Chapter 455: Xu Chujing Has Paid the Final Installment

This year's Spring Festival is early; New Year's Eve falls at the end of January.

There is still some time before the release of *Monkey King: Hero is Back*, but a new Monday has arrived just like that, and the chart battle between "Wukong" and "Legend" has officially raised its curtain.

At exactly twelve o'clock noon, Luo Mo Studio and Xu Chujing Studio uploaded these two songs to Penguin Music at the same time.

The employees of the two studios naturally do not know that their big bosses have a private wager, and an adult version at that.

They are even using the studios' official Weibo accounts to interact, presenting a harmonious and loving scene, indicating that it doesn't matter who climbs higher on the chart, as they are one big family anyway.

Little do they know that the two principals have braced themselves, even mobilizing the power of their inner vows, praying that they will cut through the charts like bamboo and reach the top spot!

"I want to be on top!" Luo Mo does not want to lose.

Otherwise, his own ending will truly be the same as that line of lyrics in "Wukong".

How can there be such a cohabitation of purity in this world!

Shaking with cold, it is time for us men to stand up!

Therefore, while the two studios are harmonious and loving, and the fans on both sides are playfully memeing online, Luo Mo and Xu Chujing, the man and woman living under the same roof, meet at home today only to exchange a glance and then snort coldly at each other.

In short, establish the momentum first; even if you lose the battle, don't lose the stance!

This morning, the two of them took a flight back to Shanghai.

Once twelve o'clock noon hit, Penguin Music treated everyone equally, placing both of their songs together in the large banner on the homepage.

Even the pop-up advertisements promoted the two songs side by side.

This caused the streaming and download data for both songs to be almost evenly matched at the start.

Those who like "Wukong" will also listen to "Legend" in passing.

Those who like "Legend" will also spontaneously go to listen to "Wukong".

But overall, "Wukong" still has the advantage.

After all, the emotional resonance of the entire "Wukong" song is stronger, so the popularity of the stage performance video is a cut above "Legend".

This has nothing to do with the quality of the songs, only with their attributes.

Therefore, by three or four in the afternoon, "Wukong" had basically secured its throne at number one on the New Song Chart and the Rising Chart.

This makes Luo Mo hum songs or whistle from time to time while chopping vegetables after he finishes cooking.

Since his debut, he has released so many songs and dominated the charts so many times.

But any previous time he dominated the charts feels completely different from today.

Xu Chujing is curled up on the sofa barefoot, occasionally glancing at the smug Luo Mo, unable to help but reveal a helpless smile on her face.

She feels that Luo Mo at this moment is actually quite like a cute big boy.

But when he looks up to meet her eyes, Xu Chujing immediately changes her expression, her face full of frost, and after a slight cold snort, she turns her head away and continues watching TV as if nothing happened.

But in reality, she is already thinking in her mind: "How should I do it tonight."

………

………

At four o'clock sharp in the afternoon, some executives and personnel responsible for film scheduling at Xindi Cinema Chain held a meeting together.

In the meeting, they discussed two points.

"How much to increase the screenings for *Monkey King: Hero is Back*."

"Which film or films should have their screenings cut to give to *Monkey King: Hero is Back*?"

Two-thirds of the cinema chains have already completely finalized their screenings for the first three days and signed the Contract.

Xindi Cinema Chain, however, has not.

Chen Kai, the head of Xindi Cinema Chain, expressed a very firm attitude: to increase the screenings of *Monkey King: Hero is Back* at Xindi Cinema by fifty percent, and to reserve some prime slots every night from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year.

In the meeting, many people did not understand why Chen Kai wanted to do this.

Including his son-in-law Mengjiang.

This son-in-law of the Chen family is still a bit too green.

After the meeting ended, he and Chen Kai took the same car home.

On the way, he hesitated to speak several times, all of which Chen Kai saw.

"Are you trying to ask me why I want to increase the number of screenings for *Monkey King: Hero is Back* so much?" Chen Kai asked.

Mengjiang nodded and said, "Isn't it a bit too much of an increase, and the ticket price for *Monkey King: Hero is Back* is also too low."

He feels it is not very cost-effective.

Chen Kai sighed in his heart, thinking he should just focus on raising his youngest son well.

This son-in-law is of no use.

He said, "What is the most important thing for our Xindi in these past few years?"

"Expanding the number of cinemas nationwide," Mengjiang said.

To be precise, Xindi's goal is to double the number of cinemas within five years, reaching 300!

Everyone might have the impression that many years ago, especially in some small cities, there might only be one or two cinemas in the entire city.

But look at it now.

Let alone in the city center, even in the suburbs or towns, there might be cinemas!

The current situation on Blue Star is similar to the period around 2014 on Earth.

