CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 045: NO SCANDAL? CREATE YOUR OWN (VOTE FOR MONTHLY TICKETS)

Not only An Feng and Li Xue’xue, but many of Qi Hao’s rumored girlfriends received invitations for phone interviews from the media.

Most of them just ignored them.

In this entertainment industry, full of fame and money, there’s all sorts of chaotic news, and you can’t respond to everything.

As one of Qi Hao’s former rumored girlfriends, Sun Li naturally received quite a few phone interview invitations.

But she politely declined them all.

Sun Li tossed her phone aside and gave her boyfriend a look: "Now you’re relieved, right? He’s bent..."

"Come on, if he’s bent, then I am... I just..."

Deng Zhao felt his intelligence was being insulted.

"What, you’re bent too?" Sun Li laughed so hard she bent over, thinking her boyfriend was just too amusing.

Actually, she didn’t quite understand either.

Before they got together, they both had had boyfriends and girlfriends, more than one or two.

Why did Deng Zhao have to persistently focus on Qi Hao, making it seem like she had slept with Qi Hao?

No matter how she explained, Deng Zhao wouldn’t believe.

"Why are you laughing, do you believe I won’t hit you!"

Deng Zhao was somewhat embarrassed and angry.

The reason was actually quite simple, which is Qi Hao was more popular, and more handsome than him. If he were Sun Li, he would most likely choose Qi Hao rather than himself.

Hmm, if I were a woman, I would totally fall in love with Qi Hao.

"Come on, hit me!"

Sun Li pulled open her collar and threw a flirtatious glance at Deng Zhao.

"Damn!"

You sneaky rascal, a simple fight turned into something else.

If I don’t subdue you, am I still a man?

In fact, neither Sun Li nor Deng Zhao, who once drove into Qi Hao, believed that Qi Hao’s orientation was problematic.

Deng Zhao even considered adding fuel to the fire.

Unfortunately, Sun Li stopped him.

Having worked with Qi Hao, you’d know that he is actually a good person.

Especially those female celebrities who were rumored with Qi Hao—the number of such cases is quite staggering. Acting together, filming commercials together, even attending events together have all sparked rumors, not to mention dining, singing, or hanging out privately.

However, regardless of the outcome of these rumors with Qi Hao, not one of them came out to kick him when he was down.

What truly brought this farce to a halt were the bigwigs.

Although the media blurred the photos of the male bigwigs, more and more unprocessed photos were circulating online.

When Qi Hao’s negative press release first came out, Ziwen had discussions on their end.

Should they kick him when he’s down, finish off this bastard Qi Hao.

Ziwen wasn’t really good at artist management. After Qi Hao left, the revenue from artist management dropped significantly.

This impacted year-end bonuses and salary increases.

The artist management department held some resentment against Qi Hao.

Now with such a great opportunity, not seizing it would affect their own mindset.

Letting out some anger wouldn’t hurt.

"Are you stupid! Are your eyes blind? ￥#@*&"

The deputy general manager cursed out the person who came to make a suggestion.

Ever since the supervisor was fired, the deputy general manager took over his duties.

Moreover, the deputy general manager bore some responsibility for lacking oversight on Qi Hao’s matter. Without some achievements, he might very well be demoted.

Looking at this group of people who didn’t have much ability and spent all day plotting against each other, his blood pressure was soaring.

At that moment, he seemed to hear the call of his great-grandmother.

"But..."

But you often criticized Qi Hao privately.

We thought we were pleasing you, flattering you, why are you reacting so strongly.

"Take a look at who this is, take a look!"

The deputy general manager picked up his phone, almost shoving it into his subordinate’s eyes.

"This is... It’s pixelated, can’t make it out at all."

"This is Ma... Zhong... Jun! Do you recognize Ma Zhongjun! Huh? You don’t know who Ma Zhongjun is, do you?"

The deputy general manager was amused by the anger.

If I really listened to you people, it wouldn’t just be a demotion problem now.

I would have to pack up and leave!

"Bo... bo... boss!" The subordinate’s face turned white.

"Get out!" The deputy general manager held his forehead, panting angrily.

The subordinate practically rolled and crawled out of the deputy general manager’s office.

"Come back!" The deputy general manager called him back again.

"President Yang?"

"Go have a word with the media. If that photo is still around tomorrow, don’t blame me if I go nuts on them!"

The deputy general manager was pretty fed up, too.

Right now, not only can’t we kick him while he’s down, we actually have to clean up Qi Hao’s mess proactively.

Otherwise, sooner or later, the boss Ma Zhongjun himself will find out that he’s been bent by Qi Hao without even knowing it.

