349: Chapter 349 Taken a Dragon Punch

Director Yu Jin was now more than just annoyed with Lin Chuyan; he practically loathed him.

He strongly suspected that the so-called "insider" news had been leaked by Lin Chuyan or Director Chu Dong's side.

There was good reason for this suspicion, as the two sides were, after all, rivals.

Moreover, in Director Yu Jin's view, Lin Chuyan genuinely had the motive to do such a thing! This brat was definitely not a good person!

But unless he said it himself, Lin Chuyan would probably never understand why Director Yu Jin hated him so much.

It was actually quite funny; it wasn't because of Erlang Shen, nor was it because of *pegasus 2*, but rather because of... *dragon fist*.

Yes, the lyrics of *dragon fist* had offended him.

Other netizens looking at *dragon fist*: "Holy crap, isn't this too obvious?"

Director Yu Jin looking at *dragon fist*: "Obvious my ass! That's not what it means at all, okay! The interpretations online right now are basically all wrong!"

Lin Chuyan's sinister intentions were probably something only he could taste on the whole internet—

"With Dunhuang as the center, to the east-northeast"?

Director Yu Jin was quite good at geography. He drew a circle in his mind with Dunhuang as the center and immediately knew which territory these lyrics included.

This is treason, absolute treason! What kind of logic is this?

However, looking further down, this was nothing...

Because Lin Chuyan's lyrics were simply as blunt as they could possibly be!

"The wind from the Mongolian Plateau, what content does it write? Do you understand Chinese characters, with the same skin color and face."

The Mongolian Plateau???

Director Yu Jin: "..."

It hurt, it hurt so much.

What *dragon fist*? This was a punch straight to his face!

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

Those not of my race must have different intentions; it was fortunate he didn't use Lin Chuyan back then.

But he really couldn't swallow this anger.

Adding in Erlang Shen and *pegasus 2*, it was truly a case of new grudges and old hatreds all piling up together.

The promotion for *Fengshen* was still working hard, and Director Yu Jin had come up with many tricks for his own movie as well.

From Weibo to Douyin, to Bilibili videos, and WeChat Official Account articles, he had spent a lot of money on advertising, praising it from all sorts of angles.

Some praised the film as an epic fantasy movie with good special effects, claiming it would be China's own *Lord of the Rings* trilogy.

Some praised the film's male lead, Bi Xiang, talking about how he was popular across the country back in the day, and now, in *Fengshen*, he was still in his prime at over sixty with huge pectoral muscles.

Some praised *Fengshen* for training a group of young, fit, "fresh meat" actors, all of them heroic and spirited, definitely the future pillars of the Chinese Entertainment Industry.

Later, seeing that quite a few people were praising the actors playing Ji Fa and Yin Jiao, Director Yu Jin started releasing individual videos of them riding horses and getting along well with their horses.

In the videos, they were praised as rare gems—amateurs, hardworking, kind-hearted, definitely pure and beautiful youths; these were the idols everyone should be chasing!

However, none of this was of much use.

What *Lord of the Rings* trilogy? Stop bragging! This is only the first one, okay? Why don't you mention that *pegasus* has already filmed its second installment?

As for Bi Xiang, his acting was fine, but many people were also complaining about his American accent.

As for that group of "fresh meat" actors, there was originally no problem, but after a comparison video with Lin Chuyan was made before the release, everyone's opinion had changed.

What sexiness? This is just another form of "selling flesh"! A man's sexiness lies in "restraint" and the "power of the clothing itself"!

As for the actors playing Ji Fa and Yin Jiao... there weren't many people criticizing them yet, but Qiao Wei had secretly told Lin Chuyan: "It's over, these two have problems! Director Yu is truly precise..."

Besides praising his own movie, Director Yu Jin also bought smear articles and organized people to go to Douban to write negative reviews for *pegasus 2*.

This was even simpler; what movie was so perfect that you couldn't write a negative review for it?

"Director Chu Dong's performance is as stable as ever, having filmed several 'Spring Festival Gala sketch-style' movies in a row. The first half is comedy, and the second half tries to elevate itself, thinking it has both laughter and tears, but in reality, it has neither. The comedy parts aren't funny, the plot parts have no depth, and it's ridiculously shallow. It's a failure whether as a comedy, a drama, or a racing film."

"The protagonist's plot armor is too strong. No matter how bad the weather is, it can't stop Director Chu Dong's straight-male fantasies. It's terrifying."

"The applause Director Chu Dong wins on the imaginary racetrack using spiritual victory methods makes one feel like they are sitting on pins and needles, like they have thorns on their back, and like they have a fishbone stuck in their throat."

"Can you not hire Lin Chuyan? He really doesn't fit with Dong Peng's team at all. It's hideous."

"You just have to pair him with a 'fresh meat' actor as the second male lead, right? Capital, get lost!"

Then, getting bolder, he decided to just incite some conflict.

"Classic, too classic. Isn't this just the whole 'old men refusing to admit defeat, men are boys until death' trope?"

"An all-male movie, 666. Just watch, once you watch, you won't make a peep."

"The 'male content' is off the charts, and even the plot is the same old comeback story. It's really boring."

"An all-male movie full of cis-hetero male self-awareness. It stinks, it really stinks."

"Dong Peng can be a professional race car driver while sporting a big potbelly with no one questioning it, while Director Li Li has to lose weight to convince the audience she can really fight in a boxing match. This is the Chinese Entertainment Industry."

Unfortunately, none of these had much volume. When the word-of-mouth came out on the first day, the majority of reviews for *pegasus 2* were positive, and the negative reviews couldn't even reach the top of the feed.

Many audience members even felt confused.

"What's wrong with 'men are boys until death'? Wait, people are getting triggered by this? Aren't many classic movies based on this theme?"

"And 'all-male movie'? It's not like Director Chu Dong hasn't filmed themes with both men and women... He just doesn't film them well! Why be criticized for playing to his strengths and avoiding weaknesses?"

"Wait, why are all these negative reviews targeting 'all-male' and 'male content'? There's a problem, definitely a problem!"

"And some people are comparing it to Director Li Li's movie from last year? What's their intention?"

"This comparison can only fool those who haven't seen the movies and lack the ability to think independently. Are these two the same thing? If it were the same sport, I might accept that. Besides, is *burning life* even ashamed? The original version involved weight loss; could she really not lose weight in her version?"

"I don't think it has anything to do with *burning life*. That movie is already a year old; there's no need to say such things... Damn, could it be *Fengshen*?"

"No, doesn't *Fengshen* just have an extra Daji? They have some nerve to say things like that."

The top-rated comments with high likes for *pegasus 2* were all five stars. Besides praising the movie, there was also praise for Lin Chuyan—

"Lin Chuyan driving a race car is truly handsome to the heavens! Everyone go watch it!"

"Go listen to *drifting*: 'drifting, drifting, drifting, my newly earned driver's license was easily revoked!'"

"I give Lin Chuyan's song 88 points, and the remaining 12 points go to the traffic police."

On the *Fengshen* side, the highest-liked comment was a one-star negative review, and it was actually, damn it, Lin Chuyan—

"Lin Chuyan's version of Erlang Shen is the true god. I declare this version is shit! Avoid it, avoid it!"

Director Yu Jin was truly broken: "Damn it, you're everywhere! You didn't even act in *Fengshen*!"

From being mocked by *dragon fist*, to spending money on so many ads without seeing any good results, to the Douban hot reviews... during the Chinese New Year, not a single thing had gone his way.

However, this wasn't even the bombshell. Two days later, the straw that broke the camel's back was finally about to arrive.