Huang Sibo was taken aback: “No, there wasn’t.”

“‘The Successor’ is probably the project Mr. Pei has questioned the least. It’s basically proceeded according to the original plan, and Mr. Pei hasn’t given many requirements or suggestions.”

Meng Chang shook his head: “There must be something. Think carefully!”

Before considering this angle, Meng Chang had been confused and uncertain.

But after thinking about it, he suddenly became absolutely convinced.

Someone writing a hit piece attacking “The Successor” at its spiritual core was actually a high-probability event.

Meng Chang felt that he hadn’t anticipated this because he was too inexperienced, or perhaps he’d been intoxicated by his previous successes with the Pei Promotion Method and lost his vigilance.

Mr. Pei couldn’t possibly have missed this.

Since Mr. Pei had anticipated it, he must have left a backup plan and given hints.

Huang Sibo said there wasn’t any, but that might be because his perception wasn’t sensitive enough, and he hadn’t realized that Mr. Pei’s seemingly ordinary words already contained hints for breaking the deadlock.

“Well… give me a moment to think about it.”

Seeing Meng Chang’s certainty and persistence, Huang Sibo could only try his best to search his memory, digging out every detail from his previous meetings with Mr. Pei from the depths of his recollection.

After a while, Huang Sibo said with some uncertainty: “The only thing Mr. Pei changed about ‘The Successor’ project should be the broadcast schedule…”

“I originally set it for one episode per week, but Mr. Pei said the timing wasn’t right and changed it to two episodes per week, finishing on January 12th.”

“This was actually a bit strange because extending the time would be more beneficial for accumulating popularity. Each episode of ‘The Successor’ is nearly an hour long with plenty of content, which would be more than enough for viewers to discuss for a week.”

“But Mr. Pei still insisted on changing it to two episodes per week.”

“I asked Mr. Pei at the time if something was going to happen around January 12th, otherwise why the rush?”

“Mr. Pei was very vague then. He said it might be useful, or it might not be, not to have any expectations, but to try our luck… it didn’t matter either way.”

“If you’re asking about any special requirements, that’s the only one.”

Meng Chang frowned slightly: “January 12th?”

“Is that some special day?”

“And Mr. Pei’s explanation is very strange, too ambiguous.”

“Logically, with Mr. Pei’s insight, he can usually precisely discern the results of ordinary events. Something that even Mr. Pei is so uncertain about must be significant.”

After a brief analysis, Meng Chang felt that what Huang Sibo mentioned was very likely the backup plan left by Mr. Pei.

So he immediately opened the Qiandu search engine and began searching online to find out what major events would happen around January 12th next year.

It seemed… just an ordinary weekend, not even an auspicious date.

Meng Chang wasn’t giving up. He expanded his search range to between January 8th and January 15th, and no longer limited his search to domestic content but expanded it globally, even searching some foreign websites.

After half an hour of intense searching, Meng Chang, while quickly flipping through web pages, noticed an inconspicuous piece of foreign news.

“Election in an Eastern European country? The results of the second round of voting will be announced on the evening of January 13th, basically signifying the end of the election.”

Meng Chang’s first reaction wasn’t particularly concerned, because although this country called Yuclia wasn’t a small country in Eastern Europe, it had always had a relatively weak presence in China.

After all, there are so many countries and regions globally. Many people only know country names when watching the national football team play, so it’s normal not to know about a country like Yuclia.

But after scrolling past this news, Meng Chang felt something wasn’t right and quickly scrolled back.

Perhaps it was the keyword “election” that triggered his nerve, making him unconsciously associate it with the superhero election in “The Successor.”

Meng Chang originally knew nothing about Yuclia’s election, so he began digging through more foreign websites for information, frantically studying related knowledge.

The more he learned, the more amazed he felt!

Yuclia holds elections every four years, and this year happens to be when the incumbent president is seeking re-election.

Although this president doesn’t have particularly outstanding achievements, he hasn’t made any major mistakes in the past four years. Logically, his re-election should be no problem at all, given his extensive experience and decent record. None of the other candidates should pose a direct threat to him.

So far, things have become increasingly clear. The first round of voting will be held this weekend. If no one receives more than 50% of the votes, a second round will be held on the third Sunday afterward, which happens to be January 13th.

“Could it be related to this?”

“But it seems difficult to connect to ‘The Successor,’ right? Even if there is a connection, how many people would acknowledge it? News without a spark won’t have good circulation effects.”

This country called Yuclia isn’t particularly famous in China. Even public intellectuals don’t bother with it, and there aren’t stories of oil paper wrappings.

