Pirates began to dominate the Chinese entertainment industry.

News of the box office explosion on the first day spread faster than expected.

Cai Yinong called early in the morning.

Liu Shishi flinched in fright, then pretended to be very busy and went to the counter to make coffee.

"President Ji, congratulations!" Cai Yinong's voice was filled with laughter. "All of Tangren's films combined don't even equal the box office of yours in just one day."

"Mr. Cai, you're too kind." Ji Yun leaned against the window. "I heard that the ratings for 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' are also quite good. We celebrated together on the day it went live on satellite TV."

"Okay." Cai Yinong chuckled, her tone suddenly becoming subtle. "By the way, is Shishi with you?"

Ji Yun glanced at Liu Shishi.

"exist."

"Let her answer the phone."

Ji Yun handed over the phone.

Liu Shishi gave Ji Yun a reproachful look, took the phone, and had just said "hello" when she heard Cai Yinong's voice filled with gritted teeth:

"Liu Shishi, you're getting bolder and bolder, daring to sneak away! I'm giving you three days. If you don't get back here to run errands, don't even think about getting a new role!"

Liu Shishi's hand trembled, and she almost spilled her coffee. She stammered and dared not speak.

But then Cai Yinong sighed and added, "Fine, I'll give you a few days off. Spend some time with President Ji; he's been calling me like crazy to curry favor with him."

Liu Shishi paused for a moment, then smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Sister Cai~"

After hanging up the phone, she turned around and found Ji Yun staring at her.

"What did Mr. Cai say that made you laugh like that?"

"She told me to keep you company." Liu Shishi walked over with a cup of coffee, her cheeks flushed and a smile she couldn't suppress playing on her lips.

She said there are tons of people in the industry now who want to line up to curry favor with you.

"And you?" Ji Yun took the coffee. "Are you trying to curry favor with me too?"

Liu Shishi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly leaned down and gently pecked his lips.

She whispered, "This is my way of expressing my gratitude."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for making such a great movie," Liu Shishi said, leaning against him, her voice muffled. "From now on, your directorial talent will overshadow Liu Yifei's rumored boyfriend."

Ji Yun looked down at her: "You care about this?"

"Of course!" Liu Shishi looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Even though you two haven't had much contact, people online say you're a couple every day. I'm so envious... I'm drowning in jealousy."

Ji Yun couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to pinch her soft cheek: "You're unlikely to drown, you'll probably just overeat to death."

Liu Shishi understood immediately, and hugged Ji Yun, not daring to speak. She was still a little scared when she thought about it; it was too overwhelming.

……

The news that the production cost was 253 million and the box office was nearly 500 million on the first day was like a bomb thrown into the entertainment industry.

The next day, before Ji Yun even got out of bed, her phone had been ringing off the hook.

The media, industry insiders, people who had worked with him before, people who had previously rejected him...

They all suddenly appeared, as if overnight everyone had become his friend.

"President Ji, congratulations! 500 million on the first day, that's amazing!"

"Director Ji, when are you free for an exclusive interview? We'll give you the front page!"

"Ms. Ji, we have a project we'd like to collaborate on with you. Do you have time to discuss it?"

Ji Yun yawned as she brushed her teeth and answered the phone, mumbling and humming in a nasal voice to brush it off.

One of the phone calls made him temporarily stop what he was doing.

It was a call from Principal Lei of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

"Congratulations, Ji Yun!" Principal Lei's voice, even through the phone, was filled with excitement. "We at the Shanghai Theatre Academy are so proud of you!"

Ji Yun spat out the foam in her mouth and smiled, "Thank you, Principal Lei."

"You're practically a star performer at the Shanghai Theatre Academy now. I'll have someone do a feature article about you on the official website. By the way, how's the screening schedule? I heard that because of the low number of screenings, many viewers aren't getting to see your film?"

Ji Yun wiped the corner of her mouth: "Yes, 'Red Cliff' took up the majority of the screenings, leaving us with only about 6% of the national screenings."

"Only 6%? That won't do!" Principal Lei was silent for a few seconds, as if he was considering something. "Ji Yun, it's like this, I have some influence with the Shanghai United Cinemas. How about this, I'll try to talk to them for you and see if we can increase the number of screenings a bit."

Ji Yun's eyes lit up.

Screening schedules are the lifeline of box office revenue; even a few percentage points increase represents real growth.

"Then I'll have to trouble Principal Lei."

"No trouble at all. It's not easy for the Shanghai Theatre Academy to produce a director, so the school should naturally lend a hand. Wait for my news."

After hanging up the phone, Ji Yun leaned against the sink and thought for a while.

Although the Shanghai Theatre Academy's network is not as extensive as that of the Beijing Film Academy, it still has quite a few alumni in East China.

With Principal Lei personally involved, the number of screenings will most likely increase.

Sure enough, that afternoon, Zhao Liying excitedly rushed into the office with the freshly released screening schedule data: "Boss! Great news! Our screenings have increased!"

