Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 469: Swearing is useful, why do we need the police?

Meng Bai: [It's just nonsense on the Internet. Xiaobai and I are innocent. If you don't believe me, ask Huahua if last night was just a simple work dinner between a boss and an employee.]

Li Yitong: [Come on, Huahua has been on your side for a long time. Besides, whose boss would ask an actress out for dinner late at night?]

Meng Bai: [I swear to God, Xiao Bai and her assistant have always been inseparable. When I sent messages, I asked them to come together. Who knew that her bestie suddenly had something to do last night, leaving her alone. Besides, you can't ignore Hua Hua as a human being.]

Li Yitong: [I'm just asking casually, why does Mr. Meng care so much? You have a lot of romantic debts, so you don't need this one.]

Meng Bai: [I have to prove my innocence for something I didn't do. Your boss Meng is not such a casual man, okay?]

Li Yitong: [Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't realize that our President Meng is actually such a chaste man. ]

Meng Bai: [Of course, I have always been devoted to Boss Li. Did you know that I recently bought a piece of land? ]

Li Yitong: [Huh? What land to buy? ]

Meng Bai: [I am totally devoted to Boss Li. (^_-)]

Li Yitong: [……]

Li Yitong: [No, I need to go vomit for a while, Mr. Meng, please play in the field by yourself.]

Putting down the phone, Li Yitong stood up and looked out the window, trying to calm down the greasy emotions that had just been aroused.

However, although she tried hard to keep an expressionless face, she couldn't hide her smiling eyes that were as curved as crescent moons.

Although WeChat said it was a "seamless connection", Li Yitong was just joking.

Based on her understanding of Meng Bai, if this guy really had any relationship with Bai Lu, he would never let such news be leaked.

Similarly, now that it has been revealed, and his behavior in the video is so upright, it means that there should be nothing between the two of them.

Of course, this effect only represents this time, and you never know when the next time there will be a chance that it will come true.

But now she is too lazy to pay attention to these "little flowers and grasses". She has only one real opponent from beginning to end.

Thinking of the woman who was always mentioned together by netizens, Li Yitong smiled lightly.

After that playboy has dealt with me, he is probably going to deal with that one now.

……

As a confidante who has known each other for many years, Li Yitong is very familiar with Meng Bai. He is indeed talking about this matter with Li Qin now.

However, there were still some errors in the details of the guess. It was not Li Qin questioning Meng Bai, but just the opposite.

"Why didn't you call me and ask me to explain the matter after seeing the news online? Instead, you waited for me to contact you."

Looking at Li Qin on the phone screen, Meng Baiyi asked sternly.

"..."

Hearing such shameless words, Li Qin stared at the video call for three seconds, with an expression of disbelief on her face.

"Hey, Mr. Meng, do you want to listen to what you are saying? You are the one causing the scandal and cheating on me, and yet you have the nerve to ask me so confidently?"

"Don't say that. There was a scandal, but there was no cuckold at all." Meng Bai clarified: "And what I'm asking about now is not the scandal, but why didn't you call me immediately after you saw the scandal?"

"It's been a promotional period recently, with programs being recorded and promoted every day. I only saw it after I woke up."

After Li Qin finished speaking, she puffed her lips and muttered softly, "Besides, Mr. Meng has so many scandals. If I cared about every one of them, I would have been pissed off to death a long time ago."

"Haha, it's just an excuse. When we first got together, you cared about me every day, but now you say this. To put it bluntly, you've had me for so long that you don't value me anymore."

Meng Bai said with a "full of tea" voice: "Humph, scumbag!"

Li Qin: (_)? ? ?

Wow, there are such heartless men in this world who even have the nerve to call themselves "scumbags"?
"Okay, okay, you're going to give me this, right? Wait."

As she spoke, Li Qin picked up her phone and sent a voice message to her assistant: "Jia Jia, cancel all your plans for today and buy me a ticket to Shanghai as soon as possible. I want to represent justice and die together with the scumbag!"

Seeing that he seemed to have really pissed off his girlfriend, Meng Bai quickly said, "Hahaha, I was just joking, Teacher Li, we can talk it out."

"I have nothing to say to you. It is only natural to eliminate the scumbag. Who else but me should do it?"

