Chapter 175: International Pressure, Gold Prize

The reviews by the snobbish film critics set off another climax for them. Regular movie-goers who read these reviews all had the same question—just what kind of a movie was it that brought them down to their knees?

And so, these people all bought cinema tickets out of curiosity. Nearly every one of them came out of the theater with tears in their eyes. Hell, there were even some that re-joined the line to watch the movie one more time.

There were only a few screenings and it wasn’t until after the movie was released nationwide did they finally understand how powerful this work of art was. Tickets were sold out on the very first day of the film’s official release. From 10 in the morning till 12 midnight, the theater remained packed with enthusiastic viewers.

Some of the more fanatic ones were dissatisfied, even after re-watching the movie multiple times in a single day. For some reason, different emotions were stirred up in every sitting. The first time, they were blown away by the movie’s production quality, as well as how skilled every actor and actress in the movie was.

Then, people started feeling the essence of this film the second and successive times they re-watched it. They felt the intertwining of familial love, friendship and romantic love like flames and smoke in the story. With the empire literally under siege, complex emotions permeated through the film, filling the theater with a hard-to-describe sort of atmosphere.

The box office reported over a 100 million yuan’s worth of ticket sale on the first afternoon of the movie’s release. By how well-received the movie seemed, it was no surprise that they would break through to 200 million yuan in no time. Although most of the fans came to watch the two protagonists, it was interesting how much the side-characters had gained their attention, especially on Weibo.

***

Jiang Shuxuan’s affairs in the ancient martial arts world had already been dealt with by now. It was midnight when he came out of the shower and prepared to hit the sack. However, he heard a notification sound from his phone. Whipping out his phone, he went onto Weibo. Gu Xiqiao was the only person whom he was following on the social media platform; every notification he received was about her and her only.

The number of comments and likes were all “99+”. Most of the posts were related to ‘Empire Under Siege’. Jiang Shuxuan straightened his back and swiftly, he navigated his way to the hot topic list. Smack on number one was the film, ‘Empire Under Siege’.

Within two days, there were already over 300 million posts and counting, all discussing the film.

Jiang Shuxuan read some of it before he got on his feet. Picking up his coat, he went downstairs.

“Young Master, where are you going?” The butler sounded suspicious of Jiang Shuxuan.

“I have one final thing to do at the trial tower. I won’t be coming back tonight.” Jiang Shuxuan’s voice from outside the door was loud and clear.

***

Gu Xiqiao herself did not know how much praise this film was receiving. Her and Xiao Yun’s followers had been growing exponentially over the past couple of days. Their follower count had long breached ten million.

There was a large mob of followers urging her to post something on Weibo. Gu Xiqiao saw their requests and thought about it for a while. Then, she took a picture of Xixi and Haha.

For A Millenium: I’ve just given Haha a nice, long bath. Seems like it has learned how to act like a boss. Who was it that taught him this? [JPEG]

A new thread started with this very post.

“My goddess, you were too perfect playing as Qixia! I’ve been crying for two whole days now!”

“My goddess! My one and only Qixia! <3 <3”

“You’re the best actress I’ve ever met! You’ll be my only love in this life <3”

The following comments were somewhere along these lines.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh! She’s updated her timeline! She’s finally posted something! Hurry up and send more pictures of Haha!”

“What about Xixi? It’s nowhere to be found in this shot! Maybe it’s crying in the bathroom while the photo was taken! LMAO!”

“Where’s the face of my dear goddess? 0/10 would not follow again! Goodbye!”

“After scrolling through her entire Weibo, I, her new follower, do declare that the names Xixi and Haha are incredibly interesting names! LOL!”

This went on until her Weibo post was retweeted.

A Flowing River: Maybe it’s because I gave it a shower recently. You should stop using milk-scented shampoo on him. He doesn’t like it that much nowadays. Y’know what? Just leave the dog as it is. I’ll come over tomorrow. //@For A Millenium: I’ve just given Haha a nice, long bath. Seems like it has learned how to act like a boss. Who was it that taught him this? [JPEG]

It was then that Gu Xiqiao noticed Jiang Shuxuan’s post on Weibo. She liked his post before reading what the post actually was. He’s returning tomorrow? Didn’t he say that it would be at least a week before he comes back?