Ji Yun took the form and glanced at it—the national screening share had increased from 6% to 12%.

It more than doubled.

"Principal Lei has spoken with the Shanghai United Cinemas, and given our box office performance and high attendance on the first day, the cinemas have agreed to add more screenings."

Zhao Liying rubbed her hands together excitedly, "The box office is going to take off now, right?"

Liu Shishi calculated the figures: "With the number of screenings more than doubled, even if the occupancy rate decreases slightly, tomorrow's box office should reach eight million?"

Ji Yun didn't speak, but just looked at the movie schedule with a slight smile on her lips.

If theaters can voluntarily add more screenings, it means they've truly invested money in your film.

good thing.

……

However, the good times didn't last long, and the opponent began to fight back.

Less than three days after the number of screenings increased, Nazar noticed something was wrong.

"Boss, something's wrong!" She stared at the real-time screening data on the computer screen, her brows furrowed deeply. "Our screenings are dropping!"

Ji Yun walked behind her and leaned over to look at the screen.

Sure enough, the national screening share curve, which had already begun to rise, hit an invisible wall after reaching 12%, and began to slowly but steadily decline.

11%, 10%, 9%...

"What's going on?" Naza was so anxious that he stamped his feet, flipping through several data pages.

Why did these major cinema chains suddenly reduce our screenings? Our attendance rate yesterday was almost 1.5 times that of "Red Cliff", why are they reducing it?

If this continues, our box office will plummet!

Ji Yun looked at the numbers and her face turned cold.

Instead of getting angry, he picked up his phone and called the owner of Guangdian.

After a few rings, he answered calmly with a greeting, then got to the point: "Mr. Wang, the screening schedule has been cut. What happened?"

Wang Changtian was silent for a few seconds, as if he was hesitating.

Then he sighed, his voice low: "President Ji, it's not that I don't want to help you. Orange Sky has made its move. You pose too great a threat to their box office, of course they'll try to suppress you."

Wang Changtian paused, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"The CEO of Orange Sky personally called several cinema chain leaders. He's learned his lesson now; if he can't win in terms of public opinion, he's started secretly reducing your screenings."

Ji Yun was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you understand the specifics?"

"They promised the major theater chains that as long as 'Red Cliff' received at least 70% of the screenings, they would give priority to screening all subsequent films produced by Orange Sky Golden Harvest. Do you know how many films they have this year? Seven. The combined appeal of these seven films was enough to convince the theater chains to agree."

Ji Yun hung up the phone, leaned back in her chair, and unconsciously tapped her fingers on the table.

Using a subsequent film slate as leverage to pressure theaters is a clever move. Even if a film is a huge hit, theaters can only offer that one film. But big studios can offer a film slate that lasts one or two years.

At the same time.

The news of the film's scheduling being cut quickly spread across the entire internet.

The first to react were netizens.

On Tianya's film and television section, a post titled "Lost in Thailand's screening schedule was suppressed, is Red Cliff trying to pull a dirty trick?" was upvoted to over 30,000 replies in a single day.

The poster, whose ID is "Not Going Home Tonight," listed a set of data in detail in the post:

Yesterday, "Lost in Thailand" had an occupancy rate of 85%, while "Red Cliff" had an occupancy rate of 60%.

Today, the screenings of "Lost in Thailand" were cut to less than 10%, while the screenings of "Red Cliff" rose to more than 75%.

"I'll just ask you one question: What is this if not a cover-up?"

The comments section below the post exploded with discussion among netizens.

"Holy crap, these numbers are outrageous! The ones with high attendance rates are getting their screenings cut. Do they think the audience's stupid?"

"Has Orange Sky had any shame? If they can't compete on quality, they resort to using capital, huh?"

"I went to the cinema today and found that 'Lost in Thailand' only has morning and afternoon screenings! All the evening showings are of 'Red Cliff'! I'm so angry!"

"What's even more outrageous is that the cinemas here have canceled all screenings. I went to see it today specifically, but the cinema said they'd replaced it with 'Red Cliff'."

"Protest! Boycott 'Red Cliff'! Support 'Lost in Thailand'!"

That evening, an even more dramatic scene unfolded.

A netizen with the ID "White Dew Turns to Frost" posted a long article on his blog.

The title is "A Day in My Life as a Promoter for 'Lost in Thailand'".

The post details her arduous journey of visiting three different cinemas just to see "Lost in Thailand" again.

The writing is lively and humorous, full of emotion, vividly depicting the frustration along the way and the satisfaction after watching the movie, making netizens feel both sympathetic and amused.

"The original poster is so cute! I support 'Lost in Thailand'! Good movies shouldn't be overlooked!"

This post was quickly shared on platforms such as Baidu Tieba, Sohu, and Sina, attracting a large number of netizens to resonate with it and forward it.

The controversy surrounding the delayed screenings of "Lost in Thailand" has sparked a surge in online discussion, transcending the film industry and becoming a topic of widespread public interest.

Zhao Liying browsed through various forums, beaming with joy:

"That's great, a lot of people online are speaking up for us."

