Chapter 45: Let Him Rest Easy

Yesterday, Yu Shaoqun ate nothing but one meal, suspected someone had slipped laxatives into his food, so he reported it to the production team leadership; the team conducted an all-night investigation and finally caught the culprit.

The police took the man away early that morning.

Fang Hong didn't know about this, because he wasn't part of the production team—no one informed him, and no one told him.

But Liu Tianxian knew; Yu Shaoqun had told her and explained why he couldn't shoot the scenes.

That's why she had told Fang Hong to leave quickly that morning—to stop him from harming others, and also to stop him from harming himself.

"We shouldn't make a big fuss; it would look bad if it got out," Liu Tianxian said.

"I suspect someone instigated it—I want to find out who," Yu Shaoqun felt resentful inside.

Who was targeting him? Why would someone randomly slip laxatives into his food? It made no sense!

"Don't overthink it—who would instigate it? Probably the guy didn't mean to. Let's let it go, it's just diarrhea—you're fine, but he lost his job."

Liu Tianxian spoke as if it were nothing.

"But—"

Yu Shaoqun wanted to say something, but Liu Tianxian cut him off: "Don't be so petty—you're a man, be generous. Listen to me, let it go!"

"Fine, I won't make things hard for him!" Yu Shaoqun gave in and dropped the matter.

If Liu Tianxian kept talking, it felt like he was the one in the wrong.

What could he do? He liked her—everything she said made sense!

Liu Tianxian also sighed in relief; she still had to clean up after that man's mess!

It was as if Fang Hong were the only villain in this incident.

But Liu Tianxian understood the man's intentions—and what he was trying to do.

Being liked was a good thing—it showed she had charm—but Fang Hong was different from any other man: he was capable, and his mind was deep.

He was doing things for her without regard for principles!

This filled her with pressure, yet also brought her comfort—a man had gone to such lengths for her, all because of a single "kiss."

It was truly undeniable, deeply warming; she felt cared for, and she enjoyed that feeling.

But for such a smart, strong-willed person to abandon his principles for her—it made her feel guilty.

In truth, she did have a little fondness for Fang Hong.

Liu Tianxian found Director Ye Weixin, saw him giving instructions to someone, and didn't approach.

Ye Weixin noticed and called out: "Yifei, what do you want?"

"Director Ye, I'd like to use a stunt double for my next kissing scene," Liu Tianxian stepped forward and said.

"Huh? You shot it fine yesterday," Ye Weixin was puzzled—why had she changed her mind overnight?

"I just feel I'm still not comfortable," Liu Tianxian explained.

"Did that man give you psychological trauma? Don't worry—I won't use him again," Ye Weixin assured her.

Previously, this girl never used stunt doubles and was always cooperative; now she wanted one, leaving him baffled.

"No, it's just that I feel it's not right—it's my own issue. Please accommodate me," Liu Tianxian said.

"I see," Ye Weixin murmured, then nodded. "Alright, I'll find you a stunt double."

It wasn't a big deal!

What Fang Hong had struggled desperately to resolve, Liu Tianxian solved with a single sentence.

In truth, Liu Tianxian didn't know why she did it—perhaps to let that man rest easy!

After Liu Tianxian left, Ye Weixin continued giving instructions: "The laxative incident ends here—don't let it spread."

Their production team wasn't clean; they didn't want to stir up trouble—making a fuss might expose hidden dirt.

As for the reasons—no need to elaborate!

…

For these past few days, media condemnation of Those Years had been relentless, yet it did nothing to halt its screenings.

As long as a film passed censorship and didn't involve ideology, any movie glorifying suffering was fine—the authorities wouldn't interfere.

Besides, saying it's plagiarism isn't enough—you need a ruling first; until then, it's just noise.

Wangyi were also loudly commenting online.

"Never thought it was plagiarism—honestly, it's a hundred times better than Love Notification; Liu Tianxian was portrayed perfectly—I'm a fan!"

"Love Notification was just a thesis defense; Those Years is forever the god."

"I cried—I really hope Liu Tianxian and that man end up together!"

"I love this couple—why didn't they get together? Why?! So disappointing!"

"Plagiarism is shameful—boycott Those Years!"

"Who cares if it's plagiarism? I never read the original!"

"I watched the movie first, then read the novel—besides the youth theme, I didn't see many plot points from the book; it's all about chasing girls. The novel describes life in Hong Kong and Taiwan; the movie depicts life in mainland China."

"Right, many scenes are different—for example, there's a character named Xu Bochun in the novel, but he's not in the movie."

"."

Wangyi were passionately discussing online—some accusing plagiarism, some fanning the couple's romance, others comparing the movie and novel.

The buzz was intense—Weibo, Tieba, forums, Qzone—all were abuzz with this topic.

This wasn't paid promotion—it was organic. Chen Zhixi had already spent all her money; the rest came from the movie itself.

Yet in direct opposition to the Wangyi were mainstream media's criticisms—even some screenwriters and filmmakers came out condemning plagiarism as shameful; it was all very lively!

It was picking the softest targets—they didn't even know who this "Principal" was, had never heard the name.

And since the movie was currently so hot, why not ride the wave? No loss either way!

Of course, no one with a real name would come out to criticize—anyone with a name would just be giving Fang Hong more publicity; no big shot would be that foolish—he's clearly doing this for publicity.

Besides, fighting against such a petty person would lower one's status.

Only Wang Laoer would be that foolish!

They can only secretly buy Publicity Drafts to insult the Principal as a literary thief.

Under such circumstances, the sixth-day box office of Those Years was halved to 14.09 million.

This wasn't due to the backlash causing a box office collapse, but because Valentine's Day was naturally the peak period for couples going to the movies.

It was equivalent to front-loading the box office onto that single day.

Like Love Message, which earned 31.87 million on its eighth day but plummeted to just over a million immediately after Valentine's Day.

The box office performance in the following days grew worse, dropping below seven figures to only hundreds of thousands—such a performance made breaking 40 million virtually impossible!

There was nothing to be done; the competition was too powerful!

Love Message had already been declared out of the race, beyond saving.

This film had invested 35 million and was in a loss state.

His debut film ended in disastrous failure, he was manipulated and deceived, and even bringing in so many Hong Kong and Taiwan artists didn't help—Wang Laoer was exhausted and told the media: "I'm tired, I need a rest!"

The film industry is too treacherous; I can't afford to play this game!

Although the movie lost money, he could recoup it through MVs and singing.

After Those Years' seventh-day box office dropped to 10.78 million, its total box office broke 80 million.

This completed the tiered agreement with China Film Group, advancing to another tier, with the profit-sharing ratio reduced to 8%.

Primarily because from this day on, pirated versions had begun appearing online—box office decline was inevitable.

This is also why movies in this era always exploded in the first few days but then faded quickly.

(End of Chapter)