The Moonlight Scientists dodged questions and glossed over key points, but some also expressed confusion.
Xia Bo: Why did Shi meet with Chu's Father in private?
Moonlight Lock: First, rule out meeting the parents. Don't ask, just say it's an intergenerational friendship! Musical soulmates!
Tonight's Moonlight is Real: Teacher Chu: Stop rushing, we're working on it, we're working on it.
Little Yellow: I'll provide a PR plan for the company - just say they have the same father, Shi's father and Chu's Father look identical [doge]
Panda Cat: Sisters, in a sense that's not wrong! Report to the celebrity PR department immediately!!
Heart: No, I bet the company will do like the die-hard fans and pretend they didn't see anything. Everything will be calm next door.
Deer: Management company: As long as we don't make it public, even if they meet the parents on New Year's, go shopping, get married, have kids, and send their child to college, there's still nothing going on. This is our last shred of dignity!!
Hydrangea: Good grief, you guys are the reason giant pandas have nothing to eat! Stealing all the bamboo shoots!
Strawberry Peach: No laughing! Nobody's allowed to laugh! Let's give our PR team on holiday some time. Wait and see what excuse they can come up with [doge]
The Moonlight Scientists got an incredible treat during Spring Festival, relieving their previous starved state. They now exuded an air of confidence, showing great tolerance towards the management company with an attitude of "the stage is yours" and "make up whatever you want, I'll believe it all."
They were just waiting to hear how the company would explain Shi Guanghua and Chu Wenyue's meeting, curious what method the PR team would use to forcibly connect the two.
Chu Yueyi was caught off guard by the unexpected situation, and the company's publicity team was equally frantic, unable to come up with a convincing and reasonable explanation.
"What reason could there be for two unacquainted people to urgently meet in private? And specifically during the New Year holiday?"
"...A breakthrough in the vaccine they're jointly developing?"
"..."
The management company couldn't come up with an excuse. They indeed proved the Moonlight Scientists' guess correct by planning to play dumb and pretend nothing had happened, waiting for the hype to naturally die down.
However, the company was hit with two bombshells right at the start of the new year. First, Shi Guanghua and Chu Wenyue were photographed together, then a member of the boy band was exposed as a playboy. The boy band that Manager Zhang had never been able to make successful suddenly became famous overnight for a scandal, forcefully topping the trending topics for the first time!
This boy band finally entered public awareness through a scandal, inciting the fury of the top leadership, especially as the company had been preparing to go public in recent years, undoubtedly impacting the original timeline.
Sometimes things just go wrong - the company had decided to disband the boy band, but who knew a scandal within the group would break after the new year, catching the company's top brass off guard.
Against this backdrop, Chu Yueyi's news didn't seem like much. At least she had no moral issues, and her relationship was even worthy of congratulations.
In the office, Chu Yueyi was suddenly called in for a talk by Li You. She originally thought it was about PR for the candid photos, but was surprised when her manager took an unexpected approach: "Go public with the relationship!?"
Li You had been assigned by upper management to negotiate. She reluctantly began, "Yes, mainly because you know the company's current situation. We urgently need some moves to salvage things..."
The boy band scandal was constantly trending, and even though the group had been disbanded, it was still tarnishing the company's image. Management companies collect reports on their artists and choose to release news at critical moments to achieve the goal of diverting attention.
This is the importance of coordinated press releases - using major news to overshadow other issues. Netizens will forget about other things and only remember the current information. The Moonlight Couple still had influence, and going public would definitely dominate the trending topics. The company couldn't find more suitable news in the short term.
"So you're using my relationship to shift attention?" Chu Yueyi frowned, saying with slight displeasure, "Sister You, to be honest, going public won't really affect me, but I don't like this feeling."
Chu Yueyi's reason for cutting off sugar to the Moonlight Scientists was simple - she didn't want her feelings entangled with business value.
If the CP hype didn't cool down, brands would keep eyeing them. A work couple is different from a real couple - how could she and Shi Guanghua be dating while still coming out to make money?
Li You said dryly, "I know, I know, you're considering the company's interests. The company will compensate you later..."
Chu Yueyi said decisively, "I don't think any compensation could..."