"Boss, with so many people talking, could you please help us increase our screen time?"

"If it can stir up public opinion, it certainly can," Ji Yun nodded.

"Wait a minute, I can't find the post you mentioned. Sister Liying, which platform did you see it on?"

He sat down at another computer, switching back and forth between several platforms, but still couldn't find the posts Zhao Liying mentioned.

"It's on blogs, and it's also on Tianya."

Zhao Liying jogged over to look for the invitation for Nazha, but as she searched, her face stiffened.

When I went back to my computer and refreshed the page, both posts were gone.

"Boss, all the popular posts supporting us have been deleted," Zhao Liying said anxiously.

Ji Yun flipped through it and found that it was indeed so.

He asked Jia Shikai and learned that the CEO of Orange Sky had personally called the CEOs of Sina Blog and Tianya, promising to use future collaboration opportunities with their stars to suppress Ji Yun's popularity.

"They're suppressing film releases and controlling hype. Haha, big companies really do have extensive connections."

Ji Yun smiled, not too surprised.

Since he chose to release the film during the most popular period, he was naturally prepared to face the fiercest competition.

However, without its own cinemas and online platforms, it is indeed easy for competitors to hold it back.

In this case...

Sina Weibo is no longer for you.

Orange Sky, the Golden Harvest film library, theaters, and brand you wanted have flown away.

Ji Yun turned and called out to Zhao Liying:

"Liying, inform Liu Junjie and Chen Hao that we can officially announce our withdrawal from Orange Sky."

Then, he dialed a number he had never called before.

"Sister Li Ying, where are you working now? Do you take on commissions?"

The woman on the other end of the phone had a clear and melodious voice: "After that, I resigned and joined Goldman Sachs Capital, taking over as Vice President of Investment for Asia. What, little brother Ji Yun, do you have some good projects in mind that you're thinking of, your sister?"

Ji Yun's heart skipped a beat; this woman's judgment was truly ruthless.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs, with its keen sense of opportunity, cut its losses in advance and survived. It was the only one of the world's five largest investment banks that did not go bankrupt or get acquired. It even took the opportunity to rise rapidly... In the future, in terms of investment banking business alone, Goldman Sachs will be the world's largest investment bank.

"I've set my sights on Golden Harvest in Hong Kong and would like to invite you, sister, to come out of retirement," Ji Yun said with a smile.

"Golden Harvest... all it has left are some old cinemas, they're not worth much, and the capital market doesn't think much of them either, their stock price has been sluggish. Are you sure?" Li Ying's voice was somewhat surprised.

"That's right, I'm optimistic about the cinema market."

"Domestic cinema chains are indeed growing rapidly, but Orange Sky is also trying to acquire Golden Harvest. The bidding war between the two parties could drive up the stock price beyond reasonable limits."

Li Ying spoke fluently, then suddenly paused, "Have you discovered something good?"

Ji Yun chuckled: "Although Golden Harvest's cinemas are old, they are all located in the city center. In addition to being transformed into new cinemas, the undervalued real estate value alone can make up for it."

What's more, it boasts the largest film library of Hong Kong's golden age!

"A film library? Piracy is rampant, what do you want a film library for—" Li Ying paused for a moment, her voice filled with surprise and doubt, and lowered her voice to ask Ji Yun for confirmation.

"A video platform," Ji Yun said definitively.

"As long as I acquire the most film and television copyrights, I will have the biggest moat for the video platform."

Golden Harvest is just part of my plan. I've already sent people to collect film and television copyrights. A few million yuan has been used to collect hundreds of classic films and television dramas. It's a bargain.

As you should know, YouTube was worth $16.5 billion two years ago, not to mention that Netflix announced its entry into the streaming market last year.

Now that there's a template, isn't that the only way to use it on the domestic internet?

I wonder if my sister is interested in the largest video platform in China?

Li Ying paused for a moment, then her tone became excited: "What do you want to do?"

"Destroy Orange Sky's image and box office performance, so that the Japanese investors behind it won't dare to continue investing, and cut off their future prospects. I've already arranged for a media campaign, and you need to speed things up as well."

"Okay, I'll have my men go to Hong Kong Island to prepare for entry right now." Li Ying hung up decisively.

Ji Yun looked at her phone, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes.

He can't control how others are oppressed, but if he oppresses someone, he'll have to pay back tenfold.

Ji Yun sat in her office, directing operations from the center:

"Sister Yuanyuan, let the media interview those veteran 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' teachers, and invite Teacher Tang Guoqiang to come out and walk around... We need to make 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' even more popular than 'Red Cliff'."

"Sister Li, regarding the murder case on the set of 'Red Cliff,' I will have the Shanghai Bank contact a lawyer to file an appeal. You arrange for bodyguards to prevent anyone else from contacting the parties involved... and then have someone anonymously leak the information to all the major media outlets across the country to generate buzz."

......

At Ji Yun's command, all members of Tiandao Culture entered battle mode.