The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 133 Time Traveler, a Dark Horse in the Mid-Autumn Festival Film Market

On September 21st, the day "About Time" was released nationwide, Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree" had already been in theaters for six days. "Under the Hawthorn Tree" grossed 725 million yuan on its opening day, 42 million yuan in its opening weekend, and 47.5 million yuan in its first six days. This is a remarkable achievement for an art film.

Some media outlets predict that the market performance of "About Time" will be similar to that of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" because the two films have too many similarities—both are romance films and are works by top domestic directors.

Unlike the art-house feel of *Under the Hawthorn Tree*, *About Time* is essentially a commercial film. It's a romance, a comedy, and also incorporates the still-novel element of time travel. The story is deeply moving; the original version ranked 124th on Douban's Top 250 Movies list, receiving a high score of 8.8 from 7.9 users, and boasts an exceptionally strong cast.

Shen Qing, Fan Bingbing, Liu Shishi, Li Xuejian, Wang Zhiwen.

Shen Qing is currently the most bankable actor and director in China, bar none; Fan Bingbing is the pinnacle of actress stardom.

Liu Shishi rose to the ranks of top actresses with her role in "Scarlet Heart," and just yesterday she appeared on Hunan TV as the "Golden Eagle Goddess," stunning countless viewers.

Therefore, "About Time" and "Under the Hawthorn Tree" are not the same thing.

On its opening day, "About Time" received a score of 9.1 on Douban, which made viewers who were waiting for word-of-mouth to spread before deciding whether to watch it feel unbelievable. They did not expect the movie's score to be so ridiculously high.

The film grossed 4224 million yuan on its opening day, surpassing the box office of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" over its first five days.

On the same day, "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen," directed by Liu Weiqiang and starring Donnie Yen, grossed 750 million yuan at the box office. However, in this timeline, Donnie Yen lacks his representative work, "Ip Man," and his box office appeal is completely different compared to his original timeline.

The following day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and "About Time" saw its daily box office soar to 5445 million, while "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen" earned 920 million on the same day.

Based on its box office of 10 million, it can be concluded that it no longer poses much of a threat to "About Time".

On the third day, "About Time" earned another 4224 million yuan, bringing its total box office for the first three days to 1.44 million yuan.

接下来，第四天5721万、第五天周六7640万、第六天周日7088万、第七天周一降至4393万、第八天是9月28日周二、2933万，电影上映八天累计票房4.222亿。

The data is very impressive.

On September 28th, a new movie was released—the martial arts film *Reign of Assassins*, starring Yang Ziqiong, Wang Xueqi, and Xu Xiyuan. The fight choreography was excellent, but the story was a bit weak; it tells the tale of a minor eunuch who becomes a powerful figure in the martial arts world and tries to regenerate his severed penis. Its opening day box office was 334 million yuan, posing virtually no threat to *About Time*.

A box office of 4 million yuan was a remarkable figure for 2010. Throughout 2009, only three films, excluding those by Shen Qing, grossed over 4 million yuan: "2012", "Transformers 2", and "The Founding of a Republic". Of these, only one was a domestic film, "The Founding of a Republic".

Liu Shishi's first starring film has now grossed over 4 million yuan in just eight days, which is undoubtedly great news for her fans, the "Little Lions".

Before Liu Shishi married Wu Qilong, her fan group, the "Little Lions," was one of the most powerful in the entire entertainment industry. Now that "About Time" has achieved great success, the "Little Lions" group is even more enthusiastic and larger than before.

In fact, at this moment, Liu Shishi's achievements have already surpassed the ceiling of her original timeline. In the original timeline, Liu Shishi acted in many TV dramas, but none could match the impact of "Scarlet Heart"; she also acted in many films, but never as the leading lady. Now, however, Liu Shishi's starring role in "About Time" has achieved both box office and critical success.

From now on, no one will question her status as a top-tier actress.

