Chapter 410: Sitting Back to Watch the Storm

For a time, "Personal Custom-Made Money-Grab" even trended on the hot search—of course, it was bought up there with money.

This move caught Hua Yi and Feng Kuzi's side completely off guard. Feng Kuzi had no choice but to point at the building across the way on the 18th floor and curse: "CNM, why don't you go to hell."

He was standing by the window, pointing at the Jade Rabbit building as he cursed. Jade Rabbit was right across from them, and he had long since sent people to inquire—the Principal was on the 18th floor.

This label dealt a heavy blow to his reputation.

Fang Hong was using binoculars to look at the Hua Yi building, the corners of his mouth curling up involuntarily. He loved watching them flustered and furious.

All they could do was curse; they had no way to stop being labeled with "money-grab."

Common folk hate money-grabbing the most, and so do audiences. From now on, when Feng Kuzi makes movies, he'll fall from his pedestal—box office won't be too high, and Hua Yi will weaken along with him.

Hua Yi was propped up by Feng Kuzi in the first place. With this film's poor box office, their stock price dropped again.

Who knows if, with Fang Hong around in this life, their market cap can still reach eighty or ninety billion at most.

Now Hua Yi has already pivoted into other things—mobile games, real estate, these things—diversifying its development, knowing its own shortcomings.

People in the entertainment and film circles were all watching the show. When the Principal strikes, he strikes with precision and ruthlessness. You can curse him ten times, and all he needs to do is slap two characters on you: "money-grab."

Some couldn't help sighing: "The two giants are at it again."

"A good show every year—why complain?"

"I'd rather they keep fighting forever. That way we can play both sides. When the big boss and second boss fight, the shrimp are the most comfortable."

"If the day really comes when one of them takes the other down, then we have no choice—we get slaughtered!"

If one suddenly falls, it will inevitably devour the other side's share and resources. Right now both are at their peak; neither is in decline.

If Jade Rabbit falls, all those outstanding production talents it leaves behind—Best Special Effects, Animation Department—will be carved up by the market. Hua Yi definitely can't swallow them all.

They'll be carved up by companies like Bona, Enlight, Wanda Pictures, and so on.

Directors like Chen Sicheng, Guo Fan, Lu Yang, Wang Ran, and Wen Muye, who have proven their track records, will be invited by other companies to make films.

And the behind-the-scenes talents who've already shone—cinematographer Liu Yin, art director Li Anran, editor Tu Yiran, special effects artist Chen Xiuwei—will be carved up too.

Senior executives like Chen Zhixi, Yao Qi, Shi Zhimao, Meng Jun, and Huang Bing will either start their own businesses or be welcomed as honored guests.

Fang Hong has already reshaped the landscape of the Chinese-language film market and cultivated too many talents. If divided up, it would be enough to send every major company's strength soaring.

Right now they still have a choice. Once one falls and the other unifies the market, there'll be no choice left.

Of course, some hope Jade Rabbit wins—they don't want to be double-crossed, it's too disgusting. Jade Rabbit is much cleaner.

Amid this atmosphere, Dad Where Are We Going hit theaters. The moment it was released, it pulled in 94.31 million on its first day, nearly breaking 100 million—absolutely terrifying.

It already had an overwhelming wave of buzz, and with Personal Custom-Made being called a money-grab, audiences just wanted to see what Dad Where Are We Going was about.

They didn't expect this one to be just as bad—in fact, even worse than Personal Custom-Made.

The audience felt like they'd been force-fed shit, getting screwed from both sides.

"Damn it, paying money to eat shit from both ends, fuck!" some audience members cursed.

Dad Where Are We Going's release inevitably squeezed Personal Custom-Made's box office, which only got 42.66 million.

Feng Kuzi finally found his opening and went all out: "The people who invested in this film are nothing but a cancer—they lack any basic respect for the art of cinema."

"And they still have the nerve to call me a money-grabber? Look at Dad Where Are We Going—is that even a movie? It's obviously harvesting leeks."

