Zhan Ruoqing returned to the hotel. Ye Zhi, who had returned not long ago, looked at her in surprise. "You're back so quickly?"
"Don't even mention it. I saw something nasty." Zhan Ruoqing waved her hand in annoyance. She asked curiously, "What about you? Why are you back so early? Didn't Qi Xuan invite you out?"
"Go out for what? The conference is still two days away," Ye Zhi stretched. "It's better to rest early and conserve energy."
Zhan Ruoqing was speechless. Although she hadn't expected much, the two of them really hadn't disappointed her.
"By the way, I have something to tell you." Zhan Ruoqing said with schadenfreude, "Actually, at the reception earlier, I saw Ou Minghan go to the chairman and overheard him talking with the chairman..."
As she spoke, Zhan Ruoqing told Ye Zhi about the chairman's "advice."
"That's not advice," Ye Zhi said in surprise. "That's clearly a warning. The authorities are planning a clean-up campaign, and the chairman is advising him to restrain himself."
Zhan Ruoqing nodded. She then asked, "Do you think Ou Minghan will listen?"
"It's difficult," Ye Zhi mused briefly. "That variety show by Feilong Live is Ou Minghan's most successful project recently. Moreover, there's the huge advertising revenue; he's unwilling to let it go. Besides, Feilong Live's current structure and model are very singular. Its profitability relies entirely on suggestive content. If this is gone, how can those users stay with Feilong Live?"
"So that means..." Zhan Ruoqing realized, "Feilong Live won't last long?"
"It's not that there's no chance at all," Ye Zhi said in a deep voice. "Unless he can heed the chairman's warning and transform Feilong Live as soon as possible."
Zhan Ruoqing's lips twitched. If Ou Minghan had that ability, would he have resorted to suggestive content in the first place?
Ye Zhi was truly cautious. Even knowing Ou Minghan's nature, she still considered other possibilities.
The two chatted for a while longer before going to sleep.
Three days passed quickly, and Ye Zhi and her companions flew back to Kyoto.
Just as the Internet conference concluded, the official media published an article about purifying the cyberspace.
On the same day, "Beauty Showdown" entered the pre-election voting stage. The voting method for this show was to have the contestants shoot bikini photo collections and sell them in digital format. The sales of these photo collections would be the votes received by these contestants. Of course, Feilong Live also set up other virtual gifts. Viewers could also purchase these gifts, which would be converted into a certain number of votes.
Afterward, Ou Minghan flooded major social media platforms to buy trending topics, creating a false impression that the entire internet was discussing this competition.
Of course, many people cursed Feilong Live for its viral marketing and the show's vulgarity. Ou Minghan accepted all of it, all for the sake of increasing the show's popularity.
Ye Zhi was stunned by Ou Minghan's actions.
Setting aside Ou Minghan's scandalous money-grabbing tactics, he not only failed to heed the chairman's advice but was practically provoking them face-to-face!
She truly hadn't expected Ou Minghan to be so self-destructive.
Now, she didn't need to do anything; she just had to wait quietly for Ou Minghan to destroy himself.
Before long, Zhan Ruoqing called Ye Zhi.
"Ye Zhi, did you see the latest article released by the official media?" Zhan Ruoqing said with schadenfreude.
"Not yet," Ye Zhi replied.
"I'll share it with you," Zhan Ruoqing said quickly.
Ye Zhi clicked on the link Zhan Ruoqing sent her and saw the official media's latest article. The entire article, without naming names, criticized certain variety shows for being "vulgar and unbearable," "harmful to public morals," "violating public order and good customs," and "not conforming to mainstream social values."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Zhan Ruoqing's voice was full of mockery. "Although it's not named, it's practically pointing a finger at 'Beauty Showdown.' And with so many labels attached, it seems Ou Minghan has completely angered the official media."
"He deserves it," Ye Zhi said amusingly. "Right after the official media published an article about cleaning up the internet, he directly provoked them by heavily promoting the show's new event. This is practically slapping the official media in the face. He didn't heed their previous warning!"
"Ye Zhi, do you think Ou Minghan will listen to this warning this time?" Zhan Ruoqing asked curiously.
"It's hard to say," Ye Zhi smiled slightly. "However, this is probably the last warning. If he still doesn't listen, then a mysterious force will make him listen. Let's just wait and see what moves Ou Minghan will make."
At this moment, Ou Minghan was somewhat annoyed.
He had just received a call from the clean-up task force, ordering him to stop the suggestive content in the variety show, or else "Beauty Showdown" would have to be suspended and rectified.
Ou Minghan had initially dismissed the call. However, several advertisers called to ask if "Beauty Showdown" was going to be rectified, and these advertisers were somewhat inclined to stop their ad placements.
Ou Minghan managed to placate those advertisers after much effort, repeatedly guaranteeing them that he dispelled their thoughts of withdrawing.
The office door creaked open. Ou Minghan was about to lose his temper, but when he looked up and saw Cen Ya, he immediately put on a concerned expression. "Ya Ya, why are you here?"
"I just received a call from the clean-up task force," Cen Ya said worriedly. "They are asking us to rectify the show. Minghan, how could this happen?"
"Hmph, isn't it obvious?" Ou Minghan snorted, speaking indignantly. "It's definitely that woman Ye Zhi, jealous of our show's popularity, who used her connections to secretly report us to the task force! Only she could come up with such a despicable tactic!"
Cen Ya frowned. "Then we should rectify the show as soon as possible..."
"We can't change it!" Ou Minghan immediately interrupted her. "Ya Ya, if the show is really changed, the current audience will definitely lose in large numbers! And then, the advertisers will also run away!"
Cen Ya became even more distressed. "Then what should we do..."
"Ya Ya, don't worry. Although Ye Zhi's move is insidious, I can handle it!" Ou Minghan sneered. "That clean-up task force is newly established and may not be very capable. If we give them some face, they probably won't pursue it further. Don't they think our voting is vulgar?
Then let's cancel the photo collections and replace them with specially made sportswear photos! We can shorten the tops and shorts to achieve the same effect! This way, we'll give the task force some face and maintain the show's popularity. Isn't it the best of both worlds?"
"Will this really work?" Cen Ya asked hesitantly.
"Don't worry, just wait and see!" Ou Minghan picked up the phone on the desk and called the production team.