Nie Yunsheng immediately understood and couldn’t help but give Lu Xiaoping credit.

Indeed, when all the clues were put together, the content of the film was obvious.

The film was called “The Future You Choose” and had a cyberpunk theme. Zhu Xiaocai had explicitly stated in his acceptance speech that part of the content was drawn from reality. This was definitely Mr. Pei inserting his own agenda, using the war between Tenda Group and the anti-Tenda alliance in the film as leverage to win the public opinion battle.

Without a doubt, these companies in the anti-Tenda alliance would appear as villains.

Previously, many people had attacked Shengrun Group and Zhujia Group, accusing them of monopolistic practices. And a key feature of the cyberpunk genre was large monopolistic corporations controlling ordinary people.

Wasn’t it logical to place Shengrun Group and Zhujia Group into a cyberpunk setting and subtly criticize them?

Of course, Mr. Pei wouldn’t blatantly include the names or logos of Shengrun Group and Zhujia Group, but making slight alterations to allude to them, letting the audience know who was being referenced—wouldn’t that work just fine?

Nie Yunsheng became excited because he and Lu Xiaoping felt they had successfully anticipated Mr. Pei’s next move.

And in terms of tactical brilliance, the anti-Tenda alliance might even be one step ahead.

After all, one approach was explicit, the other implicit. Tenda’s actions, though more direct, would give people the impression that they had lost their composure, lacking subtlety.

Furthermore, having figured out Mr. Pei’s next move, they could prepare a series of countermeasures in advance.

After consideration, Nie Yunsheng said, “If that’s the case, we can once again take the initiative and launch another round in the public opinion war.”

“We’ll target ‘The Future You Choose’ head-on.”

“We need to widely promote online that Tenda Group is brainwashing everyone through this film. They’re pushing a one-sided narrative, suppressing dissent, and maliciously smearing other companies.”

“Our Shengrun Group, Zhujia Group, Zhaiju Delivery, and other companies are all law-abiding enterprises that have always diligently created jobs for society and conscientiously paid taxes. Why does Tenda Group consider itself superior and use the big corporations in cyberpunk to satirize us? This is slander and defamation against us.”

“Tenda Group has escalated normal business competition to the level of personal attacks, infringing on the reputation rights of our companies.”

Lu Xiaoping nodded in agreement.

But after thinking for a moment, he said, “It’s better not to get directly involved. We should use indirect methods to guide the narrative. After all, this film definitely won’t directly feature the names and logos of our companies. If we overreact, we’ll lose the moral high ground.”

“This certainly needs to be done, but it must be executed perfectly. In this kind of public opinion war, whoever loses their composure first will be at a disadvantage.”

Nie Yunsheng confidently said, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this with care.”

“If this step succeeds, it will lay a solid foundation for our upcoming public opinion battle. When ‘My Property’ is released, it will be the fatal blow that directly cuts the throat, leaving Mr. Pei completely defeated.”

The two exchanged smiles, seeing the dawn of victory in each other’s eyes.

They had finally caught a perfect opportunity to defeat Mr. Pei.

…

…

Monday, September 9th.

In his office, Pei Qian yawned while aimlessly browsing the web.

Online discussions about “The Future You Choose” still hadn’t completely died down, and the buzz continued to grow.

Many people were eagerly awaiting the film’s release, claiming they would die if they couldn’t see “The Future You Choose.”

Pei Qian was slightly worried: would this level of excitement continue until the film’s release? That would be too much.

Suddenly, Pei Qian noticed many discordant voices appearing in these discussions.

“Hmm, could it be that competitors are finally making their move?”

Pei Qian was pleasantly surprised. In his view, “The Future You Choose” now had everything going for it. Without some massive external pressure, it would be very difficult to fail.

After waiting so long, someone was finally stirring up controversy.

Although the recent months of internet cleanup had cracked down on many online water army groups, making Pei Qian himself wary of using water armies, where there’s a high reward, there are bound to be brave takers.

Moreover, many self-media personalities would do anything for money, and it was difficult to classify them as water army groups. Such behavior could never be completely eradicated.

For Pei Qian, this was good news. He happily clicked to view these discussions.

“Tenda Group has gone too far, really. Using a cyberpunk film to criticize other domestic companies?”

“Where did this information come from? The film hasn’t even been released yet, has it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The name is ‘The Future You Choose,’ which is clearly a hint. The process of users choosing companies directly affects the development of the future world, and the film has a cyberpunk theme. Director Zhu’s words in his acceptance speech were obviously alluding to the real-life commercial war between Tenda Group and the anti-Tenda alliance.”

