Chapter 23 - 1#
A new post floated to the top of the Entertainment Forum homepage:
“Spilling tea! Did everyone see the latest Weibo post from Bamboo Grove Media? They directly posted the communication records and contract with The Real Job program, stating there was no improper competition! Feels like things might be about to flip? [Link]”
Jing Shun had been trending quite a bit over the past couple of days, and since this post’s title included his name, it quickly attracted a lively discussion.
——Waiting for the flip +1
——Just got filled in on Jing Shun’s experiences over the years; he really doesn’t seem like the type backed by big money [shrug]
——The authenticity of that earlier exposé post was questionable anyway—no concrete evidence at all. These days, anyone can type a few lines and pretend to be an insider, right? But Dong Qihao’s fans were all too eager to insert themselves, thinking their idol had been robbed of resources, and they all ganged up on Jing Shun.
——Switching to a burner account for cover. The truth is that after Dong suddenly got popular from his hit drama, his team felt his status had risen and didn’t want to be a side character, so they stood up the show’s crew.
——I feel like the comment above is more reasonable? Didn’t fans of his former teammate expose Dong Qihao’s diva attitude back in his boy band days?
——Reasonable my ass! Stop pretending to be objective! Are you slandering our Little Dong with claims of diva behavior? Got any proof?
——If Dong’s camp was the one that changed their minds and breached the contract, why hasn’t the show’s crew come out to clarify? They’re just playing dead.
——Is it possible the show’s crew is colluding with Jing Shun? Deliberately crying thief?
——I say some of you should know when to stop. Without being clingy, would Little Dong have any buzz, you bloodsucking freaks?
——LOL, how do Dong fans still have the face to shout in this thread? The show’s official Weibo posted five minutes ago with solid evidence, okay? First time I’ve seen an official account come out to slam an artist’s team!
Just five minutes ago, the official Weibo account of This! Is a Real Workplace! released a statement:
“Thank you to the netizens for your attention to the program and its guests. Due to the large amount of malicious rumors and reports we’ve received recently, and to prevent the rumors from spreading further, we hereby make the following clarification:”
“In December last year, the program team sent a recording invitation to artist Dong Qihao’s team, and both sides smoothly signed a preliminary contract. However, as recording approached, the artist’s team repeatedly cited reasons such as ‘full schedule of notifications’ and ‘scheduling conflicts’ to refuse formal recording, hindering the program’s progress.”
“Based on the above, the program team then invited artist Jing Shun to participate in the recording. As of now, all communications between both parties have followed the commercial process!”
“Above all, we ask the audience to carefully distinguish false information online! The program team reserves the right to pursue legal action against those spreading rumors!”
In addition to this text statement, the program team even thoughtfully included screenshots of WeChat conversations.
In the chat records, Dong Qihao’s team started off agreeing to cooperate, then gradually procrastinated on the recording schedule, and finally refused to record due to scheduling conflicts—a complete 180-degree attitude reversal!
Before the drama blew up, they wanted to gain exposure through variety shows. But now that the drama was a hit and his popularity soared, they started looking down on this level of variety show status?
Who was right and who was wrong? Clear as day!
Not long after the program team posted this statement, the official Weibo account of Haishi TV also reposted it!
At the same time, the hashtag #DongQihaoRefusedRecordingAtLastMinute# shot straight to the entertainment trending list. Now netizens were even more fired up:
——Support the program team! Support Jing Shun! Some artists quietly refuse to record, and yet their fans still have the nerve to attack the program team and the substitute guest?
——Verified for Dong’s fans: these chat records are not photoshopped. You’re welcome.
——I’ve followed Haishi TV for many years. This is the first time I’ve seen the program team and the TV station both come out to slam an artist! How did Dong Qihao manage to offend them both this time?
——I know this one! Dong’s fans organized themselves to give Real Job one-star ratings on Douban and even filed complaints to the Radio and Television Administration. Who could tolerate that?
——This trending topic and the bots are too obvious, right? The parties never formally signed a contract; the team bowed out citing scheduling conflicts before recording began. The artist never publicly said anyone stole his resources. What did Little Dong and his team do wrong?
——What injustice are Dong’s fans crying over here? Weren’t you the ones who made a big show of going after the program team and Jing Shun earlier?
——For the passersby: In a dual-name trending topic, all discussion data goes to the artist whose name appears first. So by guiding netizens to discuss under the #DongQihao_JingShun# hashtag, Dong’s fans were actually getting everyone to do free data work for their idol! What a clever scheme!
