After browsing online for a while, Pei Qian discovered that quite a few film critics had already written reviews for “Beautiful Tomorrow.”

This was understandable—after all, there weren’t many good movies released recently, and these critics had been eagerly waiting. When they encountered a film with such high screening rates, they would go see it.

Pei Qian entered the keywords “Beautiful Tomorrow,” and his eyes scanned through title after title.

“The Three Meanings of ‘Beautiful Tomorrow'”

This one was unsuitable.

“What Will Consumerism Ultimately Bring Us?”

This one was unsuitable as well.

“The Dark Side of Technology Through a Pessimist’s Eyes”

Still unsuitable!

Pei Qian looked at several reviews in succession, immediately dismissing them based on their titles alone.

From the keywords in these titles—”three meanings,” “dark side of technology,” “consumerism”—he could imagine what the content of these reviews would be!

He didn’t even need to pay these people; they were already over-interpreting!

“What are you film critics thinking about all day long?!”

“It’s all about deep meanings and pessimism again. Can’t you analyze the shallow meaning of this film? Can’t you analyze its toxicity???”

Pei Qian was speechless and continued his tireless search.

He was looking for reviews that were bashing the film and had relatively high numbers of likes and replies.

When such comments were reversed, the change would be obvious enough to make viewers realize that the film had hired internet trolls!

After flipping through two or three pages, he hadn’t found any particularly valuable comments.

Pei Qian had no choice but to filter the ratings, sorting from lowest to highest, starting with one-star reviews.

Indeed, these had a much more normal tone.

“A Failed Work with Poverty of Imagination”

“Completely Illogical with Countless Plot Holes”

“Suitable for Young People; I Couldn’t Watch More Than Ten Minutes”

“I Give One Star Just for Seeing Lu Zhiyao!”

Pei Qian nodded with satisfaction. Yes, this was the appropriate tone!

Unfortunately, there weren’t many such reviews, and they had few comments. It seemed that everyone was silently downvoting, without even the desire to argue with these review authors.

Pei Qian randomly clicked to read a few and found they indeed didn’t meet his requirements.

These mindless one-star reviewers generally had very strong subjective biases, often missing the forest for the trees, giving one star mindlessly when they saw even the slightest thing they didn’t like. Their reviews were naturally full of prejudice.

At most, such reviews merely vented emotions and could hardly guide other viewers.

Too low-level, not good enough.

These people lacked cultural refinement. Even if paid, they definitely couldn’t write reviews that would spark debate—they would just be drowned out by the vast number of five-star positive reviews, making barely a splash.

Viewers wouldn’t even realize these reviewers had changed their reviews.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and decided to look among the three-star reviews.

This time, the tone finally matched Pei Qian’s expectations!

“Pseudo-profound”

“Does Everyone Seem Embarrassed to Say It’s Not Good? Then Let Me Be the Child Who Reveals the Emperor’s New Clothes”

“Too Many Flaws, Forcibly Creating Tragedy by Portraying Two Losers”

Looking at these review titles, Pei Qian had only one feeling—they resonated deeply with him!

Moreover, these comments had much more controversy below them, with several hundred likes and dislikes. These reviewers had good reputations, and their writing naturally generated controversy.

“Not bad, these are all good prospects. I’ll select one first, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll try another!”

Pei Qian first clicked on the first review, the one wanting to be “the child who reveals the Emperor’s new clothes.”

“Weibo seems to be full of praise, hyping it up as something miraculous. I initially went with a serious pilgrim-like attitude, but was greatly disappointed.”

“After watching this movie, I only had one feeling: Is the emperor using a golden hoe to farm?”

“With technology so advanced, why are they still giving relief meals to the lower classes, not even allowing them to skip advertisements? Do they even make different social classes go out at different times? Too unreasonable!”

“And then there are all kinds of advertisements in the movie. Adding ads is one thing, but the audience has to watch the ads along with the protagonist? Are you insane?”

“The story outline is nothing but a clichéd tale of a loser being cheated on. If written in a novel, it would be criticized to death, but when made into a film, it suddenly becomes profoundly meaningful. Are you all schizophrenic?”

Pei Qian nodded repeatedly as he read.

Of course, Pei Qian didn’t agree with this person’s views; he just felt he had found the right person.

Clearly, this was someone who stubbornly lived in their own world, simply put, the kind who believed “this world must operate according to my way, otherwise something is wrong.”

Commonly known as “fighting against the setting.”

The film’s setting was “even with advanced technology, life for lower-class people might not necessarily improve.” All stories were developed around this basic premise, but this reviewer insisted on attacking the setting itself from the start, saying the setting itself was unreasonable, thus feeling the entire film seemed awkward.

“Hmm, not bad, has character, I like it!”

“This kind of person, if they start excessively praising, should also be very controversial!”

This author’s online name was very low-key, called “Mr. Qian,” with contact information on his page, so Pei Qian didn’t have much trouble contacting him.

“Hello, I’m from the investment side of ‘Beautiful Tomorrow.’ I hope you can modify that review, changing it from three stars to five stars, and completely rewrite the content. Of course, we’ll provide a fee of 1,000 yuan.”

