Chapter 123: A Young Girl's Thoughts

On the afternoon of October 1, 2002, the *Whiplash* production team began their first roadshow in the Central and South China regions in Changsha.

It was a familiar, well-practiced routine, but because the provincial television station in Hunan Province had a high degree of entertainment focus, Zhou Zhou Jielun had an especially large number of fans there.

His last visit to *Happy Camp* had also been a situation where tickets were hard to come by, and this first roadshow was once again packed tight by a crowd of supporters.

Boss Lu became increasingly proud of his decision to choose him; with the film's quality guaranteed, this was a box-office panacea!

"Lu Kuan, when do you think I'll be able to have this many fans?"

Liu Liu Yifei watched with envy as Zhou Zhou Jielun signed autographs for enthusiastic fans and sighed.

She wasn't exactly jealous, she just felt that this kind of feeling of gaining recognition in certain aspects would be very fulfilling.

"You? It's still a long way off."

Boss Lu's general approach toward her was to dampen her spirits first and offer encouragement second.

Having lived a relatively affluent and smooth life since childhood, if he were to keep flattering her in every word, how much would she end up floating in the clouds?

Liu Liu Yifei was used to his teasing and didn't mind: "Xiao Lu, let's sneak off to the night market after we finish, shall we?"

"I heard Changsha has lots of delicious food: stinky tofu, sugar-oil rice cakes, soy-braised duck, rice noodles..."

Boss Lu glanced at her thighs and gave her a look to interpret for herself.

Liu Liu Yifei made a small fist at his back and looked at her own figure with a grimace.

She was at an age where she was still growing, and although her consumption was high, her appetite was not small either.

And because of her unremitting morning training, her thighs and calves already had faint traces of muscle definition.

Anyone who has ever lost weight knows that this kind of muscular bulk is the hardest to shape.

The pacing of domestic films had always been on the slow side; this was the first time audiences were seeing a film like *Whiplash* with such a dense narrative rhythm and frequent plot twists.

It wasn't just the audience at the Changsha premiere tonight, but also in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and the Yangtze River Delta, where the production team had put in great effort to finish their roadshows; the film's word-of-mouth and acclaim were constantly fermenting.

【Beijing, Beijing Dance Academy】

Liu Liu Shishi, who had just enrolled this year, had just returned from the cinema with her roommate, still immersed in the adrenaline-fueled atmosphere of the film and unable to pull herself out.

She had started learning ballet at age six, entered an arts school in the fourth grade of elementary school, and had lived on campus from childhood to adulthood to have more time to practice dance.

"Liu Shishi, this movie by Lu Kuan is so good! I want to come see it again tomorrow!"

Liu Liu Shishi smiled gently; her feelings were much deeper than those of most ordinary audience members.

"In this world, there is no evaluation more harmful than 'not bad'."

How well said; it reminded her of her own dance career, but where should the road lead in the future?

The young girl clenched her fists and silently cheered herself on: Come on!

【Beijing, Beijing Film Academy】

"Ling Ling Xiaosu, give me a straight answer, is it going to work or not?"

Yao Chen had truly been quite stimulated today.

He had seen Lu Kuan and that young girl who was lucky enough to become the lead actress at the freshman orientation ceremony at the Beijing Film Academy this year.

But today, having actually gone to the cinema to watch this Golden Lion Award-winning film and hearing the endless praise for Liu Liu Yifei's beauty in her ears, she finally couldn't help but lash out at her boyfriend.

"Chenchen, this Lu Kuan is indeed not easy to approach for the time being. It's said that when Zhang Cui Jian from the Beijing circle tried to shove his son in before, he only ended up doing odd jobs, this..."

Yao Chen glared: "I don't care about that. I'm about to graduate, and I don't want to mix with those low-end television crews anymore. If an actor wants to be famous, they must get on the big screen and win awards!"

"Look at that little girl in the movie just now, she's only 15! Look at how the internet is covered with her red carpet photos, and what about me? What about me?"

"Ling Ling Xiaosu! I've been with you for almost two years, can you show some responsibility as a man!"

Ling Ling Xiaosu's expression also turned ugly; he wanted to get angry at his girlfriend but couldn't bear to, so he could only humble himself.

