Entertainment: A whirlwind marriage with a fairy-like mother at the start!

The domestic box office of "The Eight Hundred" has exceeded one billion yuan.

The staggering numbers reflect that staggering period of history.

However, on Twitter.

In an overseas Chinese student group, a post quickly became a hot topic.

"My friends in China cried buckets after watching 'The Eight Hundred' for the second time, but we can't even see a poster for it in North America?"

The number of comments below increased rapidly.

"I'm really fed up. I wanted to take my foreign roommate to see 'The Eight Hundred' to learn about the history of the War of Resistance against Japan, but none of the theaters in Los Angeles are showing it."

"Don't even mention it. I went to Cinemark, and the manager told me directly that the film had excessive violence and did not meet the family viewing rating standards for the summer season, so it was forcibly removed from the theaters."

"Excessive violence? How come the Chainsaw Massacre movie that was just released a couple of days ago meets the standard? This double standard is really well played."

"The official trailer on YouTube has also been throttled. If you search for 'The Eight Hundred' or 'Sihang Warehouse,' all that pops up are articles from right-wing media that distort history."

"It is said that Saltyfish Entertainment has been blacklisted by Hollywood."

"This is disgusting; it's clearly an attempt to target the export of Chinese culture."

Small-scale discussions have taken hold in overseas Chinese communities and among some of Liu Qianqian's and Xianyu Entertainment's fan groups.

..........

Top floor office of Salted Fish Entertainment headquarters in Beijing.

Yu Le sat in the boss's chair.

He was holding a thermos.

The phone vibrated.

The screen displays Old Mike.

Press speakerphone.

"BOSS." Old Mike's voice was filled with deep weariness.

Yu Le unscrewed the cup lid.

I took a sip of warm goji berry water.

"Have you found out?"

"I've figured it out." Old Mike sighed on the other end of the line, his tie loosened, and the table piled high with returned promotional documents.

"This time, it was someone from the White House Cultural Censorship Committee who made the direct contact."

Old Mike paused for a moment.

"A senior aide at the White House gave me a private message."

Yu Le leaned back in his chair.

"What did you say?"

He said the White House was fairly satisfied with Saltfish Entertainment's previous performance.

"But the subject matter of 'The Eight Hundred'."

"They believe the film is highly inflammatory."

"That's what the staff member said."

"As long as Salty Fish Entertainment doesn't touch these sensitive topics again."

"The door to the North American market will remain open for Saltyfish Entertainment."

"otherwise...."

Yu Le seemed to have expected this, and without saying much, simply replied "I know" and hung up the phone.

hang up the phone.

Yu Le threw his phone on the boss's table.

Ban me or not, it's none of your business.

He stood up.

I left the office and headed straight downstairs to the Salty Fish Network Development Department.

Wang Luochuan was hunched over his computer, typing away at code.

Yu Le walked over and slapped the back of his chair.

"Old Wang."

Wang Luochuan shuddered in fright and turned his head away.

"Mr. Yu?"

"Is the server expansion for Douyin (TikTok) complete?"

"It's done. It currently supports tens of millions of concurrent users."

Yu Le pulled over a chair and sat down.

Release date set.

August 1st.

"Officially launched."

Wang Luochuan pushed up his black-rimmed glasses.

"Mr. Yu, how do we handle the initial traffic?"

Yu Le took out his phone.

Open WeChat.

Find the contact person whose contact name is "Shenzhen Old Ma".

Fingers flew across the screen.

"Old Ma, I want the splash screen recommendation slot for all Tencent products."

"Three days."

There was a ten-second silence on the other end.

"Deal made. What do you want to promote?"

"A short video app."

Shenzhen.

Penguin headquarters building.

Ma Huateng sat in a genuine leather office chair.

He shook his head.

Press the internal phone on your desk.

"Notify the operations department to clear out all splash screen slots for the next three days and connect them with Xianyu Entertainment."

After giving his instructions, he continued working on the documents at hand.

They didn't take this so-called "douyin" seriously at all.

...........

Beijing.

Salted Fish Entertainment.

With traffic secured, the next step is content.

Yu Le opened the internal group chat for Xianyu Entertainment.

All members.

"Everyone, put down what you're doing immediately."

Download the beta version of Douyin.

"Each person records a 15-second short video."

The group chat exploded instantly.

[Xue Zhiqian: Boss! I'm still in the recording studio editing the master tape! What can you do in fifteen seconds?]

[Yu Le: Go to the toilet, look in the mirror, ruffle your hair into a mess, and then sing a line from "Ugly Monster."]

[Xue Zhiqian: This is so damaging to my image! I just built up this image of a deeply affectionate person!]

[Yu Le: Half a year's performance bonus deducted.]

[Xue Zhiqian: Boss, I was wrong! I'll go to the restroom right away!]

[Shu sings: Godfather, what am I supposed to record? I'm not singing the Pig Song anymore!]

[Yu Le sent a document: Follow this action and add this background music.]

That was a hand gesture dance that Yu Le knew by heart from his previous life.

Learn to Meow

[Huang Bo sent a voice message: Mr. Yu, with my looks, will I lose followers if I record a video? Should I turn on a beauty filter?]

[Yu Le: Why use beauty filters? Just put your face right in front of the camera, smile, the more lewd the better. That's called being down-to-earth.]

[Huang Bo: ...I suspect you're insulting me.]

[Tang Yan: Boss, can I film a dress-changing video? I just bought a few new dresses.]

[Yu Le: Sure, but the timing is crucial when changing from pajamas to an evening gown. Show off your legs a lot.]

After making arrangements for these people.

Yu Le picked up the thermos.

Go downstairs and get in the car.

We headed straight to the filming location of "Gravity" in the suburbs of Beijing.

Inside the green screen studio.

Alfonso is directing staff to adjust the lights.

Liu Qianqian was suspended on a twelve-axis robotic arm.

He was wearing a half-length spacesuit that weighed thirty pounds.

sweating a lot.

"Click!"

Alfonso shouted.

"Ten-minute break!"

The robotic arm slowly descended.

Staff members stepped forward to help Liu Qianqian unlock the clasp.

She slumped onto the cushioning mat, panting heavily.

Yu Le walked over.

Unscrew the thermos and hand it over.

Liu Qianqian took it and gulped down half a cup of warm water.

"Dad, what brings you here?"

Yu Le took out a test phone.

"Here's some homework for you."

Liu Qianqian looked completely bewildered.

"What homework?"

Yu Le shoved the phone into her hand.

"Record a video."

"Wear this spacesuit."

"Let's dance."

Liu Qianqian's eyes widened.

"Dancing? Dancing while wearing this 30-pound iron lump?"

"Dad, are you crazy?!"

Yu Le crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's called 'gap moe' (a Japanese term for endearing contrast between a person's appearance and their personality)."

"I've already picked out the music for you."

"Let's use the chorus of 'Ievan Polkka'."