Chapter 287: Wei Jin Walks While Holding the Wall, Promotion in Progress

Time had just entered mid-September, and the promotion for *Passengers* had already kicked off in full swing, with quite a few clips and stills released.

Han Sanping was very proactive and had already set the date for the premiere: the 29th, at the Great Hall.

The invitations had also been distributed throughout the industry by China Film Group; as before, actors below the second tier and film and television companies that had not yet stepped into the film field were not eligible to attend.

Wei Jin notified all the main creators in advance to prepare for the week-long first round of promotion, for which Qiao Zhenyu and Lei Datou specifically requested leave from the crew to come over.

Looking at the assembled group, Wei Jin felt a bit sentimental; it had been a long time since he had participated in promotional activities, and this time, he wanted to create new history.

Meanwhile, in the film market, *Hawthorn Tree* fired the first shot of the National Day Slot.

Benefiting from the good word-of-mouth formed by early screenings, *Hawthorn Tree* reported a first-day box office of 14.8 million.

Looking at it this way, it was very likely to snatch back the total box office record for domestic art films from the hands of *The Hunt*.

The online reputation was also quite good; a 7.3 rating on Yinxiang Net meant that this performance had strong staying power, and Zhang Weiping even directly shouted the goal of 200 million.

*Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen* was not to be outdone, either; it was gearing up, sending out press releases one after another, just waiting to "sweep the board" after its release.

After finishing a day of recording for *Keep Running*, everyone was a bit exhausted and went straight to the hotel prepared by the production team to rest.

In the elevator, Wei Jin noticed someone slip something into his pocket; he had a slight guess in his heart, but his expression remained calm.

Arriving at his room, Wei Jin took out the item and looked at it; it was indeed a room card.

He just didn't know if it was placed by Yuan Yuanjie, or Nazha? Or perhaps Liu Yan? Jiang Shuying?

It couldn't possibly be Qiao Zhenyu or Lei Datou, could it?

Suppressing his thoughts, Wei Jin believed that this "true culprit" would soon reveal her true form.

Sure enough, after a short while, Wei Jin received a text message from Nazha.

"Boss, are you coming over tonight?"

Thinking of the young girl's constitution, Wei Jin felt a bit tempted, but Yuan Yuanjie would probably be jealous; what should he do?

After pondering for a while, Wei Jin had an idea and first replied to Nazha with a message.

"You sleep first, I'll come over later."

Immediately, Wei Jin quietly opened his room door, observed his surroundings, and the corridor was already empty.

It seemed the production crew had all gone to rest, after all, they had to start recording at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Returning to the room, he sent a text to Gao Yuanyuan, and Wei Jin went to take a shower first.

Fifteen minutes later, when he came out and looked, there were already several more replies on his phone.

Liu Yan: "Boss, my room number is 8603, I've left the door unlocked for you."

Jiang Shuying: "Boss, I miss you so much, can you keep me company tonight? I'm in 8608."

Gao Yuanyuan: "I'm in 8604, if you're coming over, come early, we still have to record tomorrow."

The women all had needs, and Wei Jin couldn't refuse, so he could only reply to the messages one by one.

After a while, Wei Jin opened his door and first knocked on Gao Yuanyuan's door. Wei Jin felt he had miscalculated; he originally thought Gao Yuanyuan's combat power was lackluster, but he didn't expect her to perform extraordinarily well today.

After fighting fiercely for more than two hours, he barely managed to lose, but he had already fired two rounds of bullets; it seemed tonight would be a tough battle.

"Yuan Yuanjie, I have to go back, the production team might have a wake-up segment in the morning, it wouldn't be good if I were discovered..."

Wei Jin brought up an extremely legitimate reason.

"No, hug me a little longer, or set an alarm..."

After the pleasure, Gao Yuanyuan had a languid look on her face, holding the man's somewhat hot body; it was incredibly comfortable, so how could she bear to let him leave?

There was no help for it, Wei Jin could only accompany Gao Yuanyuan and dally for a while longer.

Wei Jin stood calmly and composedly at the door of Jiang Shuying's room; in reality, he was panicking inside. If he were discovered, he feared he could only use his status as the boss to pressure them.

Fortunately, little Jiang did not keep her boss waiting too long; she opened the door, poked her head out, and with a *whoosh*, pulled Wei Jin inside.

"Boss, I miss you so much..."

Since things had reached this point, Wei Jin could only accompany the girl to play cards.

To be honest, in his past life, Wei Jin didn't really like Jiang Shuying; this woman's schemes were a bit deep, graduating from a vocational school but insisting on faking a high-level academic background; apart from having fair skin and beauty, she was truly useless.

This evaluation was from the perspective of an audience member, but now it was different; what Wei Jin wanted was fair skin and beauty, and as for other character and learning, being useless was fine.

"Little Ying, I didn't expect your card skills to be so poor, sigh..."