"I... I'll think of another way. Don't worry, Chenchen, even if it's not Lu Kuan's movie, there are others, I'll definitely put in the effort for you!"

Only then did Yao Chen's mood turn from cloudy to sunny; that's more like it, always putting in effort in bed instead of under the bed!

Useless!

Her eye for picking a boyfriend was impeccable.

Ling Ling Xiaosu's mother was a producer and director at the Xi'an Film Studio;

His great-grandfather was Ling Zifeng, one of China's third-generation directors;

His great-grandmother was Shi Lianxing, one of the four major stars of the Yan'an period;

His great-aunt and great-uncle were both closed-door disciples of Qi Baishi...

I, a pure maiden, gave my body to you, so what's wrong with wanting some good resources from your family? What's wrong with that? Is it too much to ask?

【Beijing, a courtyard in Liuliqiao, Fengtai District】

"Mom, I still want to act in movies."

Zhang Zhang Weixin was knitting a sweater with leisure; given her family's conditions, there was no need for her to knit herself, it was just a hobby.

She smiled without even lifting her eyelids: "Are you tired of filming TV dramas again?"

Her daughter had been taken to film sets by her since she was three, and she had taught her acting hand-in-hand.

At the age of 17, because her good friend Chen Chong and Yan Yan Geling's *Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl* won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, she embarked on the path of an actor.

Li Li Xiaolu was only a dozen days younger than Fan Fan Bingbing, but her resources and background were far more formidable.

Take this courtyard the mother and daughter were in, for instance; the famous Beijing-circle director Ye Ye Daying also grew up here. This surname alone explained a lot.

Li Li Xiaolu was searching for information on the young director Lu Kuan on her blog, thinking about *Whiplash* which she had watched at the cinema that evening.

She was currently on the set of *Thirteen Princess*, a Qing dynasty drama starring her alongside Li Chen, Lü Yang Liping, and others.

"Mom, do you have any acquaintances who can get in touch with Lu Kuan?"

Zhang Zhang Weixin was stunned: "Lu Kuan? That Golden Lion Award-winning director?"

"Yeah, I checked his profile, he's the same age as me, super talented, and he looks super handsome too!"

"Mom, I want to act in his movie, can I?"

Zhang Zhang Weixin looked at her daughter with doting eyes.

"Sure! Why not? Mom will ask for you right now."

She put down her phone, flipped through her address book, found Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang's name, and dialed.

A single film, *Whiplash*, ignited the passion of film lovers in over a dozen cities and subtly changed the life trajectories of many people in the circle.

In the vanity fair that was the entertainment industry, Lu Kuan's name finally entered the field of vision of every circle thanks to this masterpiece.

People might have forgotten the nickname "Little Immortal" that was once joked about in the streets.

But no one could deny his overflowing talent as a young film director.

Some envied, some were jealous, some were hostile.

Those who wanted to put in the effort to win him over, those who wanted to offer themselves to strike a deal, those who saw him as a competitor—the list went on.

October 2, 2002, Changsha Huatian Hotel, Lu Kuan's room.

Boss Lu was skillfully checking the response to *Whiplash* after its first day of release on various websites, with a stack of newspapers piled by his side.

Liu Liu Yifei was also in his room.

Of course, Liu Liu Xiaoli was also present.

"How is it? It's all praise for us, right?"

The young girl hadn't slept well all night from excitement, and early in the morning, she had come to Lu Kuan's room with her mother to wait for the first-day box office data.

Coincidentally, Feng Feng Yuanzheng, Zhou Zhou Jielun, Huang Bo...

Everyone gathered together by unspoken agreement, eagerly awaiting the results of the first battle.

Boss Lu watched with a smile as everyone filed in; just as he was about to pull out his cigarette case, he was met with a stern look from Liu Liu Yifei and sheepishly stuffed it back into his pocket.

With ladies present, one still had to maintain some gentlemanly conduct.

Huang Bo was a lively one; seeing everyone's anxious expressions, he took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere.

"Director Lu, I spent all night in an internet cafe browsing the forums yesterday, guess what?"

"Are you performing a crosstalk act? Speak!"

"It was nothing but rave reviews! Every single one of them was praising us!"

