Chapter 1202: Opening Up the World

"You really are something, always coming up with new tricks for everyone."

"This is a flag you planted yourself, you'd better be prepared to pay up if you lose!"

"Are you actually going to use a sledgehammer on a marble slab, or just use a foam board to go through the motions?"

"It's definitely going to be fake. Do you think Luo Quan is one of those streamers on Constable who relies on self-harm to grab attention?"

"There really hasn't been much excitement lately. If Luo Quan actually smashes a marble slab, it'll be a legendary stunt regardless of whether it breaks or not."

"If it's a real marble slab, Luo Quan really won't survive that."

"Haha, forget about the 'boulder smashing on the chest,' just splitting a brick with your bare hands is enough."

………………

Listening to the fans' half-advisory, half-mocking words, Luo Quan was naturally unconvinced: "A person cannot stand without credibility. I said I'd do the boulder smashing, so I'll do the boulder smashing.

But there has to be a prerequisite, which is that the box office must exceed five billion."

Luo Quan paused, then continued: "Actually, I should have said ten billion, but since neither of those numbers is likely to be reached anyway, the difference isn't that big, so I couldn't be bothered to change it."

The fans were unconvinced:

"Heh, a mere five billion? Even if I sold my pots and pans... it probably still wouldn't be enough."

"There have only been four films in Chinese cinematic history to break five billion. Luo Quan, you really know how to set impossible prerequisites."

"I was wondering why you suddenly started planting flags again. Turns out the goal you set is so outrageous, no wonder."

"Remember the last time Luo Quan planted a flag? It seems like many years ago. What was the punishment back then?"

"Taking swimsuit photos. From that point on, Luo Quan rapidly evolved from an innocent girl into a sexy goddess."

"Is this Luo Quan's 'corruption' history?"

"After this, she'll probably turn into a completely abstract stunt streamer."

"To be fair, Luo Quan has always been abstract. It's just that her looks masked her abstract nature from everyone."

"Let's all just give up. A five-billion box office hasn't appeared in two years. This isn't something that can be cultivated just by the enthusiasm of fans; it requires the right time, the right place, and the right people."

"Indeed. Unless *Primordial* also explodes overseas, it's highly unlikely."

"Surely we can't count overseas? Luo Quan has so many fans abroad. Just based on her name, the overseas box office should be at least one or two hundred million USD, which solves nearly a quarter of it!"

"Luo Quan said it doesn't count overseas."

"Then it's even more impossible."

………………

Although the fans really wanted to see Luo Quan smash a boulder on her chest, from a rational perspective, wanting to reach the five-billion goal relying solely on the domestic box office was indeed wishful thinking.

After all, this kind of film couldn't be screened through large-scale organized viewings by schools or government agencies.

Nor was it like *Hi, Mom*, which was suitable for all ages.

If the mass base isn't there, it means the box office ceiling is low. Even if die-hard fans are willing to watch it multiple times, it won't have much of an effect.

Therefore, after Luo Quan initiated the poll, nearly ninety-five percent of the people in the chat believed that the box office of *Primordial* could not reach five billion.

Only five percent of the fans believed that Luo Quan could create a miracle.

Seeing such results, Luo Quan said quite unexpectedly: "After so many years together, I thought everyone was already used to my ability to turn the impossible into the possible. I didn't expect so many people to choose to doubt me this time. I thought at least forty percent would support me."

Sighing, Luo Quan continued: "But the number five billion is indeed a bit scary. Even I don't dare to guarantee it.

As for the boulder smashing, it was just something I said off the cuff. Since everyone wants to see it so much, I'll perform it once regardless of whether the box office hits five billion or not."

This was definitely the outcome the fans most wanted to see.

Regardless of the film's box office, they would get to enjoy a legendary stunt, which was definitely a huge win.

However, after getting her promise, they began to worry about Luo Quan:

"Luo Quan, performing stunts for everyone is a good thing, but don't do it this way."

"I don't support harming your body. Everyone is just here for a laugh; don't hurt yourself if you're going to do it for real."

"Better to change the program. 'Dragon Drinking Water' would be pretty good."

"If you ask me, just do a swimsuit photoshoot. That's something everyone loves to see."

