Chapter 192: Treating Fans Like Pretty Misses to Coax

Buyouts, buyouts, buyouts. One buyout after another!

Like they'd completely lost their minds.

In Bai Liang's super topic, it was full of all kinds of rich women flaunting their buyout records,

and some marketing accounts even spent time tallying it up—within just two short days, these buyout box office numbers had reached tens of millions.

At the same time, thanks to the leading effect of those rich-woman fans, the casual fans really couldn't help but follow along—the buyouts were too expensive, but a second or third viewing was still doable.

For a time, the super topic was flooded with people showing off movie tickets, once pushing every other topic completely off the page.

The terrifying purchasing power that erupted in an instant left countless peers staring wide-eyed and shocked!

And this wasn't something that stopped after a day or two—they were actually still going at it.

"Many viewers have one question: why does the Xu Zheng Tai you play kick his own son's face after getting out of prison?"

At the roadshow venue, the host asked with a smile.

"After getting out of prison, he discovers his kid looks more and more like his best buddy, but the paternity test confirms the kid really is his—anyone would go a little crazy."

After cracking a few jokes to liven things up, the host asked Bai Liang what he thought about his fans' massive buyout support.

This was the moment to sincerely and earnestly thank his own fans.

If he could squeeze out a few tears on the spot, that would be the killing blow!

But Bai Liang found a different angle: "My fans are actually pretty rational."

That one line of his burned out the CPUs of everyone present, including the host and Han Han's crew.

Wait—what the hell, you call this rational?!

The commotion Bai Liang's fans were making now was already repeatedly trending on the hot search.

The keywords were buyouts and repeat viewings.

The purchasing power those rich-woman fans had unleashed, dragging the rest of the fanbase along, was just too damn terrifying.

Some media outlets had already started saying Bai Liang was the current number one top-tier star, at least absolutely number one in commercial value and box office draw.

The more sensational outlets even shouted slogans like "Bai Liang brings his own 500 million at the box office."

What kind of concept is bringing your own 500 million at the box office?!

No matter how you sugarcoat it, he stands in a league of his own among young actors today, soaring above the so-called top-tier stars.

Of course, "Ride the Wind and Break the Waves" was still in theaters at this point, so for now it was still an isolated case—if it happened again, regardless of whether netizens believed it, people in the industry would probably be utterly convinced.

And yet this guy Bai Liang still dared to say his fans were rational?

Go on, the stage is yours—let's see what kind of nonsense you're going to spout!

But Bai Liang wasn't flustered at all, because he genuinely thought that way.

"When the movie first started screening, the fans were very quiet, didn't make too much noise, because during that period, it was a window to let other viewers judge whether the movie was good or bad and express their honest opinions."

"I'm very grateful for the fans' love, willing to add icing to the cake for our movie, but the movie's success can't be credited to me alone—before this, our movie was already the best-reviewed of the Spring Festival slate, and it was by relying on word of mouth that more and more people walked into the theater step by step."

"The reason I feel the fans are rational is precisely because they placed their support for me after the movie had been out for a week."

"The reason they're willing to support is because of the movie's own quality, not because I randomly made some trash film and they mindlessly backed it anyway."

"Having such a group of fans with rational taste who are also adorable—of course that's my good fortune."

"."

Wait, you kid?!

Watching Bai Liang up on stage speaking calmly and methodically, every word reasoned and well-grounded, the rest of the cast who'd filmed with him were all a bit dumbfounded.

Especially Little Zhao jiejie—she always felt there was a certain childishness about this kid Bai Liang.

To put it bluntly, she sort of treated him like a child.

But at this moment, that gentle young man actually had a touch of a mature man's air about him.

Only the harmless smile on his face was no different from usual.

Very strange, like the boy had grown up overnight.

This whole speech praised the movie, didn't leave out the other actors who'd collaborated or Han Han's directing team, and didn't even let the fans feel neglected.

Look at what he said? He was praising his fans for having taste, for not being mindless—but buyouts on this scale are pure, unadulterated mindless star-chasing behavior!

And he somehow twisted it into support for a good movie and the healthy development of his career.

Now Little Zhao jiejie completely understood exactly how this kid Bai Liang managed to run circles around all those female artists.

Affirming their worth, affirming their taste, affirming their effort—who wouldn't get hooked on that?!

You kid are treating your fans like pretty Misses to coax!

Bai Liang: What else?

He'd long believed that the fan base as a group was a massive aggregation of rich women.

On top of that, he really did have a lot of rich-woman female fans.

Rounding up, that made one super Bai Fumei.

Bai Liang really knows how to coax~—

"Ah! I remember now~"

"What do you remember?"

"Nothing."

