You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

In the past few days, Shen Yuege has received the photos after the photo editing, and she is very satisfied with the edited photos.

As for the wedding, it's tentatively scheduled for the end of the month. Lu Ran checked the time and felt there was enough time.

Lu Ran remembered that his father-in-law also hated Japan. If he had some influence in Japan, his father-in-law would probably be more pleased.

Let's fight this battle well first.

The counterattack from Japan came a week later than Lu Ran had anticipated, but it was more intense than he had expected.

The incident started on a Japanese gaming forum with a considerable user base.

Someone posted a long thread on the forum, the title of which roughly translates to "Beware of Cultural Invasion - What's Behind the TUTU Game?"

The post, which reads several thousand words, started by discussing TUTU Games' Chinese background and then went on to talk about the survival difficulties faced by the Japanese domestic game industry. Finally, it came to the conclusion that the rapid expansion of TUTU's three games in the Japanese market was a planned cultural invasion aimed at destroying the Japanese domestic game ecosystem and causing the younger generation of Japanese to completely align their cultural identity with China.

The post went viral on the forum on the same day it was published.

The comments section was abuzz with arguments. Some supported the original poster's point of view, while others countered that it was an exaggeration. Still others cited specific game data to prove that TUTU's products were indeed more fun than Japanese games.

The debate lasted from morning until night, with hundreds of replies appearing under the post, and the atmosphere became increasingly heated.

Two days later, several Japanese gaming media outlets reprinted the core points of that post.

The headlines were increasingly alarmist, with some claiming "Chinese games are devouring the Japanese market," others "Undercurrents are brewing behind the neon lights of Akihabara," and one in-depth media outlet even wrote a longer analysis, dissecting TUTU's pricing strategy in Japan and pointing out that TUTU's prices in Japan were nearly 50% higher than in Europe, concluding that "Chinese companies are reaping excessive profits from Japanese users through games."

After this article was reprinted by multiple media outlets, the public opinion landscape became even more complex.

Some Japanese gamers have begun to re-examine the games they are playing. One person posted on social media that he uninstalled TUTU's games, along with a screenshot of his phone screen, with the caption, "We cannot let the next generation of Japanese live in the shadow of being dominated by Chinese culture."

That tweet generated a lot of interaction on Japanese social media, with retweets and comments making it onto the day's trending lists.

Meanwhile, another group of Japanese players reacted in the completely opposite way.

Someone posted a video clip of League of Legends gameplay on the same social media platform, with the caption, "After playing games for twenty years, this is the first time I've felt that the skill ceiling is so high. I don't care which country it's made of, if it's fun, it's fun."

This video got several times more views than the uninstall screenshot, and someone in the comments section replied, "A game is a game, don't drag politics into everything."

The real conflict erupted one night.

Suddenly, a large number of new accounts appeared on several Japanese gaming forums, posting messages against the TUTU game.

The posts all shared a highly consistent theme, with slogans like "Resist cultural invasion" and "Protect the Japanese game industry," and the wording was far more intense than in previous discussions.

These posts flooded the forum's trending list, pushing all the normal discussion posts to the back.

People at Chixiao Technology noticed this anomaly.

That same evening, Jiang Feng contacted Lu Ran, saying that someone had launched an organized boycott on the forum. Most of the accounts posting were newly registered, and their posting patterns were very similar, suggesting that someone was likely behind it.

He asked Lu Ran if she wanted to respond publicly.

Lu Ran thought for a moment on the phone and said, "No need to rush to respond. First, send out the official community announcement from Chixiao Technology. Keep the content mild and don't engage in a direct confrontation with them. Just say that TUTU Games respects Japanese culture, is willing to grow together with Japanese players, and welcomes all constructive feedback and suggestions. That soft, unassuming style is the most effective at silencing any anger."

Jiang Feng agreed, and he had his team draft a version of the announcement overnight, with even softer wording than Lu Ran's version.

The boycott subsided slightly after the announcement was issued, but it did not stop.

In the following days, new anti-TUTU posts continued to emerge on the forum, but their popularity was somewhat diluted after the announcement.

What truly caused a subtle shift in the situation was the internal debate among Japanese players.

The incident began when a young Japanese gamer posted a tweet that roughly translated to: "Those who say we should boycott TUTU games, didn't you play the Famicom when you were kids? Didn't you play Dragon Quest? Didn't you watch Doraemon? When Japan exported its culture to the world, why didn't anyone call it cultural invasion? Now that a few fun games from China have come in, you're all shouting to protect your local culture?" This tweet was retweeted countless times, and the comments section was filled with supporters and opponents, with hundreds of comments going back and forth.

