Chapter 788

It had been a long time since any female celebrity had publicly feuded online; when it finally happened, the film industry was caught off guard.

But netizens and fans were the first to clash—too bad it wasn't a showdown between top divas; the fun instantly dropped by half.

Moreover, Jiangshan had finally produced a talent—but each generation was worse than the last.

When the rising stars fought, they had zero strategy or brains, letting veteran industry figures laugh at them.

It started when Jin Chen, who had terminated his contract with Tang Ren three months ago, found himself too weak to secure the lead role he'd negotiated—taken instead by Zhang Tian'ai.

Not one to hold back, he immediately launched a sarcastic tirade online: "I'm not arguing with you!"

Netizens were resourceful, and paparazzi had razor-sharp instincts; within less than half an hour, the whole scandal was laid bare.

As public outrage surged, Jin Chen added another blunt Weibo post: "I posted this to vent my anger, but I don't regret it—even if I offend many people."

Then came the absurd twist.

The other side, though never directly named, voluntarily jumped in with a transparently defensive and preachy rebuttal:

"If you want to latch on, latch on—but hiring people to release press releases escalating to personal attacks? That's despicable. Use your time to actually act and build characters…"

Even the production team hadn't anticipated such stupidity; even director Zhang Li was forced to step forward and clean up the mess:

"After working with Zhang Tian'ai, we found she's the most suitable actress for the female lead; other actors shouldn't complain—final contracts are binding, verbal promises mean nothing…"

By afternoon, the entire film industry was buzzing. With rising stars feuding, it was better than nothing.

Worse still, many in the industry rushed to join the chaos—for instance, Yu Zheng, who loved riding trends, publicly supported Jin Chen: "I think if you're wronged, you should speak up—why suffer in silence?

People like me with low EQ already struggle in this world; aren't we allowed to vent? I hate people who take advantage and then act righteous. That's it. After the gossip, I'm heading back to Daheng Country to work…"

Yu Zheng's statement was like pouring oil on fire—the internet erupted into chaos: insults everywhere, smear articles flooding the web.

Lin Nan spent the afternoon busy at the company—and quietly indulged in the gossip. From his position of power, he watched with interest as a rising starlet's feud unfolded.

How did it feel? Hmm… surprisingly relaxing. Quite nice. He even recalled Huang Huang Xiaoming and Nie Yuan fighting over the role of Yang Guo—and Huayi's "verbal agreement" with Zhou Zhou Xingchi!

"They're all still young—who knows what the next few years will bring? Revenge? Never too late. Heh…" Lin Da, the director, slipped on his coat and prepared to leave.

In the future, industry feuds will grow rarer—until they vanish entirely; what remains will only be fan-on-fan "firefights," while artists stay hidden behind the scenes, quietly watching and pulling strings.

Not long after, Lin Nan appeared in the building's basement level; minutes later, as he drove onto the main road, his phone suddenly vibrated inside the car.

Glancing at the caller ID, Lin Nan had a hunch—he tapped his earpiece to answer: "Did today's shoot wrap up?"

"We ran through a test shoot this afternoon—it's done. Brother Lin, I… I wanted to ask…"

"Send your audition resume to the company email. Come by when you have time." Lin Nan added, unable to resist: "Just go through the motions."

In an instant, Miss Jing Tian understood his meaning: "Understood, Brother Lin. But I didn't see any roles suited for me—Uncle Lu told me to…"

"Don't overthink it. Just do it. It's a series—no role in the first film doesn't mean none in the second. Or are you not that interested? Or… you're not here asking about a role in 'The Wandering Earth,' are you?" Lin Nan asked, then chuckled at himself.

On the other end, Miss Jing Tian clearly heard his laugh and immediately denied it: "Not 'The Wandering Earth'… I'll send my resume right away. Brother Lin, drive safely—I'll hang up now. Goodbye."

The crisp voice vanished from the earpiece. Lin Nan turned to glance at the half-open window—Miss Jing Tian must have heard a car horn.

"Role… 'The Wandering Earth' role… yes, got it!"

…

At dawn, as Lin Da slept soundly with Liu Liu Yifei's arm pressed against him, outside, "I Am Not Madame Bovary" officially premiered nationwide.

Of course, during these early hours, theaters held almost no audiences—even if any were present, they'd all be gone by two a. m.

At eight a. m., a weak morning sun slowly rose from the east, but Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei remained fast asleep.

