Chapter 302: Never forget the past, never fail the future; time does not abandon those who chase their dreams

The staff had only guessed half of it right.

Half of the crowd gathered outside had come for the reputation of Director Zhong.

The other half had come for Seeing Jin Li.

While Seeing Jin Li was rehearsing the theme song for the play, Sui Lingfang would go to visit, take some photos of her, and occasionally leak stills to the public.

Netizens were all curious about Seeing Jin Li's attire.

Whether it was the makeup, the hair, or the clothing coordination, it was entirely the style of the last century, exuding an elegant and composed scholarly air.

This instantly struck a chord with Seeing Jin Li's fans!

These fans, through various fan groups in live streaming rooms, agreed to meet at a certain location, as excited as wanderers finding their way back to their organization.

Although everyone was a stranger, their worship and love for Seeing Jin Li brought them together; there were both men and women.

"Are you also a 'Crystal Pear'?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I am. Are you one too?"

Two girls happily clasped their hands together, "Finally found the organization. I don't know if we'll be able to see Seeing Jin Li."

Another person interjected, "It's a bit difficult. Seeing Jin Li's company doesn't like fans gathering privately to chase stars, and Seeing Jin Li doesn't encourage it either."

Because the company never encouraged this behavior, the fans who came had long been prepared; they didn't treat this event as star-chasing, but as a gathering of like-minded people.

One fan said, "I first started watching her in the study room. At that time, I thought this streamer was beautiful and had perseverance. She insisted on studying and doing practice problems every day and was willing to bring fans along to learn. She is such a good person."

"Later, I found out she was actually a celebrity, which made it even more commendable."

"I brought my daughter along this time, not for anything else, just to let her experience the atmosphere up close. Even if we don't see Seeing Jin Li, it doesn't matter; we'll treat it as an outing."

The other fans suddenly realized; only then did they notice that many tents had been set up around them.

The fans' eyes shifted—so this was everyone's true purpose!

Coming to watch Seeing Jin Li's performance was the pretext; coming to relax, play, and chat was the truth.

It was also thanks to the good location scouting for the *Dream Builders* roadshow, which was right inside the forest park, that they borrowed a badminton stadium here to temporarily set up the stage for the play.

Suddenly, a burst of noise came; it turned out the big screen outside the stadium had been turned on, playing bursts of music.

Taking a closer look, it was actually the old MV video of Pink Girls!

"Surging waves, eternal and undying, it is the magnificent 1.6 billion kilometers."

"Endless energy compresses and collapses, turning into an internal driving force."

"Cosmic energy provides me with power; the star is tiny yet great."

"Universal gravitation is my causality; I follow the world to plant a star."

"......"

The cheerful, lively, and catchy tune immediately caused the fans to hum along.

Before long, the singing of *Little Star Wish* echoed through the outer venue.

The sound here grew louder and louder, soon drifting into the inner venue and landing in Seeing Jin Li's ears.

Seeing Jin Li was somewhat surprised and specifically stretched her head toward the window to watch. She couldn't see the fans from her position, but the singing could drift in.

Director Zhong walked into the lounge with hurried steps, his expression stern.

He was guarding the outer venue, responsible for mobilizing all the staff while making decision after decision.

As a "new director" directing a play for the first time, he had specifically invited a mature and professional theater team to help, but even so, it was still a mess.

"Seeing Jin Li, are you ready?"

Seeing Jin Li nodded at him.

Zhong Wentai said, "Follow me to the backstage to wait now. I'll call the others to come along as well."

Not knowing what he thought of, his footsteps paused, and he comforted her, "Don't be too nervous; your strength can stand the test."

"By the way, there are too many people gathered outside, and they all want to watch the play. I don't want to disappoint the fans, so I specifically coordinated with the person in charge of the venue to turn on the big screen so that people outside can watch our performance."

Seeing Jin Li:...

Director, are you sure you aren't here to add pressure to me?

The opening of a play is quite important.

The opening method is chosen and designed based on factors such as the script content and style, in order to achieve the purpose of attracting the audience and laying the foundation for the story to unfold.

For example, in *Teahouse*, Mr. Lao She chose the "Teahouse," this most representative cultural symbol of old Beijing, to unfold the story, providing possibilities for the narration of the ensemble-style story.

Besides this, common opening methods for plays include: creating suspense, intense conflict, unique scenes, shocking visuals, protagonist dilemmas, mysterious atmosphere, flashback openings...

And for the opening of the *Dream Builders* play, Director Zhong waved his hand and started with a "unique scene"—

The curtain was lifted, and a train with the characteristics of the era appeared before people's eyes!