Time was tight and the task important, so Pei Qian didn’t bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

Soon, Mr. Qian replied.

“Just change the rating, not the review, one thousand yuan, acceptable.”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but laugh after reading this reply.

Well, the young man still had principles.

But Pei Qian needed him to change the review—without excessive praise, how could he provoke other viewers’ antipathy and start arguments?

So Pei Qian was also straightforward: “Two thousand.”

Mr. Qian hesitated for a moment on the other end: “I’ll write the review freely; you can’t interfere too much.”

Free expression? That wouldn’t do.

If the praise wasn’t forced enough, how would it provoke antipathy from other viewers?

At that point, his review would instantly be drowned out among countless five-star reviews, and wouldn’t that mean Pei Qian’s money was wasted?

Although wasting system money sounded like a good thing, it wouldn’t achieve Pei Qian’s goal.

Pei Qian directly abandoned empty words: “Three thousand.”

Mr. Qian: “Fine, tell me how to change it.”

Pei Qian chuckled. It seemed this was indeed a critic with firm principles, changing his mind only after the price was raised twice.

Pei Qian considered his wording briefly.

“Praise it hard, write at least a thousand words, and you must find an angle that no one has praised before. The more obscure and subtle the angle, the better.”

Mr. Qian hesitated again: “There are already many reviews. Finding an angle no one has praised is difficult, and even if found, it would seem especially forced, causing antipathy instead.”

Very forced? Causing antipathy?

That’s exactly right! That’s what I want!

Young man, you’ve grasped my intentions very accurately!

Mr. Qian’s words were exactly what Pei Qian wanted to hear.

But Pei Qian couldn’t make it obvious, so he could only reply: “That’s fine.”

Mr. Qian: “I’m sorry, but I think it matters. This requirement is very difficult for me…”

Pei Qian: “Four thousand.”

Mr. Qian: “That’s not what I meant. It’s not about the money; it’s mainly that the task itself is difficult…”

Pei Qian: “Five thousand.”

Mr. Qian: “I’ll go to the theater to watch it again right away. I’ll submit the review before tonight.”

Having secured Mr. Qian, Pei Qian still felt uneasy.

One person seemed insufficient.

He needed to find some internet trolls to support him.

Pei Qian then contacted “Xiaofox Reviews,” planning to buy some troll services for support.

Without actually buying trolls, how could he make ordinary people know this film had hired trolls?

“Brother, I need some more trolls. Find reviews of ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’ online, and for any that have given good reviews with *obscure angles*, frantically like them like crazy!”

Since Pei Qian couldn’t explicitly ask for finding those with forced praise, he had to use different wording, emphasizing “obscure angles.”

Any review with obscure angles must involve serious over-interpretation, which was pretty much the same meaning as forced praise.

Shortly after, Hu Xiao replied.

“No problem.”

Pei Qian was about to discuss the specific price when the other party sent another message.

“We’ve been working together for so long, we have a relationship now. There’s something else I want to tip you off about. Other companies’ trolls seem to have been tasked with discrediting your film. If you’re willing to spend some money, I can help you deal with this.”

Huh?

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

Could there be such a good thing?

“Who?” Pei Qian immediately asked.

Hu Xiao: “Sorry, I can’t reveal that. It’s a rule in our industry.”

Pei Qian felt a bit disappointed that he couldn’t learn the name of this kind person.

It must be investors from other films, he thought.

The several films currently showing compete. “Beautiful Tomorrow” now had good attendance and word-of-mouth, so tomorrow’s screenings might be even higher than today’s.

This would obviously crowd out screenings of other films significantly. The domestic romance drama and the major domestic IP film both had sufficient motivation to hire trolls to discredit “Beautiful Tomorrow.”

Anyway, it didn’t matter who this kind person was; he would keep his gratitude in his heart.

As for spending money to resolve this issue?

Pei Qian would have to be crazy to do that!

“No need. Let them trash it while you boost it; they don’t interfere with each other.”

Hu Xiao: “Well, it’s good that you have this confidence. Anyway, if you feel you can’t handle it, tell me, and we can still salvage the situation.”

Can’t handle it? Salvage?

No, no, no, there won’t be a situation where I can’t handle it!

The harsher the criticism, the happier I’ll be!

If possible, Pei Qian would even pay trolls to discredit it himself. Now, someone was paying to do this good deed, it was like sending charcoal in snowy weather!

Pei Qian gave Hu Xiao a few instructions, telling his trolls to frantically like those reviews with “obscure angles,” giving ordinary people the impression that “those who like this film are extreme fans with serious over-interpretation.”

This batch of mindless praisers would achieve the effect of “one chef countering ten critics,” and competitors would send out large numbers of trolls for forced criticism. Working together from inside and out, wouldn’t that double the efficiency?

After clarifying everything, Pei Qian cleaned up his finished Slackin’ takeout, placed it outside the door, and then…

Lay back down on his bed.

He decided to disappear and not go to the company for the next two days!

If he went to the company, many people would congratulate him on the film, which was just depressing to think about.

It was better to enjoy some peace alone at home.