Chapter 924: Soft Ban…

Previously, people in the industry scrambled to contact Lin Nan, mostly to offer congratulations or good wishes, primarily for social networking purposes.

But cases like this, where everyone suddenly came rushing over to express concern and "scold" him, were extremely rare; so rare that Lin Nan himself felt a strange sensation, unsure how to respond to them.

After all, in everyone's eyes, he was outright rejecting tens of millions—even hundreds of millions—in profits, letting it all vanish without even a sound.

If not for his status as a top director and his face, these people would likely have suggested Liu Liu Yifei take him to the hospital to check his brain, wondering if he'd gone mad.

"Such great resources, you don't want them yourself and won't even offer them to your allies—your behavior is utterly selfish. Even if there's some risk, so what? Who among us hasn't weathered storms and waves…"

"Time will prove I'm right. Ren Dong strongly believes in my forecast and stepped back with me."

"Guangxian has always done well in background checks, but you should pay even more attention going forward; nowadays, these actors and stars are hiding their secrets deeper and deeper."

Lin Nan joked lightly, cutting off Wang Wang Changtian's words.

On the phone, Big Lao Wang's teasing tone also abruptly stopped. He first softly "hmmmed," then shifted tone to warn:

"China Film and Starlight haven't responded to your and Shanghai Film's withdrawal from the production team. I suspect they're planning to announce it at the press conference."

"Let them do as they please. If they truly want this topic and buzz, give it to them." Lin Nan was genuinely indifferent.

"Alright, let's drop this. Since you called, let's talk about A Marriage Story. The theatrical release is only about half a month away—what's Guangxian's distribution scale looking like?"

"Don't worry, we can guarantee at least a 20% overall screening rate…"

…

Wang Wang Changtian was right—Beside La La Peikang and Zhou Zhou Xingchi were indeed preparing to publicly respond to Lin Nan Pictures and Shanghai Film's withdrawal from the production team at the 20th press conference.

This suggestion came from Wang Wang Zhonglei, as it would maximize topic traffic for Mermaid 2, and neither Lin Nan nor Ren Ren Zhonglun could find fault with it.

China Film.

The fact that Sky Hunter's daily box office dropped below 30 million is undeniable. If this trend continues, its total box office will likely stall before reaching 300 million—never hitting 300 million!

"Yesterday's daily earnings: Sewing Machine Band was 11.52 million, The Dragon Hunter was 13.77 million, and The Briton vs. the Chinese was 9.35 million. Currently, the latter two films have the highest total box office, both exceeding 450 million, while the first has just reached 350 million…"

Every time he heard these heartbreaking box office figures, Beside La La Peikang couldn't help but burn with anger. Two consecutive tribute films failing both critically and commercially was far more severe than two commercial blockbusters flopping.

Though unwilling to admit it, he'd indeed received complaints from several superiors, and even took a phone call this morning.

"Boss La, Director Wu Wu Yusen and his team have arrived," came the report from the door, interrupting the secretary's words—and Beside La La Peikang's thoughts.

Beside La La Peikang instantly snapped to attention and ordered: "Good, bring them in." Then he turned to the secretary: "That's all for today—keep monitoring the box office."

Just as the secretary nodded and prepared to leave the office, Beside La La Peikang suddenly called him back, a shadow flickering across his face:

"Issue an internal notice: for all China Film projects, including external investments, I do not want to see Li Chen ever again."

"Understood." The secretary nodded and quickly left. In his view, it was time for a soft ban…

Not long after, Wu Wu Yusen entered with his assistants, smiling: "Boss La, the promotional tour schedule for The Chase is all set. But we'll need China Film's help with the media."

"No problem, I'll arrange it. But Director Wu, I hope this time The Chase won't disappoint me again. Otherwise, we truly won't have another collaboration—China Film doesn't welcome…"

Beside La La Peikang's cold attitude made Wu Wu Yusen feel alienated; just a few days ago, things weren't like this, and he'd never issued such a threat before.

He didn't know that Boss La was entirely provoked by Sky Hunter's failure, compounded by a string of criticisms from superiors, making him irritable.

"Boss La, rest assured—I'll personally lead the promotional tour this time."

…

Near noon, the latest update emerged on the incident where someone maliciously acquired Shangshi Company to disrupt the financial market for illicit profit—online, the news sparked widespread discussion.

Even Lin Nan, eating boxed lunch at Tiangong Color, couldn't help joining the conversation.

"Although the CSRC has already classified the offense and said they'll hold a meeting to decide the outcome and announce it soon, outsiders shouldn't get their hopes up too high—she's backed by plenty of big capital who will defend her to the death."

"Director Lin, are you kidding? How else can they defend her? Isn't the classification already settled?"

"Classification is classification, but the outcome… can't that be manipulated?"

…

"Don't get angry yet, listen to me. You can't escape this. The only solution we can think of—and the only thing we can do—is to focus on the outcome."

"Don't worry—it'll be a heavy lift, gentle landing… We'll try not to drag anyone else down. Everyone will remember your favor…"

At the same time, Zhang Zhang Qiang was desperately calming someone down. It turned out women were just not steady—they panicked at the first sign of trouble.

But he couldn't deny that this incident had caused a huge stir. Fortunately, the outcome was imminent—it was about to be settled.

Right now, as long as he calmed this woman down, got her to stop making a scene, and made her shoulder the blame alone, then… who would even recognize her after? No one knew her! Helping her smooth things over to minimize the punishment was already "beyond all duty."

After a series of reassurances and promises, the voice on the other end finally calmed down. In the end, she still blindly trusted their power.

"They told me the result will come no later than the end of this month or early next month—about two or three weeks from now. Boss Zhang, don't lie to me."

"Of course. We're family—why would I lie to you?"

The call ended. Zhang Zhang Qiang's expression instantly turned cold. "I've made you rich for years—you should be satisfied. This is your chance to repay every favor you owe me."

…