Chapter 204: New Record

After the premiere, *Painted Skin* will have a "Zero Hour Action."

The film will start at zero o'clock on October 1st, and zero-hour screenings will be arranged in theaters with conditions in large domestic cities, and it will start to be released.

It will only be released on a large scale nationwide during the day tomorrow. The zero-hour screening can only be considered a warm-up. Just through the zero-hour screening, you can also see the audience's expectation for the film to a certain extent.

At that time, the zero-hour screening of *Hero* was almost full.

The zero-hour screening of *House of Flying Daggers* also had an attendance rate of over 80%.

Han Zong was very looking forward to the performance of *Painted Skin*'s zero-hour screening. Beijing must have arranged zero-hour screenings.

After the premiere, he made an appointment with Cao Yang to watch the zero-hour screening at the Star Beauty Cinema in Beijing.

The actors still have to run promotion early tomorrow morning. Whether it is Li Xiaoran or Gao Yuanyuan, no matter how much they want to watch the zero-hour screening with Cao Yang, they have no way.

"Senior brother, just the two of us tonight? That would be too boring."

Cao Yang asked tentatively. He wanted to know if Han Zong really regarded himself as his own person, which had something to do with his subsequent plans.

Han Zong was silent for a while, then patted Cao Yang on the shoulder.

"You kid, why are there so many things."

Then he laughed, "This way, I will bring a good friend tonight. If you have a good friend, bring one too, and let's watch the zero-hour screening together. Bringing a friend is also good, so it won't be boring to watch the film again."

"Okay, senior brother, it's settled. I will drive to pick you up at eleven o'clock?"

"No need, let's meet at Star Beauty at eleven-thirty."

So, Cao Yang thought about it, and called Dong Xuan, let her dress up, and said he would take her and his friends to watch the zero-hour screening at night.

Among the few women who have a close relationship with Cao Yang, Dong Xuan has not yet risen in the film circle. After Han Zong knows the relationship, it will only be good for Dong Xuan.

Different encounters create different personalities.

Since Dong Xuan followed Cao Yang, it is estimated that because the starting point is too high, she is very indifferent to everything.

Except for *Snow Goddess Dragon*, she has almost never taken other TV series. Even if the Goddess Dragon is popular, many TV series want to take advantage of her popularity to invite her, but she is not moved.

In terms of films, because she participated in many of Cao Yang's films, even as a supporting role, her fame is not small. Coupled with the popularity of the Goddess Dragon, many films also invited her.

She didn't care whether she was the lead or supporting role, she only took some positive roles without passionate scenes, giving people the feeling of being very Buddhist.

Dong Xuan was very happy to hear Cao Yang say that he wanted to take her to meet friends.

Yes, she automatically filtered out the matter of watching the zero-hour screening, and only grasped the message that Cao Yang wanted to take her to meet friends.

When hanging up the phone, Dong Xuan asked softly, "Do you want a single ponytail or a double ponytail?"

What single ponytail or double ponytail, I don't understand what you are talking about. 【204-2

Cao Yang didn't even hesitate, quickly saying: "Let's go with a single ponytail tonight; having one hand free means I can do something else."

"You're annoying..."

Dong Xuan hung up the phone, overjoyed, and then began to ponder: how should she dress?

A young girl?

A young married woman?

A city socialite?

A career woman?

Pfft, pfft, what is she thinking? It's all Cao Yang's fault for always messing around with these messy things. It's clearly just a proper gathering of friends, so why is she letting her imagination run wild?

"I'll just put on some light makeup; it's late at night, no need to be heavily made up."

Dong Xuan muttered to herself and began to act.

When Cao Yang arrived to pick up Dong Xuan, more than an hour had passed since he called, yet Dong Xuan hadn't finished her light makeup...

"Alright, just put on something simple. You have to take it off when you get back tonight; aren't you tired?"

Cao Yang glanced at his watch; it was almost eleven o'clock at night, so he urged her again: "Hurry up, I have an appointment at eleven-thirty, and I still have to drive there. Even if we're late, we can't be too outrageous, right?"

"Okay, okay, is it eleven o'clock already?"

Dong Xuan shook her head and looked in the mirror again, seemingly regretting that she didn't have time to make it more perfect. Forget it, let's just leave it at that; she couldn't let Cao Yang be late.

This place wasn't far from the agreed-upon Star Beauty Cinema, and the traffic wasn't heavy at night. When Cao Yang arrived, he saw a long queue already forming at the Star Beauty Cinema.

His heart stirred; he parked the car and took Dong Xuan to the very end of the line.

Dong Xuan smiled lightly. She understood what Cao Yang meant and asked the young man in front of her: "Handsome, are you here to see 'Nine-Tailed Fox' too?"

