Chapter 4

Director Xu Xiang, observing the program from the headquarters, frowned more than usual. Shen Qingqing was added to the show for her background and influence, but he didn’t expect her to be so unreliable.

The program was meant to showcase the hard work of mothers and explore what good education truly means. To Xu Xiang, Shen Qingqing’s current actions contradicted the program’s goals!

What kind of mother doesn’t care about her children and even argues with them?

He regretted giving in to the pressure of capital.

Xu Xiang was considering asking Shen Qingqing to leave the show, but before he could act, an employee rushed in, saying, “Director Xu, it’s exploded.”

Xu Xiang thought they were overreacting. Hadn’t the show been a hit?

The employee continued, “Shen Qingqing’s live broadcast has gone viral. After her son joined, the viewership skyrocketed, surpassing even Xie Bing’s group, which has 5 million viewers. I saw online comments saying people are excited about how this mother and son will argue in the future.”

Xu Xiang was stunned. Was he getting old? Why couldn’t he understand the tastes of young people?

Not only did Shen Qingqing’s live broadcast gain massive popularity, but the video of her and her stepson “arguing” was also edited and uploaded to Weibo.

@CloudParentingGirlfriend^[1]referring to someone who virtually follows or enjoys parenting experiences online, often not a parent themselves.: I originally clicked into Shen Qingqing’s room expecting to see her whitewashing herself and causing trouble, but I was actually charmed by her authenticity. She let herself go and openly bickered with her stepson, which stood out from other broadcasts. It was hilarious. And, of course, her stepson is adorable!

At the end of her Weibo post, she included a video of the interview, which quickly attracted attention. The number of reposts soared past 100,000.

The production team of “Almighty Mom” purchased several hot searches for promotion, but they avoided spending money on Shen Qingqing. Their hot searches centered around Xie Bing and Shen Linyan.

However, terms like #Shen Qingqing and stepson quarreling#, #Shen Qingqing let herself go#, #Shen Qingqing’s stepson is so cute#, and #Shen Qingqing was accused of being a bear# gradually gained traction. Within an hour, they dominated the hot search, surpassing the program’s paid trends.

When viewers clicked on these hot searches, they found themselves laughing at the memes.

[Hahaha, I watched it, and the way they interact is so interesting.]

[I thought Shen Qingqing was clearing herself up, but she’s just being herself.]

[If this is Shen Qingqing’s new character design, then I’m sold.]

[Same here… I’m tired of all the perfect, robotic characters in the industry.]

[Wow, Zhou Jiayan’s cuteness is overwhelming. He’s stubborn, but so sensible.]

Hahaha, this little girl who guards her image so much will probably break down and cry if she finds out she’s embarrassed herself in front of the entire nation.

Of course, there were also critics, insulting Shen Qingqing for whitewashing her image. However, the overwhelming number of genuine passers-by quickly drowned out the voices of these “black fans” ^[2]refers to negative or hostile followers..

Director Xu Xiang noticed and turned to the marketing and publicity head, saying, “Your publicity is finally on track! Great work. Do we have this much marketing budget for our program?”

The man seemed confused. “Director, we only bought hot searches for Xie Bing and Shen Linyan. This is just a pilot episode and hasn’t officially aired yet. We definitely didn’t spend on all these hot searches.”

He checked his phone, opening Weibo, and his eyes widened. “Ah, Shen Qingqing is everywhere!”

He looked at Xu Xiang again, uncertain, “Director, you know the station is pretty tight with their budget. Even though our program is S+ (a top-tier rating), it’s unlikely they’d go this far. Maybe Shen Qingqing bought this herself?”

Xu Xiang felt disappointed seeing how even his own publicity efforts were outshone. If he had better publicity, the show could’ve been a hit already!

At this point, Xu Xiang completely abandoned any idea of asking Shen Qingqing to leave the program. She was clearly the key to their show’s success!

Meanwhile, at the Liang family villa, Shen Linyan had just wrapped up an interview.

She felt pleased with the outcome. Her stepson was sensible and well-behaved, and their cooperation was perfect. His clear dependence on her during the interview made her role as a good mother feel secure.

While touching up her makeup, she went to the bathroom and checked Weibo for netizens’ reactions.

Since she knew the program team would handle her hot searches, Shen Linyan didn’t send out her own marketing team.

She wasn’t like Shen Qingqing, who always overdid things. Netizens love to rebel, so over-hyping would only bring criticism.

She clicked on the hot searches, only to see Shen Qingqing’s dominating the screen, while hers were pushed to the back.

