Huayu 2005: Chat groups are full of real celebrities

Chen Jingfei's phrase "contract of servitude" was clearly not an angry outburst, but rather a genuine expression of his frustration.

During this period, in order to suppress the waves of dirty water coming towards Liu Yifei, he moved almost all the relationships he needed to.

They contacted media outlets to request the retraction of articles, reduce their placement in publications, and even tried to get help from state media outlets.

Money has been spent, and press releases have been issued.

The result was like punching cotton.

The manuscript is shelved today, only to reappear in a different guise tomorrow;

Just as one topic was brought under control, another person started stirring up trouble again through forums, online communities, and entertainment tabloids.

You try to reason with him about the rules, and he resorts to underhanded tactics.

You want to kill him head-on, but he hides in the shadows and fires a sneak shot.

To put it bluntly, he hasn't really been in the murky waters of the entertainment industry.

The business tactics of spending money and building relationships don't work very well here.

Jiang Bei noticed the expressions on their faces but didn't rush to reply. Instead, he opened his bag, pulled out a few pages of organized documents, and handed them over to the group.

"Take a look at this first."

Liu Xiaoli took it, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow.

The top page featured a printed entertainment news article with a particularly eye-catching headline—

Sales of the "Chinese Paladin" soundtrack plummeted due to the impact of Liu Yifei's new song.

Several more articles are attached below.

Music critics' scathing review: The soundtrack for "Chinese Paladin" is poorly produced and far inferior to Liu Yifei's new song.

Tang Ren's attempt to capitalize on Zhao Ling'er's popularity to sell soundtracks is disgraceful.

Hu Ge's new drama is generating hype even before it's released, but it's actually depleting Liu Yifei's popularity.

Each one is more ruthless than the last.

Almost every attack was aimed at Tang Ren's project.

Liu Xiaoli flipped through the pages slowly, but Chen Jingfei read them very quickly, his eyes growing brighter and brighter as he read, until he was completely energized.

"pretty!"

He slapped his thigh, almost making the cups on the coffee table shake.

"That's more like it!"

"Didn't they love using Sissi to gain popularity? Well, now they've got what's coming to them!"

Liu Yonghui finished flipping through the few pages of documents in his hand, looked up at Jiangbei, and for the first time, his gaze held a genuine scrutiny.

"Did you arrange these articles?"

Jiang Bei shook his head.

"no."

"But someone spoke up for us."

That's enough.

He clicked on the top article about the soundtrack of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," his tone unhurried:

"Tang Ren's smartest and stupidest moves this time are both here."

Liu Yonghui frowned: "What do you mean?"

"They're smart because they know how to leverage existing resources."

"Yifei is currently popular, and 'Chinese Paladin' is also popular. The soundtrack is released in the middle, which allows us to benefit from the popularity of the drama and also ride on her popularity."

"But the stupidity lies in—"

Jiang Bei raised the documents in his hand.

"They are too greedy."

"They want to use Yifei's fame to sell albums, they want to use the popularity of 'Chinese Paladin' to promote newcomers, and they also want to drag Qianqian into the mud and force her to bow her head."

"The plates are too big, and the way we eat is too unsightly."

"At times like this, if even one point is exposed, the entire transaction will be in trouble."

Chen Jingfei nodded repeatedly as he listened, feeling increasingly relieved.

"So you mean, keep pushing into their projects?"

"Not continuing."

Jiangbei corrected him.

"From now on, stop wasting your energy on 'suppressing public opinion'."

"You can suppress one article, but you can't suppress a hundred posts about public opinion."

You can remove one page of the newspaper, but you can't remove the rumors flying everywhere.

"Since they're using the project to set the pace, the easiest way isn't to compete with them to see who can shout the loudest—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the group.

"Instead, we directly hurt their projects."

The living room fell silent for a moment.

Chen Jingfei narrowed his eyes and leaned forward a few inches.

Liu Yonghui also put down the documents in his hand, clearly having caught up with Jiang Bei's line of thinking.

Jiangbei continued:

"Tang Ren's most valuable asset right now is not a few press releases, nor the few online troll leaders under Cai Yinong."

"It's the 'Chinese Paladin' franchise, which includes the subsequent dramas, albums, and commercial projects."

These are the projects they intend to use to make money and enhance their social standing.

"Then let's not roll around in the mud with them."

"Just put it on the table and flip it over."

Upon hearing this, even Liu Xiaoli raised her head.

Jiangbei didn't keep them in suspense and went straight to the point:

"When they release the original soundtrack, we use stronger topics and works to intercept them."

"When they launch a new drama, we time our promotional activities accordingly to steal the attention of the audience and the media."

"They want to ride on Sissi's popularity to boost their own project, so we'll do the opposite—"

"Let Sisi's popularity become a knife hanging over their project."

"If we do this kind of money-losing business like the Legend of Sword and Fairy soundtrack a couple more times, Tang Ren won't have time to focus on Zhao Ling'er, who he can't sign."

"The real question is how to turn things around and salvage your own situation."

This time, Liu Yonghui was the first to react.

His expression changed, and he blurted out:

"It's not a simple confrontation with Taiwan."

"It's about disrupting their publicity schedule, seizing their exposure opportunities, and forcing them to shift their focus away from Sissi—"

"Should we switch to protecting our own projects?"

"right."

Jiangbei nodded.

"Strike the snake at its vital point."

"We'll fight whatever Cai Yinong cares about most."

"Doesn't she like to manipulate public opinion? Then let her play along."

"But every time we play this game, the cost is attributed to Tang Ren's project."

The more Liu Yonghui thought about it, the more ruthless this approach seemed, and he couldn't help but gasp.

Publishing a few counter-argument articles and hiring some online trolls to hurl insults at the other side will only annoy them a little.

But if we really follow Jiangbei's approach—

By manipulating release schedules, capitalizing on trending topics, grabbing media coverage, and aggressively undermining the competitor's project's expected revenue...

Then it won't be about throwing mud at each other anymore.

That was aimed at sending them back to their hometowns.

Chen Jingfei was so excited that he slammed his hand on the coffee table.

"That's more like it!"

"I've disliked that Tang Ren guy for a long time!"

"Lili, I think we can't tolerate this anymore."

Buy songs, buy notebooks, assemble CDs, and go all out on a few big ones!

"He loves playing the media game, doesn't he? I'll play along with him to the very end!"

Just as Chen Jingfei was about to switch to his "rich and willful" rampage mode again, before Liu Xiaoli could even speak, Jiang Bei coughed first.

"Mr. Chen, don't rush."

Chen Jingfei was taken aback: "What? This method is wrong?"

"That's the right method."

Jiang Bei smiled.

"But there's no need to spend a lot of money at the last minute to buy songs, scripts, and projects on the spot."

"That's too slow and too rough."

"By the time you finally get the project together, the hype surrounding 'Chinese Paladin' will have died down, and Tang Ren will have made all the money he could have made."

Chen Jingfei was taken aback.

"So you mean—"

Jiang Bei picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then slowly put the cup down before turning to look at Liu Yifei.

"Actually, in that collaboration with China Mobile, besides the songs and endorsements, there was another card we were holding back."

Liu Yifei blinked, first startled, then her eyes lit up as if she remembered something.

"You mean...?"

"right."

Jiang Bei smiled.

"That show."

"As long as the timing is right and the release schedule is right, it might just become a sharp knife aimed at Tang Ren."