For Tangren Films, this is a mixed blessing: the good news is that the company's artists have suddenly risen to the status of top-tier actresses, catching everyone off guard; the bad news is that Liu Shishi's contract with Tangren Films will expire in two and a half years.

Will Liu Shishi renew her contract with Tangren Film after it expires? Cai Yinong has no idea.

Originally, she was somewhat confident. After spending time with Liu Shishi, she had come to understand her personality quite well—she was a very grateful girl! Tangren hadn't wronged her. Normally, she should have renewed her contract with the company after it expired. The problem was that there was a huge uncertainty—Shen Qing!

Speaking of gratitude, "Scarlet Heart" was a project led by Shen Qing's company. Initially, Cai Yinong arranged for Liu Shishi to play the role of Lvwu. Later, Shen Qing personally designated Liu Shishi to play the role of Ruoxi. Only then did everyone realize that the reason why Shen Qing wanted to do the "Scarlet Heart" project and chose Tangren to co-develop the project was entirely because of Liu Shishi!

Liu Shishi rose to become a top-tier actress because of "Scarlet Heart". In terms of gratitude, Tangren Films can't compare to Shen Qing.

Now, Shen Qing has specially directed and starred in "About Time" to promote Liu Shishi. The movie has been a huge success, and Shishi's status as a top actress is becoming more and more stable. She has also successfully made a name for herself in the film industry.

In terms of gratitude, the thing Liu Shishi should have done most was to leave Tangren Films and turn to Magic Films.

In terms of feelings, no matter how well Cai Yinong and Liu Shishi get along, their relationship can only reach the point of becoming sisters. However, Shishi and Shen Qing are currently lovers, and there is even a chance that they will become a couple with shared interests in the future.

In terms of support for Shi Shi's career, the resources that Tangren Films could provide to Shi Shi probably couldn't even compare to the scraps from Shen Qing's company.

Therefore, even though Cai Yinong knew that Liu Shishi was very grateful, she couldn't help but pessimistically believe that Shishi would definitely leave Tangren in January 2013, two years later.

The success of "About Time" was a huge stimulus for Yang Mi. Liu Shishi rose to fame much faster than her, basically with just one drama, "Scarlet Heart".

In terms of viewership ratings alone, "Scarlet Heart" is not as good as "Palace," but "Scarlet Heart" has a much higher reputation and online popularity than "Palace." Furthermore, Yang Mi lost to Liu Shishi in this year's Golden Eagle Goddess selection.

Now, the director and male lead of "About Time" is Shen Qing, and the cumulative box office has exceeded 4 million yuan in eight days. Meanwhile, the director of Yang Mi's film "Our Times" is the unremarkable Zhou Shen, and the male lead is the extra Zhu Yilong—it can't compare to "About Time" at all!

As a result, Yang Mi was provoked and often sent text messages to Shen Qing at night to complain. If Shen Qing replied, she would immediately call him.

On the same day, September 28th, filming of all the scenes in Thailand for "Lost in Thailand" wrapped up, and Shen Qing announced that the entire crew would move to Beijing.

On the 29th, Shen Qing returned to Beijing, just as Liu Shishi had just returned to Beijing after finishing a roadshow tour of more than 20 cities across the country.

The two met in the chairman's office of Shenqi Film and Television Company. Shen Qing kicked everyone else out, leaving only the two of them in the office.

When Liu Shishi met Shen Qing, she seemed a little aggrieved.

"About Time" was Shen Qing's movie, but he wasn't there for the promotional tour, leaving her to travel to over twenty cities alone. Shen Qing pulled her over to sit on his lap and coaxed her a few times, and the matter was over. Shen Qing then whispered in her ear that he wanted to go to his house that night, and she said, "Okay then, I promised to spend a year with you, and it's almost been a month since I last spent time with you. I don't want you to complain about how little time I spent with you in a year."

Shen Qing feigned surprise and said, "What? The days we weren't together count? That won't do! It's been almost half a year since the first time, and we've only spent less than ten days together in total. There should be at least 355 more days left. If you calculate it that way, I'll be at a huge disadvantage. No, no, only the days we spent together count!"