She felt disdain. Shen Qingqing must still be spending money to promote herself. Such hot searches would only invite scorn. After all, she had no fans, only critics. Shen Linyan thought the hot searches must be full of complaints.

Out of curiosity, she clicked on them, but the situation was different than she expected.

Instead of being bombarded with criticism, most of the comments praised the interesting dynamic between Shen Qingqing and her stepson, with some even calling him adorable.

Shen Qingqing’s navy ^[3]refers to organized fanbase. was so powerful now. She must have spent a fortune on this.

Shen Linyan thought, jealously, that Shen Qingqing was lucky.

She had once been an illegitimate daughter, hidden away, while Shen Qingqing, as the legitimate firstborn of the Shen family, still had her father’s favor—despite Shen Qingqing losing his support after turning 16.

Shen Qingqing married into a rich family, and Zhou Yexuan had been incredibly generous, spending millions on her over the past two years.

What was Shen Qingqing capable of? She was just a rich girl with a bad temper!

But life was fair. A life that’s too smooth would eventually face challenges.

Look at Shen Qingqing—despite having the looks and resources, she failed to gain popularity in the entertainment industry and became disliked by everyone.

Shen Linyan, on the other hand, had everything figured out. She entered the entertainment world as a socialite, married, and raised children, securing everything she wanted. The Liang family accepted her, and even Shen’s father began relying on her more.

Her second husband was handsome, serious, cold, and in his early thirties, with no scandals.

When she shared their wedding photos, many netizens praised them for their beauty, and some even became “cpf” ^[4]refers to couple fans..

Though the child wasn’t her biological son, he was sensible and obedient. Through several candid photos of her with her stepson, she became the most adored stepmother, further boosting her reputation.

As for Shen Qingqing, she was disliked not only by the entertainment industry but also by her stepson. Even Mr. and Mrs. Zhou seemed dissatisfied with her, reportedly not having seen her since the wedding.

What would happen if Shen Qingqing stayed in the Zhou family? If things continued like this, she’d end up divorced soon.

This thought calmed Shen Linyan’s jealousy.

She then clicked on some bloggers who praised Shen Qingqing. What surprised her was that they seemed like real people, not just trolls.

What was going on? Was Shen Qingqing casting some kind of spell on them?

Confused, Shen Linyan went back to the trending posts and found one Weibo post that had been forwarded hundreds of thousands of times.

Shen Linyan, who was always on top of online trends, immediately understood why Shen Qingqing had become so popular. The other four live broadcast rooms were too conventional, creating stereotypical mother-child dynamics.

In contrast, Shen Qingqing’s interaction and playful quarreling with her son gave the audience something new, much more entertaining than pretending to be the ideal mother.

Had Shen Qingqing just figured this out? Or had she found an advisor?

Shen Linyan’s thoughts were all over the place until her stepson, Liang Tianyi, called “Mom” from outside, snapping her back to reality. She emerged from the bathroom.

She reassured herself that with Shen Qingqing’s temperament, she wouldn’t be able to maintain the act for long. “Almighty Mom” was a live show spanning two months, and Shen Linyan didn’t believe Shen Qingqing could keep up the act.

Before Shen Qingqing had a chance to surf the internet, the system had already reported all the trending topics.

Even Shen Qingqing’s once-criticized Weibo account had gained hundreds of thousands of followers, rising from just over 3 million to 4 million, with a few positive comments now flooding in.

Facing the turn of events, the linear thinking system said to Shen Qingqing, “Host, you must have anticipated this, right? Are you actually a hidden boss? I wrongly accused you earlier!”

Shen Qingqing wasn’t surprised by the reactions from netizens. As a top female star who had been in the entertainment industry for over ten years in her previous life, she had always been skilled at reading public sentiment.

However, this was definitely not what she had expected.

But Shen Qingqing didn’t mind letting the system think it had misunderstood. It would be great if she could trick the system into being quiet for a while.

So she decided to deceive it, saying, “Yes, you should know that I was a popular star for more than ten years in my previous life, and I have a very accurate understanding of netizens’ mindset. System, you’re just a program. How could you possibly understand human nature better than I do? Just watch for now.”

The naive system, which had never experienced Shen Qingqing’s tricks before, was a bit confused, but it was easily persuaded by her sincere-sounding promise. “Okay, then, during this time, host, you can do as you please, and I’ll just watch.”

After hearing the system’s response, Shen Qingqing smiled triumphantly. It was clear the system was easy to fool, a true artificial idiot.

Since the system had trapped her and forced her to follow the plot in a “miserable” way, she decided to have a little fun with it.