The explosion period of the film industry has long since arrived, and Xindi's five-year plan is really not a pipe dream.

Chen Kai continued, "There will be more and more cinemas in the future, and the competition will also become greater."

"Right now, it's just that the market is prosperous, and it seems like as long as you open one, you can make money."

It was like this on Earth a few years ago; movie theaters were a good project comparable to KFC, and basically, as long as you opened one, it was not easy to lose money.

But it's hard to say a few years from now.

Chen Kai said: "When it reaches saturation, or even exceeds it, then the audience's favorability and experience will become very important."

"At the same time, a cinema's brand awareness will also be very important." Having said this, Chen Kai stopped speaking and began to close his eyes to rest his mind.

Seeing that his father-in-law was no longer paying attention to him, Mengjiang opened his mouth, but did not dare to speak again.

In Chen Kai's view, since *Monkey King: Hero is Back* could get Huang Lun involved and bring him out of retirement, the quality surely wouldn't be bad.

Plus, with the initial buzz being so explosive, the current screening schedule would certainly be unable to satisfy the audience's Demand in the early stages.

Then, a large amount of discussion would appear on the internet.

Such as: "Ah! The XX cinema near my house can't buy tickets for *Monkey King: Hero is Back*!"

"You not being able to buy them is fine; the XX cinema near my house barely even has a screening schedule!"

Just imagine, when everyone watches movies in their daily lives, who would specifically go on the internet to tell everyone, "I watched it at XX cinema"?

But what if others can't see *Monkey King: Hero is Back*?

Then someone would mention the name of Xindi Cinema.

"The Xindi Cinema near my house has a lot of screenings!"

"Xindi has a large screening volume, you can buy tickets."

"Speechless, with so many cinemas in the city, only Xindi has a relatively large number of screenings."

The effect comes just like that!

There are actually quite a few benefits similar to this.

Chen Kai's idea is very simple: he doesn't just want to earn the box office share from *Monkey King: Hero is Back*, he also wants to rely on *Monkey King: Hero is Back* to gain some potential benefits.

At the same time, he would do Luo Mo a personal favor.

………

………

The sky was gradually darkening, and Luo Mo and Xu Chujing had already finished dinner.

As usual, Xu Chujing was going to practice yoga for an hour.

She went to the room and changed into a black sports bra and black yoga pants.

Her curvaceous figure was thus revealed completely.

These days, the so-called "slightly plump" look has started to become popular.

But one must know, the "slightly plump" that men say they like is being thin where one should be thin, and being full where one should be full.

Those who know the taste understand that certain places still need to have some fleshiness, otherwise the experience will be extremely poor.

Although it is said that women are made of water, a full-figured woman is the one who is "truly made of water."

As per the old routine, Xu Chujing did not let Luo Mo enter the yoga room to watch her do yoga from the side.

After she closed the door, she left Luo Mo outside, his mind wandering.

But in reality, whenever Xu Chujing did yoga in the past, her heart was very calm, in a state of having no distracting thoughts.

But today, looking at herself in the mirror on the wall, looking at her beautiful face and fiery figure, she would also have wild thoughts from time to time.

"I didn't sweat this much when practicing yoga in the past." After the hour ended, Xu Chujing looked at her fair, delicate neck and the deep collarbones beneath it, unable to help but mutter to herself.

When she pushed open the door of the yoga room and came to the living room, she happened to see Luo Mo washing cherries.

Speaking of which, there is a wealth standard these days called "achieving cherry freedom."

"Eat some fruit and take a break?" Luo Mo asked, looking up.

He only took one glance, and he felt a bit dry-mouthed.

The sight of the goddess Xu, drenched in fragrant sweat, really made one's heart restless.

"I'll take a shower first." Xu Chujing felt a bit uncomfortable and said to Luo Mo.

"Okay." Luo Mo nodded.

Inside the master bedroom's bathroom, after Xu Chujing took a shower, she draped a bath towel over herself and walked to the mirror.

During the process of showering, she had been struggling and conflicted in her heart.

She had previously only paid the 【deposit】, and now that she had lost the bet, the 【final payment】 was definitely unavoidable.

The point was, should she pay it voluntarily, or wait for him to come and collect the debt?

This woman, who always had a powerful aura and liked to hold the initiative, rarely had such psychological activity.

In front of Luo Mo, she often couldn't be strong.

It had been a long time since she had last dreamed of herself turning into a Cat.

But when staying with Luo Mo, some subconscious actions would still be a bit uncomposed.

Luo Mo's hands always had a magical power; when they touched her, there was a feeling of a cat being petted.

Don't forget, she had previously consulted a Psychologist about several very shameful questions.

