Chapter 404: The More Successful, The More Hardships

That evening, Yu Tu and the others had a meal, then returned; Liu Tianxian told Fang Hong to be careful on the way, and boarded a flight to another city.

Since "The Four Great Constables 2" is set to release on December 6, less than half a month away, Liu Tianxian won't return to Beijing—she must hurry to assist with the movie's propaganda.

This was a signed contract; she must fulfill her obligations.

Although she now knows this film will harm her reputation, it's still her own work, and she must see it through properly.

So she treated it equally, giving it her full effort in promotion.

Since Liu Tianxian didn't win the Golden Horse, her fans felt sorry for her, leaving comments on Weibo urging her to "keep going" and "next time."

She still had a loyal fanbase.

Of course, there were also many Heizi who criticized her, saying she was just a filler, a token also-ran, and had no business even being nominated for Best Actress.

It was normal—where there were fans, there were haters; sometimes the haters were even more devoted and attentive than the fans.

After Fang Hong returned to Beijing, he continued his routine tasks as usual.

The video of him confronting Cai Yongkang at the Golden Horse Awards was released—it was a live broadcast, impossible to hide.

Even if it wasn't broadcast in Neidi, some parts of Southeast Asia aired it; now with the internet, it spread easily.

Online, Wangyi who saw it launched fierce criticism against Cai Yongkang; both foreign and domestic netizens were insulting him—he had social media accounts.

"You're a two-faced person."

"Always bragging about your high EQ—how could a person with real EQ say something so insensitive in this setting? Use your brain."

"You're overinterpreting—he was just talking about an individual."

"Someone's even whitewashing this—look at their expressions: Liu Tianwang looked awkward, Li An looked deeply concerned—doesn't that say it all?"

"Trash Golden Horse Awards, trash platform."

"."

Online, there was a storm of condemnation, though some did whitewash it—normal enough.

More people praised Fang Hong for speaking out well—that kind of person deserved to be shouted down, mercilessly.

Some said he went too far, lacked decorum!

In short, the internet had every kind of opinion—everyone voiced their own views.

But the situation now was different from later; this incident quickly faded and never became a massive public outcry.

Everything must be viewed in context—but this matter would one day be dug up and stirred again.

This year's New Year Slot arrived as scheduled; the first film released was "Drug War," hitting theaters on November 29, starring Liu Qingyun, Zhang Jiahui, and Gu Tianle.

Its opening day box office was decent, reaching over 20 million; the second day jumped to over 30 million; the third day stabilized; the fourth day collapsed, dropping to just over 10 million.

Nowadays, films are like this—only the first two days draw interest from novelty; after that, they crash completely, lacking any freshness.

Then on December 3 came "No Man's Land," a film rumored to have been shelved for years and revised multiple times before release.

Its box office was similar to "Drug War."

On December 6, "The Four Great Constables 2" opened; even though Liu Tianxian's reputation had recovered somewhat, she still couldn't carry a bad film.

The first day's box office was okay, the second day spiked briefly, the third day stabilized, the fourth day collapsed outright.

Just like the previous one, the film was called: "Trash," "Dog shit," "Garbage!"

Liu Tianxian was also scolded by audiences: "Why are you useless without Principal? Even if it's like 'Now You See Me,' at least make us enjoy it—what is this trash?"

"Thought it'd be good, turned out to be a pile of crap—so disappointing, you liar."

"You make one good film, then reward yourself with a bad one—I'm done watching your movies."

"It's just luring people in to kill them!"

"Goddess, please stop working with Guangxian—can't you just do Yu Tu's films?"

"."

Liu Tianxian was once again flooded with audience criticism; everywhere online, people were attacking her—while Deng Chao, Zhou Zhaolong, Jiang Jianzhu, and Chen Jiashang rarely faced any backlash.

It was unbearable, but normal—who else would be held to such high expectations? Like a novel that starts brilliantly, then suddenly feeds the reader garbage—who could take it?

Liu Tianxian felt deeply upset; she didn't want this—these films were signed up for two years ago, shot early last year—who could have predicted this?

Back then, just having a film to shoot was enough.

Who knew that in two or three years, her acting career would undergo a complete transformation?

There was still one more film left—she had to endure it.

She called Fang Hong for comfort; he said: "Which actor hasn't made a few bad films? Look at Zhang Manyu, Gong Li—they've made bad ones too. Did it stop them from becoming legends? No—it proves your path has been full of hardship."

"When you become a legend someday, you can brag to others: 'Back then, how hard it was for me, what obstacles I overcame.'"

"I'm telling you—the more successful you are, the more ups and downs you need in your history; otherwise, people won't sympathize or understand you!"

"Everything you say sounds so nice," Liu Tianxian said.

Her mood had been gloomy, but hearing him speak, it lifted instantly—someone was always supporting her.

