Chapter 347: The Skirt Unfolds Like a Flower

"The biggest fireworks display during the Spring Festival is watching your dad ignite a cosmic explosion for you and Earth—so cyberpunk."

"The first true sci-fi blockbuster in Chinese! Liu Cixin's hard sci-fi setting, the mainstream value of ordinary soldiers carrying the banner, the core of Eastern family values, fused with gravity and interstellar travel. The storytelling, plot tension, emotional resonance, and cinematography are all masterfully executed—the unexpected big-budget special effects scenes are amazing."

"Truly an unprecedented level in domestic sci-fi films—it can be called the space version of 'The Red Sea Action.' Whether strengths or flaws, it's exactly what we imagined Liu Cixin's novels would feel like as movies."

"'The Wandering Earth,' China's first true hard sci-fi film, has truly gone hard. It projects Chinese familial bonds and nostalgia for homeland onto a grand apocalyptic vision, elevating it beyond the novel—reverent and moving."

"."

Great reviews! Great reviews! All great reviews!

This isn't because 'The Wandering Earth' has zero haters.

It's because even terrible movies can manipulate reviews—so why can't a good one?

Sister Yanzi disagrees; she believes good films need review manipulation even more, since China is so vast and its population so huge, anything bizarre can appear.

Some people even enjoy deliberately posting outrageous statements.

Now is the most critical time for the film—word of mouth is already out, and as the one handling promotion, she must defend the initial wave of reviews.

But~ even a tissue has its use; Sister Yanzi didn't plan to manipulate reviews for long.

Later, these haters need to come out and debate the fans who love 'The Wandering Earth.'

A single voice sounds dull and monotonous; once debates emerge, who knows? It might spark even greater buzz.

What she mainly guards against are the mass-produced troll armies!

"By the way, keep an eye on all the highly upvoted positive reviews—if they've been paid to switch to negative ones, we need to react immediately."

'The Wandering Earth's' initial box office of over 550 million RMB naturally broke records.

But this record wasn't set by 'Wolf Warrior 2'; only now did Bai Liang learn that China's opening-day box office record was actually set by 'Monster Hunt 2.'

Its opening-day box office was 540 million RMB, achieved during last year's Spring Festival.

At the time, there were even calls online that it surpassed 'Wolf Warrior 2,' raking in over a billion RMB in three days.

In the end, its total box office was 2.2 billion.

No one knows how they pulled that off.

Of course, the result wasn't bad, but it felt strangely mismatched compared to its initial momentum.

So even though 'The Wandering Earth' has now broken the opening-day record again, media outlets and marketing accounts are mostly pessimistic about whether it can surpass 'Wolf Warrior 2.'

But the crew on their roadshow didn't think so much—after all, if the film is even being compared to 'Wolf Warrior 2,' it's already a massive success.

But those marketing accounts were clearly setting up a rivalry between Bai Liang and Wu Jing.

Those who don't know might think failing to match 'Wolf Warrior 2's' box office is a huge failure.

Bai Liang said he had to speak up: "Shouldn't you be comparing Guo Fan to Wu Jing? He's the director—if the box office doesn't beat 'Wolf Warrior 2,' it's all his fault."

Guo Fan:???

Wait, so now I'm the 'All-Blame Guy'?

Hold on!

What do you mean 'can't even beat Wolf Warrior 2'?

Are you speaking human language?!

But seeing Bai Liang's 'sincere' expression, Guo Fan suddenly felt guilty: Is this really my fault?

Bai Liang the little bear shrugged: "What else? I'm just the lead actor—I'm nothing."

Guo Fan: That actually makes sense… Wait, no!

He quickly snapped back and began sharing the story of how 'The Wandering Earth' nearly collapsed from lack of funding.

Before he tricked Bai Liang into joining, this film was a nightmare to shoot.

Constantly running out of money here and there, budgets always insufficient, funding chains snapping at any moment.

