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On a summer night at Hangzhou Starlight Cinema, the air is filled with a unique kind of heat.

This wasn't due to the summer heat, but rather the sweat on the palms of hundreds of media professionals, film critics, and lucky moviegoers, and their intense anticipation...

The debut film "The Massage Therapist," written, directed, and starring newcomer Su Ning, is about to be unveiled here.

As the story officially began, the last whispers in the theater receded like a receding tide.

Only the cold white light emanating from the screen remained, like an invisible hand pulling all the viewers into the damp and hazy night of Bangkok's Chinatown.

When Su Ning, who plays the male lead A Ming, wearing dark sunglasses, moved his fingers precisely and steadily across the acupoints on the backs of the guests, the entire theater was eerily quiet.

No one could have predicted that this seemingly gentle, even somewhat frail, "blind masseur" would become the eye of a storm that would sweep through everyone's perceptions over the next two hours.

On the screen, in the dimly lit apartment, Amin slowly takes off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of clear, sharp eyes that show no signs of the blindness that often accompany blindness.

His skillful counting of banknotes was particularly nerve-wracking.

In the theater, a suppressed "Ah!" rang out from a corner, followed by a chorus of low hisses, signaling for quiet.

In the back row, a reporter wearing black-rimmed glasses quickly scribbled in his notebook, the scratching sound of the pen on the paper particularly clear: "Identity disguise established! Not driven by survival, but more like a carefully calculated scheme? Entry point: the mask of modern people."

As the plot of "The Massage Therapist" continues, when Ah Ming "accidentally" enters a luxury apartment and witnesses a crime scene where the female homeowner, played by Mei Ting, confronts her lover, played by Liu Yijun, the breathing in the theater suddenly becomes shallow.

One second Mei Ting was an elegant and composed noblewoman, the next second the ruthlessness and determination surging in her eyes made the entire audience gasp.

Liu Yijun, dressed in a sharp suit, couldn't hide the sinister and dangerous aura emanating from his bones; the pressure almost pierced through the screen.

At this moment, a veteran film critic couldn't help but straighten his back slightly, afraid that any slight disturbance would cause him to miss the subtle expressions on the character's face that revealed his inner thoughts.

When the hostess, wearing bright lipstick, said to Amin in a cold and confident tone, "Stop pretending, I know you can see," that line was like an icicle, instantly piercing the barely maintained calm in the theater.

"My God..." At this moment, a spectator nervously grabbed the wrist of his companion.

On screen, the husband's body, played by Guo Tao, is still lying on the sofa, while the adulterer's gun is pressed firmly against Amin's temple.

The fear that Ah Min couldn't hide beneath his forced composure made everyone feel his pain, and cold sweat beaded on their palms.

However, an even deeper chill followed.

When Amin tried to test and retaliate by threatening to "call the police," the adulterer revealed his identity with a cold smile—he was actually the local police chief.

The revelation of this identity was like a bomb being dropped in the screening room; almost all the audience members gasped and exchanged incredulous glances.

"A trap within a trap! This is a dead end!" someone in the back row exclaimed in a low voice. The voice was exceptionally clear in the silence, but it was immediately swallowed up by an even heavier and more suffocating silence.

Everyone was captivated by the intricate web of conspiracies and identity reversals, remaining seated.

When Amin begins to use his "blind" identity to maneuver within the police station and risk leaving clues, a slight, positive commotion finally arises in the theater.

"Smart!" a young movie fan couldn't help but whisper in praise.

Watching Amin cleverly slip the crucial evidence into the Chinese reporter's pocket, their tense nerves relaxed slightly, only to be immediately gripped by new suspense...

"Will it be successfully delivered?"

"Will we be discovered?"

Can this imposter find a way out of the abyss?
When all the clues converged and the ultimate truth was ruthlessly revealed, the theater fell into an almost absolute silence.

The victim's meticulously orchestrated insurance scam, and the out-of-control evolution of the homeowner and her lover from "accidental mishap" to "premeditated murder"...

The truth is like an onion being peeled layer by layer, pungent and irritating, revealing the ugliest yet most authentic core of human nature.

Some viewers quietly wiped their eyes, not because of sadness, but because they were deeply shocked by the intricate and cruel truth.

