Chapter Thirty-Three: Ding Xiu’s Song and the Roadshow

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“I never understood why the promotional song for Embroidered Spring Blade was Rose Boy until I saw the Master Add-a-Fee character in the film.”

“Master Add-a-Fee is a perfect fit, but my favorite line is still, ‘This girl is so smooth.’ Brother Smooth is the finishing touch of the entire movie.”

“Is the story about Ding Xiu and his junior brother being a gay man hopelessly in love with a straight man, turning to hatred because his love is unrequited?”

“Could be. Those two characters unexpectedly have great chemistry: a tall, bearded, greasy-looking gay senior brother, and a pale, youthful, sickly straight junior brother. The dominant and submissive roles are practically assigned already. And Ding Xiu knows the capital’s male-prostitution market so well—do you think he was selling or buying?”

“Most likely buying. Otherwise, why would he dress in rags and take work playing the flute at officials’ residences? Where else could all his money have gone?”

The midnight screening on Thursday brought in 830,000 yuan, a fairly respectable result for the moment. Before Friday night’s box-office figures had even been finalized, two Ding Xiu memes had already taken the Internet by storm.

“How’s it going? Have all the promotional companies been contacted?”

Zhang Qianjun looked at several Embroidered Spring Blade-related hot searches on Sina Weibo and asked Li Yanjing and Li Kai, who were beside him.

The bespectacled man immediately replied, “Everyone who can help push it has been contacted. We’re going all out to promote Ding Xiu and Embroidered Spring Blade.”

Seeing that Li Kai seemed about to say something, Zhang Qianjun addressed him directly. “If you have something to say, then say it. Why are you hesitating?”

“Qianjun, why are you promoting Zhou Yiwei?”

“I’m promoting Ding Xiu and pushing Embroidered Spring Blade.”

“But—”

Zhang Qianjun raised a hand lightly. “You mean Zhou Yiwei is the one benefiting, right? How much of this traffic he can capitalize on is his opportunity. How much he can retain is up to his own ability. In any case, we haven’t lost anything.”

Li Kai still couldn’t quite understand. “But why not direct the traffic toward you? Our company paid more than a million yuan of its own money, and we spent it all on him?”

Zhang Qianjun answered with a smile. “Isn’t the traffic from Rose Boy mine too? Movie memes will eventually go out of fashion, but songs generate long-term returns.”

Li Kai still had not wrapped his head around it. “Even so, shouldn’t we have promoted the male and female leads first?”

Zhang Qianjun shook his head gently. “Anyone who would come see the movie because of Fairy Liu will come whether we buy traffic or not. Besides, what is there to promote about Zhou Miaotong? Liu Yifei’s beauty? Her family has already bought the hot searches for that themselves.

“As for buying a hot search for the male lead, what would we promote? Zhang Qianjun’s explosive acting? His performance so transformative it looks like plastic surgery? Shen Lian’s tragic romance with Zhou Miaotong? Or Zhang Qianjun’s action scenes?

“Do you think I was joking when I called Shen Lian a simp at the premiere?

“I wasn’t. The male lead is fundamentally unlikeable. All the faults I picked at on set did nothing more than strengthen the protagonist’s martial prowess and improve the action scenes.

“What kind of person is Shen Lian? A useless fool who could not even carry out a proper black-on-black robbery. He should have taken the money from Wei Zhongxian’s table and left it at that. Why spare Wei Zhongxian’s life? He could not even manage to use gifts to buy an official position.

“He was incompetent enough to get his sworn brother killed, too stupid to tell priorities apart, and yet spent every day talking about pure love with prostitutes. What is there to promote?

“The strongest and most interesting character in this movie is Ding Xiu. It’s a shame he has so little screen time—I couldn’t play him.

“Believe me. Ding Xiu is definitely going to be the character who breaks out of this movie.”

At that moment, Chen Xiaoyu, who had been standing nearby like a shadow, asked, “Boss, if you dislike the male lead so much, why did you agree to play him?”

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Zhang Qianjun smiled. “The action scenes in this movie are pretty good. For a wuxia film, they’re quite distinctive. Besides, if I don’t play this, what else can I play? Does an independent contractor get to star in another company’s productions? You’re my executive agent. You’ve seen what kind of garbage scripts people outside have been offering me, haven’t you?”

The young assistant could only lower his head and smile before continuing to check the box-office figures.

Suddenly, Li Yanjing cried out, “They’re out!”

“How much?” Zhang Qianjun asked urgently.

“23.7 million. A 48.4 percent share of the box office. We took the daily crown.”

“Good. The cinema roadshow arrangements in Shu City are all settled, right?”

Assistant Chen hurriedly answered, “Everything’s arranged. We start at two tomorrow afternoon.”

“Good. Xiaoyu, go home and get some rest. We’ll meet at the airport tomorrow morning and fly to Shu City.”

Zhang Qianjun paused, then continued, “And, Glasses, stay at the company. Keep a close eye on both Liu Yifei’s group and the director’s group. Six days, fifteen roadshow appearances—we have to cover the major cities. We’ll handle Shu City, Mountain City, River City, and Qiantang. Make sure the other two groups put in every ounce of effort.”

