Chapter 47: The Downfall

"Xiao Wang, check again and see if there are any errors in the data," the team leader reminded, frowning.

"Alright."

Time ticked by, minute after minute. The office was unusually quiet, broken only by the rapid clatter of Xiao Wang’s fingers on the keyboard.

Five minutes later.

Xiao Wang took a deep breath and spoke with certainty, "Team leader, the data is correct! Moreover, it shows that a surge of viewers flocked to Penguin TV starting at the fifteenth minute!"

Hearing this, everyone felt a sense of absurdity.

So the viewers really were driven to Penguin TV by their own actions?

Interrupting a contestant’s performance with ads to disgust both the singers and the audience was nothing new for them. It was a common tactic, usually meant to suppress a particular artist or company. Yet, for some reason, it didn’t work this time with Xu Ze.

Even more astonishing, the data revealed that at least ninety percent of the audience watched the show solely because of Xu Ze.

Was that reasonable?

Before the show aired, Xu Ze had no exposure or publicity whatsoever. Such a staggering audience effect was reserved only for superstar celebrities.

Did this mean Xu Ze was already comparable to a superstar? Yet he was still an uninitiated, unknown newcomer—this was terrifying.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "Xu Ze’s ‘Do You Know’ has climbed to number two on the new song chart! It surpassed Wang Yihan’s ‘Just Because You’re Beautiful’!"

"What?"

Was this the traffic boost Xu Ze got after the show aired?

Everyone was shocked. Mango TV’s promotion for this program hadn’t even featured a single photo of Xu Ze; the spotlight on contestants was mostly on Huang Minghao and Zhu Zhengting, with Wang Yihan as the main mentor.

Even so, Xu Ze overtook Wang Yihan?

Where did Xu Ze’s traffic come from?

The answer was obvious: it was all from Penguin TV.

Penguin TV promoted Xu Ze, Mango TV promoted Wang Yihan, and Xu Ze crushed Wang Yihan.

Didn’t that mean Mango TV lost to Penguin TV?

Everyone felt a sense that things were about to change.

Mango TV, as the country’s largest video platform, gave its employees a natural sense of superiority in dealings with their peers. They were the industry leader; hardly any entertainment company dared offend them.

After all, the traffic was in their hands.

But now, for the first time, Mango TV lost control of their traffic—another platform had bested them.

The most laughable thing was, they had handed over victory themselves.

This was a serious, strategic blunder for the company!

Someone whispered, “If we take this viewing data out, our competitors will laugh at us.”

“Laughing is nothing—at these numbers, our platform might be facing a breach of contract. The agreement with our sponsors stipulated certain viewing figures.”

“What? Are we going to have to pay compensation?”

“It depends on what the higher-ups negotiate. Whose idea was it to insert ads during Xu Ze’s performance anyway?”

“I think it was Representative Zhang. He’s always had close ties with Imperial Entertainment.”

...

The team leader snapped, “Stop gossiping about the leadership. Do you still want to keep your jobs?”

“Xiao Wang, compile Penguin TV’s data for me as well. Everyone else, go home if your shift is over!”

Ten minutes later, the team leader had gathered all the data into a PDF file and sent it to the leadership.

In a luxury apartment complex.

Qiu Hua had just finished telling her daughter a bedtime story. She was frustrated; the children’s bedtime stories were always the same few, and her daughter was thoroughly bored of them.

Her daughter demanded a new story, and it took a while to soothe her to sleep.

Qiu Hua left the room, wearing only a pale lavender lace camisole. She hadn’t put on an undershirt, and her curves swayed gently as she walked.

She poured herself a glass of milk in the kitchen, then headed to her study.

As the Operations Director at Mango TV, every time an important program aired, she waited up to check the data before sleeping. Tonight was no exception.

Opening her email, she saw the data had already been sent by her subordinate.

Her slender fingers moved the mouse as she stared at the screen, brows knitted tightly.

Her full lips parted slightly, "These numbers?"

After a moment, she called the team leader to confirm the data’s accuracy, then carefully reviewed the abnormal video metrics.

Half an hour later, Qiu Hua leaned her soft back against the chair, stretching hard and revealing her impressive figure.

A smile played on her lips, "Representative Zhang finally crashed."

The two had always been on equal footing within the company, locked in competition. Qiu Hua had always hoped for fair rivalry.

But Representative Zhang never saw it that way. He opposed her at every turn, and whenever she advocated for something, he would object.

Worse yet, he deliberately spread rumors about her being a single mother, even making crude jokes about her to subordinates.

This disgusted Qiu Hua to the core.

Yet she could do nothing about him.

But this time was different—it had crossed the platform’s fundamental line.

She didn’t even need to guess about his dealings with Imperial Entertainment.

The next day.

A new personnel notice was posted on Mango TV’s internal network.

“Representative Zhang’s duties are suspended. The company’s audit department will investigate him. His business division will be temporarily managed by Qiu Hua from the Operations Department.”

The announcement caused an immediate uproar.

“Wasn’t Representative Zhang supposed to have solid connections? How come he’s been suspended?”

“Maybe embezzlement? The audit department is investigating him.”

“I’ll tell you quietly, it’s none of that. It’s because of Xu Ze.”

“Xu Ze? The handsome guy who sang ‘Do You Know’?”

“Yes. I heard from the data team that Representative Zhang deliberately inserted ads and face-blocking images during Xu Ze’s segment, causing members’ dissatisfaction. Many members switched to Penguin TV as a result.”

“I heard the same. Other departments said tens of thousands of member accounts were canceled last night, alarming the big boss.”

“That serious?”

“Representative Zhang messed with the wrong person. Why mess with Xu Ze? Xu Ze is a top talent from Qingbei University, good-looking, sings well, and has no scandals. Everyone likes him.”

“Do you think our performance bonuses will drop with so many members gone?”

“Oh, I hope not. Otherwise, Representative Zhang really deserves what’s coming.”

...

After taking over Representative Zhang’s tasks, Qiu Hua immediately had the graphic designers redo the promotional posters.

She instructed the video editing department to drop all other projects and edit Xu Ze’s behind-the-scenes clips and individual performance videos within an hour.

One hour later.

On Mango TV’s platform, every promotional poster for "I Am a Songwriter" was replaced with one featuring Xu Ze as the central figure.

A flood of Xu Ze’s edited videos was released, placed in the recommended section below the program.

The previous night’s competition video was re-uploaded, moving all ads from Xu Ze’s segment to the host’s speaking intervals.