Chapter 275

The Jade Rabbit didn't provoke 1942, but that doesn't mean The King's Banquet didn't provoke it.

The two films erupted into a war of words upon release, sparked by The King's Banquet's water army deliberately smearing 1942.

Not only that, they hired water armies to inflate ratings and protect their reputation—not something anyone claimed, but something their own promotional staff leaked.

They also deliberately gave 1942 low ratings.

This leak stirred up a storm, instantly thrusting Lu Tailang into the eye of the storm.

It also provoked fierce public outrage, triggering massive negative reviews of The King's Banquet.

"If you dislike Lu Tailang, give it one star."

"Yu Ji is too ugly, I don't want to watch."

"After so much time and such a huge investment, they made a 2b movie."

"."

These negative reviews were direct copy-pastes.

When interviewed by reporters, Lu Tailang was furious: "Our film is not on the same level as Feng Kuzi's. We only want to survive, and hope to share with more audiences the exploration and attempts of our generation of filmmakers in new historical cinema."

But it was useless—the audience didn't buy it.

Huayi remained calm, stating they hoped such malicious attacks would end soon.

Feng Kuzi was even calmer, thanking the audience for their support.

Even Fang Hong began to suspect that Huayi had deliberately engineered the scheme to ruin Lu Tailang.

The root goes back to Nanjing Nanjing years ago, when Lu Tailang, on a TV show, attacked Xiao Wang General Manager: "I won't fight with shit!"

At the time, Huayi allegedly bribed marketing channels and manipulated public opinion to humiliate Lu Tailang.

That was ancient history—Fang Hong hadn't been reborn yet—but now it's clear how tangled the entertainment industry's grudges are.

Luckily, Lu Tailang has a good father; otherwise, he'd have been quietly blacklisted—he's got a crooked attitude, makes unprofitable films, and is so defiant he insults everyone, and nobody likes him.

His father is far more powerful than Liu Tianxian's.

Now we wait to see how Lost in Thailand performs.

Recently, Xu Guangtou has been sparing no effort promoting the film, dragging his wife and Wang Baoqiang along, while Huang Bo runs around everywhere promoting it.

They've been traveling nationwide to theaters and TV programs, releasing promotional trailers, and setting the tone as comedy, family-friendly.

Behind all this is Chen Zhixi managing everything.

After returning home, Liu Tianxian was scolded by her mother again—over the same issue, dragging on with no progress.

And as time passed, the situation grew worse, clearly orchestrated by someone stoking the fire.

In the living room, Liu Xiaoli asked her daughter: "You said you'd handle it yourself—how's it going?"

"What can I do? She says not to care about outside opinions, just do our own thing—explaining is meaningless."

Liu Tianxian sat on the sofa, hugging a fat cat, wearing simple home clothes.

Outside, snow blanketed everything—Beijing had started snowing again.

"You still think what she says makes sense?"

Liu Xiaoli sat beside her daughter, displeased: "I think you've read too many chicken soup for the soul stories and gone stupid."

"It's meaningless anyway—we're just good friends. Those people outside deliberately twist and exaggerate it. No matter how much you explain, they'll always think you're a lesbian."

What can I do? Should I make Fang Hong show them I'm normal?

Liu Tianxian spoke bluntly and crudely—she could say anything like this to her mother.

They never hid their relationship; some netizens even said they were dating, but malicious people manipulated the narrative to label her a lesbian.

"I've told you multiple times—don't associate with people like her anymore. Why do you even meet her?" Liu Xiaoli sighed.

She meant the meeting after the lesbian scandal broke out.

After the incident, she'd discussed it with her daughter several times, but never reached any resolution.

Actually, she'd been involved too—she once thought Zeng was fine, even went to Zeng's concert with her daughter.

"I didn't provoke her—I wanted to solve the problem," Liu Tianxian said.

"I think this should be handed over to Xiao Fang. Letting you handle it yourself, you'll just keep dragging it out, making it worse. Don't you know? Several endorsements are about to cancel you, they're demanding compensation, and fewer businesses are inviting you to events."

Liu Xiaoli spoke with exasperation.

Liu Tianxian fell silent—Fang Hong had given her a solution, but she'd kept hesitating, never telling her mother.

She didn't want to hurt Zeng—it would be a blow to Zeng.

Exposing her own privacy to the public, then being cursed by netizens, especially after being manipulated—it would devastate Zeng mentally and emotionally.

Liu Tianxian had felt the agony of being publicly cursed—she'd been utterly crushed, felt like dying—and she feared Zeng couldn't bear it.

That's why she hesitated—not to reveal it—she didn't want to hurt others.

Seeing her daughter's furrowed brow, Liu Xiaoli didn't press further.

Say too much, and she'd add more pressure.

"What's Xiao Fang been up to lately?"

"How would I know? He's probably busy with his grand ambitions—his heart is either with me or his grand ambitions, nothing else matters." Liu Tianxian stroked the cat.

"I doubt it—if he really cares about you, why doesn't he help you crush this?" Liu Xiaoli said.

"It has nothing to do with him—it's our own matter. Why should he help us?" Liu Tianxian said.

She wasn't Jade Rabbit's artist—she had her own company and team. Fang Hong had no obligation to help her.

This isn't fundamentally her personal issue—it's the interest group led by her mother wanting to quell the scandal. If they can't quell it, Liu Tianxian's commercial value will plummet again.

So blame Liu Tianxian for being a celebrity—every move watched. If she were an ordinary person, who'd care?

Liu Xiaoli shook her head and stood up to leave.

Her daughter's life these past two years has been too easy, too smooth—her heart hasn't hardened yet.

