Entertainment: Oh no, I've become the sect leader!

Xu Yejing truly lives up to her reputation as a wealthy woman from a family with vast wealth.

Although the economic situation has led to a decline in coal mine owners in recent years, their extravagance has not diminished at all.

The car she assigned to Xu Kong was a Lexus LM.

A luxury MPV costing over a million yuan, it's certainly high-class, and also very much in line with the aesthetic tastes of the people of Qinbei.

The wealthy people over there really love luxury cars like the Land Cruiser Prado, Land Cruiser, and Lexus.

Xu Kong's chief assistant, Liu Xia, was waiting for him in the car.

After the car started, she began to introduce the schedule of the variety show that Xu Kong would be participating in for the next few days, called "Let's Go Immediately".

"Tomorrow morning, you'll first record a makeup and costume fitting video, then attend the program's opening luncheon at noon... and then the recording of the program will officially begin in the afternoon."

"So rushed?" Xu Kong frowned slightly. "Wasn't it supposed to start the day after tomorrow?"

"The recording schedule for tomorrow night isn't heavy; it's just a matter of everyone sitting together and introducing themselves," Liu Xia said. "It's an icebreaker segment."

"All right..."

Xu Kong was on his way to Hangzhou.

On Weibo, the official team of the program "Let's Go Immediately" announced the guest lineup for the first episode.

There's not much to say about the regular guests.

Actor, top star, rising star... all the essential elements of a variety show are there: the stage controller, the physical powerhouse, the joke-catching master, the eye-catching person, and the pretty face.

Moreover, they are all contestants who bring their own audience and generate buzz.

Just by looking at the star-studded lineup of regular guests, you can tell that this variety show will be a major project that Zhejiang TV will be promoting next.

But what really caught the attention of netizens were the three names of the guest stars.

The last two guests were the kind that, as expected, were unknown to most people outside of the fan community.

"2025 Singing and Dancing Training Camp, Trainee Song Nian"

"Liu Han, a member of the Fruit Candy Girls group"

It's obvious at a glance that this is a contestant who was brought in by capital to increase popularity and enhance their image; they are essentially top-tier candidates.

But the first name of the guest star was so prominent that it was hard for anyone to miss it—

"Singer and original music producer, Xu Kong"

The little black guys, sensing the approach, swarmed around like sharks smelling blood.

The hype is rising too fast.

The car was getting a little carsick, and Xu Kong, who was resting with his eyes closed, was shaken awake by Liu Xia.

"Hey, do you want to check the trending topics on Weibo?" Liu Xia hesitated for a moment before handing over his phone.

This is the original owner's work machine, and also Liu Xia's work machine.

The original owner appeared to be a tough guy who had withstood ridicule from the entire internet over the past few years, but in reality, his mental resilience was a tiny bit weak.

He did not have Weibo installed on his personal phone.

Xu Kongneng understood.

After all, his memes have been all over Weibo in recent years, so wouldn't it just be adding to the annoyance?

Moreover, the account "Xu Kong" is operated by the studio—that is, Liu Xia.

And once Xu Kong transmigrates, it will be even less likely that he will install that toilet app.

"I'm not watching." Xu Kong said dismissively, "So what if I got criticized and trended on social media? What's so interesting about that?"

He doesn't have that peculiar habit of feeling happy when he sees comments criticizing him.

Seeing Xu Kong's nonchalant attitude, Liu Xia hesitated for a moment before saying, "How about we report this to President Xu and have the public relations department follow up and control the tone of the comments section?"

Previously, when Xu Kong was fighting alone, he had to spend a lot of money to reduce the heat of such negative news or change the direction of public opinion.

Now that she finally has a free public relations department from the company, Liu Xia is itching to make the most of it.

Before signing with the company, her boss was constantly being attacked online, so she stopped saying anything.

If you sign with a company and then get smeared online, wouldn't it be a waste of time to sign?

"Public relations what?"

Xu Kong glanced at Liu Xia, knowing the young lady was thinking of him, and explained, "They paid a million to hire me, what for?"

"ah--"

Liu Xia was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening.

"If netizens didn't criticize me, my role and value wouldn't be apparent," Xu Kong continued. "Am I the only guest with poor public image? Look around, besides a few fans, who else is paying attention to the other guests on the show?"

That's true.

Liu Xia glanced down at Weibo's trending topics list; the second and fourth most popular topics were both related to Xu Kong.

#Let's go right away, guest star is Xu Kong#

#Lantai and Xu Kong's first collaboration#

Both trending search terms were followed by a dark red "Explosive" character.

The fact that Xu Kong reached such a high position without buying a trending topic only shows how terrifyingly powerful his negative and positive online presence is.

The top trending topic is related to a big boss; otherwise, it would be number one.

Clicking into the comments section is like a day of revelry for haters.

Liu Xia could hardly see a single positive comment in the comment section.

"I really don't understand Zhejiang TV's move. How dare they invite Xu Kong at this critical juncture?"

"Is the chicken essence incident really over? Why hasn't Xu Kong left the internet yet? How dare Zhejiang TV invite such a disgraced artist?"

"I'm just a casual observer, but anyone with common sense should be able to see that Zhejiang TV is deliberately using Xu Kong as a scapegoat to get criticized."

"I was actually looking forward to this new variety show, but with a popular celebrity like Xu Kong in it, I don't want to watch it anymore."

"What's the point of Xu Kong, this washed-up idol, being here? Isn't my Zhuang Chen enough to be the show's main draw?"

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"I'm going to report this to the Zhejiang Provincial Government. I can't stand celebrities who recklessly use MSG on TV shows to make money."

"This is an outdoor variety show. Can a popular celebrity like Xu Kong really film it properly?"

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"..."

Seeing the chaotic comments section, Liu Xia felt somewhat upset.

After all, Xu Kong was the boss who paid her salary.

"A new show hasn't even started filming yet, and these haters are already attacking you, Brother Kong, without even knowing the facts—"

"If people criticize you a few times, you can get 450,000, and that's 450,000 after taxes..." Xu Kong said calmly.

"Hiss!" These words made Liu Xia fall silent instantly. After gritting his teeth, he continued, "Then I'll let them curse me until my phone runs out of battery, otherwise I won't feel at ease taking this money."

The slight resentment she had felt for Xu Kong vanished without a trace in an instant.

Instead, a slight sense of displeasure arose.

And she's even starting to understand why those haters hate Xu Kong, this kind of popular celebrity, so much.

Being handsome is one thing, but since you're not catering to rich women and tycoons, good looks can't put food on the table.

But the speed at which popular celebrities make money is truly enviable.

"I never knew you had such a peculiar fetish."

Xu Kong clicked his tongue, unsure how to evaluate this young woman.

Liu Xia was even more confused.

I was thinking, what kind of special fetish do I have? Why don't you explain yourself more clearly...?