly
He saw on the news that the number of views for "Princess Agents" had exceeded 40 billion.
Four hundred billion!
What is this concept?
The drama "Love O2O," which Gu Qing co-starred in with Jing Tian, has garnered over 20 billion views since its conclusion.
This data has already matched that of "The Journey of Flower" in 2014, and it has been repeatedly cited as a benchmark case within the industry.
The viewership of "Princess Agents" is equivalent to the combined viewership of two hit dramas, "Love O2O" and "The Journey of Flower".
This isn't just flooding; it's flooding an entire sea.
Even if you add up all the internet users in the country and multiply that number several times, it still wouldn't be enough to divide this number.
Based on Gu Qing's understanding of Sister Zhao, she definitely wouldn't do something so idiotic.
She actually acted in "The Journey of Flower" herself. If she really wanted to play this kind of data manipulation trick, she should have done it in her previous works long ago. Why wait until now?
It's obvious that the investors want to use her name for publicity and hype, making the numbers outrageous to fool the next round of investment attraction and advertisers.
Using real-world viewership data as a bargaining chip in a business pitch is something that capital is most adept at and least concerned with its own reputation.
Ironically,
Those fans who put in real effort to create data are known in the industry as "data workers".
Even in the Chinese entertainment industry, they are considered special hero units, extremely rare, and training even one is a treasure.
The vast majority of them only refresh the comments section of male celebrities' blogs, working tirelessly day and night to boost their idols' rankings, control comments, and generate data, burning themselves out to illuminate their idols' future.
As for female celebrities?
Very few people receive this kind of treatment.
"Was 'Princess Agents' originally planned to be a three-part series?"
A hint of doubt flickered in Gu Qing's eyes as his fingers unconsciously caressed her shoulder. He wondered, "But what I saw in the news later—why was the actress changed for the second season?"
Just now, when Sister Zhao was talking to him about "Princess Agents",
His beaming expression, the sparkling light in his eyes, and the barely concealed eagerness in his voice clearly showed that he had poured a great deal of enthusiasm into this role.
Gu Qing didn't believe she would quit halfway through the performance.
There must have been a problem that led to the replacement.
"Sister Liying, you've already signed the contract, are you sure it's for three movies?"
Gu Qing gently turned Zhao Jie's head up with both hands, lifted her off his shoulders, and looked her in the eye, his expression unusually serious.
"Ah? It's...it's three. I turned down three film contracts for next year in order to film 'Princess Agents'."
Zhao Liying pouted, a little stunned by his sudden seriousness. She subconsciously wanted to show some grievance, but when she saw Gu Qing's expression, she was startled.
She quickly abandoned her playful intentions and nodded earnestly.
Her mind raced, as if she were conjuring up some possibility. Her almond-shaped eyes widened suddenly, and her voice rose a beat:
"Little brother, you don't have a drama series you want to cast me in, do you?"
"It's all over, it's all over!"
Sister Zhao panicked, her small face on the verge of tears. "Little brother, if you had told me earlier, I would have signed one film first, and then I would have signed the other two after we finished filming together. What am I going to do now..."
"Sister Liying, I'm just asking out of curiosity. I'll be filming on set for the first half of next year."
Seeing that she was so anxious she was almost spinning in circles, Gu Qing quickly comforted her gently.
"I'm just afraid you'll be scammed when you sign the contract."
What if... your first movie is a hit, but someone else takes over the production of the next two?
This kind of thing has happened before in the industry; there are too many precedents.
"Little brother, there are bad people in the entertainment industry, but not everyone is bad. You're thinking too badly of them. How could I possibly be fooled?"
When Zhao Liying heard that he wasn't asking her to act in a movie, she breathed a sigh of relief, but was then amused by his serious concern.
The feeling of being cherished and cared for warmed her heart.
She reached out and poked Gu Qing's cheek, counting on her fingers as she told him, "Look, the producer is Sister Lijun. We worked together on 'The Journey of Flower,' so we know each other very well."
The director is Wu Jinyuan, whom I worked with on "The Legend of Chasing Fish." On set, Director Wu always took good care of me.
Sister Zhao raised her chin slightly, "From the producer to the director, they're all my people."
And don't underestimate your sister Zhao's abilities; your sister Liying is currently the hottest female celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry!
Zhao Liying's pretty face was filled with pride and self-satisfaction, and she exuded a high-spirited energy, showing a confident and triumphant air that indicated "the advantage is in my hands."
She wasn't boasting; she genuinely had the confidence to do so.
Having climbed her way up from a background extra to where she is today, she knows all too well her place in the market.
under these circumstances,
She made the show a hit, and the production team's profits multiplied many times over, making the investors a fortune.
In this situation, would the production team first break the contract and betray their promise, and then kick her, the biggest contributor, to the curb and prevent her from acting in the sequel?
