I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 203 Zhou Yang, I fuck your ass!

Ten o'clock in the morning.

Zhao Mingyi from [Wandou Movie Network] was woken up by a phone call.

Immediately afterwards, he rushed back to the company and sat down in the conference room.

The morning sunlight streamed through the blinds and shone on the projection screen in the conference room of [Wandou Movie Network].

Zhao Mingyi stared at the plummeting chart in the background, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, the rhythm quickening.

"At this time yesterday, our daily active users were still at 43..." The technical director stood up, his voice dry and filled with despair, "Now it's down to only 18, and it's still dropping... Moreover, according to this data, over 60% of this active traffic and the level of discussion surrounding it are all being supported by Zhou Yang's 'Golden Broom Award'..."

After the technical director finished speaking, the conference room fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of the air conditioner blowing warm air coming from the side.

The marketing manager glanced at the silent Zhao Mingyi, hesitated for a long time, then stood up again: "[Movie Home] released their battle report this morning! Their registered users have exceeded 120 million, and their daily visits have exceeded 300 million! That mad dog Zhou Yang's website, damn it, has now sucked up all our traffic!"

This sentence is as sharp as a knife!

It pierced the silence of the conference room.

Zhao Mingyi suddenly looked up, staring intently at the operations manager: "What about the others?"

The manager shook his head bitterly: "The traffic crashed overnight!"

He pulled out a stack of data: "[Movie Fans' Home] saw its traffic halved, [Jiaoya Forum] shut down its film and television discussion section... The worst off was [Movie Encyclopedia], whose editor-in-chief called me in the early hours of the morning to ask if we could jointly launch an 'anti-traffic monopoly initiative'..."

Upon hearing this, the marketing manager stubbed out his cigarette and suddenly sneered, "An initiative? An initiative my ass! Didn't you see the data yesterday? Even portal websites like Baidu Tieba have lost nearly 10% of their users. Zhou Yang is trying to bleed the entire industry dry. An initiative? What good will it do? Right now, any media outlet that doesn't mention Zhou Yang or criticize him gets no traffic and no attention. It's fucking disgusting. When did this industry become like this…"

His words abruptly ended!

It felt as if someone had grabbed my throat!
He stared intently at the projector!
What did he see?
He saw the data on the projection screen refresh again; the real-time traffic of [Wandou Movie Network] had dropped by another 2%...

silence……

A deathly silence hung in everyone's hearts, so oppressive that no one in the conference room could breathe!

........................

"This is Hong Kong Island, where the most prestigious event in Chinese cinema, the Hong Kong Film Awards, is about to be held!"

"At that time, all the famous directors, actors and actresses in China will arrive here!"

"I'll say it again: we have no comment on any questions regarding the Golden Broom Award!"

Hong Kong Island Film Awards

Li Mingrui, who had just come out of the hospital, stood under the spotlight at the Hong Kong Film Awards preparation site, his face ashen.

Reporters' cameras and microphones were pointed at him, the flashes blinding him. An overwhelming sense of bloodlust and surging emotions surged through him, making him feel dizzy and disoriented!
"Chairman Li! Does the inclusion of 'The Mine' in the Berlin Film Festival's shortlist prove Western double standards?"

What is your response to netizens calling the Hong Kong Film Awards a "kneeling people's awards ceremony"?

"The scanned copy of the joint letter shows that you previously requested a ban on Zhou Yang, and now you've invited him again... but Zhou Yang refused. Will you ban Zhou Yang again in the future?"

"Chairman Li, your film 'Yellow Earth' has surpassed Liang Xiaogang's 'The Barbarian' in the Golden Broom Awards. What are your thoughts on this?"

"..."

Look at all those excited reporters!
Every question carried the name "Zhou Yang," and every word was like a knife, piercing his heart.

His clenched fists trembled inside his suit sleeves, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his palms, and his face grew increasingly grim!
He had never suffered such humiliation in his entire life!
but……

He knew that he had to maintain his composure at this moment!