The young man turned his head and, seeing a beautiful woman, immediately beamed with a smile. Before he could answer, he was blocked by a girl standing in front of him, who looked at Dong Xuan with a wary expression.

"Yes, we are here to see 'Nine-Tailed Fox'."

The girl answered on behalf of the young man.

Dong Xuan chuckled, then took Cao Yang's arm and said:

"Us too. We heard this film won Best Director at Venice and is Cao Yang's first experimental film, and with such a large investment, we just wanted to see what it's like as soon as possible."

"Is that so? Same as us. Anyway, there's no work tomorrow for National Day, so we wanted to see how the movie is early on..."

Cao Yang ignored their conversation. Almost everyone queuing here was young, likely mostly young white-collar workers and students, and more out of curiosity to get a sneak peek.

"Let's go."

Cao Yang said, nodding to the young man and the girl who were still chatting.

"We're going to buy something and then come back."

Dong Xuan explained with a smile, then took Cao Yang's arm and left.

"That guy looks really arrogant, didn't even say a word. I don't understand how such a beautiful girl could find a boyfriend like that..."

The young man secretly watched Dong Xuan leave. This girl had a great figure, was classy, and was beautiful; it was a real pity.

"I think he's alright. He's cool, very classy, and handsome too..."

The young man immediately started changing the subject: "Xiao Ying, don't you think that girl just now looked a lot like a star? You know, the one called... the one who played the Goddess Dragon..."

The girl thought for a moment and shook her head quickly: "I don't think so. The Goddess Dragon is cold, beautiful, and so classy; she is far worse than the actress who played the Goddess Dragon. There's no comparison."

Cao Yang brought Dong Xuan to the manager's office of this Star Beauty Cinema, only to see the office door open and Han Zong sitting in the manager's seat.

Well, Han Zong sitting in the manager's seat was perfectly fine.

The full name of Star Beauty Cinema is China Film Star Beauty Cinema Chain Company, which is currently the largest cross-provincial cinema chain in the country. Every slightly larger city in the country has a China Film Star Beauty cinema, and China Film is the largest shareholder.

China Film Star Beauty is also the only holding cinema chain company under the China Film Group.

Han Zong looked up, saw Cao Yang, stood up, and waved to the side: "Haven't you always wanted to meet our country's most famous big director, Cao Yang? Come, this is my junior brother, Cao Yang." He then said to Cao Yang: "Junior brother, this is my good friend, Xu Qing."

"Cao Dao, hello, hello. I'm from the 88-grade acting department of our Beijing Film Academy. I've long wanted to meet the international big director from our school. Seeing you, I finally know what it means to be truly young and promising."

Xu Qing was very enthusiastic, walked over with a full smile, gently held Cao Yang's hand, maintained a moderate amount of force and time, and then paused slightly before letting go.

Moreover, while shaking hands, she leaned forward very skillfully, and her low-cut dress revealed almost three-quarters of her two spheres.

While shaking hands, she also maintained eye contact, looking into Cao Yang's eyes with a gentle and sincere gaze.

The corners of her eyes hooked slightly downward, and the ends of her eyes tilted upward; this feature made her gaze full of deep affection and charm. Her eyes looked affectionate and full of a watery feeling.

A pair of peach-blossom eyes; even looking at a dog, it would be affectionate.

Cao Yang finally witnessed it; the feeling was as if she was seducing you at any time and place.

Perhaps it was an illusion.

Cao Yang had just thought this when he discovered that when she let go of his hand, Xu Qing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, drew a circle on the back of Cao Yang's hand with her little finger!

Well, if it was unintentional, she couldn't have drawn a circle.

Cao Yang glanced at Han Zong. The other party was smiling happily, seemingly not seeing it, or perhaps he didn't care even if he did?

!

Hmm, I heard that Xu Qing's boyfriend, Liu Bo, fled to Japan last year due to debt. Xu Qing then met a young real estate boss and bought two apartments in the "Liangma Mansion" high-end apartment complex, and the young real estate boss often comes over...

This big sister is truly awesome, able to maneuver gracefully among so many people.

Cao Yang sorted it out carefully again.

A certain group chairman, Liu Bo, got together with her in 1997. At that time, Liu Bo was already married, and for her, he even divorced his original wife in 1999. This relationship lasted until Liu Bo ran away in 2003.

It seems that during this period, news of Xu Qing and Wang Zhiwen getting back together also spread?

This year, she found another young real estate boss.

In addition, I don't know when she got together with Han Zong. It seems that even until 2009, Han Zong was still helping her.

The key is that these people are all very good to her—luxury cars, luxury watches, apartments, film and television resources, and even divorcing for her...

Only one capitalized word remained in Cao Yang's mind: "Respect"!

Can't afford to provoke, really can't afford to provoke.

"Oh, I know you. You are the Goddess Dragon. I loved watching that TV series. I've long heard that our school produced a beautiful junior sister who is both beautiful and dashing. I've finally met the real person."

