Huayu Chunqiu, starting from being adopted by a fairy mother

Chapter 450 Liu Rijing is incompetent!
Summer is still lingering, and autumn has just begun to paint the branches.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow late at night, and the night air was a bit chilly. It was already late at night in Yandu, but for many, life was just beginning.

Old Zhou, the manager of Guomao Cinema, had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He didn't have a nightlife, only night shifts.

He casually wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, clutching a walkie-talkie in his hand, standing in a corner of the ticket hall, his eyes glued to the numbers on the computer screen.

Since Tencent partnered with over a dozen cinema chains to launch "Tickets," industry professionals have found it much easier to access data, which is all in real-time.

10, 9, 8, 7...

Old Zhou watched the clock and counted the seconds. As dawn approached, the numbers finally stopped changing and showed 2326 million.

"Holy crap, Liu Rijing is really something. The screenings started at 5 pm, and in nine hours, the box office has already surpassed 23 million. 'The Founding of a Republic' made 15 million in half a day, and they've been bragging about it for half a month. I'm not bragging about it today."

"Manager, a few audience members couldn't get tickets earlier. They went to Chunqiu Cinema, where there are more screenings. Should we add a few more screenings tomorrow?" Ticket seller Xiao Liu's voice was filled with excitement. High customer traffic not only meant high occupancy rates but also increased sales of popcorn, drinks, and other similar items.

"Hmm! We've already allocated 40% of the screenings to 'The Message,' so we won't use it for now." Old Zhou pondered for a moment. "The Founding of a Republic" and "The Message" each had 40% of the screenings, while other films like "Nanjing" shared the remaining 20%. This was the plan set by their cinema alliance.

Spring and Autumn can allocate more screenings because "The Message" is produced by them, and they wouldn't dare to easily adjust the schedule.

"Manager, I need Xiao Zhang to cover my shift for a while. I'd like to ask you for leave." Ticket seller Xiao Liu asked for permission.

"Are you taking leave at this time?" Old Zhou wondered, wondering if something had happened at Xiao Liu's family and whether he should take advantage of the situation.

"For the last show, I'm going to see 'The Message'." Xiao Liu's delicate face was full of smiles.

"..." Old Zhou crashed.

"Manager, I've already bought my ticket. Please check it yourself." Xiao Liu took out his movie ticket from his pocket and waved it in front of the manager.

"Why buy tickets? We're all on the same side. You can watch whatever you want." Old Zhou was very generous.

"I'm a fan of Liu Yifei, so I'm contributing some to the box office."

"Liu Yifei? She's in it too?" Old Zhou was bewildered. "I saw the movie too, how come I didn't notice? Oh no, it seems I missed some details. I'll watch it again tomorrow."

The next day, Lao Zhou didn't arrive at the cinema until 3 p.m., and thought he had come to the wrong place.

The hall was packed with people, many of whom were holding popcorn, and the trash cans were overflowing with Coke cups.

In Lao Zhou's eyes, this wasn't just buttery popcorn; it was clearly glittering gold coins.

He pretended to be an audience member and squeezed into the crowd. Most of the people were discussing "The Message," especially "Who exactly is Lao Gui?"

Old Zhou walked around and returned to the ticket counter, where the two ticket sellers were extremely busy.

Once the audience entered, the two ticket sellers breathed a sigh of relief. "Manager, we can't keep up when there are a lot of people. Could you turn on the third computer and assign someone else to sell tickets?"

"No need, it'll only be for a short while." Old Zhou disagreed, saying that having another person would mean more expenses.

"We're selling far less popcorn," Xiao Liu complained.

"When things get busy, I help out with some of the ticket sales." Old Zhou felt a pang of regret, as if countless gold coins had sprouted wings and flown away.

Xiao Liu and another ticket seller, Xiao Zhang, exchanged a glance, one pouting and the other looking at each other with disdain.