He is one of the judges for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, representing authority...

He forced a smile, answered the reporter's questions, and finally walked towards the conference room next door.

"boom!"

The conference room door was kicked open!

Immediately afterwards, he stumbled in and saw the interface on the projector in the conference room!
That's the voting page for [Movie House]!

His own film "Yellow Earth" has received over 80,000 votes, and a screenshot of a petition with a photo of him photoshopped into a funeral portrait has topped the comments section, accompanied by the caption "Farewell Ceremony for the Director of the Kneeling Tribe".

"Zhou Yang!!!"

He let out a roar, his face flushed red, and slammed his fist hard on the table!

The sharp pain in his hand brought him to his senses briefly. He then clutched his heart, gasping for breath. His assistant was startled and rushed over to gently pat his chest.
But the next second, another news item appeared on [Movie House]!
[The Golden Broom Awards introduces a new "Lifetime Achievement Award"—Li Mingrui's "Yellow Earth" leads with a unanimous vote!]

this moment……

"Director Li!"

"Director Li!"

A series of sharp screams rang out.

Li Mingrui took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, but ultimately managed to stay upright and didn't faint!

After taking the medicine his assistant handed him, he closed his eyes and remained calm for a long time.

Then, I received a phone call.

He then walked toward another conference room.

In the conference room.

It's already full!

The lights of Victoria Harbour outside the window are still dazzling, and the media is still going crazy at the Hong Kong Film Awards preparation site!
However, the data curve from the technology department is somewhat alarming. In the past, at this time, the hype would be explosive, and brands would be calling non-stop. But this year, compared to last year, the traffic to the Hong Kong Film Awards website has plummeted by about 20%. Although there are still quite a few brand endorsements and the profits are not bad, everyone knows that this time, Zhou Yang, that bastard, has absorbed far too much of the hype!
Li Mingrui sat in the corner of the Hong Kong Film Awards preparation meeting room, staring blankly at the data...

Compared to their [Hong Kong Film Awards], [Movie House]'s traffic curve is like a sharp knife, shattering the data charts on the Hong Kong Film Awards' official website.

That website is almost 130 million registered users!

An outrageous, unbelievable, yet despairing statistic. Upon seeing this data, everyone fell silent.

..........................................

Time passed day by day, and before we knew it, it was the end of February.

For all the technical staff at [Movie House], the past five days have been the most arduous month!

They practically lived and worked at the company, guarding the [Movie House] server day and night, dealing with all sorts of unexpected events at any time!

Every day, a group of netizens floods in, "attacking" their fragile "voting" system, and the server faces saturation attacks every day...

Fortunately, apart from the server crashing on the first day, they managed to keep the system running normally on the subsequent occasions!

For the boss, Yang Bo, it was a magical five days!

Early in the morning of June 2.

He sat in his office, and after signing the last contract, his face was filled with shock!

The past five days!
[Movie House] has signed contracts for over fifty advertising slots in a row!

The advertising revenue alone exceeded 15 million RMB, and after deducting business tax and corporate income tax, the income was close to 10 million RMB!
In just one week, they earned ten million yuan, all from a video sponsorship fee for an awards ceremony hosted by [Movie House]!
He was somewhat dazed, and then, in a moment of excitement, he called Zhou Yang.

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yang's reaction was very calm. Besides congratulating him, he told him to prepare for the Golden Broom Award ceremony!

"The traffic will be insane, the website can't crash!"

Yang Bo took a deep breath, still feeling lingering fear as he recalled the frenzied data from a while back. But looking at the technical team, he nodded, his expression serious: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhou, I'll send people to solve the technical problems. There won't be any issues. We'll be live-streaming the data and camera positions coming from the front lines using text and video. Furthermore, we've launched a forum, and the server is already set up; it's no worse than some portal websites..."

"Okay, by the way, is the voting system shut down now?"

"It's over..."

"Row!"

..........................................

February 29th, 6 AM.