"A muddled crew making a muddled film for muddled audiences."

"."

Feng Kuzi went on a furious tirade at every kind of occasion and on Weibo—not only cursing the director and the investors, but also the audience, and not sparing media big Vs and film critics either.

A film critic said of his film: "A sketch-style hodgepodge with stale gags."

That was a real review, and Feng Kuzi couldn't take it. He furiously fired back:

"A bunch of self-righteous people, waving the banner of 'I won't accept criticism,' trying to gag me. Who says you can denounce and launch frenzied attacks on me, but I'm not allowed to talk back? Do you represent the truth? Have you seen your own true nature?

And they still pretend to have democratic ideals every damn day, claiming to defend the right to speak. Tear off your masks and show your cultural-Nazi faces already—just like the Principal's Nazi face."

Feng Kuzi was furious—he'd never been this angry before. Looks like Fang Hong really hit his sore spot, blocking him from making money.

The reason was simple: he was running out of ideas. If his comedy style stopped being accepted by audiences, he'd find it very hard to make money-grabbing works in the future.

Art films don't make box office, comedy films no one watches—what do you expect him to do?

People like Wang Shuo won't be writing for him anymore. In truth, his comedy films have been living off Wang Shuo's old material for over a decade. He himself knows he's hit the end of that road.

Later he wanted to ride the Mobile 2 wave, but everyone knows how that turned out.

You can imagine—this is a cornered dog jumping a wall, he's truly desperate.

While Feng Kuzi kept firing off and no one paid him any attention, the next day Dad Where Are We Going pulled in 85.50 million. It had dropped, but not by much—it could still hold steady.

Personal Custom-Made got 69.20 million, climbing back up.

Looks like Feng Kuzi's ranting actually worked—after all, the heat was high, and it was the weekend.

But the next day it dropped again, to 51 million; after the fifth day, once the weekend passed, the box office collapsed outright, only 22.84 million.

Feng Kuzi got anxious again and started ranting once more, like a machine gun. No matter what he sprayed, no one paid him any attention.

Dad Where Are We Going was also dropping—76.51 million and 67.37 million over the weekend, then 62.86 million after the weekend passed. It showed a slow-declining trend. No choice—even if it wasn't a real movie, the heat was genuinely fierce, and it was still a family-friendly film.

As this film had been out for a few days, a super-high controversy raged online, growing ever more intense. Combined with Feng Kuzi's ranting, the buzz grew even higher, and the controversy rose and fell in waves.

"Film Dad Where Are We Going finished shooting in 5 days, drawing doubts: Chinese cinema is beyond saving!"

"Dad Where Are We Going tickets hard to come by—will Chinese cinema be destroyed by it?"

"."

The voices of doubt from media and audiences were many. Not only was the film being cursed, the variety show was also being roasted online. Not only did media curse it, even some well-known film personalities voiced criticism.

The Chairman of Zhu Jiang Film stated: "The film market actually has to rely on a TV show to feed itself—this shows that Hua Guo's film industry itself has gotten so bad it can no longer meet market demand."

The distribution manager of LeTV Pictures stated: "Excellent domestic animation was forced off the release schedule, while a 5-day rush-job trash film runs rampant in the market. A culturally subversive trash film keeps breaking records—the original meaning of cinema has been lost."

The people cursing this time held high status and had even greater influence. They were green with envy—the film made too much money.

Think about it: shot in a week, completed and released in a month, and still pulled in several hundred million at the box office. Who wouldn't be green with envy at that speed and result?

That is, casually making hundreds of millions in a single month.

The films shot over the past year or two had no one nitpicking them, but doing it this way is a complete dimensional reduction attack, setting a very bad precedent for the film industry.

Even the president of the Film Critics Society came out to say: "If bad films get high box office while recognized good films have none, and this continues, it is a tragedy for the film industry. There is no reason to blindly cheer for unjustifiably high box office numbers — what matters more is vigilance and reflection!"

Professional scholars have entered the fray, but this was something Fang Hong and Chen Zhixi had long anticipated. This film was not led by Jade Rabbit, so it has nothing to do with Jade Rabbit.

