Chapter 339 - 240: The Door to a New World Opens

Chapter 339: Chapter 240: The Door to a New World Opens

Naturally, the love letter Li Ke’er posted on Weibo was part of a marketing campaign to buy traffic.

And naturally, Lin Chu was footing the bill.

Overnight, thanks to the power of money, it shot to the top of the trending lists on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Hupu, Tieba...

Lin Chu had given the PR firm he’d worked with before a budget of thirty million—an amount comparable to the marketing and distribution costs for a feature film.

The money was, of course, well spent.

The next morning, Lin Chu woke up and glanced at his phone. The buzz was practically everywhere.

This time, they had really gone all out.

He skimmed through the various comment sections.

To Lin Chu’s surprise:

Weibo was filled with mixed reviews.

Douyin was a mix of love and hate.

On Xiaohongshu, the hate far outweighed the love.

Tieba and Hupu, however, were full of widespread praise.

After all, the user demographics on these platforms were quite different.

Platforms with more female users were more critical.

Platforms with more male users were more complimentary.

Soon after, Lin Chu noticed his Douyin followers had somehow swelled by nearly half a million overnight.

His private messages had blown up as well.

The majority of these new followers were female, as were most of the private messages.

’Huh?’

’Cussing me out in the comments, then turning around to secretly follow me and even slide into my DMs, is that it?’

Lin Chu couldn’t help but smile. He knew full well the reason behind this phenomenon.

So, now the question was...

How should he respond to Li Ke’er on social media?

Accept?

Or reject?

’Sigh, I’ll get out of bed first.’

Today was another packed day. After all, he had to resume his live streams.

...

In the morning, during his MBA class, Lin Chu zoned out and held a quick meeting in the marketing and PR group chat.

There were only four people in the group.

Himself, Li Ke’er, Li Fangfei, and the head of the PR firm they had now worked with twice, Duan Kun.

Zhou Luan had brought Duan Kun in for the last project. During the "Peng City’s Most Devoted" marketing event, he had demonstrated impressive control over the narrative and excellent pacing. That’s why Lin Chu had sought him out again, especially since his own in-house PR team wasn’t fully assembled yet.

"Morning, everyone. Meeting time. What’s our next move?"

Lin Chu tagged everyone in the group chat.

Li Ke’er replied quickly: "I’m up too. What a crazy night. My phone’s been blowing up. (Blushing) (Blushing)"

Li Fangfei, sitting at another desk in the same classroom, also typed in the group chat: "The results are excellent. A fantastic marketing event. For today, my thought is to strike while the iron is hot. President Lin, you should continue to play hard to get and keep the hype going. We just need to find a more appealing way to do it."

Duan Kun, whose profile picture was a roaring flame with the faint image of a lion’s head within, also chimed in.

"President Lin, ladies. I have three proposals: a best-case, a moderate, and a last-resort strategy. Allow me to lay them out for you."

"Best-case strategy: President Lin posts a peaceful reply, also in letter format. You tactfully decline, but in a romantic and sentimental way. Basically, turn social media into your battlefield for this push-and-pull. Drag it out for a few more rounds to build maximum anticipation."

"Moderate strategy: President Lin brings in a third party. Find a more famous female celebrity to play a role in this, drawing in another wave of attention and creating a joint publicity stunt."

"Last-resort strategy: Ms. Li launches an aggressive pursuit. Make it a big, lively spectacle and continue to build her ’deeply in love’ persona."

"It’s up to you to consider which plan to go with, President Lin."

As a professional in PR and marketing, manipulating public opinion was child’s play for Duan Kun. The only prerequisite, of course, was that President Lin provided a large enough budget.

’He’d never fought a war with this much funding in his life!’

Back in the classroom, Lin Chu’s eyes lit up as he read Duan Kun’s message, a smile spreading across his face.

’Oh ho?’

’This guy’s got some good ideas.’

’Especially... Plan Two, the moderate strategy.’

’It really appeals to my tastes.’

"Let’s go with the moderate strategy. It’s a good middle ground. Do you have anyone in mind to recommend?"

Lin Chu didn’t bother consulting Li Ke’er or Li Fangfei. He was the one paying for this, so he was the one calling the shots. To put it bluntly, they were just the hired help.

They just needed to follow his lead and enjoy the benefits.

’I’m already building your public personas for you.’

’You might lose a little face, but the tangible benefits I’m providing are more than enough to make up for it.’

Li Fangfei read the chat history, her eyes nonchalantly drifting over to Lin Chu. A slight smile touched her lips. As soon as she saw the three proposals, she had a feeling he would choose the second one. It was just a hunch.

After all, he liked to go big.

To be fair, a plan like this wasn’t necessarily bad for Ke’er. It left room for more back-and-forth, meaning this marketing spectacle was far from over. Besides, a "tragic lover" persona was pretty good for winning public sympathy.

"I agree with the second plan too."

She typed back a quick reply.

As both her aunt and a senior in the entertainment industry, she had the final say in all of Li Ke’er’s matters.

Duan Kun: "I’d recommend someone from overseas—Japan or South Korea. For one, they’re cheaper. Two, they’re easier to hire. And three, it’s easier to redirect public animosity. When it’s time to ’dump’ her, there won’t be any messy fallout. I have partnership channels over there, so if you’re interested, we can make arrangements today."

"There are professional and reliable female celebrities in the country, but they’re very protective of their careers. It would be difficult to convince one of them to participate in a marketing stunt that paints them as a ’homewrecker,’ as it would damage their public image. Even if one agreed, they’d demand a hefty premium!"

"And the less professional, less reliable ones come with a host of unpredictable risks."