"Boss, don't go, wait for me, I'll definitely play well this time."

Jiang Shuying was a bit uncomfortable; having accumulated for so long, she thought she could score a point or two, but she didn't expect to be so vulnerable in front of the man. As expected, the boss's card skills were too superb.

"Alright, you shuffle the cards first..."

Wei Jin glanced at the time; it wasn't even one o'clock yet. It seemed the time he lost at Yuan Yuanjie's place had all been made up for here at Jiang Shuying's.

"Boss, I'm ready, it's my turn to lead this time."

"Little Ying, the most important thing for a person is to recognize themselves. I'll let you go first, but when I use this move, how will you respond?"

Wei Jin didn't care at all; a set of combos directly left the young girl with no power to parry. After all, his card power was too strong.

"Boss, you are truly too amazing, I didn't expect to lose again so quickly..."

Although Jiang Shuying lost the card game, her mood was clearly very good; this could be seen from the smile and the flush on her face.

"Alright, you get some good rest, we'll play again when there's time." — On the way to Liu Yan's room, after Wei Jin smoked a cigarette, he felt he had recovered quite a bit.

"Liu Yan, you are too bold, what if it were a bad person?"

Wei Jin didn't expect this woman really hadn't locked the door. If his Dharma Treasure were stolen, what would he do? An Innate Spiritual Treasure wasn't so easy to find.

"It won't happen, I have anti-wolf spray under my pillow, hmm~~ Boss, be gentle..."

Liu Yan reached out and grabbed him, gently helping Wei Jin massage him; she knew that the man coming at this hour must have had too many social engagements.

"Boss, you lie down first, I'll help you relax..."

While speaking, Liu Yan took out her Dharma Treasure and helped Wei Jin massage.

"Hmm, you are still the sensible one."

Wei Jin lay down with the momentum, content to enjoy Liu Yan's service.

"You're quite exhausted all by yourself, let's play a game of sharp tongues."

Liu Yan had no objections to Wei Jin's request; she struck a gaming pose, and the two began a fierce war of words.

"Alright, the cards are shuffled enough, you go or I go?"

"Boss, let me do it, you rest for a while."

Liu Yan was very tactful; not only did she play solo the whole time, but knowing her boss had a hard night, she took the initiative to shuffle the cards for him after finishing a round of poker.

"Boss, are you still going to that young girl's place?"

"Sigh, I still have to go, I can't break my word to her."

"Then, good luck, Boss!"

Liu Yan playfully made a 'V' sign; she could already feel that her boss's card-playing strength was insufficient.

"No rush, use your Dharma Treasure to heal me first."

Wei Jin checked the time and saw he could still rest for a while, so he lit a cigarette and began to recover his mana.

Taking advantage of this time, Liu Yan also massaged him; the Innate Spiritual Treasure was truly no joke, and by the time the cigarette was finished, Wei Jin felt he had returned to his peak. Arriving at Nazha's room, the young girl was indeed already asleep.

Wei Jin was in no rush; he slipped under the covers and hugged the soft, delicate body.

"Mmm~~ Boss, you're here."

Feeling the man's body temperature, Nazha woke from her dream, her eyes bleary with sleep.

"Yeah, if you're sleepy, just go to sleep, I'll hold you."

To be honest, after firing four bullets, Wei Jin didn't have much desire left.

"Mmm, what time is it?"

Nazha rubbed her little face against the man's chest and asked.

"It's almost four o'clock."

"Ah? Then let's hurry, Boss, I want it."

Perhaps because of being well-hydrated, Nazha's desire was somewhat intense, and having just lost her virginity not long ago, she was in the stage of knowing the taste of the marrow.

"Alright, I'll satisfy you right now."

His stamina having recovered slightly, Wei Jin naturally wouldn't fear a young girl, and while speaking, he had already begun to use his hand techniques.

Soon, the Xiyu beauty in his arms had a rosy flush on her face, and her eyes welled up with mist, looking extremely alluring.

"Nazha, let me test you; do you still remember the lesson I taught you last time?"

"Mmm~~ Boss, don't move, watch my performance."

The young girl's soft lips began to move on Wei Jin's body, and soon reached the destination.

"Hiss, Nazha, very good, great progress. Do you practice usually? What do you use?"

"Mmm, mmm."

Although it was mumbled unclearly, Wei Jin understood: a popsicle.

"Very good, such a studious spirit is worth encouraging; tonight I will reward you."

While speaking, Wei Jin pulled the young girl up and adopted the orz position.

"Slap, slap, slap."

As the clapping sounds rose, the young girl began to babble in her mouth; it turned out to be the Xiyu dialect.

"Nazha, a little quieter."

Wei Jin hurriedly grabbed the lace panties from the bedside and stuffed them into her mouth, but the rhythm of the heaving did not stop.

