Chapter 88

The opening day box office for If You Are the One 2 was 33.25 million yuan.

It surpassed Lost in Love 33 Days by over twenty million yuan—a huge gap; Huayi had never regarded this film as a rival from the start.

However, the highest-grossing film at this stage was still Let the Bullets Fly, exceeding forty million yuan; this movie was truly amazing, appealing to young and old, men and women alike.

As long as the film was in theaters, more people would watch it, and the spread of Lost in Love 33 Days intensified, with word-of-mouth still fermenting.

Thus, on the 23rd—the second day—the box office achieved an inverse drop, reaching 18.85 million yuan.

Let the Bullets Fly still held the top spot, while If You Are the One 2 rose to 47.87 million yuan; barring any surprise, it would surpass fifty million yuan tomorrow!

"Your propaganda strategy isn't doing well—what if there are pirated copies?"

Liu Tianxian, seeing the box office performance and being completely outmatched with no room to fight back, was deeply troubled.

They even told her not to promote it—how could this continue? The peak box office window lasts only a few days.

But this was Liu Tianxian's misconception.

The current crackdown on copyright means that even if pirated copies exist, they're limited to offline venues or fringe websites—like those hosting small films—operating on the edge of the law.

Piracy no longer appears on mainstream platforms, so while it still affects box office numbers, its impact is far less than before.

Let the Bullets Fly is the best example—it's been many days, yet its box office remains strong.

"Let Let the Bullets Fly fly a bit longer, don't rush," Fang Hong said.

Chen Zhixi remained calm, because she knew the full plan—and she had executed it herself.

The box office battle isn't just about the Little Fairies; at this stage, they can only help boost box office numbers, but they can't fight back.

Because there's no rival, no controversy—no one to target.

So we just add fuel—give the Little Fairies a target!

On the same day, a "Little Fairy" posted her movie ticket on Weibo with a caption:

"I clearly bought Lost in Love 33 Days—why did they scribble over my ticket to make it If You Are the One 2? No wonder Lost in Love's box office is low—it was stolen!" {image}

Another person posted: "Me too—these people don't even pretend. The ticket printed 'Lost in Love,' but someone used pencil to alter mine to 'If You Are the One 2'." {image}

"Damn, me too!" {image} "I thought If You Are the One 2 was such a garbage ad movie—how did its box office get so high? Turns out it stole Lost in Love's ticket sales!"

"."

Suddenly, countless such posts appeared online!

The trend of ticket theft spread rapidly; media outlets, like cats smelling fish, sensed a major story—a huge controversy.

Previously, discussions were only about the film's quality—no explosive points—but this was explosive, and it tied the two films together for maximum impact.

That same day, the evening news published a shocking headline:

"New Year Slot Shock: Box Office Scandal—If You Are the One 2 Stole Lost in Love 33 Days' Revenue!"

They still used abbreviations—media really knew how to play.

They didn't care if it was true—they just blasted it out first; this era had "Shock Articles," and media had no morals:

"If You Are the One 2 Accused of 'Stealing' Lost in Love 33 Days' Box Office!"

"If You Are the One 2 Exposed for Stealing Box Office—Inside Secrets of Ticket Theft Revealed!"

"."

Public opinion surged; many suddenly learned about Lost in Love 33 Days—they hadn't known it before and hadn't gone viral.

When mainstream media stepped in, it was equivalent to indirectly creating momentum for the film!

More Little Fairies learned of the film and began cursing If You Are the One 2—"Disgusting! Go die!"

Suddenly, online, the narrative of Lost in Love 33 Days having its box office stolen spread everywhere; among women, they recommended it to each other, creating a dual boost of promotion and outrage.

The popularity rapidly skyrocketed several levels.

On the third day—the 24th, Christmas Eve—the Little Fairies were celebrating; Lost in Love 33 Days' box office skyrocketed to 47.63 million yuan.

It exploded wildly!

This was the Little Fairies in action—they were fighting for justice, refusing to submit to evil!

Liu Tianxian's mouth hung open in shock—this was a two- to threefold surge, no gradual growth, no resources deployed.

They'd just annoyed the opponent and blown the incident up.

Back in Fang Hong's familiar office—this was the command center of the entire operation.

Liu Tianxian, Chen Zhixi, and Meng Jun were all present.

Aside from Liu Tianxian, these two were his core team members.

"Fang Hong, your tactics are a bit too extreme—aren't you afraid of retaliation?" Liu Tianxian was kind-hearted.

Previously, she hadn't known the full plan—she'd only thought it was a female-targeted propaganda strategy.

Now she realized they were smearing others.

"Afraid of what? What do I have to lose?"

Fang Hong leaned one hand on the desk, looking down at Liu Tianxian: "You must understand—in this world, making money is the hardest thing; if it weren't hard, capital wouldn't exist."

"You're being utterly ruthless!" Liu Tianxian looked up at him.

"When others bully you, do they hold back? Don't they?" Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian fell silent—indeed, when others bullied her, they wished she'd die, vanish, stop blocking their profits, stop taking their resources. "You must know—in the primitive accumulation stage of capital, using low-level tactics is unavoidable. Ford did it. Bill Gates did it. Every global corporation has something unspeakable." Fang Hong's tone carried weight.