"Xiao Liu, how much is 'The Message' at the box office today?" Old Zhou took a Coke, sat down at the table behind him, and opened his laptop.

"Including pre-sales, the total is 2465 million, exceeding yesterday's total box office." Xiao Liu reported the data quickly; she had also been closely following "The Message."

"Holy shit... Holy shit..."

At this moment, Lao Zhou could only express his feelings with two "fucks".

Holy crap, Liu Rijing is so amazing.

The second "holy crap" was that the Coke spilled, right onto the laptop keyboard.

"Manager, should we increase the number of screenings of 'The Message'? 'The Founding of a Republic' has an attendance rate of less than 30%, while 'The Message' can reach 70%," Xiao Liu suggested.

"Move all the other films to the morning and evening showings, especially 'Nanjing.' Don't change 'The Founding of a Republic'..." Old Zhou was in a bad mood and took his computer out to get it repaired.

October 1st, National Day. Filmmakers in Spring and Autumn don't get holidays, but Lao Zhou took half a day off to take his son to an amusement park, where it was just a sea of ​​people.

When he returned to the movie theater around 7 p.m., he found it even more lively than the amusement park.

"Manager, 'The Message' grossed 3742 million yuan yesterday. As of now, it has already surpassed 30 million yuan today." Xiao Liu couldn't hide his excitement; he hadn't seen such a booming scene in a movie theater in a long time.

"It has to be Liu Rijing again." Old Zhou remained calm; he had already made his prediction before even entering the theater.

He waited for the elevator for a long time, and during that time, he heard more than one person say, "Zhou Gongzi's performance was so touching. I'm going to bring my mother to see it again tomorrow."

Many people brought their mothers, and quite a few brought their younger siblings and friends, but I didn't hear of anyone bringing their fathers.

As a father, having a daughter is quite heartbreaking for Lao Zhou.

"Manager, we've lost a lot of the popcorn sales today," Xiao Liu sighed.

"I was there during the National Day holiday." Old Zhou clutched his chest, feeling even more heartbroken.

"Manager, other cinemas have quietly increased the number of screenings of 'The Message.' Should we add two more screenings?" Xiao Liu suggested.

"Okay! I'll go and book the screenings for tomorrow right now." Old Zhou readily agreed. There are regulations from above, and ways to implement them below. Cinemas also want to make more money, so naturally they'll allocate more screenings to whichever movie is popular.

On October 2nd, Lao Zhou arrived at nine o'clock in the morning, but he felt he was still late.

A long queue had already formed at the ticket hall. A family of three came hand in hand, with the child waving a small national flag and shouting that they wanted to see a movie with guns.

For audiences unsure what to watch, the ticket seller invariably recommends "The Message".

In the afternoon, more and more young couples appeared, and the boys even helped the girls understand the tropes of spy movies.

The afternoon session, which was supposed to be quiet, was anything but quiet.

Old Zhou was very pleased because he had seized the opportunity early. Today, there were more screenings of "The Message" and more audiences came to the cinema. It was a very satisfying positive cycle.

On National Day, "The Message" grossed 4250 million yuan, setting a record.

Today, without Xiao Liu's suggestion, Lao Zhou has once again adjusted the film schedule. Forget about "Nanjing," there won't be any midnight screenings either.

The box office that day was 4027 million yuan. Old Zhou was a little disappointed. It seems that the strong performance is over and it is time to start to decline.

On October 3rd, the holiday continued. Today, Lao Zhou arrived at the cinema around 10 o'clock, only to find that he was still late.

Some elderly people are queuing up; no one can surpass them in this regard.

"Manager, Chunqiu Cinema is having a promotion, paying tribute to our ancestors and wishing our motherland long live! Seniors over 60 can get one free movie ticket with their ID card." Xiao Liu looked on with longing. "Should I switch jobs there? How humane!"

"Shit!" Old Zhou cursed, then his expression changed. "We don't have any such event, so why are they queuing up here?"

