Volume Two: Shadows of the Past, Chapter Eighty-Six: The Current State of Chinese Cinema

Most people held an approving attitude toward Chen Jing speaking up in support of Zhang Qishan's film. Regardless of Chen Jing's underlying motives, using the opportunity of his own movie's release to promote another person's good film was considered a rare and commendable gesture by many.

That was especially true given that Chen Jing did not limit his support to verbal promotion; he also offered one of his own songs as a promotional reward. For his fans, this was an immensely exciting prospect.

After all, this was entirely different from the previous Weibo campaign where songs were given away in exchange for likes. During that previous event, ordinary people had practically zero chance of actually acquiring a song written by Chen Jing. After all, how could the engagement of an everyday fan ever rival that of major celebrities? Consequently, that earlier event was nothing more than a passing amusement for the general public. Compared to that, the current movie-ticket song giveaway was far more appealing. As long as you went to see the film, you stood a chance of receiving a song composed by Chen Jing. Furthermore, the odds were equal for everyone, completely devoid of any backstage manipulation or dark operations.

Thus, Chen Jing's Weibo promotional campaign proved to be quite effective. Even those who were not his fans, when deciding which movie to watch among *Bloody Ridge* and the other competing releases, would likely recall Chen Jing's post if they hadn't already settled on a choice. They would figure they might as well opt for *Bloody Ridge* and test their luck to see if Chen Jing might ultimately select them to receive a song.

There were undoubtedly numerous people who thought this way, not to mention Chen Jing's massive established fan base.

As soon as Chen Jing's Weibo post went live, his fans enthusiastically flooded the comments section.

"I had no idea Boss Jing actually made an appearance in Director Zhang's *Bloody Ridge*. If he hadn't said anything, I would have been completely in the dark."

"Hehe, you guys clearly don't know the inside story, do you? *Bloody Ridge* is actually the very first film in which Boss Jing tried his hand at acting."

"I only noticed Boss Jing playing a character named Gu An when I watched *Bloody Ridge* today. Even though his screen time was minimal, Boss Jing's performance was quite impressive."

"I heard that Boss Jing went straight into directing *Shattering the Wolf* right after finishing *Bloody Ridge*. And then, just as Director Zhang's movie premiered, Boss Jing had finished *Shattering the Wolf* and released it simultaneously with Director Zhang."

"Holy shit, as expected of Boss Jing. When it comes to making movies, he's practically a speed gun."

"Chen Jing: Now you all know just how fast I can be, right?"

"Promoting someone else's movie right in the middle of his own film's theatrical run—I have to give a thumbs-up to Boss Jing's utterly selfless approach."

"Splendid! I honestly thought that once the like-for-song campaign ended, I'd never have another chance to get a song written by Boss Jing. Who would have guessed he'd launch a watch-a-movie-win-a-song event instead? Needless to say, I'm watching the film, which means Boss Jing's song is practically mine."

"In your dreams. One song per five hundred million in box office revenue—let's assume *Bloody Ridge* eventually hits two billion at the box office. That's a mere four songs. Yet a two-billion box office means nearly one hundred million people buying tickets. With odds of four in one hundred million, do you honestly think you'll get picked? You'd have better luck winning the lottery jackpot."

"Hehe, the odds don't matter. What matters is that everyone has an equal opportunity this time around. Besides, a person has to dare to dream—what if you actually get drawn?"

"No more talking; to maximize my chances of getting a song written by Boss Jing, I'm going to watch every single screening of *Bloody Ridge* from now on."

"Right, right, right! I'm going to go catch another screening whenever I have free time."

"Let's go, let's form a group to sweep the theater screenings..."

As expected, Chen Jing's own devoted fan base proved to be the most supportive. Fueled by their momentum, the box office numbers for *Bloody Ridge* experienced an even more dramatic surge.

The day after his promotional post for Zhang Qishan's *Bloody Ridge* on Weibo, Chen Jing arrived at the company and ran into Lin Xi in her office.

"If you keep doing these Weibo song-giveaway events, won't it come across as a bit too frequent?" Lin Xi asked, sharing her perspective on the post he had made the previous day.

Chen Jing nodded, not attempting to refute Lin Xi's point. "It probably will seem that way a little, especially since my previous Weibo like-for-song event only just ended."

Hearing Chen Jing acknowledge it so readily, Lin Xi shot him a look and retorted with mild exasperation, "Then why on earth did you still make that post? Even changing the promotional reward to something else would have been better."

"Well, other rewards simply wouldn't match the promotional effectiveness of me giving away a song," Chen Jing said, rubbing his nose with a slightly sheepish expression.

"Never mind, you have plenty of songs anyway, so I suppose it doesn't really matter. Still, Director Zhang certainly owes us a favor now. It can be seen as returning the gesture from when he gave us a helping hand during our own movie promotion earlier." Lin Xi wasn't genuinely opposed to Chen Jing's actions; in fact, she felt that clearing this favor owed to Zhang Qishan was a rather good outcome.

