Chapter 62: Xianghua Entertainment Can Take Him Down Whenever They Want

All-Continent Pictures, headquarters building.

Chen Jianfeng looked at the report, frowning in puzzlement as he muttered:

"What is going on? Weren't those little haters previously Cheng Cheng's anti-fans? Why are they suddenly supporting Cheng Cheng so much? What on earth happened in between?!"

As someone in a position of authority, naturally, he rarely paid attention to such information, nor was he willing to delve deeply into the twists and turns behind it.

Only when a matter threatened him did he utter a puzzled query: What on earth is going on?

Perhaps Xianghua Entertainment could answer this question for him.

They knew why the little haters suddenly supported Cheng Cheng, and they also knew why these haters were so steadfast.

However, what Xianghua Entertainment likewise could not comprehend was this:

Through all their prior analyses, they had concluded that those little haters were nothing more than a mob of opportunistic rabble. They analyzed that the haters had never been fans of Cheng Cheng himself, but rather of the amusement and spectacle he provided. They analyzed that these little haters would come for the sake of entertainment and leave for the same reason! They analyzed that the haters held zero value, would never purchase endorsed products, and certainly would not offer genuine financial support!

Yet how did the reality turn out completely different from their analysis?

Did those people actually spend money to go to the theaters and support Cheng Cheng?!

This!

This is impossible!

Little haters have never been high-quality fans!

How could they possibly spend money for the sake of a male celebrity?!

Ma Rong, who had previously made those confident assertions, was dealt a ruthless slap across the face. Constantly tracking the box office data of *The Volunteers* (or *Gao Zhuo Yi Zhi*), his eyes were now completely bloodshot.

At this moment, Ma Rong's attitude toward Cheng Cheng bore a striking resemblance to the attitude one holds toward an ex-partner after a breakup.

Toward a former lover who has broken up with you, naturally, you hope the other person does as poorly as possible! Ideally, they would come crawling back to you in tears, begging for a second chance, whereupon you could viciously humiliate and berate them, pointing out how utterly foolish and short-sighted their initial choice had been. After thoroughly degrading them to the point where they thought you had vented your anger and that reconciliation was possible, you would reject them mercilessly, grinding their dignity straight into the mud! Leaving them to live the rest of their lives in perpetual regret.

Yet why had reality completely reversed itself?

If the situation was inverted, didn't that prove the other person's judgment had been accurate, the choice they made had been correct, they were the exceptional ones, and he himself was the failure?!

No!

He could not let any of this happen!

Ma Rong absolutely refused to allow it!

In a panic, he hurriedly contacted a web service company that had a deep partnership with Xianghua Entertainment—commonly known as a troll farm or water-army agency.

***

Fast forward to five hours ago, at home.

Cheng Cheng was chewing on an apple, lurking in a group chat. The moment the effect duration of the first potion of good luck expired, he immediately used the second one:

"Yesterday some movie theaters ((￣～￣) munch) broke down, that must have been (munch munch) the work of the good luck potion (gulp), right? I wonder what kind of surprise they'll give me today (munch munch), looking forward to it~"

***

Returning to the present.

Ma Rong dialed the phone, his tone carrying a hint of sinister malice: "Da Shi, it's me. I have an urgent matter for you."

Hearing this from the other end of the line, Yu Shi immediately replied: "Hello, President Ma, just give me your instructions directly. Are you dropping some dark dirt on another celebrity again?"

Ma Rong let out a sinister chuckle: "Hehe, this time it's not someone else, it's our old nemesis Cheng Cheng!"

"Who?", Yu Shi didn't catch the name clearly, "Zhuo Feng?"

Where the hell has your mind wandered to?! Ma Rong flew into a rage: "Are you out of your mind? Not Zhuo Feng, it's Cheng Cheng!"

Static crackled across the phone line. Yu Shi held the phone a bit further away and cursed under his breath:

How the hell is it already the 5G era, yet the signal is still this terrible?

He said: "Of course I know it's Zhuo Feng, not Cheng Cheng! Didn't you say Zhuo Feng from the start?"

Infuriated, Ma Rong snapped: "Da Shi, are you doing this on purpose to piss me off? I said, it is Cheng Cheng!!! Not Zhuo Feng!!! His movie is gaining traction; even though the box office is still low, word of mouth is exploding. At this rate, he's probably going to make a comeback! The company absolutely cannot allow such a thing to happen; we must make him vanish completely."

Now the words were completely unintelligible.

Walking toward the exit, Yu Shi said: "President Ma, the signal is a bit poor, hold on a second."

Stepping outside, he asked: "President Ma, can you hear me clearly now?"

Ma Rong took a deep breath, suppressing his fury, and said: "I've been able to hear you clearly the whole time!"

Apologizing, Yu Shi offered: "I'm sorry, President Ma, it must be my signal acting up. I'm outside now. Go ahead! I didn't catch what you said earlier."