“If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter, does it? Tenda Group is on the side of justice anyway.”

“What kind of talk is that? Does commercial warfare have a just side and an evil side? Although those companies are relatively unscrupulous, they are still legitimate legal enterprises. They’re not breaking the law or committing crimes. They’re also creating jobs and generating tax revenue. How can they be directly cast as villains in a cyberpunk theme to be satirized?”

“Put that way, I also think there’s an issue. Doesn’t this mean ‘The Future You Choose’ is actually a film that’s pushing an agenda?”

“If it’s pushing an agenda, it does make people uncomfortable. Business matters should be resolved in the business realm. Making a film to subtly satirize others is ultimately somewhat dishonorable.”

“I think Tenda is being too domineering here. They constantly accuse others of being monopolistic enterprises, but how are Tenda’s actions any different from those other monopolistic companies? Aren’t they all pushing a one-sided narrative, labeling others, and silencing opposition?”

“In my opinion, if Tenda Group truly defeats these companies in the anti-Tenda alliance and achieves a monopolistic position in various fields, it will likely be more terrifying than those other companies. After all, other companies only monopolize one industry, while Tenda now seeks monopolization across all industries.”

“That’s getting a bit off-topic. But I also agree that using a film to satirize other companies is indeed very inappropriate behavior. If this is the case, ‘The Future You Choose’ will lose points from me. I don’t accept that a film with such a serious agenda could win the Golden Lion Award.”

Reading these discussions, Pei Qian was utterly bewildered, completely in a state of confusion.

What was going on?

The operations of these water armies were so bizarre that Pei Qian couldn’t understand at all.

When did “The Future You Choose” attack other companies? It had always been attacking Tenda itself.

Upon reflection, Pei Qian understood. This was definitely because the film’s secrecy work had been done too well. People outside didn’t know the true content of the film and had only guessed based on the film’s name and some minor details, mistakenly thinking that Tenda Group was attacking other competitors through this film.

Wasn’t this completely off the mark?

Attacking “The Future You Choose” from this angle—weren’t they just exposing their own weaknesses and attacking themselves?

The more enthusiastically they spread this narrative now, the harder they would be slapped in the face when the film was released.

Pei Qian seemed to already foresee their tragic fate.

Although he didn’t know exactly who was behind this, to form such a trend, there must be a large company pushing it behind the scenes, and it was most likely the anti-Tenda alliance’s doing.

“What should I do? I can’t just watch my good brothers jump into a fire pit.”

Pei Qian was a bit panicked because according to the current plot development, the anti-Tenda alliance was practically lifting a stone only to drop it on their own feet.

Pei Qian couldn’t bear to watch.

He didn’t know what to do, but after much consideration, he finally decided to issue an official statement.

Strictly speaking, this statement was quite unreasonable.

Because these online rumors all seemed to be spontaneous discussions from netizens without widespread influence or serious consequences.

Was Tenda now debunking rumors, or actually amplifying their spread?

For company public relations, if a rumor was only spreading within an extremely small range, the best approach was to ignore it. Official clarification would only make more people aware of it—wouldn’t that be counterproductive?

But Pei Qian couldn’t be bothered with such concerns now, because he knew there were other companies fueling this behind the scenes.

And if he said nothing, the heat would eventually rise.

By the time the heat accumulated until the film’s release, everything would spiral out of control.

Pei Qian couldn’t just watch his good brothers jump into a fire pit, so he had to quickly clarify and make a statement to cut off their expectations.

…

That afternoon in Shanghai.

In an upscale restaurant, Nie Yunsheng was hosting a farewell dinner for Lu Xiaoping.

Lu Xiaoping had flown from Beijing to Shanghai just to have a brief meeting with the bosses of the anti-Tenda alliance, coordinating the subsequent series of public opinion battles. Now that the goal had been achieved, it was about time to return to Beijing.

After returning, Lu Xiaoping would devote all his energy to “My Property,” striving for success in both box office and the public opinion war.

Nie Yunsheng and the other bosses of the anti-Tenda alliance also had high hopes for this endeavor.

As the two were eating, Nie Yunsheng scrolled through his phone and suddenly slapped the table, laughing loudly.

Lu Xiaoping was surprised: “What’s so funny, Director Nie?”

Nie Yunsheng laughed heartily as he passed over his phone: “Director Lu, look, Tenda is giving itself away without being forced!”

“It seems we’ve precisely hit Tenda Group and Mr. Pei’s soft spot. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so agitated, even to the point of losing their heads.”