Bai Liang scratched his head—thanks to his super brain, he'd finally remembered how much "Ride the Wind and Break the Waves" had originally made at the box office.

Just barely over a billion.

Seems like it took over twenty days of release to reach that.

And now it had already broken a billion.

In just over eight days.

He had finally felt his "butterfly effect" directly in the realm of movie box office.

But it felt like the butterfly's wings weren't that fierce — this son of a bitch seemed to have whipped up a tornado!

And it wasn't just the rich lady fans' doing. It looked like signs had already appeared before they even started flexing.

Mm, he really was a bit more impressive than Peng Yuyan~ In his place, there'd be nothing wrong with it.

Bai Liang was mulling over whether he should get Han Han to kowtow to him?

But that seemed a bit excessive — afraid his self-esteem couldn't take it.

Then let's switch to a small request!

"Fuck! Even if I kowtow to you, there's no way I'd let you drive my car! Let alone play with it for three days? Not even one day!"

Han Han's face was full of vigilance, his guard against Bai Liang reaching the absolute extreme.

What is a car? This thing is more important than a wife!

Why doesn't this little bastard ask me to let my wife keep him company for a night? That wouldn't work either!

"If you won't let me play with it then forget it, cheapskate." Bai Liang complained.

"Mercedes-Benz already paid in full to modify your car for you — why the fuck are you still eyeing mine?"

"Because playing with someone else's wife is immoral, but playing with someone else's car won't have that kind of trouble — you get what I mean?"

Beside them, Deng Chao's face unconsciously broke into a strange smile — the topic of someone else's wife was well worth exploring!

No wonder Bai Liang was so happy driving Han Han's car last time~

Originally thought he was pent up, turns out it was a different kind of thrill.

Faced with this kind of strange topic between men, Sister Xiao Zhao never participated as always, and even sensibly moved farther away, lest her ears get dirtied.

But the look in her eyes at Bai Liang also gained a few shades of oddness — he had this stinking habit too?

Sure enough, he'd been harboring improper intentions toward Sun Yi before!

The days of getting together to gossip were pretty much over.

Over the next few days, everyone split up and found time to run a few roadshows, fulfilling the final obligation to this movie.

Han Han couldn't possibly keep Deng Chao, Bai Liang, and Zhao Liying tied to his side running roadshows forever.

These three people's schedules could give him about ten days, mainly because the movie's box office trend was genuinely pleasing. If the box office hadn't performed well, the brothers would've scattered long ago.

With the Spring Festival slot officially over, each studio's released films handed in their respective answer sheets.

Although there was still at least half a month of screening time left, the winners and losers were basically already decided.

"Ride the Wind and Break the Waves" at 1.3 billion, winning against "Journey to the West: Demon Chapter" with an absolute advantage.

Basically it relied on overtaking in the last few days.

On one hand, "Journey to the West: Demon Chapter" itself truly had its reputation crack open — the names of Xu Ke and Zhou Xingchi could no longer draw audiences into theaters to watch a film like this.

As for the "work PK" between Bai Liang and Wu Yifan?

The winner and loser were likewise decided.

One could even say it had been decided long ago — on the very day "Journey to the West: Demon" completely cracked open.

The fans on both sides fought too viciously, which even directly led to one thing: "Ride the Wind and Break the Waves" mainly absorbed the screenings and audience of "Journey to the West: Demon," with much less impact on other films.

Pulling PK hype could actually benefit both films simultaneously, so at the start, both sides' producers were happy to see this scene.

!. Read

Even adding fuel to the fire.

Who knew one side would collapse so fast — now it was a total loss across the board.

Although thanks to a solid foundation, the box office could still pass one billion, the final box office basically stopped at the level of 1.2 to 1.3 billion.

This left Wu Yifan's fans without the chance to play the "history-rewriting" game in a couple of years — at the very least they'd have to draw to do that.

Media predicted that the final box office of "Ride the Wind and Break the Waves" might reach around 1.6 billion.

After the box office officially passed 1.5 billion, the film's celebration banquet kicked off in Shanghai.

As it turned out, Bai Liang didn't come — his reason being: Han Han won't let him play with his car~

Han Han, "furious," directly slammed the big red envelope meant for him hard into his card!

He really put some muscle into entering the password!

Actually, missing the celebration banquet was of course because of schedule commitments.

After the Spring Festival slot, the number of Bai Liang's schedule commitments further increased — the smash hit of a starring film brought him bonuses that almost immediately showed.

Even though Sister Yanzi did her utmost to push away every commitment that could be skipped, the itinerary was still considerably busier than before.

Originally, Bai Liang mainly relied on the explosive popularity of the TV drama "Love O2O" to prop up his top-tier fame.

