Chapter 96: Cunning Schemes (Please Subscribe)

Huang Tao scratched his chubby belly and said, "I don’t have any clever ideas. I just think, since you can’t afford advertising, you could create some newsworthy topics, maybe even get on TV. Way more people watch the news than pay attention to ads. If you can get on television news, everyone will see it."

"On television news?" Huang Tao’s suggestion made Huang Guokun’s eyes light up, as if he saw an entirely new, unconventional path for promotion.

Huang Guolun told Huang Tao, "Getting on the news is much harder than paying for advertising. Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand—do you think anyone can just appear on the news?"

Still scratching his adorable round belly, Huang Tao raised his brows and said, "Is it really that hard? Just do something outrageous and you’ll be on the news. I remember watching a really popular social story—the one about a woman who, after getting dumped, wanted revenge on society. Every night she put on a white dress, covered her face with her hair, and pretended to be a ghost to scare people on the streets. Some old folks got so frightened they ended up in the hospital, and others, after being scared, chased her down in anger. It was all caught on surveillance cameras, and then she got arrested. The story made the news on several channels, and a lot of people found out about it."

Huang Guokun recalled, "That was one of the strange stories from earlier this year, right? I think I saw it too."

Huang Tao’s imagination took off as he continued, "Uncle, since your film is about zombies, you could create a big news story too. Get a few actors to pretend to be zombies and scare people—done well, that’s sure to make TV!"

Huang Guolun was exasperated, "That’s just wicked! Pretending to be zombies to scare people?!"

"Don’t scare random strangers," Huang Tao, now sounding like a little strategist, advised Huang Guokun, "Uncle, you could have your company’s actors play zombies and scare your own employees. Don’t tell those employees beforehand—keep it a secret and film their genuine reactions with a camera. Afterwards, treat those who got scared to a few big meals, or give them a bonus as compensation. I’m sure they’d happily accept it; not only will they not think you’re wicked, they’ll feel lucky to get a bonus. Then, you take the zombie footage and send it to TV stations or major news sites, stirring up talk about a zombie sighting. The story could go viral online. Once everyone’s paying attention, you reveal the truth—that it’s a creative promo for your new film. That way, everyone will know about your movie!"

Huang Guokun was dumbfounded.

Huang Guolun was also stunned.

Even Bai Yao, the most intelligent among them, was left speechless listening from the side.

None of them had expected such careful, creative thinking from this little rascal, Huang Tao! To come up with such an innovative idea for promoting the film!

Of course, this method might draw a storm of criticism, with people accusing the company of deception and having no bottom line for the sake of publicity.

But even if they get scolded, the film’s publicity effect would be immense!

In this industry, it’s not being scolded you should fear—it’s having no one pay attention to you at all!

What Huang Tao suggested was truly a stroke of genius!

Huang Guokun, who had been looking haggard and troubled, suddenly became overjoyed, laughing wildly as he praised Huang Tao, "Taozi, you’ve really impressed me this time! You’re amazing! This wild idea of yours is worth a fortune! I’ll fire our whole publicity staff tomorrow and make you our company’s director of publicity! Ha!"

Huang Tao, not realizing Huang Guokun was joking, lifted his head in delight, "Uncle, I’m not going to work for your company. If you like my idea, just treat me to some world-class cuisine to reward me!"

"Absolutely! Definitely! No question!" Huang Guokun promised, "If this really works out, I’ll take you to travel the world and eat great food everywhere!"

"You really are my dear uncle! Hooray!"

Huang Tao leapt for joy.

Huang Guolun, however, shooed Huang Tao away, "Go feed Dudu and stop giving your uncle such crazy ideas."

But Huang Guokun retorted, "How is this a bad idea? I think Taozi’s plan is brilliant! There’s a lot of potential here—if we pull it off, our film could go viral all over the internet! This is even more effective than a celebrity’s Weibo post!"

Huang Tao said proudly, "Uncle, if you like it, just do it! Don’t waste time arguing with my dad. He watches too little TV, his thinking’s too rigid, and he doesn’t understand that creativity is king! There’s no point discussing it with him—just make the decision yourself."

With that, Huang Tao didn’t stay around to get scolded by Huang Guolun. He ran off, delighted, to Bai Yao’s side to continue feeding Dudu.

This time, Huang Guokun truly saw Huang Tao in a new light. Gaping, he exclaimed to Huang Guolun, "My nephew is a genius!"

But Huang Guolun still felt uneasy and tried to advise Huang Guokun, "Genius? He’s just full of wild ideas. Don’t just do whatever he says. You must think it over carefully and consider the consequences. Don’t let a clever trick backfire, or you’ll regret it when it’s too late."

