This director only directs blockbusters.

2 PM, Wangfujing UME Cinema.

The hall was bustling with people. There was a queue at the ticket window, and the sweet smell of popcorn filled the air.

A small table was set up in the corner, with a laptop on it.

Next to the table stood a roll-up banner—it still featured the same hand, but now there was a new line of text: "Want to know the story of this hand?"

A bespectacled boy stood behind the table. He was a third-year student majoring in directing at the Beijing Film Academy, named Xiao Li, and was one of the part-time workers hired by the studio.

At first, nobody paid any attention to him.

People hurried past, queuing up, buying popcorn, and getting their tickets checked to enter.

Until a middle-aged man came over with his son.

The boy, about seven or eight years old, stared at the hand on the roll-up banner for a long time.

"Dad, what happened to your hand?"

The middle-aged man glanced at it and said, "A movie poster, perhaps?"

What is a movie?

"Um... it's about the end of the world, and some people have superpowers."

The boy's eyes lit up: "Superpowers? Like Spider-Man?"

Xiao Li quickly chimed in, "Little friend, would you like to see what superpowers are like?"

The boy nodded.

Xiao Li turned on his computer and clicked on the two-minute lightning effects analysis. In the video, purple lightning snaked and crawled in slow motion, like living vines.

The boy was stunned.

The middle-aged man also bent down to look.

After watching it once, the boy insisted on watching it again.

"You can only watch it once," Xiao Li said with a smile. "If you want to enjoy it more, come to the cinema on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

He handed the boy a card with the movie title and release date printed on it, along with a handwritten note: "Use this card to buy a ticket and get a small bucket of popcorn for free."

The boy clutched the card tightly.

The middle-aged man patted his head: "Okay, I'll take you to see it during the New Year."

After they left, more people stopped.

A young girl asked, "Who's the lead actor in this movie?"

"Huang Xiaoming, Fan Binbin, Zhou Xun," Xiao Li answered fluently.

"Why aren't they on the poster?"

"Because of this film, I want people to remember the visuals first, and then the people."

The girl thought for a moment and nodded.

A young man in a leather jacket was even more direct: "Were the special effects really made in China? Or were they copied from Hollywood?"

Xiao Li clicked on another video—an analysis of the explosions during the battle of the city walls, with physical parameters labeled for each frame.

"Look at the trajectory of the debris from this explosion; it perfectly matches fluid dynamics simulations. Hollywood does the same thing."

After looking at it for a while, the young man finally said, "It's got something."

---

Six o'clock in the evening, in the studio's conference room.

Twenty part-time college students successively sent in their reports via email.

Han Duoduo was in charge of organizing the data. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, and her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Today, we visited four cities and twenty locations, reaching a total of 1,247 audience members."

"Of those, 893 people watched the entire two-minute video."

"605 people explicitly stated that they would consider watching the film."

"Three hundred and twenty-eight people registered on-site and left their contact information, indicating their willingness to receive screening reminders."

She looked up at Yang Ning: "The conversion rate is very high."

Yang Ning stood by the window, looking down at the street below.

As soon as the streetlights came on, the car headlights merged into a flowing river.

"Let's continue tomorrow," he said. "Same spot, same people. Do it for a week straight."

"But..." Han Duoduo hesitated, "Won't we get tired of seeing the same people so often?"

"So we need to change the videos." Yang Ning turned around. "Didn't you edit five analytical videos? Rotate them every day. Today we'll watch lightning, tomorrow we'll watch explosions, and the day after tomorrow we'll watch a fluid simulation of rain."

Liu Yong pushed open the door and came in, holding several photos in his hand.

"Director Yang, here's the feedback from the outdoor guys." He spread the photos on the table. "I ran around to a few spots this afternoon and took these secretly."

In the photo, some people are standing under the GG sign looking up, some are taking pictures with their phones, and a couple is discussing something.

"That big sign in Xidan," Liu Yong pointed to one of them, "has a lot of people gathered around it. I heard someone say, 'The special effects don't look like a domestic film.'"

"That's right, it doesn't look like it," Yang Ning said.

Xu Qin walked in at this moment, holding a folder in her hand.

"The TV schedule is set," she said. "Starting next week, major channels in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will air a 60-second version during prime time. This will continue for two weeks."

"What about the cost?"

"It exceeded the budget by 15 percent," Xu Qin said. "But I negotiated a deal—they agreed to add three additional interview segments with the lead actors after GG airs."

"Who's going?"

"Huang Xiaoming and Fan Binbin." Xu Qin flipped through the schedule, "Next Wednesday we'll record for Beijing TV, next Friday for Dragon TV, and next Sunday for Hunan TV."

Yang Ning nodded: "Okay."

He walked to the whiteboard. It was covered with sticky notes about the promotional progress: Outdoor Promotion, Subway Promotion, Cinema Promotion, TV Promotion, Media Interviews, Hong Kong Premiere, BJ Premiere...

It's densely packed, like a battle map.

"Everyone," he turned around, "the first wave of attack has been launched."

"Now, we have two things to do."

"First, keep a close eye on the data. We collect and analyze all the audience feedback, media comments, and forum discussions every day."

"Second," he paused, "prepare for a backlash."

"A rebound?" Liu Yong asked.

"Such high-profile publicity will definitely attract some people's disapproval," Yang Ning said. "Film critics, colleagues, and even audiences. Be prepared to respond, but remember—don't start arguments, just state the facts."

He looked at Han Duoduo: "Keep a close eye on the opinions expressed on forums and BBS. If there are technical questions, respond from a professional perspective. If there are malicious attacks, record them, but don't pay them any attention."

"clear."

The meeting lasted until 8 p.m.

After the meeting, Yang Ning did not leave.

He sat alone in the conference room, looking at the battle map on the whiteboard.

The city of Beijing outside the window is ablaze with lights.

Those GG signs, those light boxes, those TV screens playing trailers—

They are all silently conveying a message:

A movie is coming out on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

It doesn't talk about family matters or historical anecdotes.

It tells of the end of the world, ruins, self-rescue, hope, and a person reaching out in despair, holding a spark of electricity in his hand.

My phone vibrated.

Huang Xiaoming sent a text message: "Director Yang, several friends asked me today if the hand on the poster is mine."

I said yes, but not entirely. They said I was being pretentious. I said, "You'll understand when you see the movie."

Yang Ning smiled and replied, "Well answered."

Then it was Fan Binbin's turn: "My agent told me that a magazine wanted to use that hand poster as its cover. They asked if that was okay."

"Sure, but please specify that it's a movie poster."

"clear."

Zhou Xun's text message was the shortest: "I saw the poster. Su Man's hands aren't that pretty."

Yang Ning replied, "But Su Man is stronger than that hand."

He put down his phone and walked to the window.

The night was deep, but the city lights were bright enough.

It was so bright that you could see every face that hurried by and every figure looking up at the GG sign.

So bright it's believable—

This hand reaching out from the ruins will eventually be seen. Remembered. Needed.

He turned off the conference room lights and locked the door. The corridor was quiet, with only the sound of his own footsteps. He went downstairs and walked out of the building.

The GG sign across the street is still lit—that hand, that ruin, that swirling electric light. Silent in the night, yet powerful.

Yang Ning lit a cigarette and stood there for a long time. Then he turned and walked into the night. Tomorrow, the battle continues.