Chapter 346: The Little Broken Ball Charges Wildly Forward

The basketball element has been especially explosive this year.

You could say it's been on fire from the start of the year straight through to the end.

Mainly because Ah Kun raised the banner, and then all the top-tier stars joined in. Oh, and one top-tier star even got sacrificed along the way.

Before the Spring Festival started, Ah Kun dropped another bombshell — you could even call it a heavy-duty bomb: the NBA officially announced that Ah Kun would serve as the "NBA New Year Greeting Image Ambassador," participating in promotional activities during the Spring Festival period.

This directly led to Ah Kun's renewed "explosion in popularity."

He, who originally only did singing, dancing, rap, and basketball, finally welcomed his life's biggest meme: "Chicken, You're So Beautiful."

This matter originally had nothing to do with Zhu Yilong.

But he's a little scared now.

That bastard Bai Liang is currently holding a basketball over there, mimicking Ah Kun — his shoulders are shaking, even more Ah Kun than Ah Kun himself.

He's genuinely worried this unreliable guy might get a sudden whim on the Spring Festival Gala stage and do the same thing.

Fortunately, he didn't wear suspenders.

"Why didn't the NBA come to you?"

After Bai Liang finished playing around for a while and stopped, Zhu Yilong still couldn't help but ask.

Actually, from every angle, Bai Liang is absolutely more suitable than Ah Kun.

A top-tier star who can do a tomahawk dunk — even those basketball fans wouldn't find fault with him — yet they chose Ah Kun instead, creating such a huge commotion.

Even though Ah Kun is this year's hot, hit top-tier star, compared to the gentleman right in front of him, there's still quite a gap in tier.

Bai Liang: Exactly, that's the answer.

"I don't have time to be some New Year ambassador. The price they offered was pretty average — it didn't even pass my agent."

In fact, the NBA New Year ambassador offer went to Bai Liang first.

But Sister Yanzi took one look and figured it was pointless. Her own Little Bai-ge was so busy lately — where would he find time to do this kind of thing for such little money?

This thing is like some high-end luxury goods endorsements — the brand adds a lot of value, and for certain artists, it's good for boosting fame and so on, so they don't pay too much attention to the price.

But Bai Liang has no need for this — he simply doesn't need this kind of boost.

Now Sister Yanzi even haggles and slams the table over high-end luxury goods endorsement fees.

She certainly won't pamper some NBA.

But on the Spring Festival Gala, Bai Liang and Zhu Yilong still have to obediently hold a basketball and sing on stage.

To be precise, it's Zhu Yilong who's being obedient.

On the Spring Festival Gala stage, when he saw Bai Liang really couldn't resist doing between-the-legs dribbles over there, his eyes bulged.

Dear father! Don't mess around! This is the Spring Festival Gala!

Bai Liang: Look how scared you are.

The basketball in his hand was actually custom-designed — let's put it this way, it looks like a little Earth.

Movie promotion requires brainpower, and it also needs matching star power.

Anyway, the Spring Festival Gala director team directly agreed when Bai Liang applied to change the basketball's "color scheme."

In fact, because he changed his, they even gave Zhu Yilong a Jupiter-colored basketball.

If it were anyone else yapping about this kind of thing, the director team probably wouldn't give a damn.

After the two finished their performance, Bai Liang naturally had to take the basketball with him. This thing is going to "wander" with him.

As for the Jupiter in Zhu Yilong's hands.

"Let's blow it up~" Bai Liang said, making the same expression he had as a kid blowing up a dog bowl.

"No way, I want to take it back as a memento too." Zhu Yilong refused and quickly prepared to make himself scarce.

But no matter how fast his movements were! They still weren't faster than Dilireba.

"You two done~ Let's go, we're heading to the broadcast studio."

Watching the smiling Reba, who came up and immediately looped her arm through Bai Liang's — this big New Year's Eve dose of PDA was still served to Zhu Yilong.

These two... both wearing red, looking like they're about to hold a wedding ceremony.

So festive.

"Greeting the whole nation for the New Year~"

In the broadcast studio, Bai Liang and Reba smiled and cupped their fists in a New Year greeting — the posture looked a bit like worshipping heaven and earth.

