When Xia Zhiyi proposed the plan, she mentioned a three-year timeframe. However, before the project actually started, after a series of meetings, the higher-ups ultimately included Xia Zhiyi's plan as part of the five-year plan. In other words, Xia Zhiyi's team was tasked with improving the Heavenly Net Project within five years.
The so-called "basic improvement" means that some unimportant details can be gradually added over the next five years, which can also alleviate the pressure on Xia Zhiyi, the initiator and person in charge of this project.
To the outside world, the project was kept under the highest level of secrecy; apart from those involved, no one else knew exactly what they were doing.
Xia Zhiyi that the extension of time was well-intentioned and wouldn't affect anything anyway, so she gladly accepted it.
In the third year, even though Xia Zhiyi was juggling projects with acting in her spare time, Heavenly Net was finally completed amidst everyone's expectations.
This completion naturally includes the step of extending Heavenly Net's coverage across the entire country.
After its completion, the authorities did not immediately announce this feat. Instead, they planned a year-long nationwide trial. Once it was confirmed that Heavenly Net had indeed reached a semi-intelligent level, as Xia Zhiyi had said, and could automatically track suspicious individuals under its lens, some information would be selectively released to the public.
However, that's other people's business. Xia Zhiyi has managed to extricate herself from it all and is happily going back to being an actress.
In fact, Xia Zhiyi did not completely give up his career during these three years. He won newcomer awards in TV series and movies, and also won many Best Supporting Actor awards. The reason why he did not win any Best Actor or Best TV Actor awards is naturally very simple - he did not have time to play the lead role.
Because Xia Zhiyi has always played supporting roles, the online opinions about him are somewhat mixed.
Fans naturally see everything about him as perfect, but even money can't make everyone like him, Xia Zhiyi certainly can't.
" Teacher Xia." Xu Chen now addressed Xia Zhiyi as " Teacher Xia" with utmost sincerity; if it weren't so awkward, she would have called her "Boss" directly. "I just received news that the male lead for the younger version of the role has most likely already been cast in the audition."
"He's a member of that Boy Band that recently became very popular through a talent show. He has some connections, getting in through investors' backs. But the reason this rumor is circulating is probably because Director Min isn't satisfied."
Xia Zhiyi leaned back on the sofa, her eyes slightly closed, and smiled upon hearing this, "Hmm? Have similar incidents been common in the industry these past few years?"
He and Fu Chi had brought down Huanyu back then, and the authorities have been deeply disgusted by such things ever since. They have been trying to rectify the atmosphere for the past few years. In these three years, even Xia Zhiyi has heard that several top stars have fallen, which has caused a great deal of public opinion.
As a result, although only three years have passed, very few people in the industry are openly engaging in any improper transactions anymore, and the atmosphere has indeed improved considerably.
In particular, after Xia Zhiyi, in her spare time, worked with Li Jing and a few others to implement the real-name registration system for the internet, the number of online feuds involving hiring trolls and overwhelming numbers decreased significantly.
In other words, the real-name registration system on the internet has dealt a heavy blow to the online troll industry. Especially under the review system established by Xia Zhiyi, the cost for online trolls to easily deceive people into using their ID cards to create multiple accounts has increased dramatically. Moreover, using technological means to flood the screen will basically not escape the review system they have created, and they will be locked up in no time.
If you do it too many times, you'll be blocked directly from the backend, and you'll have to go through a process to get your account unblocked.
The increased costs have deterred some online troll leaders from taking any chances and they've stubbornly persevered. However, the funds required to hire online trolls have also increased significantly. Furthermore, as the AI-powered review mechanism developed by Li Jing and improved by Xia Zhiyi becomes more sophisticated, the costs are rising even higher.
The more active the online trolls became, the higher the cost. By the second year, the price of online trolls had skyrocketed to the point where hiring them was less profitable than having the company's own staff use their personal accounts to boost comments—expensive, really expensive!
The key point is that after a paid online troll account is penalized for violating regulations, their posts are not simply deleted or blocked. Instead, they are directly tagged so that everyone who sees them knows that they are paid online trolls.
This calculation shows that hiring online trolls is even more expensive, and if the troll accounts are gone, the person who hired them will also lose face.
In the first life, if something similar happened, there would be plenty of talented people in the community, and someone would always be able to find a way to solve the problem using advanced technology.
But that won't work here.
Because the one weighing down on them is Xia Zhiyi.
For Xia Zhiyi, whose mind possesses scientific and technological knowledge far exceeding that of the entire world, to try to use cutting-edge technology in front of him would be like showing off one's limited skills before an expert.
Especially considering Xia Zhiyi's own pursuit of her acting dreams in the entertainment industry, how could Xia Zhiyi tolerate you causing trouble in her social circle, neglecting your duties, and setting a bad example?
That's definitely not going to work.
In this case, the audition was scheduled, but on the way there, they heard that the role might have already been decided...
Xia Zhiyi took out his phone, which he had made himself in his spare time. He had used his connections to borrow a place from a domestic mobile phone manufacturer. After it was finished, he had several patents and also made some money from the manufacturer.
After a few simple steps, Xia Zhiyi said lazily, "It's fake news. It was released by the person you mentioned who was supposed to be the chosen one, trying to squeeze out the competitors."
"It seems Director Min is unaware of these rumors. You could mention it to Director Min and ask if it's true."
Xu Chen: "..."
Xu Chen was speechless. "What kind of competitive tactic is this? Does saying it's pre-selected mean others won't audition?"
Xia Zhiyi smiled, "There's no harm in trying. Even if Director Min finds out, he can just pretend to be innocent."
"However, this method is indeed a bit stupid. If anyone actually believes it, then it's stupidity compounded."
Putting everything else aside, Director Min isn't the type to be easily dictated to. It's said that when this director gets angry, he'll confront anyone, whether it's an investor or a producer.
However, Director Min's strong personality is also inseparable from the support he receives from his family. Director Min wife is a well-known female tycoon and a patriotic businesswoman in China. She has cooperated with the government many times, and as a result, the company has received a lot of help and support from the government.
Even Xia Zhiyi's Heavenly Net project had some roundabout investment from the other party. However, the businessman was unaware of the Heavenly Net Project and was merely helping the government install public facilities, including basic cameras that were designed to work with Heavenly Net.
Xia Zhiyi had attended several meetings and met the businessman a few times, so they were acquainted.
Xu Chen: "... If others heard this, they probably wouldn't dare to ask Director Min."
After all, Director Min has a bad temper; a great director always has his own temper.
Xia Zhiyi: "Well, so why don't you ask?"