Reply @A Flowing River: Isn’t it at least two more days before that?

Reply @For A Millenium: I worked overtime today. Gotta catch some sleep now, nightie night.

Reply @A Flowing River: Get some rest. Goodnight.

She liked his reply, something which all of her fans saw. Their interaction soon climbed up into the popular page of Weibo.

Her old fans said:

“Tfw no gf to wish me nightie night. I guess I’ll be hitting the pub alone tonight guys. 😊”

“The great Jiang isn’t at home tonight! 0/10!”

“Turns out the real lord was Haha all along! Even the great Jiang is a servant of our almighty lord, Haha! Hey, great Jiang, you still have room for an extra pet in the house? I’m talking about one that’s well educated and behaved, the type that’ll make your heart go UwU from all the moe cuteness that’s even better than Haha! 😊”

Her new fans reacted:

“Argh! what the hell did I just read?! WTF!”

“Where did this horny b*tch crawl out from? This pure goddess is mine and mine only! 😭😭”

“I think something’s wrong with Weibo! Nevermind, lemme refresh it!”

“So you’re saying that this is the main palace?”

***

Because ‘Empire Under Siege’ was the first film both Gu Xiqiao and Xiao Yun starred in, Wu Hongwen invited the both of them out to watch the film together. It has been quite a while since the three of them got together like this.

That wasn’t much of a problem for Xiao Yun and Gu Xiqiao as they had been working together in the film previously; nearly every day they would get the chance to see one another. As for Wu Hongwen, apart from his studies, he still had to train with his family. Perhaps because of his mind-numbing schedule, he had been hanging out with Yao Jiamu for the past couple of days.

“Er Qiao, I don’t think you know this but Yao Jiamu’s become really strong nowadays. Nearly half of the underground organisations in the Imperial Capital have been flushed out by his forces. Though, I think he’s been facing a major hurdle recently.” Yao Jiamu had initially agreed to hang out with them today but because of this ‘hurdle’, he painfully let the opportunity go. Wu Hongwen then added, “But, no matter how strong he is, he’s not as potent as you.”

Gu Xiqiao’s popularity skyrocketed at A University; despite not belonging to the Faculty of Medicine, he could feel how influential she had become as of late.

Now that even Xiao Yun’s career in acting has taken off, what more to say of Yao Jiamu, he was the only one left that had yet to blossom. ‘Yep, I think I’ll cut my gaming sessions by one hour from tomorrow onwards. I’ll study my ass off and finally move my family over to the Imperial Capital!’ Wu Hongwen pledged to himself.

The three of them picked seats in the back corner of the theater. Wu Hongwen was still daydreaming before the reel started rolling. Shortly after though, his soul became captured by the film’s artistic beauty.

Wu Hongwen couldn’t get over the film even after they had exited the theater. “These 4D glasses are produced by Nine Heavens, I presume? Good heavens, from virtual helmets to 4D glasses, nothing they produce are short of game-changing!”

Xiao Yun sighed. “These fans are still obsessed about the film itself. Just wait till they realize how great this holographic projections are, no doubt, yet another frenzy will kickstart once that happens.”

“To be honest, I’m really curious about who on earth is behind all these gadgets in Nine Heavens. Perhaps they’re from N City too?” Wu Hongwen was a little stupefied by the products that the company was pumping out. Since he was studying management, he understood perfectly well how difficult it was to run a company of this scale.

Gu Xiqiao who was sipping her milk tea remained silent.

‘… you guys may not believe it but, that person’s standing right in front of you two.’

It was then that Gu Xiqiao realized how little these two knew about the truth. She glanced at the admiration and reverence in their eyes. Hm, seemed like it was better to keep it that way.

“Anyhow, now that we’re all together, why don’t we pay Yao Jiamu a little visit?” suggested Wu Hongwen out of the blue.

Xiao Yun looked over at him. “You’re so eager to get your ass handed to you by him aren’t you?”

‘… can’t you let this slide for once? Where’s the love between friends?’ Wu Hongwen thought to himself.

“You guys go on ahead, I have something urgent to tend to. I’ll visit him after I’m done.” She wondered how Big Boss Bai was doing nowadays.

