Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, I became a legend in the entertainment industry by avo

Chapter 209 Wang Lan's Regret

[A very auspicious fortune sign]

The film and television adaptation rights for the online novel "Nirvana in Fire" are about to expire, and the original company is facing financial difficulties and is looking for a buyer at a relatively low price.

This IP is difficult to adapt and has a long production cycle, but if it can be carefully produced, it has the potential to become a classic. It is recommended to purchase and hold it until the right time to develop it.

(Rewards: Exemption from Investigation Fragment +1, Best of Luck Talisman +1, Luck Value +8000)

[Auspicious/Medium Fortune]

A cluster of Taobao e-commerce merchants has been established in Qingyanliu Village, Yiwu, with local e-commerce merchants sourcing more than 70% of their goods from the Yiwu market.

You can set up an online store operation team locally, recruit college students, and leverage Yiwu's advantages in sourcing goods to focus on cross-border small-scale wholesale of creative home furnishing products. This approach requires little investment, has a fast turnover, and offers stable profits.

(Reward: +1 Lucky Charm, +5000 Luck Value)

[Neutral draw, draw]

A court in a district of Shanghai is about to conduct a judicial auction of a batch of non-performing assets from pawnshops. Among them is a complete set of mahjong tables and chairs inlaid with mother-of-pearl from the Republican era. Due to improper preservation, some parts are missing, and the starting price is extremely low.

After taking the photo, a master craftsman from Suzhou was sought out to restore it, restoring it to about 70-80% of its original appearance. This was done by a wealthy overseas Chinese businessman from Southeast Asia who was seeking a longevity charm for his father.

Li's father is a mahjong enthusiast and nostalgic, and this set of tables and chairs is exactly what he wanted. He was willing to pay twenty times the cost of restoration to acquire it.

(Reward: Qingyi Reincarnation Fragment +1, Luck Value +7000)

Zhang Qilin looked at the three fortune slips. He knew a little about "Nirvana in Fire," which was produced by Kong Sheng's team.

I didn't expect the copyright to expire so soon, so I should be able to buy the copyright for their team next.

He didn't have enough funds to develop the copyright even after buying it, but the fact that he received such a favorable lottery result means that acquiring the copyright will definitely bring significant benefits.

He then looked at the next one.

In 2011, e-commerce was experiencing explosive growth, and Yiwu was a global distribution center for small commodities, with sourcing costs so low that they were negligible.

A few million might only be a fraction of the budget for a small to medium-budget film, but in the e-commerce sector, it's enough to assemble a decent team.

This has potential.

As for the third one, you can arrange for someone to take a look. If the price isn't too high, you can buy it.

Zhang Qilin picked up the phone and called Shen Ya, asking her to come over tomorrow.

The next morning, Shen Ya arrived at the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Zhang Qilin led her to a secluded spot and handed her a sheet of paper outlining the three things he had prepared the previous night.

After reading it, Shen Ya looked up and said, "Brother Lin, these three projects are completely different in direction. If we push them forward at the same time, won't there be issues with funding—"

"I'll take care of the funding; you just need to execute," Zhang Qilin said calmly.

Shen Ya nodded: "Understood, I will get it done as soon as possible and report back to you."

After seeing Shen Ya off, Zhang Qilin devoted himself entirely to the preparation of "Qin Liangyu".

The script has been finalized after several rounds of revisions by Guo Qihong and He Jiping.

Director Ren Ming, carrying scene breakdown sketches, began discussing stage design with the set designer.

Regarding the cast, after Lan Tianye was confirmed to play Sun Chengzong, teachers Zhu Xu, Pu Cunxin, Feng Yuanzheng, and others also nodded in agreement.

During this period, Jing Tian would come to the Beijing People's Art Theatre during breaks from promoting "The Warring States" to consult with several teachers and familiarize herself with the role in advance.

Every time I come, I bring a notebook, which is filled with dense notes.

Her attitude pleased both Feng Yuanzheng and Ren Ming, who said that the child was truly willing to put in the effort.

Zhang Qilin noticed that every time Jing Tian came, her face showed undeniable fatigue.

She rarely mentions the promotion of "The Warring States" (《战国》), and when she does, she just smiles and says, "It's the company's arrangement, so I just have to go."

He didn't press further.

He knew the publicity strategy behind that movie.

But he can't change anything.

On April 12th, "The Warring States" was released nationwide.

That day, Zhang Qilin was discussing something with Ren Ming when his phone vibrated. It was a message from Jing Tian: "Dalin, it's the premiere today."

He replied with: "Wishing you great sales."

He didn't go to the premiere.

It's not that I don't want to support him, it's that I know even if he goes to see it, it won't change anything.

Three days later, its reputation began to collapse.

The issue first escalated on Douban, where the rating plummeted from over five points to below four.

The short review section is filled with blood-red one-star reviews.

The quote, "The screenwriter has only one principle: take good care of the female lead," was screenshotted and went viral on various forums.

"Sun Bin committed suicide by tying himself to a large cauldron and drowning in a pool of water. Then an earthquake happened and all the water was drained. This isn't a movie; it's a comedy compilation," netizens joked, each one more scathing than the last.

"An investment of 1.5 million yuan was made, but the special effects produced are still stuck in the era of 'Black Cat Detective'."

Then there's Han Han.

On April 22, Han Han published a long article on his blog titled "The Price of Love," in which he thoroughly criticized "The Warring States" from various aspects, including plot, special effects, and performances.

