In summary, there was just one solution: throw money at it.

Yes, in the face of this situation, the best approach right now was to throw money at it, suppressing the opponent's popularity.

The idea is lovely, but it hurts me to think about it. After all, it's not *their* money being thrown away, is it?

Since becoming chairman, he had overseen several projects, constantly throwing money at them, and so far, very few had actually turned a profit.

The board had been dissatisfied with him for some time, and now Qin Xiao's project was his chance to turn things around.

He had already invested a substantial amount of capital, and now he had to throw even more money at it?

If I keep doing this, I fear I'll be removed from my position as chairman by those people tomorrow.

But what if I don't throw money at the problem? If I don't, my downfall is only a matter of time anyway.

And so, the situation fell into a difficult dilemma.

"Get in touch with Tianmu; I want to talk to them about the Weibo situation."

Tianmu Weibo was already prepared. Although working overtime late into the night wasn't pleasant, who wouldn't be happy about getting paid?

When Ye Zhonghuai began discussing with the other party, the more they talked, the uglier his expression grew, one hand firmly grasping the edge of the table, looking like he was about to flip it.

"Damn it, a bunch of bloodsuckers! Have they lost their minds? 5,000,000 to remove a trending topic, and 8,000,000 to add one? Are these idiots not afraid of choking to death?!"

No wonder he was angry. Usually, a trending topic cost just 800,000, and during a popular event, it might go up to about 2,000,000.

Now it had suddenly increased tenfold; wasn't this just fleecing a fat sheep?

Little did he know, Tianmu Group was also in a bind.

Their message was clear: you need to spend your money where it counts—just buy one trending topic.

Remove someone else's trending topic? It was possible, but the thing was, there were only fifty spots on the trending list, and almost half of them were about Xu Qingqiu.

Removing one would be practically useless. Clearing them all would leave a noticeable gap on the trending list—did they think the netizens were blind?

If things went south, not only might they fail to suppress it, but Tianmu Group itself could end up trending.

Though reluctant, Ye Zhonghuai had no choice but to abandon the idea of suppressing Xu Qingqiu's popularity and considered purchasing his own spot.

The answer was clear: he pays the money, Tianmu does the work—fair and square, honest with young and old alike.

But seriously, Tianmu's sly maneuvers were indeed impressive.

After the deal was settled and the funds were transferred, they instantly pushed a trending topic.

But the cunning part was this: the topic did indeed go up, starting at the bottom and rising steadily as usual.

However, because Ye Zhonghuai was in a hurry and Tianmu wanted to ensure his satisfaction, the trending topic smoothly soared, uneventfully reached the No.1 spot, and then stayed there, solid as a rock.

The result was that, amidst a sea of trending topics with explosive discussion levels, such a ceiling-level trending topic abruptly appeared.

Curious netizens thought a major event had happened and clicked on it.

#Qin Xiao's New Album Hits Hard#

But when they clicked in, they saw that the comments were all asking what was going on.

Many people's first comments upon entering were:

"Qin Xiao released an album? Is it good? Her fans are amazing, huh? This trend must have rocketed up, right?"

"Bullshit! What damn trend? It's bought!"

"Huh? Bought? What do you mean?"

"Just look and you'll see. How many comments are actually about the album? They're all freaking asking what's happening. Isn't it obvious it's bought?"

"Holy shit, you're right! I just wanted to come in for the gossip, and it turns out it's a bought trend?"

"Is buying trends this sloppy now? They don't even bother to fabricate some data. Come on, at least get someone to post a few comments, or even use a bot!"

In reality, the person responsible for manipulating the data had already cried himself unconscious in the restroom.

He really wanted to shout, I *did* brush the data! And with a computer, using the latest 4090 graphics card, no less!

The key is, netizens are just too damn crafty! Damn it, who would have expected so many rubberneckers?

No sooner had the trending search popped up than those rubbernecking netizens flooded in, momentarily overloading Weibo's server.

Even though traffic was quickly redirected with the help of intelligent assistance, that brief moment caused a slight delay in the comment bot software.

The first batch of comments was sent out only to be overwhelmed by users, sinking to the bottom without a trace.

By the time the delayed second batch emerged, the rubbernecking netizens had already stirred up a frenzy within the topic. No matter how fast the computer-generated comments poured in, they couldn't stop the flood of users from dominating the screen.

The most frustrating thing was that the content in the computers had been pre-set, so any modifications had to be made one by one.

I have to get others to write the copy, send it to me, then I copy and paste it into the tool before the bot can even post it!

But the machine doesn't automatically like posts! So the ones it pushed out quickly disappeared.

The netizens' comments were outrageous and fun, quickly elevating high-liked comments to prominence, not giving the bots a chance at all.

And as for liking our own posts? That's an extra charge, and they didn't pay for it!

This led to a situation where a ceiling-level trending topic was placed at the top, yet its comment section became a social gathering for rubberneckers.

On one hand, they were mocking the trending search; on the other, they were sharing the latest gossip they had just picked up.

As time went on, the name 'Qin Xiao' appeared less and less in the comment section beneath the trending search.

Following the comments down, they were all talking about Xu Qingqiu.

Discussing Xu Qingqiu under Qin Xiao's trending topic was preposterous, but also so very typical of netizens.

Meanwhile, the trending list saw a big change. The topic about Xu Qingqiu's breakup sank, but the name and pictures of Chu Tian were pushed up.

At first, the online sentiment was chaotic and unpredictable.

Some were criticizing Xu Qingqiu's love life, some were digging up Chu Tian's background, and others were sarcastically commenting on Xu Qingqiu's disregard for her fans' feelings.

In short, there were all sorts of theories and opinions, with some companies stirring the pot, trying to muddy the waters and cause additional trouble for their rivals.

But Xu Qingqiu had her fans who liked her for her looks, and even more so, she had her music fans.

There were even many casual observers who were fans of her music.

This advantage stemmed from her previous album, which had massively boosted her fame and public approval.

So, as more and more netizens regained their composure, the news about Xu Qingqiu's love life gradually returned to a more normal track.

There were people who were unhappy, and even more who were regretful, but most netizens' attention shifted to the new song. Even "iPartment" made it to the trending searches, getting a hefty boost in visibility.

「 」

On the other side, Xu Qingqiu and her friends, who had just finished eating and were chatting happily, were still laughing merrily.

Li Chunhua was in the middle of a laugh when she suddenly heard her phone ring. She picked it up to find it was a call from the Tianmu Weibo team.

She furrowed her brows and stepped outside.

She was, of course, aware of the situation on Weibo and had even anticipated it.

After all, they had been prepared for this when they made the decision back then.

All they could do was to face everything head-on with honesty and openness.

But why is Tianmu Weibo calling now? Could there be a problem? Are they going to restrict traffic or pull the topic and are only now informing me?

As she was wildly guessing, the person on the other end finally spoke.

Li Chunhua's eyes almost popped out before she had even finished listening.

"You're saying you're inviting Qingqiu to attend this year's Weibo Annual Gala?"

The Weibo Annual Gala, or rather, a unique evening party, was one of the top Internet events.

In the past, they invited either top-tier celebrities or big stars. Xu Qingqiu had received an invitation before, back when she was with Baise Entertainment.

But since she had fallen out of the limelight, these kinds of opportunities had long dried up. Who would have thought they'd come calling right after her concert had just finished?

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