After dealing with Big Boss Bai’s matter back then, she did give Yao Jiamu a call. However, judging by his tone, it didn’t seem like Big Boss Bai cared a whole lot about the Bai family.

It was a shame that the four of them could not meet up today. Thus, the three of them parted ways there.

Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun’s prediction was correct. ‘Empire Under Siege’ was translated into multiple languages and was screened in cinemas across the world. The 4D holographic glasses indeed, took the world by storm after the movie’s release.

After the virtual helmet, China’s popularity once again surged after the 4D holographic glasses’ were released. After all, they were the only ones who possessed such pieces of technology. Many foreign IT masters procured these glasses from the black market. What was originally worth less than a hundred yuan in China went over what was considered reasonable in the market.

Not only was it able to project holograms, it could also display comments being made by the audience in real time. The IT masters all rushed forth to break down such an advanced piece of equipment.

In the end, just like before, none of them were able to figure out how the system worked. Even after taking the entire thing apart, nothing particularly eye-catching was found, well, apart from a microchip. Wait a minute, this sounded familiar!

The virtual helmet from a few months ago instantly came to mind when they saw this. After spending tons of money in the black market, none of them were able to come up with a plausible explanation even after months of research. It seems like trying to dissect these glasses was an impossible task, what more to say of other more complex systems from Nine Heavens.

Despite being already aware that all the magic was found in this microchip, not a single soul was able to successfully reverse engineer this seemingly alien component.

In the words of a renowned IT master, “I thought that Nine Heavens’ virtual helmet was just a once-in-a-lifetime sort of invention. The sudden emergence of these holographic glasses has confirmed my suspicion that Nine Heavens is truly a force to be reckoned with. Their success, as I see it, is inevitable. What they are producing, we have failed time and time again to replicate. I am incredibly intrigued by what the East has come up with. Perhaps it is time for me to go out for a stroll.”

The holographic glasses ran out of stock almost instantly. With so many cinemas worldwide, it was impossible for them to have enough items for everyone. Apart from the cinemas in the Imperial Capital, nearly everywhere else failed to procure these magical glasses. If it was any other company, no doubt, they would find a way to squeeze the maximum amount of profit out of this. However, being Nine Heavens, they posted an announcement on Weibo.

“Due to limited funding, we announce sadly that production of our holographic glasses will cease as of today.”

Again! Peoples’ reactions were the same all over the world. They said the exact same thing months ago! Can your lie be anymore obvious?! Why don’t they give another excuse? At least that’ll make the pain more bearable than this! Limited funding? You guys are internationally funded for god’s sake! With tens of millions of dollars flowing around every single day! You dare call this limited funding?!

However, Nine Heavens was still Nine Heavens; they still maintained their classic sacrosanct image. Their announcement was final. You could protest all you want and regardless of how intimidating you are, these people would never compromise.

Nine Heavens has always been autonomous when it came to situations like this and their fans have long grown used to their attitude. Surprisingly, they had produced enough glasses for their domestic market before their sudden announcement. And so, a discussion began on Weibo.

“Look! The official WeChat account for the USA has voiced out their opinion! LMAO! I feel so bad for the Americans!”

“Guys! Hurry up and pin this Korean discussion on top of the thread! What should I do?! I feel so good right now!”

“I think something’s wrong with my head. For some reason, I feel all giddy inside when I see Nine Heavens push these crooks around!”

***

Instead of meeting Yao Jiamu with Xiao Yun and co, she went straight for Nine Heavens’ headquarters.

“Qiao Qiao, it’s the third time the embassy’s contacted us!” In the office, worry was written all over Mu Zong’s face. America, the UK, Korea, and five other great nations had started pressuring China. The impromptu eight-nation alliance shared one common goal—to get China to start producing the holographic glasses for them. Not only that, they wanted Nine Heavens to tell the entire world about their secret production process on the basis that the technology belonged to humanity as a whole. They claimed that the technology Nine Heavens possessed is not from this age, and poses an existential threat to the world at large.

What the hell is this? A neo-Eight-nation Alliance[1]? Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes as a dangerous look surfaced on her face. “Uncle Mu, there’s nothing you should worry about. You’re still within China, they won’t do a thing to you.”

