Chapter 28: Publicity
Luo Jing sat up abruptly.
Having been through life’s trials, Plastic Bag was now a very perceptive puppy. It had come to Luo Jing’s room early but hadn’t rushed onto the bed, instead wandering around by itself.
Seeing Luo Jing finally awake, it jumped onto the bed, seeking attention.
But its owner was clearly preoccupied.
Luo Jing’s lips were slightly parted, his hair messy from sleep, as he stared blankly at the video on his phone.
The scene of him “fighting injustice” at the hotel last night had been completely recorded.
And it seemed to have spread quite widely.
…Why hadn’t he felt so arrogant yesterday?
Watching himself in the video, Luo Jing covered his face with one hand.
After the video ended, Luo Jing’s frozen brain finally rebooted a bit. Exiting the page, he briefly scrolled through the messages he had received.
Many classmates had forwarded him the video from different social media platforms, asking if it was him and what had happened.
But most of them were teasing him.
Luo Jing was too embarrassed to speak, so he simply cleared all the messages, hoping to ignore the problem and make it go away.
At the top of his chat list was the family group chat: his parents, sister, and Huai Dan.
His family hadn’t sent him private messages, but had communicated in the group. Luo Jing had gone to bed early last night because he had stayed up late playing games the night before and had been woken up early to prepare for the reception, so he had perfectly missed everything that happened last night.
He hesitated, then opened Huai Dan’s chat window.
The video was posted around 1 a.m., and Huai Dan’s message was sent around the same time.
Brother: [Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Rest early.]
Luo Jing’s first reaction was, why was he still awake so late?
Just as he was about to reply, he remembered what had happened last night, and his fingers paused.
Then he switched to his alternate account.
…Still no reply!
Luo Jing angrily switched back to his main account, deciding to ignore him.
Wu Li had forwarded him a Weibo post three minutes ago, commenting: [Your family is quite efficient.]
Luo Jing instinctively clicked on it, and the screen switched to another app, displaying the statement released by his family’s company’s official account.
The wording was concise and clear, and the company’s handling of the situation had generally satisfied everyone.
But scrolling down further, the top comment was: [Okay, where’s Luo Luo?]
Luo Jing: !!!?
He felt the same fear as being called on by the teacher after falling asleep in class.
Were they talking about him?
What… what was wrong with Luo Luo?
Had he done something wrong?
Thinking again, he had indeed been a bit arrogant…
The number of likes on this comment was almost catching up to the announcement itself, and the replies below were nearing a thousand, most of them tagging the official account.
Luo Jing started to panic.
Was he about to be cyberbullied?
He carefully scrolled down further… He almost didn’t recognize the words “Luo Luo” anymore.
After nervously browsing through a few more posts, Luo Jing realized that it was because netizens were curious about him, not malicious.
In the family group chat, his parents and sister were chatting.
Sister, suggesting a bad idea: [Why not have Luo Jing do a live stream? He has nothing better to do at home anyway.]
Mom, a bit worried: [Maybe no one will remember in a few days. Xiao Jing is still young.]
Sister: [Actually, this is a good opportunity to generate publicity for the company.]
Sister: [Isn’t that popular drama we’re airing always being compared to the one from Star Selection Media?]
Sister: [Speaking of which.]
Sister: [It’s so late, and Luo Jing is still not awake??? @AAA.Holiday Wholesaler Xiao Luo]
Sister: [It’s nice to have a holiday, huh? (smile)]
AAA.Holiday Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [I’m awake.]
Sister: [Clearly just woke up.]
Holiday Wholesaler Xiao Luo fell silent guiltily.
After a while, Luo Jing sent another message: [I can do a live stream. I’ve also been watching Sister Xiao Qing’s drama.]
Sister Xiao Qing, whose real name was Fang Qing, was a popular and talented actress in their company. She was beautiful, a good actress, and a senior figure in the company. Luo Jing had a good relationship with her.
The drama Luo Feng mentioned was one of the company’s biggest projects this year, aiming for awards, with a top-notch cast, script, costumes, director, post-production, and everything else, combining commercial and artistic value.
But their rival company had also released a drama of comparable quality.
Both were historical dramas, and due to their similar themes, they were inevitably being compared.
No one knew that Luo Jing actually had a bit of a top-tier complex.
And he genuinely thought this drama was good.
Perhaps big data was too sensitive. While watching the drama, whenever he opened Weibo or other social media platforms, the system would automatically recommend related topics.
