Chapter 83: The Battle for Survival

The office fell silent for a moment; Chen Zhixi had been listening closely, but when the man suddenly stopped speaking and started playing coy, she couldn't help it.

She urged: "Go on, why stop now?"

"Wait, want a cigar? I need to tell this properly." Fang Hong opened the cigar box.

"Give me one!"

Chen Zhixi sensed potential—his mention of leveraging momentum stirred her emotions.

They lit each other's cigars and began smoking.

"After working together this long, this is the first time I've seen you smoke," Chen Zhixi said, holding the cigar between two fingers, exuding a queenly aura.

"I only smoke now—it sharpens my thinking."

Fang Hong tapped off ash: "This is our first battle. To them, it means nothing—but for us, it's our fight for survival. It decides whether we earn money standing tall or on our knees."

Chen Zhixi nodded—it was true.

Even a draw would make the whole industry take notice.

To rise, you must fight; there's no such thing as peaceful ascent. Every competitive company climbed up through years of struggle.

In the office, a man and a woman smoked cigars, filling the air with smoke.

"Using feminism is just one part—we also need to promote Huayi, making feminism clash with them," Fang Hong said.

"How do you get feminism to clash with Huayi?" Chen Zhixi asked, puzzled.

"Paint them as villains—accuse them of stealing our box office!"

"So you mean we promote them… by promoting the claim that they stole our box office?" Chen Zhixi began to understand.

"Exactly!" Fang Hong said.

Chen Zhixi pondered—it was a counter-strategy, flipping the script to smear the opponent.

She said: "This is just like last time when you targeted Wang Laoer and sparked the plagiarism scandal—it's the same tactic, and it's meaningless. At best, you get some trending heat. Like you said before, controversy's good; it's silence you fear."

"No, there's a fundamental difference. Last time, they just insulted each other—we never said anything about Love in the Time of the Moon. The heat focused on us."

"This time is different. We must reverse their reputation, make them look evil, and position ourselves as the righteous side."

Fang Hong continued: "You must understand—they stole our box office. We're the victims. They're the villains. Female audiences hate the villains they perceive."

"Also, last time our film was high-quality. Do you really think If You Are the One 2 was good? It was just a money-grabbing ad movie."

Indeed, Those Years still held an 8/10 rating on Douban—its quality was exceptional.

"And who benefits most from blowing this up? Us. They're an IP film—IP films fear bad word-of-mouth most of all, because it kills their next installment's profit potential."

Fang Hong added: "One more thing—you must understand: we're targeting their entire company, not just one movie."

Chen Zhixi fell silent, thinking.

It made sense—it was about annoying the enemy and ruining their reputation.

By tarnishing their reputation, we position ourselves as righteous and win public favor.

That's how it works: you need righteousness and evil—let them be the evil that highlights our righteousness.

Chen Zhixi took a deep drag and asked: "Aren't you afraid someone will use the same tactic against you?"

"We have feminism on our side—what do we fear? I want them to jump in and attack—attack as hard as they can. Then they'll feel the iron fist. Let feminism have an enemy to vent on," Fang Hong said.

This plan had taken him a long time to refine—he'd straightened every thread and even found a suitable opponent for feminism.

Otherwise, having immense power with nowhere to use it? That's tragic!

Hearing this, Chen Zhixi suddenly saw how all the threads connected—if executed, Huayi would be left defenseless.

With feminism as armor, smear the enemy into clashing with feminism, and flip the narrative—all at once!

So ruthless. So incredibly ruthless!

He was clearly a genius of conflict—and bold enough to pull it off.

Women's groups and Huayi—most people wouldn't dare touch either. Yet Fang Hong planned to manipulate both entirely.

Honestly, he was wasted in entertainment—he should be in a higher circle. Entertainment felt like a dimension drop.

Huayi was just unlucky—caught by a man with no code of honor.

After connecting all the dots, Chen Zhixi said to Fang Hong: "There's something I'm not sure whether I should say."

"If you're unsure whether to say it, then don't," Fang Hong waved dismissively.

"No, I must say it—I won't rest until I do." Chen Zhixi paused, then said: "You're truly a cunning old fox."

"Wrong word. Try again," Fang Hong said.

"Deceitful and treacherous!" Chen Zhixi offered another term.

"Your vocabulary is too limited. Let me tell you—it's 'brilliantly ingenious.' That's the right word," Fang Hong said.

Chen Zhixi smiled—he always joked with perfect seriousness.

She stood up and said: "I just realized—those two characters 'Tandang' hanging behind you? They suit you perfectly."

With business settled and jokes done, it was time to work. Since Fang Hong had decided how to play, it was her turn to execute—this required advance preparation.

Actually, the execution wasn't hard—but linking all these threads together? That was difficult.

And you had to have no shame. Anyone with even a shred of dignity couldn't conceive of such a scheme.

But this battle had to come—not for anything else, but for survival: to show everyone we're not easy to bully.

To earn money standing tall—to expand our space to live!

Something like Liu Tianxian, who retreated for two years after setbacks and online abuse? That would never happen to Fang Hong.

Watching Chen Zhixi leave, Fang Hong turned his chair and gazed at the calligraphy on the wall, murmuring: "Only with strength can one be Tandang."

Outside, Chen Zhixi stepped out and ran into Liu Tianxian, who was rushing over.

Liu Tianxian asked her: "Hey, is your General Manager in?"

"He's inside repenting. Go in and teach him how to be a decent person—you're the only one who can," Chen Zhixi said, mercilessly.

Only because that plan was so poisonous—luring women to do Boxing—could a normal person even think of it?

"Reflect?" Liu Tianxian asked, puzzled.

The two passed each other; Liu Tianxian entered the office and saw Fang Hong facing away, gazing up at his calligraphy.

"You really are reflecting!"

As Liu Tianxian stepped closer, she waved her hand in front of her face: "Huh, such a strong smell of smoke—you still smoke?"

"I don't smoke. Chen Zhixi does."

Fang Hong spun his chair and quickly grabbed the ashtray from the desk, placing it beneath his feet.

Liu Tianxian naturally saw that clumsy attempt to hide it, but she said nothing, only thought to herself: Big liar!

(End of Chapter)