Jiaxing Entertainment.
"The person the fans were chasing today was Xiao He?"
Jiang Chifei's agent saw this news and was utterly stunned.
Jiang Chifei, who had been sprawled on the sofa, immediately jumped up.
"Who? Xiao He?"
The name Xiao He was not unfamiliar to many people at Jiaxing Entertainment.
Because his agent was none other than Jiaxing Entertainment's former ace agent, Liu Rulan.
The last person who went head-to-head with Xiao He, Su Shengxi, had already withdrawn from the industry.
And that Tian Heng, who never got along with Liu Rulan and later became Su Shengxi's agent, was taken away by the police some time ago.
People within the company connected these events, weaving tales that made Xiao He and Liu Rulan seem almost mythical.
Rumors said the company was originally prepared to protect Su Shengxi, but Liu Rulan made a call to the CEO, and no one knows what she said. After that, Su Shengxi was abandoned and blacklisted by Jiaxing Entertainment.
Other rumors claimed Tian Heng was arrested because Liu Rulan left some trap during the handover of work, and that idiot Tian Heng carelessly fell right into it.
All those messy rumors, true or false, were usually just treated as gossip for casual chat. Yet, they inadvertently left a deep shadow in everyone's minds—when out in the world, it's best not to mess with Xiao He and Liu Rulan!
Liu Rulan had been at Jiaxing Entertainment for so many years, who knows what leverage she might have in her hands. What if they also offended her and the company didn't protect them?
—This was precisely Jiang Chifei's current fear.
"Then it's over, it's over. My fans chased him through half the airport. He must already resent us."
Jiang Chifei usually enjoyed putting on a bit of a show, maintaining a cold, quiet persona in front of his fans. In reality, he simply felt his brain wasn't sharp enough, so he talked less to avoid leaving any handles.
He believed those rumors and was genuinely somewhat afraid of Xiao He and his team.
Moreover, although Jiang Chifei debuted several years earlier than Xiao He, his start was actually worse than Xiao He's. At least Xiao He had firmly established himself in the acting world, while Jiang Chifei was only just beginning to slowly transition, following the path of the former Su Shengxi, shifting from idol to actor.
Jiang Chifei was afraid. Afraid that by walking Su Shengxi's path, he might eventually collide with Xiao He and then follow in Su Shengxi's footsteps, withdrawing from the industry.
"It's fine, it's fine. Calm down first. This was just a coincidence."
His agent, Bao Xin, was relatively rational and not as panicked as Jiang Chifei.
"I'm somewhat acquainted with Sister Liu. Based on my understanding of her, this is most likely just a public opinion hype operation," Bao Xin analyzed for Jiang Chifei. "Xiao He seems to have been filming abroad this whole time, with very few appearances domestically. So, they're probably using this incident to market a Hot Search topic, mostly to build momentum for Xiao He's return to the country."
After all, in the domestic entertainment industry, the turnover is fast. If you don't appear online frequently, you're easily forgotten. Appropriate heat marketing helps maintain fan engagement.
"So what should we do now?" Jiang Chifei asked anxiously. "They probably won't target us, right?"
"They probably won't."
Bao Xin shook his head, thought for a moment, then said to Jiang Chifei, "How about this: you post on Weibo. It's a good opportunity to rein in that group of fans of yours."
Recalling the chaotic scene, Jiang Chifei also felt a belated fear. "Luckily, Xiao He ran fast. Last time at the music festival, I just went down to interact a bit, and good grief, someone nearly tore my clothes off..."
Bao Xin rubbed his temples, both speechless and helpless. "Now that your career path has new developments, it's time to properly manage these fans."
Before, he was an idol; now, he's an actor. The fans can't continue being this crazy, or it could easily affect the film crew's shooting...
Also, fans going to the airport to greet the wrong person—that's just embarrassing to talk about.
"Alright, whatever you say. I'll listen to you."
Jiang Chifei nodded in agreement immediately.
Soon after, Jiaxing Entertainment's artist Jiang Chifei posted a new update.
In the post, he first criticized his fans' irrational fan behavior, then angrily denounced the paparazzi's bottomless pursuit and photography. Finally, he expressed an apology to Xiao He across the internet.
His post attracted many onlookers. Liu Rulan, who had been keeping an eye on the online situation, was the first to notify Xiao He, telling him to just reply with a 'like'.
"So that's how they're reacting."
Xiao He found it somewhat novel.
In this whole farcical incident, the most embarrassed party was definitely Jiang Chifei and his team. Yet, with public opinion gradually fermenting, they dared to step forward, acknowledge the situation, and issue a rational statement and apology. Xiao He was deeply surprised.
Mainly because he had encountered too many idiots before. If it were Su Shengxi or Slippery Fingers Chen, they'd probably have started making veiled sarcastic remarks about him online, then hired a water army to flood the comments section and steer the narrative against him.
Jiang Chifei's relatively decent and amicable attitude was something Xiao He hadn't encountered on the internet in a long time.
"His agent is Bao Xin. I know him. He's a smart person; he won't do those foolish things. And although Jiang Chifei acts a bit flashy, he actually listens to Bao Xin very well."
Liu Rulan had anticipated this.
After all, this time they were dealing with an artist from Jiaxing Entertainment. Liu Rulan was crystal clear about the internal dynamics and personalities involved. She didn't even need to contact them privately to roughly guess their response.
So, Liu Rulan wasn't worried at all.
Xiao He shifted the topic. "So this Jiang Chifei was originally an idol too. I've noticed, your Jiaxing Entertainment seems to really like cultivating artists who transition from idols."
First Su Shengxi, now Jiang Chifei. It's like cultivating replacements.
"Their Jiaxing Entertainment," Liu Rulan emphasized.
"Ahem, right, theirs. Jiaxing Entertainment."
"Because they have a fan base, which makes monetizing traffic easier. Cultivating them is faster than regular artists," Liu Rulan answered calmly. "But in recent years, there have actually been very few who successfully transition from idol to actor. After all, the domestic idol training factories have lost their former glory. Jiang Chifei and his group are basically catching the tail end of that era."
If it were a few years earlier, a bunch of idol dramas would be waiting for Jiang Chifei to star in. Even with poor acting skills, just a casual performance would have fans lining up to pay.
But not anymore.
Now, trying to break into the film and television circle by merely relying on stacked traffic has become the worst strategy.
"So Jiang Chifei is basically Su Shengxi's replacement?"
"Pretty much. He really wasn't doing as well as Su Shengxi before. Now, with Jiaxing Entertainment's resources tilted in his favor, his situation is clearly much better than before." Liu Rulan chuckled. "But the side effects are obvious. The latest batch of fans is unmanageable; their fan behavior is genuinely somewhat insane."
"I'd better show my stance first."
Xiao He gave Jiang Chifei's post a 'like', then sighed. "My fans are still the best."
Liu Rulan chuckled. "But this incident does tell us it's time to expand your team."
She placed a stack of documents in front of Xiao He. "Xiao Chen's individual capabilities clearly can't keep up with your pace anymore. From now on, the people accompanying you daily will increase from one to three."
"As for the basic team for regular activities and travel, I'll expand that separately. First, take a look at the people who will be following you regularly and pick a few that you like."