This director lacks vision.

Chapter 84 Release
"Actually, I don't want to leave; actually, I want to stay."

This is Yang Mi's true feeling at this moment.

She wanted to stay at the entrance of the theater and greet the guests with Jiang Yifeng and the others.

For Yang Mi, this is a great opportunity to expand her network.

Unfortunately, she was only a cameo actor in the movie and didn't have a deep enough relationship with Jiang Yifeng. After saying hello, she followed Li Xiaolu and Huo Siyan into the theater.

Guided by the staff, they sat down on the right side.

Shortly after they sat down, a man and a woman sat down in front of them.

Both of them were wearing hats, keeping a low profile.

Li Xiaolu glanced at it twice and tentatively asked, "Dandan?"

Upon hearing this, the woman instinctively turned around.

"Deer!"

"It really is you! I knew that back view looked familiar. And who is this person next to you...?"

"Hello, I'm Hanhan, a friend of Dandan."

For this premiere, the crew of "Lost in Thailand" also gave tickets to some Weibo influencers and video bloggers, and even placed promotional orders with these self-media outlets to help promote the film.

Han Han had previously shared Jiang Yifeng's live stream, and her comments even trended on social media. She also received tickets to the premiere.

By this time, he had already developed a romantic relationship with Wang Luodan, started to get involved in the entertainment industry, and was very interested in movies.

In addition, he had watched Jiang Yifeng's live stream and greatly admired Jiang Yifeng's public behavior of taking two people with him, so he came to attend this premiere.

They even invited Wang Luodan to come along.

However, Han Han has a girlfriend and they are about to get married, so he and Wang Luo chose to enter quietly and did not walk the red carpet.

Seeing Han Han and Wang Luodan, Yang Mi would definitely have gone over to watch the drama unfold in the past.

However, she was ignored by Jiang Yifeng again today. After nearly four months of seclusion, she failed to make a public appearance. She was feeling depressed and had no mood to talk.

At 2 o'clock sharp, the cinema was already full of people.

The Dashan group took the stage to host the event, inviting leaders from the railway bureau, Zhang Chaoyang, and Han Sanping to speak. After two performances, the pre-event activities concluded.

At 2:30 p.m., the theater lights dimmed and the movie began.

The screen lights up, showing seven or eight workers surrounding a boss in a shabby office in a factory.

"Give us the money! Give us the money now!"

"We want to take the money home for the Chinese New Year!"

"If you don't give me the money, I'm really going to hit you!"

Niu Geng, played by Wang Baoqiang, rushed to the front and grabbed the boss by the collar.

As the boss looks up, the scene smoothly transitions to a luxurious office in an office building, where Li Chenggong, played by Xu Zheng, looks up.

"That's all! The company's performance has been so bad this year, I've even had to sell my house to make a profit. I'm already a model boss for being able to pay you all your salaries!"

Li Chenggong said sincerely, "If you come back and continue working for me next year, I will give you the remaining half of your salary when I make money next year."

The employee in front of Li Chenggong looked frustrated and said, "This..."

The scene then cuts back to Niu Geng's side.

"What is this? What? What is this writing?!"

Seven or eight people sat on a haystack, each holding an IOU, and began to discuss it.

"The boss said this is an IOU, and it's because these people haven't settled accounts with our factory that we can't pay our wages."

"I can't read either, so how would I know if it's true or false? Are you going to collect the debt?"

"Go! Of course we'll go! This is all money!"

The scene shifts again, and Li Chenggong says to Gao Yuanyuan, who plays the mistress, "This is the money for you..."

Over the next two minutes, the scene switches back and forth between Niu Geng and Li Chenggong, explaining the cause of the story.

Niu Geng took the IOU given to him by his boss and went to collect the debt to get his wages back.

Li Chenggong had managed to appease his mistress and wanted to go home for the Chinese New Year, but due to flight cancellations, he had to take the train instead.

Both of them booked train tickets.