Whether in hardship or adversity, they quietly stood by her.

"It's not a big deal—get through this wave, it's just one film. Next time, pick scripts more carefully," Fang Hong said.

"Mm!" Liu Tianxian nodded—now she had choices; before, she didn't. All Yu Tu's scripts were open to her!

"Are you free on the 12th?" Fang Hong asked.

"I can clear one day—is there something?" Liu Tianxian asked.

"Didn't I tell you before? I'm attending CCTV's Economic Person of the Year—you're coming with me," Fang Hong said.

"Alright, I'll be back that day," Liu Tianxian agreed.

This month was packed with events—various activities; both were busy, but no matter how hectic, if one asked, the other would accompany them.

Just like Fang Hong didn't care about film awards, he still accompanied Liu Tianxian to them.

Just as film-related public opinion was raging everywhere, on December 9, "Beijing Love Story" was released.

The first day's box office reached 101 million yuan, truly describable as terrifyingly impressive.

Upon release, this film slashed the box office of earlier releases such as The Four Great Constables 2, Drug War, and No Man's Land.

The most brutal slashing was against The Four Great Constables 2, because its release date was close, while other films had already been screening for several days and had already bled out their earnings.

If not for Liu Tianxian's favor, North Love would have premiered on the same day as The Four Great Constables 2.

There was no choice—if it didn't release now, it would clash with Dad Where Are We Going; it had to come out earlier.

North Love's success stemmed from the TV series' existing popularity, plus Chen Zhixi's management, positioning it as a mass-market romance.

While not abandoning elderly emotions, it targeted Gen Z audiences; in Chen Zhixi's view, without Gen Z's support, the film market would lose half its territory.

This group favored online platforms, so focusing on new media promotion was clearly successful.

But in the following days, the collapse was inevitable: the second day dropped to just over 40 million, the third to just over 30 million, and the fourth to only 20 million.

Like other films, it collapsed all the way down.

But the first day was truly powerful—clearly, Gen Z couldn't carry "half the territory," only deliver a burst.

Also, North Love was a terrible film, savaged mercilessly by audiences.

Critics called it: "A melodramatic, pretentious romance film, the favorite of clueless youths."

"Elementary school students couldn't control themselves watching it—perverted views of love."

"I've never seen such a terrible script in my life—does this plagiarism-riddled mess even deserve to be called a film?"

"It's not enough to pile up clichéd stories and call them related; true cinema is tightly woven. Sicheng, go back and act properly!"

"."

All the criticism left Chen Sicheng deeply discouraged.

His first self-written, self-directed film met with so much backlash—he still hadn't stabilized his mindset.

"It's normal for a first film," Chen Zhixi encouraged him. "Next time will be better."

They were close friends.

Chen Sicheng had someone to accompany and comfort him.

As long as the film made money, it was fine—invested at 38 million yuan, it was definitely profitable; it nearly recouped its costs on day one, giving Chen Sicheng some comfort.

On December 12, Storm was released, starring Liu Tianwang; this film faced nearly the same situation as the previous ones.

The first few days' box office was decent, but it collapsed on the fourth day.

In this timeline, the film market was disrupted by Yutu's interference; New Year Slot box office was generally lower than in the previous life.

The market was only so big—North Love sucked up one or two hundred million at once; who could withstand that?

Earlier released films had been relatively restrained; behind the scenes, there were surely sabotage attempts, but all had avoided scheduling conflicts, minimizing competition.

Then came direct confrontation: Dad Where Are We Going was set to release on December 19, on the same day as Personalized Booking.

Choosing this date wasn't just about targeting—it was because the 20th was exactly the eleventh episode of Dad Where Are We Going, bringing a super surge of buzz.

And the twelfth and final episode would air on the 27th, after Christmas and before New Year's, another super surge of buzz.

After all, it was the final episode—by then, the buzz would be overwhelming, perfect for harvesting.

Currently, the Variety show's viewership had already reached 4.98%, just shy of 5%.

Moreover, this film required almost no promotion—during the Variety broadcast, just saying "a film releases on December 19" was enough; audiences naturally understood.

Chang'e Video also mentioned it during broadcasts, and the buzz rose instantly—simple as that.

This made Hua Yi and Fang Long suffer greatly; the Principal just did this—no consultation, just directly inserted his film.

Others, when releasing a film, would call to coordinate and avoid clashing by a few days; the Principal didn't—he'd pick the same date as yours, just to provoke.

Every year at this time, they suffered terribly!

Fang Long had a film, Police Story 2013, funded by Wanda and Xingguang, made specifically for Jing Tian, set to release on the 24th.

Also on December 12, CCTV's Annual Economic Personage Awards ceremony was held at Big Pants.

(End of Chapter)