Chapter 66: Besieged by Misfortune

The impact of the escalating scandal was by no means as fervent as Song Qingyun had imagined.

For reasons completely unknown, despite the explosive dirt that should have utterly destroyed the two individuals, the public voice on the internet shifted time and time again.

Just last night, people were still swarming to curse and trample upon Ellen, dragging Zhou Yifan down onto the pillar of shame as well. Yet, after a single day, not only had the noise volume dropped, but a growing number of marketing accounts were even beginning to suggest that having a child was not such a grave mistake after all.

Following their online statements, the two involved parties had completely vanished from the digital world, no longer responding to the disputes, and the brand sponsors associated with Ellen showed not the slightest reaction.

Not a single one of them terminated their contracts!

Not only was there no contract termination, but rumor had it that a maternal and infant brand had actually approached Ellen's studio?

Did this make any sense?

A career collapse, do you understand what a career collapse means?

Don't your brands even know how to mitigate risks?

Needless to say how much money and effort had been spent, and how many heavy favors had been called in for this massive push. How could he possibly be reconciled without crushing them into absolute oblivion?

"Forget it, let's leave that adulterous pair alone for now. Xiao Wang, how is the matter of the female lead for the new drama? Haven't we been in talks with an A-list actress? Hurry up with the casting, get the production schedule arranged, and we must start filming by May at the latest."

After all, Song Qingyun was a director, not someone entirely devoid of seriousness day in and day out; his attention finally returned to his new drama.

Inside the office, Manager Wang patted the belly fat on his body and walked forward with a somewhat awkward expression.

"Well, Director Song, the casting matter will probably have to be delayed. The platform side says we have to pass their review meeting before they will let their actresses come in for auditions."

Song Qingyun was instantly consumed by fury: "Who spoiled them with such bad habits? Since when do we have to pass a review meeting before casting? Can any project pass a review without a female lead? Our dramas have always locked down the casting choices first."

Manager Wang hurriedly nodded: "Indeed, Director Song, you are entirely right. We have indeed always locked down the talent first and then gone to the review meeting. But this time, there is a slight problem."

"A slight problem? What problem could there possibly be at a time like this? Haven't the scripts been revised already?"

"The scripts are revised, yes, but the advertisers have all slipped away..."

"What?!"

Manager Wang was truly sweating profusely.

How do you expect me to put this, bro? The trap we personally dug for Ellen ended up blowing back on us—we completely failed to notice that several of the investors backing our new drama specialized in sweet romance tropes, and many of them happened to hold endorsements tied to Ellen!

Wasn't Ellen previously the very definition of sweet romance?!

Song Qingyun knitted his brow tightly: "What does Ellen's car crash have to do with us? There isn't a single trending search topic across the entire internet claiming that my Prosperous Zenith set traps for them."

"Nobody is saying it has anything to do with us," Manager Wang replied helplessly. "The brand sponsors only said that since their spokesperson has been unstable lately and the company's risks are relatively high, they cannot make external investments for the time being and need to re-evaluate."

Damn it!

Song Qingyun gave the stool a fierce kick.

He finally understood what it meant to lift a rock only to drop it on one's own feet.

As it turned out, those people weren't backing away because they thought Prosperous Zenith was no good, but because they were so spooked by that bitch Ellen that they didn't dare to invest!

"Then let's just go straight to the review meeting! So much has already been invested in the early preparations, this drama must start filming this year. The trending genres on the platforms change every two months; if we don't start filming soon, my drama with its new theme and format will become hopelessly outdated!"

"Well... we can't get past the review meeting either."

Manager Wang was on the verge of suffocation. Why did he always have to serve such a difficult master?

"What is it now?"

"New platform regulations state that the share of long-form dramas is being cut further, especially for contemporary romance genres. Unless we can secure an A-list actor, they won't even let us submit for review and financing."

Song Qingyun took several deep breaths.

Splendid, just splendid.

Are you playing nesting dolls with me here?

Over there, without advertisers there are no A-list actors, and over here, without A-list actors they won't let you pass review to pitch for investments?!

His Prosperous Zenith was no nameless, obscure little company!

"I'm going over there to ask them in person myself what kind of lousy rules dare to reach the head of Song Qingyun!"

Storming out in a rage to the parking lot, that damned SUV was parked right at the corner again—for three days in a row now! Did he fall in love with this spot or something?

"Get me in touch with the building's property management! Make them do something about it! Is this a place where anyone can just park?!"

Song Qingyun slammed his foot on the gas and sped away, leaving Manager Wang bowing and scraping behind him.

Only when the sound of the vehicle's tires could no longer be heard in the basement garage did he wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

Truly difficult to serve...

They had already inquired about that car the very first day it parked here, and nobody had any idea whose it was. They even had property management check, only to be met with enigmatic guardedness.

Did they even need to spell it out?

It was obviously the car of one of the top big bosses in the company!

You, old sir, occupied the best parking space by the elevator entrance. Some senior executive probably parked there for convenience on a whim, without blocking anyone—was that something that could be spoken of aloud?

Sigh, truly difficult to serve.

Besides, he still had a belly full of unspoken words.

For all the external outreach Prosperous Zenith had done for so long, he was crystal clear on the attitudes of both advertisers and platforms. Why on earth were they running into brick walls everywhere today?

Though none of them said anything explicit, politely finding excuses and citing regulations, Manager Wang was no fool! He could hear the estrangement in their tones!

There was bound to be something else going on behind the scenes!

Director Song stood high above the rest, always assuming nobody would dare oppose him. After all, he was considered a veteran director, practically on bosom-buddy terms with some of the absolute top-tier directors in the industry today.

The problem was, why wouldn't you look at who you've offended recently? You only allow yourself to trip up Zhou Yifan, and you think the other party won't strike back?

That was the Zhou family!

Of course, Manager Wang had no way of saying this aloud.

He had no evidence, and shifting the blame to outsiders was useless. The leadership would only think his competence was lacking, seeing that he couldn't even manage a few advertisers.

So he would just keep his mouth shut, wouldn't he?

Wasn't you who wanted to go find the platform yourself?

Please go ahead!

If you can actually negotiate and sort it out, then naturally you are awesome.

If you can't sort it out yourself, don't vent your pent-up stomach of anger onto us.

...

In the end, Lin Ke returned to participate in the livestream.

She had signed a contract and could not withdraw midway. The second stage of the Hundred Butterflies Rising Cloud Competition was in full swing, and since the topic was now known across the entire internet, facing it without a livestream was simply impossible.

After all, she was in the socio-emotional track, and her professional duty was precisely to catch up with current affairs and ride the wave of trending topics. Having skipped work last night to accompany Xu Meiqi, today's tasks still had to be completed as usual.

However, she did not strictly follow the plan provided by her team.

This time, she had carefully paid attention to the online developments in advance and naturally discovered that Xu Meiqi had made it to the trending searches. Although the overall public sentiment was still relatively positive at the moment, no one could guarantee what might happen in the future.

Lin Ke deliberately consulted with the planning producer, Explotion, in advance, unwilling to kick someone when they were down at a time like this.

She didn't state the reason, and Explotion didn't ask, simply pondering her idea earnestly.

"That's fine, what you said makes sense. The online trending searches are already exploding right now, and there are plenty of people kicking her while she's down. Stepping on her at this moment might not yield any good results, and every conceivable angle has already been memed and played out, making it hard to innovate."