Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 749 - 557: Pressure

Chapter 749 -557: Pressure

Chen Pingsheng had thought about it for quite some time before coming up with this training program.

For someone like Er Piya, to teach her how to endure hardship, her family would probably have to go bankrupt first.

Otherwise, other methods would hardly be effective.

By the time they started a proper military drill, it was already late June.

It was a good opportunity to let them face some minor hardships.

Chen Pingsheng went to the other side to visit Zhao Liying’s set where she was filming a fantasy drama, while his little cousin was shooting *Abnormal People* next door.

The Hengdian industrial park receives an untold number of tourists every year, and countless filming crews come through as well.

Once there used to be talk of the “Four Eighty-Five Flowers,” but over time, only Yang Mi and Zhao Liying have remained competitive.

As for Liu Yifei, her childhood halo is extraordinarily strong—it’s rare in the entertainment industry for someone to remain popular after flopping for ten consecutive years.

A typical person would have faded into oblivion long ago, yet her comeback remains at the top.

Zhao Liying has already married and given birth to a little boy. Celebrities, after all, tend to return to work very quickly postpartum.

Her dramas are still highly competitive.

“Chen, why did you come to see me?”

“My daughter’s off doing military training, so I had some free time and thought I’d come see you on set.”

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“You’re so good to An’an!” Zhao Liying said with a smile.

Chen Pingsheng replied, “She’s my own daughter, why wouldn’t I take good care of her? But you hardly took a break; reappearing so quickly after giving birth seems quite rushed.”

“The entertainment industry changes fast. If I don’t come back soon, I might just be forgotten.”

“You’re certainly diligent. And what about my little cousin?”

“Her?” Zhao Liying replied, “Peiyao hasn’t managed to take on many dramas this year, but she’s still very serious and hardworking.”

“Hmm.” Chen Pingsheng didn’t chat for too long—Zhao Liying had to go to set, and others greeted him as they saw him.

Chen Pingsheng waited until An’an and the others had settled in completely before leaving. Right now, he couldn’t afford to step away from the company for too many months.

As for An’an and Er Piya, he wasn’t overly worried. Their own moms were still around, and with so many relatives in the area, nothing could go wrong.

Chen Pingsheng hurried back to Magic City because Chang Fu called him.

Something unexpected had happened at Tengying Entertainment—they had suddenly been inundated with numerous industry-level complaints.

All of them pointed at their live-streaming business, asserting that no one wanted large numbers of celebrities breaking into the influencer-driven sales space.

They feared it would disrupt the industry’s ecosystem.

Thinking about it, it did make sense. Celebrities and amateur influencers are worlds apart.

If a massive company like theirs brought all its celebrities into live-stream sales…

A predictable situation would occur very quickly—that is, celebrities would seize significant portions of ordinary people’s opportunities.

Although it hasn’t happened yet, that’s only because the industry is still in a phase of rapid growth.

Once this growth slows down, it would unquestionably result in celebrities overwhelmingly taking over ordinary people’s market spaces.

Various industry insiders have already loudly called for celebrities to withdraw from live-stream sales.

Chang Fu initially didn’t pay much attention—others were free to lodge complaints while they kept broadcasting as usual.

But this time, things were different—the opponents seemed to have realized that mere complaints wouldn’t change Tengying Entertainment’s stance.

So they pivoted tactics, leveraging public opinion for widespread discussions and even turning the flow of traffic against Tengying Entertainment.

This move was astutely executed.

The internet was already filled with countless posts discussing the matter, and unsurprisingly, most comments were negative.

Having celebrities engage in live-stream sales felt like a downright downgrade.

It was akin to Walmart setting up a small convenience store right next to you.

Chen Pingsheng had been concerned about this issue for some time. After Tengying Group grew, he had indeed avoided entering niches that catered to ordinary people too often.

He’d always exercised some control.

After Chang Fu explained the situation, Chen asked his secretary Lin Qiunan to initiate an external opinion survey.

No point discussing who was behind it just yet—gauging public sentiment about this issue seemed absolutely necessary.

It was just like when internet giants ventured into grocery sales and got slammed excessively; Chen certainly didn’t want to walk down that same path.

Lin Qiunan’s opinion survey was essentially data collection—compiling comprehensive opinions from the public.

Although Tengying Entertainment had a market valuation exceeding tens of billions, and bringing celebrities into live-stream sales had greatly reduced financial strain internally…

If they were really to provoke widespread public dissatisfaction, it might attract undue attention towards him personally.

And such attention was by no means beneficial.

Lin Qiunan spent three full days compiling data, and whether from ordinary citizens or industry insiders, the consensus was clear—people didn’t want celebrities dabbling in sales.

More than 80% of respondents outright believed celebrities shouldn’t engage in live-stream sales.

Another portion expressed indifference, stating they wouldn’t buy anything in live-streaming rooms regardless.

Upon understanding the situation, Chen Pingsheng surprisingly chose not to investigate the company organizing this wave of opinion.

Instead, he went to Chang Fu and requested a temporary halt to the celebrity sales segment.

A significant portion of complaints came from parents, after all.

Celebrities naturally come with dedicated fanbases, and these fans often spend excessively on items they don’t need just to support their idols.

Under such circumstances, how could parents not complain?

Chang Fu didn’t quite understand. “Old Chen, didn’t we always deal with situations like this by crushing the rivals directly?”

“Why are we folding before the fight has even started this time?”

Chen Pingsheng was sitting on a sofa, holding a survey report, and replied, “The situation is different. We can easily defeat whoever is targeting us, but there’s also a significant chance it will attract higher-level attention.”

“That doesn’t seem likely, does it?”

“It’s very possible.”

Chen Pingsheng explained, “You know that employment hasn’t been great in recent years, and short videos have flexibly provided jobs for more than a hundred million people. Their livelihoods are tied to certain levels of social stability. If we come across as too aggressive, it will only elicit widespread resentment from this demographic. And, it might give a ‘too big to be touched’ impression.”

Chang Fu was somewhat surprised—he hadn’t expected this to be the reason for taking a step back.

The business world is like that—there’s no such thing as an eternal victor. If Chen Pingsheng didn’t retreat now…

It could very likely lead to the same outcome as the internet giants entering grocery sales.

Look at how that’s been evaluated online.

Imagine a multi-billion-dollar US-dollar company competing with vegetable vendors.

How would ordinary people perceive such a situation? And what about higher authorities?

When large companies lack social responsibility, it spells disaster for many.

Chen Pingsheng wouldn’t risk everything over such a small profit.

Besides, he owned two of the largest short video platforms himself. In the short term, this might seem like a loss, but in the long run, it’s entirely debatable.

Restricting celebrities from entering the live-stream sales market benefits Teng You Media and Qinteng Live immensely.

They didn’t bring it up simply because Tengying Entertainment was also under his umbrella.

Now that others had raised the issue, he might as well use the opportunity to step back gracefully.

It both met public expectations and gave Tengying Group a chance to earn goodwill.

Why not?

Though it did put Chang Fu in a difficult spot. After all, since joining Tengying Entertainment, the biggest segment he managed was live-stream sales.

If the entire live-streaming segment shut down, his prior efforts would become meaningless.

Moreover, how would those inside view him as an ambitious CEO?