Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 219 Sci-Fi Movie? I can do it!
In front of the media cameras, Director Yang, who had been away from the spotlight for a long time, looked "repentant" and bluntly said: "I have seen a lot of criticism of our film 'The Fortress of Shanghai' recently... I bear a lot of responsibility for choosing popular actors as the main actors in the film."

"I also hope that everyone can understand my impulse. After all, as a film director, every film is my 'child.' What parent doesn't want their child to succeed?"

His words were "sincere and heartfelt," and some passersby, despite still being angry, directed more of their anger at Yu Yan after hearing his "apology"—because he's a popular celebrity, and because his ridiculous bangs are so eye-catching.

Of course, many casual viewers and audience members were not convinced, and Yu Yan's fans were furious!
What do you mean?
What does the director mean by this?!

So you're trying to shift the blame, huh? The movie's become a mess, and you're starting to blame the actors?

Fuck you, you think you're qualified to be a director?

Immediately, Yu Yan's fans, who had been suffering from online bullying recently, rushed to Director Yang's Weibo account like crazy. After discovering that the comment section was closed, they immediately turned to his private messages.

"Yang the beast!!"

"Do you have any conscience? How many good offers and scripts did Xiao Yan turn down to act in this awful movie of yours? I heard that 'The Boss' initially wanted to cast Xiao Yan, you're a real beast!"

"A bad director will always be a bad director; a treacherous opportunist, utter trash!"

"I want to kill you! Not only is your movie terrible, but your character is awful too. I've never seen such a shameless person before. Who would want to act in your movies again?!"

"You've insulted the word 'movie' a million times better than Ikeno!"

"..."

Director Yang didn't even look at his private messages, but he underestimated the "power" of Yu Yan's fans.

Not long after he posted the Weibo, several of his WeChat friends suddenly sent him a barrage of insults and questions, leaving him dumbfounded and terrified—Holy crap, Yu Yan's fans actually have their own WeChat accounts?!

Then I looked at the name again... Holy crap, isn't this some internet capital's mistress?!

Director Yang paused for a moment, then patiently explained, "The 'Big Boss' project was invested in by Chi Ye himself. How could he possibly hire Yu Yan? Do you believe those idiots outside?"

"I don't believe you! Old Yang, you've handled this like a complete bastard, are you even a man?"

Director Yang: "..."

Unreasonable!

He immediately blocked the other person, and still not satisfied, he updated his Weibo: "[Traffic stars and top-tier celebrities are just parasites in the film industry!]"

The Weibo post caused the trending topics list to change instantly, with #DirectorYangAngrilyCriticizesTrafficStars# reaching the top spot.

This time, not only Yu Yan's fans, but also Chi Ye's fans, who were originally just watching the show and were even more numerous, were unhappy—you can shift the blame if you want, but why are you being sarcastic about my brother?
As for why Director Yang didn't mention Chi Ye's name... Dude, there's only one undisputed top star in the Chinese entertainment industry right now. If you didn't mention Chi Ye, who were you talking about?

Do you really think you can get away with playing word games?

Not long after, Director Yang's private messages exploded again, with his ancestors being dug up and cursed.

Chi Ye's current popularity and number of fans have far surpassed Yu Yan's, so Director Yang's remarks, which were clearly driven by personal hatred, triggered a series of consequences that he himself had not anticipated.

In just half a day, Director Yang, who had just tried to "shift the blame and clear his name," was once again criticized as the worst director in China due to the addition of a new player, Ikeno Kakeru.

Seeing this, the screenwriter of "Shanghai Fortress," who had been completely out of the public eye and had been relentlessly criticized these past few days, seized the "opportunity" and posted on Weibo: "[Chinese science fiction films have made a mistake with Director Yang.]"

Director Yang: "???"

"What the hell?! You're trying to shift the blame onto me?! Isn't this just plain stupid? Could a normal human being write a plot like this? And you're trying to shift the blame onto me?!"

He got really anxious and started arguing with his own screenwriter on Weibo.

Not long after, Jinming, one of the investors, tagged the two on Weibo: "[Chaotian Entertainment misused both of you and Yuyan.]"

Director Yang, screenwriter, and Yu Yan: "???"

Wasn't it you, this plague god, who killed us?! You, a worthless piece of trash, have the nerve to shift the blame?!

The situation began to escalate. After its preview screenings, and even before its official release, "The Fortress of Shanghai" was already embroiled in an unprecedented internal conflict within the Chinese entertainment industry.

The director criticizes the lead actor, the lead actor criticizes the screenwriter, and the screenwriter then criticizes the producer…

What a lively show it was! Even Sister Shang, who usually stays up late tonight, was so engrossed in watching it that her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She clapped her hands and cheered, "Good, good, good! Let's fight! Fight harder! Harder!"

"Sis, here's the PPT you requested."