From a certain perspective, when Guo Fan went to the 'Time Loop' set to find Bai Liang, he really did border on deception.

He had zero cash left, yet dared to approach a top-tier star and hustle him.

And because of the tight budget, filming had to race against time to save costs within a short period.

Then, Brother Liang arrived—and the good days began!

As a cyber succubus, Guo Fan naturally knew how to tell these stories with perfect pacing.

He first set up the plot twist of the original male lead quitting, Bai Liang stepping in, then mentioned Wan Da's withdrawal of funding.

He also brought up the serendipitous connection between casting director Sun Qiang and Bai Liang.

Sun Qiang was Bai Liang's patron.

He was the one who discovered Bai Liang when he was just starting out and cast him as Lu Bu, launching his career in entertainment.

Then he also messed things up with Na Zha and Meng Jie—ahem, that's not important, no need to elaborate.

Anyway, those stories will be dug up by Na Zha and Meng Jie's fans—fans love this kind of archaeology.

But they had no idea Sun Qiang even existed before.

Some media actually asked Sun Qiang: "Why did you cast Bai Liang as Lu Bu?"

Sun Qiang of course didn't say he was desperate for a last-minute replacement—he replied: "I saw a beam of light burst from the crown of Brother Liang's head."

For audiences and media watching 'The Wandering Earth,' the story of how the film nearly died from lack of funding made their hearts race.

So how was it resolved?

Guo Fan gave a sly smile: To find out what happened next, listen to—

Ahem, to avoid getting beaten up, he didn't dare drag it out.

One moment he mentioned Wan Da's withdrawal, the next he had to bring out Young Master Wang.

The film was still in theaters—how could he openly mock Wan Da? What if they got angry and pulled screenings?

So Guo Fan only briefly mentioned it, saying Wan Da had their own difficulties at the time, and he understood.

But at today's roadshow, Young Master Wang also came to the scene to show his support!

Guo Fan can't curse Wanda, but he can!

Not only can he, he's also very good at it~

"That guy Da Xian made a phone call to me at the time, asking me about Wanda pulling out their investment and stuff. How the hell would I know why they pulled out? Those people are brain-dead. With Da Xian in this movie, they didn't invest, but they had to go invest in some 'Love Saint 2'—that idiot Wu Xiubo."

Badass!

Young Master Wang, holding the microphone, went off right there cursing Wanda Pictures' people for having something wrong with their brains, and Guo Fan was listening so happily he could die!

This is the ultimate mouth-piece!

He cursed out everything that Guo Fan couldn't curse. As for the brain-dead, idiot stuff—the listeners really couldn't hold it in.

Young Master Wang: Happy today, let me perform a one-second-five-curses for everyone.

Of course he was happy, but at the time when he forked out the money he didn't think that much about it, mainly it was about saving face.

Of course, he really didn't think this money would lose—after all, with Bai Liang as the guarantee.

But looking at it now, it's no longer a question of losing or not.

This wave of investment might be the one with the highest return since he started his business with money from his old man!

He really is an investment genius~

As for those Wanda Pictures people—curse them and that's that. Would they dare block the Crown Prince's road to wealth?

This roadshow was held at Wanda.

When Young Master Wang started cursing, there were even Wanda people right beside him clapping~

But, here's the problem!

There really were some busybodies at the scene who did a quick calculation.

Then a reporter asked: "Guo Dao, the funds still don't seem to add up? There's still a big gap. Did you trick Bai Liang into paying?"

Guo Fan shook his head, "At that time Brother Liang happened to have spent a lot of money, and he didn't have much on him either. But this money was indeed solved by him, and it left me dumbfounded. This involves personal privacy, I can't talk nonsense."

Reba, hearing these words at this moment, suddenly looked a bit dazed, and subconsciously looked at the smiling Bai Liang.

As if she had just realized something: Bai Liang still owes her money~

Twenty million, unpaid!

