Chapter 565: with translation of chapter title

On the guest seats, Chen Kun, wearing a crisp Western suit, had a solemn expression, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the big screen, looking somewhat nervous.

After all, the attention for Three Body 2 is too high, its influence too great; if his portrayal of Luo Ji is not accepted, the damage to his career will be avalanche-like.

Because not long ago, he had already experienced the harm of not being recognized.

The film is The Legend of Zhong Kui Subduing Demons, produced by Dasheng International Media; the producer is An Xiaofen, who is quite well-known in the industry and also considered an old friend of director Zhang Yimou, having once served as the financial director at New Birch Surface Company, after switching jobs she participated in producing films such as Ip Man, The Guillotines, and Tiny Times, and is also a quite capable figure in the circle.

But making a big-effects film isn't something just anyone can pull off, especially when the budget is 'limited' and the main creative team's aesthetic leans 'Western-style'.

The total investment for The Legend of Zhong Kui Subduing Demons is 250 million RMB, with over 40 million for promotion and distribution; compared to other companies' big-effects films, this investment amount is still conscientious.

But compared to the works of Love Excellent Rising, this amount of money is truly stretching thin.

The problem with The Legend of Zhong Kui Subduing Demons also lies in the Western-style character designs, especially when the demon king leads the demon realm's creatures in a full-scale attack on humanity; fans of online games instantly catch a whiff of a 'DOTA vibe'.

The male lead's transformed image also differs considerably from the traditional notion of Zhong Kui, instead resembling Wolverine somewhat.

This film was originally scheduled for release in the 2015 Spring Festival slot in history, but in this timeline the producers avoided the sharp edge of Three Body 2 by setting the release for the year-end holiday slot, and it has already been released.

The result was a collapsed reputation, with a Douban rating of only 4.7, and the box office was not high either, not even reaching 100 million in a single day.

As the male lead, Chen Kun naturally didn't escape criticism.

Now, all he can hope for is to turn things around relying on Three Body 2.

Fortunately, judging from the current performance, it's still not bad.

After all, his looks are there, and he has a naturally melancholic temperament; playing a carefree young scholar is practically effortless.

On the big screen, Chen Kun's Luo Ji, after learning that the other three Wallfacers were recruiting troops and forming a staff, merely sought out the rotating chair of the Planetary Defense Council, Gal Ning, asking for a secluded place where he could live a noble life.

He wanted snow-capped mountains, a lake, forests and a manor, and claimed this was 'an important part' of the Wallfacer Project.

Gal Ning agreed without hesitation, because Luo Ji's request was the least costly among the four Wallfacers.

It must be said, the Planetary Defense Council's efficiency is still high, and Luo Ji soon lived the life he had dreamed of.

Gal Ning really found him a dreamlike manor, allowing him to live like an old European aristocrat.

The manor had a butler, chef, driver, groom and others serving him, with a yacht moored by the lake; Luo Ji instantly became the most leisurely and indulgent person in the world.

Strolling by the lake, gathering in the mountains, reading rare books, playing golf, riding horses, climbing snow peaks—his life was utterly carefree.

Bored to death, he saw on TV a news item about salvaging a seventeenth-century sunken ship, knowing that a tightly sealed barrel of wine was aboard.

Because experts said the wine was still drinkable, and after three hundred years of seabed 'cellaring', its flavor might be superb.

Luo Ji immediately summoned his assistant, claiming the wine was also part of his Wallfacer plan.

The assistant spent hundreds of thousands of euros to acquire that barrel of wine; after Luo Ji took a sip, he vomited and had diarrhea, nearly losing his life.

Meanwhile, the other three Wallfacers were carrying out plans and actions that looked extremely grand.

Frederick Taylor set about establishing a space force independent of Earth's main fleet, intending to use spherical lightning and macro-atomic nuclear fusion as its primary weapons.

Manuel Rediayaz proposed building a star‑level hydrogen bomb, which would also consume enormous resources; Bill Sheens lives in Tokyo, constantly pondering his plan…

As for Luo Ji, after a few days on an IV drip he made a full recovery.

He walked out of the room, spread his arms, and shouted toward the lake and snow‑capped mountains: 'Compared to our present life, what is the world four hundred years from now? Damn the Wallfacer Plan!'

Seeing this, most of the audience burst out laughing.

Because this is the genuine reaction of an ordinary person faced with such a situation! The Three Body fleet won't reach Earth for four hundred years—what does it have to do with us now?

Who knows how the Three‑Body beings will enslave our descendants when they arrive; if it's like Megatron, they'd make earthlings work eight straight hours a day, provide only three meals plus snacks, and give just a one‑hour lunch break…

Luo Ji, bored out of his mind, began to wish for a woman.

He had his assistant find Shi Qiang, asking him to look for a girl matching his dream‑ideal tastes—about twenty years old, with name, age, nationality, and address unknown…

Shi Qiang said it was no problem; Luo Ji's expression turned a bit dazed, because this was his dream lover.

Shi Qiang laughed and said a quite philosophical line: 'What is perfect in your heart may not look perfect to others.'

Not long after, Zhuang Yan, played by Zhang Ruoyan, appeared on stage.

In a perfect version, there is not a single error!

This scene, filmed by Jiang Heng, was very beautiful: a girl in her early twenties, wearing a white dress, her long hair flowing, walking along a lakeside where the snow‑capped mountains are visible.

A glance back with a smile, that sweet look, the youthful aura—instantly struck the heart of Luo Ji, a veteran among flower beds.

Moreover, inside the venue, many male viewers were also stunned by Zhang Ruoyan's performance.

"She looks so pretty, I feel she's even more beautiful than the character in 'Lost in Hong Kong'!", remarked an attendee who had gone to two premieres.

"Yeah, she plays Xia Zhu, feeling just like a pretty little girl, but this Zhuang Yan looks even more beautiful than Xiao Longnü or Wang Yuyan!"

"It feels a bit like a fairy sister!"

"It feels more beautiful than a celestial maiden!"

"Not bad, huh!"

The audience couldn't help but whisper their discussion, while Luo Ji on the big screen exercised his power to let Zhuang Yan live a happy, romantic life.

Meanwhile, the other three Wallfacers successively encountered 'Wall‑breaking'.

Moreover, because Luo Ji's screen time is somewhat flat and the scenes lack impact, whenever the film shows the other three Wallfacers, it goes all out with spectacle.

For example, when the Wall‑breakers reveal their true intentions to the two Wallfacers Taylor and Rediayaz, their thoughts are also presented amid grandiose special‑effects scenes.

Such as annihilating Earth's space fleet and turning it into a quantum phantom armada, and detonating the large caches of hydrogen bombs buried in Mercury's strata, making the solar system become a hell‑like existence…

As for Luo Ji, he did not encounter the Wall‑breakers; instead he faced something even worse—his wife and children had vanished.

Zhuang Yan left a note reading 'We'll be waiting for you at the end of the world,' then took the child and left.

Thus Luo Ji had to consider what to do if the Three‑Body beings really arrived four hundred years later. (End of chapter)