Chapter 165: Trending Search Incidents (Double-Header)

By 8:00 PM, the video shooting and post-production were finally complete.

Everyone's stomachs were rumbling. Earlier that day, Tang Zhichu had told them to be at the company within two hours. Some hadn't even eaten lunch; they rushed back, showered, applied their makeup, and hurried right over.

Tang Zhichu pulled out his phone, sent a message to Tao Bo, and then clapped his hands. "Girls, you all have time tonight, right?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Yes!"

"Definitely! Boss Tang isn't treating us, is he?!"

"Yay! Good thing I didn't eat lunch!"

"I'm going to change my clothes right now!"

"Wait for me, me too!"

Before Tang Zhichu could even say what they were going to do, the group of girls was already clamoring about changing clothes.

Zhou Yun crossed her arms, watching them with a gentle smile.

Everything seemed to be moving in a good direction.

Old Tang's Sichuan Restaurant specialized in lunch and dinner. By 9:30 PM, there were only two or three tables left in the house.

However, the back kitchen was far from idle. Lobsters, abalone, spare ribs, and pig trotters were all being prepared—every single one of them was a major dish.

"Is the private dining room cleaned up?" Chubby asked Tao Bo.

Tao Bo nodded. "I just went to check. It's all tidied up, spotless."

"Want to try your hand at something? Let the boss taste your cooking?"

Tao Bo shook his head with a smile. "I'll pass. It's fine on regular days, but this is hosting guests—they said there'd be over a dozen people. If I mess it up, it'll be a huge loss of face."

With that, Tao Bo checked his watch and added, "It's almost ten, they should be arriving soon. I'll go outside to welcome them."

Chubby laughed heartily and told him to go ahead.

In between stir-frying, Chubby glanced back. Everyone was busy.

Cleaning up here, mopping the floor there.

Why?

Because the boss was coming, of course.

Ever since Wang Jun completely left the restaurant, Chubby had been running the entire place. Chubby had intentionally groomed Tao Bo to become a store manager or something similar, and their relationship was very good.

First, he was familiar with Tao Bo, they understood each other well, Tao Bo didn't have any nasty habits, and he was a relative of the boss.

Second, Chubby belonged in the kitchen and couldn't keep an eye on the front of the house. If they hired a complete stranger from the outside later on, dealing with potential conflicts would be a headache.

In the dead of night, Chubby had pondered this carefully.

In the past, he used to work in a star-rated hotel before Wang Jun poached him. Initially, Chubby only treated this as a stepping stone—gain some experience running a small shop, then start his own business.

And the result?

His salary went from seven thousand to nine thousand, and now it was twelve thousand, with social insurance and housing funds coming soon.

And the most important thing? The atmosphere was simply fantastic.

After getting off work at eleven, he'd still go with a few kitchen staff for a foot massage before returning to his rented apartment.

As for work? It was all laughs and giggles.

Sometimes he could even crack jokes with the waitresses to liven things up.

Today, the boss was coming, which meant potential overtime. He had told some people they could leave early, but none of them left, not a single complaint.

They were rushing to clean up at the last minute entirely because they felt certain areas weren't up to standard, afraid of losing face in front of the boss.

Chubby had saved up some money, but if someone asked him to leave right now and start his own restaurant? He couldn't bear to leave this place.

Outside, Tao Bo first took a look at the parking lot. Though called a parking lot, it actually only had five spaces. Their own staff usually parked a few hundred meters away in another spot.

This area was specifically reserved for dining customers.

At the two sides of the entrance to the parking lot were two stone balls, perfectly forming an informal gateway used to alert and restrict vehicles.

Tao Bo sat right down on one of the stone balls. It was so hot that even though it was almost ten at night, the stone ball was still faintly warm.

Tao Bo lit a cigarette for himself.

He didn't usually smoke, but after spending so much time in the back kitchen, he had picked up the habit of taking a puff or two.

He had only smoked half of it when several cars began to slow down at the front turn.

Tao Bo hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette and tossed it away.

He was too familiar with the lead car—Brother Jun was driving it.

Two commercial vans were following right behind.

Tao Bo pointed inward to signal that there were parking spaces and they could all pull in.

