Do not accept sponsorship should have been a money-losing order.
Yang Ruoqian trusted it more than most recent decisions. Sponsorship brought money. Refusing money preserved loss. This was simple arithmetic, and simple arithmetic had not yet betrayed him as often as language.
Then the public learned about the refusal.
Not officially.
Officially, nothing existed. No sponsor names, no amounts, no proposal screenshots. Xplendi had not posted. The tea brand had not posted. Business development had obeyed the silence order with admirable fear.
The rumor still moved.
Several brands had approached the old cinema.
Xplendi had refused.
No ads would enter the lobby.
The story was missing every fact except the one that hurt him.
Chang Zhiqing brought the monitoring report at noon.
"Say it badly," Yang said.
"Public sentiment views the refusal as restraint."
"Worse."
"Some users think the cinema would feel cheap with sponsorship."
"Worse."
"Refusing sponsorship looks pure."
