118: Chapter 118 Backlash

Jinghua Entertainment.

A high-level executive's office.

Feng Liqian was somewhat irritable. He sat on the sofa, opening the Maoyan Professional APP to refresh it over and over again. The box office numbers for "assassination" were still slowly rising, but they just wouldn't go up.

The number one spot on the box office charts remained "burning life"; this had been fixed since the very first day and had never moved.

To be honest, Director Li Li's film had actually struggled to grow in box office numbers since the seventh day, limited by word-of-mouth. However, wasn't "assassination," starring Feng Liqian, in the exact same boat?

The two of them were currently just trying to find ways to extend the release keys to make their own box office data look a little better.

Feng Liqian inexplicably thought of a saying: "When there are no heroes, the unworthy make a name for themselves…"

Although he was insulting himself as well, that was simply the situation.

The smoke of the Spring Festival Movie Season was gradually clearing. Currently, "burning life" had a box office of 3.4 billion, while "assassination" had 2.1 billion.

How to put it? It was truly bleak. They were all damn trash films, arguably the worst Spring Festival Movie Season.

The most miserable part was that "burning life" could still break even and make a profit, while a film with special effects like "assassination" had a higher investment and had lost money to the point of bankruptcy…

Although he had already received his salary as an actor, he had turned down other work to take on "assassination." Was it for the salary? It was for his career transformation!

As he grew older, he actually felt a sense of crisis. There was no helping it; the entertainment industry was just like that. New idols could pop up at any moment. There were only so many fans; you take a little, I take a little. Not transforming was tantamount to slow suicide.

If one day his popularity were to slide and he was slowly ignored by everyone, that would be more painful than killing him.

Regarding the Waterloo of "assassination"'s box office, Feng Liqian's fans were already making excuses for him. Some said the economy was poor, some said competitors were stealing box office revenue, and some said it was Director Qi Kai's problem…

Well, in short, they were just making enemies for him everywhere…

It was truly damn bad luck. Was there a single one among them that he could afford to offend?

Director Qi Kai was a major director. Regardless of the fact that he was a top-tier celebrity, when it came to status, being asked to act in his films was a sign that he was being looked upon favorably.

Director Li Li was the same. Even though they were competitors this time, she had already won the Spring Festival Movie Season box office championship twice. Perhaps they would even need to find an opportunity to collaborate in the future.

The most exaggerated thing was the talk about the poor economy; it damn near scared Feng Liqian into a cold sweat…

What else could he do? It was nothing more than cleaning up the mess everywhere. He had to apologize to the two directors privately first, and then have his team guide the direction of public opinion in the fan groups…

Besides that, Feng Liqian couldn't even tell his fans that doing this was wrong. After all, they were trying to whitewash his reputation and speak up for him. If he turned against them first, what would that make him?

This group of fans was on the younger side, and their main characteristic was being easily ignited and explosive; they could blurt out any kind of extreme words.

Besides, his fans were his everything. With the situation as it was now, offending the fans at this time would be pure insanity, like stabbing himself for no reason.

He thought for a moment, then looked up and asked his manager, Ma Yue, who was beside him: "It should have quieted down by now, right?"

Ma Yue was a few years older than him, but in the eyes of some, that age and that scenery were exactly the age of knowing how to be sensible.

Ma Yue chuckled on the side, just using her high heel to hook Feng Liqian's calf: "What are you afraid of? You don't need to stand out and say anything anyway. Won't it be fine once the film finishes its theatrical run? Don't worry, it doesn't matter."

Feng Liqian grabbed her calf, a lewd smile on his face: "I'm not worried. My next film is already set anyway."

"Pah, pah! You little pervert!" Although Ma Yue said that, her body was quite honest; she directly rested her leg on Feng Liqian's thigh, her heel rubbing restlessly, "Who told you it was set? I asked around. That was just passing the initial selection. There's a training camp afterward, and they will eliminate another batch of actors."

Feng Liqian curled his lips: "With my status, going to his film, I'm not even asking for top billing. Could he really eliminate me? Besides, he has risks in shooting such a big production, right? Doesn't he need popularity? Doesn't he need promotion?"

Ma Yue climbed onto him a bit: "That's not necessarily true… In any case, perform well and take on more good films."

