Cut the Grass and Remove the Roots!

Although Lin Gege's Weibo post twisted the facts completely and managed to avoid discussing them altogether,

she did get one thing right.

Netizens these days really did have sharp eyes.

They could see clearly who was a villain and who was a gentleman.

They all had a clear picture in their minds.

The comments section on Lin Gege's Weibo was full of enthusiastic netizens who could see through everything, spot the tiniest details, and judge with keen insight.

"Heh, now you're the innocent one? Back then, you said someone stuck their tongue in your mouth during a kissing scene, and you cried so hard your nose was running. I was young and almost believed you!"

"This woman used to call herself an innocent beauty, but in reality, she did everything from cozying up to rich businessmen and knowingly becoming the other woman to cheating and gambling!"

"Happy Family made over 28 million on its opening day and is about to hit 30 million.

"The House That Never Dies had a massive promotional campaign and opened at the same time as Happy Family.

"So far, it's only made a little over 9 million. And they're saying someone else is riding on their coattails?"

"Do you know who Ren Hang is? He's the Golden Warrior who protects peace in Jianghai City. Would he lie to me?"

"And The House That Never Dies gives viewers more than their money's worth? More than your @#￥%! I'm still waiting to demand compensation for the mental anguish you caused me!"

"Go to hell and give us our money back!"

"Heh, an old hag with no self-awareness. How old are you? You still think people will go to the cinema to watch your movies?"

"How come Granny Rong didn't jab you to death back then?"

"The House That Never Dies is dog shit by the roadside. It looks like shit and smells like shit. If anyone's willing to take a bite, all I can say is I admire your courage!"

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, inside a luxurious villa on the outskirts of the city,

Lin Gege was lounging on an expensive sofa, wearing a face mask and sipping tea brewed with mineral water that cost thousands of yuan a bottle.

She opened Weibo and saw comment after comment from netizens.

She was so furious she could have burst!

At first, she'd only wanted to post on Weibo to stir up netizens' emotions and give The House That Never Dies a little more publicity.

Lin Gege hadn't landed a leading role in a major production for a long time.

If The House That Never Dies flopped, it would have a major impact on her future career.

She hadn't expected netizens these days to be completely immune to her tricks!

Lin Gege took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.

She was still wearing an Asprey face mask. Getting angry would give a woman wrinkles!

Then Lin Gege came across a comment calling her an old hag.

Damn it!

Lin Gege shot to her feet and ripped off her face mask, tossing it into the trash.

In truth, she'd never cared when netizens called her a terrible actress, a person of poor character, or an idiot.

Her beauty was her greatest asset.

From a delinquent girl who dropped out of middle school, to a GG model, to a hugely popular top star—

wasn't it all thanks to her face?

But now, netizens were saying she was past her prime?

Lin Gege pounded the screen of her phone, wishing she could reach through it and tear the netizens' mouths apart.

She deleted her original Weibo post, in which she'd accused Lin Chuan and the others of staging the whole thing.

Then she posted a new one to hit back at the netizens:

[Low-class viewers can't understand high-class movies. They're only fit to watch low-class films!

"And all you paid trolls—no matter how many bad reviews you leave, it won't change the fact that The House That Never Dies is true art!"]

After posting, she closed the comments section.

Even though Lin Gege had closed her comments,

netizens' appetite for gossip wasn't satisfied.

Plenty of people who didn't even like movies had heard about Lin Gege's meltdown.

Everyone was talking about it, hardly able to believe it was true:

"Wait, you're telling me this woman first accused viewers of pretending to criticize The House That Never Dies, then turned around and insulted netizens for having no taste, claiming anyone who gave the movie a bad review was a paid troll?

"And then she locked the comments?"

"An own-goal of a publicity stunt, no doubt!"

"Ye Weiming was cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck when he cast her as the lead!"

"At least this got me to notice Happy Family. I'm planning to go see it at the theater now."

"Comment above, bring tissues."

At a hot pot restaurant, Lin Chuan saw Lin Gege's latest Weibo post and put down his phone.

"The House That Never Dies is finished."

Xiao Hei put down his phone too.

"Happy Family's box office growth had slowed down. That was normal. There's a limit to how many people can go to the movies each day."

"But after Lin Gege posted on Weibo, Happy Family's box office went up by almost another ten million."

"Happy Family's current box office is 37.42 million. Its opening-day total is about to hit 40 million."

Ren Hang scratched his head, amazed.

"Is Lin Gege a Happy Family fan or something?"

"Why else would she do that?"

Lin Chuan took a bite of brain.

"A lot of people aren't very bright, but they can still take care of themselves, so they're treated as normal."

"After Lin Gege became famous, all the praise from those around her went to her head. She lost herself a long time ago."

"This time, she just happened to have the mask ripped off her face."

Ren Hang sighed. "The wicked really do get what's coming to them!"

Xiao Hei pressed on. "So, is this over now?"

The three of them—Lin Chuan, Ren Hang, and Xiao Hei—had gone to watch a competitor's movie.

They hadn't expected it to be unbelievably bad, and Ren Hang, that walking disaster, had even been hit by popcorn.

But then things had taken a turn. The female lead of their competitor had brought a flood of attention with her Weibo post.

And that had given Happy Family, whose box office was already far ahead, an even bigger boost.

By every measure, it looked like a perfect ending.

Lin Chuan shook his head. "No. This isn't over."

Seeing the surprise in his two roommates' eyes, Lin Chuan explained:

"What Lin Gege did on Weibo was like someone spitting at me into the wind, only for the spit to blow back into their own face."

"Even though I didn't lose anything, she was the first person who dared to bare her teeth at me."

"If I don't teach her a lesson, people will think there's no price to pay for baring their teeth at me."

"And sooner or later, more people will dare to do it!"

Xiao Hei nodded. "So what are you planning to do?"

Lin Chuan held up two fingers.

"First, I'll deal with this through proper legal channels."

"Didn't she say we staged the popcorn incident?"

"Then I'll sue her for damaging our reputations and make her issue a public apology!"

"Second, I'll unite everyone who can be united. Didn't Lin Gege say everyone giving The House That Never Dies a bad review was a paid troll?"

"And I've seen plenty of people who watched The House That Never Dies demanding refunds."

"I've been watching the official Weibo account for The House That Never Dies. They've been playing dead, and they haven't replied to a single comment."

"If they don't dare to open that door, I'll open it. If they don't dare to give refunds, I will!"

"I'll set aside 600,000 yuan for viewers who've been poisoned by The House That Never Dies. All they have to do is post a photo of their movie ticket to prove they're real people, and I'll reimburse them."

"Land one punch to break through, and you won't have to face a hundred more!"

"What I'm going to do can be summed up in four words."

"Cut! The! Grass! And! Remove! The! Roots!"