Liu Shishi immediately retorted, "Even if we only count the days we spent together, it couldn't have been only ten days. We spent more than 40 days filming 'About Time' alone."

Shen Qing added, "Even if we calculate it as 40 days, there are still 320 days left."

Liu Shishi lightly punched Shen Qing and said, "You haven't slept with me since filming wrapped, have you? Back then, I wanted to die for you every day, but now you're going back on your word. How can you be so unreasonable!"

"Okay, okay, then add another 10 days, let's make it 50 days, okay? That means there are 310 days left! No less, or if you stop talking to me after the days are up, how am I supposed to live the rest of the days?!" Shen Qing said somewhat shamelessly after hugging the person in his arms a little tighter.

"Then use it sparingly. If I don't spend time with you tonight, I'll save a whole day."

"No way! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day."

As they talked, they started flirting like any ordinary couple. Frankly, the reason Liu Shishi felt wronged when she first met Shen Qing was because she had expected them to be inseparable during the film's release, but Shen Qing wasn't there for her. She claimed to have stayed with Shen Qing for a year to repay a debt of gratitude, but deep down, Liu Shishi considered him her boyfriend, and in the honeymoon phase of their relationship; she didn't want to be apart from him for even a moment. Naturally, she felt wronged that Shen Qing wasn't there for such an important event as the film's promotional tour.

On the same day, the 29th, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame," directed by Xu Ke and starring Andy Lau, Liu Jialing, Li Bingbing, and Deng Chao, was officially released. The film is very popular and poses a certain threat to "About Time."

That night, Shen Qing took Liu Shishi back to his home in the Panhai International Community. The two made love three times that night, and the whole process was quite enjoyable.

The next morning, Liu Shishi's previous complaints about Shen Qing had completely vanished.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Liu Shishi stayed home to catch up on sleep. Shen Qing's nanny van came to pick him up from the community. He had arranged for the staff to prepare breakfast in advance. After breakfast was placed on the dining table in the living room, Shen Qing gently woke Liu Shishi, gave her a few instructions, and then went downstairs. After getting into the nanny van, it headed straight to the filming location of "Lost in Thailand" in Beijing.

At noon, the latest movie box office data was sent to Shen Qing's mobile phone.

The previous day, "About Time" grossed 3309 million yuan. After nine days of release, the film has accumulated a total box office of 4.553 million yuan.

According to media reports, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" grossed 2010 million yuan on its opening day, which is nearly 1300 million yuan less than "About Time," which had been in theaters for nine days.

It did have an impact on "About Time," but it doesn't seem to be that significant.

The filming location for "Lost in Thailand" in Beijing today is the conference room of Magical Film Company.

When his wife, An'an, filed for divorce, Xu Lang, played by Shen Qing, went on and on about how promising his "oil tycoon" project was. He was going to Thailand and hoped his wife wouldn't cause him any trouble at this crucial moment. Ultimately, Xu Lang was simply trying to escape.

"Xu Lang, we've been together for twelve years. When I asked you for a divorce, your first reaction was not to let it affect your business? This marriage is meaningless to you, isn't it?"

Gao Yuanyuan delivered her lines earnestly, her eyes showing dissatisfaction and disappointment, but lacking the weariness and helplessness typical of middle-aged women.

Changing a person is the hardest thing, and what wives love to do most is always change their husbands.

"Click!"

"Not bad, one more."

During the crew's lunch break, Gao Yuanyuan received a call from an unknown number. After answering, she learned that Yu Xiaowei had specially borrowed the stranger's phone to call her.

The two started dating in 2009, but fell into a cold war in April 2010. Now, Gao Yuanyuan no longer answers Yu Xiaowei's calls, so Yu Xiaowei had no choice but to change his number and call Gao Yuanyuan.

"Yu Xiaowei, don't call me anymore, we've already broken up."

Gao Yuanyuan found a secluded corner and whispered into the phone.

