When Duke Blue used the ice drill to make a hole, Mary Scott was not idle either. She carried the water bucket and fishing rod from the shore. Their location was closer to the center of the lake, and the icy surface was slippery, making it hard to walk. Mary Scott walked very slowly, which made her seem even lazier to the viewers watching through the cara.
There were more curses below, and with the trending topic Charlotte Leigh bought for Duke Blue, even netizens who had never heard of this reality show flocked in out of curiosity. The number of live stream viewers suddenly rose from fifty thousand to over a million and continued to trend upwards.
Seeing this situation, Charlotte Leigh was stunned for a long ti. When she bought the trending topic, it was purely to badmouth Mary Scott, but she didn’t expect this wave of negativity to bring so much traffic to a nearly forgotten production team. Watching the increasingly heated discussions, Charlotte Leigh almost bit her tongue off.
But since the trending topic was already bought, cancelling it would cost even more money, so she could only grit her teeth and endure it.
The show staff by the icy lake originally sat dispiritedly in front of the screen, indifferent to the broadcast itself. In his view, this kind of live stream was not aningful. After all, it’s the end of the year when all sorts of popular reality shows are erging endlessly. A show like theirs, trying to ride the wave, without any top-tier actors, couldn’t even compete with mildly popular internet celebrity live streams. The focus had to still be on the Penguin Videos weekly broadcast.
They had only gotten five to six thousand viewers, mostly fans of Duke Blue.
Just when the staff mber was dozing off wrapped in a heavy military coat, another staff mber seeking warmth suddenly pointed at the screen, "Perkin, wake up. Am I seeing things?"
Disturbed awake, Perkin was not happy, "If you’re seeing things, why don’t you go see an optotrist instead of poking ?"
"No, Perkin, look at the screen!" The fellow staff was not annoyed and continued pointing at the screen.
Perkin, in charge of watching the live stream, reluctantly looked up. "What’s there to see? It’s just Duke Blue’s fans bickering, nothing interesting..."
At this, Perkin suddenly froze, rubbed his eyes, then leaned closer to the screen, unbelievingly wiped it, then mumbled, "Is my vision blurry, too? Max, help see what number this is."
"Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, one million six hundred and twenty-three thousand... no, four thousand, five thousand... gulp, one million six hundred and thirty thousand, Perkin, is this live stream software broken?" Max, who ca to warm up, spoke while trembling.
"Or maybe our eyes are both broken!" Perkin said, then jumped off the truck and shouted towards the director up front, "Director Baker, Director Baker, we’re going viral! We’re going viral!"
Simon Baker was watching several screens and turned to scold upon hearing this, "Did you sleep yourself muddle-headed and daydreaming?"
"No, Director, there are one hundred and sixty thousand viewers in the live stream room!" Perkin shouted excitedly.
Just as he said this, Max’s head poked out, "No, it’s one hundred and eighty-three thousand!"
"Holy crap!" Simon Baker cursed and ran over to the truck, seeing it had indeed reached one hundred and ninety thousand viewers and was still growing, "What’s going on?"
Simon Baker was aware of their show’s popularity; such an influx of viewers was impossible, there had to be sothing happening amidst this.
"Not good, Director Baker, look at the trending topics. Our show is trending!" Max exclaid in surprise just as Simon Baker was puzzled.
Simon Baker quickly opened his phone and found trending topics about Duke Blue, with all of them filled with sympathy for Duke Blue and curses for Mary Scott, to the extent that the topic of Mary Scott being lazy was also gaining heat.
And because Mary Scott recently had high visibility due to her divorce and miscarriage scandal with Director Locke, her sudden criticism by Duke Blue’s fans led many to cheer and join the spectacle.
Additionally, soone stirred the pot, benefiting the production team.
Simon Baker, "..." What’s going on?
After opening the trending content, Simon Baker realized it was a misunderstanding; the inevitable division of screen ti among the three-person teams ant that when it fild Mary Scott, Duke Blue’s angle blocked her, leading everyone to think only Duke Blue was working in her group.
And either Duke Blue’s agency or soone else took the opportunity to play the victim card for him, drawing in both fans and passers-by to the live stream room, resulting in the earlier spectacle.
"Director Baker, it’s not good; the viewers are all cursing Miss Scott, what should we do?" Max exclaid in panic.
Simon Baker looked at the live room, which had reached two hundred thousand viewers, with a complicated expression. What to do? What to do...
"Director Baker, it’s unfair to Miss Scott if they keep cursing, isn’t it?" Max, being on site, naturally knew how hard Mary Scott worked. Contrary to Duke Blue, who just dawdled unless the cara was on him.
