Chapter 792 - 391: Make the Raging Storm Wilder! Why Did the Ratings Still Drop?

Chapter 792: Chapter 391: Make the Raging Storm Wilder! Why Did the Ratings Still Drop?

Huang Zhen found his assistant’s words hard to believe. It just didn’t make sense. "Taking Dad to Study Abroad" was clearly number one in both television ratings and online viewership, so how could its reputation be so terrible?

He immediately took out his phone to check online, and his expression darkened.

Is Just a Pile of Melodrama, Hitting Every Single Trope.>

Every single post was roasting the show "Taking Dad to Study Abroad."

As Huang Zhen watched these review videos and read the posts, his expression became extremely grim.

After all, anyone in his position would be upset to see their show, which had achieved the best numbers, get torn apart like this.

However, as the head of Penguin Film and Television, he wasn’t so easily swayed.

He immediately began looking up reviews for iQiyi’s "My Biological and Stepfather."

He found a sea of criticism and ridicule for that one as well.

Gave Me an Aneurysm.>

With a Plot Straight from the 1970s?!>

Looking at the uniform wave of criticism, Huang Zhen seemed to realize something. "If I’m not mistaken, the internet should be full of praise for ’All is Well,’ right?"

He immediately checked.

Sure enough, "All is Well" was receiving mostly positive reviews, and its popularity was soaring.

He became even more certain. "That Chen Jincheng really lives up to his reputation from the short-video industry. He’s a master of these online tactics."

Hearing this, the head of public relations asked, "President Huang, are you saying Chen Jincheng is manipulating all this online public opinion and the shows’ reputations?"

Huang Zhen spoke with the confidence of someone who had it all figured out. "It has to be. Their show, ’All is Well,’ has the lowest ratings and the worst online viewership. They must be getting desperate. So, he’s trying to use this method to generate buzz, smear our two shows, and mislead the audience. Didn’t I hear he has a very effective ’clipping team’ that’s even more formidable than a paid online army?"

"This is definitely the work of that clipping team. It’s a shame it’s so obvious; anyone can see right through it. Look at these posts. They call our show ’melodramatic’ and iQiyi’s plot ’rage-inducing,’ but when it’s the patriarchal theme in ’All is Well,’ suddenly it’s ’resonant’ and ’immersive’? What a blatant double standard."

"Isn’t a patriarchal plot even *more* melodramatic and just as rage-inducing? Such a shameless double standard is their biggest flaw. These tactics are just too amateurish."

The PR manager thought that made a lot of sense. "When you put it that way, that Chen Jincheng really is despicable."

Huang Zhen immediately ordered, "Release a PR announcement and expose Chen Jincheng’s whole scheme. Let’s see how he keeps up this act. At the very least, we can’t let the general audience be misled by them."

"Yes, President Huang." The PR manager nodded and immediately went out to handle it.

Before long, the PR manager from Penguin Video released an announcement video: "Regarding the malicious reviews online, we at Penguin Film and Television don’t have much to say. The data speaks for itself. And even if certain media companies are adept at online manipulation, they shouldn’t treat everyone like a fool."

"Don’t call our controversial plot ’melodramatic’ and iQiyi’s ’rage-inducing,’ only to turn around and claim the suffocating patriarchal theme in your show is ’resonant.’ If you treat everyone online like an idiot, you’ll suffer the backlash when you find out they aren’t."

Over at iQiyi, Liu Dong had naturally also seen the uniform wave of negative reviews for their show.

He also felt something was very wrong and suspected it was Second-Life Star’s doing.

So, when he saw the announcement from Penguin Film and Television, he immediately liked it and had his team share it, aiming the attack squarely at Second-Life Star. He even added a comment: "Please refrain from malicious competition. Let the data speak for itself."

This instantly caused an uproar online.

Anyone could tell this was an accusation that all the negative posts and videos online were orchestrated by Chen Jincheng, and that the creators were his lackeys. At the same time, it was an admission that Chen Jincheng was a master of online manipulation, while also warning him to let the data speak for itself.

After all, everyone was paying close attention to these shows right now.

However, the announcement from Penguin Film and Television didn’t seem to rally much support.

Especially those who had actually watched all three shows; they genuinely felt the online reviews and videos were fair. "Taking Dad to Study Abroad" and "My Biological and Stepfather" hadn’t been wronged at all.

Bloggers like Zhang Keke, in particular, wanted to laugh when she saw the response.

’So now her review was "malicious," and she was one of Chen Jincheng’s lackeys? She was speechless.’

’And what was this about a double standard? Calling "Taking Dad to Study Abroad" melodramatic and "My Biological and Stepfather" rage-inducing, while calling the suffocating, patriarchal theme in "All is Well" "resonant"?’

’She had a double standard?’

’She had edited her clips truthfully and based her commentary on facts, hadn’t she?’

’What was going on inside the heads of the so-called leaders of Penguin Film and Television and iQiyi Film and Television? Did they really think they were so clear-headed and brilliant that they had it all figured out?’

’No wonder Chen Jincheng was running circles around them.’

But the more they acted this way, the more fired up she got. If she didn’t meticulously edit and comment on every single melodramatic moment in "Taking Dad to Study Abroad," she’d feel she was letting down their accusation of her being Chen Jincheng’s lackey.

In the hotel, Chen Jincheng arrived in the lobby with an arm around both Sister Hehe and Ximeng. Long Ni was already downstairs waiting for them to have breakfast together.