After bidding farewell to photographer Annison who had transformed into a film fan, the two finished removing their makeup, changed clothes, and left KULA company, each returning to their own residence.
Liu Rulan wasn't accompanying them today, so only Xiao Chen came to pick up Xiao He. However, the moment Xiao He got in the car, Xiao Chen couldn't wait to share the current online battle situation with him.
"What's going on?"
Xiao He initially thought something had happened with Law of the Jungle again, but seeing Xiao Chen's gloating expression, he realized that today's real entertainment was Silent Search.
He had been busy with other matters after watching the movie today and had almost forgotten about this major event.
Xiao He immediately perked up and asked, "How's it going?"
At the same time, he opened his own phone.
Xiao Chen cleared his throat and said concisely, "Universal mockery, complete uproar."
Xiao He: "...Your summarizing skills have really leveled up."
While saying this, Xiao He's fingers had already very honestly opened Weibo.
[Silent Search terrible]
Great, a very simple and precise Hot Search title. Although he didn't know if Sister Liu and the others had helped buy the Hot Search to push it up, this title was truly very accurate, absolutely without any forced criticism.
Xiao He immediately switched to Douyin, looking for a roasting zone blogger he previously liked.
Sure enough, this roasting blogger had already charged to the front lines, launching attacks against Silent Search.
["The movie is called Silent Search, but it actually has nothing to do with silently searching for missing children."]
["The director is called Feng Zhengyang, but the work quality is completely incomparable to Feng Zhengyang's previous works."]
["This is supposed to be big investment and big production team? Where's the special effects? Where are the zombie hordes? Director Feng Zhengyang, this is what you're showing me?"]
["Fam, do you have any clues?"]
["After watching the movie, I was completely stunned. If the young couple next to me hadn't been rushing to pass in front of me, I might have actually wanted to turn into a roadside zombie and start biting people everywhere."]
["I'm really confused, not to mention the male lead being a background character the whole time, that Chen Yulin and Ren Qiuyu kept going back and forth with their love drama. In such a short movie, they actually argued seven times just through quarrels."]
["Seven times! Do you understand what these seven times mean?!"]
["The young couple next to me only kissed four times in the middle! You two are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, yet you still have time to argue seven times in zombie hordes! I really admire you two!"]
It was clear this blogger's anger was truly intense today. First encountering the young couple next to him being affectionate in real life, wildly stimulating him as a single dog, then later dealing with the simp and goddess bickering in the movie, this blogger, while seemingly watching a movie in the theater, had actually suffered severe mental trauma.
And once such roasting bloggers get their anger stirred up, their attack power skyrockets, frequently producing golden quotes while speaking, roasting Silent Search's plot to pieces without completely spoiling it.
Of course, it wasn't just him on the platform. Gradually, other bloggers also stepped forward to express their opinions and roasts. Some bloggers who had participated in Law of the Jungle's preview screenings even compared the two currently seen movies, roasting and dragging Silent Search from all angles.
There was no helping it. These two movies, from announcement to release, had always been in a confrontational state, even attracting large numbers of netizens to watch. And now that both movies had been viewed by people, as online "Playing Judges," they naturally had to come out and speak fair words, giving a verdict on which side won.
Coincidentally, it was currently dinner time, exactly when video traffic was at its peak. Many bloggers chose to release videos at this time node, so Xiao He took this opportunity to roughly browse through them, scrolling through videos and comment sections across several platforms to see everyone's attitudes.
Good, so far he hadn't seen Silent Search's water army entering the fray. These comment sections were basically filled with real viewers expressing genuine opinions and comments.
As for the key creative personnel related to Silent Search, they hadn't issued any new statements so far. Even the usually active Chen Yulin had gone silent. It seemed these people planned to directly play dead...
Xiao He found it strange.
This shouldn't be happening. Logically speaking, such a public opinion storm appearing on the first day of release definitely shouldn't be acceptable. At the very least, they should still struggle to cover mouths and fight back, not letting the movie's reputation completely explode all at once...
Despite his confusion, situations where people in the industry played dead as soon as a public opinion crisis erupted weren't rare. Xiao He didn't pay much attention to it, riding the car back to his villa, preparing to rest and go straight to sleep.
Early the next morning, Xiao He was awakened by a familiar phone ringtone.
Squinting his bleary eyes, he accurately felt around for his phone, then answered the call with half-closed eyes: "Hello?"
"Check Hot Search immediately."
Hearing these words, Xiao He immediately woke up.
He glanced at the time on his phone, his brain forcibly booting up, supporting him as he sat up from bed: "Okay, I understand."
Liu Rulan on the other end didn't waste words, directly hanging up the phone.
Xiao He immediately unlocked his phone, following muscle memory into the Hot Search chart—
[Silent Search main creative team all out of contact]
[Silent Search production team suspected missing and fleeing]
[Silent Search missing]
[Silent Search team members, are you still alive? Everyone is looking for you]
Xiao He: ?
Seeing these Hot Search topics, Xiao He first had a confused expression, then his sluggish brain finally processed what he was seeing.
The entire Silent Search key creative personnel had gone missing?
Meaning, the director, producer, screenwriter, several main cast actors... and so on, this entire series of personnel, were all out of contact?
"Holy crap!"
Xiao He immediately couldn't sit still.
"No way? Didn't the police close the net? They actually let them all escape?"
But then Xiao He felt something wasn't quite right.
He could understand Feng Zhengyang and those people wanting to flee, but why would actors like Chen Yulin run?
Although they certainly had some problems themselves, they absolutely shouldn't be running off with Feng Zhengyang and the others!
Feng Zhengyang and Dong Zeng had human lives on their hands—if they didn't run, they would die. That screenwriter Lu Qiu, although he didn't have human lives, definitely had unclean hands and was a candidate destined for prison...
As for the other actors in the production team, they certainly had various problems too, but Xiao He believed that more people, like Chen Yulin, had simply come for famous director Feng Zhengyang, wanting to participate in Feng Zhengyang's movie to gain some fame and profit. They didn't know about Feng Zhengyang and the others' true intentions and situation, nor did they know they were about to be implicated by the production team.
So why would they go missing too? What's going on?
And with such a large-scale escape, the police couldn't possibly not know...
Immediately, Xiao He had another guess in his heart—
Unless these people weren't missing... but had been caught?
Sure enough, Xiao He's phone rang again, Liu Rulan's call coming through.
"Hello?"
"Did you see the situation online?"
"Yeah, so these people really went missing? I think something's off..."
"Indeed, they're not missing, but have all been taken under police control."
Liu Rulan looked out the window at the faint light rising on the horizon before dawn, finally letting out a long sigh.
"Additionally, when Feng Zhengyang and Dong Zeng were being arrested by police, they prepared to resist and were each stabbed three times by Tong Junhui. They've now been sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. As for the others, they're reportedly involved in some money laundering case and are currently at the police station."
Xiao He drew a sharp breath.