Everyone was amused by his exaggerated tone and expressions, when suddenly, Lu Kuan's phone rang.

He picked up the phone; it was Yu Dong.

Lu Kuan turned on the speakerphone: "Old Yu, tell us."

In 2002, the national cinema chains were not networked; it was basically all manual ticket tearing, so box office statistics were neither precise nor fast.

By the time the internet era arrived, the box office numbers would pop up as soon as midnight passed.

Heavy breathing could be heard faintly from the other end of the line, and everyone's hearts skipped a beat.

Did it flop?

"Di... Director Lu."

Boss Lu's hand reached for the cigarette case again involuntarily; it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

Confidence was one thing, but when truly facing the results of the first day's major test, no one could remain indifferent in the face of the storm.

The market is always worth fearing.

"Old Yu, go ahead and say it, no matter the result, we can handle it!"

Of course he could handle it; with the North American rights and Asian distribution rights settled, the film's profitability had already reached an astonishing level.

But the mainland box office was always an issue he needed to pay attention to, because this was the blue ocean of the future, the treasury of the future, and the market that all directors and investors had to seize.

"2... 2.17 million!"

Don't think this number is low; this was the Chinese film market in 2002.

*Green Tea*, featuring Jiang Wen and Zhao Wei, only had a first-day box office of 600,000, not to mention that the cost of *Whiplash* was only around 6 million.

"What!"

This was Feng Yuan.

"Damn! That's awesome!"

This was Zhou Zhou Jielun.

"Ahhhhh!"

This was the screaming Liu Liu Yifei.

Lu Kuan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief; this number slightly exceeded expectations.

The first-day screen allocation for *Whiplash* was not high, only 15%.

The biggest competitors during the same period were the Xiangjiang films *Tugging at the Heartstrings* and *Lion Roars*, as well as Chen Kaige's *Together*.

Their screen allocations were all slightly higher than *Whiplash*.

This was unavoidable; one had an all-star Xiangjiang cast, and the other was by a director famous for winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

Although it was no exaggeration to call Boss Lu a rising star, the theater chains still didn't dare to give him too many screenings.

Regardless, recouping nearly one-third of the film's production cost in box office on the first day was already quite rare.

This was also the advantage of a low-budget film; the pressure to turn a profit was low.

Yu Dong also laughed heartily: "I've already made appointments with all the theater chain bosses in Beiping today. They must increase our screenings today. With this quality and this word-of-mouth, I don't believe they'd turn down money!"

"Old Yu, drink without worry. If you drink yourself to death, it counts as a work-related injury!"

"Go to hell!"

Yu Dong laughed and cursed as he hung up the phone; Lu Kuan's room was filled with joy.

Boss Lu was far from being that optimistic; this was only the first day, and besides, they had budgeted over 3 million for promotion this time.

3 million in promotion fees looked like a lot, but it was quickly spent on a few high-angle billboards in first-tier cities, a few large outdoor screens, and elevator advertisements in several buildings.

Fortunately, he had the blog network in his hands, which was currently the public opinion tool with the most traffic in the country, and it could greatly compensate for their weakness in online promotion.

And this 3 million in promotion fees alone required at least 9 million in box office to break even.

Making movies is hard!

If he weren't a cheater, Boss Lu's first film would likely have been a guaranteed flop.

"2.3 million on the first day, that's over 20 million in ten days, wouldn't it break 50 million in a month?"

The young girl held an AD Calcium Milk in her hand, sipping it while letting her imagination run wild.

Everyone was amused by her, as the box office certainly couldn't be calculated that way, but the result was hard to say; it might fall short of expectations, or it might far exceed them.

"This is a good start, but the subsequent box office trend still depends on many factors."

Liu Liu Xiaoli and her daughter were relative outsiders in this room, and upon hearing this, they couldn't help but be puzzled: "Little Lu, can you explain it to us?"

"The first thing is definitely word-of-mouth, seeing the audience's reaction after the premiere."

"The better the word-of-mouth, the more viewers we get, and Yu Dong will have more confidence when negotiating screen allocations with the theater chains."

"The second thing is that we have to look at the performance of competing products."

"We chose to premiere in October, avoiding *Mission: Impossible 2* from September; there are only three films in the same period that can compete."

