Chapter 12 Thursday, April 12th

Fei Huang Studio’s office area.

Some employees were editing the "Portraits of Street Vendors" documentary, while those previously responsible for "Mission and Choice" were now in a state of放羊 (fàng yáng, literally "free-range shepherding," meaning taking it easy and doing nothing). Every day, they played games, watched movies, browsed websites, and waited for the official release of "Mission and Choice."

The employees responsible for editing "Portraits of Street Vendors" looked energetic, as the series had been very successful so far. Its popularity was steadily growing on the Ellie Island website, and the online reviews were very positive.

The Cold Noodles Girl had tried launching several new dishes. Thanks to the "Portraits of Street Vendors" promotion, her reputation, while not completely recovered, had greatly improved compared to its previous rock-bottom state.

The only problem was that editing the videos made them very hungry. And with the company providing unlimited snacks, several editors had gained a few pounds.

After discovering this problem, Huang Sibolian demanded that they increase their workout intensity at the outsourced gym. The coaches were "their own people," so adding extra training was as simple as a word from Huang Sibo, leaving the editors miserable.

The employees working on the "Mission and Choice" project weren't in such high spirits; they were all very dispirited.

Even playing games and watching movies didn't feel enjoyable anymore.

As for why this was happening...

It was because these people were online every day, searching for news about "Mission and Choice." But they waited and waited, and with the release this weekend fast approaching, there was surprisingly little buzz online. There was no hype for discussion, which was outrageous!

Everyone had been very excited while filming "Mission and Choice."

It was a big-budget, large-scale production with a script personally approved by President Pei. It had the original production team from "A Beautiful Tomorrow," and Lu Zhiyao delivered his most perfect performance ever...

What's more, the movie was tied to a new game that Tenda had been developing for over half a year.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that "Mission and Choice" was the most important project for the entire Tenda Group in 2011-2012.

All the employees felt honored to be involved in this project.

But as the movie's release approached, they suddenly realized something was wrong.

First, the release date was moved forward, ditching the prime May Day holiday for a random weekend.

Of course, this could be勉强 (miǎnqiǎng, barely) explained by the fact that the "Mission and Choice" game was going to clash with the "Fantasy Battle Remake." While changing the movie's release date was a loss, it was勉强 (miǎnqiǎng, barely) acceptable.

But the biggest problem now was the lack of promotion!

Not to mention anything else, there wasn't a single promotional poster or display board for "Mission and Choice" in the movie theaters, and the screen share wasn't great. And even that screen share was only happening because the theaters were giving them preferential treatment, considering the success of "A Beautiful Tomorrow."

In other words, the promotion for "Mission and Choice" was basically zero—they weren't doing anything!

For other movies, the promotion budget was usually about the same as the production budget. For example, if a movie cost 300 million to make, they would spend another 300 million on global promotion, which was normal.

And in these big-budget movies, the stars' salaries accounted for a large portion of the expenses.

Whether this funding ratio was healthy was debatable, but it was the industry norm.

But with "Mission and Choice," they spent over 300 million on the movie, with only Lu Zhiyao as the main actor and a relatively low salary. All the money went into props and special effects, and they didn't spend a single penny on promotion!

This was too bizarre!

Of course, putting the money where it mattered most could better ensure the quality of the movie, but not spending a single penny on promotion was going too far, wasn't it?

Even if they weren't spending money, they could at least post something on the official Weibo account, right? Tenda had so many unpaid supporters; even a little bit of news could generate hype.

But nothing!

It was said that President Pei had given Meng Chang a promotion budget, but no one knew where that money went...

Many people even suspected that the movie hadn't been moved forward at all, but rather delayed!

Otherwise, how could there be no buzz at all?

Everyone had put so much effort into filming this difficult script, and the movie was incredibly exciting. How could they not be discouraged when the marketing was so terrible?

Director Zhu Xiaoce was also getting restless. He secretly went to Huang Sibo's office, ready for another密谈 (mì tán, private conversation).

This matter couldn't be discussed openly because he and Huang Sibo were department heads. If the employees knew that even they were panicking, the fear would spread quickly, affecting the entire Fei Huang Studio.

Many employees had privately asked Zhu Xiaoce what was going on with the movie's promotion, and Zhu Xiaoce had reassured them, saying that a professional department was handling it and they didn't need to worry.

But in reality, Zhu Xiaoce didn't believe it himself.

With only two days until the movie's release, he didn't know what the people in the advertising and marketing department were doing, or why President Pei wasn't doing anything.

Zhu Xiaoce slipped into Huang Sibo's office and saw Huang Sibo drinking tea and browsing the web.

"I can't take it anymore. Just yesterday, four people asked me about the movie's promotion."

"What did President Pei say?"

"I asked at the beginning of the month, and President Pei said that arrangements had been made."

"I asked last week, and President Pei said that it had been handed over to the advertising and marketing department, and that a dedicated person was in charge, so we could rest assured."

"Now it's almost time for the release, and where's our movie's promotion??"

"Other movies start promoting months in advance. We originally scheduled it for May Day, and while one or two months of promotion was relatively short, with 'A Beautiful Tomorrow' as a base, the effect shouldn't be too bad."

"But then they moved it forward, compressing the promotion time again and again. Now, it's about to be released, and there's not even a ripple online!"

"What are we going to do!"

Zhu Xiaoce was speechless.