This left Ma Rong completely flabbergasted!

He had intended to act like a mastermind behind the scenes, issuing a fatal order to crush Cheng Cheng with a venomous tone, then hanging up the phone, gazing up at the overcast sky, quietly waiting for Cheng Cheng's cinematic reputation to collapse, before retreating with hidden merit and fame, wearing an all-controlling smile amid the darkness.

Yet all of this had been ruined by Yu Shi!

Damn the bad signal!

Reframing his phrasing, all anger vanished from his tone, replaced by a trace of helplessness as he said:

"The current situation is extremely unfavorable to the company. From beginning to end, I never asked you to smear Lü Zhuo Feng. Who even is Lü Zhuo Feng? Don't I know who he is? What does this have to do with Lü Zhuo Feng?! What good would smearing him do for us? Let me repeat myself! Do not mess this up for me! Arrange people to smear Cheng Cheng! Did you hear me clearly?"

Ma Rong spoke very clearly, but what reached Yu Shi's ears sounded entirely different.

"...static... The current situation is extremely unfavorable to the company... static... from beginning to end... static... asked you to smear Lü Zhuo Feng. Who even is Lü Zhuo Feng? Don't I know who he is? ...static... What does this have to do with Lü... static... relation... What good would smearing him... static... do for us... static... Let me repeat myself... static... you must not... static... arrange people to smear Cheng Cheng! Did you hear me clearly?!"

Frowning, Yu Shi listened. This time, mixed with the static, he finally "heard clearly."

He replied: "Alright, I understand, President Ma, but let me confirm one last time: from start to finish, the person you brought up wasn't Cheng Cheng, right? It has nothing to do with him at all? It's Lü Zhuo Feng?"

Yet inwardly, a grievance immediately welled up inside him:

Isn't this the exact same thing I heard at the beginning? And why did this Ma Rong start getting all worked up mid-sentence?

On Ma Rong's end:

"...static... Alright, I understand, President Ma... static... But let me confirm one last time... static... from start to finish, the person you brought up... static... was Cheng Cheng, right? It has nothing to do with... static... static... Lü Zhuo Feng?"

How is it my signal's turn to be bad now?

Ma Rong frowned, but then smoothed his brow. Fortunately, Yu Shi had finally heard him clearly this time.

However, he pondered to himself:

How the hell did that bastard Lü Zhuo Feng end up in our conversation to begin with?

Never mind, forget it.

Ma Rong continued: "His movie seems to have caught a stroke of dumb luck this time, striking a chord with a segment of the audience's psychology. We cannot allow this to continue; we must nip him in the bud as soon as possible and eliminate the impact on our company. I want you to go all out in smearing him, smearing his film, and smearing all of his lead actors!"

"All the lead actors?"

Yu Shi fell silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, before saying:

"President Ma, the company has had a lot on its plate lately, and the projects currently on our hands already have us overwhelmed. If we have to deal with him, I'm afraid it might be a bit of a stretch. Besides, what good is dealing with him? What does he have to do with us? Aren't we just making an enemy out of thin air?"

To be honest, he really didn't want to smear Lü Zhuo Feng.

Why waste time smearing Lü Zhuo Feng for no reason? There was zero conflict of interest with the company!

Impatiently, Ma Rong cut him off:

"How could there be no benefit? Anything that is of no benefit to him is of benefit to us! Furthermore, even though he has nothing to do with us right now, I want to let him know that whenever Xianghua Entertainment wants to screw with him, we can do it at any time!"

Want to screw with Lü Zhuo Feng and can do it at any time?

Are you out of your mind being this arrogant and reckless?!

Yu Shi turned pale with fright!

Immediately afterward, he comforted himself:

Perhaps the higher-ups have considerations of their own; I'm merely a foot soldier charging into battle, so I'll just do as I'm told from above.

He said: "Very well, President Ma, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Coldly, Ma Rong instructed: "Ensure success!"

Hanging up, Ma Rong put down his phone and sneered:

Cheng Cheng!

I've said it before: as long as I'm around, don't even dream of making a comeback.

*Crack—*

At that exact moment, a screw on the ceiling chandelier suddenly loosened.

With a sharp *clack*, the screw dropped to the floor.

"What the hell was that noise?"

Puzzled, Ma Rong raised his head to look, and the next second, everything went black before his eyes.

The massive chandelier emitted a groaning screech and came crashing down head-on, burying Ma Rong underneath it along with his phone.

Beneath the chandelier, a pool of deep crimson blood slowly seeped out.

Ma Rong's legs gave two twitches, and then he went completely still.

The sudden commotion echoed outward. Tang芳 (Tang Fang), hearing the sound from the hallway, walked in and shrieked in absolute terror at the sight before her:

"Help! Someone help! President Ma has been crushed!"