Feng Liqian's hand, which was around her waist, started to become restless: "I'm not worried, so what are you worrying about? Relax, okay? You were so anxious during the first few days when "assassination" was released! Being anxious is useless…"

Ma Yue reached out and pinched his waist: "I'm doing this for your own good! During the first two days of the release, your spotlight was stolen by that Lin Chuyan, alright!"

Don't know when it started, but the name Lin Chuyan had slowly become a thorn in Jinghua's side.

Every step the guy surnamed Lin took upward, people would take his current self and compare him to his time at Jinghua. It would be fine if they didn't compare, but as soon as they did, Jinghua getting scolded became a matter of course.

Hearing the name "Lin Chuyan," Feng Liqian, who had been a bit worked up, immediately cooled down: "This kid… is a bit like a persistent ghost… In the half-year since he left Jinghua, how do you think he managed to do it? It couldn't be, it couldn't really be Wu Yue's credit, could it?"

Feng Liqian had been brought up by Wu Yue back then; regardless of anything else, he still acknowledged the latter's personal ability.

The name Ma Yue least wanted to hear was "Wu Yue." After hearing Feng Liqian's words, her face turned cold: "He just released a few songs! Jingjie is truly blind to have found him to endorse purified water. Now it's great; you endorse tea drinks, and he endorses purified water. Those who don't know might even think he's on equal footing with you. Just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted."

Feng Liqian's expression was also a bit sinister: "This guy is jumping around too much online, saying whatever he wants, and even getting into online spats. What kind of bullshit persona is this? If this persona were so easy to play and maintain, would he think everyone else in the industry is an idiot? Just watch, one day he will take a big tumble, and when that time comes, even a god won't be able to save him."

This view was similar to Ma Yue's, so her emotions gradually stabilized: "People like this are short-sighted; that's just how it is. One day, if he offends some big shot in the industry, he won't even know how he died. From this point, one can also see that the guy surnamed Wu is nothing special either; otherwise, he wouldn't fail to stop him. In any case, let's just watch the show."

Just as they were speaking, a knock sounded at the door.

Ma Yue climbed off Feng Liqian and sat back down properly: "Come in."

A girl appeared at the doorway, not daring to poke her head in, her feet also standing outside the office: "Sister Yue, Brother Qian's fans… have started again."

Ma Yue and Feng Liqian exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat helpless.

"Who are they scolding this time?"

"It's… Lin Chuyan."

The two, who had just been disdainful and cursing Lin Chuyan, stood up with a "whoosh."

"Fuck!" Feng Liqian couldn't help but curse.

It was fine to complain however he wanted when he hadn't provoked the other party, but once Lin Chuyan was involved, Feng Liqian's reaction was far from as calm as he had imagined.

Ma Yue was actually about the same. Complaining was one thing, but this person was, in a sense, a madman. Could a normal person reason with a madman? Could they argue with a madman? If they really started a fight, wouldn't that be serving themselves up on a platter? "Entertainment Reporter Xiao Ba" was a cautionary tale!

Ma Yue was a bit puzzled: "Why? What does Lin Chuyan have to do with this?"

Even she couldn't figure out the brain circuits of brainless fans for a moment.

The girl at the doorway said in a timid voice: "A theory has started to become popular among the fans, saying that Lin Chuyan is the culprit behind Brother Qian's film's box office failure, saying that if it weren't for that song he sang, "assassination" wouldn't have lost to "burning life" in the first few days of its release…"

The girl added another sentence: "Of course, they won't say that externally. Externally, they just dig up Lin Chuyan's dark history, and even, and even…"

Feng Liqian's eyelids twitched, and his voice became a bit urgent: "And even what?"

"They've even started trashing the endorsement brand that Lin Chuyan just secured, cursing them for being blind."

Trashing an endorsement? Wasn't the endorsement Jingjie?

Trashing Jingjie? He also had Jingjie on himself! Wasn't this biting the hand that feeds him? Offending the brand for no reason!

The girl swallowed her saliva: "And, and…"

Ma Yue wanted to curse: "Say it all at once! What else!"

"They've also started scolding Ruan Xingyu…"

Hearing this, Feng Liqian almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

No, what does Ruan Xingyu have to do with this???

It wasn't that retribution wouldn't come, but that the time hadn't arrived yet. After debuting for so many years, was he, Feng Liqian, finally about to be backlashed by his own fans?