Until the very end, when Amin stands on the bustling streets of Bangkok, slowly takes off the sunglasses that symbolize disguise and shackles, and for the first time looks directly into the blazing sun without any obstruction, and then resolutely throws the sunglasses into the rolling Chao Phraya River, the emotions that have been suppressed for so long in the theater finally explode completely!
The applause started as a few scattered bursts, but quickly spread and eventually swelled into a thunderous wave that lasted for a full five minutes.

The lights came on, and the audience was very satisfied.

"The scene where he throws away his sunglasses really... made me cry." A young female fan, clutching a soaked tissue and her voice trembling, confided to the reporter beside her, "It wasn't just about taking off his disguise; it was about him finally finding himself in the sunlight. That courage to break free from all shackles and be reborn was so touching."

The reporter next to him nodded repeatedly, his notebook already filled with dense annotations, from "precise control of narrative rhythm" to "metaphors in the characters' subtle expressions," each page revealing the excitement of being deeply shocked.

“I understand that this is a symbolic ‘baptism.’ He not only deceived others, but also finally freed himself from the constraints of this identity.”

At the reception following the premiere, the interplay of light and shadow under the crystal chandeliers continued unabated, and the discussion about the film remained lively.

Renowned director Kong Sheng, raising his wine glass, chatted with several industry professionals, his tone full of admiration: "The police station scene was absolutely brilliant! Amin pretended not to see, but he planted clues in every detail, even the brief pause of his fingertips on the document was full of drama. This high density of narrative and information is so rare for a young creator, and Su Ning has achieved it with effortless skill."

"Director Kong, you flatter me! There is still a lot I need to learn."

"Haha, don't be modest, this show is definitely going to be a huge hit."

"Then I'll rely on Director Kong's good wishes."

"There's another thing. Filming for 'Like a Flowing River' is about to begin. Do you guys at 'Bizarre and Bizarre' want to get involved?"

"Of course! I'll have Chen Xiaojun go to Shandong Film Group for negotiations tomorrow."

"Okay! But the production team and screenwriter Ah Nai both want you to play Song Yunhui?"

"Oh? Then who will play Lei Dongbao and Yang Xun?"

Lei Dongbao initially selected Yang Shuo, while Yang Xun was to be handed over to Wang Kai.

"Great! They're all very capable." ...

On the other side, Liu Yijun was surrounded by a group of reporters. He smiled and waved his hand, attributing some of the credit to his co-star: "It's not that I acted so fiercely, it's just that the pressure from Teacher Mei was too real. You can imagine, she was applying lipstick so elegantly, but she was saying the most lethal things. The look in her eyes made me feel a chill down my spine at the time—that kind of extreme ruthlessness hidden beneath beauty is what's truly terrifying."

Mei Ting elegantly sipped her champagne, pointed to Su Ning's figure on the giant poster, and added to the reporter: "Director Su gave me a very important tip on set. He said, 'The danger of the female lead is not in her baring her teeth and claws, but in the fact that she can smile and hand you a knife, leaving you with your own choice.' Especially the detail of applying lipstick, which he insisted on adding. He said it would immediately enrich the character of Su Xiangyu—a woman's weapon is sometimes these seemingly insignificant details."

"Teacher Mei, Teacher Liu, you've collaborated with Suning so many times. What's your opinion of him?"

"His brushstrokes startled wind and rain, his poems moved even ghosts and gods to tears."

……

In the spacious lobby of the cinema, many viewers who were reluctant to leave were still gathered around the movie posters, discussing them enthusiastically.

Someone pulled out the data from Maoyan Professional Edition that had just been updated on their phone and couldn't help but exclaim: "The occupancy rate on the opening day was 92%, and the total sales from previews and pre-sales have exceeded 5000 million! I heard that the theaters are already making emergency adjustments, and the screening rate will be increased significantly from 18% to about 35%! This is not just a dark horse, this is a thunderbolt from a clear sky!"

"real or fake?"

"Of course it's true! This is solid data."

"No way! We have to watch it again!" His companion nodded vigorously, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "The first time I watched it, I was so focused on the suspenseful plot that I definitely missed a lot of hidden details and hints. I'll definitely watch it again next week!"

As night deepened, the lights of Starlight Cinema remained bright, like a dream one did not wish to wake from.

The story of "The Massage Therapist" has temporarily come to an end on the screen, but the questions about identity, the boundaries of truth, and the darker aspects of human nature have quietly blended into the warm summer night air of Hangzhou as the crowd dispersed.

As a famous film critic wrote in his later column: "We sit in the dark theater, staring at Amin playing a 'blind man' on the screen, only to be suddenly awakened the moment we step out of the theater and are exposed to the sunlight of reality..."