Of course she wouldn't go urge Bai Liang to pay it back. Whether he pays or not doesn't matter, but combined with this matter, it just makes one feel...

She slightly furrowed her brow, and gave Bai Liang a glance with a somewhat strange expression on her face.

Bai Liang, what good thing have you been hiding from me?

Bai Liang didn't have time to discuss this with her, because he was being hounded by the media.

After all, Guo Fan made it sound so mysterious—what exactly was this method of Bai Liang getting money that left him dumbfounded? Surely he didn't go eat some rich woman's soft rice!

Bai Liang: This falls under personal privacy, can't say. I have to ask the person first.

He has always respected the privacy of older sisters and young ladies.

For example, there was a time when that evil little kitty Li Yitong, after getting worked up, insisted on asking him whether she or Li Xin was tighter.

Although Bai Liang did have an answer in his heart, he definitely couldn't say it—he was absolutely tight-lipped.

At the time the evil little kitty was still a bit dissatisfied, feeling that saying some stimulating topics in this area was no big deal, it could even add some atmosphere and feeling.

But after sobering up, she felt... Bai Liang actually has decent bedroom manners.

After all, she doesn't want to become the gossip topic of someone's private conversation someday.

Media:??? Privacy? What privacy?!

The more Bai Liang said it like this, the more curious they got.

They had to find a way to dig it out!

But Bai Liang already said he had to go ask first—shut your mouth, then hurry up and ask!

——

The first Spring Festival film to break one billion, the first to break two billion—both went to "The Wandering Earth."

As the screening time increased, it pulled away from other movies by a yawning gap.

The previously media-favored "Crazy Alien" and "Pegasus"—the combined box office of these two films could only catch up with "The Wandering Earth."

The others don't need to be counted. When the Spring Festival slot reaches this level, basically apart from the special existence of "Boonie Bears," it's the world of these three films.

"The Wandering Earth" takes the lion's share, and the remaining two films split the rest of the market.

During this period, Han Han suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Previously he hadn't cut the scene of Bai Liang's flashy move into the trailer.

Because Bai Liang didn't have that many scenes in total, just a cameo.

Han Han still had some pride, feeling that let's let the film speak for itself; Bai Liang's cameo was a surprise for the audience.

Selling dog meat under a sheep's head—that's not his style.

He was also worried that using Bai Liang as a gimmick, the audience would find his screen time was so little and interrogate him about "Bai Liang content" and stuff.

Now though... it's irresistible!

He had people make some clip videos overnight, they couldn't even be called trailers, but the effect after putting them out was excellent.

That day, the daily box office of "Pegasus" surpassed "Crazy Alien."

People were stunned! This works too?

Han Han: Damn, I still underestimated Da Xian!

He now even started to suspect—if his earlier film "Duckweed" had cast someone else as the second male lead, could the box office still have been that high?

After the online discussion about the scene of Bai Liang driving the car onto the roof heated up, Han Han didn't hesitate, and directly threw out the behind-the-scenes footage again.

"Haha, I'm dying laughing. A bunch of people gathered under the house worrying, not knowing how to get the car down."

"Bai Liang knew how to drive it up, but didn't know how to drive it down? Though his car skills really are great!"

Why is he still on the phone in the car? Has the director called cut yet?

Shen Uncle looked utterly speechless and desperate—it was so funny!

I'd almost forgotten how good Bai Daxian is at racing; actually, Huang Jingyu's role suits him perfectly.

Huang Jingyu already booked out the entire theater for "The Wandering Earth" for his fans—stop fixating on his role like this; he's a good friend. "If you really want to fight for it, the sniper role in "Operation Red Sea" was also meant for Bai Daxian."

The lead actors of these three films seem to have all booked each other's screenings—yet there's been zero feud so far; it's genuinely harmonious.

The box office for all of them is quite high, but "The Wandering Earth" is just too overwhelming—Bai Daxian is truly becoming a deity now.

