The House That Never Dies-Style Head Balloon

Lin Chuan's expression was perfectly calm as he spoke.

For no reason at all, Xiao Hei felt a chill creep through him.

He hunched his shoulders and realized Ren Hang, that idiot, was blowing down the back of his neck.

Xiao Hei raised his hands in surrender. "I'll never mess with you again! Who could afford to cross you?"

Ren Hang chimed in, too. "Anyone who messes with my brother Chuan gets an earthworm split in half and an egg shaken until its yolk breaks!"

Lin Chuan laughed and swore at them. "Get lost, you two!"

At the same time, he felt a little bitter. He really had gotten carried away just now.

He'd been ready to make a big, cool impression.

But it was one thing not to pull it off.

He'd nearly been embarrassed enough to dig a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

After they'd eaten and drunk their fill, the three of them went to an internet café and played until late into the night. Only then did they return to the dorm.

Ren Hang and Xiao Hei were both exhausted. The moment their heads hit their pillows, they fell fast asleep.

But Lin Chuan had several hundred extra Stamina Value, so he lay on his dorm bed and started drafting a Weibo post.

A few minutes later, Lin Chuan posted:

[Dear viewers, today my good friend Ren Hang went to see the movie The House That Never Dies and was accidentally attacked by popcorn.

We understand the temperamental fellow's feelings, so we won't pursue the matter.

However, Ms. Lin, the lead actress in The House That Never Dies, insisted that we had staged the incident to smear the film.

I give you my word: it was a coincidence.

We will seek a solution to the damage to our reputation through legal channels.

If you were at the cinema at the time, please lend us a hand and help prove our innocence.

You can reach me at XXXX XXXX XXX.

Ms. Lin also claimed that everyone who gave The House That Never Dies a bad review was a paid shill.

I think that claim is rather one-sided.

I'm willing to put up 600,000 yuan to reimburse the movie tickets of 10,000 people who saw The House That Never Dies.

All you need to do is show your ticket stub and prove that you're an ordinary moviegoer.

To take part, leave a comment under this post.

You can use the money to treat someone to a meal, have hot pot, or buy some snacks—whatever you like.

As someone in the film industry, I hope this small sum can make up for some of the distress you suffered.

Please don't lose faith in our domestic films!

Anyone who's seen Happy Family knows it's a film centered on warmth and family.

I'm also putting up a million yuan for an essay contest. Please write about the time you've spent with your family.

There are no restrictions on style.

The contest will start in a few days, so there's no need to rush.]

Soon, a flood of viewers left comments under Lin Chuan's Weibo post:

"I'm from Sichuan. Here's my ticket stub. My girlfriend and I saw The House That Never Dies. I was furious halfway through. That highly liked comment from earlier? It was my girlfriend!"

"Holy crap, bro, you're hardcore!"

"I'm from Yunnan. Heh, I must've been blind to watch a movie starring Lin Gege. Here's my ticket stub."

"I'm from Excavator Province..."

"I'm from Guangdong..."

"I'm from Guilan..."

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

A great many netizens posted pictures of their ticket stubs in the comments.

Netizens were remarkably unanimous in their reviews of The House That Never Dies.

Every time they mentioned their experience watching it, their teeth clenched with anger.

#LinChuanRefundsTicketsForViewersOfTheHouseThatNeverDies#

#TheHouseThatNeverDiesCrewPlaysDead#

#HappyFamily# and other hashtags

held firm at the top of Weibo's trending list.

The total number of views had already passed a hundred million.

In fact, ever since Lin Gege had attacked Happy Family,

quite a few people in the film industry had been watching from the sidelines.

The quality of Happy Family was there for all to see.

And everyone knew what The House That Never Dies was like.

Many films releasing alongside Happy Family had already resigned themselves to letting it take the entire box office.

But no one had expected

Lin Gege to come out of nowhere and smear the Happy Family crew.

A lot of people were secretly pleased.

At the same time, they'd been hoping Lin Gege could knock Happy Family off its pedestal

so that their own films, releasing at the same time, could get a slice of the pie.

But what happened left them dumbfounded.

She'd surrendered in an instant.

Quite a few filmmakers secretly complained about Lin Gege.

Come on, why are you giving up already?

Stand your ground! Put some spirit into it! Don't make us look bad!

But Lin Gege seemed to have turned into a turtle hiding in its shell and shut herself away.

No matter how sarcastic the audience got, she simply kept her comments closed.

If Lin Gege had thrown herself into the fray and shown everyone what a PR disaster looked like,

Lin Chuan had personally demonstrated what textbook PR looked like.

Lin Chuan first clarified that the popcorn incident hadn't been staged by him.

In fact, judging by how Lin Gege had deleted her Weibo post like a guilty thief,

she was the one smearing Lin Chuan.

Next, Lin Chuan seized on Lin Gege's weak point. Hadn't she claimed that everyone who gave The House That Never Dies a bad review was a paid shill?

Just look at all those furious viewers in the comments.

Tell me, were they paid shills?

After all, The House That Never Dies had spent a fortune on marketing.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have secured such a large share of screenings during the National Day holiday period.

But Lin Chuan had used a little force to move a great weight, effortlessly drawing the film's viewers over to his side.

Of course, plenty of filmmakers thought Lin Chuan was still a bit green.

Why reimburse these viewers in cash?

Why not talk to the cinema chains and get them to provide 10,000 tickets to compensate the audience?

Wouldn't that also promote his own movie?

Think how much he'd save on marketing!

A day later, Lin Gege posted an apology on Weibo.

Quite a few netizens whose tickets had been reimbursed chose to head to the cinema

and watch Happy Family.

Normally, these netizens, after getting burned by The House That Never Dies, had no interest in going to the cinema again.

But after receiving compensation from Lin Chuan, they really did want to see

what kind of movie a filmmaker with such good character would make.

And the netizens who hadn't received a ticket reimbursement had also heard about a film called Happy Family.

So, three days after its release, Happy Family's box office passed 100 million!

Late at night, in a villa in Taiwan,

Lin Gege looked haggard.

She'd never imagined that a single careless boast would land her in such a miserable situation.

Thinking of this, Lin Gege opened Bika Net.

She played Balloon.

She desperately wanted to know what level this young director—the one who'd ruined her reputation—was really at!

As for Happy Family, Lin Gege really didn't want to watch it.

She really didn't want to contribute any more to that guy's box office!

Before watching Balloon, Lin Gege searched for what netizens had said about it.

She found that many thought Balloon was terrifying, unsuitable for watching late at night, and likely to give you nightmares.

Lin Gege scoffed and pressed play.

A few hours later, Lin Gege lay in bed with her brows tightly knit.

Sure enough, Lin Gege had a nightmare.

In the dream, Lin Gege was in Kyoto. A balloon with a head identical to hers was watching her from outside the window.

Lin Gege was completely unafraid.

She knew all too well what kind of person she was.

Vain, greedy, and stupid.

Even after becoming a floating head balloon, Lin Gege hadn't felt the slightest bit of fear!

That was, until she saw the balloon following behind her own head.

It was an old woman dressed as a palace maid.

She muttered a familiar line:

"Ziwei, you little wretch!"

"Help! Help! Somebody help me!!"

Lin Gege tossed and turned in bed, her brow furrowed, cold sweat pouring down her face.

No one heard her cries.