Zhang Qianjun seemed to remember something else. “Is the airport welcome team arranged?”

Chen Xiaoyu took out a small notebook. “It’s all arranged, Boss. As you requested, the ratio of men to women is one to one, and most of them are genuine fans. We’re simply covering their travel and meal expenses.”

Zhang Qianjun nodded. “Good. Genuine fans are what we need. If we provide them with financial assistance, they can support us without any worries.

“Also, I want hot searches for ‘Fans Told Not to Meet Zhang Qianjun at the Airport,’ ‘Cinema Packed to Capacity,’ and ‘Beautiful Men and Women Weep Sincerely to Rose Boy.’ Have all three been arranged?”

“They’re all ready. They’ll be updated in real time.”

Zhang Qianjun sighed. “If you really want to maintain a good relationship with the platforms, you still have to pay protection money regularly. It would be nice to have our own media platform.”

Li Yanjing laughed. “Then you wouldn’t be a film star anymore. We’d have to call you an Internet tycoon.”

At that moment, Li Kai asked, “Qianjun, with an opening day of 23.7 million, even if Saturday and Sunday each bring in forty million, reaching a total box office of five hundred million still seems unlikely, doesn’t it?”

“I was just bragging offhand, and you took it seriously? If this really makes five hundred million, I’ll dare to follow Li Lianjie’s example and quote a hundred million as my asking price.

“Five hundred million will be difficult, but two hundred million is definitely secure. Three hundred million might even be possible.

“The investment was thirty million. Even including all promotional expenses, the total won’t exceed forty million. Two hundred million would already be a huge success. We can’t expect every movie to multiply its investment tenfold, like The Youthful You. That’s more than enough.

“All right, go get some rest. We’ll be busy starting tomorrow.”

With that, Zhang Qianjun called the young assistant and left the company. The two of them had a roadshow to attend the next day.

Shu City, Wanda Cinema.

The screening hall had only 287 seats, yet it felt as though at least six hundred people had poured inside, forcing the organizers to repeatedly urge everyone to beware of overcrowding.

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Standing onstage, Zhang Qianjun looked down at the excited, blissful faces and felt for the first time that roadshows could be genuinely fulfilling.

“Thank you all for coming to see Embroidered Spring Blade, and thank you for all your support. This song, Rose Boy, is for all of you whose hearts are filled with passion!”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The genderless roar exploded through the theater, as though a thousand ducks had suddenly been let loose inside.

When the song ended, the audience broke into a chorus of wild cries.

“Brother Qianjun, I love you!”

“Sing The Wind Rises next!”

“Brother, I love you! Sing one more!”

Though he found their enthusiasm impossible to resist, the theater had strict time limits, and he could not interfere with the regular screening that followed.

So Zhang Qianjun could only shout with a smile, “Another song? That’ll cost extra!”

The audience erupted in laughter.

“Thank you, everyone. Please be careful and don’t push anyone else. Take care of yourselves, too. Thank you all for coming to see my movie!”

Late that night, in the car back to the hotel, Zhang Qianjun was completely drained after visiting six cinemas and singing Rose Boy six times.

There was nothing wrong with him physically, but the repetitive routine—getting out of the car, smiling, promoting the film, singing, offering thanks, then getting back in—had transformed him from someone thrilled by the sight of his fans into a numb, silent publicity machine.

“Ugh. How much did we make today?”

“47.63 million. Forty percent of the screenings, and 66.7 percent of the box office.”

Assistant Chen presented the day’s results in the data format Zhang Qianjun liked best.

“Not bad. At least all those high notes were worth it.

“What about The Sorcerer and the White Snake and Mural? You don’t need to give me the exact details. Just tell me the general results.”

“Not great. The Sorcerer and the White Snake did slightly better, with 10.63 million. Mural was disastrous—8.93 million today. It didn’t just fail to break ten million; it couldn’t even reach nine.”

Zhang Qianjun immediately understood. “All right. Starting tomorrow, prepare for the backlash. Make sure everyone at the company keeps watch. Xiaoyu, if you see anyone attacking me or the movie, tell me what they’re saying right away.”

Then Zhang Qianjun spoke to the driver in front of him. “Master Zhou, you’ve really had a hard time these past two days. You’ve had to run from cinema to cinema as my bodyguard and drive such long hours every day.”

Master Zhou chuckled from the front seat. “Boss, you’re paying me plenty. Besides, what hardship is this? We gather, move, gather, and move again. I eat well and sleep well. It’s much easier than being in the army.”

Master Zhou had been introduced by Uncle Zhao. He was a local of Thousand Island Lake and a former three-term noncommissioned officer. He had originally been comfortably employed in the district government’s vehicle pool, but then he found a girlfriend who wanted to get married in Qiantang.

Although Master Zhou owned a three-story house back home, his girlfriend insisted on buying a tiny apartment in Qiantang—a matchbox, practically speaking.

With no other choice, he had been forced to seek a more lucrative livelihood and give up the secure government position that so many people dreamed of.

When they arrived at the hotel, Zhang Qianjun called out to everyone, “Get a good rest. Tomorrow we’re doing seven more appearances!”

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