Gu Xiqiao already had a pretty good idea on what these countries were up to. No doubt, this entire fiasco was because of that unbreakable microchip that the IT masters across the world failed to explain. On the basis that Nine Heavens could produce a weapon using this system to threaten human existence, they filed an official complaint to the United Nations. Their request—to make Nine Heavens unveil the secrets behind that chip.

“I’m worried that our country will collapse from international pressure.” Mu Zong’ brows were knitted. China was far from being number one in the world; they feared that the state would sell Nine Heavens out. In the end, they were nothing but a private company. No matter how powerful they were, the state reigned supreme over all.

With so many countries pressuring China into submission, Luo Wenlang’s financial empire that spanned across international borders would likely be crippled too.

“No biggie, Uncle Mu.” Gu Xiqiao called someone on her phone and shortly after, the secretary came into the office with the document she asked for. “Have faith in Nine Heavens. They could oppress us all they want. We’ll just have to trigger a financial downturn within their own borders.”

Gu Xiqiao waved her hand, gesturing for the secretary to leave the room before she flipped the document open for Mu Zong to read. “These are top secret agreements between Nine Heavens and the state. It’s all signed by Yu Ning with the Confidential Information Bureau.”

“Here, these are the medical contracts between Nine Heavens and the top-fifty strongest nations across the globe. You will be responsible for this. You’ll understand when you read it.”

“And this is the contract that Luo Wenlang had just signed. It’s proof that Nine Heavens Finances has successfully integrated into many major countries.”

My Zong had actually known about this. However, he had not thought about it that much. Gu Xiqiao’s every word made his heart pump faster. It appears that Nine Heavens has been moving silently in the dark, slowly spreading its influence all over the world.

“If the state comes to us, saying that they wanted in on our research, I would never object to their requests. But those greedy bastards? We’ll let them protest all they want. The only thing that matters is who prevails at the end. Those bastards are only doing this out of self-interest. Why aren’t they protesting America’s nuclear program, which seems to be a far bigger threat to humanity than mere holographic glasses. Again, when they built their own satellites to spy on the rest of the world, why didn’t they build some for their fellow human beings? Why didn’t they share the secrets behind the internet with the whole world back when it was invented? Where were they when Chinese researchers toiled away in their labs? Where was the technical support that they demanded now? In the end, they are nothing but selfish crooks who want everything for themselves and nothing for others. No doubt, if it was America who invented the holographic glasses, the same outcome would’ve happened.”

Gu Xiqiao tucked her hair behind her ears. The way she spoke was calm, but each word she uttered sounded powerful and moving.

Mu Zong did not expect Gu Xiqiao to say such a thing in response. Though, what she said really did make sense. In fact, anger had been successfully sowed into his heart. He thought that if the embassy bastards were to step foot in his company again, he would not hesitate when chasing them out!

There was no good reason for Nine Heavens to give away something they had worked so hard to produce to other countries, free of charge. What a joke! How dare they piss her off. They could release viruses and bring down the internet worldwide if they wanted to.

“I’m gonna go meet Yu Ning and Luo Wenlang,” said Gu Xiqiao as she walked out of Mu Zong’s office.

Mu Zong started reading through these documents after she left. These countries were quick to react, which resulted in him losing his cool momentarily. He figured that it must’ve been a psychological technique they were employing against them; attack Nine Heavens while they are overwhelmed. Using the deadly combination of coercion and temptation, it would only be a matter of time before Nine Heavens’ research team surrenders to them.

What they failed to predict was that Gu Xiqiao had already prepared for their prediction. She was ten steps ahead of them and no matter the outcome, there was already a solution prepared.

Mu Zong looked at these signed documents before suddenly realizing, perhaps she had already foreseen this, which explains why she so calmly allowed him to sort himself out?

Only a handful knew about Nine Heavens’ current situation. Mu Zong patiently awaited the arrival of the United Nations’ personnel. Although they already had taken the necessary precautions, he hoped that his own country would not disappoint him at the most crucial moment.

