The Martial Artist Turned Movie Mogul-Chapter 954 - 953. Being single is like this.

The courtyard is full of fallen leaves, and with a sigh, it’s known that autumn has arrived.

In November, the imperial capital is submerged in the crimson leaves of thousands of trees, each leaf drifting with the wind until it turns into the mud of spring, making this metropolis—a fusion of the ancient capital and modern construction—resemble an unretouched painting.

On the bustling streets, office workers clad in coats due to the cooling weather come and go, laughter and chatter with colleagues and friends can faintly be heard.

"Have you seen ’Typhoon’ yet?"

"What a coincidence, I’m going to the cinema tonight. I heard its rating has soared to 9.4 points; it’s been years since a score this high was last seen."

That person spoke with a hint of expectation, "You might not believe it, but because of how busy I’ve been lately, my girlfriend and I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I think this is absolutely an opportunity... I’ve heard the story is beautiful, isn’t it?"

"..."

The other person paused suspiciously before finally choosing their words more diplomatically.

"The story is indeed beautiful. You have to understand that internal operatives from That Era all suffered greatly, and the story revolves around the male and female leads gathering intelligence."

So, actually, it hasn’t much to do with love, really!

"Oh yes, I specifically read the lengthy reviews on the official site. They all sing praises of their love, even saying something like... their passion burns as intensely as the flame of a candle."

"Are you sure the focus of that sentence was on the flame, and not the candle?"

"???"

Is there a difference?

As the two entered the office, the person hadn’t figured out the distinction between the flame and the candle before being called by their boss to prepare documents, leaving a lone figure pityingly gazing at their retreating back.

Although he too is a true fan of the movie ’Typhoon,’ he sincerely doesn’t recommend it for a date night, hey.

Going to watch a story with a BE ending with a girlfriend he hasn’t dated in a long while, what’s the plan? To end up crying together the entire night after watching it?

"Wait, something seems off, is he sure he read the lengthy review on the official website?"

Didn’t anyone remind him about the female lead’s ending?

Thinking of this, he took out his phone and started searching, taking advantage of the five minutes before work began.

[The story is fantastic, especially the nuanced interactions between the male and female leads, super heartwarming!]

[Oh my, those gradually building, word-solemn looks of mutual understanding, so touching that it turns me sour...]

[Have you ever seen confessions through secret codes? Couples flirting in Morse code? It’s overwhelmingly moving, sob sob sob~~~]

[Truly, it’s love from someone else’s story; so pure, so extraordinary, I’m falling for it ahhh——]

He: "???"

No, what’s going on in the comments section? Are they sure they watched the same movie as me?

Did I travel to an alternate universe?

Not far from this office building, in Starshine Media, Shen Yan sprawled on the sofa in the lounge area, scrolling through his phone nonchalantly, and the next second he spat out a mouthful of old blood after seeing something.

"What are these old fans up to again, collectively giving good reviews???"

"Good review? Is it ’Typhoon’? Weren’t all the ratings given on the premiere day?"

"The premiere was five days ago, I’m talking about right now; look at these IDs, they’re all too familiar, identical to the group nicknames, it has to be them."

If there’s anyone in this world who loves stirring things up more than his boss, it must be the bunch of goofballs from the Support Club group for sure.

Xiao Li poured two cups of coffee, handed one over, and while borrowing his phone, browsed through a few pages; the corner of his mouth twitched more and more, forehead veins throbbing.

"Are you sure you didn’t get them to act as a troll army to brush up the good reviews?"

Shen Yan was incredulous, "Am I that kind of person?"

So that’s how you’ve always seen me!

"Brother Li, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s one thing not to trust me, but you even dare to question the boss? Everyone in the troll army is actually scared of her!"

"..."

Brother Li’s forehead veins popped again, "Go check out the Support Club group chat, what are they talking about?"

Shen Yan obediently put down his barely-touched coffee and quickly opened the fan group chat, only to see the unread messages had ballooned to 99+.

"Sinking one is still sinking one; I can’t be the only one crying the hardest, brothers, start brushing!"

"Woke up this morning with eyes swollen like walnuts, my mom thought I was being bullied by a boy——"

"Damn, the trailer killed me. You guys who saw the premiere before me even schemed against me? What about the little boat of friendship?"

"Same here. I went for the uncle’s beautiful love story, only to end up crying in the cinema like a dog all by myself."

"This is what being single is like."

"This is what being single is like +1"

Single dog: "???"

Actually, this movie is not only unfriendly to single dogs; it’s equally harsh on couples. Soon enough, people started sharing their breakup stories:

"Am I easy? I finally got the goddess senior to go on a date with me, but after watching ’Typhoon,’ she said we were too young and couldn’t afford to take the cruel mockery of fate, Me: ?!"

"I’m currently broken up with my girlfriend. She said my love for her wasn’t passionate enough or interesting enough. I asked why, and she said I couldn’t understand her hints or decipher her secret codes!"

"Good thing I’m single~~"

"Good thing I’m single +1"

"For the sake of more singles, charge, brothers, brush on the sweetness!"

In the rest area of Starshine Media, Shen Yan, who had been lurking on the screen, covered his increasingly fierce face with his hand.

***

One week after ’Typhoon’ released, the box office had already reached a terrifying 800 million.

This number took a strong hold of the homepage on various major networks with its low ticket price, and even the economic sections of newspapers dedicated a whole page to discussing the capitalists’ skillful investments of low input and high returns.

Xie Yunqing and the entire crew were busier than ever. Even though the film’s fame now needed no further promotion, issues like ongoing discussions on increasing showtimes and extending the movie run were still openly on the table.

"It’s essential to increase showtimes to capture more market share, which is related to the overall box office trend."

"As for extending the run... it’s still too early to discuss that now. How about we wait and see?"

In the crew’s work group chat, several producers and representatives of the investors were engaged in heated discussions, as if they were about to tear apart and meticulously contrast every stake involved.

Actors from other movies formed a separate small group to discuss a recent surge of invitations.

Beyond movies, the elusive relationship between Tang Shu and Eldest Miss Xu quietly shifted from noisy to unasked about, where even netizens keen on gossip could only occasionally see popping up in minor soft articles.

"Just a few days ago someone was mocking Tang Shu as a drag, how come I haven’t seen a single article like that these days?"

"It is odd, I particularly followed an article that depicted how Tang Shu relied on the Xu Family to get roles, it was so reasoned and well-evidenced, and now it’s gone."

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