Some people in the comments section dug up even earlier historical materials.

During the Nara and Heian periods, Japan extensively studied China's systems, writing, architecture, and art. Envoys to Tang China made numerous trips to Chang'an, bringing back Chinese artifacts one by one.

Someone posted a screenshot of a history textbook, which reads, "Japan extensively adopted the legal system and Confucianism of China between the 7th and 9th centuries."

This person wrote in the comments section of the post: "You say this is cultural invasion, then what about those envoys to Tang Dynasty China?"

This post quickly gained popularity on Japanese forums.

Those who support TUTU Games seized on this angle and began to fight back, saying that Japan itself developed on the basis of Chinese culture, and that the current game is just a modern version of the Japanese envoys to Tang China.

The opposing side was cornered by this historical logic. They could not deny the history of the Japanese envoys to Tang China, nor could they explain why ancient learning was "introduction" while modern learning is "invasion".

A Japanese player commented on a forum with a particularly hurtful statement: "A thousand years ago, our ancestors went there to learn, and after learning, they came back and built the Toshodai-ji Temple in Nara. Now that they've brought such good things to our doorstep, you're stopping us from playing with them. Who is truly protecting Japanese culture here?"

This statement became the turning point of the entire debate.

Since then, the number of replies to the boycott posts has decreased significantly, and the intervals between posts have become longer and longer.

The intense media frenzy that followed has gradually subsided, leaving behind more normal game discussions and daily interactions between players.

Indeed, when a work is excellent enough, great scholars will naturally come to debate it for you.

Lu Ran instructed Chen Mo to keep a close eye on the changing trends on the Japanese forums.

Chen Mo sends him a briefing every week, compiling a table showing the popularity of discussions, topic distribution, and the ratio of positive to negative comments on major Japanese gaming forums and social media.

The data curve in the briefing had steep spikes in the first week, those spikes began to be smoothed out in the second week, and by the third week the curve had flattened out, returning to the normal fluctuation range of discussion.

Lu Ran noticed something when he saw the briefing in the fourth week.

Although the hype surrounding the boycott has died down, the discussion has shifted from "whether or not to boycott" to "why so many people chose to boycott immediately."

An analysis article posted on a forum stated that the boycott stemmed from a collective anxiety caused by the long-term lack of innovation in the Japanese domestic game industry. The success of TUTU exposed the backwardness of Japanese game companies in terms of gameplay and user experience. Those who called for a boycott were essentially making excuses for their own incompetence.

This article received more likes than any previous boycott post.

Lu Ran finished reading the analysis article and sent it to Jiang Feng, adding a sentence: "If the Japanese game industry were to improve itself, this kind of debate wouldn't even happen. The harsher their criticism, the more correct we are."

Jiang Feng replied, "Should we take this opportunity to launch another round of public opinion guidance? For example, could we release some content that aligns with the discussion surrounding the 'Japanese envoys to Tang China'?"

Lu Ran thought for a moment and typed back: "No need. The highest level of information warfare isn't winning, it's making your opponent undermine themselves. They're already internally divided; our involvement will only make it easier for them to reunite. Remain silent and let them continue arguing. In the end, they'll come to their own conclusion—instead of resisting, it's better to focus on doing their own game well."

Jiang Feng replied with "I understand" and then didn't ask any further questions.

Lu Ran placed his phone on the table.

He recalled those people on Japanese forums who were still posting boycott messages. Some of them might be genuinely speaking out out of a passion for cultural preservation, but many more were simply following an emotion and chanting slogans along with everyone else.

What can be changed after shouting?

TUTU's games are still being played in internet cafes in Akihabara, with long queues of players waiting to get a turn. Young Japanese gamers are still sharing their pentakill moments on forums. The voices of resistance will eventually be drowned out by more normal, everyday, and trivial discussions.

What truly remains in people's lives can never be driven away by resistance.

Lu Ran got up and walked to the window.

The night outside the window in Shanghai had completely quieted down. The streetlights cast long shadows of the roadside trees, which swayed gently in the cool night breeze.

He stood for a moment, then turned and walked back to his desk, sat down, opened his computer, created a new document, and typed the following line: "Second step in the Japanese market—expanding Chixiao Technology's R&D team in Tokyo, with the goal of launching an independent product line for the Japanese market within six months."

He added a note below that line: "No rush, take your time. They've already opened the door; the rest will follow."

He needs to slowly devour Japan.

...