Bai Lu got scammed, but I became a superstar through e-commerce.

On the day filming wrapped up for "The Ferryman: Huangquan", Bai Lu stood on the sandy ground of Huangquan Inn, watching the crew dismantle the stone lanterns one by one and put them into wooden boxes. Suddenly, he squatted down and picked up a fallen petal of a red spider lily from the sand.

Qingxiao finished filming half a month ago and returned to Hangzhou, so he didn't get to see her final monologue scene where she transforms into mountains and rivers.

In that scene, she stood alone in front of the green screen and said to the air, "I am the cloud above your head, the wind beside your ear." After she finished speaking, the set was quiet for a long time. Ju Xingmao took off his headphones and didn't shout, but just nodded at the monitor.

Bai Lu's acting skills have been recognized by everyone.

The days after filming wrapped up felt like they were on fast-forward.

Bai Lu only rested for a few days before dragging his suitcase to Hengdian.

A new script is already on her desk—"The Monkey King," a fantasy Journey to the West story. She plays a mortal woman caught up in the battle between gods and demons, whose previous life was a fairy herb guarding the Five Elements Mountain.

Chen Yu was also there on the day filming started. The two of them stood at the entrance of the set and watched the green screen that the production crew had hung up for a long time.

Qingxiao listened to her read a scene outline from "The Monkey King" on the phone, and said, "Don't throw up again when you're on wires on the set of Journey to the West."

Bai Lu laughed on the other end of the phone, saying that the wire harness operator this time was much more reliable than the one in Chaoge.

Time slipped by between the wires and safety ropes at Bailu.

The first four online films funded by Tianmen Film & Television's special investment fund have been released online.

The film "Yin Yang Town" had an investment of 350,000 yuan, and its box office revenue ultimately reached 5.2 million yuan, resulting in a return on investment of more than ten times.

Yuan Shuang's "Love Tutoring Class" had an investment of 450,000 yuan and a box office revenue of 6.8 million yuan, maintaining its steady performance in the campus genre.

Old Zhao's "There's a Girl in the Village" had an investment of 550,000 yuan and a box office revenue of over 5 million yuan, proving that rural comedies are more engaging than expected.

Song Yang's experimental thriller "Dark Room," made with a budget of only 200,000 yuan, grossed nearly 2 million yuan at the box office, proving himself as a new director with an extremely low budget.

In the conference room of Tianmen Film and Television, Afei projected the revenue sharing summary table of the four films onto the screen.

The first batch of projects had a total investment of less than two million, but the total revenue from revenue sharing exceeded eighteen million, with an input-output ratio of nearly eight times.

In the 2016 online film market, this achievement was enough to make the entire industry take notice.

Meanwhile, the post-production of "The Monkey King" entered its most intense phase.

The special effects in "Huangquan" are much more extensive. The scene of eight hundred miles of blooming red spider lilies needed to be rendered frame by frame, and the scene of Sanqi turning into mountains and rivers took two whole months to color grade in post-production.

Ju Xingmao and his post-production team spent countless sleepless nights in the server room. Xiao Jixiangtian would send a suggestion for revision every few days, and every detail, from the tone of the lines to the lighting of the special effects, was being polished repeatedly.

Both films were in post-production, and Qingxiao made a decision: not to release them immediately, but to make them the grand finale.

He wants to launch "The Monkey King" and "Huang Quan" at the pinnacle of the online film market.

In the past year or so, the entire online film industry has been undergoing a profound change.

With the market getting bigger, the regular army has arrived.

Leading traditional film companies such as Huayi Brothers and Huace Entertainment Technology have successively ventured into the online film market.

Zhongnan Pictures and online film distributor Qishu Youyu have reached a strategic cooperation agreement and released a slate of nineteen films, including a project directed by the renowned director Gao Qunshu.

Famous director Wong Jing has also started to pay attention to this field.

iQiyi even plans to introduce Hollywood resources such as Sony Pictures to co-produce online movies, which is seen by the industry as a clear signal that the mainstream players have officially entered the market.

Qingxiao understood what this meant better than anyone else.

The entry of established players will instantly increase the budget.

Previously, a few hundred thousand yuan was enough to make an online movie; in the future, an investment of ten million yuan will be the norm.

