Huang Sibo frowned deeply for a moment before asking, “How should we respond to this?”

Zhu Xiaocai shook his head slightly: “There’s nothing we can do about this.”

“The opponent’s attack is very clever, launching at this special time point when the power balance is uneven, using these special means—essentially going with the flow.”

“In the face of such a major trend, any explanation within the opponent’s framework is weak and ineffective.”

“Unless we can break out of their framework, but that’s easier said than done.”

“Another important point is Tenda Group’s rapid development has achieved a dominant position in many fields, and this monopolistic trend will indeed cause many netizens to worry.”

“This is an inevitable result of company growth. As a company grows larger, controls more resources, and possesses more power, it naturally triggers vigilance.”

“This is almost unsolvable. Other major companies can’t solve this problem. As for Tenda… I dare not directly conclude that Mr. Pei cannot solve it, after all, Mr. Pei’s thinking is far beyond ordinary people. But I can only say this is the most severe challenge Tenda currently faces.”

“The opponent Tenda faces is no longer a specific company but the hearts of people.”

Huang Sibo nodded.

In fact, it was already quite remarkable that Tenda Group could maintain an even position in the public opinion battle under these circumstances. This was the result of Tenda’s continuous good deeds accumulating goodwill among netizens.

If any other company were in this situation, they would have already been defeated and unable to recover.

Defeating a specific company was easy for Tenda. But winning over people’s hearts, convincing everyone that Tenda Group would maintain its original intentions even after achieving absolute market dominance, keeping the image of a dragon-slaying hero rather than transforming into an evil dragon—this was extremely difficult.

However, after considering for a moment, Huang Sibo added: “I think although the situation is severe, we can’t say we have absolutely no chance of winning.”

“Because Mr. Pei has made preparations in advance.”

“Mr. Pei put so much thought into making ‘The Future You Choose’ film and game, and arranging Tenda Group as the antagonist, it must have been in preparation for today’s situation.”

“But until now, we still can’t be sure whether Mr. Pei has any more tricks up his sleeve.”

“In this case, we can only trust Mr. Pei.”

At this stage of the public opinion battle, specific tactics were no longer important; what played a decisive role was strategic planning.

Whoever could stand higher and see further strategically would achieve the final victory.

So far, although Tenda Group was at a disadvantage, as long as Mr. Pei’s planning was in place, no one could say there was no possibility of turning the tables.

……

Meanwhile, at a small coffee shop near Tenda Group headquarters.

Qiao Liang was anxiously waiting for Mr. Pei’s arrival.

After the film’s release, Qiao Liang had been locked up at home, pulling his hair out for two whole days.

But he hadn’t come up with anything productive!

Previously, after “The Future You Choose” game was released, Qiao Liang had already published a video interpreting the game’s content.

Qiao Liang had been very satisfied with that video, and the response was good.

At the end of the video, Qiao Liang had boldly predicted that after the film’s release, his video would serve as a kind of fable, and the film’s theme should not be far from his analysis.

But after the film’s release, Qiao Liang found that his statement seemed premature.

The themes of the game and film didn’t seem to match up.

Although they shared the same name and expressed similar themes about corporate monopoly and wealth disparity, their presentations and approaches were vastly different. In other words, apart from similar subject matter, there was no way to force them together.

This level of connection was far from enough to make a video, let alone fulfill Qiao Liang’s previous boasts.

Seeing many people urging him to update, waiting for him to release a video that would thoroughly interpret the game and film together, Qiao Liang felt helpless.

So he decided to seek some guidance from Mr. Pei.

As the source of inspiration for both the game and film, and the person who best understood the Tenda spirit, no one in the world should understand the implications of the game and film better than Mr. Pei.

Of course, Qiao Liang didn’t expect Mr. Pei to completely reveal all these implications. He just wanted to gain some inspiration and insight through a simple conversation with Mr. Pei, to better complete this video and rebut some online opinions.

So far, the online trend had been somewhat skewed by Fanqi Media, and the objects alluded to by both films seemed increasingly to point toward Tenda Group, which was a very dangerous phenomenon.

For Qiao Liang, he was definitely completely on Tenda Group’s side. He had been deeply influenced by Mr. Pei’s personal charisma and believed that Mr. Pei was the one who could keep capital in check.

As long as Mr. Pei was there, Tenda Group would not change its nature.

But ordinary people outside didn’t know this. Although they could sense this quality from Tenda Group’s style, they ultimately hadn’t met Mr. Pei in person or worked with him. Under these circumstances, it was normal to question Tenda Group.