Once the three cars came to a stop, Tao Bo straightened his clothes and put on his welcoming host smile.

The car door opened, and a snow-white, slender leg stepped out first, followed by long, dark hair, and then a graceful figure.

Tao Bo froze.

Then came the second, and the third.

*...8, 9, 10, 11!* Tao Bo counted silently in his heart.

Good grief, eleven of them, all absolute beauties! There was even one with golden-white hair who looked like she had walked straight out of a manga—so gorgeous!

On the other side, Tang Zhichu and Zhou Yun had also gotten out of the car, and Tang Zhichu stretched lazily.

Zhou Yun carried a few bags to the back.

She opened the trunk and froze.

The gifts Tang Zhichu had taken for himself were still sitting right there in the car.

Before Zhou Yun could even ask, Tang Zhichu laughed and said, "I completely forgot. I've been too busy."

Zhou Yun gave him a suspicious look. As far as she knew, over this period, Tang Zhichu had sought out Sister Lan at least three times. He still hadn't delivered them after three visits?

Either he genuinely didn't care, or there was something a bit fishy going on.

"What, do you think Sister Lan won't like them?"

Tang Zhichu helped Zhou Yun secure her things and smiled. "How could that be? Think about it, every time I get out of the car I have to be so careful, and with so many items, they're hard to carry. Wait until another day when I bring Brother Jun along, and we'll deliver them together."

"You mean every time you went to see Sister Lan, you went by yourself?"

"Uh... I don't really remember."

"How about I find a time to give them to Sister Lan together?"

"Oh, great, great."

"So I'll really pick a time then?"

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Tang Zhichu didn't want to linger on this topic, so he turned back and shouted, "Tao Bo, lead everyone to the private room."

Tao Bo, who was still in a daze, snapped back to reality instantly. "Got it! Hello, big sisters, my name is Tao Bo, I'm a staff member here. Please follow me, I'll take you to the private room."

By the time Tang Zhichu and Zhou Yun entered the private room, everyone was already seated in a neat row.

As if suddenly remembering something, Tang Zhichu smiled and said, "Come on, let me shoot a little video of you all."

"Wow, really?!"

"Can we?"

"Wait, let me touch up my makeup!"

"Look at me, do I look okay?"

They all looked at Tang Zhichu. Was this really okay?

They all knew Tang Zhichu was their boss, but they had never mentioned it publicly, purely out of fear of bringing negative impact to him.

They were all Douyin influencers and knew the kind of traffic the name Tang Zhichu commanded on Douyin.

He was a singer who had originated purely on Douyin and then gone on a rampage through the entertainment industry.

To this day, Tang Zhichu was still single-handedly feeding a whole bunch of people riding his coattails for clout.

Initially, Tang Zhichu tried filming, but his results were mediocre, so Zhou Yun took over the camera.

She panned the phone around in a circle, capturing everyone in the frame.

Once filming was done, Zhou Yun casually pulled Tang Zhichu into their group chat and he posted the video right there.

"Don't rush to post this yet; wait until the right moment, and I'll let you know," Zhou Yun warned.

"Don't worry, Sister Yunyun, I'm going to treasure this in my private collection and not post it!"

"Hehe, me too, I won't post it either."

"Well, I'll post it once Sister Yunyun tells me the coast is clear!"

The atmosphere was up, and since the dishes hadn't been served yet, forget about posting or not posting—Tang Zhichu's gesture was an unspoken green light. They could gradually start cashing in on his traffic.

Consequently, several people picked up their own phones and started shooting videos. At first, they filmed each other, and then unconsciously turned their lenses toward Tang Zhichu's side.

On the platform, plenty of people lived off Tang Zhichu's hype.

Since that was the case, they might as well let their own people eat.

When he decided to take the influencer company public, Tang Zhichu had already made up his mind to step into the spotlight.

Halfway through the meal, someone suddenly let out a startled cry.

Everyone looked over; it was Lin Maomao Mao.

Realizing she had lost her composure slightly, she shrank her neck, her face flushing red.

However, after pondering for a moment, she said, "Sister Yunyun, look at the trending searches."

