Mr. Qian was quite efficient. Before dinner time, he had already sent over the new review.

“Alright, the Emperor’s New Clothes Are Indeed Beautiful”

“This was originally a three-star long review, but after watching the film a second time, I’ve decided to change my rating.”

“Previously, I thought this was a film full of unnecessary lamentations, especially the addition of advertisements forcing viewers to watch ads along with the protagonist, which was a fatal flaw among fatal flaws!”

“But after watching it again, I realized I was wrong. These advertisements were carefully planned, each with profound meaning!”

“First, these advertisements didn’t feature product placement from any real-world brands, avoiding selling out while ensuring all viewers had a good viewing experience. Compared to those ‘paid inclusion’ practices, this itself is praiseworthy!”

“Second, these advertisements are exquisitely designed, not only with excellent filming techniques, but also with a wide variety of types—some humorous, some with a postmodern stream of consciousness. On one hand, they immerse viewers in this future world; on the other hand, just watching these advertisements is interesting enough!”

“Third, the advertisements serve to connect the story. A simple example: the judge played by Zhang Zuting actually appeared in a TV advertisement at the very beginning, and the female host who was later promoted had also filmed a commercial before. These details become noticeable when watching a second time.”

“Finally, the advertisements contain very spicy satirical meanings! When the protagonist drinks beer, the ads push fried chicken and red wine; when the protagonist loses money, ads for loan services appear; when his savings increase, ads start recommending various financial products. This undoubtedly satirizes issues of big data and privacy leaks!”

“I originally thought ads were just ads, but now I realize I was completely wrong. This method of adding advertisements to a film without causing viewer antipathy, and instead deepening the film’s connotations, is simply brilliant!”

“I previously thought this film was just forcibly covered with a sci-fi skin, merely having better-looking scenes, but now I know I was wrong. This film contains reflections on the future and technology throughout!”

“Domestic sci-fi films have always gone down the wrong path, always pursuing grand scenes and epic narratives, but ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’ has blazed its trail, finding another possibility by bringing the perspective closer to ordinary people. For domestic sci-fi films, this is also a very good direction!”

“In short, I was deeply impressed by this film. Five stars, no explanation needed!”

“I deeply repent for having previously misinterpreted this film. Not understanding this film was entirely due to short-sightedness and low intellectual level…”

The last paragraph was all fancy repentance, repeatedly expressing the same idea: “Those who speak ill of this film are just ignorant bumpkins who don’t understand it!”

This was used to pad the word count…

Pei Qian had required him to write at least a thousand words, but he still fell short by three hundred words at the end, so he had to say some repetitive words to perfunctorily complete the task.

Although there was a suspicion of fraud, Pei Qian didn’t mind at all.

Mr. Qian had completed the task quite well!

Pei Qian’s requirement for him was simply to find a very obscure angle for forced praise, and Mr. Qian had indeed found such an angle—advertisements!

Pei Qian had added advertisements to the film originally just to fill time, to extend the film’s length to meet the requirements for theater release.

But look at how Mr. Qian praised them.

He practically praised the advertisements as being better than the film itself!

If he had praised the spiritual connotations of the plot or the actors’ performances, it would have seemed more plausible, and viewers wouldn’t have been so suspicious that this reviewer had been paid.

But praising the advertisements in the film?

And with such a dramatic attitude reversal?

Shouldn’t many people see through this forced praise?

Shouldn’t people realize he was paid to change his review?

Pei Qian immediately paid the remaining fee, eager to see the latest comments below this review.

Of course, it would take some time for viewers to discover the changed review.

Pei Qian thought about checking back after a while and decided to go online first to see how the competitor’s trolls were doing.

After browsing for a bit, Pei Qian couldn’t help but sigh—the competitors were quite wealthy, with their internet trolls spreading like wildfire!

While the trolls’ professional ability was important, their numbers were even more crucial.

To have many people, you had to spend more money. Different levels of accounts writing negative reviews and giving low ratings all required payment, which was no small expense.

But the larger the scale, the happier Pei Qian became!

Although these trolls’ wording was somewhat formulaic—all using phrases like “loose plot,” “unconvincing acting,” “cold dialogue,” “stuffed with ads,” “lacking sincerity,” and other forced criticisms—with enough people, they could achieve the effect of passing off fish eyes as pearls.

The purpose of trolls creating momentum was to influence those who hadn’t seen the film. If the criticism wasn’t deep enough, it wouldn’t achieve the deterrent effect.

Not only that, but large-scale low-rating campaigns had also begun. When Pei Qian checked the rating at noon, it was still 8.8, but now it had already changed to 8.6, and seemed to have a continuing downward trend.

Pei Qian spent a full hour browsing through negative reviews, and his mood finally improved somewhat.

“I wonder which kind-hearted person hired these trolls; they’ve saved me from an urgent crisis!”