Anyway, their styling and actions really did give CP fans a lot of material.

Not married in real life? No problem — they can photoshop it.

DIY and you'll eat well.

If someone's tech skills are good enough, it might even look more like a real wedding~

As for promoting the movie, it was a bit more subtle.

When the host asked how they were spending the Spring Festival holiday, Bai Liang casually mentioned promoting "The Wandering Earth."

This is the Spring Festival Gala after all — they can't let him do a hard product plug; just mentioning the movie's name is already good.

After leaving the broadcast studio, by all rights, everyone should head home.

This is the perk of being scheduled earlier in the show — once you're done performing, you can go straight home.

Bai Liang could even rush to the airport now and might still make it home in time for New Year's dinner... leftovers.

But at this moment Reba suddenly said: "If you don't have plans tonight, come over to my place."

"Have dinner with your family?"

Hearing this, Reba was stunned for a moment, then asked: "Yeah, is that okay?"

"Sure, let's hurry up then. Let's see if any supermarkets are still open — I can't exactly show up with a basketball, can I~"

Looking at the "little broken ball" in Bai Liang's hand, Reba burst out laughing.

The resentment accumulated during Weibo Night vanished all at once—though it had never been much to begin with; most of it had already been vented when she scolded that bundle of trouble.

"You really dare to have dinner with my family?"

Reba's big eyes curiously studied Bai Liang, as if trying to discern something from his calm expression.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"Da Bai, why are you sometimes so clueless?"

"Am I?"

"You are~"

Reba's "home" was, in fact, a hotel.

She had never bought a house in Beijing; because of her packed schedule, she lived in hotels year-round.

It was more convenient this way—for example, when her family came to visit during filming, they could just stay at the hotel too; there was truly no need to buy a house.

When the two arrived at the hotel parking lot and saw Bai Liang still worrying about when the gift would be bought, Reba finally truly believed he wasn't afraid of meeting her family.

She felt a quiet amazement—so many rumors, yet he truly wasn't afraid her father would chase him with a knife during the New Year?

Of course, her family knew Bai Liang; their attitude toward him was roughly equivalent to that toward a gangster with dyed hair.

That's right—in her family's eyes, Bai Liang was the equivalent of a greaser with a flame-haired look.

Her father really would find some excuse to beat him up.

The story of the two new Jiangnan beauties and Bai Liang was now famous back in their hometowns.

They'd definitely beat him up if they ever met him~

Reba tugged Bai Liang's ear and suddenly asked another question: "Da Bai~ Can you take a beating?"

"I can take a beating, but I hate pain," Bai Liang replied honestly.

He wasn't stupid—ordinary people couldn't possibly beat him. The fact that Reba asked this meant someone of higher status probably wanted to thrash him; his identity was obvious.

He clearly couldn't fight back.

"Pfft! So honest! Don't worry—if they really do beat you when you meet, I'll protect you."

That was great! Bai Liang loved being protected by girls.

After arriving at the hotel—this "home"—Reba instantly relaxed.

She didn't rush to remove her makeup or shower; instead, she took off her coat and, wearing a high-neck sweater, straddled Bai Liang.

This was her favorite hug position—it felt like burying her whole self against him.

After enjoying a moment of quiet, Reba bit his ear and said:

"I'll go with you to the roadshow promotions tomorrow."

"Huh? Don't you have any shoots?"

"I have no shoots for the next week—I'll be with you the whole time."

"Will your team and company be okay with that?"

"I'm okay with it!" she declared firmly.

After Gulinaiza had launched a direct assault on her, Reba—who had previously been relatively detached in this relationship—decided to change herself and adapt to this new version of the game.

Rather than wait passively for disaster, she'd take the initiative.

That fool Gulinaiza had just been too lazy to bother with her before—did she really think she was so powerful?

This idea wasn't wrong.

But there was one small problem: Reba had slightly overestimated her own importance.

Before the wildly rampaging "The Wandering Earth," she, the top female star, was merely a decoration.

—

At first, no one paid attention to this disaster—it was just a wildfire, a drought, an extinction, the disappearance of a city—until this disaster became intimately tied to every single one of us.