Police tape has been put up outside the Feihe Cinema in the suburbs of Yanjing, and hundreds of media outlets have set up their cameras and microphones, surrounding the theater.

Security captain Zhang Shun's walkie-talkie crackled with shouts: "Another group of protesters has stormed in through the east gate! They claim to be fans of Director Liang!"

Backstage at the theater, Zhou Yang flipped through the final list of award winners, his fingertip pausing on "Lifetime Achievement Award - Li Mingrui".

Shen Long rushed in, sweating profusely: "President Zhou! I just received news that more than 30 media outlets from Hong Kong have chartered a plane to come here, and Li Mingrui's assistant is at the airport saying he wants to 'demand justice on the spot'!"

Over the past five days!

On the internet, fans of directors like Liang and Li, as well as some filmmakers, often appear...

Their insults against Zhou Yang and their boycott of the "Golden Broom Award" have never stopped. They even ordered all the media outlets they knew to refrain from participating in the "Golden Broom Award"!
But it didn't matter to Zhou Yang!
The traffic is right here. If you come, you can share in this wave of traffic. If you don't come, there are plenty of other media outlets that want to grab the traffic!
"Let them come." Zhou Yang closed the folder, his glasses gleaming coldly. "If Chairman Li is willing to come, then we'll save him a seat. No, even if he doesn't come, we'll still save him a seat!"

After Zhou Yang finished speaking, Shen Long nodded.

Then, he quietly left the office and began preparing for the final award ceremony of the Golden Broom Awards!
And Zhou Yang...

They, on the other hand, are focused on each and every award.

He squinted!
After hesitating for a while, he smiled and made a phone call to Zhang Jingya!
A moment later, Zhang Jingya walked in with a complicated expression.

"Jingya, give me the phone numbers of the shortlisted directors. Also, invite [Movie House] and other media outlets we have good relations with in. I'll give them exclusive news!"

"Mr. Zhou, you mean..."

"Yes! I want to invite these directors in front of the media!"

"..."

....................................

10:15 AM!
After finishing preparations for the Hong Kong Film Awards, Liang Xiaogang returned to his office.

Immediately afterwards, a phone call was made.

"Director Li, I've already contacted people in Berlin. Hoffman can keep 'The Mine' shortlisted, but the judging process isn't just up to him!"

"Yes!"

"I've already used all my connections over there. Unless he gets incredibly lucky, he won't have any news about him there. No! News at all!"

"..."

The phone rang again right after he finished making the call.

When he saw an unfamiliar number, he hesitated for a moment, but finally answered the phone!
Immediately afterwards...

"Director Liang, your film 'The Barbarians' won the 'Most Disappointing Director Award' with 12 votes! We've commissioned a pure gold broom for you, engraved with the most popular comments from netizens!"

"???" Liang Xiaogang's eyes widened!
Then, there was some noise on the other end of the phone, like the sound of cameras. Then the shrill voice rang out again: "By the way, the photo of you kissing the carpet on the Berlin red carpet last year was used as the award ceremony backdrop. Netizens are saying it's 'artistic performance'..."

The background noise of laughter from the audience reached Liang Xiaogang's ears, and his expression suddenly changed drastically: "Zhou Yang, you son of a bitch..."

Zhou Yang interrupted his cursing on the other end of the phone, and then said, "Director Liang, don't get agitated. Look, even the Berlin Film Festival praised me for my 'filmmaker's integrity.' As a senior, shouldn't you be pleased? By the way, we're going to officially present you with the award. Will you be coming? We've reserved a seat for you!"

"Zhou Yang, I..."

"Director Liang, please don't swear. Be a civilized person. This time, I'm extending an invitation to you publicly in front of the media, and it's all being recorded. If you're not civilized, it might cause a big news story... You'll have to give our 'Golden Broom Award' a huge boost in traffic!"

"..."

"Don't hang up, Director Liang, let me finish. It's okay if you can't come to accept the award, we'll send it to you..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)