How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 41 I'm not targeting anyone [Please continue reading]

Wang Yao listened to the entire meeting.

The publicity tactics employed by all parties are nothing more than the usual hype and discussion involving "playing musical instruments and singing songs".

Boasting: First, spend a lot of money on marketing and publicity, such as holding Confucius Institutes and Confucius culture promotion activities all over the world, trying to use overseas news to elevate its prestige.

To put it bluntly: Find a few more veteran domestic artists to criticize or ridicule, and have them engage in a public feud with director Hu Mei.

Impeachment: Dig up Confucius's ancestral graves again to create controversy. First, use a sex scene of Confucius as a gimmick, then get Confucius's descendants to issue a denunciation. See if the production company will apologize and clarify.

Smear campaign: Hire some film critics to write press releases, create some conflicts, and attract public attention.

Nothing new, but nothing wrong either, and then the 5000 million yuan marketing budget was roughly divided up.

This money is easy to earn.

Just as Wang Yao was lamenting how much money was being spent in the entertainment industry, someone suddenly named Chi Xin.

"Is that Mr. Meishe over there? Why hasn't he said anything?"

The one who spoke was a representative from China Film Group.

Such a blatant roll call was clearly pre-arranged by shills.

Upon hearing this, Chi Xin stood up and said with a smile, "We at Meishe have no experience in this kind of top-notch production and promotion, so we dare not speak rashly and make a fool of ourselves. We will just cooperate with the leaders' arrangements."

"That's not how it works. Meishe is now considered a leader in new media channels, right? We see news about you almost every day."
Although the conversion rate of new media is currently difficult to assess, it at least expands its influence. Perhaps netizens will end up going to the cinema after discussing it for a while. "That was Ren Quan's reply.

Hu Mei lowered her head and exchanged a few words with Ren Quan, seemingly inquiring about the origins of this photography company, but her expression wasn't very good, and she looked somewhat disgusted.

After all, beauty photographers rely on low-brow content to grab attention, which is certainly not worthy of being considered high art.

"Now that you mention it, Mr. Ren, I've come up with a good topic," Yang Zi said with a smile, his hand holding the Heavenly Eye.

The moment this guy opened his mouth, there was an inexplicable sinister aura about him.

"Xiao Yang, tell me what you think?" Hu Mei was quite respectful to him.

"The hottest topic online recently is the materialism debate surrounding the dating show 'If You Are the One,' with one female guest saying she'd rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle."

"The leaders here don't usually have time to follow these kinds of gossips, so they probably don't know that this news has been trending for almost a week now," Yang Zi said, starting by helping to promote it.

Immediately, everyone in the conference room started talking and offering their opinions, but it was all the same old stuff about how morals are declining.

"This female guest just happens to be promoted by CEO Chi's company. Her popularity far surpasses that of Sister Feng or Sister Furong; she's known as 'BMW Sister,'" Yangzi added after the discussion.

"It just so happens that Confucius said, 'Women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with.' I can combine this with the recent materialistic remarks of the BMW woman, which will surely attract a lot of social attention."

As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room erupted in cheers, with everyone praising the cleverness of the words.

As a moral exemplar, Confucius naturally had a stance of criticizing materialistic rhetoric. Coupled with the fact that public opinion itself deeply abhors materialism, this inevitably generated a lot of discussion and news.

When the time comes, each team will follow up with publicity and promotion, allowing everyone to go to the cinema to watch and admire Confucius's beautiful morality. It will be a natural progression.

"Wonderful! Xiao Yang is indeed a scholar; he has some talent in his head." Director Hu Mei smiled upon hearing this.

She doesn't want to ride the wave of vulgarity, but criticizing vulgarity is acting on behalf of heaven.

The others also chimed in with a few words of praise for Yang Zi, and Huang Shengyi looked at her husband with eyes full of admiration.

"President Yang's topic is indeed good. It just so happens that Ma Ruo is also participating in a dating show, which may be able to expand to people's livelihood issues and generate a new wave of popularity."

Even Chi Xin had a big smile on her face, seemingly very satisfied with the result.

Trading one Ma Ruo for the goodwill and popularity of so many big shots is definitely a good deal and an unexpected bonus.

Amidst the joyful atmosphere of everyone playing the sheng and qing in unison.

Only Wang Yao's expression gradually darkened.

wonderful?
What a wonderful thing!
I finally managed to salvage Ma Ruo's image a bit, and before the duck has even shed its feathers, you guys are already thinking of eating it dry?
If this method is really used, the publicity surrounding "Confucius" will definitely be generated, and it might even have some surprising effects under the impetus of capital.

However, all of Wang Yao's previous efforts will be in vain. The previous public opinion fermented naturally, and the netizens were just a mob, each acting on their own simply to vent their frustrations.

However, if capital really takes the lead and charges forward, it could very well put an end to the whole Ma Ruo money-worshiping incident.

It could even lead to a worse situation.

This is not how you eat human blood buns.

Wang Yao admitted that he was not a good person and that helping Ma Ruo was also helping himself, but he believed that he still had some principles.