The audience couldn't help but be surprised; these props were very realistic!

"Toot, toot, toot—"

Following the sound of the train whistle, several young people dressed in student uniforms carried luggage bags, their footsteps hurried as they chased the train.

This scene was called 【Thirst for Knowledge—Studying Abroad】!

"He Hui, go abroad and study hard. If you have any difficulties, write back. The country will do everything possible to help you solve them!"

He Hui and the other young students had a fervor for knowledge in their eyes, as scorching as the sun in the sky, wearing incredibly confident smiles.

"We will definitely return with success!"

"The motherland is waiting for our construction!"

"How can the moon abroad be rounder than the one at home? We will learn brand-new technology and serve the motherland well!"

The beginning attracted attention with inspiring language, followed by a series of humorous and laughable stories about "catching the train."

Cutting in with a unique scene, supplemented by humorous and witty dialogue stories, it brought the audience a relaxed and pleasant feeling, attracting them to continue watching.

From the beginning, one could see the overall style of the play; this was bound to be a happy story, and it was also another meaning that Director Zhong Wentai wanted to convey to the audience.

It seems that every time a documentary about the last century is filmed, no matter what the content is, "grief and heaviness" are indispensable elements.

Later generations, with a global and advanced perspective, calmly and rationally stand above, reading the stories of their predecessors.

Everyone understands the confusion of that period of history, the pain of that life, the helplessness of being backward and thus being beaten... The last century had many, many background colors, but it seemed there was never any happiness or joy.

But actually, that's not the case.

The people of that history had bright eyes; they longed for rich and advanced knowledge and longed for their motherland to be prosperous and strong.

They were willing to turn into thin pieces of firewood, dedicating their lives to illuminate the light and heat of the motherland.

They were also happy and joyful.

A person's greatest bankruptcy is despair, and their greatest asset is hope, and the people of that era were all full of hope.

Zhong Wentai wanted to use relaxed and witty dialogue and humorous scenes to let the audience see the hope of that era—

Although small and weak, it also had great power.

After performing the first act, 【Thirst for Knowledge—Studying Abroad】, the audience all thought that the next part would talk about the scene of studying abroad.

But Zhong Wentai didn't take the usual path; he waved his hand, and in the second act, he let the students return from abroad.

【Success in Studies—Wanderer Returns Home】

It was still that unique train station scene, but it expressed two different moods.

The footsteps of departure had just passed, and the scene of return followed one after another; this formed a sense of contrast.

The train on stage seemed simple, but as the dialogue unfolded, people could see the big picture from the small details and gradually understand the difficulties of everyone studying abroad.

Some audience members, while watching, couldn't help but post on their blogs with emotion:

【Why can they talk about a sad thing with such a positive attitude? It's as if those bad things aren't scars left by life, but clusters of bright roses!】

The students studying abroad always solved all difficulties with a positive and bright attitude. Even if they caused one laughable story after another, they were always sunny, upward, and cheerful.

Coming to the third act, the train station platform was finally removed and turned into a classroom with the characteristics of the era.

【Struggle and Hard Work—Creating a Different World for Future Generations】

This scene showed how He Hui and a group of scientists were in their acting projects, which led to one joke after another.

For example, some people studied until late at night and, because they were too sleepy, accidentally took a nap.

But after sleeping for only half an hour, she suddenly woke up, called all the sleeping colleagues up, and urged them to hurry up and do experiments.

She thought it was dawn, but in fact, this brightness was just the laboratory lights being on all the time.

Also, for example, the scientists who studied until they forgot to eat and sleep—how terrible their daily state was, being fed grain by grain into their mouths by others, only to have the rice leak out.

And for example, the researchers who had sudden illnesses didn't want to take medicine, feeling that the medicine would make their minds unable to stay clear, so they quietly swapped the medicine for sugar pills...

These laughable and embarrassing things, while bringing laughter to the audience, also made a touch of sourness uncontrollably well up in the bottom of their hearts.

The play finally reached the last scene.

The stage displayed the major inventions made by Chinese scientists over the years, including manned spacecraft, aircraft carriers, and the largest astronomical observatory... These heavy weapons of the country were all pieced together in the form of cardboard, accompanied by the loud singing of *As You Wish* for the curtain call.

All the cast members stood on the stage, among whom Seeing Jin Li performed the curtain call singing.

She held a book in her hand, dancing among the various technological inventions.

Her dance was specially designed; it was traditional Chinese classical dance, combined with vivid modern movements, and the singing was sung by her like a recitation.

