Cannon fodder whose lives are controlled are trying to rewrite their own lives. 12 requests...

Doing a solid job in the early stages brings numerous benefits. Take this case, for example: Chen Xia's animated film's release date just happened to clash with another "big-budget" production in the Fengshen series.

Their investment cost is over a billion, while her animated film investment, excluding equipment, is only one or two hundred million at most.

And that doesn't even include the miscellaneous expenses she often incurs, such as giving out red envelopes to her employees, buying milk tea, coffee, and late-night snacks.

She actually wanted to invest more than anyone else, after all, she hadn't yet completed her task of spending 100 billion.

During the Weibo Night promotion, Chen Xia and her studio were relegated to the sidelines, only given a place to stand on the edge when they went on stage. Even after only the trailer was released, some marketing accounts started predicting the failure of their film.

But the audience has discerning eyes; once the movie is released, everyone will know who is deceiving them.

While box office revenue is not the sole criterion for judging the quality of a film, high box office revenue means that the film can attract a large audience to the cinema, indicating that the film is commercially successful.

Conversely, no matter how good the marketing is, if the audience doesn't buy it, it's all for nothing. Take that big-budget film that claimed to have an investment of hundreds of millions, for example.

The pre-launch publicity was overwhelming, with posters and trailers everywhere, fans were in a frenzy, and it kept trending on social media.

The box office peaked on the first day, but plummeted from the second day onwards, with screenings decreasing repeatedly. Viewers complained after watching the film, criticizing the clichéd plot, obviously fake special effects, and incredibly awkward acting.

The internet was flooded with negative reviews. Fans tried to cover it up, but the general public was too large to ignore. No matter how hard the marketing team tried, they couldn't stop the audience from voting with their feet.

Before its release, Xingxia Animation Workshop's rivals spent a lot of money on marketing and various smear campaigns against their film. After the preview screenings, these boomerangs all hit them back.

Xingxia went from being an unknown nobody in the industry to becoming an unattainable figure in the eyes of everyone.

On the day of the preview screening, many bigwigs from the military and political circles came to Xingxia. Even the CEO of China Film Group could only sit in the second row on the side.

Some of those big shots are frequently seen on the evening news, and they all have at least one gold star on their epaulets.

The bigwigs were also helpless. Over the years, Chen Xia had donated nearly 100 billion yuan in real money, and he also donated supplies to firefighters and border guards every month.

Such a good comrade has no demands whatsoever; he usually stays in the studio, engrossed in making animated films. They can't even find an opportunity to take care of him.

Finally, the kids' movie is about to be released, and these old folks will definitely come to support the kid.

Although they're older, they're not old-fashioned; they still surf the internet occasionally. Those so-called marketing accounts online, with their nonsensical and utterly nonsensical articles, are infuriating to read.

What wouldn't these marketing accounts do to grab attention and generate traffic? To create buzz, they fabricate baseless stories with sensational headlines, seemingly eager to stir up trouble.

I need to have a serious talk with Zhang from the Cyberspace Administration of China to properly address these problems. We need to increase oversight and prevent just anyone from registering a marketing account. Any marketing accounts that violate regulations should be banned and severely punished.

Only when they are punished enough to feel the pain and become afraid, realizing that the internet is not above the law, will they dare not misbehave again. Otherwise, leaving them like toads crawling on your feet—they don't bite, but they're still annoying.

After watching the film, the CEO of China Film Group was given a serious talking-to by a group of bigwigs: "As leaders in the film industry, you should give more support to the excellent works created by young directors who have poured their hearts and souls into them."

"It's a good thing that young people dare to think and strive. We should provide them with more platforms so that we can promote innovation in film technology."

After seeing off the group of bigwigs, the CEO of China Film Group wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, turned to look at Chen Xia, who was smiling happily, and couldn't help but sigh, "This girl is quite something. A group of old men are backing her up. Impressive!"

The Spring Festival film season is the golden period for the film market, with extremely fierce competition. Every year, some films stand out and become box office dark horses thanks to their quality and marketing. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a time when hidden talents are everywhere.

Three years ago, during the Spring Festival film season, relatively unknown director Chen Xia quietly entered the market with her film "Journey to the West: The Battle of the Three Monsters," raking in 2.6 billion yuan at the box office and ranking third in the entire Spring Festival film box office.

The top two box office rankings both featured a renowned director, a Best Actress or Best Actor winner, and a top-tier young idol, making for a fiercely competitive battle. They trended on social media one after another, but in the end, the box office only reached a little over 3 billion yuan.