"Don't be so absolute!" Li You quickly patted her artist, then made sure no one else was around before lowering her voice conspiratorially, "From what I heard from the higher-ups, if the negotiations go well, you might even get some equity."
Li You was practically a double agent now, sent by the company to persuade Chu Yueyi, yet revealing the bottom line to her artist. The leaders of course hoped Li You could negotiate and push for conditions, but Li You's years of genuine friendship with Chu Yueyi meant she directly revealed her hand.
Any employee dissatisfaction is just a matter of money not being in place. As long as the conditions are good enough, anything can be discussed.
Li You said earnestly, "Anyway, your family was photographed during New Year's. Don't turn down money, opportunities like this are rare."
Li You felt the fans had already been prepared, and had even guessed the company would play dead. Rather than continue to beat around the bush, why not take this chance to get equity?
Chu Yueyi just didn't like exploiting CP fans, but why pass up the chance to fleece the company?
Chu Yueyi wanted to firmly refuse, but she indeed wavered: "..."
At home, after hearing the whole story, Shi Guanghua stirred the borscht in the pot while calmly saying, "So you just came back?"
"I told Sister You I'd discuss it with you..." Chu Yueyi lowered her head guiltily, ashamed of her moral weakness. She berated herself, "Wuwuwu I'm sorry, I really wanted to firmly refuse, but they offered way too much!"
It would be a lie for Chu Yueyi to say she didn't want equity. Very few artists in the company had shares, and no one had received any in recent years. This represented truly entering the company's core, and it would be harder to encounter messy situations in the future.
Shi Guanghua said without hesitation, "No need to discuss, you decide."
Chu Yueyi was taken aback: "So decisive? You should at least think about it..."
Shi Guanghua turned off the stove and glanced at her: "Aren't we still trying to earn 100 million? How could I possibly say no?"
Chu Yueyi: "?"
Chu Yueyi said haughtily, "That's a separate matter. This 100 million is what I'm earning, you still need to earn more for the family!"
"So strict, I thought I'd get half." Shi Guanghua didn't argue with her. He wasn't interested in the equity to begin with, and said languidly, "Oh well, it's all for this family."
Chu Yueyi: "..." Why did she suddenly feel like he was enduring humiliation for the sake of their family?
Having reached an agreement, Shi Guanghua took out his phone and asked unhurriedly, "Can I post it directly now?"
Seeing him so proactive, Chu Yueyi hurriedly stopped his actions, saying anxiously, "Wait, I haven't told Sister You yet. Why are you in such a rush!?"
She now saw through Shi Guanghua's enthusiasm - it wasn't for the equity or money at all, but rather a kind of eagerness as if he'd finally been waiting for this day.
Shi Guanghua blinked, saying quite seriously, "I'm not in the entertainment circle. I don't have any weird hobbies."
If he hadn't been concerned about the impact on her work, he would have danced for joy long ago. How could he have been so low-key? Now that there was a legitimate reason to go public, of course he didn't want to wait a moment longer.
"But what should we write in our announcement?" Chu Yueyi mused thoughtfully. She waved the shining Promise Key in her hand, smiling with feigned surprise, "Come to think of it, I can make one more request!"
Shi Guanghua looked at the long-unseen show prop, suddenly feeling an ominous premonition rise in his heart. He began to quickly flee the kitchen.
Chu Yueyi immediately followed, like Shi Guanghua's little tail. She pretended to be innocent, saying, "I bought some clothes recently, but found I accidentally bought them too big. It's a bit wasteful to leave them unused, and I have this weird hobby..."
Shi Guanghua: "..."
Shi Guanghua: Very good, now directly laying it all out, not even bothering with excuses, planning to confirm the hobby.
After finalizing details with Li You and the company, Chu Yueyi soon made a joint announcement with Shi Guanghua. In the end, neither wrote any text, choosing to simply tag each other with the same photo.
The photo showed only one hand from each of them. Chu Yueyi wore a ring made from the assembled Promise Key on her hand, a ring the audience had seen at the finale. On Shi Guanghua's finger was an unfamiliar second ring.
Now both rings were fully assembled, finally fulfilling the audience's previous regret.
