Investment Cashback, Billionaire God [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 18 Red Carpet Invitation

Chapter 18 Red Carpet Invitation

Unlike the five-minute condensed leak last time, the complete version of the video disclosed by the paparazzi this time was nearly two hours long.

The video started from his landing on Star 45. The footage captured the blurry label “Short Drama Great-Grandmother Shooting Base” on the huge electronic map at the transfer hub, and a similar sign could also be seen erected at the entrance of the filming site.

The paparazzi’s caption was sincere and aggrieved, claiming that after the short drama aired, he had been attacked by audiences from all sides, with tens of thousands of comments and private messages in one afternoon accusing him of taking money to smear Mega-Entertainment.

While pleading with the audience not to cyberbully him, he tried to clear his name by proving that he had definitely not gone to the wrong location before.

Zhou Yu giggled uncontrollably. Who would have thought that even paparazzi would have the nerve to cry injustice these days?

When she saw the comments, she nearly laughed herself silly.

[Buddy, why don’t you take another careful look at whether the sign outside the filming site says “Great-Grandmother” or “Big Grandmother”?]

[Sweety, if your eyesight isn’t great, we suggest you just post the full video for your next leak]

[Yu You, you’re different from other paparazzi. Don’t waste your time working your top priority is to hurry and book an appointment with a specialist at an eye hospital]

[…For a whole week, I’ve practically worn out those videos of big UP hosts analyzing the filming site, and now you’re telling me you filmed the wrong one?]

[So where did the “Big Grandmother” shooting base even come from?? I’d call this Star Entertainment’s third greatest unsolved mystery, right after the vote-rigging scandal on debut night and the grass-study incident from the travel variety show]

[Emhh, has no short video creator claimed responsibility yet? Don’t tell me Brother Fang paid for it himself. No matter how shoddy this rundown set and those extras were, it’d still cost over a hundred grand. Isn’t it a bit too extravagant just to fool the paparazzi?]

Zhou Yu, thoroughly amused, bookmarked this post and switched to the main page. She noticed a trending tag #ShortDramaGreatGrandmotherBehindTheScenes on the rising chart, which turned out to be an behind-the-scenes documentary edited by Mega-Entertainment themselves.

Was the company going to explain the fake filming site?

Without hesitation, she clicked in. The video opened with Zhang Kaigang explaining the filming concept, followed by extensive footage of him personally directing Tong Qinglu’s performances.

Next, the business team lead of FlowlineIC appeared on camera to thank their sponsor. A staff member from the Star 45 agency also praised the Mega-Entertainment boss for his extravagant move of renting out the entire film base, and she even included an advertisement for Star 45’s location rentals.

After watching the short film, Zhou Yu was too stunned to speak.

So the special effects were really done by FlowlineIC, and Mega-Entertainment had actually rented the entire Star 45.

Although the short film didn’t directly address the fake filming site issue, this ridiculously lavish investment successfully diverted her attention.

I’ll fight you rich people! How I wish I could spend money so recklessly just once.

Her newly purchased credits had already arrived. She quickly binge-watched the remaining thirty episodes.

True to expectations, the last thirty episodes were even more spectacular, featuring high-cost special effects and grand scenes one after another.

The female lead Ling Che took over temporary sect leadership, made her grandson see through Mi Yu Xianzi’s true nature, and completely expelled the Jade Maiden Peak group who had been leeching off the Sword Sect.
In the third-to-last episode, the gloomy Demon Lord who had secretly admired the female lead Ling Che a thousand years ago was now critically ill, nearing his final moments. She rushed to see this old friend one last time.

In the vast cavern, Ling Che pointed her fingertip toward the space between her old friend’s eyebrows from a distance, choking up as she said, “Do you still remember our promise to share another jar of apricot blossom wine under the tree? I wonder if that jar still exists?”

On the soft couch, the once-arrogant Demon Lord shed two clear tears.

“It’s you… A-Che, it’s really you…”

Outside the cavern, a solemn funeral bell tolled as thousands of high-ranking Demon Servants knelt simultaneously. An epic soundtrack crashed into their ears, two powerful opening notes pounding against everyone’s eardrums like heavy blows.