Three years later, she made a comeback with a new film. During the preview screening, a group of big names supported her, and after the screening, she received a flood of positive reviews. Although it did not have the highest number of screenings, it steadily ranked second. The box office on the first day exceeded 200 million yuan, and it continued to soar thereafter.

It's impossible to please everyone; some people will like a movie, while others will dislike it. The more popular a movie is, the more attention it receives, and the more easily its problems and controversies are amplified and spread.

Chen Xia accepts the various criticisms and suggestions online, believing that filmmaking is an art form aimed at the public, and what the audience likes is the most important thing.

Those reviews reveal the audience's love and anticipation for the film, which has led to their concern. Chen Xia has carefully read every single one of these well-intentioned criticisms.

Chen Xia showed no mercy to bloggers who were eager to stir up trouble and spread rumors to gain attention. He had his system hack their accounts and expose their true colors.

Despite mixed reviews, this animated film produced by Xingxia Animation Workshop grossed 1.5 billion yuan in its first week of release. While not the highest-grossing film, it was undoubtedly the biggest dark horse of this Spring Festival season.

In the eyes of many industry insiders, Xingxia Animation Workshop is nothing more than a tiny, makeshift operation. Even if two of its animations achieve good results, it's just pure luck.

A follow-up interview with the "Sixth Princess" shattered their self-deception and self-congratulation. When the camera focused on their studio's own enterprise-grade rendering cluster server room, even the discerning bigwigs in the industry couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

If a studio with an enterprise-level rendering cluster is just a makeshift operation, then what are these so-called industry giants?

Because of this interview, Xingxia Animation Workshop suddenly became the focus of everyone's discussion, and those seniors who were arrogant and looked down on their studio all shut their mouths.

But then some negative rumors started circulating online, and Chen Xia's background was exposed. Some streamers, while not revealing their real names during their live streams, were subtly hinting at it.

Chen Xia is a girl from an ordinary family. If she didn't have a wealthy backer supporting her, how could she have spent billions to build such a luxurious studio before even graduating?

The internet was abuzz with discussion, with all sorts of opinions. Some of Chen Xia's college classmates even came forward, claiming they had seen her at the Rose Garden Villa near the school and that they had seen her being picked up by a Maybach.

Then another anonymous source said that Chen Xia rode a bicycle worth several thousand yuan when she was in school, and she rode it in a different color five days a week.

While scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), Chen Xia came across many gossip streamers who confidently told their fans that Chen Xia's backer was a powerful figure. They even listed evidence, making it sound so convincing that Chen Xia almost believed them.

Her father, Chen Lihui, whom she usually forgets about when she gets busy, called and said indirectly, "Xiaxia, although your father isn't very capable, I can still support you for the rest of your life and make sure you have enough to eat and wear."

We ordinary people don't need to be rich or famous. Dad doesn't expect you to bring glory to the family. A peaceful and stable life is better than anything else, don't you think?

Chen Xia nodded: "Dad, have you seen those messy rumors online? Let me tell you, don't believe a single word of them. With your daughter's temper, what kind of big spender could put up with me?"

Have you ever heard of a wealthy patron who keeps a mistress and invests billions in her to open a studio? You go search the whole world for a patron as rich as that, see if you can find one.

You can rest assured, the money I used to open the studio was all legally obtained. The studio isn't just mine; it's a joint venture. I'm just a partner at most.

Hearing his daughter's words, Chen Lihui felt relieved: "Good job, partner. I was just feeling uneasy after seeing those messages online. It's mainly because you're still young and don't know how treacherous people can be."

"Xiaxia, this studio, if it can be opened, great; if not, let's not force it. Dad's company may be small, but it can still support you."

"Dad, just trust me this once. When have I ever lied to you? You'll find out what's really going on with my studio in a while. Let me make it clear, I definitely haven't done anything wrong."

The father and daughter chatted for a few more minutes on the phone before hanging up. Chen Lihui turned to his wife, Su Lan, and said, "See? I told you so, didn't I? Xiaxia may be a bit stubborn, but she's definitely a good girl. She would never do any of the nonsense that online marketing accounts write about."

Her studio is a joint venture. I think her boss must have recognized her potential to entrust her with such important responsibilities.

Su Lan smiled but didn't say anything. Chen Lihui was very shrewd in business, but he was prone to acting on his emotions and making mistakes when dealing with family matters.

He believed everything that little brat Chen Xia said; she didn't believe any of that nonsense about the boss appreciating her talent and entrusting her with important responsibilities.

Why would a boss appreciate a recent female graduate who didn't study animation and entrust her with important responsibilities?

Anyway, she's just a stepdaughter, and a stepdaughter they've never even met. Even if the rumors online are true, it doesn't really concern their family, and there's no need for a stepdaughter to affect their relationship.