Will Huang Bo and Shen Teng both hit ten billion this time?

Indeed, with the releases of "The Crazy Alien" and "The Wandering Life," Huang Bo and Shen Teng's cumulative box office is now nearing ten billion.

The question isn't whether they'll make it, but who'll get there first.

In the ten-billion club, Bai Liang won't be alone much longer.

But then everyone turned around and saw this guy about to charge toward twenty billion.

"The Wandering Earth" alone should add at least four billion to his box office total!

So here's the question: how long will it take him to become a twenty-billion movie king? Will he just keep maintaining such a massive lead that no one can even catch up?

Bai Liang: How long exactly? That depends on whether you count voice acting roles.

!

If you do count them, it'll be fast—just half a year. Otherwise, you'll have to wait longer.

Director Director Jiao Zi is still finalizing his film, but he took a moment to post a Weibo congratulating "The Wandering Earth."

Yet as he read Guo Fan's statements and reports, he felt a strange sense of familiarity… You're also cheating, huh?

But Director Jiao Zi tricking Bai Liang—more accurately, tricking Bai's mother—is technically his first offense.

It's still very different from Guo Fan, a seasoned con artist.

Of course, both men are the same age, and both suddenly switched paths after college, diving headfirst into fields completely unrelated to their studies.

Looking at the screen at Guo Fan, exhausted but brimming with vitality, Director Jiao Zi smiled shyly.

Just wait a moment—I'll be there soon.

—

The seven-day Spring Festival holiday passed in a flash; "The Wandering Earth"'s box office had already reached over three billion.

This result unquestionably shattered the seven-day cumulative Spring Festival box office record.

The exact figure still depends on the final day's performance.

Maoyan's box office forecast had been revised repeatedly—from an initial prediction of three billion to now four point six billion.

If nothing unexpected happens, it'll need another revision soon.

Naturally, box office success brought massive public discussion.

But at the same time, a flood of trolls began appearing, as Sister Yanzi gradually lowered her monitoring of haters and negative reviews.

The film was unstoppable—no amount of hateful comments or sour remarks could derail it.

Yet honestly, the hate was even harsher than when "Wolf Warrior 2" surged at the box office.

"The Wandering Earth" is certainly not a flawless film—it has flaws, of course.

But as a movie that might as well be a groundbreaking milestone for domestic cinema, some mindless hate clearly just wants to provoke trouble.

Some were also stirring up chaos in the chaos.

What no one expected was that the first target of heavy backlash wasn't Bai Liang or Guo Fan—it was Dilireba.

Perhaps they knew Bai Daxian was too dangerous to attack, and Guo Fan still felt unfamiliar to most people—so Dilireba became the perfect target.

She has high traffic, her role in "The Wandering Earth" is small, she's connected to Bai Liang… and she has tons of enemies! Plenty of haters too!

So when today's trending topic included "Dilireba riding the coattails," it was clear someone had launched an attack.

A bunch of people were blabbering: What does "The Wandering Earth" have to do with Dilireba?

When Qiuya got married, you're dancing and singing here?

Isn't this clearly just riding Bai Liang's coattails for attention?

Dilireba herself was utterly baffled—she just wanted to help.

But these people had a point: she did indeed ride the wave.

Initially, Gala had some complaints about Dilireba showing up to promote "The Wandering Earth."

After the first day, they said nothing at all.

"Maybe I shouldn't go to today's roadshow… I'll just wait for you at the hotel."

Dilireba sat on the bed, sounding a little defeated.

She'd wanted to help Bai Liang, but now it felt like she was hindering him—the crew didn't need her at all.

"Am I just useless? Am I dragging you down?" she added, her face pitifully downcast.

Here it comes~

If Bai Liang weren't beside her, Dilireba would've sent him a sixty-second voice message barrage.

Luckily, their distance was incredibly close right now!