Xu Qing turned around, hugged Dong Xuan, and then held Dong Xuan's hand.

"You are my dear junior sister; we are both from the acting department, unlike Cao Dao and Director Han. They are both from the directing department; I feel embarrassed to even call them senior brother or junior brother."

This social ability is truly awesome. Those who don't know, seeing her intimate appearance with Dong Xuan, would think they are very good best friends.

The eyes are the windows to the soul; peach-blossom eyes really have a natural affinity, making people seem to be able to let down their guard.

"Let me introduce you. This is Han Zong; you can call him Han Zong or Director Han. This is my friend, Dong Xuan."

Cao Yang hurriedly interjected from the side, and then said to the two sisters who seemed to have a "very good" relationship: "As for you two, I won't introduce you. You can just call her Sister Qing."

"What Han Zong or Director Han? You are with Cao Yang; just call me senior brother."

Afterwards, everyone chatted for a while, and Han Zong let the two go watch the movie first. He called the cinema manager over, mainly to understand the situation of the midnight screening.

Through questioning, Cao Yang and Han Zong had a rough idea.

Although this film had already earned 200 million before its release, to say that they didn't value the domestic box office would certainly be a disrespect to power.

In Han Zong's position, making money is actually not the main thing.

And the domestic box office of Cao Yang's film is what Han Zong values most, after all, it is a task assigned by the superiors of the superiors.

As long as it is a task, for the China-headed China Film, it is undoubtedly the top priority, even if the purpose of testing the market has long been achieved.

This China Film Star Beauty Cinema launched three screening halls for the midnight screening of "Nine-Tailed Fox".

Among them, the tickets for the 36-seat VIP hall were all sold out, and the actual attendance rate for the two screening halls of 370 and 440 seats also reached over 95%.

Combined with the pre-sale ticket situation, only two tickets were not sold. The remaining empty ones were probably people who hadn't arrived yet or couldn't make it due to something.

This manager is also quite thoughtful; not only did he count the number of people present, but he also checked the pre-sale ticket situation based on the seating.

This situation is already very satisfactory. This is a midnight screening, and the country has not yet formed the habit of watching midnight screenings.

"I remember the midnight screening of 'Hero' was 800,000, right? When the box office came out, it shocked the entire film circle."

Han Zong said lightly.

You have to know that in 2002, the box office of many domestic films was only a few hundred thousand. A single midnight screening of Old Mouzi's "Hero" exceeded the total box office of many films. How could the film world not be shocked?

"Han Zong is right. The midnight screening of 'Hero' was 800,000. This year, this record was broken again by Director Zhang's 'House of Flying Daggers'. The midnight screening of 'House of Flying Daggers' was 1.7 million. This result shocked the film and television circle again."

The cinema manager smiled and explained to Han Zong, then continued:

"However, whether it is 'Hero' or 'House of Flying Daggers', the attendance rate of the midnight screening at China Film Star Beauty is not as good as 'Nine-Tailed Fox'.

I just specifically called several other brother cinemas, and the attendance rate is about the same as here, all over 90%.

Cao Dao's film should be able to break the record of 'House of Flying Daggers' and become a new benchmark."

Look, why can people become cinema managers? Things are done without being told, and words are comfortable for the listener.

Going back at night, Dong Xuan seemed very excited. Cao Yang taking her out and introducing her to others was more important to her than anything else.

First, the single ponytail; the rider still likes it very much, very suitable for galloping with a whip.

After one round, she said she wanted to give Cao Yang a surprise.

Cao Yang waited for ten minutes, and then saw the Goddess Dragon, Shangguan Yan, walk in biting a strand of hair.

This outfit, that sharp temperament and gaze, was simply like the Goddess Dragon, Shangguan Yan, walking out of the TV.

"Saving your life is simple, but saving your heart is especially difficult. Your heart is burdened with too many things, so even when you smile, you are not happy, and I am willing to use the power of the whole world to exchange for your sincere smile."

"Goddess Dragon" walked over and said, picking Cao Yang's chin.

Heh, you're rebelling.

"Is that so? Then use some special way to make me smile sincerely!"

Cao Yang pulled back and reached in.

Immediately, his eyes lit up. He lifted the long dress of the costume and said, "Turn around, bite that strand of hair."

"Thief, I, Shangguan Yan, would rather die than submit!"

The Goddess Dragon bit a strand of hair in her mouth, glared at Cao Yang with anger, her eyes like knives, and her temperament cold and sharp.

Yes, very good, keep it up, that's it.

As a director, Cao Yang felt that Dong Xuan at this moment was full of acting.

The next day, Han Zong called early in the morning and excitedly said that last night's midnight screening box office was 2.2 million, creating a new record.

(End of this chapter)