CHAPTER 462: CHAPTER 462: HIDING STRENGTH, PLAYING THE PIG TO EAT THE TIGER

Under the strongest PR maneuver in history by Lin Fan, Ning Xiaoyue’s rumor crisis finally calmed down.

However, this wave of attacks seemed to have caused irreparable damage to Ning Xiaoyue.

The time came to the ninth episode of the Creation Star show, and the latest rankings were announced. Originally ranked third, Ning Xiaoyue’s rank plummeted, shockingly falling to seventh.

You must know that only 9 debut spots are available in the Creation Star show. Ning Xiaoyue being at 7th is already very dangerous. If she drops two more spots, she’ll fall out of the debut positions and won’t be able to debut.

This result made netizens very pleased.

"Is Ning Xiaoyue finally going down?"

"It looks like she’s already unable to debut."

"I told you, she could never debut!"

"This ranking is indeed a major shake-up. Ning Xiaoyue, who was always in the top three, fell so much."

"It seems this wave of rumors really hit her hard."

In an office, reading the comments from netizens, Feng Tianming burst out laughing.

"Ning Xiaoyue, you’re out of luck!" Feng Tianming laughed heartily, "Lin Fan, I know this debunk was your work, but what’s the use? Ning Xiaoyue’s rank still dropped, completely futile!"

What made Feng Tianming most happy wasn’t just that Ning Xiaoyue’s rank dropped, but that his A-level player had entered the debut spots for the first time, ranking ninth, just two spots behind Ning Xiaoyue.

Feng Tianming was overjoyed: "My wave of attack on Ning Xiaoyue was simply brilliant. Now Ning Xiaoyue’s rank is trending downward, and she will certainly continue to drop, while my person is on an upward trend! This time, I’m sure I’ll beat Lin Fan!"

The thought of taking away 1 billion cash from Lin Fan made Feng Tianming ecstatic.

At the same time.

Wenyue Company.

Upon learning that Ning Xiaoyue’s rank fell to seventh, Wang Xiangqian immediately called Lin Fan.

Wang Xiangqian wore an apologetic face: "Brother Fan, Xiaoyue’s rank dropped to seventh, I’m sorry to disappoint you."

Lin Fan gave a simple "oh": "Didn’t fall out of the debut spot, huh?"

Wang Xiangqian said: "According to Brother Fan’s idea, we coordinated with the fan club to try to stop them from voting as much as possible, but Xiaoyue has too many fans. Some simply won’t follow the fan club’s guidance and keep voting, so dropping to seventh was really hard enough. Making her fall out of the debut position is too tough."

Wang Xiangqian looked helpless.

"Alright then." Lin Fan sighed, well, there’s no way around it. It’s like trying to stop a fast-moving giant ship; it’s not that easy. Just slowing it down a bit is already tough enough.

Wang Xiangqian curiously asked: "Brother Fan, what’s your intention behind letting Xiaoyue’s rank drop? Because of this issue, Xiaoyue’s fans are having disputes. Some feel that Xiaoyue has faced too much online abuse and sympathize with her, thinking it might be better just to let her fall. Others believe she must debut and shouldn’t suffer her past hardships anymore. Brother Fan, could it be that you don’t want Xiaoyue to debut either?"

If Lin Fan doesn’t want Ning Xiaoyue to debut, it would not only make her lose her debut spot but also cost Lin Fan 1 billion.

Wang Xiangqian couldn’t figure out Lin Fan’s purpose.

Lin Fan smiled and said: "Think about it, why has Xiaoyue always been under attack? It’s because she’s always at the top and a big target attracts attention, so naturally, all opponents are focusing on her. If she can temporarily fall out of the debut spot, it can lull the opponents into a false sense of security and reduce the attacks on her."

Wang Xiangqian suddenly understood: "So that’s it, Brother Fan, you’re really wise!"

Brother Fan uses a strategy called ’indirectly attack to capture,’ hiding one’s strength and pretending to be weak.

Lin Fan felt sorry for Ning Xiaoyue. The young girl hadn’t done anything wrong and yet was subjected to so much abuse. It’s better to avoid it a bit.

As long as the opponents feel Ning Xiaoyue is no longer a threat, naturally, the attacks on her will lessen.

Lin Fan’s strategy worked. In the following week, online attacks on Ning Xiaoyue dramatically decreased.

This indicates that most of the previous attacks on Ning Xiaoyue were orchestrated by competitors using paid commenters to manipulate the narrative, while netizens were merely following the trend, joining the online abuse.

It’s unavoidable, as Ning Xiaoyue’s weaknesses were too obvious. Her ability to sing and dance was indeed weak, making it easy to incite negative sentiment. Just a little provocation was enough for self-proclaimed "righteous" netizens to reach a climax.

And those who followed the trend and abused her hadn’t even watched the show and were unaware of the show’s rules.

In their minds, the logic was simple: because you sing and dance so poorly, you don’t deserve this position, without thinking about why someone with such poor skills could still achieve it.

If they just thought about this a bit, there would be far fewer people criticizing Ning Xiaoyue.

However, the world has many trend followers and few independent thinkers.

Lin Fan had Ning Xiaoyue’s ranking drop mainly to lull the opponents, stopping them from targeting Ning Xiaoyue, and also hoped during this time, those who joined in the online abuse could calm down and think for a moment, though it might not be effective.

A week passed just like that.

On this day, they finally welcomed the finals of Creation Star.

At this point, nearly three months had passed since the program began broadcasting.

Creation Star, this talent show, at this time, had already become a nationwide hit, with almost every Huaxia person knowing about the show and a girl named Ning Xiaoyue in it.

Compared to the champion, people were more interested in whether Ning Xiaoyue could debut in the end.

The hot topics online were mostly centered around Ning Xiaoyue.

"Ning Xiaoyue’s ranking dropped to seventh last week; she certainly won’t be able to debut."

"I think she still has quite a few fans, hard to say!"

"Many fans? I think many are losing interest!"

Netizens generally were not optimistic about Ning Xiaoyue, thinking she would definitely be eliminated this time.

Wenyue Company.

Before the show aired, everyone in the company was already sitting in front of the TV, waiting for it to start.

As the boss of the company, Wang Xiangqian had been invited to watch it live on-site.

Before leaving, Wang Xiangqian invited Lin Fan to sit at Wenyue Company, and so Lin Fan came to Wenyue.

Shortly after Lin Fan arrived at Wenyue Company, Feng Tianming appeared.

Feng Tianming was very smug, shouting as soon as he entered: "Lin Fan, are you ready with the 1 billion cash!"

Lin Fan hadn’t seen Feng Tianming for a while; this guy hadn’t changed at all, still as provoking.

Lin Fan chuckled: "Oh, it’s Young Master Feng, weren’t you supposed to be at the live show? How come you have the time to come here and show off?"

Feng Tianming laughed cunningly: "You can only do superficial tricks! What’s so interesting about being there live; anyway, my person is definitely going to debut, no excitement there, way more fun to come here and watch you fail!"

Lin Fan said: "The results aren’t out yet, and you already know I’ll fail?"

Feng Tianming said: "Isn’t it obvious? Ning Xiaoyue’s ranking has been dropping significantly since last week. Do you think you still have a chance to turn the tables?"