Shi Guanghua: @Chu Yueyi [Photo]
Chu Yueyi: @Shi Guanghua [image]
Two Weibo posts sent, causing a huge stir!
The Spring Festival candid photo was only circulated within a small circle, but with both parties simultaneously announcing their relationship officially, it's like dropping a bomb on netizens!
After posting, Chu Yueyi wanted to refresh the page to check on the Moonlight Scientists' reactions, but the Weibo page went blank. Even after logging out and back in, she couldn't load anything.
Chu Yueyi looked confused: "Did our internet go out?"
Shi Guanghua went to check, then scrolled through his phone and admitted, "Weibo's servers are down."
Countless netizens who had just seen the shocking news could no longer refresh content on the crashed Weibo. Frustrated, they flocked to video sites, only able to express their shock in the comment section of "Heart-Fluttering Promise", inadvertently giving the show a boost in views.
-- Friends, I'm a time traveler, everyone ship this couple, Moonlight is real!!
-- After more than a decade, I've finally broken the curse of all my ships sinking!
-- Can someone explain what's happening? I couldn't load Weibo, what did they post?
-- They just posted wedding photos, marriage certificate, property deed, child's birth certificate, and child's graduation certificate, scaring Weibo into a spiral ascension [doge]
-- I can vouch for the sister above! She's not wrong!! (thunderous voice)
-- False memories have increased.
-- Future fantasies have increased!
-- Ahhh is this a dream? I dreamed they announced their relationship with rings! I can die peacefully now!!
-- Yes, friend, this is a dream, in reality they're celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary (?)
-- I'm a time ability user, I confirm the above is correct.
Netizens who had just seen the news encountered server crashes, refreshing more anxiously. It took a while before they could squeeze onto the page, unleashing a chorus of excited screams in the comments of both Weibos.
CP fans excitedly occupied the top comments, offering a string of congratulations. Some solo fans mixed in, taking the opportunity to curse at the company. Since photos had leaked during Spring Festival, solo fans were relatively calm, even having the energy to continue tearing into the management company.
Solo fans angrily expressed congratulations to Chu Yueyi, but refused to congratulate the management company, furiously accusing the higher-ups of using her to divert attention. Fortunately, some marketing accounts leaked information suggesting that a certain company would compensate the female star after the relationship announcement, seemingly hinting at Chu Yueyi and her company, which barely managed to extinguish the solo fans' anger.
Cursing the company is mainly to force action, this is also a fan circle process and routine, can't let the company profit for nothing.
Moonlight Scientists who learned inside information were even more elated. The fact that the management company dared to announce at this moment fully proves this isn't fake marketing, and they might have been suppressing the relationship for a long time!
Every day they were starving for updates, it was all because someone deliberately concealed details, and now it's finally exploded out!
Daxiamie: Thanks to a certain group for backstabbing the company, otherwise Moonlight wouldn't have been exposed, but I still want to curse the playboy.
CICI: This PR move from the company is decent, disbanding the group that played with feelings, then serving up a sincere love story, crisis PR masterclass [thumbs up]
Xuetao: Give us more of this kind of romance! How could the public criticize this!?
Xiaoshe: Hiding true love while scandals get exposed directly, your company really doesn't know how to play without bleeding?
The news of Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua's relationship announcement caused huge waves, including Moonlight Scientists setting off fireworks for the new year, solo fans as steady as a mountain asking for new dramas, and countless passersby's reflections and blessings. Only one group stood out uniquely amidst the flood of reactions.
Heart-Fluttering Promise: ???
Xiaozhua: Save the benefactor! They had a publicly funded romance and wouldn't let us film, do you think we can tolerate this!?
Old TV worker grandpa: Your wedding gift is your paycheck, I won't give extra in the future.
Heart-Fluttering Promise: Wuwuwu save the director.
Choutiao: Director: No way, no way, am I the last to know? Did I end up paying and smiling to help someone chase his wife? [confused face]
Yaya: Director: I thought you two were actors, turns out I was the one being acted on?
Yuehu: Director, Teacher Shi is not playing fair, I suggest they record a free season for you, otherwise this matter isn't over [doge]
Sisi Gui: Come out and apologize to the production team! Why take money from the matchmaker's hands!! @Shi Guanghua!