Zhao Liying thinks that such a probability event is no different from a fairy tale, right?
Especially when they are layered on top of each other—
It's something with an absurdly low probability, yet it just so happens to happen to you, and it falls right on your head?
Isn't that nonsense?
How could all the bad things in the world line up to find the same person?
Is it really possible for someone to be this unlucky?
Zhao Xiaodao didn't believe it!
"Little brother, don't worry, do you think I'm that unlucky?"
Zhao Liying smiled and cupped Gu Qing's face in her hands, gently squeezing his cheeks until they were slightly distorted, then leaned in and kissed him again, her lips soft and her voice tender.
"I'm no longer the Zhao Xiaodao who was universally criticized online a few years ago. I'm a top influencer now, do you understand? Who dares to bully me?"
She laughed as she spoke, "Why am I talking about top celebrities in front of you?"
Zhao Liying's eyes curved like two tiny crescent moons. She cupped his face and pecked him several times, finally pressing her forehead against his, their noses touching, their breaths mingling, her voice as soft as melting candy.
"However, thank you for your concern, little brother."
Okay, enough with the worries. We have more important things to do now.
"..."
Gu Qing didn't insist any further. He steadily held the koala on his lap, supported her legs with both hands, and walked towards the bed.
He's not crazy. Why would he rush up to Sister Zhao and say, "I'm from the future, be careful not to be fooled"?
Gu Qing would never tell anyone this secret, not even in death; she would take it with her to her grave.
He could only try to think about it from a different perspective, silently trying to find a reasonable explanation for himself.
"Could it be the law of conservation of energy at work?"
"Is it because Sister Liying is so unlucky that her cleavage is so voluptuous?"
Gu Qing herself chuckled at the idea, inwardly mocking herself, "How did I end up getting into metaphysics?"
……
During their two-day break in Shanghai, every actor in the "Riding the Waves" crew had a packed schedule.
During the day, everyone filmed short VCRs, repeatedly recording promotional quotes for the movie in front of the camera, striking various poses in front of different cameras, with smiles glued to their faces.
When night finally came, and I could finally catch my breath—
As expected, Sister Zhao pestered Gu Qing, insisting that he take her to the gym for exercise.
The reason is quite valid: she wants to play the role of Chu Qiao well.
Chu Qiao is a female general who was born into slavery. She is a female warrior who can kill enemies on the battlefield. She is full of fierce killing intent and can never be a delicate and cute girl.
She needs to be able to endure hardship and shoulder the responsibility of the role.
"Sister Liying, fitness is 70% diet and 30% exercise. Your body fat is too low right now, so you need to eat more with me to build up healthy fat so you can build muscle. Otherwise, you'll just get weaker the more you exercise." "Sister Liying, don't worry about eating. I'm not kidding you. Healthy fat makes you lose weight very quickly. Besides, you won't start filming until after the New Year, so losing too much weight now won't help. You'll have plenty of time to get in shape later."
"Then I'll just... huff and puff..."
Sister Zhao quickly buried her face in the bowl.
Gu Qing sat opposite her, feeling slightly calmer, before turning his gaze to the book in his hands. His slender fingers turned a yellowed page, and he began to read intently.
I need to visit Director Chen's house before the end of the month.
Gu Qing is also studying this collection of Bai Juyi's poems.
Zhao Liying looked up from the bowl and saw him holding a scroll in one hand with his brows slightly furrowed.
The warm yellow light fell on his profile, outlining a clean and sharp contour. His long eyelashes cast a light shadow under his eyes, giving him an air of tranquility.
Sister Zhao stared blankly for a while, and after she came to her senses, she lowered her head and started shoveling rice into her mouth, occasionally letting out a silly laugh for no reason.
very nice.
It's nice to just stay together quietly like this.
……
Three days passed like this.
When Gu Qing and his group officially headed to Suzhou and Hangzhou to participate in the recording of this episode of "Running Man," the outside world had already quietly changed.
In just three days, "Riding the Winds and Waves" has become a prime example of a show that became a hit even before it aired.
The 200 million yuan that Gu Qing spent on publicity and marketing has truly begun to take effect.
The overwhelming and pervasive publicity campaign, like a long-brewing storm, swept across every corner of the internet in just 72 hours.
……
Li Mingyuan, 24 years old, is a corporate slave who has been beaten down by society for three years, living a typical life where "going to work is like going to a funeral".
His interests are wide-ranging and simple: playing video games, looking at girls, anime and manga... and a bit of politics.
In my spare time, I browse through clips from Douyin and Bilibili, using fragmented jokes to fill the brain cells drained by work.
In short, he was a complete outsider in the truest sense.
The largest "idol-chasing" activity of my life.
Only in the quiet of the night, I would search for the latest work by a favorite action movie director, downloading and watching it with the reverence of an academic inquiry.