Liu Tianxian lowered her head; she understood that struggle was bloody and cruel—either you die or I live.

She knew all this—she'd lived through it herself.

But seeing it happen to this man made her uneasy—what's the difference between him and those who cyber-bullied her?

She didn't care what others did—but deep down, she still wanted to urge this man to be kind. Yet she couldn't speak up; she didn't know what role she had to counsel him.

Fang Hong glanced at her and fell silent too—he knew this had crossed a line, but he had no regrets.

Chen Zhixi and Meng Jun said nothing—you don't provoke others, but that doesn't mean they won't provoke you. If you fail, you'll end up like the Zhao Family Troupe—with your spine broken.

If they want to touch the film industry again, they'll have to think twice!

The time cost and money cost involved are something they can't bear at this stage.

Capital accumulation is, by nature, the plunder of resources!

With Love Is Not Blind 33 Days' box office suddenly surging like this, If You Are the One 2's box office performance correspondingly slid, only 31.78 million.

Not even as good as its opening day!

Even Let the Bullets Fly's box office slipped, though it still held first place.

The pie is only this big — you get more, I get less. It's perfectly normal.

This move genuinely startled the Huayi brothers, Xiao Wang and Big Wang, and Feng Kuzi was no longer calm either, because it had been on the verge of breaking fifty million, and on only the third day it had been cut short!

An assistant brought the box office data, along with the online舆论 smearing them of stealing box office revenue, and showed it to the two of them.

"Two General Managers Wang, Director Feng, Supervisor Chen — someone is deliberately spreading online that we stole box office revenue. Look at this!" The assistant handed over the materials.

General Manager Xiao Wang took it, flipped through it, then "slapped" the materials hard onto the desktop and cursed:

"F**k, little b**tard, way too arrogant!"

Feng Kuzi picked it up and skimmed through it, his expression grave, then passed it to General Manager Big Wang and Supervisor Chen Guo.

The three exchanged a glance — they hadn't done this at all, and hadn't even taken Love Is Not Blind 33 Days seriously. The other side was openly slinging mud!

Big Wang didn't understand: "Who is this? So arrogant?"

This person generally doesn't handle affairs, so he's unclear on some things.

"Principal! I've heard he's the lead actor of Love Is Not Blind 33 Days." General Manager Xiao Wang said with a cold face.

Who the Principal is was no longer much of a secret — not to mention the people they'd poached, anyone could find out with a casual打听.

And this film's director and producer were still listed under the name "Principal"!

Fang Hong had never intended to conceal his true identity — that would be a cowardly move, completely lacking in grandeur.

Before, he just didn't want to face the public's venom; now that wave had already passed!

Honestly, this kind of reputation can't pose any threat to him.

In this circle, who doesn't have some dirty business? They hype up the Principal for plagiarism, and the Principal can hype them up for being bisexual — who's afraid of whom?

Isn't it just mutually disgusting each other!

"Slap that kid, he deserves two slaps across the face — lawless." Feng Kuzi couldn't stand it either, slapped the table, his explosive temper flaring.

He had investment in this film — bad box office performance meant less profit, and he was very unhappy!

Supervisor Chen Guo said nothing, feeling that one of the film's key creatives had invited him out before — Producer Chen Zhixi was listed on it.

General Manager Big Wang was comparatively calm. He looked at General Manager Xiao Wang and said: "How do you plan to handle this?"

"They smear us, we smear them. Isn't it just a war of public opinion? Fight! I don't believe he can turn the world upside down."

General Manager Xiao Wang hadn't yet realized that Fang Hong's film relied on the little fairies.

Also, this era didn't have such developed data to let them see the most intuitive user demographics.

The little fairies hadn't yet shown their power!

"Felt like I'd been sitting in the theater for 33 hours — not good at all!"

"So boring, pretentious whining!"

"The director of Love Is Not Blind 33 Days is a repeat plagiarist — everyone, don't watch it!"

"Angry review: it's gone bad. Everything in Love Is Not Blind 33 Days is an idealist fabrication."

"."

In an instant, the internet was flooded with Heizi bashing Love Is Not Blind 33 Days, and incidentally bashing the "Principal" too.

Even the Douban rating was dragged down to 6.9 — clearly a fierce onslaught!

The bigwigs wouldn't personally enter the fray — that would be no different from naming names — so they still hired the Water Army to do the bashing.

Those in entertainment all have partnerships with the Propaganda Department and media.

But the "little fairies," seeing their independent women's film being bashed, couldn't stand it anymore, and狂喷 those Heizi in return.

"These little b*stards dare bash Love Is Not Blind 33 Days — this old lady will punch your daddy's grave mound until it explodes and plant lotuses with his ashes!"

"You劣质 gene wastes — did you learn from your d*ck of a father? Do you even know how to appreciate a film?"

"."

The cursing was too filthy to repeat.

In any case, Fang Hong forcibly tying this film to the female demographic was like adding a talisman to himself.

Water Army Heizi don't count for much — history has proven that the "little fairies" have never lost. Their combat power is invincible, their energy boundless!

(End of chapter)