Bai Liang, freshly washed, thought for a moment, slipped straight into the blanket, hugged her from behind, then slightly adjusted his aim.

"Hey, you still have a roadshow to attend—don't mess around."

"I like talking to you when I'm close to you," Bai Liang said matter-of-factly.

Dilireba:. That's way too close!

Others are heart-to-heart; we… well, I guess we're connected too.

Full, and deeply comforting.

But after a moment of adjustment, Reba suddenly said, "Go outside first. I want to hold you while I talk—it makes me feel unsafe otherwise."

"Fine~"

When the two of them shifted into a face-to-face embrace, Reba pressed against Bai Liang's ear, exhaled slowly, then spoke again: "I'm not going to the roadshow today, but I won't leave tonight—I want to stay with you one more night, then return to Beijing tomorrow."

"Why not go?"

"Everyone online says I'm riding your coattails. I don't want to drag you down because of this."

"You're not riding anyone's coattails—didn't Guo Fan tell you?" Bai Liang asked, puzzled as his hand felt her smooth skin.

"Guo Dao? What did he tell you?"

"Two things. First, you're an investor—you invested twenty million."

Before Bai Liang could mention the second thing, Reba gently bit his earlobe.

Mm. Not because of Bai Liang's words.

But because of stimulation elsewhere.

After catching her breath, she murmured softly: "I already guessed—but you never told me it was an investment. And even if it was, it was your investment."

She was still clever enough to know Bai Liang had probably started with the mindset: "If I lose, it's my loss; if I win, it's yours."

Big White was still so good to her. But she didn't want to take it for granted~

"You really don't want it?"

"No! Don't give me back those twenty million—I want you to owe me for life!"

By this point, the atmosphere and feeling were clearly very heated~

Then Bai Liang said: "There's also that other one—do you really not want it?"

"What?!" Reba snapped her head up.

If that were true, she wouldn't have said that.

"I want it."

"Alright, I'll just—"

"Wait! I didn't mean that—I mean I want to count it as an investment, I want the money!" Reba pouted angrily.

Bai Liang ignored her, rolling over.

After they'd heatedly exchanged opinions, Reba kept muttering.

"How much did she give you? Tell me!"

"Ten million."

"Hmph~"

A smug smile appeared on her face—this moment, she actually felt a touch of pride, though she was usually just sweet and innocent.

After dressing and applying makeup, Reba held her head high, no longer mentioning anything about skipping today's roadshow.

"So~ I'm a movie investor now, huh?"

Before Bai Liang could answer, the second question came: "Wait, who else did you ask for money? I feel like—"

Bai Liang smiled. "You're right. The reporters asked me this before. I've been too busy these past two days—I'll call them soon and settle this, including your case."

"Actually, with just twenty million invested, I still feel like I'm riding your coattails," Reba mused calmly.

Bai Liang shook his head. "What are you talking about? The female lead of 'The Wandering Earth 2,' hmm?"

Reba:???

At that moment, she truly felt stunned—surprised and delighted, her mind going utterly blank.

She looked at Bai Liang, disbelieving, her lips trembling.

"Is it real?"

"Fake."

"I knew it."

"But you know, I sometimes like telling little lies," Bai Liang rubbed his chin, teasing her.

Unfortunately, Reba wasn't that type—she wouldn't squeal or flail in response.

Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around Bai Liang, pressing herself against him: "Big White, please, don't—"

"Dear leading lady, Miss Reba, will you join me in saving the Earth?" Bai Liang said, feigning solemnity.

Reba let go and stepped back two paces.

Her skirt flared like a blooming flower.

Because she had begun to spin.

When she curtsied slightly, holding her skirt, she said with serious tone: "I do!"

Bai Liang: This feels just like a proposal.

Reba: If you have that kind of need…

She tilted her head slightly, playfully saying: "Husband?"

Then she grinned: "You like hearing that, huh~"

(End of Chapter)