His consistent attitude towards the overwhelming marketing and trending topics in the entertainment industry is to neither take initiative nor refuse, and to take no responsibility.
If he sees it, he sees it; don't expect him to repost, like, or control the comments.
His social media accounts are deserted, with the only place he's active is the hardware section of a gaming forum.
this night,
As usual, Li Mingyuan slumped in the creaky computer chair in his rented room, his feet propped up on the table, his phone held in front of his face, his thumb idly sliding down.
Bilibili's recommendation algorithm seems to have figured out his preferences, accurately pushing videos of the older women in black stockings, gaming content creators, and parody videos that he follows.
Then, a video title caught his eye.
"Qingying CP from 'Sisters Who Make Waves' is paired up for the third time! So sweet that passersby are screaming!"
"What the hell is this 'three-piece set'?"
Li Mingyuan frowned in disgust, his thumb sliding down mercilessly. "I don't ship couples, what nonsense is this?"
But not long after, another one appeared.
"Deng Chao hilariously shouts in the trailer for 'Duckweed': 'Dad!' Gu Qing coldly replies: 'Do I even have a son as big as you?' This scene could make me laugh for a year!"
"Hey, it's 'Duckweed' again?"
This time, Li Mingyuan didn't scroll away immediately; his gaze lingered on the title for an extra second.
He had watched the first two seasons of Running Man, but how funny could a movie's promotion be?
It's probably just clickbait again.
"Can these marketing accounts tone it down a bit? They're acting like the UC Shocking News Department every day."
He continued scrolling down.
The third item even includes "Duckweed"!
This time, it was a film and television content creator he had been following for a long time. This creator usually specializes in criticizing bad movies and has a very sharp tongue. His fans call him "human lawnmower".
This guy, unusually, used an almost manic tone to write two big words on the video cover: "It's so good!"
The small print below reads: "I laughed for two and a half minutes straight from the trailer for 'Duckweed'. Han Han, you really didn't disappoint me!"
"Even this sharp-tongued weirdo has fallen for it?"
Then there are the fourth, fifth, and sixth articles.
The homepage recommendations on Bilibili seem to be dominated by "Duckweed," with a related post appearing every three to five swipes.
Or it could be a popular content creator with millions of followers passionately recommending something with a hilarious title.
Or an unknown user uploaded a video of their reaction—laughing uncontrollably at their phone screen and then frantically slamming their fist on the table.
Even someone who has absolutely no interest in the entertainment industry can't help but feel a bit curious when bombarded with this density of information.
"Gu Qing? Deng Chao? Running Man? Putting these names together, the first two seasons were actually quite good. I even finished watching them."
Li Mingyuan's curiosity was finally piqued to the breaking point. His thumb hovered over a video thumbnail for two seconds, hesitated, and then resignedly clicked on it.
"Alright, alright, I'd like to see how funny this is. Is this not just clickbait? How come Deng Chao is calling Gu Qing 'Dad'?"
The video has started playing.
"My name is Xu Tailang, and I'm a race car driver. Throughout my career, I've won countless championships and received numerous honors—"
The scene shifts, and a truck with the words "Universiade" printed on it suddenly rushes out from the side and crashes solidly into the race car.
"—I hit the jackpot and unexpectedly traveled back to 1997."
"Hahaha! This is really incredibly lucky!"
Li Mingyuan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Teacher Chen, I'm Tai Lang. You've called me Tai Lang since I was little. You can't be too wild when you grow up..."
"Sure enough, I got hit by a car when I grew up. Teacher Chen, you were absolutely right."
For the next two and a half minutes,
The scene was bursting with laughs as if it were on accelerator.
Deng Chao chased people through the streets, shouting himself hoarse:
"Thief! Brother, dare you put down your weapon and fight me one-on-one?!"
"Damn it, young people shouldn't have any sportsmanship! Didn't you want a one-on-one fight?!"
"Grandpa, who are you talking to, you're older than me!"
"Stop! — What the hell?! A country Batman? And a dual-wielder?!"
At last,
The image freezes on the most classic scene—
Gu Qing took off his mask, revealing his handsome and youthful face.
Deng Chao uttered a startling word: "Dad?!"
Gu Qing was also stunned: "Huh?!"
The screen went black.
The title "Riding the Waves" popped up, and the two-and-a-half-minute trailer officially ended.
"Wow, this is actually quite interesting!"
Li Mingyuan slammed his phone down on the table and realized that his lips were aching from smiling so much.
He was still not satisfied and clicked on the replay again, this time pausing specifically to savor the scene that "lacked martial ethics."
"These jokes are interesting; the person who wrote the script is a knowledgeable writer."
And that "lacking in martial ethics" line, who came up with that? It's brilliant! I'll use that line whenever I lose a game with my buddies.
