Kyoto.
A luxurious apartment.
"Sister Zheng, my trending topic is only third, can it be pushed up higher?" Chen Zhe asked.
Seated opposite him was Zheng Hong, dressed in a business suit, in her mid-thirties. She was voluptuous, her legs encased in black stockings exuding the charm of a mature woman.
Zheng Hong was a renowned agent in the industry, having personally propelled many famous artists to stardom, including Chen Zhe this time.
Of course, there was also the former top star, Zhang Qingyun.
Zheng Hong's capabilities were undeniable, but last time, due to Zhang Qingyun's self-destructive actions, she was penalized by the company for mismanagement. Subsequently, she left her former company and joined Guangnian Entertainment.
Her luck was quite good. After the Zhang Qingyun incident, she encountered Chen Zhe.
"It's already enough," Zheng Hong said, looking at the tablet in her hand, which displayed Weibo's real-time popularity.
"I don't think it's enough. Tingyu's popularity isn't high, only ranking second. If we can get our fans to work harder and surpass Tingyu and Mo Yan, it will be a great help to my popularity," Chen Zhe said, shaking his head.
Zheng Hong looked up at Chen Zhe, a hint of mockery curling her lips.
"What's wrong?" Chen Zhe blinked in surprise.
Zheng Hong said, "Remember my words, if you want to make it in this circle, never provoke two people."
Chen Zhe frowned, "Which two?"
"Tingyu and Jiang Nan!"
Zheng Hong stared into Chen Zhe's eyes, speaking each word deliberately.
She still vividly remembered how that fool Zhang Qingyun insisted on opposing these two, ultimately leading to his ruin.
Therefore, after finally bringing Chen Zhe to this position, she naturally had to constantly remind herself about the artist in her charge.
Young people were always arrogant, especially those who were young and talented. They were even harder to control, always believing they should be the protagonists of this circle, unaware of how vast the gap was between them and the true protagonists.
"But isn't competing for trending topics a normal practice in the industry? I don't think doing so would provoke Tingyu," Chen Zhe’s frown deepened.
He was different from Zhang Qingyun; he wasn't very afraid of Zheng Hong because he had a backer. His father, Chen Hua, was the General Manager of the Marketing Department at Guangnian Entertainment. While agents could determine the fate of most artists, he was not one of them.
For an artist like him with a backer, an agent was no different from an assistant.
Zheng Hong opened her mouth, swallowing the word "idiot" that was already on her lips.
Indeed, facing Chen Zhe as an artist, she couldn't and wouldn't scold him.
She said sternly, "Aren't you curious why Tingyu didn't get the top trending spot this time?"
Chen Zhe thought for a moment and confidently replied, "It means Mo Yan's retirement generated more buzz than him."
Zheng Hong slapped her forehead, took a deep breath to calm herself, and explained, "Tingyu didn't get the top trending spot this time because he restrained his fans. The reason was to let Mo Yan stay at the top trending spot a little longer. Do you think it's appropriate to snatch the trending topic at this moment?"
Chen Zhe pondered, his eyes then lighting up, "If that's the case, it's precisely our good opportunity. It's just a trending topic; if he wants Mo Yan to have it, why should we give it? I have no relationship with Mo Yan."
Zheng Hong was on the verge of collapse, "You can't!"
Chen Zhe sneered, "I'm an actor, not involved in the Chinese music scene. Why should I fear two songwriters? If it were Jiang Nan, I might show some respect, but Tingyu and Mo Yan aren't worth it."
"In any case, I disagree," Zheng Hong said, picking up her tablet from the table, clicking her heels, and leaving with a sway of her hip-hugging skirt.
Chen Zhe watched her retreating figure, a dismissive smile flashing across his lips, "I know you have psychological trauma from the Zhang Qingyun incident, but I'm different from him. He was just a traffic star, while my acting skills are comparable to veteran actors. As an actor, I'm not afraid of provoking songwriters because I have no intention of developing a career in the music industry."
There was another reason he didn't mention: he belonged to Guangnian Entertainment, and the feud between Guangnian Entertainment and Mo Yan was an open secret.
The company would definitely be willing to let him step on Mo Yan a bit and capitalize on Mo Yan's popularity.
"Heh heh..."
Zheng Hong paused her steps, gritted her teeth, and didn't argue further. She opened the door and walked out.
Her words had been spoken. If Chen Zhe didn't listen, she couldn't be blamed.
Zheng Hong knew Chen Zhe's thoughts. Tingyu now held a dominant position in the Chinese music scene. Indeed, many newcomers were overly eager and wanted to leverage Tingyu's popularity to ascend, but did they really think Tingyu's popularity was so easy to piggyback on?
Seeing Zheng Hong leave, Chen Zhe took out his phone and made a call, "Hello, Dad, do you think it's appropriate to buy trending topics now?"
...
Mo Yan's retirement caused a great stir in the Chinese music scene.
Although he had intended to retire for some time, as could be seen during "Masked Singer," when the time actually came, many fans couldn't accept it immediately.
The discussion topic on Weibo had reached eighty million.
Short video platforms were filled with retrospective videos of Mo Yan's life and achievements.
However, while everyone was reminiscing about their youth, a trending topic suddenly appeared in everyone's view.
#New generation of powerful actor Chen Zhe's Xianxia epic "Shen Mo Ji", premiere ceremony to be held on August 6th!#
This trending topic directly surged to the first position within just two hours!
Pushing down the trending topics of Mo Yan's retirement and Tingyu's "Qing Tian."
If it were in the past, when Tingyu dominated the charts, buying trending topics would have been impossible because his popularity was too high, and it would have cost a fortune to get on top. But this time was different. Tingyu intentionally gave way to Mo Yan, and his fans weren't too serious, content with keeping the trending topic at second place.
Therefore, Chen Zhe's trending topic was able to rise.
"There's something wrong."
"It's too obvious!"
"Although Chen Zhe has been popular recently, he's not to the extent of surpassing Tingyu and Mo Yan."
"What does this mean? Showing no respect to two music gods?"
"Chen Zhe is from Guangnian Entertainment. Guangnian Entertainment has a deep-seated conflict with Mo Yan. This is clearly an attempt to step on Mo Yan at this time."
"But by doing so, they're provoking Tingyu as well?"
Many onlookers were shocked.
When Mo Yan's documentary was released, Chen Zhe came to蹭 his popularity.
Now that he had retired, Chen Zhe was at it again.
It was practically slapping Mo Yan in the face!
Mo Yan's fans were trembling with anger!
This Guangnian Entertainment was truly detestable. Mo Yan had already let go of past matters, but they kept targeting Mo Yan.
Chen Zhe's fans, however, were ecstatic.
"Chen Zhe Gege is number one on trending topics, with Mo Yan and Tingyu below. Hurry and take screenshots!"
"Let's work harder! This is Gege's opportunity to surpass Zhang Yang and others to become a top star!"
"Go, cheer for Chen Zhe Gege!"
Currently, among the new generation of actors, the hottest TV drama actors were Shen Qingfeng and a few others, while the hottest film actors were Zhang Yang.
For Chen Zhe to become a top star in the film and television industry, he needed to surpass them in popularity and then poach their fans.
Coupled with his absorption of Zhang Qingyun's fan base, as long as his popularity surpassed Zhang Yang and the others, he would become the top star of the current new generation in the film and television industry!