Trolling, when done excessively, starts to resemble the boy who cried wolf.
FALSE was currently busy shooting an idol drama, frequently attending various brand events and interviews, with a packed schedule.
Suddenly, one day, Weibo buzzed with a new hot search: they were to join the filming of “The Key of Moon” and would play important roles.
The fans hadn’t heard any rumors beforehand and were busy controlling comments and distancing relationships, worried that this movie was leeching off their idols’ popularity and that too much speculation might jeopardize their idols’ opportunities.
Non-fandom casual fans, however, were quite thrilled. Not part of any fan circle, they joined in the excitement, looking forward to the new works of their idols.
Just four or five days later, FALSE landed on hot search again, this time regarding an adaptation of a **novel into a movie or series.
Entertainment All-Know: According to insiders, a newly debuted popular boy group will soon collaborate with the blockbuster **novel “Blank” for a film adaptation. Which brother do you hope to play the lead role?
The news was immediately circulated by other marketing accounts to draw traffic, stirring up the crowd.
Casual fans and book fans poured in, eagerly discussing which members would suit certain roles, genuinely believing the project was about to start filming.
The author and the actual rights-holding production company quickly released statements, clarifying they were unaware of such developments and urging people not to speculate too much.
SPF completely disrupted FALSE’s promotional hot search frequency.
They actively purchased one hot search after another for FALSE, linking the boy group with a series of novels, movies, TV shows, and music festivals, collapsing fans’ and the public’s goodwill towards them within a month—just the first act of the counterattack.
FALSE’s frequent headlines, dragging the public and fans around, even if Cai Bi Media spent a lot to pull down these hot searches, the negative impact had already started to uncontrollably spread.
Then came the sixth bundled news— “Fairy Painting,” still in the stage of selecting lead actors, supposedly inviting all members of FALSE to play significant roles, even considering their leader for the main character Yun Ye.
FALSE’s credibility quickly drained, and now, with each new release, everyone was annoyed, the comment section turning into a massive crash site.
“Enough already? Last week they said they’d do a sitcom, can’t a bunch of newly debuted idols just stick to singing and dancing?”
“So annoying, now they’re saying they’ll do a movie, can’t these marketing accounts stop spreading uncertain news?”
“Pfft, I don’t believe anything about this group anymore.”
The same tactic wouldn’t work on Corona because they had openly stated they wouldn’t star in any movies before winning the Crown, at most making cameo appearances. Plus, Corona had already established a direct channel for information release with Night Fire Live, leaving fans clear about the situation.
But FALSE, being newly debuted with many unstable collaboration projects, couldn’t clear their name with just announcements.
The first few bundled promotions weren’t major, but this time it went as far as involving top-tier director Bai Ping, causing gossip communities and forums to nearly die laughing, with posts stacking up faster than they could be banned.
[The fake group managing to trend by clashing is really fitting their name—After blatantly stepping on Corona, now they’re shamelessly licking up to Director Bai, fans must be crying trying to control the narrative.]
[What goes around comes around! Just look at the fake group! How much longer can they hype?]
[The investors watching should see clearly by now, behaving like this right after debut, who knows what else they’ll pull later, better invest anywhere but here, tsk tsk tsk.]
“Fairy Painting” official account and the author stayed silent for a few days before suddenly releasing a set of stills.
Not only were the dual leads announced as Qi Lin and Jiang Jue, but many supporting characters’ costume photos were also released, including Long Jia and Mei Shengyao as the villainous Jiao Yao and the young phoenix of Yegu Mountain, both capturing the characters’ essence perfectly.
These two supporting characters had high popularity in the original story, and the costume photos showcased their charm.
Fans of “Fairy Painting” and Crown celebrated by sharing and looking forward to the movie, flooding Director Bai’s Weibo with praise for his casting choices.
FALSE fans, after being trolled again, felt humiliated upon seeing the official announcement.
What exactly is going on with my idols’ company?
Unable to secure resources, ruining public reputation, and all the popularity the idols had painstakingly built up was squandered, infuriating!
A wave of masked riders stormed the official account’s comment section and inbox, demanding the idols to break contracts and change agents, with no shortage of those who became so disillusioned they unfanned—
While Cai Bi Media was frantically dealing with these messes, SPF quietly began the second round of counterattacks.
The method was clear and straightforward, summed up in three words.
Seize. The. Resources.
Corona, already a top-tier supergroup, only endorsed premium brands, aiming for quality and prestige, not lacking money.
The board had many artists and groups under its management across various levels.
Over the years, Qi Ding, in partnership with Hongguang Group, established an independent film industry and a joint cinema chain, delving into multiple areas of the entertainment industry, with SPF as just one of its public ventures.
