Since it was the weekend and everyone was off, the fan group immediately responded enthusiastically.
[Happy Star Cat: No problem!]
[Xiao Qi: OKOK, then I'll also post all the gorgeous pictures of Sister Yu I've been saving up for ages.]
After handling all that, Xiao Li checked the trending searches again and discovered that, so far, the matter of the production team and Chu Yu being framed still hadn't made the list.
Based on the attention Chu Yu usually drew, it should have shot onto the trending list long ago.
Xiao Li hurriedly contacted the data team's staff to ask about it, ultimately reaching a conclusion: perhaps her traffic was being throttled because she had trended too frequently lately.
After all, Weibo wasn't a charity platform. They wouldn't earn a cent by constantly directing traffic to Chu Yu like this.
That was why celebrities who repeatedly trended within a short period would have their traffic temporarily throttled by Weibo, making it difficult for them to trend again.
Although not trending was a bit of a loss, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Otherwise, constantly flooding everyone's feeds could easily attract haters too.
Soon, the marketing account bloggers posted Chu Yu's promotional copy and photos right on schedule.
This set of photos leaned toward a
mature, commanding woman's
queenly style, with the overall makeup and styling taking on dark tones.
Chu Yu gazed into the distance with a haughty look in her eyes, her red lips slightly curved, kneeling on one knee with her other hand braced against the ground.
The sheer black gauze dress made her skin look even more snow-white, while the breeze stirred her exquisitely curled hair, giving rise to a disheveled beauty.
As soon as this set of photos was posted, it drew in quite a few casual viewers who happened to click on it.
[Help! She's so handsome! Who is this celebrity?]
[Huh? Isn't this Chu Yu? I just left her livestream and was getting bored.]
[So this is Chu Yu? I heard she has a pretty bad reputation. I didn't expect her to be so good-looking.]
As more and more netizens were drawn in, the follower count on Chu Yu's personal Weibo account also rose rapidly.
Meanwhile, the production team arrived at the hotel.
This episode's livestream recording had ended, and the staff began returning the guests' phones one by one.
"Everyone, make sure you haven't left anything behind. If there are no other issues, you're free to make your own arrangements and rest tonight. The next outdoor camping livestream will officially begin in about a week. Just wait for the production team's notice for the specifics."
After delivering his final instructions and seeing that no one had any questions, the director greeted Zhao Qirui and Gu Jinhuai with a smile, then hurried off to work out the theme and setup for the next livestream.
"Ding, ding, ding, ding..."
The phone Chu Yu had just switched back on seemed to have gone haywire, continuously chiming and vibrating with notifications.
It took quite a while for that frenzied barrage of notification sounds to stop, but barely a few seconds passed before it went haywire again.
Chu Yu unlocked the screen and discovered that all those notifications had come from Weibo.
When she checked her Weibo dashboard, both her private messages and new follower notifications were at 99+.
Chu Yu couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Was she... being swarmed by anti-fans again?
She couldn't be blamed for thinking that. In the past, whenever this happened, opening her private messages would reveal an overwhelming flood of insults.
While Chu Yu was pondering this, her phone vibrated again.
It was a WeChat notification from her manager, Zhang Yue: [Go check your Weibo. There's a surprise!]
After reading Zhang Yue's message, Chu Yu finally opened her private messages.
To her surprise, however, no one was insulting her this time. They were all fans of her looks praising how beautiful she was.
[Waaah, you're so gorgeous! Don't let those anti-fans get to you. Keep going!]
[Sister Chu, I've been your fan for over two years. I've always just lurked before, but after seeing you suffer so much injustice these past few days, I really couldn't stand watching anymore. Keep going!]
[Don't let those vile anti-fans knock you down! With looks like yours, you can make a name for yourself on variety shows too.]
As she read down the screen, Chu Yu actually felt a little touched.
In the past, she had only ever been on the receiving end of insults. When had anyone ever comforted her?
At this point, the reinforced shackles of being hated across the entire internet that had bound Chu Yu were finally broken.
The tragic cannon-fodder ending originally arranged for her was also gradually veering off course.
Chu Yu didn't read all the private messages. There were simply too many; she might not finish even if she read until she went blind.
Exiting her private messages, Chu Yu glanced at her follower count.
She vaguely remembered that before joining this show, she had only had a little over eight hundred thousand followers, half of whom the company had bought for her.
But now, looking again, she already had nine hundred and ninety thousand. At this rate, she would officially pass a million tonight.
Excitement flashed in Chu Yu's eyes.
A million followers might not be much for a celebrity, but for Chu Yu, who had been hated across the entire internet for so many years, this was a historic breakthrough!
"Miss, what is it? You suddenly look so happy." Noticing the change in Chu Yu's mood, Zhao Qirui looked over curiously.
Chu Yu blinked playfully. "My Weibo followers are about to pass a million."
Zhao Qirui paused briefly, then reacted and hurriedly asked, "Are these Weibo followers very important? I happen to know the person in charge there. How about I ask them to help get you some more followers?"
Zhao Qirui didn't understand the entertainment industry or any of this fan business. But seeing how happy Chu Yu was, he simply assumed she really needed them and instinctively wanted to help.
Chu Yu hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, no. Things are fine the way they are, Uncle Zhao. You don't need to worry."
While the two were talking, the follower count on her Weibo dashboard happened to tick over to exactly one million.
Delighted, Chu Yu immediately cupped her phone in her hands and went to post selfies as a treat for her fans.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Qirui couldn't help sighing even more inwardly.
A perfectly fine young heiress had actually been reduced to this by the entertainment industry.
Still, there were both advantages and disadvantages.
The upside was that, because Chu Yu had entered the entertainment industry to coast through life, those old foxes at the Chu Group were in no hurry to make a move against the Chu family anymore.