At this moment, the screen splits in two, focusing on the train tickets in the hands of the two people.

Both are train K123, and both have seat number 055.

The two train tickets were exactly the same.

Then the screen went black, the opening credits ended, and the words "Lost in Thailand" appeared.

Below that are seven smaller words: "A work directed by Jiang Yifeng".

This opening sequence uses a dual-narrative structure with a tight pace, quickly establishing the story's background and leaving a suspenseful hook.

If two people bought the same train ticket, then one of them must have a fake ticket.

The audience perked up, eager to see how the story would unfold next.

The screen lit up again, and Niu Geng boarded the train with his luggage on his back.

As he walked forward, the various aspects of life inside the green train were revealed one by one.

The main creators' names were also displayed on the screen.

As he passed by Li Chenggong, Li Chenggong was making a phone call while cursing.

"Are you deliberately messing with me? You only told me it was fake after I got on the bus... fake? You paid 1000 yuan to a scalper and that's a fake ticket... Do you still want the rest of your salary?"

Li Chenggong hung up the phone and was struggling with his decision when he saw Niu Geng's simple and honest appearance, and his eyes lit up.

Start cheating.

After a few words, Niu Gengzhen realized he had bought a fake ticket and gave his seat to Li Chenggong.

Li Chenggong sat down in his seat with a smug look on his face.

By this point in the movie, the characters of Li Chenggong and Niu Geng are quite clear.

Li Chenggong is an unscrupulous businessman who withholds employee wages and loves to take advantage of others, while Niu Geng is a low-level worker who is honest but lacks experience.

The audience will subconsciously dislike Li Chenggong.

Once this emotion emerges, the subsequent humorous segments such as "post-90s generation," "bald strongman," and "drinking urine like water" become very cathartic and even funnier.

The humor in the movie "Lost in Thailand" mainly comes from two points.

One reason is the class difference between Li Chenggong and Wang Baoqiang, which led to different life philosophies and lifestyles, resulting in various conflicts.
Another thing is that Li Chenggong suffered all kinds of hardships along the way.

The original film portrays Li Chenggong as a good person, so the extent of his suffering is limited, and the comedic moments are not particularly outstanding.

After Jiang Yifeng defined Li Chenggong as somewhat villainous, there was more room for parody. Viewers could laugh heartily and feel a sense of catharsis as they saw the bad guys suffer. Niu Geng, in particular, was characterized by his stubbornness, straightforwardness, and a "jinxed" personality.

"The trains cannot stop running!"

"Won't it be dangerous to take the shortcut?"

"Is this little hotel safe? Will we get beaten up?"

"I'm a super skilled driver, there's absolutely no chance of an accident!"

"Boss, are you going to pass out?"

Niu Geng would recount every single bad thing, eventually managing to implicate Li Chenggong and Yang Wei.

The movie theater was filled with laughter, creating a lively atmosphere.

As the film progresses into its later stages, Li Chenggong and Niu Geng, having gone through many hardships together, gradually become friends.

Li Chenggong seemed to have a change of heart.

Especially on the night of Lunar New Year's Eve, Li Chenggong and Niu Geng encountered snow shovelers in the suburbs.

Seeing these people still working on New Year's Eve, Niu Geng took out the milk he had carried all the way.

Everyone chatted while drinking milk.

The theme song "The Nameless Man" plays, accompanied by the workers' narration, and the scene switches to footage from a documentary about the snow disaster.

There were scenes of people sleeping on the ground at the train station, longing to go home but blocked by heavy snow, as well as scenes of staff rushing to carry out disaster relief and working hard to restore transportation.

This scene moved many people.

Li Chenggong also burst into tears and gave a self-reflective speech, saying that he shouldn't have complained so much before.

People's impression of Li Chenggong has improved considerably, and some have even begun to sympathize with him.

After resting at the ambulance station for a night, the two traveled all the way to Changsha.

Niu Geng took out the IOU again and said, "Old Li, can you help me see how to get to Wuyi Avenue in Furong District?"

