novelraw Chapter 57: Box Office Surges on Opening Day
Chapter 57: Box Office Surges on Opening Day
Liu Haocun sat on the sofa, holding her phone. The screen showed messages from her fan group, with everyone posting pictures of their ticket stubs. "Look, so many people went to see it," she said, handing the phone to Tian Xiwei with a smile in her eyes.
Li Yitong had just finished a phone interview with a reporter when she came in and said, "The feedback from outside is very good; there are a lot of funny and touching moments."
At one o'clock in the morning, Li Yi called right on time, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Director Lin! The box office on the first day has surpassed 60 million! It exceeded expectations!"
The room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers. Tian Xiwei jumped up and threw herself into Lin Feng's arms: "Brother Feng! We did it!"
"Yes, we succeeded." Raymond Lam patted her on the back. From conceiving the script last year to pre-production, filming, and promotion, it had taken almost a year, and finally, it paid off.
Liu Haocun took out his phone and made a call home: "Mom, our movie is doing very well at the box office... Yes, I'm very happy too."
Li Yitong opened her suitcase and pulled out a few cans of beer: "Even though we have to travel tomorrow, we should still celebrate."
"I want a Coke!" Tian Xiwei raised her hand.
Lin Feng sent Zhou Ming a message: "Senior brother, we're a couple." A few seconds later, the phone rang. Zhou Ming's voice smacked with alcohol: "Good lad! I knew you could do it! Let's have a drink together when you get back!"
"must."
The celebration didn't last long. Lin Feng checked his watch and said, "Get some rest. We're going to Chongqing tomorrow."
"We're going home!" Tian Xiwei cheered, her eyes full of anticipation.
Back in his room, Lin Feng immediately sent Li Yitong a message: "Come to my place."
A knock came quickly, and Li Yitong stood in the doorway in a nightgown, her hair loosely tied up. "It's so late, is there something you need?" she asked, feigning ignorance.
Lin Feng pulled her inside, picked her up, and spun her around: "We did it!"
"Put me down quickly," Li Yitong patted his shoulder, "I'm dizzy."
He placed her on the bed, forehead to forehead, his breath tinged with excitement: "After preparing for so long, this day has finally come."
"I know you're happy," Li Yitong said with a smile, touching his face, "but you don't need to spin around like that."
"Not enough," he said, lowering his head to kiss her lips. "We need to celebrate properly tonight." He suddenly remembered something, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Did you bring what I asked you to bring?"
Li Yitong's cheeks flushed instantly, and she whispered, "I brought it."
"You truly are my sweet little kitty," Lin Feng chuckled, gently pinching her chin. "How many?"
"Three, three." Her voice was barely audible.
"Are three enough?"
Li Yitong gave him a reproachful look: "Three isn't enough? Don't you treat me like a human being?"
"I was just too excited tonight," he whispered in her ear, "maybe... it wasn't enough."
The lights in the room gradually dimmed, and Li Yitong could clearly feel his heartbeat, which, like his, was filled with barely suppressed joy.
The next morning, Lin Feng was woken up by his phone alarm. He opened his eyes to find sunlight streaming into the room through the window. Torn stockings lay scattered on the floor, their black, white, and flesh-colored hues mixed together like fallen flower petals.
Li Yitong was still lying on the bed, fast asleep, her long eyelashes casting faint shadows under her eyelids.
"Time to get up." He gently patted her back.
Li Yitong hummed and buried her head in the pillow, clearly still half asleep.
"If you don't get up now, Oda will be here."
Those words were like a spell; Li Yitong suddenly opened her eyes, struggled to sit up, her gaze still somewhat dazed. "What time is it?"
"It's eight o'clock," Lin Feng said, glancing at his watch. "We have an hour to go."
Li Yitong dragged her tired body out of bed, tidying her clothes while giving him a sidelong glance: "It's all your fault, staying up so late."
"It's because we succeeded." Lin Feng smiled and helped her fix her hair.
"I can't be bothered with you." Li Yitong picked up her coat, quickly walked out of the room, and returned to her residence. She stood in front of the mirror, looking at the dark circles under her eyes, and sighed helplessly. This boss, when he gets excited, there's really nothing you can do.
Half an hour later, everyone gathered in the hotel lobby. Tian Xiwei, full of energy, pulled Lin Feng aside and asked, "Brother Feng, when are we going to Shancheng? I want to eat hot pot at our usual spot!"
"We'll arrive around 3 PM."
"yeah!"
Seeing Tian Xiwei's excited expression, Liu Haocun laughed and said, "Are you homesick, or are you craving hot pot?"
"I want them all!" Tian Xiwei said without hesitation. "I want my mom's braised pork, I want the ice jelly from the alleyway, and I also want..."
On August 1st, the mountain city was filled with a humid heat. The wind from the Jialing River carried the aroma of hot pot broth, which felt warm on people's faces.
Lin Feng led his group out of the airport. Tian Xiwei took a deep breath and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "This smell! It's so much better than the air outside!"
"You have such a keen sense of smell." Raymond Lam chuckled and patted her on the back. "Let's go eat hot pot first, then we have to rush to the roadshow in an hour."
They went to a hot pot restaurant that had been open for thirty years in an old alley. As soon as the spicy broth was served, Tian Xiwei couldn't wait to pour in the tripe and duck intestines, muttering, "This is real hot pot! The ones outside have no soul at all!"
"Eat quickly, there's no time left." Lin Feng glanced at his watch. Tian Xiwei had already finished a bowl of ice jelly, with brown sugar stains still on the corners of her mouth.
The largest cinema in the mountain city was already packed with people. A red banner read "Welcome Director Raymond Lam home," and the audience held up signs that read "Li Shiqing, we love you" and "Go Shi Miao!" There were also signs that read "Zai'er Xiongqi" written in Chongqing dialect.
As soon as the host announced her name, Tian Xiwei skipped and hopped onto the stage, speaking in fluent Chongqing dialect: "Fellow Chongqing natives, I'm back!"
Cheers erupted from the audience, with someone shouting, "Weiwei, you've brought glory to Chongqing!"
Tian Xiwei's eyes immediately reddened, and she scratched her head: "It's all thanks to Brother Feng's excellent teaching."
When it was Raymond Lam's turn to go on stage, the applause from the audience was even louder. An audience member asked in a thick Chongqing accent, "Director Lam, your movie was fantastic! I want to ask, in the finale of 'The Beginning' tonight, did Li Shiqing appear at the end?"
The whole audience laughed. Li Yitong took the microphone and said with a smile, "You'll know after you watch it tonight. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."
A girl in a school uniform stood up, clutching her movie ticket stub: "Director Lin, after watching 'Take My Brother Away,' I immediately called my brother, and he called me crazy..." She started crying as she spoke, "But I just wanted to tell him that I don't hate him for taking my snacks anymore."
Tian Xiwei handed her a pack of tissues, her eyes also reddening: "I used to always argue with Brother Feng, but now I know that he secretly saved up my allowance for half a year to buy dance shoes."
The audience members were moved to tears, with one shouting, "That's how siblings are! They complain on the surface, but they're really heartbroken inside!"
Halfway through the roadshow, someone held up their phone and shouted, "The finale of 'The Beginning' is trending! Wang Mengmeng's truth is so touching!"