He thought for a moment, then opened a few more apps and browsed through them. He found that not only Bilibili, but also trending topics on blogs, popular videos on Douyin, and even several film review public accounts on WeChat were all promoting the trailer for "Duckweed".
On the homepage's trending topics list, four out of the top ten topics were related to "Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves".
#RideTheWavesReleaseDate#, #GuQingDengChaoFatherAndSonTeam#, #QingYingCPThreeTimesTogether#, #RideTheWavesTrailerIsHilarious#, all lined up in a row.
This scene,
This phenomenon is playing out repeatedly in different ways for almost every young person across the country who is constantly using their mobile phone.
Two hundred million yuan in marketing and promotion expenses—that's not just empty talk; it's real, substantial coverage bought with real money.
Even those who don't usually pay attention to movies were drawn into the promotional reach through the collaboration between Gu Qing and Deng Chao on Running Man.
There is another key factor that enabled such good results.
The promotional trailer for "Duckweed" was personally overseen by Gu Qing.
He directly rejected the initial promotional trailer edited by Han Han at the film review meeting.
Han Han's aesthetic sense, how should I put it, carries a strong sense of narcissistic intellectualism.
He favored long stretches of empty shots, meaningful slow-motion sequences, accompanied by obscure narration and incomprehensible background music.
The entire trailer is like a silent film with a riddle; it has style, but the average viewer will only think, "What is this?"
Gu Qing felt that the only person in her life who could truly understand that trailer was probably Director Chen.
It's probably only when Director Chen is in a good state that you can understand it.
Ordinary people like them can't appreciate it.
So Gu Qing personally took charge, leading the editing team to cut together the fast-paced, hilarious, and exciting scenes from the early part of the story.
From Xu Tailang's pretentious act backfiring, to the chaotic daily bickering between father and son, and the outrageously dense mix of trendy memes and popular phrases.
The entire two-minute trailer had no more than thirty seconds of downtime between jokes; it was like a machine gun that had been loaded, spewing out laughs in rapid succession.
It turns out that
This is undoubtedly a far more effective publicity strategy.
From the directorial style that stunned audiences in "Detective Chinatown" to the aggressive marketing strategy of "Duckweed" with its sky-high promotional budget,
Unbeknownst to Gu Qing, he had already mastered both masters, achieving mastery in both areas.
Although he did it himself
This opened Pandora's box of a publicity arms race for the film industry, but Gu Qing felt he had done right by the audience.
He can confidently say that "Detective Chinatown" and "Duckweed" are definitely qualified comedy films that can reach a score of seven or eight out of ten. For the price of a movie ticket, you can buy two hours of lighthearted fun and laughter during the Chinese New Year. It's worth it.
Especially compared to those terrible films released at the same time, it looks like a celestial being descended to earth.
The difference between them and those assembly-line products that use popular celebrities as gimmicks, have scripts full of loopholes, and rely entirely on fans' mindless purchases is enormous.
As for the future
Will industry peers follow suit, piling up their publicity budgets and using increasingly elaborate marketing tactics?
I will definitely learn it, and I might even come up with something more outrageous and absurd than Gu Qing.
After all, there's never a shortage of "clever" people in this circle who misinterpret the teachings.
Gu Qing can start this, but he can't stop the people behind him from following suit.
However, there is one thing he cannot stop others from taking away, and no one can steal it from him.
Film quality.
Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it.
While competitors may be able to lure audiences into the cinema, whether they have the ability to ensure that those audiences leave satisfied is another matter entirely.
If moviegoers are repeatedly fooled by trailers and their hearts are broken by the "all the best parts are in the trailers" tactic, the backlash will be devastating.
At that point, the audience will vote with their feet.
Gu Qing was neither in a hurry nor afraid.
He even had a vague premonition:
The more eager his peers are to eat fast food, the more they want to make quick money, and the more unsightly they are in their eating habits, the better his public image will become in comparison.
After being hurt by bad movies time and time again, moviegoers will remember those who truly put their heart into making films and their works.
in the end,
They will only trust the works he stars in and are willing to spend real money to go to the cinema and pay for the name "Gu Qing".
Just like how audiences trust Kyoko today—as long as Kyoko is in it, even if it's a movie that wasn't initially well-received, people are willing to pay to see it.
Because the audience believes he won't fool them.
What Gu Qing wanted was this reputation.
He wants to challenge those fast-food blockbusters in the industry who only think about making quick money through traffic and marketing.
Faced with the true power of content, they were gradually forced into a corner, until finally they had nowhere left to retreat!
Bad money drives out good money?
The biggest 'bad money' is oneself.
The greatest 'good money' is also Gu Qing's current goal.
Once the latter is also achieved
At that time, besides Chen Chichi,
Gu Qing didn't know who else was involved.
He can control himself!
……
...(End of this chapter)