After the exercise was over, Wei Jin looked at the situation before him, somewhat speechless; the young girl probably had nowhere left to sleep.

"Boss, it's fine, no need to sleep, let's continue."

That night, Wei Jin understood why his ancestors wanted to develop Xiyu; the Xiyu beauty's techniques had truly improved too rapidly.

After finishing the exercise, Wei Jin walked back to his room almost leaning against the wall.

Early the next morning, Wei Jin appeared at the recording site with dark circles under his eyes, which truly gave He Laoshi and the others a shock.

"Wei Jin, what happened to you?"

"Sigh, I'm a bit sensitive to beds; I woke up seven times last night."

While Wei Jin was taking the creators out for promotion, a fierce battle was also taking place in the film market.

Hawthorn Tree had been released for three days, with a box office of 48 million; for an art-house film, this was a fairly good result.

On the same day, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen was also officially released, with a first-day box office of 11 million.

Seeing this number, the film people in Mainland China and countless netizens almost laughed until they choked.

A film that swore it would reach 500 million at the box office, and this is the result? It couldn't even compare to Zhang Yimou's art-house film; their faces were swollen from the slaps.

The industry unanimously concluded that the final total box office of this film would likely not even compare to the total investment of the film.

After all, there was still Wei Jin's Passengers coming up, which was a 250 million sci-fi blockbuster.

It wasn't just the poor box office; the key was that the internet was full of mockery.

Dou Dou An An Hao Hao: "What kind of garbage script is this? The plot is stiff, repetitive, and dragging; it's simply extremely boring."

Cang Lang Duo Yue zx: "Zhen Zidan's Chen Zhen was played like a moron; the drama was crushed by Huang Bai, and the action scenes only knew how to act cool."

In his spare time from promotion, Wei Jin looked at the online reviews and felt a bit worried for Old Wang; this time he was afraid he would lose everything.

Wei Jin took Gao Yuanyuan, Qiao Zhenyu, Lei Datou, and Nazha to a program.

According to Wei Jin's thoughts, during the promotion phase, his own variety shows were already completely sufficient, but since CCTV-6 had invited him so earnestly, he still had to give them face.

This time, Passengers was on Star Broadcast; this program was only started last year, and the host was Guo Wei, a beauty whose appearance could be rated 85 points.

After some pleasantries, the interview officially began.

"To be honest, I personally admire Director Wei very much. Domestic science fiction films have never been viewed favorably, but you used *The Martian* to respond to the outside world's doubts and even achieved quite impressive results. It's truly fantastic."

"Thank you for your recognition. Actually, I can understand those who were not optimistic. Science fiction films are different from other genre films; they require massive investment, sophisticated production, and long-term, high-quality special effects and post-production. This is closely related to the process of domestic Film Industrialization."

Facing the camera, Wei Jin appeared very poised.

"In fact, *The Martian* cannot represent the standard of domestic science fiction films, because the most important post-production and special effects were all done in Hollywood. We were essentially just producing a semi-finished product."

Although *The Martian* has already been called a milestone for domestic science fiction films, Wei Jin did not shy away from this.

As a professional host, Guo Wei also sensitively grasped the key to the issue.

"Then I wonder if *Passengers* can represent the standard of domestic science fiction films?"

"I believe it can. Perhaps everyone still remembers that my original intention in making this film was to tell those who doubted that science fiction films can truly drive industry progress. The entire process of *Passengers* was completed domestically. I am confident that its quality will absolutely not lose to *The Martian*."

"When *Passengers* is released, I will definitely go to the cinema to support it the first chance I get."

Guo Wei helped plug an advertisement, then moved on to other topics.

"Then may I ask Director Wei, will you continue to make science fiction films in the future?"

"Of course I will. Although our country's film industry is progressing at high speed, there is still a significant gap compared to top-tier Hollywood studios. I hope to narrow this distance as soon as possible."

In this kind of setting, Wei Jin naturally sang a high tune first.

"In fact, I already have a plan. Afterward, I will start another science fiction blockbuster with higher investment, more sophisticated production, and more hard-core elements."

This was not bragging; Wei Jin's plan was one science fiction film every two or three years, interspersed with other types of commercial films.

"Director Wei, remember to save a role for me when the time comes. I'm not picky at all, haha."

Lei Datou, wearing a suit, chimed in; paired with his big head, it was indescribably funny.

"That's hard to say. Next time, there might not be a suitable robot for you to play, haha."

After some banter, the atmosphere on set became much more lively, and the host continued to speak.

"The outside world says that Director Wei has a unique eye. I wonder what your expectations are for the box office this time? Will you reclaim the box office championship?"

Gao Yuanyuan, Qiao Zhenyu, and the others were all looking at Wei Jin, awaiting his answer.

"Reclaiming the championship is a certainty. As for what the final box office might be, I hope for one billion."

Second update today (End of this chapter)