Yet online, the atmosphere was already electric. The film and entertainment boards were completely dominated by "I Am Not Madame Bovary" news; trending lists were flooded with opening-day updates.

But amid all this positive buzz and headline coverage, one item stood out—blatantly, shockingly—like a nuclear bomb.

"Produced by Huayi, directed by Feng Feng Xiaogang, the film 'I Am Not Madame Bovary'—winner of the Golden Shell for Best Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival—officially premiered at dawn today…"

"According to China Film Distribution, 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' achieved a nationwide theater screening rate of 33% on its opening day; though not a Spring Festival film, it received Spring Festival commercial-film treatment."

"Reports indicate that although 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' secured a 33% opening-day screening rate, it still fell far short of Huayi's previously disclosed estimate of around 45%."

"Numerous viewers reported on Weibo that major Wanda Cinemas in Beijing had no screenings of 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' this morning; multiple media outlets have verified this on-site…"

"Shocking! According to insiders, Wanda Cinema's nationwide network of over 300 theaters assigned a mere 5% screening rate to 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' on opening day!"

"Industry insiders commented that granting Huayi and Feng Feng Xiaogang's A-class award-winning film a 5% 'charity' screening rate carries clear intent and insult… It may be the continuation of a feud between the two giants since the beginning of the year…"

…

Huayi.

Wang Wang Zhongjun sat at the head of the table, face icy, silent. To his left, Wang Wang Zhonglei was equally cold, lips pale and trembling.

All executives remained silent, trying their best to shrink into the background. Ye Ning, however, sat with eyes closed, serene and detached—as if the chaos outside didn't concern him at all.

The conference room was packed, yet the atmosphere was suffocating—no one dared speak; not even a pin could drop.

Only Feng Feng Xiaogang, seated to Wang Wang Zhongjun's right, stood out—he made no effort to hide his rage, chest heaving, voice nearly broken by emotion.

His pale face twisted in fury, eyes bulging with a web of bloodshot veins… anyone seeing him would be terrified into tears.

"How… how dare they? This is a monopoly! They're using their monopoly power to retaliate against my film over a personal grudge between companies! Why?"

Finally, Feng Feng Xiaogang roared. He stared at Wang Wang Zhongjun, then Wang Wang Zhonglei—but neither spoke; their eyes held only helplessness. At least for now, they had no solution.

"Is there no solution? Wang Dong? Wang Zong?" Feng Feng Xiaogang demanded, his voice trembling. Every executive understood him.

Because "I Am Not Madame Bovary"'s box office directly affected Feng Feng Xiaogang's bet with the group—and his own personal stakes. Naturally, he was losing control.

"Ye Zong? You're head of distribution and former general manager of Wanda Cinema—what do you say?" Feng Feng Xiaogang turned to Ye Ning.

Ye Ning opened his eyes, looking at Feng Feng Xiaogang like a clown, and shot back without mercy:

"What do I say? What can I say? The distribution department did everything it could. If others won't give us screens, what can I do? Feng Dao, you tell me—what can I do?"

"Ye Zong, Feng Dao didn't mean to target you—don't be angry, understand him," Wang Wang Zhonglei interjected soothingly. For Huayi, both Ye Ning and Feng Feng Xiaogang were vital.

"Let's go visit Wang Dong together," Wang Wang Zhongjun finally spoke, turning to Wang Wang Zhonglei—but his eyes held no spark or confidence.

Wang Wang Zhonglei hesitated a moment, then nodded helplessly. This might be the best option now. Box office affected stock price, market value—if they could resolve this by lowering their heads, the brothers would gladly do so.

"I'm coming with you," Feng Feng Xiaogang said, clenching his teeth, suppressing his rage with finality.

"Then let's adjourn. Have the distribution department soothe the other theater chains; don't let them be affected by Wanda."

"Good." Ye Ning responded with a sound.

In less than ten minutes, a luxury business car sped away from the bottom of the Huayi Building, heading straight for Wanda Headquarters.

Lin Nan was woken up by Wang Wang Changtian's phone call; of course, at that moment, he and Liu Liu Yifei were also in bed urging each other to get up quickly.

After sitting in the living room, Director Lin Da and Chairman Wang Da watched Huayi's commotion; one could only say Wanda was truly a good fellow!

Previously, Wanda originally wanted to give a 10.9% screening rate, far lower than the other theater chains' roughly 45%; the result was that with Wang Wang Changtian's instigation, they directly cut another 5.9%.