Simon Baker knew it was unfair to Mary Scott, but looking at the screen with an ever-increasing number of viewers, he hesitated. Just then, a call from the streaming platform ca in.
After taking the call, Simon Baker hadn’t said anything yet when the person-in-charge on the other side had already excitedly said, "Director Baker, didn’t you say you wanted to sign for six episodes before? Let’s talk about it now; how about the price..."
Simon Baker patiently listened before hanging up. Other platforms called in succession, including the hottest Tiktok Streaming Platform. After hearing their offers, Simon Baker sighed, reminiscing how they first approached Tiktok when planning their variety show live stream. Unfortunately, because their variety show had no fa and was a follow-the-trend production, it was shunned for being too low-level. They had no choice but to select their current streaming platform. Who knew it would take only three hours for a complete turnaround.
However, if the program team clarifies now, not only is the effect not good, it may also spark a backlash. Simon Baker did not want to ss it up now that the traffic was finally up. After hesitating for a while, he told Max, "Go find Miss Scott."
Max responded and trotted away to find Mary Scott, while the caraman cleverly switched the live cara to the other two groups.
In no ti, Mary Scott arrived, breathing on her reddened hands from the cold, "Director, do you need sothing? I’m still busy."
She had just noticed Adam Piers’ group had their slot open and could start fishing soon, but her group still had a while to go. And since she couldn’t count on Duke Blue, she was planning to ask Master Lu for an ice drill to participate in cracking the ice.
"Miss Scott, take a look at this." Director Baker directly led Mary Scott to the live stream screen.
Mary Scott glanced over it, "Wow, over two hundred thousand viewers. Are people really this interested in fishing?"
This number indeed surprised Mary Scott; she rembered being just in the tens of thousands while in the car.
"Thanks to you." Director Baker rubbed his nose, "Look at the comnts."
Mary Scott had already noticed a few insults directed at her in the comnts but didn’t take them to heart. She had grown accustod to being berated over the years, especially after repeatedly trending due to David Locke recently, with comnt sections full of derogatory terms. However, upon hearing Director Baker’s words, she raised her head to scan the comnts a bit more carefully and found that they were all calling her lazy, urging her to get out of the show and stop dragging Duke Blue down.
Seeing this, Mary Scott frowned, "So what happened?"
Simon Baker didn’t hide it, explaining the trending situation to Mary Scott.
Mary Scott, upon hearing it, sharply asked, "Soone bought trending, right?"
Otherwise, with such low popularity for their show, how could they gain montum from such a minor issue with Duke Blue? Especially with the year-end period already siphoning off most of the traffic to many popular variety shows, even if theirs followed the trend, the reach was limited. Plus, the focus wasn’t on live streaming but on the weekly Penguin Platform broadcast, so this seemingly peculiar trendy topic easy to guess had issues.
Simon Baker was impressed by Mary Scott’s insight and nodded, "I guessed the sa. It’s just that the show’s heat has just picked up. If we clarify... the outcos may not be favorable and could provoke backlash."
"Just tell your plan directly, Director." Upon hearing Simon Baker’s words, Mary Scott knew the production team did not intend to clear her na imdiately, so her tone was blunt.
Simon Baker hesitated for a mont and then voiced his thoughts.
Mary Scott lightly raised her eyebrows after hearing it, "Director, are you setting up?"
Simon Baker noticed Mary Scott wasn’t particularly angry, which gave him so confidence, "How can this be considered a setup? This is a win-win cooperation!"
"It’s not out of the question." Mary Scott touched her chin, appearing to be thinking seriously.
Seeing this, Simon Baker tactfully said, "Miss Scott, feel free to bring up any conditions. As long as I can manage, I will do my best!"
Upon hearing this, Mary Scott slightly smiled at Simon Baker. Sohow, Simon Baker felt like he might have dug a pit for himself, then heard Mary Scott say slowly, "I heard our show’s sponsor is looking for a spokesperson, and the Director happens to have a good relationship with the boss..."
Simon Baker, "..." Where did you hear that?
"Ha-ha, Miss Scott, you’re joking." Simon Baker gave an awkward laugh. Just when Mary Scott thought he was about to refuse, Simon Baker suddenly slapped the table, "Then it’s settled. I’ll contact the owner of Raspberry now."
He won’t tell Mary Scott that this endorsent was initially secured by Mr. Johnson for her!
He just worried if Mr. Johnson found out about this stunt, he might peel his skin off.
Even though Mary Scott believed Simon Baker was sincere in wanting to cooperate, he still needed to convince the advertiser. Given her image, it wasn’t particularly favorable, so becoming the brand’s spokesperson would require so persuasion from Director Baker. Unexpectedly, he agreed so quickly.
