Chapter 548

When Zhang Ruoxi woke up, it was already past nine in the morning of the next day.

Jiang Heng was not by her side; instead, he left a note on the table reminding her to have breakfast.

Barefoot, Zhang Ruoxi came to the dining room and saw that the breakfast on the table was exquisite and varied, clearly not homemade but ordered takeout.

Even so, her girlish heart was still full of emotion.

Jiang Heng is so busy, with so many things to handle each day, yet he still thinks about her having breakfast—how wonderful! Of course, it would be even better if he could stay and keep her company!

She first took a few photos, then happily ate her meal. After eating, she tidied the bedroom, living room, and dining room, becoming so exhausted she could barely move, and flopped onto the spacious living-room sofa.

"Turns out cleaning the room is so tiring; a house that's too big isn't good either!"

After lying down for a while, she checked WeChat and saw many unread messages, with the top one being from Jiang Heng.

"You're awake, what do you want to eat tonight?"

Zhang Ruoxi instantly felt overwhelmed with happiness, thought a moment, and replied, "I'm free at home during the day; I'll make you dinner!"

Jiang Heng replied, "I didn't realize you could cook."

"Of course! My mother had me learn cooking early so I could become a good wife and mother."

"Not bad!"

Jiang Heng replied with those two words, gave a few more likes, then went back to his busy filming.

Whether in plot, setting, or character casting, *The Monkey King: Hero Is Back* is like a condensed version of *The Lion's Ridge*, making it shoot quite smoothly.

By early December, the film had wrapped completely.

The special-effects shots were still handled by the group's subsidiary, Beautiful Times Effects Company, so Jiang Heng didn't need to worry about them.

What he's currently more concerned about are two things: the preparations for *The Wandering Earth* and the release of Zhang Yimou's *The Great Wall*.

For *The Wandering Earth*, Guo Fan and Liu Cixin, coordinated by Du Huan, went to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to meet experts and said they wanted to build over ten thousand planetary engines to push Earth wandering through space.

The academicians replied, "That's impossible." Not because the technology is lacking, but because of Earth's own structure.

When the planetary engine's tremendous thrust acts on the surface, the only outcome is that the machine, upon activation, dives straight into the rock layer, pierces the Earth's crust, and falls into the scorching molten lava inside, where it burns up.

A simple analogy: the crust's thickness compared to Earth's radius is as thin as an eggshell, so using planetary engines to push Earth wandering in space is fundamentally impossible.

Guo Fan and Liu Cixin were dumbstruck; Guo Fan hurriedly said, "No, if you say that, my film is gone—please help me think, how can we make the setting more reasonable?"

Fortunately, the academicians also wanted to contribute to Chinese sci‑fi cinema; several joined *The Wandering Earth* advisory team in succession, helping to popularize knowledge points and reshape the worldview.

Only after getting busy did they realize that reshaping the worldview is no easy task.

Because each academician's knowledge is limited, building the "Wandering Earth world" framework requires knowledge spanning basic physics, astrophysics, aerospace, artificial intelligence and other natural sciences, while also covering political, economic, and cultural social‑science settings—it truly cannot be finished in a short time.

So Guo Fan sought out Jiang Heng and said the script couldn't be produced in a short time because there were too many settings for them to work out.

He wanted to turn this film into a sci‑fi movie that could withstand scrutiny.

Of course, the setting of using planetary engines to push Earth away cannot stand up to scrutiny.

But if we don't dwell on that and simply set it as being pushable, the other aspects are still solvable. Jiang Heng approved of Guo Fan's serious attitude, smiled, and asked how much time he needed for preparation.

"Well, at least a year!"

"No problem—I have faith in you; do it well, and maybe it'll become a milestone film!"

Guo Fan hurriedly said, "I dare not hope for that much; as long as we don't lose money and even help the company earn a bit, I'll be happy!"

Jiang Heng laughed heartily, "The company has many profitable projects; we don't need this one. Just do it well, shoot it with care, got it?"

"I know, thank you for your support, Teacher!"

The postponement of *The Wandering Earth*'s start of filming means Zhang Ruoxi will have to wait at least another year before she can play the role of Han Duo Duo.

When he told her that night, Zhang Ruoxi actually showed a surprised expression, "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you? But why that expression—don't you like playing this role?"

Zhang Ruoxi quickly waved her hands, "No, it's just pressure. If delayed a year, I could study acting another year, and my performance should be better than now."

Jiang Heng remained sensitive, "Pressure—is there any gossip?"

In a flawless, error‑free version!

"No, nothing!" Zhang Ruoxi stammered.

But seeing her aggrieved expression, it was clear she had heard something unpleasant.

One can easily imagine that for an unknown actress in the entertainment industry to land the female lead in a mid‑low‑budget film is extremely difficult.

Zhang Ruoxi hadn't even appeared on the big screen yet, but she had already finished filming *Three Body 2* and *Welcome to Shihu Town* back‑to‑back, and now word spread that she would star in *The Wandering Earth*.

Liu Yifei, Jing Tian, and others also felt Jiang Heng was being overly good to Zhang Ruoxi, so it's no surprise that others would spread nasty rumors.

Zhang Ruoxi's assistant, likewise a girl who couldn't keep her composure, immediately passed on what she'd heard, making Zhang Ruoxi cry angrily several times.

But she didn't dare say those things, for fear Jiang Heng would notice something was off.

"The entertainment industry is a place of fame and profit; where there are those who like you, there are also those who hate you; where there are those who wish you well, there are also those who hope you fall hard and get trampled by ten thousand feet—don't take it too much to heart."

"I know, I usually don't think about those things!"

Jiang Heng added, "Rumors are something you can't block; better to guide them. Since they say I favor you and treat you too well, I'll just go ahead and show them!"

Zhang Ruoxi's gaze was bewildered; she didn't know what Jiang Heng meant.

"I want you to burst onto the scene in the 2015 Spring Festival season and become the hottest female star!"

"Ah!" Zhang Ruoxi, not understanding.

Jiang Heng said, "I'm preparing to have *Three Body 2* and *Welcome to Shihu Town* both released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so you'll be 'fighting yourself,' the busiest woman of that slot!"

"Ah!"

Zhang Ruoxi still dazed, "Then, will that affect their box office against each other?"

Jiang Heng laughed and shook his head, "No problem—you know how the Spring Festival slot was last year; it can hold two films selling big tickets! Moreover, *Three Body 2* and *Welcome to Shihu Town* differ in genre and investment scale, so their box office clash isn't that great!" (End of chapter)