Chapter 286: I am not me

When the second day's box office came out, Chen Hong knew that *The Promise* had no hope.

The good news is that the box office of *The Promise* is very stable; the second day was even a little more than the first day, almost reaching 90,000 US dollars.

The bad news is that this is the total box office for 213 theaters.

Warner Independent has already given up on promotion. With the current box office situation, let alone increasing the number of theaters, the screenings will definitely be reduced next week.

However, Old Chen is still unwilling to give up and decided to finish the three cities planned, taking South Korea's Jang Dong-gun and Japan's Hiroyuki Sanada with him.

The promotional plan for San Francisco was canceled here, and Zhang Baizhi has already returned to Xiangjiang, leaving only Chen Hong in Los Angeles.

Cao Yang has an interview to promote *Zhu Nuo* this morning and will be free in the afternoon, but he feels that staying alone with Chen Hong is not a good thing, so he went to Columbia to catch up on the post-production of *Inception*.

Busy until past ten o'clock in the evening, Cao Yang finally went back.

"You're back? Why so late?"

Perhaps hearing the sound of the car engine, Chen Hong came out of the room and asked Cao Yang.

"Have you eaten?"

"Sorry, Sister Hong, I didn't disturb your rest, did I? In a few days, *Zhu Nuo* will be released, and the post-production of *Inception* is also at a critical juncture, so I've been busy until now. I've already eaten."

The reason he came back so late was actually because Cao Yang was afraid of the awkwardness of being alone with Chen Hong. He looked up at Chen Hong, just wanting to find some other topic to chat about, but didn't expect Chen Hong to be wearing a tight-fitting silk pajama, with many parts vaguely visible.

Just this attire added a bit of temptation, making one unable to resist looking a few more times.

Cao Yang hurriedly suppressed this thought.

However, he still couldn't help but glance at it. Under the light, it was clear that Chen Hong was not wearing a bra, and the shape of her bowls was very clear.

Silk pajamas are mostly translucent, not to mention that Chen Hong was wearing a short one that only covered her butt.

Cao Yang was a bit embarrassed for a moment and secretly scolded himself, "Do not look at what is improper," he shouldn't have glanced at that.

"Sister Hong, it's getting late, you should rest early. I still have some things to deal with on the computer," Cao Yang said hurriedly, pretending to be calm as he escaped from there.

Chen Hong's eyes followed Cao Yang's back until he closed the door to his room before she withdrew her gaze.

She pursed her lips, then, as if realizing it later, tightened her pajamas, hugged her chest with both hands, and was silent for a long time.

After a long while, she pulled the tightened pajamas open a bit and looked down at herself.

Then she pulled it open a bit more, looked again, sighed in an extremely low voice, and turned back to the bedroom.

Cao Yang lay on the bed, still not quite understanding Chen Hong's actions.

Did she really treat him as one of her own?

But even if it were one of her own, she shouldn't dress like this in front of her brother-in-law. At the very least, she should wear a bra or something less revealing.

It shouldn't mean that, right?

Cao Yang hurriedly shook his head, not letting himself run wild with thoughts. How could that be? Chen Hong is still quite decent... well, that was just with Old Teng...

Forget it, don't think about it, sleep.

In a daze, not knowing how long he had slept, Cao Yang seemed to hear a knock on the door again.

He was a bit groggy and thought it was Baizhi knocking on the door again, so he opened the door, and a figure slipped in.

Cao Yang closed the door, turned around, and was instantly jolted, waking up immediately.

"Hong..."

"Cao Dao, I am Baizhi. I'm going back to Xiangjiang tomorrow, and I want to accompany you one more night tonight."

The person directly interrupted Cao Yang's words and said softly.

"Don't be like this, Hong..."

"Call me Baizhi!"

"No, Hong..."

"I said, call me Baizhi!"

"You are my..."

"I am Baizhi," the person interrupted Cao Yang's words again and emphasized.

Cao Yang secretly sighed, not knowing how things had developed into this.

Now it seemed there was no way to communicate, so he could only open the door, preparing to leave here, secretly regretting that he shouldn't have come back tonight if he had known.

What kind of thing is this!

What is this called!

"Even if I am Baizhi, if you leave like this, how can I conduct myself in the future? How can I face people? How can I deal with myself?"

After the other party finished speaking, she hugged Cao Yang directly from behind.

"Didn't you... didn't we have a great time the past two days? Why are you pretending to be a gentleman today? I am Baizhi, and there is only Baizhi here."

"I..."

"Call me Baizhi."

Cao Yang just wanted to persuade her again, when suddenly his whole body shook.

Sigh!

Damn it, Baizhi, right?

You are Baizhi?

You don't want to go back to Xiangjiang tomorrow, right?

When Cao Yang woke up the next day, there was no one around him, including Baizhi, and it felt like he had had a somewhat shameful dream.

"Cao Yang, are you up? Time for breakfast."

Chen Hong's voice came from outside, giving Cao Yang a headache for a moment, not knowing what to do next.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and went to the living room.

