The film, No More Bets, which premiered domestically on Aug 8, is now soaring as the biggest dark horse in the fiercely contested August movie market.

In the three days since its opening, the film has surpassed 500 million yuan in box-office earnings, breaking a record by overtaking advanced screenings of all previous Chinese movies.

"I could never have expected the movie would be so popular and successful," says Shen.

"When we started preparing three years ago, some even believed that it was a relatively niche subject. However, as we began conducting interviews and research, we realized that the number of people affected by this type of online scam was substantial. The market response now proves that this subject matter easily resonates with many people," the director explains.

While studying at the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy, Shen gained recognition for his debut directorial short film, The Opposite Shore, which won an award for talented students at the 57th San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2009.

Shen's ability was further acknowledged when his short film Tide and Wave won the Best Short Film award in the youth section at the annual FIRST International Film Festival held in Xining, Qinghai province, in 2011. This caught the attention of Ning Hao, one of the country's most renowned directors, leading to an opportunity to shoot his debut feature film, My Dear Liar.