Qiao Liang didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. He had simply sent Mr. Pei a message briefly explaining his thoughts, not expecting Mr. Pei to readily agree and arrange to meet at this small coffee shop.

Qiao Liang had already prepared himself. He felt like a professional interviewer, hoping to reveal the truth as much as possible through a conversation with Mr. Pei.

……

Pei Qian hummed a little tune as he strolled to the coffee shop.

For him, the current situation was developing nicely.

Fanqi Media had achieved its goal. Both films were increasingly alluding to Tenda Group, which was wonderful news for Pei Qian.

But the threat from Qiao Laoshi had not been ultimately eliminated.

His previous videos about the game had almost ruined everything. Fortunately, Fanqi Media was clear-headed and focused the public opinion battle on the film, so the game received relatively less attention.

But Qiao Laoshi could release another video combining the game and film content at any moment, which had to be prevented.

Initially, Pei Qian didn’t want to meet him, but then he thought: if Qiao Laoshi was left alone to rack his brains, he might come up with something outrageous.

In that case, it would be better to take the initiative to meet with Qiao Laoshi and reveal his true thoughts.

Although the truth might be hurtful, Pei Qian felt that Qiao Liang needed to gradually accept this painful reality.

If he could use Qiao Laoshi as a mouthpiece to convey his true meaning to all netizens, that would be even better.

Upon arriving at the coffee shop, Pei Qian sat opposite Qiao Liang. Since they were already quite familiar with each other, there wasn’t much small talk before they got to the point.

Qiao Liang was well-prepared and said: “Mr. Pei, thank you very much for coming to answer my questions despite your busy schedule. Rest assured, I’ll only ask a few simple questions this time. I won’t ask too much detail, and I won’t touch on the deeper implications of the design.”

“After all, for creators, some questions need to be left blank, right? I understand that.”

Generally speaking, creators are reluctant to interpret their works in too much detail.

The reason is simple. Artistic works are a vehicle, a channel for conveying thoughts. Sometimes it’s precisely the blanks and multiple interpretations that create beauty. Once the creator comes out with their own interpretation, it destroys the beauty of these blanks.

Obviously, this had always been Mr. Pei’s style. He never interpreted his games or films himself but entrusted this important task to all netizens to complete together.

So this time, Qiao Liang didn’t intend to ask too many details either. He just wanted to ask a few key questions to resolve his confusion.

Pei Qian felt a bit regretful.

Actually, Qiao Laoshi could have asked more detailed questions, and he would have given more detailed answers, but for Qiao Laoshi, these answers might cause his worldview to collapse even more.

Pei Qian reconsidered: This was better, leaving some room for both of them.

His answers, though straightforward enough to make Qiao Laoshi accept the cruel reality, wouldn’t be so blunt as to cause him too heavy a blow.

So he nodded: “Good, ask away.”

Qiao Liang thought for a moment and asked his first question: “At the initial creation stage of ‘The Future You Choose’ game and film, was there any deep connection between the two?”

Pei Qian shook his head: “No, the only connection between them is that the background of the world is roughly similar, and Tenda Group plays the role of antagonist in both. Beyond that, no deliberate connections were made.”

Qiao Liang was stunned. This first question already confused him.

Because he had preconceived the notion that there must be deeper connections between the game and film, with many deeply buried easter eggs that could influence each other’s plots.

But unexpectedly, Mr. Pei immediately denied this.

Qiao Liang frowned slightly and asked again: “Then, the target of criticism in the game and film should not be Tenda Group itself, but some intangible existence, right?”

Pei Qian was silent for a moment before saying: “Actually, relatively speaking, I would prefer people to think the target of criticism is Tenda Group itself.”

Qiao Liang was stunned again because Mr. Pei’s answer was once more unexpected.

And this answer blocked many of Qiao Liang’s subsequent questions.

Qiao Liang had originally thought that in the game and film, Tenda Group was just a representative image, not a specific image. Many of his judgments were based on this inference, but Mr. Pei directly denied this point.

Qiao Liang frowned slightly and asked: “But now many people have developed negative perceptions of Tenda Group because of these two works, even regarding Tenda Group as an imaginary enemy, anticipating the adverse consequences if Tenda Group monopolizes multiple industries in the future. Was this also within your expectations, Mr. Pei?”

Pei Qian smiled slightly: “This was my original purpose in creating this film and game all along.”