Seven years after transmigrating, he was cornered at the head of the bed by a cold and aloof empress

Chapter 159 The Online Army Defects: Sorry, Boss, He Gave Us Too Much

The atmosphere in the luxurious top-floor office of Dynasty Entertainment was eerily tense, like a funeral about to spiral out of control.

The wine glass in Zhao Jianguo's hand was still swirling slightly, the crimson liquid reflecting his contorted and grotesque face. Just minutes ago, he was fantasizing about Lin Zhou's disgrace and his kneeling pleas for mercy; minutes later, reality, like a spiked foot, had slammed hard into his face.

On the tablet screen, the hashtag #LinZhouGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry#, which should have been pinned to the top, was gone.

Instead, a bright purple trending topic appeared, followed by the word "Explosive":

#Royal Dynasty Entertainment hires online trolls to smear its competitors#

Clicking in reveals a deluge of screenshots.

Those were records of him personally instructing the finance department to transfer funds, as well as malicious instructions issued by the publicity director in the group, such as "We must set the tone" and "Smear 'A Chinese Odyssey'".

Every screenshot is so clear it looks like a high-definition scan; they didn't even bother to add any pixelation.

"Snapped!"

Zhao Jianguo finally lost his grip on the wine glass, which crashed onto the marble floor and shattered into a dazzling spray of blood.

"Rebellion...rebellion!"

With trembling hands, he grabbed the landline on the table and almost roared as he dialed that familiar number.

"Scarface! Are you fucking insane?"

As soon as the call connected, Zhao Jianguo's roar almost shattered the receiver.

"I gave you two hundred thousand! Is this how you handle things? You've exposed your employer's dirty laundry! Do you even want to stay in the underworld? Believe me, I'll make sure you disappear from Beijing!"

On the other end of the phone, there was a burst of noisy keyboard typing, along with a few suppressed laughs.

Several seconds later, the online troll leader known as "Scarface" finally spoke slowly, his tone devoid of any remorse, instead exuding an air of nonchalant indifference.

"Mr. Zhao, I don't like hearing you say that."

"In our underworld, what matters most is the word 'trust'."

"What message? A message about a WeChat transfer."

Scar sniffed, his voice becoming exceptionally sincere, enough to move anyone who heard or saw it to tears.

"Mr. Zhao, it's not that I'm being disloyal, it's just that... they gave me too much."

"You're offering 50 cents a pack, but Mr. Lin is offering 5 yuan! That's ten times more!"

"You know how tough things are for us guys these days. We have elderly parents to support and young children to raise, and even internet cafe fees have gone up. These days, who turns down money?"

"Besides, Boss Lin said that as long as we switch sides, he'll give us priority when there's work to be done in the future."

"So... I'm sorry, Mr. Zhao, we're switching companies for this deal."

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The call was disconnected.

Holding the microphone, Zhao Jianguo listened to the busy tone, his whole body stiff as a stone sculpture that had been weathered for thousands of years.

My blood rushed to my head, and a metallic, sweet taste rose in my throat.

He wanted to curse, but found that he didn't even have the strength to curse.

We've lost completely.

They lost completely, and even their underwear was stripped off and hung on the city wall for all to see.

For "A Chinese Odyssey," this farce was an incredibly valuable marketing opportunity.

Passersby who were initially hesitant about going to the cinema were instantly swayed by this solid evidence.

"The more Dynasty Entertainment tries to block it, the more we want to watch it!"

"A movie that can make capitalists jump up and down in anger and smear it is definitely a good thing!"

"This is a real-life version of 'Havoc in Heaven'! Lin Zhou is that Monkey King, we have to help him smash up this Lingxiao Palace!"

A surge in retaliatory movie-watching has erupted.

Major ticketing platforms crashed three times due to the overwhelming demand.

The movie "Warframe," which had already been cut to a sparse audience, faced a boycott from the entire internet, resulting in a refund rate as high as 80%. Theater managers even took down the posters overnight and replaced them with the image of the Monkey King looking weathered and worn.