That was, after entering the state of being petted like a cat, she would really be like a clingy cat, wanting to... lick or lightly bite his fingers or the back of his hand.

Xu Chujing raised her head; mist was rising in the bathroom, but the mirror was the type that wouldn't fog up, so the reflection was still incomparably clear.

She looked at her full, red lips and tried putting one of her fingers into her mouth.

Looking at the scene before her, a strong sense of shame and many indescribable emotions instantly exploded in the bottom of her heart.

This made her incomparably resistant.

"This scene, this is too..."

She shook her head, telling herself not to have wild thoughts anymore. After removing the bath towel wrapped around her body, she changed into a dark blue lace and silk nightgown.

Hmm, the nightgown was very skin-tight.

As soon as Xu Chujing opened the bathroom door, she saw that Luo Mo was already lying in the covers of the master bedroom.

The two of them were already used to sleeping under the same quilt, so this was nothing.

However, what made Xu Chujing slightly displeased was: "How come you got into the quilt without taking a shower?"

She had a mild case of mysophobia; it didn't affect living with her, she was just quite fond of cleanliness.

A woman who loves cleanliness—who wouldn't love that?

Luo Mo looked up at her and replied instantly: "I did shower."

"Hmm?" Xu Chujing was stunned.

"When you were practicing yoga, I had nothing to do, so I washed my hair and took a shower while I was at it," Luo Mo said.

"Doesn't the guest bedroom lack a hair dryer?" Xu Chujing asked.

"No need, no need." Luo Mo waved his hand and did not continue the topic.

He simply stretched out his large hand and patted the large bed.

Xu Chujing ignored him and walked to the vanity on her own, then found a bottle of body lotion among a pile of skincare bottles and jars.

It was deep winter now, and the New Year was almost here.

In the middle of winter, it is normal for skin to be dry.

A refined woman would not just do facial skincare and only keep her face hydrated and elastic.

That kind of light and non-sticky body lotion is a winter necessity.

It doesn't just act as a moisturizer; it can also make your skin become more radiant, with a smoother and more delicate touch.

Everyone's body skin condition is different; for Xu Chujing, the skin on her legs would be drier in winter, while other areas had no issues.

Therefore, after squeezing out the body lotion, she intended to bend down to rub it onto her legs.

But after sensing Luo Mo's gaze looking this way, she immediately dismissed the idea of bending over.

After all, she was wearing a camisole nightdress, and the neckline of the dress was still below her collarbone.

She began to cross her two slender legs, placing her left leg over her right, so that she could rub in the body lotion without needing to bend over too much.

And once the left leg was propped up like this, the left buttock cheek would naturally lift up, following along slightly raised, with a portion suspended over the chair back.

Because the right buttock cheek was sitting on the chair back, pressing against the nightdress, it would definitely cause the nightdress on the other side to be pulled downward.

In this way, it became even tighter and closer to the skin.

With the dress stretched like this, there happened to be a recessed line in the middle, parallel to the gluteal cleft.

Luo Mo watched from the bed, seeing that after the body lotion was applied, under the bedroom lights, the skin looked as if it were glowing.

After all, most body lotion ingredients contain oil.

After finishing rubbing her slender, fair left leg, Xu Chujing did a swap, just like the "high-leg-lift transformation" videos common on Douyin.

It was just that the clothes hadn't changed.

She knew he was watching her, and he knew she knew he was watching her.

A tacit understanding; both were building up the final atmosphere and mood.

After finishing, Xu Chujing finally started walking toward the large bed in the master bedroom.

Just now, Luo Mo's gaze, which had been unable to look away, gave the Heavenly Queen Xu more confidence in herself.

The words of the female Psychologist began to echo in her ears: "With your conditions, just do a little something, and wouldn't he be completely infatuated?"

"Turn off the lights," Xu Chujing said directly.

"Huh? It's only nine o'clock; it'll be pitch black if I turn off the lights. Can you see?" Luo Mo said.

"I can see; I played the Cat Demon," Xu Chujing gave Luo Mo a look with her alluring eyebrows and eyes.

Seeing that her tone was like a command, Luo Mo stretched out his slender and sturdy arms and *snap*, turned off the lights.

The next moment, he felt something soft burrow into his arms, and heat began to rise continuously from his neck.

That was Xu Chujing's warm breath.

This warm current passed over his neck, circled around his chin, and continued all the way to his left ear.

That itchy and tingling sensation made Luo Mo's body stiffen slightly.

And the next moment, his brain and consciousness exploded.

Because this woman who said she played a Cat Demon lightly touched Luo Mo's ear with her lips, and with a faint sound that seemed to be squeezed out from her throat, as if it were leaking out, she trembled and said: "Meow~".

(PS: To be safe, just one 4000+ chapter today, begging for monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter)