In the director's view, the future looks promising. Qin Wei was just standing there singing songs outside her area of expertise, yet she had already brought so much traffic to the show. As soon as the voting channel opens, won't money come pouring into the show's account like a flood?
He asked the backstage staff to confirm that the voting channel would not jam or fail to withstand the money coming in from all directions.
No, this is still not enough...
When Qin Wei sang:
"I have delusions of grandeur yet I'm afraid others will see through me,
They distance themselves, ridicule me, pierce through me,
I'm caught in a dilemma, my wounds have not yet healed,
Luckily I met her, accompanying me in making a choice,
Thankful that she appeared and taught me to love myself,
The complicated interpersonal relationships can all be ignored,
No need to pretend to be happy, validating my bad mood..."
When it got to this part, the director switched the big screen to show Qiao Sixiao's side, with real-time footage showing not only Qin Wei's performance on stage, but also Qiao Sixiao sitting in the audience listening to her sing.
Sure enough, as expected, more people started paying attention to the show.
The director smiled, satisfied.
Qiao Sixiao also noticed the camera was on her, but still remained calm as if nothing had happened, and continued watching the performance attentively.
When the song finished, Qin Wei received applause and encouragement.
The show went on, and the voting channel opened as scheduled.
The director leaned back in his chair and casually spun around once, then said to the new intern assistant:
"Give me real-time data reports and let me witness how powerful Qin Wei and Qiao Sixiao's purchasing power is."
But the results in the data sheet from the intern assistant shocked the director.
...
After the last artist's individual performance ended, Yang Xiao went back on stage, and asked all the artists to come on stage as well, to jointly announce today's competition results.
Yang Xiao said:
"It can be said that this show was a turning point in this competition. All the ladies who advanced will face an even more brutal competition, but breaking out of the cocoon into a butterfly is a painful process. But it also signifies the start of an even more gorgeous new life!"
The big screen lit up, showing the real-time votes for each artist.
As expected, Qiao Sixiao was first place in total points again.
As Yang Xiao announced the second place, Qin Wei's expression also became complicated.
"Our second place goes to...Qin Wei! Congratulations Teacher Qin!"
Bullet screen comments:
[What is this operation? I didn't vote, who voted?]
[The group said no one voted, was it someone who didn't know?]
[How could they not know, with so many big groups and that many people, when did my older sister ever get second place?]
[Look at Lu E's expression, she also seems shocked...]
Qin Wei looked at the big screen, then turned to glance at Qiao Sixiao.
She seemed to have trouble reacting.
...
Backstage, the director breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had consulted the station director in time, who gave the reply of "the data can be reasonably optimized." Based on their previous multiple predictions, Qin Wei's overall ranking should have been in the top three.
The program team core members and the station director had a three-minute online short meeting, and finally determined Qin Wei's ranking.
Second place.
Even the director felt it was interesting. She had been first when she first joined, but the station changed it to second-to-last.
And now this result should have clearly eliminated her, but was forcibly changed to second place.
They could have even changed it to first place, but the station didn't want to offend Qiao Sixiao or industry heavyweight He Hong.
Ah.
The director sighed. Altering it back and forth was unjust, but what else could they do.
For media nowadays, who would easily give up traffic?
...
On stage, Qiao Sixiao discreetly squeezed her palm, then whispered in her ear "we'll talk after getting off stage." Only then did Qin Wei react from her surprise, and pretended she didn't quite believe her lucky shock at getting second place.
The fourth show ended in laughter and applause.
This season had set traffic records.
Before the program team even had time to celebrate, the director's assistant stared at his phone with a serious look, hands shaking as he went over to stop the director from opening champagne, and handed his phone to him.
[Anhang Entertainment: We regretfully announce that due to major adjustments in the advancement format of Sisters Sailing Against the Wind that Ms. Qin Wei is participating in, there is now conflict between Ms. Qin Wei's principles and ours. Ms. Qin Wei has chosen to withdraw from show production participation. Our company respects and supports Ms. Qin Wei's decision.]
Posted five minutes ago, forwarded over 300,000 times already, and quickly pushed onto hot search topics—
#Qin Wei Quits Competition#
The director couldn't even believe that Qin Wei and her company could do such a thing!
What followed were inquiries from the station director and sponsors, along with phone call after phone call demanding his life, all of which the director had to resolve.
Though it wasn't cold at night, the director kept sweating.
All program team staff were summoned for an overnight emergency meeting to allocate tasks—
Some were responsible for posting statements condemning:
[Sisters Against the Wind Program Team: Learning of Ms. Qin Wei's untruthful remarks in this manner, we are very regretful. Making this show, we work hard and diligently, treat artists wholeheartedly and sincerely. Following the principle of growing together, we strive for it. Ms. Qin Wei and her company's remarks greatly damage the program team's reputation and affections! We reserve the right to safeguard the program team's lawful rights and interests!]
Some were responsible for hiring internet water armies:
[Yes!]
[The program team is right!]
[Please provide reasonable justification, Ms. Qin!]
[Share.]
[Whoa.]
[So insensitive!]
...
There were also people responsible for inviting professional PR teams, spending money to get WeChat Official Accounts to guide public opinion and shift as much blame onto Qin Wei's side as possible.
In the middle of the night, melon-eating crowds were getting up to watch drama unfolding, as eating melon in real-time is the most interesting.
Amidst the chaos, another hot search topic appeared—
#Qin Wei Confesses to Qiao Sixiao#
Referring to the song lyrics Qin Wei had sung on the show.
[Good lord, when disaster strikes the city gates, the fish in ponds are happily eating sugar?]
[Shippers fear nothing hahahaha]
What came next was a spectacle leaving even veteran melon-eating crowds dumbfounded by Qiao Sixiao's maneuver—
[Qiao Sixiao: #Qin Wei Confesses to Qiao Sixiao# Those lyrics were her singing to fans, no further response will be made in the future. The holiday ends here, little Qiao has to return to set and work diligently!]
[Huanxi Entertainment_Qiao's Studio: We deeply regret to inform everyone that due to scheduling conflicts Ms. @Qiao Sixiao has withdrawn from Sisters Against the Wind show production participation. We wish the Sisters Against the Wind program team smooth recording in the future!]
Thirty minutes passed.
The program team and hired commenters still refused to let up attacking Qin Wei, while over on Qiao Sixiao's side, it was like the program team couldn't even see her.
Huanxi's side had already sent people to communicate—no need to directly offend He Hong yet, at least not to that extent.
But Qin Wei's side was different. The contradictions between her and the program team were already irreconcilable, and though the man behind her, Xu Mingchuan, was the Xu family's eldest young master, he didn't have much influence yet in entertainment circles. Just lots of money, nothing to make a big fuss over.
Reaching this point, tearing their faces off was inevitable.
But some other people weren't sleeping either so late into the night.