"It's my fault, it's my fault. I shouldn't have blamed Teacher Li for everything."

Li Qin seemed to be really sad. She looked at the screen with slightly red eyes and said with a wronged tone: "You are always fickle. You are either close to this girl or have a scandal with that girl. I always pretend not to see it, but now you still say this to me..."

As she spoke, she sniffed and bit her lips, with tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

If women's tears are nuclear bombs, then Li Qin's tearful look is at least "Tsar" level.

Meng Bai immediately said with a look of heartache and tenderness on his face: "Don't cry, Qinqin, I was wrong, I just wanted to play a joke on you. Where are you now? I'll fly over to find you."

Li Qin looked at the screen with tears in her eyes: "Do you know you are wrong?"

"understood."

"Will you still be mean to me in the future?"

"Absolutely not."

"Will you look for another girl in the future?"

"No, I'm not looking for anyone. Teacher Li is the only one in my heart." Meng Bai raised his hand and said, "I'd be a dog if I lied to you."

"Okay, this is what you said."

Hearing this, Li Qin suddenly wiped away tears, the aggrieved expression on her face disappeared instantly, and she looked at Meng Bai with a smile on her lips.

Meng Bai looked at Li Qin's sudden "face change" on the screen, and was stunned for a second, then laughed helplessly: "No, so you were showing me a crying scene just now?"

"I'm an actor, crying scenes can be done just like that."

Li Qin replied smugly, but then she saw the man on the screen with a half-smile on his face, and she couldn't help but feel nervous: "Well, it's not all acting. You asked me that right away, so I do feel a little wronged... Are you angry?"

Looking at the somewhat uneasy Li Qin, Meng Bai suddenly smiled: "Why would I be angry? Teacher Li cares about me so much, I'm very happy."

"..."

Li Qin raised her hand and touched her nose, then turned her face away, trying hard to maintain her expression, but she was unable to suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth.

This man is so annoying. He always makes me like him so much.

She suppressed her cheerful expression and coughed lightly: "Don't change the subject. I recorded everything I just said. I will send it to you every day from now on."

"That's great. I'm very happy just thinking about receiving Teacher Li's loving videos every day."

Li Qin pursed her lips, and the corners of her mouth, which were already difficult to suppress, now widened even further.

Meng Bai naturally noticed this as well, and continued, "It seems like you have been doing a lot more things recently?"

"Yes, the new drama is about to start airing. After all, I am the female lead who is the special guest star. I have to promote it more."

Speaking of this, Li Qin was distracted: "Obviously, The Silent Truth has a very good reputation, but the popularity data just can't go up. It's really frustrating."

Seeing the girl frowning, Meng Bai laughed, "Sometimes the performance of a drama is not completely proportional to its quality. Besides, I, the producer, am not in a hurry, so why are you, a specially invited female lead, so anxious?"

"Of course I'm anxious. Those online comments mock me every day, saying that I have a stronger lineup and the popularity of the entire series, but the data is barely the same as the previous game. They say I'm not as good as... not as good as that person."

Meng Bai thought about it for a moment and realized that the "that person" the girl was referring to was Boss Li. How can I explain this? There are many factors that affect the performance of a drama. This is not an idol drama where the male and female protagonists occupy most of the traffic. It is meaningless to attribute the data of the entire drama to a certain actor.

"You've been in the industry for so many years, but you still don't understand those fans. Even if this drama performs well, they will find something to attack. Just pretend you didn't see it."

"I know, I just don't accept it." Li Qin muttered, "It's just that the ratings are a bit higher. Who doesn't have a dual-female lead drama? Wait until "The Golden Years" starts airing and see what they say."

"The Wonderful Girl" starring Li Yitong was filmed at the beginning of last year, while "The Golden Years" was filmed in the second half of last year, a difference of half a year.

In addition, "The Golden Years" is a collaboration with CCTV, so scheduling and the like are more difficult, and it will not be officially broadcast until the end of the year.

Although in terms of age, both girls belong to the category of "90s flowers", but in fact, according to the conventional rules of the circle, they cannot be compared in this way.

