Chapter 275: Guiding and Redirecting Public Image

"What exactly is going on?! How did this involve me?"

"What news and information are there about me?"

Chen Jianhai was stunned.

He asked himself, aside from being a bit lazy and greedy, he hadn't done anything wrong!

There wasn't even an ambiguous female around him.

What could possibly endanger the hotel's reputation?

"It's like this, an artist included you and our small island hotel in his manga."

Wen Zifan's voice came through the phone.

Chen Jianhai asked, "Drew me into a manga?? What kind of manga?!"

Wen Zifan quickly replied, "It's a male-oriented harem manga, and you're one of the male supporting characters, but that's not important."

"The important thing is this manga became popular."

"Your identity has been dug up by netizens, and now it's trending on Weibo."

"There are also many upmasters on QILIQILI who have edited and posted ghost animal videos of you."

"And quite a few anime fans are stirring up trouble, with some really nasty comments."

…

The more Chen Jianhai listened, the worse his expression became.

"Got it, send me the manga and those Weibo posts,"

"I'll take a look at the situation first."

Hanging up the phone,

Chen Jianhai first grabbed the phone from Xiao Lang.

On the phone screen, a manga character that looked almost identical to him was confessing with a guitar amid fireworks.

On the beach, there were even 8 phones lined up side by side.

Seeing the 8 phones in the manga,

Chen Jianhai's face darkened, and a surge of anger rose from his chest,

It felt like someone was spying on his life, observing the details, recording his every little hobby,

And then putting it all online for everyone to see!

Holding back the urge to curse, Chen Jianhai quickly skimmed through the manga,

The Sunset Bar, Starlight Seaside Road, Bulb Pier—all these scenes appeared in the manga,

Even the newly built overwater villas!

And his role in it was quite significant.

Fortunately, his character in the manga was relatively positive, and the comments seemed to indicate a high level of popularity and interest.

After getting the gist of it, Chen Jianhai directly opened Weibo,

The trending topics included "Sun Chichen Little Majia Island," "Mr. Sweetheart's Latest BTS," "Dongdama Splash Screen," and "Barbecue."

And the protagonist of these trending topics was none other than himself.

Suppressing his anger and shock, Chen Jianhai carefully read through the Weibo posts about him, then opened QILIQILI and quickly skimmed through it.

Ten minutes later, he finally understood the whole story.

On the positive side,

This was a triple interaction between Mr. Sweetheart, the anime work, and the small island hotel's promotion. His anime character was very popular and well-liked on Weibo, which also enhanced his "affectionate" persona.

Overnight, he gained countless fans online.

The concern Wen Zifan mentioned was more about the video sites.

An upmaster had immediately jumped on the trend, superimposing his avatar with the anime character's image onto a ghost animal video,

The video was one of those toxic ones about simps.

The comments below were a mixed bag,

Many were positive and supportive, but there were even more malicious ones.

This video was linked to the hotel's promotional video, bringing lots of negative comments to the promo as well.

Although from Chen Jianhai's perspective, given the current development of this issue, the hotel wasn't yet in a PR crisis,

If it continued to ferment, no one could guarantee other problems wouldn't arise.

Besides, he had just signed a contract with Dynasty Fisheries,

If his image issue affected the cooperation, the losses would be incalculable!

Most importantly, this whole thing was just too disgusting and unsettling.

"Haige, what do you plan to do?" Xiao Lang asked.

Chen Jianhai frowned slightly.

The first thing he thought of, like Wen Zifan, was to spend money to delete the trending topics, control the comments, and steer the discourse and public attention in a favorable direction.

But opinions couldn't be entirely blocked.

The best approach now was twofold.

The first was to remain silent and wait for the issue to die down and fade from public view.

The second was to guide and divert public attention.

But… how to guide and divert?

Should he divert the topic by buying trending topics for irrelevant matters?

Or should he do something personal to shift his public image?

Chen Jianhai was a bit confused.

"Ring-ring~~"

Chen Jianhai's phone rang,

"Boss, did Sister Xiaofan tell you about the video?" Lin Suyang's voice came through the phone,

"Ruiqi just proposed a solution, and I think it's feasible. Would you like to hear it?"

"Speak!" Chen Jianhai responded directly.

A few seconds later, Ruiqi's voice came through the phone.

"Boss, my idea is to divert the attention of netizens and guide your image towards something light and joyful."

Ruiqi's words were vague, but the purpose aligned with Chen Jianhai's thoughts.

"How to guide?" Chen Jianhai asked.

Ruiqi: "I carefully reviewed your persona and comments on Weibo. Besides your character in the manga, the most popular photo is the one of you and Brother Lang barbecuing together."

"I think we can create ghost animal and Q-version emoticons of your image barbecuing, going for a down-to-earth, humorous approach."

"After all, while QILIQILI's simp video is explosive and attracts a lot of attention in a short time,"

"People still prefer content that's down-to-earth, with a big character contrast, and brings them joy."

Ruiqi spoke quickly,

"In the manga, your character is a gentle and affectionate figure, and you are the boss of a five-star hotel,"

"People generally imagine the young boss of a five-star hotel as a polite, successful elite,"

"But at night, you're seen barbecuing on the beach, wearing a tank top and shorts, sweating and sitting on a small stool, helping your buddy run a barbecue stall. This will make people feel that even rich second generations can be so relatable!"

"This kind of relatability will definitely give you a huge positive boost!"

Chen Jianhai initially frowned at the thought, as it concerned his image.

But by the end,

Chen Jianhai decisively said, "Alright! Let's do it!"

Ruiqi handed the phone back to Lin Suyang,

Chen Jianhai said, "You heard Ruiqi's idea. Just follow his plan."

"On QILIQILI and Weibo, you and Zhao An will need to work hard to quickly produce the videos and avatars."

Lin Suyang: "Boss, don't worry, we'll complete the task as quickly as possible!"