Chapter 207: The Fight
On the second day of the Spring Festival movie season, Family and Nation had already accumulated quite a few negative reviews.
Another issue was that by the time Family and Nation was released, several films of the same genre had already been launched within the industry, following the massive success of Fearless Life.
To some extent, audiences were already experiencing aesthetic fatigue, and Family and Nation wasn’t even the best-quality film among them.
The plot was already somewhat weak, and with Bei Hong dragging it down even further, the negative reviews Family and Nation received exceeded the production team’s expectations.
As a result, starting from the second day, Family and Nation’s box office performance had already begun to fall behind Life on the Line.
Director Miao Zhi had deliberately chosen not to work on a film with the same theme as Fearless Life, and the role played by Shao Yao suited him particularly well. The movie’s pacing wasn’t too fast, so it wasn’t the kind that would instantly rake in a high box office, but after watching it, audiences didn’t feel like they had wasted their money. On the contrary, they were willing to recommend it to others.
However, at this moment, the veteran actor who had previously “exposed” Shao Yao for b*llying him spoke out again.
Director Miao Zhi finally lost his patience. “Once or twice—aren’t you done yet? Some film crews should stop resorting to shady tactics. Making a good movie is what really matters!”
Miao Zhi didn’t name names, but anyone could tell which crew he was referring to.
Since even the director had spoken up, Shao Yao could no longer remain silent. He asked the other party to specify exactly when and during which scene he had supposedly b*llied him. Since it happened within the crew, there had to be witnesses and evidence. If the incident just so “happened” to take place where no one else was around, and there was no proof, then he had every reason to believe that the accusation was nothing more than a fabricated rumor.
[According to him, the entire crew b*llied him alone. What kind of film crew has that much free time?]
[Just like back when Soaring Ambition was released—why didn’t he expose this earlier or later? Why did it have to be now? And why is it always some accusation without evidence? Isn’t it just because Shao Yao is an honest guy and easy to b*lly? Why not say that Lu Xu b*llied you when you worked with him? Oh, right, because Lu Xu actually knows how to curse people out, doesn’t he?]
Lu Xu, who was suddenly dragged into the conversation for no reason: “…”
Alright, that actually made a lot of sense.
Over the years, Shao Yao’s reputation as an honest and straightforward person had become deeply ingrained in the public’s mind. Everyone knew that despite his tall and imposing appearance, he had no celebrity arrogance whatsoever. Ironically, that made him the easiest target for these kinds of rumors.
[He just looks intimidating,] Lu Xu summarized.
[He looks intimidating,] Zheng Xiao chimed in, [Like he could punch me into oblivion with one hit.]
Shao Yao sent a sticker of a sad face. His emo phase was officially over, and with Life on the Line performing decently at the box office over the past two days, he finally felt a sense of relief.
While Miao Zhi openly criticized Family and Nation, Liu Rennong’s side didn’t respond much.
If circumstances allowed, Shao Yao’s so-called “scandal” could have been blown up even further. But Liu Rennong soon realized that, in this season, even if Shao Yao was the one caught in the controversy, the audience’s biggest resentment was still directed at Family and Nation.
To be precise, at Liu Rennong himself.
The bigger Shao Yao’s “scandal” got, the more people flooded the comment sections explaining his good deeds and setting the record straight.
Liu Rennong’s usual marketing tactics were nothing new. A few years ago, when How Much Do You Know was released, similar scandals surfaced about rival films. Combined with the film’s screening advantages and his own “good reputation,” How Much Do You Know managed to rake in quite a bit at the box office.
But now, none of the tactics Liu Rennong was good at worked anymore.
When it came to acting, Shao Yao was truly flawless.
Beyond that, there was also the long-standing conflict between him and Lu Xu.
The first time Lu Xu clashed with Qi Di, Liu Rennong hadn’t taken him seriously. After all, Lu Xu was just a newcomer who had climbed up from the TV drama industry—not entirely unknown, but nothing remarkable either.
The entertainment industry never lacked top-tier celebrities. Brand endorsements surged, and fans’ enthusiasm was overwhelming, but fan adoration always faded eventually. Without fans, even the most popular idols had to struggle to secure a stable position in the industry.
Yet, Lu Xu stood his ground more firmly than anyone. He had an extraordinary sense for selecting scripts, managing to achieve success in both box office performance and prestigious awards.
What infuriated Liu Rennong the most was Shen Wenjie exposing his involvement in manipulating theater screening allocations.
To some extent, this was the very foundation of Liu Rennong’s current standing in the film industry. If this had never been exposed, in the eyes of the audience, he would still be a top-tier director with a high-grossing film like How Much Do You Know under his belt.
People in the industry might have known about it, but no one wanted to offend the theater chains.
However, once the public found out, both the theater chains and the directors in the industry had to distance themselves from him. No one wanted to be seen as the one undermining the film industry’s ecosystem—especially now, when the movie market was already struggling. Continuing such practices would only drive audiences to completely abandon cinema.
The later Golden Flame Awards further cemented the collapse of his reputation.
But Liu Rennong had no regrets. He couldn’t stand watching Miao Zhi win a grand slam of the three major film awards, and he felt the same about Lu Xu—considering Lu Xu’s current standing with the Golden Flame Awards, it would be many years before he had a real shot at winning Best Actor there.
The Golden Flame Awards had their own pride; the committee would never bow to Lu Xu so easily.
Liu Rennong couldn’t even understand why audiences were reacting so strongly to Fearless Life not winning an award.
Awards were decided by the judges. Just because a movie had a good reputation while the acting was merely passable, did that mean it was guaranteed to win? There had been countless overlooked films in cinematic history, not just domestically but internationally as well. Plenty of classic films had never won major awards.
