Chinese entertainment industry has been booming since 2008.

Beijing, Huayi Company.

Looking at the various posts online mocking "My Love from the Star" and Fan Bingbing, Wang Xiaoer felt extremely pleased and secretly smugly thought: This is what happens when you offend me, Wang Xiaoer.

After taking a sip of tea, Wang Xiaoer felt that to kill a snake, one should strike it dead. So he immediately arranged for people to continue stirring up trouble online, hyping up topics such as "Fan Bingbing's acting is terrible" and "the alien setting is outrageous," determined to bring Fan Bingbing down to earth.

A photography studio in Beijing.

Fan Bingbing, dressed in glamorous attire, is shooting a fashion spread. However, she is feeling a bit agitated. She can clearly sense the change in air density. The stylist, who always affectionately calls her "Sister Bingbing," is now silently combing her wig. The brand director, standing behind the monitor, is no longer offering enthusiastic praise as usual, but instead frowning and talking quietly with his assistant.

"Sister Bingbing's" executive agent held up her phone, her voice extremely low: "Brother Mou called and said the Armani cosmetics endorsement has to be postponed..."

Under the ring light of the makeup mirror, Fan Bingbing gazed at her perfect makeup in the mirror, her back ramrod straight. She recalled the excitement of receiving recognition from the fashion industry, and the jealousy of her competitors, which had now become the subject of ridicule.

The backstabbing from within the industry came even faster. A popular young actress who had competed with her for an endorsement made a veiled sarcastic remark during an interview: "The most important thing for an actor is to find the right niche. Some roles are like ill-fitting shoes; forcing them will only lead to a fall."

This interview was quickly spread by those with ulterior motives, and many people believed it was a veiled criticism of Fan Bingbing.

The fashion editor who once strongly supported her even posted intimate photos with other female stars on social media, with the caption: "A true actor can stand the test of time."

Amidst relentless external pressure, Fan Bingbing's team also encountered some internal problems. The publicity assistant suggested to Fan Bingbing: "Sister Bingbing, should we release a press release to shift the focus to the director..."

Upon hearing this, Fan Bingbing's eyes turned cold, and then she suddenly turned around, a sharp smile curving her lips, her voice like tempered steel: "I believe 'My Love from the Star' will be the winner in the end, winning first doesn't mean anything."

.....

As Fan Bingbing had predicted, the plot twist occurred on the third day's ratings. Due to the National Day holiday, many young people were on vacation, which greatly contributed to the ratings of "My Love from the Star".

The viewership ratings for "My Love from the Star" soared from 1.6 to 5.1, while the viewership ratings for "Ugly Betty" dropped from 6.5 to 3.9.

When Director Li received the ratings data, his first thought was that it was a printing error and that the ratings were 8.9 instead of 3.9. After confirming several times that it was indeed a ratings of 3.9, Director Li panicked.

"This is impossible, how could this happen?"

...

The reason why "My Love from the Star" suddenly gained popularity was because a fan captured a set of pictures of the male lead, Li Qingyan, gazing into the camera in a library.

Initially, these pictures went viral in QQ groups. It's unclear who uploaded these screenshots to the forum, but the pictures spread across the internet, causing an explosion in the number of people watching the drama "My Love from the Star" that night, which in turn led to a surge in viewership.

As Li Qingyan's photos went viral, Fan Bingbing's various outfits were also unearthed, and even a low-quality recording of "My Love from the Star" by netizens became a popular online video.

And so, the positive reviews for "My Love from the Star" spread like a virus online. The online trolls hired by Wang Xiaoer of Huayi Brothers were no match for the spontaneous promotion by netizens. It was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. After all, Wang Xiaoer believed that most people on the internet were brainless.

......

On the first day of the National Day holiday, Wang Xiaoer was in a good mood, but when he saw news praising "My Love from the Star" everywhere on the internet, he suddenly got angry and felt offended.

He took out his phone and dialed a number directly.

"What the hell is going on? Didn't I tell you to smear Fan Bingbing? Now everyone's praising her acting skills."

"Mr. Wang, this really isn't my fault. I did as you instructed, but we have a limited number of people, and we simply can't delete all the rebuttals under those posts that are criticizing 'My Love from the Star.' In this situation, no matter how much money we spend, we can't control the comments."

"Damn it, you were so full of yourself when you took the money, and now you're telling me you can't do it? Do you think I, Wang Xiaoer, am stupid?"

"Mr. Wang, it's really not that I'm not doing my job, I just can't control myself. How about this, next time you come to me, I'll give you a 50% discount."

Given the current situation, what could Wang Xiaoer do but think of other ways to deal with Fan Bingbing?

...

Conference room at Hunan TV headquarters.

Compared to the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of the last meeting, the meeting room was now very oppressive.

"Can anyone tell me what happened? How did the ratings for 'Ugly Betty' plummet by half in just two days?"

No one dared to respond to the station director's words. After all, they had all been flattering him for his good judgment before, but now that his leg was broken, how could they continue to flatter him?

"Director, this is my fault. I was careless and didn't keep up with the publicity."

The station director was very pleased with Director Li's timely act of taking the blame. He then said, "Alright, now that things have happened, the problem we face is how to stabilize the ratings of 'Ugly Betty.' After all, if the ratings drop too much, it will be difficult to explain to the producers."

The station director's words are true. People have already paid the GG fee, but the ratings suddenly plummeted. It's like a setup. Will we cooperate again next time?

"Director, I think we should let the main cast of 'Ugly Betty' appear on shows like 'Happy Camp,' 'Yue Ce Yue Kai Xin,' and 'Day Day Up' to get some exposure. That would also help boost the ratings."

"Director, I think we can communicate with the major portal websites to increase the exposure of 'Ugly Betty' and suppress the negative reviews."

"Director, I think we can throw dirty water on 'My Love from the Star.' As long as 'My Love from the Star' falls, our ratings will improve."

For a time, the meeting room was filled with suggestions.

After some discussion, the station director decided to pursue multiple initiatives simultaneously: on one hand, to have the main cast of "Ugly Betty" appear on the station's variety shows to increase their exposure; on the other hand, to communicate with major portal websites and find something for "My Love from the Star" to do.

.....

"Zhang Yang, 'My Love from the Star' has exploded in ratings! We won! We won!"

Hearing Fan Bingbing's voice trembling with excitement, Zhang Yang could understand her feelings at this moment. After all, although he firmly believed that "My Love from the Star" would be a hit, nothing is absolute. Now that the ratings had exploded, he was relieved.

Although extremely excited, Zhang Yang still pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Sister Bingbing, calm down, calm down."

After sharing the stress she had been under these past few days, Fan Bingbing left four words: "Wait for me tonight."