This made Mary Scott look at Simon Baker with so hesitation, "Director, do you know who my husband is?"
Although her relationship with David Locke was average, she could still use his influence when necessary.
Simon Baker nodded, "Of course, I know." After all, Director Locke’s high-profile social dia posts back then had stirred the whole circle, and their divorce drama had beco a perpetual discussion topic.
"So, the consequences of deceiving should be clear to you, right?" Mary Scott maintained an exceptionally polite tone, even using formal terms.
Simon Baker shivered slightly; this was indeed soone no one could afford to offend, and he quickly nodded, "Rest assured, the contract will be delivered to your room tonight."
Mary Scott was satisfied, extending her fair, delicate hand, "Director, I look forward to our cooperation."
"Looking forward to it as well!" Simon Baker lightly touched, not daring to shake hands. He had t that person in the industry before and knew their temperant, and didn’t believe what was said outside. After all, such a man would never marry soone if he didn’t like them even a bit.
For the sake of his career, he could afford to offend anyone here today but her.
"Then I’ll get back to work." After the discussion, Mary Scott did not linger and returned to the ice to continue working.
Simon Baker took a deep breath, "Won and villains are indeed hard to deal with, as the ancients never lied!"
"Director, is the Raspberry endorsent really going to Miss Scott? Will their managent agree?" Perkin, also known as Assistant Director Ernest, leaned in to ask quietly. He felt like the director was taking advantage of Miss Scott’s youth to deceive her. After all, everyone knew the not-so-harmonious marital status between Miss Scott and Director Locke, so such a threat might not be effective.
Who knew that just after Assistant Director Ernest asked, Simon Baker mysteriously chuckled, "See, you don’t get it. The Raspberry endorsent was always Mary Scott’s from the start."
After saying this, Simon Baker took another look at the live chat. After the rapid growth earlier, the number of viewers reached around two hundred sixty thousand, though the period of explosive growth had passed, entering a stable phase. Nevertheless, it had surpassed his annual KPI.
Simon Baker looked at the screen, full of smiles, feeling that the spring of his career was finally arriving.
anwhile, returning to the ice, Mary Scott found that during her absence, Duke Blue hadn’t really made any progress. Moreover, the ice debris he had drilled out refroze due to the cold, as Duke Blue didn’t move them in ti. Annoyed, she glanced at him and then crouched down to continue breaking through the ice with the drill Master Lu found for her. This ti, she was not only working but also paying attention to the cara.
Even though Simon Baker promised to use another remote cara to record her working for future editing during the weekly broadcast and clear her na, she didn’t want to remain so passive. However, she didn’t want to alert Duke Blue, so she discreetly found a new angle. Though largely blocked in the cara focusing on her and Duke Blue, she was still in the fra covered by Jas Jero’s cara. Although her figure would be small, anyone paying attention could notice.
Having positioned herself appropriately, Mary Scott began to focus on her work. Half an hour later, they finally broke through the ice, with her clothes soaked in sweat, her face flushed with fatigue, and sweat droplets rolling down. But with the cold wind blowing across the icy surface, the sweat imdiately stuck to her face, causing discomfort. At this mont, Mary Scott couldn’t care less because she heard Stella Murray’s exclamation nearby. Looking over, she saw Adam Piers’ group had caught a big fish bouncing lively on the ice.
Zoe Thatcher and Jas Jero gathered around, watching excitedly.
Mary Scott, filled with curiosity, randomly rubbed off the now cold sweat on her face and ran over, "Let see!"
"Wow, Master Piers is amazing!" Zoe Thatcher was practically glittering with stars in her eyes.
Stella Murray was the happiest, "After a 38-year unlucky streak, am I finally going to breeze through? It feels like a dream!"
"Unbelievable, confessed your real age in your excitent, you’re only five years younger than !" Jas Jero quipped humorously.
Stella Murray rolled her eyes, "Five years younger, how did you even say that?"
"Just spoke it with my mouth." Jas Jero replied with a cheeky grin.
Everyone burst into laughter. Just then, Adam Piers cast the net again, surprisingly catching two more, causing Stella Murray to turn excitedly and hug Zoe Thatcher, who widened her eyes, "Uncle Foster, are we losing?"
Jas Jero rallied, "We can’t lose!"
After saying that, he turned and scurried back, and Mary Scott, seeing the fish jumping lively on the ground, ran back to her ice hole, "Right, we can’t lose!"
Stella Murray laughed even more joyfully.
The cold wind was piercing, but none could suppress everyone’s eagerness to win!
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