"You only remember the swimsuit photoshoot, don't you? Can't you suggest some other outfits? How about ten different cosplays?"

"Good heavens, I can't tell which of these two punishments is more troublesome."

………………

Luo Quan was someone who didn't like trouble. When everyone was clamoring to replace the boulder smashing with "gentler" methods, Luo Quan flatly refused.

Just kidding. With her physique, let alone smashing a boulder on her chest, even smashing a granite slab on her chest wouldn't be a problem at all.

To go through the trouble of changing to ten cosplays for a stunt that had no performance difficulty was just asking for trouble.

So, Luo Quan didn't appreciate the fans' good intentions at all: "It's settled then. Boulder smashing on the chest. I'll notify everyone once I'm prepared, so you can all see the craftsmanship of a folk traditional arts performer like me!"

The fans laughed when they heard this:

"High EQ: Traditional folk arts."

"Low EQ: Street-performing manual labor."

"It seems Luo Quan is very resistant to doing cosplay. She'd rather risk injury than take photos."

"Boulder smashing has techniques involved. As long as it's handled well, there won't be any problems. Otherwise, the street performers who relied on this trick to make a living would have died out long ago."

"Indeed. But can Luo Quan really master the technique?"

"Isn't that simple? Luo Quan said boulder smashing, she didn't say she was the one holding the boulder. Just have Liang lie down, and she can swing the hammer, right?"

"Liang: Are you being polite? What does this have to do with me!"

"The younger brother's life is also a life."

"If that's really the case, then Liang is truly the number one 'big wronged soul' in the world."

"I'm actually looking forward to it now. How did this happen?"

"Liang is probably going to suffer."

………………

Originally, Luo Quan didn't have any other ideas; she just thought about finding a time to perform the stunt herself.

However, seeing the suggestion in the chat, she suddenly realized that having Liang be the one to hold the slab would have much better comedic effect.

Thinking of it, she did it. After ending the stream, Luo Quan immediately went to the living room to find Liang.

This guy was sunbathing in the courtyard. Ever since he found out he could get stronger this way, he basically stopped exercising altogether.

Seeing Luo Quan walking toward him with a smile, Liang immediately raised a hand to block her: "Don't even think about it. It's impossible for me to perform any boulder smashing, unless I'm the one swinging the hammer."

"Do you have the heart to lay such a heavy hand on your sister?" Luo Quan said, pretending to be heartbroken.

"Cut the act." Liang scoffed at Luo Quan's feigned sorrow. "Your skin can't even be pierced by an AK-47, what's a mere hammer?

Don't think I don't know your capabilities. I've watched plenty of your Martial God trial recordings in the Universe!"

"Tch, coward!" Luo Quan glared at her younger brother, knowing she couldn't fool him.

Turning back to the living room, she bumped into Wen Xia.

Before Luo Quan could speak, Wen Xia waved her hands: "You know my abilities; I haven't reached the level of being invulnerable to blades and guns yet. If you want to hammer me, forget it."

"Forget it, I'll just do it all myself." Luo Quan sat on the sofa and said with a laugh: "I won't hammer you. When the time comes, you can be my assistant and be responsible for hammering me, how about that?"

"If it's that, then I'm very interested." Wen Xia rubbed her hands together, looking eager to try.

It was settled, but the performance date would have to be pushed back.

The top priority right now was, of course, the publicity for *Primordial*.

Because it was a task assigned by Director He, *Primordial* went through the review process with a green light all the way, passing in just two days.

Luo Quan hadn't been idle these two days either, releasing quite a few behind-the-scenes clips and edited segments of the film. The view counts basically exceeded ten million, and the buzz was quite high.

Actually, she had originally thought about buying internet water armies for marketing, as everyone was doing it these days. As long as you didn't step on others and just blew your own horn, it could be considered good marketing.

But after looking at the marketing proposals submitted by those water army companies, Luo Quan immediately dismissed the idea.

She didn't know what was wrong with the thought processes of these companies these days; they actually gave her such an outrageous marketing proposal that it was simply an insult to her and all the audience's intelligence.

The path the water armies took was still within the scope of viral marketing, relying on a large number of repetitive news snippets to deepen the netizens' impression.

