Chapter 31

This question left Liu Tianxian bewildered—she hadn't filmed any kissing scenes in this movie, so where had this rumor come from?

Wang Laoer beside her was equally confused.

Liu Tianxian replied: "Uh, we were originally going to film it, but we thought it was unnecessary and dropped it."

The reporter asked: "We've noticed online rumors claiming you gave your cinematic first kiss in this movie—isn't this the film?"

Liu Tianxian looked at Wang Laoer; he, too, was clueless—he hadn't promoted this at all!

"You must be mistaken—it's not me," Liu Tianxian explained.

The reporter insisted: "It's definitely you—the poster's already out, and it says release date August 12, and it's all over the internet. Didn't you see it?"

"No, I've been busy these past few weeks, constantly filming, no time to go online," Liu Tianxian shook her head.

Even now, she had no idea what was going on, and hadn't connected it to Fang Hong's movie—only two months had passed since filming wrapped, and this was too fast!

Besides, Fang Hong hadn't notified her that The Years was going to be promoted.

In her mind, the Propaganda Department should have reached out to her for cooperation—but she'd heard nothing.

Wang Laoer didn't know the situation either, but he stayed silent, listening—he needed to understand what was happening!

The fact that the person involved didn't even know meant the reporter realized this might be a major story.

He pressed further: "We've learned from the poster that you're kissing a man intensely, looking utterly delighted—can you share details with us?"

Liu Tianxian flushed; could they please not phrase it so bluntly? She pushed the microphone away: "I don't even know the situation yet—I'll look into it and get back to you!"

The reporter wouldn't let up: "Who is that man? Have you filmed another movie? Are the two films clashing?"

The reporter's rapid-fire questions gave Liu Tianxian a headache—without knowing the facts, she dared not speak carelessly.

Besides, this was the promotional event for Love Announcement—how could she mention another film here?

She pushed the microphone again and walked toward the side corridor; her security guards blocked the persistent reporters.

The reporter had no choice but to turn to Wang Laoer: "Director Wang, do you know anything about this? Can you tell us?"

Wang Laoer knew nothing—he shoved the reporter's microphone aside and followed Liu Tianxian's footsteps.

The reporter tried to follow but was stopped by security.

In the dressing room, the Assistant handed Liu Tianxian a tablet showing an image.

The Apple iPad had already been released!

"Sister, look—this is the poster."

Liu Tianxian said nothing, only took a deep breath—she instantly recognized the man kissing her on the poster: Fang Hong.

And this movie was The Years!

Though both figures were shown in profile, Liu Tianxian's face was unmistakable.

The poster was fresh and beautiful, truly evoking imagination!

At this moment, Wang Laoer finally understood the situation.

Online, everyone was discussing Liu Tianxian's "cinematic first kiss"—even the comments under their own Publicity Draft were about it.

"Was Liu Tianxian kissed in this movie?"

"Ah, did they kiss? The poster doesn't look like it!"

"The two movies have different titles, but they're scheduled for the same release date."

"FYI: The one with the kiss is The Years; the one without is Love Announcement."

"."

Aside from Wang Laoer's own fans, almost no one discussed his movie—the focus had completely shifted!

All their exhausting efforts had been outdone by a single poster, which had ridden the trend like wildfire.

He didn't know that those explanatory posts had been posted by Water Army hired by Chen Zhixi.

Riding the trend was one thing, but they needed to clearly differentiate the films—otherwise, Wangyi wouldn't know which one to watch.

"Yifei, why did you schedule your movie for the same day as Houlung's? Isn't that direct competition?" Wang Laoer was anxious, coming over to ask.

This movie had cost 35 million, and drained his entire network—he couldn't afford to lose!

"I didn't set the date—I'm just an actress," Liu Tianxian explained.

"But if you're using your cinematic first kiss as publicity, our promotion is going to be extremely difficult!" Wang Laoer said.

Liu Tianxian said nothing—she hadn't expected that man to pull this move and drag them all into it.

She suspected that when he'd voluntarily offered to help her avoid filming the kiss scene, he'd already planned this.

The span of six months—his mind was deeply calculating!

"Talk to them and get them to reschedule—this will hurt both sides," Wang Laoer added.

He still didn't know the movie was Fang Hong's—he couldn't make out the faces clearly, and had little memory of Fang Hong.

Just some nobody—he'd forgotten him long ago!

Liu Tianxian pulled out her phone and called Fang Hong; the call connected quickly.

"Hello, Yifei, I was just about to call you—didn't expect you to call first, what a coincidence!" Fang Hong's deep voice came through the line.

In truth, he hadn't planned to call Liu Tianxian—but he knew why she was calling, so he said this.

Wang Laoer frowned—this voice sounded strangely familiar.

Liu Tianxian asked: "Why did you schedule your movie for the same day as Houlung's?"

"Oh, I was just about to tell you—I figured, since you're the lead in both, we could help each other out: you promote mine, I promote yours," Fang Hong said smoothly.

This left Liu Tianxian speechless; she replied: "You should've told me first—I was completely blindsided by the reporters."

"I was going to tell you, but I was just too busy—this is the first chance I had to call, and you called right away," Fang Hong said again.

Liu Tianxian looked at Wang Laoer—what did he think?

In truth, Liu Tianxian didn't mind helping each other promote—after all, she was the female lead in both, she lost nothing, and she'd even save time by skipping extra promotional tours.

"Can you adjust your schedule? Competing like this is bad for both of us." Wang Laoer picked up the thread.

"Wang Laoer, that's a tough one to arrange!" Fang Hong hadn't expected this person to be right there.

Wang Laoer, hearing his full name called out from the other end, immediately recalled — that tone was just too much like the one from back when he was at China Film Group.

He blurted out: "Is that you, Fang Hong?"

"Guilty as charged, that's me indeed!" Fang Hong said.

That flippant tone made Wang Laoer fume all over, and he asked: "Did you set your film on the same day as mine on purpose?"

He wasn't entirely confident going head-to-head with Fang Hong, because he knew the other's filmmaking level.

"What kind of talk is that? It's just a coincidence. I had no idea which day you'd picked; I only found out recently."

Fang Hong played dumb, then said regretfully: "Then it's Yifei's fault. Yifei, what am I to say to you — why didn't you tell me sooner? I could've changed the schedule in advance. Look at the mess this has turned into. Sigh."

"And you're blaming me?"

Liu Tianxian was also fuming — that wasn't what he'd said just now; just now it had sounded perfectly nice!

"Not blaming you, not blaming you, no one's to blame — fate, can only call it fate." Fang Hong pushed it all aside with a clean sweep!

Wang Laoer didn't believe a word of this guy's nonsense. The other couldn't possibly not know which day he'd picked — that day at China Film Group, everyone was there!

He felt this was pure revenge — revenge for not being allowed to put his name on it back then.

He shouted into the phone: "What good does doing this do you?"

"That's just how we do things!" Fang Hong wasn't about to back down either.

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(End of chapter)