Huang Guokun scoffed at Huang Guolun, "Taozi was right about you! You’re so old-fashioned and hesitant. You’ll never achieve anything big in your life!"

"And you will?" Huang Guolun shot back in a low voice.

Huang Guokun looked at Huang Tao with admiration, "I won’t either, but Taozi absolutely will! Even if he stuns the world someday, I wouldn’t be surprised! They say you can see what someone will become at three—Taozi’s a prodigy at four! He’s just extraordinary!"

That night, Huang Guokun was completely amazed by Huang Tao.

Even his "constipation" was cured by Huang Tao’s remedy.

The publicity strategy he had been desperately seeking was pointed out by a single clever idea from Huang Tao.

Huang Tao’s creative proposal was highly feasible, had a high probability of success, and the cost was extremely low!

If this worked out, they might pull off a viral marketing miracle that would capture the internet’s attention!

The more Huang Guokun thought about it, the more excited he became. He couldn’t sit still at Huang Guolun’s home.

After a quick dinner, he told Huang Guolun that he was planning to shoot a new palace drama, "Her Grace, the Concubine," and asked him to start preparing Qing dynasty-style music. Without lingering a moment more, he planted a wild kiss on Huang Tao and rushed out to the company, calling an emergency meeting of the top staff to plan this highly creative promotional campaign.

On the other hand, when Huang Guolun heard that Huang Guokun was planning, come next spring, to shoot a melodramatic palace drama about an emperor and a ghostly consort’s love-hate relationship, he was left dumbstruck.

No matter how he thought about it, the story just seemed ridiculous.

The reason their previous film, "Her Grace, the Zombie," had been successful was due to its well-designed script and impressive special effects, but the story itself wasn’t too far removed from a typical bio-thriller, making it easier for audiences to accept.

But now, his company was about to make a wildly imaginative, melodramatic romance between a human and a ghost in the palace—utterly bizarre and quite possibly a total flop!

However, judging from Huang Guokun’s tone, the preparations for this new film were already well underway. The script had gone through several revisions; the arrow was on the string, ready to be released, and Huang Guolun couldn’t say much more.

All he could do was assist as best he could by elevating the film’s quality through outstanding music.

Fortunately, he had several classic palace drama scores in mind, all bearing the mark of a master, more than worthy for the film.

He believed he had composed them himself, not realizing these pieces were actually award-winning scores from the otherworldly classic, "The Last Emperor."

Especially the overture—David Byrne’s "Main Title Theme (The Last Emperor)"—a sublime work considered the pinnacle of Eastern palace music!

If he knew just how famous this piece was in another world, he would never have squandered it on this odd hybrid of a film, "Her Grace, the Concubine," that his company was about to produce...

That night, the smog over the capital was swept away by the northwest wind.

And the gloom in Huang Guokun’s heart was dispersed by Huang Tao’s ingenious idea.

The next day, Thursday.

The sky over the capital was a flawless blue.

Such fine weather put everyone in high spirits.

That morning, Huang Guolun drove Bai Yao, who no longer needed to wear a mask, to Zhongsheng Hutong and dropped her off at school.

He had no meetings or classes that morning, so he didn’t need to go to school early. He returned to his old house in Zhongsheng Hutong, tidied up, and organized his materials and lesson plans for "Shui Diao Ge Tou."

At noon, he would be leading Sun Yanzhen’s class choir in rehearsal, so he needed to prepare in advance.

It was nearly eight o’clock when Huang Guolun finally left home, strolling leisurely toward the school.

By this hour, the students of Experimental Middle School were already in their first class.

There shouldn’t have been any students from Experimental Middle School left on the street.

Yet as he approached the school, Huang Guolun saw a tall figure ahead, carrying a worn denim backpack and wearing the school’s red tracksuit.

Looking closely, it seemed to be Zhang Liang.

"Zhang Liang!"

Huang Guolun called out from behind.

Zhang Liang turned, saw Huang Guolun coming toward him, and grinned sheepishly as he walked over.

"Hey, Mr. Huang, good morning!"

"Morning? Do you know what time it is?" Huang Guolun pointed at his watch. "Why are you so late to school?"

"Oh, don’t ask. I’ve had the worst luck this morning," Zhang Liang complained dejectedly. "I actually left home really early, but then something happened and I had to run back to change my pants. That’s what delayed me."

Huang Guolun pulled Zhang Liang along toward the school, asking as they walked, "What happened? Why did you have to change your pants? Did you rip them?"

"Worse than that! I was mistaken for having sat in... well, you know. Poop."