Chapter 171: Opening Day Box Office
Looking at the closed elevator doors, Rong Yu's expression was uncharacteristically stunned.
"Brother, am I... being disliked?" Rong Yu's tone carried a touch of grievance.
"That's because they don't know how to appreciate it," Yin Chengjue hurriedly comforted him. "If I saw you crawling out of a bathroom mirror, or climbing out of a television, I'd be overjoyed, how could I possibly be scared?"
Rong Yu: "..." Leaving aside why I would crawl out of those places once you remove the plot... but looking at your preference... are you serious?
Yin Chengjue keenly read the disbelief in Rong Yu's eyes. He leaned down close to Rong Yu's ear and whispered, "Then let's go home and watch 'Ghost Traces' again, and you'll believe whether what I'm saying is true or not."
Rong Yu tugged at his face mask again, trying to cover his already flushing cheeks.
Just then, the sound of running footsteps and slightly excited screams came from behind: "It really is Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu, mommy loves you!"
"Daddy loves you!"
"Baby, it's really you!"
"Xiao Yu! Forget that fake fan who closed the elevator door just now!"
Someone shouting like that on the street naturally attracted a lot of attention. People who had just left the cinema or were about to go in all followed the girl's gaze towards Rong Yu.
Since he had been recognized, out of politeness, Rong Yu still took off his mask, smiling and waving in greeting: "Haha, it's okay, I hope you all enjoy the show..."
The moment Rong Yu took off his mask, the people not far from him, upon seeing his face, immediately and unanimously took a big step back!
A single "Holy crap!" perfectly captured the essence of their emotions!
And so, a strange scene appeared on the street outside the movie theater.
Among the crowd, two men stood side by side, and within a five-meter radius around them, there was not a single person!
For the first time in his life, Yin Chengjue experienced the feeling of being watched like this.
Moreover, this kind of watching followed a strange pattern: they took a step forward, and everyone else took a step back.
One could still vaguely hear people exclaiming: "It really is Jing Sheng!"
"Can we ask him for an autograph?"
"But he's Jing Sheng!"
"Still, he's the actor who played Jing Sheng, right? I want an autograph!"
"But he's Jing Sheng! Are you getting an autograph to take home and use for summoning spirits or ghosts?"
"Couldn't it be for warding off evil?"
As soon as Rong Yu spoke, the surroundings fell into an eerie silence, everyone looking at him, wanting to hear what he would say.
Rong Yu asked, "Is the Jing Sheng I played really that terrifying?"
Someone actually answered this question: "It's not a matter of terror. It's just that kind of expression—the kind that strikes directly at the soul, awakening the deepest fears in your heart! You understand, right?"
Rong Yu: "Hmm... So now, are you all wanting to come up and get my autograph? Or are you worried that getting too close will awaken the deep-seated fears in your hearts at close range?"
Yin Chengjue suddenly spoke up: "Don't crowd here blocking others' way. Everyone, move to an open area. We'll do a limited-time autograph session, signing on your movie tickets. Fans who are in the Yuxiang Rousi Weibo fan group, please come forward two at a time for photos, then upload them to the group. Any other fans willing to volunteer to help organize order, please come over here."
Yin Chengjue checked the time and said, "Let's make it half an hour. Thank you all very much for coming to support the movie starring Xiao Yu. The opening day box office numbers for 'Ghost Traces' will be announced early this morning. Everyone here has contributed to that."
As he spoke, Yin Chengjue guided Rong Yu to a slightly more open area. The others quickly followed. A few fans had already pulled up their Weibo group chats, proving they were group members, and volunteered to help maintain order for the temporary on-site signing.
"Um... Could you be..." one fan clearly recognized Yin Chengjue.
Yin Chengjue adjusted his mask and said calmly, "I'm Xiao Yu's temporary assistant."
People love to watch and join in on the excitement. Those who had just watched the movie and were still a bit apprehensive about Jing Sheng's face, upon seeing fans starting to organize the signing order, got in line as well.
After all, they still had their movie ticket stubs in hand. Getting in line for an autograph sounded pretty good.
Some who had already casually thrown away their tickets, seeing everyone getting their tickets signed, acted on herd mentality and bought another ticket for the afternoon show—they were planning to watch it again anyway.
The senior fans, with some experience, very quickly organized the signing order. Yin Chengjue, meanwhile, very naturally promoted: "Thank you all very much for coming to support Xiao Yu's first starring film. If you're interested, you can all discuss the plot together on Weibo in the official 'Ghost Traces' super topic, or on various forums and popular discussion platforms—we'll have official accounts stationed there, opening channels for everyone to exchange thoughts on the plot."
"Of course, we also look forward to everyone's reviews. Your positive feedback will determine whether 'Ghost Traces' gets a sequel," Yin Chengjue said.
