Today's trending topics were over the top, but Chu Zhi really did blast a bunch of celebrities. Some stars who'd faked donations, accidentally or not, felt like they'd swallowed a fly. They wanted to clap back, but they were afraid Little Fruits would swarm them. The Orange Family's top "legion" had ridiculous combat power.
"Tsk tsk, look at him. He donated over three hundred million and didn't say a word. If it were anyone else, they'd brag till they touched the sky."
"Jiu-yé dares to speak, and I'll back Jiu-yé without thinking twice."
"That shot was perfect. I've been sick of those fame-hungry, money-tight stars. Same thing with that luxury brand insulting China last time. Brother Jiu was always the first to stand up."
"Tree Planter, there were clues. Remember the Orange Festival every year? Xiao Jiu would donate a million in the name of fans, and Xiao Jiu always called himself the Tree Planter while Little Fruits were little saplings. Nobody connected the dots back then."
…
Passersby started digging up fake donation cases with gusto, so playing dead was the dumbest move.
While the stars were stuck in a bind, Zhou Yuyi stepped forward and posted an apology from his own account.
"It's true the donation didn't go through because of me. Just like Teacher Chu Zhi said, artists should take full responsibility.
In July 2023, I promised to donate two million to build playgrounds for mountain schools. Staff errors delayed the payment. The fault's mine for failing to supervise. I sincerely apologize to the public.
I've made up the 2023 donation and today I'm donating another one million to support sports at impoverished primary schools. The funds have been transferred to the Charity Federation."
[Image] (For friends who can't view JPGs on their phones, it's a transfer screenshot.)
You had to admit, the badminton boy's management had skills. First they owned the mistake completely, then they added another million, and just like that, the pressure shifted to everyone else.
They even triggered the follow-up skill. The fan group "Feathers" would feel even more protective of their idol.
"I'm convinced. Why can't Brother Jiu stay still for once? I'm already this busy and he's piling on," Zhou Yuyi slumped on the couch after recording a video apology for fans, which was the team's follow-up play.
"Would you dare say that to Chu Zhi's face?" his agent Zhan Ge asked.
"Are you crazy? Why would I talk to Brother Jiu like that? Brother Jiu and I are brothers from different parents," Zhou Yuyi said on the spot.
Zhan Ge let it drop, then asked seriously, "Are you really shifting your focus to variety shows?"
"Haven't I already been doing that?" Zhou Yuyi said. "Release songs to please music fans, do variety shows to please regular fans. At the core, there's not much difference. Look at Lin Xia, who poured everything into an album. He finally made a quality record and still couldn't beat me."
At last year's Weibo Night, the Best Pop Singer was decided by fan votes. Lin Xia lost to Zhou Yuyi. After that, he went full throttle on persona building, phoned in the new album, and lived on variety shows.
"Doesn't the company support this direction too?" Zhou Yuyi added.
"I still think works are a singer's lifeline," Zhan Ge said.
"The old era's gone. Look at Lin Xia, trying to copy Brother Jiu's path. Can he do it? Honestly, we don't have those conditions," Zhou Yuyi said. "Hooking fans with works is slower than hooking them with a persona."
To be fair, Agent Zhan Ge felt out of step. He'd pulled strings to hire a gold producer and spent a month crafting a solid single. It still didn't match a week of variety exposure.
"That Kang Long, though, we can use this wave to knock him down," Zhou Yuyi said suddenly. With fans feeling protective, he could rile up the Feathers to make a move.
His grudge with Kang Long started because of the nickname "Little Zhou Yuyi." Kang Long was copying the athletic-idol route and poaching his market.
Let's lay out Taiyang Chuanhe's super resource darling, Kang Long. The nicknames marketed for him were "Little Chu Zhi," "Little Lin Xia," and "Little Lin Weiran," basically a collage of the top of domestic entertainment.
Zhou Yuyi was soaring toward new top-tier status, so imitation was inevitable. He just wasn't generous about it and had been itching to crush Kang Long.
Enough about the badminton boy. His apology triggered a chain reaction. Rather than get flamed, one after another, celebrities posted similar statements. Even if they didn't donate extra, they at least claimed they'd made up the fake amounts.
Director Hou from the Publicity Department saw it and sighed, "I always thought stars never cry till they see the coffin. Even if they got hauled into the station last night, they'd dare post a 'clarification' the next morning. I didn't expect that once Consultant Chu spoke up, they all caved."
With Chu Zhi around, Director Hou felt a lot of crooked industry habits got curbed.
Riding the wave, Su Shangbai smoothly finished his soft promo for the Dabai brand.
Soft ads are magic. They're quiet, but they stick far better than plastering ads everywhere.