The era of grassroots development is closing its doors; only those with capital, teams, and platform connections are qualified to enter the next stage.

Tianmen Film & Television—a company that emerged from a rented room in Jiubao—has funds, a team, platform connections, and two major productions about to be released.

On the day that "Huang Quan" was exclusively broadcast on iQiyi, Qingxiao sat in his office with the real-time data panel of the background computer in front of him.

The entire Tianmen Film and Television team was still at get off work. Chen Yu leaned against the window, twirling a pencil in his hand. A Fei stared at the data page on the projection screen, constantly refreshing it. Xiao Geng ran up from the warehouse and squatted at the door of the conference room, still clutching a duct tape gun used for packing express packages.

Bai Lu was in a hotel in Hengdian, sitting cross-legged on the bed in her pajamas, biting her fingernails while looking at her phone screen.

Within just five hours of its release, it garnered over five million views, breaking the record for the highest number of views on the first day of release for an online film.

Within 56 hours of its release, the box office revenue exceeded 10 million. It surpassed 20 million in nine days and 35 million in 27 days.

With a stable Douban rating of 7.1, over 40,000 ratings, nearly 20,000 short reviews, and more than 600 long reviews, it surpassed all other online movies of its time and became the online movie with the most ratings on Douban.

The bullet comments and comment sections were flooded with spontaneous messages from viewers across the entire internet.

"After the twenty-one days, there is no more Meng Po."

"The more joyful she laughed at the beginning, the more heartbreaking her tears were later. Sanqi gave her five souls to Changsheng, keeping only a wisp of her essence for herself. Zhao Li asked her if it was worth it, and she said it was—those two words are the cruelest knife in the whole film."

"When the eight hundred miles of red spider lilies bloomed at the end of the film, the comments were all saying, 'Sanqi, did you see that?'"

"The eighth ingredient in Meng Po's soup is Meng Po's heartbroken tears. I will remember this line for the rest of my life."

One hundred and twenty days after its release, "Huang Quan" reached a total box office revenue of 49.48 million yuan, setting a new record for online movie box office revenue.

This record not only caused a stir in the online film industry, but also made traditional film companies realize that the paid model for online films has matured to the point where it can support a blockbuster movie.

Shortly after "Huang Quan" was released.

"The Monkey King" also concluded its run with a box office revenue of 26.55 million.

The two high-quality customized films generated a total revenue of over 72 million yuan. Combined with the revenue from the first four special investment projects, Tianmen Films' total revenue from online films exceeded 100 million yuan within a certain period.

While the box office numbers for "Huang Quan" were still climbing, Bai Lu's Weibo followers quietly surpassed 800,000.

There were no raffles or retweet campaigns; the audience was entirely drawn in organically by the characters of "My Sassy Girl" and "Sanqi."

800,000 followers.

She recalled that a few years ago when the short film "Cat's Tree" was released, she would sit in Qingxiao's rented room scrolling through the comments section, and seeing someone say "Lin Xiao, don't die" would make her happy all day.

At that time, she only had a few thousand fans, and every time she gained a new fan, she would check the name on her phone three times.

She now has 800,000 followers, and her comment section gets new messages every day.

"Sanqi, I miss you so much." "That immortal herb in The Monkey King was so heartbreaking." "What's Bai Lu's next project?" "Looking forward to your new role."

She placed her phone on her lap and looked out the window at the night sky over Hengdian.

The lights of the film and television base in the distance twinkled like stars, just like the lights of Sijiqing that she had seen in her rented room in Jiubao many years ago. Only now, she was no longer the little model who scrolled through Weibo between the hanging boards.

When Qingxiao called, she was flipping to the end credits of "Huangquan," where the scene was frozen on the moment when Sanqi transformed into mountains and rivers.

The red spider lilies cover the underworld, each one representing her.

"Qingxiao".

"Um."

"Sanqi used a single drop of heartbroken tear to brew the sweetest Meng Po soup in the Underworld. Tell me, isn't this the best film we've ever made?"

"You've never even been on the big screen in theaters, how can it be your best film?" Qingxiao retorted.

"A theatrical release? Forget about it."

Even though Bai Lu now has almost a million followers, he doesn't dare to dream of more.