Perhaps it was human nature to enjoy arguments and gossip, so there were many posts comparing the two dramas.
Whenever he saw a poll asking which drama was better/had a better cast/even had a better theme song, he would silently vote for his family’s drama.
Occasionally, when he saw their drama had fewer votes, he would get angry and search for positive reviews to calm himself down.
He would proudly like posts praising their drama.
He would silently like every comment refuting posts praising the rival drama and criticizing theirs.
A model fan. He sometimes felt his father should pay him a salary.
Hearing that his live stream could promote their drama, he instantly felt energized!
He had been arguing with a netizen in the comment section of a post two days ago about which drama was more popular and well-known. Luo Jing, lacking experience in arguing, had been fuming for a long time and now finally found a breakthrough.
In this era where traffic was king, this was indeed a good publicity opportunity.
So Luo Jing, aiming to benefit the company, but actually to satisfy his own competitive spirit, thought this was a great plan.
Mom: [But I’m worried about you appearing online. What if something unexpected happens? There are so many people online, what if they say something bad and you get upset?]
Sister, excitedly: [It’s okay, we’ll put ten moderators in his live stream room.]
At 3 p.m., Fengjing Entertainment’s official account posted a new update.
@Fengjing Entertainment: We’ve seen all your comments! The Luo Luo everyone is concerned about will be live streaming tonight at 7 p.m. using the company’s official account~ Welcome to follow us. (ps Our boss’s son doesn’t have any public social media accounts, please be careful not to be scammed)
It was the prime time for this incident, and the post immediately received countless reposts, likes, and comments. The number of followers of the company’s official account also started to increase rapidly.
Inevitably, some people started nitpicking.
[Such a big fuss, isn’t this just hype? I bet this so-called young master will debut in a couple of days.]
[@Fengjing Entertainment (OP) replying to @dhsi: He won’t debut. The boss doesn’t have that plan. The young master still has half a family fortune to inherit [lemon][lemon]]
Seeing this comment, netizens replied.
[@dhsi: Are you a remnant of Jiang Kun’s fans?]
[@dhsi: We know you’re jealous.]
[@dhsi: Shut your little mouth.]
Luo Jing secretly liked all of them.
The company’s staff arrived at Luo Jing’s house on time at 1 p.m.
Since the live stream was just to satisfy netizens’ curiosity and promote the company and the new drama, they had planned for him to do a casual, lifestyle-sharing type of live stream.
Considering the special nature of this live stream and that there probably wouldn’t be a second one, and worried that Luo Jing would be uncomfortable with so many people watching, they set up the equipment with the company’s account and left.
Then, following Luo Feng’s instructions, they arranged ten moderators for the young master’s live stream room.
Luo Jing handed his phone and tablet to the staff and let them do their thing. When he got them back, he saw a new friend request.
The note was: Xie You.
He accepted the request, and soon, the boy sent a message: [Thank you for what you did yesterday.]
AAA.Holiday Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [You’re welcome. It’s the company that should apologize to you.]
Then Luo Jing watched as the boy typed for a while, then replied with an “mm.”
Seeing this, he remembered Xie You’s hesitant look when he left in the video, so he typed in the chat window, wanting to ask if he had something to say.
Just as he finished typing and was about to send it, a notification popped up.
Brother: [Awake?]
Luo Jing’s hand trembled, and he deleted the words.
He pursed his lips, deleted everything, and when he wanted to type again, he instinctively exited the chat window and opened Huai Dan’s.
Then he stared at the chat window, gradually becoming at a loss.
He hesitated, wondering if he should reply.
He really wanted to, but he was still angry. He had to control himself.
Thinking of the news he heard yesterday, he felt unhappy again.
After thinking for a moment, he opened the contact details and changed Huai Dan’s note from “Brother” to “Has a Girlfriend.”
Has a Girlfriend: [Awake?]
Luo Jing: …
The impact was too strong, and he instantly lost all desire to reply.
And…
Luo Jing opened his alternate account, certain, but also with a sliver of hope, that there wouldn’t be a reply. Seeing the empty chat window, he felt a sense of “I knew it” and growing resentment.
He knew it!
He would have his “second sister” tell him to delete him today.
And, before Huai Dan replied to his message on his alternate account, he wouldn’t…
H: [Morning.]
Luo Jing: !
Plastic Bag tilted its head, not understanding why its owner had suddenly thrown the thing in his hand onto the bed when he had been perfectly fine just a moment ago.
