【It's true, I almost forgot this little princess just finished her college entrance exam.】
【So Ji Ruochu entered the crew right after finishing her college entrance exam? Then she finished shooting her scenes in two weeks and wrapped?】
【Great, my expectations for this drama have instantly dropped. No wonder the director was crying at the wrap party.】
【Ah this... Am I the only one who cares how the "genius girl" who rejected preferential admission to take the exam herself did on the test?】
Soon after, more and more trending search terms were added, most of which were related to Ji Ruochu.
This scared the assistant director of the crew so much that he rushed to Qiu Xuetong's residence in the middle of the night. However, the director was high on liquor at the wrap party, drinking and crying merrily, so he was naturally sleeping soundly now.
The assistant director hurriedly contacted the Ji family, afraid they would misunderstand this was some nasty publicity stunt by the crew. But...the other end's phone was off.
"Crap." Recalling that the family of three had left with their luggage after the wrap party today, saying they were going on vacation, the assistant director felt his head spin.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Brother Qin, Ji Mochen's former agent, stood up. He was probably in the same boat, having called around but unable to get a lock on anyone, so he called over.
"Mr. Qin!" The moment he picked up, the assistant director almost cried from happiness, "Don't get the wrong idea, this isn't some marketing ploy by the crew, it's all a misunderstanding!"
On the other end of the phone was Brother Qin, who had just called casually to ask about things when he saw the situation getting more and more out of hand: ...
Three minutes later.
"I get it." Brother Qin pinched the bridge of his nose, his tone extremely helpless, "The hype is too high now, it can't be suppressed anymore. Even if we did manage to suppress it, people would just think we have a guilty conscience."
"Is your promo reel edited? When were you planning to release it?"
"The promo reel is already edited. We were originally going to release it after the film passed censorship, so probably in a week or two."
Because it had already been delayed for three years, even though there was no shortage of investors, Qiu Xuetong was still afraid something would go wrong, so he had them shoot and edit simultaneously these days.
By the time filming wrapped, only the last few scenes remained, and editing would probably finish in the next couple days. Then they could apply for screening approval. Putting on the dragon seal, if fast they could release by October 1st for National Day, if slow then the New Year.
"Then this is what we'll do. Leave the trending topics for now. After all, even if we suppress it now, when the test scores come out tomorrow it'll just trend again." Brother Qin pondered for a moment. "The crew should first release a statement on social media to clarify that Ji Ruochu entered on her own skills and talents. Also that the crew waited three years for the female lead. Draft up the rest yourselves."
"Got it..." The assistant director quickly agreed. "I'll have PR write that up right away."
"Contact me again if anything comes up. Until I can reach Ji Mochen, my phone will stay on."
"Ok ok..."
And so, Brother Qin, who was no longer Ji Mochen's manager, had to resume his former duties again.
【I've got the trending search stabilized for now. Give me a call when you land, the public is focused on Ruochu's exam scores right now. Remember to post an announcement when the results come out to share the good news with fans.】
The reason he directly said to announce good news, aside from being confident in Ji Ruochu's abilities, was because he had asked the girl about it when bringing his new artist to set not long ago. Just recalling how he had merely asked "Ruochu, did you check your answers? How do you think you did?" yet nearly got kicked out by the Ji couple, if not for the girl's kind intervention to stop them, rumors of bad blood between Ji Mochen and his former manager would have probably trended the next day.
"Checked answers, not bad."
Just six words, but Brother Qin knew the girl's test scores were secured. After all...for a girl who was always modest to say "not bad"...that definitely meant "very good".
*ding*
A notification chime sounded. It was the crew's statement. Brother Qin skimmed through it and, confirming there were no issues, finally set his phone down to continue working.
The flurry of activity on the trending topics settled down later that night.
9 AM in the morning.
Brother Qin had just dozed off on the sofa when his ringtone jolted him awake.
Thinking it was finally Ji Mochen after landing, he picked up his phone to check, only to see—
"Mr. Ji?"
Of the three Ji brothers, Brother Qin usually called Ji Mochen by his given name, called Ji Moyi "Chairman Ji". Only the politically involved Ji Moting did he address as Mr. Ji.
"Mr. Qin, sorry to bother you, but...could you get in contact with Mochen?" On the other end, Ji Moting's voice also sounded a bit helpless. "The TV station urgently wants to interview Ruochu, but they haven't been able to reach them so they came to me."
Brother Qin: ...
Instantly, he felt psychologically balanced. Finally it wasn't just him getting jerked around by Ji Mochen.
"The assistant director said Mochen took his wife and daughter on vacation, it should be about time their plane landed. Please wait a bit longer."
Mentally balanced he may be, Brother Qin still didn't dare mess with the eldest young miss. He immediately offered up what information he knew.
"Alright, thanks."
After ending the call, Brother Qin suddenly reacted.
The TV station? Interviewing Ruochu?
Since Qiu Xuetong's film wasn't even finished editing for censorship yet, it definitely had no entertainment industry ties.
And at this timing...there was only one possibility.
Realizing this, Brother Qin hurriedly opened up social media. Sure enough, the #1 trending topic was related to test score releases. Clicking in, it was all videos of students announcing their results.
But oddly, Brother Qin flipped through a lot but didn't see Ji Ruochu's name anywhere. Could he have guessed wrong?
Tsk, knowing what he did now, he should've just sucked it up earlier and asked the young miss her score. Would've saved him the brainpower.
On the other side, Qiu Xuetong finally woke up from his drunken stupor. Head pounding badly from the hangover, Director Qiu nearly couldn't get up, if not for someone lending a hand just in time.
Hmm? Who was in his room?
Qiu Xuetong opened his eyes again to see the familiar face of his assistant director.
"Director Qiu, you're finally awake!" The emotionally volatile assistant director nearly cried in happiness again. "Hurry take a look at the trending topics. Because of your tearful display at the wrap party, netizens now suspect that Ruochu's acting was too atrocious, and you didn't dare switch her out because of the Ji family, so you drank to hide your sorrow!"
Qiu Xuetong: ?? What nonsense are you spouting?
But the next second, he saw the social media app on the assistant director's phone.
After a night passed, the topic of Director Qiu's Tearful Wrap Party still lingered at the tail end of the trending chart.
Currently #1 trending: 【College Entrance Exam Scores Released】
#2 trending: 【A genius girl afraid to announce her score】
【This year's college exam sets record high difficulty】
【Under 700 total points on Beijing's exam, less than 20 students】
【National college exam top scorer, heavenly score!】
......