Zhou Yun picked up her phone from the side and opened Weibo. A moment later, she handed the phone to Tang Zhichu.

"That's way too fake. That's inside Tencent Video, how could that be possible?"

"Really fake. And right in front of so many seniors, how could anyone act like a diva?"

"That's Qiu Zhen we're talking about, one of the Trio of Tianhe! Who would dare bully him?"

"You can tell at a glance it was manufactured by marketing accounts. Speechless!"

While Tang Zhichu was still looking at the top trending search term, everyone else had already started discussing it.

Yesterday, the sixth episode of the music variety show went live—the one Su Yuanchao had appeared on.

Qiu Zhen had first used a trap to corner Tang Zhichu, telling him not to pick him, which ultimately led to a showdown between the two winners' groups: Tang Zhichu versus He Shuyuan.

Everyone had been busy today and hadn't spent much time online.

In fact, the internet had been in fierce discussion since last night.

As one of the Trio of Tianhe, Tang Zhichu had first defeated Qiu Zhen head-on, and then defeated He Shuyuan head-on, striking down the two current top-tier musicians in one fell swoop.

Some people said *that person* had finally appeared.

*That person?* It referred to a satirical prophecy circulating online, which claimed that after 2020, a new superstar would be born in China.

Others called out Chen Siyang, telling her to keep her man in line, otherwise if she didn't, he was going to wipe out everyone from Tianhe.

Of course, more people were discussing Tang Zhichu's musical talent.

Sparking and flashing all the way through, every single match he won involved releasing a brand-new song on the spot.

It was a complete and utter crushing victory.

The people on Douyin living off Tang Zhichu's clout welcomed a brand-new day of feasting.

However, during the day, a video had leaked out.

The video was a bit blurry, and the audio was hard to make out, but one could clearly see Tang Zhichu pinning Qiu Zhen down, practically tucking Qiu Zhen under his armpit.

Just joking? It didn't quite look like it.

Because not a single person on the scene was laughing; everyone had stood up and strained to look, the atmosphere tense.

Tang Zhichu had half-pinned Qiu Zhen like that all the way over to Sun Zhe.

It was this video that hit the trending searches, claiming that Tang Zhichu had acted like a diva and engaged in bullying during the recording of the music variety show.

Tang Zhichu tapped open the comment section.

"Take it easy, guys. The hype for your show is already high enough, you still need to manufacture marketing stunts? Can you at least make your fiction believable? Tang Zhichu bullying Qiu Zhen? Hilarious!"

"Every time a critical video comes out, it gets blurry, and the audio is unintelligible. Wake up, people!"

"Come on, based on my experience watching Tang Zhichu's variety shows, let me tell you what this means. Combined with the show, Qiu Zhen plotted against Tang Zhichu. What should have been a normal losers'-group-versus-winners'-group match was turned into a winners'-group-versus-winners'-group match—meaning He Shuyuan was pitted against Tang Zhichu—solely because of a remark by Qiu Zhen..."

This comment was a lengthy essay, right in tune with Tang Zhichu's fans—seasoned conspiracy theory enthusiasts.

Anyway, it all boiled down to one meaning: this was a setup, a trap set by Tianhe for Tang Zhichu.

In the previous episode, Tang Zhichu had displayed heaven-defying vocals, dragging out a bunch of veteran musicians to talk about him.

His popularity and status were skyrocketing.

Would they just let him develop unchecked? Wouldn't everyone else just become cannon fodder?

Thus, Qiu Zhen cooperated with He Shuyuan to pull off this scheme. This commenter even dug up Su Yuanchao's background.

Why did Tang Zhichu win in the end? The person who posted this comment told everyone to just wait and see, leaving a suspenseful hook.

"God Tang: Thank you for portraying me as so mighty! I just entered the industry and I'm already bullying the so-called Trio of Tianhe. Thanks a lot!"

"God Tang: Turns out I'm this awesome! They can't beat me in singing, and offstage they still get bullied by me. Even the production team is terrified of me and doesn't dare pull me away!"

"God Tang: Turns out Tencent Video belongs to my family! Who would've thought? In places you can't see, I have little minions holding AK-47s aimed at the production team and everyone else!"

