Chapter 350: They

I've already been studying the competitors after the Spring Festival release window.

Guo Fan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't say it.

On one hand, it's too much of a provocation—after all, our little blue planet is good buddies with the aliens next door and The Wandering Earth, right~

When everyone's movies came out, we didn't sabotage each other; instead, we helped promote each other.

So this kind of remark isn't something you can say—it's too disparaging to others.

Of course, the main reason is that Bai Liang told him this saying is unlucky.

Specifically how unlucky? Some esports kid raised this kind of flag—and immediately triggered a tragic "after studying it, decided not to go" incident.

The esports scene really is quite interesting~

Because the movie had drawn traffic from the esports scene during promotion, Guo Fan had looked into it a bit.

Hmph, they really pulled off the act well.

But Bai Liang's performance was even better.

Now, Guo Fan felt that what he called "sci-fi" was just for fun.

Bai Liang's moves were true sci-fi!

But he clearly hadn't anticipated that some people also thought they were true sci-fi.

The Shanghai Fortress.

A "sci-fi" film directed by Teng Hua-tao, starring Lu Han and Shu Qi, scheduled for this year's summer release.

Supposedly five years in the making: script development began in 2013, conceptual design in 2014, and art direction and location scouting in 2016; to depict the "Shanghai battlefield" from the novel, the crew built a real set spanning 15,500 square meters.

This whole thing feels pretty similar to The Wandering Earth~

And they've got a top idol too~

Even though Lu Han has already publicly announced his relationship and has been on a downward trend, a dying camel is still bigger than a horse—he can still hold out for another year or two.

Now that The Wandering Earth has opened the door to Chinese sci-fi, with such pioneers paving the way, it's not unreasonable for them to hitch a ride and slip in too, right?

Lu Han openly and loudly promoted The Wandering Earth.

He even rented out theaters to invite his fans to watch it, acting as if he and Bai Liang were best buddies.

After all, his The Shanghai Fortress is still half a year away from release—he's trying to earn some goodwill now.

As for the other "sci-fi" movie riding the trend, Guo Fan didn't care—he couldn't stop them from hitching a ride anyway. In the end, it's always the film's quality that decides everything; no matter how flashy the promotion, it still has to deliver.

And Bai Liang showed him the "friend fee" they'd sent over.

Guo Fan:???

They're putting on another sci-fi show for him again.

As one of the four top idols, they're still doing this "tribute" nonsense?

Bai Liang didn't know how to explain to Guo Fan that Lu Han was mainly worried his girlfriend was getting too close to Bai Liang.

Lu Han had heard about Guan Xiaotong's fierce efforts to land the female lead in Youth.

It hurt—he saw his girlfriend pushing hard to act with Bai Liang, and he'd heard the script involved kissing and touching.

So now he felt a hat glowing right above his head.

Bai Liang couldn't possibly explain to him: I'm not interested in your girlfriend—she looks like a primary school kid, unless you cover her face.

But if he said that, the guy might think he'd actually done it with her face covered—would be inappropriate.

So he'd just keep collecting the "friend fee" to let Lu Han feel at ease.

As for The Shanghai Fortress... hehe.

On February 14th, Valentine's Day, The Wandering Earth's showtimes were slightly reduced because some romantic films were released.

This was also "Bai Liang's doing"—because of him, the box office ceiling for domestic romantic films had been raised dramatically.

A bunch of media were speculating whether a romantic film could break 3 billion yuan.

Before, 2 billion was an unreachable dream.

Now their ambitions were growing bigger—they dared to hype box office numbers higher.

So during the Valentine's Day window, already packed with romantic films, each one was trying to outdo Super Time Love.

The most talked-about film was A Kiss to Remember, adapted from the IP The Kissing Game, starring Wang Wang Dalu and Lin Yu.

It looked like it was aiming to bite hard into the Valentine's Day slot, snipe The Wandering Earth, and "accidentally" surpass Super Time Love.

As for the result—yes, A Kiss to Remember had the highest opening-day box office, over 80 million yuan.

Then came a catastrophic collapse in reputation, identical in approach to The New King of Comedy.

The opening-day box office was probably most of its total.

Bai Liang saw a funny comment: someone said Wang Wang Dalu and Lin Yu could open their mouths and swallow each other whole.

As for the other romantic films, they were even less noteworthy—their box office was so pitiful you'd want to give them a handout, combined they didn't even reach the daily box office of The Wandering Earth's single-day total.

Even though online, a random swarm of fans for Wang Wang Dalu and Lin Yu had suddenly appeared, waving flags and shouting.

But it didn't affect The Wandering Earth's surge forward again.

The so-called Valentine's Day window had zero impact on it.

