While netizens were engrossed in heated discussions, some people were left dumbfounded.

"President Ye, terrible news! Our trending topic has been suppressed!"

Ye Zhonghuai was at home, preparing to rest, when he suddenly received a call from the vice president, jolting him wide awake.

"What happened?!"

"Just now, Marketing Director Zhang Chengliang told me Xu Qingqiu suddenly hit the trending searches. Several more topics about her followed, and her popularity is skyrocketing. Meanwhile, Qin Xiao's album index keeps dropping!"

"I'm on my way now! Get all employees back to the office for overtime immediately! Also, contact Tianmu Weibo and find out what the hell is going on!"

"Okay, President Ye. However, I've already contacted Tianmu. They said Xu Qingqiu's topic popularity is incredibly high, making it unrealistic to suppress this trending topic now."

"What bullshit 'unrealistic'? They just want more money, right? You contact them first. We'll talk more when I get to the office!"

Furious, Ye Zhonghuai was about to hang up but suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Wait a second! Have Zhang contact our operations and promotion resources and tell them to prepare for overtime tonight too!"

"Okay, President Ye."

The vice president hung up and drove straight to the company. He, too, had been roused from home. It just went to show how tough life was for working folks.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhonghuai stood in his bedroom, his expression dark, his face ashen and grim.

"What's wrong? What else has happened?"

Hearing his wife's impatient tone, the anger Ye Zhonghuai had just suppressed flared up again.

"Ask, ask, ask! All you do is ask! Isn't it because of that damn son of yours? He stirs up a hornet's nest, and I'm the one who has to clean up his mess!"

"Hey, Ye Zhonghuai, are you out of your mind? He's *my* son, not yours, is that it?"

"You clean up his messes? Have you ever done it properly? Our son is still abroad, without enough food or warm clothes, and you still have the gall to bring it up? You act so high and mighty all the time, yet such a small problem has kept our son stranded overseas for years!"

"Ye Zhonghuai, tell me the truth! Do you have an illegitimate child out there? You're just waiting for Guang to die abroad, aren't you?"

"I'm telling you, I saw through you ages ago! When you first married into our family, my father said you were unreliable. So, this is what you've been waiting for, huh?"

"Ye Zhonghuai, you'd better bring our son home tomorrow, or you can forget about having another peaceful day in this house!"

Listening to his wife's increasingly irrational tirade, Ye Zhonghuai felt the veins in his forehead throb violently.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. With a SMACK, he slammed his phone to the ground and lunged at his wife.

"What do you think you're doing, Ye Zhonghuai? Trying to take it out on me? Let me tell you, I'm not to be trifled with!"

After more than half an hour of furious struggle, Ye Zhonghuai reluctantly picked himself up from the floor. Clutching his face, he silently pulled out a spare phone and headed outside.

Leaving behind the sound of muffled sobs.

"President... President Ye..."

"To the company, immediately! The faster, the better!"

The driver glanced at Ye Zhonghuai's battered and swollen face, the corners of his mouth twitching subtly. Without a word, he opened the car door, and once Ye Zhonghuai was in, he floored the accelerator.

He pulled away more than twice as fast as usual.

On the way, Ye Zhonghuai logged into Weibo. The more he scrolled, the more livid his face became.

The vice president had initially said there were a few trending topics. A few? What the hell! There had to be more than a dozen by now!

When he finally reached the company, the sight of employees listlessly trickling in infuriated him even more.

Damn it! I spend so much money on them, and when it's time to work, they're all as lifeless as frostbitten eggplants! A bunch of bloodsuckers!

He was completely oblivious to the fact that it was already past ten o'clock and many employees had been called back while they were halfway home or already resting.

In his view, since he paid them, they should work themselves to death. Otherwise, they weren't good employees.

However, he maintained enough self-control not to voice his displeasure immediately, merely returning to his office with a grim expression.

Several of the company's key executives were already waiting there, with only one person noticeably absent.

"Where's Qin Xiao?"

Ye Zhonghuai scanned the room, but the main person involved was nowhere to be seen.

"Teacher Qin... she..."

"I'm asking you a question! Where is Qin Xiao?!"

Because of the show, Qin Xiao's newly appointed manager, Xie Ning, had just traveled to Habes to coordinate promotional resources and was currently unavailable.

With Qin Xiao were only a few of her personal assistants and the assistant manager assigned by the company.

But who among these people could actually keep her in line?

Ye Zhonghuai's sudden outburst stunned the assistant manager. Her face visibly paled, and she froze on the spot.

Finally, the Director of the Artist Department, unable to bear it any longer, discreetly nudged her, jolting her back to her senses.

"Teacher Qin went out with friends..."

"Bullshit Teacher Qin! I'm asking you, where is Qin Xiao?! Where did she go? Who with? When will she be back?!"

Tears welled up in the assistant manager's eyes; she looked utterly wretched, unsure how to respond.

Should she say that Qin Xiao had gone out with some young pretty boy she'd just met, unable to control her urges and sneaking off?

Finally, under Ye Zhonghuai's relentless, pressing gaze, she buckled under the pressure and confessed everything.

When she finished speaking, the atmosphere in the office became so heavy it felt like it had solidified. No one dared to even breathe.

"Alright. Notify her to return immediately. We'll deal with her later. For now, let's discuss the current situation."

What else could it be? The Public Sentiment Department had recognized the ominous signs right from the start and had quickly reported it to the marketing director. That director had made a swift decision, informing the vice president, who in turn had notified Ye Zhonghuai.

It was no exaggeration to say that Qin Xiao's new album was the company's most critical project at that moment. A massive investment of manpower and resources had been poured into it, allowing no margin for error. Especially since everyone knew President Ye had personally gone to the parent company, Habes, to secure a wealth of resources for this very project. It was rumored he'd even been humiliated there and had returned in a foul temper.

Therefore, everyone involved was treating it with utmost seriousness.

But diligence, however great, couldn't prevent the unexpected. And this crisis had not only been sudden but also incredibly swift and fierce. From the first spark to a full-blown inferno, it had taken merely one to two hours. The crisis had erupted almost instantaneously, smashing their carefully laid plans to pieces.

Their original promotional plan was now effectively worthless, like so much waste paper.

Truth be told, it wasn't entirely their fault. Even Chu Tian and Xu Qingqiu themselves hadn't anticipated this level of explosive popularity. Otherwise, that group wouldn't still be casually eating and drinking at the hotel.

The concert simply had too many sensational moments, too much buzzworthy content.

Speculation about a breakup, the official announcement of a new relationship, her boyfriend's appearance, new songs, promotions for a TV drama, Chu Tian's speech, audience members leaving, the guest lineup, the encore song, the feud with a certain TV drama... the list went on.

Any single one of these items would have been major news on its own. Yet, during a concert that lasted little more than an hour, these bombshells had dropped one after another, almost too fast to keep up.

The entertainment media and marketing bloggers at the venue had been typing so furiously their keyboards were practically smoking. Adding to that, the audience members fanned the flames online after the concert, leading to the current chaotic situation.

"So, tell me," Ye Zhonghuai said, "what's the plan?"

Ye Zhonghuai rubbed his forehead, wincing as his fingers brushed against a tender wound, sending a sharp pain through him.

He looked up. Seeing everyone with their heads bowed, avoiding his gaze, only soured Ye Zhonghuai's mood further.

After a long discussion, their suggestions boiled down to three main strategies:

One: stir up counter-hype.

Two: buy traffic and pay for sponsored articles.

Three: buy their way onto the trending list or pay to have Xu Qingqiu's topics removed.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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