As the heat on this matter continued to rise, some marketing accounts seized the opportunity to leak a long string of gossip submissions:
“1. Dong Qihao always had a bit of a spoiled temperament back in his boy band days. Once, during a commercial shoot, he got into an argument with the advertising manager on set, which made the manager so angry they canceled the group’s promotional event.”
“2. While still in the group, he privately contacted fans and dated multiple people with overlapping timelines. This was an open secret among old fans. If exposed, his team would just dismiss it as delusional fantasies from female fans.”
“3. He’s been caught smoking indoors more than once and is a regular at overseas nightclubs. Once, a casual fan recognized him, and he tried to pin the blame on a teammate.”
“4. After transitioning to acting, he’s been late to set multiple times, right? The leads had to wait for him, the second male lead—isn’t that ridiculous?”
“5. After his new drama aired, his marketing went overboard. His team subtly bad-mouthed the male lead, and his fans still have the nerve to call Jing Shun a marketing whore?”
Various photos and video screenshots from different time periods were compiled together, seamlessly with no gaps—enough to leave anyone stunned!
In the front row of comments, many fans came forward:
——An old fan who quit ages ago here: he really isn’t worth liking!
——I’m a fan site admin. During the filming of The Legend of Furong, this guy was often late. His daily call times never matched the schedule. He just acted sweet in front of fans, always blaming the crew for last-minute schedule changes.
——A former teammate’s fan here. The lost endorsement is real! The promotional materials for the event were already prepared, but it was abruptly canceled.
——This gossip post is highly credible! Not to mention anything else, I’ve personally witnessed him when I was working; he really does love smoking indoors!
——He was overdue for a fall. Well-deserved!
Whether during his boy band days or his actor days, Dong Qihao had offended plenty of people, and his fan circles were never lacking in skirmishes.
Fans from other groups finally had this chance and ganged up on him. Whenever Dong’s fans tried to defend or control the narrative, they would counter with even harsher words and more solid evidence.
Night had fallen, but the comment section of this Weibo post had become a new melon patch, a fresh battlefield, drawing countless netizens to scroll through, too entertained to sleep.
Dating while in a group? That’s no idol ethics!
Smoking in public? That’s no manners!
Backing out of a contract last minute? That’s no integrity!
Hitting up nightclubs and throwing teammates under the bus? Throwing tantrums that cause lost endorsements? Always late to filming? Anyone who works with Dong Qihao has rotten luck!
“…”
Staring at the flood of insults pouring into the backend, the anger in Dong Qihao’s eyes seemed hot enough to burn a hole through the phone screen.
A whole night had passed, and not only was his negative trending topic still high on the charts, more related negative topics were popping up. His personal super topic and timeline were flooded with statements of fans leaving.
His expression stiff, Dong Qihao barged straight into the team’s workroom next door. “What the hell is going on? How long has it been? Why can’t you get these trending topics under control!”
Agent Sun Yan was already up to his ears in damage control. Hearing Dong start up with his spoiled tantrum again, he frowned and urged, “Qihao, don’t panic. We’re working on it.”
One staff member braced themselves to explain, “Brother Hao, it’s not that we won’t pay to kill the trends—someone else is secretly spending money to boost them.”
Ordinarily, with standard PR tactics—paying to lower trending positions, deploying bots, and organizing fans to clean up the topic timeline—they could reduce the heat.
But the problem was that another team was working against them under the radar, and they were willing to spend even more on high-ranking slots.
Dong Qihao asked, “Is it Jing Shun’s team? Isn’t Bamboo Grove Media just a tiny studio founded less than a year ago? Do they have that kind of power?”
Sun Yan shook his head uncertainly. “Not necessarily. It could be other rivals.”
Competitive tactics among domestic celebrities always happen in the shadows.
Every year, only a handful of promising rookies can break out, so there’s inevitably competition for resources among artists.
Compared to Jing Shun, who currently has no film or TV works to back him up and still needs long-term medical treatment, Dong Qihao—riding a wave of rising popularity—is a more obvious target for others.
Sun Yan analyzed, “That whole string of gossip posts last night, with pictures and videos—that didn’t look like something thrown together on the spot. It means someone’s been watching you for a while, waiting for the right moment to stab you in the back.”
Dong Qihao guessed again, “So it’s Liang Yongyi’s side? Annoyed that I beat him to the Yiwen Magazine cover?”
Liang Yongyi was the male lead in The Legend of Furong.