The box office figures are completely out of control.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the daily box office exceeded 800 million yuan.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the box office revenue for a single day exceeded one billion yuan!

This isn't selling tickets, it's printing money!

That red box office curve, at an angle that defies the laws of physics, soared straight into the sky, leaving all other films released in the same period far behind, not even catching a whiff of their exhaust fumes.

The stock price of Dynasty Entertainment plummeted to its daily limit within just half an hour of the market opening.

The glowing green candlestick chart became the tombstone of Zhao Jianguo's professional career.

……

Time is the best fermenting agent.

A month later.

Spring is here, flowers are blooming, and ice and snow are melting.

This fierce battle for the Spring Festival film market has finally come to an end.

The moment the final statistics from the State Film Administration were displayed on the big screen, the entire Chinese film industry fell silent.

A Chinese Odyssey

Final box office: 52.8 billion!

It not only broke the box office record in Chinese film history, but also raised the ceiling by a full billion!

This is a number that would make all filmmakers bow down in reverence.

It was also a glittering altar that Lin Zhou obtained by spending 200 million yuan and enduring a lot of infamy.

Night falls.

The banquet hall of the most luxurious seven-star hotel in Beijing was brightly lit and filled with elegantly dressed people.

The celebration banquet for "A Chinese Odyssey" will be held here tonight.

This is no longer the makeshift team that no one believed in when filming started. At this moment, half of the entertainment industry's top figures have gathered here.

Investors who once ignored Lin Zhou are now lining up with wine glasses to toast him; media outlets that once mocked him as a gigolo are now setting up their cameras, eager to capture every detail of his life.

Lin Zhou was dressed in a well-tailored black suit, his hair was neatly combed, and although he had a smile on his face, there was an undisguised... drunkenness in his eyes.

I can't help it, I'm so happy.

Plus, those old foxes were all sweet-talking him, calling him "God of Lin" and "the greatest actor in film history," so it was hard for him not to drink.

"Director Lin! This toast is for you! Please take my younger brother with you in your next film!"

"Director Lin! I'm Zhang from XX Film Studio. If you give your approval, you can fill in the investment amount for our next film!"

One cup after another.

Red, white, and foreign, all mixed together, like burning lava flowing down the throat into the stomach.

Lin Zhou felt the carpet beneath his feet become as soft as cotton, and the lights in front of him began to appear double.

"No... I can't drink this anymore..."

He waved his hand, his tongue was slurred, and he swayed, almost falling headfirst into the champagne tower next to him.

Fortunately, a gentle yet strong hand caught his waist in time.

Su Qingge, dressed in a stunning red evening gown, looked breathtakingly beautiful. As she smiled and deflected the wine glasses offered to Lin Zhou, she whispered in his ear:

"Everyone, Director Lin is really in high spirits today and has had a bit too much to drink. I'll drink the rest for him. Enjoy yourselves!"

When the diva speaks, who dares to disrespect her?

The crowd dispersed.

Su Qingge helped Lin Zhou, who was already unsteady on his feet, and with the escort of bodyguards, they struggled through the crowd and left the noisy banquet hall.

The black van was already waiting at the door.

The car door closed, shutting out the noise from the outside world.

Su Qingge let Lin Zhou lean on her shoulder, took a wet towel, and carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead, her eyes full of heartache and doting.

"You idiot, if you can't drink, don't force yourself."

"Now look what happened, he's a drunkard."

Lin Zhou had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily; he had clearly blacked out.

He nuzzled against Su Qingge's neck like a lost child, his brows furrowed, as if he were still pondering something important in his dream.

Sudden.

He suddenly grabbed Su Qingge's wrist with terrifying force.

He mumbled something indistinctly:

"System..."

"This...this 5 billion box office...why hasn't the reward arrived yet?"

"Stop playing dead...Give me...Give me the big one..."