“Hmm… perhaps I can check the response to Mr. Qian’s modified review now.”

Pei Qian clicked on the comment section of Mr. Qian’s review, skipping past the first few pages of previous comments.

“Oh, there are so many comments in just one hour?”

“Perhaps everyone discovered he was paid to change his review, so they’ve hung him out to dry?”

Pei Qian eagerly looked at these newly appeared comments.

“Knowing one’s errors and correcting them—nothing is more virtuous!”

“A forced critic has had a change of heart?”

“I said before, this film isn’t the kind of mindless popcorn movie; you have to savor it! If you just gulp it down and get a rough idea, you miss many details, so of course you’d think the film isn’t good! But after watching it a second time and seeing these details, it instantly becomes different, right?”

“The advertisement angle is indeed very interesting! I previously just treated the ads as background and didn’t look too carefully, only feeling that some individual ads were quite funny. Now I realize there’s so much depth in them!”

“Written so well, it makes me want to go watch it a second time!”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing!”

“The author’s confession at the end is also very sincere. Just for your attitude in admitting mistakes, I’m considering turning from a hater to a fan.”

“This review made me realize that all success is not accidental. Behind a successful film, how many meticulously planned details must there be! Director Zhu Xiaocai is awesome!”

“May I ask the author, can I share this?”

“I also want to share it.”

Page five.

Page six.

…The last page.

Pei Qian flipped through all these new comments, scratching his head in confusion.

What the hell??

Such obvious forced praise, and none of you saw through it?

Don’t you feel any antipathy at all?

He was paid to change his review!

Paid! I can testify!

Is anyone going to do anything about this?!

Pei Qian was speechless. These viewers’ focus was just too strange. Instead of focusing on why this author changed his review, they focused on the advertisements in the film.

What happened to the coordination with the competitor’s trolls?

The cooperation hadn’t even begun before it ended…

Pei Qian opened the DogEye app to take a look, and sure enough, tomorrow’s screening schedule was already out, and “Beautiful Tomorrow” had an even higher allocation!

It felt somewhat like being besieged on all sides.

“Keep up the good work, troll brothers! Although you can only fight alone now, my heart is with you!”

For some reason, Pei Qian suddenly felt a bit sorry for these trolls.

Logically, these trolls should be particularly hateful for stirring up trouble and distorting facts for their benefit.

However, Pei Qian felt that once they became associated with him, these trolls were like mantises lining up to block cars, going up one by one to die, dying miserably.

And Mr. Pei was like a hostage tied to the car, only able to watch them being crushed by the wheels, silently wishing them a peaceful journey while crying inside…

For some reason, Pei Qian felt like a tragic character at this moment.

…

…

February 24, Thursday, the third day of “Beautiful Tomorrow’s” release.

In Pengcheng.

Having just finished a meet-and-greet event, the main creative team finally caught a moment to rest after their promotional activities.

Zhu Xiaocai plopped down in a chair: “I’m exhausted!”

Zhang Zuting smiled beside him: “Film promotion is always like this, Director Zhu. You’ll get used to it.”

Huang Sibo was also quite worn out, massaging his legs while checking online reviews of the film on his phone.

“Overall, reviews are good; our film has blown up.”

“However, the trolls have mobilized, spamming for three days straight. Our film’s ratings have been dropping in many places, and the rating on the DogEye app has dropped to 8.3.”

Zhu Xiaocai thought for a moment: “Should we mention this to Mr. Pei? With just a word to Manager Lin from Shenhua Films, this kind of issue should be easy to resolve, right?”

Huang Sibo thought about it but shook his head: “It could certainly be resolved, but we can’t always be indebted to Manager Lin. We’ve already troubled him too much with this promotion.”

Zhu Xiaocai nodded: “Yes, that’s true. This is our matter. Besides, a rating drop of just a few tenths of a point is no big deal. It’s not worth bothering Manager Lin over such a small issue.”

Everyone fell silent, with only the sound of Huang Sibo gently massaging his legs.

However, as Huang Sibo continued massaging, he suddenly increased the force and gave his leg a hard thump.

“Holy shit!” Huang Sibo couldn’t help but blurt out a curse.

Everyone looked at him in confusion: “What’s wrong?”

“Quick, look at this!” Huang Sibo passed his phone over.

Everyone looked and saw a hot thread on Huang Sibo’s phone with the title: “Recording ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’s’ Ratings on Various Websites, See How Ruthless the Trolls Are—Continuous Updates.”

The content of the post was simple, continuously recording through screenshots the rating changes of “Beautiful Tomorrow” on various major websites. For example, on the DogEye app, it had dropped from an initial 8.8 to 8.3, showing just how rampant the troll activity was.

The situation on other websites was broadly similar, with scores declining to varying degrees.

However, there was one exception.

On the TPDb website, the rating consistently hovered around 9.1, steady as an old dog!