Li Chenggong's expression was complicated. After a moment of silence, he said, "Actually, this IOU of yours is fake. The signature and the name of the person on the IOU don't match."

The camera gave the IOU a close-up.

The borrower is Li Chenggong's wife, Li Mei, and the signature was made by Li Chenggong on behalf of Li Mei.

Seeing this plot twist, the audience's hearts skipped a beat.

It turns out that Li Chenggong is the deadbeat Niu Geng is looking for!

Li Chenggong had seen Niu Geng's IOU before, but deliberately kept it a secret. Now he is still trying to deceive Niu Geng and renege on the debt.

The unscrupulous nature of the businessman was fully exposed.

But Li Chenggong said insincerely, "Here's 1000 yuan. Take it; you'll need it for your travel expenses home."

Niu Geng trusted Li Chenggong and said, "Consider this thousand as a loan. I'll transfer the money to you when I get home."

"No need, just consider it payment for the milk I drank."

"Old Li, you're such a good man!" Niu Geng said, moved. "Then I'm leaving. Don't keep a mistress anymore, or your wife will run off with someone else."

After saying that, Niu Geng left with his luggage.

The scene shifts to Li Chenggong returning home, only to find everything gone except for a letter left by his wife who ran away, mocking him for being incompetent and having to go find a mistress.

His wife really ran off with someone else!
Li Chenggong, his face contorted with grief and indignation, roared in a fit of impotent rage, "Niu Geng! You damn jinx!!!"

Seeing this, the audience burst into laughter, finally venting their anger.

The main feature of the movie has ended here.

As the end credits song "Whether you're rich or poor, go home for the New Year" played, the credits began to roll on the screen.

After about a minute, the screen lit up again.

Li Chenggong arrived at Niu Geng's hometown, took out 2 yuan, and handed it to Niu Geng.

"You absolutely must sell me the aphrodisiac formula; my happiness for the rest of my life depends on you!"

"What? What are you doing?" Niu Geng asked with a puzzled look. "I was just bragging, don't believe me."

"Which of your words hasn't come true? I have no choice but to believe you!"

"Even if it's true, I'll give you the formula if you want it, free of charge!"

"No, you must keep this money. There's no such thing as a free lunch. I'll only feel at ease if you accept it."

"I can't accept this money!"

"Please! Keep this money. It's actually yours; it's your salary."

"I don't believe you. You're such a kind person, you're just trying to fool me like this."

"It's true, I'm begging you!"

"We'll talk about that later. You've come all this way, so I must treat you well. Let's kill a goose."

I'm going to catch a goose, so stay away from me or it might bite you.

As soon as Niu Geng finished speaking, Li Chenggong showed a look of despair.

Sure enough, several large white geese soon ran out and chased after Li Chenggong, trying to bite him.

Li Chenggong fled in disarray, half of his wig falling off, revealing his shiny bald head.

He fled, it chased; his wig was disheveled in the wind, and his bald head gleamed in the sunset.

With this extremely hilarious scene, the entire film came to a complete end.

Jiang Yifeng led the main creative team to the stage in the theater, ready to be interviewed by the Dashan group.

The theater erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Jiang Yifeng didn't know whether the applause was pre-arranged by shills or spontaneous from the audience.

However, he could sense that the premiere of Lost on Journey was a success.

The audience laughed throughout the entire movie, which is the greatest success for a comedy film.

Moreover, the emotional scene on New Year's Eve brought many people to tears.

Jiang Yifeng completed the railway bureau's task, and a positive-energy segment was smoothly edited in.

A commercial comedy film with laughs, tears, and a twist, and with no major logical problems, is enough.

During this period of film promotion, many questions about "Lost in Thailand" have already been answered. Jiang Yifeng's interview at the premiere was nothing new, and the process was quickly completed.

After the premiere, the publicity and distribution work for Lost on Journey entered its final sprint.

(End of this chapter)