Zhou Yu cried uncontrollably along with the barrage of comments.

She recognized that this soundtrack closely resembled her goddess Yingying’s style from five years ago, yet this piece seemed more sorrowful and melancholic, with the rich cello tones intensifying the overall desolate atmosphere.

Zhou Yu switched screens to check the composer it was Qiao Ankuang, whom she used to despise most.

In that moment, she actually felt it was inevitable.

As if something had suddenly shattered, her mind seemed struck by a heavy blow all at once.

Curled up on the sofa, she inexplicably began recalling all the criticisms she had leveled against Giant Entertainment and their signed artists over the past two weeks.

Indeed, with Mega-Entertainment’s substantial funding, they could sign any artist they wanted so why specifically Qiao Ankuang?

Unless he truly was a genius worth spending lavishly to acquire

Then what about Goddess Yingying?

Zhou Yu didn’t dare dwell on it further. After finishing the entire short drama series, she quietly switched screens to follow Giant Entertainment’s official account and all their artists’ accounts. She found her original post containing the negative review, wrote and deleted repeatedly, before finally posting a lengthy apology beneath her original comment.

After writing the apology, she went to the drama discussion forum and solemnly left a review:

[Just finished watching the complete Great-Grandmother series. The special effects, settings, and Props are all top-tier movie quality. Teacher Kaigang performed as steadily as ever, and Sister Tong’s acting was unexpectedly mature.

Thank you, Brother Fang, for bringing us such an amazing short drama. This episode demonstrates the most effective use of financial power.

I also want to apologize to the netizens I previously criticized. I held too much prejudice against Mega-Entertainment’s boss and the company’s artists. I’m sorry.]

[Well, well, if it isn’t a certain famous Mega-Entertainment hater. Those who apologize to this sovereign shall receive the highest reward]

[Can someone tell me how this drama actually is? Even the haters are switching sides. Looking at her follow list, she’s followed so many Mega-Entertainment artists, even tracked down and followed the personal account of Mega-Entertainment’s assistant… First time seeing such a textbook case of hate-to-fan conversion]

[Envious you still have eyes that haven’t seen Great-Grandmother yet ^^ Guaranteed to be enjoyable and addictive]

[Go watch it now!! So thrilling I have to pause every few episodes to recover. The special effects are more explosive than movies seriously suspecting Mega-Entertainment paid too much. FlowlineIC, your treatment of clients shows obvious favoritism]

[Just toss your brain into the washing machine and start watching. After getting through the free episodes, the female lead becomes an unstoppable war goddess, slapping villains left and right with both hands]

[+1, The face-slapping speed does wonders for my mental peace]
[Well, it’s not just FlowlineIC giving this drama special treatment. As a longtime fan of Director Zhang, I haven’t seen him personally overseeing the filming of the B-team in ages.

He’s putting more effort into filming Great-Grandmother than many big-budget movies from major distributors probably because the pay is really good, hahaha.]

[We still have no idea how rich Brother Fang actually is. This drama is undeniably a massive hit has anyone calculated how much he’s earned from it?]

[He’s definitely not making a profit, what are you thinking? The cost of this drama plus promotion and app operation is close to 500 million. I can’t even imagine how it could break even.]

[?? That’s insane, is he really here to do charity work? Has anyone dug into his background? Is he some rich second-generation just dabbling for fun?]

The large screen embedded in the top-floor atrium was displaying comments from the short drama platform’s homepage. Seeing netizens claim Giant Entertainment was doing charity work in the entertainment industry, several employees subtly glanced at Fang Zhuo with looks of admiration and agreement.

Fang Zhuo ignored the reverence in their gazes, quietly switching to his system balance interface while listening to a series of achievement notifications.

[Congratulations, Host! Achievement Unlocked: ‘Discussions Related to Signed Artists Exceed One Million’]

[Congratulations Again! Achievement Unlocked: ‘Total Followers of Signed Employees Exceed One Million’]

[Current Company Prestige: 10. Matching Title: ‘Testing the Waters’]

[Conditions Met. New Character Attribute Unlocked for Insight Panel: Skill Talent Value. Go check it out!]