Take two examples. Under a praise post, "Chu Zhi's the most positive star in entertainment. No one will argue with an old man saying that, right?"
A "passerby" replied, "Between us, Dabai Toffees are die-hard Little Fruits. Their twelve million donation was the highest of the night. I remember Jiu-yé loves them too. That's mutual devotion."
"Mutual devotion with Chu Zhi, Dabai Toffees." That impression alone made a ton of Little Fruits hit buy. The JD and Tmall flagships topped candy sales for the day.
Honestly, even Su Shangbai underestimated Little Fruits' firepower. When it came to purchasing, fandoms were king. China's sales beat Annam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea combined.
So he changed plans on the fly and decided to stay in China a couple more days.
President Wang Mao at the Charity Federation didn't get careless either. Since they received the most celebrity donations, they needed to display each transfer clearly to prevent accidents.
Never underestimate biodiversity. Fans can do things no one imagines.
"Brother Jiu's too perfect. He secretly donates over three hundred million. What can't he do?" Gu Peng muttered. He understood the joy of anonymous giving. He loved being seen by everyone while no one knew who he was.
Gu Peng had his own anonymous donations too, almost a million so far. No wonder they were friends. Even their habits matched.
#TreePlanterAnonymousDonation370Million
#ChuZhiIsTheTreePlanter
Those two hot searches firmly shoved Azazel and yodel talk out of the spotlight.
"Exactly. Talk more about our domestic stars. Why stare at some foreign program?" Gu Peng said.
Earlier seasons of The Masked Singer in the US barely made a splash in China, but for Season 7, Gu Peng had no idea if FOX just had money to burn, since they were pushing hype all over Asia. It got a bunch of trending tags on Weibo.
"I didn't realize we had that many Christians in China," Gu Peng scrolled on. According to the second religious white paper, over forty million Christians were counted in 2023.
"Boring," Gu Peng shook his head. He was an atheist, and he rejected religion to a degree. He thought religion was "real life's spiritual marijuana," harmful. By hating the house, he also disliked anything tied to it, including Azazel.
Then a fresh hot search popped up, #WhatKindOfIdolWhatKindOfFans. The point was simple. Little Fruits were posting their own charity donations.
What can you say, Little Fruits could walk sideways online.
Because of certain fandom behaviors and stereotypes, when people talk about fandoms, many look down on them. But if you stan Chu Zhi, you don't automatically get called brainless, mostly because his public image with regular folks is great.
Meanwhile, the one who kicked off the industry quake kept working.
"How many versions does Besieged on All Sides have?" Chu Zhi asked.
"The physical release currently has three," Wang Yuan said. "A standard version, a hand-signed version, and an event collector's edition."
"Once Xiao Jiu finishes recording the third episode of The Masked Singer, we can release it smoothly," Wang Yuan confirmed.
Domestic fans were the foundation Chu Zhi valued most. Even if he failed in the West, he could come back and still be top traffic.
So even after releasing so many physical albums, the Emperor Beast was extra serious. This was the fourth time he double-checked with the boss.
All three versions had different covers, and Chu Zhi hid a special Easter egg.
A small line on the cover read, "You're the sky that keeps me going." Stars filled the night, and the brightest one was the "Little Fruits Star."
On Earth, fans sometimes "gift a star" to idols, which basically means buying a naming certificate. In reality, that's not official. Stars are too numerous, so they're indexed by numbers. The International Astronomical Union doesn't recognize those purchased names.
What Chu Zhi bought was an asteroid's naming right. That goes through an international review, and the name's recognized worldwide, unique and unchangeable.
When someone in our country wins the Highest Science and Technology Award, the National Astronomical Observatories "gift" them an asteroid. The romance of star gifting has long existed at the national level.
Chu Zhi spent real money to buy an asteroid name. Anyone on Earth could look it up. From now on, in the vast night sky, Little Fruits would have a home.
It was Chu Zhi's small gift to his fans.
Wang Yuan hesitated a few seconds, then asked, "Everything for the concert's set. But, Xiao Jiu, do we invite Xiao Ai's family?"
Xiao Ai was a painful memory for Chu Zhi. In a flash, that weak, wan face rose in the Emperor Beast's mind.
"No. Don't disturb Xiao Ai's family," Chu Zhi said. "I only lost a lovely fan. They lost a family member. Their grief's heavier. Inviting them would hurt more than help."
Wang Yuan agreed. She only wanted Xiao Ai to be remembered, but inviting the family could reopen the wound.
Then she heard Chu Zhi's plan. They'd keep one seat empty in the front row during the concert, as if Xiao Ai had come to listen. They wouldn't publicize it at all.