Li Qin made her debut in the New Red Mansion ten years ago, and her popularity has always been in the second-tier. After becoming independent in the past two years, with the resources of Arclight, she has gradually grown into the top of the "90s Flowers".

In comparison, Li Yitong debuted four or five years later, which is actually equivalent to a generation behind. Apart from "Tong Rong'er", she has not played many popular roles. Even in the hit drama "Celebrating Yu Nian" at the beginning of this year, she was just a supporting actress.

Normally speaking, there is no point in comparing these two girls except that they look slightly similar.

But the problem lies between the two people, there is an extra person, Meng Bai.

Ever since the "scandal incident", who is the "number one boss lady" of Arclight Films, Li Qin or Li Yitong, has become a long-lasting discussion among netizens.

Over time, fans of both teams were influenced and regarded each other as their first team.

From popularity to status, from appearance to personality, there is no one family that does not compete, and both want to snatch Meng Bai, the "chosen brother-in-law".

It’s the same this time. Before "The Silent Truth" was aired, Li Qin’s fans had been praising this drama.

The final chapter of the "Zijin Chen Trilogy" is based on real events. The entire series is more popular, and the cast is even better than the previous one. Even Mr. Meng personally said that this is his favorite story in the trilogy...

With all these buffs coming together, everyone thinks this will be another masterpiece that will become a big hit like last year's "The Bad Kids".

Even before the main film was aired, the total number of online views of the trailer alone exceeded 10 million. Arclight and Strange TV also attached great importance to this drama and invested more resources in its promotion.

However, the actual situation after the broadcast was somewhat different from what was expected.

The data of the first episode was very good. After only 20 hours online, the popularity value exceeded 8000. After 43 hours online, the popularity value exceeded 9000, becoming the fastest drama to "break 9" on Qiyi TV so far.

At the same time, the site's hot list, Maoyan's total network popularity list, Douyin's drama list, etc., all rushed to the first place. The famous scene of "discarding corpses in the subway" at the beginning of the first episode directly rushed to the top of the hot search entertainment list opened by Weibo.

From any perspective, such a start is sure to be the next "big hit".

But then, the data of this drama seemed to freeze here. Nearly a month after the broadcast, the popularity value has remained stagnant in the 9000 range.

Although the online attention is not low, and discussions and segments can be seen on various platforms and short videos, it is still a little short of "The Bad Kids" which was once a hot topic on the entire network.

The ratings were pretty good, with a 9.0 rating on the first broadcast and a gradual rise to 9.2. Not to mention the entire series, even if it was taken from all the TV series throughout the year, this score would be able to compete for first place.

Unlike "The Bad Kids", which focuses on a group of characters, "The Silent Truth" is completely about the male lead, and it is a suspense theme. So it is not Li Qin's responsibility to determine whether the performance is good or bad.

But Li Yitong has filmed the previous work in the same series, "The Undocumented Crime", which is smaller in scale but not much different in performance. And it just so happens that the new drama "The Wonderful Girl" is being broadcast simultaneously recently.

Naturally, Li Yitong's fans seized on this and began to discredit Li Qin's popularity.

It is also for this reason that Li Qin has been doing a lot of promotions during this period. As a special guest actress, she is as dedicated as a major actress.

Unfortunately, the performance of the drama did not improve much and remained in the original range.

Although the girl was not convinced, there was nothing she could do. She was still on the promotional tour, but she could only do her best and leave the rest to fate.

After complaining for a long time in the video, Li Qin finally let out a sigh of relief. Seeing that the two had been chatting for more than an hour and she still had to put on makeup for the show later, she waved goodbye.

Before hanging up, she did not forget to remind him again: "Mr. Meng is a grown man, you must remember your promise and don't be a puppy."

"Don't worry, I remember."

After hanging up the phone, Meng Bai shook his head and laughed leisurely.

Silly girl, if this thing worked, you would have been struck to death by lightning a thousand times when you were in elementary school and told your teacher that your schoolbag fell into the river and you couldn’t get out your homework.
-
Meng Bai stayed in Shanghai for another day, mainly to finalize the cooperation on "The Three-Body Problem" with Lin Qi.

Still, only the adaptation rights for film and television dramas have been confirmed. As for movies, the other party said that they need to consider it further.