But it seems that you people don't treat people like human beings at all.

"Excuse me, but I don't recall Confucius saying that exactly."

Amidst the harmonious atmosphere, Wang Yao's clear, calm voice jarredly, silencing all other discussions. In an instant, everyone's gaze fell upon the young boy sitting in the corner near the door.

With such a young and handsome face appearing in this setting, most people would assume that he was a male model brought by Chi Xin.

After all, the main reason Meishe Company was here was to throw a celebration party for everyone with their models that night.

But I never expected to make such a presumptuous move at this time.

Chi Xin's smiling face froze for a moment, and she pressed down on Wang Yao's leg without making a sound.

"And who is this young man?" Ren Quan asked gently under the almost suffocating pressure.

"I am Wang Yao from Tianhuo Media, and also the person in charge of Ma Ruo," Wang Yao said, nodding.

"Oh? I knew President Chi wouldn't bring any unauthorized people here," Yang Zi said with a sinister smile.

Wang Yao didn't look at him, but instead cast a pitying and sympathetic glance at Huang Shengyi beside him.

Huang Shengyi's already puzzled gaze became even more confused.

Why does this little boy look at me like I look at my pet cat?
"Women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with; if you get too close to them, they become disrespectful; if you keep them at a distance, they resent you." (From Chapter 17, Yang Huo, in the Analects)
According to Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations on the Analects," "小人" (xiaoren) is interpreted as "servants and underlings," and "女子与小人" (nüziyu xiaoren) is interpreted as "concubines and servants." Therefore, the female and male servants in a household do not refer to gender and are unrelated to materialism.
The literal meaning is about how to get along with people who have not received moral education.

Because the "Yang Huo" chapter itself is Confucius's evaluation of Yang Huo, a retainer of Ji Pingzi, a high-ranking official of the State of Lu, Yang Huo was a treacherous and wicked man who imprisoned his lord and murdered him.

Confucius used this case to warn his disciples not to easily offend immoral people, especially servants around them. They should treat these people as human beings, otherwise they might betray you.

Mr. Yang always worked part-time while in school; I guess he only learned half of this passage before going to work in a factory fixing screws.

Wang Yao smiled as he spoke retorting to Yang Zi, but his gaze remained fixed on Chen Lingjuan at the head of the table.

Chen Lingjuan met his gaze, paused for a moment, and felt somewhat bewildered.

Being publicly humiliated by a nobody, especially in front of his carefully cultivated image as a scholar, one can imagine how unpleasant Yangzi's expression must have been.

He is someone who loves to create a persona for himself. He has two main personas: one is a scholar, and the other is an entrepreneur who came from a working-class background.

So whenever he has the chance, he tells the media that he is not a rich second generation, that he grew up in the countryside, that his family did not give him money when he was in school, and that he worked part-time while studying, creating an inspirational persona.

This persona allowed him to enjoy the benefits of being a relatable and domineering CEO for many years.

But now, being mocked by a mere kid who'd exposed his underwear, he felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

How dare this kid?

Don't they have any sense of hierarchy or manners at all?

Yang Zi's face turned ashen with anger, and he trembled all over. Huang Shengyi, who was standing next to him, quickly and gently supported him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then didn't dare to.

"The young man is being a bit rash, President Chi," the Huaying representative who had previously set up the stage for Chi Xin warned in a cold voice.

Because Wang Yao wasn't just mocking and insulting Yang Zi alone.

When Yangzi came up with this idea, everyone present applauded and cheered.

When you criticize Yang Zi, aren't you also criticizing everyone here?
Especially since who among you here doesn't consider yourself a learned and cultured person?

Chi Xin seemed to be electrocuted and tried to get up to explain, but Wang Yao gently pressed her shoulder down.

"I'm not targeting anyone in particular, I'm just worried that Director Hu and the rest of the creative team's hard work might be used against them because of this small flaw in the publicity."

I grew up watching historical dramas produced by Director Hu. Influenced by his serious and rigorous attitude towards history from a young age, I have a deep respect for history, and even scored full marks in history on my college entrance exam.

Wang Yao's clear, star-like eyes gleamed as he looked at Hu Mei with utmost sincerity.

Hu Mei, whose face was already somewhat pale, was stunned upon hearing this.

She had just praised Yangzi's suggestion, but this little guy immediately contradicted her.

But now he has brought up this reason, which has really put her in a dilemma.

After all, which elder would genuinely make things difficult for a loyal viewer who scored a perfect score on the history section of the college entrance exam because of their film or television work?
The other people in the conference room also had different expressions, but most of them looked at Wang Yao with suspicion.

Is this kid really just a hothead?

Or is it a small silver coin harboring malicious intent?

They couldn't make a judgment because Wang Yao was too young. Boys his age are very likely to be hotheads, but his transformation from arrogant to obsequious was too smooth.

Even the best actors couldn't pull this off.

Chi Xin swallowed nervously, glancing at Wang Yao with a puzzled look.

I vaguely remember this kid dropping out of high school in his second year and paying for adult education instead; he never took the college entrance exam.
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(End of this chapter)