"They probably think all movie theaters are the same," Xiao Liu shrugged. She had already explained to the older women, but someone had to listen.

Old Zhou's face darkened. The elderly folks wouldn't buy Coke and popcorn. Damn Chunqiu, why don't you offer a buy-one-get-one-free deal for couples? They're the main consumers of these things.

"My dearest people, I have been so ruthless to you only because our nation is on the verge of extinction, and we have no choice but to risk our lives to save it from the brink of destruction..."

In the crowd, an elderly man with gray hair and a sprightly spirit was reciting.

Old Zhou was deeply moved, and suddenly felt that the old man's recitation was even more touching than Zhou Xun's.

Zhou Xun recited it very well, with great emotion, but it seems the old man really did such a thing.

"Follow along! We'll follow along too! Xiao Liu, I'll go write the application right now..." Old Zhou gritted his teeth, feeling a mix of love and hate for Liu Rijing, and also cursing Liu Rijing for not having a seasoning packet in his instant noodles. Old Zhou had a very hard day, working from morning till late at night, without even having time to drink water.

We were so busy that we didn't have time to eat until the cinema closed. Old Zhou treated everyone to a meal at a restaurant.

"Second viewing complete, the details are absolutely amazing."

"My God, I cried just from Zhou Xun's one look."

"Liu Rijing is such a pervert, I want to kill him..."

"Damn! Wang Zhiwen deliberately killed Gu Xiaomeng, didn't he? That shot of his was absolutely brilliant..."

"I used to think Wang Zhiwen was Ding Yuanying, but now I find him quite adorable."

"Do you think Zeng Li is an undercover agent or not? I don't understand."

"I didn't understand Gu Xiaomeng's code. I'll look at it again tomorrow. I'm sure I can find a clue."

"Sigh, life was so hard for people in those days."

……

The restaurant wasn't big, but it was packed with diners late at night, mostly people who had just come from the movie theater.

Listening to everyone's conversation, Lao Zhou suddenly remembered something, "Xiao Liu, I was too busy today and forgot to check how much 'The Message' grossed?"

"Manager, 4620 million." Xiao Liu didn't even look at the screen before opening his phone, his voice trembling.

"Holy crap, this is defying the heavens..." Old Zhou exclaimed in shock.

He quickly ate a couple of bites of rice and prepared to go back and revise the screening schedule. "The Message" only had 60% of screenings, which was too low. It should have been screened at 80%, like when "The Founding of a Republic" was first released.

"Xiao Liu, Liu Jing is coming to our cinema for a promotional event tomorrow. He's not married yet, I suggest you give it a try. You're so pretty, you're definitely his type," Xiao Zhang suddenly said.

"Come on, Liu Yifei is someone's fiancée. I don't even have the right to be a maid." Little Liu said irritably.

"That's hard to say. People get tired of delicacies and want to try simple meals." Xiao Zhang encouraged, "Being Liu Rijing's mistress, even his seventh or fourth mistress, is better than being someone else's wife."

"Boss, bring me a hundred skewers of lamb!" Old Zhou shouted.

"Manager, we can't finish this..."

"It's alright, just consider it a tribute to Liu Rijing."

On October 4th, Lao Zhou was very excited. He hadn't gone to bed until 3 a.m. the night before and had arrived at the movie theater at 6 a.m. Even though he had only slept for a little over two hours, he didn't feel sleepy at all.

Old Zhou hired a cleaning service, which started at six in the morning, and cleaned the movie theater inside and out until it was spotless.

Materials from films such as "The Founding of a Republic" and "Nanjing" were returned to the warehouse and replaced entirely with materials from "The Message".

A banner was hanging at the entrance that read, "Welcome Director Liu Jing and the 'The Message' team."

Upon entering, there was another banner that read, "Welcome Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, and Zeng Li."