As the narrator's voice began, the story of "The Wandering Earth" officially unfolded before everyone.

In 2075, the Sun rapidly aged and expanded; humanity launched the "Wandering Earth" project, building tens of thousands of massive planetary engines on Earth's surface to push the planet out of the Solar System toward Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light-years away.

At this time, Earth had entered the "Escape Era"; its surface was frozen in extreme cold, and survivors huddled in underground cities.

When the film's male lead, Liu Qi, sneaked out of the underground city with his sister Han Duoduo in a transport vehicle, the camera suddenly pulled back, revealing vast mining machinery, then the colossal planetary engines.

Just this single shot made everyone in the theater gasp.

Many instinctively sat up straighter, as if trying to see more clearly this awe-inspiring creation.

The original novel didn't describe the planetary engines in detail, but the film appropriately gave them a Soviet industrial aesthetic.

When audiences saw these titanic machines standing on screen, and were solemnly told they could generate "150 trillion tons" of thrust, the story became "believable," and also "hard."

In addition, underground cities, transport vehicles, space stations—all concepts that either existed or didn't in the novel—were successfully realized as tangible, visible, touchable objects.

Countless sci-fi fans felt their hair stand on end, and many were on the verge of tears.

Hard sci-fi!

Later, the protagonist is accidentally drawn into a global rescue operation: due to a sudden change in Jupiter's gravity, Earth's orbit has deviated and is about to be torn apart by Jupiter.

During the plotline of transporting the firestones, the concept of "saturated rescue" is emphasized.

Audiences were surprised—the protagonist's group turned out to represent a failed team, their target engine destroyed!

Even though they endured dangers along the way—the collapse of the Shanghai ice cliff, the transport vehicle crashing, teammates dying one after another—

Because at the same moment, rescue teams from across the world were charging forward relentlessly.

"Osaka launcher restored!"

"Singapore launcher restored!" "Turin launcher restored!"

"."

Yet after calculations, facing a seemingly inevitable destruction, the Earth United Government abandoned self-rescue, approved the space station's departure from Earth to initiate the "Seed" program, and called on people to return home to reunite with their families and spend their final moments together.

The most dangerous moment for humanity had arrived; nearly everyone fell into despair, the underground city plunged into chaos, some took advantage of the disorder to rob, and all rescue teams on the surface lost their objectives and returned individually.

Until Liu Peiqiang defied orders, seized control of the space station with his Russian teammates, and assisted the surface in igniting Jupiter.

At the eleventh hour, Liu Qi's team risked their lives to restart the Sulawesi engine, but the flame height was insufficient; Liu Peiqiang resolutely piloted the space station carrying three hundred thousand tons of fuel into the flame, sacrificing himself to trigger the explosion.

Jupiter's hydrogen layer ignited with a thunderous roar; the shockwave successfully pushed Earth off its death trajectory.

At the film's end, Liu Qi, now a certified pilot, boarded the carrier vehicle again; as the vehicle started, the camera pulled back, revealing the full view of Earth, hundreds of thousands of engines spewing forth a ghostly blue light.

The narration returned: "The Sun, located in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, accounts for 99.68% of the solar system's total mass;"

"Now, the Sun's core is aging at an extreme rate, expanding continuously, and Earth will be swallowed."

"To survive, humanity devised an unprecedented grand plan: to propel the entire Earth to a new home 4.2 light-years away. The plan consists of five phases."

"This plan will last one hundred generations!"

"Although we do not know what kind of home the new sun 4.2 light-years away will bring."

"But from today on, humanity's courage and perseverance will be eternally inscribed beneath the stars."

!

"This long cosmic journey, spanning two thousand five hundred years of despair and hope, is historically known as the 'Wandering Earth' Plan!"

——

The filming and post-production of the space station storyline were quite interesting.

Many viewers only realized after watching the film: Wait—why did Liu Peiqiang never show his full face?

Yet strangely, even though this pivotal character never fully revealed his face, merely through subtle gestures, slight facial expressions, and other details, viewers somehow mentally filled in an image.

It had nothing to do with height, build, or handsomeness; it simply made one feel that the man standing there seemed to symbolize something.