Other dramas were basically supporting roles, mainly serving as garnish.

But now he had another film he could bring out to brag about.

Especially the fans' move of letting the bullet fly a moment before booking out theaters to boost the box office — it instantly reflected his gold content.

The original "newly risen top-tier" label was directly stripped away — he was now top-tier, period.

Some "rational" fans seemed to prefer the title of pillar among young actors.

Top-tier? Our brother is far more than just top-tier, you know!

Of course, one TV drama and one film still didn't seem quite enough to fully support such bragging — Sister Yanzi was directly "supervised" by fans, a bunch of people staring at the studio, demanding she take on reliable projects for Bai Liang.

The fans really did love worrying about this stuff, but Sister Yanzi said: Dou Xiao Bai has his own ideas, this isn't something I can decide.

——

A cinema inside a shopping mall in some city.

"Huh? Holy shit what's going on? Why is it so empty here, not a single audience member?"

Deng Chao rubbed his eyes, suspecting he'd come to the wrong place

He had almost felt like showing off some English with full energy just now, but there wasn't even a single soul inside.

Hmm. Not quite right!

Deng Chao stood there, as if a cool breeze had inexplicably drifted through the air~

At this moment, a cinema staff member came rushing over. "Brother Chao, the other side, the other side — you went into the wrong hall."

"I didn't go into the wrong one. I wanted to pop in and say hi, to give the audience a little surprise."

Deng Chao took a few steps back and even looked up on purpose. No doubt about it, this was the screening hall for *Ride the Wind and Break the Waves*.

This kind of ambush-style roadshow is actually quite popular these days — giving the audience a little surprise.

In the end, the surprise never landed; he himself got the fright instead.

"Our movie has already reached this point? Not a single person bought a ticket to come watch? And you guys didn't cancel this screening either?" Deng Chao said, somewhat questioning his life.

"Brother Chao, this is a private-hire hall," the staff member explained.

"Still hiring it out?!" Deng Chao clicked his tongue.

"Actually, there were supposed to be an audience. The tickets for the private hire were given away — to groups like the socially disadvantaged, for example — but it just so happened we were filming a show."

"Oh no, I feel like our show is going to get roasted."

You have to understand, the movie had already been out for over twenty days by now. Deng Chao had only wandered over here because he was filming a variety show.

The name tag with his name stuck on his back already made it clear what show was being recorded.

*Running Man*.

It wasn't really an official episode either — just a pilot episode being filmed after the New Year.

It also counted as a little crossover from the show's planners, since *Ride the Wind and Break the Waves* hadn't finished its theatrical run yet.

Deng Chao had just been posing with the poster outside for quite a while too.

"Is anyone here?"

Also wearing a name tag, Reba — who officially joined the *Running Man* recording this episode — came over with her cameraman.

This episode's pilot was a bit like playing hide-and-seek; Reba, the new member, was in charge of seeking.

By now she had actually already found one person in the mall — look, Hearing Hearing Lu Han was right beside her.

The two cameramen caught them and started shooting from every angle. Whether or not they made eye contact didn't matter — when it came to editing later, they could definitely cut it to give off a "romantic" effect.

Although the *Running Man* crew was also well aware that using Reba to create this kind of effect might stir up quite a storm.

But having the only regular female guest paired up with one of the male guests for a show CP effect was already a *Running Man* tradition.

Angelababy openly had a boyfriend — even married — and still had to do a show CP with Zheng Kai.

Dilireba was naturally no exception.

Besides, what do variety shows fear about controversy and drama? They only fear having no drama!

Invite one male top-tier idol, and you get the effect of inviting two — pure profit, no loss!

Even Reba finding Hearing Hearing Lu Han first was actually written into the script, all for the sake of generating more footage to work with.

At this moment, the two arrived at the cinema area, and Reba was immediately drawn in.

Because right at the entrance of the cinema, several posters were on display.

The one placed right at the front was *Ride the Wind and Break the Waves*.

"Brother Chao must be inside!" Reba declared with full confidence.

Hearing Hearing Lu Han instinctively nodded along and played along.

But the two had only taken a few steps inside when a solo poster of Bai Liang was shoved right in their faces.

Unlike his usual self, Xu Zheng's version carried a hint of unruliness, a dashing air, plus a down-to-earth, rustic vibe.

At this moment, the Bai Liang on the poster seemed to be giving the two a mischievous grin~

Reba slammed on the brakes, stopped in her tracks, and stared fixedly at the poster.

Hearing Hearing Lu Han:???

Wait, what on earth is the production team trying to pull?!

Did the planner have a split personality or something?

He didn't know why, but he seemed to smell trouble brewing.

(End of chapter)