"What? Is there a next part for 'Ghost Traces'?" Everyone showed interested expressions. Rong Yu also looked at Yin Chengjue in surprise.
Yin Chengjue said calmly, "Yes, but it will be a sister story to 'Ghost Traces.' Characters related to 'Ghost Traces' will appear, but the plot and the characters making appearances will be different, and the protagonist will also be different. You can look forward to it."
After about half an hour of simple promotion, Yin Chengjue signaled to the fans. The fans immediately stopped those who still wanted to come up for signatures.
"Very sorry, but if this continues, we'll really have to pay a site fee here. For non-official events, the company doesn't reimburse this expense. Thank you for your understanding. Later, we will arrange a dedicated signing event. The specific process will be announced on Weibo. Thank you all very much for your support. Let's call it a day here for now." Yin Chengjue bowed very seriously to the crowd.
Rong Yu also promptly bowed: "Thank you all for your support. It's already noon now, you can go have lunch. Let's meet again at the next official signing event!"
The fans helping maintain order also said: "Thank you everyone for supporting Xiao Yu!"
"Let's follow each other on Weibo!"
"If you like Xiao Yu, you can also check out 'Blood Mist' starring him!"
"Interested? Join the group to get pictures! Once you're in the group, you're our brother or sister!"
"Ward-off-evil meticulously edited photos, doesn't anyone want one?"
'Red robes fluttering, smiling face entering dreams, Xiao Yu's one smile surpasses countless wonders in the mortal world. Join the group and get a picture per person, fierce ghosts retreat, evil spirits disperse. Don't miss out if you're passing by!'
The others: "..." Are you sure this is how you promote your idol?
Yin Chengjue: "..." What the hell with ward-off-evil pictures, are these a bunch of fake fans?
That night, the entire crew was active in the 'Ghost Traces' WeChat group, eagerly anticipating the opening day results.
Especially Director Mo, who had already forwarded over a dozen short essays into the main group.
Success or failure is common in military affairs; mindset determines future success or failure
Don't dwell on immediate gains and losses; what we need to do is summarize experience and forge ahead with determination
The process of effort is the process of accumulating experience
Although Director Mo didn't say a single word, every short essay he forwarded into the group revealed his current unease.
Director Mo had clearly poured a great deal of effort into this film.
As the midnight deadline approached, messages in the WeChat group became fewer and fewer. Everyone was focused on the data once the cutoff time arrived.
Yin Chengjue very thoughtfully sent a countdown in the WeChat group.
Finally, when the time hit 00:00, the WeChat group exploded again!
"How is it? How is it?"
"Has the data refreshed? What's the box office!"
"What should I do! I'm a bit scared to look!"
"I already took my whole family today, and we even watched three consecutive showings! I've done my best!"
"Has the data refreshed?"
Although midnight had passed, it still took some time for each cinema screening 'Ghost Traces' to calculate, upload, and aggregate the ticket purchase data.
So even though it was past midnight, everyone waited for nearly an hour before getting the first-hand news on the opening day box office data.
Yin Chengjue cleared his throat, held down the voice message button in the WeChat group, and said: "I won't bother with pleasantries, let's directly announce the final result. The opening day box office for 'Ghost Traces' is—300 million! It's tied with 'The Chase'."
After the voice message was sent, the WeChat group fell into an eerie silence for a moment.
The earlier full expectation seemed to plummet to the bottom because of the last phrase "tied with".
Yin Chengjue knew this was demoralizing and immediately added: "But we must remember, this is the final data we obtained under the condition that everyone got one free movie ticket with their ID card. In other words, on opening day, the vast majority of the audience were watching for the second time, or even multiple times. For us to achieve such box office data under this free promotion is already very impressive!"
Hearing this, the WeChat group became active again.
"That's right, that's right! We're different from 'The Chase'! Our movie offered the first ticket free for everyone, and only started charging from the second ticket. So, everyone who watched today saw 'Ghost Traces' at least twice! Even if all the fans of the artists here combined rushed to boost the numbers, it wouldn't reach this effect!"
"Exactly! If our movie wasn't good, casual viewers would have left after watching once, and the numbers wouldn't have risen at all. If it relied solely on fans watching out of love, where would so many come from?"
"So we should be happy!"
"But... if we hadn't offered so many free tickets, and each cinema only limited it to a few hundred free ones... wouldn't our data be even better?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the WeChat group fell into another eerie silence.
Everyone had phones, so naturally they could also see the earlier incidents stirred up by Ming Qian's fans.
If Ming Qian's fans hadn't made such an ugly scene under the official Weibo account, Yin Chengjue wouldn't have directly announced that the first ticket was free for everyone on opening day, slapping the faces of those self-righteous fans.
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