Chapter 279: Stubborn to the Bone

After the two finished negotiating and confirmed the matter, Fang Hong saw Liu Xiaoli out of the office.

It wasn't that Fang Hong had to have Red Star Bay's money or anything; he needed Red Star Bay to participate as well, the equivalent of the two sides joining forces, rather than Jade Rabbit going it alone.

If it were done that way, it would look like it was Jade Rabbit's own affair, as if you owed it to them.

Next time something comes up and they come to you, they'd think you owe them that too.

The point is, Fang Hong can help Liu Tianxian, but he can't help those people behind her—those people have nothing to do with Fang Hong.

Doing it this way both let Liu Xiaoli owe him a favor and brought Red Star Bay into it, showing it was a cooperative relationship rather than something Jade Rabbit was supposed to do.

To make the interest group led by her mother see reality clearly: Fang Hong is dating Liu Tianxian, and it has nothing to do with Red Star Bay.

Outside was a world of ice and snow, the road covered in accumulated snow. Fang Hong spoke up: "Auntie, let me drive you back!"

"No need, you go on with your work. Just this one thing—keep it in mind." Liu Xiaoli had her purse slung over her arm, a scarf wrapped around her neck, and gloves in her hand.

"Don't worry. Since I promised you, I'll definitely handle it properly." Fang Hong pulled open the Ferrari's car door for Liu Xiaoli.

"You go back in, it's cold outside, wear more clothes." Liu Xiaoli said a word of concern, then got in the car and gestured for him to go back.

Fang Hong had only thrown on an outer jacket before coming out; he hadn't worn much.

As the Ferrari drove off, Liu Xiaoli looked at the figure in the rearview mirror and sighed inwardly.

This boy draws the lines too clearly—treating Red Star Bay and her daughter as separate matters. What he meant in the later conversation was that he'd only help her daughter, not Red Star Bay.

Red Star Bay should pay what it owes, do what it should do. Those shareholders, that team—don't even think about moral blackmail or freeloading.

A man who does great things, not swayed by emotion!

In the past, Fang Hong had put too much weight on sentiment. Several times he helped Liu Tianxian suppress public opinion, and Red Star Bay didn't make a single move; her mother didn't show any reaction either.

As if it were simply what you were supposed to do, what you should be doing.

And he still had to put up with all kinds of restrictions from Liu Tianxian—"you can't do it this way" and the like.

So Fang Hong had wised up now. If it's going to be done, everyone does it together. If your Red Star Bay wants to calm things down, it has to bear the joint responsibility too.

Fang Hong returned to the office, sat down in the boss's chair, propped his head up with one hand, and gazed at the silver-clad world outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

He thought about how to handle this matter without being too extreme. This wasn't as simple as just posting photos—if someone behind the scenes wanted to fight, it wouldn't be that simple.

She called in Huang Bing from the Public Relations Department and gave him some instructions.

Every year the Public Relations Department allocated twenty million—that was a fixed expense. Whether or not there were marketing tasks, that money had to be spent.

The purpose was to maintain marketing channels and establish long-term cooperative relationships with major media and PR firms.

Not every film-and-television company and star was willing to shell out twenty million for long-term grooming; most only placed orders on an ad-hoc basis.

However, with the development of the times, that twenty million was no longer enough.

For additional publicity and PR work, naturally extra money had to be spent. When the three million from Red Star Bay came in, Huang Bing began planning this public-opinion reversal.

First, a set of photos was released showing Zeng being intimate with a man—shopping and dining together.

Indicating that Zeng liked men.

In the photos, the man's eyes were pixelated; a private citizen couldn't be shown carelessly, and the man's identity couldn't be exposed either.

If enemies found this person and got him to recant, what then!

Once this set of photos was released, because the channels had been paid for, it quickly sparked heated discussion online.

"Holy crap, this guy likes men!"

"Rumor has it the two dated for quite a while, the relationship was always good, very loving."

"Then what does Liu Tianxian count for?"

"She's just friends with Liu Tianxian, the kind of best-friend bond."

"So by that logic, both of their sexual orientations are normal."

"So complicated, what's actually going on? One moment it's said they're together, the next moment it's said neither of them has a problem."

"Zeng is trash, framing Liu Tianxian."

"."

Tieba, Q groups, Weibo, Qzone and other social media platforms were flooded everywhere with photos of Zeng dating a man.

It drove some netizens crazy—moments ago they were saying Zeng and Liu were together, and the next moment Zeng was exposed dating a man. Nobody knew what was going on.

To deepen the authenticity, a little essay was composed online: {This man's name is Zhu Yangang, they've been dating for a year. When the two were together they were actually very loving too; they never quarreled over small matters of daily life.

The two were usually very affectionate, happy every day, didn't have to think about many things at all, and the friends around them were very envious of them. }

This little essay was made up so convincingly it even claimed this man was also from Hunan, with a full background fabricated.

As if such a person really existed—more believable than the Liu Tianxian same-sex affair.

Even the media reported it, with headlines: "Zeng's New Romance Exposed, Just Friends With Liu Tianxian!

"Suspected Boyfriend of Zeng, Happy and Sweet!

The entire direction of public opinion was: Zeng's orientation is normal, the incident has nothing to do with Liu Tianxian, and Liu Tianxian seemed to be the one standing apart from it all.

This both "straightened out" Liu Tianxian and "straightened out" Zeng, and steered public opinion toward the two being just good friends, not what the outside world imagined.

As long as Zeng isn't same-sex, then Liu isn't same-sex—deal with the person who has a problem and that's enough.

This way of handling things made Liu Xiaoli very satisfied. As she put it, it's still young Fang who knows how to handle such matters; if she had handled it, it would have been new gossip piled on old gossip.