Before he could speak, Chen Hong smiled and teased: "Young as you are, why are you up so late? Don't you have an exclusive interview today? Hurry up and eat."

"Sister Hong, yesterday..."

"What about yesterday? Did something happen? Oh, are you worried that I didn't sleep well because the box office of *The Promise* was not good? Don't worry, I slept very well yesterday. I slept quite well in my own room."

Chen Hong said while eating breakfast, her expression showing nothing unusual.

Cao Yang even stared at Chen Hong for a while, and there was indeed nothing unusual at all.

"Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?"

Chen Hong naturally touched her face with her hand. "No."

Alright, it seems Chen Hong is very normal.

Cao Yang didn't say anything more, maybe he really had a shameful dream.

Next, Cao Yang accepted an interview arranged by Fox Searchlight, then went to Columbia, and stayed out until past eleven o'clock in the evening before returning.

Then, as soon as he pushed open the door to his bedroom, he was startled.

It was the same person as yesterday, half-lying on the bed, the belt of her pajamas untied, wide open.

At this moment, the charm was fully displayed.

"Cao Dao, I'm going back to Xiangjiang tomorrow. Let me accompany you one last time tonight."

Cao Yang hesitated for a moment and said: "Baizhi?"

"Yes, Cao Dao, don't call the wrong name later. I like you calling me Baizhi."

"Are you sure you're going back to Xiangjiang tomorrow?"

"Yes."

As the other party said this, she stretched out her leg and lifted it.

She rubbed her foot against Cao Yang's thigh.

When Cao Yang woke up, there was indeed no one around him, so he just treated it as another good night's sleep.

"Cao Yang, get up and eat."

"Coming."

Cao Yang responded, reached out to open the door, then pulled back, hesitating for a moment.

It wasn't until Chen Hong called him a second time that he sighed, adjusted his mood, opened the door, and walked out.

"Hurry up and eat, it's all cold."

Chen Hong complained.

"Sister Hong, yesterday..."

"I slept very well yesterday too. You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine. I've already come to terms with the box office of *The Promise*. If it can't sell at the box office in the US, then so be it."

After Chen Hong finished speaking, she smoothed her hair and added: "Old Chen is coming back today."

Cao Yang almost choked on the food in his mouth.

"Sister Hong, how did you think of being the producer of *The Promise*? Being a producer in the country is still very tiring."

Cao Yang made small talk, which was also a way to change the subject.

"Do you think I want to?"

Chen Hong rolled her eyes at Cao Yang and said: "You directors, whether famous or not, one by one, none of you are good things."

Cao Yang was speechless, not knowing if Chen Hong was pointing at the mulberry to curse the locust tree or speaking from experience.

"Don't look at Old Chen's serious appearance, humph, you don't know, that senior brother of yours has quite a few romantic debts outside."

Afterwards, she added softly: "None of the men are good things."

"I am a producer, managing the messy chores of the crew, just a big manager. However, I can at least keep an eye on Old Chen at all times to prevent him from being unable to resist temptation..."

Cao Yang touched his nose, a bit embarrassed.

Chen Hong might have remembered something and stopped talking for a moment.

In the first three days of the weekend, *The Promise* "boldly took" 280,000 in box office, and you couldn't find it even after flipping through several pages of the North American weekend box office chart.

Ranked first is Tom Cruise's *Mission: Impossible 3*, with a box office of a little over 48 million in the first three days of the weekend. Although it ranked first, as a sequel film, it was a bit unsatisfactory.

You have to know that the first *Mission: Impossible* started in 3,000 theaters, and the first weekend box office reached over 45 million.

*Mission: Impossible 2* opened in 3,600 theaters, and the first weekend was 57 million.

*Mission: Impossible 3* opened in more than 4,000 theaters. This opening scale ranks fourth in North American film history, second only to the three super blockbusters *Shrek 2*, *Spider-Man 2*, and *Madagascar*.

According to everyone's expectations, a box office of at least 60 million or more would be considered qualified.

*Spider-Man 2*, which was also released in more than 4,000 theaters, had a single-day box office of 40.5 million, and the first weekend reached a super box office of 115 million.

*Mission: Impossible 3* did not explode, which made Fox Searchlight and Cao Yang breathe a sigh of relief. Don't look at the fact that the genre is different from *Zhu Nuo*; if *Mission: Impossible 3* had exploded, it would still affect *Zhu Nuo*'s results.

*Zhu Nuo* started large-scale screenings on the 14th. This day was a Sunday, and it did not follow the convention of being released on the 12th, which was a Friday.

The reason is actually very simple: the 14th is Mother's Day, which fits the theme of *Zhu Nuo* very well, and the promotion during this period has been focusing on this aspect.

However, because of this, *Zhu Nuo* is at a disadvantage on the North American first-week box office chart. Others are the box office for the three days of the weekend, while *Zhu Nuo* is the box office for one day.

On the evening of the 13th, Fox Searchlight held a grand premiere, inviting many stars and big names who have cooperative relationships with Fox, and Cao Yang also invited many people he was familiar with.

It was mainly to build momentum for *Zhu Nuo*.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 287 =====