No wonder the investigation was progressing so slowly.
These people had already formed an independent circle of interests; they wouldn't easily leak anything.
They made big money off insiders, then recruited others to join and kept making big money.
There were no traces of this recommendation online, so it had to be an offline referral—everything from collecting the medicine to paying was an entirely offline procedure, completely bypassing the internet's big data checks.
This whole network of connections was old-school and unstable—for example, someone like Guo Xinya would casually leak things to a regular colleague like Xiao He without taking many secrecy measures—but it was efficient and quick for making money. It fit these people's mentality of making a pile of cash and running.
After returning to the hotel, Xiao He used hacking techniques to trace Xu Youyou's account and indeed found a fixed monthly advertising payment.
In other words, Kemingen officially cooperated with Xu Youyou and paid her advertising fees according to a contract.
And that advertising fee was naturally the payment Xu Youyou received for recruiting people.
Xiao He counted the string of zeros until his eyes almost went green.
So much money!
Really, way too much!
Although these people did pay some taxes for appearances, there was still so much money left over!
Besides, Xiao He was certain they were stingy about handing most of it over for taxes.
—So the money they made would only increase, never decrease!
Brazen, utterly brazen!
I already warned you once and you still dared to do something this big? Report them! I have to report this!
Whether or not they've already targeted me, my heart isn't great right now—I just want to report it!
Xiao He started composing anonymous emails with a flurry of tapping.
...
Over the next few days, after the script reading was completed, everyone prepared to officially start filming and carry out related promotional activities.
Before the auspicious start date, several of the main cast of Corner Also each took a set of character photos for the upcoming publicity.
But as everyone knows, whenever an IP adaptation is announced, the original fans are the most easily rattled.
The same held true for Corner Also.
Even though some people had noticed that the drama's director was actually the original author of Corner Also, that couldn't stop their upset reactions.
The first fans to arrive at the scene began criticizing the season-one lead cast—
[Please don't turn it into a live-action adaptation, please don't! Original fans are really losing it!]
[Holy—are you guys out of your minds? Every comic adaptation lately bombs hard. Please stop, give up the IP, create an original script, stand on your own two feet, okay?]
[Who's the female lead? She's pretty, but so obscure—seems like no one's heard of her.]
[? Although I'm upset too, as a four-year fan of Corner Also, I have to say: the female lead Yin Lan's prototype is Guo Xinya. Author Jiao Dai has expressed affection for Guo Xinya on platforms many times. If this turns into a live-action, only Guo Xinya herself could truly fit the role.]
[Is Guo Xinya obscure? Look at that face—how dare you say that? Even if she hasn't achieved much these past few years, she was once an award-winning actress; as long as her face remains, so does her status. You call her obscure?]
[At first I wanted to criticize, but the chosen main cast, regardless of acting for now, all look very authoritative. No wonder this is Director Zhuang's investment project. Even without knowing if the adaptation will be any good, this incredibly high-looks lineup already ranks among the top configurations in domestic entertainment.]
[Honestly, just for the looks, even if this drama ends up being trash, I have to give it a try. It's been a while since I've seen a lead group that keeps dazzling me like this.]
[That's true. Translating two-dimensional characters into three-dimensional actors is extremely difficult, but this casting at least doesn't break immersion based on appearance.]
[The stills make me a little hopeful; just please don't radically change the story.]
[The director is the original author himself, so hopefully there won't be extreme alterations.]
[Huh? The director is ? Yan Shaohan? No wonder I couldn't find any info about the director online—turns out it's the rascal himself!]
[Hahaha, Jiao Dai lost his real name—now everyone has to go by real names online.]
[So what if the author directs? Authors themselves have directed terrible things before.]
—While everyone was debating these topics, a group of fans aimed their anger directly at Xiao He.
More precisely, they couldn't accept Xiao He playing Yin Qi.
[What the hell, is it just me who doesn't understand why Xiao He is playing Yin Qi? My world is collapsing.]
[I can't figure out why Xiao He would play Yin Qi. I want to go to the rooftop right now.]
[Wait—are we thinking of that Xiao He? (sharp explosive noises) ]
[Yes, it's that Xiao He.]
[I'm speechless. I was fairly satisfied with this casting, but when I saw Xiao He as Yin Qi, everything went black before my eyes.]
[Help! Someone said Xiao He had backing; I didn't believe it before, but now I really suspect he has powerful capital pushing him. They gave him this role?]
[? What happened? Why can't Xiao He play this role?]
[Although Yin Qi's later personality is a bit… (no spoilers), I really can't imagine Xiao He playing early-stage Yin Qi.]
[I can't accept it either. What was Jiao Dai thinking? Why cast Xiao He as my Yin Qi? I imagined a very young actor in this role—]
[But Xiao He only graduated from university last year… I don't understand how the upper commenter defines "very young."]
[Mainly, Xiao He's aura is too strong. His two breakout roles—Shen Jue and Meng Zetian—Shen Jue enters with killing intent, Meng Zetian matched scenes with veteran actors. When I watched those plots, I never thought of him as a fresh graduate.]
[In any case, he really can't do it. Please, production, replace him!]
Because the production currently didn't show many obvious faults, no one felt comfortable making huge accusations. Original fans could only hurl insults and secretly pray in some corner of their hearts that the Corner Also team would behave—if they were going to film it, just film it, but please don't do the usual extreme alterations.
But now there was one person everyone focused on: Xiao He.
Starry Radiance had aired not long ago and its aftereffects hadn't faded. Many people remembered Xiao He, and most still associated him with Meng Zetian. Xiao He was now playing a role that didn't fit that image, so the public criticism immediately concentrated on him.
[We beg the production to recast!]
[Refuse Xiao He as Yin Qi!]