Chapter 738: Crushing them in every aspect—how is this even fair?

After more than an hour, the movie was finally about to begin.

Although this premiere was also billed as Zhao Jinmai's coming-of-age ceremony.

The protagonist, when all is said and done, was still the movie.

Although Xu Feng had copied the tactics of Huang Jiaozhu, he wasn't actually getting married.

He still had to shift the guests' attention back to the film as soon as possible.

Xu Feng, Brother Cheng, Zhao Jinmai, and the other A-list stars of the main cast were naturally seated in the first row.

Behind them, seating was arranged according to status.

Liu Shishi could barely manage to sit in the second row, just like Da Mimi.

Even though her film, *Mulan*, which claimed a 1.4 billion investment, was being crushed into the dirt by Da Mimi's *White Album*, which had an investment of less than 100 million.

Now, many netizens were saying that Da Mimi was the number one among the post-85 actresses.

Xu Feng still had a face full of black lines when he saw comments like that.

Damn, with the post-85 generation being such a mess, is there even a need to decide who is number one or number two?

The screening hall went completely dark.

The familiar Dragon Logo flashed by, followed by the pirate ship captain emblem—now the symbol for the 2D film company, identical to the one from the *Weekly Shonen Jump* magazine of his past life.

Everyone's gaze was fixed intently on the front.

Liu Shishi and the many media representatives were practically dying to gouge their eyeballs out and stick them onto the screen.

Director: Xu Feng. Screenwriter: Xu Feng. Starring: Zhao Jinmai, Xu Feng. Featuring: Brother Cheng, Duan Yihong, Chen Daoming...

The credits ended, the screen plunged into darkness, and two seconds later, it slowly brightened.

The first thing to come into view was the most famous landmark in the entire world for the Dragon Kingdom—the Great Wall!

Guards dressed in typical ancient Dragon Kingdom soldier attire were patrolling the wall.

Just then, accompanied by the shrill cry of a falcon, countless grappling hooks flew up from below the wall.

Before the soldiers could even react, a group of Xiongnu warriors wearing fur cloaks leaped onto the wall, engaging the Central Plains soldiers in a chaotic melee.

"Light the beacon!"

A Central Plains soldier screamed.

One soldier gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain from his wounds, and crawled to the beacon tower to light the fire.

At this moment, the Chanyu, played by the film industry's go-to villain Ji Chunhua, stood with a falcon on his left shoulder, looking down at him from above.

The sense of oppression was immense!

"Now everyone in the Central Plains knows you're here."

The soldier gritted his teeth and said firmly.

The Chanyu gave a cold laugh, pulled out the dragon banner nearby, threw it into the beacon fire, and sneered, "Just as I intended."

Subsequently, in the magnificent imperial city.

Upon learning of the Xiongnu invasion, the Emperor, played by Chen Daoming, ordered a nationwide conscription to resist the Xiongnu.

Immediately, the scene shifted to a peaceful small town.

Hua Mulan, played by Zhao Jinmai, made her official entrance.

"Quiet, virtuous, elegant, polite..."

As Zhao Jinmai recited the Three Obediences and Four Virtues for women, she used a brush to copy the words onto her own arm.

Meanwhile, Hua Mulan's father, played by Duan Yihong—his hair streaked with gray, leaning on a cane—knelt before the ancestral spirit tablet, whispering a prayer: "Ancestors, please bless Mulan so she can leave a good impression on the matchmaker today, please bless her..."

Hua father's words explained what Mulan was doing by writing on her arm—she was using a cheat sheet for her matchmaking assessment.

Seeing this, many in the audience couldn't help but chuckle, reminded of their own student days.

Afterward, because Hua Mulan was in a rush to attend a matchmaking session and also needed to brew medicine for her father,

she didn't have time to feed the chickens herself, so she cut a slit in the bag of chicken feed and tied it to the tail of their dog.

Then she tossed the dog into the chicken coop, causing the whole household to erupt in chaos.

Covered in chicken feathers, she mounted her black horse and galloped toward the city.

"This Hua Mulan is too cute."

Hu Ge laughed.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than he felt a murderous aura.

Sure enough, glancing sideways, he discovered Liu Yifei's murderous peripheral gaze fixed upon him.

Hu Ge sheepishly lowered his head and returned his focus to the movie.

It must be said, this lively yet not overly mischievous personality made many in the audience develop a fondness for the Hua Mulan played by this young girl, who had only just come of age two days prior.

Many media representatives and professional film critics whipped out their pens and began taking notes.

They couldn't help but start comparing the merits of Liu Yifei's version of Hua Mulan against Zhao Jinmai's.

But after recalling Liu Yifei's version of Hua Mulan for just a second, everyone mentally gave her a big cross.

After all, the Hua Mulan played by Liu Yifei felt like a robot.

Watching the whole thing, you couldn't tell what she was thinking from that face of hers.

Just in terms of character shaping for the two Hua Mulans, Zhao Jinmai had already won by far.

The movie continued.

Hua Mulan's matchmaking session naturally ended in failure, and back at home, Zhao Jinmai looked at her heavily made-up face in the mirror.

She fell into deep self-reproach, feeling she had failed the expectations of her parents and grandmother, as she couldn't do anything right from childhood to adulthood.

At the same time, she felt deep doubt about herself.

She felt that what was reflected in the mirror was not her at all.

However, her father did not blame his daughter for this incident.

Instead, he plucked a peach blossom bud from the courtyard, tucked it behind his daughter's ear, and comforted her softly: "Although this flower bloomed a bit late, when it finally blossoms, it will surely be more beautiful than all the other flowers."

The image of a benevolent father was instantly established.

The main plot finally began.

The Emperor's conscription order arrived, requiring every family to send one male to join the war.

Countless young men stood before their fathers, expressing their willingness to serve in their fathers' stead.

But because the Hua family had no sons, and Father Hua, who usually needed a cane just to walk, prepared to accept the order and join the army himself.

"No! Father!"

Hua Mulan cried out and rushed forward, blocking her father, and shouted to the Chancellor played by veteran actor Jin Shijie: "Please, don't let my father go, my father is already advanced in years..."

"Shut up!"

Veteran actor Jin Shijie pointed at Hua Mulan and scolded Father Hua: "How did you raise your daughter? Since when does a woman have a place to interrupt when men are talking!?"

Hearing this from veteran actor Jin Shijie, many female audience members and even male audience members secretly frowned. Father Hua, who had appeared extremely kind just a moment ago, also said in a deep voice: "Mulan, you have made me lose all face."

"Is this okay?"

Liu Shishi thought with some worry.

Although the Dragon Kingdom isn't as obsessed as the West, in recent years, domestic radical feminism has been quite fierce.

If Xu Feng doesn't handle this issue well in the follow-up, he will definitely be torn apart by those little fairies.

The series "Yu Huan" is a cautionary tale; just because of one line related to radical feminism, it was scolded to the point of almost being pulled from the air.

Meanwhile, some audience members keenly noticed a detail.

That is, the Chancellor played by veteran actor Jin Shijie clearly knows Father Hua.

And he pointed out that Father Hua was a famous general in his youth.

Immediately following this, the Hua father and daughter, who had been getting along so warmly ten minutes ago, erupted into a serious argument.

Hua Mulan believed that the army had plenty of young men and her father shouldn't go to the battlefield.

And Father Hua, whose image had been very benevolent, angrily scolded his daughter.

He stated that dying for one's country is an honorable death, and lectured his daughter that she should grow up.