Yet Liu Tianxian, looking at the tearful messages Zeng sent over—saying she had been secretly photographed, was being cursed at online, and was heartbroken and miserable—

—and saying that if she knew who was harming her, she'd make the other party pay. Liu Tianxian comforted her a couple of sentences, looked at the information online, and realized these exposé photos were very familiar—they were exactly the photos Fang Hong had given her.

She immediately knew this was Fang Hong's doing, and very unhappily made a phone call to Fang Hong.

"Didn't I already say it? She's my friend. How is spreading rumors about her any different from those people spreading rumors about me? Do you have any idea how hurtful this is?" Liu Tianxian's tone was stern.

"If you don't hurt others, does that mean others won't hurt you? I've already been very gentle about it." Fang Hong defended himself.

"You're always like this, acting on your own without even discussing it with me. What do you take me for?"

"I'm doing this for your own good."

Liu Tianxian didn't wait to hear more—she hung up the call. This man had no respect for her thoughts.

He always claimed it was for her good, yet constantly did shady things.

She had always hoped he would be an upright, good person, never dirtying his hands—but he never listened.

Fang Hong saw the call was hung up, so he called again. Before the "beep" even sounded twice, the call was cut off again.

He called several more times; before it could ring, the call was cut off—he wasn't even allowed to explain.

"That damn woman, so stubborn it's unbearable," Fang Hong cursed under his breath.

Looks like he could only rely on his mother-in-law now.

Online public opinion was reversing; the rumors about Liu Tianxian being a lesbian had sharply faded.

People gradually stopped discussing whether Liu Tianxian was a lesbian.

Instead, they began discussing whether Zeng even had a boyfriend, and whether his orientation was normal.

If he was normal, then Liu Tianxian had been misunderstood.

Just as public opinion in the entertainment circle was turning, on December 20, "CZ12" premiered, earning 44.04 million yuan on its first day.

With such a box office opening, it was already very impressive; "Lost in Thailand" was affected, earning only 36.13 million yuan.

But worse off was "The Last Tycoon"—on December 21, its first-day box office was only 5.05 million yuan, and it flopped outright.

Even if the next two days were weekends, its box office wouldn't reach ten million; its failure was sealed. Hong Kong's filmmakers were useless.

Fa Ge was confirmed as a box office poison!

Wang Jin was confirmed as the king of bad films!

Such box office performance declared "The Last Tycoon" out of the race—and Bona out as well.

Seeing his film flop, Yu Pangzi reappeared to seek attention, analyzing everything from society's desire for entertainment, to the national economy, to film censorship and management.

He tried to make excuses for his film's failure, but no one cared—a failure, who would care?

Actors and directors got their paychecks and didn't have to worry about anything—the investors were the ones who lost money.

If Fa Ge, Hong Pangzi, and others had been paid market rates, this film would have lost money—it didn't turn a profit.

The copyright couldn't even sell for much.

Now, the New Year Slot was a battle between "CZ12" and "Lost in Thailand."

All other messy films like "Back to 1942," "The Last Supper," and "The Last Tycoon" were completely out.

Yet "CZ12" didn't affect "Lost in Thailand"'s box office—on the 22nd, "Lost in Thailand"'s box office surged again to 72.91 million yuan.

"CZ12" earned 69.21 million yuan, about three million less than "Lost in Thailand."

On the 23rd, "Lost in Thailand" earned 67.41 million yuan; "CZ12" earned 58.92 million yuan—the two films were separated by about ten million yuan.

After that, "Lost in Thailand" kept pushing down "CZ12," with the gap only a few million yuan.

Even if it was only pushing by a few million, it was still pushing—every extra cent was a victory!

Amid the box office battle between the two films, some online commentators began spreading rumors and stirring up noise.

They claimed "Lost in Thailand" was trampling on Xing Ye and Fang Long; they also claimed audiences couldn't get tickets to "Lost in Thailand," so they bought tickets to "CZ12" instead.

Basically, all kinds of mudslinging.

Fang Long and Xu Guangtou had no choice but to speak up—one said his elder brother was someone he respected; the other said "Lost in Thailand" had created a miracle.

On the surface, they were cordial—but behind the scenes, they still fought as fiercely as ever. That was the norm in the entertainment circle.

When two strong forces clashed, how could there be no infighting?

People's Daily Online reported that "Lost in Thailand"'s box office had surpassed 800 million yuan, with audience attendance breaking the 20 million mark.

With its current box office performance, breaking the record for the highest-grossing Chinese film was certain—it might even surpass one billion yuan!

The previous record holder was "Lucy," but that film's record was artificially inflated—it took several hundred million yuan in fake ticket sales to achieve it.

But "Lost in Thailand" had the potential to surpass "Avatar"'s record, a deeply encouraging development for Chinese cinema.

It meant domestic films could stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood in their own home market.

Additionally, "Lost in Thailand"'s success had infinitely inflated the valuation of Rabbit Ticket, since this film involved Rabbit Ticket in its distribution.

At a one-billion-yuan box office, with a 3% distribution share, Rabbit Ticket could earn 30 million yuan.

Coincidentally, December 31 was Rabbit Ticket's fundraising day.

Choosing this day for fundraising was deliberate—"Now You See Me" was distributed by Rabbit Ticket, and rumors claimed it would premiere on February 10, 2013.

That meant Rabbit Ticket now had money, its valuation had been inflated, and it could launch large-scale ticket subsidies.

This forced investors like Huayi and Alibaba to respond; Xing Ye was also tense, for seeing "Lost in Thailand" about to surpass one billion yuan, at a 45% share, meant 450 million yuan in revenue.

Such massive profits—how could anyone not be tempted?

(End of Chapter)