The remaining 5% screening rate—for Feng Feng Xiaogang and Huayi, what else is this but an insult? This is naked, open insult!

"If Huayi finds out you added insult to injury by reducing their screening rate by 5.9%, I estimate they will definitely publicly spray you."

"We've reached this point; what difference is there between 10.9% and 5%? No difference at all; Wanda just wants them to die. Hmm, me too, haha..."

While Lin Nan and Wang Wang Changtian were gloating, outside, regarding Wanda Theater Chain blocking Huayi's movie screenings, the matter had already become known to everyone in the entire film circle.

As the Wanda Theater Chain, which holds the first place in domestic market share, this was also the first time it blatantly flexed its muscles to the outside world; and Huayi was the object used to "sacrifice the flag" and kill the chicken to scare the monkey!

It wasn't just the screening rate issue; many industry insiders had already discovered a very "violent" operational behavior by the Wanda Theater Chain:

Namely, today, for "I Am Not Madame Bovary" across Wanda's three hundred-plus cinemas, nearly eighty percent of the screening times were between 2 AM and 6 AM! In other words, the time had passed; there were no screening arrangements in the morning.

And the remaining twenty-plus percent of screening times were all separately arranged for the period after 12 PM to 2 PM in the afternoon, and after 11 PM at night.

This arrangement of screening times could be called "netherworld." Wanda was already not concealing its attitude at all; it was just trying to kill "I Am Not Madame Bovary" to death!

At exactly 11 AM, Han Jia drove over. She claimed it was to discuss the upcoming audition and casting matters with Lin Nan.

However, in Director Lin Da's view, this guy was just here to mooch food and drinks. Sure enough, as soon as she arrived, she clung to Liu Liu Yifei and Liu Liu Xiaoli asking what to eat for lunch, and even climbed the pole to start ordering food!

"Whoa, Liu Yifei, come look, this news is explosive!"

In the garden, Han Jia's loud shouting scared Lin Nan, who was resting with his eyes closed, greatly. "What's wrong with you again? Didn't you say you were hungry? How do you still have so much energy?"

Watching Han Jia run over and squeeze onto the swing with Liu Liu Yifei, Lin Nan speechlessly complained.

"What's this? I'm talking about the top trending search: Huayi Chairman Wang Wang Zhongjun, General Manager Wang Wang Zhonglei, and Director Feng Feng Xiaogang left Wanda Headquarters looking disheveled, suspected of being turned away at the door?!"

"What? Do those three still have the face to go to Wanda? Good heavens, they couldn't bow and submit, and got slapped in the face instead?"

Hearing this, Lin Nan immediately laughed. In his view, the authenticity of this trending news was infinitely close to 100%, because being turned away at the door was exactly the kind of thing Big Lao Wang, currently at the height of his power, could do.

"Liu Qianqian, Lin Nan, Jia, you three come back and set the table; the restaurant staff will be here soon." Liu Liu Xiaoli stood at the villa entrance, calling out from afar.

"Coming." Liu Liu Yifei pulled Han Jia up, waved to Lin Nan, and the three of them entered the house.

Not long after, the restaurant's vehicle arrived.

At a little past 12 PM, while Lin Nan, Liu Liu Yifei, Liu Liu Xiaoli, and Han Jia were eating lunch together in a lively atmosphere, outside, the sky of the film and entertainment circle collapsed.

Xiao Gangpao, furious with shame and having lost all face, hastily wrote a thousand-character manifesto and posted it on Weibo.

The entire text, in the tone of Pan Jinlian, sarcastically mocked and belittled Big Lao Wang, opened fire on Wanda, and even included Ye Ning in the attack with a loaded gun!

The whole piece contained no dirty words, yet was extremely disgusting; it could be said it displayed his level of "sarcastic tone" and "cursing the mulberry tree while scolding the locust tree" to the extreme, thoroughly and completely!

Whoever in the industry read it would have to say: This is absolutely not ghostwritten; this was absolutely written by Xiao Gangpao himself, because every word and phrase carried Xiao Gangpao's style.

"Does he not want his life? Or is he formally declaring war on behalf of Huayi against Wanda?"

"Is his brain flooded? You, a film director, offending the largest theater chain to death?"

"Big Lao Wang's son is no pushover either; he's a big screamer too! Director Feng, this counts as cursing the father by cursing the son, right?"