Mobilizing connections to snatch resources was essentially a matter of a few dinner parties.
Key figures would gather for a meeting, maybe play some golf, and everything that needed to be arranged could be transparently settled.
On FALSE’s end, the idols had just landed from a flight ready to shoot an advertisement when their manager, with a face dark as thunder, instructed them to return to filming.
“Not shooting anymore?”
“Shoot what crap! How can this fall through?! What’s going on??”
FALSE was initially negotiating three beauty product endorsements, a brand ambassador role, and an Asia-Pacific endorsement, along with mineral water and hair care product endorsements. These talks fell through one after the other within days, leaving the group green-faced with anger on their way back to the airport.
Han Qu was ready to explode with rage and almost drove to SPF for a confrontation before being called back to the Emei Venture Capital headquarters by his father.
Han Gaozhi sat in front of a white beech desk, puffing on a hookah, silent with a grim face.
Han Qu, still holding back anger upon entering, saw his father’s state and instantly became much more subdued, standing by obediently.
“Basking in my name out there, making a small entertainment company and causing trouble everywhere, feeling glorious, aren’t you?”
Han Gaozhi couldn’t stand his son’s foolishness, blowing smoke in his face, his voice raspy: “I sent you overseas to come back and help run the company, and this is all you’ve got?”
Han Qu didn’t dare to wave away the choking smoke, trying to look aggrieved: “Dad, I was fundraising for a startup, not messing around.”
“Pei Ruye is targeting our stock price, did you know?” Han Gaozhi laughed in anger: “It took me two months to find out who was behind it—Pei Ruye, the rising star in the media industry, the heir of the old Pei family from San Francisco, who has nothing to do with Emei Venture Capital!”
“Pei Ruye? He came to you??” Han Qu scrambled: “I don’t have any beef with him, he’s now with SPF…”
“Don’t explain, I don’t want to hear it.” Han Father coldly cut off his defense: “We have two companies going public in the US next year, any delay affects the entire Emei Venture Capital. You need to know the limits of playing with fire!”
He left no room for his son to maneuver, firmly stating: “That Ju Yu Culture of yours, and those seven or eight small companies you bought, if there’s no improvement within a year, sell them off at a discount and come back to learn something proper, got it?!”
“Dad—”
“One year, twelve months, I’m not funding your escapades.” Han Gaozhi banged the table, irritated: “Bravado when asking for money, what’s with these financial reports? Trying to fool me with fake accounts?”
Han Qu paled, instinctively stepping back.
“I… Dad, ah, just calm down, I was played, I’m too naive.”
“I’ll listen to whatever you say, when have I not?” He pleaded, appearing as a pitiable figure in the business world, his voice trailing off: “Don’t be angry, your health matters…”
Han Gaozhi frowned but eventually softened.
“If you need help, just ask me, I’ll find someone to solve it.”
“Young people starting businesses are easily schemed against, be extra cautious when doing business.”
“Dad, how about French cuisine tonight?” Han Qu seized the opportunity, ingratiatingly: “I know a new place…”
“Enough, I have a meeting.”
Returning to the parking garage, the young man’s submissive demeanor vanished, revealing undisguised malice.
Another panicked call came in.
“Junior Han, there’s trouble with FALSE again—”
Han Qu went blank, furiously smashing his phone on the concrete floor, cursing vilely, feeling his blood rushing to his head.
With withdrawal warnings looming, he could do nothing but play the fool for a while.
Damn it all!
When Jiang Shu returned, it wasn’t long before he ran into Su Rong again at a social gathering, the two sharing a toast with a smile.
He was quite satisfied with the current pace of developments.
For matters like feuding and instigating trouble, just leave it to the old foxes in the company; those kids just need to do what they love, worry-free.
“Trolling, snatching resources, casting actors to provoke fights,” he looked at the elegantly made-up Director Su, leisurely praising: “Director Su’s tactics are quite layered.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Su Rong accompanied him to the conference hall’s terrace, where they shared a light and smoked leisurely before continuing their conversation.
“That brat Han Qu,” Jiang Shu said, holding a cigarette in one hand and replying to a message to Mei Shengyao with the other, “might not straighten up with just two or three warnings.”
He’s inherently stubborn and probably needs a complete shutdown to quiet down.
“Take him out?” Su Rong squinted, half-jokingly after exhaling smoke, “That’s tough. I’ll check which security company his family hires.”
“You really dare to say anything,” Jiang Shu laughed and scolded, “Be careful, or Han’s dad might have you encased in concrete!”