My Life with Narration

Chapter 811: Chapter 801: Suicide Marketing

Shen Yi always calls him brother, which makes Shen’s mom quite uneasy.

For her, he should be seen as a son-in-law, not another son; she’s really worried inside!

This is definitely a generational gap in terms of age, little did she know it’s now a term of endearment between young couples, and Su Qing has long gotten used to calling each other sister and brother every day.

When Shen Yi first met him, she was calling him brother non-stop, and even after they officially got together, this nickname never changed.

Occasionally, he’d call Shen Yi "Little Yi," but that was only in front of others. Privately, Su Qing mostly calls her "sister."

Looking at it this way, his sister Su He was right; he’s indeed a sister’s fan.

Shen Yi followed her mom to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Shen’s dad, Shen Tiancheng, laughed and poured him a cup of tea.

"Uncle, I can do it myself," Su Qing quickly spoke up, very politely.

Even though he’s now referred to as "President Su" outside, facing his father-in-law, he still must maintain humility.

There’s a saying, when you have no desires, you can be firm, but right now I’ve got desires; I want to win the hearts of their beloved, naturally, I must be courteous.

To this, Shen Tiancheng laughed and shook his head: "No problem, but watching you and Little Yi spar here makes me realize I’m getting old.

And you both are quite capable, my little business in Anhai probably doesn’t catch your eyes anymore."

As he spoke, Shen Tiancheng was a bit melancholic; in other families, the father usually builds a business to pass on to the kids, but here, both daughter and son-in-law seem to overlook his modest legacy, which brings some sense of loss.

It feels like there’s no hope left to strive further; the daughter won’t be coming home to take over, and they themselves are past fifty, how many years can they work?

"Hey, don’t speak like that, Uncle, you’re still young, it’s way too early to consider these things!" Su Qing chimed in.

To this, Shen Tiancheng shook his head: "I hadn’t thought much of it before, but since seeing you and Little Yi discuss deals worth millions or billions today, it dawned on me that I’m really old.

Just yesterday, your Aunt and I decided, after you two get married, I’ll dissolve my business, keep some stores and rent them out, then retire.

At this age, there’s nothing to stubbornly hold on to, besides, one can’t keep working forever, better enjoy life while we’re still able to move, if we become too old, it won’t be possible to enjoy even if we want."

Though his daughter earns well, and even big money, Shen Tiancheng had held onto a slight hope; maybe in the future, a son-in-law might come along, even without moving in, but settling in Anhai, there’s someone to take over his business.

But upon seeing Su Qing now, that idea faded quickly. After all, even as it stands, Shen Tiancheng’s business isn’t very large, with annual profit only around one to two million.

If he were to expand further, he lacks the capability. He has a realistic perception of his abilities.

Moreover, with his increasing age over the past two years, he’s felt his energy gradually decrease, hence this idea emerged.

Anyway, as the daughter and son-in-law don’t mind whatever little he has, it might be better to reserve some stores for expenses, allowing him a premature retirement to enjoy life.

With his current savings, retiring is more than sufficient, his spouse has been clamoring to travel for a long time, but he hasn’t had the time, now with the younger generation so outstanding, he has no reason to worry.

Most importantly, the timing is quite apt, after the two wed, by then, the old couple would have no lingering concerns left.

"That’s quite good indeed; you and Auntie deserve to enjoy life," Su Qing said with a gentle laugh.

For such a topic, he shouldn’t delve deeply, just echo the sentiment.

"Oh, by the way, you were just talking with Little Yi—is there trouble again? Is it more online matters?" Shen Tiancheng asked curiously.

Upon hearing, Su Qing shook his head: "It’s nothing troublesome, just the usual occurrences."

He then briefly recounted his encounter with Director Teng Hua earlier this year, including the recent attempt at reconciliation which was met with Shen Yi’s scolding.

He didn’t hide any involved dynamics, mutual exploitation, and such; there’s really nothing much to conceal.