"I suppose so. But apart from returning a favor, I genuinely do hope Director Zhang's movie becomes a massive blockbuster and surpasses that *Alien Battle* film from Phumay." Chen Jing sighed. Beyond wanting to repay a favor, his decision to promote Zhang Qishan's film on Weibo was driven by a sincere desire to help boost its profile. After all, he harbored a deeper wish that the highest-grossing films in the Chinese box office market would be homegrown productions rather than allowing Hollywood's Phumay to harvest box office revenues at will. That was the primary reason he chose to speak up for Zhang Qishan's movie.

Lin Xi naturally understood Chen Jing's sentiment, yet the issue of foreign films plundering the Chinese box office market was something no individual could alter at present. Consequently, she could only respond to his sigh with silence.

Shaking her head, Lin Xi remarked, "It's an unavoidable reality. Chinese cinema tends to focus on realism and martial arts action; when it comes to other film genres, we simply cannot compete with Phumay. Especially right now with sci-fi movies, which are the most popular genre—we stand zero chance against them."

"Perhaps. Even so, it really rubs me the way others can suppress us without us having any means to fight back," Chen Jing sighed, before an impulsive idea struck him. "How about I direct a sci-fi film for my next project? Sister Xi, what do you think of that?"

Hearing Chen Jing declare that his next movie would be a science fiction picture, Lin Xi was startled on the spot and hurriedly exclaimed, "Don't!" Realizing a split second later that her reaction might have been overly dramatic, she softened her tone and began advising him: "A-Jing, it's not that you couldn't direct a good sci-fi film. It's just that the technological and special effects requirements for science fiction are excessively demanding. Many prominent Chinese directors have seen their sci-fi projects turn out unwatchable simply because their special effects fell short. Not only did they get torn apart by film critics upon release, but they also caused their investors to lose vast sums of money. Historically, science fiction films produced within the Chinese film industry have met with dismal failure without a single exception. That is precisely why Chinese directors have gradually stopped touching the genre."

Seeing Lin Xi rattle off such a long speech out of genuine panic, Chen Jing quickly offered her reassurance: "I know, I was just thinking out loud. My next movie definitely won't be a sci-fi film."

Although Chen Jing possessed immense confidence in his ability to helm a strong science fiction picture, upon closer reflection, the current conditions were indeed not ripe for it. Therefore, that plan would have to be postponed slightly.

The mention of his next movie reminded Chen Jing that he hadn't yet cast the roles for his upcoming project. He immediately turned to Lin Xi and asked, "By the way, Sister Xi, did you manage to scout any actresses who possess both temperament and solid acting skills?"

"Oh, yes. Based on the character description in your script, I did indeed find a few actresses who fit the bill," Lin Xi said, pulling out a stack of documents and handing them to Chen Jing as she continued, "These are the profiles for those actresses. Among them, two actresses from Jingrun match the character's temperament quite well, but one of them has a scheduling conflict, while the other..."

Hesitating for a moment, Lin Xi added, "The other actress has currently been frozen out and shelved by Jingrun."

Chen Jing felt a mild ripple of surprise, but instead of immediately demanding to know why the actress had been blacklisted, he opened the stack of documents in his hand. The very first thing that caught his eye was a photograph of a woman. The woman in the picture exuded an air of pure innocence while simultaneously carrying a striking, breathtaking beauty. She appeared somewhat gentle and delicate, yet an unwavering tenacity could be discerned deep within her gaze.

Chen Jing froze on the spot. Pointing at the woman in the photograph, he asked Lin Xi, "Sister Xi, is this the actress from Jingrun you mentioned who has been shelved?"

Lin Xi looked at the photograph he was pointing to and nodded. "Yes, exactly. That's her—Xie Shuxia."

"Xie Shuxia..." Chen Jing gazed at the woman in the photograph, sinking into deep contemplation.

May 3rd, the third day of the May Day holiday. Cao Xin was exceptionally excited and happy today. Just yesterday, he and Wang Youxuan, the class beauty, had agreed to go watch a movie together at the Jingrun Cinema today.

Because he had been far too excited the previous night, Cao Xin had fallen asleep rather late and consequently overslept the next morning. After waking up, he rushed through a shower, groomed himself meticulously, even sprayed on a hint of cologne, and stepped out looking rather flashy amidst his family's peculiar glances.

Arriving at the agreed-upon Jingrun Cinema, Cao Xin checked his watch and found that he still had over half an hour before the scheduled movie time with Wang Youxuan. He had intentionally arrived early, believing that for a first date, punctuality—or rather, anticipation—was essential. Besides, waiting for the arrival of one's crush could be considered a form of happiness in its own right.

Cao Xin had assumed Wang Youxuan would also arrive ahead of schedule, but to his surprise, it was nearly one o'clock, right on the verge of the screening time, when Wang Youxuan finally hurried over, cutting it close to the deadline.

"Youxuan, over here!" The moment he spotted Wang Youxuan, Cao Xin waved his arms excitedly.

However, Cao Xin's movements abruptly halted. He saw that Wang Youxuan had not come alone; right beside her were several familiar faces. Indeed, it was a group of their female classmates from school.