The assistant pushed open the door and brought over a newly prepared PowerPoint presentation: "It's all here. It not only includes the entire process of this internal conflict, but also all the behind-the-scenes videos of the refunds for the preview screenings of 'The Fortress of Shanghai,' and the passionate confrontation between Director Yang and the audience..."

"Ahhh!! I love you so much! I'll share all the handsome guys I've saved and liked on Douyin with you later!"

Ms. Shang excitedly took the tablet and gave her assistant a warm hug.

Assistant: "...Thank you so much, sis."

"Oh, don't be so polite, we're all just friends."

As soon as Sister Shang finished speaking with a smile, the special notification sound for her Weibo follow suddenly rang out. She was immediately stunned, and opened Chi Ye's Weibo in great surprise, and then... her face froze.

"What's wrong, sister?"

The assistant was puzzled.

"Ike...Ikeno...he...he...his account has been hacked again!"

"what?"

The assistant was stunned.

That same night, Chi Ye, who had been stirring things up behind the scenes, finally posted on Weibo for the first time, adding fuel to the fire of this internal strife that had "affected" him. He seemed to have just gone online, reposting Director Yang's interview from earlier that day, in which he said, "Every film is the director's child," and tagging Yang: "@Director Yang, even tigers don't eat their cubs, you're truly vicious."

The second Weibo post followed: "【The movie 'Shanghai Fortress' is currently receiving a lot of negative reviews, but in a few years, with the passage of time, we will find that 'Shanghai Fortress' is not a bad movie, but a classic bad movie.】"

Then came the third message: "Sorry, my account was just hacked."

Chi Ye launched a long-awaited "triple attack," not only responding to Director Yang's sarcastic remarks about him, but also giving a delightful review of the blockbuster "The Fortress of Shanghai." Of course, his account was hacked, so this was not posted by him.

Moreover, this time he wasn't making baseless accusations. Soon after, Jia Zong came out to confirm: "@User Chi Ye's account just experienced an anomaly. We have notified the relevant departments to handle it. Please be aware."

—On Weibo, I can still tell who the father is.

After all this, Director Yang didn't even have a chance to argue, and he was so angry that he deleted his Weibo account on the spot.

Before leaving, he was still cursing: "Weibo and internet traffic are two peas in a pod! They only know how to bully honest people!"

Director Yang, who is supposed to be honest, is not so honest after all. After this incident, he was completely defeated by his public outburst, and it is estimated that it will be difficult for investors to cooperate with him in the future.

Similarly, Chi Ye didn't suffer any losses either, and after briefly "dealing with" Director Yang, he started targeting Yu Yan.

— Negative trending topics such as "#The Fortress of Shanghai" box office manipulation, "#Yu Yan's fans gather to give bad reviews and threaten businesses" have been unearthed.

The first flaw is a phenomenon that existed during the preview screenings of "The Fortress of Shanghai" and has been exposed more than once, but because the film itself is so bad, this point is not a big deal.

Secondly, before "My Love from the Star" aired, Yu Yan's fans launched a large-scale "boycott" against Chi Ye, leaving mindless negative reviews and threatening comments under the e-commerce platforms of various brands Chi Ye endorsed.

This initially caused dissatisfaction among the people in charge of Master Kong... which led to the company not renewing its contract with Ikeno after the success of "My Love from the Star".

The initial "evidence" was kept under wraps because releasing it normally wouldn't have had a significant impact on a top influencer like Yu Yan, but releasing it at this particular time...

"Ikeno really wants me dead."

Looking at the barrage of negative press releases, Yu Yan felt both sorrow and anger.

What chilled him even more was that Chino had kept this secret all this time. Just as others in the industry had said, this man was utterly ruthless in his pursuit of defeating his rivals.

"So now we..."

"Let's keep a low profile for a while."

Yu Yan sighed.

The agent sighed with equal dismay—after this, she had offended the Beijing entertainment circle to the core, and Chi Ye had delivered the final blow… Xiao Yan… might really have to leave the ranks of the “top-tier idols” this time.

Is this "Goujian"?

How many competitors has he "killed" so far?
……

at the same time.

In a residential compound in the capital city.

"Chinese sci-fi films have misused the Beijing circle... Haha, is this a topic his studio is promoting?"

An elderly man who had once praised Ikeno beamed with delight: "This choice of words is... what do you young people say again? Oh right, very sharp."

"...Yes, but he was probably only targeting Yu Yan personally."

The publicity manager who had been in contact with Chi Ye explained on Chi Ye's behalf: "This kid isn't a bad person at heart..."

"Hey, what's wrong with that? That fortress was never good to begin with, so why can't we say so?"

The old man paused, then changed the subject: "Since he says he's used the wrong person, let him come."

"what?"

The leader was stunned.