This method was the easiest to provoke resentment from passersby, but it was also the most effective and fastest way.

But the key was that the content of the marketing was simply too stupid.

It included, but was not limited to:

Inviting other well-known directors and actors to the scene to watch the film, and then filming their reactions.

It was best if the reactions were intense, such as bursting into laughter, shedding tears, or being amazed. In short, the emotions had to be expressed very clearly.

If they could provide a review at the end, that would be even better.

Besides industry insiders, the reactions of passersby were also a must. In short, it was to turn it into the *I Am a Singer* mode, outputting emotions to the audience.

Besides that, they could also film videos of smoke rising from statues in Taoist temples or Buddhist monasteries, saying this was a sign of the film's release and that the gods were manifesting.

Or arrange for primary and middle school students to watch the film and have them recite a few poems after it ended.

These were basically the most common marketing methods at the moment. However, because Luo Quan didn't usually watch films shot by others, she hadn't paid much attention to these marketing methods.

But seeing the specific operational flow provided by the water army company, she just felt goosebumps all over.

How could there be such a stupid marketing method?

Letting the audience laugh or cry was one thing, as that was indeed a situation that might occur.

But that primary school student poetry recitation and the smoke rising from the god statue were simply too awkward for Luo Quan.

If she really did such a rotten stunt, she would definitely be laughed at by the fans in her chat for a lifetime.

She could even imagine the comments:

"It's this year and you're still doing this kind of feudal superstition? What a waste of the country's years of compulsory education."

"Luo Quan, if you do this again, I'm going to call you 'big-chested and brainless'. Don't let it happen again."

"I watched the marketing video for your sake, and it was so awkward that my toes curled up and built a villa."

"The stunt was done well, don't do it next time."

"If you're out of ideas, I suggest you ask for a lighter; I'll pay for the money you're burning."

………………

These comments would definitely appear, and she wouldn't be able to refute them.

To prevent this from happening, Luo Quan decisively cut off contact with those water army companies that clearly had holes in their brains.

Not only these water armies, but other film production teams that chose the same plan were also brain-damaged.

Sending these promotional videos to the internet, besides provoking resentment from passersby, served no purpose at all.

The so-called emotional output also needed to be situational.

Five years ago, the audience hadn't encountered it much, and it was easy to fall for it when emotions were output.

Now, what haven't the audience seen? The possibility of impulsive consumption was already very, very low. Doing this kind of awkward promotional work was just asking for the film to flop faster.

Luo Quan searched for films that flopped at the summer box office, and sure enough, without exception, they all used this promotional method.

Although film quality was an important factor, sometimes film promotion really affected the first impression passersby had of the film.

The time passersby were willing to spend on promotional videos was only a few dozen seconds.

If you didn't seize the time to show the most exciting content of your film, but instead showed the audience reactions and added some small plots, wasn't that just brainless?

Therefore, conversely, films that showed the "hard goods" in their promotional videos, without exception, had quite good box office results.

Some had over a billion, others had over two billion, or even three billion!

What were "hard goods"? Special effects shots that shocked the audience, gripping acting, painstaking polishing, and ingenious production—these could be called hard goods.

Only when you showed these things would netizens know that you had put effort into making the film, and only then would they feel at ease spending money to watch it.

However, thinking about it, those films that flopped probably had no hard goods to show, so they chose this stupid method for promotion, which was a method of last resort.

It was just that Luo Quan couldn't figure out why her film was seen as so poor in the eyes of the water army company that it had fallen to the point of needing this method to attract netizens' attention?

This answer probably couldn't be obtained, because Luo Quan had already deleted the WeChat accounts of those companies.

As for the film's promotional work, she would let Liang and the artists from Springwater Company handle the promotion.

With so many people and so many platforms, there must be at least a hundred million fans. Although there was a lot of overlap, if they all exerted their strength together, getting on a few hot searches wouldn't be difficult at all.

And compared to Weibo, the traffic on Douyin was now significantly higher than the former.

If the self-made promotional video went viral on Douyin, the audience it brought would probably be in the millions.

To go viral on Douyin, how could you do it without music?

So, Luo Quan quickly remembered an old song that had been forgotten by the fans.

If she used it as the theme song for *Primordial*, it should be very suitable.