"You are the distant road,"

"The lamp in the thick fog of the mountains."

"I am a child, walking in your eyes."

"......"

"You are the long river of time,"

"The sky where sparks ignite."

"I am the looker-up, just singing you into a song."

"......"

And I will dream the reunion you dream of.

"Wishing for the eternity you wished for."

"Walking the long road you walked,"

"Loving you like this."

"I will also see the world you haven't seen,"

"Writing the poems you haven't written."

"The moon on the horizon, the thought in the heart,"

"You are always by my side."

"Meeting with you, a lifetime of clarity,"

"Like your young face......"

It opened amidst laughter and closed amidst tears, but everyone had a smile in their eyes.

No regrets, no waste, as wished.

This magnificent landscape is the tomorrow we have built for you.

The stage had closed, but the audience was reluctant to leave for a long time.

If the heroic souls could return and see such a future, how comforted they would be.

——Never forget the past, never fail the future; time does not abandon those who chase their dreams.

As soon as the play ended, *Dream Builders* rushed to the hot search in one go!

All the cast members left the stage after the curtain call.

There were no follow-up interviews, nor was there a segment for face-to-face communication with fans.

They "met the fans through the play," and everything they wanted to say had already been expressed in the play.

Having watched the play, the fans also roughly understood what this drama wanted to show.

This form of roadshow refreshed the common roadshow methods, making the audience shout that it was satisfying, while also making a bunch of netizens shout online for "extra shows"!

#DreamBuildersPlayPerformanceIsSoGood#

【Extra shows, must have extra shows, it made me cry, but this one is definitely not a tragedy!】

【Watched it very happily, very moved; those loyal souls and heroes will also feel comforted by our current grand event.】

【So it turns out we have survived even the most difficult challenges; suddenly I feel full of courage in my heart.】

【Suggest other crews follow suit and learn; I also want to watch the play. This type of performance is novel and unique, allowing me to have a psychological dialogue with the movie in advance.】

【Roll! Up! Internal competition, activate!!】

The roadshow was to start promotion in advance; it was only August 1st now, warming up in advance.

Because of privacy, various video platforms only uploaded partial excerpts.

But just the partial footage made the audience curious about this drama.

Mainstream melody movies have always had a huge crowd; the only fly in the ointment is that they may not necessarily attract young audiences, but young represents endless curiosity.

Ingenious promotion will instead stimulate them to watch the drama.

Through the push and spread of the play, *Dream Builders* exploded overnight.

Play clips, movie trailer clips, actor revelations of inside stories... True and false news swept the entire cultural and entertainment circle.

This caused *Dream Builders* to open ticket sales in advance, and they were selling very hotly.

Netizens all knew that their purchase of movie tickets was an emotional impulse, a momentary rush.

After all, it was a film that hadn't come out yet, and the reputation rating was completely blank, but they were still willing to be a white mouse and test the poison with their own bodies.

Some impulses are such that even if you are impulsive, you are willing.

Because of the pre-broadcast popularity of *Dream Builders*, the movie theaters were instead caught in a tangle.

In Daye Cinema.

The staff reported the online popularity data of *Dream Builders* and also mentioned the box office pre-sale results:

"The box office for the next three days is all sold out. Second- and third-tier cities have also booked about 50% online. Now that promotion has just started, it is expected that the pre-sale results in remote cities will increase tomorrow."

Liu Chang was stunned: "How much did you say?"

Staff: "Uh, all sold out."

Liu Chang: "How much is booked in second-tier cities?"

Staff: "50%, it should continue to increase tomorrow!"

Liu Chang: "So how much box office has been sold in the platform pre-sale?"

Staff: "Daye Cinema has already exploded with 100 million in energy. Other cinemas are not clear, and online ticketing software refuses to open booking data, but it shouldn't be too bad."

Liu Chang stroked his chest: "Sigh, I need to slow down... 100 million in pre-sales is a pretty good result, but the problem is, damn it, we only gave him three screenings a day!"

Because they were airborne troops, temporarily squeezing in a quota, the screening resources had to be squeezed from other movies.

Those movies had all signed contracts, and in order to reconcile from them, the person in charge of each cinema had been running around for this matter recently.

They only dared to have small thoughts in their hearts, but they absolutely didn't dare to BB in front of Director Zhong.

A big director, can't afford to offend! Especially since he also holds a national-level support project in his hands!

Just three screenings a day, nine screenings in three days released the potential of 10,000 in box office... Liu Chang immediately took out his phone and made a call.

Meeting, must have a meeting! ===== CHAPTER 303 =====