Perhaps everyone wears a pair of 'sunglasses' in their lives, more or less.

The most moving aspect of the film *The Massage Therapist* is perhaps that it allows us to witness firsthand the unparalleled courage required to remove those sunglasses, and the vast, though dazzling, world that unfolds afterward—a world that is undeniably real.

……

The cocktail party following the media premiere was star-studded, with congratulations and champagne bubbles mingling throughout.

Even after sitting in the driver's seat of the Mercedes again, isolated from the noise of the outside world, Chen Xiaojun still felt her heart beating incredibly fast.

Looking out the car window at the dazzling Hangzhou night view, she confirmed that everything tonight was not just a dream.

“Su Ning,” she turned her head, her voice trembling slightly with disbelief, “we…we really succeeded? 'The Massage Therapist' really received a standing ovation?”

Suning leaned back comfortably in the leather seat of the back seat, his face showing no excitement or disbelief, as if it were all a trivial matter.

"Of course it was a success. My dear Mr. Chen," he said with a confident yet slightly mocking tone, "did you think that the praise from Director Kong and Director Li, all the media's cameras and microphones, and the additional investment from Shandong Film Group on the spot were all just a show put on by us?"

"I just think...it's unbelievable. A few months ago, 'bizarre and dazzling' was just a name, but now..." Chen Xiaojun looked out the window at the fleeting prosperity, still filled with emotion.

“The joy of success can be savored slowly,” Su Ning said, his tone becoming calm and pragmatic. “Now there is something more important that you need to deal with immediately.”

He took out his phone and pulled up an email. "At Shandong Film & Television, the 'Like a Flowing River' project has officially started. Tomorrow you'll fly to Jinan and represent me and 'Guangguai Luli' to negotiate the investment share. Take whatever you can get; don't worry about a high percentage of ownership. Also,"

He paused, a sharp glint in his eyes, "The production team has officially invited me to play the male lead, Song Yunhui. Please help me sign the relevant performance contract as well."

"Song Yunhui? You're going to play the role yourself?" Chen Xiaojun was somewhat surprised.

But they quickly realized that this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to deepen their ties with Shandong Film & Television and enhance the industry status of "Glamour & Splendor".

"Okay! I'll have my assistant book the earliest flight for tomorrow right away." Her professional instincts kicked in instantly, and she immediately took out her phone to start making arrangements.

"You've worked hard." Su Ning said gently, looking at her decisive manner.

Chen Xiaojun, however, gave Suning a bright and determined smile: "What's so hard about working hard for your career? Besides, this is the next tough battle to continue the success of 'The Massage Therapist'."

The car smoothly drove into the underground garage of the luxury mansion.

Back home, only the two of them remained in the large living room, the air still carrying the scent of celebratory champagne.

Suning walked to the bar and poured two glasses of water.

He handed one of the glasses to Chen Xiaojun, saying, "Junjun, after I finish filming 'Like a Flowing River,' my work focus may gradually shift strategically. I won't be so deeply involved in these 'bizarre' projects like I am now. At that time, the company will be entirely in your hands to manage and operate."

"A strategic shift?" Chen Xiaojun took the water glass, keenly catching the implication in his words. "You already have a new target? In which field?"

Suning walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the sleeping city outside, his voice calm yet containing immense power: "Naturally, it's Da Ning Capital."

He slowly uttered these four words, "That is our true battlefield and foundation for the future. The film and television industry is glamorous and can quickly accumulate reputation and influence, but the depth and penetration of capital will determine how far we can go and how much of a landscape we can influence."

He turned around and looked intently at Chen Xiaojun: "'Bizarre and dazzling' is where our dreams take flight, and it's also the stage for you to showcase your talents. Manage it well and make it a renowned brand in the industry. And Daning Capital will be the most solid path I've paved for our future."

Chen Xiaojun looked at him and instantly understood his grand plan.

Film and television are a banner, the forefront of influence.

Capital, however, is the true scepter and foundation.

She took a deep breath, feeling the heavy responsibility on her shoulders, as well as a warm current of being completely trusted and the heroic spirit of fighting side by side.

“I understand.” Chen Xiaojun walked to Su Ning’s side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, looking out at the West Lake. “Go and explore new territories with peace of mind. I’ll take care of ‘Guangwei Luli’. I will make it your most reliable rear base and your most dazzling calling card.”

"I believe you."

...(End of chapter)