After the drama aired, Dong Qihao’s team never stopped marketing, and fans of the rival repeatedly accused him of stealing the spotlight, leading to endless conflict between the two fan bases.
“Whoever it is, the priority now is to get these trending topics taken down.”
Sun Yan had just called the company to explain the situation. “The company said our marketing budget for this quarter is already over. They can’t help with PR costs this time—we’ll have to figure it out ourselves.”
“Damn it.”
Dong Qihao cursed.
Sun Yan signaled the work team to keep monitoring public opinion, then pulled Dong Qihao into the next break room for a private chat. “Qihao, why don’t you give President Wei a call?”
“…”
A flash of humiliation and reluctance showed in Dong Qihao’s eyes. “No!”
The “President Wei” in question was a sugar daddy he’d met at a drinking party half a year ago. He controlled a top-tier home appliance group in China, had money, but wasn’t a legit entertainment industry investor.
President Wei was gay, and he had his eye on Dong Qihao’s face. He extended invitations multiple times, promising to spend money on resources for him if he’d get into bed.
Dong Qihao originally refused flat out, but the temptation of benefits was too great. At the start of the year, swallowing his disgust, he half-heartedly slept with the man a few times.
Sun Yan put an arm around his shoulder and coaxed, “Be sensible! We can’t control this situation anymore. The only way is to get President Wei to spend money and suppress it. Do you want to see all your hard work go down the drain?”
Recently, Dong Qihao’s popularity had been soaring—partly thanks to his drama’s success, but also thanks to President Wei’s money, which had bought him plenty of resources and bots to create hype.
Thinking about the public opinion crisis about to spiral out of control, Dong Qihao swallowed his pride. “Fine. I’ll call him now.”
“Good.”
Sun Yan urged, “Hurry.”
Dong Qihao picked up his phone from the couch, mustered his emotions, and dialed President Wei’s number.
Soon, the call connected. “Hello?”
“Brother, it’s me~”
Dong Qihao forced his voice into a husky, flattering tone. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. I’m free today—are you available? I’ll come see you?”
“Little Dong, I’m pretty busy. Don’t come around for now. When I have free time, I’ll reach out.”
President Wei immediately turned him down, catching Dong Qihao off guard.
The false sweetness in his eyes cracked instantly, and his voice dropped the coquettish act. “President Wei, you messaged me just the day before yesterday. How did you suddenly get busy?”
President Wei, hearing the displeasure in his voice, didn’t bother to indulge him this time. “Little Dong, the real reason you’re calling me now is to get me to clean up that mess online, right?”
“…”
Caught red-handed, Dong Qihao was at a loss for words.
President Wei continued to jab at him. “Don’t think I don’t know. You Dong Qihao don’t actually want to sleep with me, but you can’t let go of the perks I give you. Who are you trying to impress with this holier-than-thou act now?”
Dong Qihao’s face turned crimson. He wished he could crush the phone in his hand!
“I was willing to throw money at you and keep you around because I enjoyed watching you have no choice but to serve me—but only if you didn’t cause me trouble! And yet—”
President Wei remembered the warning he’d received not long ago and seethed. “You and your team went out of your way to pick a fight with people even I can’t afford to offend!”
God knows, when he got a call earlier today from Chi Gui’s assistant, he nearly had a heart attack!
No matter how impressive his assets were, could they compare to the Chi Group?
President Wei said, “I’m not trying to scare you, but you’re a egg smashing against a rock. Not just me—there’s hardly anyone in all of China who can protect you!”
In front of true aristocratic capital, the entertainment industry is nothing but a trivial game.
Who would risk offending Chi Gui just to help Dong Qihao suppress this wave of public opinion? That would be pure stupidity.
The call was on speakerphone.
President Wei’s barrage of humiliation and questioning left Dong Qihao and Sun Yan both shaken.
Dong Qihao, still not grasping the situation, asked, “Who? Who did I offend?”
President Wei dared not mention Chi Gui’s name out loud, nor could he be bothered to waste more words on Dong Qihao. Without any consideration for their past relationship, he hung up.
Buzz—
The dial tone rang out sharply, like a resounding slap across Dong Qihao’s face.
Dong Qihao stood there, utterly bewildered, and turned to Sun Yan in disbelief. “Is it… is it Jing Shun? Didn’t you say he was a nobody with no backing? That we could use him as a stepping stone without any trouble?”
How could this be?
Jing Shun didn’t look like he had any powerful backers!
Sun Yan was equally perplexed. “Yeah… that’s what I thought!”