Although Gu Xiqiao did not have a fixed schedule, she would visit Nine Heavens every once in a while. She would hold discussions with the employees here, explaining to them what knowledge she possessed. Her lessons were thorough and by the end of every session, they would’ve figured out the problem with ease. Thus, these people would always be excited to see Gu Xiqiao here at the headquarters.

“You sent twenty million to my account?” In the network patching room, Yu Ning was on his chair, talking to Gu Xiqiao as he typed line after line of codes into the computer.

“Yeah, a reward for your hard work.” Gu Xiqiao’s fingers moved at lightning speed as she typed, and despite this, she was still able to hold a conversation with Yu Ning.

Yu Ning searched his mind for a while before responding. “How dare you use money! You think you could just insult our hard work like this? Can you even repay what we did using cash?! You’ve deeply hurt me and my team. Only the source code routes can…”

Gu Xiqiao shot him a glare. “Just, stop your pointless dillydally.”

Yu Ning cursed out loud in his mind.

‘… f*ck.’

“What’s this?” Yu Ning looked over at Gu Xiqiao’s screen. As soon as she hit the ‘Enter’ key, the entire screen turned green. It looked like a virus. He was curious as it looked like a pretty helpful software.

A menacing grin broke across Gu Xiqiao’s face. “A supervirus.”

Yu Ning had seen countless viruses in his career as a hacker. However, hearing the word ‘supervirus’ caught his attention instantly. He spun around immediately. “What are you planning to do with this supervirus?”

“With so many business rivals, we’ll toss this virus at whoever that dares challenge us in the future. It’ll save us lots of hassle too.” Gu Xiqiao smiled with anticipation in her eyes.

Yu Ning: … this shameless smile belongs to our revered boss Gu? God save us all!

“Well then, I’ll be leaving now. If you’re tired of source codes then you can study this virus very carefully. I guarantee that you’ll find something of interest to you within.” Gu Xiqiao picked up her phone and left the place. She hoped that the day when the virus was called upon never came. But… she looked forward to that day too?

Knowing that whatever Gu Xiqiao created was no ordinary thing, Yu Ning hastily started scanning through her supposed ‘supervirus’.

There were little problems on Luo Wenlang’s side. As he was a natural talent, he and his group of financial analysts were fairly cheerful.

“Miss Gu, the matter with the countries you had us stationed in are more or less dealt with now. It’s just that, do you really want to release those top-tier financial products to them?” Luo Wenlang was a little puzzled.

Gu Xiqiao flipped though the document. “What I’m aiming for is for them to never leave us.” With such high returns, who could ever possibly turn this opportunity down?

Luo Wenlang found it hard to understand as he had not been accustomed to economic warfare. The one typically dealing with foreign powers was Mu Zong after all. Suddenly, he recalled something. “Oh, that’s right, Shen Nianhzi wanted to contact you, said it’s a very urgent matter.”

Shen Nianzhi? Memories of that girl were still fresh in Gu Xiqiao’s mind. It was probably something to do with painting. Rubbing her chin, she asked, “Is it really that urgent?”

“Yeah, at least it sounded like it was.” Luo Wenlang remembered how serious Shen Nianzhi’s voice was over the phone.

“Fine.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. She wanted to go home early today though. “Ask her if she’s free at 3 pm. You know what, I’ll just contact her myself. You go on with your job.”

Gu Xiqiao proceeded to dial Shen Nianzhi’s number. After a brief exchange, the two of them agreed to meet at a cafe.

After only a few months, much has changed for Shen Nianzhi. Still, Gu Xiqiao seemed to be the same old Gu Xiqiao, with a slight hint of humility in her excited voice.

“Miss Gu, your painting has been selected as the Biennale Award in the international segment! Though, you have to make an appearance during the event. If you’d like, I will bring you to Mr. Sima right this instant!” There was a lot of excitement in Shen Nianzhi’s tone. Her eyes too, were glowing with anticipation.

The Biennale Award, the most prestigious award an artist could ever obtain in his or her lifetime. It was a signifier that the person receiving the award was a person who was worthy of it. With it came to fame and fortune, meaning it was highly unlikely Miss Gu would turn such a golden chance down.

[1] T/N: Eight-nation Alliance—a multi-national military coalition set up in 1900 to defend legations and Christian missionaries attacked by Chinese Boxer rebels.