He called the film a compilation of all the worst examples in filmmaking, a true champion among bad movies.

Han Han's blog post was like a bomb, completely igniting public opinion.

Within just a few days, the entire internet was discussing just how bad "Warring States" really was.

The Weibo hashtag "The Fighter Among Bad Movies" trended on Weibo, with tens of thousands of netizens flooding the comment section. Comedians used all their skills to break down the movie into countless memes.

Later, in an interview, Sun Honglei said that he could only give his performance in "The Warring States" a score of 20 out of 100.

This sentence was extracted and widely circulated on Weibo.

The accompanying texts are all kinds of bizarre.

Even Sun Honglei couldn't stand it anymore.

"What kind of good movie can it be if even the male lead dislikes it?"

"I feel sorry for Brother Honglei, making money is hard and life is tough."

Then he announced on Weibo, "The money that was thrown at me has been returned."

Zhang Qilin smiled after reading this Weibo post.

Sun Honglei's move is a textbook example of "stop-loss cutting" in crisis public relations, which helped him extricate himself from the center of the public opinion storm.

Moreover, the so-called "refund" does not mean a full refund of the actor's salary.

They simply refunded the portion that exceeded the normal market price.

Sun Honglei himself viewed this action as a defense of his professional ethics.

Sun Honglei adopted a "heroic sacrifice" attitude, turning himself into the only "clear-headed and upright" outsider in this farce.

But after that, he was completely cut off from movies.

His actions successfully drew all attention to Jing Tian.

Jing Tian's Weibo comment section was completely flooded with hundreds and thousands of insults and mockery under every new post.

Zhang Qilin sent Jing Tian a simple message: "Everything will pass."

Jing Tian only replied with an "Mm" and said nothing more.

After that, he continued doing his own thing.

It's not that he's cold-blooded; he's done what he had to do. Now that public opinion has taken hold, no one can turn the tide before the heat dissipates.

Starlight Film and Television Conference Room.

"Is this what you mean by 'controllable risk'? Can hype cover up the details?" Wang Lan showed a stack of printed negative comments and public opinion.

The intelligence report was thrown in front of Chen Jiasheng.

Chen Jiasheng, sweat beading on his forehead, tried to explain: "Mr. Wang, this—this is indeed unexpected. Our initial assessment of the film's quality was fine, but audience tastes—"

—”

Wang Lan rudely interrupted him: "Didn't I remind you to prepare for the worst? Where is your contingency plan?"

Chen Jiasheng was speechless.

His contingency plan was mostly aimed at ordinary controversies, but he didn't expect his reputation to collapse to such an extent, and he certainly didn't expect Jing Tian to become the sole target of attention.

"Why is the current response so ineffective? Removing the trending topics? Issuing press releases? What's the use of those weak and powerless statements?" Wang Lan slammed her hand on the table, growing increasingly angry. "What I need is a strategy to turn the situation around, or at least to stop the damage!"

"We—we tried to contact some film critics and media outlets to provide positive guidance, but the effect—the effect was not significant," Chen Jiasheng explained with a grim expression. "The current public opinion has already taken shape, and forcibly whitewashing it will only provoke stronger resentment."

"Can't control it?" Wang Lan's voice suddenly rose. "You're the head of the public relations department; your job is to control public opinion. You're telling me you can't?"

Sweat rolled down Chen Jiasheng's forehead.

"Chen Jiasheng," Wang Lan glared at him fiercely, "I want a solution. Tell me, what's next?"

'

Chen Jiasheng opened his mouth, then squeezed out a few words with difficulty: "—We can increase the investment in positive publicity to dilute the negative public opinion—"

"Use what to throw in? Money?" Wang Lan looked at him coldly. "The Warring States series has already lost 70 million. How much more money do you want me to throw in?"

Chen Jiasheng was completely speechless.

Wang Lan leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

Wang Lan recalled Zhang Qilin's alarmist remarks and his insistence on leaving room for maneuver.

Every word he said was correct.

But she chose to believe Chen Jiasheng at the time.

It wasn't because she didn't trust Zhang Qilin, but because of the company's interests, industry rules, and the power struggles among various parties.

Now, the consequences are coming.

Wang Lan opened her eyes and looked at Chen Jiasheng: "Get out."

Chen Jiasheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon, stood up and quickly walked out of the conference room.

Wang Lan sat alone in the empty conference room.

She picked up her phone, scrolled to a number, hesitated for a long time, and finally pressed the dial button.

The phone rang three times before being answered.

"Mr. Zhang," Wang Lan's voice carried a pleading tone for the first time, "I am Wang Lan—I think we need your help in this situation."

Zhang Qilin remained silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

He could roughly guess Wang Lan's purpose in coming, and he could also imagine the pressure she was under at that moment.

"Okay," he finally replied, "but Mr. Wang, some things can't be rushed or forced."

Wang Lan listened, feeling a mix of emotions, but finally breathed a sigh of relief: "I understand, thank you."

When the two met again, Wang Lan was no longer as spirited as before.

Her eyes revealed fatigue and anxiety, and her carefully styled hair was slightly messy. In just a few days, she seemed to have lost all her energy and spirit.

Her voice carried a helplessness Zhang Qilin had never heard before: "I know your advice was right, but we didn't listen. But now—Mr. Zhang, can you help Tiantian?"

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