Qi Hao used to be Ziwen’s top star, while boss Ma Zhongjun was the producer for "Seven Swords" and also the producer of "The Return of the Condor Heroes," so the two naturally had drinks and socialized together.

The photos that were snapped got taken and twisted by the media.

For the same reason, it’s not just Ziwen who’s furious but also big director Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen directly called high-ups at some media outlet.

"My wife asked me when I became bent, I also want to know when the hell I became bent."

But all of this remained just verbal disputes, not the worst for all major media outlets.

The worst is Ge You.

Ge You’s level of anger is a hundred times that of Jiang Wen.

"Are you even humans anymore? That’s my dad in the photo, my real dad, he’s eighty years old! Everyone involved, see you in court!"

His father, Ge Cunzhuang, was born in 1929, and began his artistic career as early as 1947 by joining Qiqihar City Art Troupe.

Although he has played countless classic villains, within the circle, he’s highly revered. In 1999, he received the Chinese Film and Performing Arts Society Award and was titled "National Artist with Outstanding Contribution," and last year he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the third De Yi Shuang Xin gala.

As an eighty-year-old, in his twilight years, he somehow got embroiled in scandalous news about keeping male lovers.

His connection with Qi Hao was having done a guest appearance in a film starring Qi Hao, "Waiting Alone," and having shared a drink at the table.

In the end, the photos of him and Qi Hao were also exploited by the media.

After Ge You spoke out, the nature of this issue changed; he genuinely intended to sue.

Soon, including the Film Association and cultural departments, everyone made a certain degree of statement about it, causing major media outlets and some marketing companies to scramble in panic.

Some leader of black fans went so far as to shut down their accounts overnight.

Thus, a massive campaign against Qi Hao fizzled out anticlimactically.

Of course, reviewing the whole process, it’s not surprising that it didn’t hurt Qi Hao.

First, there was hardly any solid evidence, almost none, you could say.

Second, the charges against Qi Hao were too absurd; he’s a guy constantly rumored to be dating female celebrities, calling him bent—who’d believe it?

Third, the media assumed mere pixellation would allow them to dodge risks—just like Jiao, they were very naive.

They underestimated the public relations strength on Qi Hao’s side.

Zhanqi Laiden initially didn’t step in to refute rumors for Qi Hao; such matters are not easy to precisely deny.

You say you’re not bent, but how do you prove you’re not?

Taking legal action isn’t particularly effective, either.

If Qi Hao pursued legal action against the media or online slanderers, setting aside how hard that would be, the timeline for defending his rights would be way too long.

By the time you win the suit, who knows how long it’ll actually take.

People only focus on what interests them; no one pays attention to the notice you publish about winning the case.

That results in ineffective PR.

Zhanqi Laiden didn’t do much; once the matter had brewed sufficiently, he started hiring people to spread dirt on Qi Hao online.

And it was unpixelated stuff.

Netizens loathe pixels, and upon seeing things without them, they instantly auto-share and comment.

Netizens were delighted, while those big shots were left utterly bewildered.

Just sitting at home, disaster struck from above.

And it was one large scandalous mess.

Whether it’s real or fake news, they had to step up and showcase their influence.

Old Tian was in awe of Zhanqi Laiden’s ruthless approach.

He felt the incident shouldn’t implicate certain seasoned artists, yet also had to acknowledge Zhanqi Laiden’s swift and effective methods.

Besides, before pixels were removed, none of the seasoned artists stepped up to speak for Qi Hao.

They were less supportive than Qi Hao’s scandalous girlfriends.

Once pixels were removed, they suddenly panicked.

It can only be said, the entertainment world is just this pragmatic.

Actually, hiring Zhanqi Laiden for PR, Old Tian had somewhat expected this kind of preparation mentally.

Qi Hao has no background or wealth right now; in order to survive in the entertainment circle, and not be eaten alive, he has to rely on an extraordinarily capable hitter like this for his PR.

A guy like Zhanqi Laiden, in ancient times would probably worship Jia Xu as his master.

His tactics are sharp-edged and ruthless, those caught in them will be gravely wounded, if not dead.

However, Zhanqi Laiden isn’t foolish.

Knowing Qi Hao Studio’s shallow roots, he altered his previously high-profile PR style.

Neither mocking the media nor allies.

He maneuvered cautiously, making sure no one knew it was Qi Hao Studio taking action.

Even Qi Hao himself was unaware.

After all, no one would imagine Qi Hao’s side would blacken their own side.

Creating scandals out of thin air, releasing HD images without blurs!