CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 434 - 426: Open Blades and Hidden Arrows

Two days later, at Penguin headquarters.

Zhou Dan was sitting across from Wan Kai.

"Congratulations on successfully holding the meet-and-greet," Wan Kai put down the pen in his hand.

"Thank you. It exceeded expectations. Even with scalped tickets going for over 5,000, there were still plenty of buyers," Zhou Dan said with a smile.

"Based on the current data, they should be able to pull off a large-scale concert with an audience of tens of thousands," Wan Kai’s tone grew serious.

Zhou Dan’s smile faltered upon hearing those words.

"Mr. Wan, isn’t planning a concert too risky? With their current popularity, I’m afraid..."

"The data is the best proof. These five meet-and-greet events have already demonstrated their appeal."

"Mr. Wan, shouldn’t we wait and see? Besides, they’ve been getting a lot of variety show invitations recently."

Wan Kai chuckled and stood up from his chair.

"Mr. Zhou, I understand your concerns, but you must remember that this group is the company’s flagship project."

"We are focused on long-term benefits. A concert is a critical indicator of whether this group is successful."

Listening to Wan Kai’s words, Zhou Dan realized that Penguin’s decision was already set in stone.

From her perspective, she didn’t want these girls to hold a concert or act in movies.

Ideally, they would appear on variety shows every day, shoot commercials, and grace magazine covers.

That’s the fastest way to make money.

Holding a concert, however, requires extensive practice and consumes a lot of time—time that could be spent filming multiple TV shows.

It also entails significant risks. What if the tickets don’t sell?

But such methods would ultimately lead these girls to a dead-end career-wise.

Zhou Dan didn’t care about that, though; they weren’t her signed artists. Her priority was maximizing profits within the next two years.

Penguin, on the other hand, was focused on its overall cultural industry strategy, using the girl group to establish its brand in talent shows.

The recent meet-and-greet events had been mandated by Penguin to test market reactions.

The results exceeded expectations, especially with their ace member, "Divine Dragon Sister," whose popularity continued to soar nationally.

This firmly solidified Penguin’s decision to hold a concert.

Looking at Zhou Dan, Wan Kai continued, "Mr. Zhou, for the next phase of marketing, please focus on Lv Fangxin. She is the key player."

"A concert isn’t just about selling tickets. We want this concert to generate significant buzz."

"In other words, we need to attract not just fans but casual viewers as well."

Zhou Dan could only nod and say, "Alright, I’ll do my best in this regard."

Wan Kai settled back into his chair. "Also, we can increase the marketing resources for Ye Yuwei. The company has decided to offer her more variety show opportunities."

Zhou Dan’s thoughts stirred. Internal rumors suggested that Ye Yuwei had already signed with Penguin, but during her management phase, Penguin hadn’t explicitly favored her.

This led Zhou Dan to doubt the validity of those rumors, but today’s meeting hinted at some underlying interests between them.

"Mr. Zhou, keep the concert plans confidential for now. I’ll assign someone to liaise with you directly." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Understood. Mr. Wan, I won’t take up any more of your time."

Zhou Dan stood up and left. As she descended to the parking lot and got into her car, she mulled over the day’s conversation.

"Since it’s happening, I’ll make it the best it can be!"

She was someone capable of making decisive choices, knowing that if she didn’t put her heart into it, Penguin might replace her as the manager.

At the Long Group.

"Mr. Long, you’d better take a look at this," the manager handed Long Zitao his phone with a suspicious look.

"Damn it, this is all slander—disgusting scum!" Long Zitao blurted out furiously.

A verified blogger had published a post titled: "Hardcore Boyband Member Actually Loves ’Little Puppies.’"

Beneath the post was a photo of him hugging Huang Zhemin, who appeared hesitant and uncomfortable.

"Would anyone actually believe this nonsense?" Long Zitao suppressed his anger.

"Mr. Long, the internet has already taken off with it. Huang Zhemin has even started spreading false claims."

"False claims?"

Long Zitao calmed himself and skimmed the lengthy, sleazy narrative in the post.

It described how his overseas success was due to an infatuated, effeminate mogul who coerced him through threats tied to his family’s business deals.

According to the story, Zitao supposedly suffered twisted humiliation, leading to psychological damage.

The post went further, alleging that Zitao avoided dating not only to focus on his idol career but also because he derived sadistic pleasure from manipulating "puppy" personalities.

It even accused Zitao of exploiting his role as a mentor to prey on Huang Zhemin.

The pièce de résistance was an embarrassing photo of Zitao, posted alongside these salacious claims.

Huang Zhemin, in his statement, presented himself as the victim while cryptically hinting that a certain well-known talent show mentor had a poor drinking reputation.

The vague "poor drinking" comment could be interpreted in numerous damaging ways.

Staring at the photos, Zitao recalled the events of that fateful day clearly.

"So this is how they plan to destroy me."

Long Zitao continued scrolling, horrified to see how the issue had become the trending topic across all media platforms.

Moreover, accusations about him ranged from being a scamming heir to an illegitimate "rich kid."

Some claimed to have evidence from court cases. Supposed victims spoke out, claiming they had been deceived by him.

Old classmates emerged, recounting how he abused his family’s influence growing up.

They even alleged that he impregnated multiple girls in school, one of whom suffered fatal complications from a forced abortion.

Despite the storm, Zitao’s fans, along with some casual supporters—including followers of the Natural Girl group—quickly rallied to defend him.

"Investigate who’s behind the smear campaign at those marketing firms," he instructed firmly.

"Also, dig into Huang Minzhe’s background."

Zitao spoke tersely, but the manager hesitated.

"Mr. Long, shouldn’t we file a lawsuit?"

"There’s no need. Lawsuits won’t scare these people off. I have my own way of dealing with this."

The manager could only nod and retreat as Zitao’s demeanor turned resolute.

Zitao grabbed his phone and dialed the head of his company’s PR department, Manager Yang.

"Hey, Manager Yang, I need you to handle something..."

Zitao leaned back in his seat, his voice icy cold.

"Whoever you are, I won’t play by your rules this time."

Deep down, Zitao had a strong suspicion about the mastermind behind this debacle. He intended to confront them head-on.

At the Wu Group.

Wu Jingxiang watched the chaos unfolding online with a satisfied smirk.

Wu Hao, meanwhile, didn’t seem to fully grasp the strategy. "Cousin, this won’t deal any substantive damage to Long Zitao unless Huang Minzhe sues him for harassment."

"Fabrications are still fabrications, but stirring up a public uproar like this is quite effective." Wu Jingxiang chuckled.

"...But cousin!"

"For Long Zitao, being a celebrity doesn’t actually matter. Investment is his real forte, and his family’s core businesses are real estate and deep-sea fishing. Unless we cripple those sectors, we can’t bring him down completely."

Wu Jingxiang’s expression turned dark, his aristocratic gaze morphing into something sinister.

"This publicity war is only the beginning. If you want to destroy someone, you start by tarnishing their reputation first."

Wu Jingxiang sneered and added, "Cousin, Zitao is bound to try suppressing the situation. Have Huang Minzhe release more damning evidence, including photos of him taking Yezi to the hospital."

"Got it."

"Make sure your work is clean—don’t let Penguin trace it back to us."

Jingxiang cautioned, not wanting to cross swords with Penguin just yet, knowing they were a force to be reckoned with.