He had already assured his colleagues that he had consulted President Pei about the promotion and that there would be no problem. But in this situation, it wasn't just a lack of problems, it was problems everywhere!

The most embarrassing thing was that people wouldn't think it was President Pei's fault, but rather that Zhu Xiaoce was issuing fake edicts and deceiving his superiors.

This was very troublesome!

For the promotion of "A Beautiful Tomorrow," President Pei didn't intervene much, and Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce were fully responsible. They basically followed the usual methods of promotion, and the initial results were decent.

Of course, the key to "A Beautiful Tomorrow's" success was that the movie itself was excellent, and its box office revenue increased step by step.

But this time, President Pei had specifically told Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce not to worry about the promotion of "Mission and Choice."

At first, the two were quite happy, thinking that President Pei attached great importance to it. His personal involvement meant that everything was definitely stable, and they could just sit back and relax.

But in the end, this was what they got.

Huang Sibo was also worried. "Who knows what President Pei is up to?"

"As far as I know, Meng Chang is in charge of the promotion this time. Logically speaking, he's a marketing genius, so the plan should be sensational."

"How come there isn't even a ripple now?"

Zhu Xiaoce was very dissatisfied. "Him? He's not good enough; President Pei is a hundred times better than him! His little marketing skills for the Cold Noodles Girl are not even one-ten-thousandth of President Pei's."

"Meng Chang spends money to buy fake popularity, while President Pei can attract real popularity without spending a penny. How can that be the same?"

"And I think Meng Chang's character is flawed. He probably didn't put his heart into the promotion plan."

"It's not like I'm wronging him. Looking at the current situation, even if you were promoting with your feet, you couldn't make it so that there's not even a ripple, right?"

"There's only one possibility: he's doing it on purpose!"

Huang Sibo took a sip of tea and gestured for Zhu Xiaoce to calm down. "There's no need to speculate about our colleagues like that."

"Whether Meng Chang is reliable or not, President Pei must have his reasons for putting him in this position. Besides, even if Meng Chang wanted to play some tricks, do you think President Pei wouldn't know?"

"Don't worry, let's wait and see."

Zhu Xiaoce had always been a very calm person, but he couldn't stay calm this time. "Wait any longer? The movie's coming out on Saturday..."

"Even if the promotion plan is effective now, what can we do in two days?"

"Other movies promote for more than two months in advance. We're good; we're promoting two days in advance..."

Huang Sibo browsed the web and said, "While two days seems impossible, we can only choose to believe in President Pei."

The two fell into a brief silence.

Suddenly, Huang Sibo's eyes lit up.

"Look, things are changing! Just last night!"

Zhu Xiaoce was surprised. "Is there a turning point?"

Huang Sibo immediately turned the laptop around, letting Zhu Xiaoce see the contents of the screen.

What came into view was a lively discussion among netizens on Weibo!

"Tenda's new movie is coming! 'Mission and Choice,' released on Saturday!"

"The highly-rated comment under the 'Warship of Fury' Weibo post that said 'domestic movies are so scared they're moving up their release dates' is talking about 'Mission and Choice'!"

"The movie information is out, starring Lu Zhiyao, definitely right!"

"Why is it so low? I thought the screen share would be at least 40%. Is there something wrong with such a small screen share?"

"Could it be a terrible movie with Fei Huang Studio's name attached?"

"Impossible, Director Zhu Xiaoce and Lu Zhiyao are basically the original team from 'A Beautiful Tomorrow'!"

Overnight, discussions about the movie "Mission and Choice" exploded on Weibo and various forums!

Not only that, but many people also made a series of reasonable speculations about the "Mission and Choice" game.

"'Mission and Choice' is called the shame of domestic games. Since Tenda made a movie, they must also be making a game, right?"

"Why remake this? Is it a task from the official platform?"

"April 14th, that date sounds familiar... I remember now, that's the release date of 'Fantasy Battle Remake'! Is this a pure coincidence, or...?"

"No way, other games are hyped up months or even years in advance, and they even get delayed before release. Tenda is releasing it without a word? Not even a notification?"

"What are you guys discussing? Speculating out of thin air? Tenda hasn't even said they're releasing a 'Mission and Choice' game... Can you guys stop imagining things?"

"It's not that we want to imagine things, but the clues are too suspicious. Old players know that President Pei is always cryptic. You have to believe that any leaks about Tenda, no matter how outrageous, could be true..."

"Oh, and there's something else I don't know if you've noticed? 'Collection of Classic Domestic Games' also includes 'Mission and Choice.' This collection has been promoted for so long, with online ads and offline promotions. How much money did that cost?"

"The official platform has confirmed that Tenda paid for these ads. Think about it, why would Tenda advertise for a collection that has nothing to do with them? It must be related to their new game!"

"And the official interviews are also quite strange. First, they interviewed the 'Dead End Project' incubation base, and then they interviewed Meng Chang, who is in charge of promoting the 'Collection of Classic Domestic Games' for Tenda. These two articles were published just over a day apart, and they were probably conducted at the same time. Does this imply something?"

"That's right, I remember Qiu Hong saying in the interview that the 'Dead End Project' has an investor, and he's just an executor, and that this investor has a deep influence on him. Considering the working environment of the incubation base and the various benefits for independent game developers... this investor is probably President Pei, right?"

"Thinking about it that way, it's definitely true! The officials are practically hinting at it!"

"There must be a new game coming! Holy crap, this is so exciting! I knew Tenda wouldn't let me down!"