The further down you scrolled, the more derailed the comments became.

Tang Zhichu had one invincible asset: a rock-solid core fanbase.

His base consisted of romance-shippers and conspiracy theorists; the newly arrived music fans hadn't formed a scale yet.

Conspiracy theorists loved picking apart details—it just didn't make any sense.

If it were a real conflict, wouldn't the production team intervene?

Keep in mind Tang Zhichu came from Douyin; would Tencent take care of someone from a rival platform like Douyin?

Was Tang Zhichu an idiot?

What romance-shippers and conspiracy theorists valued most was Tang Zhichu's IQ. The guy had played Tianhe Entertainment and the variety show production team like a fiddle even when he was a civilian; would he pull such a stupid stunt after becoming a celebrity?

In the eyes of Tang Zhichu's fans, whoever fabricated this couldn't even write a decent script.

At the dinner table, everyone had been quite worried at first, but after reading the comments, they found it hilarious.

Forget not believing it; everyone agreed Tang Zhichu couldn't possibly be stupid enough to throw a tantrum on site—that would make him look like a complete moron.

Some even thought it would be great if it *were* true. How cool would that be? So many seniors, the production team, and the tech giant Tencent to boot, and not a single person dared to stop him?

Wasn't this much more entertaining than the music show itself?

"It's fine, ignore this. Let's eat." Tang Zhichu handed the phone back to Zhou Yun, then chuckled, "They actually don't believe I'm capable of pulling this off. I'm losing face here."

Everyone burst into laughter.

When the meal ended, they headed downstairs in twos and threes. Coincidentally, they all lived nearby, so they had drivers take everyone back home.

They had a great time, and those with close relationships clearly weren't ready to call it a night, making plans to visit each other's homes to continue hanging out.

Watching the cars drive into the distance, Zhou Yun finally asked, "What is Yu Hua playing at? Didn't he contact you?"

Tang Zhichu pulled open the car door and let Zhou Yun get in first.

"He sent me a message yesterday asking how much longer I planned to rest."

After Tang Zhichu got into the car as well, Zhou Yun asked, "What does that mean?"

"I said I was fine with whatever, and he said the same, but he dropped a hint that I shouldn't just focus on running the influencer company and needed to put the entertainment agency back on the schedule."

"Is he giving you a heads-up in advance? Will this affect your cooperation?"

Tang Zhichu nodded. He had mentioned some matters to Zhou Yun before.

Why didn't Tang Zhichu resist taking Zheguang public? It was very simple: he lacked money.

Why did he lack money? For the entertainment industry to take root and flourish, it had to be built on cultural foundation, which required massive capital investment.

As for that video surfacing online, ordinary people really couldn't pull that off.

Keep in mind that incident had happened backstage.

"Tianhe would never leak something like that themselves. For them, that video is even more embarrassing. Tianhe's competitors? The probability is very low, after all, it's Tencent's turf. Even if an artist filmed it, they wouldn't dare leak it. You can tell who filmed it just by the angle. I never expected you to be so daring!" Zhou Yun only brought this up once they were in the car.

Others might not believe it, but Zhou Yun did, and she even felt a tinge of regret at not having witnessed the scene in person.

"So?" Tang Zhichu looked at her with a smile, as if testing Zhou Yun's perspective on the matter.

Zhou Yun chuckled. "I'm guessing Tencent might want to put pressure on you. No matter how great Yu Hua is, he's just a producer; on paper, he still has bosses above him. But I can't figure out why... Did you get too high-profile and offend someone? Or did Yu Hua offend someone? Or do they mind your relationship with Douyin? Surely they aren't messing with you just because you took a break, right? That would be way too childish."

Zhou Yun said this with a smile.

The whole affair was indeed rather comical. Someone clearly wanted to screw with Tang Zhichu, but the outcome?

The effect was painfully awkward.

Tang Zhichu's fans didn't believe it, Qiu Zhen's fans refused to believe it, and Tianhe probably felt even worse—losing to him on stage and then getting suppressed behind the scenes? Where was their dignity?

Whose little schemes were at play here? That made it rather thought-provoking.