Upon hearing it all, Shen Tiancheng rubbed his forehead and sighed: "The market is indeed like a battlefield with endless calculations; it’s remarkable, truly remarkable—I could never manage it, but Xiao Su, you have considerable boldness, investing hundreds of millions, what if it fails..."

"Uncle, investments are about gains and losses, this is when vision comes into play, fortunately, my luck isn’t bad!"

As Su Qing chatted with Shen’s dad in the living room, at this moment, folks from the "Demon Capital Fortress" production team, especially investors, directors, and actors, were growing anxious like ants on a hot pan.

Particularly Teng Hua himself, though yesterday’s first-day box office hit seventy million, double the second-place "Life-changing Matters," he didn’t feel the least bit happy.

The overwhelming mockery online made him feel awful, and even with seventy million box office on opening, it hadn’t met his expectations.

Mind you, the production cost of the film alone was nearly four hundred million, meaning it needs close to a billion in box office earnings to break even.

The actors and crew members were fine speaking, after all, they received their paychecks and salaries, but Teng Hua himself wasn’t in a good position.

Although he’s the director, he’s also an investor, and most critically, he doesn’t dare answer his phone now; the incessant ringing from various investors calling to question him highlights the situation.

After all, it’s harvest time now, and these folks’ money might just go down the drain.

There were even teams from lead actors coming over to question, mainly as the film has indeed implicated the actors.

"Brother Teng, what do we do now? The public opinion online is overwhelming, surely that will impact the box office coming up, plus the film’s rating keeps dropping, we’re down to 3.9 now on just the second day.

Most critically, today’s real-time box office compared to yesterday is way off. At this pace, even hitting over ten million today would be a stretch; if measures aren’t taken, numbers will surely drop further," the deputy director voiced with bloodshot eyes.

If only looking at first-day box office results, they aren’t bad, even considered quite decent. However, the negative news is overwhelming, so much so that it’s terrifying.

"Do they have any taste? Is this a lousy movie? Is this a lousy movie!! Why is it deemed lousy! Surely someone is deliberately targeting us."

Teng Hua shouted twice but then heavily sighed; it’s time for solutions, not complaints.

"PR, find PR, suppress those comments, also cut more exciting scenes out for promotion.

Damn it, this is clearly aimed against us, just because our leads are popular artists, is the malice justified so great?"

Teng Hua clearly hadn’t realized how terrible his work was, being in such anger, he lost some of his rationality, not perceiving his flaws.

"Brother Teng, can this work? What if..." the deputy director worriedly asked.

He knows Su Qing’s "Life-changing Matters" has a good reputation; dealing this way in such a time might cause considerable backlash.

"Then what do you suggest? Allow the situation to evolve? We must salvage the reputation, at least ensure minimal loss; right, get people to boost the ratings, they can’t drop further, can’t sustain this, otherwise we’re done!"

Upon a shout from Brother Teng, the deputy director didn’t dare speak further, promptly turned to execute the task.

But before he could head out, Teng Hua spoke again: "If... the public opinion can’t be suppressed, schedule a press conference, explain before things get too severe; whether it’s by appealing, it’s essential not to give up."

As he spoke, he had formed some plans in mind; sacrificing one’s friend over oneself, he still needs to operate in this circle afterward.

Losing money is a minor problem, but not ruining his career, otherwise, what investor would dare seek him for films in the future?

If push comes to shove, blame the actors, anyway, the lead he chose indeed carries significant blemishes, not all pressure should be put on him as the director, right?

"Understood, Brother Teng, I’ll handle it now!"

In the afternoon, "Demon Capital Fortress" updated new dynamics on Weibo and major platforms’ accounts.

But the content was shockingly jaw-dropping.

Several consecutive updates were all highlights from "Demon Capital Fortress," with accompanying captions questioning the audience.

"Is this a lousy movie? Please don’t view it with bias, please everyone assess the film fairly!"

As soon as the news broke, the internet was in an uproar.

And when Su Qing saw this news, he directly laughed.

"It’s genuinely a suicidal marketing tactic!"

...