For this election, Meng Chang found relevant information on foreign websites, but hardly anyone in China is paying attention. How could this be useful?

But from a timing perspective, it was very appropriate.

Meng Chang wasn’t giving up and began checking each of the candidates one by one.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Because among them was a guy who was clearly different from the others in style!

This gentleman was quite handsome, even righteously so, born into a wealthy merchant family, studied law at a famous foreign university, but after graduation, he entered the entertainment media industry and became a famous actor and show host in Yuclia.

Three years ago, he made a film in which he played an ordinary history teacher who became popular online for criticizing the authorities and was unexpectedly elected as the president of Yuclia. He then assembled a ragtag team and ultimately defeated the corrupt prime minister representing the oligarchs’ interest groups with this “motley crew.”

This film caused a strong response in Yuclia, and he became a national comedy actor beloved by the public.

Of course, although he performed well in polls, mainstream media on foreign websites didn’t believe he would be elected at all. They felt that the current polls were not accurate, as many people expressed dissatisfaction in a joking manner when interviewed. The final election result would inevitably be the incumbent president’s successful re-election, without a doubt.

“Could this be what Mr. Pei was referring to?”

“Hmm… that would make sense.”

“Only something of this magnitude would make Mr. Pei uncertain and give such an ambiguous statement.”

“But if even Mr. Pei couldn’t be certain, isn’t the risk of this matter too great?”

Meng Chang fell into deep thought again.

Huang Sibo watched as Meng Chang searched extensively online, even looking up some English news pages, finding it impressively mysterious.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to find, right? If Mr. Pei chose a certain event as an auxiliary promotional tool for ‘The Successor,’ it must be a hot topic that would trigger widespread discussion. If it’s too niche, it won’t have the effect of sparking debate, no matter how well-timed it is.”

Meng Chang shook his head: “What if it’s niche now but will suddenly become very popular in the future?”

“I’ve already found the major event Mr. Pei mentioned. It’s this.”

“Yuclia’s general election.”

“Look at this candidate called Vasily. He’s handsome, born into a wealthy merchant family, with a law degree, works in the media field, is a famous actor and host, became known through a film, and is now participating in the election, even gaining quite a bit of support…”

“Isn’t he very similar to Phil? You could almost say they’re cut from the same mold.”

“His name is also interesting, very close to the word for ‘comrade,’ and coincidentally, he also portrays himself as a ‘public servant.'”

“Most crucially, he can run for election partly because he gained high visibility through his TV show, and partly because he made a film in which he played a good president who turned the tide.”

“Isn’t that more bizarre than the story of ‘The Successor’? At least Phil had three or four steps of groundwork—first being a judge on a talent show, then commenting on superhero hot topics, and finally reluctantly becoming a superhero. It took him several years to climb step by step, having to eliminate competitors through various conspiracies, going through great troubles, and nearly bankrupting his entire family.”

“But this Vasily is much simpler. After making his film, he directly participated in the election without all that groundwork.”

“It proves that novels need logic, but reality doesn’t.”

“Think about it, if this person actually gets elected a month from now… what then?”

Huang Sibo’s eyes widened: “This… this is too coincidental!”

“Could it be that when Cui Geng wrote this book, he based Phil on him?”

Meng Chang shook his head: “I don’t think so.”

“Because Vasily was just an actor before, and only announced his candidacy before this year’s Yuclia election. Cui Geng wrote ‘The Successor’ original novel much earlier.”

“Vasily is very famous in Yuclia, but no one has heard of him in our country. Cui Geng probably hasn’t heard of him either. Even if he had, he couldn’t have predicted that Vasily would run for election.”

“This might be a pure coincidence, but Mr. Pei noticed it before we did.”

“Mr. Pei obviously thinks that this Vasily is very likely to win the election, which is why he required ‘The Successor’ to finish broadcasting before the election results come out.”

“Because once the election ends, various media will definitely report on this extensively. A comedy actor with no experience successfully being elected would be major world news.”

“‘The Successor’ must finish broadcasting before this happens, creating an illusion that ‘the reputation is settled,’ in order to achieve a perfect turnaround after this event occurs!”

Huang Sibo asked: “But according to current reports, his chances of winning aren’t high, right?”

Meng Chang nodded: “Yes, that’s why Mr. Pei said this matter couldn’t be completely certain. After all, he probably learned about this news earlier, when Vasily had just announced his candidacy.”

“But… even if the success rate is very low, I still believe in Mr. Pei’s judgment!”