Many sheepdogs, haters, and some cinema-industry sewer rats gnashed their teeth.

Now they could only hope Hollywood blockbusters would "restore justice."

After The Wandering Earth's box office broke 4 billion, besides fans and moviegoers celebrating and mainstream media praising it, all kinds of "reflective critics" suddenly emerged.

The scene was exactly like when Wolf Warrior 2 was released.

Hmm—not exactly the same.

Wu Jing back then really didn't get much support from insiders; compared to other big hits, the support was minuscule.

But The Wandering Earth was different—celebrities from all walks of the industry were jumping in, way too many to count.

Guo Fan was still puzzled—was he really that popular?

Later he found out it wasn't about his own popularity at all; he hadn't even joined any circles. It was simply that Bai Liang's "popularity" was too good.

Those girls who had been promoting since the premiere didn't need mentioning—many female artists with no connection to Bai Liang had mysteriously appeared too.

If Bai Liang had tried to raise investment now, he could've borrowed from half the entertainment industry.

Sister Yanzi gave Guo Fan the answer: "The female lead of 'Youth' hasn't been decided yet~ Isn't that why everyone's kissing up?"

The wording was crude but the logic was sound; yet it felt strange when some 80s and even 70s female artists were also waving flags and shouting.

Like Fan Bingbing and Zhou Xun.

Bai Liang himself found it odd—Fan Bingbing had at least interacted with him, even counted as a "comrade," but what about Zhou Xun?

They'd never even met~

He'd only privately complained to Ni Ni about that 'Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace' thing.

"Fan Bingbing and her sister's Hesheng are promoting a young girl named Zhou Ye; Zhou Xun's Dongsheng Future is also promoting a little girl named Zhang Jingyi—both are among the shortlisted candidates for the female lead of 'Youth.' Oh, by the way, Zhou Ye was originally slated for the second female lead, but now she's also got a chance to aim for the lead."

Sister Yanzi's intelligence was clearly very comprehensive.

These big flowers are gradually stepping back from the top tier of film and TV, but they haven't washed their hands of the industry.

Instead, thanks to years of accumulation, they're starting their own ventures.

They'll take on the role of operators and mentors for the new generation, launching the next wave of little flowers to keep fighting!

Zhou Ye and Zhang Jingyi are naturally not the only ones.

There's also Li Gengxi from Xu Jinlei's side.

If Fan Bingbing hadn't already passed away, she'd also had another young female artist under her, named Peng Xiaoran.

These are all little flowers being pushed out to compete.

And there's Feibao, co-owned by Zhang Ziyi—Sister Yanzi knew this one even better, because Li Yitong had also signed with that company.

But unfortunately, Zhang Ziyi preferred another female artist named Zhang Xueying.

Otherwise, the Evil Little Kitten could've had a big flower backing her up. This is only the "successors" of the Four Dan and Two Bing—some of the 85s have also started similar moves.

But their influence is clearly much weaker; they mainly just dabble in TV dramas, and even the best film resources? Forget about their little flowers—they themselves can't even get close.

Fortunately, Bai Liang isn't picky!

Besides films, he's also happy to act in TV dramas and web dramas.

That's the opportunity for the 80s and 85s.

Just the other day, Tang Yan even contacted Bai Liang, asking him to help get one of her little flowers, Chen Yuqi, a supporting female role in 'Love O2O.'

After explaining to her little white brother why all the big and little flowers were pushing so hard, Sister Yanzi suddenly remembered something and laughed.

"Little White Brother, do you remember that 'Sea and Stars' Youth Actor thing?"

"Of course I do. What? Did I get rejected?"

Bai Liang still had some memory of it—it only selected thirty-two people, and not everyone nominated got chosen.

!

"You got rejected? How could that happen? If that ever happened, the whole program's reputation would be ruined." Sister Yanzi said her little white brother had quite the imagination.

Though the film industry does have some corrupt and stupid people, they're not that brain-dead.

"Then did Meng Jie get rejected? Wu Jing is useless!"

"No, what I mean is, next month there's going to be an event on this topic—you'll be attending too—and you'll see plenty of little girls scrambling to be your female lead. Don't lose your composure." Sister Yanzi said, barely holding back her laughter.

She'd already seen the list—it was insane. Almost every selected actress, except a few, was vying for the female lead role in 'Youth.'

Originally, this event should've been harmless—but now? It was practically a massive battlefield of romance and rivalry!

Will these little girls start pulling each other's hair?!

She couldn't even imagine what kind of treatment her little white brother would get when he showed up.

But the little girls should be fine—they're young, and probably low on "evil woman" energy.

Plus, Meng Jie will be watching.

But Meng Jie is a bit clueless; she only looks intimidating, but she's a paper tiger that shatters at the first touch.