These are all hung up. As soon as Lao Zhou received the news of the film crew's promotional tour, he immediately ordered banners and promotional materials. Even after the promotional team leaves, Lao Zhou doesn't plan to take them down; this is more effective than any other form of advertising.

Sure enough, Liu Jing hadn't arrived yet, but the audience had already come.

It wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, and well-informed fans had already started lining up to enter.

There were so many people that the police had to come and maintain order.

When the doors officially opened at nine o'clock, well, there were only people redeeming tickets, no one buying them. All shows had already sold out yesterday.

Even the corners and edges where no one usually sits are now full.

Many fans who couldn't get tickets didn't leave either; the hall was even more bustling than a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Old Zhou and Little Liu were experiencing a bittersweet mix of pain and joy. The speed at which they could make popcorn couldn't keep up with the speed at which customers were buying it.

Around 2 PM, Liu Jing arrived with Zeng Li, Chen Kun, and Zhao Liying. They were a bit late, but there was no other way; they needed to do promotional tours at over a dozen cinemas in Yandu. They could only spend a few tens of minutes at each cinema, plus travel time, so they could only visit a few cinemas a day.

Around 3 PM, Lao Zhou saw Liu Jing and the others off; they hadn't stayed long enough.

Old Zhou was disappointed. If he could come here every day, why would I need to rent a venue? I could just buy it.

Xiao Liu was also quite disappointed. Liu Rijing was truly polite, signing whatever was asked of him. "We both have the surname Liu, why am I not Liu Yifei? Then I could have had him sign inside too."

As a fan of the fairy tale, she felt uneasy about her identity for the first time.

Around 7 PM, the number of enthusiastic fans finally decreased.

Old Zhou had just sent in a group of spectators when he rushed to the toilet. Middle-aged people can die from holding their pee.

As soon as he came out, Xiao Liu looked anxious. "Manager, come quick! Something's happened to Liu Rijin!"

"What happened? Did someone smash his window? Or did they deflate his tires?" Old Zhou asked, puzzled.

Xiao Liu did not respond, but instead played a recording.

Woman: Wood, this "The Night the Comet Came" is so complicated, I don't quite understand it.

Man: Your IQ is so low, it's normal that you don't understand.

Woman: What do you mean? Are you saying I'm stupid?
Man: I'm stupid, I didn't write a note that you could understand.

Woman: Pshaw! I'll borrow a watermelon knife from Sisi later, crack open your head, and see what kind of circuits are inside.

Boy: There's no electricity inside, only water. Xiaoxue, Mom is so cruel. From now on, play with Dad and ignore Mom.

Girl: Daddy... Daddy...

Man: Sister, Xiaoxue called for her father, she called him repeatedly.

Woman: Look at you, so useless.

The recording ended there, and Lao Zhou opened it and played it again.

"Holy crap, Min's child is Liu Rijing's? What a beast, how could he do that? Why isn't it me?" Old Zhou was furious, angry at Liu Rijing's actions, and wishing it wasn't him.

Xiao Liu almost strained her back and quietly moved away from Lao Zhou. Xiao Zhang reminded her to be wary of the manager, which seemed to be a good idea.

"Manager, the production teams of 'Nanjing' and 'The Founding of a Republic' have already voiced their opinions. Liu Rijing's actions will definitely affect 'The Message.' Should we adjust the screening schedule?"

"No! Wait a little longer."

"What are you waiting for? Manager, do you also think this is a rumor and slander? Our Xian'er fan group has said that although Liu Rijing is not a good person and often uses Xian'er as a tool, he shouldn't do such a thing."

"Men really don't care. If I were Liu Rijing, I would not only give Min Zong a child, but also give one to Zhou Huimin, Guan Zhilin, Wang Zuxian, Li Jiaxin and others who don't have children."

"Manager, he's Liu Yifei's fiancé..."

"A fairy-like beauty, let's arrange it."

"you……"

"Alas! Liu Rijing is incompetent!"

……

(End of this chapter)