"Mr. Meng, are you leaving now? Why don't you stay in Shanghai for a few more days so that I can show my hospitality."

"No need to trouble you, Mr. Lin. I have something else to do at the company, so I have to go back early." Meng Bai chuckled and said, "After the project preparations begin, I will inevitably trouble you again, Mr. Lin. I'll find a chance later."

"Haha, that's right. I won't force Mr. Meng to stay." Lin Qi laughed and said, "Next time you come, just look for me."

After shaking hands and saying goodbye, Meng Bai suddenly asked, "By the way, Mr. Xu, whom I met the day before yesterday, is there any impact on him?"

Lin Qi frowned, but immediately recovered as usual and said disdainfully: "It doesn't matter, it's just some misunderstandings within our group. I have already made arrangements for him, and it won't hinder our cooperation."

After all, it was an internal matter of Youzu, so Meng Bai didn't say much. He nodded and said goodbye and left.

After returning to Jingbei, he first went to the Film and Television Department and asked the person in charge to start contacting Youzu during this period. After that, he called a meeting with the Arclight staff and the production center staff of Qiyi TV.

The theme of the meeting was to study why the performance of "The Silent Truth" failed to meet expectations.

"First of all, although this drama did not meet expectations, it does not mean it is a failure. In fact, the current results are already very successful."

Meng Bai explained in advance: "So this time we are asking everyone to discuss together, not to hold anyone responsible, but to study possible problems. Everyone can just speak freely."

The employees of ArcLight have all worked in the company for many years and know that their boss is not the kind of person who says one thing to your face and another behind your back. If he says he won’t hold anyone accountable, then he really won’t.

"Boss, we think it might have something to do with the style of the plot."

The head of Arclight Film and Television Department spoke first: "Take "The Bad Kids" as an example. This drama is a standard suspense drama. The audience and the protagonist start from the beginning and unravel the story bit by bit, slowly perfecting the whole incident. Before the ending, no one knows who is the good guy and who is the villain."

"But apart from the misleading part at the beginning of "The Silent Truth", the rest of the film is a clear confrontation between the good and the bad, so the audience lacks the interactive speculation."

Meng Bai nodded. This was true. Compared to "The Hidden Corner", the entire plot of "The Silent Truth" was a standard story. The protagonists were all righteous, and the villains were complete villains. The few reversals of the supporting characters did not have much impact on the plot.

This kind of story was very popular in the past because good and bad could be identified at a glance. But for online drama viewers who are now familiar with various plot routines, it is a little less interesting.

It is not just this reason. The most important thing about suspense dramas is the "unknown feeling" about the endings of various characters. However, "The Silent Truth" as a whole adopts the "flashback" technique. The male protagonist Jiang Yang clearly knows that he is dead at the beginning, and the rest is nothing more than restoring the process.

For many viewers, this also reduces the fun.

"Also, we looked at the hot searches for these three dramas and felt that "The Silent Truth" lacks the kind of memes that can make people interested." This time it was said by a staff member of Qiyi TV.

When "The Bad Kids" was popular, the whole Internet was playing with memes like "climbing the mountain", "do you think I still have a chance", and "little white boat".

"The Undocumented Crime" was less popular, but it also produced a "reverse smoking Li Toyota".

As for "The Silent Truth" this time, the subject matter itself is quite heavy, and secondly, there is no similar plot, so it is naturally less spreadable.

So to sum up, although "The Silent Truth" has higher reviews, it is normal that it is not as popular as "The Bad Kids".

After finding the defects, the next step is naturally to summarize the experience and lessons and make up for the deficiencies in these aspects of other projects.

Meng Bai still feels a little regretful. He really likes the drama "The Silent Truth", but it's a pity that it didn't become a big hit.

However, the role of the male protagonist "Jiang Yang" still attracted many viewers, especially with Bai Yu's good acting performance, which added a bit of color.

More importantly, although the show performed slightly worse with general audiences, it was welcomed by another group.

Just when "The Silent Truth" was more than halfway through its broadcast and approaching its finale, official Weibo accounts of procuratorial systems in various places, including the Supreme People's Procuratorate, began to repost their support for the drama.

(End of this chapter)