Yu Xiaowei's voice came through the phone: "Tell me exactly what I did wrong, and I'll change, okay?"

Gao Yuanyuan said, "You're perfect in every way, it's just that we're not a good match."

"Because my career isn't as successful as yours, right?" Yu Xiaowei said.

Gao Yuanyuan said, "Don't make wild guesses. If I disliked that your career wasn't as good as mine, we wouldn't have gotten together in the first place!"

"So you regret it now!" Yu Xiaowei said.

Upon hearing this, Gao Yuanyuan's temper flared up as well, and she retorted, "Yu Xiaowei, can't you understand human language?"

Yu Xiaowei: "Who is that person?"

"No!" Gao Yuanyuan said impatiently.

Yu Xiaowei: "Shen Qing, right? Ever since you took that cameo role in 'Lost in Thailand,' you've completely stopped answering my calls! Yuanyuan, wake up! He may have a good career, but his character is terrible. Everyone in the industry knows he's a womanizer!"

Gao Yuanyuan was really angry and raised her voice, saying, "Yu Xiaowei, don't drag unrelated people into this. It's for your own good."

The person on the other end said sarcastically, "Oh, so you're starting to take care of things now?!"

Gao Yuanyuan got annoyed and said, "Think whatever you want, I can't be bothered with you."

He was about to hang up when the person on the other end hurriedly asked, "So you're admitting it?"

Gao Yuanyuan finally gritted her teeth and said, "Why should I admit to something that didn't happen? I'll explain one last time: the breakup was because we weren't compatible, and it has nothing to do with anyone else! I'm warning you not to spread rumors outside. If you really anger Shen Qing, do you still want to work in this industry?"

"I'm not afraid of anything anymore."

Before Yu Xiaowei could finish speaking, Gao Yuanyuan hung up on him. Afterwards, Gao Yuanyuan stood by the window for a while, finally deciding to tell Shen Qing. Yu Xiaowei was also an actor; what if he went to the media and spread rumors that dragged Shen Qing into it?

We can't let Director Shen Qing get dragged into this and end up completely confused and clueless!

"Director, I need to talk to you about something."

Gao Yuanyuan called Shen Qing aside and briefly explained the whole story. "I know his personality; he probably wouldn't talk nonsense in front of the media, but I thought it would be better to tell you anyway. I'm really sorry to have dragged you into this for no reason."

Shen Qing said nonchalantly, "Is that all? You look so serious, I thought something terrible had happened. Don't worry, it's nothing. Let him say whatever he wants, just ignore him. The more you pay attention to people like that, the more they'll escalate."

Gao Yuanyuan bowed to Shen Qing and said, "I'm so sorry, I apologize."

"What are you doing? I already said it's nothing! Besides, so what if he's just making baseless accusations? So many people want to be rumored to be dating you but don't even have the chance. If it really happens, then I'll be the one who benefits."

Shen Qing paused for a moment, then continued, "Alright, stop thinking about it. Filming is about to start, let's go."

Gao Yuanyuan nodded and followed Shen Qing ahead.

As of 24:00 on September 30th, "About Time" would have been in theaters for exactly ten days, and since the following day was the National Day holiday, the film's run would continue for ten days.

Many people flocked to the cinema after get off work on the afternoon of the 30th. The film grossed 4589 million yuan that day, and its cumulative box office reached 5.012 million yuan after ten days of release.

The film "About Time" grossed over 5 million yuan in just ten days, exceeding most people's expectations. With a small budget and a romantic comedy element, it's not a purely commercial comedy. Its box office performance, even with director and lead actor Shen Qing, makes it a dark horse at the box office.

Filming resumed on October 1st.

Since Enlight Media was also one of the production companies, the role of Xu Lang's secretary was played by Xie Nan, a host from Enlight Media. Also, because Wu Jing was pursuing Xie Nan, Wu Jing visited the set on October 1st.

It wasn't just a simple visit to the set; Wu Jing wanted to try his luck with Shen Qing. Shen Qing's next film, *Taken 3*, is an action blockbuster.

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