An award was just an award, and Family and Nation was Family and Nation. What Liu Rennong couldn’t accept was that film fans were channeling their frustration with the Golden Flame Awards into their reception of Family and Nation.
But there was nothing he could do now—especially as Family and Nation’s reputation continued to decline.
In previous years, a film like Life on the Line wouldn’t have been expected to perform explosively at the box office. But this year, due to Family and Nation’s unstable word-of-mouth and the fact that Lu Xu had encouraged his fans to support Life on the Line, the film was showing signs of becoming a breakout hit. In just three days, it had grossed 1 billion yuan.
One generation plants the trees, and the next enjoys the shade. If Fearless Life hadn’t been such a massive box office success, Life on the Line wouldn’t have received this much attention either.
And this time, Liu Rennong couldn’t manipulate the screening schedules.
The fact that Family and Nation had secured over 20% of initial screenings had even trended on social media. After that, countless film bloggers and critics were monitoring its scheduling like they were keeping historical records—any slight adjustment in Family and Nation’s showings, and they’d make sure the whole world knew about it.
This year’s Spring Festival season, the screening adjustments for Family and Nation had been normal. Since its box office performance was struggling, its screenings naturally decreased. Because of this, Liu Rennong estimated that Family and Nation’s earnings wouldn’t see any significant increases moving forward.
The investors were visibly displeased, though his own paycheck remained unaffected.
At this moment, Liu Rennong couldn’t help but feel relieved that he hadn’t invested in Family and Nation. Back when How Much Do You Know was released, he had put a significant amount of money into it. Although the theater chains had taken the biggest cut, he had still made an unexpectedly large profit.
Of course, How Much Do You Know’s actual box office earnings weren’t as high as the public believed. However, thanks to its extensive screenings and the “box office smash” label, the film managed to attract plenty of unsuspecting viewers.
Judging by Family and Nation’s current earnings, no matter how much he had invested, he was bound to lose money.
With Family and Nation struggling in both screenings and revenue, Liu Rennong didn’t just sit idly by. Instead, he took the opportunity to buy trending topics to push the narrative that he absolutely could not have manipulated the numbers—
[Anyone with common sense can see that if there was real fraud, would Family and Nation’s screenings be this low?]
[Sure, How Much Do You Know had a high number of screenings back then, but it wasn’t ridiculously high, was it? The real issue was that other films just weren’t performing well. If they had, the theaters wouldn’t have had to bet everything on How Much Do You Know, right?]
[I saw someone claiming to be Shen Wenjie’s classmate online, saying that while Liu Rennong and Shen Wenjie were technically mentor and student, they were never particularly close. Apparently, Shen Wenjie has a strong sense of jealousy and always felt that Liu Rennong didn’t give him enough attention. But in reality, Liu Rennong treated him much better than most—yet he was still dissatisfied.]
After pushing these trending topics, Shen Wenjie and his film Uncertain Return also ended up in the hot search rankings. Shen Wenjie hadn’t updated his Weibo in a long time, though a new account, “Shen Wenjie01,” had appeared briefly. Unfortunately, after posting just one post, it was banned, leaving netizens clueless about what had actually happened.
In any case, the blame had firmly landed on Shen Wenjie’s shoulders.
And that wasn’t the only buzz surrounding Family and Nation. Other trending topics included reports of actors refusing to cooperate during filming, claims that the cast didn’t respect Liu Rennong’s authority due to his tarnished reputation, and even rumors that Bei Hong’s half-hearted performance had angered Liu Rennong so much that he ended up in the hospital.
The marketing account even posted an on-site photo. In the picture, Liu Rennong looked haggard, yet there was a certain handsomeness to his features—a classic middle-aged heartthrob. His complexion alone was enough to evoke endless sympathy.
As the comment section flooded with messages expressing pity for Liu Rennong, the marketing account struck while the iron was hot, releasing another set of images from when Uncertain Return was under scrutiny—back when Shen Wenjie had stepped forward to expose Liu Rennong. The photos captured Liu Rennong sitting alone, looking utterly exhausted and dejected.
[No matter what, Liu Rennong is still Shen Wenjie’s teacher, right? He helped him out—he never wronged him, did he?]
[If this were ancient times, someone like Shen Wenjie would have been thrown in jail.]
[Tsk, truly despicable. He was the one with bad intentions, wasn’t he? If Shen Wenjie hadn’t been willing, could Liu Rennong really have forced him to do any of this?]
Lu Xu couldn’t help but rant about it in their group chat: [Gotta admit, the photos turned out pretty handsome. I can’t even find such good angles for my own selfies.]
[You’re not wrong. He actually looks pretty good. If I knew him better, I’d be asking who took these pictures.]
Shao Yao, who had a keen interest in photography, stayed quiet while Zheng Xiao and Lu Xu discussed it. Only after they finished did he lazily add, [It was probably taken by the same photographer.]
The camera focused solely on Liu Rennong’s face, capturing his vulnerability and despair with striking clarity. Even if Liu Rennong had been just an ordinary man rather than a renowned director, these photos would still have elicited sympathy from the public.
With enough repetition and brainwashing, sooner or later, the audience would come to believe Liu Rennong’s words.
His methods might have been crude, but as long as the public bought into it, that was all that mattered.
Even if Liu Rennong hadn’t fully cleared his name yet, time would eventually wash everything away.
While Lu Xu and Zheng Xiao continued their discussion, Shao Yao had already veered off into talking about photography techniques. Lu Xu was just about to join in when he suddenly noticed Zheng Xiao furiously pinging him on WeChat.
[Holy shit! Shen Wenjie just went after Liu Rennong—he brought a knife!]
Lu Xu: “?????!”