Liu Tianxian lifted the fat black cat, playfully teasing it left and right, then puckered her lips and kissed it with a "meow-meow-meow."

Then she placed the black cat on her shoulder and held it.

In truth, she was deeply conflicted—she wanted to release the photos, yet feared hurting others; if she tried to explain, no one would believe her. She had experienced this before, and was still experiencing it.

She pulled out her phone and posted a Weibo: {My heart is broken. How much longer must I stay strong? Perhaps strength is the inevitable path of everyone's growth—then let me be grateful: for the harm, for the misunderstandings, it doesn't matter! }

After posting this Weibo, naturally a pile of sycophants commented below, and of course some stirred up rumors about the incident.

But this was Liu Tianxian's home turf, so a fierce battle of insults was inevitable.

The more they insulted each other, the hotter the topic became!

Fang Hong knew perfectly well that Liu Tianxian's situation was escalating, but he said nothing, asked nothing, and had no intention of intervening—he let it ferment.

Fundamentally, he wanted Liu Xiaoli to pressure Liu Tianxian into exposing the photos of Lu Dabo seducing Zeng.

Those photos had all been handed over to Liu Tianxian!

This way, the matter would be resolved, Fang Hong wouldn't be deeply involved, and he'd still maintain his image as a good man.

No longer charging ahead recklessly as before, he now relied on strategy—using his mother-in-law's hands to solve the problem, so it had nothing to do with him.

If Liu Tianxian wanted to blame someone, let her blame her mother!

Time quickly passed to December 12, the day of the premiere of "Lost in Thailand," and also the day of Fang Long's "Chinese Zodiac" premiere ceremony.

The premiere ceremony was grand—both the chairman of Emperor Entertainment and the CEO of Huayi were present, and many stars and big names showed up to support it.

It was more lively than the film festival, drawing widespread attention, while the Macau International Film Festival, held during these same two days, received little attention.

News reports with photos were scarce; only after netizens went to the scene and posted some photos online did the Movie Channel report on it and Zhejiang Satellite TV rebroadcast it.

At Aomen Yinhe UA Yingcheng, Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian arrived at the venue as agreed.

This time, "The Class of 2017" had been nominated.

Inside a large hall, a long red carpet stretched out, flanked on both sides by reporters with cameras and microphones, as well as bustling staff and fans.

Many people came and went here; due to the limited space, there was a constant "buzz-buzz-buzz" echo, making it quite noisy.

Many familiar figures walked the red carpet: Zheng Xiaolong, You Xiaogang, Ge You, Sun Li, Zhang Jiayi—mostly TV stars.

Movie stars were barely noticeable—for example, Da S, Liang Yongqi, Gao Bo; few people recognized them even when named.

The star power was far weaker than the Golden Horse Awards; apart from Ge You, there were hardly any king or queen-level figures.

But some heavyweight figures did show up, such as Zhang Huijun, Principal of Beijing Film Academy.

He was classmates with Lao Mouzi.

Looking around, all male guests wore a lotus-shaped flower on their chests—this was the venue's emblem, worn by every arriving male guest.

Female guests dressed flamboyantly, some even showing their chests, so they didn't need to wear one.

Liu Tianxian wore a dark green long dress, tall and slender, with a pale, radiant oval face—she looked dazzling and delicate.

She walked alone down the red carpet, waving to both sides; due to the noise, no one could hear what she was shouting.

At the end of the red carpet, she signed her name on the autograph wall, then entered through a side white door.

Inside, the venue was small, filled with many celebrities and stars—some chatted in small groups, others stood alone waiting.

The award ceremony had not yet begun.

Liu Tianxian peered around, as if searching for something; seeing Fang Hong inside chatting and smiling with several people, she pushed through the crowd and walked over.

Before arriving, Fang Hong had been separately summoned by the event organizers.

"Tianxian, come here."

Fang Hong saw Liu Tianxian approaching, waved, and introduced: "Principal Zhang, you should know him."

"Of course I know him."

Liu Tianxian bowed slightly and extended her hand to Zhang Huijun: "Principal, hello."

Zhang Huijun shook her hand lightly and laughed: "The girls from Beijing Film Academy are always beautiful and graceful, hahaha."

Everyone around chuckled.

"Principal, you flatter me—every girl from Beijing Film Academy is beautiful," Liu Tianxian replied politely.

Fang Hong introduced another: "Chairman Xia of the Zhejiang Television Association."

This award ceremony involved Zhejiang TV, and the hosts were Hua Shao and Yi Yi from Zhejiang.

"Hello."

Liu Tianxian bowed again and shook hands, showing great respect.

Fang Hong introduced several others: Macau officials—Director Cui, Councilor He, Tan Sijiang.

Liu Tianxian greeted each one in turn.

Also present were Director Zheng Xiaolong and Actor Ge You.

"I'm known to everyone, no need for introductions," Ge You joked.

He had once been with Huayi, but now worked for Emperor Entertainment; yet he had no personal grudge against Fang Hong.

And in such settings, proper greetings were still necessary.

They chatted casually, saying nothing substantial—after all, Fang Hong, as a major boss, was merely invited here to chat.

They were all in the film and television industry.

Any cooperation would be handled privately; nothing of the sort would be discussed here.

Other film and television stars, seeing this circle of officials gathered together, naturally wanted to join—but since they weren't invited, they didn't dare.

Seeing Liu Tianxian among them, many felt envy and jealousy—this clearly elevated her status.

When the time was right, the award ceremony began.

The seating was arranged in rows, not in tiered circles around the stage.

Each seat had a name tag on the back.

Fang Hong did not sit with the group of leaders; instead, he adjusted his seat and sat beside Liu Tianxian.

Not far ahead was the stage, behind which was a large screen.

(End of Chapter)