038 Haters Launch a Vicious Smear Campaign

Beijing, Galaxy Film and Television.

Qian Lang had been back from the film set for a week. The movie *Little Big Soldier* had long since finished editing and was currently in the submission phase for review. That day, Qian Lang was reporting the status of the budget to Pei Duoduo.

"Thirty million, and you haven't used it all?"

Pei Duoduo’s exquisite face could not hide her dissatisfaction. Director Qian was good in every way, except for being stingy and timid when it came to spending money.

"Yes. It would have gone over budget, but Brother Jackie Chan asked for fifty million less, so..." Qian Lang began to explain.

Pei Duoduo interrupted him abruptly. "Director Qian, how can you be so harsh on an actor's salary? If this gets out, what actor will dare to cooperate with our company? Aren't you being penny-wise and pound-foolish?" Pei Duoduo wore an expression of deep disappointment.

Qian Lang took a deep breath. *Oh, my boss is great at everything, but she never picks the right time to put on this act.* There was no one else around; wasn't she just making a fuss over nothing? *So, she wants to see who can spend more, right?*

"President Pei, that's not it. I just made some minor adjustments. Originally, eighty million would have covered Brother Jackie Chan, but to demonstrate Galaxy Film and Television's robust financial strength, I gave him some extra perks!" Qian Lang explained with a serious face.

"Extra perks? Where?" Pei Duoduo looked bewildered. *Mr. Zhuge, you’d better explain yourself clearly or I'm going to be upset.*

"It’s like this: eighty million was the buyout price, but what if the movie becomes a box office hit? Wouldn't Brother Jackie be losing out? So, I gave him a 5% share for the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, with a guaranteed base salary of thirty million. If the box office hits one billion, he’ll receive more than the original eighty million."

"I see." Pei Duoduo nodded. "So, can you guarantee that this movie will hit one billion at the box office?" For some reason, a wave of anxiety washed over her. *Another billion at the box office? Didn't Professor Li say this movie wasn't promising? Is Mr. Zhuge really that confident? Didn't he admit that 'Crazy Stone' was just a stroke of luck?*

"I definitely can't guarantee that." Qian Lang shook his head. He was just using it as an example. He could guarantee the movie wouldn't lose money, but he had no clue about reaching a billion. After all, the Spring Festival release window was different from the summer season.

"Well, that settles it!" The heavy stone in Pei Duoduo's heart fell. *Exactly.*

*Is a billion at the box office really that easy to guarantee?* However, she couldn't afford to be careless this time. The market was always fickle. If something went wrong, it would be too late for regrets. To compress profit margins to the extreme, since income couldn't be controlled, one could manipulate the source—the costs. It was a lesson learned in elementary school: income is the inflow, and costs are the outflow. If the outflow is greater than the inflow, it’s hard to make a profit, right? *Hehe, my little brain works so fast.*

"Director Qian, didn't we skip marketing for the last film? I feel quite bad about that. Let's do this: use that thirty million for promotion and distribution. If it's not enough, we'll increase the investment. After all, those two or three hundred million in the account are just sitting there anyway." Pei Duoduo was brimming with grand ambition. When it came to ideas for spending money, she had them one after another.

"Huh?" *Did I hear that right?* Qian Lang was truly baffled. *What does she mean by 'two or three hundred million just sitting there'? Who would ever think they have too much money?* President Pei’s act was catching him off guard. However, marketing was a good thing; he had to support it with both hands.

"Alright, thank you, President Pei!" Qian Lang smiled sincerely.

"Sigh, we’ve been taking the wrong approach all along—the typical 'suffering for no reason' mentality. Is there anything wrong with promotion? Doing some advertising for a movie is perfectly reasonable!" Pei Duoduo desperately tried to justify herself. She couldn't quite remember what she’d said about not allowing promotion last time. *Whatever, if I don't remember, then that's that.*

"This time, we’ll spend lavishly on marketing! Don’t be constrained by the format! Don’t worry about the price! Let’s not waste our own company’s energy either. Leave professional matters to the professionals—this time, we’ll hire a PR firm!" As she spoke, Pei Duoduo flipped through her phone contacts. *Wait, what was the name of that famously expensive PR firm?*

"President Pei, it’s bad!" Just as Pei Duoduo was struggling to find the contact, Chen Yuanyuan burst into the office, shouting.

"What’s wrong?" Pei Duoduo looked up.

"It’s a disaster! There’s a huge wave of haters attacking Director Qian online!" Chen Yuanyuan stomped her feet in anger. The trees wanted to be still, but the wind would not cease. Those damn internet trolls would lie through their teeth for fifty cents.

"No way?" Qian Lang was speechless. Why would he be under attack? Before, he was a flop who had failed with three consecutive films, and people had cursed him. But hadn't *Crazy Stone* reversed his reputation? Regardless of the box office or the awards he’d won, no one in the industry should be messing with him right now. After all, splashing mud on him would be a thankless task. He was quite curious.

Chen Yuanyuan quickly opened the computer in front of Pei Duoduo. *Click, click, click!* She opened several video websites and a Weibo page. An overwhelming flood of reports rushed at them.

[Failed director turns over a new leaf only to become a lackey of the internal entertainment industry?]
[Qian Lang is arrogant; his new film uses only Hong Kong actors!]
[Is it a favor returned or a transfer of interests? The inside deals between Hong Kong entertainment and Qian Lang!]

...

Looking at the timestamps of these topics, one could see the trail of this smear campaign. At first, only a few self-media accounts were spouting nonsense. People who saw them didn't take them to heart and would even leave comments refuting them. But as more and more posts appeared, this wave of dirt spread rapidly, drowning out the rational voices on the internet.

Not only that, photos from Qian Lang’s *Little Big Soldier* began to leak on Weibo one after another. Such carefully orchestrated pacing quickly ignited a heated discussion among netizens across the Great Xia.

"What's going on? Why didn't Director Qian say a word to anyone while filming?"
"Who are you? Does Director Qian need to report to you about what he does?"
"I just wanted to say, now that I know Director Qian is making a movie, I’ll go to the theater to support it. After all, his last film, *Crazy Stone*, was great!"
"Heh, you’re still looking forward to it? The big director has already finished filming and hasn't shown any signs of promotion. He must have something to hide!"
"What could he hide? What’s wrong with a director making a normal movie?"
"If his conscience were clear, why wouldn't he do any marketing after finishing the film?"
"Exactly, isn't it just because he has something to hide? He only cares about pandering to Hong Kong, forgetting that the Great Xia entertainment industry is where he got his start!"
"An ungrateful wolf; it was a waste of the Beijing Film Academy’s effort to support him back then!"

...

It became more and more outrageous. At first, people might not have believed it, but they couldn't withstand everyone saying the same thing. *Three people make a tiger, five people make a story, public opinion can melt metal, and repeated slander can destroy a person!* This was the power of public opinion.

"Oh, so someone is helping us with the promotion?" Pei Duoduo almost couldn't hold back a laugh. In this climate of public opinion, it would be a pipe dream for *Little Big Soldier* to get any box office revenue!

"President Pei, how can you call this promotion? This is smearing! It's splashing mud!" Chen Yuanyuan was furious. She really wanted to trace the IDs of those bad seeds who were spreading rumors!