Jade Rabbit is very calm, but that doesn't mean Tian Yu is calm. Dad Where Are We Going, whether film or Variety, has long been labeled with Mango TV's brand — they can't shake it off.

Now the internet is full of large-scale criticism, involving variety, film, television, audiences, media, scholars, peers, and every other level — the momentum is enormous.

This is still the result of Fang Hong muddying the waters earlier and pulling Feng Kuzi in to share the fire; otherwise the momentum would be even greater, because everyone would concentrate their cursing in one place.

After being furiously sprayed by Feng Kuzi, they held back. Now the General Manager of Tian Yu really can't hold back any longer and comes out to speak: "Film, as the earliest form of long video, has come time for redefinition — it is merely a form of entertainment, and this is only the beginning."

The meaning is: this is not a film, merely long video, long video projected onto the big screen.

These words were immediately rebutted: "Consuming innocence and family bonds, a victory for Chinese-style parents and the philistines — calling it long video occupying the cinema terminal sounds noble, but it's shameful!"

Speak up and get rebutted; the voices of denunciation are too loud. To quell the outside resentment, they had to find someone to take the blame — that person is Teng Huatao, one of the producers.

He said: "Being massively slandered was entirely expected, because you touched someone's cake, so there will certainly be some reviews born of humiliation and rage.

I don't care anymore. In fact, what I find particularly strange is: on what basis can some people claim to represent the film circle? Or rather, where exactly does their confidence come from when they say someone else's film is not a film?"

Once he spoke, all sorts of people once again stepped forward one after another to criticize him.

Too lively, and too chaotic. The release of the film Dad Where Are We Going has stirred up a storm across the city, causing an uproar.

Fang Hong sat watching the winds of change, commenting on the state of the empire.

Just as film-circle public opinion was reaching a fever pitch, another piece of news climbed onto the hot search: Zeng, due to failing to cooperate with inspection at the airport and insulting public officials.

Such news was especially explosive for a time, saying that as a public figure she utterly lacks artistic virtue and is wildly arrogant, and should be banned.

For a time Zeng faced verbal condemnation and written attacks, being furiously cursed by large numbers of Wangyi, nonstop.

Of course this was being deliberately guided by someone, the goal being to make her completely disgraced, completely disappear, so she could never come out and cause trouble again.

They don't have the ability to make a public figure disappear from the entertainment circle, but a lapse in private morality can silence a public figure — public figures are inherently sensitive and highly exposed.

Although the authorities won't explicitly say they're banning her, Zeng will not be able to appear in the entertainment circle again; after this there will be no more voice from her, equivalent to a forced concealment.

This was what Fang Hong and Long Danni had agreed on from the start: Dad Where Are We Go makes money, and she makes Zeng disappear.

Now Long Danni is fulfilling her promise, making her a tainted artist.

Liu Tianxian made no response to this matter, acting as if she neither heard nor asked.

While the outside world was in turmoil, a storm across the city, Liu Tianxian and Fang Hong were on their way to Macau to attend the Macau Film Festival.

She asked Fang Hong: "Was that your doing?"

"It has to do with me, but I didn't do it." Fang Hong admitted directly, without concealment.

"What kind of role did you play?" Liu Tianxian asked.

"A transactional role. I made a deal with Long Danni — I let her make money, she makes Zeng disappear. That's all there is to it." Fang Hong said.

"That's all there is to it? You say it so lightly." Liu Tianxian didn't even want to lecture him — he had ruined someone's future for no reason.

Of course she also knew Fang Hong did it because she would no longer be influenced by that person, so as not to affect her acting career. His heart was in the right place.

"If you want to blame me, then blame me. I'm mentally prepared." Fang Hong was very carefree and very decisive.

He knew that once this came out, it would certainly provoke Liu Tianxian's displeasure.

Seeing his indifferent attitude, Liu Tianxian turned her body sideways and ignored him, two nostrils exhaling heavily.

(End of chapter)