In just two days since its release, the short drama Great-Grandmother had surpassed 80 million app downloads, with dozens of hashtags consistently trending on StarNet’s main page.

By these metrics, it had undeniably become Star Entertainment’s groundbreaking hit of the past five years, with the company’s pre-tax earnings reaching just over 110 million.

On paper, it wasn’t profitable, but he would never run a business at a loss.

Tong Qinglu’s loyalty remained steady at 8. This time, the returns had crit, increasing the rebate multiplier by two points.

In just over a day, this short drama had genuinely brought him 1.3 billion in rebates, and the amount was still rapidly climbing.

As a new form of visual media, short dramas had to quickly capture the market with quality and word-of-mouth far surpassing competitors from the start. Sustainable profits would follow naturally. A return rate exceeding 200% was already remarkably surprising.

[Ding ding ding! This is an ominous warning. Your remaining survival days will drop to 40. At that time, the host will contract a random illness. Please renew promptly!]

Near the end of the workday, the system issued another warning.

Though financially comfortable, Fang Zhuo still didn’t splurge on lifespan, spending just 100 million to exchange for another ten days of survival time.

He then opened the small-loan plugin and paid off the 1 billion high-interest loan in one go.

[Successfully repaid 1 billion principal on schedule. Total interest generated during this period: 30.24 million, automatically deducted from your account balance.]

[Congratulations on increasing your credit score. Your loan limit has been raised.]

[Previous Limit: 1 billion]

[Current Loan Limit: 20 billion]

[Friendly Reminder: Raising your company level can also increase the corresponding limit. Feel free to wield the power the system provides~]

[Host’s Current Remaining Survival Days: 50]

[Exceeds the system’s designated healthy survival period of 40 days. Random illness condition does not apply.]
He had just finished repaying the debt when A Little Bit sent an emoji of a tiny figure anxiously pacing back and forth: [Host, after repaying the debt, your remaining balance is just over 800 million!]

Fang Zhuo chuckled lightly: [What, you think it’s too little?]

A Little Bit: [Let me wipe my sweat first. I have this strange feeling like I just spent a huge sum all at once.]

Fang Zhuo: [Here’s a fun fact: the loan amount sitting in the plugin isn’t your actual balance. Don’t get so possessive over high-interest loans.]

There were still five minutes left until the end of the workday, and all of today’s to-do items had already been checked off. Fang Zhuo leaned back on the sofa.

He watched the company’s Group Broadcast livestream for a while, casually sending two gifts to a newcomer. Just then, the office door suddenly knocked.

Jiang Yu politely pushed the door halfway open and transmitted a red carpet invitation to Fang Zhuo’s Light Brain:

“Director Fang, Jasha Magazine has invited the entire cast of the short drama to attend their red carpet event this weekend. The list not only includes Miss Tong and several lead actors but also your name.”

Jiang Yu looked somewhat indignant, clearly feeling that Jasha’s abrupt invitation to the agency’s boss was rather presumptuous.

Jasha was undeniably the top among Star Entertainment’s three major high-end fashion magazines. Its annual red carpet gala and the charity banquet afterward gathered over half of the entertainment industry’s A-list celebrities.

Normally, the invitation list for such a large-scale event should have been finalized months ago, and it would be impossible to send confirmation emails to guests just two days before the event.

However, the sudden explosive popularity of the short drama Great-Grandmother had not only shocked the general public but also caught everyone in the industry off guard.

Tong Qinglu’s rapid rise to fame was like a rocket launch, and as the behind-the-scenes mastermind who had almost never appeared in public, Fang Zhuo naturally carried an intimidating level of buzz.

Fang Zhuo skimmed through the long list of proposed celebrity invites and unsurprisingly spotted two names.

“Xiao Jiang, send a reply to Jasha. I’ll attend.”

Jiang Yu looked slightly surprised but nodded quickly.

Alone in the office, Fang Zhuo’s gaze remained fixed on the list.

He was quite looking forward to meeting those two mediocre competitors he just wondered if their current state of mind was as steady as his.

Fang Zhuo opened the system interface to the original text of Radiance before attending the red carpet, he still intended to meet one more person.