"What do you mean, 'ah'?" The old man raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't his crime movie doing quite well? Let him make it, give him some resources, and see if he can give us another 'surprise'."

The leader looked troubled: "This...he...he's not the director."

"Let him figure it out himself."

"...Okay, I'll talk to him."

Seeing the old man's "resolute" attitude, the leader dared not say anything more. However, the old man, seeing his appearance, couldn't help but chuckle and scold him: "You, who have experience in being sent to other places, how come you're still the same as before?"

Upon hearing this, the leader was not angry at all; instead, he immediately bent down.

The old man thought for a moment before saying, "Culture will become more and more important in the future. You can get many sensitive topics approved for him, such as that apocalyptic movie he's making now... He specially changed the background, he went to great lengths."

"..." The leader said awkwardly, "I...I gave him some simple suggestions within the scope of the review...but it was definitely not indiscriminate support without any limits..."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I don't know what kind of relationship you two have behind the scenes?"

The leader was even more embarrassed: "He's really just a friend... I do admire him quite a bit."

“It’s not wrong to appreciate capable people.” The old man tapped his leg. “Science fiction is a good subject. Since you appreciate him, you should give him a chance. If he seizes this opportunity, it will benefit you in the future.”

The leader paused, then realized something and tentatively asked, "Do you want support?"

The old man paused, then nodded: "Strong support."

The leader suddenly realized, and then felt an uncontrollable excitement in his heart—Goodness, don't say I didn't help you, Chi Ye. How well we two brothers do in the future depends entirely on whether you can seize this opportunity... No, I have to call you later.

"I heard that his movie is doing very well at the box office and in terms of influence in Southeast Asia?"

The old man changed the subject.

The leader immediately gave a report with great enthusiasm.

……

"The Boss" performed very well at the box office in Southeast Asia.

Although it is certainly much smaller than China, the world's second largest box office market, and it started to gain popularity much later, only gradually becoming popular after the domestic entertainment industry exploded. Many moviegoers were attracted by the reputation and quality of "Big Boss" and the name "Professor Chi".

Among them, "The Boss" achieved extremely good results in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Although the box office was not high, that was because the regions were small. In fact, it has achieved the No.1 box office in the local summer season.

Although Singapore and Myanmar did not reach the top, they were still among the top three.

This is the first time in the history of Chinese cinema that such an "export" type of film has appeared (the era of the Four Heavenly Kings is a special case and is not included). Therefore, although the subject matter is a bit sensitive, Ikeno himself was not affected at all. On the contrary, it made the old man think of "letting him give it a try".

Yes, these kinds of "output-oriented" actors are extremely valuable.

In the history of the Chinese entertainment industry, there has never been such a "big star" before. It is a very terrifying halo, and it is also the biggest hidden benefit that "My Love from the Star" left for Ikeno, and the reason why he insisted on going to Taiwan.

Once this precedent is set, all of his future films and works can be labeled as "cultural exports."

This is the real "golden body".

It’s noon this day.

Chi Ye was in his studio, looking down at the box office and attendance data for "The Boss" in Southeast Asia, when Coco pushed open the door and came in, holding a thermal lunchbox: "Dinner's ready, Chi-ge."

Without looking up, Chi Ye said, "From now on, I won't eat takeout... I'll eat healthily."

"It wasn't takeout; Teacher Shi brought it from home. She was going to talk to the person in charge of Mango TV's new variety show about becoming a regular cast member, so she didn't have time to eat."

"Oh?"

Chi Ye's eyes lit up. He was actually quite picky about food. During this time at the studio, he rarely ate takeout... he had been eating Stevie's meals the whole time.

Because Stevie doesn't have much to do, besides recording songs, she stays in the studio practicing. The Valkyrie has a large appetite and never eats takeout, always bringing her own lunch and dinner from home.

Ikeno couldn't resist eating the delicious-looking food in her lunchbox every time he saw it, and he ate it twice.

Of course, he was also very polite, and would always ask Teacher Shi, "Do you have enough to eat? If you don't, I won't eat any more."

Teacher Shi would pause for two seconds each time before replying, "That's enough."

Ikeno didn't stand on ceremony.

But the night before last, he happened to run into Teacher Shi, who was "sneaking around" eating bread in the karaoke room, and he wisely refrained from eating any more.

"We're in for a treat today!"

Chino rubbed his hands together, just about to pick up his chopsticks.

"Brother Chi."

Coco suddenly put down her phone, her face filled with shock: "Shi Jinwei is in trouble..."

"what?"

Chi Ye was taken aback: "Something happened? What could have happened to her?"

Coco handed him her phone, and there it was, on Weibo's trending topics list, the hashtag #ShiJinWeiSuddenAccident# was trending high, even surpassing the popularity of Director Yang who was being criticized and Chi Ye who was still in the news.

(End of this chapter)