Boss Lu counted on his fingers to analyze the situation for everyone.

"I've seen Chen Kaige's *Together*; it's too pretentious, the plot is dull, and I estimate the screen allocation will drop."

"The lineup for *Tugging at the Heartstrings* with Xie Xie Tingfeng, Chen Chen Guanxi, and others is strong, and the box office should be good for the first few days, but the word-of-mouth will definitely collapse within a week, especially with us as a comparison."

"*Lion Roars* is our biggest rival; the final competition for screen allocation will be between us and them."

Lu Kuan and Yu Dong had studied the films scheduled for release in October and November, which were almost all domestic low-budget films, including Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang's *Springtime in a Small Town*.

In short, there wasn't a single one that could fight!

As long as the first-week box office holds steady, the fermentation of word-of-mouth will attract more audiences into the theaters.

Without considering the impact of piracy, becoming the Golden Week box office champion, or even the October box office champion, is not an unattainable dream!

Everyone happily returned to their rooms to pack their luggage, preparing for the afternoon flight to Shancheng.

"Little Liu, why haven't you left yet?"

Boss Lu had finished arguing with a few trolls online, and when he looked up, only Liu Liu Yifei was left in the room; Liu Liu Xiaoli was already gone.

"I... I..."

The young girl stammered, unable to speak.

"If you have something to say, say it; if you have a fart, let it out!"

Lu Kuan walked to the door and opened it wide.

This child, why does she have no guard against him at all?

"Lu Kuan, can I go with you to finish the roadshows this month before going back to the film crew?"

Zhang Zhang Jizhong was already going crazy; for the past few days, he had been bombarding Lu Kuan with over a dozen calls a day, nagging him to send Wang Wang Yuyan back quickly.

The *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* crew moved from Shidu to Peach Blossom Island, then to Yongchang in Zhejiang Province, and the final stop was the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Film City in Dali.

Lu Kuan laughed: "How can that be? If you're gone, is that bearded man still going to film this *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*?"

"What's wrong? Do you have something on your mind?"

Liu Liu Yifei muttered: "It's nothing, nothing at all."

Boss Lu watched strangely as she walked away, unhappy, and even slammed the door with emotion.

With a "bang," it left Lu Kuan feeling baffled.

Why did she suddenly throw a tantrum like a young lady?

In Liu Liu Yifei's room, Liu Liu Xiaoli was packing clothes; their flight was a bit earlier.

Liu Liu Xiaoli didn't notice her unusual mood and was busy folding her underwear.

Hmm, the daughter has grown up, the size should be changed.

"Eh, what is this?"

A small sapphire-blue embroidered satin sachet fell out of the clothes; smelling it carefully, there was a scent of Chinese herbal medicines like angelica and eupatorium.

The young girl approached like lightning, grabbed the small item in her hand, and forced herself to stay calm.

"This is for refreshing my mind when I read scripts, Mom."

Liu Liu Xiaoli laughed: "So diligent? Where did you get such a little thing? It's quite exquisite."

"Oh, this was made at a handicraft shop near the Beijing Film Academy that my classmate Jiang Jiang Yiyan took me to."

She pinched the small sachet with a guilty conscience and rubbed the few imperceptible red dots on her fingers—those were the marks left by needle pricks.

Thinking of Lu Kuan, who urged her to go to the *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* crew, she felt very aggrieved.

At the end of August, Lu Kuan asked Mei Mei Yanfang's personal designer, Liu Liu Peiji, to help the young girl design a gown for the red carpet.

At the time, Lu Kuan joked that it counted as her birthday gift for this year.

When the two went to the Sihe Academy together last month, she accidentally learned that Lu Kuan had a habit of staying up late to write scripts, but his original incense holder was broken.

She was very thoughtful and quietly asked Zhuang Xu for Lu Kuan's solar calendar birthday, October 10th every year.

This small sachet was originally a gift for him; now it looked like there was no way to give it away.

The fifteen-year-old girl stood quietly by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the lonely autumn scenery, with her mother's nagging instructions behind her.

Perhaps she herself had not yet realized the budding girlish feelings in her heart.

The next chapter might be risky; I am releasing it on a timer. If it gets censored after being posted, I will modify it during the day and post it again.

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(End of this chapter)