Chapter 71: "The Bridge of Fate" Rises to the Top of the Charts

After the premiere, as "Guardian" faced an explosive collapse in public opinion, Shengshi Entertainment swiftly launched a PR campaign, but the results were negligible.

For the first three days, "Guardian" still maintained a two-star rating on the official film platform, but overnight, it plunged to one star.

This was a dangerous sign.

Official film regulations stipulated that if a movie’s rating fell to zero stars during its theatrical run, it must be taken down.

This differed from the rules in Li He’s previous life.

There, even if a film’s reputation was abysmal, as long as the box office wasn’t a complete disaster and it remained profitable, it would merely have its screenings reduced, not be forcibly removed. Here, reputation was almost everything.

The official platform’s only requirement was that viewers enter the ticket verification code, a measure designed to prevent rival companies from maliciously lowering ratings.

For seven consecutive days, "Guardian’s" box office kept falling, dropping from daily champion to second place.

And this was despite the enormous fan base supporting its cast in the early days after release. Once the fans’ enthusiasm was exhausted and no new audience members joined in, it would be lucky for "Guardian" to remain in the top five box office rankings.

Ironically, the film "Youth With You," which never aimed for first place, was instead pushed to the top of the daily box office.

"Congratulations to 'Youth With You' for winning the daily box office crown. Congratulations to Siyu and to Director Liang Chuan."

"Please take 'Guardian' off the shelves quickly. What kind of mess is this? Does it deserve such massive publicity?"

"If it weren’t for the music video, I wouldn’t have bought a ticket to 'Guardian.'"

"I hope my idol Ming won’t accept such garbage roles again. It’s terrible for his public image."

"Qi Ran, you should thank Wenshan. If not for him, you’d be the one getting all the criticism now."

The internet was awash with all kinds of scathing comments.

Some even came from the main actors’ own fans, who felt the film had ruined their idols’ reputation and become a blemish on their careers.

In the end, all the blame shifted onto the director and the editor.

The glaring flaws in the plot conveniently overshadowed the actors’ issues.

With "Guardian’s" reputation in ruins, Shengshi Entertainment’s ambition to break into the film industry was crushed.

Every company in the business was delighted to see this outcome.

Rivalry among peers is a universal truth.

Companies that primarily dealt in film had resisted Shengshi’s incursion from the start.

The film industry’s pie was only so big—anyone trying to force their way in would have to push someone else out.

No company wanted to be the one displaced.

The music industry was even more eager to witness Shengshi’s downfall; in such a small circle, relations were even more strained.

After pouring in a fortune and ending up losing money, Shengshi would see some of its resources in the music industry devoured by competitors.

In short, Shengshi’s misfortune was everyone else’s joy.

Legend Entertainment.

Alongside Star Emperor Entertainment, Legend was one of the giants in the film industry, boasting a roster of directors and editors under contract.

In the directors’ office—

"I thought Wenshan would deliver something incredible, but he ended up creating a formless mess," said Hu Hai, a contracted director at Legend, with a sneer.

Tang Guizhi, a female director holding a mug of goji berry tea, laughed. "Wenshan isn’t the same since he left Legend."

"He made several great films here. But after leaving, look at his first movie—an utter flop."

Wenshan had once been a contracted director at Legend, the most renowned among the new generation, with several acclaimed and commercially successful works to his name.

Shengshi had paid a hefty price to lure Wenshan away in their bid to enter the film business.

"Whatever you say, Wenshan was once our colleague," said an older, silver-haired director, cutting off the ridicule and sighing with regret. "The greatest mistake in his latest film was taking too much advice from a foreign director. The cultural fusion failed, resulting in something that neither local nor international audiences could accept."

He had always seen great promise in Wenshan as a successor, and though Wenshan had been poached by Shengshi, he still wished him well.

"Director Cai, it’s not that we bear him any ill will," Hu Hai argued. "Legend treated him well; you nurtured him, the company valued him, but after fattening up, he just ran off. I wouldn’t dare call him a colleague anymore."

"Exactly, Director Cai," Tang Guizhi added. "You can’t blame us for this. If anyone’s at fault, it’s Wenshan for betraying Legend—and you."

Director Cai sighed helplessly and said no more.

He could understand why Wenshan left.

Though Wenshan was the most prominent among Legend’s new generation of directors, there were too many established, highly respected directors under contract, and good scripts never came his way.

If Wenshan wanted to direct a quality script, he had to hunt for it himself, buy it, or wait his turn.

Shengshi’s arrival gave him hope.

For this reason, Director Cai didn’t blame Wenshan for leaving Legend and signing with Shengshi.

What happened at Legend was being echoed in many other companies.

They were all waiting to see what Wenshan’s first film after leaving Legend would be like.

During Shengshi’s initial publicity blitz, they were all stunned—a hundred million invested, a top-tier production budget.

But when the film finally premiered and results came in, they were overjoyed.

The reputation was dreadful.

Within a week, it was clear: Wenshan’s first film after leaving Legend was a dismal failure.

The film was a disaster, yet its ending theme song was of exceptional quality.

On its second day online, the song shot to number one on the Storm Chart.

July and August fell within the summer holiday release window, a period when no singers would release new singles to compete, as these two months belonged to movie soundtrack songs—a tacit rule acknowledged by all companies.

The day after "Fate’s Bridge" was released, it topped the Storm Chart, with the gap between it and the second place widening rapidly.

TianTian Music.

"Spread the word: this song is so beautiful, I even went to watch the music video because of it."

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PS. To be revised after posting.