Only such a person could stand against the absolute rationality of the AI Moss.

This feeling even overshadowed the faint warmth of the father-son reconciliation.

Of course, viewers who don't overthink the film aren't hindered—the shots from every angle were still striking and never broke immersion.

Even when inserting personal messages, one must consider not disrupting the film itself.

Guo Fan said he remained restrained; at least he didn't secretly slip in a photo of Chairman Mao.

After all, he felt that would be overdoing it, and he feared triggering an even larger "stress response" than "Wolf Warrior PTSD."

But he did understand why some colleagues loved slipping personal messages into films—it was truly exhilarating!

Of course, all this assumed he had encountered that young genius actor~

Shouldn't he get a Best Actor award?

The character of Liu Qi, the reckless young man, needs no elaboration—he's too much of a plot device—but the later character absolutely deserves a heavyweight Best Actor award.

Bai Liang: I've got a Weibo Best Actor now~

Yet for Guo Fan, inserting personal messages also meant burying himself a massive pit.

After today's meeting, he even discussed plans for his next film—even before the opening day box office, he was already confident.

The next one will be a prequel.

So the question arises: how should Liu Peiqiang be portrayed to naturally develop that almost divine aura he later possesses?

This question didn't require Bai Liang to think; his super brain wasn't designed for this kind of work.

At this moment, he was still explaining to Reba what "saturation rescue" meant.

Yet Reba had no interest in listening; as the lights came up, even before the creators stepped on stage, the audience's applause erupted like thunder.

Unceasing!

This has always been the highest praise for all filmmakers.

The audience's genuine approval stirred the heart more than any award; that pure, direct praise struck the soul most directly.

When "My Country, My Parents" premiered, Xu Zheng, such a pragmatic man, couldn't hold back his tears when faced with the audience's sincerity.

So Guo Fan was also on the verge of crying.

When he stepped onto the stage, the applause grew even more intense; the shouts made the entire hall feel like it had been thrown into a boiling cauldron dozens of meters wide.

It worked!

He closed his eyes; his heart seemed to boil along with it.

But when he opened them, Bai Liang was still sitting in his seat "flirting."

This nearly killed his mood; he couldn't help but want to curse aloud.

But in the end, he found it amusing and poignant—how could he always remain so calm, so unruffled?

Yet precisely because of this Bai Liang, one truly felt: damn, he's so reassuring!

"Student Student Mai Mai, bring your brother up!"

"Received!"

Zhao Jinmai, who had cried through the movie, wiped her tears and swiftly carried out the director's order.

Seeing Student Student Mai Mai come to drag him up, Bai Liang finally realized: "Sorry, forgot about Reba—let's go on stage."

"Me?" Reba pointed at herself, seemingly incredulous: "I go up too? This is your movie."

Before Bai Liang could speak, Zhao Jinmai chimed in: "Sister, this is our movie."

This "we" naturally included Reba.

Bai Liang smiled beside her, indicating he agreed with the girl's words.

As she was dazedly pulled onto the stage by the girl's hand, the audience still did not withhold their applause.

Guo Fan rephrased the meaning of "we" more fully.

"The film's success stems from the efforts and support of every single person."

Reba's face turned red: "Huh? Really? I only had a tiny role~"

Guo Fan: Of course, you're the investor—do you really want me to say "Thank you, beautiful, for your financial support"? That'd be too blunt.

But why did he feel like Li Bala herself wasn't even aware of this?

He couldn't help giving Bai Liang a puzzled look.

Bai Liang: Huh~ I don't think I told her.

Wait—no!

He hadn't told many people.

Forget it. I'll wait until the box office settles before sharing this news with the girls.

They'll probably be pretty happy, right?

On the first day of the roadshow, the most excited person wasn't Guo Fan—it was Da Shu.

An actor who spent his entire career in the colony playing villains and being a comedian finally got to play a hero on the mainland's screen, just as his career neared its end.

His age, his frail body, his exhaustion—nothing could stop him from burning his last drop of passion, standing shoulder to shoulder with others to open up a new possibility for China's future film industry; this alone carried a stirring, heroic artistic value.

When a person reaches a certain age, what they chase changes from what they did when young.