Fortunately, she has a few sister friends selected too—so at least they can stick together.

——

As 'The Wandering Earth' crossed the 4-billion mark and headed toward 5 billion, Douyin began preheating its live stream.

Because the graduate entrance exam results were about to be released!

This stirred some suspicion—people felt Bai Liang was up to something again.

But as someone had said before, Bai Liang was already established as a genius scholar; reinforcing that image wouldn't cause much of a stir.

So maybe it's just a normal live-stream promotion?

And there's still huge risk!

What if he fails the exam? Won't he be stunned on the spot~?

That would be a huge joke.

Indeed, Zhai Tianlin, who was supposed to co-stream with Bai Liang, was quite worried—he contacted Sister Yanzi several times.

On one hand, he wanted to confirm he'd really ride this traffic wave and not get canceled last-minute; on the other, he wanted a safety check: had he overestimated his score?

Sister Yanzi: "Are you kidding?"

Actually, why even estimate? After her little white brother casually wrote out the exam questions and his answers from memory, she knew it was a sure thing.

This move made Sister Yanzi, who had once suffered terribly with studying, insanely jealous.

Still, for safety's sake, she had someone else check the answers too—the verdict: absolutely solid~

"This kid Bai Liang is actually quite loyal—I never expected he'd really agree to do a live stream with me."

Hearing this, Xin Xin Zhilei, Zhai Tianlin's girlfriend, gave him a blank look. "Don't you dare call everyone 'you xiaozi' during your livestream—do you really think you can play the big brother?"

"I am his senior, after all~"

"What if he's just taking the exam for fun and doesn't even show up? He gives you face by calling you 'senior,' but what if he doesn't want to?"

"I—" Zhai Tianlin was about to retort, but suddenly realized he couldn't find a single angle to counter.

Men all care about face.

Under these circumstances, he could only blurt out: "Do you look down on me?"

"I respect you, but don't get too full of yourself! What are you even pretending for?"

This remark was clearly too harsh. After saying it, Xin Xin Zhilei immediately regretted it and hurried to soothe her boyfriend.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that her right eyelid kept twitching.

Using academic credentials to market yourself is certainly a good strategy, but your boyfriend is being way too exaggerated—he looks down on everyone.

This is just about academic credentials—he hasn't even become famous yet by starring in a hit drama.

And even if he did become famous, he should be even more cautious with his words and actions.

There was a contestant before named Wen Zhang—he was very popular and got extremely arrogant.

But everyone knows what happened to him later.

Some things sound serious, but aren't actually that bad.

But once something like that happens, no one wants to pull him out.

His arrogant, easily offensive personality definitely played a big part.

Xin Xin Zhilei felt her boyfriend was starting to show the same trend. But the key point is—he's still far from becoming famous.

Everyone else is pre-selling awards and pre-selling box office—why does he end up pre-inflating himself?

Fortunately, livestreaming with Bai Liang this time shouldn't cause any big problems.

Xin Xin Zhilei had filmed with Bai Liang for a long time and knew him well.

He was a genuinely nice guy, always smiling and getting along with everyone—he didn't act like a top-tier celebrity at all.

His vibe was the complete opposite of your boyfriend's—no wonder girls love him so much~

Time flew, and soon it was livestream day.

Zhai Tianlin had prepared everything meticulously—even got a haircut.

He'd even started his livestream early, chatting with his fans.

Right now, he was mainly discussing "The Wandering Earth"—a sci-fi film—and as a highly educated man, he naturally could break down details ordinary viewers had missed.

Not long after, Bai Liang came online.

After successfully linking their mics, they exchanged greetings, and Zhai Tianlin immediately said: "Hold on a sec, junior—I haven't gotten my scores yet. Let me answer a few more fan questions—they're all quite motivated."

Answer questions?

Bai Liang nodded first, then his expression turned strange. No way~ Did it really start this fast?

At that moment, he clearly heard Zhai Tianlin reading out a fan's question:

"Can you find your paper on CNKI? What even is CNKI?"

Zhai Tianlin looked slightly confused, staring into the camera.

Then he casually asked Bai Liang: "Junior, do you know what CNKI is?"

"Uh… you really don't know? That's kinda funny~"

Honestly, Bai Liang didn't feel much sympathy for Zhai Tianlin's fate—but he worried about his college-student fans.

They might about to suffer heavily on their papers.

Some who've already graduated might even get dragged down.

Bai Da is truly kind-hearted—he can't stand seeing his college-student fans crying under his Weibo posts.

But Zhai Tianlin still didn't catch his subtle hint.

"I don't know. Is it really necessary to know?"

"You have to know."

"I really don't know."

Bai Liang: 6

(End of Chapter)