Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 569 So Much Fun, September
The excitement that had just been ignited in Huayi Brothers' office due to the box office surpassing 600 million yuan was completely extinguished within half an hour.

Xu Li strode into Wang Zhonglei's office, turned a laptop towards him and Feng Xiaogang, and looked grim.

On the screen, Weibo's trending topics list was dazzlingly eye-catching:
#When will Feng Xiaogang thank Wu Chen?#
#TheGreatEarthquakeBoxOfficeExceeds600Million#
Did Feng Xiaogang thank Wu Chen?
Huayi's carefully prepared celebratory press release disappeared without a trace after it was sent out.

The focus of all media reports has strangely shifted to "how Director Feng will fulfill his promise".

Feng Xiaogang's phone buzzed. When he saw the caller ID showed it was a media outlet, he immediately hung up in disgust.

Damn it, is it really that serious?!

I've stirred up a hornet's nest, that's why they're chasing me so relentlessly!

Xu Li and Wang Zhonglei both looked at Feng Xiaogang simultaneously.

He's the one who caused this mess, and we'll have to rely on him to solve it.

Most importantly, he himself was the one who said "I am the first to thank Wu Chen" back then.

"Director Feng." Xu Li hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Feng Xiaogang suppressed his anger and squeezed out through gritted teeth, "Go ahead and say it, I'm fine."

What the hell is it? If it's nothing, then don't look at me with that murderous gaze.

Xu Li muttered to himself, but dared not say it aloud.

Meanwhile, netizens who love a good show were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Various photoshopped images and jokes are emerging one after another:

A photo of Feng Xiaogang looking worried, with the caption:

"Even if I, Feng Xiaogang, jump off this cliff and die outside, I will never thank Wu Chen!"

The next picture shows him respectfully handing over a banner with four large characters: "Thank you, Director Wu, for helping me break 600 million."

Some people even started a campaign on Weibo to "help Feng Xiaogang come up with a thank-you message," which received tens of thousands of extremely sarcastic replies.

Wu Chen, who was far away in Songyuan, also learned of this matter.

Ning Hao even called me with a cheerful expression.

What do you think Feng Xiaogang will do?

“He will do it,” Wu Chen said with a hint of dejection, “but he’s not a very magnanimous person, and I’m afraid he’ll lack a bit of generosity.”

In his view, if Feng Xiaogang could openly admit it and make a joke about it, it might not be a bad thing.

Unfortunately, Feng Xiaogang valued the 600 million yuan box office and the title of the second-highest grossing actor at that level too much.
As expected, Huayi Brothers' public relations team is doing its best to promote the idea that "Feng Xiaogang has entered the 600 million yuan box office club, becoming the second person in China to do so," trying to save face for him in this way.

That night, Feng Xiaogang returned home and sat alone in front of the computer in his study.

The screen displays the Weibo posting page, with the cursor blinking alone in the blank input box.

After a long while, his personal Weibo account was finally updated with a new post around midnight:
"Aftershock" has grossed over 600 million yuan. Thank you to all the audience for your support and to every staff member behind the scenes for their hard work.

I would also like to thank director Wu Chen.

A single sentence from back then has now become the focus of everyone's attention. The prosperity of the film market requires the joint efforts of all filmmakers. We look forward to seeing more excellent domestic films in the future.”

The news spread quickly, but the netizens who were just watching the drama unfold were not particularly satisfied.

"Hey, Director Feng, you said you'd thank Director Wu first, why did you put your thanks last?"

"Not grand enough! Thumbs down!"

"Well, whatever, the fun's over, let's call it a day." The next morning, on the film set in Songyuan.

Park Song-il, with a piece of bread in his mouth, nudged Wu Chen with his elbow and winked, "Brother Chen, have you checked Weibo?"

Wu Chen immediately understood, picked up his phone, took a special look, and then shook his head.

It was pretty much what he thought.

However, it was eventually completed.

He still made a point of opening the comments and replying:
"Congratulations to Director Feng on the box office reaching 600 million."

Just after typing that line, a thought flashed through his mind, and a smile appeared on his lips. He added, "When is the celebration banquet? I'll probably wrap up filming in mid-to-late September."

This seemingly casual follow-up question almost made Wang Zhonglei, who had just seen the reply, choke on his breath.

Right now, the one who most wants to jump up and stomp his feet is Feng Xiaogang.

Because they were indeed discussing the victory celebration banquet.

"Familiar? Are we that familiar? You're talking as if we're really that familiar!" Feng Xiaogang couldn't help but grumble incessantly in his office.

Damn it, there's absolutely no way he'd let Feng Xiaogang thank him at his victory celebration banquet!
Seeing this, Xu Li could only lower his head and pretend he was invisible, occasionally glancing at Wang Zhonglei out of the corner of his eye to see what the latter would do.

The netizens, who had already given up and were ready to leave to see what the next exciting event would bring, suddenly became interested again.

"That's right! It feels much more dignified to thank them in person at the celebration banquet, and that's more in line with this topic!"

Unfortunately, Huayi responded quickly this time, replying to Wu Chen shortly afterward via their official Weibo account:
"Preparations are complete, and it will be released the day after tomorrow. I'm very sorry, but congratulations to Director Wu on the successful filming of 'Interstellar,' and I look forward to its early release."

This was very disappointing to everyone.

"Be more understanding! 'Aftershock' was delayed by a month, so a few days' delay won't make a difference!"

"Exactly! It's boring, there's no sequel!"

Feng Xiaogang suffered a major setback.

He discovered that there were hardly any reports discussing his box office surpassing 600 million in the past few days; instead, these trivial matters were causing quite a stir.

"What the hell is this bad luck!"

Wu Chen stopped paying attention to these disturbances.

After entering September, the filming of "Interstellar" also entered its final sprint stage.

Many firefighters and fire trucks arrived at the filming location because they were about to shoot one of the most spectacular scenes in the entire film.
The cornfield was burned.

Of course, it's impossible to actually burn 500 acres in the film, as that would cause huge ecological and safety problems.

Just like in the sandstorm scene a few days ago, although it was also filmed on location, Wu Chen used ground cellulose particles. This texture is close to dust, and it is non-toxic, biodegradable, and safer than real sand.
This time, the production team adopted a "live-action shooting + VFX enhancement" approach.

They designated one acre as the core combustion zone, dug a wide firebreak around it, and firefighters were on high alert.

On the day of the shoot, the sky was overcast, which perfectly matched the oppressive apocalyptic atmosphere that Wu Chen wanted.

The camera focused on the cornfield about to be set ablaze; the corn plants were already turning yellow and looked sickly.
A gust of wind blew by, stirring up a cloud of desolate dust.

"Action!"

At Wu Chen's command, the special effects team ignited specially treated corn stalks with a controllable burning rate.

Flames erupted instantly, accompanied by thick smoke, and quickly spread in all directions.
(End of this chapter)