Just like the grandfather he portrayed in the film—dragging his aged body, doing the heavy labor of a truck driver, raising two increasingly rebellious children alone, yet never giving up his love for life.

Listening to "Seaweed Dance," scrolling through short videos, reminiscing about his wife's scallion noodles, at life's final moment, he still sat upright beneath the grand halls of his former home.

Actor and role now merged as one—on and off screen, he was the same man.

That's why Da Shu always insisted: making this film was worth it.

Younger actors might not fully understand such feelings, but that sincerity touched everyone.

And the opening day's box office naturally wouldn't betray this emotion.

"Thanks to pre-sales, the opening day box office hit 550 million!"

"What?!"

Even Guo Fan himself couldn't help checking the number several times.

"Isn't this even bigger than 'Wolf Warrior 2'?"

"Different—Spring Festival holiday box office is concentrated over seven days. The final total? There's no way it could match that."

Someone tried to analyze it rationally, but realized it was utterly irrational.

Before the film's release, even those most confident in 'The Wandering Earth' wouldn't dare compare it to 'Wolf Warrior 2.'

That film's box office was insane—it had perfect timing, location, and public sentiment, plus some mysterious mystical boost to achieve such absurd numbers.

As for 'The Wandering Earth,' some unimaginative leads had told the media it might hit two billion.

Of course, two billion is still an excellent result.

Guo Fan, however, felt more confident—his confidence came almost entirely from Bai Liang, who kept triggering waves of momentum—who could withstand that? Before the film even released, he'd already maximized every possible hype, grinning so wide his mouth was crooked. So he boldly estimated 3.5 to 4 billion.

"What about the other competitors' box office?"

"'The Crazy Alien' is just under 400 million—also impressive. 'The Wandering Man' hit 300 million. 'The New King of Comedy' just missed 200 million. 'Boonie Bears' got 70 million."

"Alright, alright, no need to go on."

They're already talking about 'Boonie Bears'—is there really a film with lower opening day box office than that?

Huh? Where's Brother Cheng's movie?

He scrolled down further—50 million, barely even that.

Without doubt, the screening schedule would shift again tomorrow.

'The Crazy Alien' and 'The Wandering Man' still held strong in screenings, though 'The Crazy Alien''s reception fell short of audience expectations.

The film's early tone was set too high—Ning Hao, Huang Bo, Shen Teng, Xu Zheng—all of them together made audiences demand an instant masterpiece.

It simply couldn't escape being judged as a divine film.

But the result disappointed—low attendance rates meant it wouldn't last long.

'The Wandering Man' was similar, but neither would collapse too badly—they'd still likely earn 1 to 2 billion.

After all, 'The New King of Comedy' had completely fallen apart!

Even with a 200-million opening day, its explosive negative word of mouth meant the film would barely survive three days.

If lucky, it might scrape together a few hundred million total, relying entirely on the first two days to "trick" audiences into buying tickets.

Those who'd seen it were all criticizing it, wondering if this was even really directed by Zhou Xingchi.

So from day two onward, the screening schedule alone revealed the clear hierarchy of Spring Festival films.

One superhit, two strong contenders, and the steady 'Boonie Bears.'

Everything else? Just cannon fodder!

And from any angle, using any data as reference, 'The Wandering Earth' was unquestionably far ahead.

Just its 8.9 rating was enough to crush its rivals.

High box office and high rating seemed similar to 'Dying to Survive,' but 'The Wandering Earth''s box office performance was far more extreme.

Saying everyone online was praising 'The Wandering Earth,' with countless netizens wildly promoting it, wasn't an exaggeration.

Little Broken Ball was now racing ahead!

Over time, audiences grew unsatisfied just analyzing the film's content.

Were there stories beyond the movie?

Bring them to us, quick!

Guo Fan: Yes! Let me tell you the story of how I got Bai Liang to invest without spending a cent.

Oh right—there's also the story of Wanda pulling out, but the Wanda Crown Prince investing his own money.

And as for the girls stepping in to help generously—should I tell the story of Brother Liang?

—

I'm stuck on the writing pretty badly, so the update is a bit late — sorry about that.

Gimme monthly tickets!

(End of Chapter)