The show trended at the top of the list for a long time.
The day before the third round of the show started, a video went viral on site B. It was released by the same critic-slash-blogger from before.
This time, it was even more professional, and it received hundreds of millions of views once it was released.
The title of this video was "Talking About The Big Shot's Business Sense".
The first scene in the video showed a man wearing a mask.
The blogger then immediately started to talk about the second round of the show.
This time, the video was divided into three segments as well.
The first segment was the program team's sudden change in the rules.
The program team had never changed the rules in the previous shows, so the rule change was obviously premeditated.
For one, it was to increase the difficulty of the game and make the show more interesting.
Judging from the other guests' embarrassed expressions, the program team's operation was very successful. Instead of the usual flaunting of wealth which the audience was already bored of, the show was more dramatic, and the change set the stage for the rest of the show.
The second stage was Thomson's attitude when he called Gates.
In the blogger's analysis, it was clear that Thomson had received instructions from the program team, so he knew to talk to Gates in that tone.
After all, who would use a commanding tone when they want someone to go on the show and run errands?
It was just to add more gimmicks to the show and attract the audience.
Besides, the target was Gates, which made it even more unlikely to be a spur-of-the-moment idea.
Gates may not be a super big shot in today's business world, but he was a well-known figure.
Even if he was a super big shot, who was more valuable than Gates, he would never use such a commanding tone to talk to Gates.
It was obviously scripted.
The third segment was Gates's authenticity.
According to the blogger, the Gates that appeared on the show was indeed the real Gates, no matter his appearance or his car.
However, if it was the real Gates, why would he go on such a show?
The blogger also revealed a shocking piece of news. Aifeng Finance was about to be listed, so Gates took the opportunity to participate in this show to ride on the show's popularity.
A year ago, the founder of Baidu and China's internet tycoon, Li Yanhong was splashed with a bottle of mineral water at a product conference.
It was through this method that countless people got to know about their product. It immediately shot up the trending searches without them having to spend a single cent.
Due to its popularity, many investors followed and invested in the product after it went on the market, and the stock price soared.
Putting those two points together, the blogger analyzed that the reason Gates appeared on the show was to increase the popularity of his product.
At the end of the video, the blogger said, "Dear viewers, this show has become a stage for the business tycoons.
"When you're all interested in this topic, it means you have already fallen into a trap and become their chess pieces.
"The saddest person in this entire matter is that contestant, Thomson. He thinks he's the big boss on the show, but in reality, he's just a clown. He doesn't know his own position. When the show's popularity dies down, he would go back to being an ordinary person and become a commoner."
"The biggest beneficiary of this matter might be the program team, or it might be Gates, but it definitely won't be Thomson."
...
After that speech, Thomson was once again pushed to the center of the storm.
"The blogger is awesome. His analysis is so reasonable."
"This program team is so despicable. They're toying with us commoners."
"As expected, it's all for the sake of gaining popularity. Otherwise, how could the program team have invited Gates?"
"It really is Gates. I really regret not being there to introduce myself."
"Gates is actually starting to take advantage of the hype. My youth is over."
"Blogger, I don't think you're right. Thomson can still get the prize money. So even if he's part of the program team's script, he has nothing to lose."
"D*mn, that sounds about right. If Thomson can pick up a million dollars for free, then I'm willing to act like a clown too."
"The clown is actually myself... No, I'm worse than the clown."
...
The netizens agreed to the blogger's analysis.
However, they eventually realized that Thompson, who they thought was a pitiful person, was actually the biggest winner.
To be able to get a million dollars just by acting for the program team was too easy.
The netizens were jealous, but the person involved, Thompson, did not care about the so-called prize money at all.
He was only on the show to fulfill Alice's wish. Otherwise, Thomson would not care about such a thing no matter how much money he was given.
Was one million a lot?
...
In the afternoon, Aifeng Financial's products went on the market on the same day.
As expected, the news of the release immediately shot up the trending searches without them having to spend any money.
This indirectly proved the authenticity of the critic-slash-blogger's analysis as well.
After all, how could there be such a coincidence?
Gates had just appeared on the show, and once he was trending, they immediately released the new product.
"This move has really caught my eye."
"Is this a big shot's business sense? I'm really impressed."
"F*ck, hurry up and invest in it. The stock price will definitely rise, and I'll earn some money."
"D*mn, I'm impressed. I'll bet all my money on it."
It went on until the market closed.
The stock price of this financial product soared by 500%.
It was a very terrifying figure.
Under normal circumstances, it would not rise as much as it did.
However, the popularity of the show and the words of the blogger made many investors notice it.
Hence, they invested in it.
This caused the share price to soar and exceed anyone's expectations.
In the meantime, Thomson had no idea that his unintentional move would cause such a butterfly effect.